We Read Good

I just read an article on USA Today posting the results of a study of the most literate "big" cities of the United States. Guess which one ranks 1st??

Minneapolis of course.

Well, there are actually two cities that tied, we apparently can't edge out Seattle. If you look down the list, St. Paul comes in at #4. While this statistic isn't earth-shattering, it certainly makes me proud of our great state.

Merry Christmas from John Malkovich

So Thankful

Another belly-filling Thanksgiving has come and gone and I have to say that eating three large meals in the course of 4 days takes its toll! My wife and I hosted our first Thanksgiving meal on Thursday and surprisingly, it went off without a hitch. We had over the immediate family and enjoyed 10 hours of food, fun and Fireside Nut Brown.

The food was great and all, but we also sat down and enjoyed a great comedy together. The Darjeeling Limited is a stellar movie directed by the esteemed Wes Anderson. It's always tough to pick a movie that eight people can enjoy. Three of us had already seen it and I seemed to feel that it was enjoyed by everyone. This film follows the story of three brothers trekking through India on a train, each having some additional emotional baggage they carry on. The dialog and banter between them is wonderful, and the movie also brings in some touching human elements. I give it 4.5/5 peacock feather ceremonies.

The Friday after Thanksgiving was a sit-on-my-butt-and-digest day, and I took that opportunity to let laziness set in and I watched four movies. Kind of sick, right?
Well, here's a brief run-down:
The Time Machine - This was on TV and I just went with it. Not that great, 2.5/5 morlocks.
Outbreak - Conveniently this movie came on right after The Time Machine and I was much more impressed with it. Dustin Hoffman never disappoints and the movie was an interesting peek into the scary scenario of a virus epidemic. 3.5/5 last minute antidotes.
National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets - Now, I liked the first film, but this one was like watching it all over again. It wasn't original, and I didn't get as excited about all the clue-solving and code-breaking as I did with Nick Cage's first adventure. 2/5 conspiracy theories.
Rambo (the new one) - My brother and I stayed up late watching this one, and I regret that decision. This was the first Rambo film I've seen in it's entirety and I wasn't impressed. The violence was too much and the plot was boring and predictable. 2.5/5 unnecessary decapitations.

There you go. My wife and I are now sitting down to another movie this Monday evening, Kung Fu Panda. I'm hopeful that Jack Black will put some smiles on my face.