Word On the Street

Sunday September 27 2009

Today Liz myself and my parents went to the Word On The Street in Toronto. It's a great big book sale that happens in Toronto. We love it. They close down all of Queens Park which is a full circle and people sell their books and magazines. There are alot of authors reading but we just really go to see what books they're selling. This year Liz and I bought a few graphic novels and a few other books but not that much. It was a lot of fun and both my parents seemed to enjoy it - this was my Father's first time going.

I think they have have Word on the Street all over Canada. It really is alot of fun and if you never have gone you really should.

We had a busy weekend and did alot of shopping. Next weekend hockey starts and I think we're going to budget better for all the stuff we have coming up.
garry

This event is just a nice excuse to potter around looking at books while you're OUTSIDE! I never get to do that. And the fact that they close it off to traffic and it's a pedestrian area is really nice. We spent a fortune (well $18) on street vendor food that, for the most part, ended up in the bin lol. And at the end we spent ages waiting for Jack to make it back to the meeting point (note: next year agree a time as well as a place to meet). Although in fairness I didn't really wait for Jack as I took the opportunity to buy more insanely priced street food - but I ate this one! We all had fun and it's nice way to spend 2/3 hours.
L

Pandorum

Saturday September 27 2009

After see the last movie Liz and I did some shopping, well mostly Liz did the shopping lol. Although I have to say she bought me a great watch for my birthday so that was great. Oh, in case you where wondering my birthday is October 15 and if you need the address for gifts just ask Liz :)

We went to see our second movie of the day....Pandorum. My buddy Quinn came with us so that was different. The movie was ok. I really wanted it to be better but it was not great. I love sci-fi movies like this but this one needed another re-write as it seemed to have a lot of story that was not needed. I kinda liked the creatures but you know they moved too fast and it was hard to get a good look at them. I think if this movie was at the after dark film festival it would do ok....still needs a bit of work.

I think Liz and Quinn liked the movie better then me.

After the movie we went to East Side Mario's for dinner.It was ok but not great. It is never great there, I think we should stop going there it is just always ok not great.

Liz and I had a little battle about the tip I thought $8.00 was enough she wanted more. But the dude never offered me a refill on my diet coke which I hate and never cleared our table....now I know he was also the bartender but what does that have to do with my meal...o well.

If people did not know Liz and I they would think we where really fighting but we are are just playing and we kinda like it. Truth be told, she wins most of the fights as I just like to bug her and I think that's our way.

Any way the movie Pandorum is 3 out of 5

garry

I win most of the arguments because Garry can see that I'm getting waaaay to pissy for this to be fun anymore, so he lets it slide. I'm not sure that's really winning but I'll take it! lol
L

We are Going To Ireland

Ireland In 2010

So it looks like we're going to try and head to IRELAND in May 2010. I know it's far away but we're trying to work it all out. I am very excited to see Ireland and all of Liz's family

I hope it all works out but right now it is looking good..

Cannot wait!

garry

Surrogates

Saturday September 26 2009

After a busy week at work I did not feel like working any overtime so Liz and I decided to go see a few movies. First up was Bruce Willis in Surrogates. It was an ok movie but I think the graphic novel may be better but I haven't read it. Anyway the movie was about people that live their life on-line and the person that goes out into the real world is a surrogate/computer. Now as would be the case all the surrogates are prefect and they can do or be anyone they want.Sounds like a great concept, right? Well it is but the movie kinda falls flat and the story is a bit convoluted.

I do love Bruce Wills movies but this one falls a bit short. I did not hate it but it was not great.

I would say 3 out of 5

garry

I liked it. Good story with a few flaws but fun.
3/5
L

BOX WARS

Sunday September 20 2009

So after a brief sleep at the movies Liz and I decided to go check out this thing called Box Wars. What is Box Wars? Well it's grown men who make outrageous armour and weapons out of cardboard. Then, after a brief introduction, they start hitting each other and tearing off the cardboard/armour from each other. When your armour is gone you're out/dead. The full "battle" takes only about 12 mins but they do go at it. Some of the guys really get into but it was kind of boring to watch. The actual battle was fun but there was a lot of time setting up.

