It never fails. As May flowers begin to bloom, and the PSSA’s are done, the kids and teachers alike begin twitching in theirs seats and counting the days until that magical time in June when the final ring of the school bell sounds. No more teachers, no more books.
The whole summer lies before us, full of plans for trips to the beach, amusement parks, camps, barbeques, ball games, and fireworks. We bask in the mere idea of a few months of freedom.
This summer, my family attended a few barbeques, trekked to the beach, attended a family wedding, sent the kids to day camps (cheering for Gingersnap, Math and Science for Distractoboy), enjoyed two amusement parks, and went to the Renaissance Faire.
Youth football/cheer season has begun, so we’ve been spending five evenings a week at the practice fields. Distractoboy opted out of football this year, so we’ll only have to sit through one game today. And our time at the practice fields will be reduced to two nights a week, as of this week. While we look forward to having most of our evenings back, it also heralds the beginning of the end of summer.
Where did all this time go? I think Shel Silverstein put it very well:
Here Comes
Here comes summer,
Here comes summer,
Chirping robin, budding rose.
Here comes summer,
Here comes summer,
Gentle showers, summer clothes
Here comes summer,
Here comes summer-
Whoosh-shiver-there it goes.
by Shel Silverstein
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Monday, August 9, 2010
The Good Stuff
It’s nearing
The Prince of Distraction and his friend attended Math and Science camp at Husband Fixture’s employer. As hubby leaves for work at the ass crack of dawn, Prince of Distraction’s friend stayed with us for the week. This left me alone with Princess Gingersnap all week. I had hoped to do some fun things with her, but as she refused to keep her room clean, most of our days were spent with me yelling at her to do so or running errands. Oh, and let’s not forget the nights spent sitting at cheerleading practice. (The Prince opted out of youth football this year, much to our relief).
But I did enjoy some girl time this week. I went to my pole dancing class; got to visit with a girlfriend I hadn’t seen in eons; went to the nail salon (I was a week overdue for one of my few feminine indulgences); and hosted an impromptu girl’s night--sort of, on Friday. I say, “sort of,” because we had the kids with us while our menfolk were off playing poker. We ended up playing Progressive Gin while kicking kids out of the room like flippers on a pinball machine.
Husband Fixture and I also attended an adult novelty product party/birthday party last night. It was quite the entertaining event. ‘Nuff said.
And today, we invited yet another friend and her kids over. She was at her wit’s end because her husband is away at drill (he’s in the army reserves) and she’s had her hands more than full with their four kids. Our kids got to play with their friends, and she got to talk to grown ups.
I can’t help remembering the days when the Husband Fixture and I were first married. We were broke, worked opposing shifts at jobs we hated, and rarely saw each other. We had no friends and no lives outside of our little rented hovel. Now we are blessed with two beautiful, healthy children, jobs that fulfill us, an adorable puppy, and plenty of good friends.
Life is good.
Saturday, July 24, 2010
A Tale of Two Avatars
The Husband Fixture meddled with my Netflix queue and added Avatar. Yeah, James Cameron’s latest epic about man versus the blue alien dudes. I had no interest in this film when it came out. In fact, I opted to take my daughter to see The Princess and the Frog while hubby and son saw this movie. But Husband Fixture and kids wanted to watch it on Netflix. As it was an opportunity to spend some quality time with the family, I sat through it.
Now I consider myself an empathetic soul, but from the get-go I couldn’t seem to care about any of those characters. Even the blue monkey dudes didn’t stir much sympathy. I did not find Pandora to be this awesomely beautiful place, either. The critters in it were ugly, and the whole thing about the blue monkeys sticking the end of their braids into stuff creeped me out. It was also patently predicable. Big bad corporate America stomps all over nature and encounters resistance. And seriously, how am I supposed to believe that after totally betraying a whole race of people, that the jarhead who was sent to infiltrate the blue monkeys can just walk right back into the tribe and be not only accepted, but trusted to lead them along with the rest of their race against the big bad humans? (Can we say Fern Gully 2?)
Even more unbelievable is that the blue dudes actually won the battle. Yeah, even the ending didn’t really phase me, and I’m the type who cries at Disney movies. So if you haven’t seen this one, you’re really not missing much.
The Husband fixture claims that I was determined not to like this movie and therefore did not give it a fair shake. I disagree. I am capable of overcoming bad reviews to actually give a movie a chance, and possibly even like it.
Case in point: (Avatar) The Last Airbender.
