So, we built a swing set this weekend. Actually, we got about 95% of it done in one day. The kids had an old metal swing set in the backyard we put in when Wesley was 2. Clearly they had out grown it and it was starting to rust, especially where part of the neighbors tree had fallen on it literally days after we had put it up.
So with Wesley's 6th birthday and Emily's 2nd on the horizon we decided to spit in the face of the recession and build them a new one. This time a a larger wooden structure like the rich folk have. Us, not being the rich folk, decided to buy the kit, the lumber and do it ourselves!
Rebecca bought the kit from Swings N Slides, the lumber form the Home Depot, and the beer from the only place I buy beer, and the only place you should if you live in Cincinnati, Mt. Washington Ice and Beer.
We had loads of great help from my brother in law Tim, my sister in law Elizabeth, my good friends Bryan, Brad and Kara, Kevin, Dale, Shawn and John. To those folks we are very thankful!
With some finishing touches today, we are done. The kids played on it all day.
See Fort Richmond in all its glory here.
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Friday, March 20, 2009
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Martin Brodeur, Winningest Goalie Ever in NHL. 552.
With a 3-2 win over the Chicago Blackhawks, Martin Brodeur became the winningest goalie in NHL history with 552 wins.
Brodeur has unquestionably been one of the finest goalies to ever put on a pair of skates. While many fanboys whine about their wife beating hero Patrick Roy, the fact is Brodeur passed him and still has YEARS left to play. Probably a Stanley Cup or two more in him. His skills are legendary and his return from a major injury this year are commendable.
Congratulations Marty!
http://devils.nhl.com/
Brodeur has unquestionably been one of the finest goalies to ever put on a pair of skates. While many fanboys whine about their wife beating hero Patrick Roy, the fact is Brodeur passed him and still has YEARS left to play. Probably a Stanley Cup or two more in him. His skills are legendary and his return from a major injury this year are commendable.
Congratulations Marty!
http://devils.nhl.com/
Monday, March 16, 2009
So my mom is unemployed, the recession hits home.
UPDATE 3/17/09: One of my good friends Chris, just got hit. He was laid off from a local start-up as of April 30th.
I have been fortunate enough for the past 8 years to work for one of the finest companies on the planet. A company I respect and love. It has been and continues to be a thrill to work there. One of the benefits of working for one of the biggest and most innovative companies in the world has been stability through innovation, strategy and growth. When I started with the company we were in a recession, albeit a much less severe one than we face today. The company announced boldly that we would innovate through the recession. We did and beyond.
Today the location that I work for is still very busy, the company itself continues to innovate and grow and I continue to count myself fortunate to be among the employees responsible for that success and growth. One of the interesting personal observations that I have had working for a continuously prosperous company as been that the doom and gloom of the recession as seemingly seemed like something that is happening over there. To someone else. The news was full of the doom and gloom. But its hard to work daily in a very busy environment, seeing people spend money, seeing success and growth and hearing how bad it is.
A few friends of mine began to get hit. My very good friend Ronald J. Robertson was first hit and is still looking. Kevin M. got laid off, but quickly found work again. Ben M. a friend of a friend lost his. I was sad for those cats. But it still doesn't seem real or close.
Today my mom emailed me with the subject "Unemployed". Now, my mom is a travel agent and my brother works for Ford, so I was always kind of waiting for the shoe to drop so to speak. Those two industries have been in turmoil for awhile, but they have both been thankfully working. Until now. So my mom had been on a furlough of sorts. January and February she was told she would not be working. I assume some downtime until things picked up. She had planned to return in March, but I guess thats not the case. So now my mom joins the ranks of the unemployed. I am sad for her. With a specific skill set and an advance age I wonder if she'll work again. If she wants to work again. Or if this is the start of forced retirement for her.
So the recession has finally claimed someone close and understand it now. It focuses me. I plan and hope to continue gainful employment with my company. I hope they they continue to grow and be successful and I plan to shortly celebrate my longest tenure with any company I've ever worked for soon. And hopefully in many years to retire from there.
