hello all. today i'm feeling a tad under the weather, and it's not because of the FABULOUS black bean soup i made last night. i felt better after a nap and some cranberry juice, now i ate ice cream and i feel oogie again.

blog Bulletin: The house hole is going to be dug this week!!!!

Maybe as early as tomorrow. I'll post pictures.

Blog Review: Stearns & Foster Mattress

Oh my, what a difference a mattress makes. I know if you can get it at marden's you should, but if you can't, you should put $100 a year into a bank, then when you can afford it you should buy a S and F. This mattress is SUPER firm, but there are NO more aching backs and lame limbs in my my house.

I have all those snicket books, I can send one in your next package if you like. I suggest you don't read the entire series like I have, however, as it's basically the same after you read three.

Blog Review: Run Lola Run

Directed by
Tom Tykwer

Writing credits
Tom Tykwer

Add this title to MyMovies Add to MyMovies IMDbPro Professional Details
Genre: Drama / Thriller / Crime / Romance (more)

Tagline: Jeden Tag, jede Sekunde triffst Du eine Entscheidung, die Dein Leben verändern kann. (more)

Plot Outline: Lola runs. To save her boyfriend's life. (more) (view trailer)

This German thriller is about what happens if Lola runs one step faster or slower. About 3/4 of the movie is Lola running through the streets. It's ok, for netflix though. I'll tell you the ending if you want to save yourself all the running.

Those are two very good ideas, but jen suggested a g.c. to a restaurant that just sells dessert in ol' Beantown so that's what I'm sending. Orchids are pretty delicate - it'll probably want diet coke.

No she can't have wine. She's allergic. Wine for me is a vvg suggestion however.

Blog Poll:

If you were female and turning 40 this week, and I know you, but not REALLY well, but still, I like you enough to send you a gift, but not well enough to know what you're really into, what would you like for your birthday?

Let's see, I thought of a couple of names today....Erin, Neive, and something else what was it....it was another four letter one....

Well, I guess we can make that 16 days now can't we?

Blog Poll:

How can we stand this rain any longer. Leigh, how many days has it rained?

Sunday JK mowed for a little bit, I cleaned the bathroom and made salad and dessert for camp. We went to the Thurlow's and had a lovely afternoon. Maddy invited herself to spend the night. She had all her stuff with her 'just in case". Ellen made this excellent steak with mushroom gravy that was AWESOME. I made bread salad and angelfood cake with peaches and strawberries in vanilla bean simple syrup with whipped cream just for finish. It was all very good. We came home. I read a little and went to bed. JK played poker all night.

Saturday was a blur, and since Leigh already told you all about it, I don't have to, except to say that I came home and went immediately to bed.

Weekend in review

Friday:

Watched Isaiah's play, then JK and I decided to go cruise building materials and recliners. We went to Granville lumber, got prices on crap then went to Dorsey furniture. (this is for Orlie not us) They had the most gigantic recliner you've ever seen. It's called "the Beast" it's twice the size of a normal recliner and it costs $1000. For obvious reasons we didn't buy it. So we went to another place that had nothing suitable either. Then we were going to go to Tuffy Bear but decided we might as well swing by Marden's first, to get a baseline idea. Well, they had the perfect recliner for the perfect price so we bought it. So then, since it only took us three minutes, JK said "don't you think we should look around some" so we did. JK found a Stearns and Foster matress for $200. Well, every since we spent the night at this B&B in Bethel we've had our hearts set on getting one someday, and what better place to get it than Marden's. So we got it. It is the most comfortable mattress I've ever slept in. OMB. I wasn't even creaky when I woke up this morning.

how about zelda? how about verna? jai? tess?

red herring from dictionary.com

http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=red+herring

there is this contraption you can buy that you hook into your car stereo however you want, it's like a docking station for your ipod. i work with a girl who has one, and frankly, i'll never ride with her again. she's much more concerned about what music is playing than what's going on on the road. she says she's an asian chick so she's allowed to drive crazy.

from jen

How about



Brea

Phaedra

Ena

Mab

Maire

you should put on your yahoo web messenger or aol and chat with jen all afternoon. She's bored stiff too.

Welp, we're outta here for the day. I'm going to make JK take me to bangor after the play. Have a good weekend.

!

you just listen to it with the earphone so you don't have to mind the traffic. There must be some kind of car adapter. RR is probably the only one that can answer that question.

dc blog 4

could you please blog that ltl can burn the weezer for me and just give it to me whenever i see her again please and thank you

no, salsa and tomato sauce ARE NOT interchangeable. I couldn't eat the burger, I was so disgusted. I did not send it back a second time though, as I was talking to someone acquainted with Everett and I didn't want them to think "Everett's granddaughter is a real bitch isn't she." So i just ignored the burger and had a pleasant conversation. The guy called me shorey during the rest of the time. That was cute.

dc blog 3

Coffee nirvana…..



I have learned that I like skim as much as or more than regular milk in my lattes. How much do I love life now?


RK retorts - I told you so!

dc blog 2

Things that make you go hmmm…..



Now I bought these capris on Saturday. Omg I got in touch with my inner foxy black momma on Saturday. There were these three black women working at this plus sized clothing store (or women’s clothing, or fat chick clothes, whichever you prefer) on Saturday….oh lord, they were telling me how I had to dress right and represent, and blah blah blah…they were making fun of mila and todd for even being IN the store to begin with, it was hysterical. Well, not to mila and todd. But I definitely connected with the sisters. Anyway, the point of the story is not the foxy black mommas. The point is that I bought these khaki capris (that look wicked cute today, btw), that have both belt loops AND a canvas draw string belt that is inside the pants but comes out a bit in the back, for show I guess. But WHY, oh WHY, would someone design pants that have both an internal belt AND loops? So people can have versatility? No. that doesn’t fly with me. That designer is a pussy—make up your mind, dammit! Belt it or loop it, NOT BOTH! Anyway, in a fit of rage this am I tore out the belt and threw it in the wastebasket.YOU GOTSTA REPRESENT, YO! I BE ALL UP IN THAT DESIGNAH’S FACE NOW!

dc blogger says....

Well, I don’t even remember the last time I blogged, so I guess I’ll just write about my whereabouts all week and whoever is interested can enjoy. That probably should be ‘whomever’ but it is the blog, I’m sure no one cares.



So yesterday after work mila and I had a total evening of decadence. First I went to Bloomingdales where I bought my 575 watt, 14 cup, steel blue kitchenaid mixer. Yes I know, it’s more than I need. But it was on sale, and the sale price was just a little more than the regular price of the artisan model, and it came with a 100 dollar attachment of my choice, I chose the ice cream maker bowl. I took it to mila and todd’s apt and we took pictures of our kitchenaids side by side. I am licking mine, paris-hilton-goes-carl’s jr-style. I’m sure that will be on the blog before long. Mila showed off her safari-ing muscles by carrying the mixer to the car.



Then we went to ll bean where I saw purple nalgene bottles, which I have been drooling over since I saw for the first time. 9.50 seemed pricey, but after the deal I got on the mixer I decided to splurge…guess what?? On sale—7 bucks! I was happy. I even got the little splash guard insert. Then we went to…ann taylor, I think, and m got a lovely girly outfit that I helped pick out. Then we went to meet todd. We got some shirts for him, a power pink tie. We found this lingerie store going out of business so I picked up a few little gorgeous things for half price, then we went to ca pizza kitchen for dinner. MMMMM. I had roasted garlic chicken pizza. Yum. Went to the product store and bought rk a present. Then we sent todd home. The most decadent and girly part of the evening was when we went to this chocolatier called ‘ethel m’ and got chocolate covered strawberries, and ate them while we stared at the polo ad that showed the very hot, topless man.



