July 2013 Monthly Entry
A lot to talk about this month. Oh, and plenty of pics too. :)
Vancouver Pride 2013 is the weekend of August 2-4 this year. I may go to the Lotus Hotel on that Friday night for a VML social and see if I can get any pictures. Saturday, staying the hell away from downtown because of the fireworks crowd. Sunday I plan to be with the Knights again this year in the parade. I may end up carrying the US flag again as I'm sure fellow Knight, Jim, will be walking with the Canadian flag. If any of you are coming for the weekend, let me know! My write-up on the weekend will be soon after.
As for my new glasses, I haven't decided on what I want for a replacement. I've gotten used to these ones but still, it's better to have glasses that should fit from the beginning and put less pressure around the nose. Anyways, here's a pic of them before I send them back:
It's been sunny almost the entire time and while there are some pretty hot days, a lot of them have just the right temperature so not too overbearing. It makes up for the all the rain we've had through the last three seasons. I've been concentrating more on projects at work lately. In one of my buildings I've finished damp wiping the top of the baseboards everywhere, did a major clean in both stairwells, spot cleaned the walls, and wiped most doors down. I still have my other building to do but after that's done, I may look into a smaller project to do for both. The parkades were recently power washed and look a lot brighter. The workers even did all the garbage rooms this year too! Seems for the past few months, a few of my favourite owners and tenants have moved out of the complex. Even last weekend, a nice couple in the first building I clean have moved out though they will be completely out by the end of the month. The husband shaked my hand a couple Fridays ago and thanked me for everything. It's a shame when good people have to leave. Just hope that whoever lives in their suite next will be about as good.
About a couple weeks ago, my co-worker Larry was fired from where he was working on the weekends in downtown Vancouver. This was the same complex in which twice last year I had to be acting-manager as the real manager, Will, went on vacation. The reason why Will had Larry fired was that Larry was cleaning about 3 out of 4 of his required hours. When Will wanted to find Larry one day and found he was gone, Will checked the security footage and saw him leave about an hour before his cutoff time. He then checked footage and fob records of previous days, spanning about a couple of months, and told my co-manager (the father) that there was about 16 hours in lost time that Larry accumulated! I couldn't believe that someone would go that far in trying to get a worker in trouble but I suppose I shouldn't be underestimating Will. The way I look at it, I should watch myself when I'm called back to relieve Will when he's on vacation next time. So while Larry wasn't fired from the company, he has now lost 8 hours a week worth of wages. On the plus side, he tells me that he was getting tired of working 7 days a week and not getting any day off (including stat-holidays). He takes responsibility for his actions and counts his lucky stars he wasn't booted out of the company. He still cleans the other two buildings on my complex and puts in his 6 hours a day. Funny thing though, on Monday or Tuesday a couple weeks ago as I was leaving for the day, I get a call from my co-manager (again, the father and he rarely calls me) asking me to keep an eye on Larry and that if Larry leaves without putting in his 6 hours, to call him. I said I would look into it but in general, Larry does put in his full 6 hours. He starts half an hour early in the morning and thus, leaves half an hour earlier in the afternoon. Now, just last Monday, my main co-manager (the son) reiterates what his father told me the previous week but with an addition: he wants me to check the fob records every once in a while and see when Larry's first fob swipe is and when the last one is. Of course, if it looks like he came in late and likely that he leaves at his usual time of 1:30pm... then I have to alert my manager. As precaution to protect both of us, I have deleted the records of both our fobs. The way I see it, my manager might look at the records behind my back and if anything, I would be in a worse position than Larry! Since moving to PoCo, I have been coming in over half an hour late almost every day. A year's worth of records would add up considerably against me! I told Larry and he replied that while I shouldn't stick my neck out to protect him, if my manager(s) ask for me to to check the fob records, then I should do it and not go against them. He knows I won't taddle on him unless I'm backed into a corner and have no choice. But regular "check-ups" on Larry I refuse to do as I cannot support a company that has paid me a low wage after (as of the end of June) 6 years of employment.
