hawaii aloha

the strokes have a b-side called 'hawaii aloha.' its a great song. being a 'b side' its not well known, but its got a great 'hawaii feel' to it. another great song which i just heard the other day is 'gamma ray' by beck. its from his 'modern guilt' album. its got a great surf rock/beach boys feel to it. i love beck. he played the hollywood bowl last week and we really wanted to go, but tickets were ridiculously expensive. when i become rich, im not spending my money on cars or big houses. im spending it on traveling and pit tickets to concerts of all my favorite bands. the 'and' in there means that they are a combined purchase. so ill be seeing beck in the pit in some random venue in tokyo before then heading over to catch radiohead the following weekend in the pit in prague.

anyways, thats the future travel plans. now for recent stuff. im not sure that anyone even cares, but i said there would be a three part series with the marriage stuff so i have to make this post so i can move on with other random stuff. so we did hawaii for the honeymoon. it was fantastic. nellie keeps on saying that she wishes we were still on our honeymoon. im pretty sure thats because she doesnt want to go work in the morning though.

so i tried to keep it a secret from nellie where we were going. i did that because i thought it would be a fun surprise, and so that i could keep annoying people from telling me all the things we had to do in hawaii. the ironic thing is that i did tell a few people and some of them gave me advice on things to do and most all of them were spot on with their recommendations. it was as though they had been there before and done these things and tried them out for us. since i dont really know what to say about the trip, ill just be a hypocrite and the guy i tried to avoid and list some recommendations/thoughts on stuff:

1. tandem surfing in waikiki. i remember my friend jason wallace (wally) telling me when he was in hawaii he did some tandem surfing. so we tried it and we actually got up and rode a wave. it was awesome. we were out there for an hour and only caught 2 waves. that part isnt impressive, but we were totally surfing...on the same board...with nellie on my shoulders...while i was hanging five. i know. only five. not that impressive. but ten is hard.

2. the pineapple room. my friend karl suggested this place. nellie and i loved it. the edamame is fantastic. so good. its in the mall, literally inside the macy's. literally. like head to the third floor of the macy's and its in the men's department between the shoes and the boys section or something random like that. you cant access it from anywhere else besides through the macy's. so strange. i dont know who chose the location, but surely he was fired. i dont know what he was thinking. 'hey look, the macy's is closing down their belts and accessories area, why dont we build our restaurant there. perfect.'

3. kayaking in kauai. eh. not the worst activity we did. certainly not the best. it was river kayaking and then a hike to a waterfall which was only ok and not that impressive. kayaking is fun so if you want to do it, then you should.

4. zip-lining. this was the worst activity we did. terribly overpriced and so lame. i did this in costa rica and it was awesome. they pretty much just give you a harness and a beer and send you on your way. if the line snaps and you fall and die, what do they care? they already got your $30. in costa rica you zip line on about 15 lines with the longest one being 300 yards over a valley. you are 40 feet over the tree line. its amazing. hawaii was 4x that amount and there were only 5 'runs.' but 2 of the lines you did twice and one was 'simulated repelling.' it was horrific. it was your classic example of a wildly overpriced activity completely geared towards sucker american tourists who they know are willing to pay because hey, its our honeymoon. other zip lines there may be better, i dont know. if it has 5 lines and ends at a rope swing waterfall, stay away. its a waste.

speaking of the rope swing, that also enticed me. such a sucker. i had big dreams of riding some zip line and dropping off into some pool near a waterfall. im sure pocohantus was also there now that i think about it. anyways, when we got to this rope swing, there were tons of people there that just trespassed onto the private property and took advantage of the free rope swing. which is what you should do if you go to hawaii.

6. shipwreck beach at the hayatt resort. this place is great for a few reasons. 1. the beach is actually great. actual waves and no rip current that will kill you immediately (like so many other beaches advertise). 2. there is a great rock to jump off of. supposedly its the same rock that harrison ford and anne heche (or their stunt doubles) jumped off of in the movie '6 days and 7 nights.' (go to 1:30 in the preview and you can see it.) nellie and i didnt need stunt doubles. it was a great time. although there is no documented evidence of nellie actually jumping off the rock, so who knows if she actually did. the other great part are the pools at the hyatt. all the big resorts are right next to public beaches and their pools are right next to the ocean. they have no idea actually is a guest and who isnt so you can just walk onto the property and swim in their pools and hang out in their hot tubs. which was excellent and highly recommended.

