Geminai's Blog Site

7/30: 35 minutes on the elliptical machine, avg HR 137, avg SPM 118, 1.2 miles. No foot cramping at all. Yahoo! Feel comfy enough, no knee issues, was impressed by how new shoes brought the workout into the quads .. unexpected. Three stars because by the time my HR hit 170, my toes got numb. That was about 15-20 min into the workout and they remained numb the entire rest of the workout. However, that was the ONLY reason I actually wanted the workout to end. I didn't find myself watching the clock, and it was a fairly good pace ... I felt like I'd done something by the time I was done. Gonna give the shoes some time on the toe numbness. First time wearing them, so maybe as the inserts wear in a bit, or as I learn to tie them less tightly or something, perhaps the numbness issue will dissipate. At this point, though, I'm not convinced that the shoes are miraculous, and I wonder if I wouldn't have gotten the exact same results for half the price.

Oh yeah, forgot to give the next update. Friday, 8/1: 47 minutes on the elliptical machine, avg HR 152, avg SPM 117, 1.57 miles. My toes got a little numb, but I tried a few tricks this time. Looser laces, lifted my foot up a few rotations in a row when they started to tingle, tried going backwards a little bit (putting more pressure on heels than balls of feet). They definitely weren't as numb as the first time. I also realized, however, that my feet swell during the day. When I take my meds, it reduces the swelling, and I usually take them in the afternoon. Next time I'm going to try taking them a couple hours BEFORE the gym, to see if reduced swelling helps with the toe tingles.

I never saw the original series, but I don't remember ever laughing as much at any movie in the theater ... ever! Seriously. There were so many great lines throughout the entire thing. I am a HUGE Alan Arkin fan, so he was probably my favorite character. There's one line, toward the end of the movie, when Smart turns to him and says, "Are you thinking what I'm thinking, boss?" Arkin's response almost made me pee my pants laughing. His deadpan delivery ... he is just a genius. You'll know that scene when you hear it ... when we watched it, the theater was roaring! Even now when I hear it in my head is makes me break out in a chuckle.

Jeremy said that it followed the old series pretty well .. and he was a HUGE fan of that old show, so I'd say that's quite a compliment. :)

The cast was stellar! I'm not a huge fan of "The Rock" .. but even HE was awesome! With the exception of some people getting killed on screen and very very little swearing, I think even kids would love this movie. It's a bit slapstick without being hokey. It kept me entertained and laughing all the way through! Can't say enough good about it.

WELL-ENDOWED!

Ha. Bet that's not what you expected to see first?

Ok, the full title of the book is: The Big Questions: How To Find Your Own Answers To Life's Essential Mysteries

I'm giving it 5 stars only because I know the author's style and I can tell from his intro that I'm going to love the book. His book, Awakening The Buddha Within was the first book that really got me interested in knowing more about Buddhism, and thinking that might be where my true spiritual interests lay. He has a good sense of humor (similar to the current Dalai Lama, actually, who refers to Lama Surya Das as "The American Lama" )... he really helps me to be able to see how to apply some of the thoughts and teachings of Buddha into real-world "American" use. It somehow just makes it seem more "attainable", y'know?

Anyway, I knew I would love this book when, in his introduction he said, "I was well endowed with the Why Chromosome ..." Awesome! I love it. I love the phrase, and the thought behind it, too.

The focus of this book is the importance of asking questions. I just bought it last night, and already I'm hooked. :)

I love Robert Downey, Jr.

It was so good to see him on-screen again, given his many issues in the last few years. I've always thought he was a great actor, and this movie was no exception.

I'll admit, I'm kind of an easy sell on action-adventure type movies. I don't dissect them, I rarely compare and contrast them to anything ... I just judge by the level of entertainment for me. And this one was MOST excellent. I also have to admit that I've gotten an interest in weapons technology, thanks to Jeremy. Add to that the fact that I really also like Gwyneth Paltrow and Jeff Bridges, plus Terrence Howard is reminiscent of Cuba Gooding, Jr. (but more low-key and a little heavier-set) ... well, the movie was awesome.

The movie grabbed my attention from the very first scene and held it for the entire thing. I know it's probably nowhere near realistic, but that's totally cool by me. It's technology I wouldn't understand even if it DID exist, but it's awesome to think about.

Of course it's wide open for a sequel, which is smart because I'd go see it tomorrow if it were out. I was a little disappointed not to hear Black Sabbath 'til the closing credits (maybe a touch here and there, but nowhere near enough) but the movie itself made up for it. I've never read the comic, so I've no clue how well it follows the storyline. It's a little predictable in the fact that you can guess who the bad guy is pretty quickly into it, but that doesn't bother me. It still played out beautifully. Recommend it? You bet!

