The Explorer Rescue

The usually chipper voice of our Expedition Leader, Tim, no longer sounded upbeat--that was the first thing I noticed as his voice came over the PA system the morning of our third day in Antarctica aboard the National Geographic Endeavour.

The PA system in each cabin cannot be turned off--it is used for a wake-up call each morning, to make people aware of lectures going on during the day, and to announce the order passengers disembark the ship during landings, among other things. The wake-up call would normally come between 7 and 8 AM, but as I squinted my eyes and peered over to my digital alarm clock on November 23rd, I knew something was wrong when the time read 5:30 AM.

Tim proceeded to announce that at 1:45 that morning, our Captain had received a distress call from the Explorer, which had been about 5 hours away at that point. He had immediately turned our ship around, and we were now about an hour away from the accident site. While typically the ship had an "open bridge" policy, meaning that any passenger could hang out in the Captain's navigation room at any time, because of this emergency, Tim asked that we please stay out of the bridge until further notice.

"This doesn't sound good," I mumbled to my husband and proceeded to shut my eyes again. When you've been dead asleep for hours in a Bonine stupor, it's hard to snap back into reality, trust me!

But an hour later, Tim's voice came over the PA once more, and said that we were nearing the Explorer and were coordinating with another ship, the Nordnorge, to rescue all of the Explorer's passengers, who at this point had been drifting at sea in life boats for about FIVE HOURS. He repeated the request that no one enter the bridge.

"You better go check it out," I grumbled to my husband, who promptly got up, grabbed all of his weather gear and his camera, and left. This was the first scene he saw... the Nordnorge a bit ahead of our ship, and black and orange Zodiacs in the water starting the rescue.

(All of the pictures in this post can be enlarged by clicking on them, but this is as big as Blogger lets me paste things in...)


About ten minutes later, it finally hit me. Good God, a ship is sinking! I hopped out of bed, bundled up, and headed outside.

I stepped into the fresh air from a door on the port (left) side of the boat. The first thing I saw was the Nordnorge, which we had pulled up closer to by the time I got on deck.


But I didn't realize it was the Nordnorge at that point. It was much bigger than our ship, and I thought, "Well that doesn't seem to be sinking..." Then I turned to my right and saw the Explorer and gasped. No pictures will ever do justice to what it was like to actually see this ship sinking in the middle of the Antarctic. Tears started rolling down my cheeks, and my heart went out to all of the people who had to abandon ship. I cannot even imagine what it must have been like to bob up and down on the waves in the cold with nothing around for so many hours. One passenger from the Explorer actually videotaped the evacuation from the ship, and was interviewed on The Today Show after she arrived home. The video can be found in the upper-right hand corner of this page... you have to wait for a short commercial to run, but then it should automatically play.

The first picture below is of the crew from our boat in the black Zodiacs coming out to get one group of Explorer passengers, who were in white life boats (which did not have motors). It should give you a good sense of how there was just literally nothing around for miles, except floating chunks of ice in the distance. The second picture is a close-up of one of the life boats.




We later heard that the Explorer's passengers had been told that rescue was coming in an hour. Rescue (our ship and the Nordnorge) actually arrived in five hours--and we were by far the closest ships around. If the passengers were actually told that their ordeal would end in an hour, I think the time they spent waiting in the life boats would've been exponentially worse--it seems like you would lose hope once three hours had gone by and there was no sign of anyone coming.

While the rescue operation was in process, Jon Bowermaster, the National Geographic representative on our ship, filmed a video that was featured on ABC shortly after. Here is a picture of Jon starting to film his video. The video can be found here (you have to sit through a short commercial first).


There were 154 passengers and crew members on the Explorer, and all were saved. The Nordnorge could hold up to 1,000 people, and had 700 open spots at that point. This is because Antarctic laws dictate that only 100 passengers can go on land at any one time... so if a ship has more than 100 passengers, it can only take them out in shifts. If you get more than three shifts-worth of passengers, you're not going to make much progress sailing around the area. So larger ships that are used in other parts of the world during Antarctica's off-season have a lot of empty space when they are cruising around the White Continent. As our ship was pretty much at capacity (combined with the fact that they wanted everyone from the Explorer to stay together), the 154 people from the Explorer went on to the Nordnorge after the rescue procedure was completed. Our ship took some of the Explorer's Zodiacs onboard. And with that, we went our separate ways. Our Captain steered around the Explorer one last time to pay our respects.




