Netflix Synopsis:

Journalist Mikael Blomkvist (Michael Nyqvist) and rebellious computer hacker Lisbeth Salander (Noomi Rapace) team up to investigate the unsolved disappearance of wealthy Henrik Vanger’s (Sven-Bertil Taube) teen niece (Ewa Fröling), only to uncover dark secrets about Vanger’s powerful family. Niels Arden Oplev directs this Swedish thriller based on the first novel from Stieg Larsson’s best-selling trilogy.

My Take:

I haven’t read the book, a synopsis of the book, or even a synopsis of the movie before renting it. I thought the title was interesting enough to warrant a rental. What was I expecting? From the title I was expecting an action film a la Angelina Jolie in Salt. What I got instead was a compelling hardcore drama-mystery-thriller.

What was difficult to handle in this film is not the subtitles, but the violence against women. There is graphic violence against the “Girl”, Lisbeth, in the title of the film, as well as referenced violence against several other females. The dialog, and descriptions of what happens to certain characters, are also difficult to stomach. It is like watching a hardcore episode of Criminal Minds or Law and Order: SVU. But then Lisbeth is one smart tough girl. She is not afraid of the pain she goes through, and certainly is not shy in dealing out a violent barrage if need be. Her complexity - a product of what she’s been through - is alluded to throughout the film. I’m sure it’s dealt with more thoroughly in the book(s).

I hear they are doing a US remake of this film. I would be hesitant to see it. But then I hear David Fincher is helming the remake. Either he or Christopher Nolan would do a worthy remake worth, at the least, checking out.

Rating: Full Admission

It has been four weeks.  In the quiet times, when there is a chance for reflection, time seems to have passed by rapidly.  At other times, especially during the crying spells, time seems to move glacially.  Either way, it still amounts to four weeks. Mia is now four weeks old.

Things Learned

There are only so many books you can read and so many stories you can hear from others who’ve been through it, to prepare you for a child. I’m sure what we’ve learned is contained in a book, a web site, or a friend’s story, but nonetheless here are a few things we’ve learned:

• Crying doesn’t always mean she is hungry.  Sometimes she just wants to be held, especially at 3am.
• Baby acne just happens. Seriously, it wasn’t the gangly beard I grew that caused her face or arm rash.
• Changing one diaper can rapidly digress into changing three diapers.
• During a diaper change, if her butt is angled correctly, she can project a poo stream a good foot away. Yeah, it happened.  Luckily I was to her right when it did.
• She’s not cross-eyed.  She’s just trying to focus at something far away. Whew!
• Hiccups happen.  It seems to not bother Mia as much as us.
• It’s probably wise to do a load of laundry a day, both for yourself and the baby.
• Amazon.com is a great site.  It is especially great for subscription services. You can subscribe to diapers, wipes, etc. It’s convenient and saves some money as well.
• Another good site is Diapers.com. I had to call their customer service because of a missed shipment.  They were very quick in correcting the issue. They also ship as quick as Amazon does.
• The Baby Geek app for the iPhone / iPad has been very helpful.

The Cuteness

There are many cute things Mia does. I’ve tried to capture the moments on video, but sometimes it’s not possible.  Here are a few that I don’t want to forget about:

• After she sneezes, Mia lets out this exhaustive sigh, as if the sneeze took every ounce of energy she had.
• When Mia wakes up, she stretches multiple times, contorting her body in an “S” shape, getting the most out of each consecutive stretch.
• She can lift her own head when doing the over-the-shoulder burp. This makes it difficult to hold her at times.
• From time to time she makes an “O” shape with her mouth as if she’s about to say something. As long as it’s not crying, it’s good.
• She sleeps with her arms raised as if she’s crossing a finish line.

I’m sure the future holds more to come, both in learning and cuteness.

Now I understand why so few photos are taken during the first few weeks of a baby’s birth.  First off, the baby is often asleep.  Seriously, there are only so many photos you can take of a sleeping baby.  I suppose you can take photos in various outfits, but nonetheless, they are still sleeping.  The second reason so few photos are taken is that you - the parents - are really freakin’ exhausted!  So when your baby is awake, and you have your camera ready, capturing the moment in a photo is a gem.

