Archive | July 2010

Android!

I just want to take a minute to test out the app for wordpress. Seems to be working pretty well.

Nothing to report though. My Milwaukee trip is nearing an end and then I’ll give a better update. Til then, hope everyone is doing well.

2010/07/16

Quick…

My room is a disaster. My uncle needs to start showing the house while I’m gone, so I have tomorrow to sleep, make my room public friendly, pack for my trip, hang out with my aunt who just flew into town AND clean up the garage so it too is presentable.

Oh, did I mention I’m at work right now, so I can’t do anything til tomorrow (later today, technically)?

So, I leave Saturday morning, arrive very early Sunday morning, guessing 2am. Then leave around 10am for a 2½ hour road trip to Wisconsin Dells, drive another 2½ hours back to Milwaukee Monday morning, then Monday night drive 3 hours up north to Green Bay to visit my grandparents, and 3 hours back down Tuesday afternoon.

That’s what’s going on here. Just an update. And here’s a shout out to Anna, because we hung out the other night, and she demanded a shout out. (I wanted to give her one anyways, but don’t tell her)

Night all!

2010/07/09

Movies, oh my!

So, I’ve spent a lot of my free time watching movies lately. Some for the first time, and some just to re-watch. Here are the movies I’ve watched since June 30th and what I thought of them.

