Blast from the Past -- 2003 Second Half

Here are some more random cute pix from the second half of 2003. Stay tuned for Timmy making his debut in 2004.

In St. Lucia.

The Saturday that was Friday

So today seemed like it should be a Saturday ... last night Holtes and Angel Fischer were over to BBQ and then practice for Sunday worship* and just hang out, so the kids stayed up late and it just felt like a Friday night. Fortunately, the kids slept in until 7:30 (Emma) or 8 (Timmy). The really needed that.

*We (or at least I) have a great time playing last night. It was a little less formal and we just had a great time jamming and playing music. I played my guitar with them for the first time which was a lot of fun too.

Today should be pretty low key. With some swim lessons and normal day to day stuff. Hopefully it will be a nice adjustment back to normal Fridayhood.

Wall-E

The Setting: Showboat Theater in Lake Geneva ... sparsely attended, with high school whisperers who couldn't get into the sold out Dark Knight showing sitting up behind us.
The Attendees: Cyndie and I on our anniversary (14!) date.
The Impressions:
It was a pretty good show ... but left us with the strange reaction (both Cyndie and I) of that was "interesting". Interesting in a good way for the most part. It was far different than any other Pixar movie. And, though rated G, I would not call it a kids movie per se in that with so little dialog, I think the kids would have gotten bored, at least my kids. Here's a synopsis, so I won't get into that. The story was good, not great, not entirely novel, but told from and different perspective than most of its predecessors. The production value, like most Pixar flicks, was top notch. There were 10 or 15 times when both Cyndie and I laughed out loud, so there was definitely the standard Pixar comedy element. It also was somewhat though provoking, though Cyndie felt like it preached a bit too much. Overall it left me thinking ... that was a good movie, but couldn't quite get over the hump of greatness.
The score: 4.0/5*

*The Complaint: From my brother-in-law Gow ... "Here is what I would like to know:

1. What is your criteria for your movie rankings?
2. Why in the world are you using a scale of 1-5?
3. How in the world are you getting point-nines and point-fours???...must be some detailed test that you run all your movies through, eh?"

My Response to The Complaint: Criteria, in order of importance (and though I list these criteria, I do not follow them "scientifically"): Story, artistic quality (directing, acting), technical quality (editing, effects), other (usually this would end up being something negative, like in the Dark Knight, Ledger was very good, but got to be a bit monotonous over a 2.5 hour movie).

The scoring system because otherwise I'd have to write ten paragraphs trying to explain my general feelings on the movie. I'd rather just write a few blurbs and a number. I know, I know, it's pretty random, but then too, what movies anyone might enjoy can be pretty random. I'd much rather sit with someone and talk about a movie for 15 minutes or more, but that's not always a possibility.

Movies I've seen this year (in the theater):
Iron Man - 4.2/5
Wall-E - 4.0/5
The Dark Knight - 3.9/5
Kung Fu Panda - 3.5/5
Horton Hears a Who - 3.0/5
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull - 1.9/5

It's been a couple of days ...

Well, it's been a couple of days, and since I'm not feeling the greatest, I'm not going to run down all of life. It's been pretty "typical"* summer, something that we're enjoying and hoping for more of the next month and a half. Tuesday night, for our anniversary, we went out. Went to Scuttlebutts, a restaurant down by the lake that we've enjoyed the couple of other times over the years that we've tried it. After that we went to see Wall-E at the local movie theater (review to be posted later), and walked by the lake a bit. It was a nice evening.

*I'm not sure there will ever be a "typical" summer day, but so far that kind of looks like me working while the rest of the fam heads to the pool or the beach or errands or a play date, then lunch together, followed by quiet time, a little playtime around the house/chores. Then dinner and hanging out as a family for a bit. Lately, we've really been enjoying spending time together out by and on the Dragon's Lair.**

**Pictures to come sometime soon, I promise.

Yesterday was pretty busy with various activities, and since we had already celebrated our anniversary the night before, we kind of took that "off". Cyndie and the kids were busy at Holte's house helping Jeannine get ready for the church silent auction this Sunday.

Today should be a bit lower key ... the kids and Cyndie are headed off to a dance recital thing for Anna Holte in the morning, and then in the evening we're having a worship team BBQ here at the house and then practice afterwards.

The Dark Knight

So I saw The Dark Knight on Saturday evening with the usual moving going gang (Ryan Hyphen, Dave Hinz, Eric Anderson ... guys from church). It was a fun event. That gang is a good one to go see a show with since we're all movie buffs to one degree or another who are roughly the same age, so we have similar backgrounds when it comes to what we grew up with.

So the movie ... I'd give it 3.9 out of 5. It was a very good movie, top notch special effects, but there was just nothing that made me go "wow". I felt like it was a bit too long (I think around a 2:30 run time) for the amount of story that it had to tell. Heath Ledger was good as the Joker, but got a bit annoying after a while as his whole schtick was the same, never changing (which, in truth, was probably true character). I think in the end, it was a combination of my anticipation for the movie (and it not living up to that anticipation), and just a general lack of originality (or that "wow" factor I mentioned before). Nonetheless, I'd still recommend seeing it!

On the way out of the theater, we saw 6 or 7 people dressed up like Batman characters ... I guess freaks like that are not limited to just SoCal!

Movies I've seen this year:
Iron Man - 4.2/5
The Dark Knight - 3.9/5
Kung Fu Panda - 3.5/5
Horton Hears a Who - 3.0/5
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull - 1.9/5

Back in the swing of things

So we're at home and back into the swing of things.

We had a fairly low key day yesterday ... church, then around the house for the rest of the day. Right now Cyndie and the kids are out getting groceries in order to restock after vacation. I think they'll probably hit the swimming pool later on if the weather is nice enough (which it looks like it will be).

The next several weeks should be pretty normal ... for summer. I don't think we have any "major" events coming up. Starting around the 5th of August, our friends Jim and Laurie will be visiting from SoCal for a week. That will be fun, and should mark the last big event of the summer.

Vacation Pix ...

Here's some pictures from the trip to Chicago ...

This is the main level of the house we stayed at (the second level, above the garage and sitting area and below the bedrooms).

The kids with a monkey at the Lincoln Park Zoo.

The kids monkeying around!

Family photo op.

Oops, I'm not sure why this didn't get rotated, but this is eating at the Italian style pizza place a couple of doors down from where we stayed.

Timmy with part of our appetizer.

Em and Tim sharing a malt at the Folk Festival that we happened upon.

The Chicago Field Museum.

Eating a snack with our friend the Brachiosaurus.

At the Field Museum ... looking toward the city.

The kids were fascinated by these globes at the Field Museum.

More at the Field Museum, this was an underground exhibit where you were supposed to be an 1/8th of an inch tall (or so).

Now at Millennium Park ... the weird beany mirror thing.

This was the big fountain thing at Millennium Park that the kids loved.

Buckingham Fountain.

Emma riding the El.

This is at the Kids Museum on the Navy Pier ... the kids building their own fountains.

More at the Kids Museum.

Digging for dinosaur bones at the kids museum.

This was a fountain thing the kids could play in at one of the parks close to the house.

Lake Michigan beach.

Emma trying on hats at Cracker Barrel (breakfast stop on the way home).

So that was our trip ... it was a blast!