Monday, November 17, 2008

The new Bond film, Quantum of Solace & the new Star Trek trailer, a review

Quantum of Solace came out in the US on Friday, November 14th. I saw it opening day.
And I will state up front that I saw it for one reason: the new trailer http://www.apple.com/trailers/paramount/startrek/ for the new Star Trek was to be shown before it.

Yes, I spent $16 to see a preview. And let me tell you, it was WORTH IT!

The film on the other hand, not as good.

**WARNING!!! SPOILERS!!!**

The Trek preview starts off with a car speeding through a desert. This is not what I expected. But when that little kid said that his name was James Tiberius Kirk, I almost died. The way he said it was priceless. The trailer then picks up pace and overloads you with scenes from the new movie.

I had enough time to identify most of the main cast, and of course the Enterprise herself-under construction no less.

I was speechless. I soaked up every second of data that I could. This movie is going to be GREAT!


After the preview, I was excited, I was pumped. I wanted to see it again!

Sadly, this didn't happen.

At first, I thought I liked the new Bond film-until I realized my excitment from the trailer carried over into the film. I would've given 2 Thumbs Up to almost anything after that preview.

I went to the theatre with 2 expectations.

1) to see a great trailer

2) to see a Bond film

I'm not sure the second one happened.

While I'm not a big Bond buff, I do enjoy watching 007 save the day from time to time. I've seen the various films over the years with the various actors. When I sit down to watch James Bond I have certain expectations

A new face-The James Bond films are unique in that they're all about the same guy, yet they've spanned decades, changed actors, and don't say "Bond" in the title. And that's okay. That is what let's Bond live. Keep changing the lead, don't put numbers in the title, and don't call them sequals.

Sequals. I don't know how many films there are, but it's a lot. And the box sets never have them all.
I have never sat down to watch a Bond film and felt "left out", until now.
Quantum felt like a sequal. A sequal to a movie I didn't see.
The entire movie referred to people and events without telling the audience about them. While I expect suspense and mystery in a film, I don't expect to be left in the dark.

Gadgets. James Bond is famous for having the latest in spy-gear and having a really cool car. All of which is explained to him and us in various detail by a man named Q.

He had a gun.

Yep, the great James Bond spent the entire film with nothing more than a gun.
I realize that he couldn't pick up gadgets mid-film due to plot reasons, but he should have had SOMETHING.

Women. Bond is a ladies man. But does asking for stationary *really* work as a pick-up line? From someone you just met?! From someone you're supposed to be escorting back to HQ?!!
I didn't understand that character, plotwise. She shows up, gets naked, gets dressed up, says "Hi" to the villan, and ends up dead.
They lost me with her showing up, really.
M says that she's a secratary, she files papers and stuff. Why was she approaching the villan at the party? Why was she worth killing, Are we really supposed to beleave Bond sent her to get info? Was an afternoon with the great 007 enough to make her think she was a secret agent too?

Violence. Yes, I know that Bond has a "license to kill" (or does he? The movie didn't say so), this film was more violent than I expected or wanted. Especially towards the end, with the women.

To sum it up, this was nothing more than action packed violence and explosions with the Bond label attached. If I had known that, I would have left after the preview and taken my wife to a nicer meal--we would have had the time.

Motel Review - Indianapolis, IN 46256, 46250

So Dad is coming into town this Friday & My Mother sent me a TXT asking me to check out the local Super 8
http://tinyurl.com/6jsuss .
Apparently it's 1/2 the price of everyone else in the area but on-line reviews show problems with cleanliness.
So I was asked to go and check it out.

I also suggested the Dollar Inn http://tinyurl.com/5ravmc which, last I checked, is cheaper and closer.

So earlier today, with my Palm Centro SmartPhone in hand, I went motel hunting.

I went to the Dollar Inn first, and the Super 8 next. The clerks were friendly at both places and had no problems with me checking out a room. They simply asked to hold onto a photo ID and gave me a key and a room number.

The DI uses actual keys while the S8 used a "credit card".
The downside to the card is that it becomes inactive EXACTLY at check-out. I was locked out of my room a few years back...

I asked both motels for non-smoking. And while they both asked how many beds, one, DI sent me to a 2 bed room, and S8 sent me to a 1 bed room.

