Yes I'm still alive

I know I haven't posted anything in a while but I'm still here. Just doing the daily routine this week and nothing new has really happened worth blogging about. So here's something to keep you entertained in the meanwhile. My Pug Frankie's favorite video!

Happy Birthday Georgie!

Today was my nephew Georgie's birthday party! Stacey and I spent most of our afternoon there just relaxing and having fun with my family. Little Georgie ended up with $105 dollars in birthday money! Gee ,times have changed, I never ended up with more than 20-25 dollars total on a birthday when I was a kid.

It never ceases to amaze me how much Georgie likes me. I mean I'm good to him and treat him kindly but so does everyone else around there, but sometimes he makes such a big deal out of me that I get embarrassed. Today when we were pulling up to my parents house Stacey started laughing because Georgie was yelling "It's Donnie! It's Donnie!" I thought it was sweet of him but honestly it made me self-conscious about getting out of the car! lol!

As we walked up to the house Georgie eyed the gift bag I was carrying anxiously and asked "Is that for me?" I laughed and told him that he'd have to wait and see. Stacey helped me find a Transformers gift bag with Bumblebee on it so he probably suspected there was a Transformer waiting in there somewhere.

We had cake and ice cream after we all sang Happy Birthday to the little guy and he seemed to be having a ball. There were several other kids there from the neighborhood and they were all running around in the front yard playing with plastic swords.

When he opened his presents he would go give the person who gave it to him a big hug and tell them "Thanks!, I love you!" It was so cute. I was proud of him taking the time out to show his appreciation.

I think the best part of the party for me was the look on his face when he saw his presents from Stacey & I. When he got to our gift he pulled out the first Bumblebee figure and said "Wow! Nana look it's Bumblebee!" to my mom. Then he went back in the bag and found the other one and asked me with surprise "You mean you gave me YOUR Bumblebees?!" I told him yes and this seemed like a big deal to him for some reason, and I was touched.

I got my hug from him and told him that I loved him too and felt satisfied. It felt very good to give him a present that I knew he really wanted. I'd say that those two figures were worth every penny and every minute spent searching for them.

Have a very Happy Birthday Georgie, I love you.

Family time

Last night I went over to visit with my foster parents and pick up my new Bumblebee figure. As soon as I entered the house my nephew Georgie yelled "Donnie!" and ran to greet me. I said my hellos and he followed me into the dining room where my package was waiting for me. When I opened it he oohed and ahhed over it like it was the most wonderful thing he'd ever seen. It was so cute.

Then he told me that he had his own transformer collection that he wanted to show me. He showed me a handful of smaller figures and I oohed and ahhed over them appropriately. I knew the little guy desperately wanted his "uncle" Donnie's approval and I told him that they were great.

Showing me one of his transformers he asked me if I had that same figure at home and being honest I told him that I didn't. I was telling the truth but I also told him this hoping that this would make him feel like he had something special to be proud of. Then the little cutie looked down at the toy seriously for a moment and then told me that if I wanted it I could have it.

That was so sweet of him that it almost brought tears to my eyes. I told him thank you but that he should hang onto it because I would go get one for myself some other time. He seemed a little disappointed over this at first, but there is no way I could have taken this little sweethearts toy from him. I don't care if it had been one of the figures I've always wanted.

I was so touched by Georgie's selflessness. Most kids wouldn't have done that I don't think. But little Georgie wanted to get my approval so bad he was willing to give me one of his toys to get it. That is just too sweet.

Saturday is his birthday party, although his real birthday is actually on Sunday. I found out from my mom that he's been wanting the bumblebee figure's from the movie ever since he saw it a few weeks ago. My sister thought that she had found what he was wanting but it had turned out to just be a statue of Bumblebee that doesn't even have any moving parts. She said that he opened it and fiddled around with it a few seconds and said "It doesn't fold up!". LOL! Poor little guy.

I went on eBay this evening and purchased the two figures from the movie again. They are a preorder and won't be shipped out until next month sometime. So I'm going to take the two opened Bumblebee toys I have here and box them up and wrap them and give them to Georgie on Saturday for his birthday. I hope that he doesn't mind that they're not still in the packages. They are in mint condition with all the paperwork and accessories, so I hope this will be o.k. with him.

