Violence Shmiolence

Can someone explain to me why directors, producers, etc., feel it's necessary to depict the most gruesome, violent events on camera, rather than leave it to the audience's imagination? Do you give us so little credit that if you show a knife to someone's neck and then cut away or switch to a reverse shot of the body slumping, we won't realize that someone's throat has just been slashed? Really guys, we're not that dumb. Now, I get, that in some instances (i.e., Saving Private Ryan), that it serves the plot of the movie and is necessary to teach and educate us, even though it may be hard to watch. However, it seems these days, that it's merely thrown in for shock value to see just how much you can get away with, how absolutely foul you can be. Case in point: I went to see Eastern Promises last night with some friends and there were about 5 or 6 scenes that really, were totally unecessary. I get that the Russian mafia is violent. I get that they kill people in terrible, torturous ways. But (spoiler warning), do I really need to see someone's fingers actually being cut off? Viggo Mortensen stabbing a rival family member in the eye? In the back of the head? A guy's throat being slashed and then seeing it open up and out pours the blood?

And the movie actually had a very interesting plot line, dynamic characters and was really well done - I would have enjoyed it I think, had I not had to look away every 15 minutes or so because I was afraid I was going to throw up in the seat next to me. I'm sure my friend Brenda appreciated the fact that I didn't. It's really not violence that bothers me, it's the unecessary violence that does nothing, in my opinion, to advance the plot line. It left me feeling like I needed to shower, throw up, then shower again.

And when did movies become $9.50?? Hollywood is making me angry. I LOVE to go see movies, but having to pay that much, for any movie, makes me want to sit at home and wait for the DVD to come out. But on the bright side, my local theater did just decide to start carrying Junior Mints again. VICTORY!!

The Great Bear Rescue

My husband just forwarded me this email about a bear who fell over the side of the bridge because it got scared by cars crossing the bridge. The bear caught himself and was able to pull himself up on the ledge. Authorities placed a net under the ledge, tranquilized the bear, who then fell into the net. They lowered the net, the bear woke up and out he walked. Hooray for the bear savers! Please scroll down to the end of the pics to see what Tyler wrote in the body of the email. It made me laugh out loud. Maybe it's just because I know him and can picture him saying it. I think sometimes that Tyler should have a quote of the day because the things that come out of his mouth are pretty amusing. It's one of the things I love most about him, even though it's one of the things that causes the most embarrassment on my part sometimes.
















































And here is what Tyler said about the last one: Tell me this. Why is the person taking the last photograph so close to a bear who had just been tranquilized? If I was that bear, I would eat that person.

Thanks, honey, for that interesting perspective.

Though he does have a point. When we were in Yellowstone a few years ago, there was a baby brown bear cub on the side of the road, eating grass, and people were literally about 2 feet away from it, taking pictures. Granted, it was a cute little cub, but mommy was not far behind. Did they think because they weren't in the middle of the woods, the Mama Bear wouldn't eat them alive for being so close to her baby? Maybe that's just me.

Rescue Recess!

So, when I came into work today, I got a handout entitled "Rescuing Recess." I don't know if anybody has heard about this, but what a great idea! This week is National Recess Week - again, something I had not heard of - but totally awesome. Anyway, the general idea is that only 8 state school boards have a policy that ensures daily recess - something that I know I had everyday in elementary school growing up. This movement is asking for volunteer hours from employees/fellow Atlantans to be a recess monitor, help the P.E. teacher, help renovate or build playgrounds, and many other things. However, I know this is a nationwide campaign, so check out the website to see what you can do to help in your state!

Anyway, if I can get on my soapbox for a minute - I think it's terrible that recess seems to be a thing of the past. With obesity in children at what seems to be an all-time high, it doesn't seem to make much sense to take away what might be a child's only exercise all day. I realize that parents need to be held responsible for raising their children to be healthy, active adults, but help 'em out a little and keep recess alive! It might even help the teachers out, letting the kids have an outlet for all their pent-up energy. Maybe not dodgeball, because that used to scare the heck out of me, but I used to love going outside, or to the gym, to run around with my friends. I imagine it not only helps with weight issues, but also with sociability among the kids.

So keep recess alive! Bring back Red Rover and monkey bars and all the other cool things recess involves. Did anyone else used to get to play with a giant parachute? No? That was just me? Well, it was awesome.

18/11

Don't worry - this is not a post about math and does not involve converting fractions into mixed numbers. You were scared, weren't you?

These 2 numbers signify the mileage I covered, respectively, on Saturday and Sunday. And this isn't even as far as I was supposed to walk. I was supposed to walk 15 on Sunday. Yeah, my legs didn't get that memo and decided to go on strike at about mile 10. After a little pep talk, I managed to get one more mile out of them in order to get home and not be stranded on the Silver Comet Trail. Good times.

