Monday – 22 September 2014
This past weekend was rather good.
I went into Friday thinking “Friday!” I came out of Friday “Blah.” We had a situation at work that lasted all day, meaning that I wasn’t really able to take care of any of the things that I had planned to tackle. By the time I got home, all I wanted to do was call it a day. Sara, the girls and I went out for dinner. By the time we got home and got the girls ready for bed, I was ready to decompress… but didn’t know what I wanted to do. Sara! to the rescue: She brought me a glass of Maker’s Mark, a bag of Doritos and suggested that I vent some frustration in Titanfall.
Best. Wife. Ever.
Knowing that I had a fairly atrocious night’s sleep, Sara let me sleep in on Saturday morning. When I got up, Team DiVa and I went downstairs to watch a couple episodes of My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic and the second half of The LEGO Movie. After lunch, the girls went down for naps. I probably should have, as well. But, I didn’t. I did mow the lawn, though, so I’ll count that as a “win.” Saturday afternoon, we had a few friends over for a “Fall Cookie Extravaganza,” as Sara called it. It was nice to be able to hang out and just enjoy the company of friends… and cookies. The girls turned into quite the little hostesses, as well: They would ask everyone who showed up what drinks they want and would pour a small – VERY small – drink for them. (I really think that it was more a matter of them liking to use the lemonade and water dispensers.) We had dinner and then we watched a couple of episodes of Doctor Who – one with Twelve, one with Ten.
Sunday morning, we got up and got ready to go out for breakfast. Instead of heading to Millcreek Cafe, as is our usual Sunday morning routine, we drove up to Layton to meet our favorite Treasure Valley Rollergirl, Mia Wallups (a.k.a. Jen)! We surprised her by inviting Dave, Angy and Gala, as well. At Sara’s suggestion, we ate at Sill’s Cafe. And it was worth the drive.
I tried a scone (which was, literally, as big as my head!) and biscuits and gravy, which were fantastic. I’m not sure exactly what everyone else had, but the consensus was that everyone’s meals were good. It was also nice to catch up with Jen; life’s been busy for both of us and we’d kind of lost track of each other in the process.
We came back home, got the girls a light lunch, and then put them down for naps. Once they were safely asleep, I headed downstairs to catch what was left of the second half of the Ravens-Browns game. I’d been tracking the game’s progress and it had been a back-and-forth battle. But, in the end…
Justin Tucker nailed an at-the-buzzer field goal to put the Ravens at 2-1 on the season.
After the game, I went to the Big Shiny Robot & Bohemian Brewery’s Nerd Swap Meet. I came home with a couple of finds:
When I got home, the girls wanted me to go for a ride in their “rocket ship.” I love their imaginations. I’m going to have to find them either astronaut costumes or, at least, a couple of astronaut helmets. Sara reminded me that we’d promised them a trip to “the Slurpee store,” so we returned to Earth and headed to the local 7-Eleven. Then, back home for dinner, kids’ showers, a show (and a few Schoolhouse Rock! videos) before putting the ladies down for the night.
We wound up the night with glasses of wine and The Strain.
All-in-all, a good weekend.
Stray Toasters
Sunday would have been my friend, Jess’, 40th birthday.
While watching the score of the Ravens’ game, I thought about how much I would have enjoyed watching the game with Brad and our late friend Dave, a Browns fan.
I picked up Destiny last week. I have yet to play it, as I discovered that I need to get a new hard drive for my Xbox.
I’m still forming an opinion about the new Doctor. But, at this point, I’m liking him.
Sunday – 14 September 2014
For the past week, I’ve been on vacation. It’s been pretty amazing.
Last weekend, Salt Lake Comic Con was in town. I went (of course), as did Sara and Team DiVa. I think that the girls’ highlight moment can be summed up here:
They were pretty ecstatic to see Wonder Woman. I thought that Diana was going to try and knock people over to get to her. Unfortunately, by the time I finally got this picture, they were starting to run out of people juice. Click here to see more pictures of the outing.
Sunday afternoon, we packed up and headed to Redfish Lake for a long-anticipated family vacation. As Sunday and Monday were the girls’ birthdays, we had a small to-do for that:
We spent three-and-a-half days at the lake; it was a nice change of pace and it was a lot of fun to see the girls interacting with a new environment. There was a bit of a love/hate relationship with the lake: Temps were mostly in the 60s and 70s, so the lake was… brisk, to say the least. But, the girls had fun wading in the water and trying to catch minnows:
Sara! also introduced them to fishing. With hooks and bait and the whole nine yards. The fish weren’t biting, but they still liked it. I even managed to sneak in a bike ride while we were there. Click here for more pictures of our time in Central Idaho.
