Movie Review: On Golden Pond (1981)

Henry Fonda, Jane Fonda, and Katharine Hepburn appear in this Hallmark-y movie about old couple at a summer home at a lake, and it's especially about the old man who is grouchy and thinking about death all the time. And he has a strained relationship with his daughter, who comes to visit with her boyfriend (Bill), and the boyfriend's 13 year old son (Billy).

Then there's the mailman, who delivers mail by boat. And those are all the six characters in the movie.

The old man is a depressing character, but we come to find out that he is very sharp and funny. The daughter and boyfriend go off to Europe and leave the boy at the lake. The boy is not happy to be there initially, but the old man becomes like a father to him (overcoming the grouchiness).

The old man does old guy stuff like almost set the house on fire, and gets lost, and then he gets ashamed and afraid. Then the old man and boy have a boat accident, and that apparently knocks something loose, because the daughter comes back, and then the old man is better, and it ends happily. Then the old man almost dies, but then lives. Whew! I hope you didn't want to know the plot.

It was kind of a neat movie. I'm glad we watched it. It's not like really exciting or anything. It was based on a play.

The part of the old man is acted by Henry Fonda, who was the star of 12 Angry Men, so I appreciated watching this one. Also I have obviously heard of Jane Fonda, but have never seen her in a movie before. And Katharine Hepburn is apparently a well known actress, but I didn't know much about her before.

Restaurant Review: Kokopelli's Mexican

When we told the hostess we were 6 people and 2 kids, she seemed really stressed about it, and treated us like we were a nuisance. The place was really busy for a Monday, and there were a few other large groups, and I'm sure that had a lot to do with it. It's pretty amazing how often people eat out, you know?

I think I had flautas again. Thank God for flautas. I think it's a misconception that Mexican food is good for the wheat allergy, because most places only have about 2 entrees with corn. And one of them is flautas. Pretty much, I could ask them to substitute a corn tortilla on any entree, but I can't tell the difference easily, and they could forget. That is why I don't do that.

The chips were not that crisp. But our friends did say that it was one of their favorite places. I actually went there straight from work, my 2nd week at my new job. So that was almost 3 weeks ago!

Restaurant Review: Golden Corral

My cousin had her rehearsal dinner here. All the family was invited, and it was convenient for everyone to get what they wanted at the buffet. But, there happened to be some kind of sports team that also came by. And then there were the regular diners. So everyone was crowding around the buffet. It couldn't have been much busier.

The BBQ ribs were really good, and they were the featured item. I also had mashed potatoes, other vegetables, and maybe a couple of other gluten free dishes. I didn't have to pay for it, so I have no idea how much it costed. I tend to not like buffets because I don't eat a lot, so I overpay.

The service was good - they have waiters that refill drinks and take the plates.

In a way, it was like entering a different world, like I was visiting a small Kansas town. There was smooth jazz playing over the speakers, which didn't seem to match the decor or style of the place.

Restaurant Review: Spin! Pizza

I thought I remembered writing about this place. Courtney and I took Mom for her birthday. I also benefited, since they have gluten free pizza.

The menu is in the line, so if you take any time to order, you are holding up the line. I think that's a little annoying. But the pizza was really good, and it came out in good time. They have several locations in KC, and hopefully I can go back sometime.

Future posts

Movie reviews:
On Golden Pond

Restaurant reviews:
Kokopelli's
Golden Corral - think I have been there before, but don't remember when
Spin Pizza

Restaurant Review: Pei Wei

My new coworkers took me to Pei Wei (119th & Black Bob) on my first day of the job. You walk in and there is a computerized menu on the wall, and a special Windows error message, that my coworkers claim has been there for months.

I noticed Pad Thai, and decided to get it. Since the menu was on the wall, and if Ilooked at the menu a while, I would have held up the line, I decided pretty quickly. It was kind of like my menu experience at Spin Pizza, which sadly, I forgot to review. I will get on that. Which other restaurants have I forgotten to review???

Anyway, they didn't ask me how spicy the Pad Thai should be....I thought that was odd. It wasn't spicy, it just tasted kind of funny. It was actually the worst Pad Thai I've ever had.

But I'd go back and try some other item. Pad Thai isn't really a Chinese food specialty.