7. the helicopter ride. i actually do recommend this. i say actually not because it is expensive, but because it made me incredibly sick. nellie too. it took us awhile to recover. afterwards we drove to the nearest mini-mart and got a sprite and saltine crackers and sat huddled over on a dirty bench staring at the ground for awhile until we recovered...which was many hours later. we were with 2 german guys that didnt get sick at all so im sure most dont. it just hit us pretty bad, yet i still recommend it.

anyways, those are the ramblings. there is plenty more i could say. we did tons of activities (nodding my head and hi-fiving my bros right now). no literally we did a bunch of great outdoor activities and ate out plenty. if you are ever going let me know. ive got tons of great advice im happy to give, i just dont care what you have to say/recommend.

ghost town

i just wanted to really quick give a plug for this movie. not that i have a large audience for this blog, but i didnt know how else to really give a plug for it. i was planning on seeing it, but then my friend zach saw it and raved about it, so we went last night. its great. so here a few reasons why you should go this weekend:

1. it probably wont be in theaters next weekend. sadly, its a great movie that, like other quality movies, isnt making much money. it came out last weekend, critics loved it, but somehow 'tyler perry's the family that preys together' and other cinema vomit makes more money. its well thought out and has quality, but maybe not big named actors in it, so it doesnt do as well as lame movies with crap plots and junk actors. bummer.

2. the actors are really actually great though.

a. ricky gervais. if you havnt seen him then you have to go. he is the inspiration behind 'the office.' it started in england and he created it. so what you see on nbc every thursday is a knock off of his creation and brilliance, so dont give steve carrell too much credit (although he does do a good job and has done well at making the character his own), he's just trying to be what ricky gervais was/created. if you look in the credits of the office youll see that he produced it.

b. greg kinnear. who doesnt love this guy?

c. tia leoni. also fantastic. she's great. she's a 40 year old that is totally hot but seems like a normal woman and not a celebrity (can i say that now that im married? i dont really know if i can make comments like that anymore. i guess ill find out tonight... love you nellie).

3. the movie perfectly captures the comedy that ricky gervais created and/or perfected. so entertaining. nellie had never seen him before and she and i were both laughing hard at so many parts. he's created a really funny character.

4. its just a flat out good movie. good story. not too predictable. youll be happy you went and wont be upset you spent $11.50 getting in. look, its a weekend, youre probably going to the movies anyways, just go to it. all the other junk will be there for you next weekend.

5. the previews we saw were fantastic. the new bond movie looks amazing. 'australia' looks really, really good. something else. and that other one too. they both looked good at the time even though i dont remember what they were.

that one day we got married

so i need to finish these posts about big summer events.  im sure everyone already knows, but nellie and i did get married on august 9th.  it was a great day.  its true that the sealing is the best part of the day.  by far.  not wanting to go into it or discuss it on a blog, ill just give some thoughts from other stuff that happened.  

it was really hot.  we took photos throughout the afternoon and we were just dying.  they photos turned out great.  we had a great photographer.  her name is rachel.  her blog is rachelthurston@blogspot.com.  one advice that we got from people was to make sure you have a good photographer.  maybe cut costs in some areas, but if there is one area you are going to spend money then do it on a photographer.  and i totally agree.  im not really an artistic guy nor do i really claim to have an 'artistic eye' or anything, so i cant really explain why, but you can just tell when some people have a true artistic ability compared to someone that just bought an expensive camera and now calls him/herself a photographer.  plus, like people told me, the photos are really the only tangible thing you keep for a long time that remind you of the wedding day.  besides the pancake warmer.

thank you katie clifford for reading my blog and for buying us a very useful pancake warmer. nellie has been wanting one for a long time.  you have also ensured yourself a lifetime of worthless gifts.  gifts that dont even sound like they have a purpose and in reality really dont.  supposedly someone bought us the cheese dome. our registry indicated that it was bought, but we never actually got it.  someone probably wised up after buying it and didnt want a lifetime of lame gifts so they didnt give it to us.  or some friend performed a random act of kindness and and bought it and just threw it away so that it could clutter up a dumpster instead of our kitchen.