We came back to Salt Lake City to prepare for the last hurrah of the weekend: Team DiVa’s third birthday party (yes, that’s a picture link):
Yes, the girls are in their Comic Con costumes – it was a superhero-themed party. We invited some of the girls’ friends from daycare and a few other kids they know. The birthday party was a big hit. My mother, sister, niece and uncle flew in for the weekend to help celebrate. After the party – and a couple of much-needed naps for the girls – we had a family dinner in the back yard. (I think we’ve used the yard more in the past two months than we have in the past two years. Go figure.)
This morning, we saw Mom, Kris and Kennadi off at the airport.
My uncle had a early flight, so we said our goodbyes to him last night. It was nice having them here for a few days, as we haven’t seen them since last summer.
After that, we headed to breakfast at Millcreek Cafe. From there, we stopped to pick up a copy of Cinderella for a family movie morning. The movie went over with a mixed reaction, but the girls watched the whole thing. And from there, it was lunch and nap time.
Tomorrow, the working world awaits. But that’s tomorrow. For today, I still have a few hours to spend with Sara! and the girls. And there are Slurpees in our future.
Monday – 08 September 2014
Before I forget to post this… again…
This past weekend, Salt Lake Comic Con happened in… um… Salt Lake City, appropriately enough. I went as part of the Dr. Volt’s Comic Connection cavalcade.
Team DiVa (as Wonder Woman and Batgirl) at Salt Lake Comic Con
I even managed to take a few pictures (click here).
Thursday – 21 August 2014
I’ll just go ahead and apologize up front for this post now.
I found the last picture in this post – HEY! No skipping ahead! – a few years ago. It still makes me laugh. I found the other pictures over the past week, while looking for something totally unrelated.
Tuesday – 15 July 2014 Thursday – 24 July 2014 A new week is upon us now two days old.
An even newer week is upon us… and is almost over.
That’s right, this is a post that’s been so delayed and off-put that it’s taken over a week to complete. I’m just going to leave the core of the original post in place and just append the newest additions to the end of it. Because I can.
Tw0 weekends past This was a good weekend. We kicked it off Friday evening with the Deer Valley Music Festival – Utah Symphony performed the music of John Williams. And, as if they knew that I was in the audience, they opened the concert with Superman March. The concert wasn’t solely Williams’ music; Team DiVa even heard a song that they recognized: On the Beautiful Blue Danube, which they know from their Classical BabyDVDs. After the concert and after the girls were in bed, I played ‘Clix with coworker Adam… until the wee hours of the morning.
Which made for a short sleep cycle on Saturday, as little girls bounded into our room before 8 AM. I spent the better part of the day with them, as it was Sara!’s Saturday to play. This included letting them watch The Lion King... which lead to Vanessa singing I Just Can’t Wait To Be King Begin.
All. Night. Long.
It was more funny than annoying.
That Sunday, we got up and went to breakfast at Millcreek Cafe and Eggworks. Then it was off to run a few errands and then back home to get ready for our annual ice cream social. This year, we had more kids than we have in the past. We also prepared for this with: Ice cream cones! I am happy to report that the cones were not only a hit, but were utilized with minimal spillage!
Ten days ago Yesterday was Monday. ‘Nuff said.
This past weekend, we headed up to Idaho to celebrate Sara!’s grandmother’s 90th birthday, which was actually last November. But, as it fell right before the holidays, the family decided to hold off until (nearly) everyone would be available to convene and celebrate it. So, this summer was chosen as the “when” and central Idaho was chosen as the “where.”
I like traveling. Granted, I haven’t done a lot of it in the past few years, but I do enjoy it. With toddlers being added to the mix, there are things that you learn and accommodations that must be made in travel arrangements. Things like: Potty breaks. Before children, pit stops and bathroom breaks only occurred once every couple of hours, if that often. With kids who are on the tail-end of potty training, these breaks become more of an “ad-hoc” thing. And the ad-hoc can be pretty damned often. Case in point:
Sara and I have made the same trip, before kids, in a little over five hours.
This trip (to Idaho, at least) took roughly 7.5 hours, including six (6) bathroom stops – a couple of which I don’t even want to talk about – and a stop for dinner.
The trip back was about six hours – with only one stop for a potty emergency.
The trip itself was fun, though brief. We got in late Friday evening; Sara! scored us wonderful accommodations, via AirBnB. We stayed in what was effectively a mother-in-law apartment of a home overlooking the Salmon River — the river was about 50′ from our bedroom patio door:
This also offered Team DiVa the opportunity to throw rocks into the river, which they did with great aplomb.
