procrastination what?

well again i have forsaken my blog duties for things that are i suppose technically 'more important at the moment'...having said that i am currently studying for a statistics exam and most of my motor functions and thought processes have ceased to exist for the moment so i've decided to quit procrastinating [don't worry, we'll still unite tomorrow] and type up a quickie blog with the short version movie reviews of the last month and change.

district 9 - 7.5/10 snaps - enjoyable and a different kind of alien film. nice to see something new and innovative. i like the documentary style when it's not all jumpy to where i feel motion sick in the theater [blair witch project/cloverfield style]. not a bad theater flick if it's still available in theaters at the moment which it may or may not be.

9 - 5.5/10 snaps - cool up until the ending which i think they could have done a much better job with but i was pleased enough with the film. wait for video in my honest opinion.

informant! - 1.5/10 snaps - whoever thought up the preview for this should be shot. this movie is a very serious take on price fixing and i was insanely bored. i went into the movie thinking it would be fairly humorous...boy was i wrong. skip it all together.

pandorum - 6/10 snaps - actually more enjoyable than i thought it would be going in. i vote to watch this one on dvd.

extract - 6/10 snaps - pretty humorous, very nice cast. i think i was just in a bad mood this day so this one may be getting a little short changed here.

the final destination - 6.5/10 snaps - well it was just as much fun as the other final destinations BUT IN 3D!!! fun times were had by all yet i was thoroughly disappointed in the ending of the film. it should have been a way cooler death for those remaining...

inglourious basterds - 7/10 snaps - 'he speaks i - talian 3rd best.' 'i don't speak italian at all.' 'that's why you're 3rd best.' interesting film. definitely a watch on dvd, possibly a theater go if you're into alternate history films.

so that's it in the film department. i'm still working, doing biol 102 lab stuffs, planning a wedding, gaming, and trying to learn statistics all at the same time however i read recently that one should try to multitask less. i think that may have been written by someone who did not have a job and/or life.

anywho back to stat for the next 2.5 hours. wish me luck on my exam and as always...

enjoy the silence.

words like violence, break the silence...

i'd like to start by apologizing in that i have fallen down in my blogging duty and have not posted for far too long now. so sorry folks. now on to the movies and rather than review them i think i'll just tweet on them all brieflike.

harry potter and the half-blood prince - 8/10 snaps - if you like the others you'll like this one, pretty true to the book...

year one - 2.5/10 snaps - i was bored to tears, not humorous, huge waste of time...

gi joe: the rise of cobra - 5.5/10 snaps - i'm waiting for a live action my little pony movie, this one's worth at least a rental if you're a child of the 80s.

transformers: revenge of the fallen - 7/10 - uh loads of explosions along with loads of plotholes. let's not talk about the stereotyping...

orphan - 5/10 - i was a bit disappointed. rental worthy at best.

the collector - 6/10 - i think they could've added a tad more plot to this one and it would have risen at least 2 snaps. very gory in saw-like fashion. rent it and watch it at night.

proposal - 6.5/10 - completely transparent but reynolds and bullock make a good pair. rent worthy.

i think that covers all the movies i've seen since posting last.

my grandfather hall passed away somewhat unexpectedly and i know he is missed by many. we now have his amazon parrot which i call velo [short for velociraptor as he'd take your arm off in a heartbeat] whose real name is cocky [which i refuse to recognize for obvious reasons].

i was recently at the parent preview night for gilbert marching band and witnessed michael gilpatrick pass out while playing the trumpet. my prayers and thoughts go out to the band and his family. he is currently in the icu but things are not looking good at the moment. having been invested in marching band for years i know how close those students become to your heart and can only imagine how terrible this must be for everyone involved.

as for me, i'm getting ready to start back into teaching while taking class, researching, and working. life is about to get pretty hectic all over again.

back to sorting through my epitopes so for now enjoy the silence.

up, drag me to hell, and the hangover

well good afternoon everyone. i'm keeping them short this week so let's jump right in shall we?

up - 8.5/10 snaps - the movie was very well done. voice acting and animation were both excellent. i cried twice in the film and not about animals. that's always a sign of a good script. i think you should go see this one while it's still in theaters.

the hangover - 4.5/10 snaps - apparently a guy film sean says as he enjoyed it a lot more than i did. i think you saw the best parts in the preview and most of it was fairly predictable. eh it's good for what it was which is a mindless comedy. rental worthy although sean might disagree.

