Summer Movies 2008

I finally got to see Iron Man this past weekend. It was very good, and I highly recommend it to anyone who likes either superhero movies or shoot-um-ups. It also had me and my husband wanting to know if most superheros prefer redheads? Perhaps I need to further lighten and redden my hair.

During the previews, I got to review some movies that are coming out this summer and later in the year, and I decided to look into all the movies coming out soon. Here is a list of movies I'm excited about:

• The Dark Knight (I love Batman. This looks like a very noir film, made even more dark by the death of Heath, the actor who played the Joker. Reminds me of Brandon Lee and the movie The Crow.)
  
• Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
• Wall-E
• The Happening
• The X-Files: I Want to Believe (Perhaps it's time to introduce my son to The X-Files. He loves UFOs and investigations.)
  
• Star Wars: The Clone Wars (The cartoons were great-I'm sure the CG version will be great too!)
  
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (November 2008)
  
• Star Trek (coming out in a year, May 2009) - Perhaps I'll get to see a longer trailer this summer!

I also want everyone to be aware that I can be weary about the big summer blockbusters. There are some notable movies off my list, including Caspian, Hulk, and Speed Racer. Even those on my list can be skipped--it's getting too expensive to go out to movies and I may just have to wait until they are out on DVD.

Also note that I don't like chick-flicks. I think that the best movies in the genre were filmed in the 40's and 50's, and they are becoming boring and predictable now.

Do you have any recommendations? Let me know in the comments. It does look like and exciting movie season!

Thursday Thirteen #62

Thirteen Things That Make My Kids Weird

1. While my son did spend his first five years in the city, he now prefers the forest and sees that the city is overrun by advertising, excessive consumption, and garbage. He breathes a sigh of relief when we return to Creekistan.

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2. Both my children love expensive cheese, especially brie. Occasionally we'll splurge and buy a wedge or hunk of stinky French, Dutch, or Norwegian cheese, but we have to hide it. My daughter has been known to plunge her hand into a tub of Feta and eat a handful.

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3. Both my kids love the music group They Might Be Giants . It might be because I listed to them while I was in labor. Their funny and singable songs helped take my mind off of the pain.

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4. My daughter is a "princess," with long flowing blond hair, but she really loves superheros. She can correctly identify Batman, Robin, Superman, and Spider-man. Oh, and Austin Powers.

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5. Both my kids have great Evil Laughs and we practice laughing maniacally on a regular basis.

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6. If my daughter thinks things are getting out of hand, she'll yell, "Expelliarmus," really loud. (That's the Harry Potter spell for disarming.)

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7. We recently heard a promo on our XM satellite radio for a funny morning show. It goes like this: [Operator] "City and state please?" [Funny guy] "Blakameekmen" [Operator] "Can you spell that?" [Funny guy] "T-H-A-T" We thought that was so funny that we all just blurt out "Blakameekmen" every so often. Even my 2 1/2 year old daughter. It makes me laugh every time.

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8. We sit down to dinner just about every night. Nowadays, as sad as it might sound, it probably qualifies as weird.

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9. My daughter loves capers. You know, those small pea-sized things you sometimes see on gourmet shows. Last night I put a few capers on top of the pasta I made. Before we could all sit down to eat, she had picked out and eaten most of them. (FYI: Capers are the immature buds plucked from a small bush native to the Middle East and Mediterranean regions of the world. Fresh caper blossoms are not especially flavorful, but their sharpness increases dramatically after sun-drying and brining in vinegar.) I had to call it "The Caper Caper."

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10. Both my kids love sushi. No, sushi does not necessarily mean raw fish. They prefer the vegetarian variety. But my daughter is developing a taste for fish.

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11. My kids understand that music can be any interesting sound, and will experiment to see what sound certain objects make. We've been known to play an entire percussion symphony with only what's on the dinner table.

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12. My kids have hung around semi-famous artists and take it for granted. About four years ago, my son tested objects that were going to be featured in the children's section at the opening of the new Contemporary Arts Center in Cincinnati. We went to the artist's studio and tried them out. He now has a "been there, done that" attitude.

