lewis and clark had a journal. you, beth-annie, have a diary.

Thursday, January 29, 2009
Time to start pooling our money...

...for this.

josh, 9:09 AM || We are 3 comments. Read us!

Monday, January 26, 2009
Movies, movies, everywhere.

It's been a while since I've done this (as you can see from the date my movie list on the left was last updated). I'm thinking I'd rather do mini-reviews as an occasional blog post than the somewhat useless list to the left, which I should really just delete (you know, as soon as I get around to it). I should also get on the ball and label my posts (Ava, tripologue, TV, etc.) so posts like these are easier to find if anyone (likely me, mostly) wants to. But that's a job for another day. For now, here are my (mostly) brief thoughts on the movies I've seen since about last summer or so.

[*denotes film seen in the theater, in case that might make a difference]

Happy Feet (a.k.a. the dancing penguin movie, 2006)
Pain. Extreme pain. Oh, the minutes of my life I'll never get back.

Surf's Up (a.k.a. the surfing penguin movie, 2007)
Better than Happy Feet. Much. No, that's still not saying a lot.

Bee Movie (a.k.a. the bee movie, 2007)
Just because Jerry Seinfeld could make an animated movie about bees doesn't mean he should have. (I was also a little squicked out by the SeinfeldBee/ZellwegerHuman relationship, even though it wasn't really romantic -- and this from someone who loved the George Michael/Maeby "Les Cousins Dangereux" angle on "Arrested Development.")

Wall-E (2008)*
Finally, a good animated movie! (Wait -- what do you mean this was the only one that was Pixar?)

My Kid Could Paint That (2007)
This movie made me sad. Not because it was a bad film, but because I tend to want to believe the best of people, and I couldn't come away from this documentary with that feeling.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)*
It wasn't perfect, it certainly wasn't realistic (surviving an atomic blast by crawling into a refrigerator, anyone?), but it was exactly what an Indiana Jones movie should be: fun.

Iron Man (2008)*
Robert Downey Jr. may be the best casting of a superhero since... ever. Also, the best superhero movie since Spider-man 2 (at least, until The Dark Knight came along a few weeks later).

The Dark Knight (2008)*
I'm not sure how I feel about the very sudden about-face of a certain character, and without giving anything away, I'm also very surprised they had the guts to do a certain something else with another character (if you've seen it you'll know to whom I'm referring). That said, it still lived up to the hype, which is hard for any movie to do. And, unfortunate passing or not, Heath Ledger's performance is nothing short of mesmerizing. Period.

Mamma Mia (2008)*
Um. So it's like they tried to shove every ABBA song they could in here, whether it made a lick of sense or not. I love Colin Firth (yes, I'm one of those) and Amanda Seyfried, but this was just kind of weird, and not in a good way.

Nights in Rodanthe (2008)*
First, don't laugh. Second, in some ways it was exactly what I expected (I think Diane Lane is a great actress, even in crappy movies), and in others it was a disappointment. The characters were just a little too thinly drawn (despite being given on-the-surface "issues"), and then something happened, and then it just kind of ended. Hmmm.

Burn After Reading (2008)*
A bit odd (as with most Coen Bros. films), a bit violent (as with most Coen Bros. films), and a bit actually funny (as with... some Coen Bros. films). While a lot of movies tend to fade from your memory not long after watching them, this was one that I came to appreciate more as it had some time to sit with me.

Dan in Real Life (2007)
A couple weeks after seeing this, I'm still a bit undecided. It certainly wasn't bad. I liked Steve Carell in an atypical role, which he definitely pulled off. But it was just kind of... there.

Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day (2008)
I dig Amy Adams, but she wasn't the best part of this movie (actually, her character's breathy flitting about and alternately giggling and pouting grated on my nerves just a bit). Frances McDormand is the real star of this show, just not in as showy a way. I just liked her here -- she made me want to root for her. It's a nice little movie, nothing too heavy but also not shallow. And the music is a bonus, with plenty of 1930s big band and a sweet ballad or two.

Be Kind Rewind (2008)
I hate to say it, but this was a disappointment. It had its funny bits, to be sure, but on the whole it just seemed like a strange mash-up of weirdness and sentimentality that didn't work for me. It might have been better if it had just full-on embraced the weird and left the sap behind. And been a little bit funnier. That would have helped, too.

