Warning: bulleted list to follow…

Life:

·        Went to see 2012. Thoroughly unimpressed, but some great effects.

·        Saw Wicked at the Music Hall with Carlsie and most of the Cunningham clan.  Fantastic.

·        Saw the first snow of the year on November 16^th.

·        Went to the Southern Missouri Assembly of God Youth Convention (I think that’s the name of it) with Ed and Julie’s youth group.  It actually wasn’t too bad.  KJ-52 and Seventh Day Slumber were there.  I wasn’t a big fan of the latter, and I may not have much KJ-52 on my iPod, but he does put on a very energetic show.  The speakers were also pretty good.  However, I’m never having kids.  There were a few really good kids, but there were some who tested my patience.  Still, it could have been worse.

·        Had Bethlehem practice on the 22^nd, on a beautiful day.

·        I decided to go see The Blind Side, after hearing that Carlise really liked it.  We now agree that our favorite line from the movie is now among the top 10 greatest movie lines of all time. 

·        Worked cattle the day before Thanksgiving.  The whole family (sans the travelling Paul, Rachel, and the boys) was there to help, as was Clarissa.  We had one pasture where the bull was not as effective as he should have been, so he’s been eliminated.  We decided that due to the unexpected events and the fact that we had about 20 open cows, we’d be fast-tracking our eventual plans of a fall-calving herd.  Turns out that the bull with our heifers was apparently also ineffective.  So, we’ve made our fairly reliable Herford bull a very happy camper.  How was that for keeping the details to a tactful minimum?

·        Thanksgiving was pretty good.  We had a few of the aforementioned cows to work to prepare them for fall pasture, then the overeating at the dinner table commenced.  It was only my immediate family (again, sans Paul, Rachel, and the boys), Grandma, Grandpa, Ed, Julie, Justin, and Daniel, but it was good times nonetheless.  Dad and I got Justin and Daniel to help us with some wood cutting, which resulted in a pickup load of oak stacked at the house.  Good use of the afternoon.  Christina came over later that evening, and played some pitch with Carlsie, Mom, and I.  She won every game – even with switching partners.  There’s something strange with her…

·        The day after Thanksgiving, after a later than expected start, Dad and I headed west with Tim and Ian in tow.  I drove the whole way.  Ulgh.  We made a stop at Bluestem in Emporia – where I had to break down and buy some bigger jeans, which hopefully will be too big for me come graduation – and then proceeded to Ness City after dining in Great Bend (at a less than stellar Montana Mikes).  We got to Carlsie apartment (an a monstrous Simone) around 8, and I was probably asleep by 9:30. It was awesome.  We met up with Andy and Austin at Russell’s place the next morning, before we proceeded to the normal hunting grounds where [the other] Andy and the dogs were waiting.  Austin brought his 12-week-old lab, Kimber, with him.  She was adorable, and quite the trooper.  It was a beautiful day, just light jacket weather. I nailed the first pheasant the dogs got on.  It was a black one that [the other] Andy had decided to release for some variety – or as he called it, “the Obama pheasant”.  I proceeded to knock a bunch more down, surprisingly not getting much support from the rest of the guys.  We got 19 all together, and I think I got or assisted on 10.  During our last stretch of walking, when we were close enough to the end for me to have me 12-gauge resting comfortably on my shoulder in non-anticipation of seeing anything, I just about stepped on a hen, resulting in her flying up right in front of me and me jerking me head back and knocking it on my gun before completely missing her (yes, you can shoot hens on this place), and getting no assistance from either of my flanks.  Weak.  Dad got a jackrabbit though, so that made his day.  Usually we don’t shoot at them since the dogs are right on them, but this one was a long way from the dogs – who missed the aforementioned hen.  We hunted from about 9:00am to 2:00pm, then did some meandering around looking at equipment at Delaney’s and such before heading to the Legion for supper.  Oh. My. Goodness.  Melt in your mouth amazingness that was prime rib.  On top of that, MU beat KU.  Quite a satisfying day, indeed.  We got back to Carlsie’s place and watched Star Trek, before turning in.  The next day we ate breakfast, then headed back east.  We made awesome time – me driving the whole way back.  We stopped at the gas station before we left Ness City, then didn’t stop again until we met up with Carlsie at the KFC in Emporia.  We got home about 3, and I was back to my apartment before “Family Guy” started.  What a great weekend. 

·        I went to see The Road Wednesday night.  It was only playing in the Fork & Screen, so I treated myself to an adult beverage and a prime rib dip and fries.  The movie was kind of tough to watch, but for more, read my review.

