A Knight's Tale - Movie Review

First a little update on my ten day staycation. I tackled my room on Monday, and thanks to all the help from Kev who really made the job a lot easier for me. I clean, he empties the can and puts in another bag for me. One of the items that gets put into my bedroom with regularity are bags of clothing that no one wears. So I went through all those. I did three loads of laundry day after day before the 9am "cut off" that we agree to with Arizona Public Service (the electricity is cheapest from 9pm to 9am). I took cobwebs down in the living room, and also took down the living room curtains and washed them. And I removed the lime and calcium from which both toilets were in desperate need of rescue. Now to keep them clean and not let them get built up again.

I found myself dreading my return to work after ten days, but I had to, so I did. But I only had to work for three days, and then Wednesday night began the conference I had to attend for my job. It was a training conference for the electronic bookkeeping system we have been using for the last three years. Last year, the conference was spectacular. I have never been to a conference in all my life, so I had nothing with which to compare, but I am sure they really spoiled us. They chose a different hotel this year, and didn't quite spoil us like they did last year. I didn't learn much until after the conference was over, from another user who showed me what I'd been missing in the program that hooks up with Excel. Wow!! I can't wait to get back to work and check it out. I'd be checking it out RIGHT NOW instead of blogging, but the work server isn't allowing anyone to connect and IT won't be back in until Tuesday. So I'll just have to forget about it for a couple of weeks, since I have to get caught up when I get back on Tuesday.

From the same kind lady, I also got to hold an Amazon Kindle in my hands and check it out. I have been so curious about the Kindle and how they work. I don't really have enough time for reading to justify buying a Kindle, and I probably would be reluctant to buy the books for the current cost when I can buy most any book I wish to read from half.com or amazon.com for much less. Still, it was neat to see on in person. The lady I talked to said the best thing about it for her is she can easily increase the font, which obviously you can't do with a book in real life. You can also search the book for keywords, that is awesome. The book also will translate text to voice, and read the book to you! Pretty cool. Too bad it costs $300.

On to the movie review. As indicated in my profile on Blogger, A Knight's Tale (Heath Ledger) is one of my favorite movies. I first watched A Knight's Tale probably about five years ago. I really enjoyed the movie, and Kev and I watched it together numerous times. Even dh watched it at least once. I am certain I watched the movie a minimum of twenty times (had a lot more time five years ago)!!

At last year's conference, on Thursday night they treated us to a huge banquet dinner but this year we were on our own. Kev was staying with me at the hotel and we decided on Chinese for dinner. Only we couldn't find a place to deliver so we went out to pick up. Kev needed some buns to go with the wonderful sausage The Sausage Man delivered to him on Wednesday night at Bible study (thanks, Sausage Man!) and so we stopped at Safeway. Kev wished he'd brought along his current favorite movie, Fireproof. We stopped by the display of DVDs just to see if Fireproof was there and we saw A Knight's Tale. Kev said we should get it and watch it for old time's sake.

I love that movie. What amazed me most; however, is I forgot the most important thing that happens to William! I won't mention it in case you haven't seen the movie.

Kev turned me on to Plugged In Online, a site owned by Focus on the Family proclaiming to "Shining a Light on the World of Popular Entertainment" and the review for A Knight's Tale is positive.

My understanding of the Bible is since we are living in the dispensation of Grace, we are no longer under the law. We don't have to jump through hoops to win our salvation. Jesus Christ did the work on the cross at Calvary, and all we have to do to be saved is believe he died for our sins, was buried and rose again. That's all. We don't have to get baptized, go door to door witnessing, go to church every time the building is open, speak in tongues, pay tithes, ask for forgiveness, say prayers every night, get down on our knees, pray over our food before we eat, go to confession or anything else that most religions tell you must be done in order to be saved or to be a good Christian. In essence, what they all promote is that you must work your way into heaven, or you can't be saved. This twisting of God's Word is nothing more than the enemy's way of confusing the truth.

While it's perfectly okay for a believer to attend popular movies, I appreciate the Plugged In Online site because it gives some insight to the movie from a "Christian" perspective. For example, a secular review would never think to include profanity occurrences in a movie. If you are a person trying to bring every thought under control, attempting to remain pure in a world which thinks nothing of filling even children's movies with sexual innuendo, you might find Plugged In Online to be of help in making a decision to support Hollywood in a current movie.

2 Corinthians 10:5 Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;

I, myself have found the site to be helpful because the secular synopsis of the movie seemed innocent enough, but whoa, when I read more about it from the opposite mindset on Plugged In Online, what a difference. Do I really want to go to a PG-13 movie with my husband to find that the main female character (who is married) dresses scantily and kisses half the men in the movie? Why fill our minds with these images when all they do is linger there for us to fight against?

