12/28/2004

my wife, the popular one

I've come to learn something over the Christmas season. My wife has the biggest fan base concerning her blog. I'm truly amazed. If you're one of the unlucky few to not have read hers, then click here . For those of you that have, did you know that you frequent such a popular place? Unbelievable... dude.

12/16/2004

ridonkulous

I'm not much of a fan of reality tv. I get reality everywhere I go, why would I want it on tv? Anyway, there's this one reality show, WifeSwap, I think, on one of those major networks. The premise is that you take 2 wives of different norms, and put them in each other's families for 2 weeks just to see what would happen. This particular week, there was a switch of a wife from a super laid-back, leather jacket wearing, messy house-having, rebel family switched with a fundamentalist Christian. Each wife had to do things the family's way for one week, and the next week, the wives could impose their rules upon the house. It was interesting to see how flexible the Christian wife got to be with the rebel family, and how they warmed up to her. It was also interesting to see that, even though there was plenty of resistance to her rules, the children didn't seem to mind the outcome, and even the father liked some of what she did. However, the rebel wife did not get such a treatment. She did warm up to the kids, of course because she didn't make them do anything. But, here comes the surge behind my angst. The Christian father/husband dude was all about making the "new wife" do all the same things his wife did, and having everything go his way. When she fell out of line or didn't do things exactly his way, he flew off the handle. He apparently was used to having his way or the highway. He did not let up on any of his rules, and sat back and pouted like a 2 year old. In the final interview, he was called out on it by everyone else, and he not only did not defend himself, but just left the interview, case closed. The only thing I could think was, "If I wasn't a Christian, and this is the only way I saw Christianity protrayed, then I wouldn't want any part of it. If being a Christian is being so uptight and uncompromising about anything, then they can have it." What do you think?

12/13/2004

The longing for acousticness

For those of you who have seen my need for a new acoustic guitar, I think I've found my match. Working my way up to this rather pricy version of acoustic perfection has not been easy, but the light at the end of the tunnel is now visible!
I have been very happy with my Yamaha for the past 10 years, but for live performing, I would need something with just a touch more depth. So, here is the goal for which I must achieve:



Now you see, soon you will hear.

11/16/2004

The Forgotten

Now we move on to the next draft of alien movies, with not so much alien. While the big pull may have been Julianne Moore to most people, I was intrigued with the whole mystery of the preview. Before I move into the movie itself, may I say that previews should be just that... a preview. A way for us to see what this movie could possibly be about without giving away the depth of the story, the dramatic ending or the dynamics of the character. It unnerves me to no end when previews/commercials for movies and/or tv shows show in 30 seconds what it actually gets down to in its presentation. Why would I want to see a movie that you've basically just shown me already?

The preview for this movie, The Forgotten, intrigued me because it gave notice to only a couple of things that was confusing the character, which confused the audience, taking you in as a part of the movie. That is exactly what a preview should do. Not give away the whole thing.

So I digress into written rhetoric about this flick. I was hoping that it would be scarier than it turned out to be, but it wasn't. There were a few shockers or intense 3-second moments, but they were few and far between. So, if you even think that it's one of those "too scary to see" movies, you'd be wrong.

The plight of a mother's fight for her son gets increasingly interesting as to the absurdity of others chasing her for no apparent reason, other than they think she might be a little nuts. It keeps your attention because you're all the while thinking, "Will she ever get her son back?" "Is she really nuts?" and "Whoa, that was cool."

The revelation of the mystery behind everything, and its ending were well-thought out and you leave feeling happy and satisfied. What more could you ask for in a movie?

