The Frosty...Better to eat than drink

So this afternoon, after a morning spent at the Fayette County Health Fair and then lunch with my boss, I got a craving for a nice cold treat. Since the Dairy Queen was on the other side of town (granted a 3 minute trip, but still one I was unwilling to take), and I was driving right by a Wendy's, I decided a Frosty would be that cold treat.

I pull into the Wendy's and find the drive through backed up. As logic dictates, I parked and decided I would just grab it inside...only to find that the inside was equally backed up, however, since I was already inside (and it was air-conditioned) I opted to wait. While waiting, I look over the Frosty menu...yep, a whole picture menu of Frosty items next to the register. My options included normal Frosty's (Vanilla or Chocolate), Candy mixed Frosty's, or the Frosty shake.


A shake sounded really, really good. While waiting on my turn to order, I had talked myself whole-heartedly into this shake. Then I ordered it, and watched them make it. Filled about 1/3 of the cup with chocolate syrup, then added the Frosty, then mixed it up and topped it with whipped cream. I was very underwhelmed from the first drink. It wasn't the texture, which was actually pretty close to what I expect from a shake, but the flavor was more that of Hershey's syrup than of the Frosty. I was disappointed. I think the idea is sound, but milk should be added and then blended, not chocolate syrup.

My conclusion: Frosty's should be eaten as a creamy treat...not as a shake.

Ranking the Pixar Movies

With the release of Disney-Pixar's most recent film this weekend (that film would be Up), and with the inspiration of this article from IGN.com, I've decided to give my own rankings of the 9 Disney-Pixar full length feature films. Without further ado, and in dramatic order...

9. WALL-E (2008)
Critically acclaimed, but just didn't do it for me. Outstanding animation and clever sets, however, it lacked one very important element in a Disney-Pixar movie...namely, humor. It wasn't a funny film. In fact, I often felt sad for WALL-E and didn't really find much of his antics funny.

8. Monster's Inc.(2001)
A pretty solid movie, but I never quite got drawn into the characters. It was clever and fairly humorous, just not the best that Pixar has done.

7. Cars (2006)
Awesome animation, good story, and interesting characters push this one up the list a bit. The cleverness of what they did with world of cars was pretty impressive.

6. Ratatouille (2007)
More of a "cute" film than many on this list, but a quality main character (the rat who wants to be a chef) really drives this entertaining yarn.


5. A Bug's Life (1998)
I've always held this, the second Disney-Pixar film, in very high regard. I must admit that I haven't watched it in awhile, so it might not have aged well, but my recollection of it is a very very funny film. Consistently underrated by many.

4. The Incredibles (2004)
A funny and very entertaining film about a family of super heroes ranks high on the list. Makes great use of the characters and their powers to really make for a funny and entertaining movie. Quite a bit of action for a cartoon movie also makes it worth watching.

3. Finding Nemo (2003)
A consistently funny film that really hits on almost every right note from start to finish. Who knew searching for a fish could be so much fun?

2. Toy Story 2 (1999)
Arguably the best Pixar film (see below for reasons it is not). Basically flat out hilarious, a great story, and awesome characters. There really is nothing not to love about this movie.

However, it is number two because number one is....

1. Toy Story (1995)
Basically everything I said about Toy Story 2 is also true for the original, and because Toy Story came first, it also has to come in first here on my list. Laugh out loud funny and unbelieveably clever.

Honestly, with the exception of WALL-E, I've never really been disappointed in a Disney-Pixar film. I'm looking forward to Up, not sure I'm going to the theater to see it, but the previews have enough moments to raise expectations. If your Pixar list differs from mine, feel free to post your comments.

Life Update and Movie Reviews

Geez, I completely dropped the ball on this one big time. From December on, I had very little to actually do, but somehow constantly failed to post here consistently. The result has been very very few posts. However, now that my life is returning to some sort of semblance and hopefully with a pattern of some kind attached, posting will occur more often.

First, let me get you up to speed on things. In Mid-December, things at graduate school took an unexpected turn and left me out of the world of academia. The following months consisted of playing video games and watching plenty of movies (a nice life, but the pay kind of sucks). In addition to goofing off, I did some job hunting and got hooked up with a recruiting service. The end result was a job as a hospital pharmacist in Connersville, IN. I'm now 2 weeks in and enjoying it. It is so-much better than retail pharmacy. So, now I'm back in small-town, country Indiana and that is going to take a bit of getting used to. Luckily, Richmond is only 30 min. away, Indy/Dayton/Cincy are each in the neighborhood of 1 to 1 1/2 hours. I'm close(r) to family and friends, so that is nice. In between that move was 3 drives across the country (Denver to Indiana), selling my water bed and packing (and unpacking), going to Las Vegas, renting an apartment, buying furniture, and plenty of other stuff.

You are now up to speed.

Movie review time.

Star Trek
J.J. Abrams re-imaging of the Star Trek universe. On the whole I really enjoyed this film. It was fun and exciting. Most of the characters were spot on (Karl Urban as Bones was great, and Zachary Quinto as Spock), and some lines/scenes were great for each character (loved when Chris Pines as Kirk delivered lines like Shatner's Kirk). My biggest gripe is the whole time travel aspect of the plot. It doesn't fit well with what is known about Star Trek, however, I understand that it is needed for future sequels in this version of the Star Trek universe. Anyway, I give it a solid 4 out of 5 stars and recommend to any sci-fi fan.



Terminator Salvation
A disappointing film, but I had some marginally high expectations. It didn't quite live up to what I had envisioned the future war between humans and machines to be. Nor was it quite how the previous installments hinted about the future. I felt the movie tried to do too much and never really hit all the right notes for any of it. The story should have been simplified and more attention paid to making that story work. My guess is the real kicker is McG (the director) isn't that good of a director. He should stick to producing and overseeing things and let someone else direct. Worth seeing if you are fans of the series, but lower your expectations. I give it a 3 out of 5 stars.

Well, with that I'll be signing off. However, I'm hoping this is the first of many new posts on a far more consistent basis. Movie reviews for sure, but possibly other insights (if you can handle them).