St. Elmo’s Fire – First time viewing: This was your typical 80’s movie with the Breakfast Club cast +- a few people. The movie follows around a group of friends who graduate college together, and then months later are out in the real world dealing with love, drugs, work, etc. It’s not a very uplifting movie, but if you generally like 80’s movies and it’s actors, then go ahead and give this movie a shot. It’s nothing to write home about though. I’d call it mediocre at best.
Scent of a Woman – First time viewing: This movie actually disappointed me. As it was on my list, and a very recommended movie, I guess I expected too much from this movie. Al Pacino plays a blind military veteran who is basically a dick. He has been a dick his whole life, as is explained when he crashes his brother’s Thanksgiving get together. With the guidance of Chris O’Donnell, Pacino’s character blows tons of cash in New York with plans on killing himself at the end of the weekend. Pacino’s performance was so-so. I don’t know if it was hard to believe him to be a blind man because he was Pacino, and you can’t picture a guy like that being blind, or if his acting was just that bad. For most of the people I know who read my blog, I would pass this movie by unless you want 2 hours of not feeling bad for a character you’re supposed to feel bad for. Macho-man takes a blow to his pride and can’t take it. That pretty much sums up the movie.
Airborne – Repeat viewing: So, this movie I probably like just because I enjoyed it a lot as a kid. You get to see a teenage Seth Green, and a young 20s Jack Black if that means anything. So, basically, this movie is about a California surfer kid who is forced to go live in Ohio with his Aunt & Uncle because his parents go out of town for 6 months due to their work. The surfer kid is not welcomed by your typical Midwestern tough guys. But, eventually he meets a girl, makes friends, saves the day and there you have it. Corny 90s type movie. But, worth the hour and a half if you’ve got nothing to do, and want a retro movie to watch. The highlights are rollerblading, so, come on.
Control Alt Delete – First time viewing: So, I’m not even going to dignify this with much of a review. The movie is basically about a guy who discovers internet porn and gets addicted to whacking off instead of screwing his too-hot-for-him girlfriend. I turned this movie off at about the 2/3 mark because I just couldn’t handle it anymore. I wouldn’t watch this movie at all. Find something better to do. Pick the lint from in between your toes before watching this movie.
Beetlejuice – Repeat viewing: Ok. Well, I don’t think much needs to be said about this movie. Either you’ve seen it, and love it, or you’ve never seen it, and we shouldn’t be friends because this is just a timeless classic. Michael Keaton is brilliant. Awesome movie. Will be for the rest of my lifetime.
Earth Girls Are Easy – First time viewing: What can I say about this movie? This was on the list, and so I watched it. I wouldn’t say it was good, and I wouldn’t say it’s the worst thing I’ve ever watched. It was just ODD. A young Jim Carrey and Damon Waynes accompany Jeff Goldblum as aliens who crash land in Geena Davis’s pool. They don’t speak English when they arrive, and through watching cable television, they eventually learn to communicate a little. Jeff Goldblum, as the leader, tends to pick up the language and is able to communicate with Geena Davis. It’s basically a movie full of stupid humor. So, if you like 80’s movies, and like stupid humor, then this movie might be for you. Don’t turn it down on my account, but I don’t see myself ever watching this again.
Just One of the Guys – Repeat viewing: I’ve seen this movie many times. This movie came out the year of my birth. So, the girl that the movie follows is a high school student trying to become a reporter. She writes and article for a contest that she felt should have won, but thinks that because she is a girl, she was turned down. So, she does what any rational girl would do, she cuts off her hair and goes to another school acting like a guy. Here she finds out that her writing is good, but boring. So, she turns her story into the story she will write. It’s a cute movie. They later “remade” this movie roughly with She’s the Man (2006), though I think this is the much better movie. If you haven’t seen it, I think it’s worth it. If you’re a guy, watch it with a girl and you’ll probably both enjoy it together. I can’t recommend vice-versa though. “Macho” guys might not enjoy it as much, but I think that Danny liked this movie back in the day as well. At least, I know he’s seen it. We bring it up from time to time.
3 Ninjas – Repeat viewing: So, I basically just threw this on to get tired to last week. I also wanted to see if this movie was as bad as I remember it being from childhood (even though I loved it then). Well, it was. The acting is terrible, the story isn’t very good, the stunt doubles are terrible. If you’ve got kids who are old enough to watch this, probably 6+, then watch it with them. Otherwise, stay away. You most likely won’t get anything enjoyable out of it other than Tum-Tum playing Super Mario Bros 3 for a minute. That excited me at least. Haha.
Revenge of the Nerds – First time viewing: SO many people have made fun of this movie in my life time. Because of this, I never watched it. However, I finally caved. And, I enjoyed it a lot. It was not much different from more modern college comedies. I’d actually say that American Pie Presents Beta House stole a lot of their idea from this movie. Anyways. The movie starts off with two nerds heading to college, one of which is Anthony Edwards, a great actor. Shortly after arriving to college, the jock frat burns down their house, leaving them without a place to live. So, the coach bullies the Dean into giving his jocks the freshman dorms. This leaves the freshman living in the gym on cots. Of course, most of freshman are nerds for some reason. They decide to create their own frat to fight for supremacy on the Greek counsel for the following semester. They end up facing off in Greek Games, yada yada. It’s a good movie, so go watch it if you haven’t.
