Is This Normal?
The chaos that is the KerbersArchive for movies
I love video editing!
Tonight I got together with one of my counterparts at the other high school in our district, Normal West, to work. Ellen started at West two years after I started at Community, and we’ve gotten along really well ever since she began. So last spring I asked her if she wanted to present at the Illinois School Library Media Association (ISLMA) annual conference together. She did, we submitted a proposal, and it got accepted. Since the conference is at the end of this month, we have periodically been working on the presentation together.
We’re starting our presentation with a short video entitled “Perceptions of a Librarian…by students and staff”. We both taped a bunch of different students and adults from around our district, and I’m putting them all together into one video clip. I totally forgot how much I love editing videos. It took me back to the summer I took 555…my very favorite class in grad school. I think the title of the class was “Media Design: Multi-Media” and I spent all summer obsessing over every little detail of my projects. Oh, to have the time to do that again.
We bought video software not long ago with the intention of editing and consolidating all of our videos and getting them onto DVDs. Yeah…I’ll let you know when that happens…but don’t hold your breath!
Grown-up movie night
Tonight (well, technically this afternoon) Dave and I went to see Inglourious Basterds. I’ll be honest…I wasn’t really very excited about seeing it, but we hadn’t been to a movie in a long time and we had the chance to go, so I decided to give it a try. I figured, “Hey, it’s Quentin Tarantino…how bad can it be?” Well, I was very pleasantly surprised…I loved it! The story was very different than I thought. I knew it was a WWII movie, but I thought the entire premise was a group of renegade soldiers raunning around killing as many Nazis as they could. Well, that was part of it, but there was a lot more. And, in classic Tarantino form, several stories ended up converging into a really cool ending. Sure, there was some gratuitous gore…I definitelywas covering my eyes on more than one occaison. But there also was a lot of humor throughout the story. Brad Pitt was awesome, and his character was absolutely hilarious.
Overall, Dave and I both give the movie a big thumbs up. I’m not sure what the actual critics thought, but we say give it a look-see…I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised, too.
Movie night
We’ve been having family movie nights on Friday nights for awhile now. The kids both look so forward to it, and by Friday night Dave and I are beat from the work week, so it’s a great way for us to veg out and relax a little while still having some good quality time with the kids. We hop in the bathtub right after dinner, pop some popcorn, and head downstairs. Tonight’s feature was “Lightning McQueen” (Cars for all of you movie purists), a classic.
What I love about movie nights is that there are already routines and traditions that we must follow. We always sit in the same place on the couch…Dave on the left, then Emma, Ben, and me on the right. Emma holds the bowl of popcorn on her lap so we all have easy access. We must dim the lights the perfect amount, and then we start the show. The funniest thing is that as soon as the popcorn is gone, both kids are off the couch and playing with toys. Then Dave and I sit and watch a cartoon we’ve seen a million times before.
There was a time when Friday nights were the start of a fun, partying-filled weekend. Now, they are the end of a busy week and they’re filled with Pixar and popcorn. My, my how things have changed…for the better, of course!
Movie night
Dave and I went to see the new Harry Potter movie this afternoon. Yes, our date nights have been pushed back to afternoon movies now. I know, it’s pathetic, but it just works better to go to the very early show, have a quick dinner, and still pick up the kids from Theresa’s early enough to have our normal bedtime routine. But anyway, I digress…
“Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince”. Here’s the problem. We all know that no movie is ever as good as the book. But now that we’ve gotten to the point in the Harry Potter series that the books are way too long to make into movies, the movie versions are really starting to suffer. The last one was really good, but there were some things about it that were really different from the book. It annoyed me, but I didn’t feel like it really affected the quality of the movie. This time, though, I really thought it did. There was just something missing in this movie. I felt like there were several really pertinent scenes that were glossed over very quickly, while others that seemed inconsequential were drug out way too long. Maybe I’m just cynical, but I thought the whole teen love story part was focused on way too much while the basic good vs. evil theme, the biggest theme of the entire series, was surface-treated instead of explored more deeply.
I will admit that part of the problem is that Dave just finished reading (actually listening to) the book, so he was like a Half-Blood Prince expert and could easily point out many of the inconsistencies. That didn’t help. But I think that both of us were pretty disappointed in the whole thing. It’s very sad, but I’m sure we’ll still see the next two when they eventually come out!
Date night
Dave and I just got home from seeing “Star Trek”, and we both liked it a lot. It was a very fun date night. It’s so sad how infrequently we get to movies these days. In fact, we were trying to remember the last movie we saw, and it took us most of the night to come up with it! Sad. Back in the day we went to movies all the time, and it’s something we both love to do.
