What are you looking forward to?

Taking a break from the Movie Project, I'm going address one of the post a day topics, "What are you looking forward to?" A bit of an ambiguous question, because it doesn't specific the terms of how far forward we're talking about. At the same time, Cornelius Robinson's motto of "Keep Moving Forward" are wise words.

In the short term, I'm looking forward to the Meet, Tweet, and Greet this Saturday. This event is looking be a great gathering of writers throughout the city, and who knows, might give me some good job leads. At the very least, it will serve as inspiration to continue writing, even when I feel horribly tired and worn. Plus, I've wanted to meet Marty Chan for years now. I love his submissions to the Edmonton Journal!

Along the longer stretch, I'm looking forward to news from my boss regarding his old computer. He said he was upgrading and would no longer require his old computer, and said he'll let me know more details about letting me have the old rig once more details appear. One of those details would be the new computer. I haven't heard anything as of yet, but things have been a little crazy around the office.

Still, if I do get the old computer, I might donate it to my friends the Kerns. They got a Mac Mini for Christmas, an older one circa 2005, with a 1.25Ghz G4 processor with 512MB RAM. It's currently running OS 10.3.9 aka Panther, which is good. If it was 2005. In this day and age, the most current OS is Snow Leopard, OS 10.6.3, which is available for $35 at the Apple Store. Which I got for their computer, since their poor like churchmice. All you Mac champions are either snickering at my frustration or gasping at my stupidity, as I set the startup disk for a network connection amoung other silly things. I'm starting to think the easiest way to fix their computer problems would be with another computer! In order to get their Mac Mini in a better operating condition, it would require an upgrade to Tiger, which was released in 2005, and was replaced with Leopard in 2007. Snow Leopard has been released in the meantime, and Lion is going to be gracing us all soon. So where do you get Tiger legally? It's starting to look like you don't. I'm looking forward to when they'll have a computer that just works.

I can think of a number of movies that I'm looking forward to, along with Rini's fourth birthday, she'll be into the triple digits! (in Binary) And I'm also looking forward to swimming with her more and more, especially since she's taking lessons. Is she going to be a world class athlete? Eh, probably not, but she could. In any case, swimming is one of those things that's good to know, and could save your life one day.

With a little baby in the house, a couple of things I look forward to with her. Namely, I look forward to when she'll sleep somewhere other than our room, and I also look forward to when I don't have to worry about her waking in the middle of the night. Whenever that will happen.

In the very near future, Caitlin and I might be moving our family to a place of our own, something we've both been very much looking forward to! Leduc housing recent had an opening in Beaumont, and Caitlin went to see the apartment today. Yes, there are apartments in Beaumont, 2 bdrm, and it would be on par with the apartment we had when Rini was born. The main difference is there is a storage locker, which cuts down on the square footage of the actual apartment, but still makes for about the same amount of storage. Rent will be affordable, and when we have another child, we'll be able to apply for a larger unit. Assuming that child is a boy. And assuming we have another child.

Last but not least, I'm looking forward to sleep. Or a nap. Or just an extended blink.

Movie Project - Day 16: Kirby's Epic Yarn

This time I am REALLY bending the definition of Movie Project, since Kirby's Epic Yarn is not even a movie. It's a sidescrolling platformer for Nintendo Wii, and the reason I have put it in with this series, is because to my daughter it was a movie. She never played it, she just watched me play it. Plus all the cut scene cinematics are narrated with a children's story book voice. Hence, I thought it was the perfect game to play with Rini. All the characters are made of yarn, and they don't die, they just get unwound. And Kirby makes the cutest sounds.

Plus, since Kirby is made of yarn, he can transform himself into all sorts of things: a car; a heavy weight; and Rini's favourite, a parachute. With the aid of various power ups, you can also transform into a tank, train, snowboarding penguin, digger, spaceship (than can suck up enimies), and even a dolphin. It's a lot of fun, and quite challenging at times. It's not an impossible game, but there are some elements that can be very frustrating.

