Lion King 3D

Last night I finally got to see the Lion King on the big screen in 3D. To say that it was awesome would be a bit of an understatement. Carly and I watched our dear friend Simba go from "cub who has it all" to "cub set up by mean uncle and thinks he inadvertantly killed his father" to "nomad" to well, I dont want to be a spoiler so we'll leave it at nomad. Anywho, what's not to love about the Lion King? The music is phenom, the jokes are constant and the story arc is just solid.

Once we got to the theater, we wrestled the other 7 people in the audience for some seats (we strategically placed ourselves away from other people so they weren't annoyed with our siging, comments, etc.), put on my glasses THEN my 3-D glasses and we anxiously awaited the movie. This was my second 3D movie (I am not one for them seeing as the only other time I did I thought I'd toss my cookies), so wasn't really sure how much was "in your face" but I was actually surprised that it wasn't too bad. And we had to get past the fact that it is not the Honey I Shrunk the Audience or Muppet 3D attractions at Disneyland. We kept thinking that they would throw stuff at us or make us think that there's mice are at our feet, but was pleasantly surprised that it was just more projected. And, boy the opening sequence was downright AWESOME. And there was one point, when Rafiki finds Adult Simba and he leads Simba to the pool to talk to Mufasa and the water was coming out into the audience and Carly and I both said in unison, "ooooooohhhhhhhhh!"

I forgot how awesome this movie is but it did make me feel bad for today's kids. They don't get the classics like we did. Don't get me wrong I LOVE Pixar movies, they're awesome, but you don't see animals and inantimate objects singing hits. In fact that could be my only complaint about the Pixar movies. And Disney only releasing this for 2 weeks...absolute genius. Just think if they were to start releasing other classics, Beauty and the Beast, Aladin, etc it would be their best move ever because people like me and Carly would be all about it.

Oh Facebook.com

Remember when Facebook used to be simple? Today when I logged on, I saw the new and improved home page, equipped with suggestions for stories, posts, what have you. All things that may just be interesting to you (they're flagged for crying out loud), and a immediate status update tracker that follows you. And of course, 90 percent of the stories that are "most recent" are people complaining about the new updates! Do you see the irony here?

Back in the day when facebook used to just be for college people, it seems like you really had to do some hardcore investigating work to find out some gossip, who was dating who, what people did on a Friday night, what people were saying on other people's walls. You really had to be interested in someone to find out dirt. Now, what seems like a thousand updates later, it's like they're throwing useless information (although it could mean the world to the person who posts--much like this blog) at your face. You can't help but know that so and so broke up, that your friends are meeting up at Happy Hour without you, what your old baby sitter who lives across the country is having for dinner. It's all waiting for you when you log on. And now it's flagged so you have to deliberately close your eyes before seeing latest and greatest.

So, my question is why all the latest improvements? Do we need to hone our stalking abilities even further? Were people slacking off? I am not sure. But I have noticed a pattern that at first everyone hates, and in a flash, people will wonder how we ever did without it...case and point, status updates. Which by the way, I suppose I should go update mine. :o)

Tunnel Vision

This is what happens when we try to be spontaneous. Thursday night at Happy Hour, Kate, Carly and I decide to go to the Rascal Flatts concert at the Shoreline Amphitheater in Mountain View. We joked about going and within 2 hours we had tickets--very unlike us. So decide to take the train to Mountain View, hop in a cab to get to the theater. So that's all well and fine, except we pick a cabbie who believed that traffic laws were merely suggestions, we cheated death a couple of times.

So fast forward to the end of the opener, mother of like 26 kids Sara Evans, and after two tall boys of beer each we all had to use the disgusting port-a-potties. So we made our way to the top of the lawn section and waited in line, where Carly runs into a St. Charles mom, chatted it up and that's where we got separated. After we get out, Kate and I walk over to the pole that we said to meet at after the bathrooms, but couldn't find her (and also we had terrible reception so we couldn't text or call her). Being the good friends we are, we gave up and booked it to the bar and then back down to the blanket. Somehow Kate got a text from Carly saying that she was up at the bar, so I had my two beers in my hand (Kate only had one) and attempted to go find her and right before I left Kate told me that she would come look for me in 10 minutes. As soon as I got to the bar I realized this was a dumb idea because she knew we were at the blanket and I was on a time constraint, so I turned around. No sooner to I decide this, I see this blob moving towards me at a rapid pace and all of the sudden the next thing I knew, I was down on the ground with beer all over me.

What was going through my mind? Well first, OUCH! Then holy crap, I gotta get out of this situation in case any one I know is around, then son of a bitch I just washed these jeans and finally, sad face, there goes those two drinks. I was probably on the ground for maybe 2 seconds, popped back up, checked my pockets for my phone and wallet and got the hell out of there. I made my way back down to the blanket, found the girls relatively quickly and came up to them with my hair drenched in beer, mud on my pants, a bruised bum and hurt ego, and yelled in a wailing kind of voice, "I AM NOT OK!" The look on their face was somewhat priceless because I looked like I just took a shower.