speaking of clutter, i realized another problem with registering.  cups.  whoever makes these registery things hates men and has never been married.  they are bitter and just leading women astray so that they will unknowingly make man's life miserable because somewhere, some man made that woman's life miserable.  im actually not sure what happened, but do you know how many cups these registries recommend women register for?  12.  12!  who needs 12 cups.  do you know many cups newleyweds need?  2.  and they can even be styrofoam if necessary. instead we have 12 small drinking glasses.  12 larger drinking glasses.  12 mugs.  12 goblets.  and only 4 (thankfully) nice wine glasses.  giving us a nice total of 52 cups/glasses. 52!  when will we ever need 52 glasses?  when we are hosting our party for 50 people?  right.  as though we will be using real cups and not plastic ones.  its the same thing with plates.  we have tons.  i realize someday we might have a family and someday we also might host dinner guests.  in the meantime, or today, we have a crowded kitchen with plenty of items to collect dust.  when i was unloading all of the cups i kept on asking nellie why we had so many.  'i dont know,' she replied, 'thats how many it says to register for.'  fantastic.  love the obedience.  hate the instructor.  

im digressing from the wedding day and focusing on all the gifts.  we did get a lot, so thanks to everyone.  nellie said that it was like christmas.  and it really was with all the gifts.  only it was child's worst christmas nightmare.  even nellie, as excited as she was at the beginning, couldnt keep the excitement throughout.  i mean, how excited can you possibly be over boxes and boxes of dishware?  

back to the wedding.  we had lunch.  we took photos.  we helped set up for the reception and then we had the reception. the house looked great.  i hear the food was great.  we talked to people for about an hour.  then we did cake.  then we danced.  the first dance was obligatory and totally awkward.  then there was a regular dance.  dj dave did a great job.  it was actually really fun.  'obk' was amazing to get the dance going.  'freestyler' was just outstanding.  that was a dance party favorite that originated from a dance 'party' we had at byu where there was just 7 of us and we created a little dance to that song and its lived on ever since.  then nellie threw her bouquet, i grabbed her upper thigh, we went to the car and drove off into the sunset.  not quite like that, but close enough.  

it was a very memorable day.  i think one of the best parts was the interaction between mine and nellie's family.  nellie has an awesome family. mine is a little bit better.  many on both sides have commented on how enjoyable it was being with and hanging out with the other family.  which was really cool.  im not surprised they got along well, but it was nice to hear they all got along so well and wished they could hang out again.  sad part is that they probably never will.  which is perhaps why the wedding day is so great.  because it will never happen again. its just a one time event.  im sure our families got along well, but couple that with the warm august night, good times and knowing that it wont ever happen again, and it becomes a little more nostalgic, a little bit sweeter and sits a little better in the memory.  so thanks to all that came and gave gifts and made it a wonderful day.  it really was one for the books.  or the blog.  

batman and the bar

so, its been awhile since i last posted. some rather large life events have happened in the past two months that have kept me from having much time to write.  this will be the first in a three part series to get everyone caught up on what has happened. 

so i took the bar last month. it was the last three days of july.  i took it out in ontario.  it was pretty crazy.  unfortunately, there were no classic moments where someone stands up in the middle of the test and throws their laptop on the floor and then runs out crying leaving everyone looking around awkwardly until everyone hears a gunshot from the parking lot. but the bar is intense.  in ontario, there are about 5000+ people taking the bar and everyone is in one giant room frantically typing away for 3 hours at a time, 6 total hours a day.  its a little intimidating and rather daunting.  

while there were no suicides, there was an earthquake.  that was fun.  we took the bar at the convention center which is fairly near the airport.  when the building started to rumble, i at first just thought it was a large plane flying overhead.  it wasnt until it really started to roll that i realized it was an earthquake.  most other people realized it too and all 5000 went under their tables.  some brought their laptops with them under the table. not to protect their laptop, but so that they could continue typing while under the table.  only a small handful didnt duck under the table, but once the rolling stopped, everyone in unison bounced up back to the table and immediately began typing away frantically trying to pick back up where they were and worried that we had all just lost a precious 30 seconds that we so desperately needed.  unless you are the girl next to me that finished about 20 min early every day.