Rini didn't know this, but getting the car going was a bit of a pain. I'm used to the Mario side scrolling controls, but if you try pressing 1 in order to go faster, you're in trouble. What you do is tap the direction arrow either left or right twice. The parachute was easy, You just jump then press 2 once more and hold it. I think it was the 'pop' sound that Rini really enjoyed. She would always giggle when I did that!

The game does have it's replayability factors, such as the mini games that you can access once you furnish the apartments for the sprites that are looking for places to live. Yes, you can do interior design in this game. Change wallpaper, flooring, even do reupholstering with over one hundred types of fabric. I only got about half of them, but once I beat the final boss, I didn't really want to go back through all the levels and get the Gold Medal status for each one, and gather all the furniture items, and get through all the mini games just to have 100% completion on every element of the game! It would have been fun to do the bell ringing, but it was enough just to get all the cinematics. Once you achieve 100% in a certain category, a bell appears above the section counter. Once you have everything at 100% you have a full C scale of bells, which is fun to ring and play music. But it you want to play music on the Wii that bad, go get Wii Music. Or better yet, play an instrument!

The boss fights tended to frighten Rini somewhat, but she is a bit of a drama princess, but she always enjoyed watching the parts of Patch Land get sewn together with the magic yarn. My favourite cinematic was the cake eating contest. I didn't mind the children book narration, and it actually gave me the idea to record a reading of a children's book myself.

I can see some older people getting annoyed with the cinematics, but I can also see them enjoying the craziness of the levels. It is a bit of a challenge to get absolutely everything in this game, but to clear all the levels and see how the story plays out isn't quite as tough.

Rini wouldn't know either way, but she had a lot of fun, and if there was another game of similar epic nature that could also teach my daughter shape recognition like the furnishing jobs did, I would welcome that.

Besides, after Rini was watching me play Zelda:Twilight Princess, and she got caught up in the wolf attack action by shouting, "Kill him! Kill him!" I got a little worried. Mario Kart and Kirby are great staples now.

And Rabbids.

Movie Project - Day 15: Shaun the Sheep

Cheating a bit for this one, since the DVD set we have is a collection of the First Season episodes of the series. But it is a spin off of a character introduced in another famous Aardman production, A Close Shave. Shaun the Sheep is just that. A sheep in a farmer's herd in some place off in the in hinterlands of the British Isles. It's a fair bet that it's somewhere in England, but I have to watch all the episodes to be sure about that.

One of the big draws for my daughter in liking this series is the simple fact that the episodes are short. Every episode is about 5 minutes in length, and you might think they're trying to make a quick buck by recycling animation and just churning out dross. Not so. First off, I would imagine they have the average run time at 5 minutes because the entire production is done the same way as most all other Aardman productions (with the exception being Flushed Away) as they are done via Stop Motion. Making puppets and clay figures and having them animated one cell at a time. Really is quite a marvel, and Shaun tends to have quite the interesting adventures encased in the five minutes. Are they something that would make you rethink how the world works? Not really. Are they funny? Very much so! The episodes are riddled with gags which are quite easy to understand since only the title song has any words. Shaun and his flock all communicate via bleating, yet there is enough intonation that you can understand when they're happy, frustrated, angry, or sad. Even the farmer doesn't talk, but rather has his own method of mumbling. His loyal herding dog ensures the sheep tow the line, but sometimes he needs help from Shaun to make things work in the end.

It's a very interesting watching the forces of the barnyard play out amoung themselves, though it's curious to note the animals alternate between ambulating on four feet and two. Upon reflection, the two feet position is taken when they are trying to be more authoritative or be anthropomorphous. Such as when the dog is charged with bathing the sheep, yet there's no hot water. A duck lands in the water and freezes solid, but the dog persists to get the sheep in. Shaun takes command at this point and subtly shoos the sheep back from the water. The sheep then hatch a plan to drain the farmer's tub which is full of hot water. This ridiculous plan involves making a hose out of bits they find in the junk pile, and one sheep climbing a utility pole, in full technician's gear as well, and hooking into the phone line with a line testing phone. The sheep with the phone dials the farmer's house, and pulls the farmer away from the bath. In order to dupe the farmer to stay on the line long enough to drain the tub, the sheep holds the phone in front of a bird sitting on the wire, who then chirps incessantly until the farmer hangs up the phone in frustration and bewilderment. Meanwhile, the tub has been drained – or rather siphoned – dry leaving the farmer without a bath, and the sheep then have a pool party in the livestock washing basin.

