Saturday, June 16, 2007

Movie Review: Ocean's Thirteen

I got to see one more movie on my Summer 2007 Sequel Dream List...Ocean's Thirteen.

I really liked it! I know a lot of people didn't like O-12...which I enjoyed. Yeah, it wasn't as good as O-11, but it wasn't as bad as everyone said. But they did step it back up in O-13. The comedic timing between Danny Ocean (George Clooney) and Rusty Ryan (Brad Pitt) is priceless, and they definitely had some clever lines, a la the old "The West Wing" episodes that were so perfectly written.
The one thing about this movie that surprised me was that there really wasn't "the girl" in this movie. Ellen Barkin is supposed to be the female lead, I guess. But she's really not that big of a part, she's kind of a prop, not like how Julia Roberts was in the first two. I actually missed her in this movie...she had a good chemistry with the cast and fit in well. Barkin was just...there.
The movie had lots of quick little funny lines and moments, and the plot was interesting. Of course it was the same basic idea as the other 2...all of the planning of a big heist to "hurt" a rival, the heist itself, and then a recap as the "explain" the trick parts. As long as they keep coming up with new "big heists," I'll keep watching all the way up to O-50!

posted by Steph @ 6:35 PM 1 comments

Monday, June 11, 2007

It's just too easy...

I said I wasn't going to write about Paris Hilton (and The Arrest of the Century) because it is just too darn easy...but I just can't resist. I can't imagine not documenting this historic week for all of eternity on my blog. I can't resist not joining in on the insanity that is the publicity following her around from cop car to cell to limo to mansion to cop car to cell. I just...can't...stop...myself.


The Before:

The After:

Is there a difference? She has always had that "I've been locked up inside for 45 days" paleness, and she's got more make-up on in the mug shot than I have in my entire collection. (And according to jail insiders, she kept it on for the first 2 days she was in the slammer...now THAT'S waterproof.)

Wanda Sykes was on Leno tonight. She said she's very happy that Paris found God in prison. After two hours! That cracked me up! (Ok, it's probably more funny if you actually heard her say it...)

And Paris had another great comment...

"I was severely depressed and felt as if I was in a cage... It was a horrible experience."

Why would she feel that way? I don't get it...let's see if we can figure it out...

Jail cell:

(Rabbit) Cage:

I don't get the comparison, Paris. (That was in the same interview in which she said she wasn't going to be dumb anymore...hmmmm.)

posted by Steph @ 9:07 PM 0 comments

Sunday, June 10, 2007

Welcome to the Lake

WARNING: This blog post may be to some like watching Uncle Fred and Aunt Louise's vacation slide show from the cruise to Mexico. But I don't care...the pictures are cool and the weekend was great! Enjoy!

On Friday night, while enjoying some peace and quiet on my friend's (J) porch as he hosted a couple of his local friends (The Steph & E) and an out-of-town guest (A), a spontaneous decision was made to head up to J's parents' (J's Ps) house on Lake Minnewaska in beautiful and populous Glenwood, MN the next afternoon. So at about 1:45pm on June 9, 2007, 2 guys (J & E), 2 girls (The Steph & A) and a yellow lab (The Dog) hit the road in a blue pick-up and never looked back. And the world hasn't been the same since.

The weather forecast called for sunny skies in the 80s for the rest of the weekend. Of course, this is what the sky looked like as we left the traffic-clogged Twin Cities for the 2 1/2 hour drive to the county seat of Pope County:

But have no fear, the clouds and darkness cleared, and by the time we reached Glenwood, the skies were as friendly as could be:
Upon arrival at J's Ps' house, we were greeted with a happy sign overlooking Lake Minnewaska, that stated the sentiment as clearly as possible:
The sign was on the back of the boat house/garage, holding essential tools for repair if necessary on J's Ps' boat...

Upon jumping out of the truck, we unloaded our bags and ventured out to the end of the dock, where The Dog was slightly hesitant to take the plunge into the water...

But eventually, she peered over the edge, tentatively considering jumping in...
And then FINALLY...jumped in...

And doggy-paddled around...

And then terrified everyone by getting close to them with her wet-doggyness...

J's dad had gassed up the boat and prepared it for our arrival, and J lowered it and got it started...
Then pulled up alongside the dock so that we could jump in... And then two guys, two girls and a yellow lab were off for a ride on the lake... (Editor's Note AKA Note from The Steph: The following video is still being "processed" on YouTube because I just uploaded it today, so if it's not there yet, sorry, it will be soon...I hope!)



