Old Indy

My thoughts on Indiana Jones the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull are as follows.

1. I had low expectations. Really, I mean a 65-year-old action hero? No offense to the geezers out there, but I thought I would be worried about him being...you know...fragile. Also, I had heard less-than-positive reviews of the movie.

2. I'm happy to report that I was surprised! The movie was good - I thought they took the plot in the exact right direction, and the new characters are great! I especially liked Mutt's 1950's style cynical teenage attitude.

3. Although I was enjoying the film as I watched it, (really, I was) I was constantly thinking about the Disneyland ride that would come of it. "Oh, here's the part where you plummet down the waterfall on the ride." and "Oh, there's where you think your feet will be gnawed off by flesh-eating ants." etc. Oh well, I guess I knew that's what I was signing up for!

4. My biggest criticism was Kate Blanchett's ridiculous Russian character. For goodness sake - she sounded like Natasha from Rocky and Bullwinkle!! Also she uses this riduculous rapier sword and her hair never gets messed up, no matter how many dusty caves she crawls through or waterfalls she swims down. Come on.

Anyway, I say go see it. It's a lot of high flying fun!

I am PRINCE CASPIAN.

I finally saw Narnia last week, and loved it. I thought it was interesting, since usually when books are adapted into screenplays, whole scenes and even plotlines get chopped out. Not so with Prince Caspian - they actually added a whole little plot diversion that doesn't happen in the book! Other than that, it was pretty much identical. Of course that means a 2 1/2 hour film. I loved it. I think the kids developed into better actors, and they did a better job with the animals of Narnia - see Reepicheep.


For those who have not read the books (and I would highly recommend it), Caspian is a Telarmine prince, meaning he isn't a native Narnian. The Telarmines apparently have Spanish/Italian accents, so I couldn't help but laugh whenever he said things like "I am Prince Caspian," sounding like some silly Italian model. Think the Spaniard from The Princess Bride: "My name is Inigo Montoya--you killed my father--prepare to die!"

There's a lot of epic battles, including killing, but no blood, to keep the PG rating. Bottom line - I loved this. Either go see it or rent it this fall.

Golfing with the Plewmans (National Lampoon's Family Outing)

There are times when my life is watching-the-paint-dry-boring. There are other times when I think I could have my own reality TV show (not that I would want it). One of those times came this weekend when the Plewman family went golfing at the par-3 in Spokane. Oh boy. Where to start.

My dad didn't even hit balls with us because us three ladies are such embarassingly novice golfers. Corrie hadn't really ever golfed before, besides once at a par-3 with some friends. My mom's gone before, but not in over two years. And I'm very much a beginner, getting overconfident sometimes and almost always having no control over my long shots.

So Bruce became our coach/caddy, giving advice on where to aim, what club to use, etc. He was uncharacteristically patient, even with Corrie, but he looked so exasperated that the club house worker gave him a free beer after six holes!! Us girls were constantly worrying about the weather and taking our sunglasses on and off that it's amazing we actually kept up with the group in front of us. There were a few temper flare-ups, but that's why we put the fun in disFUNctional!

All in all, it was a fun day and I did pretty well (my mom and I tied at 39 for 9 holes). I even got a birdie on the 2nd hole!

Athletes and Activism

Yesterday I was watching an ESPN Outside the Lines report on Athletes and Activism. Topics like this are interesting to me because I work in Athletics and I have a minor in Sports Psychology. I took my courses from Dr. Ralph Vernacchia, who has worked with a lot of Olympic Track & Field teams over the years.


This is a timely report because the Olympics are about to start, and that means amateur athletes will be put on a world stage. They live in the limelight, so athletes sometimes feel (or have people telling them) it's their duty to "have a voice." This report was mainly about NBA athletes using this platform to speak out on issues like Darfur, specifically China's reported involvement in human rights violations. If you're interested, you can find the video here: http://video.aol.com/video-detail/outside-the-lines-athletes-and-activism/3013807672


I think it's healthy for athletes to speak out when they have a legitimate concern about world affairs. I do, however, think it can be taken too far, and after a while it becomes apparent that they are not famous because of their political beliefs - they're famous because of their athleticism, and sometimes it should just stay that way. We'll see, when Charles Barkeley runs for Governor of Alabama!!

