I have learned more kids songs in a week than at any time in my life. And I can sign them now too. Well, VBS was a hit, but it wore me out. I'm glad I did it, but I'll be more so when I get over this cold that one of the kiddies gave me. My little troop that I led around for five days grew from five to eventually eight. Fortunately, I was blessed with a group of well-behaved 3rd graders who were eager to please--other crew leaders were not quite so fortunate.
Other than that we did a lot of swimming and I finished up my summer class. I completed all my assignments in good time so I expect an A in the class. Ellice read Harry Potter 7 in a day, but I have only managed to read the first 220 pages. I will finish in due time, but my wife is dying to talk to me about it. We lost our DVD player this week; I think it was strained by overuse. So we sucked it up, financially, and got a new one. We didn't go HD or anything, so it wasn't monumentally expensive.
We also tried out for Hello Dolly! at the Rose Barn theatre. Ellice sang beautifully and I acted well. My singing on the other hand was not quite where it needs to be, and they asked me back to sing again Sunday. Oh and by Sunday I was congested and could barely talk much less sing. We also gamed Saturday, followed by a trip to the new Movie Tavern in Lexington. It's where you eat your meal while watching the movie. Good times, good times.
Hairspray
As far as musicals go, one of the best I've ever seen. Unlike most modern musicals, I actually felt for the characters and their plight and was rooting for the good guys. The jokes about the way people in the 60s lived (like pregnant women drinking and smoking) were good and the ending was very satisfying. The music was catchy (I had never seen Hairspray before, so the whole thing was new to me.) Travolta was very funny as Mrs. Turnblat. I did a little research and found out that that role has always been played by a man on stage and screen (including Bob Hoskins.) ***
No Reservations
Nicely acted, nicely done. This film is romantic, cute, and somewhat tragic. It tugs at your heartstrings almost on cue however, and suffers from a distinct predictability. Throughout the movie I couldn't help but think what this movie needed was a French rat that can cook to liven it up a bit. **
Monday, July 30, 2007
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Homework and VBS
That seems to be all I'm doing at present as the summer session winds down. I think I'll scrape an A out of the class. Along with that, this past weekend we had our birthday party in the park, went to the Highland Renaissance fair in Eminence, Ky, and ran a booth at the pop-a-shot for our Vacation Bible School. I also volunteered to help herd kiddies all week for VBS every night this week. I lucked out and got a good group of 3rd graders. One thing; its very loud when they get all the kids together in the sanctuary, but I'll manage.
Unfortunately, there is no review this week. Maybe next week we can review Hairspray and possibly one of the other movies coming out Friday.
Unfortunately, there is no review this week. Maybe next week we can review Hairspray and possibly one of the other movies coming out Friday.
Monday, July 16, 2007
Classes and plays, Potter and Birthdays
The week in review...
Lots of class. And homework. Got some good reading in this week though, that was fun. I'm looking forward to writing group meeting sometime this week; due to scheduling conflicts, we didn't get together this time around.
Wednesday we went to see Harry Potter in Hamburg after my class. We got there a little before 4pm to get good seats. Sat through the 20 and the previews and were about 30 minutes into the movie when the movie cut off. Unfortunately the projector was smoking and the film was broken or messed up or something, so they cancelled the show. We got readmit tickets, but the next showing that was not sold out was 8pm. So we grumbled a bit, but decided to stick it out till then. I took Ellice to Don Pablos for her birthday dinner, and we got a picture of her in a sombrero. That was fun. We also stopped by the comic store and got Ellice some X-men comics (her favorite). And I may have gotten a little something for myself (ahem). We finally got in to see the movie, which I will review later, and got home about 11:30pm.
Friday we had a cookout with our Sunday School class and Saturday was full and fun, with gaming and a play at the Rose Barn Theatre--Romeo and Juliet. Sunday was church followed by a potluck and business meeting--we skipped those because 1) Potlucks are never good for us and 2) We aren't in a position to take on any more stresses right now and what the meeting would arouse in the both of us. Instead we had lunch with Ellice's mentee Andi (who was Juliet in the play Saturday night), went swimming at EKU and had Evan over for a Spaghetti dinner. Umm...I loves me some spaghetti. To cap off the week, Ellice and I played Spades online.
All and all, a busy but fruitful week.
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Great, great, great. I can't wait to see the next installment and I'm really jazzed about the final book coming out this weekend. Order of the Phoenix followed the book as well as could be expected. They left out a few minor things, but I was impressed by how much they squeezed into it. The visuals were great. The characters were as expected. New characters Tonks and LeStrange looked EXACTLY like I had imagined. The climactic scene really does a good job of approximating the vision in the book. The changes (what few there were) were artistic and well done. ****
Romeo and Juliet (Rose Barn Theatre Group)
A resident cat that typically wanders through the crowd of families in lawn chairs and blankets decided that it was his time to shine. During the famous balcony scene, the cat took center stage, stretching in the spotlight. You have to love community theatre.
