Movie Review: Star Trek: Into Darkness

   It's kind of hard to review this movie without giving anything away to those who haven't seen it, (I'm sure there are a still a few) but I'll do my best to stay spoiler-free.

  This may be the movie I was looking forward to most this summer (which is kind of depressing, since now I've seen it and there's still a lot of summer left.) I loved J.J. Abrams' 2009 Star Trek reboot, I thought he did a great job of renewing and modernizing the concept, while still keeping true to the original characters. Though I've been a fan of all the Star Trek incarnations, I don't really consider myself a "Trekkie" (or, if you prefer, "Trekker"), so I didn't have a problem with the changes made for the new version. I'm just fine with the time-travelling Romulans creating an alternate timeline for the new Star Trek - the new movies can make whatever changes they want without harming the continuity, since the original Star Trek exists within the original universe's non-destroyed Vulcan timeline.

 In this sequel, the main villain is played by British actor Benedict Cumberbatch - you may know him from the BBC's "Sherlock." (And if you haven't seen "Sherlock," Netflix it or something, it's amazingly good.) Nothing adds weight to a character, especially a villain, like a British accent, and Cumberbatch does a great job without completely stealing focus from Kirk and Spock. Without giving away plot points, all I can say is there's cool spaceships, explosions, an all-too-brief glimpse of Klingons, and lots of witty banter between Kirk, Spock, Bones and Scotty.

 Though I loved this movie, I think I loved the first one more. This one seems a bit long, some slow spots could have been edited a bit. The lens-flare effect was cool-looking in the original, but is now starting to get overdone. Don't get me started on the completely unnecessary cameo by Leonard Nimoy. (Does he have a contract with Paramount requiring him to be in anything having to do with Star Trek?) And not to give anything away, but hard-core fans of Gene Roddenberry's idealized vision of the future may have a problem with the less-than-ideal portrayal of some Starfleet officers.

 But minor quibbles aside, still an awesome movie, definitely the best ride so far this year. I'm sure I'll see it many more times on cable and Blu-Ray.

 But seriously, J.J., enough with the lens flare. You're giving me a headache.

Movie Review: Iron Man 3

 I love big blockbuster movie season (a.k.a.: summer) but it's hard to get to the theater every weekend, especially when you have little kids. That's why, last Saturday, we did a double-feature of "Iron Man 3" and "Star Trek: Into Darkness." First up: "Iron Man 3."

 I didn't expect to like the Iron Man movies. I never read the comic books, didn't know much about the character, and didn't particularly care for Robert Downey Jr. Surprisingly, I've really enjoyed the Iron Man movies, and this latest one is no exception. "Iron Man 3" picks up after "The Avengers," with Tony suffering from insomnia and anxiety after the alien attack in New York. When his former bodyguard is injured in a bombing, Tony issues a personal challenge to The Mandarin, the mastermind behind several terrorist attacks.

 As always, the special effects are great. Explosions, flying suits of armor (or pieces of armor) - it all looks real - and we didn't even see the 3D version! Iron Man is all about the flying suits of armor, so it's crucial that the audience believes this technology is real. Part of what makes it seem real is that it doesn't always work perfectly. We get to see the breakdowns, buggy software and dead batteries.

 Robert Downey Jr. seems to have found the perfect role in irreverent genius millionaire inventor Tony Stark. As good as he was playing off the other hero personalities in "The Avengers," he can also carry a movie pretty much on his own. Not that his supporting cast isn't good: Don Cheadle is back as Rhodey and War Machine (rebranded as Iron Patriot), and Gwyneth Paltrow as Pepper Potts. I still don't see much romantic chemistry between Pepper and Tony, but their relationship is such a small part of the movie, it doesn't really matter. And Oscar-winner Ben Kingsley as attention-seeking terrorist The Mandarin is just wonderful.

 I don't know if I liked 3 quite as much as I liked "Iron Man 2," but it's well worth the money to see in the theater.

Kids Say the Creepiest Things!

