Upcoming Movies:
Fanboys (August 2007): Four extreme "Star Wars" fans and childhood friends from the Midwest drive across America to Skywalker Ranch in order to sneak a peak at the yet unreleased "Episode 1: Phantom Menace" as one last hoorah for their dying friend. Along the way they run afoul at a Star Trek convention and have it out with the Trekkies.
OK, can this movie be anything but perfect? ;) Score, I just found the trailer as I was writing this. I seriously cried during it, because it's funny not because it's sad. Well, maybe it's a little sad.
This makes me think back to when I saw Phantom Menace for the first time. It was at the Sandburg Mall theater in Galesburg, IL. It was the midnight showing May 18, 1999. I was about to graduate high school. I remember waiting outside the theater. I think we got there around 10:30. It was myself, Tom, my brother, and my dad. I blame 8th grade Kyle for why dad had to come. ;) Nah, it wasn't bad. Plus, my friend Brandy and her 8th grade sister, Amanda. (I think she came). Also, other Star Wars geeks from school including Justin Funk, Eli and Justin Boone, that I remember. It seemed like we took up a whole row ourselves. I remember the local radio station was there and there were a few people dressed up. But, upon subsequent midnight showings, this one was rather tame or lame, take your pick. I have found that I really enjoy going to midnight or first showing because those audiences always react the best and get all the jokes and connections. I often find myself thinking in later showings "why aren't these audiences laughing in all the right places?!?" I saw Phantom Menace 3 times in total. At one showing, Tom and I afterwards got silly stringed and so did the poor old people getting in the car next to us. We still owe Brandy, Val, and Phil for that. Watch out. Later, I saw both Episodes 2 and 3 at midnight showings and at least 3 times. Episode 2 was even with Tom, my brother, Brandy and Shane at this point, and Amanda (I think, again). Episode 3, I know I saw with my friends Tina and Rachel, and Tom. I remember at this showing the people in front of us brought a laptop and were watching the previous movies on it. Ok, that's enough Star Wars nostalgia for now.
I encourage everyone reading this to go out and rent this movie. I have seen much of this information presented before, however, the movie presents it for the layman. Nothing too overly scientific here. An excellent discussion of what they call "a climate crisis." I tend to agree. Please click on the widget in the right hand content and pledge to see this movie.
I know a politician, Al Gore, made this movie. I tend to despise politics and try to stay away. However, this issue is not really political, it extends way beyond that. You owe it to yourself and your children to see this movie. Ohh, I sound so radical. ;)
courtesy of my brother
The high pitch whirring of the drill. The puff of dust emanating from my mouth with pieces of my teeth now floating about in the air. The right side of my face is drooping and I giggle with my half smile. Such was my trip to the dentist.
I have been quite anxious about this trip recalling my last and only cavity. It was the worse pain I have experienced. Now, not having undergone the miracle of childbirth yet, I won't presume to go on about the pain I experienced. Suffice it to say, I was not looking forward to today. However, it was not bad at all really. I barely felt a thing.
I am now supremely convinced that my previous dentist has never heard of a little thing called Novocaine. God bless it. And God Bless Epidurals. Amen.
Super Bowl XLI, here we come. Sweet.
My in-laws, Tom, and I went to the show last Saturday. It exceeded my expectations. It was an excellent production, a good mix of dancing, talking, video, a local dance competition, Joey McIntyre wearing John Deere suspenders, Joey McIntyre singing. Plus, the music was LIVE, oh that makes a huge difference. The only taped music they used was for the local competition pre-show. The stars danced some, the professionals danced some. They did some dance numbers from the show plus new ones. There were group dances and pair dances. From our seats we could see everything suprisingly well. It was so fun to see the dances that I remember from the TV show, Lisa Rinna's Jive, Joey Lawrence and Edyta dancing to Singing in the Rain, Drew Lachey and Cheryl Burke's Paso Doble to Thriller, and of course Drew and Cheryl's Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy free dance. That was awesome to see. What a fun night.
This is great!
NASA, in a housecleaning exercise, threw out their plans for the Saturn 5 rocket, the one that sent humans to the moon.
Courtney Cox was in the movie Masters of the Universe starring He-man.
The Chicago Bears started out as the Decatur Stanleys.
Gravity is actually the warping of spacetime.
Thomas Midgley, who invented tetra-ethyl lead which was added to gasoline and employed in various other ways but because of the toxicity of lead was eventually largely discontinued, also invented cloroflouocarbons (CFC's), those pesky things that punched a hole in the ozone layer. Two for two.
How cool does this look? Check it out.
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You are Superman
| You are mild-mannered, good, strong and you love to help others.  |
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Went to my friends house to visit. Her son Micah could not quite get my name right, so he called me Dory. Her son Micah could not quite get my name right, so he called me Dory. Hmm, seems to fit.
A new study out claims left-handers tend to think quicker than right-handers because they have better connections between their two brain hemispheres. Thus they tend to do better at computer games and sports.
Well I don't know about the sports thing. Although I was always amazed at how well I could catch fly balls in softball given that I have horrible depth perception because of my crazy eyes. (They're crossed by the way).
However the computer game thing I can attest to. My whole family is left-handed, with writing at least. And if you ever watch my brother, my mom, and I play Jeopardy on the computer, it gets dangerous. ;)
Yet the most dangerous game in our house has to be spoons. One of my mom's kitchen tables met its doom during a game of spoons. Even with plastic spoons its dangerours, they tend to have better aerodynamics than metal spoons. Use your imagination.
