Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
Mood:  happy
Topic: One Ramblin' Ranter!
Sometimes movies you don't expect people to like turn out to be popular and enjoyable. I remember one barbeque Kevin and I had a few years back when we were roommates. We had my mom, Becky S, Becky K (at that time she was Becky W), my dad, Mary Jo and a few other people. I threw on 'The Original Kings of Comedy' and even though it was raunchy and full of curse words your mom always took the soap to your mouth for, it was a hit. Everybody was laughing and enjoying the show even if they deny it now. Some movies you expect to entertain your cohorts don't Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest was one of the latter. I went and saw it with my mom and my auntie. I enjoyed it but they.... well lets say they felt betrayed by my pick.... Moral of that story is don't take your mom and her sister to see a movie that is action packed and fun. Or something like that. On to the movie review.

Dead Man's Chest picks up relatively soon after the first ended. Elizabeth Swann and Will Turner have an impending marriage that is interrupted by charges of aiding the pirate Captain Jack Sparrow. Lord Cutler Beckett, of the East India Company, has filed the charges to get ahold of Capt. Sparrow's magical compass. He dangles a pardon in front of Will's eyes and Will is off and looking for his friend to save his special lady friend. Elizabeth is left behind in jail while her father tries to figure out how to get her out. Meanwhile Captain Jack Sparrow has just learned that his deal with Davey Jones has been called and Davey is looking to collect. Davey Jones and his crew are horrible compilations of sea creatures. Anyway Capt. Jack tricks Will into giving himself to Davey Jones. Then he runs into Elizabeth and talks about how he is trying to save him.... which we all know was a big lie. Wouldn't you sell Orlando Bloom down the river for Keira Knightley? Seriously! They are absolutely grotesque and that is the first blow for the two ladies watching it with me. In fact it was also the death blow. They never recovered from that and I was the only person of the three enjoying the movie. I had a little problem with the fact that the movie relied on people having seen the first movie. It left my two compatriots bewildered and lost since a lot of the original pirates were back. The other problem was this 2 hour movie was like a sitcom episode and it leaves you hanging for the next movie. I liked the new villains and I enjoyed Capt. Jack immensely. I do not think ol' Cap had the same swagger as in the first movie he seemed a little more desperate and a little more drunk. It was still a lot of fun and if you had seen the first movie you will have fun seeing a lot of the old crew back. Including the guy with the fake eye, his chubby friend and the undead monkey. There are a few more surprises and it is a fun movie to see. It makes you want to watch the first again.... unless your my mom or my auntie...

The real reason to see this movie.... Keira Knightly!

A whirlwind...
Mood:  chillin'
Topic: One Ramblin' Ranter!
We have been busy little beavers. My mom and auntie showed up on Sunday. We headed out for a meal at Olive Garden and then to see the movie the Devil Wears Prada. Which was pretty funny and yes the movie was partially my idea. It was good fun and we found ourselves laughing through the movie and enjoying the show.

Today I was off so we headed out of the house about 9 AM. It was a late start but everyone ate and we got to see a review of yesterdays Tour De France. We headed East to the Columbia River Gorge Scenic Route that held wonderful views and spectacular waterfalls, including Multnomah Falls. We had stopped at the historic Vista House and 2 falls before Multnomah. Don't worry unlike my dad I actually share pictures of my trips they will be up sometime this week. Anyway we had lunch at the Multnomah Falls Lodge and the walked up to get a closer view. After snapping several pictures we headed towards the freeway and stopped at one more falls before heading downtown.

Downtown we perused Powell's City of Books for an hour and then over to the Whole Foods. We headed South to my side of the world and stopped for pizza at Pizza Schmizza. After a fantabulous slice or two we headed to the theaters to catch Superman Returns. Let's just say that the movie is better then the reviews seem to imply.

ANyway it is past my bedtime because I am back at work at 5 AM tomorrow. So I will write and share a little more later.

Another awesome sunset
Mood:  a-ok
Topic: One Ramblin' Ranter!
I really have nothing to add today. No good news, no movie to review, no odd news story. I just did not want to have another day without a post so I decided to share another sunset with you. I took some pictures of another great sunset on the 3rd of July. The first picture is of a strange cloud formation and the picture came out pretty good. The second picture is one of the better shots of the 15 shots I took. I have a few more I like and I would be happy to share but I am running out of space on the sites free bandwidth..... So if you want to have a few just email me at: crazedlunatik@gmail.com

I hope you like them. I am looking forward to my Auntie and mom visiting this week. Even though I have no idea what we are going to do.

