Rock Of Ages

Thursday April 29 2010

So the night before we leave for Dublin we thought we would go see the play Rock Of Ages. At the time I bought the tickets I thought it was a great idea but we still had lots to before going away so maybe not. Hind sight is always 20/20.

Anyway the play was okay. I really wanted it to be great but it was just okay. Was it because we were to excited about going away? I don't think so but maybe. The play is about the greatest music ever made.....all songs from the 80's including all my favorite hair metal songs. It's safe to say I loved the music. The story is built around the great songs but that was really the problem, it was just boring. I really did want to love this play but it didn't grab me. It was kinda like watching karaoke, good karaoke but a baaaad story. I'm not sure what story they could have told but I do know that this play needed something. I have read a lot of rave reviews on-line so I wonder if it was just me.

I did love some characters in the play. The narrator, played by a lovable chubby guy (fyi: most of us are very lovable), was excellent. There was also a guy that played a Bret Michaels (from Poison) lookalike that I thought was great but his part was way too small. Thinking about it I wonder if the cast was maybe just too big. Even today, the day after the show, I cannot put my finger on what the problem was, I just know it didn't blow me away like I had hoped it would.

If you're thinking about seeing it I say do, then let me know what you thought, maybe, I am just out in left field on this ...

play 2 out of 5
80's music from the play 5 out of 5

garry

Anyways we are OFF To Ireland ...

Have to agree with Garry on this one. It was fun but not great. The plot was super weak, the play even makes fun of itself on that exact point. It was just a vehicle for the music. That isn't necessarily a bad thing but in this instance it meant it lacked something. Certainly it was fun and the actors performed with tonnes of energy. If everyone in the cast hadn't been so excessively peppy it would have been a disaster. As it was, it was fine.
3/5
L

Off Dublin Ireland--Friday April 30 2010

Tuesday April 27 2010

Well this Friday Liz and I are off To Ireland. I'm so excited I can hardly wait.

If Liz manages to get everything in that I want to do I'll be amazed.

We have a busy week this week then we fly away.

I'm going to try and remember key points to blog about them but since I'm not really a drinker, and I think we may be doing lots of that, I can't promise I'll remember everything. I suspect that might be a good thing lol. I'll try at least one Guinness while I'm there but I hear they like warm beer....not sure that's going to work but when in Ireland......

Liz will also be seeing her first ever KISS show, I bet she is so excited. Rock N Roll all night and party every day!

I'm singing "when Irish eyes are smiling" a lot. Liz is not amused. Imagine how pissed she will be when I sing it over there! This could be trouble.

garry

We're both very excited to be heading over to Ireland for two weeks. We fly out on Friday night! Garry is doing his best to insist that I create an itinerary that covers the entire island, including Belfast for this trip. I've tried explaining that there's only so much we can do in two weeks but he keeps insisting I can manage it. Unless I learn to manipulate the space time continuum I don't think he's right. Also he's somewhat distressed about the general lack of an itinerary except in the broadest sense (ie we have flights and we're staying with my Dad). He would like something with more detail (any detail in fact) and was floored that my Dad's idea of a plan was to say "we'll talk about it over a drink when you get here". Garry insists that if we had guests/family coming from abroad he would provide multiple itineraries, complete with daily activites, for the visitors who could then select their preferred plan lol. Instead we're taking multiple (and I mean a LOT) of printouts of stuff Garry has sent me attached to emails that say "I wanna go here" or "this too". Two weeks is going to fly by!
L

The Losers

Saturday April 24 2010

Saturday afternoon after spending what seem like days looking for black shoes for the Princess we decided to go see The Losers. We went to see it at Fairview Mall which is the first time we've seen a movie there since they renovated it years ago. It did seem like a pretty good place to see a movie. As for the movie, let me just say I loved this movie. Saturday afternoon popcorn flick at its best. One of the best movies I have seen in a while, I really liked it. The story really reminds me of the A-TEAM and I love the A-team, so that's OK. In a nut shell guys working undercover for the government get screwed and then they have to hunt down the villain. Like I said not rocket science but a great ride. The chemistry between all the guys is excellent but Chris Evans as Jensen stole the show, he was very funny. It was worth the price of admission to hear his jokes but I will say most parts I was laughing at no-one else in the theater was laughing - strange I know but this does happen a lot to me so I am used to it. Also Zoe Saldana (of Star Trek & Avatar) was in the movie and she is HOT so that helps.

All in all a great Saturday afternoon at the movies and a great movie, something tells Liz doesn't share my thoughts on this movie..

