Movie Review: Across the Universe

I'm not at all a movie buff. I pass on most movies and rarely have any idea what movies are "out" at any given time. A movie has to be really good to get my recommendation. And you know it has to be really good to make my blog.

I loved this movie. Watched it both Friday and Saturday night in fact. If you like the Beatles, or music in general, art, history, current events, or musicals, you must see this movie. The music is really cool, the acting is fresh and I loved ALL the characters. And what's even more amazing, all the actors were no-names. Yet they all sang well and sang live -- no dubbing and lip singing happening in this movie. Amazing.

I saw Oprah several months ago and she had the cast and director on to talk about the movie. I was intrigued by the concept but didn't expect much. I mean, like I said, a movie has to be really good to meet my expectations. Finally we got around to renting it this weekend, and I just can't say enough good things about it. The writing and directing are brilliant. The concept is this: it's a story with themes of love and war and activism. It's a musical, so the story is told with more than 30 Beatles songs. The story takes place in New York and Liverpool, England during the 60's -- right in the middle of the Vietnam War. Considering the situation the U.S. is in overseas currently, it was interesting to watch the culture and attitudes of that war 40 years ago. I was so impressed with the details and symbolism that went into each scene. The cleverness and creativity of the directing and how the music drives the story just is incredible, especially since the story was created many years after the music became popular. Enjoy! And taking a line from G (and his cravings after watching TV), you'll have to let me know if you got a craving for strawberries while watching it. Had to make myself a strawberry smoothie halfway through watching it the second time.

TV

Because of the recently concluded writer’s strike, we were forced to add some new shows to the TV line-up. I mean, what else are we going to do, read a book? One of the shows that M decided was worth watching was the Bigg.est Lo.ser. At first I made fun of her for it, but then I started watching it. I have become a fan. However, much like my post about Supe.rsize Me, I don’t think this show has had the effect on me that it should.

The other night, we were watching an episode where the contestants were sent home for a week. Instead of getting support from their families and friends, many of them were being taunted to eat all sorts of stuff. As I’m watching this, and seeing all of the food, I got extremely hungry. Never mind the fact that I had eaten plenty during the day. Finally, I had to break out the two boxes of cookies that I had just gotten that day to satisfy my cravings. It helped, but I tried to get M off the couch to go get some chicken wings. It was probably good that she didn’t. I guess I’d better get back to the gym.

Star Struck

My sister blogged about taking her baby (in utero) to his first concert the other night. They saw Mika. I'm a little jealous, Henry!
Well, not to be out-done, Pee-Wee attended his first concert yesterday and I'm pretty sure he enjoyed it. Buddy did, that's for sure. The Children's Museum hosted Captain Bogg and Salty, a pirate rock band that performs for children and adults alike. By day they perform in schools and at libraries, and by night you can catch them at local nightclubs. They're a Portland band, but as of this year, they're touring nationwide -- which is pretty lucky for my blog readers who live in other states.
Captain Bogg and Salty are totally cool. Make no bones about it. G and Buddy went with some friends to the Pirate Festival in Portland during the summer and heard the band perform. Everyone came home raving about how entertaining they were. I couldn't imagine. I mean, I've listened to their CD's a hundred times and while I'll admit the songs are catchy, I just couldn't imagine giving them a rave review. They're a bunch of dudes dressed up like pirates for crying out loud. Well, here you have it. They were amazing in concert. They sing well, their dance moves are cool, they're fun, and they have a good mix of kid and adult humor. And to be honest, I'm really surprised G hasn't quit his day job to try to join the band. Buddy loves cool music too and has been dead set on being a "worker guy playing the guitar" in Sum 41. But now he's torn. Being a kid entertainer in a pirate band... now that's a dream job. Move over Wi.ggles and any other annoying kid bands (I can't think of any others, but I know they exist). Captain Bogg is in the HOUSE!Check out some song samples on Amazon. And check out their website soon for an list of their upcoming concerts.

"What?" Deaf But Not Mute

I have to blog about this to get this all off my chest. This is seriously testing my patience. (That and the fact that G has been working til 2:00 AM every day for a couple of weeks)...

I don't have a lot of experience with ear infections. I don't ever recall having one and Buddy has only had two very mild ones. Until last week.