I'm glad we saw it but I don't think we will do that again. Where do we find this stuff lol.

garry

The Informant

Sunday September 20 2009

Today I thought I wanted to see the movie The Informant. Now all the papers and the critics loved this movie. Well I would tell you what I though but about 10 mins in I passed out. Boring...
so all I can say is zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

what i saw 0 out of 5

but for the sleeping part 3 out of 5

garry

So whilst Garry has had more restful naps than he had during the Informant, I actually liked it. Can't say it was vastly entertaining but it was (based on a true story) interesting to see someone who appeared to be a regular Joe turn out to be something of a criminal mastermind......well, not exactly mastermind. It fact, working out whether he was a well-intentioned idiot or a supreme genius turned out to be central to the movie. It's certainly a talkie movie rather than an action movie but if you stick with it Matt Damon's character is quirky enough to keep things moving and working out what's REALLY going on will be with you after the movie.
3/5
L

Jennifers Body

Saturday September 19 2009

After working all day Saturday Liz and I decided to go see the movie Jennifer's Body. It was a horror movie that stars Megan Fox. Now we were going to see this movie at Tiff Midnight Madness but thought maybe we should wait. 1. Tiff movies are $20.00 and 2. the Midnight Madness show are at midnight (funny how that works).

Anyway the movie was good. Lots of fun and actually a good story which I was not surprised about once I read that Diablo Cody wrote it (she wrote the script for Juno). There was not blood or gore but it was still good.

Megan Fox was ok but I think just about any hot girl could have played the part. In fact I maybe getting a little sick of her..not sure why.

So I would say .. 3.5 out of 5

Go see it.

garry

This was a fun movie which was well done. Not a serious movie but a good story that depicted teenagers (and teenage sex) in a more realistic way than the Hollywood norm. Megan Fox was decent but I guess saying she's not Glenn Close or Meryl Streep is hardly an insult (and only serves to give away my age). And it's always nice to have a victim who fights back and has a little attitude in the face of evil demons.
3/5
L

U2 at the Rogers Centre (skydome)

Thursday September 17 2009 Liz and me went to see U2 at the roger centre. We had general admission tickets whick is usually something I am not really into, but this time it worked out fantastic. We went to the dome early as we thought it might be a zoo. But it was very easy to get in and we went right down to general admission area. The stage for U2 is amazing - so huge and it looks like a spaceship. What a great stage! The opening was Snow Patrol who were ok. There were kind of alot of slow songs and lets be honest I hate opening bands and was there to see U2. Finally at about 9 pm on they walked. We ended up about 20 rows from the front and we could see everything perfectly. The show was EXCELLENT. By far the best stadium concert I have ever seen. Great songs and the show was great. The first 4 songs where off the new cd so we did not really know them, but when the hits came we knew them all. Sunday Bloody Sunday, Vertigo, ONE LOVE, BEAUTIFUL DAY, NEW YEARS DAY..and on and on. What a concert. I would see U2 any time and I would sit in the general admissions section and just have a great time with all the rest of people. I am pretty sure Liz lost her voice and we both where sore from jumping and dancing around. A great thing about seeing the show at the Rogers Centre was they had the roof open and it was great looking into the sky and at the CN tower..great night Great show...U2 ROCKS

garry




What can I say that Garry hasn't said already......they were totally awesome! Loved the whole night. And for $120 for both of us - it was excellent value. They did play some of their new stuff which I didn't know at all but when they played the old stuff the crowd went wild and we all sang til we could barely talk. LOVED THEM! My only concern - when will they be back?
L

Final Destination 4 in 3D

Monday September 14 2009

Last night Liz and I finally went and saw Final Destination 4 in 3D and the movie worked. If it wasn't in 3D it would've sucked but the best thing about this movie was the 3D - it was excellent. I was really shocked how much fun I had. The best scene was actually the opening race scene it was great. Cars flying all over the place and even a few cool death scenes lol.

It was gory and silly so if you're not into this kind of stuff stay away but if you like to have fun and can just relax when you see a movie, GO! But only see it in 3D.

I think a funny thing they did was have a lot of big breasted ladies in the movie and I have to stay that did not hurt the seeing them in 3D. If you go look in the background and almost ever scene you will see what I am talking about.

