Once upon a time, there was a little girl named Ella. One day she went out and picked a pretty flower. She did not know that a monster was hiding behind the tree, watching her.

Ella went home and her mommy helped her put the pretty flower in a vase.

But that night the monster reached in through her bedroom window and took the flower.

Ella went and asked the Flower Monster why he took her pretty flower.

The Flower Monster said the flower looked lonely by itself, and he wanted to give Ella a bunch of pretty flowers.

The end. (Story and illustrations by Ella – with some help from daddy)

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This was a really good film, perhaps as good or better then the Danish film it remakes.

What I liked best about the storytelling is the the fact that while there is some tense conflict between the characters, there really is no bad guy. You understand, empathize, and ultimately pull for each of the characters. That is a difficult accomplishment to successfully create believable conflict without a hero, underdog or a bad guy, and still make all the characters tangible enough for the viewers to become attached to each of them.

There were several upsides to the American version of the film:

The downside of the American version of the film:

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I was hooked right away and every unexpected turn made the film more engaging. At times it became borderline exhilarating.

Now, I am not saying everyone will like this movie, because clearly lots of folks may even find it disturbing. But if you like action, shoot-em ups with a very original story premise, then you’ll enjoy it.

I never read Mark Millar’s series of graphic novels (also called Kick-Ass), but from what I understand the film was pretty loyal to the original material. Except, I hear the comic is much darker and more political, leaving the characters far less likable. But even bigger news to me, is that the comic has a doozy of a twist ending. So I guess I might have to give it a read to find out for myself.

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I had no expectations of this film, which usually gives a movie a huge boost in the chances that I will give it a positive review. (Of course I enjoy movies so much, I rarely trash a whole movie – I seem to always find parts I enjoy.)

Anyways, I found The Informant! hilarious and highly entertaining in a subtle under-the-radar way, where much of the humor could be missed by many. The way someone watching Rushmore can find everything in it hilarious while the person next to them is bored to death. While Damon’s voiceover could come off as meaningless prattling, I found most of it side-splitting! Equally funny is all the early 90s references in clothes, hairstyle, cell phone size, etc.

I also am a sucker for true stories, even if they have been spun into a funnier-then-real-life version. I also was secretly proud of myself for knowing so much about the company Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) having buying some of their stock a few years ago.

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This world never ceases to amaze me. I just learned about a natural phenomenon called the Catatumbo Lightning. It is basically a lightning storm that stays in one spot for 140 to 160 days a year right at the mouth of the Catatumbo River where it empties into Lake Maracaibo in Venezuela.

Not only does this storm stay active for half the year, it goes on for 10 hours a night and produces on average 280 lightning strikes per hour. These strikes are visible fro up to 25 miles away and are so dependable they are used by sailors of the region as a natural lighthouse. The 1 million powerful flashes of lightning a year over this relatively small area are considered by some to be the world’s largest single generator of tropospheric ozone.

Is that amazing or what? It gets stranger: This is not a new phenomenon, it has been going on for centuries! In fact, the first written mention of the Catatumbo lightning was in the poem “La Dragontea” by Lope de Vega in 1597 where the death of the English pirate Sir Francis Drake is narrated as the lightning storm gives away his armada’s approach.

So, strange enough yet? Not done yet because after appearing continually for centuries, the lightning has all of sudden stopped. It has not been seen since January 2010, apparently due to a drought, raising fears that it may have been extinguished permanently.

Filed under: Whatever | 1 Comment »

Have you heard of the game 20 questions?

Well Akinator the web genius lets you think of a person whether fake or real, famous or not and it will figure out who you are thinking of. Its truly amazing.

Here are some of the people I thought of that he guessed correctly:

Harrison Ford
Marie Osmond
Ronald Reagan
Sinbad
Barak Obama
Sarah Palin
Elmo
Reggie Miller
Ron Artest

Try him out for yourself:
http://us.akinator.com/

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I know the song is clearly about moonshine, but growing up we would belt this out around the campfire and to me it was about my favorite refreshing beverage of citrus and caffeine:

Well, they call it that good ole Mountain Dew. Yahoo! And men that refuse it are few. (like 1 or 2!) I’ll hush up my mug, if you fill up my jug with that good ole Mountain Dew.
Listen to Grandpa Jones sing this hilarious song »

I have so many childhood memories that include the delicious soda called Mountain Dew. (I say “soda” now from living out in California for a few years, but it was always “pop” growing up.)

My best friend Shane and I would ride our BMX bikes up to Fourth Ward Market, the little store in my neighborhood, to load up on penny, nickle and quarter candy depending on what our budget of pooled pocket change was that day. But always first on our list was a nice 16 Oz. green glass bottle of Mountain Dew.

We would pop off the metal caps with the wall-mounted opener on our way out the door and take a swig as we mounted our bikes, ready to take on the world! We would ride one handed and carry the giant bottles in the other as a badge of honor.

Years later, our bikes were replaced by cars, but we would still pull up to the market or a Wesco gas station (Often driving separately since we each wanted to drive our own cars.). And the glass bottles, were now giant fountain drinks that we would slug down on as we cruised or hung out at the beach.

There was also the invaluable 2-liters of Mountain Dew, an absolutely essential supply for a night of movies or D&D with the guys.

Then there was the long late night shifts at Subway, where the all-you-can-drink Mountain Dew is what kept me going as a top-notch Sub Jammer.

These days, as I count calories and get most my caffeine from coffee, I only occasionally get my hands on some good ole Mountain Dew. But when I do it brings back so many memories … how I love thee Mountain Dew.

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The wife and I got a rare night out last night. We dined on fajitas and margaritas at Agave’s Mexican Grill, and then went to the Embassy Theater to watch Craig Ferguson perform.

If you are not familiar with Craig Ferguson, you should be. Most people know him either from his 7 years as the goofy Mr. Wick on the Drew Carey show, or his current gig hosting the Late Late Show on CBS. But he is also a talented writer and actor, he wrote and starred in a great movie called Saving Grace.

Anyways, I think he is perhaps the funniest man in late night television these days. His show is very different and many nights it truly feels like the guests are having fun and just hanging out with Craig in a way you don’t see in television interviews.

I was very excited he decided to come to our little town to entertain us. It was a really funny show, and his continual references to it being Vera Bradley bag night were hilarious!

My only regret is being the fools that sat in the wrong seats, had to move twice and accused another couple of sitting in our seats before realizing we were in the wrong row. Oh, well.

I am going to have to try to get my hands on one or both of Craig Ferguson books now, to see if his entertaining personality translates to the written word.

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