Saddled with Trouble · 25 August 2008 by Heather Voss Barta
I like mysteries and horses – so when someone pointed me to this, I thought, “Great! Both in one!” However, I was greatly disappointed with Saddled with Trouble. It was pretty disappointing on several levels. Not good writing and not even good story.
Shiawassee County Fair · 20 August 2008 by Heather Voss Barta
I had a great time last week at the Shiawassee County Fair! I got to see parishioners show their pigs and their dogs. Sue and I bought a pen of pigs at the auction. That was so much fun.
On Monday, my sister and I went and picked them up. We get 1/2, Sue gets 1/2, and Henry sold one to a friend at work. I love real pig!
Welcome to the Bible · 17 August 2008 by Heather Voss Barta
I’m working with a group of people from the diocese working toward a certification in Lay Preaching. This is slightly scary and an honor. One of the issues is that I have to read all the books. So, we started with Welcome to the Bible, which is a pretty simple introduction to the Bible. The students complained that it was also somewhat repetitive. But definitely worth checking out for a basic introduction to the Bible.
Don’t Shoot the Puppy · 12 August 2008 by Heather Voss Barta
I won!! Can you?
Wii Fit · 9 August 2008 by Heather Voss Barta
Henry bought a Wii Fit. I will admit, here in public, that I was skeptical. I was not sure that it was going to be worth it. I was wrong. Henry has been great at doing it (well, missed a few weeks lately) and looks good. Strength has improved and by working with Weight Watchers, he’s looking amazing.
I really enjoy the yoga and strength training. It’s really all about balance. This is great. Works on getting everything all balanced and keeping in the center. I don’t get any extra points for the work that I’ve done before, but I’m improving all the time.
So – if you were thinking – is it worth it? YES!
In print: Henry is right. I was wrong.
Mummy 3 · 6 August 2008 by Heather Voss Barta
I find myself laughing at films lately. Maybe that’s what I’ve been missing by not watching in the theater. Being there surrounded by people (more or less, depending on the show), totally dark and engrossing. Nothing else to distract me – I can totally enter the world portrayed on the screen. And I find myself laughing. It’s great! I know that others aren’t laughing, but there are always really funny or cleaver parts that hit me just right. It might also be the escapist part that I’m enjoying – stepping out of my current world situation and being able to live somewhere else. I’m finding more humor in it than those around me. There were several points where I laughed during Mummy 3 – just in pure amusement – a couple of puns (my Uncle Ron would be so proud), but just other moments that struck me as funny. (Laughing was part of Wall-E and Journey, too.)
This was a case of the perfect movie on the perfect day. Was it redundant? Probably. Do I care? No. A big adventure, shooting guns, mummies. What more could a girl ask for on a Saturday afternoon? (Especially with a husband to protect her from the mummies?)
A great Ezekiel and the dry bones moment. Most of that scene would be preachable. The part about vengeance – perhaps not so much.
Definitely a “big screen” movie – because really – without it – what’s the point? Might as well get the thrills of the big screen. Adventure, mayhem, and some fun. I was all about it.
Journey to the Center of the Earth: 3D · 5 August 2008 by Heather Voss Barta
It wasn’t on purpose that Sue and I ended up at the 3D rendering of Journey to the Center of the Earth. But I think that it actually worked out pretty well. We went to see it because the reviews had actually been better than I thought that they would be. So, we gave it a shot.
I liked it. Definitely a fun adventure movie. And while based on some science (there are plate tectonics), being in a world that was science fiction takes us a bit away from any hard science. But I will give them some kudos for actually having geologists. (I would be a seismologist if life had been a bit different.) Though, we do have a bit of a problem at the end…if the magma is rising, shouldn’t we get off of the mountain?
I wonder if we could get all 13-year-old boys to go on an adventure like this – to help them see where the real priorities should be. Though, perhaps picking up things that aren’t ours is another lesson that we would have to learn at a later date…
And then there’s the “not so much” science. Obviously, the rising magma. But also the falling – isn’t there something like popping eardrums that should happen by falling that fast? The same for coming up…
The Dark Knight · 3 August 2008 by Heather Voss Barta
Yea! Batman!
Henry and I went to see it opening weekend. Great fun!
Yeah, yeah – everyone was good, everything was put together – great effects, great technology… Heath Ledger’s last role.
Of course, another superhero movie could lead to a conversation about supervillans, but I think that we’ve covered this territory (see Hancock review). Though we do have some stellar supervillans here!
A lot of the movie focused on leadership. You sometimes have to be the leader that is needed – not necessarily the leader that you would like to be. I found this to be an interesting premise and reflected about how it is working in my own life. The point was to not stop being who you are, but rather, you need to look at the situation and do some things that you’d rather not do. Batman covers for Two Face. Good decision? Maybe not – but probably. He allows for hope for humanity, even if it’s covering for some poor choices by one man. On the other hand, we have several examples of history where the picture was painted differently than reality. What does that do to our sense of history? Though, of course, we also have a long list of giving to leaders more credit than they necessarily deserve – or ignoring parts of their character because they have been able to show strong leadership in most areas (JFK, Clinton). But we’re all human, and will never be perfect – we shouldn’t expect that in ourselves or our leaders.
The question becomes – who gets to decide what “society needs” in order to shape oneself to respond? Do all leaders in some ways shape themselves to the situation – and do we just call that “rising to the situation”? Is that a bad thing?
Hancock · 2 August 2008 by Heather Voss Barta
Mom, Luke, Net, and I went to see Hancock at my favorite movie theater.
At dinner beforehand, Nanette was talking about how frustrated she was with I am Legend – she claimed an unclear plotline. You can see my review in the archives – but basically, I liked it. I didn’t see the same gaps that she saw in that one.
However, Hancock might be a different story. Liked the beginning of it. It reminded mea of a conversation I had once about superheroes – would they exist without supervillans? Because really – you don’t need a superhero if you don’t have a supervillan, right? (Though – another tangent to this now might be that some of our supervillans are tied in to our natural world – global warming, issues with pollution…) So – interesting to see how that worked in this film…
Really loved Jason Bateman. He did a great job in all of that. And I have to imagine the filming of the scene where he’s trying to get Will Smith to say “good job” had to be absolutely hysterical.
SPOILER:
Then – we get to the rest of the movie. Really? Superheroes created by gods that created them to be mortal if they got too close? At least we get some sort of supervillan that seems to know what’s going on, and actively trying to get them to die… Though, the whole time I was sort of wondering how the whole inter-racial relationship was working for them over the centuries. And then I read another review that was frustrated that they don’t put African American women opposite Will Smith in the big movies. I thought that that was an excellent point – let’s use them. We’re all going to go see the movie. It has Will Smith. (Another reviewer actually stated something like, “It really doesn’t matter what I say about Hancock, you’re going to go see it anyway…It has Will Smith.” Brilliant point.)
So – overall, hmmm…didn’t so much get it. Sure – good action, comedy, and I like Will. But not thinking that I’ll be watching it again any time soon.
Triple yolk! · 31 July 2008 by Heather Voss Barta
The egg I ate this morning had THREE yolks in it! It is pretty common to get 2 – especially in the starter eggs (right when a hen starts laying). But this one was LONG and HUGE! Very fun breakfast!