He hadn't been feeling well all week, mostly just complaining of a headache. By Thursday morning he had a fever, more of a headache, and later that day he started saying his ears hurt. I thought for sure that he was just getting a cold and had pressure in his ears from that. While he wasn't acting himself per se, he was really pleasant and was still eating and playing (although he was napping, which isn't normal).

I always tell myself to remember the tell-tale sign that Buddy is really sick: He starts behaving like an angel. He was like a dream child last week and was still delightful by Saturday. In fact, I was starting to feel guilty that I was enjoying having him sick. But I was still convinced it was a cold and his nose would start to drain any moment. I should have known...

I was also ignoring the fact that he had gone deaf. No, you didn't read that wrong. His high-pitched incessant talking hadn't made ME go deaf. It was him. Couldn't hear a darn thing I said. At first it was funny. I would tease him and ask him if he liked pink. And he'd just ignore me. I asked him if he was a girl. And he just ignored me. I asked him if I could throw Teddy away. And he just ignored me.

You know when you're talking to someone who truly is going deaf? And they don't know what you said and it's getting awkward, so they just say something. Even if it doesn't relate? Well, he kept doing that. He'd see my lips moving from across the room and he'd say something, just to say it.

So finally I took him to an urgent care facility on Saturday and it turns out he had two raging ear infections. Anyway, we put him on an antibiotic and by Sunday he was feeling great. Except he still couldn't hear me. By Tuesday MY ears are sore from all the yelling I've been doing to get his attention. I'm dead serious about that. It has been a terrible problem. So I hauled him to his own pediatrician, who confirmed two raging ear infections. Who knows if they had gotten better or worse, so we switched him to a different antibiotic. And he confirmed what others had been telling me: THE HEARING LOSS WILL LAST UP TO FOUR TO SIX WEEKS. Nothing permanent -- thank goodness--but a huge amount of frustration in the meantime. I honestly can't imagine keeping this up for another several weeks.

And don't even get me started about Pee-Wee's reflux and the joys of dealing with insurance/Co.st.co/and non-stop vomiting.

And can anyone tell me how to re-enable spellcheck?

Another Tag

Yin tagged me for this one.

Here's the tag:

1. Pick up the nearest book (one of at least 123 pages)

2. Open the page to 123

3. Find the 5th sentence.

4. Post the next 3 sentences

5. Tag 5 people.

Here's my response:

Oregon Rules of Court 2007 published by Thompson West

"The privilege stated in this subsection agrees with the privilege in ORS 44.040(1)(b), which is repealed, although the latter statute did not set forth specific types of communications to be protected."

This is some of the commentary discussing Oregon Rule of Evidence 503 which describes the attorney-client privilege.

I know you are probably all enthralled with this. However, since I've been prepping for trial, this has been my life for the last few weeks and will continue to be for at least another month.

I tag everyone who reads our blog.

A Dream Come True

Buddy loves anything that wields a sword or anything with big teeth. The bigger the teeth, the more cool: sharks, crocodiles, and dinosaurs top his list. He LOVES T. Rexes and is a T. Rex about half the time. I always thought it would be so great to have a child into dinosaurs (for the smartness factor). But then I realized that having a child that loves dinosaurs means being a mom that loves to read dinosaur books. So that's why G found me this shirt. I haven't ordered it yet, but I think I should. (For Valentine's Day, G?)

Anyway, dinosaurs have become my thing too, even if they bore me to tears.

So imagine my joy when my good friend, Nicki, called me the other night to invite me and Buddy to go to a preview of the new dinosaur exhibit at the science museum in Portland. Just the night before I had been online checking out the details because I knew Buddy would love it. Nicki called me around 4:30. By 5:00 I was in the car ready to go with a VERY excited little boy in the backseat.

We got to the museum and discovered that most of the people attending the preview were adults, apparently employees of the companies sponsoring the exhibit. There were very few kids, so Buddy and his friend James had free reign of the place. When we walked in and Buddy got a glimpse of all the dinosaurs and dinosaur bones he said, "Is this a dream, or is this real?!" He was that impressed.