I have been to two weddings recently, one was my second cousin's and the other my oldest friend's. Oddly enough they were both in Iowa. My oldest friend was married in Des Moines at the Botanical Garden which made for a lovely evening wedding. It was great to see her. I rarely get to. My second cousin was married in Bettendorf but the highlight of her wedding was that they had all their special dances choregraphed. It was so cute. Plus the bride and groom danced to the same song Tom and I did at our wedding. Good times.
Given that they were both evening weddings with receptions in dark halls, my wedding picture curse lives on. I didn't even get one of my second cousin and her groom but they did give us as our favor a CD with Christmas songs. Very unique.
Arr, maties! Well, not really. I took my Mom to the see the new Broadway musical The Pirate Queen in it's World Premiere run at the Cadillac Palace in Chicago. Basically, they test it out somewhere to work out the kinks before it goes to Broadway. It was really good. It follows the story of Grace O'Malley, an Irish "pirate" and cheiftan. It was created by the same gentlemen that produced Les Miserables and Miss Siagon with the Irish dance team behind Riverdance. The music was great. There wasn't really any stand out song, maybe one love song. It was also really hard to understand them when they were singing. I hate that. I don't if it was the sound or if that's just the nature of the beast. The scenery was great, though, and the dancing. I've never been a big fan of that kind of dancing, maybe because I never really seen it live. (Remember, it scares the bejebees out of Chandlier, "His legs flail about as if independent from his body." Well, Michael Flatley anyway). However, I almost wish there was more of the dancing. It kind of came in spurts. But the story was excellent and based upon a true one apparently, kind of cool. Plus, they sing a couple of times in Gaelic. It would be so awesome to learn an almost dead language like that.
Also, in the tradition of Lauren's Tidbits over on my other Blog (Check it out), here's my random connection to the musical. The actress who played Grace O'Malley, Stephanie J. Block, starred opposite Hugh Jackman in the musical The Boy from Oz. It was directed by one of my Dad's High School classmates whose Mom lives next to my Grandparents and she and my Grandma helped me learn how to knit. Random.
My favorite fall festivity, the Spoon River Drive, was the first two weekends in October. It was so nice that I went twice (well, technically, three times, but that didn't rhyme). The first weekend was planned. Trisha came down with me that time. My Mom, myself, Trisha, and one of my Mom's teacher friends, went to London Mills and Farmington. I didn't bring any money because I told myself I wasn't going to buy anything. I think I spent more money than I haven ever spent before. ;) Grr. But I did get this really cool chest of drawers that I am going to use to hold my piano music (someday, when I have a house or more than my current two rooms). Because I bought this on Saturday, Mom and I went back to pick it up on Sunday. Then Tom and I came back the next weekend and Mom and I were bored after church and went back again, mainly for the food. Plus, it was less crowded.
Trisha and I got in the Hot Tub Friday night of the first weekend. It was so relaxing. However, a coyote started howling at one point and she didn't believe me that it was a coyote. Then Saturday night we went to the Rodeffer's and played this crazy strategy game. It was like Age of Empires in board game form. I should find out what that's called. I bet Kyle would like it and subsequently, kick my butt at it.
That second weekend we also celebrated my mom's birthday. We went to Club 41, man, I miss those onion rings. My dad got her a pony, a red 1967 Mustang. Lucky duck. My present is dicussed in Part 3.
Ah, here we are at last. My life update post.
My Grandma Beryle passed away on Septemeber 13. I have no idea how to follow that. I was in DeKalb away from Tom that Wednesday. That sucked. It was a long weekend. It was good to see all the family. Most I hadn't seen in quite a long time, so long that I don't think I could have told you who half of them were. I hadn't seen Kyle since Memorial Day, somehow I knew who he was. I even learned something. My Grandpa would pick my Grandma up in his airplane for their dates. How fun.
Things I've been thinking about that are totally Grandma and Grandpa:
*Hello, Buffalo
*Sewing with Grandma, yet I totally can't sew
*Spaghetti should be served with Pepsi
*Rotary phones are fun
*Golf Carts. Never let Kyle drive the golf cart. He ran over my mom's flowers, hit a huge willow tree, and backed into the gas pump. However, he always counters with the fact that I ran over the dog. Which I counter with I was on the road, the dog ran in front of the cart, and I was sitting on Grandpa's lap.
*My broken elbow, I fell onto an upturned stool that my Grandpa used to carry me around on
*Plane rides
*Waiting for Kyle to be born. I wanted to name him Mark.
*7 point pitch, I think Kyle and I annoyed the heck out of my Grandparent's friends.
*The gravestone in the basement, seriously
*The pump organ
*Ground level squirrel nests
*Playing school and Barbies, I so ruined collector's Barbies
*Mr. Rodgers
*The car fire
*Huge family get togethers with music,accordians, and chiclets
*Sunday school
*Pinning a glass of water to the ceiling
*Slide shows
*Lutefisk, icky
OH MY GOSH! I love 'em. They sooo should not have won that game. Zero offensive scores for Rex Grossman, Arizona Quarterback Matt Lienart did everything right and then Rackers blew the field goal that would have won it for them. CRAZY!!!! It's 11:17 and I am so not tired.
Now if only Northern would get their act together, my football universe would be complete.