The Fall (2008)
This film captivated me. I watched it four times in five days, which I've done... well, never. It's stunningly beautiful (which may actually be understating it), tragic, funny, strange, charming, and affected me in a way very few movies ever have. There are no "names" in this film (the closest being "Pushing Daisies"' Lee Pace), but I think that's part of why it works so well. I can't imagine that the friendship that develops between the two lead characters, a silent film stuntman and a six-year-old girl who speaks limited English, both in a hospital in the 1920s after separate accidents, would have been as believable or enchanting had they been played by, say, Brad Pitt and Dakota Fanning. He starts telling her an "epic tale," which we see in her intensely vivid imagination (those parts were filmed in some of the most striking locations on the planet, both natural and man-made). But it's the "smaller" story in the hospital that gives the film its heft and emotional resonance. I have a hard time putting into words the love I've developed for this film over a very short period of time. I love that it's both theatrical and intimate, that I pick up new details and nuances every time I watch it, that even the music is a stunner (I've fallen in love with the Beethoven piece that's used throughout, which I don't recall having heard before). I don't often add new films to my list of favorites, but this one's jumped up to the top of the pile. [Trailer]

beth, 2:42 PM || We are 12 comments. Read us!

Friday, January 23, 2009
Go, Cubs, Go!

I'm not sure how many of my readers know the above song that is played at Wrigley Field each time the Cubs win, but Ava does. Sort of. The chorus, anyway. Sort of. See for yourself. (The video's from September, in San Diego, actually. If you're not familiar with the song, you can hear it here.)

beth, 11:13 PM || We are 5 comments. Read us!

Friday, January 16, 2009
Tripologue. Day eight/nine. La Jolla and L'Avion.

After we left the beach at Torrey Pines late Friday afternoon we drove just a smidge south to La Jolla (you could actually see some of the "town" -- it's one of those named areas, like Hollywood, that's not really a separate entity, though it likes to think it is -- from the cliffs at Torrey Pines). Part of the shoreline at La Jolla is made up of a series of coves, with sidewalk running along the whole way and some park-like area adjacent. It's a lovely place and so attracts a lot of tourists and locals alike, but there is very little parking in the area -- basically just street parking. After about ten minutes of driving around, we miraculously found an open spot only about a block or two away, and took Ava down to the shore in the stroller, as she had fallen asleep in the car (she would amazingly stay asleep the whole time we were down there, about 90 minutes).

We saw so much beautiful shoreline on our trip (Point Loma, Torrey Pines, and now La Jolla) that it's hard to choose which was my favorite.

It was cloudy all day long except for a few glimmers of sunlight at the beach, and then a few rays when we got to La Jolla and it started getting closer to sunset.

Being able to see an actual sunset here would have been nice, but we wouldn't have gotten a photo like this if it had been a clear day.

We came upon this in the middle of the sidewalk. Not sure why the circles were originally there (just part of the sidewalk design, I guess), but it was interesting to leave that bit when they replaced the rest of it. No, we didn't feel an earthquake while we were there. (Only earthquake I've ever felt I was in Wisconsin. Go figure.)

The surf was fairly big that day. They had one spot where you could walk out onto a breaker (which I did alone, as you had to go down some stairs to get to it and we had a stroller), and the waves were crashing so heavily against it that I was actually getting wet. I had to be very careful with the camera on that one.

Hehe. Gull thinks it's a flamingo. (Incidentally, this wasn't with a telephoto lens -- we were pretty much right there.)

Ah, Bethy and her flower close-ups. Not sure what these ones are, but they were bushes.

Wow.

I found this Dr. Seuss Tree in the park area next to the shore.

I love seeing animals in their natural habitats, and these seals were obviously enjoying theirs. (I think they're seals and not sea lions, but I'm not entirely certain.) I love that we got a picture like this.

Most of these photos don't really need captions, but this one is an exception as it does require a bit of explanation. You probably need to look at the enlarged version to see that there are several dark spots in the water to the left of the palm fronds. Those are swimmers. Some swim out to 1/4- and 1/2-mile buoys and back, but some actually swim all the way across the bay, from La Jolla Cove to La Jolla Shores (or vice versa). I'm not sure how far that is, but I think it's safe to say it's farther than most people can swim in one go.