Daddy David turned 65 last Wednesday and I treated him to Fish on Rice near Metrotown, which is also near where we used to live years ago. I got him what he wanted for his birthday, a Thomas Cook European Rail Timetable Summer 2013 book. I thought it would be expensive but I bought it off Amazon last week and got it in a few days (besides getting my younger sister her soon-to-be birthday present - a copy of Ni No Kuni for the PS3) at a good price. Fish on Rice was $55 for the both of us and tip included. We were allowed one scoop of vanilla ice cream each as part of the all-u-can-eat deal but I had to pass as my lactose intolerance would kick in. Given that both David and I have to spend over an hour transiting home, blowing chunks out my ass on transit was not what I wanted. Before home, David stopped at the nearby 7-11 and bought two Ben & Jerry's tubs of ice cream for $10. One of them was for me which was nice of him (wow!).
It's been over a year since we moved in our current townhouse. I still live here. How come? If any of you remember what I wrote around this time a year ago, I was supposed to be gone by the end of June either living on my own or with another roommate(s). If things continued between the "new" David and I throughout the last quarter of 2012 up to now, he would have required me to move out. When slave Calvin bailed on David about early October last year, it all changed... the old David returned and figured he couldn't get through living here without my income and my assistance. We never heard from Calvin even until this day (hope he's doing all right!) but his leaving brought everything back to normal. I don't blame him for the change in David last year, David made those decisions and the end result is that I trust David less and I no longer have the same respect as before. I still love him... but I now consider the prospects of looking for a new Daddy and see how it goes since the "new" David last year stopped viewing me as marriage material and admitted we were never lovers, only friends. As I said before, one of the things I learned in all this is that it proved between David and I that I was the better man. And this is coming from a person with low self-esteem issues! But things have kind stopped being good and as I mention later below, the "new" David is resurfacing it seems...
Late last month we had a big bear named Tommy drive all the way from West Virgina to visit us. He entered Canada for the first time through Saskatchewan and travelled through the Prairies to reach the west coast. He stayed about a full week and slept in Chris' room. With his car, David showed him around the city and during the weekend, we took him to ride the skytrain and seabus. It was mainly cloudy during his visit which was a bummer as he never really got to see how nice it is around here when it's sunny. We played and snuggled a few times while I blew him until he shot (tasty!). We watched a couple of movies and I showed him some episodes of The Angry Video Game Nerd and The Nostalgia Critic. On his last night here, we were going to go watch Man of Steel together at Cineplex in Coquitlam but the movie theatre was packed, given it was Tuesday. We went to the nearby Wendy's and I got us some supper. The next morning, he drove all the way to Portland, Oregon and spent some time there before going east to Wyoming and then, back home to West Virginia.
Chris has moved out early this month and moved north to live with his aunt in Prince George. David was supposed to have some submissive from Saskatchewan live with us but the night before he was to arrive here, he sent an email to David chickening out. David was really upset as he let Chris go and now, we are out the extra income. While Chris was only meant to stay with us for a couple of months, he stayed beyond as the place he was going to live in is still not ready to take him! It was a regrettable decision as he was a good roommate. We may have a potential roommate later but we'll see.
I found out a couple weeks ago from Blachubear that his friend and my online buddy, Michael Lee Strange, passed away (October 26, 1956 to June 29, 2013). I haven't heard from him for about a couple of years as he rarely was on Biggercity and it's been a long time when he was last on Yahoo IM, where we mainly chatted about a decade ago. I first contacted Michael when he had a personal ad in Bulk Male magazine around either 2001 or 2002 I think. We had some good conversations and he cruised me heavily. We swapped some pics and the years I mailed out Christmas cards, I sent him one every time. I think on one of them, he replied with his own card. When he first gave me his mailing address, it was addressed to Reverend Michael Lee Strange. I never knew he was a pastor! Besides posing for Bulk Male magazine and doing porn pics and videos, he was also preaching from - literally - the pulpit! When I found he had a Flickr account, it had a picture of him in his robes... among the majority of porn pics LOL! Still, I'll miss the big guy and it's a shame we never got to meet each other. God bless you Michael!
