Transformers 2 reviewed

After hearing many of my friends rave about Transformers 2, I finally went to go see it.  I wasn’t super excited about.  But I like seeing special effects driven movies in the theater where I can enjoy them on the big screen.  So it was with … moderate enthusiasm that I bought my ticket and sat down.  If you like special effects, you’ll like this movie.  What can be better than seeing large robots and big explosions?  And I won’t turn my nose up at a chance to watch Megan Fox running.  And that seems to be her largest contribution to the movie.  Not really her fault.  She’s hot and she’s just a supporting actress but there it is.

I have to say, though, that I was pretty let down by the movie.  I’d give a soft “B.”  There were scenes where it was glaringly obvious that computers added images to the screen.  And not just in the “oh, my god!  That technology is way more advanced than we have!” sense of obvious.  It felt like watching an old 1950s flick where the star is “driving” a car and yet the background motion and the steering wheel don’t quite match up.  Sometimes, the integration of the two was awesome and at other times, it felt like watching a Mr. Bill video.  It was just jarring.

But probably the most eye-gougingly annoying part of the movie was Michael Bay’s overuse of the 360 degree shot.  Or should I say 2880 degree shot.  STOP SPINNING AROUND THE ACTORS!!!!  It’s bad enough that he spun around one close up shot for about five minutes, but there was a setting sun in the back of one shot so once every rotation you were blessed with an extremely shot of the sun.  I suppose he realized he could combine both the panoramic shot and that classic “lost in the sun” shot of kissing lovers.  Either way it was a nauseating experience in more than one way.

Overall the movie was enjoyable enough.  Some funny dialog.  The language was coarser than I remember the first one being but I didn’t mind.  I thought it was pretty funny actually.  The story line was a little contrived but, let’s be honest.  We were there for robots and Megan Fox.  So it was ok.  I might see it again someday.  But unless you just really want to see it on the big screen, I’d wait for it to hit the rental market.

 

You don’t want to wake up to this

When getting everyone ready for school Friday, I heard a strange noise in/near the air conditioning unit in our bedroom.  I pulled up the shade and peeked out to find a squirrel next to the A/C unit.  Out on the rail of the fire escape, I saw another.  Curious, and mildly nervous, I opened the kitchen window to get a better look.  There were four squirrels all told.  One of them was responsible for the noise.  I couldn’t tell if it was pregnant or injured.  What was clear was that the other three were standing guard.

Armed with a dowel rod (fierce, I know) I banged on the fire escape trying to scare off the squirrels.  Normally, I couldn’t care less if the squirrels hung out on our fire escape.  Truth be told, I enoy it when they do.  But I was concerned that they were planning on whelping in the back end of the A/C unit.  And it was kind of a hot, humid day during which I was considering running the A/C to knock some of the humidity out of the air.  If I did, I’d rather not have the A/C unit fling squirrel stew meat in my face when I turned it on.

Eventually, they all jumped to the fire escape two buildings over.  But not before I relived Veruca Salt’s ignominious ejection from the tour of the chocolate factory.

 

My Weirdest Dream Ever

On twitter, one of the people I follow asked for everyone’s strangest dream ever.  I’ve had this one at least 3 or 4 times.  No, I’ve never sought counselling about this but perhaps I should.  Anyway, here goes:

I’m a youngish kid.  Say 10 for argument’s sake.  I’m walking through the house into the kitchen.  My mom is doing something in the kitchen.  Dad’s occupied elsewhere.  Suddenly I hear this noise outside.  Curious I open the back door and see a fat Mexican man bouncing back and forth. Like my friend, there to the right. Imagine him with a yellow suit and matching hat. So this guy is bouncing back and forth and singing/chanting something just below perceptibility.

Naturally, I’m really freaked out.  In the tradition of dreams and cartoons since time began, I jump straight up and latch on to a blade of the ceiling fan.  Of course, it can’t hold me so I crash to the kitchen table below causing it to collapse.  Not to be foiled in my attempt to flee, I run to the front door and fling it open.  What I see outside is a ring of the afforementioned fat Mexican guys holding hands, bouncing back and forth.  Still chanting.  Still can’t understand a word.  I seek refuge in the one remaining place in the house:  the attic.  I run to my sister’s bedroom, tear open the closet door, and push up the hatch to the attic.  I poke my head up through hole and peer inside the attic.  I’m greeted by thousands of these fat Mexican men (now miniaturized so they can all fit).  Yep.  Still bouncing.  Still chanting.  Still unintelligble.  It’s at this point that I mercifully wake up.