GLORIOUS!!

Finally! The weather I have been waiting for is here! What am I doing on the computer, instead of going out and enjoying it??? Good question. Bye! Have a great weekend, everyone!

Spring Weekends

There's a problem with Spring weekends in Pullman. WSU is out for the summer (and has been for almost two weeks) but it is still 42 degrees here. This whole last weekend, it was raining/windy and absolutely freezing cold. So, instead of basking in the gloriousness that May should be, Jeremy and I spent the weekend shut up in the house, watching TV/Movies, playing video games and reading. It's just like winter!!!

There are signs that Spring is here: the dog is shedding like crazy, the tulips are up, and the sun breaks through every now and then. But I haven't turned our heat off yet, and I'm still wearing jeans pretty much every day. Listen to me complain! I guarantee I'll be longing for this in July/August when I'm absolutely suffocating with the heat and no A/C. Grass is always greener, right?

Ironman

Saw Ironman last night. I thought it was really fun. It had the fast, witty banter I like (my favorite was the opening scene line about "I don't want to see this on your MySpace page. No gang signs. Just kidding, throw that back up. Peace, I love peace. With that, we'd both be out of a job.") Ironman (Tony Stark, played by Robert Downey Jr) is cool because he's just a regular guy who wants to protect people. And by "regular guy," I mean "billionaire playboy," reminiscent of Bruce Wayne (Batman).

The movie is appropriately exciting with lots of explosions (a necessity in any good superhero movie). It has a typical, predictable plot, which would be my only complaint, since I pretty much knew what was coming 15 minutes in. No real surprises. I was surprised at how perfectly Downey Jr. was cast, though. He fits the role perfectly (and looks mighty good, might I add). Go see!

Bloomsday

I finished Bloomsday on Sunday with a time of 1 hour, 39 minutes. I was pretty proud of myself, since I did better than I thought I would, and ran 13-minute miles. I can honestly say I gave it 100%, since I haven't been able to walk normally for 48 hours now.

I'm glad I ran the race, even through while standing at the starting line I was considering just sitting down for a latte for a couple hours and waiting for my family to be done instead of actually running. :)

Anyway, everyone I did Bloomsday with (Jeremy, Corrie, and Mom) all did great! Jeremy kicked butt with a pace under 9 minutes, running the race in 1:06. Sheesh! Of course now he's motivated to do it in under an hour next year. Anyway, good for us!

Movies

I LOVE movies. I always have. My idea of the perfect date has always been dinner and a movie. If I'm bored, I usually pop in a movie. I've always wanted to be a movie critic, so here's my chance to review movies for anyone who cares. I'm planning to see the following movies this summer, and will write short reviews of each, in case you're interested:

Iron Man (5/2)

The Chronicles of Narnia, Prince Caspian (5/16)

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (5/22)

Sex and the City Movie (5/30)

The Incredible Hulk (6/13) - An Ed Norton/Liv Tyler re-do of the debaucle that was the 2003 Ang Lee film.

Get Smart (6/20)

Wanted (6/27)

WALL-E (6/27)

Hancock (7/2)

The Dark Knight (7/18)

Tropic Thunder (8/15)

But to start: LEATHERHEADS (4/4)

I really liked this film, written by Rick Reilly (formerly of Sports Illustrated). It's witty and fun, mostly due to good acting and strong dialogue. However, the plot is too slow and muddles through the middle. The ending is fitting and fulfilling. I would recommend this for a rental this summer. I can never get too much Clooney, and you gotta love Jim from the Office. (John Krasinski)