Eventually I pulled my beer hair back and pushed through with a sore bum and muddy jeans. It was a pretty solid evening, even with my accident. But I think this was the wake up call I needed to be more aware of my surroundings!

Up All Night: A Review

So, when paroozing Hulu to find an old Parks and Rec (perhaps one of my fave shows) show to watch, the hero banner was advertising the pilot for the new show, "Up All Night" with Will Arnett, Christina Applegate and Mya Rudolph. I am a lover for all of Will Arnett's shows. "Arrested Development" perhaps one of the best shows ever on TV, "Running Wilde" I think Lisa and I were the only people who watched it, but it was super funny. And I loved all of Christina Applegate's shows and Mya Rudolph is super funny too. When I heard that these three powerhouses were all going to star in a show, I knew it was going to be good, I am only disappointed that I didn't realize that it premiered last night (and I call myself a fan). So I was shockingly appreciative when I spotted it on Hulu (I'll save my distaste for Hulu for another post).

Here's what I'm thinking about the show...enormous potential. The opening scene gets you laughing when they find out their pregnant--what's not to love when scripted shows bleep out words! The characters are all lovable--Arnett is charismatic and definitely makes you laugh and his counterpart Applegate is funky with a splash of OCD, and then you throw Rudolph in there and the whole thing is shot to hell (I think she proved herself in Bridesmaids this summer)! Now, there's not a whole lot to go on since pilots are always a little lame, but I definitely was chuckling throughout the show. I give it a couple of episodes and it will be the talk of the celeb blogs--I can bet I'll be chatting about it.

So, hit up Hulu and check out Up all Night!

Happy Birthday Repettos!

I fail. I haven't blogged in almost a week, so I missed a couple of good topics I wanted to highlight, most notably Sarah's birthday on Sunday. But thank goodness her husband's birthday is today so I can give a huge birthday shout out to the Repettos!

Sooo....Happy Birthday Sarah and Tom! I'm sorry I can't celebrate RIGHT this minute because you know how I feel about birthdays but in good time.

My Curse: Positivity

This sort of thing has happened to me a couple of times. When you think something super good is coming at you, and then it's nothing short of lame.

So on Friday morning of last week, I received an email from the Mail Room guys at work saying that I had an envelope waiting for me and since I don't have a designated cube, I need to come claim it. Since I was working from home Friday, I contemplated for a hot minute going in and seeing what it was--I NEVER get mail at work--then realized that was dumb so fired off a quick email saying I'll check in with them on Tuesday. So, this allowed for a nice long while for me to sit-and-ponder the possibilities of this envelope. Could if it be offer letter? A letter saying I got my own cube? A contract to get a work phone? Blah, blah, blah, those were just the tip of the iceberg.

I strolled in on Tuesday morning and no sooner do I take a sip of coffee that I fire off another email and said, "I'm HERE! Where can I pick it up?" No word back for quite a while and my day is starting to stack up so I give them a call, ask where they are located, and the guy on the other end mutters something about being between B & C by the coffee room. Side note--I'm in a building around the corner from the main campus, so it makes sense that he was talking about the main campus blgs B & C where a major coffee place is, and not in a section of B & C cubes by our coffee break room, but I didn't get that. So I wander over to what I think it is and look like a fool peaking around and trying to find this mysterious envelope. Eventually I threw in the towel cause I had to get back to work.

So I tried again this morning and email again asking "where can I get this" and finally a nice man named Juan calls me and tells me he'll drop it off in a half hour. I do my best not to shy away from my desk so I don't miss him--in case I need to sign for it, don't you know. An hour and a half later Juan appears, drops off this 6x9 envelope and is on his merry way. I sign nothing, it doesn't weigh a ton, it's just got my name on it. I almost give myself a papercut when I rip it open and find that it's a stupid certificate saying that I completed that training course last month. Talk about anti-climactic.

Yes that's right this has happened to me a couple of times. Once in college, I got a fat envelope in my mailbox--had to be the beginning of dorm living--and I open it eager to see what it is and it's a bank statement. And of course who could forget the time I come home to an empty house that looked like it was left in a hurry and am convinced that my parents thought it was at that moment that they had to run out and buy me a present. Only to find out later a family member died. Yes, my eagerness for exciting things is my curse.

Jury Duty...The Conclusion

Well that was a quick saga. Today I did my civic responsibility and called in at 11:15 and was told that I did not have to report for duty. Rats! No neighbor dispute, no murder trial, no listening to legal jargon pretending to understand, nothing. Instead I am just in the clear for the next year.

I suppose I'll have to put off my memoir of a juror until next year...