Tuesday, 29 January 2008
Sunday, 27 January 2008
Parthenon, Dave & Busters and Rambo
Yesterday Bobby and I met up with Tokico (Thomas)
who we play World of Warcraft with. We met at the Parthenon in Nashville, a replica of the Parthenon in Athens.
Downstairs had an art gallery, and upstairs was a replica sculpture of Athena
which, at the real Parthenon is outside. There were also parts of the original replica exterior detail.
The Parthenon Nashville was erected as part of an exhibition and wasn't intended to be permanent, but when it started falling apart, the people liked it so much they re-did it with more permanent materials.
We drove around Nashville randomly for a little bit after that,
We drove over to Opry Mall which is beside the Grand Ole Opry and went to Dave & Busters. That was fun. We all pooled our tickets which came to 1500 and got a bunch of glasses with the Dave & Busters logo. Opry Mall is also a 20 screen movie theatre so we went and saw Rambo.
Gruesome! I found (and edited a little bit) this review from here: http://www.cinematical.com/2008/01/25/review-rambo/ which sums it up really well:
"The film opens with Rambo puttering around the swamps of Thailand. A group of missionaries tries to recruit him for protection against pirates on an aid mission to Burma. The missionaries are led by Michael and Sarah - characters who are every bit as exciting as their names. Rambo's not interested, but is eventually worn down by Sarah, for reasons not made entirely clear. (Although the fact that the dude's been living with snakes and pigs for years and Sarah is a foxy lady probably has something to do with it.) So Rambo takes them down river, fights off some decidedly non-Jack Sparrowesque pirates, drops them off at their destination and returns home to Snaketown. But when the missionaries are later kidnapped by Burmese soldiers, their pastor visits Rambo in his tent (a hilariously unlikely scene) and recruits him (again!) to lead a team of mercenaries on a rescue mission.
Rambo's merry band of mercenaries are unfortunately every bit as bland as the missionaries. If you're going to team people up with the stoic Rambo -- they've got to have some personality! No one here leaves an impression, but luckily these dudes spend more time shooting people than talking. And as Stallone depicts them, the Burmese aren't people you could talk with anyhow. They're less civil than the cobras.
The climax of this film is probably the most violent sequence I've seen since the opening of Saving Private Ryan -- a film whose style Stallone tries to emulate through the use of drained colors and excessive shaki-cam. The last half hour of Rambo is just people exploding. Rambo shoots you with a gun, you explode. Rambo hits you with an arrow, you explode. Rambo gives you a wedgie, you explode. And those who don't explode probably wish that they had -- it's certainly better than having your larynx slowly ripped out by a 61-year-old man in a bandana! (Just wait until you see that scene! Yowza!) It's insane carnage, It's hardcore, it's unflinching, it's hard to tell who's killing who, and it doesn't really matter. This is the sort of balls-out action sequence violence junkies will watch and re-watch."
After Rambo let out we drove back to Murfreesboro, dropped off Tok at his Uni apartment and got home at 11pm. All up, very fun. Great to meet Tok, and Happy Birthday for today!
~ ~ ~
Over dinner tonight I chatted with Bobby about my plans for the rest of my holiday and I've told him I'm getting my gear sorted and headed for Texas to visit Bendu and Thragg (thats their World of Warcraft names).
who we play World of Warcraft with. We met at the Parthenon in Nashville, a replica of the Parthenon in Athens.
Downstairs had an art gallery, and upstairs was a replica sculpture of Athena
which, at the real Parthenon is outside. There were also parts of the original replica exterior detail.
The Parthenon Nashville was erected as part of an exhibition and wasn't intended to be permanent, but when it started falling apart, the people liked it so much they re-did it with more permanent materials.
We drove around Nashville randomly for a little bit after that,
We drove over to Opry Mall which is beside the Grand Ole Opry and went to Dave & Busters. That was fun. We all pooled our tickets which came to 1500 and got a bunch of glasses with the Dave & Busters logo. Opry Mall is also a 20 screen movie theatre so we went and saw Rambo.
