Published on
April 30, 2006 in
Reviews.
Sir Berto and I went last night to see The Sentinel, and I thought I’d give a quick review.
The movie had a very strong cast including Kiefer Sutherland, Michael Douglas, Eva Longoria( cute and from Texas whoohoo) and Kim Basinger (over 50 and still looking nice). All of whom performed very well in their roles. I really don’t feel like writing a drawn out review of the movie, so I’ll get right down to it: It was a very good movie and I would recommend it highly. The storyline and plot were fun and not predictable. The pace was fast and filled with enough action to keep things interesting but kept it from being graphic or gory just for the sake of being gory or graphic. No “cheesy” action sequences or explosions. Everything was very well done. An action movie with a decent plot and developed characters…who woulda thunk it?
Today I was able to exercise my reprimand from work (story here). Rob and I took the two tickets we got from my boss, took the day off, and went to see the Texas Rangers play the Oakland A’s at Ameriquest field. Rob wanted to get some wings for lunch before the game, so we had lunch at Hooters in Arlington. The girls were not as personable as my beloved Lewisville Hooters girls, but the wings were great, the beer was cold, and we were happy to find out that they have a free shuttle that takes you to and from the game. What’s not to love?
The tickets that my boss got us were great (Thanks Kerry!!!) We were right behind the plate in the “Lexus Club” which is a small deck on the 2nd level of the park with waiters and service at your seat. The tickets also gave us free access to the Cuervo Club (an air conditioned bar/restaurant behind home plate). Our seats were great; I can’t think of any other place in the ball park that would have provided a better spot to enjoy America’s past time on a beautiful spring afternoon. The Rangers played pretty well but were not able to secure the win. The Rangers belted out a grand slam, but the needed more than that to secure the victory. The Rangers ended up losing the game in extra innings by 2 points.
I had to share the picture below. I want to title this one “Poor Grandpa”. This guy gook his granddaughter to the game only to find that her youthful style included having her pink thong sticking out about 3 inches above her pant line when she leaned forward. Damn kids! What do you do? Do you say something to her about it? Ask her about it? Not sure what’s worse, seeing your grandkids thong, or having to talk to her or ask her questions about her underwear.
Published on
April 24, 2006 in
Reviews.
Maybe I’m a marketing guys dream. Maybe I just don’t have much self control because I always end up making a few impulse buys at the grocery store just for the hell of it. My last trip to the grocery store I made 4 impulse buys (sigh). The first thing I picked up was Coke Blak. I didn’t buy it because it looked tasty, or was packaged well. I bought it because it was a Coke product that I had never even heard of, and the packaging gave almost no clues as to what the heck it was. Maybe logic isn’t my strong point after all : it’s worth paying money for because I cant tell what the hell it is.
The packaging was pretty simple, and didn’t really give any hints to what this drink was all about. It said “Carbonated Fusion Beverage” under the logo. I thought maybe it was an energy drink, but the ingredients didn’t have any of the usual energy drink ingredients.
I cracked open a bottle and liked what I found inside. It is a lightly carbonated coffee drink. It’s a little bit hard to describe. It is a little sweet, but not like a soft drink and you wouldn’t think of “coke” when you drink it. It’s not creamy like any of the bottled Starbucks drinks. It is light but not sure I’d call it refreshing. Blak sports forty calories in an 8 oz bottle. I like it, but I’m not sure how well it will do. It doesn’t fit into any of the standard drink categories (soft drink, energy drink, morning/breakfast drink etc.). It’s worth trying if you like coffee and want to try something new.
Last night, was indeed a good night. Marcus, Militza, Robert and I all met up at Hailey’s in Denton to see Ian Moore play a duo show with Kullen Fuchs. I’m not exactly sure how many times I have seen him play live, but I have yet to not be amazed by his performance.
The night started off well. The doors at Haley’s opened at 9:00 and the opening act started probably around 9:30 or so. The last two times that Ian played there, the opening act was absolute torture. I won’t post his name on here, but he was in serious need of some Prozac. This guy played the must dull and depressing folk music you have ever heard, and must have played for at least an hour. We were happy to find that there was a new opener Ben Fleming. Ben was entertaining and played about a 30 min. set. I’m not an expert by any means, but his voice reminded me a little bit of Neil Young, and many of his songs had a very Bob Dylan fell. He has a few songs you can listen to on his MySpace site (link above).