So anyway, the rest of the week was slightly more mundane but still fine. Mila made dinner every night……I did some situps here and there, and love the pilates ball that rk sent me. Was SO mad that that no talent hack carrie underwood won ai. I think I’ll buy bo’s album just to spite her. Speaking of music, do I have to buy the new weezer, or is someone going to get me a copy? Ok, that’s all for now.

this is what I'm making for sunday's event at Ellen's camp.

RUSTIC BREAD SALAD

When preparing bread salad, do not drizzle with oil and vinegar until just before serving, or the bread cubes will become soggy.

1 thin French bread, halved lengthwise and cut into 1-inch cubes (about 6 cups)
7 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1/2 hothouse (seedless) cucumber, peeled
1 small red bell pepper, stemmed, seeded, halved and cut into 1/4-inch dice
2 celery ribs, cut into 1/2-inch dice
2 carrots, cut into 1/2-inch dice
1/3 cup diced (1/4-inch) red onion
8 ripe plum tomatoes, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 cup halved yellow cherry or pear tomatoes
8 whole fresh basil leaves, coarsely torn
8 whole fresh mint leaves, coarsely torn
3 tablespoons red-wine vinegar
2 hard-cooked eggs, chopped (for garnish)

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.

2. Toss the bread cubes with 3 tablespoons of the olive oil, the salt, and pepper. Spread the bread cubes in a single layer on a baking sheet and bake until slightly toasted and golden, about 15 minutes, shaking the pan occasionally. Set aside.

3. Halve the cucumber lengthwise and cut into 1/2-inch pieces. Place in a large bowl along with the red pepper, celery, carrots, onion, tomatoes, basil, and mint. Season with salt and pepper. Add the bread cubes. Drizzle the salad with the remaining 4 tablespoons of olive oil and the vinegar. Toss the salad and garnish with the chopped eggs. Per serving (based on 8): 220 calories, 19g carbohydrates, 5g protein, 14g fat, 55mg cholesterol.
Nutritional Breakdown: New Wellness, Richmond, Va.

Makes 6 to 8 servings.

Simply Delicious® by Sheila Lukins
PARADE®
August 2002

PARADE® and Simply Delicious® are used by CondéNet Inc. under license.

Epicurious.com © CondéNet, Inc. All rights reserved.

I STILL KNOW IT JENN!!!

so you are probably wondering about the poll to your left. M and I went out to a restaurant int Lincoln. It wasn't Wing Wah, macdonald's, The Mill Street Diner or JJ's. I ordered a burger and when they brought it, it was cold and rare. I sent it back. they cut it in half, slapped it on the grill for a few minutes and brought it back. They didn't even bother to scrape off the old ketchup and cheese. Isn't that disgusting? I will probably never eat there again, knowing there is other peoples spit all over their grill.

Maura

you can just keep hitting "give me a name" on this thingy...

http://www.namenerds.com/uucn/randomirish.html

I worked with an Irish woman named Sari. I'll have to consult an Irish name generator website.

girly names

Madeline suggests "Chelsea". I suggest "Lani", not pronounced like Lani Witt, pronounced to rhyme with Yanni.

I like Celerie better than Volley

Uncle Henry's Unusual item of the hour...

1/2 gallon jar of buttons $100. Hope.

I don't really understand the phrase "red herring" anyway. Maybe you and sean could put together a list of 10 names - 5 each and there could be an internet vote and you'd have to name it that. You could do it american idol style. It would be a first in blog history. Or - better yet, you could have 1-900 phone number, people could call in and vote and you could charge them 99 cents each.

I thought it was Zane! Are we starting from scratch? How about Amelie?

Oh my. I didn't even open my email this morning!

No just tell us so we can start calling it Zane. If you're not going to tell us then email me so I can know.

So, LTL, how did you like STeve?

but to be honest he did NOT write the musical..he's a head stand artist, not a musician.

Thank you Liam, for calling me last night. This was our convo.

"Rachael?"
"hi LIam"
"I'm going to take a bath now, bye"
"Bye"

he's just modest.

Notice:

Isaiah's musical is at 1:15 tomorrow at E.S.S. He plays the parts of Clownfish #1 and Clownfish#5.

Blog Review: Crumb

Tagline: Weird sex · Obsession · Comic books

Plot Outline: A cinematic portrait of the controversial comic book writer/artist and his traumatized family. (more) (view trailer)

User Comments: weird man (more)

I'm trying to figure out how this movie got on my queue. I think Netflix should add a "notes" section beside each movie on your queue so you can say "jenpick" "leighpic", "new yorker recommendation", "just watched blue velvet", - you know, what your state of mind was when you picked this movie. I mean Crumb was an interesting enough guy, not a freak really, just an honest person who moved to France. I watched it through maybe the first 1.5 hours then fell asleep. Watch it for yourself, and tell me how it ends.

My mostly new photo printer just made the WORST noise ever!!! Ugh, I hope it's not dead.

I thought you hated bill murray. I'm glad you're in the club.

Blog REview: The LIfe Aquatic with STeve Zissou

I believe there are only two people on this blog that would enjoy this film. Those two people would be Leigh and myself. In order to like this movie you must have a deep personal liking for Bill Murray. You must be willing to accept all his flaws and the accomodations people making to him because he's a "star". The music is excellent. The plot is flawed. Willem Davoe is excellent. The animation is kooky. The character names are stellar. Don't watch it for yourself unless you are Leigh or me.

Why on God's Green Earth would you watch a 10 hour bible movie? My DVD player remote has died.

Jen DO NOT watch Steve Zissou. I'm warning you.

I suggest they watch The Alligator People. That - or Any Which Way but Loose.

I'm VERY unhappy with you part-time so called bloggers. ONly THREE entrants in the t-shirt contest? That's pathetic. Emily, Rachael and Amy all win.

Bridge Report

I had bridge at suzanne's last night. Everyone was there that was supposed to be. Orlie formally said hello to everyone, as, apparently, he was chastised for not doing so last week. The snack was a mixture of crunch and munch, honey roasted peanuts and misc. m n m's. The cake was edible but dry and not great at all, although it was beautiful and thank god I garnished it with whipped cream and raspberries otherwise it would have been VERY boring and unremarkable. Prizes were awarded to Tracey for "high" and Suzanne for low and goose. Aunt Faye will host bridge next week at Suzanne's.

I just thank Mark Burnett that he didn't produce Rob and Amber's honeymoon, Rob and Amber's first sex and Rob and Amber doing the dishes together. I'm sure Rob and Amber's pregnancy WILL Be forthcoming however.

as for the hateful cake - don't bother with that. Take the concept apply it to your favorite choc. cake, mousse and ganache and you'll ...be much better off.

Why don't you post that recipe to the blog. I don't think i can throw rice and peanut butter on the table with peas sprinkled on top...but maybe.

Well I did watch the final hour of Rob and Amber's wedding, just so you would have something to complain about first thing this morning. It was really touching when Rob cried over his Red Sox painting.

best cake ever--victory deli chocolate mousse cake, even though i puked it up for several of you to witness

for dinner you should make this thing that mila makes with the veggies and the peanut butter and the rice and the heat, i don't know what it's called or the recipe, but i enjoyed it.

i won't be around for m day

The mexican place was in Harrington and I'd be happy to take a day trip there with you some time this summer. The other places were both in Portland. Perhaps you should sample fair food all over the state.