Gruesome! I found (and edited a little bit) this review from here: http://www.cinematical.com/2008/01/25/review-rambo/ which sums it up really well:
"The film opens with Rambo puttering around the swamps of Thailand. A group of missionaries tries to recruit him for protection against pirates on an aid mission to Burma. The missionaries are led by Michael and Sarah - characters who are every bit as exciting as their names. Rambo's not interested, but is eventually worn down by Sarah, for reasons not made entirely clear. (Although the fact that the dude's been living with snakes and pigs for years and Sarah is a foxy lady probably has something to do with it.) So Rambo takes them down river, fights off some decidedly non-Jack Sparrowesque pirates, drops them off at their destination and returns home to Snaketown. But when the missionaries are later kidnapped by Burmese soldiers, their pastor visits Rambo in his tent (a hilariously unlikely scene) and recruits him (again!) to lead a team of mercenaries on a rescue mission.
Rambo's merry band of mercenaries are unfortunately every bit as bland as the missionaries. If you're going to team people up with the stoic Rambo -- they've got to have some personality! No one here leaves an impression, but luckily these dudes spend more time shooting people than talking. And as Stallone depicts them, the Burmese aren't people you could talk with anyhow. They're less civil than the cobras.
The climax of this film is probably the most violent sequence I've seen since the opening of Saving Private Ryan -- a film whose style Stallone tries to emulate through the use of drained colors and excessive shaki-cam. The last half hour of Rambo is just people exploding. Rambo shoots you with a gun, you explode. Rambo hits you with an arrow, you explode. Rambo gives you a wedgie, you explode. And those who don't explode probably wish that they had -- it's certainly better than having your larynx slowly ripped out by a 61-year-old man in a bandana! (Just wait until you see that scene! Yowza!) It's insane carnage, It's hardcore, it's unflinching, it's hard to tell who's killing who, and it doesn't really matter. This is the sort of balls-out action sequence violence junkies will watch and re-watch."
After Rambo let out we drove back to Murfreesboro, dropped off Tok at his Uni apartment and got home at 11pm. All up, very fun. Great to meet Tok, and Happy Birthday for today!
Over dinner tonight I chatted with Bobby about my plans for the rest of my holiday and I've told him I'm getting my gear sorted and headed for Texas to visit Bendu and Thragg (thats their World of Warcraft names).
Sunday, 20 January 2008
No Show
Had plans to meet up with one of Bobby & my mutual online friends yesterday and go to a car show and out to dinner etc, but it didn't happen as Bobby slept right through till 9pm. :(
Nathan & Laura visited from about 9.30pm and we played a boardgame "You might be a redneck if..." (I lost) and also played a few rounds of cards (I won about half) before they went home again.
Hoping to catch up with our online friend next weekend instead, and this time I think I'll insist Bobby sets his alarm clock.
Nathan & Laura visited from about 9.30pm and we played a boardgame "You might be a redneck if..." (I lost) and also played a few rounds of cards (I won about half) before they went home again.
Hoping to catch up with our online friend next weekend instead, and this time I think I'll insist Bobby sets his alarm clock.
Wednesday, 16 January 2008
It's Snowing Again
The snow is coming down thicker than last time, so maybe there is still a chance of that snowman, but the temperature outside is about 1degC so I'm not sure how long it will stick around.
- I just went out to take a bunch of pics and it seems that it is either mixed with rain, or the ground is quite warm, because its only settling on the grass and cars, but melting on the concrete & road.
Oh, and by the way - Possumdown really is awesome. I had my gloves on and my fingers stayed toasty :)
- I just went out to take a bunch of pics and it seems that it is either mixed with rain, or the ground is quite warm, because its only settling on the grass and cars, but melting on the concrete & road.
Oh, and by the way - Possumdown really is awesome. I had my gloves on and my fingers stayed toasty :)
Saturday, 12 January 2008
Cannonsburgh, Oaklands & Coyotes
Today Bobby & I went out for a bit of a drive-around to see what there is to see. We found ourselves in the Historic District of Murfreesboro, and came across the Oaklands museum. The grounds (and really, all of Murfreesboro) was the site of a battle during the civil war, and the house had been restored to depict life during those times. Unfortunately the house itself was only accessible during guided tours, and we'd missed the last one for the day, so we didn't get to see inside, but we looked around the grounds and in their gift shop which was cool.
