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National Treasure
Rating:** 1/2 out of five
Quick Shot:Nic Cage plays a treasure hunter/treasure protector in this action packed film. Yeah, it’s a little like “Indiana Jones meets teh Da Vinci Code”.
What I liked about the movie:Good chemistry between the cast. The storyline keeps moving. A good film to put in and just enjoy, not thinking much about anything.
What I didn’t like:I didn’t care much for the Jon Voight character. Strike that…I don’t care much for Jon Voight at all.
Visiting Yen and Heidi and Changes to Janella.com
These are photos from our visit with Yen and Heidi last week. You can see the rest by logging into the [Photos @ Flickr] pages. Yes, you will need to sign up for an account. It’s free and easy!
So as you can see the page is now a little different. This is because I’m trying out new services and am planning to move {Janella.com] off of the web hosting service at [hostgator.com].
Why?
Well, I’ve been playing with hosting a web site for some time now, different incarnations here and there. This last year has been great with using Wordpress for blogging (which is a great piece of software) and Gallery for photo management (another piece of great software). I’m just not in the mood any longer the manage the daily aspects of hosting a web site. I might move back to that platform once an integrated version becomes available, but for now managing the web site is a chore.
So I have moved the blog portion of Janella.com to [LiveJournal.com’s] services. I found out that Fina uses it for [her blog] when I sent here an invite to join Yahoo!’s new blogging service, [360.yahoo.com] I gave Livejournal.com a spin and found it suits my basic needs for blogging. Now on to a photo management site.
I found [filckr.com] suits my needs even before Yahoo! acquired them a couple of months ago. I find that it works well with blogging images to [LiveJournal.com], so it’s pretty cool in that respect.
I’ll need to work on posting older images up (if people still want to see them that is). But anyway, I think this set up should work for a while, until I get the urge to manage a full web site again.
I plan on writing a little about why I chose LiveJournal over Yahoo!, Typepad and Blogger as a blog hosting service. In the meantime, drop a note, comment or just look around and tell me what you think of the new setup. Oh, so to see all the photos on my filckr account you need to sign up for a free flickr account at [flickr.com] and I can add you as a family or friend member. Search for me under “sith_kicker” to add me on your list. Yeah, I’ll write more about why I chose that user name as well.
Anyway, back to enjoying the weekend.
Thoughts from Yosemite Lodge
Today’s blog entry was typed in the Yosemite Lodge, room 4109 Aspen building in Yosemite, California. It’s around 10:40 pm right now.
Today is my birthday. It has been a wonderful day. I don’t have access to the Internet here, at least not in the room, so I am typing this blog entry into Microsoft Word and will place it on the site later. And later is now, since you are reading these words at this moment.
We arrived in Yosemite late yesterday. We left Sunnyvale around 11:45 am, but not before Farrah and my mom sang happy birthday to me. Farrah bought me a huge chocolate chip cookie from Mrs. Fields, candles and frosting included! After blowing out the candles, going to Huong Lan and Starbucks, we headed off to Yosemite.
Coming in on the 120 route (West entrance) we were treated to a lot of snow and a view of valleys and waterfalls we haven’t seen before. The trek into Yosemite was through some high altitude and winding roads. Very high, hitting 4000 feet, and very winding—on par with some of the hairy stuff on Highway 1. We were trying to take the Southwest Entrance (which is Highway 140), but mistakenly thought 120 was the route we were thinking about. Oh well, it worked out great. We saw a lot of great snow and even saw two wolves on the way in! They were on the roadway, causing people to stop and stare. Luckily no one was stupid enough to get out of their car, or at least I think they weren’t.
We checked in late afternoon, getting a very nice room on the second floor. The room has two full beds, a bathroom, balcony, and surprisingly a television. Granted, the television only receives 5–6 channels, but we weren’t expecting one at all. We have been watching mostly the National Geographic Channel, which is on a religious kick this weekend, it being Easter weekend and all. The show we’ve been watching is called Quest for Truth. We watched episodes Quest for Noah’s Flood, King Solomon’s Tablet, and the ever-popular Quest for Hogzilla.
Getting to today’s events…
The morning started off slow for me. Farrah woke me up saying happy birthday and trying to get me up. She pried my eyes open by mentioning presents. Presents I got to open on my birthday were:
- Mike and Ikes
- Hershey’s Miniatures (nuts and regular)
- Superman/Batman Hardcover – covering the Supergirl saga
- I’m Just Here for the Food by Alton Brown
- The Batman Handbook
When I post the photos you will be able to see that I still looked a little groggy. Farrah let me sleep a couple more hours.