OMB! I'd never think that! That other guy might, though, if you're into anime. Tell us about the cute guy.

That seems like a lot to ask you to do in two months. I think you should do what makes you feel the most comfortable.

this is why i love urban dictionary - it's all about point of view

5. uber
1. The German word for "over".

2. Word used by douchebags typically to describe something in one of thier anime cartoons or mindless online games.
1. Hitler belived himself to be the ubermeinch.

2.Douche: Did you see when Chinpokodytskyo took off her shirt on the battlefield while fighting Yu-Gi-Oh?
That was uber awesome!

Guy: You are an uber dick.
Source: James "Stardust" Bond, Lanseng, MI, May 3, 2005

define it for yourself...

2. Uber
Term with literal meaning of "above" in German. Brought to the mainstream in the early 80's by hardcore American punk band, the Dead Kennedys when using the term in the anti-Californian government song "California Uber Alles", which is a take off the German motto of "Deustchland Uber Alles", which translates to "Germany above all." The term was picked up in their native California stomping grounds by the typical surfers and "punks" and extended from there to many teenagers, the majority of which use the term online.
That was uber-lame.
Source: God., Jan 2, 2004

Urban Dictionary.com states...

1. uber
The ultimate, above all, the best, top, something that nothing is better than. Also Über
I'm Über confused...
Source: PHaNuBiS, Mar 28, 2003

There. I feel smarter.

I've always wondered about that word uber? I'll have to look that up.

You don't know tired till you've been pregnant, that's for sure. I loved it when I was preggers with Isaiah and Maddy and I would have a three hour nap every day. In case we were wondering? We've asked 12 times RR!!! I hope I can visit you in Montreal, it will be so much more fun with someone who knows their way around. Maybe after baby comes, Emily and I can come up for 3 a.m. poutine!

Blog Review: Martha Washington Cake

This is the most difficult cake I've ever made. It should be called the Martha stewart cake because it is bossy and difficult. I'll post the recipe, but I'm warning you not to make it. I'm VERY pissed at this cake right now.

Martha Washington's Chocolate Mousse Cake
Makes 2 9-inch cakes; serves 10-12
Chocolate Cake
2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter
4 large eggs
5 cups cake flour, sifted
1/4 cup unsweetened Dutch-processed cocoa powder, sifted
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1cup whole milk

Chocolate Mousse
4 ounces (4 squares) semisweet chocolate
4 large eggs, separated
1/2 cup heavy cream
Chocolate Ganache
1 pint (2 cups) heavy cream
24 ounces (4 cups) semisweet chocolate chips
Candied flowers or chopped nuts, for garnish (optional)

Method
Prepare the chocolate cake: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly spray two 9-inch round cake pans with vegetable cooking spray and line the bottoms with parchment paper circles.
In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream the sugar and butter on medium to high until light and fluffy, scraping side of bowl often.
Add eggs slowly, scraping side of bowl often.
In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt. Add to the butter-sugar mixture, alternating with the milk.
Divide the batter between the two prepared pans. Bake for 30-35 minutes, until firm to the touch or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
Cool cakes in pans on wire racks for 10 minutes. Remove cakes from pans and completely cool.


Prepare the Chocolate Mousse: Place water in the bottom pan of a double boiler to that the top of the water is 1/2 inch below the upper pan. Place the chocolate squares in the upper pan. Then place the boiler over low heat. Stir the chocolate constantly until it is melted. The water in the bottom of the double boiler should not come to boiling while the chocolate is melting.
Remove the melted chocolate from heat. Add egg yolks and beat well. Set aside to cool.

In a chilled bowl of an electric mixer with chilled beaters, beat the 1/2 cup heavy cream on low to medium until soft peaks form. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until chilled.

In a separate clean and dry bowl of an electric mixer, whip the egg whites on medium until soft peaks form. Reserve.

Gently fold the chilled whipped cream into the chocolate mixture until the cream is just combined into the mixture. Do not over fold.

Gently fold the reserved whites into the chocolate until just combined. Cover the mixture with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour before using.

Prepare the Chocolate Ganache: In a heavy 1-quart saucepan, bring the 2 cups heavy cream just to a boil, stirring frequently.
Remove the saucepan from the heat.
In a large bowl, place the chocolate chips. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate and let sit for one minute.
Whisk to thoroughly combine ingredients and allow to cool. When the mixture is room temperature, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until 1 hour before ready to use.

Assemble the cake: When the cake has cooled completely, using a serrated knife, carefully cut each cake in half horizontally to make a total of 4 layers, 2 per cake.

To assemble, place first cake layer on a large serving plate. Alternate the cake layers and mousse filling, spreading the mousse evenly onto each cake layer.

Frost the outside of the cake with the Chocolate Ganache. Refrigerate the cake until ready to serve. Garnish with candied flowers or chopped nuts.

That's pretty true about bad cake leigh. What do you use for sauce in your stir fry. I wish someone would come and really teach me how to cook Thai and Chinese.

Actually we have hot dogs very infrequently because we love them too much. We only have them on very special occasions.

Blog poll #3 - is anyone going to be around here for Memorial day?

blog poll#2 what can't i make that's "different" for dinner. I'm so sick of cooking lately.

Blog poll: what is the best kind of cake ever?

Of course you do KNOW i'm kidding right? For bridge tonight I'm making the extremely elegant and seriously begged for "Martha Washington Cake" I'll let you know how it comes out but I'm not very hopefull at the moment as the mousse recipe is NOT the best ever.

I STILL KNOW IT JENN!!!

RR you have SERIOUS catching up to do.

Due to bridge I'm going to miss BOTH Amber and Rob's wedding AND the Contender finale. Will one of you tape them for me?

Of course they ARE going to get some of their right wing wacko judges I assume.

Maybe my little note to them had some affect on their vote. I said WWGD? (What would George (Mitchell) do) That must have worked.

..although my kids to forget sometimes and mention Jeff Gordon. They are swiftly fined.

I'm telling you, Care Bears and Barney - all time worst children's shows of all time. When Maddy was born we instituted a Barney Free zone, that was a good policy. We also have a NASCAR free zone.

The Alligator People is a GREAT movie Snoop. Watch it for yourself, if you dare, and until you see it, don't judge it. Gawd. As for Nemo, what did they do that Monster's Inc didn't? Monster's inc is MUCH better than Nemo. It's a wonderful Life is sappy drivel and nothing more, just like Nemo. Keep swimming for god's sake.

I didn't do anything wonderful last night. We watched poker, had steak, broccoli and rice for dinner. Jen beat me at Canasta.

contestant #3 

Goodfellas was ignorant. It had that really bad actor guy, and they were all such Corleone wanna be's it wasn't even funny. My GAWD!

#2 again 

That's much better. Point of information - you may submit more than 1 entry.

contestant #1 again 

hmm I may have to try those again for clarity.

Contestant #2 

Contestant #1 

and what about Willy Wonka???? Shouldn't that be there? And how could it be a list without the Wizard of Oz my GOD!!!

I forgot to list It's a wonderful life. Puke again.

I take exception...

with...
A-C
Casablanca
Citizen Kane

just plain boring - both

D-F
Finding Nemo

finding FORMULA nothing else

G-J
Goodfellas

Good for NOTHING


Schindler's List
Some Like it Hot

puke.

