Movie: Gentlemen Prefer Blonds

To honor the death of Jane Russell, I we got this movie to watch and it was so much fun! There were so many bombshell vehicles back in the 50's, and this was a huge favorite. Why not? You have Jane Russell AND Marilyn Monroe on the screen at the same time...WOWZERS! I'd forgotten how lovely, intelligent and talented Jane was, and next to Marilyn, she was like an Amazon! Oddly enough, Jane was 5'7 and Marilyn was 5'5, but there seemed to be a much bigger difference on screen. This movie was all about Marilyn being daffy and Jane trying to keep her out of trouble. Lots of eye candy and lots of fun! I could watch them all day long! By the way, this is the movie where Marilyn sings, "Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend" and if you'd like to see it, there's a link to a YouTube video.

Jane Russell and Marilyn Monroe showing off their yummiliciousness in Gentlemen Prefer Blonds. I think their dresses are the cat's meow! If you enjoy wonderful costume design, you'll love this film!

I think it's very interesting how much our society has turned away from the curvy, voluptuous figures so popular back when Jane and Marilyn were all the rage. I wonder if hourglass beauties will ever be popular in films again?

Movie: Avatar

*bounces around happily* I LOVE THIS MOVIE!!! We saw it in 3-D in the theater, and I've seen it twice already at home. This is my third viewing and it just never gets old. Why it didn't get a JILLION awards at the Oscars is a prime reason the Academy Awards SUCK. I mean give me a BREAK. Every time I think about that it pisses me off.

While I'm flaring at the nostrils, let me say a few more things. Some people like to poo-poo this movie because they say "it's just like Pocohontas with Na'vi taking the place of the Indians." You know what? Pardon my language but I don't give a flaming rat's ass if the stories are "the same". A good story is a good story and you know what else? There are no more original stories. I think that people that poo-poo Avatar just have a bug up their butts and can't appreciate perfection because they're so wound up over their pursuit of criticism.

That's right. I think Avatar is a perfect movie. I cannot find a fault in it, and I would invite anyone to challenge that. Before you do though, ask yourself these questions: when you watched this movie, did you sit there LOOKING for problems all the way through or did you just sit back and enjoy this amazing story unfolding before you? Did you spend most of the movie analyzing scenes and thus missing large chunks of the film because you were trying to find holes? Did you go into this movie a skeptic with arms crossed over your chest, unwilling to suspend your disbelief? And finally, after the movie was over, did you spend lots of time picking apart things that bothered you and looking for problems?

A movie is not meant to be analyzed. It is meant to entertain. Of course every film can be criticized on some level because there is no such thing as absolute perfection. However, if you arrived at the end of a movie and you enjoyed it, the film did what it was supposed to. It entertained you. If you spent time afterwards picking every scene apart to find problems and then say the film sucked, you are being unfair as a reviewer.

That being said...I still say that Avatar is PERFECT! *bounces around happily* Before Avatar, the Lord of the Rings trilogy was at the top of my list for mind-blowing fantasy entertainment. Avatar is so totally amazing to me, I just wish that it would never end. I identify with so many aspects of this film! It makes me squeal with joy, gasp in amazement, laugh out loud with delight, scream in anger, and cry my heart out in sorrow. It's so beautiful and fascinating, and it seems so completely realistic that it's hard to believe that Pandora and the Na'vi only exist in a computer.

I loved this movie from the very first moment when Jake wakes up in his pod and two water droplets bump into each other in front of his eyes and become one. I was mesmerized when I saw his Na'vi avatar and wished I had one too. Then we meet Sigorney Weaver and omg she is just SO KICKASS! HUGE FAN of Sigorney here, love her to death! (Among a zillion of her killer quotable lines, how many times have you said this? "GET AWAY FROM HER, YOU BITCH!") Then Jake wakes up in his avatar and for the first time since he was injured, HE CAN RUN!! But you know when I fell in love with this film?

Jake reaches out to touch a sensitive plant on Pandora.

The part when Sigorney in her avatar, Jake and the others, land on Pandora and Jake finds himself wandering away from the group in boredom. He finds some enormous, weird plants that, upon being touched, disappear into the ground. He tries it again with another one and away it goes, and then the whole group of them disappear in a torrent with Jake looking on in amazed delight.

The reason I loved this so much is that I HAVE DONE THIS VERY THING!!! James Cameron filled Avatar with countless underwater references, and the enormous plants that Jake touched are real things underwater. They are very tiny, at most about an inch tall, and they are called Christmas Tree Worms. Take a look!

These beautiful worms come in nearly every color of the rainbow and can be found in many oceans in the world.

