Friday, June 25, 2010

Friday Randoms

1- Ben's show opens on Monday (Monday?  Huh?  I don't know either).  They were featured in a Playbill article today. . .  Which pretty much makes them famous or something.  I can't wait to see it.  I'm a little giddy.

2- Nolan got his picture taken again last night.  My cousin Tami is an aspiring photographer, and I again volunteered my kid. . . are we sensing a pattern here?

Just a few of my favorites. . .  I'm sure I'll be posting more later.

3- This isn't a movie review post. . .  but Toy Story 3?  Go see it.  seriously.  I couldn't stop crying. . .

4- We came out of Chilis the other night to see Mario standing on the side of the road.  I think the kid in the big head was a little confused by me, but how could I NOT take Nolan over for a picture?

He didn't know what to do once we got there.  He sort of chickened out.  But the kid was nice and held his hand for a picture.

5- It is full on summer now, and Nolan has finally started to enjoy the sprinklers.  Seriously.  Does that not look fun?


Thursday, June 17, 2010

Two a half

When you ask Nolan how old he is, he will hold up 2 fingers and say "Two a half!"  he leaves out the and, but really. . .  it's still adorable.

So, recently our good friend Kevin Goertzen lost his job.  WIth his wife nearing her due date with their first child, and law school on the horizon in the fall, finding another gig is going to be tricky, to say the least.  So Kevin is filling his time with something he's always loved, but never really had time to pursue fully before.  Photography.

He's done a lot of head shots for actor friends and acquaintances, but as he gets new equipment, he's decided he wants to branch out a bit and get more creative.  So I offered Nolan up as a subject for his creativity.  (I know, I'm generous, right?)

We tried for a "Newsies" sort of look.  Kevin got some pieces from the Hale and we dressed Nolan up.  And truly, I was not at ALL sure Nolan was going to go for this.  Not at ALL.  He loves Kevin.  & he was more than excited to go to his house.  But getting my kid to hold still for very long. . .  not easy.  But he did amazingly well, given a few chances to run in between sets.  Check it out!


And then, when we had exhausted those options (we tried some of Nolan sleeping on the papers, but in trying to make him pretend to sleep, he really just looked like he was crying)  I asked Kevin to snap a few of Nolan in an outfit I bought last fall for a photoshoot, that ended up being way too big at the time.  And it seemed a shame to waste a perfectly good (if now well worn) outfit. . .   So here you go:


I love these because Nolan was comfortable enough with Kevin that these pictures REALLY capture who my kid is right now.  Not to mention, they're awfully pretty.

Kevin is open to more guinea pigs, and has given me permission to pimp him out on my blog. . .  so let me know, and I'll get you his number.  He's got super reasonable rates because he's still building his portfolio. . .  and he needs more willing subjects to try out his creative ideas. 

Thanks, Kevin!

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

More movie reviews

So, I'm a little weird, probably.  When I get really really stressed, a perfect way for me to wind down is to sit in front of a movie.  It doesn't have to be a great movie. . .  just something to get my brain distracted from the insanity that it is usually dealing with.

So I've watched more movies lately than you would think, considering my schedule has been hectic.  Some were great get away movies.  Some were too annoying to enjoy much. . .

Oh, this movie was bad.  Really really bad.  It's not the acting, though the actors really didn't do much for me. . .  it's the script.  the really REALLY bad writing.  Add this to my list of CRAP chick movies released in the past 18 months.
 
I have to admit, I actually liked this a little more than I expected to.  I would never have expected to care what happened to Miley Cyrus. . .  and it wasn't that I REALLY cared. . .  but it was better than I thought.  Her little brother is awesome.  Greg Kinear is good.  And while it was ALL Nicholas Sparks. . . it was still mildly entertaining.  And clean.  So that was good.


This had all the markings of a movie that we were really going to enjoy.  British drama.  Emma Thompson.  Hello!  But it was bad.  drawn out, boring, too much nakedness. . .  and I didn't care about a single ONE of the characters.  It was a real downer. 