  So, I came across a pin on Pinterest the other day that linked to postings of some of the strangest and/or creepiest things kids have said. (I think the original source was Tumbler, or maybe Reddit. I don't really know what either of those are.) There were hundreds of posts, and boy, there were some doozies.

  Leaving aside the stuff hinting at ghosts and reincarnation, (which is in a different category altogether) there were some great examples of the random, weird stuff that comes out of kids' mouths. Like the mother who woke up to see her four-year-old's face inches from hers, saying "I want to peel all your skin off." (Context: Mother had been sunburned and was starting to flake.) Or the three-year-old who, upon holding her newborn sibling for the first time said, "It's a monster, Daddy. I think we should bury it."

 Reading these posts (I scrolled through for days, I literally couldn't put it down) made me feel a little better about some of the things my kids have said. Really, in a way, it's comforting to know all kids have a streak of sociopathic freak in them, not just mine. So in the spirit of making other moms feel better about their kids, here are some of the bizarre things mine have said.

 Now, the little girl is only two and a half, and a bit slow to talk besides, so she's only got one on the list. She only says a few phrases, and her diction (or lack thereof) makes her difficult to understand, but last week she came out with a good one. I was waking her up in the morning, when she stood up in her crib, looked me up and down, and said clear as a bell, "Nice shirt, red!" Now, though I have red hair, as far as I know, no one has ever called me "red" in her hearing. (My husband pointed out the lettering on my shirt was red, she could have been referring to that.) What kicks this over from unusual to slightly creepy, is the shirt I was wearing:

At least she has good taste - this is the shirt Ray Park (Darth Maul) said he liked when I wore it to KC Planet Comicon!


 I could probably come up with a dozen things the almost-seven-year-old boy has said, but I'll keep it to just the last six months:

•  To a kindergarten classmate in the school library: "Are you going to kill yourself now?" Said from inches away, with a wide grin.

   He has no real understanding of death or suicide at this age, he has no clue why the adults were so freaked out. (The kid he said it to, by the way, was unfazed.) No, he doesn't watch violent television, or play video games of any kind. Yes, he was pulled out for small group instruction on social skills and peer interaction. We're just lucky to live in a district that allows teachers to use common sense, elsewhere kids have been expelled for less, even kindergartners.

•   From completely out of the blue, at the dinner table: "I can't wait until I die, so I can be a ghost and haunt this house." Me: "I don't think I want to live in a haunted house." "That's OK Mommy, you and Daddy will be dead a long time by then." 

 Context: He loves ghosts, witches, vampires, etcetera. Halloween is his favorite holiday, he keeps the decorations up in his room all year long. That day he had seen a "Backyardigans" episode where three of them pretend to be ghosts in a haunted house and try to scare their friend. Seriously, if you can't trust the "Backyardigans"...

•   And finally, my favorite. A rainy day, all the lights off in the living room. It's quiet, so I go out to check on him. He's set up his play tent in the middle of the room. Me: "Corran, are you out here?" From inside the tent, in a raspy whisper: "I'm not here anymore." Me: "So where are you?" The tent flap slowly lifts, all I can see is a white face and the light from the hall reflecting off his eyes, like a cat: "I live in the Everfree Forest, near a tree with the face of danger." And the flap verrrrrry slowly drops again. Me: "Oooh-kaaay, I'm going back to washing dishes."

 So, I guess if you have creative, intelligent, imaginative kids, they're going to express themselves in, uh, imaginative ways. Better than having dull, boring kids, right? And if anyone wants to, please comment here with the weird stuff your own kids have said.

Book Review: Necessity's Child

"Necessity's Child"
by Sharon Lee & Steve Miller

 This is the newest novel in the authors' popular Liaden Universe series. "Necessity's Child" is a standalone novel, not in the Val Con/Miri or Theo Waitley story arcs, but complementary to them. The story follows Syl Vor, one of the younger generation of Clan Korval, as he adapts to the clan's new life on Surebleak, and Kezzi, a child of the Kompani, a secretive family group living underground on Surebleak. But this story also revolves around Rys, an agent for the Department of the Interior, injured and left for dead on the doorstep of the Kompani. Left with amnesia from his head injury, Rys finds a place with the Kompani while trying to discover who he is. But if he remembers his past, will his agent training reassert itself, making him a danger to Clan Korval? Or will he become the man he was before the Department of the Interior brainwashed him?