What's missing: Well obviously Zorro, the Gay blade, and Princess Bride and other's I'm not thinking of right now...and by the way, thanks for mentioning it LTL, I'll have to add another 60 titles to my wait list thanks to you.

Well thank blog there's lot of blogging. Apparently my boycott of it this morning worked. I have a lot to comment on. Firstly - yard sale: I keep making these piles of crap for your yard sale, but then i get mad at the piles and take them to the dump. Since there's no room for excess at my house that's what happens. I'll keep trying though.

Star Wars - apparently I have to see it, peer pressure is really the only reason, I hate to be left out of things. They should run a HHG-SW double feature.

Driving: Maddy is obsessed with driving too..."when I'm sixteen....." that's what we hear all the time, like "she'll get Leigh's beetle and paint it pink" etc.

I miss Liam, when would be a convenient time to call him?

T-Shirts - we've received one great entry to the tshirt contest.

Office - I've slept through it twice. I need to try again.

The boyfriend formerly known as T-Square: Leigh, they all have a crush on me, accept it before it destroys you. How was the jerk chicken?

Movies: poker has taken over my life now, movies are on the back burner. I paid for the second copy of sideways I haven't been able to watch or find.

Contender: I'm rooting for Sergio.

Wedding: 1 more day till Rob and Amber's wedding.

Movies II: The Bicycle Thief AND Annie Hall are talentless hacks. They don't deserve a spot in the top 100. Is Bad Seed There?

Blockbuster bribes Netflix Customers to switch

Posted May 21, 2005, 4:01 PM ET by Peter Sciretta
Filed under: Critical Thought & Trends, Deals
Blockbuster Online Blockbuster Video is so desperate to make you make the switch to their online rental service that they're willing to give you two months of service and a DVD for free. They're offering this deal to customers of Netflix or Walmart's online DVD rental services (which will soon be merged into one). But really, why would you want to? Blockbuster's shipment houses are few and far between. Do you really want to wait 4 to 7 days for a DVD movie you ordered for rent? With a Netflix facility 30 miles away I get the DVD's overnight in most cases. Blockbuster, you can't bribe me!

Blog Review: No-Pudge fat free brownie mix

You know how sometimes you want brownies, but you don't feel like cooking? This is the mix for you. You just but it in a bowl and add some yogurt and stir. They're chewy and delicious. We got the Cappucino flavor and even the kids love them. Bake them for yourself!!!

correction: They didn't merge - they just took over Walmarts rental service, they've agreed to promote each other, which explains the annoying Wal-Mart ads on Netflix' site.

i think i'm cancelling my netflix. they merged with wal-mart. hello, blockbuster!

It's true I didn't watch alf. Well maybe once in a while, but not more than once a year.

Um no, i didn't watch Alf. I was just joking about that.

Emily, JK and I got this new magazine, and in it is a designer who's first name is Celerie. I'm not kidding either, so I say, pick the food your craving, dress it up with a fancy spelling and give that name to your kid. Maddy would have been named Laemonayde if I'd chosen that method.

Oh come on, I bet you watched Alf.

Oh man, it never dawned on me to put those on my netflix, I'm going to do that right this minute!!! Doesn't Sean know that all those British series were THE culture in this area in our time. My god.

That is a ridiculous claim. Tell me the shop teacher didn't know the place was condemned for god's sake.

darn it, I guess I'll have to read the BDN today.

I'm not sure if that PROVES she's contree, but I think it's more evidence. I think she should be more enthusiastic.

the Jason Bateman discussion

ME: How do you feel about Jason Bateman
Jen: he's aging well
Me: do you like him?
Jen: yeah he's likeable
Jen: i'm not gaga
Jen: but i like him

Blog Review: A Life without the News

I always wondered how the Wonders did it, but I have to say it's very liberating. Now instead of discussing Judge nominations and foreign policy all day, JK discuss poker hands and the merits of the Barcelona chair. (I love it - he hates it, it's always our big fight).

.....and where is RR? When are you going to Montreal RR - you still haven't answered that question?

Upcoming events: Suzanniversary

Ok this is the plan, I'm having a family party at the 'rents house on June 25 in the afternoon. If you're closely related you may or may not get an actual invitation. This is going to be a very informal gathering. You may tell anyone you wish, but I'm only actually inviting family and the closest friends. Cake will be served, maybe something else. You may bring food if you like but NO PRESENTS. Your presence is the present as they say. I should think of something fun for everyone to bring though, you know how people bring recipes or pictures or something, so there's a blog poll for you, what could I have everyone bring that is fun and costs next to nothing?

upcoming events:memorial day

There will be an informal bbq/picnic/visit sometime during memorial weekend at Ellen's camp. We've invited ourselves and she is willing to host - so there you have it. Bring your own meat. (just kidding)

Well, based on that review I guess I can wait for the ultimate boxed set when Suzanne gets it for xmas 6 years after it's released.

I'm so glad Kendra won apprentice. I think Tana gave it to her she whined so much. God. I mean didn't she know Don had his mind all made up he was just making sure she was the whiny loser he thought she was? His strategy worked, obviously, she dug her own grave.

I wonder if Jen hates Jason Bateman??

I'm thrilled too. I'll watch it though, just 4 years after it's out so I don't have to watch the commercials. Congrats for cutting your hair. I hope you don't catch my hair chopping illness though.

The fickle finger of fate is plotting to ensure that I will never see Sideways. The first one was busted and the second one I have lost somehow.....

Poor LTL, how dare you eat at Applebee's! EWW! Anyway, I'm working today after taking yesterday off. Did I tell you guys that Madeline decided to be in the recital after all?

That's not surprising to me at all, as I hate all of that pizza.

oh yeah...and btw snoop, who said i cared anything about Rob and Amber, I only posed the question because their stupid commercial was on....gawd....

Isaiah was a trooper at the dentist. Very brave. He was there for almost two hours with instruments stuck in his pie hole and never said a peep - Never moved a muscle. I tried to buy him a bike but he wouldn't let me. OH well. I got him a happy meal and he was thrilled with the toy inside.

Blog REview: The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean

Tagline: If this story ain't true... it shoulda been (more)

Plot Summary: A no account outlaw establishes his own particular brand of law and order and builds a town on the edges of civilization in this farcical western... (more) (view trailer)

User Comments: allegory for Huston (more)

User Rating: *******___ 6.6/10 (1,024 votes) Vote Here

Cast overview, first billed only:
Paul Newman .... Judge Roy Bean
Roy Jenson .... Outlaw
Gary Combs .... Outlaw
Fred Brookfield .... Outlaw
Bennie E. Dobbins .... Outlaw (as Ben Dobbins)
Richard Farnsworth .... Outlaw (as Dick Farnsworth)
Leroy Johnson .... Outlaw
Fred Krone .... Outlaw
Terry Leonard .... Outlaw
Dean Smith .... Outlaw
Margo Epper .... Whore
Jeannie Epper .... Whore
Stephanie Epper .... Whore
Victoria Principal .... Maria Elena, aka The Angel (Bean's woman)
Barbara J. Longo .... Fat whore
(more)

Runtime: 120 min

That's all IMDB information obviously. I like the Epper sisters as the whores...