so the interesting thing about the bar, and the somewhat intimidating thing is that you are in a room of about 5000 people and you just dont know anyone's story.  around half are from non-accredited law schools, which is great because the percentage of those people that pass is really low, so the more of them the merrier.  but take the girl next to me for example:  who finishes early?  i immediately assumed when she finished early that she has no idea what she is doing and therefore probably failed.  but the guy in front of me also finished early which made me question him too until i found out the last day that 1. he is a byu law grad (good school), 2. he has a pending offer at a large law firm in orange county (omelveny and myers - huge firm), 3. he is going to get a masters in law at florida next year.  he chose florida because they are the number 2 program in the nation and they gave him a full ride scholarship, but he did get into nyu, the number 1 program.  how do i know all of this?  because he volunteered it all to me and everyone around us.  so the guy is a complete tool.  but sadly a smart one.  so just finishing early doesnt mean youre an idiot and probably going to fail.  it may however mean you are annoying.  

batman also came out this summer.  if you havnt seen it then please quit reading this and go see it.  i saw it opening weekend.  it was really one of the only breaks i had during bar study.  and one of the only things i had to look forward to all summer.  

so i dont know if this is a spoiler alert, probably though, so dont keep reading if you havnt seen it.  but again, if you havnt seen it, quit reading in general and go see it.  seriously, your life will be much better by seeing that movie than by reading this blog.  but i have a friend that is really into the comic books and he was telling a mutual friend of ours about how in the comic books, the joker never dies.  batman can never actually kill him.  other vililans come and go, but the joker is always around.  which is sort of ironic and a bummer about the movie.  the joker doesnt die in the film, but the actor actually did in real life.  which is a shame since heath ledger was so incredible and if the movies are following the comic books, he would of kept on reappearing in the films.  and who wouldnt love that?  

ok, so why these two events in the same post?  because they are both similar events in that both are as bad or as good as everyone told me or as i expected.  i saw the first 10 minutes of batman months ago and have been waiting in anticipation ever since.  i was very much looking forward to seeing it.  friends of mine saw it opening night and raved about how good it was.  everyone said the joker was amazing and that the movie was phenomenal.  the cool thing about it was that no matter how much hype it got, it was going to live up to it because it was that good.  it couldnt be overhyped.  few things are that good in life.  

conversely, i had been thinking about the bar for 3 years and really thinking about it for a year and it had been occupying and controlling my mind for the 2-3 months proceeding it.  again, the bar was as bad and as intense as everyone said.  people told me for 3 years that bar study is horrific and just gnarly and so draining and just a terrible experience.   but no matter how much people said about it and tried to warn me, they couldnt quite do it, because it was one of those things that couldnt be overwarned (?).  you can tell people that they are going to lose sleep and study for 14 hours a day and be all out miserable for the 2 weeks before the bar, and while those people will probably believe you, they really wont get how bad it really is until they are lying there in some cheap comfort suites hotel room on the monday night before the bar starts, completely awake, wishing they could sleep but they cant because they are just dreading and fearing the unknown that is california bar exam.  so fun. 

stay tuned for the next part in our series:  did we really just get married?  it still kind of feels like we are just dating.  

a cheese dome?

so nellie and i are engaged.  im assuming most readers know that since most readers are friends or family.  if you arent one of those then you probably dont know that, but i probably dont know you, so i dont really care that you know that.  (hopefully that didnt drive away any friends that really didnt know.  sorry if you didnt know.  im engaged).  anyways, i am studying for the bar right now which has excused me from a lot of the wedding planning.  which is really great in my opinion.  not that i wouldnt be happy to participate, but i frankly dont care about a lot of things so i dont really have an opinion to give.  i think nellie is beginning to realize that.  she asked me today what type of bedding i wanted.  really?  bedding?  i know i should care and i want to, but arent we asleep with our eyes closed when we are in the bed? (insert obligatory newlywed sex joke...then say to yourself, 'zing!') its our bedroom, so its not like a family room or living area, so if you want flowers, whatever.  again, maybe i should care, but i dont find it something to fuss about.  im man enough to sleep in flowers.  again, my eyes are closed.  you may feel like a tough guy because you have pittsburg steelers sheets on your bed, but at the end of the day (pun intended), my flowers sheets get the job done just as well as your tough guy steelers sheets.  

