07/31/2013

I've fallen behind on my updating, it seems, but I shall just pick up from where I last left off and see what I decide to write tonight.

Elizabeth and I spent this last weekend in Baltimore, celebrating our 4 year anniversary.  She planned the whole trip, leaving it a surprise to me.  We had a great time up there, and we're already planning a second visit.  We went to Medieval Times for dinner on Friday night, and Saturday spent all day at Inner Harbor, which is where our hotel was.  We walked everywhere, which included the cemetery where Poe is buried, the Ripley's museum, a pop culture museum (which was super cool), and Camden Yard.  I got to knock seeing a professional baseball game off my 40 before 40 list! (The Orioles lost to the Red Sox, 7-3. Highlight of the game: David Ortiz being ejected from the game.)

Movie wise, it's been a slow month.  Since Pacific Rim, I've been to the movies twice and have watched one Blu-Ray.

112) Red 2 - This was lots of fun, and almost as good as the first one!  The action was great, and has a good ensemble cast.

113) The Goonies - Easily one of my top 10 favorite films, and I had to opportunity to see in on the big screen at the Movie Tavern's RetroCinema.  Such a great film.  It was one of the films on the list I made for Elizabeth, and Dave joined us as well.

114) The Burning - Finally got around to watching my Scream Factory BR release of this flick, and it is great.  The film is a solid '80s slasher film, with some great kills in it.  And even though it takes place at a summer camp and it gets compared to the Friday the 13th franchise, a main difference is you care about the kids in this film.  When I'm watching a F13 movie, I'm rooting for Jason.  The special features are pretty good, with a few interviews with a couple actors (including Cropsy!) and the editor, and the best feature being an interview with make-up artist Tom Savini.  I've yet to be disappointed by a Scream Factory release, and they have some good stuff I look forward to adding to my collection being released in the near future.

With that, I headed out.  Hopefully I will stay on top of this thing.  LoL.  Who knows, maybe I will get some traffic one day.

06/03/2013

This past weekend was great.  Elizabeth and I had company in town with Roc, so the 3 of us hung out Thursday night playing Life.  Friday night Brandi joined us for pizza and another round of Life, and Dave made an appearance.  And after the 2 of them left, the 3 of us played some intense rounds of Hoopla.

Saturday was movie marathon day at TOS.  We did a "Ben Stiller" theme, which included 4 movies: Heavyweights, Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story, Zoolander, and Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy. Yes, I know: Stiller only has a brief cameo in Anchorman. But Raj and Eliz made the movie choices, and I think it's one they quote a lot and wanted to watched together.

After the movie marathon, Eliz and I walked around the Pirate festival that was going on in Hampton this weekend.  It was lots of fun, even though we didn't buy anything.  Neither one of us was hungry enough for the food, and we didn't see anything souvenir wise that was worth it.  We did get to see a cool game though called "Water War", where two people/groups launch water balloons at each other to see who can get the wettest.

Yesterday was a wonderful day at church, as we played Jeopardy in Sunday School class for end of the quarter, and then there was a luau in Children's Church for end of the year.  It was lots of fun, and I look forward to seeing how the children's program moves forward in the fall.

And to top the weekend off, Elizabeth and I had a date night in last night, catching up on some comics and then watching a movie.  We finally finished up Geoff Johns Green Lantern run.  I can't believe it's been 9 years.  Part of me doesn't even want to continue with the GL books, since it ended so perfectly, and it will be a hard run to follow.

So, a couple movies to cover.  I won't cover all 4 movies from the marathon, but I do want to cover one of them. :)

83) Heavyweights - I had forgotten how good this movie was!  I'm pretty sure I've only seen it a handful of times since seeing it in the theater in '94, so it wasn't ingrained into my brain unlike other films.  First off, it's probably one of the first films Judd Apatow worked on (he was writer/executive producer).  Then, Ben Stiller is great as villain Tony Perkis.  A lot of humor and warmth, and quotable, and made evident by Elizabeth.  I currently own a Full Screen DVD (one of the few that I do allow in my collection), but a Blu-Ray was released in Dec '12, which I will be upgrading to eventually.  Not just for the Widescreen transfer, but because it is also loaded with extras, which the DVD has none of.