4 out 5

garry

BORING! One or two scenes worth noting but otherwise just nonsense. The character of Jensen was really fun, him I liked. Any of the decent parts centred around him. The rest of it was less entertaining and more silly.
2/5
L

Kick Ass

Sunday April 18 2010

Kick Ass this movie has been on our radar since last summer at Comic Con. We saw the preview clips there and we knew this was going to be a great movie for us. At Comic Con we saw like 5 clips and they looked great. BUT the problem was with seeing those clips and a few more we saw on line we have seen a good chunk of this movie already but of course you don't know that until after you've parted with your money. The movie is about a regular nerdy guy who decides to become a superhero. He really just gets his ass kicked a lot but there is a little girl called Hit Girl that really is a superhero with her Dad, Big Daddy (Nic Cage) so the two join forces to fight crime. The movie is very good and Hit Girl is fucking amazing. It's worth seeing the movie just to listen to her talk or should I say swear.

The fight scenes are good and you can see a lot of Toronto in the movie. I guess the real problem is I was hoping for more but I think that is only because I had already seen so much going in.

If you like these kind of movies go see it. I am planning on seeing it again and I think I may like it better the second time, BUT I did like it this time just not as much as i thought I would.

3.5 out of 5 for the first viewing.

garry

Totally a more serious movie than I was expecting. The previews made it just seem like it was fun but it had some great themes such as our responsibilities as members of society and how modern technology has distanced us from each other. The lighter moments balanced the serious themes well and the characters were engaging. I did feel like I'd seen some of the best scenes in the movie a dozen times already which was a pity. I think I'd have loved this movie if the marketing hadn't spoiled so much of it. As it was I enjoyed and thought it was well worth watching. If you're one of the people who think that an 11 year old girl taking out a room full of hard core drug dealers / scum of the earth types is worth a look than you're sure to enjoy this.
4/5
L

British Isles Show

Saturday April 17 2010

With our trip to Ireland 2 weeks away Liz and myself thought we would head down to the British Isles Show. We really had no idea what this show was but we thought what the heck. After reading about it on line we saw that two stars from Coronation Street would be there so we were both interested to see them. The two stars where Sean Tully played by Anthony Cotton and Becky Grange played by Katherine Kelly - good news for us as they're both characters that we like. When we arrive at the show just after 10am we saw a line. With all the shows we have been to over the years we've learned that if there's a line one person stays in the line and the other goes to the front of the line and figures out what it's for. Otherwise you risk missing out on something. In this case it turns out that the line was for a wrist band to meet the stars of Cory (Coronation Street). We were so thrilled to happen on the line but it was only after we got our band that we realized that this event was at 5pm, it was now 10:30am. Wow! We have a LOT of time to kill and the show isn't that big. We started walking around looking at all the stuff they had for sale. Chocolates and other food from the UK seemed to be the big thing. We tried to talk to some of the people offering tours to Ireland but since we did not want to book a tour with them they really had no time for us. After walking around we ran into a friend of ours Doug and had lunch with him. O yeah, I had to stand in line for fish and chips for the princess, and no word of a lie, I was in line for 45 mins. Needless to say, the fish and chip weren't even that good. After walking around again and watching a few stage shows with pipers and dancers it was our time to get in the Cory line. Luckily it moved very fast and before we knew it both Liz and I were sitting beside Sean and Becky from Cory. Both stars where very nice and talkative and really made us feel relaxed. Becky (Katherine Kelly) was very nice asking us how we meet and why we liked the show and she was way better looking in person and a lot smarter than Becky she plays on the show.

It was a long day but we had fun and it was great meeting people from Coronation Street. We have a great picture of us with them but no digital copy - you will have to ask Liz if you want to see....unless she's already lost it (bad habit she has).

I think it's safe to say that we'll be making the British Isles Show part of our yearly tour of things we do.

garry

Ad Astra 2010

Friday April 9 and Saturday April 10 2010

Ad Astra Friday

Ad Astra is a small local convention in Toronto that we have gone to for the last couple of years.It is mostly a book convention but they have started to change that around a bit and get some actors and more media type events.I picked up Liz at the subway and after we went and had a great Pizza we headed to the con.We went to our first panel which was on AVATAR which was fun mostly because there was only about 6 people in the room and we could all talk about movies we liked.After that we went to panel call Your next Top Model Zombie.This was the high lite of the con last year,but with only 4 Zombies and a poor MC it was disappointing but still fun.After that it was our last panel about British sci-fi which sucked and seeing that it was nearly midnight it was time to get our asses home as it was WAY pat our bedtime.Not a bad day but not great.The best part of the night I think was the Pizza--lol