After that we visited a "replica pioneer village", Cannonsburgh, which is really a bunch of buildings relocated to the site. Apparently during May-December (or something) they have people dressed up and going about their "business" complete with working blacksmith forge. Again, we just wandered the grounds. For some odd reason they had a tractor museum/collection off to one side. There was also a shed (I say shed, but it had no walls) with really old farming equipment.
Then we cruised off to Barnes & Noble because there was something there I wanted to get as a gift, and Demos for Dinner - Once again, very very tasty.
Tonight when we got home we could hear coyotes howling, which is stirring up the dog quite a bit. Bobby says they're probably about 1/2 a mile away. Sounds neat, in an unsettling way..
After that we visited a "replica pioneer village", Cannonsburgh, which is really a bunch of buildings relocated to the site. Apparently during May-December (or something) they have people dressed up and going about their "business" complete with working blacksmith forge. Again, we just wandered the grounds. For some odd reason they had a tractor museum/collection off to one side. There was also a shed (I say shed, but it had no walls) with really old farming equipment.
Then we cruised off to Barnes & Noble because there was something there I wanted to get as a gift, and Demos for Dinner - Once again, very very tasty.
Tonight when we got home we could hear coyotes howling, which is stirring up the dog quite a bit. Bobby says they're probably about 1/2 a mile away. Sounds neat, in an unsettling way..
Saturday, 5 January 2008
I feel 15 again.
After a mission of epic proportions, a dozen phone calls, a broken printer and serving 8 other people because he was taking so long to deal with my car reservation, "Gino" of Budget rental finally managed to issue me with a vehicle after two hours. A Chrysler Sebring, to be exact. I call it a gutless wonder. It should be pretty fuel efficient. Gino managed to mess up my reservation, knew nothing of the insurance options and seemed to have different information than the mini-lease department did on the phone. For example, to have an additional driver registered on the vehicle I was told it was $10/day to a maximum of $50. I am certain I clarified this with the booking agent on the phone, but Gino said it is a maximum of $50/week. So I didn't get Bobby registered as an additional driver. Don't even get me started on the insurance. Lets just say that after two hours of terrible service (and a phone call to their customer service, just to make doubly sure) I have FAR more insurance than I need, and I can ring and cancel it at any time. On Monday/Tuesday I'll be phoning my NZ travel insurance company to clarify the rental vehicle section of my policy, if necessary changing my insurance with them, and/or phoning insurance companies here in Tennessee.
So, since I decided not to get the additional driver thing, that meant I had to drive home. In the rain, on dusk, on the wrong side of the road, on the wrong side of the car. And when I say its a gutless wonder, I mean that it feels like it is not going to take off when you take off, its going to mosey along. The steering is over-sensitive, which is not helped at all by the fact that I tend to want to drive too far to the right, and you can feel the slightest gust of wind in the handling. The acceleration doesn't seem to have a happy place to sit, I have to keep adjusting the pressure to maintain the correct speed. I now know how to work the cruise control. I think. It does help on the long sections, but it's going to take some adjustment to get used to the speed limit signs
small, not terribly reflective, FAR off the road, and look just like our weight limit signs.
Not terribly obvious.
Oh, and turning right on a red light gives me the willies, so I think I won't do that very often. Thank goodness that Walmart is on the closest edge of town.
Tomorrow I'm going to take a bit of a jaunt in the car and get myself a bit of confidence. Yikes.
So, since I decided not to get the additional driver thing, that meant I had to drive home. In the rain, on dusk, on the wrong side of the road, on the wrong side of the car. And when I say its a gutless wonder, I mean that it feels like it is not going to take off when you take off, its going to mosey along. The steering is over-sensitive, which is not helped at all by the fact that I tend to want to drive too far to the right, and you can feel the slightest gust of wind in the handling. The acceleration doesn't seem to have a happy place to sit, I have to keep adjusting the pressure to maintain the correct speed. I now know how to work the cruise control. I think. It does help on the long sections, but it's going to take some adjustment to get used to the speed limit signs
small, not terribly reflective, FAR off the road, and look just like our weight limit signs.