Well I would say only in 3D the movie gets

3.5 out of 5

garry

The 3D in this movie was well done and it really took it from a waste of time to a fun waste of time. I really enjoyed it. Have to say though that I don't remember noticing as many sets of boobs as Garry does. Strange! :-P
3/5
L

All About Steve

So Sunday after I worked all day - yeah overtime, woohoo! - Liz and I went to see Final Destination 4 in 3D. We got to the show, sat down, watch previews and suddenly at show time sound but no picture. Weird? Next thing the Manager from the cinema comes in (for a split second I thought for sure someone was coming to kick Liz back to Ireland) and the movie is not going to happen. Now that sucks! But we get get 4 free movie coupons and as we leave we sneak in to see All About Steve. We had no real idea what it was about but it was the only movie playing at that time.

So the movie it was OK. Romantic comedy with Sandra Bullock who I like. She is fun to watch but the movie is kinda vanilla...nothing really to it. I will say that the cinema was kinda full so someone most like this kind of movie (I also like these movies but trying to act cool here). A good date movie or chick flick but for us MACHO guys stay away. But I did like her red boots!

4 free movie coupons and a free screening of All About Steve..sounds ok to me.

I would say 2.5 out of 5

hoping to see Final Destination this week...

garry

So the Sandra Bullock movie that we ended up seeing was actually okay. At least it had a message that I could get behind - namely that it's okay to not be a mainstream person and you shouldn't change yourself just to fit in. The film lacked some of the emotion that it might as I couldn't work out why the main character (Sandra) was so hot but so odd (I didn't get the message til the end). The ending made up for some of the films flaws but it looks like they took a quirky independent movie and made it mainstream which, given the movie's message, is kinda sad/ironic. Anyway's worth seeing if there's nothing else on but didn't love it.
2.5//
L

9

Saturday September 12

Today Liz and I went to see the movie 9. Now we have heard people talk about this movie at all the conventions we've been to all year long, so we where pumped. I thought the movie sucked. Maybe I'd seen too much of the movie at all the conventions? But I just didn't care about anyone in the movie. The best part I gues was that it was very short. I think Liz liked it more but I could not really tell as I was in a slumber during parts of movie, so boring. Maybe I was not not into as in the morning I been up early without that much food or drink for my physical check at the doctor's but if you miss this movie you are not missing much.

I would say 1 out of 5

garry

I did like it more than Garry but I have to agree that I didn't care for any of the characters. That was a bit strange as I was already in love with 9 (main character) from all the clips that we'd seen - he looks adorable, like a little sack cloth teddy with a zipper up the front, so I was expecting to be a little invested in the his adventures. And I'd already guessed how their creater had invested them with life and had made up a reason as to why he did it. It turned out that I was right on how but wrong and disappointed in the why. So maybe Garry was right - we'd seen too much already. Despite all that it really is a spectacle - beautifully scenes and with great detail and clarity. Totally worth seeing just for that - and I think if your expectations weren't as crazy high as ours you'd probably really like it. It's dark though - not for kids.
2.5/5
L

Bathroom is done

It's done. We love it!! Well worth all the mess. And there was a lot of mess lol
Here are the pics...

Dragon Con day 4

Monday September 7,2009

Last day of the con and I think both Liz and I had a better time this year then last. But the last day of any convention is never great, things always feel like they're winding down. I went and saw a panel about Stargate. Then Liz and I walked around the 3 dealers rooms but we really didn't buy much. I think we bought a t-shirt and graphic novel, all for maybe $50 total. After that we went to airport and flew home. The flight from Atlanta to Buffalo is fast, like 1.5 hours so that was good. We landed in Buffalo and began our drive to Toronto. Now one thing we forgot was that this was Labour Day weekend and the traffic was nuts. At one bridge it was over 2 hours. But we headed to the downtown Buffalo bridge and that was great move as it only took 20 mins. The drive home was long but all and all a great weekend

I know we will back next year for sure.

