The year in reviews

Here we are.  It's been 366 days, and I have done 366 reviews.*  It's been an interesting journey.  I've learned a lot, but I have a long way to go.  I've made mistakes along the way, but I have had an adventure.  I would think long and hard about an undertaking such as this one.  It was very rewarding, but it was stressful at times.

In the beginning I wasn't even posting my reviews to a blog.  I was just putting them in my notes section on Facebook.  If you decide to do something like this, I strongly suggest using a Blog service.  I prefer Blogger, which has been very user friendly for me.  I can easily link my reviews on Facebook, which allows me to still share them with my friends and family.**

I like to think that my writing has improved a bit as time has gone on.  In the beginning, my reviews were pretty short, with minimal discussion.  Now, some of them get into more depth, while others remain shorter.  I like to think it is based on what each topic is deserving of.  

I know I still have a long ways to go if I actually wanted to do anything as a writer.  I'm incredibly unpolished and quite mediocre according to some.  That's okay.  I'm having fun, and the ability to improve is always there.  The little tips and suggestions I have received are welcome.  You don't learn or grow without feedback.

There are certain changes I could make that would improve my pieces immensely.  With some reviews, I have notes to go off of.  For most, I am writing it as I go.  I don't go back and re-read what I've written, which means I miss typos.  In the next year, I'm going to try and press myself to review my own words, to see where I could improve.

In the past couple of days, I have been playing catch up.  I had missed quite a few reviews in November and December.  I was busy, so many days saw a heading put up without the actual article.  I've paid for that, but everything is caught up now.***  For this upcoming year, I'm going to avoid that particular behavior.  I got through the first few months of 2012 getting my reviews up daily, so I know it can be done.

I've had an adventure this year, and you can see some of that in my reviews.  It's not world class writing, but I had fun doing it.  I've written a review for every day of the year in 2012.  I got my driver's license.****  I gave up Coke and caffeine cold turkey.  I'm not the most amazing person you'll talk to today.  Heck, I'm probably not in the top ten, but I don't need to be.  I'm just going to keep on doing what I do.  We'll see what 2013 brings.

Thanks for reading.

*Including this one.

**All six of you.  :)

***I think.  I hope.

****It was year and years and years overdue.

Space Team

While you're all getting a little tipsy with your friends, you should be playing Spaceteam.  It's a free app for up to four players.  You log in on your respective pieces of technology and play together.  Each person has what looks like a space ship console.  Each person gets instructions that have to be done quickly.  Sometimes, you have the item that needs activated.  Other times, it is on someone else's screen.  You have to take and give instructions quickly and calmly.  While that sounds really simple, it's actually a lot of fun and requires more brain power than you would think.  Go download it!

Lincoln

As someone that loves film, I'll watch almost anything.*  I don't even have to be that interested to sit down and watch a movie.  However, there are movies that I feel I must watch because I've heard they're good.  Lincoln is one of those  movies.  We went to a ten o'clock showing, so I was already worried about being tired.  When we decided to see Lincoln instead of something with more explosions, I was doubly concerned.  I needn't have been.

The film covers the brief time spent attempting to pass the 18th Amendment, the abolition of slavery.  You also see just how this goal, this one change impacted Mr. Lincoln and those around him.  The politicking that went into making it happen, as well as the money and lives, fill nearly three hours.

Would you believe that the time flies?  The pace set by the film-makers is nigh on perfect.  There are no real lulls.  Even knowing how it all ends, I was on the edge of my seat during the voting scene.  Considering that the film is primarily discussion, it's amazing how well they made it come together.**

The script takes what is really a complex matter and explains it in such a succinct way that it's almost shocking.  I learned so much while watching the film***, and I enjoyed it.  I generally like history, even though I'm not very good with it.  This movie made me want to go learn more about what happened.  They show-cased the right events and the right people.****

Furthering assisting the film was cast.  While I enjoyed picking out all the actors I had seen in other projects, Daniel Day-Lewis stood heads above the rest, literally and figuratively.*****  I know praises have been heaped upon him by pretty much anyone for any film he's been in, and it's all earned.  He disappears into whatever role he takes on.  He is an amazing actor.  I didn't care for Gangs of New York when I first saw it, but I want to re-watch it, just to see him.  I would actively seek out a movie I didn't like to see his performance.  That says a lot about his capabilities.  He takes on Lincoln, who most everyone has some preconceived notion of, and makes him human, makes him real.  He's not shown as a perfect man; he's shown as a genuine person.  Day-Lewis further humanizes him by making the impact of his quest apparent upon him.

I was truly shocked at just how great Lincoln was as a film.  I expected good performances spread over a somewhat dry movie.  That couldn't be farther from the truth.  The film is nearly perfect.******  If you haven't seen it, you should.  This is one of those movies that I felt better for watching.*******

*If there is an exception, it's probably movies staring Jennifer Aniston or horror movies full of jump out scares.  Blah.

**I'm not indicating that films that feature talking over explosions are inherently weaker.  In some instances, with some subject matter, films can become bogged down, overcome by their own weightiness, their attempt to be important.  Lincoln never falters.

***I do have to give props to Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter for teaching me that Lincoln lost a son.  I knew that going into this film.  I don't know if I had heard that in high school or not.

****I can't speak as to the historical accuracy of the piece.  If it's close enough, this is the type of film I would want my kids to watch in high school.  I remember watching 1776, the musical.  I was ill prepared for Lincoln because I kept expecting them to sing in the debate sections.

*****Lincoln was tall.

******<<<<<Spoiler>>>>>

The only criticism I have of the entire film, and I use that term loosely, is the ending.  I would have liked to have seen it end after their carriage ride where they discuss travelling abroad.  The end is fine as it is, but I would have preferred cutting it a bit earlier since we knew what would happen.  I like the film focusing on the passing of the 13th Amendment.  Mark and I differ on this point, as he believes it shows just how much he gave.  Regardless, the film is still amazing, and as I said, this is barely a criticism.  Spielberg knows what he's doing.

*******Although, it was awkward to watch in the South, especially when they started mentioning towns I live near.

Bluegreen Getaways - The Booking

In the near future, Mark and I have some time off.  Mark, being amazing and and enabler, thought it would be a great idea to head on down to Disney for a few days, especially since we signed up for those two nights at the Fountians via Bluegreen Getaways.  He called them today.  Let's just say that things didn't go as expected.

Let me remind you what we were told we would be receiving:

• 2 nights at the Fountains, located in Orlando
• $75 in Visa gift cards
• An additional $25 in Visa gift cards for booking before January 8th
• An additional $50 in Visa gift cards for visiting prior to the end of February
• An additional 2 nights for only $100 

Let me tell you what Mark was told we were getting:

• 2 nights at the Holiday Inn Express (Ability to upgrade to the Fountains for an additional charge)
• $75 in Tanger gift cards
• An additional 2 nights for only $399 (Price for extra nights if we upgraded to the Fountain)

Now, I do hope you see where we have a problem.  Needless to say, Mark was furious.  I missed most of his rage, as I was at work when he called.  Apparently, the people that initially signed us up were less than honest.  I suppose there could have just been omission.  At no point in time did they tell us we would be staying at a Holiday Inn Express.  As a matter of fact, they said that the 2 hour time-share presentation is usually scheduled on the second day to allow the guests time to settle in and get to know the resort.

