Valkyrie

L

ast week, I borrowed Valkyrie from the Library.

Have I mentioned that the last video rental place around here closed down this month? Not that I rent movies. I usually try to buy a movie if I think I'll like it because it's cheaper in the end, especially if I'm going to watch it 500 times.

Anyway

I had seen the "special" on the History Channel about the real Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg & the plot to kill Hitler. (Did you know various groups or individuals had tried to kill Hitler 40 times or some shit?) I'm sure the special was on about the time that the movie was released in theaters, so after seeing the special, I wanted to see the film.

Luckily I am a) forgetful and 2) patient when it suits me. So if I want to see something and forget about it, it will eventually come on TV and I'll get to see it for free. :-)

Whatever.

The movie was awesome. The special effects were great, IMO. The only problem I had for about 5 minutes, before I really got into the film, was that Tom Cruise was speaking with an American accent and everyone else was British.

...

‘The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.’I mean, I saw "Far and Away" way back when so I know that accents aren't Cruise's strong suit (he should leave the accents to Brad Pitt) but really, he couldn't even fake a British accent? Isn't he friends with David Beckham (who has a very low class British accent, IMHO)? He couldn't pretend to be Becks so he'd fit in with the rest of the cast?

It doesn't matter in the end, because once the story really gets moving, the last thing on your mind is Cruise's accent.

Even though I knew the plot was going to fail, I wanted to know why it failed.

I blame the pussies General Friedrich Olbricht (he didn't put the plan into effect until it was too late) and General Friedrich Fromm who, like most politicians, was only looking out for himself and not "the people" that he was supposed to be representing.

It's really strange that such a small man (Hitler) can make so many people scared to death of him. Even when there are a few who try to stand up and do the right thing, there are others who are so scared that they'll continue to do the wrong thing.

Another thing I found interesting was how much Cruise looked like the real von Stauffenberg.



I don't feel like I need to tell you the whole plot of the movie. You know this already. (Maybe not this specific plot, but you know that there were attempts to kill Hitler.)

Growing up, I didn't hear anything about all the plots to kill Hitler. So, like a lot of Americans, I assumed that most Germans were racists who didn't see anything wrong with the genocide of the Jews.

A lot of people equate German with Nazi. That's not the way it was. That's why we need movies like this. Germans need movies like this.

I will say that I don't think this is a movie you'd want to watch over and over for years to come, so I'd suggest rental or borrow it from your library versus buying it. But it is worth the $5 or whatever it costs to rent a movie these days.

:-)

My Weekend - 6/21/10

F

riday, I went to Wal Mart with Mommy Dearest.

In case you didn't know, we're having a HOT FREAKING SUMMER. Right now, at 12:00 it's already 96 degrees.

In June.

So, I had finally talked her into going to Wal-Mart early in the morning (if not the middle of the night like me) and she agreed to go at 7am. It was already 82 degrees at that time!

Luckily, there were only a couple of other shoppers there, so "we" were able to take our time and the lines weren't long when we were done 2 hours later.

Have I mentioned that I don't like to shop?

I hate it.

I do as much as I can online these days because I really loathe shopping.

When I go to Wal-Mart on my own, I'm shocked if I spend more than 30 minutes in there. Half of that time is waiting in line.

MD - You're just like your father. If he wanted a specific thing, he'd go in the store to get that one thing and then leave.
Me - Well why look around the whole freaking store when all I want is a pair of black pants???

She thinks telling me that I'm like my father is supposed to be a bad thing? He had his faults, but wasting time window shopping was not one of them, LOL.

They re-arranged Wal-Mart again. It's been in disarray for 3 months or something. A lot of people started going to the other Wal-Mart 30 minutes away because they hated it so much.

I didn't mind except 1) Things were never in the same place from one day to the next and b) They didn't think about how narrow their aisles were while they were remodeling. Try doing a 3 point turn in an electric cart when the aisle is only one inch wider than the damned cart.

Now the aisles are very wide. But I digress.

Then we went to eat breakfast @ McDonald's. I haven't done that in years. Their pancakes taste good (to me) without any syrup. Why are pancakes at restaurants always so good? I've tried futzing with my recipe (adding vanilla, a little sugar, etc.) to make them taste better, but I never got a satisfactory mix. For a while, a few years ago, Wal-Mart used to sell the best pancake mix. It had malted flower in it.

Of course they stopped selling it. And they don't sell malted flour either.