Beavis and Butt-head Do America – Repeat viewing: I saw this originally in theaters. So, I mean, everyone should have seen this by now. Unfortunately, I know that some of my younger viewers despise Beavis & Butthead. But, you guys don’t remember how revolutionary and controversial they were. I used to have to go over to a friend’s house to watch them because my mother WOULD NOT allow for them to be watched in our house. Anyways. Do America is a well done film. They kept all the aspects of the TV show, even the music the TV show was based around. The only difference was that instead of showing actual music videos, they incorporated them into the movie. Like, the dehydration scene. However, there’s little story to critique here. Damn good movie, I’ll never give up my views on that!
Lean on Me – First time viewing: Well, who doesn’t love Morgan Freeman? This is a movie, based on a true story about a high school that went from good to SHIT. Morgan Freeman is put in charge, with no hope that he’ll actually turn the school around. He is given one year to get the school up to the passing standards it needs to meet in order to stay in existence. I don’t know how to describe it, so just give it a shot. I think it’s worth at least one viewing.
Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves – First time viewing: You know, I wish that someone would have informed me that Morgan Freeman was in this movie. I would have watched it a long time ago. Instead, I avoided is because I thought Kevin Costner was all this movie had to offer. So, obviously, it was a bit different than Disney’s cartoon version, but I really enjoyed it. I thought it was really good.
Ok, I’ve lost my steam, I cannot write anymore about these movies. I’m going to make the rest short and simple.
Loser – Repeat viewing: Good movie. Recommend watching once if you haven’t seen it. Good college/romantic comedy.
Drop Zone – Repeat viewing: I watched this a lot when I was younger. The special effects suck, you can tell a lot of the movie is done in front of a green screen. Wesley Snipes is typical Wesley Snipes. Decent movie if you’re looking for an action movie to burn some time on, but I wouldn’t go out of your way.
Mallrats – First time viewing: I always hated Kevin Smith on principle, but as I’ve grown older, I’ve decided to stop hating him because of one of his views. This movie is a good movie, as are most of his movies. So, give it a shot if you liked any of his other work.
Nothing To Lose – Repeat viewing: Entertaining movie. Tim Robbins, Martin Lawrence, ‘nough said.
Raising Arizona – First time viewing: Nic Cage with bad hair. I’m surprised this movie was on any list as I found it pretty boring. I didn’t find it very funny for a comedy. Do not run out and watch this unless you’ve lost all hope of finding something good to watch. And then, make sure you have something else to do while this is playing in the background.
The Jerk – First time viewing: Well, I can’t believe I made it through this one. Steve Martin is generally annoying, and in this movie, that was no exception. A dumbass white guy, raised by a black family, thinks he’s black, makes it big, loses his money, the end. Not worth the time put into it.
American Pie 2 – Repeat viewing: If you haven’t seen this, you should be shot. One of my favorite movies, ever. I’m jealous of Jim.
About Last Night… – First time viewing: This movie only reminded me of my own pain, roles reversed. It was ok, nothing to write home about. Look it up, you’ll get better info on the web.
Loverboy – First time viewing: This movie was ridiculous! But, it was SO 80’s, and I love the 80’s. Basically, Patrick Dempsey’s character becomes a male escort to pay for college to get back to his ex-girlfriend. Fucked up premise. Executed well. If you want a laugh, and a pretty light hearted movie, I’d give it a shot. Nearly as enjoyable as Can’t Buy Me Love (1987).
TiMER – First time viewing: So, I’m a total chick, because I really liked this movie. I’d never even heard of it, but it has a few lesser known actors that I recognized from other places. A devise is created that tells you the exact time that you will meet your “one”. So, spontaneous love is no longer around to most people. I don’t want to give away too much of the movie, but it’s definitely worth giving a try. I HATED the ending, but even that didn’t ruin this movie for me.
Die Hard – Repeat viewing: Timeless classic.
The Bounty Hunter – First time viewing: I can’t believe this movie had bad reviews. I wouldn’t say it’s the best thing I’ve ever seen, but I also don’t regret watching it. Good romantic comedy with a few good actors. The story is amusing, acting is decent, so STFU haters. If you’re home with nothing to do, go ahead and watch this one.
SLC Punk! – First time viewing: I have been trying to get a hold of a good copy of this FOREVER. When I saw that Netflix was streaming it, HD even, I had to watch it. Matthew Lillard is a very underrated actor in my opinion. I wouldn’t say he has an incredible amount of range, but I still think he does a good job. This movie follows two friends, who are living the ‘punk’ life in a conservative early 1980’s Utah. I thought it was well done, I like the story, the style and the acting. Give it a shot if you’ve got nothing better to do.
Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels – Repeat viewing: Everyone knows I have a hard-on for Guy Ritchie. If you’ve seen any of Guy Ritchie’s films, and enjoyed them, then you’ll like this movie. And if you haven’t, still a good chance you’ll like it, so go out and watch it.