With Mark's anger level rising, he finally asked to be transferred to a supervisor.  If I understand it correctly, this happened multiple times.  He was on the phone for over an hour and a half before they finally said someone would call him back.  After the service he had received, he didn't actually expect anyone to call him.

A couple hours later, the phone rang.  A very helpful woman listened to Mark's concerns and did what she could to help.  She offered to get us two nights at the Fountains, but if we want to extend the stay two more nights, it will cost the $399.  She also agreed to change the Tanger gift cards over to Visa gift cards, which is appreciated.  Overall, she was very helpful.  Unfortunately, she is unable to do for us what the original salesperson promised.  She did offer to refund $75 of our original $99 purchase fee.  Because we received a $25 gift card, she is unable to refund all of it.  She is keeping it open, so we can request a refund in the future.

Currently, Mark has called and left her another message, stating that we have more questions.  We still don't know what we're going to do, but I do know that the supervisor we spoke to went a long way towards fixing things.  I can't in good conscience recommend anything to do with Bluegreen Getaways at this point.  I can commend her customer service though.  She had to deal with a truly angry Mark, which is a rare beast, indeed.

Wal-Mart Shopping Carts (Seaboard St.)

I want to start out by saying how awesome it is that stores provide carts for consumers to use.  This is obviously beneficial for the store owners because people are more likely to buy more if they have an easy way to carry it.  That being said, stores should really make an effort to maintain their carts.  Out of all the stores I have been in, the Wal-Mart on Seaboard Street, here in Myrtle Beach, has the worst carts I have had the misfortune of using.

One might assume that I just had some bad luck tonight.  If that's what you're thinking, you would be very, very wrong.  In general, I avoid the Seaboard Wal-Mart.  It is often busy, which leads to the shelves being messy  and, in some instances, empty.*  If I have to go, I try to go really, really early on Sunday mornings.

Tonight, I didn't have much of a choice, so I headed to the Seaboard Wal-Mart.  In the past, I have often pulled out two or three carts, only to have each of them messed up.  I can handle when they pull to one side or the other, but I can't stand the racket some of them make.  On multiple occassions, I'll come in the grocery entrance and head to the other side of the store for things like toothpaste.  By the time I'm passing the other entrance, I'll have to stop and swap out carts.  Often, the new cart is no better than the old.  It's just plain terrible.  The overwhelming majority of carts are in poor shape.

Tonight was no different.  I pulled out a cart, pushed it a bit and decided it was too noisy.  I grabbed another one, hoping it would be better.  I thought maybe it was just a bit noisy, but I was wrong.  It just rattled and rattled.  I stopped in the other entrance to swap it out.  I shouldn't have to go through three carts to find one that isn't a mess.

Now, it's not Wal-Mart's fault that the carts are in such poor shape.  Customers have a tendency to be pretty rough with them and leave them in all manner of places.  I'm sure the people gathering the carts aren't overly careful with them either.  Unfortunately, that's not my concern.  That particular Wal-Mart needs to replace the noisy carts or at least perform some sort of maintenance.

I'll continue to avoid that Wal-Mart when possible.  Between the crowds, the under-stocked shelves, and teh cruddy carts, I'd rather pay a few more dollars and shop at BiLo.  They have really neat carts!

*I love the sugar canister they sell, where the sugar is in a resealable container.  It's easy to use, but the Seaboard Wal-Mart is usually out of them.

Snyder's of Hanover Pretzel Dips

Chocolate covered pretzels are pretty standard nowadays.  You see them everywhere, but they're not all created equal.  Most of them use sub-par chocolate, which makes them pretty nasty.  Luckily, the Syder's of Hanover Pretzel Dips are amazing.

These particular pretzels use Hershey's chocolate to coat their pretzels.  Apparently, Hershey's chocolate is looked down upon.  For me, that's not the case. It's probably because that's the chocolate I grew up eating. Either way, the Snyder chocolate covered pretzels are just plain amazing.  I get excited when I find them.  You can find them much more frequently than you used to find them.

As to the pretzel component, it's not too bad.  My favorite pretzels tend to be Rold Gold brand, especially the pumpernickel ones.  The Snyder pretzels in this particular product are solid.  I like them just find.

If you like chocolate covered pretzels, you should try the Snyder's Pretzel Dips.  They're good.  That's really all there is to say about it.

Django Unchained

Have you ever seen a movie and just wondered where the reviews and opinions were coming from?  Before I saw Django Unchained, I thought I had heard it was okay.  I didn't hear anything overly positive about it, but I hadn't heard that it was bad.  I heard it was solid, maybe four out of five.  Granted, I don't go looking for reviews before I see a film.  Regardless, I wanted to see Django Unchained.

I didn't particularly feel that the film was amazing, rather it felt like more of the same.  Tarantino makes interesting movies.  To me, it seems like he picks a genre and does his own take on it.  Often, it feels like he's paying homage, but he usually makes it his own.  With Django Unchained, he tackles the western.

Perhaps his greatest strength is his ability to create interesting characters.  Sometimes, it is just plain fun to watch them, to take in the dialogue.  He's pretty well known for that.  Django Unchained is no different.  I wanted more of Dr. King Schultz.  I found Calvin Candie to be a joy to watch, but that could have just been DiCaprio's performance.  Either way, Tarantino created these characters and pulled these actors together to create this film.

He also brings his brand of violence to the piece,with one particular scene being hard to watch.  To clarify, I grew up watching things like Predator and any other number of violent action movies.  I am no squeamish, nor do I feel violence has no place in movies, but I was incredibly uncomfortable during a particular scene.  For this bit, Tarantino actually let go of his love of blood spray to just let two men fight.  Perhaps it is the reactions of those around them that caused such discomfort.  It goes to show that he knows how to put together a scene, how to elicit a response from the audience.  He knows what people like about his films, but  he also knows how to manipulate you.  It's the mark of a good film-maker.

I have watched Django Unchained, and I must say that one viewing was enough for me.  I'm glad to have watched it, and I recognize it as a quality film.  Unfortunately, it is not the type of movie I would pop in to watch over and over again.  He does a great job creating a western that feels new and old at the same time.  Visually, he captures the feel of those old movies while making the story seem a bit more modern.

The only moment that really pulled me out of the film was when Mr. Tarantino showed up.  I know he can act, as I've seen him do it in the past.  For whatever reason, I just couldn't take him seriously in this film.  I'm sure it is my own fault, but I just couldn't buy him in his role.  I just kept thinking that it was Quentin Tarantino, not whomever I was supposed to be seeing.  Once again, I'm not making a comment on his acting.  I'm simply stating that I couldn't get out of my own head, in that regard.