Afterwards I went upstairs and visited with my foster dad for a couple of hours. I had a great time just chatting about computers and ham radios with him and a friend of the family that was also visiting. Alas time flies when your having fun and before I knew it I had to get home and go to bed.

Transformers, babies, and internet withdrawl

First off let me just say that Stacey and I are NOT about to have a baby yet. I know that some family (You know who you are!) might read the title and jump to conclusions. I repeat, there's NO BABY on the way. Maybe someday, but not right now.

Now the reason I bring up babies is because Stacey and I have just spent the last half hour talking about possible baby names that we might like. (I think her biological clock is ticking on me folks, she's been bringing up babies all weekend.) At first we were seriously trying to find names we might like, but after about 15 minutes or so this degenerated to just plain ugly or funny names. Names such as Elmer Fudd, Brad Pitt, Optimus Prime and so on.

So even though Stacey rolled her eyes at the idea, I thought I'd put the question to you, constant reader, and see if you had any good ideas for our future children! So if you know any good ones or just plain funny ones leave them in the comments for us.



Second, today is the last day that my beautiful bride is fasting from the internet. It's been hard for her but I think she's going to make it. There were a few times I had to talk her away from the keyboard but she's holding out ok for the moment. I tell ya, this weekend it hasn't been pretty! First she was just a little crabby and I thought nothing of it. But I knew things were getting bad when my baby started getting the shakes. I later saw how ugly it could really become when I found her curled up under the computer desk in a fetal position clutching the mouse. She kept repeating, "Just my email! Just my email!" :)

Seriously though I'm VERY proud of my beautiful bride. I know the the weekend has been especially hard for her to abstain from the computer because that's her time to really unwind and just have fun. Instead, Stacey worked in the front yard with me helping to remove some particularly ugly bushes that she's hated since we moved in here.

However I think Geo was right when he said that I might not get the computer for a month when she goes back online. She just told me that if she even wakes up in the middle of the night tonight that she IS going to check her email! More power to ya sweetie.

And finally I have to mention Transformers. (GASP! Who'd a thunk it!? Me, talking about Transformers?!) Yep it's true, as I read someone else on the net refer to them as "plastic crack". I think it's totally true I just wish that I had thought of it first!

So, last night I was on my favorite Transformers web site and I found out there was going to be a comic and toy convention right here near my house! At first I said that I wouldn't go because I'd bought so many toys the last week or two. But this morning I just couldn't help myself so I hopped in the car and raced to the show!

I spent WAY too much money and after the beating that my wife gave me I'll be lucky if I'm walking again by Christmas! But I'd have to say that the collector in me thinks that it was well worth it. I got several figures that I'd been wanting for a long time.

Yes that's right I bought SEVEN more Transformers! Because I don't have nearly enough now.

While I was at the show I ran into a friend I know from Ypsilanti who works at a comic shop. We always talk Transformers when I go to buy my comics and he had his own table at the show selling his extra figures.

To my surprise he gave me an awesome deal on a rare Transformer figure that I never expected to get. It's name is Ratbat. It's very hard to find this guy intact because he's so delicate and the "ears" of the figure are almost always missing when I see it on eBay. But my buddy sold the figure to me for a fraction of what I'd have had to pay on eBay. To tell the truth he sold it to me cheaper than I could get it from ANYWHERE I think.

"Look Maw! I got EARS!!"

This now raises the count of figures to 267 folks! So needless to say I came home broke but a very happy geek-boy. Ahem, geek-man. :)

Finally! Bumblebee!

Earlier in the week I posted that I had run all over the place trying to find a Bumblebee figure from the movie. I really did go to every store that might have him within a 25 mile radius of my home. Finally disappointed and discouraged I posted my woes here in a rant.

Later the next day I saw in my comments that my cousin who uses the screen name "Rain" would check the stores where she lives in Ohio. I thought that was SO sweet of her! She's got two children of her own to take care of as well as a boyfriend to spend time with (Not to mention a really cute pug named Jackson!) and she still took time out to go looking for a TOY for her immature cousin.

