Adventure Round-Up

It is SO easy to fall behind on these things! I can't believe how fast this month is going by, but the upside is that it's partly because I've got a fair bit going on these days. So I thought I'd just do a quick round-up of my recent adventures.

Killing Two Goals With One Post

Way back in February, I issued a challenge to readers to go see a movie that they would normally avoid, taking a chance that they just might be pleasantly surprised. I hadn't gotten around to meeting the challenge myself, despite my other goal this summer of seeing a movie a week. (My experience so far can be summed up as: So Many Great Movies, So Few Weekends...)

But I finally decided I could hold off on seeing War, Inc., the next movie I really want to see, for at least another week and, instead, went to the newly released action-adventure flick, Wanted.

AND... Loved It!

I make a point of NOT reading reviews before I see a film, because I prefer to form my own opinion without being influenced by others. However, I had heard that most of the reviews for Get Smart have been negative, so I was a little worried about it.

Well, that worry was unwarranted. I loved the movie! Of course there was some dumb stuff and ridiculously unbelievable action scenes (how come nobody ever complains about those in the Bourne series?). But I laughed out loud—and I mean LOUD—several times throughout the showing.

Guest Gecko

I'm guest blogging on Film Gecko today about my anticipation for Get Smart, the movie.

And file this under “How Old Do I Feel?”... A few years ago, I was working in marketing for a company that was trying to come up with a new tag line for an ad campaign. When one of my colleagues suggested, “Get Smart,” I commented that there might be a copyright or trademark issue because of the show. “What show?” she asked.

Sigh.

Pick a Can, Any Can

For Father's Day yesterday, my brother the animator posted some sketches for a cartoon episode he's working on based on one of our father's favourite activities when we were growing up.

Back then, grocery stores would sell canned goods whose labels had fallen off for dirt cheap—like 5 or 10 cents. (I don't think they're allowed to even sell them like this anymore, but I digress...) Then, when it came down to choosing a vegetable to go with dinner or some fruit for dessert, he would bring up one of the mystery cans and we'd all keep our fingers crossed that whatever came out of it was something actually edible.

The cartoon tells the story much better than I just did, so I highly recommend you check it out. But even better than the cartoon itself is Dad's comment on it, which John also copied to the end of the post.

Movie Madness

I mentioned in an earlier post that one of my goals for this summer is to see one movie a week. Likewise, back in (cough, cough) February, I issued an EA challenge for people to go see a movie that they wouldn't expect in advance they would like, because they might end up surprising themselves. So I figured I could mesh these two concepts together pretty easily, since most of the time there are hardly any movies playing that interest me.

Little did I know that this summer would turn out to have one of the best movie lineups I've seen in years!

Jay Stalking: Failing the Background Check

I was excited yesterday, because I saw a second male jay in the yard (word must be getting around about the treasure trove of peanuts to be found here! :). I even heard the two squawking at each other. Unfortunately, I didn't have a chance to get outside in time to try to get some pics of them together, but hopefully they'll both be back again. I only saw the one today, though, so we'll see...

In the meantime, here are some shots I captured over the last couple of days. This first one isn't in flight, but I think it could make a great textbook shot of the Western Scrub Jay. (You can click on the image to see a larger version.

And I got this rather cool shot of him with his beak open (sans peanut for a change!):

Jay Stalking

I have a male scrub jay hanging around my backyard, and one of my obsessions this summer will be to try to get a decent photo of him—in flight.

These are just gorgeous birds. I've had one visit in past years, but usually he would only make an appearance a couple of times over a couple of days, and then he'd be gone. But last year I learned they REALLY like peanuts, which I found out after I discovered one swooping in to steal them out of the food mix I would put out for the squirrels I'd released after rehabilitating them. So I think I'll be able to keep this guy around for a while and even have some control of where he arrives using strategic peanut placement. :)

Squirrel Watch: On the Move

Are you one of my squirrel fans? If so, you're in luck! I've created a brand new blog, Life in Squirreldom, where I plan to go into a lot more depth about my experiences with my little charges. I hope you'll come check it out!

Yes He Did!

Despite my very strong political opinions, I have no intention of making this blog political—there are plenty of those out there already! However, I couldn't let this historic day go by without notice.

I think it's pretty safe to say that anyone who runs for President of the United States has to have an adventurous spirit, which of course I admire. (Although why anyone would WANT the job is beyond me...). But throughout this campaign, as I watched Barack Obama work to arrive at this momentous occasion, I've also come to admire his grace and dignity under difficult circumstances, his respectful behaviour toward all his opponents, and—most of all—his ability to unite, inspire, and bring hope to millions of people across all divides: race, gender, age, economic status... why, he even has Rupert Murdoch lavishing praise on him!

So congratulations to Barack Obama, Democratic nominee for President of the United States!

And now, on to November...