Willy Wonka, Tea, Steak, and Beer

We saw Charlie and the Chocolate Factory a couple days ago. Definately a different movie than the older, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory with Gene Wilder. Johnny Depp's take on Willy Wonka is quite a bit different. I'm not really sure how I feel about this new, completely out of touch Wonka. The older movie seemed to teach Charlie a lesson and the whole thing, down to where he decides to return the Gobstoper is really just a test. Not so here - Charlie "wins" by just being the last kid standing. There's also a new backstory for Wonka and a resolution that involves making up with his dad. Heartwarming but pointless, in my humble opinion. The scenes with the "Great Glass Elevator" are good. The Oompa Loompas now have a backstory as well. They don't seem very cheerful in this movie - even the songs are very to the point and just seem to be missing some of the (obviously dark) fun of the first movie. Nevertheless, this movie is great and well worth seeing. My score -> 8/10.

In other news, the Outback makes a good Long Island Ice Tea. We went there last night for the first time in a while. Steak was (seriously) overcooked but the fries were very cheesy. Waiter didn't really come back to check on the steak's doneness so points off for him. I've also decided that I really like Dos Equis - we went to Fridays afterwards for a couple beers and all was well.

oddities at the cashier

I went to PetSmart this afternoon to buy a covered little box for my cat. He's got this horrible habit of throwing litter out of the box when covering his "business" and it's really messy and annoying. Anyway, when I went up to pay, there was but one person in front of me. Her bill -> $17.44. She wanted to pay with a Visa gift card. These things are just like normal gift cards but work anywhere Visa is accepted - it's like a prepaid credit card. So she goes to use it and it comes back declined. Then she tries again with the same result. The cashier, trying to be helpful, asks how much is on it and she replies that it only has a couple dollars left. Gee, I wonder why it didn't work? They call the manager out who has the idea that we'll just charge $3.00 to it and then she can pay the rest. OK, we're down to $14.44 due. She hands the cashier fifteen dollars in cash. And says that she wants to pay $13.00 and then charge the remaining $1.44. So she does. She runs her Discover card for $1.44 and gets two one-dollar bills back. So for this $17.44 purchase, she paid $3.00 on a gift card, $1.44 on a Discover card, and then $15.00 in cash and got back $2.00 in cash. This whole ordeal took about fifteen minutes. I just don't understand. :)

good food and a (surprisingly) good movie

Ever since Cindy moved into her own house, she's wanted to cook more. So last night, she cooked dinner. She made salmon (broiled ... yummy), pasta with EVOO (that's extra virgin olive oil for those that never watch Rachel Ray), bruschetta, and pesto. I ate everything but the pesto. The salmon was very, very, good and tasty. So was the pasta. The bruschetta was also tasty. I'm glad Cindy has this new itch to cook ... it's tasty, healthier, and cheaper than eating out as much as we do. :)

After dinner, we watched The Pacifier on DVD. This is Vin Diesel's forte into comedy. It was surprisingly good. It had a number of plot holes and was somewhat predictable, but it's a Disney movie so what do you expect. It was good clean fun. My score -> 8/10.

Wedding Crashers

We were supposed to go out auditing for the outdoor pools on Saturday. We headed out and immediatly got stuck in a downpour. Back to the office. After looking at the weather, we cancelled (try again on Sunday). Instead, me, Cin, Danny, and his girl Jen, headed to the movies to see Wedding Crashers. It was funny. It was too long. It had a POINTLESS cameo by Will Farrell (I really dislike Will Farrell). But it was cute. Vince Vaughn was really good. All-in-all, it was the best movie I've seen with that same group of actors (Vaughn, Wilson, Wilson, Farrell, Stiller) in a long time. My score -> 6/10.

A "Fantastic" Evening

Last night we saw Fantastic Four at the movie theater near Columbia Mall. We met Mo, Matt, and Bridget before hand and had some food at Uno. I had a Caesar salar that was really good (Uno's has the best crutons) and me and Cindy split a Tomato, Basil, and Mozzarella appetizer. Very tasty. The movie was OK - it was really slow getting started, which can be necessary to understand the background of this particular group of superheros. Nevertheless, it seemed to drag. And I didn't really buy the character of Doctor Doom. And I didn't buy the way The Thing could revert back to human form and then back again - this was supposed to be a one-time freak-of-nature mutation. Regardless, the movie was still enjoyable. My Score - 6/10. The theatre itself gets a 3/10 for all the obnoxious kids there who talked on their cell phones during the movie, yelled at each other, and so on. The movie staff tried to keep them under control but as soon as they left the room, it started up again. Very uncool.

As a follow-on, the main post office in Columbia apparently now lets you ship packages at any time. They have an automated package mailing system and I stopped by around 1.00am after dropping Cin off to mail a package and it all went smoothly. They don't offer as many options as are offered when you speak to a clerk, but it was still very cool. If you ever need to mail something at 1.00am, I suggest trying it. :)

Wine and a Movie

Friday night, we went to the Basignani Vineyards up in Sparks, Maryland. Apparently, every Friday during the summer, they have a tasting of their various summer wines. Then they show an older movie on their lawn. Me and Cin drove up and met a group of friends that were going. We went in and tasted some wines and ended up buying a bottle of Vital (blush wine). We played a little Trivial Pursuit with the assembled group and then the movie started. It was Roman Holiday staring Audrey Hepburn. This was actually very funny. Best line in the movie -> "You have my permission to withdraw." The wine was good and the movie too. All for only the cost of the wine (plus a small admission fee for the movie). Highly recommended.

movies

Just a Thursday night at the movies - Madagascar this time. This movie is almost exactly what you'd expect from the commercials, except it's a little more adult. When Alex (the lion) gets into the wild, he reverts back to his instinctual ways and wants to hunt and eat the zebra. Of course he restraints and him and his zebra friend are OK, but some of the parts when he's hunting can be downright scary for little kids. The best part of the movie - easily the penguins. They steal every scene they're in (which isn't much). In fact, all of the side characters (the penguins and the monkeys, mostly) are far funnier than the main characters. All-in-all, funny movie that makes you laugh and not much more. My score - 7/10.

Wedding!

On Saturday, 2 July 2005, we went to the wedding of Rachel and Wes. Rachel was Cindy's roommate during all four years of college and Wes her boyfriend of most of that time. Cindy was in the bridal party.

We went to Upper Marlboro for the reheral last Thursday and then had the dinner at this really nice beach-themed restaurant/sports bar. The dinner was buffet style with chicken and mahi mahi. Very tasty. On Friday we drove down and stayed at Colony South hotel in Clinton, MD. This place was OK but not that great. We ended up driving forty minutes to Waldorf for dinner (Outback :)). After that, back to the hotel for sleeping.

On Saturday, we woke early and drove to Rachel's house to get the girls ready. After a hour or so we went to the chruch. This was a traditional Catholic ceremony that was very nice. Then to Andrews AFB for the reception. Very nice and classy place (the enlisted club). Good food (London Broil) and two desserts. Oh, and an open bar with delicious Captain and Cokes. The reception ended at 8pm and we left fairly quickly for our camping weekend (see the travel log).

Congrats to Rachel and Wes. Very good show.