The club never got very full; I think there were no more than 30 people or so at the most busy part of the night. I guess that’s expected for a Monday night show. Ian and Kullen went on around 10 and as always they didn’t disappoint. The smaller shows have a great feel, and are much more intimate. The music is always fantastic with Ian taking care of the acoustic guitar, a foot drum and vocals. Meanwhile Kullen backs him up on vocals and with a myriad of instruments including: trumpet, xylophone, keyboard, and a few others that I have no clue as to what they are (one was a little keyboard with a hose he blew into?? And the other looked like a baby trombone or a cross between a trombone and a trumpet). How he plays so many instruments at the same time is beyond me, but it made for amazing music coming from just two men. Between songs Ian took more time to talk about the music and converse with the crowd. It was very laid back and relaxed. While the full band shows are a lot of fun, the warm small atmosphere at the smaller shows make for an unbeatable vibe.
The first time I saw Ian play a solo show at Haley’s I was impressed by his encore as he unplugged his guitar, stepped away from his microphone and walked out into the small audience to perform in the raw. Keeping with tradition last night he and Kullen did just that and played several songs without electronics surrounded by the crowd of 30 or so people. He took a few requests and played his music right there, the same way you might experience his music if you were a guest in his home. Pretty cool! Ben Fleming got to play rhythm guitar for a few of songs on the floor with Ian. I’m not a musician, but it was really cool to see how they could play together even though Ben didn’t know any of the songs. A few quick instructions from Ian, and Ben was able to play along and really add to the music.
If you have not listened to Ian Moore before, I recommend giving him a shot. You can find demo’s of some of his music on his webpage (www.ianmoore.com) and you can buy his work on iTunes. If he comes to your town, his live shows are amazing and inexpensive. I don’t think you will be disappointed.
Ian’s Myspace
More pics from the night.
Hailey’s
Other Ian Moore posts
I had fun with a project that I stumbled into last month. I haven’t really worked with my hands in a long time, and created an opportunity to get back into the game. A few years ago my dad gave me the first rifle that his father ever owned. It was a single shot, bolt action .22 Remington Target master. As I remember, the story goes that he bought the gun for $8 at Sears and Roebuck when he was just a boy. My guess is that the gun is between 60 and 70 years old now. It was a simple and beautiful gun for what it was. This little gun was very accurate and fun to plink around with.
When my Dad gave it to me it wasn’t looking very good. He tried to re-finish the gun and something didn’t work out as planned. The finish was “gummy” and the color was a solid, dull opaque brown. I think he tried to remove the old finish and when it started to go wrong he stopped the process. The plan was for me to give the gun to a buddy of mine at the drop zone who refinished gun stocks. Well, the dropzone closed and I never got the gun to my friend.
Last month I pulled her out and was just going to oil her down to keep her in good condition. I wondered if the stock just needed a light sanding to get rid of the gummy finish and bring back some of her old beauty. Well, sanding and wet sanding with high grit sand paper took the gum off, but it was clear that the gun was going to need a lot of work and a real re-finishing. I did a few quick searches and found the Miles Gilbert Advanced Stock Re-Finishing Kit and ordered it for all of $29.
I have to say I was very impressed with the kit. Not only did it have everything you need to totally strip down and re-finish a gun, but it came with a DVD that walks you step by step through a process that would otherwise be very difficult to follow correctly if you have never done it before. If you have basic woodworking (very basic) skills and are not afraid to spend a little bit of time on a project you will love this kit and have great results for less than $30.
So I spent a few weeks working for 30 mins to an hour per night going through all of the steps (30?) to re-finish the gun. I spent lots of time sanding, finish removing, sealing, waiting, filling, more sanding and finally putting on the finish. I ended up putting about 20 coats of finish on the gun and I must admit that I was impressed and proud of the results. The gun’s beautiful walnut wood grain was back to her full beauty. The gun was protected and beautiful again. It looked brand new! I’m sure I’ll do better on my next re-finishing, but was more than happy with the results of my first attempt on a family heirloom.
I was able to give it back to my Dad for his birthday at the end of March. The look on his face when he saw the gun and realized what it was, was priceless and worth all of the time that it took to recondition the gun.