I think, though, we’re about to start a tradition to have our own version of date nights with the whole family. We’ve called Friday nights ‘movie night’ for awhile now, but last Friday Ben wanted to make popcorn and watch a movie downstairs so we could dim the lights and have it like a real movie theater. You have to understand that he’s only been to a movie theater once in his life, and it was last summer to see “Wall-E” with Aunt Theresa. But he remembered it, and he wanted to recreate it in the worst way. So that night we went for early baths, cranked up the microwave to make popcorn, and headed downstairs to watch “Bolt”. It was really fun to have all of us sit on the couch together and watch the movie. Sure, the kids were up playing off and on throughout the movie, but it was still really nice. I guess this will be our new date night for the next few years.
But tonight, since the kids were still at Grandma & Grandpa’s, Dave and I had a good old-fashioned date, and I really enjoyed it. It’s nice to be reminded how much we like spending time together.
So much to do
Holy cow, there’s a lot to do to get ready for a vacation. We’re leaving on the 20th for Spring Break at my parents’ condo in Venice, Florida, and I am not even feeling close to being ready. I don’t know if it’s the fact that we’re going somewhere that will be a totall different season weather-wise, or if getting ready for every vacation makes you run around like a chicken with your head cut off, but either way, we’re doing it! I do think that the first item makes this a little tougher. Since we just decided that we were for sure going, I had to get out and do some shopping for the kids. It’s not like they needed a ton of clothes since we’ll be at my parents’ house, but at the very least they both needed warm weather jammies, a new swim suit, spring jackets, sandals, a few short sleeved shirts and shorts. Then you have to factor in all the stuff we wanted to get for the trip itself. We’ll be in the car for at least 20 hours, so we wanted a lot of entertainment. That meant much of today was spent getting some new movies and hitting the dollar store! Let me tell you, we loaded up on little toys, stickers, and books. We also used the kids’ Toys R Us gift cards that they got from the State Farm Santa to get a couple of bigger toys to open in the car. We’re hoping that we’ve gotten enough.
We’re super excited to go, but we’re also very nervous. It’s our first real family vacation, and our first car trip longer than two hours. We’re making a plan with the understanding that it’s all just an outline for the trip. This is really a play-it-by-ear situation. Let’s hope we can do it!
Date night
Dave and I had a date night tonight (well, really more like a date afternoon since we went to the matinee), and we saw a movie that you have to go see…now! It’s Gran Torino, Clint Eastwood’s newest. He produced, directed, and starred in it, and truly it is awesome! What I love most about the movies that he produces and directs are the complex characters and unpredictable plots. I was genuinely surprised by this movie. From the previews I had seen, I really thought I knew what the movie was about, but I was so wrong. The story grows and evolves and the ending is neither predictable or expected. Eastwood’s character made me cringe, laugh, and cry like a baby. This was one of the best movies I’ve seen in a really long time.
The really amazing thing was that we had a really hard time deciding which movie to see today. There are so many good shows out right now. The more we discussed what to see, the more difficult our decision became. “It’s Oscar season,” I kept saying to Dave. And this year, that really is the reason our choice was so tough. For the first time in a very long time, all five Best Picture nominees are movies that I really want to see. I just wish I’d get to before the Oscars actually take place. Maybe another year…
Happy birthday, Aunt Theresa!
Today, Three King’s Day (or The Epiphany), is Aunt Theresa’s birthday. We can’t hardly imagine not having Aunt Theresa close to us, as she is our main babysitter on just about any occasion. Sometimes, she even calls just to ask Dave if he needs to take me out to dinner so the kids can come over. How cool is that for us? Oh, and it’s also way cool for the kids. They absolutely love being at Aunt Theresa’s house. For any of my family reading this, being there is a lot like being at Aunt Lois’s house. The word no doesn’t really exist, and there is a limitless supply of shows and movies. It’s pretty much Ben’s own personal heaven. I’m sure it will be for Ems, too, when she gets a little older and appreciates shows and movies more.
Have a great birthday, Aunt Theresa, and don’t worry…nobody’s really counting how many of them you’ve had so far. Well, maybe Dan and Steve are, but that’s just because they only wish they looked as young as you!! :)
Date night
Dave and I had a date tonight. We actually went to a movie…what a treat that was! We saw Four Christmases with Vince Vaughn, who is one of our favorite actors. It was actually a very fun movie, and we both liked it a lot. I have to say, after seeing it, though, I can’t complain about either of our families ever again! :) It probably won’t stay around in the theaters much longer since the holiday season is officially over, but check it out if you get a chance, and definitely rent it when it’s released to DVD.
I know eventually we’ll get to see more movies. For now, though, I’m going to appreciate every chance we get to get out alone together.