This one took place in the 60's but had modified dialogue from the original play. The leads were very good. Standouts were Juliet, Romeo, and Mercutio. The best actor of the day was Friar Laurence, and I'm told he is typically a great Shakespearean actor. The stage fights were cool. A good effort overall. **
Lots of class. And homework. Got some good reading in this week though, that was fun. I'm looking forward to writing group meeting sometime this week; due to scheduling conflicts, we didn't get together this time around.
Wednesday we went to see Harry Potter in Hamburg after my class. We got there a little before 4pm to get good seats. Sat through the 20 and the previews and were about 30 minutes into the movie when the movie cut off. Unfortunately the projector was smoking and the film was broken or messed up or something, so they cancelled the show. We got readmit tickets, but the next showing that was not sold out was 8pm. So we grumbled a bit, but decided to stick it out till then. I took Ellice to Don Pablos for her birthday dinner, and we got a picture of her in a sombrero. That was fun. We also stopped by the comic store and got Ellice some X-men comics (her favorite). And I may have gotten a little something for myself (ahem). We finally got in to see the movie, which I will review later, and got home about 11:30pm.
Friday we had a cookout with our Sunday School class and Saturday was full and fun, with gaming and a play at the Rose Barn Theatre--Romeo and Juliet. Sunday was church followed by a potluck and business meeting--we skipped those because 1) Potlucks are never good for us and 2) We aren't in a position to take on any more stresses right now and what the meeting would arouse in the both of us. Instead we had lunch with Ellice's mentee Andi (who was Juliet in the play Saturday night), went swimming at EKU and had Evan over for a Spaghetti dinner. Umm...I loves me some spaghetti. To cap off the week, Ellice and I played Spades online.
All and all, a busy but fruitful week.
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Great, great, great. I can't wait to see the next installment and I'm really jazzed about the final book coming out this weekend. Order of the Phoenix followed the book as well as could be expected. They left out a few minor things, but I was impressed by how much they squeezed into it. The visuals were great. The characters were as expected. New characters Tonks and LeStrange looked EXACTLY like I had imagined. The climactic scene really does a good job of approximating the vision in the book. The changes (what few there were) were artistic and well done. ****
Romeo and Juliet (Rose Barn Theatre Group)
A resident cat that typically wanders through the crowd of families in lawn chairs and blankets decided that it was his time to shine. During the famous balcony scene, the cat took center stage, stretching in the spotlight. You have to love community theatre.
This one took place in the 60's but had modified dialogue from the original play. The leads were very good. Standouts were Juliet, Romeo, and Mercutio. The best actor of the day was Friar Laurence, and I'm told he is typically a great Shakespearean actor. The stage fights were cool. A good effort overall. **
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Another year older...
Well, I did it. I turned 35. Have I moved on to a new demographic?
We had a family reunion this past weekend in Gatlinburg. It was cool; almost everyone from my mom's family was there. It was funny getting seating for "Baker, party of 38." On Saturday, my birthday, we had cake and went to Corky's. I enjoyed my meal, but frankly, I like our Corky's in Lexington much better. After we parted ways with the rest of the Baker clan on Sunday, my wife tried to kill me.
We decided to save money and not see any of the attractions (not to mention work off some calories from the weekend meals) and go hiking. Ellice picked a trail, Rainbow Trail, that was 2.7 miles long. We had hiked up natural bridge which was 1.5 miles, so we thought what the heck. Well this one was rock covered and root tangled and entirely uphill the whole way. An hour and 50 minutes later, we reach the falls. It was cool, about 75 feet tall, but I was drenched in sweat, and a little of the moment was lost. The return trip was a little easier, an hour and 10 minutes. After the hike, I wasn't feeling too good. I wasn't just worn out and physically tired, but I was shaky and kind of out of it. We dumped a bunch of water in me, some KFC, (we hadn't expected the hike to take so long and missed lunch) and eventually a milkshake. It was then that we saw a bank sign that said it was 101 degrees. So Ellice drove home, while I tried to recover. Ellice fared better than I did in the heat--probably her tropical upbringing. She was pretty sore though. But we did it.
Okay, so hiking was technically my idea, but she did pick the trail...