While waiting to hear back from her I continued my search and much to my surprise, my wife told me that her mom was now looking for the figure as well! Now that was amazingly sweet of her as well! I'm blessed that I have a good relationship with Stacey's parents. I love em' to death and think they're the kind of people I'd be friends with even if I wasn't married to their daughter. Both "Mom" and "Rain" are such darlings to sacrifice their time (and gas money) just to help me find a Transformer!

So anyway Thursday night just as I was getting into bed the phone started ringing. Normally I wouldn't have bothered answering it seeing that it was already past 10 o'clock. But as anyone who's read Thursday's post knows I was in a REALLY bad mood so I went to answer it just so I could tell them off for calling my house so late on a week night! (Bad Donnie!)

Well to my surprise it was my cousin "Rain"! I only get to talk to her about once a month, so no matter what , I wouldn't have yelled at her. I'm a single child but "Rain" is the closest thing I have to a sister in this world. She can get away with things that no one else besides my wife can. So anyway she was calling to tell me that she was watching an auction on eBay for Bumblebee!

I checked it out and sat up with her talking on the phone most of the night! We are ALWAYS on the phone for a long time whenever we talk. We both just enjoy the others conversation so much that we loose track of time. So that night I bid on the auction and won! And I didn't have to pay too much more than what I would have had to in the store!

This is the little sucker I was looking for! Now I can't wait for it to get here!

The next day I went to TransformersWorld2005, a website about transformers and collecting to check their message boards out and ended up finding and chatting with the same guy that I made my eBay purchase from! Small world huh?

I just want to say thanks to my cousin and Mother-in-law for all their help. It honestly didn't matter to me if they found one or not, I was genuinely touched that they would help. The fact that I DID end up getting the figure sure is a sweet icing on the cake though. :P

Exhaustion

Hi folks, sorry I haven't posted in a day or two. The truth is I've just been too tired, both physically and mentally to put my thoughts into words. As you already know, last week my boss was on vacation so I had to cover for him. That is a week I hope to forget! Everything turned out well but it was so draining!

This week my boss is back but our work schedule has been hectic! With the automotive industry in it's unstable condition shops like mine are either feast or famine. Well this week it's definitely a feast! Were so busy that I'd venture to say that I'm doing more work in one day than I normally do in two!

This is good as far as job security is concerned but it's bad on my energy level. I'm not really that energetic of a person to start with and my job at normal levels leaves me very tired by the time two o'clock rolls around. I think it's harder for me because last week was so mentally stressful.

Anyway this morning I was just so drained that I couldn't face the day. I haven't missed a days work since my wife had surgery in May so I called in. I know that I shouldn't have done it but I just couldn't deal with that drama and workload today. I know, I'm a lazy butt.

Some of you may not know it but I suffer from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, called O.C.D. for short. It gets complicated to explain what it does to me specifically but one of the things it does is cause me to suffer from depression. Usually my medication takes care of this for me but sometimes I still get down. Now is one of those times. I think that it's partly because of how tired I am.

I'm not a people person at the best of times. When I'm struggling with depression or other aspects of my O.C.D. I just don't have the mental or emotional resources to deal with people at times. I think it's really the reason why I called off today.

Most of the employees at my work only speak Spanish and since I'm one of only three bilingual people there, when I'm not inspecting parts I'm usually translating for someone. Today that just seemed too demanding for me so I played hooky!

Speaking of my mental shortcomings, I had to go see my psychiatrist today. (See?! I really AM crazy!) I go and see her about every two months just to monitor that my meds are working properly. I told her about the depression and she also thinks that part of it's just my workload right now. Also she said that sometimes, no matter what meds I may be on, the depression just breaks through.

The hard part right now is my spiritual life. It's really hard to have faith when your outlook in general is already gone kaput. I don't really want to read my bible or pray. When I do, I feel condemned for my failures or I just feel numb and want to get it over with. I will continue to both read the Word and pray anyways however because I know that God is the only one who can pull me out of this funk. I've learned that sometimes when I don't feel any faith I have to just keep doing what I know is right until my feelings catch up with me. It's easier said than done but then most things that are important usually are.

Anyway, not to worry, just like a bad burrito that's setting too heavy on your stomach, this too shall pass. There's no need to worry about me, Stacey's doing a good job of keeping me laughing, but any of you that are believers know that I do covet your prayers.

