Snowbird

It's been a little while since I posted, so I figured I'd dig out some recent pics and make a post.

For those of you who may not know everything about me, when I was 11 I received my first set of skis for Christmas. I also got ski lessons at Sundance and I would go with a couple of my friends from the neighborhood - Danny and Greg, if I remember correctly. Anyway, I spent the next 7 winters skiing as much as I could. My senior year of High School I bet I was at Sundance more than school :-D (That's probably an exaggeration, but not by much.) Long story short, I was pretty good...until that fateful Saturday in December of 1989 when I landed a jump at Solitude, got hung up in some scrub oak, flipped foward and broke my elbow into many little pieces (if you're in Utah you can come check out the scars and maybe even still feel one of the titanium pins in there!) Sooooo, with that and with living in AZ, IL, and TX for 10 years, I didn't ski at all for a long time.

Since moving back to UT in 2005, I've been skiing a grand total of 5 times - just never got around to getting back on the horse and I didn't have equipment (I borrow Reece's stuff still - thanks Reece!!!) I took Griff a couple of winters ago, and that was fun, but I think he's going to want to learn to snowboard since that's what all the cool kids are doing these days...

So, I decided I need to hit the slopes and went up to Snowbird. This was my Christmas present to myself :-) It was one of the best days on the slopes I can ever remember - topped only by the time Mike Smith and I got to make first tracks in Bishop's Bowl at Sundance - that was so surreal just floating through the fresh powder - amazing. Well, I'm tired of typing, here are some pics...

I'm not in skiing shape yet, but it was a great day!
Look how beautiful that is! It wasn't even that cold, which made it really nice!
No, I'm not upside down because of a wreck, just thought it would make a cool pic.
Getting into some powder - that is real fun! The bumps and cruising were fun too!
This is the last run I took. I got kind of lost since I'd never been to Snowbird before and ended up on a run with a sign at the top that said "Cliff area, ski at own risk" Hmmmm, yeah. Well I made the run successfully (it was exhilerating! Luckily some people went right before me and showed me the line or I may have slid down on my bumb!) Reece's skis may need some p-tex repair though (is that what they still call it when you get the rock gouges in the bottom of skis repaired? :-D )

The Soloist

Since I've become a pretty big Robert Downey Jr. fan (for reasons completely different from Rylee's I'm quite sure! :-D ) I decided to rent this from Red Box the other day. I remember the previews, thinking it looked good, but then a friend told me it stunk so I never watched it.

I'm not sure how this review should really go either so...

Really I initially decided to rent this movie because I wanted to see if RD Jr. stuck to his typical character in this type of movie as well. And well, he totally does. However, it is really interesting, and one of the reasons I REALLY liked this movie - despite some pretty disturbing imagery at times - that it almost seems like this is the way RD Jr. is in real life and this movie exposed some of his weakness behind the cocky, sarcastic facade. Things didn't work out well in ways he wanted them to and he freaked out a little - or a lot. Jamie Foxx's character wasn't malleable like people RD Jr's character is used to dealing with, he didn't fall under the spell of the character's charisma and it shook him a little. He had to dig a little deeper for something innately human and not just a show of confidence or even arrogance. He had to TRULY care about Jamie Foxx's character, for HIM and for no other reason. I found it really honest and expressive and almost real - not like a movie but how I'd think he would react in a real situation like this. I'm not sure I've ever watched a movie where I thought this is SO disturbing yet SO real?!?!?!?! I didn't know if I wanted to love it or hate it and for that very reason I love it. A drama that isn't trite and over-cooked (despite the obvious politicizing of the plight of the homeless in LA), that isn't TRYING to be an Oscar-nominee, that is just a real story told very well by some pretty good actors.

There are parts of this movie where I felt disgusted, where I could see why someone would hate this movie and yet it really made me feel something. I liked that. I give it 4.5 stars just for that. Just for letting me turn this movie off and not think Hollywood has tried to teach me something fake or manufactured. Anyway, give it a shot if you're interested in a drama one of these nights.

...Elementary my dear Watson!

