Movie Review: King Kong (2005)

King King (2005) is a fantastic movie. It is a little slow at the beginning due to some character development but I forgave that. I liked all the characters. Naomi Watts steals the performance (next to Kong that is) to the point where no one else in the movie really matters. Jack Black also does a great job as Carl Denham, the over ambitious movie producer.

Carl takes a crew of sailors and his cast to Skull Island where they encounter Kong. From the moment they come across this island the adventure and the action starts. Folks, from this point on the actions does not stop. I was literally glued to my chair. I realized later I spilled my pop and really could not get up. I slept in that chair for three days.

Kong falls for Ann Darrow (Watts) and does anything and everything to protect her. Everything is a threat, in his eyes, to his new "special" friend. We are talking humans, giant bat things, T-Rex's, small mammals, the occasional fruit fly, taxi cabs and bi-wing airplanes. I think she should have stuck with Kong instead of kissing that Driscoll (Adrien Brody) character. Jack Driscoll had a bigger nose and much smaller feet than Kong (if you know what I mean).

I would highly recommend this movie. It is action packed, intense and has some scenes that kids should probably not see (like Darrow kissing Driscoll). There are some head squishes (it is an island full of dinosaurs...someone, you know, is going to get stepped on) , shooting, stabbing, kissing (as I mentioned before) and other icky violence.

Rent it or buy it. Peter Jackson did another great job on this movie.

Review: Samsung X497 by Cingular

In a word...Junk.

Book Review: Missing Persons

I finished this book a couple of weeks ago, it was plenty good. Steven White has written a series of books about Alan Gregory. This one is like the 30-11th or something in the series.

The book takes place in Boulder, CO, the former home of JonBenet Ramsey. This book has may indirect references to JonBenet's murder. The teenage girl who is one of the missing persons (she maybe have been kidnapped or ran away, get the book) is a former classmate of JonBenet's.

Anyway, lots of people go missing. The people have no apparent connection to one another. There is a good cop, a bad cop, and most of all a story and is interesting enough that I looked forward to getting back into the story.

Oh, and there are a few people with mental illness in the book, which is always entertaining for me :)

I liked it enough that I'm going to get a few more of the series of eleventy-seven to interact with soon.

Jason

Review: Air Tran Airways

I flew ATA from Sarasota to Mpls last Friday the 14th of April. This was the best and worst flight I think I have been on.

The best because from Sarasota, FL to Chicago I was on a brand new plane. It was very comfortable and every seat had XM Radio. The crew was very responsive, young and really a breath of fresh air. From Chicago to Minneapolis I was on one of their older planes, but again, a fresh crew, XM in all the seats and just an overall great experience.

The worst was the turbulence in and out of Chicago. I will never blame this on an airline. I have never been thrown around that much on any flight. Even one of the attendants mentioned she had never been on a flight so rough. There are always different reactions from the passengers on these kinds of flights. I was annoyed, some people had quick screams and then the two girls (12 and 9) sitting behind me laughed like they were on a roller coaster. I even heard one say "Wow, that was a good one". All I could do was smile...until my head bashed into the window again.

Book Review: Transfer of Power - Vince Flynn

Awesome. What more can I say. From the first page this book takes off and never lets go. Mitch Rapp is in standard butt kicking form and I think would give a ninja a run for his money.

Synopsis: A nasty terrorist and his band of followers take over the White House. After killing hordes of Secret Service and a number of innocents things finally settle in and demands start to be made. The President is trapped in his secure bunker while these events take place. The terrorists need the President in order for their ultimate plan to unfold. How they attempt to get to the President is where a good portion of the book centers on. Rapp makes his way into the White House and with the help of a few unlikely hero's he saves the day. Flynn focuses on how ruthless and hypocritical Islamic extremists are and breaks down what they are capable of.

This is the second book of Flynns and I would highly recommend it.

Review: Wagon Wheel Flea Market

I am on vaction in Florida this week and the first Sunday we are here we always go to the Wagon Wheel Flea Market in St. Petersburg, FL. This should be called the Wagon Wheel Flee Market because immediately when you drive in, you should turn around and run for your life.