Anyway, this movie starts out a really funny. That lasts for an hour, clever funniness for an hour and you wonder "why have I never heard of this movie before:. Then it hits you. It takes an utterly ridiculous turn when the judge adops a bear. The bear is a good actor but ruins the movie. The star studded cast never recovers and the movie ends in a blaze of glory with a spark of grief. Watch it for yourself, if you dare, but be ready for the slow pace of that crazy 70's movie style.

maybe that's a contree thing about jen, she hates survivor, though i don't blame her based on the past few seasons.

How absolutely IGNORANT are two people that get up at 6:30 in the morning. Stay up until 10:30 (or later) playing poker and THEN decide to watch a two hour movie. It ends at 12:40 and THEN the idiots decide it's a REALLY REALLY good idea to watch Conan for a few minutes ONLY to get sucked in by his comic genius. Then the idiots decide to stay up, at least, to catch Trump. Conan was hilarious though. He did a pretty good impression of trumps hair.

buy the frigging kid pink.

and i don't HATE ham, i just don't love it.

you are a hick.

i honest to god don't know who rob and amber are, and i won't be watching they're wedding.

blog poll#2 (taggers are required to answer blog polls you know!)

Who's going to watch rob and amber's wedding? Who wants to but won't admit it? Who will watch, not because they know who Rob and Amber are, but just because everyone else will and they want to be in on the discussion at the water cooler?

blog poll:

WHY am I watching the Country music awards and why are none of these people dressed up? God.

I actually feel like quite a hick, sitting here, playing poker, drinking a bud and watching country music. Well, I'm not actually drinking a bud of couse....

Good point RR.

You should stop at season 3 of sopranos.

You should NOT increase your netflix, because unless they've changed you don't seem to get more movies. You will get offered the job but will not take it. You should go to steuben.

That is VERY good advice. I'll just go to baby gap. That's guaranteed to be adorable.

Well a friend of mine just had a baby - it's a girl and her name is Sophie Rose.

Blog poll: I need to get a gift for this kid. Should it be pink? Can you buy pink for acquaintances? I didn't want anything pink for my girl, but maybe I was just being stubborn because I was preggers and I could be. What do you think?

...and I don't see WHY you won't name the kid Egolany. How can she become toast president if her name isn't egolany.

I love that name - girl or boy. very good. If it's a girl can we call her Zaney?

Headstand Update:

We had a 30 second headstand yesterday. We're SO proud!

I"m going to be gone most of the day tomorrow, as well, as my boy has a dentist appt.

In the interest of originality, Jen and I suggest Zoi as an alternative to Zoe.

How about Zoe or Een

I don't think Amy likes Curb, but Jen does like curb - though she's not an addict. Jen doesn't like ham.

That's an excellent point LTL, it's true. Jen, we love you, but we all know you're contree. JLYFM. Anywho here is my evidence. Jen does not like ANY movie that she is watching with other people, and Jen HATES the Jamie Oliver chicken recipe EVEN IF you leave the asparagus out of it. I'm sure there are a MILLION other things and I'll be thinking of it all day. But Jen, you wouldn't be as much fun if you weren't so contree, so it's a net positive.

blog poll

blog poll: is jen just contree??

now, before you answer, i'm going to give you some minor qualification. i think to actually be labeled "contree", you have to think of something you ALL absolutely LOVE that i do not. and i think, because i'm human, i'm allowed one exception, and i'm choosing asparagus. now if you can come up with something else that i hate but the rest of you ENTIRELY LOVE, i'll consider myself contree.

(and no, amy doesn't like spinal tap so don't even try it.)

so sorry to hear about the head trauma you have suffered. if it makes you feel any better, i've had terrible headaches off and on for the last 3 days too, they must be sympathy headaches.

let's see. mila and todd went to fla this weekend to visit her mom so i had to do what i usually do to entertain myself--drink coffee, clean, and shop. i made the best pizza crust ever too...'magine that! i made spinach feta sundried tomato and onion pizza, then sunday night when the peeps got home i made them chicken florentine which mila said was great and she can't think of a better way to eat chicken.

we're preparing for some of the inlaws to come this week so tonight we went to the awesome grocery store to get supplies--i offered to roast a chicken. mila's going to make pasta. and one night we're going out for burgers or something.

mad, mad, MAD props to amy (and max) for my late mother's day present--max's little paw print, forever captured in plaster of paris! the women i worked with thought it was the cutest thing ever. it pretty much is. and it's in a heart-shaped box, no less. i miss my kitty.

mad, mad, MAD blog props to ltl and unk for finding my plum dishes at marden's! if i ever have a kitchen, they will look fantastic! and if i ever have a kitchen, you're both invited over for the meal of your choice!

God LTL, what is with these Migraines?

Congrats to Tom for winning survivor. I didn't want you to win, but then I didn't want any of those people to win, really, so I guess you're as good as any of the others. Mind you, I still thing you're pretty hot!

well...i've been TRYING to call my little nephew all weekend but SOMEONE has been monopolizing the phone line. gawd.

Blog Review: Lemony Snickett: A Series of Unfortunate Events

Let me just start by saying how unfortunate it was when this movie arrived at our home last week. We finally watched it and here is my review. Jim Carey is awful. Awful, in this case, meaning "plays a very good Count Olaf" (the villain in the movie). I mean YES , he IS Jim Carry and he plays the Count in a VERY Jim Carrey way, but it isn't TOO over the top. He's very good. Overall I'd say the movie is very good, good, in this case, being a word that means: "It's done in a way that captures the book series pretty well, even though it leaves out all the clever little literary places, but still it's entertaining if you happen to be somewhere in the 7-37 age group".

my desktop is a pic of mt. katahdin. i can't get anything else to actually stay. my laptop is a pos.

in other news, i found that i get a discount on ford and gm model cars. look out ford hybrid suv, here i come (eventually)!

Britney & Kevin: Family Planning

May 13, 2005

Grammy Award®-winning pop icon BRITNEY SPEARS and husband KEVIN FEDERLINE invite America to get up close and personal on their new UPN reality series, "Britney and Kevin: Chaotic," premiering Tuesday, May 17 at 9 p.m.

"I think my fans are going to fall completely in love with him, just like I did," Britney shares. "He's the sexiest thing in the world. And he's sensitive. He's a perfect husband. He's awesome."

The footage for "Chaotic" is all from the personal home videos that the soon-to-be new mom and her husband shot while she was on the road for her 2004 Onyx Hotel Tour, with additional footage they shot during their courtship, engagement and wedding.

Excited by the new man in her life, Britney documented their first romantic moments together.

"We kind of used the camera to get to know each other better," Britney explains. "I invited him to come see me in London. I didn't really know him that well and when I got the camera out, it made me feel better."

ET's first look at "Chaotic" shows how the relationship between the pop princess and her dancer/model husband began as a friendship, and escalated from there.

"It's kind of interesting to see how we fell in love, got in fights, everything," she says.

The idea to make the footage public was sparked when Kevin took the video back to his hotel room one night and edited it.

"He did all this cool stuff to it," Britney recalls. "We were like this could totally be in a video. This is awesome. From there we took it in our hands and wanted to make it our own project."

Even before "Britney and Kevin: Chaotic," the newlyweds had a video history together. Kevin appears as Britney's Mr. Perfect in her "My Prerogative" video.

"This whole project got started with me holding a little camera and just taking it on tour with me," Britney explains. "Actually, a lot of this footage was done a year ago. My husband and I were looking back at it and we thought we would share it with everybody."

For more on Britney and Kevin, tune in to tonight's ET. Then catch this weekend's "ET on MTV" and get "Chaotic."

in search of...