While there are two instances when we see Chaucer's naked backside, the context is not sexual. He's a bad gambler who loses. Everything. Including his clothing.

The movie has romance, chivalry, it's funny (Wat: "Pain, lots of pain."), it's triumphant, there are happy reunions, it's an all around great movie.

We're going to watch it again tonight as a family.

Until next time.

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Star Trek : The Newest Movie

Oh my word. Oh my word. I just found out that all the original Star Trek series can be watched online. As I write this post, I'm watching Turnabout Intruder Episode 79.

A couple of weeks ago, dh took me out on a date as thanks for the hard work I've been doing for him and the business. It's kind of stressful going out since we don't really like eating out that much. I'm often disappointed with the meal, especially if I eat too much.

But it seems to be the socially acceptable thing to do, so we decided to go out and try again, and dh asked if I wanted to go see a movie. He doesn't really like to go see movies, he considers them a waste of time. Precious time that could be spent doing other things. Well, anyway, since he was offering I looked in the paper he'd handed me and found that Star Trek was showing.

He never really cared much for Star Trek either. You know, waste of time. ;-)

I remember when I was 15 years old watching Star Trek. My siblings and I loved it. We'd play Star Trek, I'd play Spock and display no emotions. Dee Elle would play Dr. McCoy. I think. Or would she play Captain Kirk. ;-)

I think my most favorite, after the original series was The Next Generation, I watched every episode. Deep Space Nine was good. Voyager was gret. I never got to see all the Enterprise series, although Scott Bakula is one of my favorite actors. I really loved him in Quantum Leap.

I really liked the Star Trek movie. Okay, if you're going to see the movie and don't want it spoiled, turn back now.

Spoiler space...

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Okay, so I really liked the movie. I did however, think it was bordering on sacriledge to have Mr. Spock and Lt. Uhura involved romantically. That would NEVER have happened on the starship Enterprise.

It was great to see each cast member arrive in the movie. Dr. McCoy/Bones... Chekov, Scotty... it was fun remembering who was who. I feel that the new movie would mean the most if you had watched the original series. Which by the way, came out in the 60s! I was watching reruns in 1979.

I wasn't impressed with Mr. Spock in the movie, he was too baby faced, and way too emotional. But then again, the movie was operating on the aspect of "alternate reality".

Oh boy, Mr. Spock is under arrest for mutiny in Episode 79. Ah, that sure was great. I wish I had more time to watch all the original shows. Somehow I've got to make more time to have fun.

Until next time.

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Transformers The Movie

After church this morning, ds1 and I set out to the theatre to watch Transformers. I know very little about Transformers, and had to ask ds1 at some point in time if there were "good" and "bad" Transformers. Duh.

I was impressed with the graphics. It's amazing what can be done with computers. A movie like this would not have been possible 20 years ago.

It's been over a year since we visited this theatre, the one I complained profusely about in April 2006. I wasn't in the mood to spend twice as much money and go through more hassle to go into the big city.

I almost messed up though. I knew better than to try to arrive half an hour early and expect to buy tickets. We arrived at 2:30 to buy our tickets, then went for a taco and to pass some time. We got back to the theatre and there was a line and ds1 and I sat to wait for them to start letting people in. Soon the line started building quickly. We sat there about 5 minutes before it occurred to me that this was the line waiting to get into the theatre, not to buy tickets! So we went and got in line. It was okay, there was plenty of seats left.

When the previews were showing, there were three seats left to the right of me. A man and his son squeezed past, and several minutes later the other son arrived with the snacks. He sat right next to me and had very bad manners regarding theatre etiquette. I was sitting IN my seat, without my elbow even on the armrest and he kept jutting his elbow over into my space. He was one of those nervous people, he kept jiggling around and bouncing back and forth in the seat.

The seats in this theatre are ancient Harkins theatre seats and they are really low down and you sink way back when you sit down. You sink down so low that if you aren't careful the seat sits down onto your knees.

Dh milked. Ds2 and he cooked dinner. And I'm stuffed. And tired.

Until next time.

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The Gauge Swatch

It's official. Satellite Internet is so cool, so MUCH faster than dialup. I just counted off the seconds for uploading this image and it was done in THIRTEEN seconds. WHOO!!

This is my gauge swatch. I don't like doing them. I don't think many people do. I think most, like me, just want to get started on the project! But it's really important for sweaters. This evening's question is, "HOW important?"