Stacey & The Internet

As many of you who read my wife's blog already know, Stacey is fasting from the internet this week. To support her in this I've been trying to avoid being on the computer when she's home. The only reason I'm writing this post right now is because she's still at work and won't be home for another couple of hours.

Well, on a normal work day I have the computer until my wife gets home and then we sort of split our time on it after that. Seeing as I didn't want to tempt my beloved last night, I just got off the computer and spent the evening with her.

We had a wonderful time. We cuddled and talked a while, we played with Frankie our pug. And then in the evening we watched Miss Congeniality 2 while we ate our dinner. I must say that it was actually nice to just spend time alone together. Some days seem to blur by so quickly that it doesn't seem like we really get a chance to chat until were in bed at night. I often worry if I'm neglecting Stacey because of this.

We are both only children so were pretty independent most of the time. Often we just like to pursue our individual interests together in the same room but not really talking that much. I really enjoy that we can be alone in silence sometimes and there's no awkwardness to it.

But I think times like last night are really important too. It was a chance to reconnect and just have fun. I wouldn't have married Stacey if she wasn't also the best friend I've ever had, I just enjoy being with her. I told Stace to be thinking about what she'd like to do together after work tonight and I'm looking forward to hopefully another evening like yesterday.

Usually Friday night after work is our date night when we do all our catching up from the week. But I'm thinking about proposing the idea that at least one other night a week we just turn this computer off and do something together here around the house. What do you think about this?

Collecting Woes

Most of this weekend was a waste of time for me. I spent most of the day Friday and Saturday on the road going from store to store trying to find two transformers I REALLY want and finding bupkiss.

Lets see I went to;

4 Meijers
4 Targets
2 Toys R Us
2 Kohls
& 1 KB Toys

And what do I have to show for it? An empty gas tank. }:- (

And what figures pray tell were I looking for? The first is the 2008 Concept Camaro version Bumblebee figure from the new movie. I have the 70's camaro version but the '08 was recently released and I wanted to get one at the store because on eBay they're going for 30+ dollars. If you can find one in the store they're only about 17 dollars. Now I think I know why I couldn't find one. Everyone's buying them up in the stores to sell on eBay!

The second figure was a long shot in the first place. It's the Titanium version of G1 Ultra Magnus. This figure was not released in stores when it came out 6-8 months ago. The only way to get it was from online toy dealers and the going price was $50. I wanted the figure terribly because it was the closest representation of the character in it's original 80's form. But I couldn't justify that high of a price for a figure from a series that retails for $16.

This is Ultra Magnus as he appeared in the 80's cartoon series.

As you can see this version of the toy is a very faithful translation of the charater.

Well, last week Target did their fall reset in the toy aisles and many people online reported finding the elusive Ultra Magnus figure! I was so geeked! I went online and found several locations near me and checked them two or three different times last week. But alas to no avail. :-(

The worst part? Even if I wanted to get the figures online now I probably can't all the online dealers sold out several weeks ago. So now BOTH of these bots will be added to my wish list of hard to find figures. Sadly this list is long as it is and their prices on Ebay will only continue to go up.

So to ease my woes I went to Hollywood Video and bought a bunch of used DVDs. (Which is just as stupid a waste of our hard earned money as the transformer toys I was looking for by the way.) But I'm the type that spends money when I'm depressed or mad and I was both so I got quite a few.

I bought;

Pan's Labyrinth


The Messengers


Slither


The Grudge 2


Feast


The Return


Miss Congeniality 2

(This last mostly for Stacey but hey I don't mind watching it, Sandra Bullock's cute! :P )

I'd have to say that the only part of my weekend that wasn't a waste of either time or money was going to church on Sunday and afterwards having lunch with my beautiful wife in Royal Oak.

Quick Update

Hey guys, I was just browsing around in my pictures and I found the one that was attached to the infamous email that introduced my to Stacey so for your viewing pleasure I present "Lizzy"

Now tell me how could I resist a smile like that?

Internet Romance

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Stress!

So far this has not been the best of weeks. I arrived at work Monday to discover that my supervisor had decided to go on vacation for this week and not tell me.

