I’m so excited! I’m so excited! I’m so….scared!!! If you know what that’s from, you get 5 pop culture points. For those of us who grew up in the 80s and 90s, you know exactly what I’m talking about and to say that life has been one big ball of Jessie Spano losing her marbles lately is an understatement. This is all to say that life just got really complicated really quickly and here’s why: school. Yep. That’s it. School.
It’s rare that I talk about school-related stuff because the majority of you out there aren’t in school, or, if you are, you have your own problems. Translation: You don’t give a monkey’s Heineken about my problems. And that’s cool. I probably wouldn’t either.
What happened was that I was taking one, full summer course. It met one night a week from 5-9. That’s not a problem. I can handle it. Then, summer term II came around and added a second class. However, since it’s only ONE summer term, it means that the class must meet 2 nights a week. Are you still with me? The gist is that I am now in school from 5-9, 3 nights and week and the overall effect is that A.J. is gone those days because of the problems between my schedule and Leon’s. I’m finding it hard to focus.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m still paying attention and I’m in class. When you get to the level I’m at in my education, you can’t avoid paying attention or you will fail. I just miss him. And it’s not healthy for him to not see me for 3 days straight in a week. He’s gone before I’m up in the morning and in bed before I get home. I hate it.
But it’s only a month. And until then, I’ll be ok. Remember, a blue shell isn’t permanent. It’s temporary. Every now and then I have them and so do you. I know this probably isn’t my most insightful or my best post, but I felt obliged to let you know what was going on and why things had been different lately. Bottom line: I’ve been blueshelled. Now it’s time to pull out the stops and get back on top.
The title is the disclaimer. See how easily I did that? We can all do that. It’s a choice. I’m not into demonizing the man that was my first six year old crush or idealizing the same man who, as a helping professional breaks my ever-loving heart with the issues I can see in his interviews.
I am choosing to focus on raw talent and the way that his music and lyrics connect with me, which is what I always do here. I’m an energy type person and the energy that I feel when I hear the music is something pervasive. I have found a particularly touching version of Man in the Mirror, which is one of the first songs that I can remember.
I know that you are saturated with this material. You are tired of hearing about Michael Jackson. You are looking for relief from the news and his pictures. I want to ask you to give Jay Brannan a chance because this is a truly beautiful cover of this song. While I was listening to it, my 8-year old son, A.J., came up to me and said, “Mama, that man has a beautiful voice.”
He sure does.
The music and how it makes you feel is what matters. Let everything else go because it’s done now. Please forgive me for adding to the noise. This is too beautiful NOT to share. I hope that you enjoy it the way I did. It’s not my favorite MJ song (Smooth Criminal, anyone?), but Jay nails this one. Please enjoy. And then let go, and be at peace and with happiness, and focus on the things that matter in your life. Thanks to each one of you for being a part of mine.
I grew up in the 80′s and I was never a fan of the TV show Transformers. Now you have my disclaimer. I’m not a fangirl and I haven’t been peeing my pants waiting for these movies to come out. I slept through Transformers 1 and was repelled by the thought of a sequel. Yes, I watched the Smurfs and She-Ra. Don’t bother making fun of me. I already make fun of myself. I remain a dork to this day and I’m proud of it. Kind of.
Whew. That paragraph was somewhat negative, but I wanted you to know exactly how non-biased a person I really am when it comes to Transformers and, if anything, I tend to be negatively biased towards them. However, I have a boy-child and am married to a man and that means that they are squealing, pee their pants happy about things like this and Star Trek and Star Wars and all kinds of things that make me roll my eyes, count to ten and then put myself in the bathroom for a 3 minute time out while I concoct ways of getting out of going to the theater.
For boys/men, the idea of a vehicle of any kind that turns into a ROBOT WITH GUNS THAT CAN KILL THINGS is about as cool as it’s going to get. It surpasses all fascination they have ever had or ever will have with us women. Unless we are scantily clad Megan Fox. Well done, director Michael Bay. You have now sealed the deal for them.