My pattern's gauge: "15 hdc and 10 rows = 4 ins"

My stitches gauge is right on, but hold on... I'm using the "F" hook, instead of the "G" hook! I have always liked the "G" hook. It reminds me of my maternal Grandma. She used to crochet slippers for us when we were little, and she'd put a nice soft padding of material inside, and then she'd sew a plastic foot to the bottom. I can remember lining up to have her trace our feet onto the paper. She worked for the county as a court recorder and she always had foot high stacks of legal sized paper. We were admonished to NEVER look at the writing side as these papers were legal documents that had been thrown away - long before the days of document destruction and identify theft concerns, but my Grandma was quite the recycler. I'm sure to her way of thinking, throwing all that perfectly good paper in the garbage was simple horrid. She did live through the Depression, which I understood had the effect of making a person very frugal. It is interesting that I always viewed the writing side as the "back" side of the paper. The blank side was the "front". Now of course if I see a piece of paper with writing on it, that is the "front" side. The plain side is the "back". Even though I could read, I never, ever read the back side.

Now back to my gauge swatch... alas, my rows are a bit off, unless I do some flattening and stretching. Once I do the flattening and stretching on a flat surface, then it measures properly.

I went online to do some research into what happens if your gauge is right one way, but off the other way. I found this site which gave some great explanations:

Annie's Attic - Yarn FAQ

According to Annie, it's much more important for your stitch gauge to be accurate. Let me take the liberty of quoting her:
Q. What if my stitch gauge matches, but not my row gauge?
A. Of the two, the stitch gauge is more important. In a sweater pattern, for example, most patterns will tell you to work so many inches to the underarm, then so many inches to the neckline shaping. In this case, it doesn't matter if your row gauge is a bit off since you're working in inches.

I just realized that I have the option to "Show all" of my Blogger labels at one time, so I don't have to try to remember which ones I have already used. I wonder if there is any way to change all entries labeled with one thing to another, for example, how hard it would be to change "memories" to "Memory Lane". I know I haven't labeled too many posts with "memories" yet, so it won't be too hard to just change those few. "Memories" sounds a bit ominous.

As you can see in the image to the left, after the stretching and patting, I'm almost at 4 inches.

I did pretty good today. I had a good breakfast: leftover chicken breast with a red bell pepper and one zucchini squash. It kept me going without feeling tired. I managed to watch the movie I said I wanted to watch, about a month ago. Days of Heaven. It was a confusing movie. I am noticing more and more that I enjoy older movies though, rather than most newer movies. My back is still feeling pretty good. I think I'm going to take a bike ride with ds2 tomorrow morning. We have to do hoof trims one day this weekend; either tomorrow morning, or Monday morning. I also got through figuring out our finances and know where we are at, and tomorrow I'll write out some checks to pay some bills.

For dinner I made meatloaf. Of course I couldn't stick to the recipe. Thank goodness. It called for 1 1/3 cups brown sugar and it was way too sweet using only 2/3 cup. We also had frozen corn.

I think I'll crochet another swatch using the G hook. The yarn that I chose is a bit frustrating to work with... There is this thin shiny piece of thread wrapped around the yarn and it keeps getting hooked onto the crochet hook.

Until next time.

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Movie and a Pizza

We watched United 93 today, and ds2 made pizza. It was a very sad movie. I cried.

I sprayed off my truck but didn't get around to cleaning the mud out from the inside of it.

I don't feel like I accomplished much.

Until next time.

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X-Men The Last Stand - Thoughts

We didn't go on Saturday, we went today.

First, how much did I spend by being stubborn? If I'd gone to Mr. Local Guy's theatre I'd have spent $12 for the tickets, $9 for a large popcorn and drink with one free refill one each. Round trip 44 miles, gas is $2.98/gallon, I get ~18 miles to the gallon. One hour travel time. $12 + $8 + $7.28 comes to $27.28.

Going into the Brand Name Theatre we paid $18 for the tickets, $8.25 for a large popcorn and souvenier cup that can be refilled all year long for $1, round trip 72 miles, so about $12 in gas... two hours travel time. $38.25.

Not too much more for getting to watch a movie without having it interrupted 3 minutes before it's over. And not having to stress out about getting there exactly at the right time, or having to wait 2 hours until the next movie starts.

I really dig these super hero movies. Spiderman II really got me, pierced me right to the heart and had me sobbing for poor Peter Parker. The angst, the pain of being a super hero because he had no other choice, because how can you not save everyone you can? Another Superman movie is coming out, too. I always loved Superman, too. My favorite Superman was Dean Cain, loved the television series!

X-Men was FANTASTIC. For the parents out there... lots of killing... a few seconds of sweaty hot dangerous romance (I felt uncomfortable for the parents sitting next to us with their three young children)... someone came back to life, some important characters died... many lost their powers due to the "cure".