Since seeing the movie, I've read a few things, seeing what others thought.  Apparently, they saw a whole lot more in the film than I did.  One person was mentioning all the deep social commentary, which I didn't see.  I saw the obvious message, but I didn't find a deeper tone to the film.  I'm not saying it doesn't exist; I'm just questioning my ability to see it.  I'm usually pretty good, but I don't know if it is really there.  There are a lot of people that love Tarantino's movies, that will attribute much to his abilities.  I felt Django Unchained was more of the same from him.  That's not a bad thing, as his style is interesting, and I enjoy seeing his movies.  I just don't know how deep they really are.  Perhaps I shall watch it again.

Scotch Paper Cutter

I've been a scissors girl when it comes to wrapping.  Each year, random tools come out that are designed to make wrapping easier.  I think they really come out so the companies can pad their pockets a bit more.  For the last couple of years, I've seen different paper cutters and had no urge to buy any of them.  I don't need to shell out four dollars for a piece of equipment that does the same job as the scissors I already have.  Funny thing is...if you put that item on sale for a dollar...I'll try it!

At the Dollar Store, they sometimes require you to spend a certain amount of money if you wish to pay with a debit or credit card.  To pad my purchase total, I was wandering around, trying to find stocking stuffers.  Instead, I stumbled upon the Scotch Paper Cutter.  Since it was only a dollar, I figured why not give it a go.

When I set about wrapping presents on Christmas Eve, I pulled out my new paper cutter, to see how it held up.  I'm happy to report that it was quite useful.  With some papers, if you try to just run your scissors through it, it jams.  Heavy duty papers don't usually have that problem, but some of the character paper is on pretty cheap quality paper.

With the Scotch paper cutter, that didn't happen.  Sometimes, it was a bit awkward to get started, but once it was slicing away, it was all good.  It didn't jam.  I didn't have any unsightly tears or rips.  I still used my scissors if I needed to trim paper I had already started wrapping with, but that was the only time I used my scissors.  

This year, when I packed up my wrapping tools, I put my handy, dandy paper cutter in with the wrapping paper, so I can find it next year.  As skeptical as I was, it's actually a nice tool.  I wouldn't pay four dollars for it, but it was just right at one dollar.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

I love, love, love the Lord of the Rings trilogy.  Since it has been available on DVD*, I have watched it when I wrap Christmas presents.  I have no idea why.  It just makes sense to me.  Additionally, once TNT or TBS started running them all the time, I would just put them on in the background.  They are quality flicks.  Because of my affection for those films, I've been pretty excited about the Hobbit.

Often times, being psyched for a film can have a negative impact.  It often can't live up to the hype, especially that which you create in your own head.  The Hobbit had a good foundation though.  Peter Jackson was back, as were the actors behind any characters that played characters from both stories.  When you factor in the new cast members, it was looking pretty good.

For whatever reason, my brother demanded to talk to me about the movie before I wrote my review.  He expected me to have a multitude of negative things to say about the Hobbit.  I'm happy to report that he was mistaken in his assumption of my reaction.  He had really enjoyed the Hobbit and worried I would not.  I really, really liked it.  While there are some minimal criticisms, I would recommend that everyone see the Hobbit.  If it plays in our Imax theater again, I plan to see it a second time.**

As I've mentioned previously, the cast and acting is stellar.  I'm not going to list all the characters/actors that are back.  Let's just say that they're all great.  I was really excited at the inclusion of Martin Freeman as young Bilbo.  He is a great actor.  He picks his roles well and constantly impresses me.  I love him in Sherlock***, and I grow even fonder of him with the Hobbit.  He is not showy; he is under-stated.  He plays his character without making it too big, too fake.

Further adding to the amazing atmosphere are the special effects.  Jackson continues to make wise decisions when choosing his special effects.  At times, it felt like there was a bit more CGI than with the original trilogy, but perhaps time has dulled my memory.  Either way, there were a few times that I was struck by the CGI I was seeing.  If I'm noticing it, it's probably not that great.  Regardless, the bulk of effects are well done.

In particular, Gollum is a pleasure.  Andy Serkis does an amazing job, which is to be expected at this point.  The scenes between Gollum and Bilbo may have been my favorite part of the movie.  The motion capture is incredible, and the actors work so well together.  It feels natural, even though one character is incredibly unnatural.

One of my biggest concerns going into the Hobbit was that it would be full of filler.  They were stretching essentially one book into three movies.  I realize they were also including the Silmarillion, but I wasn't sure how much real material that would provide them with.  Running nearly three hours, one can see why there might be worry.  As luck would have it, the film flew by.  With the right editor, Jackson can achieve a tight film that hits the right pace.

Of course, the pacing isn't perfect.  In particular, the scenes with Radagast seem largely out of place.  I was interested to hear about the different wizards that existed, but when spending time with Radagast, it just felt out of place.  After the movie, I actually found out that those scenes weren't in the books.  Perhaps they should have stayed out of the movie, as well.

The film is beautiful though.  The sweeping shots and the gorgeous compositions make the Hobbit a stunning piece.  When you factor in the music, it is near perfection.  It's interesting to note that a lot of the shots are re-creations of shots from the original trilogy.  The musical cues are also being re-used.  It's good because it helps pull you back into that world, but there are downsides to that, as well.

Some of the largest detractors of the film have cited how similar it is to the Lord of the Rings trilogy.  The films are markedly different, but people who go in expecting more Lord of the Rings may very well be disappointed.  The Hobbit takes place in the same world and stars some of the same characters, but it has a completely different tone.  The Hobbit spends a bit more time being silly and fantastical.  The original trilogy had a much darker, serious tone.  That isn't to say that there are no dark moments in the Hobbit.  The beginning is both epic and dark.  It grabs you right away, but after that, the Hobbit feels like its own film.  There are definitely homages to the earlier films, but the Hobbit is playing a different game.

While watching the Hobbit, I was reminded of a multitude of things.  The swelling of the music as they show Rivendale reminded me of World of Warcraft.  It's not because Peter Jackson was influenced by that at all; it's simply that when you enter a night elf area, there is a specific swell of music.  Elves get their own music.****  Of course, most of the races do.  There was a scene where the characters are pretty much gathering loot after a battle.  It was just like a D&D adventure.  A lot of my nerd life was brought to mind while watching the Hobbit, and that endears it to me.  Mark felt the same way, perhaps more strongly than I.

The Hobbit is an excellent film.  Is it perfect?  Nope.  Is it still worth seeing in the theater?  Definitely...perhaps multiple times.  This is the type of fantasy adventure film that I would want to watch with my kids.  It's epic and can be inspiring.  Heck, you should see it just to see if you can tell the dwarves apart. Jackson does an excellent job of visually making each of them their own character.  It's a feat in itself.  Do yourself a favor and see the Hobbit in theaters.  It is exactly the type of movie that deserves a big screen.