The Dog definitely enjoyed hanging her head over the edge of the boat...

And getting her wet, smelly doggyness on me...

J showed us a tower off in the distance that he had thought was the Statue of Liberty when he was a kid...

Really??????Since I couldn't quite picture it, even while trying to see the tower through the eyes of a naive, rural 5 year-old, I did a little bit of a side-by-side comparison when I got home...

Yeah. Now I see it. (Wink, wink.) After seeing the great Statue of Liberty from the lake, we continued around, spying on rich people...

And then eventually headed back to home base...

Where J very carefully and delicately pulled the boat back up to the dock...

Then we went to dinner at the famous Torgy's on the Lake. Torgy's is famous for having the best roasted chicken (I think) in Long Beach (little "suburb" of Glenwood) for over 30 years. (I think it's the ONLY place to get roasted chicken in Long Beach...but who am I to argue with the declaration of the menu?). We made the "half-mile" walk (I'm using quotation marks because it was really more like 1+ mile, and not that we minded - it was a gorgeous walk on an amazing evening around the lake, but just note-to-self, when J says "half-mile walk," multiply it by 2 or 3...) We sat on a little patio, overlooking the lake, and then asked J's second grade teacher, who was also dining at this fine establishment, to take a group picture...

(From L to R: The Steph, E, A, J; Not pictured: The Dog, who was left back at The House)

Then we headed back to J's Ps' house and sat outside, enjoying the sunset (although J did point out to me that by the time I took these pictures that the sun had already technically set...details, details...)...

And a bonfire started and maintained by J's dad...

Isn't this pretty???

As the night darkened, I thought the fire was really cool, so I took pictures of it...

Ooooooooo, pretty!!!

Then we went to bed. The next morning we woke up, had breakfast with J's dad at the local supermarket coffee shop, and hit the local historical site on our way out of town...

More specifically...

Then we all learned how Lake Minnewaska got it's name...

To finish off our trip, I took pictures of the view of Glenwood to the east from on top of Princess Minnewaska (yes, I know, it made me giggle, too)...

To the west...


Finally, a group shot of the 3 Twins Citians...

And that, girls and boys, is the story of the weekend in Glenwood. The End.

posted by Steph @ 2:49 PM 1 comments

Friday, June 08, 2007

Addition to my "list"

I just realized I left a significant individual off of my list a while ago.

Enrique Iglesias!
What was I thinking? He's hot.

posted by Steph @ 2:52 PM 0 comments

The Most Ridiculous Mall in the Whole Wide World


About a week or so ago, I went to the Maplewood Mall to get my oil changed. As I was waiting to get my truck back, I saw two of the most insane things ever. Fortunately, I had my cell phone with me to take pictures because I don't think anyone would have believed this level of absurdity. (Although me trying to get the perfect picture of these things with my cell was probably absurd sight number 3. I got some really strange looks from people, especially as I took pictures of #2.)

1) The carousel at the mall.
Is it just me, or are the decorative accents on the horses' heads on the carousel actually static dusters?

Duster:

Carousel:

Duster:

Carousel:

Duster:

OK...you get the point.

2) So, if the dusters attached to horses' heads wasn't enough...then I saw this thing directly outside of RadioShack:


I almost fell over laughing. I went in to RadioShack for the sole purpose of asking the guy that worked there how many people actually used this cologne sample dispenser. He hadn't even noticed it!!! I felt bad for just going in to RadioShack to ask that question, so then I had to start browsing, and I actually wound up buying something. But I told the guy that when it's slow, he should just stand in the doorway and watch the cologne dispenser and see if anything happens. I know that's what I would do.

posted by Steph @ 11:46 AM 0 comments

Thursday, June 07, 2007

Accuracy in Weather Forcasting

The news stations were all warning us this morning about the end of the world this morning. We were supposed to get "violent" storms with clouds like these:


Leading to storms like these:


That could create hail like these:


At about 11am.


Instead, I had this scene out my office window at 11:05am. And did all day:


Accurate, I would say.


No flying cows. No swirling witches. No sky-produced slushies. Just sun. Blue sky. I mean, I closed all of the windows in my apartment, turned off my computer and parked my truck far from trees for this:


Oh well. Next time.

posted by Steph @ 7:21 PM 0 comments