garry

I actually thought the final day was nice. We had an opportunity to wander around, eat the final meal at the place you love (Chick Filet for Garry, Mexican place for me) and if any of the things you were thinking of buying are still there it's a sign from the Gods that you were meant to get it - so I picked up the graphic novel Y for $27. It's set in a world where everything with a Y chromosome has died with 2 exceptions - the only males are one guy and one monkey - now do women remake the world as it was or they recreate a better world? Do they find a way to create babies without men or do they die out? Anyways it was a good thing that we bought next year's con tickets yesterday (as the line today was pretty crazy). But the last day does always have a sad feeling coz we all know we're heading back to work and the fun is over for another year. But head home we do. We argue in the car leaving Buffalo airport about how to get to a bridge that isn't the Queenston-Lewiston bridge which is bound to be swamped. As we can't resolve the issue we head to the Q-L anyways. Luckily Garry's eagle-eyes spot the line up waaaay before the bridge and we scream across the three lanes to make the final turn off the highway and reroute to the Peace Bridge. Good decision! We made it home at a reasonable hour, 9:15pm and we tucked up in bed shortly afterwards.
L

Dragon Con day 3

Sunday September 6, 2009

Well let me honest, at this point of the con all the days are juts blending together. All I know is Dragon Con is alot of fun. The main panels today are Patrick Stewart again and then a great panel with all the stars from Stargate. It was great panel and there had to about 7 stars on the stage so it was fun. The great thing about this con is Liz goes one way and I go another. We meet for lunch, talk, see a panel together or not and just do what we want. The crowds are huge and the lines can be deadly. But we're so used to the lines that even the biggest lines do not scare us. I think there about 60,00 people at this con and when we go to Comic Con there are 125,00, so the crowds are not something we worry about. The people at Dragon Con are great, they're all dressed up and there is so much going on.

At night we just hads a few drinks and watched all the people dressed up. Went for a ride up the elevator and saw all the people looking like ants.

So ended day 3 and I am sure I am missing something but o well

The picture is me with a sexy girl lol and Liz with a sexy guy LOL

garry

Garry had a bunch of panels that he wanted to see today but I just wanted to wander around for a while and enjoy the atmosphere, see the dealer's rooms etc. And as Garry said, it all becomes one big blur.

It seems to work well to have me to back to the room at about 4/5ish and nap for a few hours and then, get showered and out we go to enjoy the night life! This mostly involves wandering around the hotels to check out various parties (note to self - don't stand in line for parties it's a real downer and you lose energy when you stand around for ages) and taking pictures with people in costumes.
L

Dragon Con day 2

Saturday September 5 , 2009

After a great night's sleep we headed back to the con. There seemed to be a lot more people at this year's con. But I think the guests have lots to do with it. There was Leonard Nimoy, William Shatner and Patrick Stewart. Huge Star Trek Guests. Saturday we saw lots of guys from Battle Star Galactica and Patrick. We got really lucky as Patrick was so packed but we waited and got in to sit in the back. His talks are always great and this is the third time I've heard him talk. The next panel was a surprise panel which was most of the cast from Babylon 5, a great sci fi show from years gone bye. All the cast is older but it was great to hear all the old stories and to bring the memories of that tv show back to me. I think Liz was thinking who the hell are these old farts. O well, I loved them. At night we went to see this band called Crux Shadows. A good Indy band but not for Liz. I kinda liked them but not great. I love that about dragon con, music, tonnes of people dressed up and just so much to see and do.

We went to bed about 1:00am and Liz was dead...I was ready for more and even got a bit pissed that we had to leave. But I guess I was sleepy as 2 minutes after we got to the room I was out.

I did not even mention the parade that is great on Staurday morning - just so much to remember

garry

So I'll start with the parade. It started at 10am but you have to be there waaaay earlier to get the best seats on the street if you don't want to miss anything. Garry and I now consider lining up, being insanely early etc to be an essential part of the experience of cons, fan movies etc - it's all just part of the fun. And it's very popular as it's held in the streets of downtown Atlanta and everyone can attend, hence there's lots of families and non-con go-ers. So we got there at about 8:40am and saw the same friendly girl that we sat beside last year. The parade went on for about 40 minutes with lots of music, bag-pipes and cheering of the crowd for costumes which were popular, well done or just deserved our encouragement. After that we did a bunch of panels, I went back to the room for a much needed nap and then we headed out to see the masquerade. But that was kinda boring so we wandered around to see some bands and check out people's costumes. Fun day but I was totally exhausted by the end.
L

Dragon Con 2009

Friday September 4 2009

We had a real early start as our plane left from Buffalo at 6:15am. So that means we have to leave the house at 2am. WOW! The drive to Buffalo was easy, in fact even better than usual as no one was on the road. The border was an easy pass and off we go to the airport. Park and get through customs. Well guess what my bag gets stopped. All I hear is the guy say "who's bag is this?" I was nervous. The guy swabbed the bag for explosives! I have never had this before but Liz tells me it's normal. Off he sent us and we head to Atlanta.