This photo of Mia was taken on July 8, 2010.  At this point, she was one week old. She was very active for a few hours before falling asleep once more.

The Netflix synopsis: When a warmongering prime minister (Fengyi Zhang) advances his armies against two rival kingdoms, he unwittingly prompts his adversaries (Chen Chang and Yong You) to work together in this martial arts action-adventure. The ensuing conflict culminates in the epic battle of Red Cliff, a struggle by the sea involving more than one million soldiers.

My Take: A John Woo film without guns isn’t bad. And it doesn’t hurt to have Tony Leung in the cast. I was captivated by the story. But I wished it was fleshed out more. I then realized there is a longer two-part original version available.  Albeit it is four hours long, versus 148 minute for theatrical version I watched. I think the trade-off would be worth the extra effort, especially on blu-ray.

Rating: Matinee

Kate Beckinsale

The Netflix synopsis: “The lone U.S. marshal at a research station in Antarctica, Carrie Stetko (Kate Beckinsale) stumbles upon the continent’s first murder victim. With only three days left until the sun sets for six months, Carrie races to solve the complex mystery before darkness falls.”

My Take: Unfortunately, Whiteout was a weak mystery-thriller where you could predict the culprit(s) in the first 10 minutes. The only saving grace of the movie has going for it is the Antarctic setting and the Kate Beckinsale shower scene.  I’m guess the latter was added due to the overall dullness of the movie.  The source material must have better.

**Rating:*Cable TV

GPOYW - Gratuitous Picture Of Yourself Wednesday - is a tumblr tradition I’ve never participated in. But I think I’ll start, but change it up to be GPOMW - Gratuitous Picture Of Mia Wednesday. Let’s be honest, I’ll post photos of Mia anyway. So why not make it an every Wednesday occurrence?

For the inaugural post, I’m using a few photos.  The above series of photos were taken in Mia’s newly built crib on July 13, 2010. Mia’s cousin Kayla help me put the crib together earlier in the day.  So we placed Mia down for a test run.  In a few photos, she is laying next to a Bee flash card, which represents one of the nicknames we gave her and often call her by.

Mia Izobel was born at 10:16 am on July 1, 2010.  She weighs 7 lbs 12.2 oz, is 19 1/2 inches long, with a thick head of hair. Mommy and baby are doing great!

The last time we saw Imogen Heap perform was at the Warfield. She was ill during that show, battling a cold. But the effects of the cold didn’t hamper her performance. She sounded great that evening. During this Friday’s concert at the Mountain Winery, Imogen didn’t need to battle being ill, but rather she fought the cold windy night. She was able to deliver another solid performance.

We haven’t been to a concert at the Mountain Winery since the remodel. Prior to the remodel, we saw two concerts and a attended a wedding there. It’s a great venue with beatuiful views. The drive up can be harrowing for some, as the roads and can get narrow and windy. The remodel helps to define the concert area, which if I recall, was previously one-level plus a bleacher or two. Now the venue has tiered seating which provides a great view of the stage from almost any seat. Parking is the standard steep price of $20.

We caught the last few songs by one of the opening acts, Geese. Interesting act, but not our cup of tea. They would later support Imogen during her performance.

Imogen came out swinging this tube-like object for the song “The Walk”.

The setlist included (not in order):

• The Walk
• Swoon
• Come Here Boy
• Wait It Out
• First Train Home
• Little Bird
• Canvas
• A-Ha!
• Breathe In
• Earth
• Improv
• Bad Body Double
• Speeding Cars
• Let Go
• Just for Now
• Goodnight and Go
• Headlock
• Tidal
• The Moment I Said It
• Hide and Seek

Imogen did something interesting with one of her songs, Earth. She has a contest in which the winner would come on stage to perform the song with her. The winner for Saratoga is shown below in this YouTube clip:

We were finally able to watch Iron Man 2 the other night in Cupertino.  I know its been out for some time, but we’ve been a little busy these last few weeks.  The baby fun is just starting, right?