Saturday, we spent the day with the family – aunts, uncles, cousins, kith an kin. And Sara’s grandmother, of course.
Sara made a quilt for the occasion, with hand-signed/stamped/imprinted pieces from everyone – except the newest addition (within the past few months) – in the family:
It was nice to have a chance to visit with everyone. That evening, we headed back to the apartment to put the girls to bed (well past their usual bedtime). Sunday morning, we woke up, got dressed, packed and hit the road… back into town, for breakfast. We ate at the Tea Cup Cafe & Bakery. It was an unexpectedly refreshing place. And, I would have to agree with the high ratings on Yelp.
On the way back to SLC, we stopped in Arco, ID. Why? Because there’s a submarine sail there. Why? Okay, that one, I can’t really answer.
I find it highly amusing that the two fall on the same day.
On a recent trip to the party supply store, we bought superhero masks for the girls, in four different colors. Why? To keep them from stealing mine. Because they liked them. Earlier this week, they decided to wear them in the car on their way to day care.
Sara! asked who they were.
Diana (green mask) said, “Green Lantern!” (Yeah, definitely my kid.)
Vanessa (blue mask): “Somersault!”
(Backstory: A couple days ago, their Aunt Jen was teaching them to do somersaults in the back yard. I guess it made something of an impression.)
I finished listening to Stranger in a Strange Land last week; it was the first time I’ve read/listened to the book in at least ten years. I read something recently that posited that Jubal Harshaw, not Valentine Michael Smith, was actually the protagonist of the book. Looking back, I can see some validity to that argument.
Plum Stitch. If you haven’t been there, go now. I’ll wait right here until you get back.
I introduced the girls to Smashmouth’s Walking on the Sunthis morning last week. It went over well.
Coworker Brad and I have been recasting movies and TV shows today. It’s helped to make the day pass rather quickly.
I’ve found that watching My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic with the girls isn’t so bad.
What is bad: When the vershluggen theme song pops into your head as an earworm.
One week ’til Guardians of the Galaxy. Tickets have been acquired.
Wednesday – 25 June 2014
Totally missed “Team DiVa Tuesday” (again) yesterday. Hopefully, this will make up for it:
Hanging out at Wheeler Historic Farm
On the tiger statue at Hogle Zoo
On the elephant statue at Hogle Zoo
Oh, and John V. might want to stop reading now…
Is he gone? Okay.
The girls have taken a pretty strong liking to My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, since being introduced to it about a month ago. Last night was Vanessa’s night to choose what they watched before bedtime and she chose…. dun dun DUNNNNN…. MLP. No problem.
I found the first season on Netflix and fired up the first episode. (Why not start at the beginning, after all?) This episode introduces the main ponies and how they met. That’s pretty good for a first episode.
During the scene where Twilight Sparkle meets Applejack – yes, I actually have gotten to know the ponies’ names. I’ll just chalk this up to what my mother calls being a “Commendable Daddy.” – Applejack takes Twilight’s hoof and starts shaking it, vigorously. Diana, at this point, looked up and rather nonchalantly noted: “Ponies don’t have hands,” and then continued to watch the rest of the episode.
Sara and I just kind of stared at each other, with a “Did she really just say that…?!” expression on our faces.
Tuesday – 14 January 2014
Life with kids can be interesting. It would probably be best to say that life with kids is often interesting. That’s not to say that it’s not fun. And exciting. And, all too often, very amusing.
Over the past couple of months, we’ve introduced the concept of “time out” to Team DiVa. It’s been met with mixed results. Most often, when one of the girls does something to antagonize her sister and I tell them they’re going to time out, they either:
Start saying “I not going to time out! I not going to time out!,”
Make a bee-line for Sara!,
Start crying,
Some combination of all of the above.
But, time out usually happens. (They do not like it.) And they stay there until they tell me why it is that they are in time out. Once they tell me that, I ask them what they need to do to get out of time out, which is usually finding their sister, saying they are sorry and giving their sister a hug.
So, you can imagine my surprise – and amusement – when I came home from work today to find that the girls had introduced something new to their toys. They have a handful of Fisher-Price Little People figures, including three Wonder Woman figures and a Batgirl figure. They would have the figures playing, hit them together, then tell one figure that it was going to time out.
Sara! and I have been watching the current/modern Doctor Who, starting with The Ninth Doctor and have just gotten back to The Eleventh Doctor. Until this, I’d not seen the Ninth or Tenth Doctor (outside of “Blink”). I really enjoyed Mr. Tennant’s Doctor, he may be my favorite after Tom Baker, of course… which made me enjoy this all the more.