I’ve had this dream on several occasions.  I’m not sure why this one repeats.  Why couldn’t my subconcious latch on to something a bit more … attractive.  Anyway.  That’s the strangest dream I’ve ever had.  So, that’s me.  How about you?

 

What the … ?

So I work from home now.  Have done so for months now.  The other day I was happily working away when I heard a voice.  It sounded pretty close.  I paid a little attention and thought, “Hey.  That sounds like Peter Sarsgaard.”  I mean, it sounded really close.  In the room, in the apartment kinda close.  I looked around and, of course didn’t see him.  I shrugged went back to work.  The voice persisted, though.  Where the hell is that coming from?!?  I looked out the window across the street and scanned the sidewalks.  Nope.  No Peter.  There was that voice again!

I tried to ignore it.  I tried to keep working.  But there was that voice again!  Finally, I stand up and look as directly down as I can.  And there, right in front of my building, two flights down on the sidewalk is Peter Sarsgaard.  He’s talking to someone about somethingorother.  As I look down he crosses to the other side of the street.

So I guess what I’m trying to say with all this is just this:  Peter Sarsgaard lives in my area.  How cool is that? 

P.S.  Hey, Peter!  Stop by sometime! 

 

Great Write Up (Sort of) about Facebook.

I’m on facebook.  I check it about as often as someone wants to add me as a friend.  At least a day or two after I notice the email.  I guess what I’m saying is that I probably don’t use facebook like it was intended.  For me, it’s more of a bookmark service to find old friends.  I don’t write on the “wall” much.  I dont’ really join groups and I don’t really check the updates of my friends.  Twitter is easier for me to get to and I use that for mostly technical feeds.  But some people use it quite extensively.  Compulsively.  Dare I say, inappropriately.  In the first issue of The Printed Blog, I ran across this posting.  It’s an interesting examination of how “social networking” is invading all aspects of our lives.  Even those that really shouldn’t include a computer.

 

Football’s Over!

Well, tonight brought the end of the college football season and the Sooners’ hunt for that glass football thing.  I don’t mind the losing.  We played a good game.  Florida played a good game.  It was mostly fun to watch.  But there was one huge fly in the ointment:  the commentators.  If I may wax poetic for a moment, these commentators have got to be the most blatantly horny for Tebow as I’ve ever seen.  I wouldn’t be surprised to find them crammed into his locker waiting for him to get off the field.  Listen up, Fox.  Get those guys a room!

Seriously.  This is football not the Miss America contest.  I don’t really care about how many orphans he’s raised from the dead or how much water he’s turned into wine.  I’m not a leper so I don’t care about the healing properties of his sweat or how soothing it is to sit in his shadow.  I want to hear about football dammit!  stfu about how he personally nursed a litter of kittens back to health after he willed himself to lactate after saving them from a burning building.

But there is one good thing about all this.  Should something happen to Obama (heaven forfend!) at least we have a back up Messiah.

Now if you’ll pardon me, Tim just walked by outside and I need to touch the seam of his … athletic support.

 

These are the times that try men’s souls.

Those words were first uttered almost 200 years before I was born and they still ring true today.  Today we are faced with one of the greatest crises we’ve ever faced.  Unprecedented challenges look over us as we rise to face the coming day.  It is times like these that really test the mettle of an individual.  Will that person rise to the challenge or will circumstances and “fate” grind him into dust?  Will we fight on despite the odds?  Or will we tuck tail and run?  Days like these show us who we really are?  So what about you?  Will you stand?  Will you fight?  Will you do your part?  I, for one, will.  It’s Christmas Eve and that turkey won’t cook itself.

 

Burn, baby, burn!