Ad Astra Saturday

Saturday at nay con is always the best day.I was a little surprised how many people where at the con way more then I thought,which I guess is a good sign for the organizers.Off we went me to a panel on Star wars (shocking I know) and Liz to see something about books or whatever I mean who cares I was at a star wars panel,why she would not just come with me is well ...hard for me to believe.My Star Wars panel kinda sucked as it was early and they really did not tell me anything I have never heard or read before.After that we meet up and told me about her panel which I pretended to listen to and we headed off to listen to one of my favorites authors read Robert J Sawyer.Both Liz and have heard Rob read lots of time and he is great at doing readings and this was no exception.After that we walked around check out the art show and the dealers room which both per sub par.They Rob had a guess of honor talk,which was talking about the tv series flash forward which is based on his book and Liz and I both like it so that talk was very informative.Then lunch,cold gross hot dog for me and some ind of smelly sandwich for Liz.

The afternoon had a huge problem no panels or talks for us to go to.So went to the con-suite and talked to a few people had a drink and just killed time.Con-suites are kinda fun at these events as you usually get some free food and a drinks and this one was the same and it was kinda clean,which is nice for change.After sitting around we went to panel where some guy talked for a hour about something Liz slept and I listen to this old man go on and on,the only reason we went was it was Liz's choice-great she slept and i listen,o well.Then a shit Dr who panel where they almost told us about the new Dr who which would have made me mad as I have not seen it yet.After that we went to watch a few guys do Nerdgasism which is guy doing joke about Nerdy subject which was great for both Liz and I and we had some great laughs,great way to end the evening.

I would Ad Astra 2010 was ok not great but ok.We always seem to have fun at these things and they are hit or miss but after writing this and thinking about I think we will be back next year.But really who am I kidding if the QUEEN (aka Liz) wants to go back we will back,and I think she likes the book part of this con.

At least 4 more cons this year to go..I can't wait.

garry

Clash of the Titans and Mother

April 3 2010

Clash of the Titans

After all that working out we thought we would head into the city today and do some shopping and see a couple of movies. After getting downtown in record time on TTC we went to see Clash. Now I remember seeing the original movie and thinking it was ok, not great but ok. And after seeing the remake I think the same thing. It was a fun popcorn flick but sometimes it was kinda boring. Sam Worthington was good as Perseus but Liam Neeson as Zeus was kind of a waste of his talents. All the characters in the movie were just okay and I have to say that I need a better main character to get behind. Sam was good but there was something missing. I am just not sure what but something was missing. It also seemed VERY long. That being said you should see it if you like popcorn flicks, just but don't expect too much.

3 out of 5 (maybe less but I did like Sam Worthington - I just hope he finds a better movie soon)

After the movie Liz bought her new camera, a Sony Cybershot or something. We wanted a small camera so we could post more personal pics on our blog..so more pics of Liz will be coming soon.

Mother

After shopping and sitting in Yorkville watching the ridiculous posers in their cars driving by we went and saw Mother. This is a South Korean movie and has subtitles so going in I was thinking 2 hour nap. Then we get to the cinema and it is very hot in there. That to me means sleep is unavoidable. It starts and I am into this movie big time! What a story. This could be one of the best movies I have seen this year. It's about a mother who has to prove her son did not murder a young school girl. The story is so good. I laughed and never saw half the plot twists coming. A great film. If you have a chance you should see this movie.

4.5 out of 5 (would be 5 out of 5 but it had subtitles)

Once we left the movie we walked down Bloor, did some more shopping and walking and then Liz had her chicken wing dinner she has wanted for weeks. Then we hopped on the subway and headed home.

Another fun filled day!

garry

Good Friday

April 1 2010

It was a holiday here so Beecher and I thought we would try something new and we went for a bike ride. There is a park near us with a great trail that has lots of small hills and it really gave my legs got a good work-out. It was very peaceful and it wasn't till about 30 mins in that we saw our first person. We rode for about 70 mins and it was really fun in a quiet kind of way. After the ride we cleaned the car and just bummed around the house. Then, as usual, Liz was hungry so we thought we'd walk to McDonald's and try their new mini sandwiches. Thing was McDonald's is about a 30 min walk so we had even MORE exercise. It was great day full of bike riding and walking and me bugging Liz - so it was a lot of fun.

At night Liz made us a wonderful BBQ and I have to say that she is getting very good on the grill. We all loved it. After eating and all the exercise Liz and I where both in bed early.

All in all a great GOOD FRIDAY.

garry