This wasn't my favorite movie of all time.  Not even close. . .  but it was interesting.  If it hadn't had such a great cast, I probably would have stopped it a half hour in.  But it had a FABULOUS cast, so it was fun to watch.  It's weird.  REALLY weird.  But if you're OK with weird, you'll probably dig it.


 This is the ONE AND ONLY chick movie I've seen in the last 6 months that I actually liked.  I was very pleasantly surprised by this one.  I actually didn't LOVE the dialogue.  It was a little too casual for me. . .  but the characters are good.  The story is fun and mildly sappy.  & Vanessa Redgrave is, as usual, amazing.  Her real life husband plays the man she's looking for, and apparently this story somewhat mirrors their real life. . . 


This movie is not cheerful.  It's rather sad.  It's fascinating too, though.  It's character driven and well written, which I really liked.  It's incredibly well acted.  And having sat on the other side of the "downsizing" table, I felt like the nailed the experience. . .  It's definitely not a feel good movie, but it's worth watching for sure.


I am a sucker for the movie Gladiator.  I should say that at the outset.  I was predestined to enjoy this movie.  The fact that Russel Crowe and Cate Blanchett are in it just sealed the deal.  It's got battle scenes, yes.  But it's mostly about the characters, so I got sucked in.  I'm also a fan of origin stories, and you should know going in, this is a premovie to any other Robin Hood stories.  It ends where the story usually begins.  And I really liked that.

Oh the humanity!  I don't even know what happened here.  Both Ashton Kutcher and Katherine Heigl have the potential to be really charming on screen.  This was actually a pretty OK idea, in theory.  It was just SO poorly executed.  In every possible way.  Just avoid it.  Rent Mr. & Mrs. Smith instead.

This movie, cast full of wonderful actors, was just so-so.  Really, it was the time period that was sort of uninteresting about it.  And there were too many characters too broadly written to ever really get to know any of them.  But it was fun to watch great actors have fun. . .  so it wasn't a total waste of time.

This movie was completely harmless.  I admit that I cried at the end, though I'm not sure why.  I can absolutely see why this was better as a book (though I haven't read it).  there is just TOO MUCH that has to happen.  And it's all basically centered on 2 people. . .  it's kind of difficult to follow. . .  but I like Rachel & Eric. . .  and it was pretty. . .  so I cried.

Ben and I made an arrangement.  We got all three extended editions of LOTR for our wedding.  Ben hadn't seen the extended ones.  I had never made it through ANY LOTR movie without falling asleep for a chunk of it.  We made a trade.  I would watch all 12 (13?) hours of LOTR and he, in return, would watch Jane Austen with me.  

I have to admit, having made it through them all with only a 5 minute nap in the first movie, that I didn't hate them.  I even liked them.  My problems with them:  Orcs and battle scenes.  the characters are great.  the story is interesting.  the direction and art direction are beautiful.  But the orcs gross me right out.  Like, SERIOUSLY.  I KNOW it's just makeup.  I can probably even tell you how they did most of it.  But I cannot stomach watching them.

Also, epic battle scenes bore me to death.




Wednesday, June 02, 2010

Weekend Away

Nope.  Not dead.

Yet.

May is over, so my constant chanting of "just make it through May.  Just make it through May" is probably a little late to the party.  I guess I'll have to change my mantra.
At least regionals are over for a few months. . .  so there will be no more keynote creating in the wee hours for a while.  That MUST mean things are getting better, right?

------------------------------------------

So, we went to California this past weekend to see wee Sienna be blessed.  And to MEET HER already.  Because she's 3 months old, and in aunty land, that is WAY too many months.  We took Logan with us, because he's still a little young to be without his mama. . .  And the resulting pictures pretty much centered around the two of them.  They are the same # of months apart as Aubrey & Nolan, so I'm certain they will be great friends, despite the difference in gender.

A few of my favorites:
This is the sweet elephant I had to bring to Sienna.  Is that not adorable?

 Post baby blessing photos.  Their church is right next to the Sacramento temple, so we took our photos there.

I was apparently a comfortable place to nap.  And I do so love to be a baby napping place, so I stole her every time she seemed tired.

Kissing cousins

Logan was making this face all weekend.  It was cracking us all up.  I'm not sure what it means, but it can't help but make you smile.