 There are a LOT of Liaden Universe stories, and I've never been disappointed in any of them. This one is no exception. Lee and Miller know how to write characters you care about, and they've created a universe for them that's so real, you feel as if you've been there. Reading one of their novels is a time-consuming activity - not because they're overlong, but because as soon as I finish, I feel the need to re-read everything else in the series, revisiting all my old friends.

 While this is a great novel, it's probably not the place to start if you've never read any of the other Liaden novels. It assumes the reader is already familiar with the characters and setting, and would probably be too confusing for a beginner. Start with "Agent of Change" and work your way up from there. And leave yourself plenty of time: These are books that will have you reading "just one more chapter," until you look up and realize it's hours past your bedtime.

Pin-Tried: A New Blog Series

 Thanks to my iPad, Pinterest has now passed Facebook as my number one time-waster. It's just so easy to pull up and troll through during those odd five minutes waiting for water to boil, or the boy to put his shoes on, or during commercials (in the rare instance that we actually watch TV live instead of through the DVR.)

 While going through my boards, I realized I had tons of fun recipes, crafts and kid projects pinned, but I'd never actually TRIED any of them. (Not an uncommon problem, judging from some of the humorous pins I've put on my "Funny & Geeky" board.)

 So, in the interest of holding myself accountable for actually doing some of these, I've decided to make it a blog series - every Tuesday, I will try to blog about something I got the original idea for on Pinterest. (Which, since most of these pins originally came from someone else's blog, is a fascinating example of the Internet cannibalizing itself. But I digress.) I'll rate my attempts using the completely unscientific scale of  "Epic Fail," "Close Enough" and "Nailed It!" I know this isn't a completely original idea, I already follow Pintester, who documents her hilarious Pin fails. It's mostly just to motivate myself into trying something new, instead of just accumulating digital idea collections.

First up: Cinnamon Roll Cookie Bars
Verdict: Nailed It!

 The original pinner said these tasted just like cinnamon rolls, and they were right! Soft and chewy, super-cinnamon-y, and with the perfect powdered sugar frosting that comes on the best bakery cinnamon rolls. I made these strictly according to the recipe the first time, and they came out just a hair overcooked. Also, the frosting tasted like eating spoonfuls of straight sugar. The second time, I cut a couple of minutes off the baking time. I also doubled the frosting (frosting is my favorite part, I thought it needed more) and added a teaspoon of almond extract - I think it gave the frosting a little more depth of flavor.

 If you love cinnamon, make these. They're so good, I was rationalizing eating them for breakfast. (Hey, if it tastes like a cinnamon roll, it counts as breakfast.)

Here's the recipe:

Cinnamon Roll Cookie Bars

Ingredients
1 box yellow cake mix (I used white, it worked fine)
1/2 cup melted butter
2 eggs
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons cinnamon

Icing
2 tablespoons milk
2 cups powdered sugar

Directions
Mix all ingredients and pour into a greased 9"x 13" baking dish. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.
When done remove from the oven, cool, and pour icing over the top. 

Product Review: Squeeze 'n Blow Pop-Up Bubbles

 When preparing the kids' Easter baskets, I was looking for small, fun (and cheap) outdoor toys. Since we go through a ton of bubble juice every year, bubbles are a no-brainer. While looking for something else entirely, I ran across a display of these:

At the sale price of 2/$5, this was a little more than I planned to spend - you can get a bottle of bubbles for $1 or less pretty much anywhere. But I was swayed by SpongeBob, which the boy loves, and the idea of no-spill bubbles. (They also had a pink Dora one for the little girl.)

The bubble wand pops up when the bottle is squeezed

 So, the idea here is a pretty good one: instead of having to stick your fingers in the bottle to try to pull out the bubble wand, the bubble wand is pushed up through a hole when you gently squeeze the bottle, already ready to blow. Stop squeezing, and the wand drops back down to reload. Repeat for more bubbles. Should be easy.

