Da Da Da Daa! Da Da Daa!

So a movie that I've been expecting for 18 years finally arrives, and I feel like it was worth the wait. There are a few ways to judge the film:

1. What if there had never been any previous Indiana Jones films. Would this be an enjoyable movie?

Yes. Definitely. Not a perfect movie, but I laughed out loud, clapped with joy/astonishment/horror. As a film experience it was a really good one.

2. How does this movie fit in with the rest of the series?

Very well. It does homage and adds to the legacy. It takes a few minutes to feel "in the swing" but after that it feels like an Indy movie.

I'm not a film critic, but I think I have a pretty good sense for what makes a good film. This is a crowd-pleaser, prompted the right amount of nostalgia, and brought fire back to one of my all-time favorite actors.

If you never liked Indiana Jones, or found a movie like National Treasure unenjoyable, you should probably skip it. If you have a soul, you'll probably like it. Pretty straightforward that way.

We killin' some people

This one's for the ladies (and guys) who like the Twilight series.

• MTV
• Music Videos
• MTV Shows
• Entertainment News

Awesome Video Saturday XXXIX

Just because I can, here is the most recent episode of The Office. There are some really funny moments. Enjoy.

A Fantastic Trip

Out of the more than 200 pictures that I took this past week, these are some that I wanted to share. I'm sure that Lacy will post some on her blog as well, as will the Palmers and Da Costas. We had a fantastic time, enjoyed wonderful hospitality, and saw some beautiful sights.

We had a lot of gear with us. How do you like that beard?

We enjoyed taking the kids for walks.

Joseph was excited to see his Mom ski.
At the top of the mountain at Kicking Horse. An incredible view.

Remembering our trip in 2002., when we stayed at these Kicking Horse River Chalets with Matty Matt Nielsen.
Beautiful Lake Louise, frozen with ice 3 feet thick. Joseph liked to slide around. It was very, very cold.
Lacy spotted this impressive elk when we stopped in Banff.
Two bee-u-tee-ful ladies. I am one lucky man.
We went ice fishing and Joseph liked examining the catch (rainbow trout).
Joseph on an ATV with Mom at Lanny & Mark's. Lanny is Justin's mom.
Here is Mark at his restaurant in Turner Valley, Alberta. Excellent food. Route 40 Soup Company. Their chips (french fries) are incredible.

It snowed most of our last 2 days in Calgary. That was the SWEET Suburban we rented. Nice to have 4 wheel drive out there. This pic is at Mark & Lanny's ranch.
On a cold, cold day in Calgary it was time to come home. We flew on Westjet, had a great experience (direct flight) and look forward to our next trip to Calgary.
This is a panoramic shot that I put together from photos at the top of the mountain. This was our prettiest, clearest, and last day to ski.

Perhaps I'll post some video later.

Worth your Time

For the past 2 years I have been involved with the Leadership Gainesville program of the Gainesville Area Chamber of Commerce. My class, LG 33, is promoting a charity 5k race to benefit to very worthy causes, Tyler's Hope and Junior Achievement.

I have personal connections to both of these charities and am excited for us to make some money for them.

The race is $25/runner, $23 if you register early on active.com. I am sponsoring a team through our company. If you are in Gainesville and want to run the race you only need to pay $20. I'll cover the rest for anyone who wants to run. It will be fun, there will be food and music, and it is for a good cause.

It is at 6:30 on April 16, 2008. Check the link for more information.

In Rare Form

I'm also blogging periodically with some friends at In Rare Form. My most recent post was about my decision to support Mitt Romney.

Amazing Grace

I watched an excellent film tonight, Amazing Grace, about the effort to abolish the slave trade in Great Britain in the early 19th century. The protaganist is a man named William Wilberforce, who was a dogged proponent of slavery's abolition until his death in 1833. He was assisted by many other people during the process, but his story is a compelling one.

