Grade Anything

[Sticks 1]

nothing wrong with being a hopeless romantic. so long as you remember it's hopeless to get guys to be romantic without significant threats/bribes/coersion.

I take this to great offense! For I! YES I! Am a hopeless romantic who wishes to woo a girl in a Jane Austen style, without her mistaking me for a jerk.

No way! Lol, I thought your type were dead Or only existed in her novels.

[Ender 8]

Indiana Jones: B

I enjoyed it, I really did. It was very fun. But the

aliens

were just a bit too much for me.

[Drake 53]

I guess that, when you think about it, after a box that destroys people who look at it with God-power, magic that can rip someone's heart out of their body, and discovering the Holy Grail,

aliens

might be the next logical progression of the series. Or you could just say that George Lucas destroys everything that he touches.

[Mara 29]

Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian

A-

The only reason I downgrade it a bit is because I could have stood for a little less action/battles (gaspers) and a little more plot development/character development... and for some of the cheesy lines.

But overall, it was a great adventure movie and worthy to be part of the franchise.

[Ender 8]

Yeah, the cheesy "For Narnia!" crap and the whole there's-never-blood-on-swords thing just annoyed me, but I still enjoyed it.

[Mara 29]

Yeah, I noticed the blood, thing, too. Blood on their faces, but none on their swords.

I mean, I know it's a kids' movie, but... oh well.

And how apparently just making "eyes" at each other for a couple weeks makes Susan fall in love with Caspian? :p

[Sticks 1]

And how apparently just making "eyes" at each other for a couple weeks makes Susan fall in love with Caspian?

Yeah, that was lame hollywood trying to spice things up a little bit...that happens nowhere in the book.

[Bad furday 57]

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom O' the Crystal Skull.

B+

The + for moments that were memorable/ Whatshisname riding in like Marlon Brando on the motorcycle, the nuclear test town, and Indy on the motorcycle in the library, saying, "To be a good archaeologist, you have to get out of the library!" etc.

I'd only give them an A for taking the effort to tie together theories from:

Mitchell Hedges and his crystal skull ( SCiFi channel had been going on about it for a week)

Eric Von Daankin's book Chariots of the Gods where the Maya say that they were visited by the gods from the stars.

The book goes on to show pictures of Mayans in spaceship like chairs and spacesuit like headgear (the movie does this too).

The book also mentions, like in the movie, how the Mayans would bind the childrens' skulls to elongate them, to make them look like the gods'.

[Mara 29]

And how apparently just making "eyes" at each other for a couple weeks makes Susan fall in love with Caspian?

Yeah, that was lame hollywood trying to spice things up a little bit...that happens nowhere in the book.

Yeah, I figured so.

It's been a couple years since I've read it. And it wasn't familiar to me.

[Andy 60]

I really want to see Indy 4, but it doesn't seem to be on in India yet! So I'll have to wait 'til I get home. :(

[Mara 29]

Awwww...

I have mixed feelings about it.

[Andy 60]

I changed the thread title so we can grade anything.

Just so I can grade things:

Air France: D

It was mostly average, but the food was rubbish with no choice at all so I had to have the "French Cuisine" option; which was actualy horrible.

Charles de Gaul Airport, Paris: E

Staff seemed abit pompous (no further comment), and the baggage handlers were just throwing suitcases around so if you ever pass through CDG make sure you don't have anything breakable in your luggage. Also, the bus-ride from where the plane landed to the airport terminal was almost as long as the 55-minute flight from Birmingham.

[Bad furday 57]

*Randomness* No Lufthansa or Swiss Air for B?

Oh yes...did you ride in an Ambassador taxi? And if so, how would you grade the driver? :p

[Ender 8]

I changed the thread title so we can grade anything.

Just so I can grade things:

Air France: D

It was mostly average, but the food was rubbish with no choice at all so I had to have the "French Cuisine" option; which was actualy horrible.

Charles de Gaul Airport, Paris: E

Staff seemed abit pompous (no further comment), and the baggage handlers were just throwing suitcases around so if you ever pass through CDG make sure you don't have anything breakable in your luggage. Also, the bus-ride from where the plane landed to the airport terminal was almost as long as the 55-minute flight from Birmingham.

I agree completely with both of these.

[Jake Durron 23]

That's funny I remember the baggage thing but that is practically every airport in the world... We never flew Air France, we took Ryan air... but the CDG airport was pretty fun...

[Andy 60]

And this:

Mumbai Internation Airport: U (ungradeable)

I don't know where to start.

Northwest Airlines: C-

Staff were great, my TV didn't work so I couldn't use the entertainment, but they did try to fix it, and in the end I slept anyways. The food was rubbish.

[Ayingel 24]

ya...i hate NWA too....Sun Country and ATA is where it's at

Boston and STYX Summer Tour: overall...a B. STYX was awesome as usual. they were first on, and weren't divas about it and started when the concert was supposed to (8:30). they played until 9:45 (when it started to get chilly), which included their encore. Boston, however....took an hour to get on stage. I will say, they didn't sound too bad, but their new singer hasn't quite figured it out yet. he looked like a guy they just pulled from the audience. wardrobe was a little...interesting...stage presence kinda sucked....but he did sound really good...

[Ender 8]

Cedar Rapids, Iowa Biblical Flood - A+

I really, really dislike that town.