Not sure if everyone's aware, but iStock sells video clips as well as photography. Yesterday, as I was uploading some images, I happened to see this ... I LOVE it! If I could do video graphics, this is exactly the type of thing I would want to do. *sigh* It seems almost magical, doesn't it? I was really impressed. And the artist is very gracious, as well! I left a review of his image, and he sent a very prompt thanks ... I usually don't even NOTICE reviews on my images 'til months after they're made, because I'm not really very active with the interaction on iStock .. but he commented back and then added me to his creative network, which was cool. Hope you like it!

http://www.istockphoto.com/file_closeup.php?id=5826307

For Vikky or anyone else who wants to play along. :)

A grandfather says: "My grandson is about as many days as my son is weeks, and my grandson is as many months as I am in years. My grandson, my son and I together are 120 years. Can you tell me my age in years?"

How about I give it, oh, how long, a few days? And then post the answer? I think for the sake of anyone who wants the challenge of figuring this out, people should not post their answers here. But if you have an answer and want to know if it's right, give me a shout (privately). I figured out the answer prior to posting the question, so I'll be able to confirm or deny or give you the formula for figuring it out. Fun! :) I love stuff like this. If you do, too, have fun right along with me!

I'll post future brainteasers here, too, so they're easier to find. And I'll rate the way I see the difficulty with the # of stars. Hopefully that'll work ok. Feel free to add your own # of stars rating, because everyone sees things differently.

By far one of the best movies I have seen in a long, long time. I never expected it to be as good as it was.

I'm not going to give a synopsis of the storyline here, because there is far too much to tell and I'm sure I'd leave out something important. Instead, I'll link you to the web site for that info (see end of review).

I've heard that some people found the heroin rude. I found her fresh and fascinating! She is a little girl who is a tomboy at heart and doesn't ACT like a little girl. I suppose maybe I see a little bit of myself (or what I fancy myself to be like) in her constant assertions that she does not like people to tell her what to do, and her compassion for the underdog or those society would normally shun. She is intelligent and kind, but doesn't allow anyone to run over the top of her, that's for sure.

This is one of the best fantasy movies I've ever seen, to be truthful, and I was a pretty big fan of LOTR and some of the Harry Potters. The effects were incredible, to say the least (but to be fair, I have kind of a soft spot for polar bears anyway), and yet there were enough surprises to catch me sometimes, and one in particular where several people in the theater we were in were heard gasping and muttering in the silence following the scene. Fantastic! How often is it that a movie can actually surprise us anymore? Bravo to the producers for coming up with moments that took me (us) by surprise!

This is the kind of movie that takes me back, secretly, to my childhood moments when I believed in the things that adulthood seems to "reason" out of so many of us. It made me happy and hopeful and I'll buy it (and the following ones, I'm sure) the moment it's out in the store.

I guess the best way to give you a point of reference would be to tell you that, as a child, I voraciously read/watched things like: The Neverending Story, The Dark Crystal; The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe series (not a fan of the new movie .. loved the animated one from the 80s); The LOTR series ... I loved everything mystical and magical that I suspected was never real, but held hope in my heart that somewhere it just might be.

This is an incredible movie for older kids, I think (like 9+) and is one of those that will stay with me for a long time, providing energy to my fantasy world filled with magic and animals we can communicate with, where little girls can be strong and sensitive and special and people don't chastise them for it.

http://www.goldencompassmovie.com/

Last night we attended the Trans-Siberian Orchestra's Christmas concert in Reno, NV. I had no clue it was going to be as fantastic as it was. A narrator with a captivating voice read a long poem (written by one of the founders of TSO) which was embellished by music, a light show like nothing I've ever seen, fireworks, flames shooting into the air and my absolute favorite part, snow falling from the sky! Part of the poem went along the lines of, "and the snow began to fall" and those of us on the main floor were suddenly being dusted by very light snow, which was then of course highlighted by lasers and music that shook the house. Seriously, it was magical.

So why the 4 stars? Well, I would like to give it 4.5, actually, because most of the issues I had with last night were not due to TSO themselves, but since this is a review of the evening, I feel I have to rate everything together.

The show was a little slow at the start. It took probably about 10-15 minutes before it seemed everyone was together and really feeling it. I really wasn't fond of all the religious overtones (but, to be fair, it was a "Christmas" special. I would like to see them sometime when it's not, to see if all the God-talk remained), and the female singer(s) they raved about really didn't do a lot for me. To me they were more eye candy than anything. I mean, yes, amazing voice(s) to be sure, but the gyrations and the hair-flipping seemed to imply that there as more resting on the appearance than the talent. But then, I think I much prefer their instrumental numbers better, anyway.