Where they got the martini's, I do not know. Probably the same place they found the technician's helmet and belt that fit sheep. A show like this, you don't ask questions, you just take it in. It's silly, it's fun, and if you try to take it seriously, just watch something else.

Movie Project - Day 14: Tangled

I am cheating a little on this one, as Erini and I went and saw this 21 December 2010. My memory on everything that happened might be a bit fuzzy, but my daughter loves to talk about her favourite parts, characters, and just the movie in general. So, maybe not. All the same, SPOILER ALERT!

This poster was the best one I could find to feature in this entry because it features all of Erini's favourite characters. First, Maximus, the Captain's horse who later becomes the commander of law enforcement. Not sure what his rank was in the end, but he was saluted with frying pans, something that I'm sure he put into regulations. Exactly how a horse that cannot speak would put forward regulations, but we're also dealing with a time period where 99% of the population was illiterate. Also it's Disney and more importantly, Hollywood. Just forget it and enjoy the show.

Second, Pascal, Rapunzel's chameleon who is a good sport to all her antics and activities that she does to stave off boredom and make the time pass. Whenever we read her animal book, Erini makes it very important to point out the chameleon. She's starting to call it a chameleon instead of Pascal, but that's just how much she likes this character. I figured she would think he was funny, but when he poked Flynn in the face with his tail, she was sold. Poking is an inside joke for our family. Poke to the face, even funnier. So there you go Disney. You want another memorable character? Make sure they poke people.

I'm not sure how Erini felt about the villains/bad guys, but when Rapunzel and Flynn enter The Snuggly Duckling, she was a little scared and wanted to leave the theatre. Think quickly, since I had seen the movie before, I told her they were going to sing a song right away. To that she replied, "Okay," and sat down. I was relieved that she calmed down, because although we were at the 2D Tuesday screening, it was still a little pricey to go to South Edmonton Common. "I've Got a Dream" was a very fun number that Rini enjoyed as much as I did. But they were not the antagonists. The twins, who I think bear a very strong resemblance to Kay from Sword in the Stone, were kind of mean and wicked, and made for good contrast to Flynn's demeanor.

However, Donna Murphy's performance as Mother Gothel was the show stealer. Taking quite a departure from the roles I remember her from in Spider-Man 2 and Star Trek:Insurrection, she plays a very strong antagonist. The term villain seems a little strong, until you think about the fact that she has lied to Rapunzel all her life, just to keep the healing abilities of the flower to herself. And not just for a week or two, but eighteen years. You could wear out a thesaurus looking up all the words to describe a person like that, but here comeuppance was quite the surprise.

Most Disney Villains meet their demise by, what I like to refer to as, the "Disney Fall." First met by the Evil Queen in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, lightning strikes the cliff she was standing on, and she falls to her death. Though we are not given any evidence of it. Oddly enough, this was brought to my attention in a promotional book for The Hunchback of Notre Dame, in which the villain, Judge Frollo, falls to his death into a lake of molten lead. Ouch. After that, I noted all the other villains that meet their fate through the "Disney Fall." Gaston from Beauty and the Beast; Clayton from Tarzan; Maleficent from Sleeping Beauty (she does get hit with the sword first, but then falls over, then off the precipice they were fighting on); Rourke from Atlantis-The Lost Empire. The list goes on.

The very interesting thing about Mother Gothel's end is that it is handed by the animal sidekick. Usually the main character is involved, or the secondary characters. In this case, once Flynn/Eugene cuts Rapunzel's hair, Mother Gothel has met her end. Normal fare for Disney, but the character that seals her fate is Pascal. He take a bit of Rapunzel's cute and magic-less hair and trips Mother Gothel as she's stumbling around the room. This causes her to lose her balance and sends her falling to her doom, ending with an empty robe at the bottom of the tower. She had long wasted away, and the magic of the flower was her only anchor to the world. Though she put on a wonderful act to show that she cared for Rapunzel, she really only cared about the flower. She had nothing else to live for. Once that was gone, so was she. So was it truly a "Disney Fall?" The fall was not her end, but it was the final nail in the coffin, so I would say yes, but it was a very good version of the "fall."