another reason that its probably a good thing that im not participating in the wedding planning is because there would be serious conflicts when it came time to registering.  i havnt had time to do it so she just does it and its really for the better.  today we stopped by crate and barrel and she showed me some of the things she registered for....and it was ridiculous.  the problem is that the store owners give these ladies a gun and they just walk around and 'shoot' all the items they want.  the other problem is that these ladies are walking around without men so they have no rational thoughts running through their brains.  for instance, nellie registered for a cheese dome.  a cheese dome?  what is a cheese dome?  its a piece of wood with a dome shaped piece of glass on top of it to preserve your cheese...for when you set it out on the counter for an extended period of time with the purpose of having it mold faster than it already does?  i dont get it.  when do you use a cheese dome?  its for parties says nellie.  and for the holidays.  great.  we get a gift that we only use once a year.  someone is going to spend $25 bucks on us and its blown on something we might use every christmas to help our cheese mold faster.  awesome.  

other choice items included a fondue machine.  granted, fondue is great.  can be fun.  the rational part thinks though, thats a lot of money.  how often are we going to be using this thing?  wouldnt we rather have someone spend that much money and buy us something we might use more than once every decade?  its for parties says nellie.  oh.  of course.  we also registered for three cups that are connected in the middle with a handle.  'it could be useful for serving hummus,' says nellie.  i dont even know how to respond to that.  

also on the registery is a dessert serving platter.  basically its three plates that are connected with the largest one on the bottom and the smallest one on the top.  everyone has seen these.  purpose?  none in my opinion. you can accomplish the same thing with three regular, unattached plates.  but it also has a purpose apparently.  its for parties says nellie.  of course.  another party.  as it is, we throw them nightly, we will need this. 

and of course, my all time favorite of the day:  the pancake warmer.  purpose?  to warm pancakes.  times in the history of man one has really ever been needed?  zero.

so here is the real problem with this stuff.  i know we will get it.  why?  because im a guy and i would buy it for other couples.  girls are going to take other guys with them to buy a wedding gift. the guy will already be bugged that he has to spend money on someone else and that its spent on lame kitchen items.  they will go into the store and get the list of items on our registery.  they will look over the items and the guy wont see anything 'normal' or 'practical,' he will automatically find all the random junk that he knows the couple doesnt need and insist on buying it.  why?  because its funny.  because hes a logical thinker and he knows that no one really needs a pancake warmer.  but it makes him laugh to buy it and 'hey, they registered for it.  if they didnt need it, they shouldnt have registered for it.  but they did, so clearly they want it, so im getting it for them.  i could get them forks, or spoons, or anything that people actually use, but they (she) registered for this, so we are buying it.'  then he laughs all the way to the reception.  which is fine.  im pumped to get all of this stuff.  it just means we will be throwing the sweetest fondue, hummus and cheese parties this town has ever seen and youre all invited.  and dont worry if you have to come late, the pancakes will still be warm.  

the gas man

so im currently living without electricity or gas.  well, not entirely without electricity.  somehow we are pirating electricity right now.  im living in my grandma's old house. she passed away a little over a year ago.  her house was almost in the exact same state as when it was bought in the 1950s.  no garbage disposal.  no washing machine.  all the same plumbing.  a purple bedroom.  that wasnt the same as when it was bought.  at least i hope not unless it meant the house was a few thousand dollars cheaper.  (note:  purple room means all purple.  walls, window sills, ceiling, doors, door jams, door knobs.  yes.  door knobs.  anything that wasnt carpet in that room was purple.  awesome).  