However, absolutely NOTHING could beat the female violinist from England who went head-to-head with the electric guitars time and time again. She ran across the stage, back and forth, jumping around, doing big, deep back bends, holding both arms straight up in the air, violin and bow still going furiously ... she played all the while! I have never seen anything like it in my life.

Incredibly, the concert lasted about 3 solid hours, with no intermission. At one point, one of the singers came out and asked how many people had seen the video of the guy who'd done the Christmas lights in his house to their music (I think nearly everyone has). After joking that this guy seriously needs a day job, he went on to say "We think we can outdo him." Wow, they pulled out ALL the stops. It was quite-near blinding and they had a little bit of everything, including flames that shot up in the air about 30 feet away from us, in the center of the floor!

Two rows ahead of us, the people walked out about 20 minutes into the concert. My guess is that they had seen the word "Orchestra" in the name and come expecting something akin to a Philharmonic. I wish the people directly in front of us would have left, too. Let me see if I can describe them. My guess is it was mom, daughter and aunt. Aunt came in her best Linda Evans-type hairdo, wearing a fluffly white sweater with Christmas trees and such decorating it in shiny, delicate beads. Mom sported two long braids down the side of her head and body, and looked perpetually just a little annoyed. Daughter had one big long braid down her back, round wirey glasses - if you ever saw "Hope Floats", she looked JUST like the little girl, Bernice, except she was, I'd say, 12-14 years old. About 1/2 hour into the concert, she noticed aunt and mom were plugging their ears, thus began her theatrics. She kept her ears plugged constantly, in big dramatic fashion. Within the course of one number she would plug with fingers, elbows splayed way out wide, leaning back, elbows behind mom and aunt's heads, then thrusting her torso forward to throw her head down to her knees, then back up and sliding down so that she was almost laying on her back on the chair, then twisting from left to right and leaning miserably against mom, then thrashing around in a similar fashion over and over and over. It was actually painful to watch and made me want to reach out and smack her upside the head and tell her to grow the hell up. Jeremy and I talked about how, when we were kids younger than her, if we'd behaved so badly, we would have been warned through clenched lips to just sit still and behave and, heaven forbid, if our parents had to actually remove us from the venue, we were in for SERIOUS trouble. It was quite obvious the girl had been overly babied and sheltered, and she milked it for all it was worth last night and ended up with her mom hugging her and petting her and trying to make the horror of sitting through TSO bearable. I formed my opinion of what kind of people they were and what kind of concert they were likely expecting when the mom only perked up once: When TSO was doing a medley and came to a quick chorus of "Proud Mary".

More amusing to watch was the woman a couple rows up and about 6 seats over, who couldn't keep a beat to save her life. She appeared to be in her '60s, with very short gray hair and very long earrings, and had I just seen her sitting in a chair anywhere else, I'd have probably thought her an epileptic. But it made me smile every time I looked over and saw her thrashing around, bobbing her head this way and that with no discernable rhythm, because it was so obvious how much she was enjoying herself.

The audience was varied, and ran from well-dressed seniors to heavy-metal t-shirt-wearing rockers with long hair, tattoos, and chicks on their arms who would have been right at home in the middle of an old Whitesnake video.

It was great!

You could never listen to a CD of their music and come close to understanding the energy at the concert. It gets in your veins, seeps through your pores, and really pulls you into being a part of it - an extension of the energy. It's one of the few concerts I've ever seen that I would seriously want to go see again next year. They are an insanely talented group of musicians, and when I listened, I could definitely hear Savatage overtones in many of the songs. If you like TSO, you really should give Savatage a try. You might be surprised.

All-in-all, I would definitely recommend the concert to anyone, but I would also recommend knowing what kind of music you're going to listen to before you go, so it's not disappointing to you and the people who have to put up with your potential distracting disappointment.

For those planning to see TSO in the east, I'm pretty sure you'll have a different cast playing for you. On their web site, they sell an East program and a West program, and they have the East and West venues split out in the back of the program, so I can't guarantee you'll have a similar experience to me, but I sure hope so .. it was a magical night, for sure!

A French Indonesian Annie Lennox. That's the best way I can find to describe Anggun's music. It's sensual and exotic - her voice is deep and rich, nothing "light" about it, really. I own this album and the import version of Chrysalis. Incredible work. Sometimes slow, sometimes fast, always enchanting. You might know the title song from the radio about 6 or 7 years ago. To my knowledge, she hasn't had anything else that made it "mainstream", but she is hugely overlooked, I think. Perhaps because her music is more complex than some of the brainless "boyfriend done me wrong" mush you find on the radio these days.