 Like I said, the idea is good; the execution, however...well, there were some problems.

• When I first opened it, no matter how gently I squeezed, when the wand popped up bubble juice spurted out with it, to run over the sides and down my hand and arm. This happened until the bottle was about half empty.
• The squeezing process churned the bubble juice into foam, making it very difficult to blow any bubbles. I probably only got bubbles once out of every four or five squeezes.
• You have to squeeze pretty hard to get the bubble wand up, and you have to maintain the pressure to keep it up while you blow - as soon as you let up, it slides back down. The age says three and up, but my six-year-old was not able to do this consistently. Granted, he doesn't have a lot of patience and he'd rather have me blowing the bubbles anyway, but after about five minutes, my hand and wrist were sore from the force required to keep squeezing this thing.

On the plus side, when we were able to blow bubbles, it blew a lot at once, and they were very pretty, iridescent bubbles. But overall, there is no way this was worth the money.

Movie Review: "Oblivion"

 "Oblivion," starring Tom Cruise, Morgan Freeman

 I didn't know a lot about this one going in, just what I'd seen in the previews. Tom Cruise plays Jack, a tech left behind as a caretaker for giant hydro machines, along with his comm officer/partner Victoria.  The rest of Earth's population has moved to Titan after an alien invasion - at least that's what he believes. Inconsistencies start popping up, flashbacks to a life he doesn't remember.  I didn't think there was room for yet another post-apocalyptic movie, but this one has a pretty original slant. The visual effects are just wonderful, as far as I could tell, flawless. Like most disaster movies, we get to see the remains of New York (I think there's a law requiring it), though we don't get to see the actual destruction.

 Though I'm not a big Tom Cruise fan, I really enjoyed him in this. The action/adventure hero is pretty much the only kind of role he does, but hey, he's good at it. My only problem: he doesn't have much chemistry with either of his female leads. But the action scenes are good, and the story moves along at a pretty good clip, not a lot of slow parts. There are some really creepy exchanges between Victoria and Sally, their boss up on a space station in orbit - they start off sounding normal, but as time goes on, and you start to realize something is off here, they just get creepier and creepier.

  I found the ending both predictable, and a bit unbelievable (though I can't say why without spoilers), but overall, this one is worth paying to see on the big screen. It's a good opener for the summer blockbuster season.

Geek Road Trip 2: KC Planet Comicon

 So, this past weekend the whole family road-tripped down to Kansas City for Planet Comicon. We made this trip last year, and within the parameters of travelling with a five-year-old and an 18-month old, it was pretty successful. Since this year's convention promised to be bigger and better, with even more must-see sci-fi guests, we decided to make the journey again.

  KC is about three hours from home, which is a long time to be trapped in a car with a cranky two-year-old and a bored almost-seven-year-old, so this year DH found a deal on an in-car DVD player. I'd been against this in the past, since a.) it's expensive and b.) we didn't have this stuff growing up and managed to survive just fine. (And we only had four TV channels. And we had to walk to the set and turn a knob to change channels. And if you missed a show, too bad, there was no finding it online or On Demand. But I digress.)

 I must say, though, it worked quite well; there was no poking, teasing or whining from the backseat, they were both engrossed in "Monsters Inc." and "The Backyardigans." Unfortunate side-effect: they didn't fall asleep in the car like usual, which means they were still awake when we got to the hotel at 10 p.m. - and so keyed up, they didn't fall asleep until 11:30, pretty much negating our attempt at going down the night before the con so we could be well-rested in the morning.

 Planet Comicon has grown by leaps and bounds. Even though they moved this year to a much bigger facility, it was still wall-to-wall people - not a surprise with the number of excellent guests they booked. Parking was atrocious, there was nowhere near enough nearby parking lots or garages. (Can't blame Comicon for that, that would be KC's planning department, who decided to build a massive convention center in an area of inadequate parking.) The lines to buy tickets were unbelievably long, but Comicon staff were there with signs and directions, keeping things semi-organized and pathways open. The lines moved faster than I expected, but next year, we're buying advance tickets - the will-call line was waaaay shorter!

