I've seen a couple flicks recently and thought I'd give my two cents (or more like three cents since my opinion carries so much weight :)) on them. First off is Ben Stein's Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed. This movie was great! I really don't know much about Intelligent Design (I.D.) other than the Young Earth theory, so I didn't go into it with much expectation or previous knowledge. But the point of the movie isn't to teach you about I.D., but to set it up as a plausible explanation of life that should be given equal weight to evolution in research and teaching institutions. I will warn you that the injustice displayed will at times make you pretty pissed off. The only qualm I have is the extent to which Ben Stein correlates evolution and Nazism. (Not that I disagree with it, just that I thought it was a bit much). The final scene (an interview with Richard Dawkins, author of The God Delusion) is a truly heartbreaking picture of blind pride and arrogance.
The second movie is Under the Same Moon. This movie is a social commentary on illegal immigration. It's a story about a mother who leaves her 9 year-old son in Mexico with his sick Grandma and illegally goes to America to work up enough money to bring him legally there. The son then spends three-fourths the movie trying to make his way to his mom himself as an illegal immigrant. Overall, it's a good movie...a bit corny at times, but good. The entire movie is in subtitles, which irked me initially (as those of you who have watched Italian movies with me know...ahem Levi and Courtney), but then I got used to it. An interesting aspect to the movie was that the songs in the movie were satirical (the lyrics were subtitled) towards America's immigration policies (talking about kicking Superman out of the US as an illegal alien...kinda clever actually). I wonder if they play those songs on Mexican radio here in the US? It's good for me to get a perspective other than that of the great Dr. Michael Savage on immigration policies :)
Well, those are my critiques. Take it or leave it!
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Saturday, April 19, 2008
No Place like...CO!
Last weekend I flew to Colorado to catch the last weekend that Vail was open for skiing. Two words: Top Five! That is, this was definitely in the top five ski outings of my life! We were skiing in 2 feet of fresh powder...and it was freaking April! And the base was higher than I've ever seen. Some of the trail signs had to be dug out of the snow to be seen...crazy!
On Friday, Brandon and I skied, and the conditions were a bit chilly. It was snowing pretty much all day and was 20 degrees at the warmest. Definitely NOT the California spring skiing! But I must say, it was kind of nice actually sinking down in the light fluffy powder, instead of hardly even making a dent in it like the Sierra Cement. On most the runs we were in deeper than our ski boots!
On Saturday, Zach and I skied with our personal ski instructor (my uncle!). The conditions were better because it wasn't snowing and it was probably 25-30 degrees. For those of you Vail fans, you can appreciate the fact that we skied all day and never skied the same run! We did the famed Lover's Leap of course (my stomach never seems to get less queezy looking down from the edge!). At the end of the day, we watched something I've never seen before...Pond Skimming. This was pretty sweet. Skiers get dressed up in costumes, and ski down a short run to get speed, and at the bottom is a pond of water which they skim across. Only about 25% of them make it all the way across! On a more typical spring day where the snow's crappy and it's 45 degrees, it'd be great to grab a beer and sit down and watch it. After an entire ski season in CA, I've decided that the skiing in CO trumps that in CA (except for the weather)...powdery snow, bigger mountains, ritzy resorts.
Saturday night me, Zach, and one of Zach's friends hit downtown Denver. Pretty crazy night. I'll leave you with a few words and you can piece the rest together: 1 hr of free drinks, 5 clubs, 4AM.
Brandon has definitely become a loco...I mean local!
These signs are on 10 ft poles! Anyone remember normally skiing UNDER these?!
Pond skimming...I may have to try this next year...NOT!
On Friday, Brandon and I skied, and the conditions were a bit chilly. It was snowing pretty much all day and was 20 degrees at the warmest. Definitely NOT the California spring skiing! But I must say, it was kind of nice actually sinking down in the light fluffy powder, instead of hardly even making a dent in it like the Sierra Cement. On most the runs we were in deeper than our ski boots!
