Vacation Fun 2005

Want to enjoy some sun and fun, as well as your family and friends' company? Well, how about joining us on a cruise this year? Justin and I are planning on attending the 2005 Home Theatre Cruise, and we'd like to share the experience with you. It is a 7 day cruise around the Eastern Caribbean on the Carnival cruise line, leaving from Orlando Florida on October 29, 2005. Cost for the cruise (including the Home Theatre seminars) is $870 per person (for a balcony room), and round-trip air fare to Orlando from Kansas City is about $211 per person, putting the total around $2200 per couple. Non-balcony rooms are up to $350 cheaper per person, but we highly recommend a balcony. For details on the Home Theatre cruise: www.hometheatercruise.com. If you want to get information about the Carnival cruiseline and the ship we'd be on start here: www.carnival.com. And of course, you can get air fares from Travelocity, or your favorite travel agent. ***FYI: This cruise does stop at St. Thomas, which is one of the few places you can do the BOB underwater adventure. Justin and I plan to do this again too. It costs $100 per person, but is well worth it. Well, this is just to get your vacation planning started. There is plenty of time to get the details worked out. Please keep in mind that cruise fares are kind of like air fares in that the rates can vary from week to week. However, these are probably the lowest the prices will get for quite some time, especially for the cruise.

More ho hum

I saw Elektra last night -- rated it a 5. The story wasn't as cheesy as I expected, but alas, the action scenes sucked. And there wasn't really enough kung fu. Oh well.

Top Movies of 2004

Using a combined score from both my and Justin's rating. The titles should link to IMDB, and the rating should link to our comments. For more movie ratings, visit our home page, http://www.justinandangie.com.

Rank	Title	Angie Rating	Justin Rating
1	Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind	9	9
1	Garden State	9	9
1	Hero	9	9
4	Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King Extended Version	10	7
5	Super Size Me	8	8
6	Napoleon Dynamite	8	7
6	Collateral	7	8
8	Spider-Man 2	9	5
8	Girl Next Door	7	7
8	Incredibles, The	7	7

Here are some pictures our lot right after Christmas with the stakes all set up. I thought I could go in "post-production" and add an outline of the house itself, but my pictures aren't really clear enough. These may not seem exciting, but for us... this is the biggest thing that has happened since our old house sold in May! 

This is from the back of the lot looking out to the street. I'm not even standing at the back-edge of the yard -- that's how big it will be.

Movies

Watched a bunch of stuff over the holiday weekend. Finally saw the new Harry Potter -- rated it a 6. Even though my rating is the same as the other Harry movies, I did enjoy this one a little more since the theme is maturing as the characters age. I may actually go see the next one in the theatre. In yet another effort to find some decent action, I watch The Rundown -- rated it a 4. There were some promising funny parts, but as usual the action was completely mis-cut. Christopher Walken should not have been in this movie. Also, I watched Napolean Dynamite again -- rating still an 8. I considering raising the rating just because I identify so much with these misfits. But it is a first-effort, and thus has some simple improvements that could have been made.

Networking

I've decided to start passively looking for a new position. As everyone should know, one of the best ways to find a job is through the people you know. So, if you have heard about anyone hiring a Software Developer, please consider passing along my resume. Thanks!