anyways, in march my dad and i were tearing out the cabinets in the kitchen when we started to smell smoke.  something smelled like it was burning.  we felt the walls around where we took out the cabinets and they were really hot, especially next to the water heater.  yes, for whatever strange reason, the water heater was in the kitchen.  right next to the fridge and the sink.  not covered either.  just right there in the corner.  hanging out being aesthetically pleasing for everyone.  anyways, we took out the water heater out and the area didnt cool off.  so we called the fire department.  four fire trucks and 8-10 firemen later, the kitchen was missing  a wall needed new electrical wiring.  so in the matter of a few minutes, the house no longer had hot water nor electricity.  

my roommate zach and i moved in a few weeks ago.  mainly to get out of our house that had 8 guys living in it, and so that i could escape for a couple months to study for the bar.  it was anticipated that there would be hot water and electricity by the time we moved in, but there have been so many improvements going on in the house, that as important as those things sound, there were other, more important things going on.  plus, the water heater needed to be installed outside with a shed built around it, and that isnt as easy as just buying a new one and putting it where the old one was.  and the electricity, well, when you are dealing with an insurance hired electrician, you can expect delays.  delays of a month?  sure, never underestimate insurance companies and how long they can take.  youre getting the work for 'free.'  you cant complain about how long it is taking.  plus, the electrician somehow stripped an extension chord and wired it into the wire on the roof, so that gives us electricity.  we just run a power strip from that and send extension chords through the house and use lamps for light.  better than nothing.  im not sure where the electricity is coming from since edison hasnt come by to turn on the box outside.  its a time in my life where i really feel like i can plead ignorance.  im an idiot when it comes to most home repairs so electrical stuff would be like someone speaking to me in finnish.  all i know is that an orange extension chord comes off our roof and it has a live current in it, so i use it.  

well, friday was supposed to be the big day.  the gas man was coming over.  we had our heater installed and covered.  they could have come earlier that week but no day really worked for my roommate or i.  but friday was the day.  the last of the cold showers.  which are so terrible.  im sure there are many people out there that are like, 'suck it up.  i took cold showers for 2 years on my mission.'  well, i didnt.  im sorry you went to some broke country, but i went to spain.  we had hot water.  (i actually ironically lived in an apartment that had a broken water heater and i did have to take cold showers for a couple months, but that doesnt help me right now).  plus, just because you may have showered in cold water doesnt mean you liked it.  perhaps you got used to it, but no one, if they had the choice would shower in cold water every morning instead of hot water.  i know you didnt get home and shower in cold water just because you were used to it and wanted to remember the mission. if you did, then im also sure you showed girls pictures of your mission on all your dates.  always a smooth move.  the babes love it.  plus, im living in long beach california.  if i was in hondorus, i wouldnt complain.  id be happy with water period.  or plumbing, no matter what decade it was from. but i guess im not a tough guy because i havnt grown to love the cold shower and i was happy for friday to come.  the city, like all lame entities, told us that they would come by sometime in the morning between 7 am and noon.  thanks jerks.  i find it impossible to believe that you cant give us a better estimate of when you will come.  impossible.  but its fine.  i agreed to watch my bar prep class online and wait at home.  

so i set my alarm for 7 am friday morning.  i didnt jump out of bed, but actually rolled out of bed at 7:15.  i went out front to take the trash cans in and to my horror i saw a white piece of paper on the door explaining that the gas people from the city had come by at 7:05, probably knocked once, no one came in 10 seconds so they split.  that, or they banged on the door, but i didnt hear them because i was lazily lying in bed.  but they are the bad guys in this blog, so they get the blame.  either way, i couldnt believe that of all the appointments that day, i was first on the list.  they tell me to be sure to set aside 5 hours of my day, and then they stop by in the first 5 minutes of those 5 hours.  and i missed them.  so i called them immediately and said that i didnt hear them and asked if they could come back.  the guy said they couldnt and that i would have to reschedule.  which i find hard to believe.  we are in long beach.  are there really so many people living without gas in this city that their mornings and afternoons are completely booked all day, every day?  could they really not come back?  plus, i know that their friday morning wasnt booked because one of their customers, me, 'wasnt home' when they stopped by.  so that freed up some time.  i mean, was there such a long wait list that someone was bumped into my spot immediately?  when i asked him when they could come back he said they had an opening on monday morning.  oh really?  you have spots open on the next available work day, but somehow your current work day, a friday, is entirely booked?  amazing.  such bad luck for these long beach city workers.  all of the thousands of people living without gas in this city scheduled on friday.  crazy how that works sometimes. so i had no choice and rescheduled for monday and committed myself to 3 more cold showers.  the electrician didnt come either.  that was probably expected though.  he probably just didnt want to.  no need.  as though the insurance company is breathing down his neck to provide prompt assistance to their customers.  they defined the term delay.  but its fine, we have our power strips and extension chords.  its not that bad. i should probably end this and cool off with a cold shower or something before i get too riled up about it.  good thing i live in honduras.  