·        I took Friday off to help Jared with some wood splitting, and so I would be on time to Bethlehem.  Jared and I got quite a bit done, but we also had time to chit-chat – something that we don’t get to do too much anymore.  It was kind of chilly, but the sun was out, and it didn’t take long to get warmed up while swinging a maul.  Good times. 

·        Bethlehem was good, and fairly uneventful per se.  Cody and I were the tax collectors this year, and we played off one another pretty well.  Friday night it was cold, but thankfully clear.  We had 283 people that night, including a big group from Topeka who challenged my material capacity as a tax collector.  Saturday night was much larger, with 577 people.  Smaller than years prior, but there were a lot of out-of-towners.  I taxed Aunt Wendy a big hug.  Before I even got there Sunday night, Norm and Ellen called it off due to the weather.  It was misting around 4:30 when I found out, but it was snowing by 6:30 when I headed home, so it was a good call.  Apparently this was the last year for Bethlehem, but it was really fun while it lasted, and a great ministry opportunity. 

·        Dad and I got some stuff done on the farm over the last few weeks.  We finally finished harvesting the beans that were in a mudhole, and we got the combine and accessories put away for the winter.  We also did some cleanup around the barnyard, which has thankfully dried out significantly over the last week or two. 

·        I am making myself get back in better shape.  I’ve spent too long just being lazy and not spending the time in the gym that I should have been instead of going home and sitting in front of the computer or TV.  So – the mission begins.  Night one (last night): 35 minutes on the elliptical, 15 on the rowing machine, 15 on the stair climber.  Not bad.  Plus, working out is much easier when watching “That 70s Show” and “Family Guy”.

Work:

·        Qatar isn’t terrible, but it’s getting really old.  I’m not sure who to blame for the endless changes that happen every time a submittal is reviewed, but the architects seem like a reasonable target.  There’s a ton of grading work to be done yet, as well, and I haven’t even started on it for fear of something big changing again just after I complete it.  So, for now I’m just stuck going through a litany of little things, hoping someone in upper management can put there foot down and stand up to these architectural prima donnas.

·        Fortunately, there hasn’t been much Lockheed to talk about.  Every now and then the structurals will update a file and have me bind it to the survey – because apparently that’s outside the realm of their comprehension – but that’s about it.

·        Bentonville went through a bunch of changes.  Partially my fault, but the engineer took it upon himself to take my little mistake and make more changes that should have been done six months ago.  He also informed me that half of the driveways for the project were located right where existing fire hydrants were.  Again, shouldn’t this have been figured out months ago?  Oh well, it’s done…for now.

School:

·        Almost done with semester…weather permitting.

·        Gave the worst evaluation of my college career to my operations management professor the other night.  I had angry writers cramp before the end of it.  Tonight is our scheduled final (non-comprehensive last test), but I imagine he won’t show up being the spineless little worm that he is.  Still hoping to pull a C in that class.  And this might be bad, but I think I’d be just fine with a D, just because I loathe that class so much.

·        Business policy is basically done.  I really don’t know what we’re doing tomorrow night, but I guess I’ll find out.  I have a confession to make – I actually skipped last week’s class to go see The Road.  I had already presented my SWOT evaluation of myself two weeks prior, so I didn’t really see the need to be there. 

·        I’m still clinging to a B in my law class, surprisingly.  I got most of the points from my paper, and I did pretty well on the last test, considering.  I really don’t know how well I’ll do on the final.  I’ve got the essay questions already, but I haven’t written the answers.  That’s tonight/tomorrow. 

·        I have all the materials I need to start my two independent study classes, but I’m waiting until I finish at ESU for the semester before I really tear into them.

Other movies:

·        Good: Finding Forrester, GoodFellas, Reservoir Dogs, Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear, Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult

·        Marginally good: Casper, The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard, My Sister’s Keeper, Music of the Heart, Out of Africa, Rogue, The Slipper and The Rose, Alex Rider: Operation Stormbreaker

·        Lacking: Casshern, Observe and Report, The Taking of Pelham 123, Thirst

Casper – I remember seeing some of this flick when I was a kid, but obviously nothing really stuck.  It’s not what I would consider a great family film, or really a great film overall, but it has its moments.  Of course, since it deals with ghosts and the afterlife, it’s probably best not to let little kids watch it.  It’s even kind of frightening in some parts.  Since it’s supposedly good-hearted fun with a somewhat positive message, I’ll spare you the rant on what I think of movies with ghosts and such. Bill Pullman (Wyatt Earp) and Christina Ricci (Speed Racer) are the two main characters, and they both do decent with their parts, especially since a lot of their interaction involves characters that were added in later.  The positive messages kind of overwhelm the cheesy factor, but again, this probably isn’t for kids.  There’s not a whole lot of adult humor like so many of the kids movies aimed at adults these days, but there is some drinking and some minor bad language.  Kind of a dichotomy of a flick, but possibly worth a viewing.

