Paul: "Why are we holding hands?"
Graeme: "So we look like a family. We're just a couple of regular guys walking down the street with a small cowboy." (Source)
Let me start by saying that I did not have any real expectations for Paul. I figured it would be funny, but probably not really a very good movie.
I was actually pleasantly surprised. :)
For those of you who don't know, Paul is about two geeky guys (Simon Pegg and Nick Frost) who stumble across an alien in trouble named Paul (voice of Seth Rogen). They decide to help him get to where he needs to go. Along the way, they run into a ton of trouble [they're being pursued by federal agents (Jason Bateman, Bill Hader, and Joe Lo Truglio)] and pick up a very conservative Christian woman named Ruth (Kristen Wiig). Paul opens Ruth's eyes to the truth of the universe and she tries to shake her conservative roots. This leads to some very, very interesting swearing. Their journey is unusual but highly entertaining.
If you're looking for a serious film, this isn't it. If you're looking for something light and funny, this might be it. Just be aware that the movie is very vulgar at times. This is not a movie for little kids (despite the cute alien). Philip and I were highly amused, but I realize that this is not a movie for everyone. But, if you're like Philip and I, you'll find yourself quoting Kristen Wiig for days afterwards!
There are so many conflicting reports coming out of Japan that I don't know what to think. Most are saying that the radiation levels are not dangerous. However, a good many are saying that the levels are something to be concerned about.
What are we supposed to believe? XKCD has a chart that is floating around in internet-land lately. It describes the amounts of radiation and what is considered dangerous. It's actually really helpful. If you're like me, you don't really understand what the numbers mean. This helps put things in perspective.
However, I'm still terrified of radiation. This article describes how I feel about it:
Science has never found such a "safe" threshold, and never will.
In the 1950s Dr. Alice Stewart showed a definitive link between medical x-rays administered to pregnant women and the curse of childhood leukemia among their offspring.
After a fierce 30-year debate, the medical profession agreed. Today, administering an x-ray to a pregnant woman is universally understood to be a serious health hazard.
Those who pioneered the health physics profession---towering greats like Dr. Karl Z. Morgan and Dr. John Gofman---set a definitive, impenetrable standard. A safe dose of radiation does not exist. All doses, "insignificant" or otherwise, can harm the human organism.
So, what am I supposed to believe? There are always going to be conflicting reports. I am of the group voting "No" to nuclear power now. Before I was relatively neutral.
You will not be surprised to hear that the events in Japan have changed my view of nuclear power. You will be surprised to hear how they have changed it. As a result of the disaster at Fukushima, I am no longer nuclear-neutral. I now support the technology.
A crappy old plant with inadequate safety features was hit by a monster earthquake and a vast tsunami. The electricity supply failed, knocking out the cooling system. The reactors began to explode and melt down. The disaster exposed a familiar legacy of poor design and corner-cutting. Yet, as far as we know, no one has yet received a lethal dose of radiation.
I am obviously not an expert on radiation or nuclear power. I'm not sure if that makes me more or less scared. I do know that I don't like the thought of any radiation. So, now that the radiation (in small levels) has reached the U.S (Colorado, Oregon, Hawaii, Washington, California, Boston, the Carolinas, Nevada, and Maryland), this is officially our problem.
Only time will tell what the consequences will be for this disaster. Obviously the earthquake and tsunami already killed thousands. Now we will play the waiting game to see if the after-effects will be. It may be that the radiation is minimal and will not cause any real damage here. However, it could also go the other direction. Especially since we haven't seen the end (the radiation is still leaking). I know we will all be hoping for the best... but, I think it's definitely time to stock up on gas masks, potassium iodide, clean water, and general supplies. Oh, and don't forget weapons! I see the zombie apocalypse on the horizon. ;) Kidding! ...sort of.
As you all know, I love Netflix. It's a dear friend of mine. Well, a while back, Netflix recommended the show The Secret Life of the American Teenager. So, I gave it a shot. I thought it was an interesting concept, but I was kind of bored with it after a few episodes. I kept up with it and it did get better. Although, I'm still not convinced that it is in anyway realistic. These are some freaky teenagers. It's not at all like what my high school years were like. And, it hasn't been THAT long since my high school years.
Anyway, I'm on Volume 4 (which is -- I think -- the second part of season 2). I'm tempted to stop watching because I do think it's ridiculous. And, I also think that Amy Juergens (the teen mom) is irritating as hell. I just watched the episode where she and Ben finally break up. Dude. If that guy actually existed, he'd be a saint. I don't know why anyone would put up with a girl like that for so long.