Now some of you might be thinking "Big deal, the boss being away is a good thing!" But not in my case it isn't. You see I work at a CNC Lathing and heat tempering plant as a quality inspector. Mostly we make axles for the big three. And this week we're working on a prototype part that might lead to the company getting more work. Usually my supervisor would be working on something like this while I handled the regular day-to-day inspections. But now he's on vacation and I have to handle the inspections for the prototype!



It's not that the part itself is so bad, it's a little more difficult than say a part we do every day but still not too big of a deal. A big part of the problem is working with one of the Production Manager's named John. John is a very loud opinionated man who is VERY impatient and unforgiving of mistakes. He wants everything done NOW and he wants it perfect the very first time!

John also loves to place blame. If something goes wrong it's NEVER his fault. It's always yours. Several times in the past he has laid the blame on me and caused problems for me. I know that I'm not supposed to hold a grudge and I try my best not to. But even forgiving him the best I know how doesn't keep me from trying to watch out for the next thing that I might be blamed for.

Setting up a part doesn't work that way however. John is the one who sets up the lathe to run the new part and NO first setup is ever right the very first time. So I have this manager who loves to blow his top looking over my shoulder all the while I'm measuring a part that I'm unfamiliar with.

Now, to his credit, John has been very good to work with so far this week. He hasn't blown his top so far. But that's the key phrase, "so far" I've worked with John for almost five years so I generally know how to deal with him. But from that experience I know that he could blow up at any time and it's usually something small that you'd least expect that causes it, that keeps me on my toes.

Any of you who know me know that I don't like to argue and that I don't have the best temper myself. So the last few days have been very stressful trying to do my regular work and at the same time help with setting up this prototype.



Now add to this situation the heat. It's been 88+ degrees the last two days and very high humidity. Now, my shop heat treats parts in large ovens and that means that whatever the temperature is outside it's 15-20 degrees hotter inside. Were all melting in there! The heat was so bad that yesterday I was ill after returning home after work.

Luckily this morning I woke up feeling fine. The last thing I wanted was to go to work and already be sick in this situation. And with my boss on vacation there would be no one to cover for me so I couldn't have called off.

God has definitely been a big help through this. I believe that it is He who is causing John to be so easy going. Also when things at work have been at a hectic pace, I've felt His calming presence with me. If nothing else I believe that this week is definitely teaching me to lean on the Lord more heavily to help me get through my day.

The Dead Walk!

Well, not really, but in the movies they do!

You may have noticed that I've tried to improve my blog a bit over the last couple of days. I've added fields on the side bar telling friends what music I'm currently listening to, what books I've been reading and what movie I last watched.

You'll notice that today's little update to movies was Resident Evil: Apocalypse. I absolutely love zombie movies. And lately I've been on a big time zombie kick. Unfortunately there aren't very many good ones out there. Oh, there are tons of zombie movies but most of them are hideously bad.



For a zombie movie to be good it has to be well written enough that I care about the characters. And most importantly it has to scare me. Very few are able to accomplish that last part but I at least want to be fearful for the characters.



One of the best writers and directors in the zombie genre is George A. Romero. I love the feel that his movies have. They are claustrophobic and you're constantly afraid for the characters. There are very few moments (if any) in his films where the characters ever truly are safe.

Many Romero fans site Night Of The Living Dead as his best zombie film but for me, it's Dawn Of The Dead. The original 1978 version is what I'm talking about, not the 2004 remake(While the remake is an ok film.) The '78 version of the film has very weak special effects in most parts but it has a realism about it that makes you think this is what it would actually be like if there was a zombie outbreak.



Now, the reason that I like zombies so much is simple. They can scare me. Of all the horror premises I've seen (ghost's, demons, serial killer etc..) zombies are the one that are consistently frightening to me. I think that it may come from the natural fear of death that we all have, but I don't claim to be a psychiatrist. In truth I don't really care why, if I knew that might ruin it for me and that would be a shame.

All I know, is if I really wanna watch something and get a good case of the heebie-geebies, all I gotta do is watch a good zombie movie.

A funny side note. My wife can't stand to watch most horror movies because they scare her to death and give her nightmares, with the exception of zombie movies. She says that they don't scare her in the least!



Sadly, most of what passes for horror these days is just gore. The Saw films are really interesting movies that I enjoy but to me they are in no way horror. They have a lot of blood and guts but nothing really frightens me about them. The same is true for Hostel, lots of gore, not scary.

