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Toronnnttto

// February 9th, 2009 // 2 Comments » // Blog

So, this morning Kat and I headed off to Toronto! We were actually going to go yesterday and stay over night at her Uncle’s place, but it ended up not being a good weekend to do that, so we decided to just go up today, for the day.

We made amazing time getting there (no seriously, it was awesome) and picked up breakfast sandwhiches (and tea) from Timmies on the way. We had decided to go to the ROM, because there’s an exhibit on diamonds that we both wanted to see, and I also wanted to see what the new … crystal… thing… that they built on the side there (it looks really stupid from the outside) looked like.

Last time I went, was when Nels was here, and they didn’t have the dinosaurs up, because of the construction. Luckily, they were there today… they’ve always been my favourite exhibits at any musuem.

You couldn’t take any photos at the diamon exhibit, which was a pity because some of the jewelry they had was amazing. There were a few pieces I wouldn’t mind having… haha.

They also had a rocks and minerals display, which was really awesome. Granted, you got a little tired of looking at them after a while, some of the colours were spectacular. This was my favourite one:

It’s rhodonite (okay, I won’t pretend I actually remembered that, but if you enlarge the photo enough you can read it on the sign, haha).

There was also a huge display of Korean, Chinese and Japanese artifacts (including furniture, tools, toys, clothes, paintings, plates, bowls… all that stuff). Some of it was pretty cool, but the pillows… looked ridiculously uncomfortable, haha. Then there were these statues… I realize now that it looks funnier when you see them all, but the one on the right in the photo, looks like it’s doing the robot:

After the museum, we did a bit of shopping… well, looking. We didn’t buy anything, but we went into a few stores and looked around. Got tickets for a movie, and went to grab something to eat, and went back to the movie theatre. In this one cineplex in Toronto, they have this VIP theatre thing (I don’t know if they have this anywhere else), but it’s like a small theatre (24 seats or so) where once you’re seated, they have ushers who get your food and stuff for you. The seats are really nice, and there’s a little table between the seats.

We wanted to go to that, but we got looking at books in Indigo (after dinner, because we had time to kill) and ended up getting there with no options for two seats together. What was really weird, is usually… the usher will ask people to move a bit so the people can sit together, but they didn’t at all. They said we could sit apart, or get a refund and catch the 6:50 show in the regular theatre. We opted for that, because it’s no fun to watch it by yourself.

We went to see “He’s just not that into you”, which was great. So adorable. Of course it left me over-thinking everything all over agian (which I do to begin with). But it was a really good movie. The poeple beside us were IRRITATING. I hate people who go to the movies and are all loud… and… annoying. If you want to make comments to your friends, that’s cool. But don’t make them so loud so that I can hear you (and I wasn’t sitting right next to them).

So yes. It was a successful day, and the drive home wasn’t too bad. People seriously drive like idiots though. I mean, if you’re in the left lane, don’t go below the speed limit.

I’m tired already, which makes me feel lame because it’s not even midnight yet, haha. But of course tomorrow is Monday, and I said I’d be done the parks I’ve been working on by Friday… yeah… not really. I ended up getting bored and side-tracked, so I think I have ten more still to do. I sent them to myself, so I can finish them. I don’t want to disappoint my boss, or anyone for that matter. So I feel like I should at least try to get a few done.

And there it goes.

// January 26th, 2009 // 1 Comment » // Blog

So the weekend is over, again. I feel like every week, I look forward to the weekend, and then it comes and goes so quickly, like it was never there to begin with.

Having class on Saturday mornings is nice though; I’m almost always home just after noon and I have the rest of the day. This past Saturday, six students came. Thankfully. It was bitterly cold, so I thought that there wouldn’t be such a turn out, but there was.

Granted, it was two groups of three travel-wise.
But it was nice. We started to learn colours.

It’s really annoying how the spell check on this computer (it’s like the automatic kind that underlines the words in red if you misspell them as you type) keeps telling me that ‘colours’ and so forth is wrong.

Oh but that reminds me, I did learn something interesting the other day. That ‘deke’ is a Canadian English word. It underlines that too.
I was actually reading a list of all these words that were used in Canadian English, because I think it’s fascinating. I mean, I think the differences between all the variations of English in general is fascinating.

Sunday, Kat and I hung out. We watched the new episode of Kyle XY (SO GOOD. And this week’s looks awesome and awkward). We also rented two movies. The Duchess and Forgetting Sarah Marshall. Both were good, but obviously VERY different, haha. The Duchess left you feeling kind of depressed, well, it left me feeling kind of depressed because I always want to see those wonderful fairy tale endings that aren’t generally present in reality.