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13. My daughter likes coffee. I have to keep it out of her reach. When I go to Starbucks (thank God there's a Starbucks near Creekistan now!) I have to get them to make a little extra and put it in a small sample cup for her. Don't worry, I don't do this often and it's usually in the morning. I tell her that she can't start drinking coffee until she turns 3. That's when I started drinking coffee.

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Thursday Thirteen #61

13 Videos That My Kids Watch Over and Over

1. Popeye - The old old old black and white cartoons. They can't get enough for some reason. Luckily, they are cheep and available at Evil Wal*Mart.



2. Austin Powers - Okay, maybe not quite appropriate for kids their age, but they love him. Perhaps because it is rather immature humor. My daughter (2 1/2) loves the music and the costumes. She's been known to strike a pose and say "Give me back my Mojo!"



3. Batman - They love the campy Batman movies. I can hardly stand to listen to them with the bad one-liners and terribly villains.



4. Harry Potter - They love the movies, but know that the books are much, much better. Sometimes we discuss the differences between the movie and book. But we still enjoy the movies for their special effects.



5. Thomas and the Magic Railroad - When my son was younger, he loved Thomas the Tank Engine. We had all the Brio railroad stuff and some other extras like blankets, etc. But we watched the stupid movie that was loosely based on the TV series. I thought I "lost" the movie when me moved to Creekistan, but I recently found it. Now it's back in circulation.



6. Alf - You know, the 1980's sitcom about the alien living with a suburban family. We have the entire series on VHS that someone taped when the shows actually appeared on the network, complete with the old commercials. It's a walk down memory lane. I play a game with my son where he has to guess the premise of the show before the first commercial break.



7. The Nightmare Before Christmas - Actually, they love just about any Tim Burton movie. I don't mind, because I also love Danny Elfman, the guy who does most of the music.



8. The Tick - This is a Saturday morning cartoon series from the early '90s. So stupid it's funny, and yet so smart, it's stupid. Let's hear the battle cry, "Spoon!"
   



9. Dr. Doolittle - More precisely, Dr. Doolittle 2 with Eddie Murphy. We don't have #1 and I don't know if we've ever seen it. But we got the VHS cheep and they love it. We also have the original movie made ages ago and they like that one too, but it's terribly long.



10. The Incredibles - Even me and my husband love watching this video. Very clever premise and great animation. We especially love those scenes with Edna Mode. We're always repeating her: "No Capes!"



11. Star Wars - Any of them and even the cartoons The Clone Wars.



12. The Lord of the Rings - Yep, another series of movies that may be too old for them, but they seem to understand most of it anyway.



13. Star Blazers - An old Anime video dubbed into English in the late '70s and early '80s.

Thursday Thirteen #60 - SPOILER ALERT!

SPOILER ALERT! My 13 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Predictions

Let's see how I did with my predictions from a couple of weeks ago:

1. The Weasly wedding will take place, but will be interrupted by an uninvited guest, possibly Greyback, the werewolf. Okay, I was close. It was interrupted by a Patronus, and then by Death Eaters.



2. Harry will find the place where his parents were killed. But I don't think he'll find anything important there. Wrong! Harry did find important things there, and even a trap!



3. I believe that Harry's father died after his mother, not the other way around. There is something important to the fact that James remained alive longer than Lily. Wrong. It was Lily that died last, trying to save the baby Harry.



4. The infamous RAB will be Sirus' brother. Ding! Ding Ding! I was correct! Regulus Arcturus Black .



5. One of the horcruxes will be hidden in the Black home, and Kreature will be guarding it. I don't think he'll be cooperative, and his head may end up on the wall next to his mother's. Wrong. Although Kreature did have a horcrux for a while, it was stolen from him. Also wrong about the house elf remaining mean. With proper care and sympathy, he turned out good! I'd love to try his French Onion Soup!