*I really need to pick it up on Blu-Ray.  I couldn't help but imagine how much better it would look....

**If I could find it in a 48 fps showing, I would also see it again.

***If you haven't seen Sherlock, what is wrong with you???  It's a great show with great actors.  Sheesh.

****You decide if it is fruity.

9-1-1

There are certain things that we just don't think about on a daily basis.  If it isn't part of our daily lives, it doesn't matter.  Maybe you're glad it is there, but you don't actively think about it.  For most people, that's how they think of 9-1-1.  The number exists should you ever need it, but you'll probably never call it.  You may joke about it when you see someone doing something stupid, but you don't expect to have to follow through.  The good news is that there are competent people waiting, just in case you need them.

While sitting at the intersection of 501 and Seaboard Street tonight, I was trying to figure out how to kill half an hour.  Mark wasn't quite done yet, but he was going to be done soon enough that going home seemed like a waste.  As I was musing, there was an accident.  The light was green on 501, and somehow, there was a collision.  It was one of the oddest things I've ever seen.

You don't usually see an accident happen.  You come upon it after emergency vehicles are there, cleaning up and moving you along.  You may gripe because it's holding you up, or you may be on of those people that gets excited because it is something to see.  Actually seeing it happen is just weird.  It took my mind a few seconds to register what happened.  Even now, I can't tell you how it happened.

Once my brain processed what it saw, I had that moment of panic, where you wonder what to do.  I had put on my four ways, as there was a car blocking the intersection now.  It seemed to me that I should call for help, so I dialed 9-1-1 for the first time.  A quite man answered, asking what my emergency was.  I explained that I had just seen an accident happen at the intersection of 501 and Seaboard Street.  He asked if I was involved.  I told him I wasn't and told him that the involved parties appeared to be fine, although one of the vehicles was sitting in the intersection, banged up and leaking fluid.  He asked me to describe both vehicles, which I did.  I did a poor job of it though.  I was a bit shocked, so I only gave him the colors and number of doors.*

Once he had that information, he transferred me to police dispatch, so they could get an officer out to the scene.  Once again, the phone was answered "911.  What's your emergency?"  This time, it was a lady.  I relayed the same information.  She then asked for my name and phone number, in case they needed to reach me in the future.

I had eventually rolled my windows down, so I could hear if anyone needed help.  During the call, I heard them asking if anyone had called 9-1-1, so I gestured and then told them I had them on the phone currently.  The dispatcher let me know that an officer was on the way.  I asked if they needed me to stick around, but the dispatcher said I didn't need to.

At this point, one of the girls from the more damaged vehicle came over to talk to me.  I let her know help was on the way and asked if she needed anything.  She just asked me if the light was green when she was hit.  I told her it was.  She said they were fine and needed nothing further from me.  At that point, I started trying to get into another lane, so I could get out of the way.

As I was driving down the road, I was a firetruck, an ambulance, and two police cars headed back toward the accident.  It couldn't have been much more than five minutes.  Of course, time gets wibbly wobbly when something like this happens.**

It seems to me that 9-1-1 is an amazing tool at our disposal that doesn't get the props it deserves.  I hope you never have to call it, but it's nice to know that it is there.  The people answering the phones are patient, and the officers and such that are responding do so very quickly.  Consider this a virtual fist bump to anyone that works for or in conjunction with 9-1-1.

*I feel like a total idiot, but that's okay.  Even though I was well out of harm's way, I'm still a little shaky.  I shouldn't be, but there you have it.

**I'm still not clear on all of the details.  I'm not sure which dispatcher actually got my information, and I don't recall if I spoke to the male or female dispatcher first.  I think what I recounted was correct, but I admit there may be some error.

The Sam's Club Photo Service

I miss having traditional pictures, as most of my collection is digital.  Yeah...I could print them out, but I'm way too lazy for that.  I don't miss the cost of film coupled with the processing fees.  That's one of the nicest things about digital cameras.  They make it so easy to get your pictures.  

A lot of people like to put their pets on Christmas cards.  Mark and I might as well be crazy cat people because Mr. Kitty is generally the star of our cards.  He doesn't always like it.  Scratch that...he never likes it.  Luckily, we're bigger than him, so hilarity usually ensues.  If we get lucky, we get a decent picture for our cards.

This year, we're running a little behind.  We kept talking about what we wanted to do for our Christmas cards, but we never actually got around to taking any pictures.  Upon arriving home tonight, Mark informed me that we needed to make our cards up as tomorrow is the last day he will see all of his co-workers before Christmas.  

After Mark hatched a plan, we set to work getting a good picture.  Mr. Kitty makes that as difficult as possible, but we succeeded.*  Still, getting cards for tomorrow is a tall order...until you realize that you can create and order your Christmas cards twenty four hours a day via the Sam's Club website.

After picking a few potential pictures, we pulled up the Sam's Club site.  It's not overly friendly when trying to find the photo services, but Mark has done it for work before.  He knew where to go.  

There are multiple templates you can use, and the site allows you to zoom in and out on the picture to get it just right.  While the tools aren't amazing, they're decent.  You can get the job done with them.  We got thirty pictures for around ten bucks, and Mark can pick them up tomorrow.  You can even do this from your phone.**

I'm sure you've seen one of these types of cards before.  They are printed on photo-paper.  Our cards won't be as fantastic as the one our friends sent, but our friends are ridiculously talented.***  

Since we won't our cards until tomorrow, I can't put a picture of one up.  I can tell you that the Sam's Club site is relatively easy to use when creating your holiday cards.  The price is right, and it's all very simple, once you find the right place.  Aside from  making the route more obvious, I'm pleased with this particular Sam's offering.

*As much as we ever do.

**It's totally pimp.

***They created a person, and he's cute.  That's pretty high up on the achievement list.  I'll bet they level multiple times from the XP that generates.

Farlo's Burrito Bar

To make my reviews more tolerable, I've begun putting pictures in them when possible.  If I try new food, I usually have pictures to accompany it.  Sometimes, I even get pictures of the restaurant itself.  For this review, I don't have any of those things.  My boss was awesome enough to buy us lunch.  Since he picked it up, I have no pictures of the restaurant.  Since I didn't eat my food at its freshest, it didn't seem fair to represent the restaurant with pictures of it.  Farlo's Burrito Bar deserves better.

I've tried quite a few eateries that try to be a taco bar, and the results are anywhere from meh to not too bad.  Based on the dish I had, I would say Farlo's is the best I've had.  The menu lists the options.  You choose the type of meal you want, such as a burrito, salad, tacos, or a quesadilla then select a meat filling.  Next, you choose the toppings that suit you.  The little paper menus are made up with check-boxes to make it easy.

In our case, each person, seven in total, filled out a menu with our choices.  After someone called in the order, the boss man went to pick it up.  From the time he picked it up to the time I ate it, I would say at least thirty minutes passed.  I had to gather up my husband first, as we were having lunch together.