I feel like when I started writing this I had a point. Unfortunately, that’s been lost.

Ms. Pettigrew Lives for a Day

// September 1st, 2008 // No Comments » // Blog

Saturday night I met up with Melinda because we decided to do something. We weren’t exactly sure what it was we wanted to do, so we took a nice drive around town thinking about the possibilities and ended up deciding to rent a movie at Blockbuster.

We did one sweep of the new releases board and originally picked up “21″. I saw it in theatres when it came out and it was an awesome movie, but we decided we’d get “21″ and ask if “Ms. Pettigrew Lives for a Day” was available. They didn’t have any copies on the wall, but you know if you ask sometimes they just might have had a return.

Luckily, they did. So we picked up that instead (but I’m totally all for seeing 21 again). If you haven’t heard about it, it’s about this maid who keeps getting fired. When she’s completely down on her luck and out on the streets, she finds work for a day with this girl who’s dating three guys at once and having a mess of a time keeping it all together.

So basically, you follow their lives for one day while Ms. Pettigrew helps her out. She has to decide between the three men who are all extremely different and Ms. Pettigrew finds herself living a life she never dreamed of. It’s set in the 1930′s or 1940′s and I loved the clothes and sets that they had! It makes me wish I could have been in London during that time period and be at the top of the social ladder.

It’s just too cute. You have to love the ending because (in my opinion) everything works out just perfectly. Maybe it’s predictable, but it’s a movie that makes you feel happy in the end. It also makes you wsh that something like that will happen to you, haha. Well, it makes me wish like that. I’m not into the totally sappy romance stuff, but I love cute romantic movies like this one.

So yes. If you want a sweet movie check it out. It has some good laughs in it and I think everyone played their part very well. I’m not good at reviewing movies or anything like that, so there’s my two cents on it.

Star Wars & Rocky Horror

// August 9th, 2008 // 1 Comment » // Blog

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away…

I was a huge Star Wars fan.

Okay, so it wasn’t a long time ago and I’m pretty sure it happened here… on Earth, but when I was younger I was a huge, huge Star Wars fan. I mean, huge. As in, I still have the action figures and I used to be subscribed to the magazine.

Although I first saw Star Wars when I visited my friend in Windsor back when I was about ten, I was in the height of my fan…ness…  around the time Episode I : The Phantom Menace came out in theatres. Kat and I skipped school to see the first screening in our city and I still remember my law teacher finding out and asking me if I thought it was an appropriate reason to miss class. I was never a cheeky kid or anything like that, but I replied ‘yes’.

I think he was less than impressed. Haha.

Over the years my love for Star Wars has died down and worn off. In fact, I haven’t even seen the third episode yet which makes me feel a bit lame because I feel like I still can’t call myself a fan if I haven’t even seen that one. But lately, I keep seeing the trailers for the new one coming out on the 15th. The Clone Wars, all in CGI. I’m not totally sure how I feel about this…

I mean I know they’ve had different cartoons and whatnot, and all the books are around… but I feel like this is a totally different level. For me, it kind of ruins the whole Star Wars thing with it being all done in CGI (and I totally wrote CSI the first time I typed that). Like I said I’m not even a quarter of the fan I used to be, but I can’t but feel like, ‘boo’ to this, haha.

It’s kind of like how I feel about that new remake MTV is doing of the Rocky Horror Picture Show (read more about it here). Um, can you say WORST IDEA EVER? No really, leave the RHPS alone. No one will ever outdo Tim Curry. I mean, ever. He’s just totally awesome. Well, the whole cast is really awesome in that movie but there’s just no replacing Tim Curry. Of course it’s been in the theatre countless times without him, but to remake it for film is just ridiculous. I feel angry and irritated thinking about it, haha.

Let’s go to the movies~!

// August 1st, 2008 // 2 Comments » // Blog

Today was my day off. So I spent the morning relaxing, went shopping for a bit with my mum and then went to dinner and the movies with Kat, Melinda and Melinda’s neice Madison.

The drive-in is always fun and it’s particularly fun when you don’t get eaten alive by mosquitoes. We had a good screen because we got one that didn’t have the forest behind it. (Yay, less buggy). It’s also cooler now (especially at night) which I think helped to keep the bugs away. We decided to see The Dark Knight (again) and Get Smart.

We got there at around 8:45pm, got our snacks and headed back to the car. The first (and most important) task was to cheese the popcorn. Yes, Kat and I love the cheese that much that we brought our own shaker (which we had purchased the last time we went to the drive-in) to make sure our popcorn was filled with white cheddar goodness. The great thing about the drive-in is that both the tickets and the concession stand is cheaper, haha. Because you know, they seriously over charge at the theatre, which is really lame.