Here's the link to this album on Amazon, if you'd like to take a listen or maybe order a copy.
http://www.amazon.com/Snow-Sahara-Anggun/dp/B000006O7V/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2/104-9625345-1161563?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1194976329&sr=1-2

I first heard Skin's voice on a collaboration with Tony Iommi, and thought "Wow, a girl who can hang with the Black Sabbath crowd...instant admiration." Plus she had great range and feeling on that album! I would have expected someone very Ozzy-esque like Drain S.T.H. or something. Anyway, I digress. So, I sought out an album of Skunk Anansie, for whom Skin is the lead singer, listened to some clips and gave it a try. It's raw, refined, harsh, smooth, angry, sensual...and through it all it's passionate! I admit, I had to listen to it a couple times before it really hit the groove, but hit it, it did! I am SO impressed! This was a hidden gem....one I'm very glad I found! Her music, to me, is reminiscent of Dalbello...at least at times. Other times it reminds me of olllllld Heart (like, of the Barracuda era).

Here's the link to the album on Amazon, if you'd like to listen to a little or try a copy:
http://www.amazon.com/Stoosh-Skunk-Anansie/dp/B000002BHR/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2/104-9625345-1161563?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1194975856&sr=1-2

I'm finding, as I get older, that historical fiction is really appealing to me. This book, again, recommended to me, was a real winner. It is so well-written that, should you miss the page up front that says it's a work of fiction, you might, if unaware with American history, believe it to be true, as the person who referred it to me did. I love stories that take true historical facts and mix in their own spin on a situation to make something that I could believe really happened. I hate history, in general. It was my worst subject in school, and yet I love this style of writing. I found it also to be true with a book called "I, Mona Lisa", but I'll save that for another review.

This one bases itself upon a true historical event: In 1854 Cheyenne Chief Little Wolf went to Virginia and met with oh, I'm going from memory here, was it Grant? At any rate, he asked for 1,000 white women as brides for his warriors in exchange for 1,000 horses. Although he was turned down, the book is written as if he was not, and we meet May Dodd, who is in an insane asylum, basically for having sex with a common factory worker and having 2 children out of wedlock. She is one of the 1,000 white women who, typical to "white man" fashion, were comprised of the sick, dying, imprisoned and mentally insane or deficient. However, she is an intelligent, articulate woman who, of course, gets paired up with the tribal chief. I unfortunately do not know enough about actual American history to know if this is historically accurate, but it is so enthralling that I really didn't much care. Well worth the read, in my opinion, if books of this nature appeal to you.

Here is a link to it on Amazon, if you want to read more about it or pick up a copy:
http://www.amazon.com/One-Thousand-White-Women-Journals/dp/0312199430/ref=pd_bbs_1/104-9625345-1161563?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1194392686&sr=1-1

Another book that was recommended to me, I had no clue I would love it as much as I did. I've since read many of her other books and, with the exception of The Bean Trees, none of her other books comes close to touching this one. Set in the Congo in the '50s, a preacher takes his family there to "save the heathens". Almost all of the book is written in the style of diary entries, and in each of his four childrens' own voices (complete with impediments and malapropisms). I found myself really able to relate to the girls when I was able to read the entries in their own unique voices. The connection Kingsolver creates with her characters via this manner is really fantastic. And it showed me I have a voyeuristic side, after all. :)

The ending did drag on just a little, but all in all it was a book that I was sad was over when I was finished with it. Probably the most clever part was how we learned all about their father, the minister, without really hearing much of anything directly from him - it all came out in the diary entries. Fantastically written.

And here's the link to the book on Amazon in case you want to read more about it or pick up a copy:
http://www.amazon.com/Poisonwood-Bible-Novel-P-S/dp/0060786507/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/104-9625345-1161563?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1194391697&sr=1-1

Ok, 3 stars is an average for this book. I would give the writing alone a 5. Krakauer's a great writer. In fact, I've already bought 2 of his other books to read after I force myself through this one. The story is a 1. Only because I can't go any lower.

I got the book on a recommendation from a friend, who is an avid hiker and outdoorsy person. I expected it to be inspirational and uplifting and make me want to head out into the great outdoors and never come back. Um, no. The story is basically about a charismatic spoiled rich kid who had no respect for the environments and landscapes he was getting into, nor about the people who came to actually care about him during his vagrant travels. Take out the "charismatic rich kid" and you have a thousand untold stories of people who did exactly what Christopher McCandless did. Only his story's getting told because of, well, that "charismatic rich kid" part. At least that's my opinion.