This next picture was taken from the window/porthole in my cabin.


Um, yes, you could say that it was a bit freaky to see a sinking ship outside of your window, right at eye-level. But by far, the eeriest sight of that morning took place after the rescue was over. All of the abandoned life boats turned in the water and started drifting back to the Explorer. It was like they knew they belonged with her. Utterly amazing.


Needless to say, after the horrific events that day, everyone on our ship was on edge. But the Captain and crew from the Explorer, Lindblad Expeditions and National Geographic could not have handled the situation more professionally. I never felt scared that we were in danger or that they were hiding something from us. Lindblad immediately called all of our emergency contacts back at home to let them know that we were OK and were NOT on the ship that sank (there was a lot of confusion in the media early on because Lindblad actually used to own the Explorer, and our ship, the Endeavour, was similarly named... on top of the fact that Lindblad now owns another boat named the Explorer...). The Captain and Expedition Leader also held a question and answer session that afternoon and discussed everything they knew about the situation with all of us. For the rest of the trip, they kept us updated on any news they were hearing. In a word, they were awesome.

It was an extremely emotional time for all of them, as nearly every team member from our ship, including our Captain, had previously served on the Explorer. I will save a summary of their comments, my additional thoughts on the incident, as well as what it meant for the environment (the good news: very little) and Antarctic tourism for a final post after I've talked about the rest of our voyage. But the one question that remains is, how could this have happened? Especially after seeing all of the high-tech equipment in the bridge, one has to wonder what went so terribly wrong.

And like I said in an earlier entry about this trip, suddenly the clipping I saw posted on the bulletin board in the bridge took on a whole new meaning.

- e

Update on Yesterday's Post...

Remember when I thought something seemed fishy about Entertainment Tonight and The Insider deciding to NOT play the "Heath Ledger drug video" at the last second? I was right. They didn't do it out of the goodness of their hearts or because they love Australians, they did it because the publicists of almost every major star out there said that their clients would never interview with the shows again if the video aired.

In addition, the video also had clips of Heath saying that he had stopped doing drugs after his daughter was born, and his "M" (for Matilda) tattoo was there to remind him of his pledge.

Now, the video was taken two years ago, and so it is possible that Heath relapsed between now and then, but it just goes to show that everything can be edited to fit a certain purpose.

And on another subject I mentioned yesterday, Britney has actually stayed in the hospital (so far). That is a good sign. Hope springs eternal...

- e

The Next Best Thing

Since it's no longer possible to see The Beatles perform, the next best thing might be seeing "the best Beatles tribute band on the planet" (according to The Beatles' past promoter) play at a private party, right?

That's what my husband and I got to do a few weekends ago when "American English" performed at a colleague's residence. I did a crappy job taking pictures, but hopefully you'll get the idea...








That's right, my friends, they changed outfits three times to represent the "early years," the psychedelic Sgt. Pepper's era, and the Abbey Road phase.

While the band obviously didn't have the same set-up as "The Fab Four" show I saw in Vegas (as in, a huge stage and concert-like seating for the audience, movie screens, special lighting effects, etc.) since they were playing in someone's home, all of the other details were there, down to the instruments. They even busted out the kazoo for "Lovely Rita"--YES!

And if you closed your eyes while they were playing, it was freaky. You really couldn't tell that it wasn't just a Beatles CD blasting.

If you ever get a chance to see them (they tour around every once in a while), you should definitely check them out. There is a calendar of their performances on their site--it looks like they are based here in Illinois, but they do travel around often.

- e

The Sorry State of Hollywood

A few people asked me why I never posted about Heath Ledger's death (or Anna Nicole Smith's death last year, for that matter). The reason why is twofold: 1) I find these things extremely depressing, especially when children are left behind, and 2) If I don't think I can say anything that hasn't already been said about a topic, I try not to post about it.