I'll Give You an Inch
Mood:  smelly
Topic: One Ramblin' Ranter!
I was reading the newspaper this past few days. Something I try to restrict to sports and the funnies. I usually glance at the frontpage to find out what horrible thing occured yesterday and then I move on. This time though something caught my eye. An article about a new trend in real estate. The article was about a guy who has set up a website where he is giving away free pieces of land in any of the 50 states, just in time for the 4th! You get to pick the state and then give your name and email address and that is how you become a land owner. It is actually easier then becoming a ULC minister.
Here is the deal, this guy in New York by the name of Scott Moger got an idea from an old promotion Quaker did where they gave away a fake deed to Yukon Country. This captured his imagination and then like all people do he grew up and forgot about it. A few years back while going through his old stuff he found this deed and the idea for American Acres came about. He purchased parcels of land in all 50 states. He took it online and is making his money from the sale of deeds to people he gives the inches too. His company still owns the land so if he ever felt like doing something with it we would all be out of luck but it is still kind of funny. At first I was irritated by this idea because I thought he was actually selling people the land. I figured that this guy had just found one more way to seperate people from their money. It got increasingly hard to stay mad once I went to the site and saw it was free. You do not even have to buy a plaque or a deed so giving him money is not even a requirement. Which of course makes me want to own a deed. I took the plunge and I am now a proud owner of a piece of Hawaii. I am finally a land owner and damn it relieves a lot of stress.... hehe. I know where I am going if I ever lose my job.... to find a 1 inch bed to put in my spot.

Anyways here is the link to your dreams http://www.ownapieceofamerica.com/

The rest of the weekend...
Mood:  vegas lucky
Topic: One Ramblin' Ranter!
I am sitting here on a Monday evening doing laundry.... I guess that beats doing laundry on a Friday or Saturday evening like I normally do. I had planned to do a few loads yesterday but ended up getting home and falling asleep. I was pretty tired.... and here is why.

After I wrote you all on Saturday my dad and I headed to Powell's so I could trade some books in. Along the way we stopped at a joint called Philadelphia's and had a wonderful cheese steak sandwich. When we finally made it to Powell's and I had traded my books we found out that neither of us really wanted to be there so we left. I dropped the books they didn't take back in the car and we headed to the tram stop. We headed South to the Central Library so I could show him the old books exhibit. After that was done we hopped back on the tram and headed back North, I said we should stay on and see if anything caught our eye. Before anything did we had to depart or purchase a ticket to continue our ride. So we got out and started walking back to the garage. On the way back I started yammering about going to Henry's Tavern to have a Hoegaarden and pop decided it sounded like a good idea. We managed to get there in the midst of happy hour so our drink prices were reduced and they had a list of appetizers at great prices. We had a Hoegaarden White Ale, which was on tap, to start. Then I ordered a Pilsner Urquell, which I dubbed the Urkle, and I also ordered shrimp and seafood egg rolls. They were not bad, I would call them interesting. I would not get them again. My dad ordered a Boddington's and when we both finished we headed to the car. I asked my dad what he wanted to do next and he said he would like to go to Barnes & Noble.... Let's rehash: Went to Powells and the library and he wants to go to Barnes and Noble? Makes sense, obviously what we needed to do was go to a place with books. Hehe We spent the evening reading and splitting a banana foster cheesecake slice until I realized the mall was closed and B&N was the only place open. Which meant I needed to get home and get to bed.

Sunday rolled around and things started off weird. I left my headset for work at home along with my security badge. I did not realize it until I was nearly there so I had to turn around and get it. So instead of a few minutes late like I was about to be I was almost an hour late. Good way to start the day, right?
When I finally made it the calls were back to being slow. I was afraid that not only would I lose the hour I spent going back to get my headset but that I would get sent home early. Luckily that did not happen. When I finally was off I headed to Border's to wait for my dad and from there to head to dim sum. Border's was set up for our meeting spot so that he could head from there to Aunt Wanda's after we had indulged in dim sum. He had planned on being there and reading when I got there but he was running behind and I was the one who was able to read until he made it. We had a great meal at our hidden Chinese place and then he headed South for the day. It was pretty warm so I decided to stay at Border's as my dad hit the road. I cracked open a Boondocks collection of comics. I was enjoying it until I started dozing. I decided to go home and get started on laundry. Instead I went home and passed out. Waking up to go to work today. I missed calling my mom to wish her happy birthday... d'oh!!

