Wednesday, June 01, 2011
June 1, 2011...
What a blur the month of May was. Between the graduations and the parties and picking Aaron up from St. Louis and the rain and the business planning at work and mowing the lawn every other day and the bike ride training and fundraising - there just was no time to do a blog post since my last entry on May 10. A lot has happened since then, here is a recap...
Abbey graduated from MND last night - we were so proud of her! She was senior class president so she got to do the 'Farewell' speech for the class and did an awesome job. They actually edited some of her comments but she was still able to deliver a very meaningful message while exhibiting her special personality which I think is why she was voted class president in the first place. We had her grad party over the Memorial Day weekend so I think we have all the school activities behind us. It is sad that our high school days are over but we still have two in college so we'll just have to make sure we take advantage of those years while they last. The next stop for Abbey is the University of Dayton - I'm not looking forward to mid-August when we'll be packing her things to move her to college...that will be a difficult weekend for sure.
Judd and Aaron are both home now. Judd is hopefully getting more focused on finding a 'real' job (he is working at the Courseview Restaurant) and Aaron is moving ahead with plans to go to Madrid in August to study abroad. What a wonderful experience for him - here's hoping he's able to work a ton of hours this summer so he has spending money to enjoy the trip.
The rain was really starting to depress me - the grass was growing like wildfire and it was difficult to find time to mow because the ground was so wet. Now that it has been a few days since our last rain, I'm hoping the grass doesn't dry out and go dormant like it did last summer. It's finally starting to fill out and I'd hate for it to go back to how it was at he end of last summer.
The bike training has been going well and we'll be heading to Lake Tahoe on Friday for the big ride on Sunday. I feel ready to go and hope I'll be able to ride around the lake in a time of about 6 and a half hours. The weather should be ideal (as long as it doesn't rain) so we shouldn't have to deal with cramps and dehydration. As far as fundraising goes, I've hit my $10,000 goal and could wind up close to $12,000 when its all said and done. Thanks to all who has helped in this effort - everyone has been very generous. I beleive I mentioned I'll be riding in honor of our 7 year old neighbor, Maya Collins, who has a form of leukemia. Maya has completed one round of chemo and will be doing at least one more before she has a stem cell procedure. She has been a very strong and brave little girl and my thoughts will be with her as I pedal my way around Lake Tahoe on Sunday - I even have a 'Magnificent Maya' band to wear and serve as inspiration. Go Maya Go!!!
I know how you all look forward to my movie reviews. Well I finally had a chance to see 127 Hours so I've now seen all 10 movies nominated for Best Picture in 2010. Here is how I would rank the top 10 along with a brief explanation of the plot of each film...
1. The Fighter - true story of boxer Micky Ward and how he overcame a truly disruptive but supportive family (headlined by his brother, Dicky, brilliantly portrayed by Christian Bale) to become the middleweight champ of the world. One of the top 5 boxing movies ever made.
2. Toy Story 3 - sequels rarely match the quality of the original but Toy Story 3 is definitely an exception. The plot revolves around what's going to happen to Andy's toys now that he's preparing to go to college. I was in our boys' empty bedroom earlier this spring looking around at all the memories - that was what it was like for me to watch Toy Story 3 - very nostalgic and emotional.
3. The Kings Speech - Obviously the Oscar winner. By the time I saw this movie it had won all the major awards so I think I went in to it expecting more. Plus, I had already seen The Fighter and I just didn't like The King's Speech as much. Still, an excellent movie with wonderful performances by Colin Firth, Geoffery Rush, Helena Bonham Carter and Guy Pearce.
4. The Social Network - loose account of the rise of Facebook and the boy genius, Mark Zuckerberg, who wouldn't let anyone get in his way while he was founding it. A time capsule for our current generation.
5. 127 Hours - Another true story about mountain climber, Aron Ralston, and the extreme actions he had to take to survive a catastrophic accident while out exploring by himself. The film has some very difficult scenes to watch and features a tremendous performance by James Franco.
6. True Grit - Remakes rarely match the original either but the Coen brothers pulled it off with this update of the John Wayne classic from 1969. I thought everything about this film was better than the original, including Jeff Bridges as Rooster Cogburn.
7. Inception - Leonardo DiCaprio plays a thief who enters peoples dreams to steal valuable information but by the end of the film you can't tell what is real or a dream. Director Christopher Nolan adds to his already impressive resume of films with Inception.
8. Winter's Bone - Story of a young woman who must find her missing father to save her family's home. Jennifer Lawrence turns in a powerful performance as the young woman who takes on some of the more 'scumbag-like' characters you'll ever see to keep her family together.
9. Black Swan - bizarre thriller about a ballerina who literally becomes her tragic character to pull off the perfect performance. Natalie Portman took home the Academy Award for this film and I'll warn you that this is not a film you want to sit down and watch with your teenagers. You have been warned.
10. The Kids Are Alright - 'Comedy' about a lesbian couple whose world is turned upside down when their teenaged children decide they'd like to find and meet their sperm donor father. Annette Bening and Julianne Moore were very good in the film but i have to admit it was a little uncomfortable to watch this one and Julie thought a couple of the scenes were not necessary.