Casshern – I really don’t know where to begin with this one.  There’s not really a lot to say.  I put it on my Netflix on the advice of a friend, based on my opinions of other movies.  I can’t really say that it was a bad movie, but it just seemed like a hodgepodge of elements from other, better films.  There was a lot of elements stolen from films like Sin City and Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow.  Also, the elements from films like Final Fantasy and Frankenstein-esque films really weigh it down.  There’s some pretty cool sequences, but the Japanese dialogue is kind of hard to follow.  Plus, the post-apocalyptic atmosphere doesn’t lend itself well to the story, in addition to never really knowing who’s side who is on.  I guess if you liked the Final Fantasy movies, or are a fan of other semi-strange Japanese action films, this one might be for you.  However, if you’re easily confused, it might not be.

Finding Forrester – I don’t remember why I put this movie on my Netflix – probably because of all the Bond movies I’ve been watching, but it was kind of a surprise.  Sean Connery (Never Say Never Again) is quite good in this one, as is the then-newcomer Rob Brown (The Express).  There’s also small parts for the affable Anna Paquin (Trick ‘r’ Treat), and the oddity that is Michael Pitt (Funny Games).  Plus, Matt Damon (The Informant!) has a very small part – small enough for me to wonder why he played it.  The strange thing about this movie was how well it transcended the multiple topics that it related to.  From racism to brilliant inspiration to seclusion.  It did a pretty good job keeping it from being just another urban drama, just another basketball story, or just another rags-to-riches story.  It really strove to connect with the viewer.  Still, it was kind of chock full of bad language (but somehow still in the PG-13 area) and the ending was only marginally satisfying.  I had never seen a film by Gus Van Sant before – mainly because I don’t really care for unabashed Oscar films, but this one was pretty good.

GoodFellas – This one was kind of interesting.  I’ve seen quite a few of the gangster flicks over the past  year or so, and this one was one of the better ones.  It has that distinctive edge that director Martin Scorsese (The Departed) gives to his films, but doesn’t have as many missteps as some of his other films do.  Still, chronicling the lives of gangsters over several years does carry problems, but it’s still pretty well executed.  Scorsese favorite Robert de Niro (The Deer Hunter) takes a back seat to Ray Liotta (Wild Hogs) who is the story’s centerpiece.  However, the real shiner here is Joe Pesci (Lethal Weapon 4) – who actually won an Oscar for his portrayal of a foul-mouthed, trigger-happy gangster.  The first two-thirds of the film are the best, going into great detail on what life in the mob is actually like.  The third act was severely dragged down by the drugs, even though it was probably pretty factual.  It’s rated R for good reason – language, violence, drugs, and a conjugal visit of sorts. Still, if you enjoy a good crime/mob dramas, you might enjoy this one.

The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard – Where do I even begin with this one?  I’ll just start off by saying that this movie isn’t a great movie, but I still found myself laughing hysterically at a few parts.  The plot is kind of dumb really, and there isn’t really a likeable character in the whole movie, but for some reason it’s still pretty funny.  Maybe it’s the smooth delivery of Jeremy Piven (The Family Man), or the delightfully homophobic David Koechner (Extract).  Possibly it’s Ving Rhymes’s (Mission: Impossible III) wry sense of humor, or Ed Helms’s (“The Office”) outlandish character.  Or maybe still it’s the unbelievably shocking, yet hilarious Kathryn Hahn (Revolutionary Road).  It definitely wasn’t Will Ferrell (Land of the Lost) in a multifaceted, sacrilegious cameo.  It’s a R-rated comedy (for sex, nudity, drugs, and language) that’s shocking, but not like the stupid shocking humor you’d expect to find in “comedies” like Step Brothers or Pineapple Express.  If you like Piven, Koechner, or Hahn, you’ll probably enjoy this one, that is, if you can get past the overratedness that is Ferrell. 