[Bad furday 57]

Mwahahahahaha!!!!!

*Bruce Almighty voice* Hear me my children! Feel my wrath!!!!!

:p

[Winters 0]

And how apparently just making "eyes" at each other for a couple weeks makes Susan fall in love with Caspian?

Yeah, that was lame hollywood trying to spice things up a little bit...that happens nowhere in the book.

Am I the only one who didn't want Susan to fall in love with Caspian only because that means she won't go with him... because... she's, well... attractive... *sigh*

[Chickenman 9]

Pearl Jam Concert in Mansfield, Mass: ********************************************************************************

*********************************************************************************

********************************************************(out of 5)

My social life (or lack thereof) is such that I had never gone to an actual concert before. I'd seen my friends' bands a couple times, but not an actual artist. After so long without seeing one, I figured my first one had to be something. Had to be epic. I think I actually skipped a few that I might have gone to, holding out for a band I love. Then one day, on the radio, I heard Pearl Jam was coming. The perfect band. They may not be my absolute favorite, but there's simply no better choice I could have made.

I drove up with my friend Kirby, who appears to be only a casual fan of them, despite having more CDs than me. (However the ones I do have I've devoured.) We drove in, and I accidentally missed the entrance to the $40 "Premier Parking" that my dad had bought. I didn't know how to get back and then said, you know what, screw it. We got out and started heading for the venue.

The first thing I noticed, and it dismayed me, were the sheer numbers of frat dickwads who had arrived. In my mind, they had no place here. A lot of grunge music is a rejection of that kind of crap, but I also noticed something odd about them. Sure, they were drunk and playing frisbee in their dumbass visors and whatnot, but their cars were also blasting "Jeremy" and "Alive" and such, and they were singing along. They were actual fans. It was interesting.

We got there and grabbed our seats in time to catch the opening act, Ted Leo and the Pharmacists. I'd never heard any of their stuff before, though Kirby was a fan. They were really good. Kind of an indie/alternative streak about them. There's was nothing new about them, but what they did, they did well. I'm a fan.

As I waited for the techs to set up everything for Pearl Jam I grabbed a T-Shirt. Pretty sweet one of the Grim Reaper decked out in a cloak made of the American flag, standing before a cross, with B-52 Bombers forming a square in the cross' intersection. It's a cool shirt.

We were surrounded by frat dumbasses with plenty of beer and weed. The very least they could have done is brought better smelling weed. One of our friends who texted us said that we should "hold our breaths."

Yeah.

No.

Finally Pearl Jam came on. And they kicked ASS. I didn't know their first song, but when "Why Go" came on I was singing defiantly. Everyone was singing along. Everyone knew the words. It was an incredible feeling.

The highlight of the night, for me, was "Even Flow" during which one of the guitarists, Mike McCready, absolutely shredded. The guitar went behind his head, which was awesome. Throughout the concert, but especially during the solo here, he would just close his eyes, head looking up at the sky and just go where the music took him. His improvised solo made the song seem to go on for ten minutes. He absolutely ripped, snapping a guitar string at one point and then, as the drunk frat boy next to me pointed out "HE'S STILL GOIN'! HE'S STILL GOIN'!" Indeed he did. I think the solo got even better after the loss of that string. It was probably the greatest moment of my life.

My life sucks.

And it was an awesome moment.

The next best moment for me was probably even more incredible. During "Better Man" there's a pause in between one of the verses and the chorus or something, where there's just kind of a two or three second pause. The pause lasted two minutes, because the crowd absolutely went nuts. On our feet, stomping on benches, we were deafening. Eddie Vedder went to sing the next part of the song, but then thought better of it, it was too loud. His stepping back made us scream all the more. He gave the drummer a bewildered look and just kind of uncomfortably took it all in. He tried to start singing a couple more times, only to reconsider each time. If the band wasn't operating under a curfew, that moment could have lasted the entire night. It was an incredible moment. Talking to other fans, the kind who follow a band around for entire tours, that's the first time they'd ever seen anything like it.

And so they continued to rock. At one point Eddie pissed me off a little when he remarked about how strange he found it that there was a recruiting station in the venue. He then remarked how all of us were here, so we probably didn't sign up and that's good. I love Eddie's speeches, but that one pissed me off. Not that it was un-American or some dumbass s*** like that, it just felt disrespectful to the troops.

He redeemed himself later, when he opened the second encore with a protest song that he wrote, first telling us the story of a friend of his who went to Iraq and was paralyzed. I was fine with singing along with a "No more!" every couple of lines because it was more anti-war than anti-soldier. I confused the hell out of Kirby.

Their cover of "Reign O'er Me" was epic. They closed the set with "Alive" which was perfect.

It was an incredible night.

[Radioactive Isotope 29]

i'm going to see Wall-E this weekend. my review will be forthcoming, though it probably won't be as good as Chicken's Pearl Jam review.

[Chickenman 9]

:D

I'm still trying to get over it. Ordered the official bootleg last night.

[Ayingel 24]

Wall-E :: A

it was so adorable...quite the overload tho >.>

Wanted :: B-

a little over and under done...some parts were great...some were kinda ehhhhhn

[Ender 8]

I'm still trying to get over it. Ordered the official bootleg last night.

Ted Leo's a friend of mine from here in the City... I love his band.