To those looking for work, good luck. My prayers and thoughts are with you. To those worrying about losing your job, the same to you. Hope and perseverance are gifts we all can rely on.
I have been fortunate enough for the past 8 years to work for one of the finest companies on the planet. A company I respect and love. It has been and continues to be a thrill to work there. One of the benefits of working for one of the biggest and most innovative companies in the world has been stability through innovation, strategy and growth. When I started with the company we were in a recession, albeit a much less severe one than we face today. The company announced boldly that we would innovate through the recession. We did and beyond.
Today the location that I work for is still very busy, the company itself continues to innovate and grow and I continue to count myself fortunate to be among the employees responsible for that success and growth. One of the interesting personal observations that I have had working for a continuously prosperous company as been that the doom and gloom of the recession as seemingly seemed like something that is happening over there. To someone else. The news was full of the doom and gloom. But its hard to work daily in a very busy environment, seeing people spend money, seeing success and growth and hearing how bad it is.
A few friends of mine began to get hit. My very good friend Ronald J. Robertson was first hit and is still looking. Kevin M. got laid off, but quickly found work again. Ben M. a friend of a friend lost his. I was sad for those cats. But it still doesn't seem real or close.
Today my mom emailed me with the subject "Unemployed". Now, my mom is a travel agent and my brother works for Ford, so I was always kind of waiting for the shoe to drop so to speak. Those two industries have been in turmoil for awhile, but they have both been thankfully working. Until now. So my mom had been on a furlough of sorts. January and February she was told she would not be working. I assume some downtime until things picked up. She had planned to return in March, but I guess thats not the case. So now my mom joins the ranks of the unemployed. I am sad for her. With a specific skill set and an advance age I wonder if she'll work again. If she wants to work again. Or if this is the start of forced retirement for her.
So the recession has finally claimed someone close and understand it now. It focuses me. I plan and hope to continue gainful employment with my company. I hope they they continue to grow and be successful and I plan to shortly celebrate my longest tenure with any company I've ever worked for soon. And hopefully in many years to retire from there.
To those looking for work, good luck. My prayers and thoughts are with you. To those worrying about losing your job, the same to you. Hope and perseverance are gifts we all can rely on.
Tuesday, March 03, 2009
So, I Watched the Watchmen
I know everyone hates the recent trend where reviewers spend half their review laying out their geek cred. While I will not spend much time splaying out mine, I do believe that people who are familiar with this book and those who are not and everyone in between will have different views on this film. That said, yes I read the book back in the day and twice recently and I do like it quite a bit.
I had fairly cautious expectations for this film. I thought the trailers looked great, but some of the advance videos online not so much. I saw the film at a preview showing with a fan and two guys who had no idea what it was all about.
Those two hated it.
As for me, I walked away a bit depressed. And here is why. I do not understand how a film can spend so much time getting the look of the graphic novel so perfect, but at the same time ignore the whole point, the whole soul of it. Zack Snyder and his crew have done a brilliant job bringing the comic panel portion of the novel to life. It looks great. Each panel comes to life on the screen and looks amazing. You could almost reach out and try to turn the screen as though it were a page in the comic. As a live action interpretation of the book, I think its great.
But that is about it. The tone, the feel, the vibe, the essence of the Watchmen is what is missing here. While Watchmen looks very much like Watchmen, it doesn't feel very much like Watchmen. At all. In fact it feels very ordinary. That is the problem, the movie feels like a regular comic book movie. It could have been Superman, or Batman or Hulk. It felt like a regular comic book movie. And Watchmen is not a regular comic book.
Alan Moore's intent and success with the Watchmen was how it was a deconstruction of the modern comic. It brought a sense of realism to the world of comics, by setting it squarely in a real, albeit alternate, reality. The book then deconstructed the idea of the superhero by playing it up a bit, poking a bit of fun and creating something...different form the norm. The book succeeded by turning the idea of the "comic book" upside down, twisting it and leaving in its place a very raw, very unique interpretation of the medium. The story was complex and detailed, the characters flawed and interesting and the way the plot and the stories of our heroes wound tightly around each other made the book something more than a comic.