But yesterday I read something related to Heath Ledger's death that motivated me to address it. It seems that Entertainment Tonight and The Insider had both paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to procure a video tape that showed Heath at a "drug party" at that Chateau Marmont in Hollywood. They were going to broadcast it this week, but then both shows backed out at the last minute, even after running tons of promos for it. You can see the promo for The Insider, which includes some clips from the video, here.

I was shocked that these two shows had a change of heart. The celebrity gossip media is not known for caring much about who their accusations affect. Apparently this time around, however, they caved under pressure from the Ledger family. All I can figure is that they are suckers for Australian accents, because seriously, these shows NEVER take the high road. I don't even think they were threatened with lawsuits, I think they just did the right thing for once.

The damage from the video is already done, though. From the clips that have been circulating around the Internet, it is clear that Heath had a drug problem, regardless of whether or not that's what he actually died from last week. And it makes me very sad. Because for every celebrity that most people know is screwed up, there are countless others who have kept their issues well-hidden. When I heard that Heath had died, I gasped out loud. We all have a short list in our heads of famous people who we fear could meet an untimely end at any moment. Heath Ledger was not on my list. And my heart goes out to Michelle Williams and her poor daughter, who will probably not even remember her father. It is a sad, sad situation.

Speaking of sad situations... we come to the latest Britney Spears drama. I haven't posted about Britney in a while, either, because she just upsets me. And because that's all you hear about these days. However, last night, as you may have heard, she was taken to the hospital again in a parade of police cars, helicopters and whatnot. Apparently the emergency vehicles surrounding Britney's ambulance stretched the length of a football field. That is INSANE. You would think it was the Presidential motorcade or something. Anyway, this has lead many to suspect that this latest trip to the hospital was well planned out ahead of time, in order to keep the paparazzi away. It was Spears' psychiatrist who made the call to the hospital to come get her, and her parents are with her now.

For the sake of her two sons, I hope this time they get her some real help and keep her in the hospital for as long as it takes to do so (the last time she left in a matter of hours). And I hope Dr. Phil keeps his freakin' mouth shut about it all this time. And I hope they keep those two ultra-creepy dudes, Osama "Sam" Lutfi and Adnan "I'm married but obviously milking this for all it's worth" Gahlib, AWAY FROM HER. Who are these losers and why do they have any control over the situation at all? Apparently there was a fight at the UCLA Medical Center about who actually had power of attorney for Britney--this Sam reject or her PARENTS. Ummm.... should there really be a question here?

And finally, I sincerely hope that this situation does not end tragically.

Let's all be glad we're not famous. Famous people are screwed up.

- e

Extreme Movie Opposites: Helvetica and The Bourne Ultimatum

I've been burning through Netflix rentals like there's no tomorrow, and have recently watched two movies that could not be more different: Helvetica and The Bourne Ultimatum.


Helvetica
I'm a fan of documentaries; I love learning about almost any subject that's foreign to me, unless it deals with violence or a topic that's too depressing. So when I read a blurb about Helvetica, a movie that is all about the FONT Helvetica, I was intrigued. How could an 80-minute movie be solely about a font?!?! I had to check it out.

Right before we watched it, a friend of my husband's raved about it, as she is a graphic designer and knew of many of the famous (in her circles) design gurus that were interviewed in the movie. While I did find it fascinating to learn about the history of this font, and couldn't help but get a kick out of the intense love or hatred that experts in the design field had for Helvetica (trust me, there was no in-between with these people--they had strong opinions!), at many points the discussions were over my head. Miss M was visiting while we watched it, and she actually nodded off a few times. I can't blame her, because it was definitely slow on more than one occasion.

After seeing Helvetica, I now have a much greater appreciation for fonts, that's for sure. I had no idea that they were actually licensed out (that's why I couldn't write this post in Helvetica type, unfortunately) and that there are famous font designers. I also would have never realized how omnipresent Helvetica is. That was the coolest part of the movie... all of the logos and signs they showed from across the world that use that font. Another thing I learned from the film is that almost everybody in that field has CRAZY patterns of wrinkles on their faces. You just need to see it to be able to understand.