In short, Iron Man 2 is worthy sequel. The movie introduces a few villains and heroes.  Also a character from the first film played by another actor.  It contains as much story depth and deep character development as they first movie - I write sarcastically - and plenty of action sequences.  My favorite sequence was the scene at the race track. 

Rating: Matinee

We had our baby shower this weekend in Cuesta Park. Luckily the day was warm and sunny, a welcome break from the unusually raining weather we’ve been having here. We cannot say thank you enough to our family and friends who helped put this party together. They did so much work to put this amazing celebration together.

We are equally thankful to our family and friends who were able to share this day with us. You can find tons of photos from the party here. If you need the password to access, please email either Farrah or I. Or you can send an email to feedback [at] janella dot com.

I wanted to write down my thoughts about the iPad, after using it for a few days.

The Good

• It was fully charged when I unpacked it. This made it very easy to start playing with it.
• Feels solid and durable. It is not as heavy as I thought it would be.
• The screen is bright. It works like the iPhone screen, adjusting the brightness depending on the environment.
• Simple to sync with iTunes, just like an iPod or iPhone.
• It’s easy to find iPad apps via the App Store link on the iPad.
• Works like an iPhone/iPod Touch. If you know that system, then this is second nature.
• Sound from the speaker is good for both movies and music. I don’t know how it would do in a noisy room, but it works in a quiet room.
• Battery life has been 10+ hours so far.

The NOT So Bad

• The screen does get fingerprints on it after hours of use. I didn’t notice the fingerprints while looking at the screen directly. But looking at an angle you notice the prints. Easily cleaned with a lint-free cloth.
• Looking for iPad apps on iTunes - via the computer - is painful. This has since been corrected.
• The ABC iPad app kept crashing on me while trying to watch a program. This has been addressed by an app update. Though there is a new screen orientation issue.

The Ugly

• So far it’s good for writing short emails and tweets. But I don’t like doing long blog entries on the touch keyboard. I may need to get a bluetooth keyboard for it
• Some apps have a single download that work for both the iPhone and the iPad (e.g. Evernote) while others require separate apps to download (e.g. NYTimes ), and others can have three different versions (e.g. 1Password)! Confusing, isn’t?
• Re-buying addictive games that you have on your iPhone, such as Plants vs. Zombies, can be costly.
• Buying accessories - a new case, headphones, keyboard - can add to the expense as well.

So that’s my 2 cents for now. 

We are having a girl!

We reconfirmed this with an ultrasound earlier this week. Farrah had an ultrasound about four weeks ago. During that ultrasound, measurements were taken then and we could find out the sex of our baby. We shared the news with a few people. But not long after that ultrasound was completed, we were called by the hospital asking to schedule another ultrasound. It seems the technician couldn’t record a good enough view of the heart to satisfy whoever reviews the scans. We had the follow-up ultrasound this past Monday.

The technician performing the scan at this appointment appeared to be more thorough. He provided better commentary on what we were looking at on screen than the previous technician. We were able to watch her heart beating, watching the blood flow in and out. We also saw, through color mapping, how blood was flowing through the umbilical cord. It’s an amazing sight to see. So, Button is coming along nicely.

Wait, who or what is Button?

Names

Button is the current nickname for our future bundle of joy.

We have been thinking about names ever since we found out Farrah is pregnant, even more so after finding out the sex. Until she is born, we’ve decided to use nicknames. The first name we gave her before we knew it was her, was Jazzy. The origins of this name came from movements she made during one of Farrah’s first ultrasounds. It looked as if she was waving both of her hands at us, showing us her jazz hands.

Several weeks later, after another ultrasound, the name Box popped into my head. At this point we still didn’t know the sex. I thought that since this fact was hidden from us, it was basically like being in a box, almost like a present. Yes, I could have gone with something like Gift or Present, but Box seemed to fit. I know, it sounds odd.

And finally, we arrive at Button. The phrase “Cute as a button” popped into my head. And so, Button is where it currently stands.

Don’t worry, she won’t end up with any of these nicknames when she makes her entrance. But we are still thinking of names and haven’t settled on a particular one yet. You’ll know our decision soon enough.