Lots of Catching Up

Good Afternoon Ladies & Gentlemen,

 

The house is REALLY coming along… but still lots of work to be done. We had some issues getting the internet up & running and putting the house together to get this out to you. In the meantime though, we have had some fun times…

 

Monday night, we caught a special preview screening of “The Conjuring 2” starring Vera Farmiga, Patrick Wilson, Frances O’Connor and directed by James Wan (“Insidious”, first few “Saw” movies, etc). Now, I’ve mentioned before that I get the Conjuring & Insidious movies kind of mixed up whenever asked about them… but that’s kind of because they’re the same director, half the main cast, tone & deal with demonic possession… so sue me! There is one exception… I thought the spin-off “Annabelle” was pretty bad… but it was a possessed doll movie. That being said, I love these movies. In this edition, real-life paranormalists Ed & Lorrainne Warren (Wilson & Farmiga) are called to merry Olde Londontown shortly after their investigation of Amityville to investigate “The English Amityville” where not only is a humble house haunted… but there may also be some demonic possession going on with a young girl (who was pretty f**king amazing in this movie BTW). They’re hired by the Catholic Church to investigate & see if it’s a hoax… and there are definitely some things going on… but it gets complicated. Anyway, that’s all I’m going to say other than GO SEE THIS MOVIE!!! These are great horror movies and the latest is really good. The tone is perfect. Yes, there are jump scares… and a lot of really loud noises that cause you to jump at certain points… and all those horror clichés. However, the movies start by establishing the confined environment of the movies… they take their sweet time in establishing the ascention of the events where it starts with small inconveniences & then works up to levitation and sh*t like that… but it does it over the course of an hour-plus. There are loooong shots that build suspense in a convincing way… yeah, I really liked this movie. Oddly enough, it’s also a great date movie. There’s some heart to it as well with the Warrens’ relationship and the English family of five with a single mom (O’Connor) sticking together and all that mess too… go check it out! I highly recommend it!

 

Last week, I finally got to see the Hunger Games Exhibition at the Palace of Fine Arts that Izzy has been working at… and it’s pretty damn impressive. It’s a great interactive experience that immerses you in the Hunger Games universe and you get to see some of the great outfits & prop pieces from the series of movies… and you can even have pictures taken with you INSIDE the Hunger Games. It’s pretty sweet… here are some pictures to wet your appetite…

 

Last Saturday afternoon was the annual San Francisco Homebrewers Guild’s  Picnic at Golden Gate Park so dozens of the best homebrewers in the Bay Area converged on this world famous park for a good old time of trying beers, cooking some burgers & just enjoying the outdoors. Unfortunately we only go to be around for an hour or so while the event was kicking off… but some great beers & some great people!!!

 

Wednesday was Izzy’s birthday… but she was in Park City being treated by her company because she’s an absolute badass newcomer to the company. So instead of hanging with my fiancé on her birthday, I decided to take her mom to a fancy dinner at Elevation 66 Brewing… but since there was a Warriors game on, the brewery was packed… so we grabbed some good Chinese food & headed over to her Aunt Janet’s to watch the game. It was a lot of fun.

 

On Thursday, Izzy was returning from her trip… so I thought I’d get her a little something nice. Do you remember the story about my rose that I brought back from New Orleans for her… and the rose made it all the way to the Oakland Airport before getting snatched when I was trying to get a Bart ticket? Well… I was gifted a huge beautiful orchid display at work… but I’m a man so, it doesn’t really do anything for me… but I knew Izzy would appreciate them. To get it home though, I had to take it through the windy streets of San Francisco, then onto a crowded Bart car during rush hour, no seat available of course, and then through the wonderful neighborhood of El Cerrito, where I had to protect it from the cats among other things. Anyway, after a trip to Utah & an episode with the airport… this is what she came home to…

 

Yup… I’m the best!!!

 

Lastly, a new episode of the Everything I Learned From Movies podcast will be up in a few days when Izzy & I delve into the famed cinematic universe of “The Highlander”!!! Based on the franchise’s tagline “There can only be one!” you’d say there could only be one cinematic universe… but you are SORELY mistaken. There’s actually a pretty hilarious argument where we discuss which of the sequels is more horrible… and there are plenty of good points made for each, primarily #2 (which I’ve discussed previously) & #3 (now streaming on Netflix) but as for the winner… THERE CAN ONLY BE ONE!!! So check us out to find out who’s argument wins. Until then, have a great weekend everybody!!!