I think the reason they get to me is because I can relate in some weird way. I want to make everyone happy. I take on a lot... a friend one time volunteered to give me a back rub and she commented that my shoulders are SOOOO tight. Well, that happens when you hold the weight of the world on your shoulders. I tend to be the glue that keeps things together. It's a lot to bear, holding tight to the world to keep it in one piece. After she told me that, I've been more aware of it, and sometimes when I can't get to sleep at night, I realize it is because my shoulders are so tense.

Some super heros keep their identities secret. I kind of do that... I mean, I'm pretty much OUT there with lots of stuff, but no one knows all the facets of the real me. My immediate family pretty much knows the real me... but I tend to have separate friends because it's easier to keep things straight that way. Friend 1 doesn't agree with this, so I don't talk about it, or even allude to knowing about it. Friend 2 doesn't like that, so I don't share with her. I go to Friend 3 to share one thing, to Friend 4 to share another. Having this blog... and sharing the URL with my friends (and more recently family) is a real stretch for me. Because everyone's going to find out things about me that I probably would have never told them, or at least not yet. I'm pretty good at feeling out what people think or believe, and I don't pretend or lead them on that I believe in what they do, but I tend to keep quiet and just not participate in the conversation.

I was thinking on my drive home, that I must be pretty self-centered... thinking people will even give a care about what I choose to do. They probably won't care one way or the other.

But it is hard wired into me, to be a chameleon. Adapt to whatever is around me. Don't make waves. Don't do anything to make someone not like me. I know where that comes from. My childhood... my mother loved me, but she had a difficult time with my sister born 22 months after me. She had a lot of resentment toward her, and she knows and admits this. But it affected me so strongly, the contrast. I am pretty much TERRIFIED to share some of my thoughts with some people, because then they won't like me, and then what would I do? It shakes me to the core if I think someone doesn't like me. I hate that about myself.

I wonder if one day, I just won't care. I became very aware of this deep need to please everyone when my children were younger... and not perfect little chameleons. But I did not want them to become perfect little chameleons. It is stressful trying to be everything that everyone wants. Really stressful trying to read minds and figure that out.

I have been on vacation... and have been staying home a lot. Tonight, ds1 and I went to Taco Bell. We were the only ones in the restaurant and another couple came in. Sat in the booth RIGHT behind us, and the first thing I heard the man say was, "Well, it makes you sound like a f***ing retard." I felt myself flare inside so quickly. First, my ds1 has Down Syndrome and I don't appreciate hearing the word "retard". Why did they have to sit RIGHT behind us? My next thought was they were going to sit there and fight, or rather he'd berate her. Right behind us. But nothing came of his comment, and I think I misheard him and he was talking about someone else, not the woman. I almost bolted out of my seat and asked them why they were sitting there, right behind us and excuse me, but please don't use that word around my son!

I feel like a loose cannon, although in the past week since I've been at home, I've felt a lot more calm. It's just hard being out in public.

Ds2 said I had better watch the first and second X-Men or I'd be lost. I think I've caught enough of both movies to get the gist of what was going on. I've always like Captain Picard, I mean Patrick Stewart. Star Trek TNG was my favorite of the series. Anyway, now I think I will make a point to watch both movies in the next week. We will definitely purchase a copy of this movie when it comes out.

I'm tired. It's way past my bedtime.

Until next time.

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X-Men 3

The last movie ds1 and I went to see was Ice Age 2 on April 1st. I chronicled the event in blog entry Customer Service is Dead -- by the way, Mr. Theatre Owner never responded to my letter of complaint, so I will not be giving him my business again. He obviously doesn't care, so neither will I.

I looked last night to see the showings for the next nearest theatre which is another 10 miles drive (~30 one way) from the more local one, and they have X-Men 3 showing every 45 minutes from 10am to 11am. If Mr. Theatre Owner had responded with an apology of any kind, I would make a point to patronize his theatre, but since he did not, I will not go there again. Yes, it's going to cost me a bit more. It's going to cost a few more dollars to get us in, it's going to cost more for the refreshments, it's going to cost more in gasoline. But for my convenience and being treated courteously, it's worth it. At least I won't have to worry and stress about trying to make a show time start and be there one second late and then have to wait for 2 hours until the next showing. If we happen to get there late, it will only be a 45 minute wait until the next movie starts. At least we will get to see the end of the movie without a gang of theatre cleaners turning the light on when it's three minutes from over.

Ds2 tells me X-Men 3 is going to be a fantastic movie, and tells me I should watch X-Men and X-Men 2 first. I think I'll be able to keep up with the plot line.

Maybe I'll be here later with a review... on both the movie and the theatre.

Until next time.

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