I wish that this Indiegogo campaign had gotten more of a signal boost when it would have helped the cause; I would have enjoyed seeing something like this produced.
Saturday – 02 November 2013
A few weeks ago, Sara bought the girls stickers – two types of Justice League stickers, to be precise. Why? Because kids love stickers. Duh. We haven’t been giving them as incentives or accolades. We (mostly Sara, to be honest) have been giving them to the girls because, again, kids love stickers.
Earlier this week, Sara gave the girls an Aquaman sticker (Diana) and a Green Lantern sticker (Vanessa). They have been pretty good about keeping up with their respective stickers, though the stickers look like they’ve been down about 20 miles of bad road at this point.
After dinner tonight, Vanessa was playing with her sticker and kept saying something that I wasn’t sure that I was hearing properly. So, focused on her, I asked her to say what she said again. And she did. Loudly.
Green Lantern’s light!
I must have had “The World’s Most Confused Father” look on my face, because she said it again. Equally loudly, if not louder.
Green Lantern’s light!
I was stunned, mostly because I hadn’t taught her the Green Lantern Corps oath. Yet, there she was, shouting it – or at least part of it – in the dining room for all to hear. So, I did the only thing I could do: I looked into the kitchen at Sara and asked, “Did you teach her the oath?”
After she stopped laughing, Sara said,”Yes… but I didn’t figure she’d get the whole thing, so I just went with ‘Green Lantern’s light!'”
Thursday – 22 August 2013
Another No Bad News Thursday is upon us. Amen.
Life’s been good. The family is doing well. Team DiVa continue to surprise us with things that they have picked up. And they are coming up – quickly – on their second birthday. Time does fly.
The family at Silver Lake
Vanessa (l) and Diana playing with Rokenbok Monorail
More monorail time!
And, speaking of Rokenbok, the girls were featured on the Rokenbok Facebook page, in a picture that Sara! took over the weekend:
Intense concentration…
Reeling by on Celluloid
Since Sara’s back has gotten better over the past few weeks, we’ve gotten back in the habit of Movie Date Night. Last week, Sara picked Gallowwalkers:
Wow. This was NOT a good movie. (Although, I still think I “win” the “Choose the Most Awful Movie” award with The Spirit.) Let me just say that there is no need for you to check out this movie — we took that hit for you. You’re welcome.
That’s right… I resurrected the lawn darts to show just how bad this movie was. (And for those who are keeping score at home, I just effectively gave this movie a -8 rating. Yep, “negative eight.”)
Tonight was my pick. I rolled the dice and came up with Trance, a film by Danny Boyle, starring James McAvoy, Rosario Dawson, and Vincent Cassel:
This… this was a good movie. It had suspense. It had some (not a lot, but “some”) action. There was an interesting twist – one that I thought I’d figured out about 1/3 of the way through the movie, but didn’t.
Seriously, though, if you are looking for an interesting movie that will keep you guessing, I give this a definite thumbs-up with an okay.
Stray Toasters
For months now, Sara and I have been humming John Williams’ Imperial March (from Star Wars) to the girls whenever we change their diapers. It often winds up getting vocalized as “Bum Bum Bum… Check your bum… Check your bum…” Hey, don’t knock it – it’s kept them entertained.A week or so ago, I played this version of the song, from YouTube, while changing one of the girls. This may have been a mistake. Why? Because whenever it’s diaper-changing time now, they ask for “Bum bum check a bum…”
Tuesday – 11 August 2013
It’s been a while.
Sure, that’s an understatement, but it’s my blog and there you go.
Over the past couple of weeks, there’s been a lot going on. The highlights include:
The Train Room is (mostly) finished; the only thing remaining is to choose and install some baseboard. The carpet went in at the end of July. It was a bit more of an adventure than expected. And by “adventure,” I mean that the carpet was installed; the same day, we started noticing a couple of problems:
It started separating from the step in the room,
There were patches were it appeared to have not been stretched and was coming up from the tack strips, and
There were spots where the tacks on said tack strips weren’t bent over… so you could feel them when you walked on those parts of the carpet.
Needless to say, there was a callback to have the job redone. When they asked if I wanted the same installers, I asked to have someone else come out, “to have another pair of eyes look at the job,” as I told the CSR. A few days later, the second installer came out and looked at the job. His comments included:
“I can’t believe they left it like this,”
“I’m taking pictures of this to send to my boss,” and
“This is the second time that I’ve had to go behind them and finish a job.”