To me, a movie is scary when the tension builds and the suspense is driving you crazy! These two elements cause your fear to rise and make you afraid even if most or all of the killing is done off screen. If you don't believe me go and watch the original Halloween. I've noticed that there is actually very little blood and/or violence in this movie compared to modern horror movies. But the suspense of when is Michael Meyers gonna pop out of the shadows and get them plays with your nerves and you can't help but jump!

So if any of you know of any lesser known zombie or horror movies that really scared you let me know.

The Dark Tower

First off I hope everyone has noticed that I've added a few things to the blog. I thought it would be good to make a few lists on the sidebars to my favorite sites on the web and such.

One thing you will also notice is a new little blurb to the right entitled "What I'm currently reading". The name is self-explanatory so I wont bore you telling what you already know. But instead I'd like to tell you a little about the book itself and the series that it is a part of.

Most constant readers of Stephen King are already familiar with this series called The Dark Tower. But to my surprise I've met a few King fans who haven't read his "Magnum Opus". Usually when I ask why they say that they tried the first book and it wasn't like his other novels. A few others say that they don't like to read series of books that take more than one volume to tell the whole story. Whatever their reason they don't know what they are missing.

The Dark Tower series was inspired by the poem Childe Roland To The Dark Tower Came written by Robert Browning around 1855. It tells the story of Roland who is questing to reach a dark tower and his adventures getting there. It is a very dark poem but full of rich descriptions.



Stephen Kings character, Roland, the last gunslinger is also questing to find a dark tower. It is a quest not only to save his world but ALL worlds. The first volume, The Gunslinger focuses mainly on the main character Roland and his pursuit of a villian called The Man In Black. Who also happens to be a villain a from a few of Kings other novels, The Stand, being one of them.



I think many readers are thrown off by the first volume because it feels a bit different than most of Stephen King's work. It's hard to explain but to me King's writing style is a bit different than his other books. However, starting with the second volume, The Drawing of The Three, Stephen's regular writing style seems to come through and if most readers make it here they're gonna get hooked on this series.



What is really amazing to me is that nearly EVERY book Stephen King has ever published ties into the Dark Tower in some way. It is my opinion that those who only read his other works can't fully appreciate what King has accomplished here. Even as early as King's second novel, Salem's Lot, directly connects to the Dark Tower so that I have to think that Mr. King was planning on creating this huge web of stories from the very start. Whether this was done consciously or subconsciously only he knows.

Recently, the final volume, The Dark Tower 7 was published. King had been very slow about putting these volumes out in the beginning. Usually only about 1 book every 5-7 years and this drove fans crazy! But a while back tragically, Stephen was severely hurt when he was hit by a mini-van when taking an evening stroll. This somehow make Mr. King aware of his mortality and his desire to finish the series, and he published the last three volume in rapid succession.



I've read almost all of Kings books and I can easily say that The Dark Tower series is by far my favorite. It is connected to so many of my other favorites such as It, The Talisman, Black House, Insomnia, Salem's Lot and many others. Even some of his short stories are indirectly connected to it. It makes me feel like I'm revisiting those other novels as well.



Another treat is that Marvel Comics has reached an agreement with King to publish a mini-series of comic books called The Gunslinger Born, that tell some of the back story of the main character, Roland. So for those fans saddened that the series is complete can revisit that world before the first book takes place.



Anywho, I've babbled along long enough about this for now so I'll shut up now.

What are you doing still here?

Go on, get out there and buy the first volume, you don't know what your missing!

My Transformers Movie Review

As my post two days ago should show, I'm a huge transformers fan. Ever since the movie has been released all my friends keep asking me what I thought of it. I thought I'd post it here so that from now on I'll just direct them to my blog.

First off, I really had reservations about this movie because all the pictures I saw of the robot's designs looked terrible to me. They looked very different than the blocky forms I have grown so used to since my childhood. The only way I can describe my first impression of the pics I saw before the movie is "insect-like". In some ways they actually looked almost organic and I didn't like this very much.

However, as soon as I saw these figures moving on-screen I was put at ease. To tell the truth, I was so caught up in the story that I didn't think twice to criticize the robot's designs. And when Prime transforms to robot mode for the first time it nearly took my breath away. Here was my childhood hero brought to life! (I'm such a dork!)