Story = A- Scary = C Intensity = B+ Mystery = A Dialogue = B-


10/26/2004

This thing called fear

Since I got enough attention from my last movie review, I thought I'd give it another go.
I've seen many scary movies in my day... too many to count. In the last few years, this genre has moved away from the slasher films, which has its own value, and moved toward the psychological way of scaring its viewers. With movies like The Ring and the new movie, Saw, we can see this transition. Not that the good 'ol slasher films aren't still around, but are not quite in the mainstream.
The movie I'm about to rant about is probably something you won't see, but if you have, kudos. This flick of choice is
The Grudge. One word: 'wow'. In an overview, this movie is deeply intense. The underlying story is that where there is a horrible murder influenced by rage, there is a curse that springs forth, and stays at the place where it was birthed. The catch is: once you become a part of it, it will never stop until you are dead.
Normally with movies like this, there's no real plot, besides the fact that the house is "haunted". The creators are just in it for shock effect in the audience. Not true for this story. There is a mystery to the events leading up to the curse, and no security in predictability. It keeps you guessing the whole way through, and continues to make you jump out of your pants.
Skeptics may say that since it's in a theater, with the music so loud and people around you building up the suspense, that you probably could go without being scared if you rented it when it came out on DVD. I defy anyone who is not scared at all by this movie. Go ahead and wait for it on DVD at Blockbuster or wherever you get you movies from. If you don't soil yourself three or four times during the movie, you'll continually hear the distinct sound that the creepy ghost/monster makes throughout the movie as you go down the hall to your bedroom, and lie awake in bed. Sweet dreams!
Rating: A+ for scariness, A for plot, B for actors/casting, A+ for ghost/monster creepiness.

10/18/2004

In Review

I've never been a fan of movie critics. Seems to me that it's only critically acclaimed if it's this tear-jerking drama about life as we will never know it. They are in love with Disney movies, good, bad and ugly. If it's action... tsk.. please, it just might get a decent rating, if enough people believe in the hype.

So, I take this time to review a movie I've seen recently. Not as a critic, but as a movie fan. The movie for this entry will be for the
"Butterfly Effect". If you didn't see the movie, go see it before you read any further! For those of you that watched, what did you think? Did Ashton Kutcher prove that he can act past the words "dude" and "sweet"? Would this suspense-thriller prove worthy of a fan-base? All this and more! Keep reading...

I love the idea of being able to go back in time within your mind and relive, even change, the not-so-good aspects. That's always fun to roll around in your imagination. What would you change about your life if you could go back? How much would it change your surroundings? Would you end up with more money? Would you end up with a different mate than you have now? I'm not sure what your answer is, but I am sure that I wouldn't change anything because I might not be the person I've grown to be. For better or worse, I trust that God knew what He was doing all this time, even if I didn't.

Now, would somebody please tell me who thought it was "in" to kill yourself? In entertainment, people seem to remember you better than you were, and maybe even get more famous. But, in reality, you're probably worse off than you were before, not to mention eternal consequences. The real question is: Is that the answer? In the case of this movie, Kutcher's character felt like he needed to just end the madness that he had created, and everyone else would be happier. Kayleigh, his love interest, married someone else. His friends grew up to be decent people. His mom was sent sobbing forever over the loss of another baby. Even by killing himself, he still couldn't solve all the problems.

Maybe I'm reading too much into this movie, but I find it hard to believe that the screenwriter, director and/or producer had no idea what implications they were making in this film. Nevertheless, the bottom line is this: A for creativity; A for plot; A for casting; A for special effects; C- for the ending. Questions, class?

10/06/2004

October edition 1

October is a good month. Football's in full swing. The weather is cooling (finally), and baseball is finally over. Good riddance! About half-way through the semester, which is going well. 3 tests this week, and again 3 more next week. Not to mention, 2 biblical background papers. Laissez les bon temps roulez!

My favorite part about October is toward the end of the month -- Halloween! I don't know what it is about this season. Maybe it's the mystery mixed with the full moon. And some years, it gets interesting when there's a full moon on Friday October 13th. My imagination seems to run wild and I get my fill of the latest horror, thriller or sci-fi movies. If you're interested in these types of movies, like me, check out: Fangoria, movies.com, Resident Evil 2, The Grudge, Blade: Trinity, and The Forgotten.

9/30/2004

movies

If anyone knows me at all, they know that I love movies. I could probably sit around all day, watching movies, maybe vegging a bit, and be the happiest man on the planet. I also like talking about movies with people, to get their views on what they think the movie was about, on deep levels as well as shallow ones. It doesn't matter to me, if it's a movie worth watching, or even if I haven't seen the movie, I'm up for chatting about it or apparently posting about it.

