Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Disaster Movie of the Week: Not Worth Reviewing!

So, the Disaster Movie of the Week was Python, which was so awful that I actually threw the DVD away. I really can't think of anything good to say about it, so I'll just talk about something else instead while on my lunch break from work...

Orbit! He's a great topic of conversation in our house, and while he is a valued member of the family, he does make certain other members of the family sneeze because of allergy issues. He sheds a lot too... and since shaving him isn't an option, I decided to tackle the fur issue with a Christmas gift I got called the FURminator. It's this fancy brush that I've heard from lots of people helps cats and dogs not to shed as much (the box claims to reduce 90% of shedding). We also found this cat allergy reducing shampoo that we figured was worth a try.

So, last night we decided to tackle the cat and not only FURminate him, but also take a chance with the allergy shampoo. To my amazement, he really liked the FURminator. I started brushing him and he rolled over and started purring! It did seem to do a good job at getting loose hair off, and he seemed to enjoy it. He was good about the shampoo part too, but definitely was not purring by the end. Still, Jeff and I were impressed!

We'll see how it goes with the allergies...the real test will be when my dad comes to visit in April (he's really allergic to cats, but in the past hasn't had too much trouble with Orbit). Anyway, just thought I'd share...

Sorry for the letdown on the Disaster Movie of the Week, hopefully next week's will be better!!

Monday, January 21, 2008

The Disaster Movie of the Week

One of the lesser known facts about me is that I have come to get a kick out of really bad movies about either weather/natural disaster/atmospheric phenomenon or critters-gone-wild usually involving sharks. I'm not sure what it is about these movies, but I usually have a good time with them. Tonight, Jeff and I raided Walmart's "Under $10 bin" (an awesome place to find these movies) and came up with a two pack of weather disaster movies and a two pack of critter-gone-bad movies, all for under $13.00. After a brief discussion, we settled on watching "Countdown: The Sky's on Fire." I have since been inspired to start what I hope will be a weekly feature entitled The Disaster Movie of the Week.

Based on a novel (really!), this unrated film starts John Corbett, Josie Bissett and Bradley Whitford and takes place in Los Angeles, CA- the perfect setting for a weather-related disaster movie. Exiled work-from-home scientist Dr. Evan Thorne (John Corbett) is called in when a lab discovers a hole in the Ozone layer that is moving towards LA. He and his cohorts must convince the mayor of LA to evacuate the city in three days otherwise, everyone will roast. Of course, when the city finds out, riots break loose (I kid you not, there are 15 minutes solid of riot footage) and hospitals fill. The only way to save the day is for the work-from-home scientist and his team to bring back an old, experimental project that involves a bomb which causes the Ozone hole to fill itself back up again.

There are too many ridiculous parts to list them all, but some of our favorites were:

- the extensive use of the same shot of the sun, this had to have accounted for at least 10 minutes of the movie on it's own

- the REALLY horrific "special effect" shots of the plane flying up to the ozone layer hole to shoot off the bomb (really, worse than the plane animation shots in the Gilette Mach 3 disposable razor commercials)

- the woman who was so freaked out by the creepy bugs coming into the house that she didn't run out the front door where she just came from, but instead locked herself in a closet with bugs and stuffed a jacket under the door

- the flight control tower woman who never said a word, but merely turned around to her left every few minutes with a look of extreme worry on her face

Don't watch this film looking for real science, but if you're looking for a good laugh with your sweetie, it's worth the $3.75.

For a much better, funny, pretty extensive review of this movie, please click here:
http://www.jabootu.com/skysonfirenugget.htm

Friday, January 11, 2008

Christmas pics

We finally got our photos from Christmas uploaded. Not a whole lot to see here, but we thought we'd share anyway.


Ah, Christmas in Miami -- this is the semi-famous Clot House


Also, if you're interested, here are my sister's pics from when we got together, as well.

Thursday, January 10, 2008

Who should I vote for?

Like a lot of Americans, I'm having trouble finding any one candidate I feel like I can really get behind in the upcoming Presidential election. A lot of websites offer quizzes that are supposed to help you figure out which candidate shares your views, but I keep getting different answers.

Glassbooth.org says Fred Thompson shares a 72% similarity with my beliefs; Huckabee and McCain (69% each) are runners-up.

PoliticalBase.com tells me Mike Huckabee is my top candidate, with a score of 64 (is that out of 100?). He's followed by Tom Tancredo (who?) at 61 and John Cox (again, who?) at 59.

SelectSmart.com says Mitt Romney is my best choice, but only at 67% out of 100. The next top choices are Stephen Colbert (!) at 64% and Ron Paul at 60%. After Romney, the next guy with a legitimate shot at a nomination is McCain, down at 51%.

QuizRocket.com says I should vote for Huckabee (without any breakdown of why).

VAJoe.com says Dennis Kucinich is my man (64% match). Runners-up are Cox (62%), Huckabee (58%) and Bill Richardson (53%).

ItsMyCandidate, a Facebook application, says John Edwards is my top match -- at 42.1%.

Summing all those up, it looks like Huckabee is probably my best bet -- except that, while I like a lot of his views, I don't know that he's qualified to be president. So, I'm right back at where I started -- still confused. Any suggestions?

Wednesday, January 9, 2008

Play with an iPhone

I spent a good deal of time over Christmas playing with the iPhone (both with a friend's and at an Apple Store). I am trying not to be obsessed with it, but I do really, really want one -- as soon as they come out with a 16 gb version.

For now, if you haven't seen one, you can sort of get an idea of how it works here. But just so you know, it's much, much cooler than this in person. (Bethany thought it was nice, but not a "must-have", for quite a while. Then she played with one for five minutes at an AT&T store, and now she really wants one, too.)

Another Man's Poison: 1/9/08

First random links post of 2008!

Traffic in India -- And you thought Houston traffic was bad.

Medical myths -- Example: you don't really need to drink eight glasses of water a day.

And these guys vote for the Hall of Fame -- I'm glad Goose Gossage got in, at least. Hopefully Blyleven will follow.

The Dark Knight trailer remixed -- Now wouldn't you rather see THIS movie?

Indelible Grace -- Check out the sound clips for each of the five CDs they've put out. Some interesting reworking of old hymns.

Bizarre coincidence -- Now this is just strange.

Play NES games online -- This beats the emulators.

Is Ron Paul an Astros fan? -- He's sporting the rainbow gut here.

Want to feel old? -- Barney (the purple dinosaur) is now 20 years old. That means much of America's college-aged population has now known Barney their entire lives.