I am happy to say that my chicken quesadilla with chicken and pico de gallo was still very delicious.  I can't imagine how great it would have been fresh.  The chicken was perfectly cooked and seasoned.  The cheese was ample.  I actually had no complaints about my meal.  It was a good portion too.

While I'm not overly excited about the location*, I am excited about the food.  Mark said his burrito was good too, so I'm sure we'll be eating there again.  You should give the place a try.  You might be pleasantly surprised!

*It's down near the ocean, where it is sometimes really busy.

Nikon Coolpix L310

Continuing with his life long quest of being awesome, Mark bought me a camera for my birthday.  He was going to give it to me for Christmas, but he knew I was going to Disney over a week before that and thought I needed a camera for my trip.  I've been using my cell phone's camera pretty exclusively.  I have had a digital camera, but I'm usually too lazy to carry it.  On my recent trip, I carried my Nikon Coolpix L310 camera.

Now, as is par for the course, I'm never really ready for anything.  You can add using my new camera to that list.  It was gifted to me on a Wednesday.  We celebrated our Christmas on that Thursday.  We left for Florida on that Friday, as soon as I got out of work.  As such, it was really late when we reached the hotel.  By the time we unpacked, I was even more tired.  I figured I would shower and then read the instruction manual.  Yeah...that didn't happen.  The parents had the lights out when I got out of the shower, so I just went to sleep.*

The next morning, I set about figuring out my camera in the few minutes I had before we went to the park.

I took the obligatory self-shot, but you

get the picture of my cool shoes.

You're welcome.

Carrying around a relatively large camera was new to me.  It's doesn't have one of those really cool, long lenses, but it's quite a bit bigger than my previous digital camera.  It came with a nice neck strap that took me almost ten minutes to figure out.**

Once we got going, I got used to carrying the camera that way.  Yeah, I could have put it in the camera case my parents got me, but we were doing the whole "no bag" thing to skip the security lines.  The hardest part of getting used to it was not moving too fast.  It was prone to thumping into my boobs.

I took a few pictures at the resort since 

we had breakfast in the Pepper Market.

I think he's angry.  Maybe the cart doesn't go fast enough.

Apparently, my camera can see the true weird in people.

In an attempt to cram in as much hands on learning as possible, I played with my camera on the bus.  It has a bunch of different settings tailored to when you may be using your camera, as well as to what type of subject you're using.  I probably would have done better if I had read the booklet.  Instead, there is a lot of my just trying different settings, trying to find one where the pictures look decent.

The interior of the Mexico pavilion.  I went through quite a 

few settings before I found this one.

At the same time, I often forgot to put the camera back on the generic setting when moving back outdoors.  If set it to something special, I often forgot to un-set it.  Additionally, my father must move really, really fast.  I have a ton of blurry pictures of him.

The colors show up nicely.

The majority of the bad pictures are due to my own inexperience.  I'm not a photographer.  I just like having fun with my camera.  As such, there are also a lot of pictures taken at weird angles.  I'm sparing you those ones.

I also have some shots where he's moving around

that actually turned out okay.

My camera is almost identical to the one she is holding.

The Osborne Family Lights

I have quite a few pictures of the lights that turned out okay.  I also have some blurry, streaky looking ones.  They're neat in their own way, but they are not good.  I had a lot of time to practice taking pictures like these, as we lost my mother for a while.

The camera doesn't appear to overwhelm the batteries.  My parents got me a set of rechargeable batteries for my camera, as my mother's will eat regular cameras and spit out the carcasses.  She actually has two sets of rechargeables that she swaps between.  My one set had no problem lasting through the day.  I charged them at night, as well, but I don't think I really needed to.

I didn't know pirates played chess.

The camera is really nice, and I can't wait to use it more.  I enjoyed trying to take decent pictures and puzzling out which settings to use.  I need to read my manual, but after that, I'm hoping it will be gravy.  The camera is a bit larger than I'm used to, but it didn't bother my neck to carry it around all day.  The strap is actually pretty sturdy, and since I attached the lens cap to the strap, I haven't managed to lose it yet.

This is where I started using the burst shot. 

It takes continuous shots.  I'm not

happy with the graininess.

This was also taken using the burst shot.***

Perhaps the hardest part of getting to know my camera was installing its programming onto my computer.  It took forever.  I haven't had much experience yet with the software, but I hope to one day master it.

Thus far, I am happy with my Nikon Coolpix L310 camera.  It's treated me well.  Now, I just need to learn how to properly use it.

*Can I say again how much I loathe that Disney resorts don't have Cartoon Network?  I seriously hate that.

**Don't judge me.  I was really nervous about entrusting my new toy to a silly strap.

***It might be called the continuous shot.  I'm not sure, and I'm too lazy to check.  There is a pet one too, since pets don't sit still for me.  Stupid cat.

Men In Black III

I remember the original Men in Black fondly, but whenever sequels come out to movies like that, I am pretty skeptical.  Often, this works to the movies advantage.  When I go in with low expectations, it's easier to impress me.  Perhaps that is why I thoroughly enjoyed Men In Black 3.

The third installment of the Men In Black series is nothing spectacular.  It's more of what they've been giving us.  Since that seems to be what people want, that's just fine.  I enjoyed some of the jokes.  I enjoyed some of the little nods.  I enjoyed the character design.  While the movie doesn't amaze, it does entertain.

The highlight of the film, for me, was Josh Brolin.  It was fun to watch him act like a younger Tommy Lee Jones.  His impression is spot on, and the similarity in appearance is enough to sell it.  When the movie started, that was what I was looking forward to seeing.

I have a good eye for actors.  It is rare that I don't recognize an actor or their voice.  Some people find it annoying; others use me as a resource.  Either way, I'm proud of the fact that I can recognize actors.*  There were two actors that I knew I should know but couldn't place.  That's pretty impressive.  One of the actors was playing a character completely opposite of what I knew him from.**  The other actor was one that I had not seen in much, but he did a great job as Boris the Animal.  Considering he was covered in make-up, I am almost okay with not recognizing him.  Regardless, I have to give mad props to a film that can do an actor so much differently that I don't recognize them.  It just gave me more respect for the casting, the actors, and the make-up effects.

While the make-up is great, some of the special effects were pretty rough looking.  The CGI is very obvious, with no real improvement since the original film.  They could be keeping it similar to further link the two movies, but that reasoning is definitely stretching reality.

For me, there is another factor that can influence how I feel about a movie: the audience.  The right audience can enhance a movie, while the wrong one can ruin it.  When I watched Men in Black 3, my parents were visiting.  We sat and watched the movie together, which is something I miss.***  I missed seeing their reactions and having a good laugh with them.  Men In Black 3 is the first movie I've watched with them in a while, so I'm sure that had a positive effect on my experience.

Would it have been worth paying to see Men In Black 3 in the theater?  Probably not.  Is it well worth a night's rental fee?  Of course.  I'm glad we saw it, and if you enjoyed the first installment, this one will do well by you.