The PERFECT head stand pillow.

blog poll: how many people have kids with tongues sticking out on their computer screen?

Announcement: Maddy IS going to be in the piano recital.

So, wednesday afternoon I went to Calais and had dinner with Unk. We went to an AWESOME chinese place right downtown. He had singapore noodles (I think) which was EXCELLENT. I had some tofu thing which was very good but not what I expected (I wanted more veggies and less gravy). Still it was very good, and it felt really good to know we were at THE happenin place in Calais. The restaurant was PACKED and all the glitterati were there. We also spent about an hour browsing Marden's which was quite fun. Then we said our good byes. I didn't do much else - watched the final two episodes of SATC (again) and cried (again, shut up Jen and Emily), watched a little poker, went to sleep)

It is at least 1000 times larger than an I pod. When do you leave for Montreal RR?

I wonder if you can even guess what my husband has gone out to potentially purchase. If you can guess you can use it for 1 day (maybe). You'll have to come get it though.

Notice:

I will be unavailable for bloggin or anything else from 3:00 today until about the same time tomorrow. I'll be in the car if you need me. I'm taking Norma to the airport. Snoop, I'll bring you a coffee tomorrow afternoon if you tell me what you want.

drink gatorade!!! I'm sad that Rob and Amber didn't win amazing race, but I AM glad for Uchenna and Joyce.

Well, I've looked for the secret to David and Dania's amazing quick change routine, but I can't find it anywhere!!

I can only send the headstand if you have broadband or are willing to wait for a long time and let it download - it's 2 mb. Let me know if you want it.

Well, JK went to school with a 7' jazz musician from boston - how many could there be? And since there are so many coincidences in this world, I think it's pretty likely.

GOD i want to find a host so I can post videos on this damned blog! HELP!!!! Isaiah is doing the most incredible headstands you have ever seen (next to JK's). He's gotten up to six seconds. He's been practicing incessantly since Thursday. Today was gym so he REALLY wanted to have them mastered for that. I'll mail you the video if I can.

Well...all I know about fashion is that Todd and Jen have shopped for pink ties and shirts in the past month - so if Brooks Brothers has it it must be in. Maybe you could compromise and get him a pink shirt (tie optional).

Leigh - you can pick up your silverware anytime. It's all packed up for you. RR - what bar were you at? JK thinks he knows that 7' singer!

Leigh - you can pick up your silverware anytime. It's all packed up for you. RR - what bar were you at? JK thinks he knows that 7' singer!

I think you should get him the pink pj's. It's better that it's not big deal and he'll get sick of them in a couple of days. If you don't get them for him he'll obsess about it for months and when he's an adult he'll blame you for it to his therapist.

my favorite part of the movie, hands down, was the puking yarn figurine.

rk i could have told you that. i am word master.

i agree with emily's review of 'closer' 100 percent!

what a gorgeous cake

i wish i had something to say but i've just been working my damned ass off...i wonder if i got a hawaii tchotchke....i wonder how you spell that word.....

Is dunkin donuts on a quest to pump as much sugar as possible into their customers or what???? Chocolate banana iced latte? GMAB!!!

eh, you can just learn it there...or not....I never had to speak french ...for five entire days...everyone spoke english or , wait, I guess there were some Moroccan's around me, they might have spoken french...

No I haven't I forgot to look!!! I'll do that now.

well, here's the famous cake 

..and so we went to the movie where Leigh and I had a THRILLING car race (she won) and Maddy played Deerhunting. They got popcorn and soda, we shared Twizzlers and had a great time.

Maddy's review: I didn't even fall asleep during the movie!!!

Then M and I made a quick run to shaws and went home.

Sunday we got up early and I finished my cake. Then we all went to GG's which has already been reviews. I'll post a picture of the cake. But just let me say that orlie's pulled pork (heh heh) was FABULOUS. Kudos Orlie on a job.....done! But it WAS done very well. That's what I'm having for dinner tonight.

At target we didn't find anything very interesting. We looked at all the clothing and garden supplies. We bought batteries and toothbrush heads and a few other little things. On the way out I got a Starbucks medium sized dark roast. So we ran out to the car in the gale force winds and driving rain. I slipped a little. Still I made it to the car and so did M. But when I went to unlock the door I splashed my coffee all over my coat. It didn't hit my shirt though so I was relieved. I quickly took it off so it could dry and not stain my shirt. So I lifted my coffee cup and what do you know, a DRIP, ONE STINKING drop of coffee happilly danced down the front of my shirt. My light blue shirt that I had worn for 57 minutes. Oh well on to TJ Maxx.

We got to tj's WAY too early. We looked at EVERY SINGLE item in the store. Everything. We bought very little. A shirt for me. Then we went to BoBo. The first thing I did after the arrival of Snoop was change my shirt. Dinner was ok. The crab rangoons, though pleasing to the eye, lacked crab. So they were cream cheese rangoons. Still we ate most of them, bitching the whole time. Leigh already told you about dinner. And though I used to love that place, I don't think I'll go there again. You had to pay extra for the fortune cookies!!!

What I learned about Word this week

If there's a folder or file that you have to use all the time, you can put a shortcut to it right down by the clock, then you don't have to keep going through your documents all the time.

Weekend in review

Friday it seems like I did SOMETHING, but maybe I didn't. Oh, I know, JK and I played online poker most of the evening. That's it.

Saturday I got up and helped orlie SLIGHTly with his pork, heh heh, then M and I took off to Bangor. Oh what a time we had. Count the shirts.

First stop was Windswept gardens where we got a plant for GG. After that M was starving so we went to McD's where she had a happy meal and I had a hamburger and diet coke. I ate about half the burger and was full so I put it down. Then, at the stop light, I STUPIDLY picked up the burger to take a nibble and friggin ketchup got all over my shirt. Luckily the next stop was mardens so I buttoned up my coat and M and I went in. We were looking for Jen's dishes, but the Marden's gods weren't with us. They had sold out. I did find a bottle of Casmir though. $24. Not bad. We got a few other little things and a light blue t-shirt. I changed in the parking lot and we headed to Target.

Blog Review: Ticketmaster

OM I had a wonderful time with ticketmaster this morning. I spent about an hour planning my ticket attack - would I buy online - or call or whatever. I don't know how it occurred to me, because you know how you can never get through, or when you finally do 15 minutes after the event starts you can only get nosebleed seats - remember those AMY?

Anyway I decided to call TM at 3 minutes before 10, I figured I'd press "repeat the menu" till 10 and then at least I'd have a phone connection. Well after it says "repeat the main menu" 4 times, an operator picked up. He was so nice and friendly. So I chatted with him for a few minutes asking him how the seating was going to be arranged etc. But then I ran out of questions and the guy said - "Well if you hold for another 30 seconds we can get your tickets!" Imagine a ticketmaster person OFFERING to be helpful. So I did. It was great. He took all the credit card info and thanks to my American Express I got a shot at the good seats. Since the next ones available were just $13 cheaper, I made the executive decision to go for the gold. I mean if you're going to see Neil Diamond you might as well have a chance of being sweated upon right? So I jumped. We're stage center row 16. I wonder if he'll sing Sweet Child of Mine - I bet you can sing it to the tune SWeet Caroline....

....and I've been thinking about your very deep question LTL - which part of the movie did I like the best? I think the truth is, it was all such a whirlwind I'm going to have to see it again to be able to pick it all apart.