When I came home after the fix, things were done properly… including adding a tack strip to the step to hold down the carpet. You know, the way it should have been done the first time.
But, the room is otherwise ready to go… as seen here:
Next up, was the Rush Clockworks Angels concert; my sixth Rush concert and fifth one I’ve attended in Utah. I went with Jeff (Galadriel’s stepdad) for his birthday. We were out on the lawn, just off-center to stage right, which afforded a great view of the venue and the crowd. The band played a show just shy of two-and-a-half hours, excluding a twenty minute intermission. The setlist included songs that I haven’t heard live in many years and some that I hadn’t heard live at all. It was a blast. I even ran into my friend, Jason and his son. Win-Win.
Usana Amphitheatre, waiting for the concert to begin
Ladies and gentlemen… Rush
Clockwork Angels tourbook and ticket
And, while not quite as grand in scale as a home improvement project or a concert – but easily as grand on the “cool factor” scale, I got to hang out with Melissa (Sib-4) last week. It was nice; it had been far too long since we’d done so.
Also, last week, I set up my monorail for the girls to play with. I’d expected them to “like” it; I didn’t expect this:
Totally worth it. In fact, it’s become their go-to spot between and after their nightly episodes of Team Umizoomi.
Saturday, we got up early and took the Team DiVa down to Stone Mountain Park for the Sandy City Hot Air Balloon Fest. The girls have been somewhat fascinated with hot air balloons and Sara! learned that the event was coming up, so it seemed like a perfect match.
Up, up and away…
We weren’t disappointed: The girls had a great time watching the balloons. They even got to see one landig, as we were driving away. On the way home, they kept asking for “More hot air balloons… More hot air balloons!”
Saturday night, Chris came over to play ‘Clix. We played a couple of games and he whupped my teams rather handily — I don’t think that I even managed to damage any of his characters in the first game. Yeah, it was that bad. But it was fun to play and well worth the drubbing I took.
Sunday was a good day. We started out with a trip to the Wasatch Front Farmer’s Market at Wheeler Historic Farm.
Quiet repose on a bench – Vanessa (l) and Diana
Here there be cows…
Hey! There are rocks here, too!
We ran into our friend, Diane, whom I don’t think we have seen in… a year or two. We also took the girls to see some of the animals.
Stray Toasters – Team DiVa Music Edition
Among the ladies’ top music requests these days are such diverse elements as:
Marvin Gaye’s Got to Give It Up – which they call “The Star Song,” because of the cover art that shows up with it on Spotify
Gorillaz’ 19-2000 (Soulchild Remix) – which they call “Baby Crying,” again because of the cover art. (Not sure exactly how they arrived at this one, but that’s what they call it.
The Monkey Song, from Animaniacs – their current favorite pre-bedtime song/video.
Sara! surprised me with the information that this wasn’t an original song, but was adapted from a song called Monkey, by Harry Belafonte.
Elmo’s Song, from Sesame Street (Hey, they’re kids. Go figure.)
Sunday evening, as we were leaving the house to go to Sara’s parents’ house, Diana started singing “I want to ride my bicycle, I want to ride my bike…” Neither Sara nor I taught her Bicycle Race, so we were stymied by her belting it out. It turns out that Sara’s mother taught it to the girls, singing it to/with them whenever they see a bicycle go by. Diana, seeing my bicycle in the garage on our way out, just did what her grandmother had taught her. “Clever girl.”
On the way home from dinner, the girls started singing “The Tra La La Song (Theme from The Banana Splits Show).” That one I take full credit/blame for.
Last night, Sara! told me that Diana took some of her Mega Blox, put them together, hoisted them into the air and said, “Kite!” (Of course she knows what a kite is, she’s my daughter after all.) Following this, she took four blocks, stacked them and did he same thing, but this time, she said, “Rocket ship!” That’s my kid.
Vanessa (l), Diana
This happened the other night, during dinner. Completely unsolicited. Completely adorable.
The girls, being “somewhat” inquisitive lasses, like to push buttons and to turn lights off and on. Last week, I decided to test a theory. I built the circuit below – the first circuit that I’ve built in many years:
Three LEDs, connected to three buttons. Press a button and the corresponding light glows. I figured that I’d see how they liked it. Apparently, they like it quite a bit. They play with it whenever they’re downstairs watching Team Umizoomi.
Over the past couple of weeks, the girls’ preferred bedtime song has been “The Monkey Song,” from Animaniacs.
It’s become the new nightly ritual; they will ask for it before heading to their cribs for “Quiet Crib Time.”
Wednesday – 10 July 2013
Welcome to the middle of the week.
