Movie Review: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

This completes the viewing of the Indiana Jones series.  I wanted to watch the new one for a long time, but I had to watch the old ones first.

It didn't completely sink in that the movie was based in the 50's until 20 minutes into the movie.  I think it's because it has an iconic actor, Harrison Ford, that is clearly "today's Harrison Ford" in a costume.  I just wasn't thinking clearly because it should have been obvious from the car models and that he has a line "I Like Ike" and that he gets stuck in an atomic bomb testing facility. And the fact that Indiana Jones would be like 100 years old if it were in modern times.

It borders on being a sci fi movie toward the end, and borrows heavily from elements in the National Treasure and Mummy films.  Or maybe they borrowed from the original Indiana Jones?

It's really tough to criticize movies after watching the special features, because they put a tremendous amount of effort into everything.  So I will say that this movie is just swell.


SPOILER ALERT

It has the formulaic story where the spunky kid meets the adventurous adult, and they don't like each other at first, but gain each others' respect.  Then they find out that they are father-son.  But it was clever how the mother was the love interest from the first Indiana Jones movie.  And it's funny that Indiana Jones' main shock is that the boy didn't finish school, not that he actually has a son he just found out about.

The car chase was really good, however it was unrealistic that the boy swung on vines for several minutes at 40 mph and saved the day by landing on a moving car.

Book Review: Beginning ASP.NET

Another selection from the "Stalker Series".  those eyes, looking at you, staring at you from the cover.  My one female coworker called this guy "not hot".  I thought it was more of a Leo DiCaprio look, and I'm jealous of the amount of hair.

This is the fastest I've ever read a tech book.  I actually never programmed any of the examples.  I flipped through the pages very quickly.  It's not so much that I knew everything, but that I just want to get a basic idea of the features.  I don't have time to dwell on every topic.

It introduced object oriented programming and basic database concepts, which was surprising. The book really is for beginners and that's probably why I flipped through it.

Next I would like to read Advanced ASP.NET 4.0 or learn about MVC, or Ruby on Rails. My calling as a Computer Scientist and not just Database programmer has been renewed.So hopefully I will put some Object Oriented programming skills to use in my new job.

(this is the first post I've written with the new Blogger features - very nice.)

Book Review: The Wal-Mart Effect, by Charles Fishman

Courtney has refused to shop at Wal-Mart ever since hearing a presentation about fair trade practices. I go along with it, but I occasionally get food and basic necessities from Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market. My main objection to boycotting Wal-Mart is that there does not seem to be a ton of evidence that Wal-Mart is any worse than other big stores. This book didn't necessarily help me with out, but it's a real gem for understanding the effect of Wal-Mart.

This is the first business book I've read. the writing style is just perfect. It is written in a style that explains business concepts, but also doesn't treat the reader like a dufus. It's the perfect pace for me. Also, I like the author's "high road" approach. What I mean is that he is open to whether Wal-Mart is good or bad. I would hate to waste my time on a biased book. The author both criticizes and praises Wal-Mart. The basic idea is that Wal-Mart is great for consumers and prices, but these low prices come at a cost to suppliers.

I was amazed how Wal-Mart took over the grocery business in a short time. In the early 90s no consumers were begging for another grocery store. The grocery business was well established. But Wal-Mart now is the number one grocer in the world, and it has put others out of business. Just in my neighborhood (Shawnee, KS) there are two empty spaces that used to be grocery stores, and there is a new Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market that is doing well. So...now I know what happened.

Overall this book has opened my eyes to what is behind a low price, and who may be suffering because it's low. The shopper also suffers in ways such as standing in long lines, or having to assemble your own purchase. Wal-Mart affects everyone, even those who refuse to shop there. It has even affected other industries, who have modeled after Wal-Marts efficiencies. I recently applied for life insurance and it is cheaper now than many years ago, but I suffered in the area of customer service - I wasn't provided a number to call or provided any instructions on my application - that's where they saved the cost.

I love the story of the $2.97 gallon jar of pickles. Try to imagine a gallon jar of pickles if you haven't seen one -I sure haven't. And I think it would be ridiculous. But to make a statement, Wal-Mart sold this and basically made a penny off each one, if that. It was so people could look at that prominent display, and truly believe that Wal-Mart had amazing prices. The thing is that Vlasic was help hostage by this, because Wal-Mart threatened to pull all Vlasic products if they didn't keep the gallon jar. And for Vlasic it would have been a tremendous risk to stop partnering with the number one grocer in the world. So they kept going. Not sure if I can tell this story perfectly, this story just shows the power that Wal-Mart has over suppliers.

And then there is the story about the foreign factories. Workers in certain countries get paid 13 cents per hour and make about $12,000 in one career. And they work in conditions that would likely be illegal if the factory were in the U.S. So when we shop at Wal-Mart as the author says it's satisfying and frightening at the same time. The author implies that although Wal-Mart could have tremendous power to improve working conditions around the world, it doesn't as far as he can tell. And this is why Courtney has refused to shop at Wal-Mart for about 2 years now. Honestly I haven't missed it. It hasn't been a pleasant shopping experience on recent trips I've taken there - my main complaints being the inability to find items quickly and the long lines.

This book is the front runner to win my book of the year award, so check it out!

My Workplace - 7101 Tower

I wanted to give my faithful blog readers a sneak peek at the pictures I took around my workplace.

I am a firm believer in taking a walk in the afternoon, This is especially for those of us who sit at the computer all day. And I am more productive afterward once my body is refreshed from walking around. It can also be a good time for prayer especially if something at work is troubling me.

All through the winter I was kind of bummed because there was apparently no place to walk. So I went up and down the 15 stories of the building. But once it got warmer it gave me opportunity to walk on a trail that someone at work told me about. And it is not too shady, but it does the trick. The nice thing is that I get to see a lot of wildlife. Unfortunately, in these pictures I did not capture the baby geese and baby ducks. They haven't been in this area the past week. Plus they were a lot cuter when they were just born, around when Annique was born. now they are kind of teenagers. but I hope to snap a picture of them sometime.

Here are the pictures:
http://picasaweb.google.com/dan.gras/MyWorkplace7101Tower#

My Workplace - 7101 Tower

Book Review: Love and Respect

by Emerson Eggerichs

I find this book to be confusing..because it's so simple, yet so expansive. The book is based on one simple concept, but is 324 pages long.

Mostly, I found the book was asking married couples to do what Courtney and I seem to already be doing. And I don't say that out of pride, hopefully. I just think that Courtney and I are both sensitive to each other by nature. Many of the examples put forth in the book were of situations where at least one of the spouses was a very self-centered person, and where there were serious problems.

But..I will say that I am definitely not perfect, and could show appreciation to Courtney more often. There are many ways that I could be more loving. The book purports that as I show more love, Courtney will show me more respect. If one person is not doing their thing, than the mature way to live is to continue to show love and respect, and to not base it on what the other person is doing. I think my childhood models showed this to me, and that is why this concept is not difficult.

I will say that my main complaint about this book is that there are hundreds of examples of "people coming up to the author" or "writing a letter to the author" about how his conferences and writings transformed their marriages. Without all of those examples, it could have been a 100 page book. I am wondering if the publisher thought the book would sell better if it was 300 pages. I am a cynic, but I think there might be some truth to it. Sometimes things are big business that you'd rather believe are not.

Overall, I'm a little confused about what to take away from it. I think watching the DVDs or being at a conference with Courtney would help to get more out of it.