I wholehearted recommend the film. I found it moving, with strong performances, and a story that moves along at a nice pace. I won't get into more of the film's particulars at this point. I wanted to comment on a particular thought that the movie inspired- what happens when someone becomes converted.

Wilberforce is inspired at least partly by his conversion to evangelical Christianity. In the film he is exposed to the horrors of slavery, and once exposed cannot ignore them. He acts on that experience. This is the essence of what makes some people great and others ordinary. The great to do not merely witness. They become involved. This is a high and holy ideal. We may not always agree on the worthiness of a belief, but I can't help but respect those of are devoted to their cause.

SPOTD #133

I tried to get this edition out before the weekend was over. When I wrote this I was in the Oakland airport preparing to return to San Diego. We arrived in SD on Wednesday, a very long trip with 2 sick little kids. Less than 12 hours after I got to SD, I returned to the airport so I could travel to NoCal for business. This SPOTD will discuss my travels.

It is now Thanksgiving evening. I hope everyone enjoyed their turkey.

Today's phrase:
Inspired by actual events:

Actual:
El pavo me da sueño.

Phonetic with emphasis on bold syllable:
Ell pah-voe may dah swayn-yo.

Translation:
Turkey makes me tired.

Motorola Q
I bought my Q a few months ago. I've been very pleased with it, happy to ditch my separate PDA and phone in favor of a single unit. What I most enjoyed on THIS trip is having Google Maps on it. It is free to download and works as long as I can get a minimal date connection.
The only glitch was when I received a call when I was following a map. It took me out of the program and I missed my exit. No big tragedy though.

Rental Cars
This go-round I had a Chrysler 300. Chryslers are perenially underpowered, and this one was no exception as it lacked the V8 of the pricier model. GM cars have always seemed to have more punch when you really need it, like passing or entering the freeway. My Honda and most Toyotas I have driven also deliver confidence-inducing thrust, often with engines that are less-powerful on paper.
Not a bad ride, but not enough for me to consider for my personal transportation.

Food
BJ's Restaurant and Brewery: Not a bad entry in the brewery/restaurant genre. I had some really tasty Panko-encrusted fish tacos. I always try to get my fill of fish tacos when I am in California.
Tlaloc: I had lunch with my friends Maret Mitchell and Tim Jacobsen. Maret only had tome to say hi, so Tim and I went to this place Tlaloc for a tasty San Fran burrito. The food was good, fast, and the weather was great. It's always good to see old friends.
CPK ASAP: Always my favorite choice for airport food. Always busy too. Makes the wait a little more bearable.

Cities
It was my first visit to San Francisco in a long time. I will definitely return. Crazy hilly, but fun to see. I look forward to seeing it with more time.
Sacramento was nice, exceeding my ignorant expectations. I wasn't expecting it to be so green.

Airlines
We flew Delta out. It went fine considering the kid's situation. We were lucky to have a less-filled flight from Atlanta to San Diego. The portable DVD player saved our life.as well.
I was on Southwest for my NoCal trip and it was one of my better travel experiences. Never had a bad run on Southwest.

Link of the Day
More of a fact this time, from National Geographic:
What nation has the highest per capita consumption of turkey?
Israel, easily number one with more than twice the amount per Israeli, over 30 pounds of turkey a year. This seems logical given the geographic constraints and dietary restrictions of Judaism.

I! AM! BEOWULF!

We were in the Palm Springs area for the birth of Ross & Lillie Biesinger's new baby. Today my father-in-law Kirk and I had some free moments so we went to see Beowulf in 3-D. I thought it was outstanding technically and enthralling as a story.

I don't care about how faithful it was to the source material. It was an interesting story about human frailty.

If you can watch it in 3-D it is well worth it. We may be seeing a new trend of 3-D movies, and I welcome it. It was a tremendous enhancement to the film, not a distraction at all.