Not terribly obvious.
Oh, and turning right on a red light gives me the willies, so I think I won't do that very often. Thank goodness that Walmart is on the closest edge of town.
Tomorrow I'm going to take a bit of a jaunt in the car and get myself a bit of confidence. Yikes.
Thursday, 3 January 2008
Contrails at dusk
Caught a cool series of pics this evening of contrails. They're around quite often, but I thought these ones looked quite lovely.
(Contrails are condensation trails from aircraft)
(Contrails are condensation trails from aircraft)
Temperature Is Dropping
Well I got up at dawn and there was still snow on the ground, but nothing fresh, which was a pity. Took a couple of photos
because I didn't want to get bundled up in my warmest clothes for nothing, but didn't stay outside for long. It is now 2am and I've just checked the temperature and it is -12deg Celsius outside. Before Bobby left for work tonight he opened the cupboard doors under the sink and the laundry door and asked me to keep my bathroom door open so the pipes don't freeze. He's also left the kitchen tap dripping, which I think was on purpose, because its actually quite hard to do. I feel sorry for the dog stuck outside, but he's too untrained for me to do anything with, and last I looked was in his kennel. It is dry and not windy out there, so he should be ok.
I booked my rental car today, I'll be picking it up on Saturday. Hopefully Bobby's mom will drive us in to town so Bobby can drive it back and I can practice on the quieter roads rather than dive straight into negotiating busy roads.
Been trying to activate my mobile phone, but apparently there are "no available lines in this area, please try again in 24 hours"
because I didn't want to get bundled up in my warmest clothes for nothing, but didn't stay outside for long. It is now 2am and I've just checked the temperature and it is -12deg Celsius outside. Before Bobby left for work tonight he opened the cupboard doors under the sink and the laundry door and asked me to keep my bathroom door open so the pipes don't freeze. He's also left the kitchen tap dripping, which I think was on purpose, because its actually quite hard to do. I feel sorry for the dog stuck outside, but he's too untrained for me to do anything with, and last I looked was in his kennel. It is dry and not windy out there, so he should be ok.
I booked my rental car today, I'll be picking it up on Saturday. Hopefully Bobby's mom will drive us in to town so Bobby can drive it back and I can practice on the quieter roads rather than dive straight into negotiating busy roads.
Been trying to activate my mobile phone, but apparently there are "no available lines in this area, please try again in 24 hours"
Tuesday, 1 January 2008
Really snowing this time!
Had an actual, proper snow shower tonight!
Pity it was already dark, I took a couple of pics, but the only light source was my camera flash.
I'll be up at dawn though to take proper pics, provided the snow sticks around. I might get sick of it later, but right now, I just want it to snow some more so I can build my first snowman.
Pity it was already dark, I took a couple of pics, but the only light source was my camera flash.
I'll be up at dawn though to take proper pics, provided the snow sticks around. I might get sick of it later, but right now, I just want it to snow some more so I can build my first snowman.
Scrapbookers
Apparently there are two scrapbook shops in the area (that is, within 45 min or so drive)
they are The Sassy Scrapper and Scrappin' USA Superstore.
When we were driving around the other day I also saw a Hobby Lobby.
I havn't been in to any of them yet, but plan to do so very soon, so if you want me to look out for anything in particular, start thinking!
they are The Sassy Scrapper and Scrappin' USA Superstore.
When we were driving around the other day I also saw a Hobby Lobby.
I havn't been in to any of them yet, but plan to do so very soon, so if you want me to look out for anything in particular, start thinking!
It's Snowing!
Awesome!
Ok, so I grew up in Auckland...
**update: it was just a flurry - but here's hoping!
**update again: I almost forgot! HAPPY 2008 everyone!
Ok, so I grew up in Auckland...
**update: it was just a flurry - but here's hoping!
**update again: I almost forgot! HAPPY 2008 everyone!
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