Went with some of the fam to see Sherlock Holmes on Christmas day. I know I've totally slacked on the movie review, I've actually been trying to make some money in December, it is not a good month for sales :-)

This is definitely not your father's Sherlock Holmes movie and I liked it all the more because of it. Is the plot unique? No. Is the story particularly compelling? Not really. Do the actors turn in Oscar-caliber performances? No, but I don't care for Oscar-type movies anyway! Is the movie, REALLY COOL?!?!?! YES! Robert Downey Jr. is easily my favorite actor right now, he is just cool and his sarcastic, devil-may-care attitude with all his recent characters (in Ironman, Tropic Thunder, and now Sherlock Holmes anyway) is very entertaining. Is it the same character with different accents? Yes. Does he do the accents very well? Yes! matt Damon could take a lesson. Jude Law, who has never even been on my radar for good actors, since I'm pretty sure I've never seen a movie with him in it (???), is really good in this and plays off of RD Jr, perfectly as the more proper, staunch (yet, with a very adventuresome side) Watson. And Rachel McAdams is just hot, no matter her role and she does not disappoint in this movie either.

The action is good, I really like how Holmes goes through his thought process while fighting, and while deducing a situation, and I really like how he just throws himself into the fray and gets after it. Not a lot of sitting around mulling things over, just action and taking care of business.

The ending to the movie isn't particularly compelling, but there will be additional movies, which is cool, and Moriarity will be the antagonist, as it should be (for anyone familiar with the classic stories). So, I'm very much looking forward to that. For sheer entertainment value, which is about the sole reason I go to the movies, I give this a solid 4.5 - and it was really fun going with the fam on Christmas Day. Good times, good times!!!

Oh, Ironman II is coming this summer!!

YESSSSS!!!!!

Christmas 2009

Here are some pics from Christmas Morning - mostly for Jim and Jill in New Zealand, but feel free to enjoy them even if you're not in New Zealand and Merry Christmas to all of you!!!

The hat was Griffin's Stocking with BK gift cards, lemonheads candy, Beef Jerky (for dad :-D ) and Bakugan.
The loot before the carnage
Bakugan

Nerf Tag - so the boy will actually run around a little! :-)

Nintendo DSi and holder but Santa was a little color blind and got a pink holder - it's being traded in ASAP
Books from Grandma and Grandpa H
Cool History book from Dad
DSi games from Grandma and Grandpa H
Mario Kart with steerin wheels from Dad
All the loot
Immediately playing with the DSi - it takes pictures too, so he was loving that.
Everyone going through new presents
BLAKERS!!!!
Auntie Amy with the kidlets
Kaja!
Jax
Gramps too.
Miss Q

Griff and the DSi

Invictus

Went and saw Invictus the other night at the District. Yep, I love the District - holds a special place in my heart - I think from the time I ran out of the theater to get the car in the pouring rain and ATE it on the slick cement between the doors and the fountain they have there. It's a pretty funny story, if you haven't heard it, I'll be happy to tell you in the proper setting, because it's pretty comical - well, I can laugh about it now.

ANYWAY, I knew this story before the movie came out, I remember South Africa shocking the Rugby world and winning the World Cup in 95 over the mighty All Blacks of New Zealand, and the positive effects it had on post-apartheid South Africa. GREAT story, to say the least.

The movie is moving. It is a great story, as mentioned. I really enjoyed it.

BUT, as you may know if you read my reviews, it's rare that I can't find something off about even really good movies and this one definitely had somethings that bugged me. 1) Matt Damon's South African accent - HORRIBLE!!! Very distracting, and just ridiculous. Back in my consulting days, one of my bosses at PwC was South African, so I'm familiar with the accent, and Matt Damon missed it across the board. 2) The production value of the film is oddly poor. I thought maybe it was because it was shot in South Africa, but was then informed that Sector 9 was filmed there and was excellent, so who knows. For some reason it felt like it was shot in the 70's or 80's. Not a huge deal, but still strange. 3) the Soundtrack is ridiculous, and not good ridiculous. Truly lame. If you've spent any time on my blog, you may have seen the poem "Invictus" on the side bar (from whence came the name of the movie, because Mandela in his 27 years of imprisonment found solace in the words of the poem). They tried to make a song out of it and it is just bad, like movie of the week on The WB bad. Not sure why a movie with big name actors, directed (or produced) by Clint Eastwood, has such poor quality? Anyway...