 Once again, concessions available were inadequate and overpriced. There were only two concession stands, plus a couple of snack vendors and some vending machines. The line for the Quiznos stand was about an hour long all day - it never seemed to get shorter! I would expect concession workers to be better prepared for the expected crowds - I'm guessing attendance at about 2000 - and I hope they're able to streamline their operation for next year.

The staff, both convention center employees and Comicon volunteers, were polite and helpful, giving directions to the lost, organizing autograph lines, etc. The celebrity guests we encountered seemed to be having a great time, which means staff must have been taking good care of them!

We didn't get to see all the guests - Comicon doesn't have a lot for young children, which made for an easily-bored boy, and the two-year old can only be confined to a stroller for so long - but we managed to get to our first priorities. I got to see Wil Wheaton's panel - the first half was just him talking about himself and his life. He's an ubergeek, and a very funny and witty guy. During the Q and A he answered questions about everything from Star Trek to Big Bang Theory, and he has a great touch with the littlest fans, taking kids' questions just as seriously as ones from adults.

Wil Wheaton, wearing a fan-made Doctor Who scarf

I also got to see half of George Takei's panel (while the little girl napped in the stroller), and he is by far my favorite original Star Trek cast member to see at a convention. He's had such an interesting life, Star Trek is just a small part of what he has to say. Right now, he has a musical, "Allegiance," which premiered in San Diego and will be moving to Broadway soon. It's (loosely) based on his own past in a Japanese internment camp as a child during WW II. He's a fascinating speaker, with that wonderful, mellow voice, and the crowd loved it when he let loose his signature "Oh, my!"

George Takei

Our must-get autographs this year were George Takei and Lee Meriwether for DH, and Ray Park for me. Lee Meriwether (Catwoman in the Adam West Batman movie) didn't have the longest line, but it was definitely the slowest-moving line. I didn't hear much grumbling though, since the reason it was so slow is because she spent time talking and taking pictures with everyone who came through - a classy lady who seemed to genuinely enjoy meeting her fans.

Me, Lee Meriwether and DH (kids were uncooperative for photos)

DH's photo collage, signed by George Takei & Lee Meriwether

George Takei, on the other hand, had the fastest line, but he's been doing this long enough to have it down to a science. He had four helpers, plus con staff, to keep everyone moving and orderly, and still have a couple of minutes of personal chat while signing.

My best con moment was my Ray Park autograph. While waiting in Lee Meriwether's line a little after 3 p.m., I realized we were right in front of Ray Park's table - he wasn't there (probably getting a bite to eat before his panel at four) but the staffer said he'd be back at five. And there were already seven people waiting in his line!

 

Not having anything else to do at the moment, and figuring one line was as good as another, I took the little girl in the stroller and got in Ray Park's line, leaving DH and the boy to stand in Lee Meriwether's line. I didn't really expect to be able to wait there from 3:30 until 5, (Fruit Ninja and Star Wars Angry Birds on the iPad can only keep a two-year-old entertained for so long) but I figured it was worth a try. It was my lucky day, because Ray Park came back by about 3:45, saw there were people already waiting for him, and decided to do a little unscheduled signing before his 4 p.m. panel. I got my 12" Darth Maul figure signed just before he had to leave for his panel - and he said he liked my T-shirt! Squeee!  

So overall, an exhausting, but entertaining weekend. Here's some extra pix of some of my favorite cosplayers.

Cyberman

Beast (from X-Men)

Day and night Princess Fionas (the boy was literally struck dumb by these, but too shy to pose for pix with them)

She-Hulk, from the Fantastic 4 era

The best Logan (aka Wolverine) I've ever seen

Hawkwoman - those wings are real feathers, can't imagine how long it took to make

Look close, Batman from Batman Beyond is watching. Kinda creepy, huh?