..and Emily...you COULD say the HHG movie is Almost, but not quite, entirely unlike the book!!! Still I really loved the Very like-George Bush, version of Zaphod.

Suzanne is in the party too.

Well, Hello is the program i use to post photos to the blog. But apparently I CAN get it to work with Mozilla, I just haven't figured that out yet. I don't think it's difficult, it's just a matter of ambition at this point.

Well, it's settled. We (Gram, Ellen, Leigh, Jen, Aunt Lora, and myself) are all going to neil diamond. Is there someone else? I have an extra ticket available. The first $80 takes it. It's center stage 16th row. We should be able to get spit on if everything goes right. I'm looking for a hotel room at the moment. What a party we will have!!!!

and mad, mad, mad props to ltl for making sure my hopes were not set too high for hhg. i did love it, but i probably wouldn't have loved it so if not for her very detailed review. we all took tiny towels with us, we even have photo-booth proof.

now i have that dumb song in my head about the circus. is that linda rondstadt/

my shift key doesn't work anymore on my laptop so you'll all just have to deal with it.

yesterday m,t, and i went to the gym, then we took naps, then we went to see hhg, which we all LOVED, then we went to this restaurant called carlyle grand. it's a grill kinda place. todd had fillet mignon, i had pork tenderloin--hee hee--and mila had shrimp with grit cakes. then we shared a caramel tofee cake, but to be honest, i ate the vast majority of it. i started the evening with a gin and tonic, then i had a green apple martini, then the waiter suggested something called a 'divatini'...now how do you resist that....raspberry stoli, pineapple juice, and sparkling wine. tastes like candy. so i was pretty toasted by the time we left the restaurant, and i was feeling that at 8;30 this morning, the first time i woke up.

Does anyone know if there is a Hello!-type program for Mozilla?

I forgot to report that Maddy had no cavities and was an excellent patient at the dentist. She had her teeth sealed. Total cost $186. Seems expensive to me but whatever.

Yesterday MK and I went to Marden's before the piano lesson. OMG what a trip. I got an orange fleece for $6!!! Also got an IN-FRIGGIN-CREDIBLE on dishes for jen. They are purple stoneware, very heavy, plain, but nice. They are oven, microwave, dishwasher safe. Regular price per place setting $40 - Marden's price $6. If you want green or blue ones you should run over there. Oh, Jen, maybe I can check brewer tomorrow to see if they have a couple more purple ones. In addition I bought a couple of bars of soap and something else that I'm not recalling right now.

Well, here i am, half working and half playing poker. This weekend there are BIG plans. RR I'm SICK about your having to wait in the airport all day. At least you have internet access. THat's all I can say. You can blog us about interesting airport events. You should tell us about the best/worst dressed and the best/worst acting people in the airport.

This weekends plans:

Today - go to lincoln, play poker, make cake
Tomorrow - clean, got to movie, visit Jelly and Jam
Sunday - mother's day event.

I'm playing the most laid back poker tournament ever right now.

Well I tried to watch Sideways last night, based SOLELY on Emily's recommendation but I have to say...it was totally unwatchable. The friggin DVD had a GIANT crack through it.

How could he go to Chuck E Cheese. Tell him it's not nice to make Mama jealous.

Alright, sorry i wasn't here to entertain you today. I went to the hospital with Jelly and Jam. Jam had her gall bladder removed. Jelly, JK and I went to Thai Siam for lunch, but JK didn't eat anything as he et at the broadway diner before he hooked up with us.

i love butter on steak.

i have managed to not see one episode of survivor this year. yay me!

OOOOO bring Ambrosia salad!!!!

Survivor is BOGUS man! I hate it now. It was so ridiculous that jeff talked that woman into quitting just so Stephanie could last another week.

maybe you should bring a SMALL batch of texas caviar.

What's wrong with him? I'd come up but i'm already committed to a friends surgery.

Tonight we're starting the Little House on the Prairie book series. We got it yesterday. Isaiah is VERY excited about the entire thing, and, by the way, he's learning to do cartwheels. I'll record him for you.

he he, i didn't read about the ol chipotle butter.....please forgive my ignorance. Amy are you coming to mother's day? and what (if anything) are the rest of you bringing. I know Ellen and Ralph are bringing their tans.

God I love butter on steak, but I just can't bring myself to do it. Leigh, for an extra special treat, mix some herbs in with that butter (roasted garlic or minced jalepeno with chili powder)! It's fabu. Did you make that meal?

Blog i'm bored. And it's not as if i don't have anything to do either. This house business is making us all very anxious and we can't rest. Concrete is $160 a yard by the way, in case you are wondering. Today MK has a dentist appointment. She's going to get a cleaning and also get her teeth sealed.

...and Ame - re: sopranos...

there's no "senseless" killing. Everyone dies for a reason. PLUS if you can get through the first two seasons, there's very little killing after that. I think only one person got the axe during the entire 3rd season. Which is why I stopped watching it. I dislike 'sensitive' gangsters.

coffee report

I forgot to put the cover on the coffee pot this mornign, so coffee perked all over my stove. I just cleaned the damned thing the day before yesterday, so that figures doesn't it?

Bridge Report

Man were the cards bad last night. At least I didn't have to play them all, as JK had fire training so I had to go home early to put the kids to bed. Oh well. GG made a FABULOUS cake. You wouldn't even have believed it. It was very easy too. I'll post the recipe when I get the chance. The snack was some kind of chex mix with candy mixed in. Every one was there, except me for half of it. The gossip was minimal. A VGTWHBA. Welcome back GG!!! It's so nice to have 8!!! Oh yeah, prizes were won by - Tracey, high and Suzanne - Low. I don't know who got the goose. I stayed up and watched some Dave last night. The special guests were J-Lo and Snoop Dogg.

here i think the only crackers we have are tlc multigrain, which happen to be my favorites.

thanks for the thorough review of the movie.

congrats to a lo on your awesome mileage

wow what a review. I think the review should have been done as a trilogy, personally. Perhaps someone should make the movie, literally, sentence for sentence from teh book. That's how I think it should have been done anyway. And yes, I'm sure Disney is to blame for all the faults. They usually are.