Despite the negative reviews I’d read from friends and critics, I knew I’d end up going to see this film in the theaters. My son got hooked on the animated series (on Nickelodeon) upon which this film was based, as did the whole family. We’ve all seen every episode at least twice—several times for some episodes, including the one in which the final battle scene of the movie took place.
I was prepared for a poorly written, terribly acted, waste of my time. I am happy to say that the film was better than expected. Was it the best film I’d ever seen? Not by a long shot. Was it the worst remake of a television series I’ve seen? No, it wasn’t.
Most of the reviews I read listed gross generalizations on what the reviewers thought M. Night Shyamalan got wrong, leaving me to wonder whether they were really familiar with the series. Not all of their criticism was unfounded, though. I was irked by the mispronunciation of several of the characters’ names. How can you mispronounce names that were on a television series? In addition to his name being butchered, I had issues with Sokka’s portrayal. Sokka was largely a goofball, and not the best at being a warrior. He matured a great deal, both personally and as a warrior throughout the series. In the movie, he was entirely too serious.
I did not like the fact that the Fire Lord was given a more direct role in the movie. He was really a mysterious figure during the first two books of the series, and did not directly control or have knowledge of Zuko’s or General Zhao’s movements (Zhao was, in fact, a renegade, and it was his idea alone to kill Twee and Laa, the moon and water spirits). The Fire Lord did not have any sympathy or concern for Zuko.
Speaking of the banished prince, one of the creative choices with which I took issue was Zuko’s appearance. I think it was a mistake to show Zuko with short hair in the beginning, as the cutting of his hair played a significant part later in the series, as it would in Chinese culture. How hard would it have been to fit the actor with a hairpiece?
I also was not thrilled with the scene in which General Iroh administered the “avatar test” to Aang. This did not in any way happen in the series, nor did it really serve to explain much of anything. It also went against the way Iroh was portrayed--not only in the series, but within the rest of this movie, as well.
Last, but not least, I have to address the special effects. The use of 3-D was wholly unnecessary, and merely a “keeping up with the Joneses” gimmick that did not really pan out.
While I’m not entirely convinced that M. Night was the best choice of directors for this project, here’s what I felt he got right. The portrayals of Aang, Katara, Princess Yue, Zuko, and General Iro (as a character) were fairly accurate. While a lot of the story was left out, in all fairness, the series ran in half-hour episodes over a period of four years. Getting even the first “book” of the series covered was quite an undertaking. Specifically, I did like the way the explanation of Zuko’s scar and banishment were handled (by asking a nearby fire nation child to tell the story).
I also have to say that despite what other reviews stated, the costumes were pretty well done. They were close enough to the costumes in the series while maintaining a realistic element. I especially liked Aang’s tattoos. I preferred the intricate details to the plain blue arrow that the cartoon Aang had. I also liked the foreshadowing with the Fire Lord asking for Azula’s assistance. She had just the right touch of insanity and ruthlessness in her eyes, even for such a brief appearance. It would be a shame if that were all we got to see of her.
Overall, if I were to measure this film against my typical yardstick (would I willingly watch the film again and/or purchase the DVD), I would say yes.
Now I consider myself an empathetic soul, but from the get-go I couldn’t seem to care about any of those characters. Even the blue monkey dudes didn’t stir much sympathy. I did not find Pandora to be this awesomely beautiful place, either. The critters in it were ugly, and the whole thing about the blue monkeys sticking the end of their braids into stuff creeped me out. It was also patently predicable. Big bad corporate America stomps all over nature and encounters resistance. And seriously, how am I supposed to believe that after totally betraying a whole race of people, that the jarhead who was sent to infiltrate the blue monkeys can just walk right back into the tribe and be not only accepted, but trusted to lead them along with the rest of their race against the big bad humans? (Can we say Fern Gully 2?)
Even more unbelievable is that the blue dudes actually won the battle. Yeah, even the ending didn’t really phase me, and I’m the type who cries at Disney movies. So if you haven’t seen this one, you’re really not missing much.
The Husband fixture claims that I was determined not to like this movie and therefore did not give it a fair shake. I disagree. I am capable of overcoming bad reviews to actually give a movie a chance, and possibly even like it.
Case in point: (Avatar) The Last Airbender.
Despite the negative reviews I’d read from friends and critics, I knew I’d end up going to see this film in the theaters. My son got hooked on the animated series (on Nickelodeon) upon which this film was based, as did the whole family. We’ve all seen every episode at least twice—several times for some episodes, including the one in which the final battle scene of the movie took place.