I'm also considering stopping watching because the show is just irresponsible. It's showing teens that it's okay to be in completely unhealthy relationships. And, it's normal if you and your partner have absolutely no trust for each other. Oh, and if you want to make your partner pay attention to you, the best option is to cheat on them. They'll forgive you anyway.
Oh, and sex? It's completely normal to give it up when you're not ready. Especially if you're doing it to make sure your boyfriend doesn't have sex with someone else. Ahhhhh!
I find myself disliking almost everyone on the show. I think the only people I actually like are Leo Boykewitch and his fiancee, Betty. And Betty is a former hooker. This show is so messed up.
Yes. You read that right. I have a crush on a senior citizen. The sexiest senior citizen ever:
Sylvester Stallone is almost 65 years old (July 6th). How is it possible for a man of his age to be that hot? I don't know and I don't really care. ;)
Okay, so maybe I find older guys attractive anyway... but I didn't think I'd find someone 40 years my senior attractive!
Philip thinks it's hilarious. He says that beautiful Sly Stallone is my boyfriend. It's probably unnatural, but I'm okay with that. :D
It mostly started when we watched The Expendables. I mean, in the movie, he was gorgeous, tattooed, strong, and he fought for the girl even if it meant he might die. What's not to love??
Come on ladies! Surely I'm not alone. Even if it's not Stallone, have you ever had a crush on someone unusual?
I love Netflix. I've been a subscriber since April of 2008. It's a glorious company. I don't have cable or satellite, so when I want to watch television, I turn to my friend Netflix.
I have a Roku player that streams Netflix instantly. I can also stream from either of the 2 Xbox 360s in our house (master bedroom and the living room -- Philip is a super gamer!), the blu-ray player in the living room, or the Wii in the living room. Or, if I'm really desperate, I can stream from the laptop or the desktop computers. :D
So, you wouldn't think I would ever have any problems watching Netflix. BUT NETFLIX HAS BEEN DOWN FOR HOURS!!! It's killing me. I've switched sleep schedules so that I can be awake when Philip gets off work. That means that I have to sleep for a few hours when I get home from work.
To do that, I watch Law and Order: Special Victims Unit. It may seem strange, but that's what puts me to sleep. I have always liked to have something on the radio or television to fall asleep to. I've seen the SVU episodes so many times that I don't need to stay awake to watch them. I can fall asleep to them.
But, that's only when my Netflix is working! Which it's not. :( Hopefully it will be back up and running soon.
So, in conclusion, I highly recommend a Netflix subscription... but, be careful! You'll soon be addicted. ;)
A few weeks ago I blogged about my dislike of Rihanna. I am apparently very close to alone in that (I've got Philip on my side so boo-yah!).
It got me to thinking about music in general. I have very odd tastes. I like a little bit of everything. My playlist on my iPod is varied. I have everything from Marilyn Manson to Taylor Swift on there. Everytime I play the iPod while cleaning (using our awesome Bose!), I think that the neighbors must think I'm nuts.
So, even though I like a lot of different kinds of music, I also dislike music that is really popular. For instance, I think the two most overrated bands ever are the Beatles and the Rolling Stones. Seriously overrated. I mean, I can listen to some of the Beatles, but it's nowhere near as good as people pretend it is. The same goes for the Stones... except a lot of the music from the Stones, I just don't like at all.
There. I've said it. Now all of you crazy Beatles lovers out there can hate me. ;) I will still always know in my heart that Aerosmith is and will always be the greatest band ever. :D
Philip and I hadn't been to the movies since November (when we went to see Harry Potter). We both really like to go but there hadn't been a whole lot of movies that piqued our interest in the past few months. That changed this past weekend. I wanted to see either:
or
Well, we ended up going to see Battle: LA on Saturday night. It was so good! It's a really good war/battle movie. Even if you're not a huge sci-fi junkie, you will still enjoy the movie. I highly recommend it! :)
This past weekend was our first movie of the year, but it won't be the last. Next weekend we are going to see:
Yep. Philip's pick. ;) He loves Simon Pegg... and that other guy whose name I can't remember...
After that, we'll probably go see Red Riding Hood since we couldn't see it this past weekend. Then, the following are possibilities for April:
And, I'll definitely be at the theaters on April 29th for:
The following weekend (May 6th) will of course be spent watching:
And May 20th will be spent watching (and hoping for the best despite my thoughts that it will most likely be garbage):
And, despite what you may think, we won't be going to see Hangover II. We thought the first one was completely overrated.
