Brickyard 400

Yesterday I attended the Brickyard 400 (technically the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard, but we all know the truth). It was a pretty good race overall. We have seats outside of the first turn and get a pretty good look at a lot of passing. This year we also were in prime viewing area for several accidents, including the big one involving 6 or 7 cars. The race went in two parts. In the beginning, the cars just kept running in to one another. There were a lot of cautions.

Around lap 100 though, they finally quit wrecking, and we got to watch some green flag runs. Here the racing was really good. You got to see a few cars track down the guy in front of them, catch them, and pass them. Very good stuff. The racing between Tony Stewart and Kevin Harvick was some of the bets stuff out there.

Congratulations to Tony Stewart on his second Brickyard 400 victory!

Rocky Mt. National Park

Friday found myself (and my lab) at the Boss' cabin in the mountains. He owns a cabin on Shadow Mountain Lake. The day consisted of a pontoon boating excursion on Granby Lake (practically attached to Shadow Mt. Lake). After that it was back to the cabin for food, then a return to Denver.

The car I was riding in decided to take the scenic route back into town. We went through Rocky Mt. National Park. It is an absolutely amazing trip to take. Any friend visiting me who has not really seen/been up in the Mountains, we will make this trip. It is gorgeous. In addition to the numerous Kodak moments, presence of wildlife makes the trip worthwhile. During the trip, I saw Elk, Mountain goats, Big Horned sheep, and marmots (photo courtesy of wikipedia).After leaving the Park, the drive took us through Big Thompson Canyon. This basically continued the scenic drive, as you follow a river through a relatively impressive canyon. After the canyon, the scenic portion is over as you enter Loveland and then catch I-25 back into Denver.

A very impressive trip, and one that any nature/mountain lover needs to take. Since I didn't have a camera, I don't have pictures, but some of my companions did. So I might get a photo or two posted later. Have a great week.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Disclaimer: I have never read any of the Harry Potter books, and this review comes without any knowledge of what was included or left out. In other words, I'm judging this as a movie (and a sequel), not as an adaptation.

As promised, I'm going to give you my overall view of Harry Potter 5. In general, I liked the movie. It is distinctly darker than the previous installments, a few more light hearted moments would have been appreciated. This movie does deliver the most streamlined story of all the Harry Potter movies thus far. However, this is both the strongest and weakest point about the movie. It was nice to not have the story jumping around and feeling disjointed (see Harry Potter 1). The lack of non-story elements though, lost the feel of Hogwart's School. I would have liked an additional couple of scenes that showed the school life (one with Harry and pals in a class, and the requisite Quddich...spelling?....match). Again, without having read the books, the streamlined plot was beneficial to the movie itself.

Biggest gripe: There is NO beginning and NO ending. If you haven't seen the previous movies, you would have been a lost. Also, there is really NO ending, things just kind of keep going. At least the previous installments told their story (as indicated by the titles), and furthered the overall plotlines. They could each be viewed as single entries without prior knowledge. This one just furthers the overall plotline without really telling us much new.

Sounds like a lot of griping, but it still was entertaining. The characters perform more magic is this film than all the others. Acting is well done, and character development continues.

Final grades: B+, 4 out of 5 stars. Big screen is preferred for the cinematography and special effects, but don't drop $10 on it.

I am NOT Tiger Woods

Yesterday, I went with some friends to a driving range. And after 180 balls, I came to the conclusion that I won't be competing for a spot on the PGA tour anytime soon. I did have a fair number of decent shots, but an equal number of poor shots. One thing that is consistent is my slice (ball goes to the right). Almost without fail, I sliced the ball. This has been a problem of mine with golf for quite awhile. In fairness to me, this was my first golf outing of any kind for roughly 6 years.

Anyway, it was fun. I came out with only one blister (on my left hand...thank goodness), and my back doesn't feel too bad either. I would like to get a set of extended shaft clubs and go out a few more times. I dare not play a real round of golf until I have a better feel for how far I can hit a given club. Still, a good time was had by all.

It would take a lot of money and a lot of time for me to get good at golf, but only a little money and some time to get decent (or at least hold my own).

Stay tuned for my Harry Potter 5 review (I saw it on Saturday).

Now, Your Moment of Zen

Credit where credit is due: 1) Jon Stewart and the Daily Show for the title, 2) My brother for the inspiration, and 3) USA Today for the image.

What you see: The World's Tallest man (7-9") meeting the World's Smallest man (2-5"). I'll let you guess which is which.

Hope you enjoyed.

Movies Update

I realize it has been quite a while since my last movie update. With that said, over my two weeks of lazines....er...I mean dream living, I watched quite a few movies. So, let me list as many movies as I can that I've watched, then I'll review a couple. Feel free to ask about any of the movies I don't specifically review.