My Sister’s Keeper – This movie was kind of a dichotomy for me.  The central story was very good, and the entire cast – including Abigail Breslin (Zombieland), [a rarely decent] Cameron Diaz (Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle), Jason Patric (The Alamo), and [very out of the ordinary character] Alec Baldwin (My Best Friend’s Girl) – does a great job with the very tough material.  Still, at times it really felt as though the film was trying to toy with the viewers emotions.  Plus, the convoluted back-and-forth between what is perceived to be happening in the now with past events felt very confusing a points.  Also, director Nick Cassavetes (Face/Off) spent too much time trying to make it an art film instead of focusing on the heart of the story – of which there was an ample amount.  Even so, it was very touching – maybe due to said emotional toying.  There’s some notable cautions – some bad language, implied “relations” between teens, and drinking – but it’s well within the PG-13 bounds.  Still, the story centerpiece - medical emancipation – is very tough from all perspectives.  It’s a good story that had very great potential, but didn’t quite achieve the heights it could have.  However, I’ll still have to recommend it because of the touching nature and powerful performances. 

Music of the Heart – This one didn’t quite live up to expectations for me.  I really thought I’d like it a lot more than I did.  I think the reason why it didn’t achieve my relatively high standards was because it was such a blatant message movie.  Granted, I’ve seen a lot worse and unabashed.  Still, it’s not bad for a urban drama.  Meryl Streep (Out of Africa) is good as usual, and even pulled off playing the violin convincingly.  However, her feminist-ish role was just what you’d expect from her.  The rest of the cast was somewhat decent, and included Angela Basset (Meet the Robinsons), Aidan Quinn (Legends of the Fall), singer/songwriter Gloria Estefan, and a host of talented kids.  Really, the surprising thing about this film was the fact that it was directed by Wes Craven (A Nightmare on Elm Street).  Not the kind of film you’d expect from him, or a director you’d think Streep would want to work with.  It’s a PG-rated flick that’s got some innuendo and some bad language, but most of it is just the typical “fight for arts in school” drama.  Not terrible by any means, but it just didn’t meet high hopes.  

Observe and Report – This was one of those movies where I was pulled in by a surprisingly effective marketing campaign.  It was described as a dark comedy, but it looked more to be just a hard R-rated version of Paul Blart: Mall Cop.  It was a little bit of both.  It definitely had the depressing, uninspiring tone of what Hollywood consideres to be a “dark comedy”, and it also featured the shocking antics that come with hard R-rated comedies – including a very much extended, disgusting slow motion chase of an overweight flasher [who lets it all hang out] through the mall.  It was a little disappointing to see Seth Rogen (Funny People) in the lead, as he has much more potential than this dismal affair.  Anna Faris (The House Bunny) was kind of funny, only because we all know someone like her.  The rest of the cast was kind of out of place, but there were some surprising sides of Ray Liotta (GoodFellas), Michael Pena (World Trade Center), and Danny McBride (Land of the Lost) that some might not have seen before.  I wouldn’t really recommend it to anyone, unless you really enjoy a dark comedy – complete with the heavy amounts of quasi-depressing material and all the vile material that this movie entails. 

Out of Africa – Well, I guess I don’t really know what to say about this one.  I guess it could have been a lot worse.  I mean, it features Meryl Streep (The Deer Hunter) and Robert Redford (Charlotte’s Web) – two of the most far-out leftists in Hollywood these days.  I guess the redeeming quality of the film was the fact that it mostly left politics out, and tried to really focus on the strange relationship that their characters had.  Plus, they both carried guns at one point – something you’ll probably never see again.  Ok…to the actual story.  I will say that I found the whole arranged marriage/marriage of convenience of Streep to Klaus Maria Brandauer’s (Never Say Never Again) character to be strange from the beginning.  But then that develops into what seems like a double-sided love triangle that is generally accepted.  You kind of just have to watch the film to understand completely.  Streep did do a pretty good job with the Danish accent, but she was kind of the victim through the whole film.  However, director Sydney Pollack’s (Michael Clayton) shots of the beautiful African landscapes and composer John Barry’s (Dances With Wolves) beautiful score make the film more than just another star-crossed lovers movie.  It does have some content that is adult-related (adultery and its consequences, racial and gender stereotyping, etc.) but it treats them with surprising discretion – keeping the film in a PG-rating.  Still, there are better movies out there (Australia comes to mind), but you might check this one out if you like the genre.