As I stagger off to bed (my girls still haven’t figured out daylight savings and like to get up at 4:30 now instead of the customary 5:30), CNN has projected electoral college votes at 174 for Obama and 64 for McCain.  Disregarding for the moment how unreliable these projections have been in the past, it’s really not looking good for the GOP.  While I’m *registered* Republican (stupid primaries and crappy election laws…) I tend to vote Libertarian every chance I get.  Over the last several years/decade/whatever, I’ve grown increasingly disappointed in the GOP especially under Bush’s leadership.  They seem to have to abandoned everything they’re traditionally stood for.  So I have a hard time voting for them these days and there’s very little chance I’d actively vote for a Democrat seeing as how they plan to take more of my hard earned money and give to those who haven’t worked for it.

But here’s my hope for the GOP tonight:  I hope they tank.  Hard.  I hope it such a blowout that they fall from grace so to speak.  I’d love to see a vacuum open up where third party voices start finding audiences.  Personally, I think the two party system is what leads to the vitriol in the elections.  People tend to vote solely within the confines of their own party’s candidates so there’s very little moderation needed to bring those guys in.  Instead, the candidates can then focus on destroying their opponents in an effort to win over the undecideds.  With just the one other viewpoint to “debate,” candidates aren’t really forced to appeal to anyone’s higher nature and instead resort to fear tactics, smear campaigns, and demogoguery.

So here’s to a total faceplant by the GOP.  (Even an Obama loss should sufficiently disrupt the Dems in a year when they should be able to walk away with the race).  And here’s to more voices around the table.  Here’s to actual debates and discussions in the political arena.  And here’s to rainbows and unicorns.  I’ll probably see those before I see the Dem/GOP duopoly broken up.  But a girl can dream, no?

Speaking of which…

 

Reliving loss

There are those that enter your lives and leave no major impact:  temporary friends at the park where both your kids are playing, a friendly dog walking down the sidewalk.  Others, however, once they enter your life, life will never be the same no matter how brief that relationship.  Our lives are indelibly, irrevocably changed forever.  Their parting can leave gaping holes and soul aches that can last for days, weeks, and sometimes even years.  We’d give anything to have them back.

After the aching finally fades, sometimes life is cruel enough to remind us of what we’ve lost.  It can be a familar sounding laugh, seeing an old movie you both enjoyed, the lost half of a pair of gloves owned by a former lover.  These poignant reminders bring back all the loss and heartache you’d thought you’d finally gotten over.  I had such a moment today.  The weather has turned cool enough here in NYC lately that a light jacket is a welcome addition to one’s wardrobe.  I put on a jacket and was walking to my daughter’s school to pick her up after school.  Slipping one hand into a pocket, I found the cover sleeve for an old umbrella and suddenly the loss came rushing back unexpectedly.  I thought I’d finally moved on.  But I haven’t.  I really miss that umbrella.

 

The Biggest Lie in Politics

There’s this lie floating around in politics that I find somewhat disturbing.  Most prominent politicians seem to believe this lie and even the press is complicit in its perpetuation.  And the lie is this:  that elections and public office belong to Republicans and Democrats.  Very few will come out and actually say this, but if you listen closely, you can catch them at it.  The most obvious gaffe is when the speak of “stealing” votes from another candidate.  Time magazine just referred to Bob Barr’s run as “Naderizing” John Mccain.  Nader has been blamed for Gore losing.  Ross Perot gets blamed for Bush I losing.  And on and on and on…

These candidates don’t steal votes.  They make their case and each voter who votes for them decides that (s)he agrees with, say, Ralph Nader more than the others and votes accordingly.  These votes were not the rightful property of anyone except the person who cast it.  To say these third party candidates are stealing votes from the Republican and Democrat candidates is to canonize the two party system and grant it formal stature that it neither has nor deserves.

Before the Civil War, it was common to hear of many different parties and even for politicians to change parties.  Even Abraham Lincoln started as Whig, switched to the Republican party, and end as a member of the National Union party.  But these days, any one not a member of the two dominant parties is often written off as a kook or fringe candidate.  Looking at how difficult it can be to determine Republican from Democrat these days, I think you’d have an awfully hard time proving this set up has been good for us.