We got to see several real dinosaurs, including a real T. Rex which was a highlight of the whole visit (notice Buddy's T. Rex hands in the picture above). James was mildly nervous by the size and realness of the robotic T. Rex, I mean real T. Rex. Nicki and I reassured him that it was just a robot, which put him at ease. But that put Buddy into a panic. Buddy has now reiterated to me 1000 times since that it was a real T. Rex, not a robot. He also mentioned that he doesn't know why there was a computer by the T. Rex, but it is real. Do T. Rexes eat computers, he asked?

We stayed until the museum closed and the boys also enjoyed all the bones on display, digging in the sand for bones like paleontologists, and playing in a sand and water display.

Buddy was so thrilled about it all that he told G all about everything he saw -- giving him a detailed play-by-play the whole car ride home and he called my mom first thing the next morning. And now a week later he's still talking about it. We'll definitely go again, but the real fun in that evening was having the place virtually to outselves. Thanks Nicki!!!!

Super Tuesday, Super Smart-Mouth, and Super Cute!

Today is Super Tuesday and I'm really excited. I have been totally obsessed with this election, the candidates, the media coverage, and of course the issues being debated. I just love it all.

Well, except when Hillary Clinton keeps "tearing up" a few days before critical primaries. Why does she keep doing that? She drives me nuts on a good day, and when she cries and wears bright yellow pants suits... yuck. And I don't like that McCain is doing so well. The most pressing issues are the economy and Iraq and I honestly don't trust him with either one.

I do, however, like that Giuliani and Edwards dropped out. Thank goodness. They were both driving me crazy too. Edwards was a good enough guy, just not right for this contest. And they didn't add any drama to the election. Who needs a boring and ill-qualified candidate?

Anyway, that leaves Obama, Romney, and Huckabee. I fully trust all three, although politically, of course, I agree most with the religious two. Obama is a smooth talker and a great leader but I'm still not totally sure about his stance on a lot of issues. But I admit, he'd make a decent president. Romney is smart and respectable but a little stiff and awkward. And Huckabee is just downright cool, but I realize doesn't have a prayer (if I can say that about a preacher-man).

I've been reading my News.week magazines like crazy (although I'm admittedly a little behind), I've been watching election coverage on TV (although I really wish we got the cable news channels), and I've been reading online as much as possible. Oh, who needs writers when there is election coverage! Kind of reminds me of a situation during the last election. I was part of a bunko club and the monthly game night fell on the night of one of the debates between Bush and Kerry. No kidding, I found myself a substitute for the game so I wouldn't have to miss the debate. What a dork, I know.

* * *

Buddy is so hilarious, but SUCH a smart-mouth. That kid...

There's an indoor fieldhouse in town which is really great when it's raining. Like it has been here for the past two months straight. Anway, it's in a hard-to-find location in a residential neighborhood and I hadn't been in a good year. So the first time I went this winter I had some trouble finding it. Eventually we found our way. Well the next time we went, I set out to go a different way. Buddy got all concerned that I was taking him somewhere else. I reassured him that we were going to the fieldhouse, I was just going a different way. He said, "Will you get lost this time?" I told him I knew right where I was going. He replied, "Well, imagine that."

On Sunday during church Buddy leaned over and whispered, "I wish I could be a daddy." I asked him why, assuming he was going to say something cute and touching since a good friend just finished blessing his newborn daughter -- and Buddy has been really curious about the priesthood. Nope. He said, "Because daddies always yell at their kids during church."

And then this morning I was rushing around trying to get everybody ready to go to the library for story time. Buddy was finishing breakfast and I was trying to locate the two movies that were due at the library. Buddy has this strange obsession with staring at the cases of DVD's. He re-plays the movie in his mind while he studies the pictures. Anyway, I had looked everywhere, including the playroom which is where Buddy insisted they were. We were running late, I had a headache, and I was pretty much in a bad mood about the whole thing. Buddy kept telling me, "As soon as I'm done with my breakfast, I'll get them." I kept telling him that I'd looked a hundred times in the playroom and the movies weren't there. "Mom! I told you. I'd find them when I'm done. IT'S NOT THAT HARD!"

For the record, he couldn't find them either. So we renewed them, which made him happy in the long-run.

* * *

I want to freeze time. My baby is 2 months old today and I am so depressed. I want him to stay just like he is for another few months and THEN he can grow up. Ah, he is just perfect.
Spell check isn't working. Sorry if there are misspellings...