While the movie was pretty slow, it only lasted 80 minutes... so if you are even remotely interested in this kind of thing, I think it's worth watching. Though I still can't tell the difference between Helvetica and Arial!

Here is a two-minute clip from the movie to give you an idea of what the other 78 minutes are like:

The Bourne Ultimatum

A far cry from the hushed tones and comfortable pace of Helvetica was The Bourne Ultimatum. As with the other two Bourne films, the third installment sucks you in from literally the first second, and does not let up until the credits roll at the end. I really enjoyed it and would highly recommend it. While there is a lot of action on top of the crazy fighting scenes we've come to expect from this trilogy, it didn't seem violent or bloody by any means. It was suspenseful more than anything else.

Now I really wish I had counted how many words Matt Damon/Jason Bourne even says over the course of the two hours, because I swear it's less than 20 (unless grunting while punching, kicking or jumping counts). But that's fine... we don't need Matty to speak, we just need him to rock those moves and be the bad-ass that he is in these movies. A few of the agents from the previous films were in this one again, but they're very much secondary to the plot. In fact, I say that the next time they make one of these movies (you can bet there will be more, they make too much money to stop), they really shouldn't even bother with an actual storyline. Just have Matt Damon running around and evading the FBI/CIA/KGB/Insert Agency and we'll be happy.

- e

Juno is So-So

What's that I hear? Cries of indignation echoing around the Internet? Do I actually dare criticize the latest "It" movie, especially after it just was nominated in the Best Film, Best Actress and Best Original Screenplay categories for the Oscars?

Calm down, everybody. I didn't hate Juno. But I didn't love it, either, unlike seemingly everyone else in the world. I thought it was merely "OK." I could've loved it, but it was trying too hard. Let me break it down for you...

Here's what I didn't like:
1) The dialogue. "What?" you may be asking. I think I had extremely high expectations about the dialogue going into the movie, because I am insanely jealous of its writer, Diablo "Not her real name" Cody. If you are not aware (and if that's the case, I must pause and ask, "How can you NOT be aware... her story is EVERYWHERE!?!?!"), Brook Busey, er... Diablo Cody is an ex-stripper who wrote a blog and then a book about her time as a stripper, then wrote Juno, then became drastically over-hyped and omnipresent and landed an Entertainment Weekly column and an Oscar Nomination. So when I saw the movie after knowing all of that about her, I thought I would be blown away by insanely clever character conversations that have heretofore never been experienced. I did not find that to be the case. Instead, from the first line uttered, I was annoyed. I guesstimate that about 75% of the dialogue in the movie bugged the crap out of me. I can handle teenagers talking in mature-beyond-their-years ways, or I wouldn't have loved Dawson's Creek. But how Juno and her best friend talked (and even sometimes her father) I just couldn't swallow. It was like Diablo was trying to make every single sentence over-the-top and filled with weird phrases for different parts of the anatomy. It was too much.
2) Add to that a soundtrack that was also trying way too hard to be "hip." I think that whacked-out duo (Moldy Peaches) behind the main song, "Anyone Else But You," is the worst.
3) Similarly, Diablo had to make the title character constantly name-drop punk and indie bands, along with B-movie knowledge, to reaffirm and make sure you knew just how cool and unorthodox she was.

But many things saved the movie for me, and balanced out the annoyances listed above. The good aspects of Juno were:
1) The 25% of the dialogue that wasn't ridiculous. When the characters weren't making such a point of being supremely sarcastic, the movie was at its best.
2) Jennifer Garner as Vanessa. I never thought this day would come, but I actually loved Jennifer Garner in this movie (and I do not like her at all normally). She was absolutely perfect and totally believable in her role. I have now forgiven her for Electra.
3) Jason Bateman as the husband of Jennifer Garner. Who cares what his character's name was--he was smokin' in this movie. And so what if his character was totally creeptastic? I was digging him big-time, and I know I'm not the only one who felt this way (shout-out to Nerdy P). My crush on him from his Little House on the Prairie and Silver Spoons days is back in full effect! Dammit, now I need to go get all seasons of Arrested Development on Netflix.
4) The overall story. Despite the grating dialogue, despite the not-my-taste soundtrack, and despite my jealousy of Diablo, I have to admit that the story Juno tells is a good one. It even had a little twist that I didn't see coming. Surprisingly, I found myself crying non-stop for the last half-hour, which I very much did not expect. But DY was with me and she cried, too, so it's all good.