After a less-than-stellar start to the work week, things seem to be picking up steam. I’m good with that.
Today is also Movie Date Night… and it’s my turn to pick a movie. I should probably try to come up with an idea of what we’re going to watch.
This weekend, Sara!, Team DiVa and I are running participating in the Young Living Farms Run Through the Lavender 5k on Saturday. This year will be our fourth time doing it. (“It’s tradition!”) My time was better last year than in 2011 – even with my running buddy strapped to my chest…
…but I am fairly certain that I’m going to lose a few minutes this year, as my running buddy has gotten a little bigger. Not big enough to walk it herself, though – she’ll be on my back. Still, it should be fun. Aside from waking up at O’dark-thirty to be at the starting line on time. My goal: To not be the last person across the finish line. I’m Ivory Soap sure that I can accomplish this goal.
Speaking of “kids in backpacks,” we figured that we should test drive walking around with Team DiVa in their carriers as backpacks, rather than chest packs. It’s been… six months, at least, since they’ve been in the carriers. So, we expected some reluctance.
Vanessa made it immediately known that she was having none of this foolishness, with immediate cries of “Get down! Get down!”
*sigh*
Diana was a little more accommodating. A little. She made it about thirty seconds before she decided that she wasn’t going to put up with being in a carrier, either.
Round 1 – Carriers: 0, Team DiVa 1
We were eventually able to convince Diana to try again. And she stayed put. Not surprisingly, Vanessa was more willing to get in her carrier after seeing that it wasn’t as doom-laden as she had made it out to be.
And with that, we set off for a lap around the block. It went pretty well. By the time we completed our circuit, we decided to walk a little further, so we walked over to the cul-de-sac a block over. Still no problems. In fact, the girls seemed to have a decent time of it.
After getting the girls to bed, I watched another episode of David Tennant’s Doctor Who and stayed up later than I should have watching Leon: The Professional. Good movie.
Stray Toasters
Some days, you need a good laugh. I thank my friend, Jeremiah, for providing one this morning.
While looking for a post I did about concerts I’ve attended, I came across this post. It brought a smile to my face, not just because it ragged on the Steelers, but because it reminded me of my late friend, Dave.
I’ve finally gotten around to creating a music playlist based on The Endless (from Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman):
Dream: Dreams (Van Halen)
Death: She Talks to Angels (The Black Crowes)
Delirium: Purple Haze (The Jimi Hendrix Experience)
Desire: The Principles of Lust (Enigma)
Despair: Sorrow (David Bowie)
Destiny: Tomorrow Never Dies (Sheryl Crow)
Destruction: War (Edwin Starr)
I’m craving doughnuts now that a Dunkin’ Donuts franchise has opened locally. Go figure.
Wednesday – 26 June 2013Thursday – 27 June 2013 Friday – 28 June 2013
I finally saw Man of Steel Monday night.
Many of my friends who saw the movie – and know that I am a Superman fan – were kind enough to not spoil the movie for me. They also asked that I give them my opinion of the new film when I saw it.
The first part will be more of a synopsis and spoiler-free.
The second part will be more in-depth.
Consider yourselves duly warned.
Part One: Synopsis
I liked this movie.
That said, it is not your father’s (or your grandfather’s) Superman. It’s a modern retelling of the tale. One that’s not campy or that contains a ludicrous land-grab plot by the villain. The movie presents a man on a quest to determine who he wants to be. And, oh yeah, he’s really strong, too. And he gets to punch things. That’s something you don’t often get to see in a Superman movie/show, unless it’s animated and he’s fighting robots.
The movie is also far more serious and… heavy… in tone than the 70’s and 80’s movies. The premise being: How would people react if a being like this existed in the real world. (Or, at least the silver screen’s interpretation of “the real world.”)
(Possibly 8.5, but I don’t have a half-shield icon…)
Part Two: In-Depth Observations
You’re still here.
That obviously means that you want to know what I thought about different aspects of the movie.
Bully for you.
As I mentioned above, I’m a Superman fan. I have been since I was a kid. Yes, other heroes/teams may have supplanted the Last Son of Krypton as my “favorite,” but I’ve always had a soft spot in my heart for him in just about every incarnation that’s come along:
And I should also include the Legion of Super-Heroes animated series of the late 2000s, as well.
And we won’t even go into how long I’ve been collecting Superman comics. Let’s just say “a long time” and leave it at that.
I’ve been looking forward to this movie since it was announced. When Zach Snyder was identified as the director, I was a little leery, but I was willing to give him a bit of latitude since I enjoyed 300, Watchmen and Sucker Punch. I wasn’t sure how his style would work with DC’s flagship hero, but I was curious to see how things would play out.