S8 also tried to offer me a room with various "extras" like a mini-fridge. I declined.

I should be comparing the "bare bones" room of each facility.

And even though I was in the "no frills' rooms, the S8 just felt nicer. It may have been the lighting. It also may have been the decor. Either way, it just felt more expensive, but the room itself was smaller & as mentioned only had one bed.

Both rooms had the basics, bed, TV, desk, et cetera, but the coffee maker at the S8 stood out more. It's possible the DI didn't have one. As Dad doesn't drink coffee, I wasn't looking for one.

So, were they clean?

The beds were all made, and the bathrooms stocked, the S8 had their towls and soap folded into some fancy-oragamiasthing. I looked under the beds as well. Both of them were clean.

When I got back to the desk at DI, she wrote their prices on a slip of paper. The clerk 3 S8 used a computer.


The Bottom Line

The clerk at S8 estimated a Sa-Tu stay at $172.26. This is with the Senior Discount.
With the prices from DI, I estimate the same stay to be $116.05.

And in my opinion, the extra-fancy LOOK of the Super 8 Motel and the extra differance is not worth the extra price of the Dollar Inn.

---
I posted comments and pictures on both motels on Brightlite, the links are above, after the first mention of each motel.
My updates posted out of order and a couple pictures from S8 posted on DI, I shall fix this soon.

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Significant Other Action Figures/Dolls

So I was listening to the radio last night, and the DJ was commenting on a recent promo video released by Taylor Swift promoting her new album.
He said she had a Joe Jonas (one of The Jonas Brothers, and her ex b/f) doll. She's reported to have said that the doll comes with a cell phone so it can break up with other dolls-ouch!

I guess that's what happens when you're 18.

But it got me thinking. It's always nice to have a picture of your significant other. In your wallet, on your desk, even your cell phone. The same goes for pictures of your children.

But how cool would it be to have an action figure/doll!?

If my wife was immortalized in 6" of plastic, she'd be on display for sure. It would be the ultimate "remember me". Instead of being just another guy with a picture, I'd have a figurine adorning my workspace. People would walk by and inquire on the "toy", and I'd casually say "Oh, that's my wife".

----
I had written quite a bit more on the reverse side--why it would be weird, but the text got a little weird, so I deleted it.

Thursday, November 6, 2008

Kids don't listen, do they?

So I was listening to Radio Disney the other day and the DJ asked for caller #whatever to play "The Answer Is ALWAYS 'C'".
So they get that caller on the line, and tell them that they're playing "The Answer is ALWAYS 'C'".
The DJ then asks the caller (who is 14 or under based on station rules) a really random trivia question and gives them 3 choices A, B, or C.
The caller guesses A.

The DJ then goes on to the next caller who answers "B".
The DJ askes that caller "Are you sure you want to answer 'B' on "The Answer Is ALWAYS 'C'""?
The caller sticks with B.

Sunday, November 2, 2008

Thin Mints

Ever since my sister stopped being a Girl Scout, I've had the hardest time tracking down cookies.
I don't even know when Girl Scout Cookie "season" is.
I've been waiting for that knock on my door for years now. But guess what I found out last year--they don't go door-to-door anymore.

What?! Then how do I get my Thin Mints???

It turns out they sell them on Saturday mornings in front of grocery stores. But of course you have to know which mornings to be at which store.
I don't do my normal shopping during that time frame.
Thankfully last year my sister-in-law was able to get me a box. I was also able to get some Thin Mints ice cream-yum!
But that all happened at the very end of the season. I want to be able to buy several boxes.

Guess what I discovered a few days ago.


http://www.girlscoutcookies.org


Yep. An entire site about our cookie friends complete with a ZIP code based cookie season locator-so you can know when your local troop is selling.

If only my internet connection would load the page...

New Child, New Blog

In order to help me remember the cute stories about my children, and to keep them together, I blog.
Now that my son is here and has a name, you can read about him at http://smkroney.blogspot.com
This blog should autoforward to his facebook account (where fb will call it a "note"). And twitterfeed will post the blog to his @smkr twitter account.
My wife tells me I should let him be a baby-I am, a baby with an on-line presence that he is totally unaware of.

(and for those unaware, my daughter's blog is http://iksroney.blogspot.com and she's @iksroney on twitter)