So I left the theater with a very mixed opinion of the movie. Loved the story, but wished that most of the characters' conversations had been different. Oh, and Michael Cera? It was like they just took his character from Superbad and plopped it in this movie. I seriously kept having to remind myself that McLovin and that Jonah Hill kid were not going to show up.

If you end up seeing this movie, I will tell you my two favorite parts, which were totally random and will not spoil anything for you:
1) The "stink-eye" girl, and
2) The photos on the wall when Juno goes up the staircase at Vanessa and Jason Bateman's house.

I will end by saying that I do think Ellen Page did an excellent job as the main character. I highly doubt she will win Best Actress, but it will be interesting to watch how her career goes after this. And if there was ever a year to be nominated for an Oscar and NOT win, this is the year... there probably won't even be a ceremony!

- e

Eight Lives Left

This is the craziest thing I have read in a long time. The best part is the text message near the end.

There are two lessons in this story:
1) If you have small pets, be careful not to ever accidentally PACK THEM, and...
2) Make sure you're grabbing the right luggage at the airport!

- e

An "SP" Takes on Tom Cruise!

I knew I liked this guy way back when he was in Stand By Me. Now, Jerry O'Connell has made a spoof of the infamous Tom Cruise Scientology video, in support of the Writers Guild of America. If you haven't seen the original video, check out the highlight reel here, or else this may make no sense. Huge shout-out to "Smitten" for bringing this to my attention (though now that I think about it, I saw a clip of it last night on the TV at the gym, but it had no sound so I couldn't figure out what it was)!

If Jerry suddenly disappears... we're going to know who's behind it...

- e

Reality Roundup

The Amazing Race 12 Finale

As my husband and I had hoped, TK and Rachel won The Amazing Race. Though I think they deserved it and I was happy with the outcome, during that hour there was definitely a part of me that was rooting for Nick and Gramps to pull a big upset. I wasn't a fan of Nick, but I loved me some Gramps. No one watching the show could deny that he rocked the house. But as soon as I learned what that big puzzle challenge was at the end, I knew they would lose. Nick just never seemed like the brightest guy, you know? Did anyone else get the impression that he actually NEVER finished that challenge? He and Gramps weren't shown again after that point, which makes me think that he was still there trying to figure it out when the other two teams crossed the finish line, and then the directors were like, "OK, you can stop now," and then just filmed them rejoining the bigger group at the end. At least they have their matching "FF" tattoos to commemorate the entire experience.

I was shocked that Ronald didn't slip back into his old ways and freak out at Christina when she couldn't get over the hump on the ice climbing challenge. Then again, that probably only lasted like 5 seconds and they just made it seem longer than that. He held it together pretty well over the last few episodes, and I sincerely hope for the sake of everyone he comes into contact with on a daily basis that he is truly a changed man. Because he was one freaky-deeky dude early on.

Overall, the finale seemed anti-climactic to me. The episode before it was much better when I feared that Nate and Jen might make it into the final three. I haven't shouted at the TV that loudly in a long time. With the final installment being filmed entirely in Alaska, it seemed kind of lame. I felt that they were just going from spot to spot without really doing anything challenging. That ice climb was a pretty big joke--you could tell that it was NOT high or steep at all.

But I did like this season and am sad that it is over. I always love seeing where they go and living vicariously through the teams' travels. And I love Phil, too. Oh my gosh, a great idea just popped into my head. Phil would make an excellent host of The Mole! He's not quite as good-looking as Anderson, but he has that snarky wit about him... and a kiwi accent to boot. I'm going to start petitioning ABC right now. Maybe CBS wouldn't let him go, though?