I was prepared for a poorly written, terribly acted, waste of my time. I am happy to say that the film was better than expected. Was it the best film I’d ever seen? Not by a long shot. Was it the worst remake of a television series I’ve seen? No, it wasn’t.
Most of the reviews I read listed gross generalizations on what the reviewers thought M. Night Shyamalan got wrong, leaving me to wonder whether they were really familiar with the series. Not all of their criticism was unfounded, though. I was irked by the mispronunciation of several of the characters’ names. How can you mispronounce names that were on a television series? In addition to his name being butchered, I had issues with Sokka’s portrayal. Sokka was largely a goofball, and not the best at being a warrior. He matured a great deal, both personally and as a warrior throughout the series. In the movie, he was entirely too serious.
I did not like the fact that the Fire Lord was given a more direct role in the movie. He was really a mysterious figure during the first two books of the series, and did not directly control or have knowledge of Zuko’s or General Zhao’s movements (Zhao was, in fact, a renegade, and it was his idea alone to kill Twee and Laa, the moon and water spirits). The Fire Lord did not have any sympathy or concern for Zuko.
Speaking of the banished prince, one of the creative choices with which I took issue was Zuko’s appearance. I think it was a mistake to show Zuko with short hair in the beginning, as the cutting of his hair played a significant part later in the series, as it would in Chinese culture. How hard would it have been to fit the actor with a hairpiece?
I also was not thrilled with the scene in which General Iroh administered the “avatar test” to Aang. This did not in any way happen in the series, nor did it really serve to explain much of anything. It also went against the way Iroh was portrayed--not only in the series, but within the rest of this movie, as well.
Last, but not least, I have to address the special effects. The use of 3-D was wholly unnecessary, and merely a “keeping up with the Joneses” gimmick that did not really pan out.
While I’m not entirely convinced that M. Night was the best choice of directors for this project, here’s what I felt he got right. The portrayals of Aang, Katara, Princess Yue, Zuko, and General Iro (as a character) were fairly accurate. While a lot of the story was left out, in all fairness, the series ran in half-hour episodes over a period of four years. Getting even the first “book” of the series covered was quite an undertaking. Specifically, I did like the way the explanation of Zuko’s scar and banishment were handled (by asking a nearby fire nation child to tell the story).
I also have to say that despite what other reviews stated, the costumes were pretty well done. They were close enough to the costumes in the series while maintaining a realistic element. I especially liked Aang’s tattoos. I preferred the intricate details to the plain blue arrow that the cartoon Aang had. I also liked the foreshadowing with the Fire Lord asking for Azula’s assistance. She had just the right touch of insanity and ruthlessness in her eyes, even for such a brief appearance. It would be a shame if that were all we got to see of her.
Overall, if I were to measure this film against my typical yardstick (would I willingly watch the film again and/or purchase the DVD), I would say yes.
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
The Empresses' New Clothes
I had to buy a dress today. For most women, that sentence is probably accompanied by squeals of delight, descriptions of the dress, raves on the killer deal obtained, and babbling about the fun had while shopping. I’m not most women. I detest shopping (with the exception of shoes, books, and lingerie)--worse yet, I had to bring my offspring with me.
To further engender the desire for me to jump off the top of a skyscraper, I had to do the majority of my shopping in the MALL (She says, shuddering) I typically avoid that place like the plague, but the nature of the shopping I had to do left me no alternative. In addition to finding the dress (for a family wedding), my daughter needed to be fitted for sneakers for cheer leading. I also had to buy birthday gifts for our friends’ kids.
I am happy to report that I managed to accomplish all my objectives with a minimum of bloodshed--though it got dicey when I had to wait fifteen minutes in Gamestop just to buy a lousy gift card. And there was that other little incident when I had to enlist the help of my daughter to zip up one of the dresses I tried on . . .
To further engender the desire for me to jump off the top of a skyscraper, I had to do the majority of my shopping in the MALL (She says, shuddering) I typically avoid that place like the plague, but the nature of the shopping I had to do left me no alternative. In addition to finding the dress (for a family wedding), my daughter needed to be fitted for sneakers for cheer leading. I also had to buy birthday gifts for our friends’ kids.
I am happy to report that I managed to accomplish all my objectives with a minimum of bloodshed--though it got dicey when I had to wait fifteen minutes in Gamestop just to buy a lousy gift card. And there was that other little incident when I had to enlist the help of my daughter to zip up one of the dresses I tried on . . .
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