Anyways, we’re hanging out listening to the station waiting for the show to start and this truck with a trailer attached to the back pulls up and parks in the front row. They weren’t blocking our view or anything, but then we see them unloading furniture onto the grass. No, I’m not even joking. They had two couches and an arm chair. The chair I can somewhat understand, but really now, who brings a couch to the drive-in?

They weren’t blocking or bugging anyone so it’s not an issue, but it was just really… weird. The Dark Knight was MUCH easier to watch on the screen now that we weren’t “———————” THIS CLOSE to it. (We were in the third row when we saw it at the theatre). Just as good the second time around, but I started to feel a bit sleepy at the end because I already knew where everything was going. Regardless, I love Batman, haha. I also really hope that Angelina Jolie is in the next one as Catwoman. I’ve read various rumours that have said they’re trying to get her to do it. That would be so awesome.

After the first movie, Madison went into the trunk to sleep. Okay, that’s not a sketchy as it sounds. She’s eleven, and it was past midnight (also way past her bedtime) and Kat has an SUV. So to make it easier to sleep, she went into the trunk. That was after we ran back to the snack place and picked up some Smarties (and took a washroom break).

When we got back we were greeted by my favourite part of the drive-in. THE INTERMISSION SONG WITH THE DANCING SNACKS. Seriously, how can you not love it? They’re so awesome and so happy. I managed to record some of it…

After the amazingness of the intermission song and dance, Get Smart was on. With only one preview (and it was The Dark Knight… doesn’t that kind of suck? I love previews… so it was a bit disappointing). Get Smart was a really cute movie! There were some really great lines and some hilarious parts. It was nice and light which was a nice break after seeing Batman (because that’s definitely a dark movie).

Best line of the movie?

Maxwell Smart: Are you thinking what I’m thinking?
The Chief: I don’t know. Were you thinking, “Holy shit, holy shit, a sword fish almost went through my head”? If so, then yes.

Work tomorrow at three and then somehow I got Saturday off. We’re packed this weekend (honestly, no sites left… we hardly have any tent sites left) so I don’t know if I’m excited or terrified.

The Dark Knight

// July 18th, 2008 // 2 Comments » // Blog

Yesterday, I mentioned that Tyler and I had bought tickets for The Dark Knight when we went to see Hancock. Well, we did. Tyler bought his and I bought three; one for myself, Kat and Melinda.

I didn’t get off work until eleven, and where I work is about twenty minutes from the movie theatre. Naturally, when eleven o’clock comes around someone just has to come in and buy something (I was going to call them a douchebag, but it’s not their fault that I wanted to leave right at eleven and normally it wouldn’t be a big deal). Long story short, I booted ass from the campground to the theatre. Got stuck behind some slow driving jackass, and made it there in about fifteen minutes.

I called Tyler, because he was going to go at eleven (the show started at midnight) and try to get seats for us all. The girls couldn’t go in because I had their tickets. Well, Tyler got there at eleven and couldn’t find four seats together. So when I called him he was like sorry. :/ They let the show in at 9:10… who the hell goes three hours before a movie starts to sit there in the theatre? O_O Eager people, I guess.

We ended up being in the second row, which initially was really hard on the eyes, but it ended up being okay once you got used to it. We got our cheese popcorn and a collectible Batman cup. The previews went on for like half an hour which was annoying, but at the same time who can blame them. They had four cinemas booked for Batman and for the most part it was sold out.

There were some people there in Joker makeup and the audience was pretty cool. The one guy behind us kept making annoying, yet funny remarks throughout the previews. I love going to the opening show, because you get the people who want to be there really badly. For the most part.

The movie itself was really good and Heath Ledger was awesome as Joker. It was actually hard to believe it was him, because I don’t know… I guess I always picture him as the guy in 10 Things I Hate About You, A Knight’s Tale or Casanova. And of course Christian Bale was great too. I loved him as Batman in Batman Begins, so this was no different. Michael Caine as Alfred rocks as well.

I don’t want to give any spoilers away for people who haven’t seen it, so I don’t really want to write too much about it. Batman is just super cool. And the Joker was great because although he’s absolutely psychoic and terrifying in the sense that he has no remorse whatsoever, he’s pretty comical. There were a few deaths in the movie I was really surprised by and while it was predictable because it’s Batman and in a way, you always know who’s supposed to win, nothing was so obvious that you felt bored. Does that make sense?

Anyways, I really liked it. I think more than I did Batman Begins. So I’d tell you if you’re interested at all, to go see it. But I’ve always loved Batman, because my dad and I used to watch the oolllddd ones with Adam West when I was a kid. You know, with the POW, BAM, BOP! Looking back on them they’re ridiculously corny, but as a kid I absolutely loved them, haha.

