These mutant mushrooms like to pop up right outside my front door. It looks kind of like garlic. It also looks like a glob of goo that sprung up out of the ground. What usually happens to them is they turn brown after sun cooks them for a few days.
Anyone know what it is?
We are supposed to think that Belle, the co-leading character of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, is an exemplary outside-the-box, independent thinker. She’s an incorrigible dreamer … exactly the sort of young lady girls should look up to, right? Maybe not.
Consider her attitude in the context of real life. Her opening song is about her amazing outlook on life as opposed to those pitiful, short-sighted “provincial” townspeople. She looks down on the regular townspeople for working all day to make ends meet while she sits around all day reading books, living off her father. She’s wants to have all her dreams, but put nothing into actually making them happen.
We might ask Belle, “If everyone in the town had your attitude, then how would anyone eat? How would YOU eat?”
Truly, marrying a prince is her only viable option since she will refuse anything less than royal treatment. Why does she deserve this special treatment? Has she done anything to deserve it?
Her reactions to Gaston are justified, though, right? Maybe not. It’s not the fact that she turned him down that I have a problem with, it’s why she turns him down that’s a problem for me.
Gaston pursues Belle repeatedly, turning down every other girl in town for her. True, he’s a jerk and it would be terrible to be married to him. But, underneath that idealistic shell, she really turned him down because he’s not good enough for her. In fact, no one short of a prince is good enough for her. Granted, that is a good outlook for young women to have — single women should not settle for any man short of a prince. But there’s two sides to that coin. She should expect the best, but she should strive to be the best, or at least something better than a sedentary, condescending intellectual who contributes basically nothing of worth to her surrounding community.
But she traded her life for her father’s. That’s something, right? Maybe not.
Consider her actions at the castle. Beast got mad at her after she did exactly what he told her not to do, her first night in the castle! As a result he became angry with her, and she immediately broke off the agreement. This was during her first night at the castle.
This shouldn’t be surprising since, as we’ve already established, she deserves special treatment. The rules do not apply to her the same as they do for everyone else.
So what is Belle’s reward for expecting to get everything on her terms, without ever comprising? She gets everything she wants, of course. In return for expecting royal treatment, she will be treated like a princess (or queen) for the rest of her life.
And she lived happily ever after.
Wrecked doesn’t have a lot of dialogue or actors, features a lot of nature and is centered around one guy going through a lot of stuff. Adrian Brody’s version of Cast Away? Maybe.
Warning: Spoilers Ahead!
Much to my delight, Adrian Brody ended up being the good guy. Also, so my relief, they explained the car being wrecked out in the middle of the forest. Explanation: it veered off the road and landed there after driving off the side of a large rock.
Good news: Adrian Brody is the good guy.
That girl? It’s his girlfriend. He never really killed her .. though the fact that he hallucinated himself doing so might be indicative of some deeper issues?
The ending isn’t all that satisfying, though I was glad for the simple face that the good guy got away.
I wish he could have kept the money, though.
What is is about Disney that little kids love so much? There’s a talking dog (Goofy) and there’s a non-talking dog (Pluto). There’s two talking mice (Mickey and Minnie) who sometimes seem to be dating, and at other times not. For example, I saw one particular cartoon where it was a stated fact that they are boyfriend and girlfriend (boy-mousefriend and girl-mousefriend).
Then there is Donald and Daisy Duck, who are an interesting couple. Donald is by far the funniest in my opinion. Daisy is by far the most obnoxious, as she is the go-to selfish character. Donald is the go-to impatient character.
As my two year old daughter pulled me into the Disney store the other day, it occurred to me that Disney is smart for continuing to come out with girl-centric movies such as Brave and Tangled. After all, what does Disney sell more of, princess dolls, or prince charming dolls? They probably sell about a hundred times as much girl merchandise. From a dad’s point of view (with a daughter and an a son on the way), I would be much more likely to buy something for my daughter from Disney. So they might as well milk it for all it’s worth.
Beyond strict money making strategy, though, Disney really has cornered the kid market. There are a few contenders I can think of such as Sesame Street or Dora the Explorer, but none of them is anywhere near the heavyweight that Disney is. I have to admit that their movies have a magical vibe that draws kids in and hooks them for the entirety of their childhoods.
Safe House stars Denzel Washington and Ryan Reynolds. You can’t really go wrong with either of these guys.
I was pleasantly surprised at the chemistry between these two. Denzel is the experienced field agent, while Reynolds is the less experience, though eager agent. Reynolds gradually gains the respect of his older counterpart, who is his enemy for most of the movie. And this respect is hard won. Reynolds take hit after hit trying to get this job done, attempting to do the right thing despite being surrounded by enemies of all kinds, to the point that Washington knows he can be trusted with his life work, which will end up shaking up the international intelligence in a major way.
Safe House might be called a less grungy, less crime ridden version of Training Day. It had much the same feel since Denzel is the hardened, experienced pro in both, trying to teach the less experienced (white) guy. Incidentally I also liked Training Day a lot (that one starred Ethan Hawke).
In the following I will compare the overall cost of eating out versus eating at home. Both time, money and energy are considered as part of the cost. Also, I will assume that your monthly food budget is between $500 and $1000 (for a family of four).
Case 1: Eating out at a mid-range restaurant: Black Angus.
It is difficult to spend less than $50 there for two people at Black Angus and its practically impossible to spend less than that for a family of four. If either mommy or daddy has a couple of drinks, then you will probably spend closer to $75.
Case 2: Eating out at a lower tier restaurant: Applebees.
Case 3: Steak dinner at home. Here is a price breakdown for buying the same things you get at Black Angus from the store, enough for a family of four:
I have found that eating out can actually be less expensive than fixing food for yourself, if you play your cards right. Generally, that means looking for maximum food quality at a place where you don’t have to tip (i.e. you pick the food and thrown away your trash yourself).
Case 4: Neighborhood deli. Total cost for a family of four is about $22 dollars with minimal time and energy expenditure. Health factor: High. Examples: Jason’s deli, Dilly’s deli, any number of non-chain establishments.
Case 5: Neighborhood “fresh” style Mexican food joint: The same as the neighborhood deli. Examples: Baja Fresh and Chipotle.
My recommendation, if your food budget is somewhat tight but you work long hours, is a combination of eating at home and eating at places that do not expect a tip. This will give you an occasional break and allow you the ability to mix up your eating pattern, all the while still eating somewhat healthy food.
Diablo 3 is fun. Whether or not it is as addictive as D2, I am not sure, but then again I am also 10 years older with a wife, kids and job, so my priorities are, to say the least, a bit different.
If you’re thinking about installing D3, then beware, it needs a ton of computing resources, so don’t try it on a wimpy machine. But all the graphics and special effects make it well worth it. The special effects on the game are so effective that it literally feels like my desk is shaking when my Barbarian, for example, smashes someone.
There are also some mind blowing background graphics. For example, during an act that takes place at the top of a castle, you can see epic-looking battles occurring down below. There are a variety of other actions going on in the background for every act.
I have read an article or two complaining that there are not enough unique weapon drops, but I believe that these complaints are unsubstantiated. There are tons of uniques dropped all the time, especially from bosses. On top of that, if you train your blacksmith sufficiently, there is potentially an unlimited amount of unique weapons and armor you can obtain.
The new system of jewels is also far improved over the old Horadric Cube. In Diablo 3 you have a dedicated jeweler who will combine jewels for you, whose skills you also have to build up.
Overall, I give the game an A+. The main disadvantage is the fact that I have to be connected to the internet the whole time I’m playing, but I understand that, under the circumstances, this is a necessary evil.