I wasn’t disappointed.
Zach Snyder brought a new Superman to the screen. He did something that I liked: He showed a Clark who learned at a relatively young age of his heritage and then spent the twenty years trying to figure out what to make of this knowledge. In most previous incarnations of the character, the gap between “Hey, son, you’re really from space” and “Hey, I’m Jor-El, your space-dad” has been pretty brief. In this movie, you watched as Clark tried to find his place in the world. And, even more important, what it cost him to make certain choices as he made his journey.
As to the (major) performers:
Henry Cavill: I found him to be a solid choice for Clark Kent/Kal-El/Superman. He conveyed the sense of a man doing the best he could to help people while trying to figure out who he was and who he wanted to be. He also had an air of a man who wanted to help, but wanted to stay out of the spotlight. Viewers also got a little insight into what it cost him every time he saved someone — having to drift from place to place, being leery of using his powers openly, out of concern/fear of how people might react.
Amy Adams: I’ll preface this by saying that I’m a fan of hers and was quite happy to hear that she was cast as Lois Lane. David Goyer gave me the Lois I wanted to see: A capable, unafraid to get her hands dirty reporter. She was dogged in her pursuit of the mystery man who acted as guardian angel to so many in many different places. I appreciated that she wasn’t just in the movie to be rescued from falling helicopter (which is actually one of my favorite scenes from the 1978 movie) or caught in an earthquake; she was in the thick of the action. And held her own, in a couple of cases.Even Margot Kidder, Lois Lane from the ’70s and ’80s movies, even liked Ms. Adams’ performance:
“I thought [Man of Steel] was wonderful and I thought that young Amy Adams was just terrific. I wanted a lot more of her, I wish they had more scenes for her.”
Michael Shannon: I know that many people are familiar with him from Boardwalk Empire; I do not count myself among them, so I didn’t know what to expect. I quite enjoyed his performance as General Zod. I like that they gave him more motivation than “Son of our jailor, we will hunt and kill you.” Zod was, in my opinion, fully realized as the leader of Krypton’s military. He was the epitome of the quote “The villain is the hero in his own story.” Everything that he did was due to his breeding, caste and training:
No matter how violent, every action I take is for the greater good of my people.
I found him to be a worthy adversary for this Superman, possibly even more so than Terence Stamp‘s Zod. Possibly. I’ll have to rewatch Superman II to make a fair call on this one.
Russell Crowe: I wasn’t sure how I felt about him being cast as Jor-El; he can be kind of hit-or-miss for me. I think that this role was “hit.” And, as much as I love the ’78 movie and Marlon Brando, his Jor-El just seemed… too old… to have an infant son. Crowe seemed more believable in the role of father to a newborn. He also conveyed the sense of a scientist who realized that his world was doomed and wanted nothing more than his son to have a chance at life… even at the cost of his own. I even liked his take on the Jor-El simulacrum in the Kryptonian scout ship.
Kevin Costner: This was another hit-or-miss casting choice for me. I was hopeful when I heard his voiceover in the early trailers for the movie. I also noted that a lot of my friends were leery of a later trailer when he told a young Clark that maybe he should have let the students in a bus crash die. I didn’t take that as a failure of morality on Jonathan’s part. I saw it as a father trying to protect his son from public scrutiny and possible government intervention. I think that Clark summed it up, rather nicely in this quote:
My father believed that if the world found out who I really was, they’d reject me… out of fear. He was convinced that the world wasn’t ready. What do you think?
In thinking about it later, I also think that part of it may have been him thinking of it in terms of “Perhaps it was their time” or “We don’t know if that was part of God’s plan.” And, the scene where Jonathan died? It was just a different spin on the same situation in my eyes, only this time it was Jonathan showing that he was willing to sacrifice himself to protect his son’s privacy and life.
Diane Lane: I don’t feel that the audience (or, at least, I) really get to see enough of her Martha Kent. That notwithstanding, I think that she had a fantastic scene – hinted at in the trailers – when she was trying to calm Clark down after his powers got the best of him in school. You could believe that she was a mother who loved her son.
Laurence Fishburne: Good casting, as if that really needed to be said; I just wish that he had more screen time.
I am aware that many people didn’t like the fact that Clark spent most of the movie figuring out who/what he was going to be. I think that many people expect a Superman who always knows what to do and act accordingly.
This wasn’t that man.
And I think that this is one of the things that stuck in peoples’ collective craws.