When Leon mentioned going to see the movie this weekend, I balked, but he sweetened the pot by saying that maybe Angie, her husband, and their son would like to go and then we could do dinner afterward. I really like Angie and her family quite a bit. We got to know them while her son played on A.J.’s baseball team and she’s a frequent commenter on this blog. Her husband is funny and kind and their son is one of the sweetest children, and fiercest ball players I’ve ever seen. I begrudgingly gave the ok.
I’m not a movie reviewer, so I don’t do a thumbs up or thumbs down. These are my observations about the movie, though. First off, my favorite character is this guy: I love Bumblebee. Angie’s son does, too. Holla if you hear me!
Ok, now on to the real dizzle. Yes, I know I’m trying to hard. I also know I’m not funny.
For the YAYs:
Transformers 2 had a nice, strong plot. It kept me highly entertained, even though I’m the type of person that is generally happier in a romantic comedy flick. There was some funny adult humor that went right over our kids heads (ages 7 and 8 respectively). The graphics were simply amazing. Flawless. Even I, the skeptic, thought they were incredibly cool and found myself wanting a Bumblebee Transformer of my very own. I have no idea what I’d do with it, but it LOOKED COOL. The movie was easy to follow and understand even if you hadn’t seen the first Transformers movie.
Now for the NAYs:
There was serious adult language in this film. Not a little of it, either. A.J. was completely oblivious to the language only because A.J. cares nothing for plot or dialogue. The whole movie could be “blah blah blah” and as long as robots were shooting each other up, he’d be happy. Angie’s son, on the other hand, is a little more sensitive than A.J. and was paying attention to dialogue. When the adult language came out, he put his hand over his mouth and looked shocked. This is going to be an issues for kids of a certain age. If you don’t want your child to hear these words, and there are some shocking ones, please don’t take them to see the movie. It’s not worth it.
Another serious NAY is the length of the film. The previews alone lasted 30 minutes. By that time, we’d made a dent in the popcorn and I was wondering if I’d be able to make it through the movie without a bathroom break. At 2 hours and 24 minutes, the movie is a long one for kids to see in the first place. I was starting to wonder when it would be over. My last NAY is for the scantily clad Megan Fox. I’m not a huge fan of hers anyway, but did the film really need more eye candy? I mean, this IS a boy film anyway. Where was the girl candy? I’m just sayin’.
My What the Hays:
There was so much going on in the film that it was hard for me to tell which machine was on the good side and which machine was on the bad side. And was I rooting for the good side or the bad side? Towards the end, there is a lengthy action sequence. By lengthy, I’m talking upwards of 30 minutes. This is bad for those of us with small bladders, people with attention deficit disorder or those of us who are introverts that don’t like so much stimulation. If you decide to see the movie, you will figure out, slowly but surely, when you have hit that point. It is then permissible to go to the bathroom or refill the coke or popcorn that you finished during previews. If you decide to take your kid, you may want to take a quick break during this sequence just to give them a second wind to finish the movie. You’ll thank me for it.
Neutral thoughts: The PG-13 rating is dead on. Again, if you don’t want your child exposed to certain things, read up on movies before taking them. I think that the majority of concerns would probably come from Christians or those who are protecting their children from certain things such as violence, foul language or suggestive material. A good site to look at in regards to this movie is Christiananswers.net. It may answer your questions better than this review did. For children under 13, I would say proceed with caution.
Life is like a game. We all have challenges, thoughts, opinions and beliefs. Often, it feels like something out there, life, karma, catty people, or blue shells (for the Kart lovers), seeks to bring us down. Luckily, we always get up. This is where I wear my heart on my sleeve and my foot in my mouth.
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We are members of one great body. Nature planted in us a mutual love, and fitted us for a social life. We must consider that we were born for the good of the whole.
Lucius Annaeus Seneca
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Life is like a game. We all have challenges, thoughts, opinions and beliefs. Often, it feels like something out there, life, karma, catty people, or blue shells (for the Kart lovers), seeks to bring us down. Luckily, we always get up. This is where I wear my heart on my sleeve and my foot in my mouth.