So that's about all for now. I'll let you all know how things go in Tahoe (hopefully before July!)....thanks for checking in!!!
Abbey graduated from MND last night - we were so proud of her! She was senior class president so she got to do the 'Farewell' speech for the class and did an awesome job. They actually edited some of her comments but she was still able to deliver a very meaningful message while exhibiting her special personality which I think is why she was voted class president in the first place. We had her grad party over the Memorial Day weekend so I think we have all the school activities behind us. It is sad that our high school days are over but we still have two in college so we'll just have to make sure we take advantage of those years while they last. The next stop for Abbey is the University of Dayton - I'm not looking forward to mid-August when we'll be packing her things to move her to college...that will be a difficult weekend for sure.
Judd and Aaron are both home now. Judd is hopefully getting more focused on finding a 'real' job (he is working at the Courseview Restaurant) and Aaron is moving ahead with plans to go to Madrid in August to study abroad. What a wonderful experience for him - here's hoping he's able to work a ton of hours this summer so he has spending money to enjoy the trip.
The rain was really starting to depress me - the grass was growing like wildfire and it was difficult to find time to mow because the ground was so wet. Now that it has been a few days since our last rain, I'm hoping the grass doesn't dry out and go dormant like it did last summer. It's finally starting to fill out and I'd hate for it to go back to how it was at he end of last summer.
The bike training has been going well and we'll be heading to Lake Tahoe on Friday for the big ride on Sunday. I feel ready to go and hope I'll be able to ride around the lake in a time of about 6 and a half hours. The weather should be ideal (as long as it doesn't rain) so we shouldn't have to deal with cramps and dehydration. As far as fundraising goes, I've hit my $10,000 goal and could wind up close to $12,000 when its all said and done. Thanks to all who has helped in this effort - everyone has been very generous. I beleive I mentioned I'll be riding in honor of our 7 year old neighbor, Maya Collins, who has a form of leukemia. Maya has completed one round of chemo and will be doing at least one more before she has a stem cell procedure. She has been a very strong and brave little girl and my thoughts will be with her as I pedal my way around Lake Tahoe on Sunday - I even have a 'Magnificent Maya' band to wear and serve as inspiration. Go Maya Go!!!
I know how you all look forward to my movie reviews. Well I finally had a chance to see 127 Hours so I've now seen all 10 movies nominated for Best Picture in 2010. Here is how I would rank the top 10 along with a brief explanation of the plot of each film...
1. The Fighter - true story of boxer Micky Ward and how he overcame a truly disruptive but supportive family (headlined by his brother, Dicky, brilliantly portrayed by Christian Bale) to become the middleweight champ of the world. One of the top 5 boxing movies ever made.
2. Toy Story 3 - sequels rarely match the quality of the original but Toy Story 3 is definitely an exception. The plot revolves around what's going to happen to Andy's toys now that he's preparing to go to college. I was in our boys' empty bedroom earlier this spring looking around at all the memories - that was what it was like for me to watch Toy Story 3 - very nostalgic and emotional.
3. The Kings Speech - Obviously the Oscar winner. By the time I saw this movie it had won all the major awards so I think I went in to it expecting more. Plus, I had already seen The Fighter and I just didn't like The King's Speech as much. Still, an excellent movie with wonderful performances by Colin Firth, Geoffery Rush, Helena Bonham Carter and Guy Pearce.
4. The Social Network - loose account of the rise of Facebook and the boy genius, Mark Zuckerberg, who wouldn't let anyone get in his way while he was founding it. A time capsule for our current generation.
5. 127 Hours - Another true story about mountain climber, Aron Ralston, and the extreme actions he had to take to survive a catastrophic accident while out exploring by himself. The film has some very difficult scenes to watch and features a tremendous performance by James Franco.
6. True Grit - Remakes rarely match the original either but the Coen brothers pulled it off with this update of the John Wayne classic from 1969. I thought everything about this film was better than the original, including Jeff Bridges as Rooster Cogburn.
7. Inception - Leonardo DiCaprio plays a thief who enters peoples dreams to steal valuable information but by the end of the film you can't tell what is real or a dream. Director Christopher Nolan adds to his already impressive resume of films with Inception.
8. Winter's Bone - Story of a young woman who must find her missing father to save her family's home. Jennifer Lawrence turns in a powerful performance as the young woman who takes on some of the more 'scumbag-like' characters you'll ever see to keep her family together.
9. Black Swan - bizarre thriller about a ballerina who literally becomes her tragic character to pull off the perfect performance. Natalie Portman took home the Academy Award for this film and I'll warn you that this is not a film you want to sit down and watch with your teenagers. You have been warned.
10. The Kids Are Alright - 'Comedy' about a lesbian couple whose world is turned upside down when their teenaged children decide they'd like to find and meet their sperm donor father. Annette Bening and Julianne Moore were very good in the film but i have to admit it was a little uncomfortable to watch this one and Julie thought a couple of the scenes were not necessary.
So that's about all for now. I'll let you all know how things go in Tahoe (hopefully before July!)....thanks for checking in!!!
# posted by Vince Hopkins @ 4:08 PM 