*It's a useless talent, but it's the only one I have.  Don't judge.

**Hint: he is in Boardwalk Empire.

***Somehow, I miss my mom talking through the movie.  Go figure.  :)

The New & Improved Test Track*

Disney is an interesting beast.  When it comes to theme parks, they're king.  While that's my opinion, I think it hits pretty close to the truth.  No one can do theming and the like quite as well as Disney.**  With any entity this large, there are bound to be good decisions and bad.

For example, they are always adding to existing rides to make them even better.  Years ago, they added a new tombstone outside the Haunted Mansion for Madame Leota.  It's really neat, but they didn't need to do it.  They just did because it seemed like a good idea.  It still looks good.  It's in good shape, and I haven't seen it not working.

Then, you have examples like Journey Into Imagination, which is now known as Journey Into Your Imagination.  For whatever reason, they decided to re-theme the entire ride.  As I'm not part of the Disney decision makers, I can only hope there was some reason that necessitated this mistake.  They ripped out what made the ride so adorable and cute to make it more factual.  Don't get me wrong...I'm a huge fan of science.  It's great.

That being said, there was nothing wrong with the original Imagination ride.  This was made clear by the lack of visitor excitement.  People were so displeased that Figment was added back into the ride.***  While it could be my imagination playing tricks on me, I remember the original ride having lines pretty regularly.  Now, there is never a real wait.  Usually, you walk right on.  On top of that, some of the imagination displays sit unused in the upstairs.****

You would think that Disney would learn to be a bit more careful when changing their rides.  Nothing should be treated as untouchable, but changes should be made for good reasons.  After experiencing changes to any ride, you should feel as if the ride is only better.  If you walk off feeling disappointed, they've made a mistake.  That's pretty much what happened with Test Track.

For those who are unfamiliar with the ride, let me explain what exactly the attraction that was Test Track.  While it was never one of my favorites, the lines regularly exceed an hour, and fastpasses are often gone by early afternoon.  The ride itself is an exploration of what cars go through in testing.  You're exposed to different handling tests, speed tests, and the like.  You actually went into a briefing room before getting on the ride where the tests were explained.  It was neat.  Since Epcot is supposed to be a place to learn, Test Track fit right in.*****

As before, the waits are still long, which is to be expected when a ride re-opens.  Diane and I were the only ones riding.  On our first day, we had picked up fastpasses but left he park before they were active.  We gave them to a family of three to use.  On our last day, we had obtained them again, but we decided not to stay that late.  Those were also given away.  As such, we decided to hop in the single rider line.

The re-done Test Track still has the same track and ride vehicles, but much of what made this attraction Epcot worthy is now gone.  Instead of a briefing room where they explain the upcoming tests, you get to design a car in the queue.  I give them points for having something more interactive, but it isn't enough to save the ride.  In the single rider line, you still get the option to design a car, but we passed since Tim was waiting on us.  I'm not sure if we missed out on a great deal of theming by choosing single rider.

Once you're past the creation stations, you quickly reach the loading area.  The cars are the same as before except their blue.  If you designed a car, you can swipe the card it is loaded onto against readers that will load the car up for testing.  As you go through the ride, they tell you how the cars ranked, from most effective to least.  It's a cute addition.

Have you ever seen Tron?  Whether you saw the old one or the new one, I would hope you would understand what it means when I say they Tron-ed Test Track.  For the most part, everything is black with colored outlines, often blue.  They call the track the Sim-Track now, implying that you're in the computer.  If you want a Tron ride, make one.  Giving Test Track a Tron make-over doesn't work.  The story behind what is going on is no longer clear. It feels loose and messy.  Perhaps worst of all, it's boring.

While they still indicate what the tests are for, it just feels fake.  I realize the old version of Test Track was fake, but it made more sense.  If they were going for a sense of wonder and amazement with the new version, it doesn't work.  It falls flat.

I imagine that the Test Track line won't be shortening up anytime soon, but I wish it would.  While I don't care to really ride it much, it would be nice if Disney got a clear indication that this isn't what people want.  I could be wrong though; maybe I'm in the minority.  This is just my opinion, after all.

*Of course, that's questionable.

**I will give Universal Studios credit for the Harry Potter area.  It's amazing, but it is a small portion of their parks.  That still keeps them in second place until they can provide consistently amazing theming.

***It's like the changes with Coke.  It went from awesome to awful.  When they made it closer to the original, it was not so bad but still not as good as the original.  I think they were hoping we wouldn't notice.

****I miss the rainbow tunnel.  :(

*****I still miss World of Motion.

The Haunted Mansion

Anyone that visits Disney will come away with favorite attractions.  Of course, it's so hard to pick only one that you have to start making categories, such as thrill ride or classic type ride.  While I love most of what Disney has to offer, there are certain attractions that remain high on my list of awesome; the Haunted Mansion is one of those attractions.

This was taken at one of the Halloween parties.

She sits outside and talks to people, very much

the undead Southern belle.

Out of all of the rides located at the Disney property in Florida, the Haunted Mansion is one of the best.  One could argue that it is the perfect example of classic Disney attractions.  Even today, it stands up.  Disney makes a point out of updating rides, adding new features, re-doing certain attractions.  The Haunted Mansion showcases all the old school tricks while featuring some new innovations, but they don't detract from the ride.

Now, I don't know how much of what I remember is real and how much my brain has embellished.  I faintly remember going to ride the Haunted Mansion when I was younger and being scared.  In my memories, my dad held me, and it was all okay.  Now, whether it happened just like that or not is inconsequential.  What matters is that I have liked the Haunted Mansion since I was a child, and it makes me think of all the times I've ridden it with my family.

Regardless of how many times I've hopped in a Doombuggy*, there is always something new to see.  The attention to detail is one of the elements that elevates the Haunted Mansion, that makes it one of the best rides on Disney property.**  It's fascinating to try and figure out how they make the ghosts appear, how the candelabra is floating, how that head in the ball is floating.***

The Haunted Mansion features the ultimate in theming.  From the ride itself to the atmosphere outside, every little detail is spot on.  In particular, the cast members are just amazing.****  Their attitude and demeanor makes the experience a hundred times better.  Their chilly, yet formal delivery has such a dramatic impact.  If you just imagine having regular, non-themed staff on the ride, it just takes so much away.

 It's hard to see, but those are ghostly footprints

that walk upon the stairways that

go each and every way.

Because I can't choose, I am unable to name the Haunted Mansion as the best ride on Disney property.  It is, however, up there on the list, if not first.  The theming is impeccable, and the blend of old and new technology serve the attraction well.  If you visit Disney, don't miss the Haunted Mansion.  It's truly amazing.

It's a pet cemetery...not the Stephen King version.

*That's what they call the ride vehicles.  Awesome.

**I admit that Pirates of the Caribbean is an excellent attraction, but the Haunted Mansion just barely edges it out.  Consider that the Haunted Mansion takes something that should be scary and makes it interesting and neat instead.