Best of September 2009

Pic of the month: Us and our new nephew, Miles

Best Movie That I Saw for the First Time: Chariots of Fire (Academy Award for Best Picture - Year of our birth 1981)

Best Book I Read: The Robe

Best online video I watched for the First time: Validation (Worth watching the 16 minutes)"

Movie Review: Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)

I had heard of this movie, but didn't know anything about it. I probably would have gone through life without seeing it, but Courtney wanted to watch it.

The special features were some of the best I've seen, with interviews of Steven Spielberg, Richard Dreyfuss, John Williams, and everyone else involved.

It's amazing how much creativity goes into something like this. Steven Speilberg wrote the movie and directed it, and it is about extra-terrestrials that visit Earth.

The government learns about the alien visitors,and tries to keep it under wraps, but several "normal Americans" have "close encounters". These encounters involve space ships, kidnappings, control over matter - especially lights and electricity, strange weather patterns. Those who have close encounters are then obsessed with a certain mountain shape, which they find out is Devil's Tower. The government is there at Devil's Tower waiting for the aliens to arrive.

The humans and aliens communicate with each other using music, lights, and colors.

Even though it's a good movie, it feels dated. Modern movies like Independence Day (1996) kind of crowd this out in the alien movie space. But this is a work of art worth seeing.

BBQ Post

My post about a Kentucky BBQ has gained some comments from completely random people. One commenter even took the time to insult me, and I tried to respond by pointing out that if my blog shows up in the top 5 google search for the restaurant, that means the restaurant is not that great.

check it out:
Kentucky BBQ

October 4, 2008

Courtney with my cousin Sarah who will be married October 24, 2009!


I wonder if I can photoshop out that little guy on Courtney's shoulder.

Just for fun, here is a picture of me from October 4, 2008, with my cousin Ben.

Job Search advice so far....

Let me know what you think of these job tips. I'm hoping that when people ask me how I got a job, that I have something to tell them. I am not an expert, and a lot of my success is attributed to things out of my control, but I did pick up some wisdom along the way.

• Use the time to be emotional. Buy a journal. Go to a park, and write down whatever thoughts come to your head. After losing your job there is a time of grieving. Reconnect with nature and with God. Reconnect with whatever you like to do (if that’s not your job), for me it was playing music.
• Try to see where God has led you in your career so far, and how he has been there for you in the past. For me it gave me reassurance about the career path that I was on.
• Have an accountability group, preferably with seasoned career experts. They taught me to write thank you notes, to look at interviewers in the eye, how to network.
• Initiate informational interviews with business friends in the city. If you meet with business owners or workers, you will gain a lot of insight into your career. And you will get practice for real interviews.
• Get professional resume help. As a technical person, I failed to see how my sentences were worded awkwardly. I wasn’t selling my skills in a grammatically convincing way. I also needed major help on the formatting and outline.
  
• Have people praying for you. I didn’t have to ask, because I’m part of a tight knit community, and the word spread around.
• Listen to the concerns of the interviewers. Address their concerns directly, and explain why you are a good fit for the job. I’m not sure that I’m a great interviewer, but I did my best to prove that I was a good fit, and it worked. Let friends know the time of the interview so that they can pray.
• Write personal handwritten thank you notes to every person you interview with, instead of stuffy formal ones that you can find online or in books. A personal letter can address the concerns or needs that you just learned about in the interview. It’s risky because you are putting your true vulnerable self out there without many guard rails, but I have a feeling that this worked in my favor.
• If you are currently working, work hard. Because I worked well in my previous job, my former coworker wanted to help me by referring me to this company. And I got a good reference letter from a previous supervisor.

Book Review: The Robe, by Lloyd C. Douglas

This book was recommended by Vince. I went to the library and expected to see maybe a 10-20 year old book. It was actually written in 1942! I later found out that my mom had read it as a teenager.

The book is the fictional story about what happened to Christ's robe. In the well known story of the crucifixion, as written in the Bible, the Roman soldiers gambled to win his robe, as Jesus hung on the cross.

I thought the book was going to lead up slowly toward that moment. But that moment is toward the beginning, and is not really a primary focus of the book. The book focuses on one of the Roman soldiers who crucifies Jesus and wins the Robe, and of his faithful Corinthian slave. Then in the rest of the book, we hear more about who Jesus was, and find out how that affects people a year after the crucifixion.