on my mind

so there are a couple things that i keep on thinking about and keep popping back in my mind. one of them is the indiana jones movie. im going to spoil some of it at the end of this post.  if you havnt seen it, you should probably just wait for it to come out on dvd.  either way, if you dont want it to be spoiled, that was your warning.

1. the new coldplay song 'viva la vida.' its a great song. it really is. one of those instant classics for me. right when i heard it, i enjoyed it. it has great lyrics. it has an orchestra which is always a classy touch. it give the song a fuller sound and fools you into thinking that these people listen to classical music. so its a great song, but i cant remember the last time i heard a song that got so stuck in my head. its amazing. and this isnt your typical you hear a pop song on the radio and it gets stuck in your head for the next 6 hours, like your typical spice girls song. this song has been in my head since the first time i heard it. which is completely terrible since its not some lame song like 'my humps' or 'california love.'  but literally days of it resonating in my head.  

2. a few weeks ago driving home from san francisco, nellie and i got into a heated discussion about female rock bands or female lead singers. she thinks that the greatest female performer/singer of all time in bjork with hillary duff coming in a close second; and that the best female band ever is 'swv' (sisters with voices). anyways, somehow in the conversation we started discussing rock bands with female lead singers and we brought up 'no doubt.' we couldnt think of many other bands that were bigger than 'no doubt.' which sounds and is kinda surprising. there are many other bands. the pretenders. dire straits. the go-go's. i mean, its definitely a debate, but it was just random realizing that 'no doubt' would have to be in the discussion.  think about it.  rock bands with female lead singers.  i might be totally off on this one.  but i think that if you think about it for a bit, youll realize, whether you like them or not, no doubt has to be in the discussion.  that first album was HUGE.  not that it really matters at all. as im writing this im getting kinda bored and realizing that this topic is really only interesting after you have been sitting in a car for hours and your brain and butt are going numb.

3. ok. indiana jones. heres the thing. it wasnt a bad movie. it wasnt like godzilla or hollywood homicide.  i didnt get out of it thinking that i wasted money and upset that i went. but it wasnt a good movie. it was completely neutral. just plain vanilla ice cream. ice cream is always good. you cant really ever get upset about ice cream. but you dont get too excited about it or go brag to people afterwards that you had vanilla ice cream and recommend that everyone go eat a tub right here and now. but the most upsetting part was that it wouldnt have been that hard to make it into a decent movie. i think my friend dave described it well when he said that it felt like everyone was mailing it in. and its true. i wonder if speilberg even wanted to direct it or if the studio just came to him and said that they would give him $30 million if he would do it knowing that they could just put a harrison ford corpse on the screen for an hour and half and throw in that it was done by speilberg that it would make at least $100 million. and it has. but speilberg is good. he's proven it. he doesnt need this movie. he probably has many other things he would rather do, but for the right price will do what the masses want. who wouldnt? but harrison ford. he hasnt been doing anything lately besides sitting around helping his girlfriend get skinnier. i dont know why he didnt care to put much more effort into it.

anyways, here are just some quick things that i think they could have improved or done without that would have easily made it into a good movie and not just an, 'eh, whatever' movie. 

the opening sequence: i know that most movies are filmed in a large warehouse/set somewhere in hollywood, but at least try and make it seem like you are 'on location' somewhere.  they mailed it in by saying, 'you know, we are currently standing in a large warehouse.  how about we start the movie with indiana in a large warehouse where he is looking for a box.  that way we wont have to do any set design.  plus, boxes are real easy to find.  they have them all over in alleys behind grocery stores.  we can just stamp them with us army words and phrases and fool people into thinking we are in an actual military warehouse.  oh that audience.  so foolish.'

