Saturday, August 28, 2004

Limited Seating No Limit Betting Limited Time Only No Limit Fun Texas Hold 'Em

We're hoping to have some poker fun on Labor Day. EVERYONE should be invited. Check out the details here.

Tuesday, August 24, 2004

Coming home

After my GenCon trip (more info on that to come later), I watched The Way Home last night -- rated it a 7. It was cuter than I expected, but pretty slow. I think I enjoyed the pace more than usual just because I needed something relaxing after a hectic trip. I do highly recommend it to anyone with a grandmother -- it's very touching.

Thursday, August 12, 2004

Movie

I watched Talk to Her last night -- rated it a 7. This is one of those strange films that I can't even really explain why I liked it so much. Mostly because of the artist aspects -- they seemed to touch me in an indefinable way. The plot is kind of strange, and there isn't much to it, but the way that everything was presented felt enjoyable. I often complain about slow-paced movies, but this pace felt more comfortable to me. Probably I just like the concept presented by the title -- that women should be talked to.

Wednesday, August 11, 2004

Mini Marathon

Watched both Kill Bill: Vol. 1 and Kill Bill: Vol. 2 last night -- rated them 8 and 6, respectively. I did appreciate the second half a little more when watching it all together as a whole. But I still feel that the pace slowed down too much. That's one of the things I didn't like about Tarantino's last movie, Jackie Brown -- just too slow. I mean Volume 1 sets this "we're going to be action-packed and have lots of fun" pace, and then Volume 2 turns around with "nah, on second thought, let's slow down and have a bunch of character development". Not that I have anything against character development, but the two halves just dodn't seem to me to fit together seemlessly. And the truth is, as an avid action fan, I enjoyed the first one better.

Monday, August 09, 2004

Well, I finally went by to take some pictures of the plot the house will be built on. Here is a view from across the street. Hard to really see much at this stage, but the important thing to note -- lots of trees! Posted by Hello

This is a picture taken while standing in the middle of the lot... probably about where the back of the house will stop. It may be hard to tell, but there is still lots of yard and many trees there. One of benefits of this location is that the lots turned out to be extra deep -- about two times longer than a standard plot. We may need to get a riding lawn mower! Posted by Hello

Movie Reviews

Watched The Grifters last night -- rated it a 4. I had seen it once before many years ago, and I thought I had enjoyed it more. It starts off fairly well, but the story ends very stragely and with no satisfactory resolution in my mind. The acting was very good though -- and I liked the concept -- it's just that we don't learn enough about the characters to really care enough. And the little we do learn about them is kind of disjointed. Unless you are a die-hard John Cusack fan, skip this one.

Friday, August 06, 2004

House Status 1.1

Great News! We've been trying to extend our existing rate lock, and the company we were working with was being really slow about responding to calls/email and seemed to have higher rates all of a sudden. So we checked with another loan company, and since they had a lower rate, we switched to them. So now we're starting with a lower rate, and we're locked for a year from today! Should be no problem to finish the house in that time.... Speaking of which, the builder has confirmed that the city has approved all rezoning. The next steps are to work with city engineers to plot sewer lines, utilities and grading. It's a little unpredictable how long that can take until they can get into the ground and see if there is a lot of rock or trees in the way and such. But I'm very happy with how things are progressing. On a final note, of the four lots that the builder is prepping in this location, we get one; the mayor's son is getting another; and the builder is keeping one for his daughter. I'm privileged that we managed to find such a prime location.

Tuesday, August 03, 2004

Reading

I finished Just a Geek last night. It was very enjoyable, though not quite as good as his first, Dancing Barefoot. It's kind of nice to see more things from my generation reaching popularity. I guess I'm getting to that age now. heh