For me, it was educational about the Roman culture and dominance of the day, and about Jewish culture. It was good to read about how possibly the message of Jesus spread across the world. These are things that I have not reflected on in depth. Honestly, I wish many of those hours I spent in Sunday School or in Christian teaching were spent on historical subjects rather than only theology or Christian living.

This is a really great book, and I recommend it. Learning more (fictionally, but maybe also realistically) about how people who knew Jesus reacted to him, and to his death and resurrection helps me to connect with Jesus as well.

-----------------------------------
I had wondered why it hadn't been a movie, and I just looked this up and it was made into a movie in 1953. It was nominated for several Academy Awards, including Best Picture, which I wasn't aware of. I'm not sure I would want to ruin my remembrance of the book by watching the movie. But I do like movies from the 50s.

Also, I read that it was one of the best selling books of the 1940s.

Movie Review: Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark

I was surprised to find out that I hadn't seen this movie yet. I guess that makes sense, since it was filmed in the year that we were born - 1981. And by the time we were of movie watching age, the popularity had died down somewhat. I remember seeing the third movie, The Last Crusade, several times growing up, and it was filmed in 1989.

I enjoyed the action and chase scenes. And the concept of an archeologist competing with Nazis to find the greatest religious artifact, the Lost Ark, is a winner. I love Harrison Ford in the role. The special features said that Tom Selleck was the first choice, but obligations with Magnum P.I.

The movie is not at all realistic in the action scenes, and it's not meant to be. Most of the time, comedic elements are added into everything. There is some supernatural things when the Nazis attempt to perform a religious ceremony with the Ark. It was a good movie.

Five Year Anniversary

As of September 24, Courtney and I have been officially a couple for five years!

2004 (official for a month in this picture)

September 24, 2005 (engagement)

2006 (married for four months)

2007

2008

Best of the Month: August 2009

Pic of the month: Omelette

Best Movie That I Saw for the First Time: Ordinary People

Best Book I Read: Tortured for Christ

Best online video I watched for the First time: The amazing "Mathmagician"

Movie Review: Chariots of Fire

I have an easier time remembering the theme song to this movie than the movie title itself. I was blanking on the name if when I sat down to write my review! But the theme song is etched into my brain. I was disappointed that the theme song only appeared at the very beginning and at the very end. But the music was good in between too, and it gained an Academy Award.

Chariots of Fire also won Best Picture in 1981. Courtney and I had been looking forward to watching it, because it is from the year of our birth.


Somehow I was under the impression that the movie was about a guy named Prefontaine who was a famous runner. Maybe that is what someone mistakenly told me once. But it was about runners in England in the 1920s.

Now this movie is quite peculiar and impressive.

1. It is about runners, so there are a lot of running scenes. I was impressed how the runners were genuinely exhausted from running fast. I don't think there's any way you can "act" like people feel after a sprint. We wondered how often they had to run, and the complexity of having different takes.
2. There are instances where the tape is slowed down, or running scenes are repeated. Kind of like instant replay. That way the movie can maximize those scenes.
3. The movie is about people from different religious backgrounds, and how they overcome the challenges surrounding that. For the Jew, he is discriminated against, and wants to prove himself. For the Christian, he is asked to compromise, and has to choose between honoring God and running in the Olympics.
   

The Christian runner (Eric Liddell) causes a stir when he refuses to run time trials on the Sabbath. My view of the Sabbath is subject for a separate blog post. My views are not that extreme, but I do have some ways that I honor it. Anyway, my favorite part was when an American runner gave him a note that read "Those who honor me, I will honor", says the Lord. And he clenches that note in his hand the entire race.

Another quote that has been often quoted in Christian literature and sermons is when the Christian runner (Eric Liddell) says to his anti-running sister, "I believe God made me for a purpose, but he also made me fast. And when I run I feel his pleasure". And the usual application is that religious activities are not the only activities that honor God.

It was tougher for me to relate to the Jewish runner (Abrahams), because I'm not an ultra competitive person, and the things that motivated him aren't the things that motivate me. He eventually gained the respect he sought, and he was treated like a true Englishman.

