Lightning Quick Movie Review: Source Code

Coulda Woulda Shoulda. Ever think what you would have done if you had a chance to do it over? Well stop thinking like that. It only happens in the movies. Like Back to the Future. Like Groundhog Day.

And Source Code.

If you have seen previews, you may know that Jake Gyllenhaal stars as some guy on a mission to prevent a disaster and he has 8 minutes to get it done. On a train. Jeffrey Wright and Vera Farmiga star as Doc Emmett Brown. I kept asking if Vera Farmiga was Maggie Gyllenhaal. Do they look alike at all?

When you have a limited time to get something done, it's always good to keep track of your time. And Jake does this with a rather fine looking watch that is prominently and frequently displayed. What a successful product placement! Well, enough for me to find out what watch it is (Swiss Army Chrono XLS MT), but not enough to buy one (proud owner of a Seiko Black Monster Automatic).

Keeping to LQMR policy, I will try not to give away too much of the movie. I know Jake is on a mission and has several opportunities to get it done, but he really should enjoy it a little more and try to have as much fun with it as Bill Murray does in Groundhog Day.

We enjoyed this movie and thought it was worth the $1.07 one night rental.

Just remember: In real life it doesn't matter what kind of watch you have. When your 8 minutes are up, they're up.

Thoughts on the Garden

This year's garden had mixed results. It was a wonderful experience to nurture something, watch it grow to maturity then eat it! Very rewarding. We had some amazing cucumber sandwiches and one wonderful squash. After growing your own produce one is reluctant to buy it from the grocery store or farmers' market.

There were a lot of negatives.
Our garden was not as productive as it should have been. For the second year in a row ALL of our tomatoes were stolen by animals. The basil from the start looked sickly and the cucumber and squash plants started looking rough from insects and maybe some kind of blight.

I proudly presented my parents with a couple of cucumbers and a crookneck squash...

"What kind of cucumber is this?" My mom held the fruit of my labors distastefully in her hands.
"It's a pickling cucumber."
"Pickling cucumbers don't look like this. I think it is overripe."

Well, THAT was worth it. I don't see why I bother sometimes.

And I guess that is the question. Should we even bother with a garden next year? If so, we will have to invest more in some kind of fencing to protect all the veggies. Maybe spray against insects. Well, those cucumber sandwiches and the squash WERE good.

Maybe I will try one more time...

the titanium drinking straw

I knew that a stainless steel drinking straw existed, but I just found out that there is a titanium drinking straw available for $14.99! I gotta get me one of these! I use disposable straws pretty often when I go out to eat or take out. Before you scoff and say this is such a frivolous consumer product, think about how many straws you may use and throw away when you eat or take out.

I could get two and keep them in the car. When we go to a restaurant or get some take out, we can pass on the straws and just use the titanium ones. The only problem is if I forget about my titanium straw and toss it in the trash...

The Accidental Zimmern: China Edition - Year of the Rat

Three Accidental Zimmern posts on one day you ask? What did you do to deserve this?
My dear readers, I give you one AZ post for free and throw in two AZ posts, no charge. If you wish, my digital fedora is upturned for any contributions you wish to make through paypal or buying any of my stickers.

Back in a Chinese factory kitchen! The very idea of this sounds heinous to the uninitiated, but some of the best food in China can be encountered here. After all, this kitchen prepares meals for the factory owner and his guests, so it has to be good.

After enjoying another good meal, I decided to help the cook and take my dishes to the kitchen. On the kitchen counter where my food was prepared was a 8x12" piece of flat metal with bits of fur stuck to it. After all, a glue trap can be reused if you peel the rat back off of it...

A coworker had a similar experience. He entered the kitchen to see two freshly dead rats (the Chinese like their food fresh) laying on the same kitchen counter. Apparently he was early for dinner.

No matter when you visit China, it is always the Year of the Rat...

The Accidental Zimmern: China Edition - Chicken Soup Surprise

Welcome to the China Edition of The Accidental Zimmern.

When traveling in China, I often encounter delicious and unusual food. Due to language differences (I speak Chinese with the ability of a native 4-month old), a lot of the time I find out what I ate after the fact...or I end up never quite sure.

Soups in China are wonderful, no matter if they are simple broths or laden with ingredients. This time I sat down to a lunch prepared in a factory I was working with. I promptly sat down and ladled a bowl of soup and dug in. It turned out to be a savory chicken soup. It was very rich and oily with flavor. It was so rich the soup was dark and not a typically clear chicken soup. As I often do when I encounter something delicious, I went back for more.

This time I submerged the ladle deep in the pot to make sure I got all the ingredients. I pulled up the ladle to reveal a DUCK HEAD, beak and all...

I shrugged, put the head back in the pot then ladled myself another bowl of soup. After all it tasted good, so I ate it.

The Accidental Zimmern: Korean BBQ Taco Box

And now introducing a new segment called the Accidental Zimmern in which I encounter new food, occasionally bizarre, often accidentally.

I'm the type of person that can say, "why yes, I HAVE tasted bear gall bladder fluid!" I'm also often the person that tries a dish first only to find out later it was something slightly unusual.