Recipes From A to Z: C is for Clams

 It's been awhile since I posted in this series, so, a refresher: My goal is to cook a meal with one ingredient I've never used before for each letter of the alphabet. I didn't set a time limit, but I'm hoping to be done by the end of the year. I created this series in an effort to break out of my dinner comfort zone, and find some new go-to recipes that the whole family would enjoy. (Not counting the 2-year-old. She won't eat anything but fresh fruit.)

 I didn't have to look hard to find an entry for C - I found a recipe for shortcut Manhattan Clam Chowder in a magazine, and I was halfway through before I realized, hey, I've never used clams before!

 I'm not a fan of clams, raw or cooked - too chewy. But I do like an occasional clam chowder, especially Manhattan-style, which is broth-y rather than creamy. The recipe in my Cooking Club magazine looked both easy and fast, so I gave it a try. The verdict: pretty good for a first attempt, but I found a few things to tweak for next time. Soup may sound easy, but it is improved by time and attention to detail. It takes a lot of layering of flavors to reach the depth and richness you want in a bowl of winter comfort. When you take shortcuts, you get something that might taste pretty good, but is just a little thin, which is what I ended up with here. Here's the recipe to try for yourself:

Quick and Easy Manhattan Clam Chowder
1 (10 oz.) can baby clams
2 slices bacon, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
2 cups frozen potatoes O'Brien
2 tsp. minced garlic
1 (14.5 oz.) can diced tomatoes
1 (8 oz.) bottle clam juice
1 tsp. pepper
2 T. chopped fresh parsley

1. Drain clams, reserving liquid. Cook bacon in medium saucepan over medium heat 5 -7 minutes or until browned, stirring occasionally.
2. Add potatoes; reduce heat to medium low. Cook 3 minutes or until softened, stirring occasionally. Add garlic; cook 30 seconds or until fragrant, stirring constantly. Stir in tomatoes, bottled clam juice and reserved liquid; increase heat to medium high. Cover; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium low to low; simmer 10 minutes. Stir in clams and pepper; simmer 3 minutes or until hot. Stir in parsley.

My notes: I didn't use the parsley, since I don't much care for it. Next time, I plan to pump up the flavors a bit with about 1 T. of Worcestershire sauce, some white pepper, and a dash of Tony Cachere seasoning (I like a little kick.) Also, I'll probably triple the amount of bacon, because, hey, more bacon = good. Sorry there's no photo, we ate it before I remembered I should take a picture.

Movie Review: "Oz the Great and Powerful"

 So, last Saturday we went to the first big popcorn fantasy pic of the year, "Oz the Great and Powerful." I'd heard a lot of good things about this one, and I'd say it (mostly) lives up to the hype. I'm not too familiar with the Oz books, so I don't know how it stacks up in comparison, but I think this movie fits in nicely with the 1939 "Wizard of Oz." Filming the beginning in black and white, then changing to color when he reaches Oz was a nice homage to the original movie.

 This one is a prequel, telling the story of how a carnival magician made his way to Oz and became the great and powerful Wizard of Oz. James Franco is a great Oz, oozing smarmy charm with just enough heart to make you believe he could come to care about something more than himself. Michelle Williams is a charming Glinda the Good, though she really doesn't have all that much to do until the end. As the wicked witches who control the Emerald City, Rachel Weisz as Evanora is quite entertaining. She pulls off menacing evil without crossing the line into cartoonish melodrama. 

 Mila Kunis as the younger witch, Theodora, isn't quite as successful in my opinion. Fantasy dialogue is hard, and if the actor doesn't buy into it completely, it comes across as just so much gibberish. Mila seems awkward and uncomfortable with the lines at times, and after Theodora's transformation, she's a little too over-the-top to be believable. Nothing against Ms. Kunis as an actor, I've liked her in other roles, I just think she was miscast here. (I'd like to see what Natalie Portman would have done with the role.)

 The computer animation is beautiful - it really looks like another world. At times, it's easy to forget that Oz's companions for most of the movie - flying monkey Finley and the little China Doll - are computer generated. Though there's still a ways to go before interaction between human actors and computer characters is completely flawless, this movie comes pretty close.

 All in all, worth the money to see in the theater.