Picked up some new Blu-ray movies

Posted on March 15, 2011 by Joel

With some of Josh’s birthday gift cards, we picked up some new movies for home use — How to Train Your Dragon and Toy Story 3. I know video streaming (Netflix, Vudu, Amazon on Demand) is the new thing, and don’t get me wrong, I like the instant availability. However, not every film is available at your every whim. I used to purchase a lot of DVDs for my personal library during the heyday of DVDs — that time in the late 90’s and early 2000’s when everyone was convinced that you should be building a DVD library. Times changed when consumers realized that not every film is worth owning. How many times are you going to watch Miss Congeniality 2? I think video rental services help serve that once-in-a-while need.

I still think buying movies does fulfill a need when you know you will be rewatching a movie over and over again. Kids will rewatch their Disney/animated films relentlessly. I have my own favorites too. I think those films that fit that category would be better off in your home collection. To make the most of my money, I’ve also become a fan of Blu-ray discs (1080p, TruHD 7.1 surround sound) and movies combo packs. If I’m going to purchase a movie, the best ones include a blu-ray disc (home use), a DVD (car), and a digital copy (for viewing on my iPhone/iPod.) I think that’s a pretty good deal.

New movies -- Dragon, Toy Story 3

New movies -- Dragon, Toy Story 3

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Up (2009)

Posted on March 13, 2011 by Joel

For an inexplicable reason, I haven’t seen Pixar’s Up yet. It’s been out for two years, received critical and audience acclaim, and been availabe via Netflix streaming for about a year now. And yet, I never sat and watched it from start to finish. Oh, I’ve watched the first 10 mins a few times, but that’s it. Today, I sat with the kids, and we watched Up together.

Wow, what a great movie. The first 10 mins of the film tell so much about the friendship and marriage of Carl and Ellie, presented so well, and so moving. The animation was good, the story was good, and the usual Pixar magic regarding the characters. This was a nice adventure story, a sweet little film about aging and life. It has so many elements — adventure, fantasy, comedy, suspense, and certainly a sentimental aspect. I need to see it again.  I watched this over streaming video, but I read that the blu-ray is excellent.

BTW, seriously, how funny was Dug the doug? “Squirrel!!!”

Up (2009)

Up (2009)

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Joshua, meet Godzilla. Godzilla, meet Joshua.

Posted on March 13, 2011 by Joel

As a child of the 80’s, I grew up on a few, critical, pop culture icons — The $6 Million Dollar Man, Knight Rider, etc.  Saturdays were the best. I’d get up at 5am on Saturday mornings to watch Rocky & Bullwinkle, all those nutty cartoons (Smurfs, Chipmunks, Looney Tunes), and whatever was popular at that moment. Saturday afternoons were hit-and-miss, but sometimes there was something good on, primarily 70’s kung fu movies and Godzilla.

Ah, Godzilla, my childhood friend. You were the big monster hero, out to battle aliens, space monsters, and freaks of nature. There are three eras of Godzilla films, and I’m completely ignoring that stupid Emmerich. Let me elaborate:

  • The Showa era (1954-1975) — my favorite series, starting with the 1954 original classic.
  • The Heisei era (1984-1995) — begins with the 1984 film, but I’m not a big fan, so I haven’t seen them all.
  • Millenium era (1999-2004) — I haven’t watched any of these.

Although I watch a few of the 1990’s Heisei era films in college, I wasn’t enamored. I supposed I had a soft spot for the old kitchy films of my childhood. I watched a few clips with Joshua last year, but we sat and watched two entire Showa films this month — Godzilla vs The Thing (1964) and Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (1974). So far, Josh likes them, but he prefers the later ones where Godzilla is a hero, not a villain / force of nature.

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Joshua’s 6th birthday dinner celebrated with pancakes, film at 11pm

Posted on March 8, 2011 by Joel

Apart from the big birthday party last Sunday, Josh wanted to eat at IHOP on his actual birthday. Apparently, he’s a big pancake fanatic. Who knew? After we got back from work, we took the kids out for dinner. To pass the time, Joshua devoured one of his new Magic Treehouse books (birthday present), and Lily & I made faces.

Joshua loves his books

Joshua loves his books

Making faces

Making faces
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Joshua’s sixth birthday party

Posted on March 8, 2011 by Joel
A Star Wars family

A Star Wars family

Joshua celebrated his sixth birthday this year. Trying to find something different to do, we opted to rent a nearby community room, and entertain the kids ourselves. We decided on a space / Star Wars theme for the party. Since Joshua was in kindergarten now, we invited friends and children from both kindergarten classes at his school. Out of 40 kids, I’ll never understand the folks who never RSVP. I mean, really, can’t you pick up the phone?

Handmade lightsabers

Handmade lightsabers

As the party attendance grew to around 25 kids plus the parents, we decided that maybe we weren’t going to be able to successfully entertain all those kids (and their parents), and run the overall party simultaneously. A few days earlier last week, we opted to hire someone else to professionally come in and do it. In hindsight, great idea. I can handle entertaining my two kids, but 25 kids? Recipe for disaster, and me fleeing through the fields. We made a call to Dynamic FitKids, and they were available on Sunday afternoon.

