Hiatus

I’ve been blogging fairly regularly since October, 2004 – 4 1/2 years! I’m starting to find myself feeling obligated to blog these days and it certainly can’t be enjoyable to read that. I do know that I still have several readers but it’s such a rarity that anyone replies, I often wonder if I’m even writing anything that is worth blogging about. No, no – this is by no means a pity party. I suspect that I’ll still periodically write something if I feel the need but I think I’m going to take an official hiatus from blogging for a while. Thanks for all your readership and contribution over the past 4 1/2 years.

Love you, mean it!
~C

DTV Delay

I’m disappointed in the delaying of DTV. Or at least the House and Senate voting to delay it.

As a teacher, we ask our students to be organized and prepared and meet deadlines. This is to prepare them for “the real world”. Many times over, we give them “this one chance” to turn something in late…but that one chance happens over and over again with some students and turns out, they never learn to be organized and responsible. Okay, maybe not never but certainly, we don’t see it.

Now, here it is, they see a “real world” application of getting things taken care of and because people didn’t do what they were supposed to do (get a converter or cable or a new TV), the US Government is now allowing an out of consequences. This is the PERFECT opportunity to teach readiness – it’s JUST TV. I know, TV is an important part of our current culture and a large reason for the problem is the money for the coupons running out (supposedly – I got two coupons and never used them before they expired so there’s that money. How many others are in the same situation? Thank goodness I actually didn’t need them). But still, the teacher in me feels very unsupported in what we do in teaching life skills as we try to do.

President Obama – don’t let me down this early. Don’t sign that bill!

Thank you.

———————UPDATE———————
Looks like the FCC is allowing broadcasters and their affiliates to choose to wait or go ahead and transition on the original date set. There may be hope for deadlines, yet!

A Few Reviews

I’ve seen quite a few movies in the last few months. Here are a few reviews:

http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=thebigbenfors-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&asins=B00005JPTK&md=10FE9736YVPPT7A0FBG2&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=thebigbenfors-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&asins=B001J1O848&md=10FE9736YVPPT7A0FBG2&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=thebigbenfors-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&asins=B001KVZ6FC&md=10FE9736YVPPT7A0FBG2&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=thebigbenfors-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&asins=B001HMHMBU&md=10FE9736YVPPT7A0FBG2&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr

I Am Legend
I watched this on an HBO channel so no commercials and I really enjoyed this movie. I do have to admit that the whole “zombie” thing kinda creeped me out and there were a few sad scenes but for a movie with so few characters, it really kept me intrigued. I do have to say that after watching this movie tonight, every noise I hear outside after it’s gotten dark are making me jump just a bit. 3.5 out of 5 stars.

Taken
Oh WOW!! What a thrilling movie. I’m not going to give away anymore of the plot than what you see in commercials…Liam Neeson plays a retired government spy whose daughter goes to Paris for a sightseeing trip with friends and gets abducted while on the phone with him. As any ex-spy father would do, he goes into action to rescue his little girl. It wasn’t a scary movie, per say, but very intense. You don’t even realize how long it takes to establish the story or characters. Very well made. I plan on buying it when it goes to DVD. 4.5 out of 5 stars.

Gran Torino
First thing, I had no idea that a Gran Torino was a car. I’m such a girl! LOL. Clint Eastwood is still an awesome actor. I can’t believe he’s 79 years old!! This movie is also an intense movie but in a very different way. His character’s a Korean War veteran that is quite prejudice. He watches his neighborhood change culturally with Hmong families and their respective gangs moving in. Despite his historical prejudices, he befriends his neighbors and helps Thao (the very quiet boy) come into his own and not walk down the wrong path, as his cousins have. Eastwood’s character (Walt Kowalski) is a stereo typical crotchety old man that you can’t help but find endearing as you get to know him better through the movie. The movie is paced well and the character development is integrated well into the story so you’re never really bored. We enjoyed the movie quite a bit and I plan on adding it to my movie collection when it becomes available. 4.5 out of 5 stars.

Britney Spears – Circus
I have only had one listen to the full CD so I’m not IN LOVE with it but it’s pretty good. There isn’t a track on the CD that I’ve skipped so that says a lot. If you’re one to try the new Britney, take a good listen to Track 6 – If U Seek Amy. She does a very good job enunciating every consonant sound in the title phrase and it sounds…well…provocative, to say the least. The jury is still out so I’ll rate it 3 out of 5 stars.

So, those are my reviews. Have a great next week. 🙂
Love you, mean it!
~C