July 7th was Surrey Pride and the festival was at Holland Park. David and Peter had the VASM table set up with info pamphlets and few of them were taken. Not surprisingly, the majority of those interested were heterosexual women even though it is a gay male SM club. The Vancouver chapter of Prime Timers was there with MasterG and a couple others manning their table. My past church had a table too and talked a bit. I asked if they still supported a bunch of World Vision children but found out that quite a while ago, they dropped them as they found that the money donated to World Vision was more going into their pockets than help communities in need (I should point out that after doing some research on World Vision, they are generally a good charity though at times, they do screw up). Instead they are donating to a community in Africa that contacted them and each year, representatives of the church check to make sure progress is done and so far, it seems to be successful. A friend I haven't seen for nearly a year came up to the VASM booth and he had a younger friend with him... wearing a dog collar with leash! I didn't think my friend was into that kind of thing but his friend was! David took a liking to him and gave his contact info to the young guy. Not much more happened so we took down the canopy and lugged everything to Peter's car. He went back home while David and I transited all the way back home.
We had the VASM BBQ at Fred & Claude's home in Richmond just yesterday. Cluff was over for the weekend and he attended plus a visiting slave all the way from Madrid came along with David and I too. My feelings were mixed on the event and it was not the fault of our hosts or the people around. It was David who soured it for me. For quite a while now, David has been rebuilding his "leather family" and while one would assume that I am in it, it has been confirmed that I am not in it. Anyone in his leather family gets red berets to wear... I am the only one that has never received one from him but at least 4 others have. At the BBQ, people were asking David what the red berets meant, he answered that those who are in his leather family wear them and answers to one guy, "there are four of us here". Those four that he mentioned (as there are four wearing the berets) are: David, Shaun (yes, Shaun of all people), my friend Peter, and a recent addition but forgot his name. Beforehand, Peter inquired to David in an online chat as to why I don't have a red beret yet and David ignored the question! Throughout the BBQ, David never once acknowledged me as part of the family and while he didn't deny it, there were a few men that found it weird (and expected) that I was left out. I was kind of sad throughout the day and increasingly became bitter. I stayed away from David during the BBQ, instead chatting with others. We had very little contact with each other. Besides Peter, one of my Leatherdaddies knew what was going on and tried to cheer me up. Not much worked though I didn't make it obvious to others that I was emotionally hurting inside. The rest of the BBQ was pretty good. I had a steak but the cut was not very good. There was a "pervertibles game"... something I just don't want to remember as I felt out of place. For dessert there was black forest cake and apple pie. I went for pie and had it with some tea. By 8pm we said our goodbyes and dropped Cluff off at the ferry before the hour-long ride home. I said nothing to David, ignoring him as he drove us home. He tried to subtly engage me in a conversation but I didn't reply. He talked to the visiting slave instead.
Even though Tommy and I couldn't see Man of Steel together, I got to see it a couple of Wednesdays ago at the same theatre in 3D. I throughly enjoyed the movie and thought the actor, Henry Cavill, playing Clark Kent/Kal-El did a great job. He is the first British actor to play the role. While I prefer Christopher Reeve because I love his charm and just naturally fits the role in the era of the first series of Superman movies, Cavill would still be good competition to him. Some of the directing was a little bizarre, especially in the first half of the movie shifting between Kent's childhood and teen years while it intertwines with what's going on with the present-day Clark. While I liked the opening scene with the destruction of Krypton and Russell Crowe's superb acting as Jor-El, it went a little too long. Michael Shannon as antagonist General Zod... was all right though I prefer Terence Stamp from Superman II. I don't know, I just liked Stamp's confidence and cold attitude better (especially when he wants to off Lex Luthor with a simple "kill him" command when he's outlived his usefulness LOL!). I also liked Lois Lane in this version too - a lot more intelligent and useful. While I'm by no means a feminist, I'm glad these recent comic book movies are showing better females roles with no feminist ideology tacked in, and simply make the female leads or supporters themselves useful without any need to "prove themselves in a mans world" (that politically correct shit REALLY gets old!).