My wife had some cool ideas, such as us wearing Star Wars t-shirts. As part of the goody/gift bags, each kid would take home their very own handmade lightsaber (made from a pool noodle.). Finally, Namita made a pretty awesome Star Wars birthday cake with a mini Death Star on it.

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A Star Wars cake

Two years in a row, the day called for rain, but we dealt with it. We got to the hall about two hours before to set up and decorate. The kids and parents promptly began arriving at 3pm, but we were fairly ready. The kids ran around, then our entertainment arrived, set up quickly, and we were off. It turns out that 25 kids is a lot of children to handle, so we’re doubly glad we didn’t try to do it ourselves. I think everyone thought the cake was pretty cool, and the kids seem to enjoy beating each other with their lightsabers.

Joshua’s 6th birthday party – Rocket Ship Activity from Joel Ipe on Vimeo.

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Futurama: Into the Wild Green Yonder (2009)

Posted on March 8, 2011 by Joel

A week or so ago, I finally watched the fourth and final Futurama direct-to-DVD film Into the Wild Green Yonder. This movie segues into the return of Futurama to the small screen with season six in 2010. Featuring the same cast voices, the Planet Express crew must stop “dark forces” from destroying any chances of a “green, new age.” There a few concurrent plot threads running in this film before merging at the end. Leela joining a feminist movement, Fry being challenged to go undercover to stop the aforementioned “dark forces”, and well, whatever.

The jokes that hit were good, but the jokes that fell flat weren’t so good. It’s a decent rental if you’re a Futurama fan, but not the strongest of the four installments. As a matter of fact, looking back through my four reviews, I’m not a big fan of any of the four films. The first few seasons of the tv series were great, but the quality has certainly dropped overall.

Futurama: Into the Wild Green Yonder (2009)

Futurama: Into the Wild Green Yonder (2009)

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Superman/Batman: Apocalypse (2010)

Posted on February 27, 2011 by Joel

I watched Superman/Batman: Apocalypse over the weekend, a direct-to-video animated film from DC. It’s the sequel (or follow-up) to 2009’s Superman/Batman: Public Enemies, which I haven’t seen yet. However, this was available for streaming, so I couldn’t resist the impulse. Based on the original comic storyline, this is an origin story that reintroduces Kara Zor-El, Superman’s cousin from Krypton, into the modern age. Batman discovers Kara after her spacecraft crashes in Gotham after being stuck inside of a Kryptonite meteor for some years. She’s young and inexperienced in handling her new-found powers, so Superman / Clark tries to acclimate her to her new world. Wonder Woman and her fellow Amazons of Themyscira come to take her and train her.

This wasn’t the best DC animated film from the series, but not the worst either. It’s worth checking it out.

Superman/Batman: Apocalypse (2010)

Superman/Batman: Apocalypse (2010)

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Aladdin (1992)

Posted on February 24, 2011 by Joel

Would you believe I’ve never seen the 1992 Disney animated flick Aladdin? Yup, never. It was on cable recently, so I recorded it for the kids. It was a decent flick. I noticed the early computer animation with the flying carpet. How times have changed.

Aladdin (1992)

Aladdin (1992)

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Dinner out for my wife’s birthday

Posted on February 23, 2011 by Joel

Wednesday night, we went out for dinner to celebrate my wife’s birthday. We decided to try out a new Indian restaurant Delhi 6 that opened in the area. The food was good, but they weren’t kidding about it being spicy.

Joshua & Nums Lily & Joel
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Doc says wear a knee brace and pop some Alleve

Posted on February 23, 2011 by Joel
My knee brace

My knee brace

After working out last night, then falling asleep on the couch, I woke up this morning with an aching knee. I didn’t do anything last night that should have aggravated my knee, but argh. I opted to work from home, and wanted to get an appt with my doctor. It’s not that I’m experiencing intense pain, but I’m concerned that I’ve misdiagnosed myself, and could potentially do some irreparable injury to my knee. Who knows, right? Better to speak to my doctor, and make sure I’m doing the right thing.

My doctor called me back later in the day, and I explained the situation and described the accident. It’s her diagnosis that I indeed sprained the ligament. She advised me to wear a knee brace for the next two weeks, and pop Alleve daily (it’s an anti-inflammatory.) Fine, I figure. I just want to get back to doing cardio ASAP.

I spent an inordinate amount of time perusing the braces at CVS later this afternoon. There are lot to choose from, and who knows which is best? I ultimately went with this Futuro Infinity brace. I’ve been wearing it, and I’m finding it to be annoying. The brace slips down constantly. Also, with the pressure around my knee, and then no pressure around my lower leg, I get this constant sensation that my left sock is falling down.

Annoying. What terrible timing for me to hurt my knee.

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