One last scenic shot. I like putting flowers in the foreground. If you haven't noticed. :-)

It was just starting to get dark when we got back to our car. We left La Jolla, checked into our hotel, and found an Outback Steakhouse nearby -- not the most unique place to eat while on vacation, for sure, but we had gift cards, and when you have to eat somewhere, you might as well do it at a place where you don't have to shell out cash (especially by the end of a vacation when you're a little tired of spending money). Despite it being so late, we still had to wait an hour (thankfully it was in a mall, so at least we could go to Macy's while we waited), and didn't end up getting our food until almost 10pm. Not ideal for Ava, certainly, but at least she was giggly/sing-y tired and not cranky tired.

After we got back to the hotel and got Ava to bed, I had to write all my postcards so they could actually have a San Diego postmark (of course I left it until the last minute) and, since we were flying in the morning, had to get everything packed for our flight that night as well. We finally got to bed around 2am. Yikes. (I know you're probably sick of pictures of Ava sleeping, but I had to do one more of her with her entourage. :-))

I snapped this on our way to the airport in the morning, because I love this bridge. We saw it many times while we were there (it passes over the Cabrillo Freeway, which we're driving on), but I hadn't thought to get a picture of it until I knew it was my last chance. The Cabrillo Bridge (lots of "Cabrillo" 'round these parts) was built for the 1915 Panama-California Exposition along with much of Balboa Park (remember that?), to which it connects. It's so high because it connects one side of a canyon to the other. So purty.

I like having a window seat on planes so I can try to figure out where we are by what I see on the ground. This is the Salton Sea in southeatern California, 235 feet below sea level.

This? Lake Havasu, part of the Colorado River on the Arizona-California border.

It took a while to figure this one out, but this is Lee Canyon in Arizona, carved by the Little Colorado River after it splits off from the Colorado River, just southeast of the Grand Canyon (which we couldn't see, though people sitting on the other side of the plane may have been able to).

Ava enjoys some fruit leftover from breakfast after she wakes up from a nap.

This isn't anything in particular, but I was curious about all those perfect circles together in the middle of the photo. They're obviously man-made, but I can't figure out what they would be. Anyone have any ideas? (This was taken in southwestern Colorado, not long before we hit the Rockies.)

The Rocky Mountains. Not sure whether they have snow still (meaning always, since this was September) or already.

"Look, Ava, it's Mommy. With a camera. AGAIN." :-) (At the Denver airport.)

beth, 10:27 PM || We are 4 comments. Read us!

Thursday, January 15, 2009
Not to keep harping about the weather...

...but this is getting crazy.

josh, 3:26 PM || We are 5 comments. Read us!

We win!

Courtesy of the National Weather Service:

RECORDS SET SO FAR FOR JANUARY 15TH...

BURLINGTON IOWA LOW OF -18 AT 741 AM, OLD RECORD -18 IN 1994.

DUBUQUE IOWA LOW OF -26 AT 641 AM, OLD RECORD OF -25 IN 1888.

CEDAR RAPIDS IOWA LOW OF -29 AT 0751 AM, OLD RECORD OF -23 IN 1994.

CEDAR RAPIDS RECORD ALSO BREAKS THE ALL TIME LOW TEMPERATURE OF -28
SET JANUARY 12, 1974, AND DECEMBER 28, 1924.

josh, 11:53 AM || We are 2 comments. Read us!

Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Our Forecast

Fun.

josh, 10:11 AM || We are 5 comments. Read us!

Sunday, January 11, 2009
Tripologue. Day eight. Torrey Pines.

Ha. You thought you were rid of me, didn't you? But, no, I'm back (I was getting sick of the Disney pictures, too), and with the last two days of the tripologue in tow [side note: yes, I ditched the hyphens -- they were starting to rub me the wrong way]. There's really only one day of our vacation left and then a travel day, but since there are so many pictures (I know, you're shocked) I'm going to split the last day we actually did stuff into two posts, the second being the latter part of that day plus several travel photos from the next day. So here we go.