The film misses this completely.
Remember how in school you had to memorize the Gettysburg Address and recite it? I imagine that none of us in our rote presentation of the speech delivered it with anything close to resembling the feeling, tone and importance that was likely present when Lincoln gave it. Sure we had all the words verbatim, a perfect copy and we may have even presented it very well, but the emotion wasn't there. The complex gravity and reality and subtext were not there. That is Watchmen. It is the Gettysburg Address recital of comic book movies.
Harry Knowles of aintitcoolnews.com said in his review "Someone asked me if I felt the film sent up Superhero movies, like the books did comics and I have to say. Man, that’s something that I can’t say on a first viewing. I think its possible that its there, but I was so captured up trying to absorb everything coming at me, just enjoying that wonderful experience of seeing WATCHMEN for the very first time, that I didn’t care about that part yet." He cannot say it was there, because frankly it wasn't. And he makes a good point at the time he didn't care because he was so blown away by seeing the movie. Seeing Dr. Manhattan realized on the screen. Seeing Rorsharck's mask. Mars. The button. It was all cool and looked great and almost overwhelming. So much so that I think Mr. Knowles and many fans, both hardcore and casual, missed that the overlying themes and tone of the story were absent. The subtleties of the deconstruction of the medium of comics did not translate. The subtext of it all is lost in the otherwise gorgeous translation to live action film.
And that's too bad. Because to me that is what made Watchmen so unique and so special.
Zach Snyder said they had a copy of the novel on his monitor at all times. And it shows. Some of the panels are painstakingly recreated here. And in doing so a lot of the emotion of the story does come through. The attempted rape scene is terse and uncomfortable. The graphic violence is gory and well done. Particularly during Dan and Laurie's fight in the alley and when Rorsharck finds the child kidnapper.
The little changes such as the condensing of the police psychiatrist sub story, we never see him at home with his wife and really do not need to, and not seeing Hollis Mason more than once are no big deal. The big change, yes I am talking about the squid, are also really not that big of a deal. I was one of those pro-squid fanboys, but the "manhattan" ball of destruction is fine here. The only problem I have with this is the end is a mostly bloodless affair. I always got the idea that part of the thing with the squid was that it was so overwhelming and horrific that it brought the world together. And while the giant hole that midtown Manhattan becomes is very impressive and certainly terrible it seems almost sterile especially with the blood and gore we see earlier in the movie.
Like the book there are some great iconic scenes here. Manhattan and Laurie on Mars. The Comedians funeral. The photo shoot. Archie emerging from the river. There are some really gory scenes. The broken arm. The sawed off arms. Rorsharck's cleaving of the kidnapper. The deep fried convict. Mmmmmm deep fried convict....
Unlike the book, subtlety and subtext is glaringly absent.
Had Watchmen been just another comic, a Batman, an Iron Man, a Spidey. Had the stories and the characters been created and presented that way, this film adaptation would be a success. But without the richness and complexity of the novel's story I say this is a failure. Kudos to Snyder and his team for capturing the look of the graphic novel, a note of disappointment for missing the point of it.
I had fairly cautious expectations for this film. I thought the trailers looked great, but some of the advance videos online not so much. I saw the film at a preview showing with a fan and two guys who had no idea what it was all about.
Those two hated it.
As for me, I walked away a bit depressed. And here is why. I do not understand how a film can spend so much time getting the look of the graphic novel so perfect, but at the same time ignore the whole point, the whole soul of it. Zack Snyder and his crew have done a brilliant job bringing the comic panel portion of the novel to life. It looks great. Each panel comes to life on the screen and looks amazing. You could almost reach out and try to turn the screen as though it were a page in the comic. As a live action interpretation of the book, I think its great.