I do have some rules for watching movies. 1= Don't expect it to be real. There is not some hidden camera like on Big Brother that watches everyone's every move. There is someone that has written a script, made up the story, and have actors who have probably never been in this situation. I hate it when people say, "I just watched Van Helsing, and I didn't like it because when the flying wives of Dracula kept talking while trying to kill Kate Beckinsale. I would have just killed her. It was stupid." I always want to come back with "Hey moron, it's a movie! At what point past the vampires, Frankenstein's monster, and the wolfman did it become unbelievable or ridiculous to you?"

rule 2 = make sure you hit the bathroom before hand. There's nothing like having to pee in the middle of the movie's climax. rule 3 = turn off your cell phone, and for sure, don't answer it! I'm sure there might be 1 chance out of 5000 that it's an emergency. So, live it in your pocket or give it to me so I can smash it.

rule 4 = don't guess what is going to happen next. Enjoy it, even though it may not surprise you. If all the entertainment is in the surprise, put your brain on hold for a minute. Save the thinking for afterward. finally rule 5 = Enjoy the movie. There are tons of movies out there, all with different intentions as to the mood. If it's a love story, feel the love. If it's a scary movie, it's ok to be scared and jump. If you think it's bound to have a happy ending, don't get disappointed if the hero dies.

If these rules don't satisfy your need to trash every movie you see, then get off my blog. I hope at least your entertainment value was touched.

9/29/2004

geese on the attack

After school on Tuesday, my long day, Jessica had a cool idea to feed the ducks at Lafrieniere Park. The last time we went there, the ducks and geese seemed to be stuck up, implying they were full or had no use for mere bread. This time, however, nobody seemed to have fed them that day because once they saw us, with our bright yellow Sunbeam bread bag, they immediately darted after us, and I know I heard one of them say "Aflac!" We proceeded to toss out bits of bread, hoping to please as many geese as we could. Feathers flapped and flew about as they fought over who got the biggest piece of bread. We kept our distance from them, hoping they wouldn't snap at our hands, trying to get another piece or two. So, we speed-fed them and rushed off, as we noticed more of them heading our way.

Also, the last time we went to the park, instead of feeding the snobbish geese and ducks who were too good for our bread, we fed a herd of cranes that were squawking and jockeying for position on some kind of swamp tree, with some looking for food in the water. This time, there were mostly in the trees, less interested in our offerings, until we threw down our first piece. They seemed to swarm as we laughed and threw the rest of the bread we had. Then, they started to fly away, and we wondered why until we saw the biggert nutria known to man. If you are unfamiliar, these are water rats, indiginous to south Louisiana. They look like smaller beavers with a rat's head and tail. Quite disgusting, but tasty to some smaller parts of the area. This fiend bogarted what was left of the bread in the water. Guess he showed them. We have a new champion of the swamp!

9/28/2004

Jessica

this is Jessica's, my wife, blog. Enjoy!

full weather jacket

Yeah, so we're on our way to Lafayette this past weekend to see my brother's family, and it's late, as we mosey on down the boring existence known as Interstate 10. Wouldn't ya know it, it starts to fog... and then rains... and then rains harder until we see nothing but splashes of water from every angle, as our windshield wipers are moving at mach 10. So, with just less than 3 miles from our exit, all hope of making it to Lafayette fell before our eyes as the driver's side windshield wiper came off its arm. Woo hoo! Are we having fun yet??

So, as a good husband would do, I persuaded my lovely bride to pull over to the shoulder. Her fears of getting hit by oncoming traffic and monstrous 18-wheelers allowed me to take the wheel from the passenger side, and darting us to the shoulder. After calming my wife, I left the vehicle to perform the balancing act of fixing the windshield wiper while holding an umbrella in winds and gusts of approximately 25 mph. Dude. It didn't take long and before we knew it, we reached our exit, just in time for the rain to clear up. Oh, the humanity.

9/23/2004

slow start

Well, I've obviously come to a slow start, having "started" with this months ago. Anyway, an update. I'm attending Leavell College, the undergraduate program under New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. I am in my first semester, majoring in Christian ministry with a minor/concentration in music. To those that know me, this is no big surprise. Anway, we're a little over a month into the semester, and things seem to be going well.

We are, as in my wife and I, living with Jessica's grandparents in Metairie, a suburb of N.O., and are in the process of finding jobs, etc. I have one currently, but even that may change soon enough. I hear Guitar Center calling my name!

Anyway, school is very eye-opening.... yes, even at a Baptist college. Amazingly enough, most of the material, if not all, is not one-sided to their traditional backgrounds. I was happy to have found that the many aspects of the church as we know it, or may not know it, being explored and taught as possibilities here.

In an attempt to keep boredom to a minimum, I'll save more of this intriguing information, unless you post questions. Anyway, adieu.