Why is this segment the Accidental Zimmern and not the Boredain? Because I want to enjoy food and just say whether it was good or bad, not wax poetic in a faux Kerouacian beat style. Bourdain is the DeNiro of food critics. Amazing and honest in his younger years, still has the chops in his older years, but decides to put out crap like Meet the Fockers.

This inaugural edition does not involve weird food but still is a first for me - the food truck. More specifically, the Korean BBQ Taco Box!

My brother (the bromad himself) and I were headed for a bowl of pho when we spied a huge yellow delivery van. The Korean BBQ Taco Box!Spontaneous guys that we are, we put off thoughts of pho turned back to the big yellow truck! I ordered the spicy pork taco and bromad got the chicken taco. Blazing hot out, we retreated to the cool confines of the apartment.So for about six bucks, I got a ginger salad (lettuce with ginger sauce. meh.), a spicy chicken wing (not bad), a fried tofu roll (nice), two fried cheese rolls (very yummy) and a spicy pork taco. The spicy pork taco was very delicious.

This is how I judge whether food is good or not: If I want to keep eating it just to continue experiencing the taste even though I am overstuffed. And the fried cheese rolls and spicy pork taco is good food.

WHAT SHOULD I TRY NEXT? ANY SUGGESTIONS?

Lightning Quick Movie Review: The Adjustment Bureau

After watching this movie you will want to run out and buy a fedora and a Moleskine notebook.
DON'T. You don't look good in a fedora and Moleskines are made in China.

Matt Damon stars as a candidate for NY Senate who meets the girl of his dreams and accidentally peeks behind the curtain covering the rabbit hole, finding out the world is turned by an all powerful Oz and his faithful fedora wearing Oompa Loompas.

The girl in question is either Zooey Deschanel, Emily Blunt or Katy Perry. If you can figure out which one, please let me know.

This is a romantic movie disguised as a sci-fi (syfy?) movie, questioning free will vs. fate. But that's ok. It means both me and my girlfriend enjoyed the movie and found it worth the buck plus tax it cost to rent it.

It will leave you thinking that maybe, with enough personal belief and hard work that you can accomplish anything.

But you still won't look good in a fedora.

The Neologism of theevildrsin

Welcome to the Neologism of theevildrsin where I present my newly coined words or definitions of words soon to be adopted by the public at large.

The last word I presented to you was "hybris" -noun. Excessive pride in one's Toyota Prius or Honda Insight. Ex. "Ted's hybris is getting on my nerves. It's not like his Prius is out there saving whales!"

Today's word is "bromadic" -adj. Describing one's male sibling as a nomad (1. a member of a people or tribe who move from place to place to find pasture and food 2. a person who continually moves from place to place; wanderer).

Origin of the word. My brother, who hates moving, once told me he wishes to be able to pack all his possessions into a small trailer towed by his car. This is a noble quest in which I hope to aid by designing furniture, philosophy, and of course terminology.

Thus inspired, I proceeded to brainstorm. Hmm...brother. bro. mobile. mobile brother. Brobile? nomadic brother. BROMAD! BROMADIC!!!

There you go. You are welcome. Bro. Use it in good health.

Motorcycle Lust.

WARNING! Motorcycle talk ahead. Ignore post if you have no interest.

Recently re-watched Long Way Round and currently watching Long Way Down, documentaries of Ewan McGregor and his buddy Charley Boorman travel long distances on BMW GS series Adventure motorcycles. Lightning Quick Movie review by yours truly to follow soon!

I'm sure you wouldn't be surprised if I said now I want a motorcycle. As much as I'd like one of those BMW GS Adventures in the movie or even one of BMW's smaller adventure bikes, they are a little pricey for me and let's be serious - I am unlikely to be traveling offroad or on long trips anytime soon.

After a lot of dreaming and deliberation of actual needs, this is what I've come up with:

The Yamaha WR250x. It's basically a street legal 250cc dual sport bike with road tires. Under 30hp, 70mpg, 300lbs, 85mph top speed. So it's kind of a modest but really fun bike.

Issues and potential solutions:

Foul and cold weather. Well, wear rain gear and cold weather gear that I already have.

Cargo. They make really cool aluminum panniers, which are metal boxes that go on either side of the bike, typically for long trips or expeditions. This could hold groceries or daily gear. If this was my only form of transport and I need to carry something bigger (relatively rare occasion) like a trip to Home Depot, I would probably rent or borrow a car. If I have to take a cat to the vet I honestly don't have a problem with strapping a cat cargo cage to the back of the bike. Or I could walk or borrow a car. I would most likely need a car to take the dog to the vet.

I own a car that is not worth selling so would prefer to wear it out. The price of the Yamaha plus luggage would equal an decent used car which is admittedly more practical. I would prefer not to own two vehicles.

Maybe I need to wait for this car to wear out (10 more years or so!), then get a bike for awhile until it gets annoying to only have a bike then get a used car that will complement the bike.

Lightning Quick Movie Review: The Traveler

Man, redbox sure is nice isn't it? movies for a buck a day. So even if you pick a stinker, you shrug and say "well, it only cost a dollar".