87) Up - Why why why did I wait 4 years to see this movie?  This was the selection Elizabeth made for date night last night, and man is it great!  First off, it takes a lot for me to cry during a film.  Not get emotional, but to actually shed a tear is work.  But this one had me crying within the first 10 minutes of it, and the thing is: I knew what was coming!  I had actually watched the opening of the movie online, knowing what kind of story Disney/Pixar was able to pull off in a span of 5 minutes.  But the movie itself is just wonderful.  Great characters, beautiful landscapes, and just a wonderful story.  Easily one of my top 5 Pixar films.

88) First Blood - I remember catching Rambo movies on TV when I was younger (probably on the USA network), but it must of been mostly the 2 sequels, because I watched First Blood last night, and realized I had never seen any of it.  A good early '80s action flick.  The scene where Rambo takes the cops out in the forest was easily my favorite part, and the interaction between Rambo and Col. Trautman.  I look forward to  seeing the sequels with the eyes of film love I've acquired since my childhood.   

This was a pretty good catch-up.  I'm back to mostly mid-shifts this month at work, so I will probably continue to watch movies during my down time.  I am back into reading regularly as well though.

05-15-2013

I was going to wait until after work to write, but decided to eat some leftover pizza for lunch, since I'll eat out during my break later. So, going to at least start my new blog post, and if I don't finish, I shall do so after work.

Eliz has been out of town since Monday night.  Her grandmother passed, so she flew out to Indiana to attend the funeral and be with family.  I wish I could've gone with her, but work and finances did not allow it.  Not that money was really an issue.  She comes back tomorrow, and I can't wait to see her.  We haven't spent much time away from one another in our 4 years of marriage.

I was off yesterday, and actually spent some of my time being productive, as I began moving things around in our bedrooms.  Not sure how much I'll accomplish before Eliz returns, but since I'm off tomorrow too, I'm hoping to have a decent chuck moved.  We have a lot more than I realized, but if I do a little at a time instead of trying to accomplish the big picture, it's a lot easier.

With Eliz gone this week, being on the internet has been tricky, as I've been trying to avoid spoilers for the season finales that are airing.  So far, so good...for the most part.

We had a lot going on last week, between her family situation, just life in general, and then prepping for Rocky's graduation, so I haven't had time to settle in for a movie until yesterday.  And I ended up doing a double feature: Beetlejuice and Attack of the Killer Tomatoes!

TBC

05/03/2013

Not much new here.  My doctors appointment the other day went well.  I was told I was the healthiest person he had seen in a while.  A few more tests are going to be run, but it looks like for the most part it's just something to do because of my size.

Work is going well.  I haven't mentioned it here, so briefly: I quit Food Lion back in November, and have been working at the LifeWay Christian Store since February.  I'm doing Inventory mostly, as after I was hired the person who was doing inventory put in their 2 weeks.  Godly timing, I say.  :)  I love it there.  The atomosphere is wonderful, and the people I work with are great too.

Elizabeth's showroom opening was last night/this morning.  I went over after work last night, to support her and to see the new place without all the mess of the past 6 months.  It looks great, and  I can't wait to see where the business goes as it continues to grow!  I'm hoping she will be able to leave work before 5 today, and maybe we can get a movie date in or something.

I just got a text from her, saying she is done for the day.  Instead of catching up on movies, I'm going to go see my beautiful wife!

Next time: Street Fighter & Iron Man 3!

:-(

Uncle Bill passed away Wednesday night.  He hadn't been well for about the past year, some type of cancer in his body.  Mom told me on Tuesday when we talked that Di and him had been looking into Hospice.  I'm sad for the loss, but knowing his pain and suffering is no longer and that he is in a much better place helps.  If it had happened unexpectedly, I probably would've taken it a bit harder than I did.  Haven't had the chance to actually talk to mom, but I will this weekend.  Elizabeth and I would like to make it to the funeral, but it just isn't possible. 

We loved you, Bill.  You will be missed.