When Tommy was here, we watched a couple of movies at home. The first was G.I. Joe: The Movie, which is something I haven't watched for almost a decade when I first bought the DVD. My older brother originally recorded it on VHS back around it's original mid-80's release as he was a huge G.I. Joe fan. Probably the last time I saw this movie before the DVD was in 1991 on that same VHS copy. Not only would I buy myself a copy of the DVD release, but even got another copy for my brother as a Christmas gift. He was ecstatic and thankful! It's not a bad animated movie and Sgt. Slaughter is damn hot in cartoon form! Watching it, Tommy and I were making fun of it given how cartoons were back in the 80's. Even better, we were laughing our asses off because the DVD also included all the Public Service Announcements that showed at the end of each episode of the TV series. Some of them show the G.I. Joe team in pretty questionable and borderline pedophilic situations... I can see why they eventually dropped these corny PSAs in later years LOL!
Here's a sample:
DUDE! Did Spirit cop a feel on that kid at 0:16?
"Now I know... and knowing is half the battle! G.I. JOOOOEEE!!!"
" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7327/9345944685_d28cacab87_z_d.jpg" title="" />
The other movie I showed him was Wreck-It Ralph on Blu-Ray. I won't review the Blu-Ray this time but I believe he liked it. The previous Sunday night I watched on Blu-Ray the first Despicable Me movie for the 4th time now since I first saw it in theatres in 2010. Still a great movie and while I'm a little skeptical of the now-released sequel, I'll be commenting on it next month after I see it.
Leviticus and Numbers are done and thus, I'm on the final book of the Torah - Deuteronomy. Numbers continued with more commandments and statutes, plus bellyaching from the Hebrews that God punishes them for their selfish behaviour. Both Aaron and Miriam, the siblings of Moses pass away in the desert. Moses disobeys God when trying to provide water for the Hebrews. God tells him to speak to a particular rock and water would gush forth. Instead, Moses strikes the rock with his staff and while water rushes out, God informs Moses that his unfaithfulness will cost him from entering the Promised Land. Deuteronomy is Moses' final decree to the Hebrews before they enter the Promised Land and Joshua will take his stead as their leader.
Donkey Kong Country Returns is done and the review will be up tomorrow or Wednesday. Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow is finished though I'm playing an extra mode. Once that is done, the review will be up very soon.
Last Movie: Man of Steel (Theatrical), Despicable Me (Blu-Ray)
Last Book: KJV Holy Bible - Numbers
Last Game: Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (PS3)
Current Book: KJV Holy Bible - Deuteronomy
Current Games: Donkey Kong Country Returns (Wii) & Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow (DS)
Vancouver Pride 2013 is the weekend of August 2-4 this year. I may go to the Lotus Hotel on that Friday night for a VML social and see if I can get any pictures. Saturday, staying the hell away from downtown because of the fireworks crowd. Sunday I plan to be with the Knights again this year in the parade. I may end up carrying the US flag again as I'm sure fellow Knight, Jim, will be walking with the Canadian flag. If any of you are coming for the weekend, let me know! My write-up on the weekend will be soon after.
As for my new glasses, I haven't decided on what I want for a replacement. I've gotten used to these ones but still, it's better to have glasses that should fit from the beginning and put less pressure around the nose. Anyways, here's a pic of them before I send them back:
It's been sunny almost the entire time and while there are some pretty hot days, a lot of them have just the right temperature so not too overbearing. It makes up for the all the rain we've had through the last three seasons. I've been concentrating more on projects at work lately. In one of my buildings I've finished damp wiping the top of the baseboards everywhere, did a major clean in both stairwells, spot cleaned the walls, and wiped most doors down. I still have my other building to do but after that's done, I may look into a smaller project to do for both. The parkades were recently power washed and look a lot brighter. The workers even did all the garbage rooms this year too! Seems for the past few months, a few of my favourite owners and tenants have moved out of the complex. Even last weekend, a nice couple in the first building I clean have moved out though they will be completely out by the end of the month. The husband shaked my hand a couple Fridays ago and thanked me for everything. It's a shame when good people have to leave. Just hope that whoever lives in their suite next will be about as good.