Anyway, it's hard to know where to rank this movie, but it's toward the top. I didn't ever get bored with it, and it is an epic story, which are is favorite kind.

Here's a video with the theme song:

Restaurant Review: Samurai Teriyaki

I had seen this place for a while, and teriyaki bowls sounded really appealing to me. Having my gluten allergy, you don't understand how cool it is to have a restaurant where I can eat most things. I can eat rice and meat. Teriyaki bowl. I'm not sure if the sauce is gluten free, but I can live with not knowing.

We dropped by on a Wednesday evening, and it was shocking to me how there were no customers. And only one employee, who took the order and cooked. Then when I wanted to ask her a question, she was back cooking behind some curtains, and there was no way to get her attention. Besides yelling and screaming, which are not my thing.

The environment was pleasant. Although I wouldn't have a private conversation there, because it's one of those places where you can hear everything.

The food was tasty. It was expensive. I think I ended up paying around $20. But we had leftovers, so it was like two meals. Still, I don't blame them for high prices, because you have to pay bills. But I may not go there often, and we don't eat out a lot anyway.

It is located at 87th and Gillette, next to the YMCA.

Unemployment update

I know that many are interested in how I'm doing. Unemployment is kind of a slow process. And it isn't a process that I've done before, so I'm learning as I go along.

My first reaction was to sign on with an IT staffing company that was going to place me into a 6 month contract. Even though it was a contract, I was excited because it was the exact type of work I'd like to continue doing, and it was relatively close to my house, and I think salary was going to be decent. My contact said that I needed to improve my resume, which I was going to do anyway.

So I decided to have a resume work day. An old college friend saw my Facebook status, which said "resume work day", and offered to help. She had recently read a 500+ page book on resumes and had become an expert on it. She said that she felt God was calling her to help me out. She worked on it really hard, in the midst of homeschooling several children and having a trip to the beach on Labor Day weekend. And I love the final result.

By the time I got this ready, some people were already interviewing for that 6 month contract, and the IT staffing company didn't want to send any additional candidates. So this is when my "get a job quick" mentality was killed. And I started to set in for more of a longer term job search.

I met with a friend my parents' age who had helped me to find my first job. He reminded me of the power of networking, and advised me to spend most of my time on that, because it is the most effective way of finding a job.

There are a few other things I need to focus on before jumping into networking. That is, I need to sign up for some health insurance. And I need to make a variety of resumes for the different opportunities that come up. I also need to prepare some answers to standard interview questions such as "Tell me about yourself". So it's really an exercise in preparation, and I can't wait to get to the point where I'm pursuing the actual opportunities.

Movie Review: Uncle Buck (1989)

Somehow this made it on my list of movies to watch, and we watched it Labor Day weekend. There's something about 80s comedies that I don't like - I prefer movies that make fun of the 80s like Wedding Singer.

That being said, this was one of the better 80s comedies that I've seen. John Candy is a spectacular actor. I was a bit disappointed that John Candy's character (Uncle Buck), quickly proved to be a completely responsible guardian. It kind of defeated the purpose that it was supposed to be about a bumbling idiot that couldn't do anything right, and finally pulls through in the end. There was a funny scene where he broke an antique plate, but I don't remember him screwing up much more often than that. At the end, in a moment of desperation, he almost took the kids to his gambling venue, since that was his only source of income, and had them in the car, but before leaving, he realized what he was doing wasn't right.

The only other actor I recognized in the film was MacCaulay Culkin, and he did a great job. This movie takes place a year or two before Home Alone.

Movie Review: It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World

We watched this 1963 movie a few weeks ago, but blogging hasn't been on my mind. The movie title maybe even reflects my life right now!

This movie was funny for about half of it, but for me, there is no way I can be on the edge of my seat for two and half hours, so I kind of get tired of it.

Anyway, it has a bunch of famous actors, the list of which you can find here. The ones I had heard of were Sid Caesar and Mickey Rooney and Don Knotts and Carl Reiner and The Three Stooges. But the fact that I don't know the others probably shows my lack of knowledge about film stars from the 40s and 50s.

A few of them find out about a hidden treasure from a dying motorist, and then they try to beat each other to the place. The police are following them. And the police chief wants the money too because of his own troubles. Hilarity ensues.