Restaurant Review: Oklahoma Joe's (Olathe)

Occasion: Going out to eat with a client from Washington DC

Location: 119th area in Olathe

Price: I didn't pay!

Taste: great

Gluten-free items: Not so good. I think I got sick.

Service speed: We stood in line for 20 minutes. Not so good.

Movie Review: All Quiet on the Western Front

Oscar Best Picture Winner 1929-1930

Some plot details may follow.

Told from the German point of view in World War I. This movie was banned in some countries, because they viewed it as anti-war. It describes the atrocities of war, and points out the stupidity of it. These German soldiers did not really even know why they were fighting.

This is a movie where everyone dies. When one soldier dies, another one is excited to take the boots of the one who died. They are very nice boots, and the soldier says something along the lines of "Wearing these boots I'll be happy, even on the front lines." Then a couple of scenes later, he is shown with a huge smile, marching in his boots. And then he is shot and killed. Then that is repeated with another soldier wearing the nice boots.

Then towards the end, the main character tells another soldier, "You're the last thing I've got". then within a couple of minutes, his friend is killed by shrapnel from a bomb. Then, finally the movie ends when the main character is killed.

Another memorable scene is after the Germans have been starving in these makeshift underground places while they are being bombed. A couple of them go insane. Then when the bombing stops, then go out into the trenches and gun down the Allied troops that are charging them. The Allied troops one by one are killed by the machine guns.

This is probably the best old movie we've seen so far.

Funny Video: Me Worship

Thanks to courtney for tipping me off to this:



"This amazing collection is great to share with friends, if you have any"

Restaurant Review: Fronteras

Occasion: Needed to get out of the house into the cold

Location: 79th & Quivira, next to all the other restaurants trying to be the first ones to make it at that location

Price: Inexpensive, especially with a Buy 1 Get 1 Free Coupon. Plus they gave us the more expensive one free.

Taste: above average

Gluten-free items: many, but they all kind of are the same thing. I guess that describes Mexican food.

Service speed: Good for how busy it was

Service quality: Very friendly and good service

Other Notes: It's a small place. There was a 20 minute wait, and we stood the whole time. Hopefully they can make some money and expand the place.

Book Review: White

The 3rd in the series about Thomas Hunter.

Web site: http://www.teddekker.com/

This book was good. And it tied in the theology that runs deep in the books. The series is a good epic story about this world and another world. It is a psychological thriller, but it also has a lot of deep meaning. Now that I'm unhooked from these books, I wonder what I will read next??

Book Review: The Cat Who Played Post Office

Qwilleran gets knocked out when he is attacked by a car. That is because he is asking too many questions about a girl that disappeared from the town.

I believe this was one of the best so far of the Cat Who series. It was creative in its storytelling, and really kept us guessing until the end.

Movie Review: Broadway Melody

Tagline: The pulsating drama of Broadway's bared heart speaks and sings with a voice to stir your soul!

Notes: Oscar Best Picture 1929

Review: This movie wasn't very good. I was left wondering if it only won a Best Picture because it used sound well, since it was the first Best Picture with sound and singing.

Two sisters love the same man, who is really unlikeable to me. He is courting one sister, and then loves the other one only because she is beautiful. The "beautiful one" tries to avoid him out of love for her sister, but she ends up with the guy. So that was not a happy ending. Plus, the VHS format cut off the top of their heads and things in the left side of the screen. I don't recommend this one.

Movie Review: Wings

When did I see this? Last Sunday

Year this movie was made: 1927?

Famous people: Clara Bow, known as the IT girl of the 20's. (Not IT as in Information Techonology)

Plot line: Two young men, one rich, one middle class, who are in love with the same woman, become fighter pilots in World War I.

Our experience: Courtney and I were surprised that it is a silent film. Neither of us had seen one before. We were also surprised at how well it was done, with the limited techology they must have had. There are several fight scenes completely in the air (or apparently in the air). The plot was not predictable. We were surprised at the lax morals depicted. As you may know, American soldiers who went to Paris were not always on best behavior. So there was a lot drunkeness depicted. We also saw an actresses' bare back, which Courtney thought would have been scandalous. Overall it was good. I would probably not sit and watch it again, but was good one time.

excitement of recruiting

I was recently involved in bringing someone new into our company. It all went quickly.

• I received an email from her last Wednesday saying that she was looking for a job. Her skills and interests have everything to do with my company. I passed it on to people who are hiring
• Thursday the people hiring got back into town and called her.
• Thursday night, I spoke to her on the phone, and gave her more details about the company
• Friday afternoon she came into the first interview
• Tuesday afternoon she came for the second interview
• Tuesday afternoon I found out that she was offered the job
• This morning I found out that she accepted the job

This morning I was mentioned in her mass email:

God is amazing! I have received a wonderful Valentine's Day gift. This morning I accepted a job offer from StrategicOne as an Account Manager....I am very excited about this opportunity. I have to say a big thank you to Dan Gras who thought that my skills might be a good fit at his company (StrategicOne) and quickly passed on my information. Without him I would not have this opportunity.

It is exciting to be a part of this. It reminds me of "bringing someone into the kingdom". I'm still working on that analogy. The basic thought is that we just have a small but important role in it, and it brings joy.

Weekend Play-By-Play February 10

I haven't had much time to update this. We had another busy weekend, and also I became a member of FaceBook, which has taken some of my time. So here goes...

• Friday we went bowling with the middle school group from church
• Saturday we went shopping for various house supplies
• Saturday we hung out with a family of 11 who are old friends of my parents.

The infant is not pictured. And the gray-haired man is my dad.

