Heatwave!!!

Yep - that picture is right - 115 degrees in the shade outside today!
This is the third day in a row that the temperatures here are over 100 degrees! Here in western Washington this is not normal. In fact, I don't remember it ever being this hot! Needless to say, we've been hibernating inside with air conditioning. Keeping the dogs out of it is another challenge. Little Mouse the dachshund mix loves the heat, but doesnt realize how dangerous it can be to her. We let her go out for about 15 minutes at a time, before making come back in. Veggies are loving it, though. Just harvested some zucchini, and the tomatoes are getting close to being ready. Cant wait for a home-grown tomato and onion sandwich!

Movie Review: Passengers

Today we stayed inside(away from the heat - 99 degrees!) and watched Passengers. This movie was similar to the sixth sense, but without any of the scary or gory scenes. Its one of those movies you have to watch to the end to feel the impact of it. Most of the movie is a romance/ mystery about a plane crash and the survivors. At the end, you will really understand it better, and I dont want to give anything away - so I'll just say that its a movie worth renting and a good way to spend a couple of hours in an air conditioned room on a sweltering day. I give it a score of 9 out of 10.

Movie Review: Coraline

Last night we rented Coraline, an animated and 3d movie. I'd give it a 8 out of 10 rating. It was very entertaining - its a serious and dark story about a little girl for finds an alternate reality in a secret door. I hadn't seen a 3d movie since the 80's, and I've gotta say, they've come a long way. For the best effect, you have to be in a very dark room. After a few minutes, your eyes adjust, and it really has a cool effect. My favorite character in the movie was the cat, who was always slinking around and could talk in the alternate reality. It was quite an enjoyable movie all in all.

Movie Review: The Unborn

Just watched a newly released dvd titled: "The Unborn". On a scale of 1 to 10 we rate it a 5. Supposedly a horror flick, but nothing really scary about it. If youve seen the previews for it, then you have seen all the scary images (dog with upside down head,etc). The main problem with the film is that it keeps building suspense about every 15 minutes, then shows one scary image, then immediately jumps to a boring scene. This completely kills the mood it is trying to set. Also, the storyline about Jewish mysticism is somewhat interesting, but never goes into enough depth to really keep you going. If you've already seen all the good horror flicks out there and have nothing else to do, you might want to watch it. Otherwise rent something else.

Legos!

After thinking of the old commercials yesterday, coincidentally Gizmodo's blog has a retro theme going right now - and tonight they had posted the exact lego spaceship I got in 1979! Had to post some pics of it. I was so-excited to get it back then, in fact I think I still have it in the back room somewhere. Legos were great fun and inspired creativity. Of course there were some frustrations like the "popper-penguins"(legos that dont want to stay connected), or when you just cant find that last piece to complete your project. Also my friend and me would build lego forts, and throw lego bombs at each other until one person destroyed the others fort (you werent allowed to repair during battle). It created quite a mess in the room, which would have to be swept under the bed before my mom saw it. ;-). Anyhow, I'm off to build the ship again if I can find it!

Just thinking about some funny commercials from my childhood today:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WU1K4X_LOxY

Cant seem to find the original perfection commercial with the jingle "push the plunger down, set the timer, put the pieces in - dont be late! thats perfection" If anyone who reads this finds it, please let me know.

Of course, when thinking of the 80's, I cant leave out my commodore days! I spent coutless hours playing games and writing programs on my c64. I'll never forget the day I got it - my grandpa got it for me for Christmas. Boy was I excited! I plugged it in to the tv, and up came the blue screen of joy! I spent the night typing in short programs that were in the manual, which unfortunately I had no way to save, having not yet got the tape drive. Above is a picture of a setup I have now, that is similar to what I had in the 80's, with the game Ultima III: Exodus playing. I won this game after months of playing it back then.

Mouse n Ellie

Its been a while since I've entered anything here - thought I would talk a little about the young blood in this house - Mouse and Ellie. These two are full of energy and life and, of course, trouble! Ellie is the sweetest Chihuahua n Jack Russel mix. This means that she is not only the sweetest, but also the meanest. You don't want to get on her bad side! Also, she is a constant trouble with the others - starting fights and dominating them, that is, except for the object of her adoration - Mouse.

Mouse is a little dachshund (sausage dog). She is full of fun! Loves to play and run and has no problems with any other dogs. The exact opposite of Ellie, which may be why they are such good friends. They are inseparable most of the time, and they are both kennel trained, which makes nightime a snap!