Fiction that fits the talking points

I have enjoyed Peggy Noonan's writing for a long time. Lately she has seemed to me a little too nostalgic. This week's column was very good. She writes about Scott Beauchamp, the second outright liar to have hoodwinked the leftist New Republic magazine:

Everyone in journalism thought first of Stephen Glass. I actually remember the day I read his New Republic piece on the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington in 1997, a profile of young Republicans as crude and ignorant pot-smoking alcoholics in search of an orgy. It, um, startled me. After years of observation, I was inclined toward the view that there's no such thing as a young Republican. More to the point, I'd been to the kind of convention Mr. Glass wrote about, and I thought it not remotely possible that the people he painted were real. I also thought: Man, this is way too convenient. The New Republic tends to think Republicans are hateful, and this reporter just happened to be welcomed into the private world of the most hateful Republicans in history.
On the Thomas stories, which I read not when they came out but when they began to come under scrutiny, I had a similar thought, or a variation of it. I thought: That's not Iraq, that's a Vietnam War movie. That's not life as it's being lived on the ground right now, that's life as an editor absorbed it through media. That's the dark world of Kubrick and Coppola and Oliver Stone, of the great Vietnam movies of the '70s and '80s.

Too many people see the war, and by extension the world, through lenses made decades ago. We are dealing with a more connected world and geopolitical dangers that are sharply different than those that were present in decades past.

I Love Capitalism

This is a fantastic article from Wednesday's Wall Street Journal. The purpose is to relay some of the lesson of Atlas Shrugged, a novel by Ayn Rand. It is one of the most important books in my opinion, and one that I credit with "making me a capitalist." I think the link only works for subscribers, but I wanted to excerpt a portion:

This is the lesson that most people in business have yet to learn from "Atlas," no matter how much they may love its portrayal of the passion and the glory possible in business enterprise. At a crucial point in the novel, the industrialist Hank Rearden is on trial for violating an arbitrary economic regulation. Instead of apologizing for his pursuit of profit or seeking mercy on the basis of philanthropy, he says, "I work for nothing but my own profit -- which I make by selling a product they need to men who are willing and able to buy it. I do not produce it for their benefit at the expense of mine, and they do not buy it for my benefit at the expense of theirs; I do not sacrifice my interests to them nor do they sacrifice theirs to me; we deal as equals by mutual consent to mutual advantage -- and I am proud of every penny that I have earned in this manner…"

We will know the lesson of "Atlas Shrugged" has been learned when business people, facing accusers in Congress or the media, stand up like Rearden for their right to produce and trade freely, when they take pride in their profits and stop apologizing for creating wealth.

In light of my focus in the past week on those who would take from the labors of others by force and according to their own warped and naive motives, I thought this was a timely piece. Let me know if you'd like the whole thing. I can e-mail it to you.

SPOTD #130

I have allowed quite a long time to pass since the last SPOTD (over a month) and I have also been less active (though still posting) on the blog. My family is doing great and watching these kids grow is such a treat. I hope everyone else is doing well.

Today's phrase:
Today's quote is from Gaius (or Publius) Cornelius Tacitus. I'm in one of those moods.

Actual:
Una mala paz es todavía peor que la guerra.

Phonetic with emphasis on bold syllable:
Oo-nah mah-lah pahs ess toe-dah-vee-ah pay-ore kay lah gay-rrah

Translation:
A bad peace is even worse than war.

Blog Recap
Scroll down to see what I've been up to for the last month.

Spaceport Reality
This is a pretty cool report on the planned U.S. Spaceport. It will be used by private firms in space travel.

Movies
Ever want to know how accurate the science is in some well-known films? Look no farther.
It was British movie time in our house, so we watched the following two films and enjoyed them quite a bit:
Miss Potter: A biopic about Beatrix Potter. Very enjoyable, family friendly. It was released earlier this year.
Remains of the Day: An older film, released in 1992 or 1993. The acting is really top-notch and the story is excruciatingly real.

iTunes future?
The time could come when music is delivered to the listener in a very different way than it is now, This will be critical for the slow-to-adapt music industry.

