Brad Bird, who's one of the godking-directors at Pixar*, got to direct this 3rd (or 4th?) live-action MISSION IMPOSSIBLE: GHOST PROTOCOL. The clarity of the action, the wide & dazzling scope of the cinematography (see it on an iMAX!), and the perfectly timed editing make it a fun movie to watch. It has a natural and cinematic timebomb plot device ( Read more... )

Saw the George Clooney movie that has such Oscar buzz for him -- THE DESCENDANTS. Based on a short story by Kaui Hart Hemmings, a Hawaiian who was adopted by a famous Haole dad when he married her mom, what I like about the story is the sense of another place and culture. Two cultures, really. George plays Matt King who lives in a lush middle-class ( Read more... )

Since I had 4 days off for the weekend, I took a one-night trip up the road 45 minutes at the village of Salado. Hadn't stopped there in 8-9 years and remembered the stores being very charming. Plus I love antiquing. Just went by myself, as friends had other plans, and it worked wonderfully as a nice diversion. I was farsighted enough to leave ( Read more... )

I neglected to say in my previous trip report that I took Seattle's monorail over to the Space Needle. I think that makes 3 monorails I've ridden in my life now, and the other two were Disney ones (west coast and Florida/east coast). Both ways, some of the other passengers were confused by the stopping. It really only goes less than a mile for $4. ( Read more... )

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I'm so stoked, and long to be there already to get away from these Austin 104 degree days with no humidity and lots of shredding wind. Seattle, baby! (hmmm, doesn't work so well as saying, "Las Vegas, baby!") Seattle, where their current summer weather is like a light day in winter for us!

Staying in the Four Sisters' inn called The Inn at Harbor ( Read more... )

2010 wasn't the worst year ever -- some fun travel, etc. -- but it was the year of a lot of hard work. At home, to get my as-yet-unsold house ready to sell, and at work because my employer practices major denial about how much work can be loaded onto a team they refuse to grow in any significant way. Here's how 2011 is shaping up for me. Appears to ( Read more... )

Each year I get myself something nice along with the many family and friends gifts. Just to balance things out.*

I've had my eye on those GPS devices since they were introduced. LOVED how renting one made it soooo much easier to direct myself driving around in Santa Barbara in 2007. But I kept being resistant to the $300 price tag for the base ( Read more... )

Wow, what an impressive crowd in Washington DC yesterday! Man oh man ( Read more... )

October 30 - in Washington D.C.
The Rally to Restore Sanity

Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert are having an anti-Glen-Beck rally in DC next month! I am soooo there!

Is it for realz? They seem to be saying on multiple shows stuff about it. If my buddies in Alexandria give me the okay about staying at their place, I am really going, dawg ( Read more... )