• Sunday morning I went running, and also took pictures of the ice fountain near Dillons at 75th and Quivira:

This is usually just a non-spectacular fountain. We are surprised they left the water running this whole time, but it makes us laugh.

• Then we watched the first ever Oscar winning "Best Picture", Wings, from 1927. As usual, I will write a separate blog about that.
  

Pictures of a Chemical Plant Fire

Courtney took these pictures from her work yesterday

She went home early so that she didn't breathe in chemicals that were beginning to rain down. Does anyone else have stories about this explosion, or other fires?

Book Review: Red

Publisher's Note: The Stakes of the mind-bending story spun in Black are raised to a new level in Red. In one world, Thomas Hunter must lead a small, highly trained force of 30,000 against an unstoppable army of a million warriors. In the other he will face an evil beyond the scope of his imagination.

Review: It's hard to review this one, because saying anything about it would give away details in the first book, Black. But it was very good, containing Bible truths retold in a completely different world. It also developed that other world very well. It was full of action. It was very enjoyable. I recommend it to anyone.

Movie Review: Freedom Writers

Famous people: Hillary Swank (pictured)

When did I see this? Friday, February 1, 7 PM

Why did I see this? Courtney passionately wanted to see it, so I asked her out. We hadn't been in the theater since November, so that was special too.
Year this movie was made: 2007

Review: I went expecting to see a template of an urban school story where a teacher comes in and changes everyone. But it was very special and fresh. Based on a true story, this brillant woman turns down more lucrative careers to be a high school teacher in Long Beach. Most of her students are in gangs, and they hate each other based on race. She overcomes a lack of support and the students' child-like reading levels to help them to succeed. You should see it.

If you want to read more about the true story, you can click here.

Restaurant Review: Chen's Super Buffet

Occasion: For Mom's birthday

Location: Shawnee Mission Parkway and Quivira, catty corner from our favorite Chinese buffet, the Home Delight

Price: $9.25, but free when dad pays

Taste: below average

Food selection: Lots of seafood. Actually the place smelled like seafood. You are paying for the seafood in the buffet price. Courtney has some allergies to seafood, and if she didn't, she hates it anyway. There were many buffets, but there didn't seem to be very many main courses to me.

Service quality: We mentioned it was mom's birthday. I didn't think our waitress understood 'birthday', or anything we said. But when we were almost ready to leave, they brought out a platter of desert with a candle, and sang happy birthday. I was really surprised. So I have to say that service was great!

Best of January

Best Movie That I Saw: The Notebook
Best Book I Read: Black, by Ted Dekker
Best New-To-Me Restaurant: Manny's on SW Boulevard

Mom's Birthday and Pictures!

Mom's Birthday - isn't she pretty for her age, which I won't tell you?

Our Christmas picture, which will someday be really funny

New Years Eve

Reunion with Courtney's old Camp friends (they call themselves the Millenial Mixer, I'm guessing since it started around 2000)

Book Review: The Cat Who Played Brahms

This is the 5th of the series of about 20, I think. Courtney and I read these to each other out loud. I take the odd-numbered chapters, and she takes the rest.

In this one, the main character, Qwilleran, takes an extended vacation to a lake resort. And he and his cats and his love interest get involved in solving a murder mystery.

The ending was good. This book was not in my top 3 from the series. My top 3, I think, are the first 3.

Movie Review: The Sting

When I was a kid (and older), I played Scott Joplin on the piano. People asked me if I had seen the movie The Sting. Scott Joplin's pieces are the soundtrack of the movie.

It is set in the 1930's. The two famous actors were Robert Redford and Paul Newman. They play two con men who are trying to trying to take down a mob boss. There are lots of twists and turns. This is also in the running for the best movie I've seen this month.

This movie won the Oscar for best picture in 1974.

Movie Review: The Notebook

It's the end of January, and I only have another day to review these movies. Then I will do a Best Of January thing.


We watched this with our year-long youth intern Bryson and his girlfriend. That was after we tried to go bowling, and all the lanes were taken, and stopped by the movies, and all of them started at 9:40.

So we picked this one democratically. Courtney had seen it before. She had won it at a DVD gift exchange at Christmas time.

Surprisingly, this movie touched my heart. Sure, it had premarital sex which I disapproved of. But if you ignore that, it was a touching love story. Especially the factor that the story is being narrated by an old man that is reading to a lady who has a memory problem similar to Alzheimers. This is in the running for the best movie I saw in January!

I almost forgot to mention that this movie made me feel like I wasn't being romantic enough toward Courtney, and I want to be more romantic. With Valentine's Day coming, I really needed that!

network is down...what do you do?

The network went down at work today. We could not read work email, access network folders, or use the Internet. We not only ran out of productive things to do, but also struggled to find ways to waste time. I attempted to install my new car headlight, but there was a cold wind, and i ended up needing some tools. then eventually about 7 of us did team-building by playing something like Pictionary. We were laughing and were apparently high on permanent markers.

All the fun aside, imagine being the system administrator or the owner or COO. This was very serious for them, and should have been for us as well. We were more than willing to work, but did not have the capability. Eventually we had the option of going home, after hearing that it wouldn't be fixed soon.

Courtney's car wouldn't start this morning, so she got a ride home. We both were at home at 3 PM, which is very weird for a work day. With dad out of town, we are left to our own minds, and we'll try to get it to the auto shop soon.

Last weekend we saw 2 more movies. The Sting and The Notebook. We also primed our bathroom walls. So they are semi-white now instead of pink. They need one more coat, and then we will be painting light blue.