Anyway, on to the movie:
Transformers
Now I wasn't the biggest Transformers fan in the world, but I enjoyed them. The craze caught on while I was in middle school (I think) and I actually owned one (Thunderstriker, the blue decepticon airplane, not in the film.) I remember liking the cartoon movie and figured that was the end of the craze. I admit was not as excited as Ellice and several of my friends when I heard they were making a live action film. But now that I've seen it, I really liked it. Lotsa action, and I confess that I got goosebumps when we finally met Optimus Prime. I was worried, especially early on that the Transformers would be invulnerable and could only fight each other, but they weren't monolithic undefeatable foes. The plot was passable, at least what we expect. The visuals were stunning. I may be getting old, but I had trouble sometimes keeping up with the action, which sometimes went a little too fast for me to tell the different Transformers apart in the heat of battle. The spec ops team rocked, and we legitimately like the Autobots. One word of warning: this is not a kids' movie. There are adult themes; this is targetted at the adults who grew up watching Transformers. If you insist on bringing children, this is a movie for parental guidance. One last thing, Starscream rules. ***1/2 (Ellice gave it ****)
We had a family reunion this past weekend in Gatlinburg. It was cool; almost everyone from my mom's family was there. It was funny getting seating for "Baker, party of 38." On Saturday, my birthday, we had cake and went to Corky's. I enjoyed my meal, but frankly, I like our Corky's in Lexington much better. After we parted ways with the rest of the Baker clan on Sunday, my wife tried to kill me.
We decided to save money and not see any of the attractions (not to mention work off some calories from the weekend meals) and go hiking. Ellice picked a trail, Rainbow Trail, that was 2.7 miles long. We had hiked up natural bridge which was 1.5 miles, so we thought what the heck. Well this one was rock covered and root tangled and entirely uphill the whole way. An hour and 50 minutes later, we reach the falls. It was cool, about 75 feet tall, but I was drenched in sweat, and a little of the moment was lost. The return trip was a little easier, an hour and 10 minutes. After the hike, I wasn't feeling too good. I wasn't just worn out and physically tired, but I was shaky and kind of out of it. We dumped a bunch of water in me, some KFC, (we hadn't expected the hike to take so long and missed lunch) and eventually a milkshake. It was then that we saw a bank sign that said it was 101 degrees. So Ellice drove home, while I tried to recover. Ellice fared better than I did in the heat--probably her tropical upbringing. She was pretty sore though. But we did it.
Okay, so hiking was technically my idea, but she did pick the trail...
Anyway, on to the movie:
Transformers
Now I wasn't the biggest Transformers fan in the world, but I enjoyed them. The craze caught on while I was in middle school (I think) and I actually owned one (Thunderstriker, the blue decepticon airplane, not in the film.) I remember liking the cartoon movie and figured that was the end of the craze. I admit was not as excited as Ellice and several of my friends when I heard they were making a live action film. But now that I've seen it, I really liked it. Lotsa action, and I confess that I got goosebumps when we finally met Optimus Prime. I was worried, especially early on that the Transformers would be invulnerable and could only fight each other, but they weren't monolithic undefeatable foes. The plot was passable, at least what we expect. The visuals were stunning. I may be getting old, but I had trouble sometimes keeping up with the action, which sometimes went a little too fast for me to tell the different Transformers apart in the heat of battle. The spec ops team rocked, and we legitimately like the Autobots. One word of warning: this is not a kids' movie. There are adult themes; this is targetted at the adults who grew up watching Transformers. If you insist on bringing children, this is a movie for parental guidance. One last thing, Starscream rules. ***1/2 (Ellice gave it ****)
Tuesday, July 03, 2007
Summer School
This week school started back for the second summer session. I only have one class, so it shouldn't be too bad. But there are the first day jitters and in a four week class, everything has to be done almost immediately. So, I've got my work cut out for me this month. I'll barely have time to blog about....
Live Free or Die Hard
We are big fans of the Die Hard movies, and I have come to expect a certain level of excitement, action, adventure, and general machismo. I was not dissapointed. McClane doesn't jump into this one on purpose either; once again, he's in the wrong place, at the wrong time. They even raised the bar on some of the stunts. Way cool. ***1/2
Rattatouille
I was thinking, okay, another Disney movie for Ellice. We just saw Die Hard 4 and I can watch a family movie with her, no prob. It will be mildly entertaining, and I might chuckle a couple of times. Far from it. This movie was vastly enjoyable, and downright hillarious at parts. The visuals of this Pixar movie are absolutely stunning; the motion sequences are incredible. This one is suitable for kids, but there is a lot of material that only adults will get. Only problem with this one is in the back of your mind you are thinking, it's still a rat in the kitchen. We'll get this one as well. ***
Live Free or Die Hard
We are big fans of the Die Hard movies, and I have come to expect a certain level of excitement, action, adventure, and general machismo. I was not dissapointed. McClane doesn't jump into this one on purpose either; once again, he's in the wrong place, at the wrong time. They even raised the bar on some of the stunts. Way cool. ***1/2
Rattatouille
I was thinking, okay, another Disney movie for Ellice. We just saw Die Hard 4 and I can watch a family movie with her, no prob. It will be mildly entertaining, and I might chuckle a couple of times. Far from it. This movie was vastly enjoyable, and downright hillarious at parts. The visuals of this Pixar movie are absolutely stunning; the motion sequences are incredible. This one is suitable for kids, but there is a lot of material that only adults will get. Only problem with this one is in the back of your mind you are thinking, it's still a rat in the kitchen. We'll get this one as well. ***
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