OK, back to TAR... if you'd like to read or hear an interview with TK and Rachel about their big win, click here.


American Idol

Last night I watched both Tuesday and Wednesday's installments of American Idol. Once again, they were just blah. I remember the dude who had the baby, and the brother-sister duo who made it through, and that's it. I think the male half of that duo is my favorite guy so far, just because he was funny and actually had a good voice. I agreed with Randy and did not think his sister should've made it. But she will get kicked out during the next round, for sure. Oh, and I just remembered that crazy dude with the long hair, disgusting fingernails and the fans--he was pretty wacky and therefore interesting to watch. Everything else over the course of those two hours was forgettable. I can't believe they still have even MORE audition episodes next week???


Real World/Road Rules Challenge: The Gauntlet Season Premiere

Yes, I know I am too old to still watch these shows on MTV. But I was reminded about it by someone else who I think is at least my age, so I know I'm not the only thirty-something tuning in. Plus, CT is on it again, and therefore I had to watch it. If you want to see if you recognize anyone in the cast this time around, check out the bios here.

Amazingly, I still knew the majority of competitors this time around... they brought back a lot of the best people. But, I'm sorry--aren't Coral and Beth at least 40 at this point? I am pretty sure Beth is. So I'm not going to feel bad watching this show since they obviously still feel like they can be on it! (OK, I checked, Beth is 38.)

The two teams, Rookies and Veterans, seem drastically mismatched. The guys on the Veterans team are HUGE. The Rookies have all these teeny guys--it just doesn't even seem fair. But of course, no one watching this show is watching it for the actual challenges... they're watching it for the drama that ensues once all of these crazy people are back from a day's "work" and living in the awesome house together (this time in Mexico). And the premiere definitely did not disappoint in that area: CT got drunk, Diem (who looks totally different, and is still with him, which I found unbelievable) was upset, and everyone else was hooking up with each other. Coral picked fights unnecessarily, and Beth shared her scheming plans with the camera.

At the end, they showed a preview of the rest of the season and it definitely looks good. The Beth/Coral Gauntlet is going to be awesome!

While I will continue to watch all this reality crap because nothing else is on and I need to unwind before I go to sleep, in exactly one week from tonight, a REAL show is returning, albeit for only 8 episodes: Lost. Hooray!

- e

The First Landing in Antarctica: Aitcho Island

(clicking on any of the pictures will enlarge them)

Let's see, where were we? Ahhh, right. We had just crossed the Drake Passage and were recovering from seasickness.

By the afternoon of November 22nd, we were finally in calmer waters and it was time for our first landing. How it worked was that we would all get off the ship in shifts and take zodiacs over to the shore in groups of 10 or 12. (I'll show pictures of the zodiacs in later posts.) Our initial taste of Antarctica was Aitcho Island. "Aitcho" is a phonetic spelling of "H.O.," which is what this group of islands had been called for so long that the name just stuck (H.O. stands for hydrographic office).

I have to say that it was quite a dramatic introduction to the White Continent. We explored the island for about 3 hours, and over every hill was a totally different breathtaking landscape. And the amount of penguins there did not disappoint... there were a few Weddell seals in the mix as well.

The rules are that you cannot come within 15 feet of the wildlife. However, the penguins often walk right by you, and if that happens, you are supposed to slowly drop down in the snow so that you are more at their level and don't scare them. They are pretty unbothered by humans... they're all on missions to build their nests with rocks, so they just march by you with rocks in their beaks and are undeterred if you are in their way.

As you may have gathered over the course of the time I've been writing my blogs, I am a big-time animal-lover. It is an indescribable feeling to see certain animals in their natural habitats. On my honeymoon in South Africa, when I saw a baby giraffe running through the bush, I literally started crying. I've seen many giraffes before, but to observe one running at full speed with no enclosure holding it back was amazing. While not quite as dramatic, it was very cool to be among hundreds of penguins with a vast snow-covered island laid out before them. To watch these little guys navigating up and down huge hills and jumping in and out of the water was well worth the queasiness we all suffered to get to that spot!



Above: A Gentoo penguin (larger white patches around its eyes) makes his way down a hill with our ship in the background.