drag me to hell - 3/10 snaps - i really like alison lohman and thought she did a great job in matchstick men, however, this movie was funny as it should be and had several jumpy moments but besides that was pretty much a waste of time. if you like these kind of films then rent it otherwise just ignore it all together.

other than that i'm currently busy researching, just thought i'd stop by for a brief moment with the quick movie reviews. have a great day everyone!

enjoy the silence.

tips for walt disney world

after having returned from our trip to walt disney world [wdw] which i think for me makes trip #6 to the most magical place on earth i have decided to put some well learned tips here for anyone who is planning on going anytime in the future:

1. do NOT attempt to go to wdw in the months of may thru september - it's hot and the rides are a pain to get on because apparently everyone likes going when it's a dutch oven down there in florida.

2. stay in a wdw resort - there's buses that take you to every park that wdw owns and you can affordably stay in one of the three all-star resorts or pop century resort for $82/night. you really can't beat that price.

3. go with the disney dining plan - you would think we would have figured this out before this trip but we finally learned of the disney dining plan. we were on the basic plan that is around $40/$45 per person per day. the food at disney is EXPENSIVE as it is in any other theme park. if you get the dining plan here's what you get per person:
1 snack per day - can include any non-alcoholic bottled drink or ice cream item typically under $4.00
1 quick service meal - entree, dessert, and non-alcoholic drink at any of the burger/pizza/salad/fast food joints in the park - these meals typically run around $15 to $20 per person
1 table service meal - entree, dessert, and non-alocholic drink at any of the very nice sit down restaurants in the park - these meals typically run around $40 to $80 per person
the only problem with the dining plan is if you somehow manage not to use all of your dining plan so make sure you're spending the correct meals and keep track of what you've got left which is pretty simple as it's listed on your receipt after you're done eating.

4. get to the early parks when they open - if you're staying at a wdw resort and you have the parkhopper pass for the four main parks [epcot, mgm now known as hollywood studios, magic kingdom, and animal kingdom] which you should have if you're going then you're allowed to go into a park a day an hour earlier and a park a day will stay open three or more extra hours. the ones that open early that day are the ones that you want to hit. as soon as you get to the early park hit up the most thrilling ride for a fastpass and then go ride the second most thrilling ride. by the time you're done with the second most thrilling ride it will be time to redeem your fastpass and walk straight to the front of the line of the first most thrilling ride. i know that sounded sorta involved but read it through a coupla times and it'll make sense.

5. make your reservations for food 90 days in advance - this is as soon as you can book your reservations and the good ones will be gone if you wait too long. here's a list of where we enjoyed eating the most. every single restaurant is at epcot.

• Yakitori House - Japan - i suggest the ninja alcoholic beverage which is a mix of sake and plum wine along with the teriyaki steak and ice cream - most excellent service i have ever seen
  
• Les Chefs de France - France - even with the disney dining plan you can still do the traditional three course meal here and get an appetizer if you order off their exclusive three course menu - i highly recommend the french onion soup - second most excellent service i have ever seen
• Le Cellier - Canada - steak...eat the steak...
• Coral Reef Restaurant - Living Seas
• The Garden Grill Restaurant - The Land - i always suggest everyone get dirt. what meal is complete without it?

6. get a photo pass - they're free. you can look at all the pics before purchasing them and the disney crew can do some really neat stuff with your pictures. plus all the photo pass folks will take pics of you with your own camera if you let them take a couple with theirs as well. apparently nowadays they'll give you every photo they've taken for a whole $11.95 onto a memory card. i find that a pretty good deal as it can literally contain HUNDREDS of photos. i'll have to make sure that's completely accurate though because we didn't do it, just heard it in passing.

7. if you're at least two days out from departure have whatever you buy in the park shipped to your room - make sure to tell the cashier this in advance otherwise they have to complete your purchase all over again but it's a great way to get the stuff you want and not have to lug it around the park.

for now that's all the tips i can think of but i may remember more later. here's a really specific one - if you end up staying at the sprawling coronado springs resort and wonder where all the wdw buses are, they stop initially at stop 2 and barely ever make it to stops 4 and 1 as they are always full by that point so go to stop 2 first.

anywho for now...enjoy the silence.