***I know her name is Madame Leota, in case you were wondering.

****We saw a pregnant one last time.  I'm pretty sure she got knocked up by Master Gracey.  On a side note, that may be the first time I've seen a pregnant cast member.

The Pepper Market

Disney has a wide array of restaurants and hotels.  Your room and meal can be as cheap* as you want, or you can go all out, spending mortgage sized payments for a single night.  One of the moderate hotels**, Coronado Springs, was avoided by us for quite some time.  Aside from being a convention hotel, Coronado Springs also boasts the Pepper Market.  It's like a food court, but you are charged an extra 10% on top of your bill, since there are people that bring you drinks.  Just to be clear, you get your food yourself.  Because there are drink servers, you pay an up-charge of 10%.  Almost three years ago, Mark and I stayed at Coronado Springs, and our doubts about the resort vanished.  We loved it, even though we didn't really visit the Pepper Market.  For the mini trip with my parents, we decided to give Coronado Springs another go.  The Pepper Market was actually one of our favorite parts of the hotel.

We actually had three meals in the Pepper Market, during our three night stay.  On our first full day, we ate breakfast there.  It turns out that they have a buffet for lunch and dinner, which was new to me.

In reality, that is an affordable Disney buffet.

At breakfast, there were multiple stations set up, allowing you to get pretty much whatever struck your fancy.    My only complaint being that they limited you to one beverage.  You could have refills, but you weren't allowed to have an orange juice and a chocolate milk.***  She did let me change drinks though, as I didn't care for the one I got.  She gets points for that.

I tried corned beef and hash!  I didn't like it.  :(

The food was pretty standard for breakfast.  The offerings were more varied than I expected, but nothing came across as spectacular.  Even though I don't care for skins on my potatoes, they were acceptable on the breakfast potatoes.  They had a really good flavor.

As you can see, I didn't care for the sausage 

patty.  Note to self - Pac-Man sausage is blah.

I don't believe I finished the pastry item either.  It wasn't nearly as flavorful as I expected, but it was pretty.  I took a second trip up, to see what I had missed.

More breakfast noms!

The biggest complaint about breakfast was that sometimes items may have sat too long.  I picked up some of the kielbasa, but it was the pieces that had been leftover in the pan.  They were a bit off.  The fresh fruit was good, and the ham was passable.  Somehow, Disney has convinced the average visitor that biscuits made from rocks are okay.  Even covered in gravy, I couldn't eat my biscuit.****  Perhaps the real surprise of the meal was that weird round thing in the upper right hand corner.  It's was some sort of Mexican banana bread pudding.  I don't usually care for bread pudding, but it was really good.

Now, we're going to jump time a bit.  We actually had dinner there that night, but I'm going to talk about lunch next, since lunch comes after breakfast.  It's artistic license!  I can do it in whatever order I want!  Pfft.

Like breakfast, lunch is also a buffet.  Once again, this is a recent change.  In our case, we didn't have the best lunch experience, but it was really our own fault.  Most lunches have seatings that are scheduled for two or sometimes a bit later.  At least, that is what I've learned booking meals at Disney.  Because of that, we expected the lunch buffet to run until three.  Unfortunately, it ended at two.  Showing up at ten til, that didn't give us a whole lot of time.  The attendants told us that they keep the food out until a quarter after, so we figured that was time enough.*****  It turns out that a couple other tables felt the same way.

As you can see, it was pretty empty.  I have heard that

it is relatively empty regardless of what time

you show up for lunch.

In an effort to try everything and to be less of a burden on the staff, we ran up, scoped the place out, and piled food onto a few plates.  We figured we were only taking that one trip up, so we made the best of it.  It was a pretty good plan, but it was disappointing when you found something you really liked and couldn't get more.

That's my dad's pretty hand.  It was a bit of a shock.

The lunch buffet offered up some standard fare, but it also had all sorts of Mexican inspired dishes.  Like the Tusker House buffet at Animal Kingdom, there is a blending between normal, Americanized fare and more worldly options.  Someone sick of the generic buffets would enjoy this change of pace.

Are those the same taters from breakfast?

Once again, the food itself was pretty solid.  Nothing was horrible, with a few dishes being just plain amazing.  It may sound weird, but the corn with the peppers in it was my favorite.  It made me so sad that I couldn't get more.  The quesadilla was also really good, probably because it is the type of food that can sit around and not get gross.  The mashed potatoes were also really good.

Most of the other Mexican inspired dishes were not great, but I think that's because they sat while I ate the other stuff.  Fresh, I imagine they would be quite good.  As the sauces on them cooled, they became a bit unpleasant.

Desserts!

Always on the ball, my mom gathered up some dessert for us.  The one with sprinkles seemed to be some type of red velvet cake.******  The cakes were moist, but I really just wanted to eat all the icing off of the German chocolate cake.  I believe my mom claimed that piece of chocolate sticking up off of it, as well as the piece on the red velvet cake.  They were reportedly good.

Bird totem pole thing.

For dinner, the Pepper Market returns to its old self, offering dishes for a set price.  It wasn't overly busy when we were there, which was both good and bad.  It wasn't noisy and crowded, but it wasn't always easy to order your food.

They give you instructions.

There are multiple stations, each one having its own theme.  Aside from the obligatory dessert section, you have real meal stations.  You can choose from sandwiches, grilled and roasted items, Italian, or Mexican dishes.  When you choose what you desire, you tell the castmember at that station, at which point they stamp the reverse side of your instructions.  This is used late to pay.

I can haz cheezeburger.

It probably took at least five minutes before someone showed up to take my order.  As the place was quiet at the time, I understand that they were multi-tasking and probably just didn't see me there.  At the time, I was kind of annoyed though.  Luckily, the guy was so nice that I didn't mind by the time I had my food.  When I ordered a side of zucchini and squash, he just gave it to me.  Since I hadn't complained, it was a nice gesture.

It's so pretty!

Squash, zucchini, and peppers.

Like the buffets, the offerings were quite varied.  Probably because it wasn't sitting around, the food was better than the offerings at the buffet.  My fries were meh, but they were just sitting in a pan, under a heat lamp.  The burger was prepped when I ordered it.  The patty was already cooked,and they just tossed it back on the grill.  It worked though.  The veggies were great though.  I wanted to go order more, but I was afraid he would just think I wanted another freebie.

This picture does not properly showcase the sandwich, 

mainly because there were a lot of chips.

I believe both of my parents ordered the Philly cheese-steak  also made when you ordered them.  Instead of generic brand chips, those are Ruffles.  If there had been Helluvagood dip, we would have been set.  I don't recall them saying anything negative about the sandwiches.  There was also an order of nachos, which everyone picked at.

There are those sub-par fries...mocking me!