But that is about it. The tone, the feel, the vibe, the essence of the Watchmen is what is missing here. While Watchmen looks very much like Watchmen, it doesn't feel very much like Watchmen. At all. In fact it feels very ordinary. That is the problem, the movie feels like a regular comic book movie. It could have been Superman, or Batman or Hulk. It felt like a regular comic book movie. And Watchmen is not a regular comic book.
Alan Moore's intent and success with the Watchmen was how it was a deconstruction of the modern comic. It brought a sense of realism to the world of comics, by setting it squarely in a real, albeit alternate, reality. The book then deconstructed the idea of the superhero by playing it up a bit, poking a bit of fun and creating something...different form the norm. The book succeeded by turning the idea of the "comic book" upside down, twisting it and leaving in its place a very raw, very unique interpretation of the medium. The story was complex and detailed, the characters flawed and interesting and the way the plot and the stories of our heroes wound tightly around each other made the book something more than a comic.
The film misses this completely.
Remember how in school you had to memorize the Gettysburg Address and recite it? I imagine that none of us in our rote presentation of the speech delivered it with anything close to resembling the feeling, tone and importance that was likely present when Lincoln gave it. Sure we had all the words verbatim, a perfect copy and we may have even presented it very well, but the emotion wasn't there. The complex gravity and reality and subtext were not there. That is Watchmen. It is the Gettysburg Address recital of comic book movies.
Harry Knowles of aintitcoolnews.com said in his review "Someone asked me if I felt the film sent up Superhero movies, like the books did comics and I have to say. Man, that’s something that I can’t say on a first viewing. I think its possible that its there, but I was so captured up trying to absorb everything coming at me, just enjoying that wonderful experience of seeing WATCHMEN for the very first time, that I didn’t care about that part yet." He cannot say it was there, because frankly it wasn't. And he makes a good point at the time he didn't care because he was so blown away by seeing the movie. Seeing Dr. Manhattan realized on the screen. Seeing Rorsharck's mask. Mars. The button. It was all cool and looked great and almost overwhelming. So much so that I think Mr. Knowles and many fans, both hardcore and casual, missed that the overlying themes and tone of the story were absent. The subtleties of the deconstruction of the medium of comics did not translate. The subtext of it all is lost in the otherwise gorgeous translation to live action film.
And that's too bad. Because to me that is what made Watchmen so unique and so special.
Zach Snyder said they had a copy of the novel on his monitor at all times. And it shows. Some of the panels are painstakingly recreated here. And in doing so a lot of the emotion of the story does come through. The attempted rape scene is terse and uncomfortable. The graphic violence is gory and well done. Particularly during Dan and Laurie's fight in the alley and when Rorsharck finds the child kidnapper.
The little changes such as the condensing of the police psychiatrist sub story, we never see him at home with his wife and really do not need to, and not seeing Hollis Mason more than once are no big deal. The big change, yes I am talking about the squid, are also really not that big of a deal. I was one of those pro-squid fanboys, but the "manhattan" ball of destruction is fine here. The only problem I have with this is the end is a mostly bloodless affair. I always got the idea that part of the thing with the squid was that it was so overwhelming and horrific that it brought the world together. And while the giant hole that midtown Manhattan becomes is very impressive and certainly terrible it seems almost sterile especially with the blood and gore we see earlier in the movie.
Like the book there are some great iconic scenes here. Manhattan and Laurie on Mars. The Comedians funeral. The photo shoot. Archie emerging from the river. There are some really gory scenes. The broken arm. The sawed off arms. Rorsharck's cleaving of the kidnapper. The deep fried convict. Mmmmmm deep fried convict....
Unlike the book, subtlety and subtext is glaringly absent.
Had Watchmen been just another comic, a Batman, an Iron Man, a Spidey. Had the stories and the characters been created and presented that way, this film adaptation would be a success. But without the richness and complexity of the novel's story I say this is a failure. Kudos to Snyder and his team for capturing the look of the graphic novel, a note of disappointment for missing the point of it.
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