Post by Alex on May 18, 2008 9:37:15 GMT -8
Except the heat is more of a humid, rainy heat. There are far more cars and far fewer rattlesnakes. Rather than hiking through canyons of rock it's canyons of concrete, albeit with a very convenient train running the length of it. And swimming in the river isn't recommended, but there's a pool on the top floor.
Anyhow, I've touched down and made it to the hotel without any great incident. It's too bad really, since the less that happens the less to talk about. There was a somewhat awkward moment when I walked around the 200 ft. line of boarding passengers and went through directly using my elite card; but I think the queue denizens handled it with grace and no real hard feelings. Getting wanded by security as soon as I boarded probably helped their sense in cosmic justice.
So I'm nestled in, brushed my teeth and changed my socks. It's like I'm a new man. In the lack of any real engaging stories I'll give a quick in-flight movie review. By the way, feel free to ping any questions as I'm interested in conveying topics of relevancy.
This trips viewing list (tagline: '2 out of 3 ain't bad'):
Juno: I finally saw it and look forward to watching it again with Aimee. A real gem and definitely worth plugging in audio phones for. To me the characters were engaging and very real; ie not always easy to like but you like them anyway. It was a little surprising that to me there was no real hero character, and I'm gratified for it. Good dialog, satisfying story, and a summation worth the bits. Less about having a baby than I thought it would be. Also first time I've heard the term "cautionary whale"; I wrote it down but I'll never use it.
Solaris: I enjoyed it but I'm predisposed to. Acting was ok, dialog was good, story was a bit convoluted with a lack of natural flow. However I like hard sci-fi (sub-lightspeed travel and exposed construction materials), and I enjoyed the topic (more about lost ones and life after death). Somehow I correlate it with a non-scary 'The Shining' in space, but I'm not sure how many people would make the connection. Worth the audio channel, but it wouldn't be at the top of my netflix queue.
On a tangent: "Outland" is excellent hard sci-fi, and I can easily recommend it. Sean Connery, shotguns, and asteroid mining - with that combination there's no option but to be good. Also the book was written by the same person who wrote "Alien".
Jumper: For me, the big miss of the trip. There are some movies to be revered and others to reflect on what else you could have done with the last two hours. This one was one of the latter. I have to say it was designed for entertainment, and the concept sort of did it in it's own way. Unfortunately, the dialog was poor, the story was full of non-sequitors and there was a glut of plot surprises smacking of the writers wrapping up quickly so they could leave early for the weekend. Coupled with unlikeable characters who had no clear motivation for their actions, I doubt I'd have bothered watching it over someone else's shoulder if I had my two hours back.
On the upside, if your the type of person who liked "I (still) know what you did last summer", this film might appeal to you. I'm not judging your taste, just drawing the connection to the target demographic.
Since I'm on a roll, one other quick topic before bed:
Cuisine Golden Rules to live by (running list):
Anyhow, I've touched down and made it to the hotel without any great incident. It's too bad really, since the less that happens the less to talk about. There was a somewhat awkward moment when I walked around the 200 ft. line of boarding passengers and went through directly using my elite card; but I think the queue denizens handled it with grace and no real hard feelings. Getting wanded by security as soon as I boarded probably helped their sense in cosmic justice.
So I'm nestled in, brushed my teeth and changed my socks. It's like I'm a new man. In the lack of any real engaging stories I'll give a quick in-flight movie review. By the way, feel free to ping any questions as I'm interested in conveying topics of relevancy.
This trips viewing list (tagline: '2 out of 3 ain't bad'):
Juno: I finally saw it and look forward to watching it again with Aimee. A real gem and definitely worth plugging in audio phones for. To me the characters were engaging and very real; ie not always easy to like but you like them anyway. It was a little surprising that to me there was no real hero character, and I'm gratified for it. Good dialog, satisfying story, and a summation worth the bits. Less about having a baby than I thought it would be. Also first time I've heard the term "cautionary whale"; I wrote it down but I'll never use it.
Solaris: I enjoyed it but I'm predisposed to. Acting was ok, dialog was good, story was a bit convoluted with a lack of natural flow. However I like hard sci-fi (sub-lightspeed travel and exposed construction materials), and I enjoyed the topic (more about lost ones and life after death). Somehow I correlate it with a non-scary 'The Shining' in space, but I'm not sure how many people would make the connection. Worth the audio channel, but it wouldn't be at the top of my netflix queue.
On a tangent: "Outland" is excellent hard sci-fi, and I can easily recommend it. Sean Connery, shotguns, and asteroid mining - with that combination there's no option but to be good. Also the book was written by the same person who wrote "Alien".
Jumper: For me, the big miss of the trip. There are some movies to be revered and others to reflect on what else you could have done with the last two hours. This one was one of the latter. I have to say it was designed for entertainment, and the concept sort of did it in it's own way. Unfortunately, the dialog was poor, the story was full of non-sequitors and there was a glut of plot surprises smacking of the writers wrapping up quickly so they could leave early for the weekend. Coupled with unlikeable characters who had no clear motivation for their actions, I doubt I'd have bothered watching it over someone else's shoulder if I had my two hours back.
On the upside, if your the type of person who liked "I (still) know what you did last summer", this film might appeal to you. I'm not judging your taste, just drawing the connection to the target demographic.
Since I'm on a roll, one other quick topic before bed:
Cuisine Golden Rules to live by (running list):
- Tea is the perfect way to ask for water boiled.
- Locally grown is not always a selling point.
- I'll try almost anything, once.
- I'll eat it if they'll eat it.
- Never eat anything if the host is snickering.
- If the host dashes around the table to pull something out of your chopsticks, take their advice.
- There is some very good food out there. You just have to go for it.
- Don't assume you can outdrink your host, just because he's half your weight.
- Vegetarian people are a good sign for trustworthy.