In general, the service at the Pepper Market was hit and miss.  When their only responsibility to the table is to provide drinks, I get a little annoyed when mine goes empty.  I know I'm a heavy drinker, which is why I order a water and a Sprite or lemonade.  I do what I can to help, but one of our servers,while very nice, let my drinks sit empty quite a bit.  He flat our forgot to bring me a refill after telling me he would go get one.  At least he was a nice guy, but maybe a 10% upcharge is a little much for empty glasses.

The elusive table, seen here in the wild.

I can't wait to stay at Coronado Springs again, and I really want to eat at the Pepper Market again.  I love this buffet because it did't cost an arm and a leg.  There are no characters, which is a nice break, and the food was pretty good.  Even if I weren't staying at Coronado Springs, I might make a special trip just to have lunch there.

*I use the term cheap loosely.  Nothing is really cheap at Disney, but it gets a whole lot more expensive.

**For those not in the know, there are basically three resort categories at Disney: value, moderate, and deluxe.  They are ranked from least expensive to most.  We tend to stay in the moderates because the deluxes are too rich for my blood.

***By the way, don't get the chocolate milk.  It doesn't show up at Disney as chocolate milk.  She just added syrup to white milk!  Unacceptable!

****My dad, always the genius show-off, showed me how to open the biscuit using the fancy tongs.  I didn't use his trick, so my biscuit was torn in half savagely.

*****I feel bad about it, but we specifically went back to the resort to eat.  We wanted to try the lunch buffet, so I apologize to those that had to possibly stay a bit late and wait on us.  Having worked as a waitress, we rarely go into a place if it closes in less than an hour.  You can consider this my one lapse in judgement.

******Figuring out if it was actually prompted some time with Google, while we looked up the defining characteristics of red velvet cake

The Best Bathroom Door Ever (Friday, December 14th)

When you vacation or travel, you use a lot of different bathrooms.  You suddenly find yourself dropping your trousers in places you never would have.  Even when you're home, you sometimes have to use the non-home restroom.  The scariest part of these unusual comfort stations are the other patrons.*  Have you ever seen those people that come out of the stall and walk out of the restroom without washing their hands?  I have, and it is downright gross.  Of course, I try not to judge.  That being said, I don't want to touch that door handle that you just rubbed your palms on.  

In my experience, there aren't a lot of choices for not touching the door handle in the restroom if you have to pull to open.  You can wait until someone else opens it, but that's not always viable.  Sometimes, you're the only customer, or it is a one stall bathroom.  This means no one should be opening that door because you locked it. 

Until recently, I believed that the best bathrooms had a garbage can near the door.  This gave you the option of using your paper towel to open the door.  You could then toss the paper towel into the garbage can.  It was a pretty sweet set up.

Now, that's all changed. There are automatic bathroom doors!**  These amazing doors just require that you wave your hand in front of the sensor to open them.  Is it an unnecessary expense?  Sure!  Does it still make me so giddy that I take a picture of it?

Yep.

More and more bathroom items are becoming automatic.  I love it even though we don't really need it.  Regardless, if you happen to be traveling through Florida and see a Daily's in a fancy area, you can safely pee there.  You won't have to touch the door!

Home of awesome bathroom doors!

*Obviously, a dirty bathroom is frightening.  Usually, bathrooms aren't too bad.  You can find clean ones.  You can't control who is using those places, but you can choose ones that are less likely to be full of dirty diapers and poop smears.

**There aren't enough of them, but hopefully, they breed like rabbits!

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

For a film that features a lot of walking, the Lord of the Rings: the Fellowship of the Ring is actually quite good.  There are a multitude of great actors who are cast wonderfully, and Jackson goes out of his way to shoot a beautiful film using trick shots instead of just CGI.  There are a lot of practical effects as well, blending the new and the old.  It's a great beginning to an amazing trilogy.

Let's face it.  If your actors can't handle the job, your movie is going to suffer.  Even with an amazing script and perfect effects, it is the acting that makes the story ring true.  There are few, if any, sore spots in Jackson's casting.  The only person that pulls me out is Liv Tyler.  I'm not sure why, but she doesn't quite fit. She uses a very breathy delivery, which seems at odds with the type of character she is playing.  Otherwise, everyone does an excellent job.  You really can't go wrong when you put Ian McKellen in your fellowship.

When filming a story that features characters of such vastly differing heights, one might be tempted to solely rely on CGI and green screen to illustrate those height differences.  Jackson uses multiple methods, including trick shots and stand ins.  Frankly, the sets he built and the on location filming is a boon to the movie, adding realism to a classic fantasy story.

While Jackson is happy to do things the old fashioned way, he doesn't shy away from new technology.  There is CGI when it is the best solution.  Sometimes it works*; sometimes it doesn't.**  Regardless, Jackson isn't afraid to take chances and use new technology.

I didn't think I needed to cover the story when it came to the Lord of the Rings.  It's amazing and the root of much fantasy that we enjoy today.  I watch it every year when wrapping Christmas presents.  It's a great movie, and it opens up the amazing trilogy.

*The balrog.

**The long shots of the characters on the stairs, shortly before the Balrog appears.

Sam's Club Cakes

I remember having the best birthday cakes when I was younger, maybe in my early teens.  I don't remember the cakes before that, but we have some pictures of awesome cakes that my mom made.*  I'm sure they were tasty, but I don't really remember.  My favorite cakes are moist with butter-cream frosting that gets a bit crusty as it is exposed to the air.  For my recent birthday, Mark bought my cake at Sam's Club.  All in all, it was pretty good.

Pictured: delicious calories

Let's tackle the appearance first.  I find the cake very pretty and well done.  While the picture doesn't do a good job of showing it, the words on the front were well done.  The small flowers lining the sides were also quite pretty.  I love the detailing on the top, as well.  Even though the top was a plastic disc, it looked very good on the cake.  It didn't look as if it was just stuck on as an after-thought.

When you discuss how a cake tastes, there are two main components: frosting and cake.  For some reason, all frosting stays sticky and wet nowadays.  It doesn't crust up like it used to.  I won't hold that against them, as only Disney seems to have the magical frosting I'm looking for.  The frosting on the cake tasked good, but it was sweet enough that I couldn't eat too much of it.**  

For the most part, the cake tasted good.  It seemed a tiny bit dry on the very edges, but it was still tasty.  There was a layer of frosting in the middle, which served to make the cake seem more moist.  The flavor was good, but it wasn't mind blowing.

If you need a birthday cake and don't want to spend and arm and a leg, Sam's Club does a solid job.  They make a pretty cake that tastes just fine.  It's pretty similar to the cakes from any of the major chains.  To get better, you'll probably have to go to a fancy bakery.  There's nothing wrong with that; it will just cost you two or three times as much.  I was quite happy with my cake.  Thanks, Mark!

*I wish I had a picture of the Terminator 2 cake she did for Ryan's birthday one year.  It was amaze-balls.

**I remember when I was younger I could eat all the frosting.  It didn't bother me.  I always wanted a corner piece with lots of flowers.  Now, I want a small center piece with a thin layer of frosting.  What happened???