Above: A chinstrap penguin (obviously easy to tell apart from the Gentoos) taking a rest.

Below: A skua with a stolen egg.



There would be one skua that would watch over each major group of penguin nests, waiting for an opportune time to swoop in and steal an egg. Anywhere we went for the rest of the trip, if there were penguins, there were also skuas.

Below: A Weddell sea in the typical seal position (on its back, sleeping or resting).



I'll end with a few pictures of the scenery, but these still can't convey the vastness and other-worldliness of the area. And it was only 30 degrees the entire time (and daylight all the time as well)! That's warmer than it's been here in Chicago now for weeks...

- e

Happier from Here on Out...

So, did you hear the news? Today is officially "the most depressing day of the year," according to a new research report. I have to agree, as today is my birthday, and it is indeed depressing to turn yet another year older.

But then I read JB's latest post about her trip to Rwanda, and it really lifted my spirits. I highly suggest you check it out for some inspiring stories and cool pictures. But then again, you may still end up depressed when you realize that your job will never be as cool as hers is!

- e

I Don't Care if They Get Eaten by a Monster, or, My Reaction to Cloverfield

(There will be no spoilers in this write-up)

My friend Miss M is flying in from NYC as I type this (good timing, since it's -3 degrees here right now... we're not leaving the condo 'til Tuesday), and I've still got a lot of straightening up to do around my messy place, so this will be short and to the point.

As always (for opening nights), I arrived 2 hours early for the 8:30 showing of Cloverfield last night. The line was absolutely HUGE--for the 7:30 show. I had to wait until that group went in before they set up the line for my showing. I realized that the 7:30 show was in the hugest theater they had in the building, but the show I had tickets for was going to be in the smaller, digital theater. However, by the time they let us in 40 minutes prior to its start time, there was a big line, and all shows had sold out for the night.

The most notable trailer (only because I had seen all the others) was for The Ruins. I read that book while in New Zealand in the winter of 2006 and it scared the crap out of me. I couldn't sleep the night I finished it, even though I was far, far away from any evil Mayan ruins. It was a best-seller, and I heard that Ben Stiller bought the movie rights immediately. I had no idea how they were going to make it into a movie, and if you've read the book, you might understand why. But, they did, and here is the trailer:

My husband said he thought the movie looked exactly how he'd pictured everything when he read it. I will not be seeing it, no need to get freaked out all over again...

As for Cloverfield... well, I hate to tell you this, and I hate that it's the case, but I didn't like it. I know exactly why I didn't like it, too. It's because I didn't give a damn about the characters. It is very hard to get riled up in a movie about some "monster" attacking NYC when the group of people the action revolves around is a bunch of blah, generic twenty-somethings. My second reason for not liking it, which I realized when I got home and was thinking things over, is that I can have sympathy for people/characters who try to do something brave or heroic. But I can NOT identify with people who do something in the name of bravery when it's actually very stupid. I'm not giving anything away by saying that, if there was an unknown thing, possibly an alien or a monster or a coordinated large-scale terrorist attack, wreaking havoc on my city, and the National Guard was brought in and I saw people being killed and everyone was running AWAY from this thing... I would not go toward it, probably no matter what. Perhaps I would've felt differently if the characters had been developed better, but they really jumped right into the action after very little set up, so I just never got connected to anyone in the story. That being said, here are the good things about the movie:

1) Because they jumped right into it, it was really short. Less than 1.5 hours!
2) I was glued to the screen the entire time... despite not caring about the main characters, there was almost non-stop action, and that part of it was riveting.
3) It makes you wonder what you would do in the same situation.
4) There were Lost references in it (once again, not ruining anything by saying that "the numbers" show up in a few spots)

My husband and I had a talk about what we would do, should a similar situation ever befall our dear city of Chicago. I cannot tell you what we agreed we'd do without giving something away in the movie, but if you've seen the movie (our "plan" will only make sense if you've seen the movie), email me through my profile page on this site and I will tell you. Luckily, even I, with my huge imagination, do not think anything like the events in Cloverfield will ever happen.