Recently viewed (stars out of 5): Dead Silence (2 1/2), Alpha Dog (3), Peaceful Warrior (4), Live Free or Die Hard (4 1/2), Dead Alive (2 1/2), The Messengers (3 1/2), Heat(3 1/2), Ong Bak: Thai Warrior (3), Bridge to Terrabithia (4), Cars (4), Black Christmas (2)

I'm sure there are actually a few more that I've watched over the past month or so, but I can't remember all of them. But that's a pretty good collection.

Live Free or Die Hard (aka Die Hard 4): This is one really, really fun film. It gets started very quickly and doesn't let up until the end. There are tons of hilarious one-liners (I laughed...alot). It isn't overly original, but doesn't feel overdone either. If you like the Die Hards, then this is a must see. It's probably the second best of the 4 Die Hard movies (the original is the best... of course).

Dead Silence: This "scary movie" by the same group that did the original Saw is really not all that interesting. It's honestly not scary at all (unless you are naturally freaked out by ventriloquist dummies, then you'll crap your pants). Otherwise, it is relatively predictable to the point you know the make-you-jump moments are coming. The end does contain a twist (which was alluded to throughout), but it isn't near the coolness of the Saw endings (it tries though). Really no reason to watch this movie.

Ok. There you have it. Any questions about any of the movies, just let me know. I'll attempt to keep you more up to date on the movies I watch. Until next time....

A Historical 4th of July

Yesterday, I went to a Major League Lacrosse game (Denver Outlaws vs. Chicago Machine) with some friends to celebrate the 4th of July. Seriously, there's nothing like celebrating our country's independence (from the tyranny of the English....that one's for you Matthew) like watching guys beat on each other with sticks and throw a ball around for 2 hours (honestly, could you do that with the kind of freedom we have?). Anyway, back to the historical part. The attendance at yesterdays game was 19,700 (and change). Apparently, that is the world record for a professional lacrosse game...yep, world record. And I was a part of it (I'm so proud).

The game itself wasn't too bad. Probably more enjoyable if you had played (think of it like soccer meets hockey). It was still fun to watch. After the game, they had a fireworks display. Although firework shows fall under the category of "seen one, then you've seen them all", I found myself enjoying the show. Maybe its just been awhile since I've seen a fireworks show in person, but it was pretty neat, and was a nice way to finish off the evening.

That's all. I hope everyone had a great Independence Day.

PS. I'm a well-rounded sports fan. Who else can say they've watched Roller Derby and Lacrosse in the past 6 months?

Going to get Medieval

This past weekend (Saturday), I made an appearance at the Colorado Renaissance Festival. This is apparently a fairly big deal. It runs every summer for every weekend in June and July. It's in the middle of nowhere, but setup much like a theme park (minus the roller coasters). Lots of eateries and show stages. It was an experience to say the least. Most interesting were the people who attended and dressed up in Renaissance garb (not workers, but guests).

In addition to doing my fair share of people spectating (NOTE: the fashion police could have had a big day), I went to several of the shows. In order of preference...

Grape Stomping - This weekend was sponsored by some winery, and as a part they had a grape stomping competition for a free trip. This might have been fun to participate in, but made for a boring spectator event.

Jousting - Not as cool as it sounds. It was a lot of talk for a few minutes of guys on horses hitting each other with sticks. Again, sounds cool, but very anti-climatic.

Barely Balanced - A group of three people that do balancing and juggling stunts. It was impressive, but nothing super special. During one the girl made a mistake and burned off one of her eyebrows (only funny because she wasn't truly hurt).

Arsene of Paris - This was comedian/illusionist/mime. He was pretty funny. The majority of his humor was picking on the audience, so it was fun to laugh at other people (I wasn't picked on). He was French and a mime, so he's lucky to be this high on the list.

Iris and Rose ("Wild and Thorny") - These were two comic-singers. Their show was very much adult content (ie. their humor focused exclusively on adult situations...if you know what I mean). However, they were relatively clever about the material though. If you were Scottish, you may have been offended about their portrayal of your relationship with sheep.

Ded Bob - This was a comedic act in the style of a ventriloquist (ie. a dummy performed the show, but the handler had a mask, so I can't promise he wasn't just talking). The dummy was a skeleton. It was very funny. I laughed a lot. The act used a lot of audience participation. Very humorous.

Those were the things I saw. I ate a Turkey leg (good, but a lot of work to get the meat off). My big complaint would be pricing. It was $16 for the ticket, each show passed the hat around after and food was priced like fair food (more expensive than needed). I didn't give to the performers due to the high base ticket price. Still an experience and a fairly good day.

HA! I posted twice in just a couple day span...enjoy.