We had breakfast at the local Yosemite Lodge cafeteria, where the food is so-so and the price is a little high. Convenience has its cost. We then took a trip to the Yosemite Village, where we scored some very good parking in the lot. At Yosemite Village we went to the Ansel Adams Museum, which we never visited. After looking around the Village more, we decided to head back up Highway 120. We noticed several places to stop off and take photos, but didn’t take the opportunity on our drive in.
We stopped by a riverbank and took some photos (see the feet photo), and then made our way up further for a valley-type shot. We were amazed at the number of people here this weekend, as it wasn’t this crowded the last three years we came. At least from what we remember, the park is usually sparse this time of year. Oh well, just have to deal, right?
After our Highway 120 trip, we headed back to Yosemite Village to get lunch at Degnan’s Deli. A couple of weird things happened:
- A dog we ran into twice at Yosemite Village earlier, we ran into on Highway 120 as he was heading out of Yosemite!
- After circling the parking lot once at Yosemite Village, we ended up with the exact same parking spot we had only two hours ago!
Degnan’s Deli was a good choice as the food was good. It was also a bad choice as the line and wait were very long. It took about an hour to get our sandwiches. Having a late lunch pushed our dinner plans back considerably, as we were going to have dinner in the Mountain Room Restaurant.
Dinner at the Mountain Room
The Mountain Room Restaurant is here at Yosemite Lodge, walking distance from our room. The restaurant is somewhat pricey because:
- Their food is good
- The view is good—well, during the daytime
We had a great late birthday dinner. Farrah had the Pork Roast—ever so tender—and I had the Lamb Shank—ever so tender as well. Each bite almost didn’t require thought to chew or even the ability to chew itself. The food just melted in your mouth.
We had to save room for dessert as well: bread pudding for Farrah, and two scoops of chocolate ice cream for me. Man, how many times have I used the word “chocolate” in this entry?
It is almost 11:15 pm right now, as I’m finishing up these last thoughts. Farrah is sleeping soundly. The room is nice and toasty, and the view from the window into the dark night is wonderfully lit by the full moon.
Tomorrow we plan to see a waterfall or two, hopefully around sunrise. As for today—and actually this month, as my birthday was celebrated with Rex’s on March 12th—it has been a great birthday this year.
I love you all and thank you for making my birthday this year memorable.
The Blind Swordsman: Zatoichi
Rating: ***1/2 (out of 5)
Quick Shot: A blind masseur is more than he seems.
What I liked about the movie: There are about three or four subplots in this film, woven together with Zatoichi in the middle. It’s done very well. Plus you can rarely go wrong with Beat Takeshi. Just remember, it does get a little bloody in this film.
What I didn’t like: It took me a while to get adjusted to the cinematography/look of the film. It was very ‘clean’ and modern, not helping to take the viewer back in time which made it distracting. Once the action started it was an after thought. The dance number - yeah, there is a dance number - was a little out of place for me as well. After reading the [IMDB trivia] about this movie, it made a little more sense.
Un long dimanche de fiançailles
Rating: **** of 5
Quick Shot: World War I love story. Audrey Tautou is the Mathilde to Gaspard Ulliel Manech in this magical journey to find each other. Or do they?
What I liked about the movie: The cinematography and direction was very impressive. Audrey Tautou is adorable as ever.
What I didn’t like: A little long (2 hours 14 minutes give or take), most of it setting up the story in the first third of hte film. I thought the last third was a little rushed as things fell into place. I wasn’t expecting some graphic elements of war, but they were needed to drive the story.
Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story
Rating:**** out of 5
Quick Shot: Vince Vaughn plays the underdog/hero gym owner trying to save his gym from the evil (and hilarious) Ben Stiller. So how can Vince save the gym? By entering a dodgeball tournament!
What I liked about the movie: Ben Stiller, who’s in about every other movie made right now, is just funny as hell! Way better than his turn in Starsky and Hutch.
What I didn’t like: Nothing. It was the perfect DVD to pop in and just laugh away. Ok, maybe the bit with the pizza was too much but…nah, it was a very funny movie.
Moving Directories
Yes, I moved the weblog from [http://weblog.janella.com] to the main site [janella.com] And the layout has also changed. The photo header above rotates photos Farrah and I have taken. Photos included in the header right now are:
A new photo may not load if you’re browser caches the photo, but know that it does work. I’m not sure how many I’ll put up for the header, but a new image should load here or there. If you really want to force an image to load, hold down the shift key on your keyboard, then press the Reload button on your web browser. Your web browser will do a ‘hard reload’, asking for new information from the server.