Sorry Mom. Happy Birthday and Happy Birthday Auntie!!

A day late.

To Washington and Back!!!
Mood:  happy
Topic: One Ramblin' Ranter!
Yesterday went off without a hitch. I worked the morning shift at the callcenter and actually was able to work my full 5 hours.... I then hustled home to find my dad waiting for me and ready to head to Washington's Insurance Commisioner's office to get my license up and running. Except I was in charge of the Action Insurance Company this weekend so I had to quote someone. He did not meet our qualifications..... Anyway we finally hit the road and sailed straight up to the lively town of Tumwater, WA. A 2 hour drive so that I could walk in and sit for 5 minutes get handed a temporary license with the promise that the actual license would be mailed on the 3rd and I was out the door.... It was almost too easy! Of course there was one small glitch in the matrix... I was only able to get affiliated with one company. She was unable to locate Action Insurance Company so I have to get some more information and resubmit it. I can fax that though. The drive was worth it. I am now a licensed agent in Washington for aflac. We hopped back in the car and headed back to Portland. We stopped at Burgerville on the way home and had the most mediocre food ever. In fact it was pretty dang close to being bad food. When we hit Portland we decided to go to Cascade's tobacco shop to have a beer and a cigar in their lounge. Then we went shopping and headed home to cook a great dinner. A t-bone steak, baked yam and green beans. We finished that off with a Klondike version of the classic Drumstick ice cream. Tasty stuff!

It was a great and prosperous day.

Snakes On A Plane
Mood:  energetic
Topic: One Ramblin' Ranter!
Snakes on a Plane? The movie? This is where the world is taking us?

Some of you maybe thinking "There Mike goes again being silly."

I am not being silly. They are making Snakes On A Plane! Isn't it fantastic? I am ecstatic and I have to say I am so not kidding. I think this will be the worst movie ever and I think I will love it. I already love the title. I first heard about it on this guys blog he is a writer for screenplays and what not and he had an entry entitled "Snakes on a Mother****ing Plane". Ever since then I have been keeping an eye on it. So you want a synopsis right. It's real easy there are SNAKES ON A PLANE!!! The best part is it stars SAMUEL L JACKSON!!!

You know him he is the guy who played Shaft and was the guy in that lawyer movie that killed his daughter's attackers: "Yes they deserved to die!! AND I HOPE THEY BURN IN H***!!!" You know what I am talking about! He is perfect for this part I can just see him yell in suprise about the snakes. Man this is going to rock.


SO why am I writing about it now? Well recently I read that the director has taken the suggestions of the lowly bloggers and movie geeks to heart and has reedited the movie to incorporate the fans vision. The movie hasn't even been released and it is already a cult hit!

I am on pins and needles waiting for this movie forget Superman Returns TO BORE THE EARTH TO TEARS! Snakes On A Plane is the next biggest hit!!!

Beautiful Sunset
Mood:  happy
Topic: One Ramblin' Ranter!
I managed to catch this sunset! It is gorgeous!!

That was the first part of it. It had such vibrant colors but they just got richer. Here is part 2.

And part 3 is the last shot before the light got too dim to take a decent picture with the kinda inadequate camera I own. Ok it is way inadequate.... but it works and sometimes it works incredibly well.

Hope you enjoyed it.

One more thing..... do me a favor and let me know what you think of my newly created PROFILE!!!

Commercials suck...
Mood:  don't ask
Topic: One Ramblin' Ranter!
The call center is still up to its old tricks of sending people home early. They are still hiring though. Makes sense right?

I have been distressed lately by the commercials with the voice overs of a guy that sounds bored. You know what I mean it is some monotone guy talking about things geared for guys. The new burger at Carl's Jr. or the great new flavorful lite beer.... "with out us most guys would starve." I hate that guy. In fact when ever I hear that guy present an ad I block the item from my memory. I have decided that I do not need to be told about something by a guy that is paid to sound like he is teaching high school algebra and all he can do is read from the text. I don't understand why advertisers are reverting to stereotypes and the worst aspects in humans to present new ideas. Just because I am a guy does not mean I can't cook. In fact I can cook and when I have people over I like to cook for them. I am actually pretty damn good at it. So what is with the insults from a fast food joint? I also notice that I, being a man, can not shop on my own or I will not know what to buy. Apparently I need to get a woman because only then will I be able to figure out a shopping list.

It is not just men that get insulted. I have seen ads aimed at kids where they portray parents as uninteresting and horrible people and somebody to disreguard. As long as you drink their bottle water you will be able to ignore your parents and everything will be ok.

