Quick Update

I had an incredibly busy weekend. Be sure to check back for news on my wife's surprise birthday party, the 3rd Annual Pirate Festival, and more. I posted a review on The Dark Knight. Check it out on my blog, Surfer J's Reviews. I posted a new Guinness Tri-Tip Marinade Recipe at Surfer J's Grub & Stuff. Be sure to check it out.

4th of July Fun

I went to the Rose Bowl in Pasadena to watch the fireworks show on the 4th. I didn't actually go to the bowl itself, but to the hills overlooking the bowl, so we could watch the fireworks without dealing with all the crowds and mayhem below.

As you can see in the above pictures, it was a bit hazy for most of the afternoon. Having not seen the Santa Barbara/Goleta fire's smoke in Ventura or Malibu, I figured the smoke was moving inland, and channeling through the hills toward LA.

If you look in the pic above you may see the mass of vehicles near the Rose Bowl. I hate getting stuck in traffic like that, as it takes 30 minutes just to leave the lot. I really enjoy being above the fray, so to speak. I also enjoy watching fireworks without laying down or craning my neck to see.

My uncle has lived in the hills above the Rose Bowl for 6 years now, and we have watched the fireworks from his house for at least 4 of them. We head out to Pasadena to enjoy a nice afternoon of food and swimming. He always has a lot of great food.

My son got the most enjoyment out of the pool this time. He can't swim yet, but he wants to. He LOVES water. I have been holding him afloat on his stomach lately, and encouraging him to paddle and kick. He usually does, but he added a new trick this time. He started doing a breaststroke. His whole chest and head were coming up out of the water in regular intervals, mimicking a breaststroke almost perfectly. He didn't get his head in the water at all, but he was definitely accomplishing something with his strokes. Later he decided to brave getting his face wet. We encouraged him to put his head under water, mostly by example. He got excited and dipped his face in the water like Daddy did. This was encouraged by lots of applause, so he kept going. I think he will be swimming before he is 3.

The fireworks show was pretty cool. I had heard on the radio earlier in the week that the last minute of the show was going to have 2/3 of the fireworks in it. They narrowed it even further to say something like 1,400 explosions would happen in the final 40 seconds. I was looking forward to this.

Each year they add something new to the fireworks arsenal. A few years back it was those happy faces. This year there were a couple new ones. They made what looked like the planet Saturn. The addition I liked the most reminded me of the video game Centipede. A series of lights snaked up and settled in line with the previous one. It is harder to describe it than it is to appreciate it.

As you can see in one of the pictures, we were watching all the fireworks at eye level. No craning our necks. No laying uncomfortably in the grass. This was my kind of show. We had a lot of fun, and can't wait for next year.

George Carlin - Part Two

George Carlin's Airplane Boarding Process

This is one of my favorite bits. Every time I get on a plane I think of the things he makes fun of. This one is a little bolder than the Fart Jokes video in my last post, "George Carlin - Part One".

Parental Warning

Watch Part One:

Watch Part Two:

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Note To Parents: I would watch this before letting your kids watch it. The cussing is relatively light, considering his norm. I would put this somewhere between a PG-13 and R, to borrow from the movie industry. Part two is a little heavier than part one.
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George Carlin - Part One

As I am sure most of you know by now, George Carlin died last Sunday night. He was my favorite comedian. I can't play most of his bits for many of my family and friends, due to his language, but I personally looked past it and found some deep insight. Carlin didn't curse just to curse. Sometimes it was to make a point. He was very careful about all of his words, whether or not they were curse words. This put him above the rest of the comedians. He was obviously very intelligent. I hope that he was able to make his peace with God before he died. He has long been known to fight against his Catholic upbringing, and I think sometimes he went too far.

In tribute to him I am going to post a couple of his bits over the next few days. I am watching each one before I post, so I will add warnings to anything with choice language.

This video is especially funny following my last post, "Farting for Fun". Watch George Carlin's Fart Jokes below:

Weezer - The Red Album

The new album from Weezer is out, and I couldn't wait to get a copy. My wife and I downloaded the album on mp3 shortly after it was released. I must say that initially I was not too impressed. We burned it to a CD and played it for the first time on a road trip. I am pretty fond of playing Weezer albums at the beginning of a road trip, so this release was timed particularly well.

As I said before, my initial experience was less than I had hoped for. I think part of the reason was a difference in how I listened the first time. Typically I play an album a couple of times through, usually in my car. This time the album was on as background noise. It was easy to compare it to the Green Album, as there were no songs that immediately jumped out at me. I will note at this point that the Blue and Green albums are my favorites so far. I think ultimately this way of listening skewed my initial experience. I listened to it again today again with less distraction. This time I heard what I was looking for.

When one listens to Weezer, one can expect a certain style. There are usually familiar guitar riffs, and the songs vary from soft and harmonious to rockin'. This variety is part of what makes them such a great band. I listened to the album three more times this afternoon on my way home. I think the Red Album is definitely one worthy of the name Weezer. It may not have all the catchy tunes that the Blue and Green albums have, but it is still loaded with the things that make Weezer great.

If you are only a casual Weezer fan I do not recommend this album to you. If you are more attracted to songs like "Beverly Hills", "Buddy Holly", or "Hash Pipe" you will only find one song here called "Pork and Beans". If you are in fact a fan of Weezer though I think you will love this album. It is full of harmony, random compilations and classic Weezer rock. I plan to continue to listen to this album for a long time to come.