For what it's worth, my husband liked it. I think guys like "action" movies more than women do in general, anyway. But if you are on the fence about seeing it, the worst that can happen is that you waste 1.5 hours. It is by no means BAD, I just didn't like it as much as I thought I would.

Finally, the bouncy/shaky camera didn't bother me at all, but it was really bad at parts. There was actually a sign in the movie theater forewarning people about motion sickness. I get very bad motion sickness most of the time, and I was not affected at all (which did surprise me).

There you have it! If anyone else has seen it, leave me a comment with your thoughts...

- e

Note to Amazing Race fans--check your Tivos...

Just a quick note to let you know that my Tivo did NOT have The Amazing Race finale set to tape this Sunday, despite the fact that I have a season pass. So I thought I should warn any of you in the same situation--definitely check to make sure it's on your system's "To Do List" for this weekend. I would've absolutely lost it had it not recorded.

My final comments before the season ends:

1) YAY that Nate and Jen got kicked off. Karma, as they say, is a bitch. I hope they have watched the show and have realized how ridiculous they are together. And I hope she gets some anger management counseling. I was literally SCREAMING at the TV and pounding my fists in despair when I thought they might beat Nick and Gramps. That, my friends, was a great episode.
2) I really hope TJ and Rachel win, but I actually would be OK with any of the three teams winning, which is nice. I love "Gramps," so I hope they come in second. Ronald has redeemed himself a bit and I feel that his daughter is a saint, but I still don't want to see them in first place because of his past bad behavior.

It's going to be an awesome finale!

- e

I Am Your Bruh-thuuur - Or, American Idol's Season Premiere, Part 2

So, I tuned in again for American Idol last night, this time without any ice cream. I had just enjoyed a big sushi dinner and couldn't bring myself to eat anything else, which is really saying something when ice cream is involved. Anyway, I didn't think last night's installment was as cringe-worthy as Tuesday's show had been. However, this morning, only 12 hours later, I can't remember anything that happened except for the final few minutes. As Simon would say, it was "utterly forgettable."

But what about that last guy in the crazy all-white pimped-out suit with the cape and "Simon" hat? That guy rocked. Maybe I was just completely slap-happy by that time, but I was loving how the judges and Ryan got all goofy along with him (and Paula busted out with some moves that I swear were from that video with the cartoon cat). And I can still sing that song, word for word... so it probably is going to be on iTunes soon, if it isn't already. If you didn't see it, here it is below... though it may get pulled down at any moment. His actual audition starts at 1:48, but I kept the pre-audition stuff with Ryan on there because I thought that was hilarious, too.

The "homage to Simon" at the end was awesome as well (final 30 seconds).

And, you know, I have to admit something... Ryan Seacrest has grown on me. Some of you may remember that when I didn't watch the show, I questioned the appeal of Ryan. Now I kind of get it. He does have some funny comments and seems like he's just being himself and I don't mind him at all.

Finally, I have to ask, has Simon lost his snarkiness, or what? He hardly made any mean comments last night at all! He even hugged that dude at the end?!?! Amazing.

You may have seen a few headlines about American Idol's ratings being its lowest ever. Um, don't let them fool you--it's still extraordinarily successful, way more so than most shows could ever dream of being. It's not going anywhere.

Thanks to those of you who wrote me to give me some background on how the auditions work. As I suspected, only a subset of the tens of thousands of hopefuls actually make it to Simon, Randy and Paula. They seem to be looking specifically for people with an interesting "back-story," good-looking people, and total freaks. Apparently in the first round of auditions, people only sing for about 12 seconds and they're in a huge stadium with several other people next to them, singing at the same time. So obviously someone would really have to stand out in that environment.

I'm not excited about anyone I saw who got a golden ticket, but I have hope since we didn't see everyone who got through to Hollywood yet. I will at least keep watching until they get to the actual competitions. OK, who am I kidding, I'll probably watch it all the way until the finale. Even if the writers' strike ended tomorrow, it will be months before new shows get on the air. I need my escapism, and one hour of Lost a week for 8 weeks isn't going to be enough.

- e