On Saturday, Zach and I skied with our personal ski instructor (my uncle!). The conditions were better because it wasn't snowing and it was probably 25-30 degrees. For those of you Vail fans, you can appreciate the fact that we skied all day and never skied the same run! We did the famed Lover's Leap of course (my stomach never seems to get less queezy looking down from the edge!). At the end of the day, we watched something I've never seen before...Pond Skimming. This was pretty sweet. Skiers get dressed up in costumes, and ski down a short run to get speed, and at the bottom is a pond of water which they skim across. Only about 25% of them make it all the way across! On a more typical spring day where the snow's crappy and it's 45 degrees, it'd be great to grab a beer and sit down and watch it. After an entire ski season in CA, I've decided that the skiing in CO trumps that in CA (except for the weather)...powdery snow, bigger mountains, ritzy resorts.
Saturday night me, Zach, and one of Zach's friends hit downtown Denver. Pretty crazy night. I'll leave you with a few words and you can piece the rest together: 1 hr of free drinks, 5 clubs, 4AM.
Brandon has definitely become a loco...I mean local!
These signs are on 10 ft poles! Anyone remember normally skiing UNDER these?!
Pond skimming...I may have to try this next year...NOT!Thursday, April 3, 2008
Friends and Fam! (Days 3 & 4 of 4)
So I've decided that it's kinda lame blogging about something that happened three weeks ago now, so I'm gonna cram the last two days of the festivities into one last blog here...so enjoy!
After our day in San Fran, we drove south on the Coastal Highway (Hwy 1) that runs along Pacific, through Santa Cruz and spent the night in Monterey. The girls had it in their heads that they were going to lay out on the beach, so this was the best chance we had. In the morning, we drove to Carmel Beach via 17 Mile Drive. 17 Mile Drive is a beautiful, windy road along the ocean (not quite 17 miles long) that connects Monterey to Carmel. Some of the points of interest along 17 Mile Drive is the Lone Cypress Tree, Ghost Tree, Spyglass Golf Course, and Pebble Beach Golf Course. Once in Carmel Beach, we found our spot far away from the water in a nook between bushes to get out of the wind! (It was 60 degrees and a bit breezy). Never-the-less, swimsuits were worn and sunburns were obtained!
The last day was a relaxing day in Santa Rosa...golfing, shopping, laying out at the pool, In 'n Out Burger etc. It seems like that was months ago, and it was only three weeks! And the 4 days flew by...it seems like I blinked and then the weekend was over. Jeff had a great idea for next time: we should just sit around and stare at the wall, that way the time will go by slower! Part of me would actually be in favor of that (so whoever comes out to visit me next knows what to expect :)
Tossin' the football at Carmel Beach
Mmmmm......(refer to several previous blogs about this amazing fast food restaurant)
The famed look-away at Lone Cypress...it never gets old!
I wish that was us golfing at Pebble Beach!
The last night in Napa Valley
After our day in San Fran, we drove south on the Coastal Highway (Hwy 1) that runs along Pacific, through Santa Cruz and spent the night in Monterey. The girls had it in their heads that they were going to lay out on the beach, so this was the best chance we had. In the morning, we drove to Carmel Beach via 17 Mile Drive. 17 Mile Drive is a beautiful, windy road along the ocean (not quite 17 miles long) that connects Monterey to Carmel. Some of the points of interest along 17 Mile Drive is the Lone Cypress Tree, Ghost Tree, Spyglass Golf Course, and Pebble Beach Golf Course. Once in Carmel Beach, we found our spot far away from the water in a nook between bushes to get out of the wind! (It was 60 degrees and a bit breezy). Never-the-less, swimsuits were worn and sunburns were obtained!
The last day was a relaxing day in Santa Rosa...golfing, shopping, laying out at the pool, In 'n Out Burger etc. It seems like that was months ago, and it was only three weeks! And the 4 days flew by...it seems like I blinked and then the weekend was over. Jeff had a great idea for next time: we should just sit around and stare at the wall, that way the time will go by slower! Part of me would actually be in favor of that (so whoever comes out to visit me next knows what to expect :)
Tossin' the football at Carmel Beach
Mmmmm......(refer to several previous blogs about this amazing fast food restaurant)
The famed look-away at Lone Cypress...it never gets old!
I wish that was us golfing at Pebble Beach!
The last night in Napa Valley
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