We woke up to clouds in Anaheim, and even encountered some raindrops as we drove south. In southern California. Well, I guess it has to rain there sometime.

We didn't do anything of consequence before lunch, for which we stopped at Wahoo's in Encinitas. It's a regional chain started by some surfers, and the walls and booths are all plastered with posters, stickers and memorabilia from surfing and snowboarding. It makes for an funky atmosphere.

Fish tacos are their specialty, so I ordered myself up some. Josh didn't. :-) And Ava got her signature restaurant quesadilla (people are still surprised she knows that word so well, though she eats enough of them it certainly makes sense). She didn't care all that much for the french fries that came with it (never has seemed to like them much), yet she enjoyed dipping them in ketchup and then licking it off. It's true. And gross. :-P

After lunch we drove a short distance south to Torrey Pines State Reserve and hiked (I use the term loosely) what I had researched as the easiest trail with the best views (the Guy Fleming Trail, if anyone's interested), as we did have a toddler with us. She actually walked about 2/3 of the 3/4-mile trail, which I think is quite impressive for a not-quite-two-year-old (on an unpaved surface, mind you).

There were some unique rock formations right along the trail -- with ropes and signs that not-so-subtley said NO TOUCHING, as sandstone tends to erode easily. Amazingly, we actually didn't see much in the way of names or other graffiti carved into the stone, which you usually see despite (or perhaps sometimes because of) such restrictions.

You could see part of the town of Del Mar from the trail, across the Los Peñasquitos Marsh.

This is one of the rare Torrey Pines, after which the reserve (and some golf course or something) is named.

The trail opens up when it reaches the ocean -- not that it ever technically "reaches" the ocean, as it's actually high up on a cliff above the ocean. This is looking north (as well it should be, seeing as this is the west coast), again toward Del Mar.

The perspective is a little unclear in this photo, but the beach is far below the plants in the foreground.

How could anyone not love a trail like this?

Ava and Daddy take time out from enjoying the view to smile for Mommy's camera.

Also known as my Facebook profile picture.

To give you an idea of how far up we were, those little dark objects on the beach are people.

The only thing that would have made the views better would have been a clear, sunny day. (Though the clouds did keep the temperatures down while we were hiking, so I guess it's a trade-off.)

I think this is some kind of sand verbena. It was very small, but looked awfully pretty sticking up out of the brown sand.

I'd like to thank whoever decided to leave this log here for leaving this log here.

Torrey Pines Lodge (not to be confused with the Lodge at Torrey Pines) was built in the 1920s of adobe in the building style of Arizona's Hopi Indians. It served as a restaurant/lodge when it was first built, and now as the park's Visitor Center. It's a modest but beautiful building that suits the landscape.

After our hike we went down to the beach to spend the rest of the afternoon. Did I mention Ava likes the beach?

Ava knows about sea gulls from one of her books (a book about -- what else? -- the beach), so she happily pointed them out when she saw them.

The cliffs on which we hiked, from a different perspective. This was a beautiful, scenic, clean beach, and not too crowded. As much as I love the palm trees of a beach like La Jolla Shores, Torrey Pines is the beach I would choose to return to before any of the others we visited.

Water wasn't the only thing that interested Ava. She was in love with her "bucket and shovel." She still wants to play with those at home, even with no sand to play in. (I lovelovelove this photo, by the way -- it looks perfectly composed, even though it was all a complete accident.)

We showed her how to make a crab in the sand using her crab mold.

Making the sand castle towers was a little too hard for her, but she did enjoy destroying them with her shovel.

We didn't always know what she was doing with the sand, but she sure seemed to. It was apparently well worth it for us to have taken up that space in our luggage with her sand toys.

She was very involved in her work, so this may have been the only time I got her to look up from it at the camera.

After she had had enough of sitting in the sand and playing, she started wandering around from place to place digging with her shovel.

Hmmm... where to dig next...

A girl and her beach ball. She liked throwing it into the ocean (which meant Mommy had to keep making sure it didn't get away from us in the water).

What did we do with the rest of our day? That's for me to know and you to find out. In a few days. :-)

beth, 9:56 PM || We are 5 comments. Read us!