Here's how it goes: Rich kid with lots of privileges, doesn't like rules or following them, suffers from "tortured rich youth" syndrome, gives away all his money, deceives his parents into thinking he's still planning to go to school, takes off in his old beater car and leaves his life behind. Very "romantic" (in the literal meaning of the word) and not surprising, given that hie idolized Jack London and Tolstoy. Except he didn't know what he was doing, and he had no understanding or true comprehension of the areas he tried to "conquer". As far as I'm concerned, he ended up committing a long, drawn-out suicide, and, while I'm trying very hard to finish the book, I'm not 100% sure I can continue reading about the idolization of him and his actions. For those unfamiliar with how it ends, he basically goes, again, unprepared and full of "romanticized" ideas, into the wilds of Alaska and starves to death. I think my feelings on it could be summed up in a quote from the book. It's a letter written (after stories were published of McCandless' death) by a writer/schoolteacher, formerly from Washington DC, then living in a tiny Inupiat village on the Kobuk River north of the Arctic Circle. His name is Nick Jans, and while he warns that it was 1 a.m. and he was well into a bottle of Seagram's, I'm right there with him:

"Over the past 15 years, I've run into several McCandless types out in the country. Same story: idealistic, energetic young guys who overestimated themselves, underestimated the country, and ended up in trouble. McCandless was hardly unique; there's quite a few of these guys hanging around the state, so much alike that they're almost a collective cliché. The only difference is that McCandless ended up dead, with the story of his dumbassedness splashed across the media ... (Jack London got it right in "To Build A Fire." McCandless is, finally, just a pale 20th-century burlesque of London's protagonist, who freezes because he ignores advice and commits big-time hubris)...
His ignorance, which could have been cured by a USGS quadrant and a Boy Scout manual, is what killed him. And while I feel for his parents, I have no sympathy for him. Such willfull ignorance ... amounts to disrespect for the land, and paradoxically demonstrates the same sort of arrogance that resulted in the Exxon Valdez spill - just another case of underprepared, overconfident men bumbling around out there and screwing up because they lacked the requisite humility. It's all a matter of degree.
McCandless' contrived asceticism and pseudoliterary stance compound rather than reduce the fault ... McCandless' postcards, notes, and journals ... read like the work of an above average, somewhat histrionic high school kid - or am I missing something?"

It's also worth pointing out something Krakauer highlights: McCandless' obsession with Jack London and his works of FICTION. He writes, "McCandless conveniently overlooked the fact that London himself had spent just a single winter in the North and that he'd died by his own hand on his California estate at the age of forty, a fatuous drunk, obese and pathetic, maintaining a sedentary existence that bore scant resemblance to the ideals he espoused in print."

So there you have it. Just another spoiled rich kid with romantic and idealistic fantasies. I'm with Jans. I feel sorry for his friends and family, but don't feel sorry for him one little bit.

Oops, sorry. Forgot, here's the link to the book on Amazon, in case anyone wants to know more or buy a copy: http://www.amazon.com/Into-Wild-MTI-Jon-Krakauer/dp/0307387178/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/104-9625345-1161563?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1194389980&sr=1-1

Lent to me by a non-petite friend, this book actually had me laughing out loud in places. I've read her other books and found none to have characters near as charming or easy to become attached to and invested in. Yes, a little over-the-top in believability, but so endearing, you really don't get stuck in that. I, in turn, recommended it to several of my friends, one of whom said the main character reminded her of me. I couldn't imagine a greater compliment. If only I'd have thought of bouncing a box of tampons of an ex's forehead in a public parking lot.

The basic premise is not one I would normally find myself interested in: Heavyset girl breaks up with stoner/loser boyfriend, who then proceeds to write about her and their sex life in a national magazine column, the first of which is titled, you got it, "Good In Bed." The book goes through her struggling with her own writing career and the turns her life takes after the breakup. Cannie ("heavyset girl") is one of the most charming, intelligent , witty characters I've read in a long time.

Here's a link to the book on Amazon, if you would like to know more about it or order a copy: http://www.amazon.com/Good-Bed-Jennifer-Weiner/dp/0743418174/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/104-9625345-1161563?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1194389234&sr=1-1

(I'd also like to say, Jennifer Weiner is, herself, really a very nice person. I sent her an e-mail at one point, expecting to either never hear back or get a response from some uninvolved PR person, but got a direct response from her, within a few days. Really nice to see some people maintain their gracious humility.)