Reservoir Dogs – Wow.  What a surprising debut for director [and co-star] Quentin Tarantino (Inglorious Basterds).  This was one of the few movies that really takes advantage of the real-time perception intertwined with back-story, and does it well.  I found it interesting that Tarantino really upped the noir and didn’t really focus heavily on the minor characters – such as himself.  It’s a heist movie gone completely wrong, but delves deep into the core of it’s central characters including Harvey Keitel (The Piano), Tim Roth (The Incredible Hulk), Steve Buscemi (Big Fish), Michael Madsen (House), and Chris Penn (Footloose).  Still, it’s a Tarantino movie – so to say that it’s chock full of vile language, blood, and heavy violence would be an understatement.  However, this is probably one of his better movies.  It’s grounded in somewhat realistic situations, and really isn’t insanely over the top like so many of his other films.  If you’re a fan or Tarantino [and haven’t already seen this one], you might want to check this one out.

Rogue – This isn’t just another creature feature.  This is actually a pretty good flick – despite the somewhat familiar and expected ending.  It’s kind of a blend of Jaws and Lake Placid – which it will most likely draw the most similarities from.  However, this is not as funny as the comedy-horror that was Lake Placid, but it has the grounded realism that made Jaws so scary.  The big difference here from the two aforementioned films is that it takes place in the beautiful surroundings of Australia’s Northern Territory.  The beautiful scenery really makes Australia look inviting, until a gigantic reptile spoils the fun.  Michael Vartan (Monster-in-Law) is the supposed lead, and [the underrated] Radha Mitchell (Finding Neverland) does a pretty convincing job with her role.  However, I was kind of disappointed with lack of utilization of Sam Worthington (Terminator Salvation).  I though he had much more potential than what the movie gave him to work with.  Still, I’ll have to see how well he does with Avatar coming up, as well as Clash of the Titans in the spring.  This movie was pretty good, but it’s a creature feature, so it’s kind of bloody/violent, and there’s quite a bit of bad language.  Still, if you’re a fan of the genre, defiantly check this one out.  It didn’t make a big splash at the box office, but it’s probably worth the home viewing.

The Slipper and the Rose – This was just another one of the movies that Christina has put on my “required viewing” list.  I actually found it kind of funny.  I wasn’t a big fan of the dramatic ending, when you know exactly how it’s supposed to end from the beginning, but it was still pretty good overall.  It really doesn’t quite follow the formula to a “t”, but it’s still pretty predictable.  However, it’s a different kind of Cinderella story, where it’s a musical comedy with dramatic elements.  Although, I did find the singing and dancing to be a little strange, because it’s set in [what appears to be] the Elizabethan period.  However, it’s still pretty well acted and sung, as well as quite funny in parts.  Very old-school musical, and probably to be enjoyed by those who are die-hard musical fans.  Certainly not my favorite classic movie musical, but still pretty good.

The Taking of Pelham 123 – I couldn’t quite bring myself to getting excited for this movie.  From the first preview to the actual viewing on DVD, it just didn’t pull me in.  Maybe it wasn’t quite as good of a marketing campaign as it could have been, or maybe I just knew that it would only be marginally satisfying.  I was right.  I tried to make the most of the watching this movie, so I watched it at Jason and Karen’s on their 50” plasma whilst housesitting, but that still didn’t make it great for me.  You can’t say that Denzel Washington (The Bone Collector) and John Travolta (Bolt) don’t do a good job, or that the supporting cast including John Turturro (The Big Lebowski), Ramon Rodriguez (Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen), and James Gandolfini (Romance & Cigarettes) don’t help.  It’s just that I think that the frantic direction by director Tony Scott (Domino) really kept the movie from being more.  That, or the fact that it’s just not a great story, and there’s not really anything groundbreaking.  It’s kind of violent, and there’s a lot of language – like most of Scotts movies.  It just never stuck with me.  If you like heist/ransom movies, you might like it, but there are better movies of the like out there.

Thirst – Well…it’s certainly different.  That’s about all I can really say about this movie.  While not as super-campy as Twilight, nor really as lackluster as Bram Stroker’s Dracula, it’s kind of an oddity of a vampire movie.  Naturally, the fact that it’s Korean sets it apart from the rest of the vampire movies out there, but it was the fact that the story centered on a priest who becomes a vampire (though categorical means) that really got me to want to see it.  So, that part of the story was really good.  However, that was just about a third of the movie.  It went downhill from there.  Whether it be the graphic, unappealing sex scenes, or the strangeness that envelops the rest of the movie, it just didn’t do anything for my interest in vampires.  It was quite unconventional, but that didn’t lend itself to the substantively lacking story.  There’s some resolution, but then it’s under very strange circumstances.  I consider myself a die hard vampire fan – so die hard, that I’ve actually sat through Twilight on DVD – but this one falls into the subpar category.