Next up is one that I am really looking forward to. I tried to not watch the trailer for it because I didn't want to get my hopes up, but we saw a trailer when we went to the movies this past weekend. It looks so good:
June 17th will have us watching:
And we'll be going to see this one on June 24th (we love Jason Segel... plus it looks hilarious):
Of course, July will be a HUGE month for movies. I can't wait! July 1st is:
Megan Fox is gone, but I don't really care a whole lot about that. I'm guessing that the movie will be crap, but I still have to see it. After all, I thought the 2nd one would be crap, but I ended up really liking it.
July 15th is the end of an era:
Of course, I will be re-reading all of the books and re-watching all of the movies before we go to see this. And, we'll probably see it more than once. I can't wait!
July 23rd, we'll be seeing:
I'm not really a huge fan of Captain America and I don't think I'll like the movie that much, but we have to go see it anyway.
July 29th we'll be seeing:
Okay, so it sounds ridiculous. But, I have high hopes for this one. I love aliens. And, cowboys are cool, too. Plus, I really like Daniel Craig.
Then August and September are pretty meh. October will most likely have us watching Contagion and The Three Musketeers. And, the rest of the year is pretty meh as well. But 2012 will have us watching Ice Age 4 and The Dark Knight Rises. Oh, sweet Batman. :)
This morning on my way into work, I listened to the traffic report. At the beginning of my drive, there was a report of an accident blocking one of the exit ramps off of I-25 (one of the major interstates in Denver). The next traffic report said that the accident was fatal. The traffic report after that said that the man who died, did not die in the original accident. When he got out of his car to investigate the damage, he was hit by another car and killed.
This is absolutely terrible. I just want to remind my friends to always check before exiting vehicles. I know that after an accident, adrenaline is high and people are less careful. Just make sure to take a second to collect yourself before doing anything. Relax and get your head together before doing anything. That way you will be able to notice your surroundings and make informed decisions... instead of panicking and exiting the vehicle without thinking.
This is a terrible tragedy. But, it's also one that we can try to avoid in the future. Please! Be careful!
Tonight, as I was going through my newsfeed on Facebook, I came across this post:
Hi Lord, its me, things are getting bad here, gas prices are too high, no jobs, food and heating cost too high. I know some have taken you out of our schools, government & even Christmas but Lord I'm asking you to come back and re-bless America, we really need you. Thanks Lord, I love you!
I don't really have anything against the post itself. I don't agree with it, but at least it's positive. I have a problem with some of the comments that followed. I'm not going to copy and paste them here because most of them are just rambling, but I will paraphrase.
There were rants about how America does not deserve God's blessings because of the rampant homosexuality and abortions. They went on to discuss how preachers are not talking enough about sin and how we are a heathen nation (as you can probably tell, some of my family members are super conservative!).
I have a few problems with these rants. First of all, the people who are ranting about sin are sinners themselves. It seems that their premarital sex and getting pregnant out of wedlock are lesser sins than homosexuality. Who are they to decide that their sins are forgiven but that God would definitely not be able to forgive the homosexuals or the abortion providers/receivers?
Secondly, who are they to judge the sinners of America? What happened to judge not lest ye be judged and let he who is without sin cast the first stone? Most importantly, where is the love thy neighbor as thyself?
People like this drive me bonkers. I despise Christian hypocrisy. If you want the world to be good, how about turning that inward before judging the rest of the world. After all, those who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones.
Most people have probably heard about Brandon Davies' suspension from the BYU basketball team. If you haven't, you can read about it here. Basically, he had pre-marital sex. That is against BYU's honor code, so they suspended him.
There has been a lot of uproar about how ridiculous it is. I disagree. I don't have a problem with pre-marital sex (obviously, haha). However, I think it is fantastic that the school is actually following their honor code.
I can't tell you how infuriating it was for me to see the rules ignored simply because the rule-breaker was an athlete. The rules should be enforced for everyone, athlete or not.
So, while I don't necessarily agree with the rule that students cannot have pre-marital sex, I applaud BYU for actually enforcing their rules. After all, Davies knew the rules when he decided to go to BYU. He knew he would be forced to refrain from having sex if he wanted to go to the school. He didn't hold up his end of the deal; BYU did.
So, I don't see why people are so upset with BYU and not Davies. Although, I will admit that it is a very strange situation.