Will this be going on the 'Must Own' list? Most definitely, but the question is which combo pack? Goodness knows that by the time it's released for home viewing, there will be the 3D Blu-ray combo pack with the 3D Blu-ray, Blu-ray, DVD, AND the digital copy. If that's the only version available, then yes, I'll get that. If I can get a version without the 3D, and it's cheaper, then I'll go with that. Knowing me, I'll probably scour the internet to find a coupon for the 3D combo pack. But that's something that we'll address at length.

I was hoping to get through this without using a pun like that. Nuts.

Movie Project – Day 13: The Jungle Book (1967)

Not every movie is artful and inspiring like Fantasia, but Disney can convey some simple stories to the screen in a very intriguing and memorable way. The animated adaptation of Rudyard Kipling's collection of stories is one of my earliest purchases, if you could call it that. I received this movie free with my purchase of the Platinum Edition of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. I was considering getting 101 Dalmations instead, and I knew there were some people buying multiple copies of Snow White just to get all the movies they could. There were eight possible movies to choose from when you pre-ordered the Platinum Edition, Disney Store exclusive offer. I'm assuming they don't do the free movies anymore because of the demand they had for the first one. I could be wrong.

Regardless of what Disney decided to do, the disc is very limited in features. The special features are reduced to film recommendations, and the only other audio tracks are the French and Spanish versions. I was pleased that they did have the English subtitles, but that was all. It is a very bare bones disc, but I got what I paid for I suppose.

Not to say that Erini didn't like the movie, quite the contrary. She enjoyed it thoroughly, and even got up and danced during "I Wanna Be Like You." Go figure that my little monkey of a girl enjoyed the monkeys the most. Baloo was also one of her favourites, and who doesn't like "The Bare Necessities," I ask you? Most especially Baloo bore a strong resemblance to Grandpa Tolley, and this wasn't just my imagining. When we informed him later on that we watched this movie, he put on a short performance of petulance that we did not invite him to watch. He then told us that he and Baloo were kindred spirits, or something of that sort, and he did a bit of Baloo's back scratching dance that was spot on.

Will Rini ask to watch this movie again? Maybe. If we mention the monkeys, I can see her asking again, and if we leave the disc out, I'm sure she would remember it.

Though the disc does not have a lot of special features, I'm not that sore about it. The audio is Dolby 2.0, as opposed to the 5.1 remastered track for the 40th Anniversary Edition released in 2003, but the music and performance of the characters still rings true and was quite level for the entirety of the film.

I still find the vultures to be my favourite part of the film.

Movie Project – Day 12: The Sword in the Stone

On a snowy day, what better movie can you think of that teaches the importance of brain over brawn. However, it was also Sunday, and watching a movie that features sorcery and wizardry as the main elements of the plot would seen as a poor choice of film for today. I find solace in the fact that I'm educating my daughter in the history of animated film, and not forcing a perfect piano performance out of her. That'll be for next week. Maybe. Though Rini is starting swimming lessons this week, so that gives us something for her to excel in and a channel for my wife and I to push her extreme limits and heap our aspirations of her competing in the 2024 Olympics Games.

Oddly enough, that segues rather nicely into the movie we watched today. Here you have this little kid, 10 maybe 12 years old as Merlin puts it, and he goes through all sorts of rigors to get an education about how the world works. Wart has no idea what this is all about, and Merlin doesn't either. All Merlin knows is that educating this child is a very important thing, and he keeps pushing him to learn. It's done in a very entertaining and enjoyable way, but then again the movie is not even an hour and a half in its runtime. Not much time to show how rote repetition makes for an excellent education.