I, on the other hand, was alright with seeing a conflicted man. Even a conflicted Superman. Why? Because it allowed for growth and maturity, even in the compressed timeframe of the movie. Clark had to choose not only to accept his Kryptonian heritage, but also to live up to the potential that his both of his fathers saw in him. Did I think that he completed that journey in this movie? Possibly not, but I think that by the end of the movie he was a lot farther down the road than most people give him credit for.
Now let’s get to the elephants in the room: I know that many people were surprised and even disappointed that this movie gave us:
…not only a Superman who killed, but also
…a Superman who left A LOT of collateral damage in the wake of his fights with Zod and his lieutenants and the seeming nonchalance of the loss of life.
To the first point: It’s not the first time that Superman has killed.
Mull that one over. I’ll give you a few moments to ponder it.
Still here? Good. Okay. As I said: This wasn’t the first time that we’ve seen Superman kill someone. There are three incidents that came pretty quickly to mind when I thought about it:
At the end of Superman II, Superman dispatches General Zod and Non in the Fortress of Solitude, after depowering them; Lois is the one who takes care of Ursa.
NOTE: Apparently, in the Richard Donner cut of the movie, the villains weren’t killed, but were taken into custody by the Arctic Patrol. I will have to watch this to determine the veracity of this.
In the Post-Crisis on Infinite Earths DC Universe, Superman killed a parallel universe’s version of General Zod, Zaora, and Quex-Ul.
These three Kryptonians destroyed the Earth that they were on, killing all humans in the process. When they learned of Superman’s home dimension, they vowed not only to find it, but to conquer/destroy it as well. Doing the math, Superman realized that they were serious in their threat and decided that he would act as judge, jury and executioner.This wasn’t without any cost, however. Upon returning to his home dimension/Earth, Superman started having what was effectively a mental breakdown. It even went so far as him creating third persona… one that neither Clark nor Superman was aware of. (He got better, though.)
Doomsday, the beast that slew Superman was also killed – for a while – by the Man of Steel.
Since I knew that I wouldn’t be able to see the movie opening weekend, I tried to avoid as many spoilers about it as possible. Despite this, I couldn’t help but hear things about “the controversial ending.” I remembered that Zach Snyder had said that there was no Kryptonite in the movie. With that in mind, I more or less guessed what would/might happen.
So, fast forward to me in the theatre, watching the movie’s climactic battle… and there it was: Kal-El vs. General Zod, with Zod making his final declaration that the battle would only end with one of them dead. A few times during the fight, Superman tried to sway Zod’s thinking and convince him that he could live with/among the humans. But, Zod was having none of it. He went on to threaten the family in the train station and effectively say that there was nothing that Superman could do to keep him from slaying them.
As Zod bore down on the family, Kal-El killed him.
It was his last resort.
You could see in the look of anguish, tinged with rage, on Superman’s face that it was farfrom the option that he would have chosen. You could see that it cost him a little piece of himself to do it: With Zod’s death, Kal-El lost his last living contact with his people… and would have to live with the fact that Zod died by his hand.
As for the second item, the destruction of property: Give. The. Man. A. Break.
He’d been “Superman” for all of, what… two minutes2… before Zod and company started smacking him around? And let’s face it, it was the first time – EVER – that he’d fought anyone in his proverbial weight class. I’m not sure that he was prepared for the level of ruthlessness that he faced in Smallville. Also, he was kind of busy getting beaten down not just by Kryptonians – bred and trained to be soldiers – but the U.S. military, as well, so he might have been slightly distracted.
I might allow for the argument about the destruction in…? of…? Metropolis, however. You would think that knowing that he was fighting someone who was just as powerful as he was, he might have led Zod off to a more remote location for their showdown. And, yes, there possibly should have been some points deducted for kissing Lois in the middle of the downtown Metropolis wasteland, too.
While some might say that it was a case of “too little, too late” when we see Superman trying to save the family in the Metropolis train station from Zod’s heat vision, we did see him try and save people earlier in the movie. Most notably on the oil rig and on the school bus.
So, in the final analysis, I will say that the movie wasn’t without flaws, but it was an enjoyable bit of cinema.
And there you have it.
Namaste.
1 – Anyone who says that there was a III and/or IV is lying to you. They. Never. Happened. Period. Full stop.
2 – Okay, longer than two minutes, but you get my point.
Tuesday – 07 May 2013
The day nearly got away from me before I remembered that I needed to make a Team DiVa post. (Yep, it was one of those days.) But, here we are and here it is:
The ladies have discovered the fun of playing with keys
Diana and Sara, reading Diana’s Free Comic Book Day comic