Christmas Tree Worms really ARE worms, and what you see is how they filter food out of the water. They react EXACTLY the same too! If you wiggle a finger close to one, it instantly disappears into its calcium-lined tube! Steve and I love to find these beautiful creatures when we dive, and though we don't disturb all of them, it's really hard to resist cruising quietly over to them and creeping a finger closer and closer until....ZOOOP!!! Away it goes, and I squeal with glee through my regulator!

Anyway, I could go on and on about all the things I love so much about Avatar, but I think you get the point. It's a very cool flick and so fun to enjoy each and every time I get the chance!

OMG I Used My Orbital Trainer!

Last night when I was realizing there would be no hike today, I was really disappointed because I was totally looking forward to it. We want to meet the other hikers and make some new friends! Also, I wanted the exercise, darn it! We're not doing enough biking to satisfy me, but it's not really our fault--we're not going to ride in the rain or if it's below 45 degrees, so what can I do? *glares into the mirror*

I have an awesome orbital trainer that I love to use if only I can get started with a routine and stick with it. It's great exercise AND I get to watch a movie while I'm working out! How cool is that?!

Last night as I was falling asleep, I told myself over and over again that I will use my orbital trainer today. To my amazement, it hit me at one point that it's time to stop what I was doing and go use the orbital trainer. Like, I didn't have a choice and it's just what I'd be doing now. Well, ok then! I marched down to the garage, popped in a movie and went to town! I ended up working out for 50 minutes and 300 calories, which was a lot more than I expected I would do. I'm so happy!!!! YAYYYY!!!

No Hike Today :(

It started raining last night at about 10pm and it's still raining. :( Yesterday people who were signed up for the Lower Table Rocks hike began crossing themselves off the list because of the impending storm. Looking at the forcast, we figured it would rain but we remained hopeful until this morning. Oh well, there will be lots of nice days for hikes coming up! We signed up for next month's Lower Table Rock hike but we're hoping to get up there before that on our own.

Juncos, Make Some Room!

I was really happy to see that our bird feeders are starting to get busy! I counted at least a dozen Juncos on the feeders one time I looked out, what a party! Then, lighting on top of one of the wrought iron poles was my first sighting of a Lesser Gold Finch this season! I didn't get a picture but I do have pictures we've taken from previous seasons!

Lesser Gold Finches are smaller than Juncos but just as feisty. They have no problem plowing into a bunch of Juncos and yelling at them to, "MOVE OVER BUD, I'M NOT WAITING!"

We got some really neat images of birds in flight, including this Lesser Gold Finch!

This House is Clean!

It's the 5th of March and that means my WoW account is no longer active. Steve and I still had our games on our machines just in case we were asked to log on for something, but happily, that wasn't necessary. I haven't played for an entire month except for an hour about three weeks ago when I logged in to distribute items and to say goodbye.

This morning I got up, hopped on my computer and uninstalled WoW! It asked if that's what I really want to do and I was like, "YES! QUIT STALLING!" An instant later the deed was done. I don't know...it just seems like it should have taken a long time to get rid of that life-sucker. I'm glad it's finally off my machine. I wasn't worried about getting pulled in again, I just wanted WoW out of my life completely because I've moved on and it serves no purpose.

Found this image to put up, though I don't entirely agree with what it says. People who play WoW aren't necessarily losers. Some are, some aren't. And people who play WoW DO have lives, some just choose WoW for the place they like to spend time. In my case, I learned that life in WoW is completely superficial and in the end, I didn't mean much to anyone at all. I also realized that nothing mattered to me either. When I turned the game off, it was like raising the blinds and seeing the real world for the first time in a very long while. Life without WoW is infinitely better and I'll never go back because there's nothing for me in that game anymore.

Movie: Inherit the Wind

Another classic black and white film, this time starring the talented Spencer Tracy. Spencer got several award nominations for his awesome performance, but unfortunately he didn't win. This movie is a fictionalized dramatization of the 1925 Scopes Monkey Trial, where the defendant was accused of breaking the law when he taught evolution in a Tennessee school. Talk about an explosive topic! Remember how I was saying in my review of Simon Birch that I don't mind religion if it's not shoved down my throat? This movie is full of people who are determined to do this, and it got pretty annoying after a while. And by the way, if I never hear "Give Me Some Old Time Religion" for the rest of my life it will be too soon! They played that tune about fifty thousand times throughout the film and I'm still cross-eyed from the monotony! In any event, this movie was very well acted and thought-provoking, but it's a little scary to know that teaching evolution is still frowned upon in many public schools of the United States.