Rini's favourite part was the Wizard duel. I was quite pleased that she knew the names of most of the animals involved in the Merlin and Madame Mim's manic morphing. Ending the duel with a crazy illness had Rini giggling pretty hard too. Wait. I take that back. Rini's favourite part would have to be the squirrels. Aside from doing our Doug impersonations, she just loved how they played with each other, and you do have to admit they do look rather cute.

The animation style is very similar to other 1960's Disney films, and the you can see where some clips were recycled. Perhaps it was fixed for the remastered version that was released a few years ago in celebration of the 40th Anniversary of the film. The version I have is a part of the Gold Collectio and it has some uneven audio in places, such as when Arthur (the fish) is being chased by the massive pike. But the story still carries just as well as the day it was released into theatres.

The special features bored Rini pretty solid, even though it was about the songs in the movie. But the two shorts included on the disc, A Knight for a Day and The Brave Little Tailor had her attention fixed for the entirety of fifteen minutes. That's the problem with shorts. They're short.

To think that Rini may not remember these movies when she's older has crossed my mind, but then it was just be a new experience for Bronwyn when she's about Rini's age. Then Rini can remember what it was like to watch a movie with her sister for the first time.

Truth be known, Bronwyn did watch the movie with us, and she was awake for the entire time, but if she is ever stretched out on a psychiatrist's couch someday, I doubt she's going to tell about how watching “The Sword in the Stone” ruined her chance for ever achieving happiness in her life. If anything, I would hope that she would have a subconscious adoration for the movie because she was able to watch it with her daddy.

Describe a recent Aha! moment

Continuing with the post a day challenge, it was pondering for some time just what was meant by an Aha! moment. A few came to mind, some sillier than the rest.

First: Wife's Christmas present.

A week before Dec 25, and like a typical husband, I had not got Caitlin her Christmas gift yet, because I simply didn't know what to get. Then I was watching a trailer for the upcoming Thor movie.

After showing the clip to my wife, she told me that she was very much looking forward to that movie since Thor was her favourite Marvel character. We have been married for seven and a half years, and that was the first time I heard that come out of her mouth.

She then went on to explain that it's part of her heritage, since she is part Swedish. Nothing mentioned about the the physique that would make Isaiah Mustafa look like a ninety pound teenager, but I'm sure she has some kind of reserve for that some where. Or the hair. Or maybe the beard? She has mentioned she likes me with a beard.

Now my mind is reeling. My wife has a favourite comic book hero. I must capitalize on this! I could get a compendium, or individual issues, or some kind of collectible figure or bust. Heroclix? Nothing seemed to work though. The only idea that held any ground was getting gift certificates to see the movie when it comes out later this year.

Then we went to my office Christmas party at Jubilations Dinner Theatre. After seeing what happened with the two people from my office who had birthdays within a week of the party, Caitlin and I had a conversation that was something like this:

Caitlin: "We need to come here for my birthday."
Me: "And my birthday?"
Caitlin: Nodding "And our anniversary."

It didn't come to me immediately, but soon enough, the Aha! moment finally hit me like a ton of bricks. Season Tickets! A little bit of investigation and I found that they indeed did have season tickets available, and they were reasonably priced. The only catch is that the cheaper tickets were only for tickets on Wednesday, Thursday, and Sunday. That worked out well, since in 2011 Caitlin's birthday is a Wednesday, our anniversary is a Tuesday (dark day for Jubilations, so the closest day would be a Wednesday), and my birthday is a Sunday. Though we might go on a Wednesday or Thursday. This was an idea that sounded really, really good, and felt right. The only thing that was holding me back was the price. If we went ahead with this, it would be the third most expensive thing I would have ever purchased for my wife.

What were the other two? Well, not counting the car, as it is something that's used by the whole family, and not counting our daughters, because they're priceless (as in I can't count how much money we've spent on them because that number has not yet been determined. By science.) so that leaves the two most obvious things.

1. Her wedding and engagement rings
2. Her netbook (which I use quite a bit now...)

Hence this was a bit of a big step for me. But when she opened up her gift Christmas morning, and saw those tickets, I knew I had done right.

I don't have many of those moments, but my wife says otherwise.

I still try to make them count.