6. Even though both Harry and I don't like Snape, he'll be a good guy in the end. At least he'll prove to be mostly honorable, quite possibly he'll die trying to save Harry. Correct! Severus' love for Harry's mother Lily is what ultimately made him good. His memories in the Pensive is one of the places in the book that made me cry.



7. Neville will become stronger and more confident and will avenge his parents. Yeah Neville!



8. Harry and Ginny will get back together. Yep, and have three kids!



9. Dumbledore's painting will be hung in several important places in the wizarding world, and Harry can visit him and ask him questions. Mostly wrong. We only know of his painting in Hogwarts and Harry only visits him in the end.



10. I think that one of the Dursley's will perform magic, possibly Dudley. But I don't think he'll like it. Wrong. But Dudley does show his appreciation to Harry for saving his live. In a way, that is magic.



11. Filch's cat, Mrs. Norris, will be an unregistered animagas and a deatheater. But Crookshanks will kill her. Wrong. No mention of Mrs. Norris that I recall. Bummer!




12. Faulks will help Harry in a very important way. Wrong. Faulks must have flown the coop!



13. Everyone who reads the book will be very sad, either because someone important and loved dies, or just because there will be no more Harry Potter books to look forward to. I know the latter is true for me. Correct!

Thursday Thirteen #59

13 Random Things

1. The Goodwill store in town has a sign outside that says "New Dickie Scrubs." Glad I'm not a guy--Ouch!


2. Some jerk must have dumped their unwanted puppies near our property, because on Friday, our dog cornered one. On Saturday, our neighbor found one on their porch, and a third got cornered by my dog on Sunday night. I took the first, a beautiful and friendly lab/rotreiller/husky mix with two piercing blue eyes, to our pathetic pound. Our neighbors, so far, are keeping the second. It's a beautiful girl similar to the first with one blue and one brown eye. The third was another beautiful girl with mismatched eyes but was almost entirely black. I took her on Monday to the pound. I wish we could have kept one.


3. I went to a Deathly Hallows party at Borders on Friday with my kids and a friend's family. We had to drive 3 hours to get there.


4. My son dressed as Harry Potter. My daughter (only 2 1/2) dressed like a nice young witch/princess.


5. I dyed my hair red for the occasion. It really was red--like red wine. It should go away in a week or so. I wore a great floor-length black duster. I was supposed to be a witch/auror, but a lot of people thought I was Tonks.


6. My friends' kids dressed as 1) Sirius Black's mother--complete with picture frame, dark curtains, and screaming "Filthy blood traiters"; 2) a blue Cornish Pixie--it takes a real man to dress in blue tights and wings; and 3) Draco Malfoy--with rubber snake and constantly dueling with my son, Harry.


7. My husband finished reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows on Sunday night. I was out of town and couldn't give him the book until Saturday night.


8. I finished reading it Wednesday morning at 2:12 AM. Now we can discuss it, as long as the kids are out of the room. Don't want to spoil it for them!


9. I now have satellite broadband. We got the best installer on the planet, who found the only place that we could get a good view of the Southern sky. Now we're about to get youtube and update our software. I feel like we're finally in the 21st century.


10. Somehow my right eye has a blocked duct and has nearly swollen shut. So I did most my reading with one eye. I saw an eye doctor to get it fixed and took the book with me. Seems everyone is reading it and the only question they ask is "how far along are you?" No one wants to give anything away.


11. I only cried three times while reading it, but I can't tell you what touched me without spoiling anything.
    
12. My son saved enough money to buy a Nintendo Wii, and when we saw that Wal*Mart actually had one, we snatched it up. My husband actually likes it, especially the golf.


13. My husband has gone more than one week without smoking! Now if we could get him to give up yelling and being irritable, we'll be really happy!

Thursday Thirteen #58

My 13 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Predictions

Hopefully by this time next week, we'll know if I'm right. But then again, I am a slow reader. My husband would know, but I've made him promise not to spoil anything for me.