The first day of the con was great. A bit of a line to get the pass but no big deal. My first panel was Stargate Atlantis which was ok but not all the actors had showed yet. Next for me was Terry Gilliam a great director and one of the minds behind Monty Phyton. He was great, we'd seem him at comic con....but still fun. A few more panels and then, in the surprise of the night, Liz and I went to watch wrestling live. I have to say it was fun and I even heard yell a guy a pussy really loudly at one of the wrestlers, can you believe it lol.

After that we where beat and time for us to sleep after being up almost 22 hours. Great day! I love dragon con.

garry

Halloween 2

September 1 2009

Went to see Halloween 2 today...IT SUCKED

Stay Away-- Rob Zombie needs to do something else.

DO NOT SEE THIS MOVIE !!!

garry

Hang on - you can't go see movies while I'm not with you, while I'm working, earning a crust to feed us! Oh the movie sucked? It really sucked big time?! Well maybe you can go see those movies without me.
Liz

Fan Expo 2009

August 28-30 2009

It was time for Fan Expo which is the biggest convention that comes to Toronto. I always kinda like this con but it's never great. This year though was really good/almost great.

Friday we got our passes and walked around the floor a bit. Not too busy but we didn't spend that much time looking around. We went to a panel where James Kyson Lee (Ando from HERO'S) was talking. He was kinda boring and really didn't know how to handle the crowd. After that Liz and I went to see a special presentation of Disney's new movie TRON. I loved this movie way back when it first came out and am really looking forward to seeing the new movie. Liz never saw the original movie but she seems excited about the new Tron.

Saturday started out bad. When we got to the hall we were told we could not go in for safty reasons. WTF? We paid $50.00 to get into to this place. After the crowds inside had moved around we were let in and our day began. First up was a Q & A with Leonard Nimoy (Spock from Star Trek). He was fun and a living legend in my geek world. After Spock we went and saw Linda Hamilton from the Terminator movies/show. She was fun and had some great insider information on the Terminator movies which I love. So 2 big guests and the best was next! Mr Bruce Campbell of Evil Dead fame. What a great guy and a excellent talker! He really knows how to work a crowd. I would go see him again any day. Best Q & A of the weekend and just to see him was worth the $50.00. After Bruce we went to a space channel panel which sucked. Then we got in the car and had dinner at our restaurant - the Thai place - which was excellent as always.

Sunday we spent the day walking around the dealer's room. I also spoke with the author/film maker/friend Greg Lamerson and caught up with him. We really didn't buy anything but it was fun walking around seeing everything and everyone.

So all in all the Fan Expo was really good and we will be back next year 100%.

garry

This was a surprise to me as I didn't expect to enjoy myself too much at this one. Turns out I was wrong! Bruce Campbell was excellent. He poked fun at himself, the audience and all manner of things that you're not supposed to be mean about. Another pleasant surprise was the Q&A with Max Brooks who wrote a few zombie books that I like (World War Z, Zombie Survival Guide). He had a very similar attitude - nothing is sacred and the fact that you're actually here to hear me talk means I should do my best to chat, be entertaining and generally give you your money's worth. And he was and he did. Also I liked the Associate Editor of Rue Morgue magazine as a moderator on the discussion panels that I attended. The moderator can really make a discussion panel by encouraging discussion, filling in gaps in the talking and moving the whole thing forward. I liked her because it's not easy to do but she came prepared (refreshing in itself) and make it look like a walk in the park.

And the reason that Garry was so pissed on Saturday was only partially to do with the delay getting into the building. Although that was very annoying and poorly managed by the staffers at the con - they needed a few more people on the task. REally he was annoyed because he missed out on getting KISS tickets on-line that morning. Kiss have never played in Toronto and not been seen by Garry so when it became clear that the tickets were gone he was not impressed. I have to say that he handled himself pretty well but he was really disappointed to have missed out. But not one to be so easily defeated he has new plans to find a ticket - some where out there he knows there's a ticket meant for him.

Liz