About a couple weeks ago, my co-worker Larry was fired from where he was working on the weekends in downtown Vancouver. This was the same complex in which twice last year I had to be acting-manager as the real manager, Will, went on vacation. The reason why Will had Larry fired was that Larry was cleaning about 3 out of 4 of his required hours. When Will wanted to find Larry one day and found he was gone, Will checked the security footage and saw him leave about an hour before his cutoff time. He then checked footage and fob records of previous days, spanning about a couple of months, and told my co-manager (the father) that there was about 16 hours in lost time that Larry accumulated! I couldn't believe that someone would go that far in trying to get a worker in trouble but I suppose I shouldn't be underestimating Will. The way I look at it, I should watch myself when I'm called back to relieve Will when he's on vacation next time. So while Larry wasn't fired from the company, he has now lost 8 hours a week worth of wages. On the plus side, he tells me that he was getting tired of working 7 days a week and not getting any day off (including stat-holidays). He takes responsibility for his actions and counts his lucky stars he wasn't booted out of the company. He still cleans the other two buildings on my complex and puts in his 6 hours a day. Funny thing though, on Monday or Tuesday a couple weeks ago as I was leaving for the day, I get a call from my co-manager (again, the father and he rarely calls me) asking me to keep an eye on Larry and that if Larry leaves without putting in his 6 hours, to call him. I said I would look into it but in general, Larry does put in his full 6 hours. He starts half an hour early in the morning and thus, leaves half an hour earlier in the afternoon. Now, just last Monday, my main co-manager (the son) reiterates what his father told me the previous week but with an addition: he wants me to check the fob records every once in a while and see when Larry's first fob swipe is and when the last one is. Of course, if it looks like he came in late and likely that he leaves at his usual time of 1:30pm... then I have to alert my manager. As precaution to protect both of us, I have deleted the records of both our fobs. The way I see it, my manager might look at the records behind my back and if anything, I would be in a worse position than Larry! Since moving to PoCo, I have been coming in over half an hour late almost every day. A year's worth of records would add up considerably against me! I told Larry and he replied that while I shouldn't stick my neck out to protect him, if my manager(s) ask for me to to check the fob records, then I should do it and not go against them. He knows I won't taddle on him unless I'm backed into a corner and have no choice. But regular "check-ups" on Larry I refuse to do as I cannot support a company that has paid me a low wage after (as of the end of June) 6 years of employment.
Daddy David turned 65 last Wednesday and I treated him to Fish on Rice near Metrotown, which is also near where we used to live years ago. I got him what he wanted for his birthday, a Thomas Cook European Rail Timetable Summer 2013 book. I thought it would be expensive but I bought it off Amazon last week and got it in a few days (besides getting my younger sister her soon-to-be birthday present - a copy of Ni No Kuni for the PS3) at a good price. Fish on Rice was $55 for the both of us and tip included. We were allowed one scoop of vanilla ice cream each as part of the all-u-can-eat deal but I had to pass as my lactose intolerance would kick in. Given that both David and I have to spend over an hour transiting home, blowing chunks out my ass on transit was not what I wanted. Before home, David stopped at the nearby 7-11 and bought two Ben & Jerry's tubs of ice cream for $10. One of them was for me which was nice of him (wow!).
It's been over a year since we moved in our current townhouse. I still live here. How come? If any of you remember what I wrote around this time a year ago, I was supposed to be gone by the end of June either living on my own or with another roommate(s). If things continued between the "new" David and I throughout the last quarter of 2012 up to now, he would have required me to move out. When slave Calvin bailed on David about early October last year, it all changed... the old David returned and figured he couldn't get through living here without my income and my assistance. We never heard from Calvin even until this day (hope he's doing all right!) but his leaving brought everything back to normal. I don't blame him for the change in David last year, David made those decisions and the end result is that I trust David less and I no longer have the same respect as before. I still love him... but I now consider the prospects of looking for a new Daddy and see how it goes since the "new" David last year stopped viewing me as marriage material and admitted we were never lovers, only friends. As I said before, one of the things I learned in all this is that it proved between David and I that I was the better man. And this is coming from a person with low self-esteem issues! But things have kind stopped being good and as I mention later below, the "new" David is resurfacing it seems...
Late last month we had a big bear named Tommy drive all the way from West Virgina to visit us. He entered Canada for the first time through Saskatchewan and travelled through the Prairies to reach the west coast. He stayed about a full week and slept in Chris' room. With his car, David showed him around the city and during the weekend, we took him to ride the skytrain and seabus. It was mainly cloudy during his visit which was a bummer as he never really got to see how nice it is around here when it's sunny. We played and snuggled a few times while I blew him until he shot (tasty!). We watched a couple of movies and I showed him some episodes of The Angry Video Game Nerd and The Nostalgia Critic. On his last night here, we were going to go watch Man of Steel together at Cineplex in Coquitlam but the movie theatre was packed, given it was Tuesday. We went to the nearby Wendy's and I got us some supper. The next morning, he drove all the way to Portland, Oregon and spent some time there before going east to Wyoming and then, back home to West Virginia.