Lost
This one is for my sister. She and I were both fans of the shortlived series, The Marshall. Adding Jeff Fahey to a great cast is a good move.

Kind of Cold
When efforts to highlight global warming end like this, you can't help but smile:
British yachtsman Adrian Flanagan is trying to prove global warming by sailing along the Northern Sea route, which sailors have pursued for centuries.He’s run into the same problem that sailors have run into for centuries: Ice...It gets better. While he is waiting for the ice to melt, old Adrian is running into polar bears, who apparently 1.) are not nearing extinction and 2.) can swim. This may come as a shock to devout followers of the New York Times.

Colbert
Some good commentary on the unseemly melding of politics and entertainment.

King
This article is great for the intro, where a player from the NFL writes about the end of his career.

Link of the Day
This is one listing of the best surprise endings of all times.

Awesome Video Saturday XV

I am looking forward to the beginning of the fall TV season, in particular the return of shows like The Office. See the extended promo below:



These are a few clips from another great show, 30 Rock

SPOTD #129

I wanted to cover some things quickly in today's SPOTD. Fantasy Football is due to start soon. We may have a slot or two open and I will send an e-mail if that is the case.

Today's phrase:
From Aristotle.

Actual:
En las adversidades sale a la luz la virtud.

Phonetic with emphasis on bold syllable:
Enn lahs add-ver-see-dah-days sah-lay ah lah loose lah veer-tude.

Translation:
In adversity virtue comes to life.

From the Blog
It's been a slow few weeks.
-It was my birthday and Lacy made me a very nice video. I'm a lucky guy.
-We can win the war.

Close Call
My friend and old roommate Dave Carlson didn't realize that a quick trip to his neighborhood Supercuts would lead to him being forced to the floor and locked in a room in the course of a burglary. Read the article for more.

Petraeus
Peggy Noonan has a nice feature on General David Petraeus, the very effective U.S. Commander in the Middle East.

Hold the Cheese
If you don't, I'll sue you for $10 million! So says a man who supposedly had a severe allegic reaction to the cheese on his burgers. This story is ridiculous.

Iran & Terror
Only the terror they are inflicting this time is on their own citizens.

17...and counting!
There is a couple in Arkansas that just had their 17th (17TH!) child. And they may have more.

'Look, you didn't kill me. You'll never win.'
This is a great story about a young man from Gainesville who was badly injured while deployed in Afghanistan. What he has done since then is an example of determination trumping adversity.
Link of the Day
Shane Lewis is an artist with a video game developer. He shares some of his art on his blog along with various thoughts. I like the art.

SPOTD #128

The big news is the arrival of Evan Brian Joseph Palmer. He was adopted by Justin and Kira Palmer last Sunday, after being born in Gainesville on the 15th of July. He weighed 7lbs 2oz and was 21 inches in length. The little family is doing great, happy to be together.

Today's phrase:
From José Martí, patron saint of the SPOTD

Actual:
Los niños son la esperanza del mundo.

Phonetic with emphasis on bold syllable:
Lows neen-yoes sown lah ace-pay-rahn-sah dale moon-doe.

Translation:
The children are the hope of the world.

Incredible
Watch this video. It is an incredible display of technological innovation.

Innerspace
This is a review of a book that looks pretty cool. It is about the weird creatures that live deep in the sea.

Indy
Another video from the set of the new Indiana Jones movie. Not much there, but still fun to see. This movie should have a huge open.

Potter
I finished the seventh Harry Potter book the other day. I thought it was fantastic and a fitting end to the series. Stephen King wrote about it here. I posted some funny Simpsons videos on the series here.

Submarines
I've mentioned personal submarines in a previous SPOTD. This is an article that talks about their implications for security, especially the danger posed by terrorism and the drug trade. I'd still like to own one.

Edwards
John Edwards is an insincere and pompous blowhard. This article from The Onion (a satirical website) is an excellent send-up of Edwards-style campaign promises.