I added some Weezer clips in my sidebar, courtesy of Amazon.com. You may also click any of the above links to hear more of this album. Amazon sells DRM-free music. You can play it on your iPods or other mp3 players, and you can burn the album to a CD.

Note: Amazon.com did not sponsor this post, but this author is a member of the Amazon.com affiliate program.

Movie Review - Indiana Jones

I went to see Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull tonight. I am going to have to disagree with a lot of the critics on this one. This was definitely an Indiana Jones movie. While I could have done without a few of the scenes, I think it still came out well in the end.

The movie begins in Roswell, New Mexico, which is an indication of where the rest of the movie is going. Meet Indy's new brother-in-arms, who has an irritating habit of calling Indiana by the nickname "Jonesy". "Jonesy." Really? What about "Indy", or "Indiana", or even "Junior?" This was one of my few gripes.

For the first 20 minutes or so, it was hard for me to get behind the fact that it was really Indiana Jones, with the exception of the escape from the warehouse. He wasn't wearing his trademark jacket, and the hat seemed to morph from the trademark, to some bleached out, white-ish hat, and then finally back to the one we know and love. Once he gets to Peru with Mutt, things get back on track.

This movie was full of improbable fights, action sequences, and escapes, which is why we all watch Indy movies. Again, parting ways with the critics, these things are why we watch summer hits. We don't want excellent dialog, or well-manicured lines. We want to see stuff blow up. George Lucas has a habit of ruining dialog, so none of us expected anything good in that department anyway.

If I could change something, I would have Indy use his whip more. He gets it out a couple times, but it seemed like he forgot he had it for a while. Another element missing was the name "Indiana Jones". He went by Henry for most of the movie, only referring to himself as Indiana once, but then catches himself and goes with Henry. I think the point was to honor his dad or something, but I thought it was a little lame.

The above gripes notwithstanding, this is a MUST SEE, though I doubt I needed to tell you that. This installment definitely was more appealing to me than "Temple of Doom", so I would rank this one 3rd place of the 4 movies. As far as comparing to other movies, 8 out of 10. I loved it.

Movie Review - Iron Man

This is a bit overdue, but I have been wanting to write about this for a couple of weeks. If you have not seen Iron Man yet, I would highly recommend that you do so. I am assuming all the comic book fans out there have seen it by now, but this movie isn't just for them. Normal people should like it too.

Iron Man is not as well known as some of the other Marvel, or even D.C. superheroes. He is one of the rare ones who doesn't have a super power. He is just an everyday guy with everyday problems. He is easier to relate to in some ways than even Spider-Man. Marvel Comics itself was showing a vulnerability this time around, as this was their baby all the way. Marvel is now in the movie business in a big way.

All comic book movies have been adapted for the big screen, and this one is no exception. There are some minor changes here, but for an Origin story, I thought this worked out pretty well. Tony Stark is a wealthy playboy who drives fast cars and dates beautiful women. He makes his money selling high-tech weapons to the military. One day his own weapon nearly kills him, and he ends up creating a device to keep shrapnel out of his heart. He then goes on a crusade to undo the damage he has done with his weapons.

The acting was particularly good in this film, especially in comparison to Elektra, Daredevil, the Incredible Hulk, and Spider-Man 3. Robert Downey Jr. was a perfect Tony Stark. All the weaknesses Downey has been famous for are shared with the character Tony Stark. I am not a Gwyneth Paltrow fan, but I thought she did well in her roll. Jeff Bridges was great. A lot of people didn't even recognize him with the bald head and thick goatee.

While the movie was somewhat predictable, I expected it and was looking forward to it. I don't know where Entertainment Weekly and all the other reviewers get the idea that fans don't like the same old routine. We flock to the same old movies every year, in spite of the critics. I think it is time some of them looked for work elsewhere. I go to a comic book movie to see explosions, to laugh, to be excited as the hero saves the day. I don't care that it has been done a hundred times. A blockbuster is just that...a blockbuster. The critics should leave it at that.

The special effects were particularly good in this film. When Iron Man was flying, it looked like he was flying, not some computer animation. The jet battle was a pretty good example of the realistic look and feel of the movie.

Good acting, good writing, and a good director make this movie a must see. This was a great Marvel debut. I am even looking forward to the Incredible Hulk, in spite of Ang Lee's attempt to mess up the franchise. Summer movie season has begun. I give Iron Man an 8.5 out of 10.

Juno - Finally A Movie Worth Watching

My wife and I have been consistently disappointed with the quality of the movies that Hollywood keeps hyping as "Must See" and "The Best Film of the Year". The Academy Awards were full of movies that we couldn't believe made it. The 2 year old pretty much guarantees we don't see many movies in theaters, so we have to rent them usually. This is fortunate due to the high price of movies these days. We suffered through "No Country for Old Men" and "Michael Clayton" among other lame movies.

"Juno" is the latest movie Netflix has delivered. The acting is pretty good. I didn't hear too much hype about it, which probably helped. There are some pretty funny parts, and I was not bored watching it. It has a lot of folk music that really fits the movie.

There are a lot of themes that would probably require further discussion, but that is for another blog.

I think Juno turned out far better than most of the garbage that made its way across the stage on Oscar night. At least it won for writing. Good music, good writing, and good acting. I would recommend this movie. Four out of five on this one.