Chris has moved out early this month and moved north to live with his aunt in Prince George. David was supposed to have some submissive from Saskatchewan live with us but the night before he was to arrive here, he sent an email to David chickening out. David was really upset as he let Chris go and now, we are out the extra income. While Chris was only meant to stay with us for a couple of months, he stayed beyond as the place he was going to live in is still not ready to take him! It was a regrettable decision as he was a good roommate. We may have a potential roommate later but we'll see.
I found out a couple weeks ago from Blachubear that his friend and my online buddy, Michael Lee Strange, passed away (October 26, 1956 to June 29, 2013). I haven't heard from him for about a couple of years as he rarely was on Biggercity and it's been a long time when he was last on Yahoo IM, where we mainly chatted about a decade ago. I first contacted Michael when he had a personal ad in Bulk Male magazine around either 2001 or 2002 I think. We had some good conversations and he cruised me heavily. We swapped some pics and the years I mailed out Christmas cards, I sent him one every time. I think on one of them, he replied with his own card. When he first gave me his mailing address, it was addressed to Reverend Michael Lee Strange. I never knew he was a pastor! Besides posing for Bulk Male magazine and doing porn pics and videos, he was also preaching from - literally - the pulpit! When I found he had a Flickr account, it had a picture of him in his robes... among the majority of porn pics LOL! Still, I'll miss the big guy and it's a shame we never got to meet each other. God bless you Michael!
July 7th was Surrey Pride and the festival was at Holland Park. David and Peter had the VASM table set up with info pamphlets and few of them were taken. Not surprisingly, the majority of those interested were heterosexual women even though it is a gay male SM club. The Vancouver chapter of Prime Timers was there with MasterG and a couple others manning their table. My past church had a table too and talked a bit. I asked if they still supported a bunch of World Vision children but found out that quite a while ago, they dropped them as they found that the money donated to World Vision was more going into their pockets than help communities in need (I should point out that after doing some research on World Vision, they are generally a good charity though at times, they do screw up). Instead they are donating to a community in Africa that contacted them and each year, representatives of the church check to make sure progress is done and so far, it seems to be successful. A friend I haven't seen for nearly a year came up to the VASM booth and he had a younger friend with him... wearing a dog collar with leash! I didn't think my friend was into that kind of thing but his friend was! David took a liking to him and gave his contact info to the young guy. Not much more happened so we took down the canopy and lugged everything to Peter's car. He went back home while David and I transited all the way back home.
We had the VASM BBQ at Fred & Claude's home in Richmond just yesterday. Cluff was over for the weekend and he attended plus a visiting slave all the way from Madrid came along with David and I too. My feelings were mixed on the event and it was not the fault of our hosts or the people around. It was David who soured it for me. For quite a while now, David has been rebuilding his "leather family" and while one would assume that I am in it, it has been confirmed that I am not in it. Anyone in his leather family gets red berets to wear... I am the only one that has never received one from him but at least 4 others have. At the BBQ, people were asking David what the red berets meant, he answered that those who are in his leather family wear them and answers to one guy, "there are four of us here". Those four that he mentioned (as there are four wearing the berets) are: David, Shaun (yes, Shaun of all people), my friend Peter, and a recent addition but forgot his name. Beforehand, Peter inquired to David in an online chat as to why I don't have a red beret yet and David ignored the question! Throughout the BBQ, David never once acknowledged me as part of the family and while he didn't deny it, there were a few men that found it weird (and expected) that I was left out. I was kind of sad throughout the day and increasingly became bitter. I stayed away from David during the BBQ, instead chatting with others. We had very little contact with each other. Besides Peter, one of my Leatherdaddies knew what was going on and tried to cheer me up. Not much worked though I didn't make it obvious to others that I was emotionally hurting inside. The rest of the BBQ was pretty good. I had a steak but the cut was not very good. There was a "pervertibles game"... something I just don't want to remember as I felt out of place. For dessert there was black forest cake and apple pie. I went for pie and had it with some tea. By 8pm we said our goodbyes and dropped Cluff off at the ferry before the hour-long ride home. I said nothing to David, ignoring him as he drove us home. He tried to subtly engage me in a conversation but I didn't reply. He talked to the visiting slave instead.