Hancock

// July 17th, 2008 // No Comments » // Blog

Alright, so even though I just went to the movies yesterday I went again tonight with my cousin Tyler to see Hancock.

… and tomorrow night I’m going with Kat, Melinda and Tyler once again to see the midnight screening of Dark Knight. I’m really, really excited.

From the previews, I was kind of skeptical about this one. I really like Will Smith, so that made me want to see it but I didn’t want it to be some sort of hokey superhero movie, you know? But then Melinda saw it and said it was good, so that made me want to see it a little bit more, because I know she would have been honest and said it was crap if it was.

All in all, it’s a pretty good movie. It’s not a stereotypical superhero movie, where they focus on the superhero trying to save the world from some sort of evil mastermind. It’s more about a guy, who has these extraordinary powers, who’s struggling to figure out who he is and where he fits in. I know a lot of movies with superheroes have that aspect to it, but I guess this one seems more about self acceptance and learning where your place in the world is. If that makes any sense. Maybe it’s too late for me to be writing about this, haha.

Of course, there’s a plot twist (or two!) which makes it far more interesting than just that. Some of the flying stuff I thought was a little… ‘ish’ (as one of my students would say), but I enjoyed it and I’d probably recommend it.

Will Smith is awesome. I think he always picks really good roles and you don’t see him screwing up like you do a lot of other celebrities. I guess, he seems down to earth. Admittedly I still watch Fresh Prince all the time, because the reruns are always on TV. He’s really come a far way since then, hasn’t he?

Charlize Theron was really good as well. I can’t even remember the last movie I saw her in, but I think she’s so pretty! I don’t want to ruin anything, but I like the twist that involves her. I like the idea of a living myth, or something along those lines. And I also really liked Jason Bateman because he was so sincere and hopeful.

I’m not really good at describing or critiquing movies, but I guess the main point is that it was fun and a worthwhile movie to see.

WALL-E

// July 16th, 2008 // 5 Comments » // Blog

Yesterday, Kat and I went to see WALL・E after going out for dinner with both of our mums. Dinner was good (even though I got like the biggest meal ever and couldn’t finish it) and the movie was awesome! It’s honestly one of the best movies I’ve seen recently and I would tell everyone who hasn’t seen it to go see it. RIGHT NOW.

If you haven’t heard much about it, it’s about a robot named WALL・E who was left on Earth (with others of his kind) to clean up the mess the humans had made. Meanwhile, humans are floating around in space on a luxery starship. The other robots have all broken down and WALL・E is the only one left, making buildings out of trash that he compresses into blocks. He has a little cockroach friend who travels around with him. Being a curious little robot, WALL・E collects things he finds interesting and keeps them in his home. He also loves musicals (I think it’s Hello Dolly he’s watching in the film) and constantly plays music as he does his work.

Then a spaceship lands on the planet, and WALL・E meets Eve. A pod sent from the human starship. Long story short, WALL・E ends up following Eve back to the Axiom (where the humans live) and we see that humans are now lazy, obsese and have no idea of anything that goes on around them nor do they have any contact with each other or appreciation of what they are surrounded by. Their meals come in drinks, they’re told when to sleep and when to wake up, the children are basically brain washed by the company (BnL) that built the starcraft. There’s a captain who really doesn’t do much except make announcements and follow orders from AUTO, an auto pilot robot. Everything is run by machines.

The other robots in the movie were totally great. I LOVE M-O! He’s a clean freak and is constantly cleaning up after WALL・E’s track marks because they contain “Foreign Contaminate”. The love story between Eve and WALL・E is also too cute. And I love the fact that they ‘rescue’ the ‘malfunctioning’ robots.

A lot of the movie basically seems like a prediction of what we may become in the future, and really, it’s not too inaccurate. The humans have trouble walking, because they’ve never had to before. The captain spends hours learning what the Earth is. . . what the sea is, what dancing is. . . It’s hard to imagine a human being not understanding those simple concepts, but in WALL・E they’ve never had to.

Anyways, all in all it was a great movie and it really makes you stop for a minute to consider what we’re doing here. If we continue at the rate we’re going, are we going to destroy our planet like they did in the movie? Are we going to become completely reliant on machines instead of doing things ourselves?

There’s a lot of other messages thrown in there as well, but I think I’ve rambled enough about it for now. It really was a fun, cute, enjoyable movie with a message that I think we should all, at the very at least, consider.

The ending is awesome and hopeful. And, the best line ever?

“This is called farming! You kids are gonna grow all sorts of things! Vegetable plants, pizza plants…it’s good to be home!”