An adventure is only an inconvenience rightly considered. An inconvenience is only an adventure wrongly considered.
- G. K. Chesterton
posted:9:34 AM | link |

It's time for a few more movie reviews!

TOMB RAIDER - I had SUCH a good time at this movie. Angelina Jolie really IS Lara Croft as far as I'm concerned - she kicks butt AND has a wit cleverly understated with her uppercrust British accent. *grin* Don't go see this movie if you're a stickler for left-brained archaeological 'fact', but go if you love archaeological speculation, myths about powerful artifacts and powerful groups (Illuminati), and the grander, expansive perspective of the adventure of life. The acting fit well, the ruins/sets were spectacular, and the plot and character development carried the movie along nicely. It was even rather funny in the right parts. Don't go if you expect everything to obey the law of gravity like it should, including everything about Lara (heh heh) and yes, she wore a thin t-shirt in the arctic - it's silly, but the whole movie is silly, and it just works. Myself, I have an utter fascination with old ruins and mystical places, so this was right up my alley. And I liked the actual GAME as well - LOL.

ATLANTIS - Run! Hide your money! Disney doesn't deserve it. (Where do I begin?) One personal problem I had was that I couldn't see the main character as anyone but Michael J. Fox because of the voice. But it didn't really matter, because the characters didn't really offer any contrasting development or flavor of their own anyway, so there was no conflict... there was no vitality either. All of the characters were cliche' and the list of nationalities read like a politically correct U.N. roster. The plot had planet sized holes in it, I didn't CARE about any of the characters, and we flashed from scene to scene, action all over the place, but with no building of energy or climax. The animated movements of the characters (particularly facial expressions, shoulder, and hip movements) were jerky, overt, exaggerated, and in poorly drawn perspective most of the time. (Do animators think that it makes a character seem more REAL if their clothes keep falling off their shoulders? Huh?) Atlantis itself might have been anywhere - little details were probably borrowed from Edgar Cayce but it could have been another planet entirely for all that it mattered. Plot devices were a matter of convenience and not cohesiveness. I kept waiting for SOMETHING relevant to happen and it never did. The animation of the 'sets' and 'special effects' WAS cool, yes, but no more so than anything else you've seen recently. Lara Croft wearing a thin t-shirt in the arctic made more sense than anything in this movie! *grin* Okay, I'll stop here. Gotta go write Disney now and ask for my hour and a half back. LOL. (And I ENJOYED past (modern) Disney flicks like Aladdin, the Hunchback of Notre Dame, even Hercules... *sigh*)
posted:9:04 PM | link |

Can we pick 'em or what? *grin* On June 21, 1997, I met John in person. Not only was it the Solstice, but it was a full moon. Four years later, June 21st is still our anniversary, and this year we're celebrating it with a full solar eclipse as well! None of that modest, small scale partying for US!

I am amazed when I think about it being four years. I still feel priveledged to share my life with John. I lived mainly a 'single' lifestyle before John, hanging with friends mostly, which was fun too. And when we met, it was like, "Oh, THERE you are - been keeping this space warm for you - let's go do stuff now." *grin*

Happy Anniversary, John!! Let's go do some more stuff now! ;-)
posted:8:48 AM | link |

Submit your site to Net Authority for 'review' and find out how sinful and offensive you really are! *grin* (This is a parody site - I mention this only because it's not that obvious up front.) (link via metafilter)
posted:8:06 AM | link |

Just uploaded seven new articles for the Conscious Creation Journal. (go read! *grin) We state at the top of the page that it's an ad hoc journal, so we can publish it whenever it works out best, but I tend to go a little unconscious sometimes and still think that I'm trying to meet some specific deadline - like publishing once a month or something. Silly, silly, Kristen. ;-) The ad hoc thing is there to HELP - use it! (yes, I'm talking to myself in my own weblog - sometimes that's the only way I get an answer out of myself!) *snort*
posted:12:21 PM | link |

Good company, good ice cream, good sage-uprooting for transplant... good times... *grin*

Oh, and there still is this to be explained... one of our dogs 'chased' (more like followed - LOL) a ground squirrel as it ran under the car... our dog ran around the car barking... and then took off chasing the RABBIT that ran out from under the car and out through the fence. Shapeshifting rodents? heh heh.
posted:4:50 PM | link |

Perhaps I was inspired by Dad's love of the outdoors. In any case, I felt like posting this photo I took in Santa Cruz, CA a few weeks ago.

I had completely forgotten that it was Father's Day until I read tom's thoughtful post about his own dad, and step-dad. My own father died when I was 19, from esophageal cancer after smoking most of his life, and my only living grandfather died a few years after that, so I haven't really thought much about Father's Day recently. (My mother remarried a good guy, but he's more my mom's husband than a father figure, and I live 3,000 miles away from them as well.) People smoke for various reasons, and I don't blame tobacco companies for anything - in the large scheme of things I just don't believe in 'victims' in the way we're 'supposed' to. I was in college when my father died. He had been a machinist and worked maintaining the machines for Miller Brewing Company, which is owned by Phillip Morris. The same year my father died I got a scholarship from Phillip Morris that made the rest of my years at school possible. (What are we, about hip deep in ironies now? ;-) )

My dad must have had one of the shortest names in recent history - Bob Fox - LOL. He loved the outdoors, taught hunter safety courses, and taught my sister and I how to handle guns safely, so I never grew up being afraid of them at all. He also had a goofy sense of humor and I only remember ONE time when he couldn't joke me out of a pissy mood and I had to try REALLY hard that time to hold onto it. I sometimes wish that he felt a little more free to do what he really wanted to do, but that was the belief system in which he grew up - I'm sure he's overcompensating for that now, wherever he is - LOL. We had a running joke about him being able to build ANYTHING with 2x4s and his hammer, which I still have and use. He used to love watching old westerns and WWII movies - the only one that I liked (and kept my interest for more than a few minutes) was The Bridge Over the River Kwai.

It took me a while to adjust when he died - dealt with my feelings little by little over many years. A few years ago, when my friend Becky and I were playing with the Ouija board, he came through. Becky said that she kept getting this strange image of tennis balls all over the place, which made me laugh SO hard. (Trust my dad to make me laugh even when he's nonphysical.) See, when my dad was around we also had a miniature schnauzer named Whiskie, and she loved playing with tennis balls. We had them all over the place. It was a terrific memory to share with my dadn - really brought me back to that point in time.

Now, I usually just talk to him like he's here when I feel like it, and know I'm connecting with him somehow. (I believe we can still communicate with those we love even if they are no longer 'physically' in our presence - whether they have died or not.) Besides that, I look just like him - round face, small nose, etc. So Happy Father's Day, Dad! And Grandpa, and you too Harley (mom's husband)!
posted:10:26 AM | link |

Was Atlantis in Bolivia? Jim Allen, the web site's (and book) author was a guest yesterday on Whitley Strieber's Dreamland radio show. The correlations are fascinating - almost haunting!
posted:9:03 AM | link |