Link of the Day
This is a weird one. I remember seeing this when I was a kid, although I don't remember this portion. This is today's Awesome Video Saturday entry. It's about Mark Twain and some of his characters and a freaky devil.

Awesomiosa Videoarmus X!

I didn't have the chance to post AweVidSat on Saturday, so here it is one Tuesday, with some videos in honor of the release of the 7th and final Harry Potter book. I just finished the book and thought it was outstanding.

These are all Simpsons clips, and the first is a little long and will be gross for some:



Author J.K. Rowling makes an appearance.



A pretty funny bit on some that see Harry Potter as a sinister influence.

Generations

Michael Barone has an interesting post about the "Millenial" generation, a generation that started in 1982 (my brother's birthyear). He refers to some prescient writing on the subject. It's worth a look.

Vacation

I thought I'd post some pics from our vacation There's nothing like a sunset on the Gulf of Mexico.

Here is a photo of the family on a balmy 4th of July.

I don't remember having much interest in sand castles as a child, but I sure enjoy building them now. This is one I worked on the other day. I went for one with a gatehouse like Castillo de San Marcos in St. Augustine.

Millie is getting bigger and stronger all the time. She's a little beauty.

Here is Joseph with his uncle Chris, having a great time.

An image of the 4th of July fireworks from the view of our building.

All in all, not a bad place to be.

Transformers- Aww Yeah!

Lacy and I went to see Transformers today. It was fan-tas-tic. This was as much about the experience and the nostalgia as the film. It was loud (no problem) and corny at points (par for a Michael Bay film), but just the right kind of summer blockbuster. In the end I had very little to complain about and really look forward to the sequel (which seems very likely). I really can't fully explain just how much fun this movie was. Even Lacy liked it, and she is notoriously difficult to please.

The following video is an excerpt from the 1986 Transformers animated film. There are some lines that are replayed almost exactly in this new film. Enjoy:

SPOTD #127

Happy Independence Day! We've got some new videos of the kids below.

Today's phrase:
From Mark Twain:

Actual:
Un hombre con una nueva idea es un loco hasta que la idea triunfa.

Phonetic with emphasis on bold syllable:
Oon ohm-bray cone oo-nah nway-vah ee-day-ah ess oon low-coe ahs-tah kay lah ee-day-ah tree-un-fa.

Translation:
A man with a new idea is a crank until he succeeds.

For a long time the United States was considered a crank in the international community. Sometimes that is the case today. I don't think that's a bad thing.

Blog Recap
Some highlights since SPOTD #126:
-Al Gore is a windbag.
-Michael Moore has a new propraganda film. Surprise, surprise! He isn't exactly truthful.
-Indiana Jones IV is in production.
-Journalists tend to favor Democratic candidates by a wide margin.
More on the blog.

Dragon
It seems like this movie is on every time I am in Marco Island, but I just watched Dragon, the Bruce Lee biopic. I am no Bruce Lee expert, but I love this movie. Just thought I'd mention that.

Which is next?
Entertainment Weekly pitches some ideas for the next big '80's toy revival a la Transformers.

Rat
An interview with Ratatouille director Brad Bird. I watched a 9 minute video on the Disney website and found it very enjoyable. It's gotten good reviews and good box office.

Fountain
Lacy and I watched The Fountain. It is visually stunning and well-executed, if difficult to understand. Eric Snider's review is a good one. This Wired article talks about some of the technology involved in making the film. That aspect of the film made it worth watching to me.

Bridges
An interesting celebrity website, actually done by the celebrity, Jeff Bridges.

Storing Food
We like to cook, and this is a very helpful listing of how long food stays fresh.

Link of the Day
Have you ever watched the Discovery Channel show The Deadliest Catch? If not you should. It is a fascinating and enthralling show, where the men involved work in extraordinarily difficult conditions for a prized catch. This is an interview with one of the ships' skippers.