4th of July - East Texas Style

We spent the 4th of July weekend with Jenny's family out in East Texas. We stayed at Jenny's Mom and Stepdad's place which is on Lake Cypress Springs near Mt. Vernon. We had a great time, and Ben especially had a great time playing with his cousins Jackson and Luke. The kids all got to swim in the lake, ride the boat, take rides on the jet ski, and do a little fishing. We also got to enjoy a great home cooked BBQ out at Hidden Springs Ranch (Jenny's Aunt and Uncle's place). Then we capped off the weekend with a fireworks display out over the water. Overall...it was a fun time. It was hot and steamy of course, but fun.

The Dallas Cowboys "Giant Tick"

We went down to Texas over the 4th of July weekend, and the first order of business was taking a tour of the new Cowboys stadium in Arlington...better known to locals as the "giant tick," or "the giant beetle." The stadium is so massive it dwarfs every other building in the city.
My main curiosity going in was "is it going to be gaudy inside?" But as a matter of fact, it really isn't. You walk in through the doors and the inside looks like any other stadium. All the halls and corridors are like anything else you've seen. But once you walk in the stadium itself (where the seats are) that's where you notice its size. The opening game of the 2009 season is already sold out...at over 100,000 seats. The video screen over the field is an incredible 60 yards long, and 40 yards wide. The roof opens at the top, and both endzone glass doors open...allowing for a more traditional open-aired stadium affect. Even the speakers that hang from the ceiling are each the size of an 18 wheeler.
Anyway, I could go on and on. Basically, the place blew me away. The highlight for us was getting to walk into the locker rooms and then down onto the field. It was fun.

Beat It...Just Beat It

You know in the movie TOY STORY, when Mr. Potato Head says "Did you all take stupid pills this morning?" Well...that's what I've been thinking with all these media personalities, fans, and news agencies talking about the death of Michael Jackson. Enough already! All weekend it seemed like every music video channel had some sort of tribute going on. There were also tributes and "look-backs" on an array of 24 hour news channels...showing fans all over the world in grief over the death of Jackson. I just have to scratch my head. Have people forgotten already who this guy was and what he was accused of doing?

It really is true how death can glorify a celebrity...especially someone who's as big as Jackson globally. Don't get me wrong...I was a fan of him along with the rest of the world (back in the 80's). But as he got older he got weirder and weirder...and outright criminal (allegedly). Yeah sure...the guy used plastic surgery like he was hooked on heroin. But the legal problems. Holy cow! How many times was he accused of child molestation? Some he was acquitted for, but others he settled out of court. You know what they say...where there's smoke.

I have to admit, when I heard about Jackson's death I thought "Wow. Michael Jackson huh?" Then after about 10 minutes I moved on. I thought most of the world had moved on. Wasn't Jackson the source of endless jokes by comedians...and even journalists? Amazing how someone's death can make people forget.

At The Movies

LAND OF THE LOST - Will Ferrell stars as Dr. Rick Marshall, a so-called expert in the field of time travel. After rigging together a pseudo time machine Ferrell and his friends travel into another dimension where the future and past all meet in one place. This is based on the popular kid's show from the 70's, and the movie keeps some of the traditional "campiness" that was so evident in the original show. I've heard a lot of critics downplay this movie but Jenny and I liked it. It's not Ferrell's best work, but it's not his worst either. He delivers plenty of laughs here to keep you entertained. Fun movie.

THE READER - Kate Winslet plays Hanna, a german woman who falls in love with a much younger german boy over the course of one summer in Berlin in 1958. The center of their romance is how the boy reads Hanna stories...which she loves. The romance soon ends and the years pass. Then unexpectedly the boy discovers Hanna on trial for participating in Nazi crimes. Thus the boy is forced to reflect on his relationship with Hanna and what she exactly means to him. This is a really good film. Winslet delievers her usual powerful performance, and Ralph Fiennes is exceptional as the now-grown German boy. Really interesting film.