1. The Weasly wedding will take place, but will be interrupted by an uninvited guest, possibly Greyback, the werewolf.


2. Harry will find the place where his parents were killed. But I don't think he'll find anything important there.


3. I believe that Harry's father died after his mother, not the other way around. There is something important to the fact that James remained alive longer than Lilly.


4. The infamous RAB will be Sirus' brother.


5. One of the horcruxes will be hidden in the Black home, and Kreature will be guarding it. I don't think he'll be cooperative, and his head may end up on the wall next to his mother's.


6. Even though both Harry and I don't like Snape, he'll be a good guy in the end. At least he'll prove to be mostly honorable, quite possibly he'll die trying to save Harry.


7. Neville will become stronger and more confident and will avenge his parents.


8. Harry and Ginny will get back together.


9. Dumbledore's painting will be hung in several important places in the wizarding world, and Harry can visit him and ask him questions.


10. I think that one of the Dursley's will perform magic, possibly Dudley. But I don't think he'll like it.


11. Filch's cat, Mrs. Norris, will be an unregistered animagas and a deatheater. But Crookshanks will kill her. Cat fight anyone?


12. Faulks will help Harry in a very important way.


13. Everyone who reads the book will be very sad, either because someone important and loved dies, or just because there will be no more Harry Potter books to look forward to. I know the latter is true for me.

Countdown to Harry Potter #7

I've been marking time this week, waiting until midnight Friday for the book release. I feel like a kid at Christmas. We're going to a bookstore party on Friday and will be dressed in our best wizarding robes. My husband will have the book read in a day, and it will take me a week or two to finish. It will take even longer for my children to finish it because we'll have to read it out-loud or find the book on CD. I do have a librarian friend who might be able to hook me up.

At least we had some excitement today: a quick and nasty thunderstorm passed over us, knocking down a big branch from a tree right onto my windshield. That's okay, it had a crack in it already. I'm just glad I didn't replace it sooner! It'll be replaced tomorrow afternoon and be in good shape for our trip to the bookstore on Friday.


I was forced to drive the Beatle to the store--my first time driving a stick shift alone. At first I wasn't able to find first gear, but since I live on a hill, I was able to coast for a while.

I stopped at our neighbor's house to chat for a while. That's when I found out that my dog followed me down the hill. I don't think he expected me to be there, for when he saw me, he looked "in trouble." No problem--my neighbors are used to his visits and have a chain ready. On my way back up the hill, I made a quick stop, untied him, and he followed me up the road.

Two more nights to go.

Thursday Thirteen #54

13 Things I'm Looking Forward to This Summer

1. Not having to drive to and from work - This alone should save us on gas, especially at these gas prices. Ouch!



2. Watching my garden grow and perhaps even eating things that I have grown.



3. Giving the kids to Grandma and spending time alone or with my husband, sans-kids.



4. Seeing more progress done on the house - The siding might get finished and the bedroom and kitchen decks finished and screened in. Won't it be nice to eat or sleep outside without bugs?



5. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix movie. Looks really good. We are all huge fans, so this should be fun!



6. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - We're going to go buy the book at a midnight book party, costumes and all!



7. Shrek the Third - We're going to watch the first two movies before going to see the Third.



8. Pirates of the Caribbean III - Swashbuckling fun.



9. The Transformers movie. - Looks interesting. I was never a fan, but my son likes them.



10. The Simpsons Movie - Eat my shorts! Bart should be out of college by now.



11. Going to the Drive-In Theater. - An experience I haven't had since I was a kid. I can't wait to give my children the experience of something that may not be around much longer.



12. Trying out my canoe. - It's been ages, but I used to love it. Now that someone has given me a canoe, I can take it to the lake or a nearby creek. But not our creek, it's too small.



13. My husband's Doctoral Hooding - After a decade and a half, he's finally finished, except for his dissertation. The hope is that this fall he'll get his fancy doctoral robes. His degree is in musical composition. I'm going to make him wear the robes around the house. He really should teach with them on--Hogwarts style!