Even though Tommy and I couldn't see Man of Steel together, I got to see it a couple of Wednesdays ago at the same theatre in 3D. I throughly enjoyed the movie and thought the actor, Henry Cavill, playing Clark Kent/Kal-El did a great job. He is the first British actor to play the role. While I prefer Christopher Reeve because I love his charm and just naturally fits the role in the era of the first series of Superman movies, Cavill would still be good competition to him. Some of the directing was a little bizarre, especially in the first half of the movie shifting between Kent's childhood and teen years while it intertwines with what's going on with the present-day Clark. While I liked the opening scene with the destruction of Krypton and Russell Crowe's superb acting as Jor-El, it went a little too long. Michael Shannon as antagonist General Zod... was all right though I prefer Terence Stamp from Superman II. I don't know, I just liked Stamp's confidence and cold attitude better (especially when he wants to off Lex Luthor with a simple "kill him" command when he's outlived his usefulness LOL!). I also liked Lois Lane in this version too - a lot more intelligent and useful. While I'm by no means a feminist, I'm glad these recent comic book movies are showing better females roles with no feminist ideology tacked in, and simply make the female leads or supporters themselves useful without any need to "prove themselves in a mans world" (that politically correct shit REALLY gets old!).
When Tommy was here, we watched a couple of movies at home. The first was G.I. Joe: The Movie, which is something I haven't watched for almost a decade when I first bought the DVD. My older brother originally recorded it on VHS back around it's original mid-80's release as he was a huge G.I. Joe fan. Probably the last time I saw this movie before the DVD was in 1991 on that same VHS copy. Not only would I buy myself a copy of the DVD release, but even got another copy for my brother as a Christmas gift. He was ecstatic and thankful! It's not a bad animated movie and Sgt. Slaughter is damn hot in cartoon form! Watching it, Tommy and I were making fun of it given how cartoons were back in the 80's. Even better, we were laughing our asses off because the DVD also included all the Public Service Announcements that showed at the end of each episode of the TV series. Some of them show the G.I. Joe team in pretty questionable and borderline pedophilic situations... I can see why they eventually dropped these corny PSAs in later years LOL!
Here's a sample:
Click to viewDUDE! Did Spirit cop a feel on that kid at 0:16?
"Now I know... and knowing is half the battle! G.I. JOOOOEEE!!!"
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The other movie I showed him was Wreck-It Ralph on Blu-Ray. I won't review the Blu-Ray this time but I believe he liked it. The previous Sunday night I watched on Blu-Ray the first Despicable Me movie for the 4th time now since I first saw it in theatres in 2010. Still a great movie and while I'm a little skeptical of the now-released sequel, I'll be commenting on it next month after I see it.
Leviticus and Numbers are done and thus, I'm on the final book of the Torah - Deuteronomy. Numbers continued with more commandments and statutes, plus bellyaching from the Hebrews that God punishes them for their selfish behaviour. Both Aaron and Miriam, the siblings of Moses pass away in the desert. Moses disobeys God when trying to provide water for the Hebrews. God tells him to speak to a particular rock and water would gush forth. Instead, Moses strikes the rock with his staff and while water rushes out, God informs Moses that his unfaithfulness will cost him from entering the Promised Land. Deuteronomy is Moses' final decree to the Hebrews before they enter the Promised Land and Joshua will take his stead as their leader.
Donkey Kong Country Returns is done and the review will be up tomorrow or Wednesday. Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow is finished though I'm playing an extra mode. Once that is done, the review will be up very soon.
Last Movie: Man of Steel (Theatrical), Despicable Me (Blu-Ray)
Last Book: KJV Holy Bible - Numbers
Last Game: Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (PS3)
Current Book: KJV Holy Bible - Deuteronomy
Current Games: Donkey Kong Country Returns (Wii) & Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow (DS)