from emily

Here's my disclaimer before I get to trashing this movie: You all know that I really really wanted to love the movie and was fully prepared to give it the full benefit of all doubt. That being said, it was somewhat disappointing. Don't get me wrong, it was truly a thrill to sit in a movie theater and see this on the big screen. The place was packed to capacity with geeks and even some dates of geeks. Everyone seemed to enjoy the movie and laugh in the appropriate places. But I do have some major complaining to do. The complaining will commence now. First of all, what ever happened to character development. I mean, we need to know some basics about the characters and their motivations, and we really get nothing. The most greivously misaligned character is Ford Prefect. I have no problem with Mos Def as Ford, he could have done a great job if they hadn't cut out all of Ford's dialogue. Right off the bat, instead of the funny bit where Ford convinces the construction guy to lie in front of the bulldozer in Arthur's place, they inexplicably had Ford just bring a shopping cart full of beer to distract the construction workers with. Maybe that was easier, but it didn't do much to show us Ford's personality. And then they cut out all of the important stuff after Ford and Arthur get picked up by the Vogons, where Ford explains all kinds crucial info. The best example of the injustice done to Ford is near the end where Zaphod shoots him with the Point of View gun (or as I like to call it, The Pointless New gun) and all we get of Ford's POV is "I like hitchhiking. Towels are good." Come on now, that's pathetic.
I just find it hard to believe that they could start out with source material that has a joke in every sentence and actually change it around so that it's less funny. They cut out bits of the bits that made the bits what they were in the first place. Imagine telling a long joke and then leaving off the punchline. For example, they use the part where they say, 'Space is big, really big. I mean you just wouldn't believe how vastly, mind bogglingly big it is.' and then they leave off the end: 'You might think its a long way down the road to the chemist but that's just peanuts to space.' Now I realize that these missing parts aren't going to affect the viewer of the movie who hasn't read the book and seen the tv series multiple times. But who cares about them, the way they've chopped the plot up, no one's going to understand the story anyway. Its painful to (geeky) people like me when you hear Ford say, "We're safe." and Arthur doesn't say, "This must be some strange usage of the word safe that I hadn't previously been aware of." And also, the babel fish looks cool, and you get the idea of what it’s for, but they skip a lot of what the guide has to say about it, most notably that it is seen by some theologians as proof of the non existence of God. I’m going to blame Disney for that one. Again, I realize that this is probably nit picky stuff that’s not going to mean a lot to most people, but it left me shaking my head.
Of course I don’t like any of the major plot changes, the biggest being the enhanced emphasis on a love story. We don’t need a love story here. Especially this one that feels contrived and forced. Now we all know that Zaphod picks up Trillian at an earth party just as Arthur is making some progress with her. Arthur really likes her, but Zaphod is cooler. Them all meeting up on the Heart of Gold is nothing more than a fabulous coincidence created by the infinite improbability drive. The movie has to twist this around to Arthur and Trillian getting together in space. Arthur is not the type of guy who is going to get the girl. That’s what makes him Arthur. He’s uptight and a little bit pathetic.
The very most incongruent part though, the deal breaker for me, was when Arthur is back on the reconstructed Earth, presented with his house exactly as he left it only better, and everything is going to be restored to the moment before the Vogons hit, and he is asked if he wants to stay on Earth. And he says No!!! Now anyone who knows this character at all is going to realize that he is too peevish and English to enjoy galactic adventures, he just wants to go home. He’s not enjoying space travel at all, it was forced upon him. If he had the choice, he would go back to his home. Yes, in the book, he sees the new earth with Slartibartfast and is asked if he would like to go down and take a look, and he says no thanks, it wouldn’t be the same. But that’s very different, I think. In the movie it is the same, and he has the choice to return to his old life and he refuses. That didn’t work for me.
I have to say that I actually liked the BBC tv series better, even with the extremely cheesy “special effects” including Zaphod’s paper mache head. It basically followed the book sentence by sentence, so it was very true to the source and a better representation IMVHO!
OK so that’s all the bitching I’m going to do about it for now. And there were some really good things so I’ll get to those. For one thing, Sean liked it. He said it was “fun.” And he was going into it with absolutely no experience with the story at all. I’m going to make him watch the tv series now. The movie did use the original theme song, which was highly commendable as it is a great song! They also gave the original Arthur Dent a quick cameo, giving fangeeks everywhere a small thrill.
There were some really funny parts. I liked Sam Rockwell as Zaphod and he provided some of the funnier moments with his combo Clinton- GW Bush- Elvis character. The Vogons looked perfectly vogonic, although they played too much of a role in the movie. The truest and best character representation was Bill Nighy as Slartibartfast (“My name is….not important.”). That was perfect. The new John Malkovich character was interesting and could prove to be a welcome addition in the sequel. In this one, we really don’t get the point as to why he’s there, but hopefully that will be revealed.
I enjoyed it, I will definitely be buying the DVD, but I couldn’t let it go without picking it apart a little bit, because overall it seemed like kind of a jumbled mess. Some people might be inspired to read the book after seeing it. Some people will walk out of the theater and say, “Well that was stupid.” Watch it yourself! It gets 10 out of 10 for style, but minus several million for good thinking.

Blog Review

Tagline: A motion picture that celebrates everything you love about life.

Plot Outline: A Belgian matron establishes and, for several generations, oversees a close-knit, matriarchal community where feminism and liberalism thrive. (more)

User Comments: Who Needs Men, Religion, or Tradition Anyway?

That's from IMDB by the way.

Well this movie was recommended by Todd T to WW and BW, but they hated it.

I thought the movie was definitely watchable. I mean, it wasn't a "must see" by any means. But I did watch the entire thing. I didn't think it was over the top with the sex, but I didn't think it was movie of the year either. I cried at the end, so that must have meant something.

Emily's cracker inventory makes me feel a lot better. I thought there might be something abnormal about mine.

I STILL KNOW IT JENN!!!

my favorite cracker is the royal lunch with butter and kosher salt on it, a very close second is the ol' crown pilot- but i admit that may be a reaction to nabisco's trying to eradicate them a few years ago.

Blog Poll: How many kinds of crackers do you have in your house and what is your favorite cracker.

This poll comes by way of my exploding cupboards. There are SO many kinds of crackers. Here they are. Anything with "cracker" in the name counts in the poll.

Triscuits
Breton mini's
pepperidge farm variety pack (4 different crackers)
cinnamon grahams
chocolate grahams
plain grahams
2 boxes of club crackers
crown pilots
royal lunch
honey grahams..

I'm not even looking in the snack box. I'll let you know if I find any more tomorrow.

i have a hard time feeling bad for you snoop because i know you got a good knife for christmas.

i thought ltl was going to blog her movie review; maybe she just couldn't get the blog to work.

today i felt out of sorts, stomach thingy and headache so i didn't go the gym. shame on me.

i don't really have much to report about the weekend. i went to the gym on saturday, todd and i did some grocery shopping and walked around a farm nearby. i don't even think i cooked much. i'm going to make whoopie pies for mila's return so i hope she's not reading this.

well, jees, I guess I didn't miss much today did I!!!!

Notice:

I've been without internet access since Thursday afternoon. It's like not having a right arm. So I had to take my puter to the Dr. He said it has a virus and he's fixing it. Hopefully it will get to come home today. I think my computer should have a name.

Sunday noon, will be a mother's day cookout at Gram's. I'm making the REAL ester's Marmalade Cake. I'm going to use REAL orange marmalade not SHIT from Marden's. Be there or be square. Tommy and Suzanne are organizing the entire thing if you have any questions contact them.

I think that's the end of the announcements so I'll move on with the weekend update.

Friday JK and I took the kids to the circus. The band wasn't there!!! I hope that was just because it was 3:00 on Friday and for no other reason. The favorite act was the big black dogs that were dressed, and trained to be horses. They were very funny. The most intriguing act was "David and Donna", these were illusionists who changed their clothing in 1 second flat. We couldn't figure that one out. It was interesting how all the acts were either Italien, Russian or from Belarusse. After the circus we went to the Gov's and came home over Rt. 2 so we could gawk at all the flooding.

Saturday I cleaned house and did laundry, and went to lincoln a couple of times. I visited GG. Sunday Maddy and I visited GG for a second, went to Marden's and the Mill Street Diner, then we went and had tea at Chez Wonder. AGTWHBA.

Sunday evening, since AFV wasn't on, JK played poker all night. The kids played upstairs. I watched the Contender and went to bed. I TRIED to stay up through DH but I think i'm having sympathy exhaustion for LTL because I need to sleep all the time. What's up with that? Well that's it for me today. As I'm without modem you'll have to blog without me. I can't wait to hear about HHGTTG, it grossed like 22 million this weekend or something???