BABYLON A.D. - One of my all-time favorite movies is BLADE RUNNER, and to this day I still see movies stealing images and ideas from the 1982 film. Take for example BABYLON A.D., starring Vin Diesel. Set in a post-apocalyptic future, Diesel must take a mysterious woman from eastern Russia to New York City in 6 days. All the while mysterious men in black are chasing them and trying to take the woman for themselves. I won't ruin anything for you here, but if you've seen both BLADE RUNNER and CHILDREN OF MEN you can already figure out what this movie is about. There are moments of interest here. Diesel is a great action hero in the tradition of Stallone and Schwarzenegger. But overall the script is extremely flawed. Even some of the stunning images of a futuristic New York City (taken right out of Blade Runner) can't save this movie. Not very good.

X-FILES: I WANT TO BELIEVE - I watched this recently on cable around the time Michael Jackson was found dead. So let me get this straight...I was watching X-Files at home on TV and Michael Jackson was on the news. Hmmm...it must be 1993. After a 10 year hiatus Mulder and Scully return to the land of creepy humanoids, psychics, and aliens...this time to investigate the disappearances of some missing women. There's also a psychic here, and a hidden laboratory complete with a mad scientist and body parts...just to remind you this is the X-Files and not CSI. This one was okay. I was entertained, and David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson recapture some of their original chemistry from the 90's television show. But as you would expect this is more of homage to the original series, rather than anything new that we haven't already seen. It's okay...but not as good as the television show.

THE WIRE: SEASON 1 - After having enjoyed THE SOPRANOS Jenny and I went through a little "Sopranos withdrawal" after we finished the series. So after hearing so many great things about THE WIRE we decided to give it a try. I'm glad we did. The story basically about THE WIRE is you follow both the cops and criminals throughout one case. Each episode builds on the case and you quickly become involved with not only the good guys, but also the bad ones. The first season here is very hard to follow at times. I wouldn't say this show is for the "casual viewer." You really have to stay with it. But if you do you will be greatly rewarded. Shows like this make LAW AND ORDER look like Sesame Street. Great show...and highly recommended.

THE DANA CARVEY SHOW - This was a show that came out in 1994 and ran for a single season. Here you can watch all the episodes that aired on two discs. I remember this show back then, and I thought it was great. Critics however thought audiences weren't ready for something this weird. Each episode has Carvey's brand of comedy that we all loved on Saturday Night Live. But there are also skits here that are just plain odd...funny mind you...but odd. As an added bonus here you get to see the early work of Steve Carrell and Stephen Colbert and Robert Smigel...all of whom play supporting actors in all the sketches. The talent that went behind this show makes it worth checking out alone. Too bad it didn't last...but we can always remember when on DVD.

RIGHTEOUS KILL - Finally...Robert DeNiro and Al Pacino make a movie together and THIS is what came out of it? Egads! DeNiro and Pacino are two New York City detectives that share bad attitudes and a lack of ethics. Both are somewhat dirty cops, but only one is a killer. The question is...which one. This sounds like a cool premise, and the two top actors are right for the parts. The problem is this movie was made about 15 years too late. Both Pacino and DeNiro feel too old and slow for this kind of a movie. Didn't care for it...but I probably would have if this was made about 20 years ago.

CURSE OF THE JADE SCORPION - Another Woody Allen movie. This time Allen plays CW Briggs...an investigator working for an insurance company in the 1940's. This is a comedic-homage to the romance mysteries of the 40's and 50's. Allen has some funny lines in this one, but it's no where near the level of greatness of CRIMES & MISDEMEANORS, ANNIE HALL, or MANHATTAN. It's okay...if you're an Allen fan.

Another Summer At Dow Gardens

Today was our first visit of the summer for the storytimes at Dow Gardens. It's one of our summer routines up here every year. The kids listen to a story or two, water the plants, do a scavenger hunt, and play around the garden. There's squirting water holes, bubble trays, and a fish pond. So there's lots to do to keep the kids busy for an hour or so. Later in the summer the workers will let the kids pick vegetables to take home.