I'm a little discouraged that this was only 29 miles in 2 days and I actually have to walk 60 in 3. Something's not quite adding up. Here's what I'm hoping. The walking will be a bit more spread out during the actual event rather than me busting a move trying to get it done in the fastest time possible, thus leading to the feeling that I have dislocated my left hip. The adrenaline pumping and encouragement of other people being around me will also help, so I am not solely relying on Peaches and Herb's "Shake Your Groove Thing" to help me go those last few miles. This is what I'm hoping.

But apart from the end result of bathing in a vat of Myoflex and feeling like I broke myself, the awesome thing about this weekend was the weather. It was such a beautiful weekend and that really did motivate me. Fall is in the air everyone, and I, for one, cannot WAIT. For a lot of the miles I walked, I thanked God for the beautiful sunshine, slight breeze, fall smell, and general gorgeousness of His creation. It really was more of a blessing than a curse to have walked all those miles this weekend. Hooray for fall!

One is Silver and the Other is Gold

Do you remember that song from Girl Scouts? "Make new friends, but keep the old..." Yeah, me too. Troop #89 used to sing it, in rounds no less, at our meetings. We also sang the "Great Big Brownie Smile" song. Good times.

I thought of this song because this past weekend, my mom and I had an engagement dinner for one of my oldest and sweetest friends. We've known each other since before she was born - that's right - I'm older by about 6 months, so even though perhaps I don't recall knowing her before she arrived, I like to say I do. Anyway, we don't get to see each other very much at all, since we live in different towns and you know, sadly life just gets in the way sometimes. But we had this dinner for her and her fiancee and then another high school friend who will be in her wedding and her husband. I can't tell you how much fun we had - almost like it hadn't been forever since we'd seen each other. My stomach hurt from laughing so much. And my favorite quote of the night from her:

"Oh my gosh. You know what we're doing, right? We're reminscing about old times. We're getting OLD."

Well, if this is what getting old is like, I don't think I really mind all that much.

It's nice to be reminded every now and then how much fun you had growing up and what great friends you have. And, bonus, I discovered that if I wanted to be a cake decorator, I might not be too shabby at it. Check out the oh so delicious cake I decorated. Made by Publix, designed by Mom, carried out by Me.

Hotlanta Part 2 a.k.a. Bringin' the Heat

So apparently when I went to enjoy the cool 67 degree weather in DC, I brought the sweltering 98 degree Atlanta weather with me. Ah well, what can you do? We had fun anyway, but as you can see from the picture (especially the Tyler part of the picture), we sweated like mofo's.

Our nation's capitol is lovely, however hot it may be, and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. Lots of museums - The Spy Museum, The Holocaust Museum and The National Archives. I highly recommend all of them, each for entirely different reasons. But all are well worth the visit. And a visit to the WWII memorial which produced the lovely picture below, was beautiful and captivating at night.


And I would just like to say, MARTA, PLEASE take a lesson from DC's Metro system. Or really from any other mass transit system in any other metropolitan city. It actually goes places people want to go and is easy and convenient to use. No cabs necessary. Metro goes everywhere you want to be. Kind of like Visa.

We also visited Alexandria, which is where the pic of Tyler and I was taken on the dock on the Potomac River. Super cool town and apparently super expensive as well. But it reminded me of my hometown, Franklin - well, downtown Franklin - on crack.

And if you're going and haven't been - I highly recommend the restaurant Lebanese Taverna. Holy cow, that place is good. Delicious hummus and pita. My main dish was awesome as well. I wished my stomach was about 8 times bigger than it was that night for dinner.

So yeah, big fan of D.C.! I hadn't been since 8th grade and then it was in a blizzard, so it was definitely time for me to go back. Apparently I only enjoy going in extreme weather conditions.

Hotlanta

I just read an article and discovered that I have lived through the hottest month EVER in Atlanta. This August beat out July 1993 as the hottest month on record and gives new meaning to the nickname "Hotlanta".

I'm pretty sure that the record 8 100 degree plus days all occurred when my car's air conditioner broke and my husband and I were forced to drive it around as we waited for parts to come in. If you're looking for a good way to lose weight, I highly recommend driving around with your air conditioner turned off and just sweating it off. It got so bad that I briefly considered this. Maybe I would've gotten a few stares, but I would have saved a LOT of money.

It's hot here folks and I can't tell you how much I'm looking forward to my weekend in D.C., where it is currently 67 degrees and cloudy. Oh yeah, and some rain would be nice too.