This is not unusual. I like the Blueberry Streusel muffins @ Wal-Mart. Sometimes they have Blueberries & Cream & no streusel for weeks. Last week I had to give in and buy Dark Chocolate & Raspberry muffins (disgusting) because I was feening muffins and of course, no streusel. Pisses me off. *sigh*

ANYWAY

Then we went to the library. I borrowed "Valkyrie" and she borrowed some other DVD. I don't remember.

I went home.

Wanted to take a shower, because it was HOT out there.

No water.

...

For the rest of the weekend, water has been going off at odd hours and then coming back on late in the day. ALL OVER TOWN.

WTF?

It's gross when someone goes #2 & can't flush. We only find out when we try to flush and nothing happens. Then whenever the water does come back on, all this freaking air is running through the pipes and it makes loud sounds until it fills back up with water.

Luckily, I'd been just finishing cooking when they decided to turn off the water. I'd have been pissed (instead of just irritated) if I was making spaghetti and there was no water to boil noodles!

Whatever.

Then last night I started watching "Check it Out". If you've never seen it, it's a show starring John C Reilly as some insane/idiotic "doctor" and it's filmed like a public access tv show. They interrupt the sketches with something wrong, don't realize the camera is on, blah.

I'm in the middle of watching it and I get weird lines all across the screen and loud noises. I thought it was part of the show, but I decided to FFwd through it because it was taking too long. When the picture came back on, it was a different show, on a different network.

The Cable company decided to change the channel lineup again.

And the DVR didn't have the correct channels. So I had to find what channel was the new Cartoon Network (it was the former Food Network) and set the DVR to record the next showing of "Check it out" because they don't replay that show over and over.

I called the cable company. They were doing "maintenance" and expected to have everything finished by 6 am.

So I watched some other crap I had recorded, and some of the channels were correct on the menu when I was done.

I just checked and some of the channels still aren't showing up.

I never know what day something is coming on, because I just rely on the DVR to record it.

But I know that none of my Food Network or Cartoon or Discovery Channel shows are showing up. The series recording shows channel "blank".

...

So I looked at what is coming on today, and manually set the programs to record & changed the series recording info.

What ticks me off more than the channels being effed up for the THIRD TIME since I got the damned DVR is that half of my series recordings aren't on right now. Like Breaking Bad just ended it's season. So I'll have to wait until next season to set the DVR then.

So, I'll do that for the rest of the week & hopefully I'll get all my freaking shows on the schedule until the next time the fuckers decide to change things.

Why can't they just leave shit alone?!?!!?!?!

To top off my wonderful weekend, I've been smoking non-menthol cigars. They taste nasty.

Why???

Because the effing whore who owns the smoke shop took a week off and she didn't open until 11 am today, even though she normally opens at 6 am.

I usually buy two cartons at a time, so I don't see her for weeks. Had I known that she was going out of town (or whatever) I would have gotten my cigarettes before she left.

The dude who used to sell them to me tax free (until I realized that even tax free, they were more expensive than the effing whore's prices) doesn't buy menthol anymore because, apparently, I'm the only person who buys them.

On the plus side:

1. I smoked less this weekend because the non menthol cigars are disgusting.
2. We have way more HD channels now.

That is all.

How long is this post anyway?

Check out this clip of "Check it out" so you can see how... interesting (?) it is.

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Upcoming Posts Widget

A

lot of times, I think of something about which to post, but I don't feel like it right then or I've been on the computer too long already or Evan is getting on my effing nerves standing right beside me with his hot body and whispering "Get off the computer" until I can't stand it anymore and I give up.

I think I'm going to make a new templateSo

I created a post it to remind me of the things I meant to post and so that you can remember to check back if there's something you wanted to see.

That doesn't mean that's the only thing I'll post. I reserve the right to post random shit whenever I feel like it.

Let's be honest. I'm doing to do what I want to do anyway, but I'm really tired of thinking of something I want to blog and then not remembering next time I'm online.

This is more for me than you.

You might find it useful, though.

:-)

That is all.

Continue with your regularly scheduled Saturday.

Are you watching The Good Guys?

B

ecause you should be. :-)

It's about a middle aged detective (Bradley Whitford) and his young partner (Colin Hanks) solving crimes.

That's not the unusual part.

I've seen 2 episodes and both of them started with the guys being sent to solve or take reports on some minor crime. The older detective (the dude with the porn star moustache who is more than a little sexist) always takes things way too far. This week, for example, he wanted DNA evidence on the perp who broke a vending machine.