So, overall, despite the aforementioned drawbacks, the movie is really good. I would have liked some more Rugby scenes, but I imagine Rugby is a hard sport to simulate, so there isn't a lot of really good action, but there's enough that when the Springboks win the match with the All Blacks, you get chills - at least I did. It was really awesome. So, I'll recommend this movie. It's not quite as touching as the Blindside, but uplifting in other ways, so I enjoyed it. I'll give it 4.25 out of 5. I don't think anyone will be disappointed if they go see it.

Hopefully, the next review will be of Sherlock Holmes, it looks awesome - Christmas Day!!!

Jazz Games '09

I love going to the Jazz games. Big surprise. I've been to 3 or 4 this season, and I just love it - can't get enough of it (fortunately they've won each game - my feelings might be a LITTLE different if they lost, but I still enjoy going...) By the way, THANK YOU to the people who have invited me to go with them to games, I truly appreciate it :-)

Last night was SUCH a great game!!! The Jazz fell behind early and were down by as many as 15 in the second quarter and fought back to 8 at halftime.

Halftime for this game wasn't nearly as funny as the Memphis game. At the Memphis game, they had two contestants dressed up in those puffy "sumo wrestler" suits and they had to run blue or red balls over to a barrel and deposit them. The contestant with the most balls of his/her color in the barrel won some prize. Little Bear, was in the way trying to slow the contestants down a little, to make it a little more challenging. It's pretty funny (for those of you who haven't seen little bear, he's hilarious). Then, Big Bear decides to get in on the action and lays a hit on the red contestant, and this person was down for the count, while the blue contestant just kept scoring points. The trainers came out and had to assist the red contestant off the court. It was pure comedy. I bet Big Bear was SWEATIN it, thinking he had a lawsuit on his hands. Maybe the contestants had to sign a waiver to participate. I bet the red contestant didn't think he'd be leaving with a concussion!

Anyway, the Jazz came back in the 3rd Quarter and just smacked the Spurs to go up by 10 at the beginning of the 4th quarter - punctuated by this Deron Williams dunk over Tony Parker Just awesome and the place went nuts!!! (I was a little disappointed the place wasn't full, but the roads were pretty crappy - still - the true fans were there ;-) )

The 4th quarter started with SA going back up by 1, yep an 11-0 run, ridiculous. But that is the NBA, anyone can make a significant run at any point in a game. It just made the end of the 4th quarter SUPER exciting, edge of your seat stuff and the Jazz pulled out the win in dramatic fashion, showing some real heart and tenacity. It was just a great game to attend!!!

If I could afford it, I would go to EVERY game. GO JAZZ!!!

2012 - Movie Review

Sometimes, you see a movie that makes you think you should never go to the movies again. This may have been it (or Where the Wild things Are...) This movie was SO dumb. What happened to lots of good movies coming out during the holidays? I am looking forward to Sherlock Holmes, that looks awesome, and Robert Downey Jr. has been nothing short of amazing since his stint in jail for drub possession, or whatever it was. So, that looks like it might redeem the season of garbage movies. Christmas day!

So, I'm really disappointed in John Cusack for doing this retarded movie. I guess it's like the Rock doing kiddie Disney movies almost exclusively now, but Cusack can actually act, so it's not really an apples to apples comparison.

Basically, the Mayan Calendar ends on 12/21/12 signaling the end of the world due to increased activity from the Sun heating up the earth's core and hilarity ensues, like California sinking into the Pacific, a mountain in Africa becoming the highest point on earth and Asia shifting 1500 miles to the East, conveniently enough so Cusack's plane can make landfall after running out of fuel (because they couldn't stop in HI, because it had been reduced to a Volcano again). Blah, Blah, Blah. DUMB. Don't see it in the theaters, MAYBE on Red Box, but it is LOOOOOONG, so be sure to have plenty of Red Bull or something to make it through. 1 out of 5 stars, good luck with this one...