Well I want my dollar back for the Traveler!

Ok, the Traveler is about a stranger who steps into a police station and confesses to killing six people. Mysterious goings on commence in the police station. This 2010 movie feels like a low quality '80's horror movie.

It stars Val Kilmer which immediately set off my warning alarms. Yes he is definitely a great actor in some of my favorite movies (Top Gun, The Doors, Tombstone, Batma...um The Doors...).

But honestly, his face is now fat and bloated looking. Yeah, he went all Brando. I spent the whole movie saying "Aww, Ice...Man."

The only redeeming factor is that whole evening I ended up continuously trying to hauntingly whistle Lacrimosa from Mozart's Requiem as Val Kilmer's character did.

Lightning Quick Movie Review: Battle Los Angeles

Tired of all my glowing reviews?
Well this movie stunk so much although I recently watched it I had to google it to remind myself what it was about.

Ok, apparently it's about an alien invasion a la Tom Cruise's War of the Worlds (which i did like). It centers around Aaron Eckhart as a veteran Marine who wants to retire but has to lead a platoon to battle aliens and rescue civilians.

The main reason I hated this movie was that for all the action in the movie, there was overemphasis of all the drama of Aaron Eckhart losing his entire squad in Iraq in the past and not wanting to lose more people. That is all good...in another movie. There is no place for this in an alien-fighting movie! I am sure there were parts I liked but I can't remember them due to all that drama.

It was so bad that my girlfriend fell asleep near the end. Since she picked the movie, I repeatedly attempted to wake her up so she could suffer through the movie as well.

Not worth the dollar plus tax she spent for the rental at redbox.

Lightning Quick Movie Review: I Am Number Four

Honestly, I hope there is a sequel to this movie and I hope they call it "I Am Number Two". Never afraid to wear a joke out to death, I continuously mused out loud during the whole movie "I wonder when Number Two will appear?"

This is a teen sci fi movie about a teen from another planet who has to conceal his different-ness and hide from other aliens who want to kill him. Yup. It's a metaphor for life as a teen. And it has all the teen elements in the movie for kids to associate with: a love interest, angst and frustration, cool vehicles (according to all these teen movies, you gotta have either an old truck or motorcycle, right?), bullies, fights with parental figures, and aliens trying to kill you.

I'm easy to please and it was worth the $1.00 plus tax I paid to rent it on redbox. Some of the special effects were bad but the fight scenes were great. Seriously, I doubt they will but they should make a sequel and expand on Number Six (an experienced combative girl that rides a motorcycle) and of course, introduce Number Two!

Lightning Quick Movie Review: Unknown

Did you like the movie Taken with Liam Neeson? Did you like the Bourne Identity but got a little queasy with all the jittery camera work? Cool, me too! So let's watch it again only call it Unknown this time.

Unknown is about a biotechnologist (Mr. Qui Gon Jinn himself) who wakes from a coma and apparently finds his identity and wife stolen from him. He thus seeks to find out what the hell is going on.

Since I saw previews before I watched the movie, I constantly was yelling out "I DIDN'T FORGET EVERYTHING!" in my uncanny Liam Neeson growly, "i mean business now" voice. I am sure this annoyed my hyper tolerant girlfriend to no end.

I am not hard to please movie-wise and was not sarcastic with the opening paragraph. Since I enjoyed Taken and the Bourne Identity I enjoyed this movie. Plenty of suspense and action. It was well worth the obscene amount of money my girlfriend payed to rent it on iTunes.

Quick Movie Review: Sanctum

*note: this is the first of my lightning quick movie reviews. I'm not going to get into an in depth character or story analysis and spoil the movie. I'm just going to tell you if I thought it was worth spending a dollar or so to watch it. Also these reviews are a little dated because I wait for them to come out on DVD. cheaper! Want me to review movies in theaters? you're welcome to donate through Paypal. don't forget popcorn and soda money!


Are you afraid of falling? tight places? drowning? the dark?
Are you afraid of falling into a tight place and drowning in the dark? Well....SANCTUM!

It's about a bunch of cave divers (spelunkers!) that explore a vast network of caves when some things start going wrong (of course!). Individually, caving, rock climbing, rappelling, and diving are already dangerous. Mix them all together, add some inexperience and bad decisions and you have a major disaster awaiting.

I wanted to watch this movie for the water factor since I have been doing a lot of swimming lately. I also found myself making a lot of comments on the climbing since I had a little experience with that as well. The scenery is great but some of the indoor cave scenes had me thinking "boy I bet those actors are cold in that water tank!" I also thought never since the Chilean miner rescue coverage has Petzl scored such a product placement bonanza. They make some great helmets and headlamps!

This movie was well worth the $1.00 plus tax I spent on it (redbox) and left me wondering how long I could hold my breath and how fresh the batteries in my headlamp are...

self portrait

Uh, hi.

First Harvest of the Season!

Introducing the first harvest of the season - pickling cucumbers! They looked very fat and happy and I was a little sad to cut them off the vine. It's great to see some results from all our labor aside from mosquito bites and poison ivy. Hopefully the tomatoes, zucchini and squash turn out equally well and don't get stolen by any critters!