Well, that’s all for now. Holy crap I’ve wasted a lot of time on movies recently. OH WELL! That’s my life, and I’m ok with it. Nothing new to report about my life. Jeff is still awaiting word on his future destination, so I’m just awaiting word from him. Once I find out, I’ll know when I can schedule my trip to Milwaukee, and if I need to start moving my crap back there or not. But, until I do, it’s off to watch some more shit.

2010/07/05

Just an update…

Blog, blog, blog, BLOG!

Alright. Since I’m tired of explaining the same story 37 times, and I don’t want to keep adding to that number, I’m going to end at 38 by blogging about the recent events in my life of which I have been bitching about. And don’t take any of this the wrong way, I’m still a chipper fella and am not falling back into the throes of depression.

Ok. So, the first order of business. As everyone knows, the economy sucks, and the house market crashed. Well, Jeff paid a lot of money for the house we live in, and “lost” a lot when that market crashed. The house is worth substantially less than what he paid for it. He recently found out that if he moves fast (by September 30^th), that the army will give him a lot of money for his house. So, essentially he ends up getting like $200,000 for free. At first the talks were about him getting stationed in Germany to make this move possible. Going to Germany would mean that he could only take his dependants with him. Of course, I flew into a panic, and started considering my possibilities before the conversation even ended. Firstly, I considered living out of my car for a semester, and pushing full force towards my associates degree. Then I considered how stressed I would be until figuring all of this stuff out, I decided that wouldn’t work. So, I dropped my summer school classs to make sure that I didn’t get too overwhelmed and end up failing it for a second time, which would leave me stuck with an “F” in Accounting, which would make getting a degree in Accounting quite difficult. So this all still left so much in the air. My grandma would stay in this area since she has a good job going for her, and a new granddaughter. So, could I push down my pride enough to move in with her instead of living in my car? So, finally, after a whole day of switching my life around slightly and freaking out, Jeff and I had a talk about this. Now, he’s checking out a job and houses in Norfolk, Virginia. This is 3 hours south of where I live now. So, I don’t know what that means other than a move is definitely happening, and if it’s to Norfolk, I will most likely be going with. I just need to see if I can get my college credits to transfer smoothly down there. If not, I may need to find a way to stay up here for a year to finish my associates, and then transfer down there with the public university agreement my school has. So there you have it, that’s what all the school dropping out and crap was about. I am still enrolled in fall classes for now, so no worries.

The drama back in Wisconsin is the same ol’ same ol’. My mother is a drunk, and I finally reached the end of my rope with her. For months, she calls me multiple times per week, and every time she is drunk off her ass. She knows how much this bothers me. So, if she ever finds an AA meeting, and the meaning of “sober”, we can talk. Otherwise, I can’t have her around for now. I need to worry on who I need to become, and I can’t keep stressing over the people in my life I can’t fix. My sister Mandy gets her ass kicked regularly by her “baby daddy” who is currently in jail for beating her, but he’ll be out eventually, and she’ll be waiting with open arms for him to return. She’s going to end up dead, or seriously hurt and I can’t have that stupidity in my life anymore. Not to mention that fact that she’s pregnant, and who knows what my soon to be nephew will endure at the hands of that asshole or what kind of scum bag he’ll turn into without positive role models in his life. Then there’s Becky. I don’t even know what to say about her anymore. She’s an unfit mother, and a selfish little punk. Instead of growing up and taking care of what she needs to, she keeps throwing away the little money she has on stupid things. But, she can’t be told.

So, as far as the things I’ve been bitching about, there those go. I’ll keep everyone posted on my living situation AS I figure it out.

So, I’m actually quite tired and feel like paying more attention to this movie I just started, so I’m done for now. Tomorrow, maybe I’ll talk about the mass amount of movies I’ve watched in the last few days. The list includes:

No, this has not been my first time for all of these, but it has been for some of these. There might have been more movies, but those are the only ones I can remember right now. I’ll work on them tomorrow though! G’night all.

Oh, and before I forget to mention this. I hung out with my friend Michelle for the first time tonight. And while we talked, I witnessed her wipe down the engine in her car with a cloth for about 4 minutes. I told her she was being ridiculous and that I would have to update my blog about it, so here that tid-bit is.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0105323/