the atomic bomb.  really?  why?  i know that all indiana jones movies have a 'fast' opening with lots of action.  but again, its like they couldnt come up with anything so they said, 'how about he sits in a fridge and escapes an atomic bomb?'  made no sense.  did nothing to further the movie.  wasnt really suspenseful.  plus he evaded an atomic bomb by hopping in a fridge!  come on.  

i said this in the earlier post, but the only redeeming or quality part of the movie was the initial interaction with harrison ford and shiloa imbuff.  they had great chemistry.  it was fun.  they were explaining the plot.  which was sort of strange and hard to follow later.  but they had a fun chase scene.  a good fight and it was well done and exciting.  by far the best part.  i honestly do hope that if there is a next indiana that shia takes over the lead role because he will put forth more effort and that harrison ford has more of a supporting role.  i think it could be good.

for some reason they go to peru (its really not explained well at all and youre not even sure whats going on there) and for whatever reason random monkey guys attack them and then they hit them with a shovel and the monkeymen leave forever and never return.  no idea where they came from or who they are or where they went.  you spend most of the time wondering what's going on and then they kill them and move on with the story.  really random and puzzling.  pretty stupid too and a weak effort at having some suspense or excitement.  

swinging in the trees with the monkeys.  really?  no really?  swinging with monkeys?  on vines.  from tree to tree until you catch up to the cars.  really?  someone wrote this into the script and then 20 other people approved it?  at no point did anyone think that by putting it in the movie you would lose half your audience?  swinging with monkeys.  really?  the problem with computer animation is that movies can do crap like this and get away with it.  before, the writers and directors would have been forced into using their brains and coming up with some sort of logical, conceivable way to have shia meet back up with everyone besides having him swing there with monkeys!  unbelievable.  and i know that indiana jones is sort of like james bond where he is kinda invincible so he can do otherwise unrealistic things, like being dragged on the ground from the back of a truck.  but swinging with monkeys?  a new low.  (this was the part that really lost nellie.  we saw the midnight showing which she really didnt want to see because she was tired.  i told her that it would be fun and that its things like this that she will fondly remember someday because we wont always be youthful and able to do midnight movies.  she didnt really buy the cheap sales pitch. either way, she came and really started laughing at this part and how ridiculous it was.  she then punched me in the throat as a reminder that she was bitter that i dragged her out of bed for such a quality flick).

but that was the tone of the movie.  not much thought.  mailing it in.  sorry dave for stealing your descriptive word.  but its true.  the waterfall?  come on.  again, a little effort would have made it a good movie.  im fine if they go off the first one.  its conceivable that they might survive.  but all they would have had to do is for someone to say something blatantly obvious like, 'hey, if we go off that next one, there are rocks at the bottom and we will die.  we better figure something out.  we dont want to die.'  and then for indiana to get out his whip, break off the doors of the car, and then they all use them like wakeboards or something and float to the side of the river.  i know thats bad.  but its better than just going off the giant waterfall and pretending they would live.  

anyways, im going off too much about this movie and its not necessary.  just lots of little things that could have made it good.  not trying hard.  like using the snake as a rope to help indiana out.  remember how indiana hates snakes?  so they have to use one somewhere.  its obligatory.  this is an easy way to do it.  everyone will laugh because it makes sense to use a snake as a rope.  plus, its funny.  remember, indiana doesnt like snakes.  he wont want to grab it.  my stomach hurts just thinking about it.  so brilliantly funny.  

well, at some point the movie ends with some lame message about how the sacred treasure is actually knowledge.  oooohhh.  deep.  the aliens didnt seek after killing us.  they just wanted knowledge.  knowledge was their treasure.  knowledge is power.  thanks.  i wish i would have know that before the movie because my treasure is money.  and i lost $20 bucks of it on this movie which didnt give me any knowledge, but if anything, just made me feel stupid that i spent money on a movie that knew i would spend money on it because it had indiana jones in the title.  dang.  fooled again.  hi nikki brown harris.  pre-ceptions rule.  tell your cousin.