The was a quote in Star Wars, A New Hope by Obi Wan when him and Luke come across Mos Eisley Space Port. Obi says, "You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villany...except at the Wagon Wheel Flea Market." Now, this last excerpt was left out of the original movie but let me assure you, it was originally in there.

Walking through the aisles of junk, oh I mean "surplus items" is something to behold. There are lots of items that are really hard to determine the legitimacy. Stolen? Mmm, who really knows for sure. I am not sure who they would have stolen this from. Junk yard maybe? Some homeless guy? Don't get me wrong, there are some things that I bring home. Golf balls, socks (not used) and wallets. Of course, you can pick up a bra or thong but I would not advise it.

The caliber of people that visit here are the standups of society. I saw hundreds of people and about 3 teeth amongst them all. There was a woman who screamed the whole time she walked through the aisles. That was something to behold. I saw lots of cute middrift shirts on 300 pound girls. My retinas fell out.

The best are the long haired hippie freaks with no shirts, jean shorts and hair to their rears. This gentleman usually have a rugged looking woman going through the aforementioned bras and thongs and then a child with a nice mullet and a right ear pierced.

Did I mention all the wonderful smells too? No? Well I am not going to either. Some things in life are not worth reliving. Well, that is all from FL for now. I am sure there will be more to come. Hope you all are having a nice time in MN. See Ya.

Wisconsin Wins 6th NCAA Title

Wisconsin wins their 6th NCAA title and their first since 1990. This gives the WCHA their 5th win in a row! Tom Gilbert scored the winning goal in the 3rd period on the powerplay to rope the game in.

Way to go Wisconsin!!

Samsung A900 Sprint POWER Vision Cell Phone

Sprint was kind enough to send me an A900 POWER Vision cell phone and from what I have experienced so far...I really enjoy it. Not like I enjoy pickled pigs feet or the occasional raw egg, but more like how I enjoy a good sneeze followed by another good sneeze. This phone has many nice features and I am only going to touch on a few of them.

The first is that is looks like a RAZR and smells like a RAZR but it is definetly not a RAZR. The A900 is solid. It feels good to hold on to and I have not dropped it once (and that is saying a lot). It has a nice bright screen, good sound and an easy to navigate menu system.

It has a 1.3mp camera and the lens actually rotates so you can take those upside down self portaits that you have always wanted to take. Example 1: Does not exist because I put a password in wrong and now I cannot change it in order to send myself the picture to my e-mail. Nice feature...not.

The A900 also has a color screen on the outside so you can see the time, music that is playing, coverage and battery life. Along with the color screen on the outside are the forward, back and pause/play button for the music you are listening too. Works fine but you really need the USB headphones to get the full range. The onbaord speakers are ok but at the same time...they suck.

Live TV is also an option on this A900 POWER Vision phone. It does not take much time to get to the option but it will cost you $9.99 a month to watch TV. It will cost you $2999.99 to fix the large dent in your car from where you hit the tree. It gets expensive but...oh the quality!

You can import your own music or you can choose the option to order music from Sprints site. At $2.50 a song all I can say is "What a steal!" No I mean really, they are ripping you off. $2.fitty a song? You know how many Zagnuts that will buy? No? Me neither. I as hoping you would know. The speed of the download is ok and you do have the option of downloading the song to your PC. So if you are made of money (or have it on loan from Sprint and they are paying for it) go ahead and splurge.

There is also a menu funtion called OnDemand which gives you all the information relative to the zip code you are in. Sports, weather, maps, movies, TV Guide and even the dictionary. Wow...I can't remember the last time I needed a dictionary while I was tooling around St. Paul. Glad it is at my fingertips now. Just in case I need to speel somthing rite.

Overall I do like the A900 cell phone. I wish I could keep it and I really wish Sprint would pay for it forever. That would be darn nice of them. Maybe if they read this blog? Pipe dream! It sells for $349.99 but with all the contracts and other garbage it sells for $199.99. Oh ya, plus $9.99/month for the TV, $2.50 per song, $14.99/month for the online access and I am sure there are some other monthlies that can be thrown in that I have yet to discover.

BUY IT!! Live the online revolution in your car, ignore your family and lose your job all to watch live TV on a 1" x 2" screen. Ahhh, technology!