Apocalypto

Now I feel bad for making fun of this movie. I just watched it and really liked it. Whether or not you like Mel Gibson, this is a great film. Of course there is a ton of criticism about portraying the Mayans as "savage." Well they were kind of. As were the Romans, the Crusades, etc. I don't think Mel is trying to say that savageness is ALL the Mayans were about. It's a wonderful story - thrilling, beautifully filmed, engrossing, etc. I've also seen some criticism about the historical inaccuracies in the film. It's a good thing I don't get my history from films, huh? I didn't EXPECT it to be a documentary - it's a movie. If you want the "real" history go buy a book or something.

Had a really nice weekend with the folks. So good to get out of town and just relax for a few days.

Blogging from Mom's

I love that my parents finally got high-speed internet. Now I can blog from the middle of nowhere! I've been trying to get my mom to do her own blog. She just refuses to do it. I think we should all harrass her about this until she gives in.

NY shoe store so big it gets its own zip code. Awesome. Someone want to come buy shoes with me? (Books, shoes, and purses are the only things I *really* enjoy shopping for - maybe DVD's too.)

This guy has never watched any of the Star Wars movies. I think that's ok. I've never seen Grease (and never will).

I can't believe this didn't happen in Wisconsin.

Slow news day

Not much out there on the news today, but I'll give it a shot:

Gay flamingos!!! (I think the pink color was a give away.) I'm only putting this one up to irritate my mom. *grins in an evil way*

And I thought *I* was a heavy sleeper!!!

Back to the gay thing (and to irritate my mom some more), I read somewhere on the internet that there's some sort of evidence that the more older brothers a man has, the more likely he will be gay. This only applies to boys with the same mother (although they didn't mention anything about different fathers or long stretches of time between pregnancies). The theory is that with the first pregnancy where the mother carries a boy, her body sees the foreign substances on the Y chromosome as something to develop antibodies against. So for future pregnancies that are boys, the mother's body starts using these antibodies against the male fetus somehow affecting the masculine infusing qualities of the Y chromosome. This is all theoretical, of course. Not every male who has older brothers will be gay and there are certainly gay eldest sons or only children. I guess I won't REALLY worry about it until Noah asks for a stuffed pink flamingo. And when he does, it'll all be Dylan's fault anyway. Gives me something more to guilt him for! :)

Wisconsin

Who remembers the mutated deer from a few posts back? Well now we have mutated calf. It has two noses. I was going to put the picture link in, but it's pretty gross - Google it if you really need to see it. Again I have to ask what the heck is going on in Wisconsin? I'm getting a little afraid of that state. If I see another Wisconsin mutation story, I may move - they're only two states away!!!

Don't trust the sunscreen. The article says, "The best clothing for sun protection is tightly woven, thick garments made of denim, wool or polyester, not cotton, linen or acetate." I don't want skin cancer, but I don't think I'm going to run around covered head to toe in wool this summer. Have these scientists every been outside??? So maybe you won't get skin cancer, but you'll die from heat exhaustion. Since the cancer seems like a slower death, I'll pick that! There's a lot of sunshine in Wisconsin - maybe they should cover their deer and cows in wool or denim.

Skinny people are fat on the inside. Well that sure gives us chubbies a cheap thrill!

Um

"Mommy, you said we were going to see SPIDERMAN - not some scrawny twerp in Spiderman pajamas!!!"

Light blue, dark blue

Maybe it's genetic. I was very impressed earlier today when my 4 year old told his dad that one car was light blue and the other was dark blue. I had no idea that he knew how to make such distinctions. As I'm writing this he's on the floor kicking and hollering because he can't have a cookie before bed. It's a good thing he's REALLY cute when he's cute.

Puppies and babies

So my husband entered some paintings in a local art show this weekend. I am far too biased to judge whether or not his were the best (duh, of course they were). We were told that this show would be "juried." To me, juried means that 3 or 4 people who have some sort of a clue about art judge the paintings on their merits as works of art. Instead this was popular vote by anyone who came in to see the art. I have to (painfully) admit that Jeff got his butt kicked in the watercolor section. Some woman did a painting of a bridge that was just astonishing. (Although, his paintings weren't actually watercolor - he uses gouache, which is watercolor with a gum base - it's different. But apparently no one had ever heard of that so they stuck him in watercolor.) But in the oil and pastel categories, the paintings that "won" were of a baby (oil) and a puppy (pastel). I mean no disrespect to the artists who created those - they are certainly light years better than anything I could ever do. Yet even if Jeff's painting weren't in that category, the winners still weren't the best. They were the cutest. We didn't realize that he should be aiming for cute. So next year he's going to enter a painting based on something like this:



I'm absolutely positive he'll win.

Art Show

My husband is going to have some work in a local art show this weekend. Here are his entries:

(He's also entering two pictures I've had up here before - the buffalo and the bridge)