I loved the voice acting! Peter Cullen was the original voice of Optimus Prime back in the 80's. And to me, anyone who has voiced the character in the later cartoons are poor imitations. It was great to have the "real" Optimus Prime in the movie. I also loved Hugo Weaving's work as the voice of Megatron.

Peter Cullen aka...

...Optimus Prime


Hugo Weaving aka...

...Megatron

As far as the storytelling goes, I generally liked it. There is lots of humor and I never thought I'd LOL at the theater as much as I did. Especially at a Transformers movie. I say that I "generally" liked the storytelling because sometimes the fight scenes were hard to follow. When the camera was pulled back for a medium or far shot everything was easily understandable, but several times when two bots were fighting, the camera was so close to the action that it was hard to tell one character from another, much less what they were actually doing. This is a minor gripe however and overall I thought the story was great.



I loved the movie score and immediately went in search of it. Unfortunately all that is available is the soundtrack. (Which I bought.) At the moment there are no plans to release the movies orchestral score which is a shame. But I'm sure that one will be released eventually.

I've been to see the film twice so far and have been invited by a friend to go see it again. (Finances permitting.)

There were two things I didn't like in the film however. First the language. While I don't consider myself a saint I was surprised by the Transformers themselves cursing in this movie. While I can understand it that people talk this way and easily accepted the human characters profanity, I was shocked to hear the bots curse. It's my feeling that if they were supposed to be so much more of a "mature" species than the humans they would have outgrown profanity long ago.

The second thing that bothered me about the movie was how much more powerful Megatron was than Optimus Prime. This really ticked me off, it seemed to me that it was all Optimus could do to survive for the few minutes they actually fought. At one point, before the battle begins Prime actually tries to cover the bases in case he gets killed in the battle by telling Sam to throw the Allspark Cube into his chest if it looks like he's gonna die!

This is completely out of character for the Optimus Prime of the cartoon. The Prime I know is able to go toe-to-toe with Megatron and fight him to a standstill. That was part of their dynamic as each other's nemesis. Megatron could basically trash any regular autobot he wanted, that was until Prime showed up. Optimus Prime was the one guy that could match Megatron in raw strength and thus stand up to him.

In general though I think that Transformers is the best movie to come out this year and I recommend that you go out and see it if you already haven't.

Trusting God

An iteresting thing happened to my wife and I yesterday I want to tell you about.

I was layed off of work for the first two weeks of July. I didn't have any vacation time available to use for the extended time off so obviously that meant no pay for those two weeks. I suppose I could have tried to apply for unemployment but I was greatly distracted by a tooth ache at the time while trying to plan a trip to WV to see my dad.

So the way things worked out was that since we only get paid every two weeks at my shop, we have been about 5 weeks without a paycheck. My wife works as a nanny and we've been making due with her income but it's not enough what with gas prices so high and a mortgage to pay and such.

Last friday I began to get very frustrated with our situation. It feels like I'm working for nothing! I've been working the last 2 and a half weeks and were broke! I didn't want to say anything to my wife because I didn't want to burden her or maybe even start her worrying if she wasn't.

So last night Stacey came home from work in a bit of a mood and said almost exactly the same things to me that I had been feeling for the last week now. In some ways it was a relief to know I wasn't alone feeling this way. In another way it made me feel terrible! I feel like a failure as a provider because my wife has to be bothered with the money situation at all. I'm old fashioned and look at providing for the family monitarily as my responsibility.

I have no problem with Stacey working but I want it to be for her own personal gratification not because she has too. That's why I've already told her that as soon as we pay off the mortgage she can quit her job if she wants. Or look for something else she likes better and not worry about the pay rate.

Anyway I reminded Stacey that God would ultimately provide for us no matter what our work situations were. She said she already knew this and had just read that in the bible that morning during her devotional bible reading.

Well today she sent me a text message at work excited because she unexpectedly came into some extra funds! How's that for faithfulness? God knows our needs before we ask and already has provision for us.

Also, thank God, tomorrow is payday for me. I think things are going to continue to be tight for a few more weeks untill we get caught up on all the bills, but I really needed the added encouragement of God's help today.

Anyway I'm posting while on my lunch break, gotta go!