Veg Out!

I'm meeeeellllllllttttting!

It's been hotter than Hades here, folks. I'm not joking. Temps have been in the 100+ range now for days, community centers and malls are letting people who have no A/C hang out there, the fire dept. is giving out free fans.

We went out Friday night to "Taste of Des Moines" - a festival with fun activities, live music and many local restaurants offering "tastes" of their goodies for $1. It was so hot it was hard to enjoy it, but it was ok. It was a bit vexing that many of the restaurants "tastes" were more in the $3 to $5 range rather than $1. Oh well. The greek joint's Souvlaki Skewers saved the day. mmmmm. Souvlaki. *drool*

Due to this oppressive nastiness, we didn't go out much the rest of the weekend at all. Being flat broke, there isn't much to do indoors that doesn't cost money. Thankfully, we have a Blockbuster movie pass! Woot! For anyone who hasn't heard of this wonderful idea, here's the scoop. You pay a monthly fee ($25 here) and you get unlimited rentals for the month. You can get two at a time, watch them, take them back for two more...you get the picture. No time limits, no late fees, no limitations. It's a wonderful thing.

We rented a bunch of movies this weekend. How about a brief review of each flick we watched? (I'm no movie critic, so bear with me, people. lol)

***

The Pacifier (Vin Diesel - rawr!)
"The toughest man in the American military faces a new kind of challenge -- looking after four kids in soccer-mom suburbia."

Very cute movie. I liked it a lot. I thought Vin did a good job on this one - so funny to see this tough, manly man change diapers and sing the "Peter Panda Dance" song with moves and everything. I have no idea what the critics thought of this one but we liked it. D LOVED the duck.

***

Constantine
"An ordinary man with an extraordinary gift must save the planet from evil in this action-packed fantasy. Unknown to most people, the world is crowded with spirits both good and evil who walk among us in human guise. One of the few who can see these spirits is John Constantine (Keanu Reeves), but the responsibility of his vision is more than he can stand, and he tries to kill himself. Saved from death, Constantine must now atone for his actions by acting as a guardian in the middle ground between Paradise and Hell."

We had seen this one in the theater, but I wanted to see it again. Not only am I quite the Keanu Reeves fan (rawr!), it's an awesome movie. The special effects are excellent and the entire story behind it is fascinating. I thought it was very well done. Obviously, D didn't watch this one. It's just a bit on the scary side for the wee ones.

***

Team America: World Police
"Team America: World Police is a tongue-in-cheek but nonetheless politically biting send-up of the CGI-laden, big-budget action movies that have taken an almost exclusive hold over mainstream box offices, particularly during the summer months. Inspired by the Thunderbirds, a popular 1960s children's series, Team America: World Police uses similarly styled, but significantly more crass, marionette puppets in lieu of computer-generated images to breath life into an elite group of adventurers known as Team America. Their mission: to travel the world, root out its terrorists, and keep evil at bay."

Obviously, this one was another late-night selection. Puppet sex, gratuitous violence, LOTS of vulgarity and... well, more puppet sex. I have to admit, it was quite funny. Twisted, but funny in a South Park kind of way.

***

The Lord of the Rings (All Three)
A friend recently gave us a copy of "Return of the King", the third in the triology. It had been so long since we'd seen the first two, that we decided to rent them and watch all three in the proper order. We made it through almost all of them. We still have the last half of the last one to watch.

What can I say about these movies besides the fact that they are phenomenal? I love these movies so much. What a wonderful story, wonderful characters and the films are so well made. Really, if you haven't seen them, do it. I'll just stop here because nothing I can say really does them justice.

***

The boys did venture out Sat. evening for a go kart ride through the woods only to have the chain come off and subsequently get CHOMPED by voracious mosquitos. Dang! They didn't take bug spray because they thought they'd be moving the whole time. They came running home muddy and maddened by the bugs.

So, it really was a nice kind of "mental health" weekend. We did some intermittent napping, quite a lot of eating (I made my famous garlic lamb in the crock pot. mmmmmm. ...and spaghetti with my home made sauce that simmered all Sun. afternoon. *drool*) and I did a HUGE amount of laundry. We did a lot of playing tug-o-war and Lexi had a bath (she was very good!). D churned out a large quantity of artwork with his star wars art desk (if I color another light sabre or space ship, I'll scream) and played with his Millenium Falcon.

Although the few brief outings that we had (such as blockbuster or the grocery) were nice cabin fever avoiders, can I hear three cheers for air conditioning!?