I know women get it to. The whole idea that every cleaning product is a woman's best friend or that everyonce in a while you should get a break from cooking. Implying that normally you should be cooking..... Even worse the advertisers imply that only women are interested in or are in need of dieting products.

I don't get it... some of these ideas and labels are so 1950's. What is the deal, have we regressed?

The Rambling Review of NACHO LIBRE!!!
Mood:  loud
Topic: A Rambling Review
It is hot today! This is the second day in a row of heat. It is so hot and I am without air conditioning. I hate the builders of apartments up here. I want air conditioning at 80 degrees and today it was in the 100 degree range. It's 98 degrees right now! I tried to move far away from that. "Just when I thought I was out, they bring me back in"

I spent the day making calls to local businesses and hearing a lot more dial tone then last time. About 3 PM we called it a day and I headed to the movie theater. I remembered it as a cool refuge from the heat. It always was in Phoenix. Up here not so much. It was cooler then my apartment or outside for that matter. but it was not cold and I wanted cold. I had already paid for the movie so I figured I better watch it. That is why today I give you the review of NACHO LIBRE!!!!!

This movie was made by the same guy that made Napolean Dynamite. If you just cringed stop reading now. This is not your movie. Jack Black stars as Ignacio the man of the faith that just has to wrestle. I have felt that passion myself a time or too. I unfortunately do not want to subject the world to me in tights. For Jack Black this is not a problem. He spends almost the entire movie in clothes even a reasonably fit man should not wear. That is the curse of the Luchadores!

Everybody knows that wrestling, or rasslin', is great. Everybody knows the Hulkster and the Macho Man. These people pale in comparison to the famed Luchadores of Mexico. The Luchadores are typically much more agile then their US counterparts. They fly off the ropes and take wonderful dives on top of each other and genuinely put their bodies at risk. In this movie Ignacio has always wanted to be a Luchador. We see him as a young boy making his own costume and prancing around only to get punished and put to work in the kitchens of the orphanage. That is where we find him today making awful looking food for the orphans. A new person is introduced to his world and things seem to mean something again. The new person is a very cute nun. She is the reason for Ignacio to make something of himself and as he tries to entice her into an engaging night of toast munching and awkward conversation another brother comes by and sends him off on an errand. On the way back he does his errands to get the next day supply of chips for the orphans when he is accosted by Esqueleto and he loses the battle and the chips. On his ride of shame he notices a famous Luchador mobbed by fans. He turns away to see a sign that says Lucha Libre and it tells him amatuers can wrestle the next night. His chance has come. He unites with Esquelito and together they become the worst wrestling team ever! They get paid anyway since everyone shares the profits and for a while he lives high on the hog buying fancy shoes and new clothes. He soon finds out that he is a horrible wrestler and that what he really wants is to win and be admired. About this time fe discovers that his idols, including the number one Luchador are all self conceited jerks. After a heartbreaking night he vows to give up wrestling and refocus on his orphans. That day he is found out at the orphanage and pledges the next fight will see him victorious and that all the orphans will see the profits. He has found the reason to win. At his low point he realizes he has to do it for the orphans....

The movie is stupid. Lets put that out right now. The other thing to let you know is that stupid can be good. I liked this movie. I think that it had the same type of awkward social interaction that Napolean had plus it had the crazy antics of Jack Black. It's true I hated Jack in King Kong but I like him as the funny guy. His facial contortion work for this movie. That being said I have to tell you that every reviewer I have read absolutely hated this movie. I am not sure what they were expecting. It stars Jack Black in tights and a mask how dramatic could it be? It does not have a gangly teenager that needs chapstick so it is not Dynamite II and after all their is no llama named Tina. If you want to see a dramatic movie about a monk that wrestles to save the orphanage all the while trying to find forgiveness for his impure thoughts I recommend you get a camera and start filming that movie because this isn't it. This is camp and silliness at an absurd level. The wrestling matches were fun. The little munchkin wrestlers were great for laughs and Esquelito's shrieks of pain were dead on funny. I really liked Esquelito and the nun they were great. They did not get credit for their acting skills. Sometimes the best way to act with a person like Jack Black is to just look confused and these two did a great job of that. I love the looks of shock from the girl who plays the nun.

GO see this if you like Jack or if you like stupid movies. Otherwise don't go see it. If you read this all the way through and you hate stupid movies, I warned you in the beginning so don't come whining to me!