The thing is, they end up involved in a much bigger crime than the stupid little incident report they were sent to get in the first place.

In between getting a case & solving the bigger crime, there is a lot of comedy. I have laughed out loud and rewound scenes several times.

I love the way they have flashbacks. It reminds me a little of Quentin Tarantino's style. The shot opens on 2 guys in a bathtub with some chick's legs between them, Whitford sneezes, Hanks says "No, no, no, don't" and then the screen reads "36 hours earlier" and we see how they ended up in the bathtub.

Or, we see a guy falling off a roof and then we see the message "2 minutes earlier" and we find out how the dude came to be falling off a roof.

It's funny.

Me likey.

Watch it online or on Fox Mondays 9/8 C!

It's Friday!

I

can't believe the week went by so fast.

Right now I'm putting off making spaghetti.

Probably because I'm hoping The Evil Teen (AKA Evan) will wake up and make himself a hot dog or something before I have to cook.

But anyway, I'm obsessed with my fingernails lately.

Don't know why. I've bought 2 different fingernail polishes this month.

I don't think I painted my nails more than once or twice in 2009, so why I'm suddenly painting my nails all the geedee time is a mystery to me.

But they do look good.


When I installed the software for the webcam, it didn't do the thing where I can just click on the top of the webcam to take a picture, and I don't care enough to re-install it. I also don't care enough to take a picture will my cell phone & send it to myself just to you can see.

Take it from me, I'm getting a lot of compliments on my nails. They look awesome, LOL.

Anyway, here are a few High Fives that I've found. I don't know when. Whatever.

:-)

Creepy Crawlies and Tick Removal
I make a fruitless Fruit Salad so you don't have to
Dog Hotel?
Look what fell off my Family Tree

American on Purpose

I

just finished reading American on Purpose, Craig Ferguson's autobiography.

I don't know what I was expecting, but the book wasn't what I had expected.

I laughed out loud a few times, I was horrified/shocked/interested a LOT, and I teared up a few times. Especially when he wrote about his mother's death, because I remember seeing him on TV when he did his first show after that.

OMG.

I'm not much into reading non-fiction. I have read the occasional book by a personality that interests me, but for the most part, I'm a fiction fan.


"Scottish by birth, American on purpose."

What I mean is that the only knowledge I have about alcoholics or addicts in general is what I've seen on Celebrity Rehab or the one or two episodes of "Intervention" that I've seen.

Craig kind of explains what it was like for him to be an alcoholic, from his very first drink to the last.

He said his 2 great loves in life have been alcohol and women.

The surprising thing (for me), is that even while reading about the stupid shit he did, I didn't feel judgemental.

He's smarter than I thought he was, and I already assumed that he was smart because I don't believe that truly funny people can be stupid.

I guess he's a bit more romantic that I would have thought? I don't know, that doesn't feel right. Maybe it's just the book making me think that?

Anyway, the book is a quick read and if you like @craigyferg at all, you should definitely read it. :-)

Summer Vacation

S

o, yeah. I haven't been posting a lot.

The Boy is home for Summer Vacation. (joy) He's an 8th Grade graduate, BTW.

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Now playing: Justin Timberlake - Lovestoned
via FoxyTunes



Anyway, I was going to tell you that I probably won't be blogging much because he's on the PC half the time. When he's not, I'm sleeping or watching all the crap my DVR taped.

But LOOK what I found and Wal-Mart today:

I doubt you watch as much Food Network as I do, but one of the shows I've recently started watching on Saturdays is Spice & Easy.

Chick owns a spice shop, and she shows recipes with different spices. Last month or something she made brownies with Ancho Chili pepper & salt.

...the chili makes your throat all warm while the pop rocks are exploding in your mouth...

Right?

Weird.

But I saw this chocolate bar which boasts 2 types of chilis, salt & popping candy (like pop rocks) I just had to try it. Even though it was $3.flipping97.

It's goooooooooood.

I only occasionally tasted salt, but the dark chocolate is good and then the chili makes your throat all warm while the pop rocks are exploding in your mouth.

Never tasted anything like that. Evan liked it too. I think it will be an occasional treat for myself. They had other ones too, but...I wasn't feeling that experimental.

That's all.

See ya when I see ya!

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Now playing: Common (Ft John Mayer And Kanye West) - Go
via FoxyTunes