I’ve given up on the whole [geeklog.net] layout. Just wasn’t happy with the way it was looking and how entries are made into the blog. I am going forward with using [Gallery] as the photo engine, the same one used on [nothingcouldbefina] . What I like about Gallery is the way it displays images. What I like about 4images is the information it can store information in a database. So right now: style over handling of information.
Another Hawaii Album Posted
The last of the Hawaii trip photos are posted. The photos are located under Trips | Hawaii 2004 Part II for both the [photos] and [project] pages. Again, there is no difference in the amount of photos displayed on either page. The photos are just displayed in two different methods.
For this album (Hawaii 2004 Part II) most of the photos were taken with a digital camera. I have yet to upload the raw photos to a linked [Shutterfly] page, but will do so when I get the chance. You can then order pictures and/or see what wasn’t posted on the web site. Any questions? Let me know.
Spiders, blah!
Farrah and I found this huge spider on our wall after coming home from Toys R Us:
We tried to corral the spider but, unfortunately, ended up killing it. We are still trying to determine what kind of spider it is. Anyone know?
The Fantastic Four?
I saw these images below posted on some messageboard regarding the new [Fantastic Four] movie being made. From the looks of the these images I’m not too impressed. Then again I wasn’t too impressed with the Thing’s costume or Jessica Alba as Sue Storm. I’m thinking their going to have to CGI the Thing or he’ll just look like a ‘guy in a costume’.
Halloween Day & Night
Today we went up to the City to Lotte’s place to (1) celebrate Matthew’s birthday - which was last week, (2) a house-warming for Lotte, and (3) celebrate Halloween. Now that’s a lot of celebrating! Photos are posted on the website. I had to head back early to hand out candy at the house. Right now I’m typing this weblog entry from the laptop near the front door. The kid flow is somewhat steady. I’d say about 40+ kids at this point. There are still those older kids who don’t dress up and expect candy. Ugh.
Well, it looks like its dying dying down. Of course as I wrote that three kids came up to both greet with a “trick or treat” and a “Merry Christmas”. Nice. Oh well, closing shop at 8pm no matter what. Better go man the door.
Saturday is Birthday Celebration Day
Wow, today was a busy day. I helped celebrate my sister and friend’s birthdays.
First off was Susana’s birthday in Santa Cruz. My mom and I drove up to Riva’s on the wharf to meet Susana, Kayla and Rex for lunch. I had my ususal Fisherman’s Platter (calamari, fish, and chips). There was some slight detour-ing going and leaving the pier as a marching band competition was occurring by the Boardwalk. Luckily Kayla was able to guide us back to her house for cake. We even beat Susana and Rex back to the house! (pics posted on the photos page)
Later on that night I was invited to my friend David’s 40th birthday celebration at El Burro’s. There must have been a lot of people celebrating their 40th birthday there as I almost ended up with the wrong party for dinner! It was the first time i met most of David’s family (mom, dad, and his sisters). It was a large celebration that lasted several hours. Good food, good cake, and good conversation. Oh, and afterward we went to go catch a showing of [Team America] at Century 21. My review on that later.
get lost
our favorite new television show this season has to be [lost] wednesay @ 8pm on abc.
quick shot: plane crashes on a deserted island. survivors try to figure out where they are, how to contact someone for help, and who they can trust amongst their group. it’s a dramatic gilligan’s island!
what we like (so far): the story has many mysterious elements surrounding the island as well as passengers on the plane. when i say ‘so far’, you just never know if the show’s storyline will tank as it moves forward. the characters not only ‘purtee’ but have some depth. the writing is strong (again, so far). this is a show brought to you by the makers of felicity and alias.
what we didn’t like: that it’s only on once a week. ugh!
russell and marjorie's home
man, it’s october and i’m still talking about our hawaii trip that took place back in august!?!?!?! well, my memory on specifics is fading (yeah, it comes with age, huh). this might be the last time i write about the trip. most of the pictures are posted. just a few more from the last days we stayed. anyway, on with the story….
sandy left oahu on saturday afternoon. for the rest of that day we relaxed. we picked up jane, then had a late dim sum lunch with ann, who was working. we might have went to [ala moana], if not that day i’m sure some other days. but after lunch we did drive to the north shore from shave ice! some time later that night we went to circut city - i needed to figure out how to download the photos i had since the ipod wasn’t accepting my camera’s connection. this is where the photo below was taken:
uncle johnny and auntie linda treated all of us to sunday breakfast at [anna millers] . in the afternoon we headed to russell and majorie’s house, in mililani for an late lunch/early dinner.
russell tried his best to bbq, taking care of most of the food. when it came to the beef he delegated that task to sim.