The end of the year and Oughts review

It's that time of year again. The timer on the current year is expiring and the clock of the new year is about to begin ticking. Funny thing about time passing. It was just ten years ago that we were celebrating the new millennium. Many people were worried about the Y2K bug and would our world continue to function as it always has. At the same time we were looking forward to what the new millennium would have for us. Now the Oughts Decade has passed. I'm trying to avoid the debate whether this was the first decade of the new millennium or not, if the decade goes from 0 to 9 or 1 to 0 so I'll stick with the Decade of the Oughts; you know, where the first three digits were 200. In the blink of an eye ten years has come and gone, what has happened during that time. Time for reflection and planning.

I remember on December 31, 1999 watching the TV, glued to see the celebrations around the world. From Chatham Island to the Samoas, the new millennium swept across the globe. Standing on Waikiki Beach that night feet in the sand, feeling the breeze on my face and watching the fireworks both there off shore and down at Honolulu Harbor I was in debt, going through a buy out at work, and wondering if the lights would go off on the island. Luckily, the lights stayed on.

In July of Ought One, me and 60+ other employees were pulled into a meeting with the VP of Customer Care of the company who had flown in from Texas. After being bought out a bit over a year earlier they were shutting us down. Was I mad. No. I had learned that as an employee you are just like the copier paper. You are there to be used for the business to make money. I gave them my time and skills and they gave me a pay check. They had also sent me to Kansas on several occasions to work on a project for the company.

As people were leaving the call center, on Friday, September 7, I interviewed and was hired on the spot for a position with a computer training company. That was the last day the Honolulu Call Center was in operation. I started on Monday, September 10. The next day, the equivalent of this generation's Pearl Harbor happened with the attack at the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and the field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. I was able to keep my position.

In Ought Four a major mile stone had been accomplished with getting out of debt. My last credit card was paid off and I started a savings account. The feeling was something that I hope more people can feel. I had to fight with the credit card company to send out a last bill showing the zero balance. I wanted proof that I had cleared my obligation to them! Since then people have poked fun at me because I did things like not have cable and for a long time I had dial up and not high speed internet access.

Technology was changing and in Ought Five I bought my first digital camera. It was exciting to come into the age of downloading photos instead of developing film. Podcasts entered my life, specifically Disney podcasts. Then it happened again. The company that I was working for was going out of business. Luckily I was hired by the training company that bought the customer list from the old training company. I worked there just three days and my first extended trip to Disneyland occurred. It was a great time taking over fifteen hundred pictures with the new camera. It was at this time I discovered that dial up wasn't going to cut it anymore. Uploading the pictures made me realize that I needed high speed internet so I signed up for DSL access.

Another first in Ought Five was my first Honolulu Marathon. I hadn't done race training so I walked it. There is a huge sense of accomplishment crossing that finish line for the first time. Just seconds under nine hours, hurting feet, chaffing, sun burn and blisters didn't diminish the feeling. It was almost as intense as the feeling of paying off the last credit card.

Ought Six brought another technology toy to me. I purchased my first video camera with my tax return and started posting videos up on YouTube. The new job had some advantages, the first was it was only four fifths of a mile from my house. When my car died I didn't worry since work was so close. It was easy enough to catch the bus or take the twenty minute walk. The second advantage was the company's international conference was taking place in Orlando. I was given the opportunity to attend. The trip allowed me to visit Walt Disney World for the first time in seventeen years. Ten days at Walt Disney World in Florida was followed up by six days at Disneyland in Anaheim. It was here that I met in person the head of the Disney Podcast Network which is a collection of Disney podcasts and a forum for discussion along with other members of the discussion boards. Friendships had been born on that trip I know will last a life time.

Meandering Mouse Club TV, my Disney podcast came about in Ought Seven as a result of an event at Disneyland, the first official DPN Westfest. I was asked by the head of the DPN to join the DPN as a video podcaster. He liked the videos that I had posted up on YouTube. The influence of the DPN helped me go to the Hong Kong and Tokyo Disneyland resorts in a single trip. I then headed back to Walt Disney World that same year with a new high definition camera. It was the year of the Disney trips. In October with all the videos of Hawaii up on YouTube I actually started the Trapped in Paradise podcast, a video podcast about Hawaii that I had been talking about for several months.

Ought Eight was the year of the social network. Plurk and Twitter were coming into their own. Facebook was taking off. I had upgraded my phone to a camera phone with data and internet access. It was amazing to start seeing people's real time updates from their daily lives or in my case their Disney trips. Work was getting tough with the downturn in the economy. There were signs happening that the company was in trouble. This year had a trip to Disneyland for the DPN Westfest event and then in October a trip to Disneyland Paris. In about eighteen months I had managed to travel to all the Disney parks around the globe. To the best of my knowledge, I was the first podcaster to travel to all the parks. Through social media, I heard of all sorts of people that I know personally or indirectly loosing their job.

The big change for Ought Nine was being laid off from my job in March. Frankly, it was all for the best. I was happy! Since I didn't have a job, I have been able to do all sorts of things including taking a creative writing class, going to all sorts events and places that before I wouldn't or couldn't do, wrote a novel and did the Honolulu Marathon for a third time. Without the restriction of working regular hours I was asked to be part of the In The Loop podcast which talks about the amusement park industry in general. Thanks to Clint and Pat for the opportunity. Being debt free and having a savings account has enabled me a level of freedom that I wish could go on forever.

Standing on the beach during the waning moments of the twentieth century, did I know that I would be participating in marathons, traveling to the global Disney parks, to personally produce video content or be part of audio content that could be consumed globally, to meet friends around the globe via the internet, write a novel, be debt free, be involuntarily shuffled between four employers like vegetable cans at the grocery store, be traveling for work to Kansas, Texas and other locations in the US or end the Oughts by writing a blog post and tweeting to friends welcoming in the new year as it passes though the different time zones? No way, not in my wildest imagination.

When the clock rolls from December 31, 2009 11:59:59 to 12:00:00 on January 1, 2010 the Oughts decade come to the end. What will future hold, who knows at this point. I do remember someone telling me, the best way to predict the future is to create it. I hope to accomplish many things. I realize that I need to set goals and not resolutions. Having strong enough goals will lead to the discipline necessary to accomplish those goals. One goal is to write a book that will be published. The other is to be self employed. With four involuntary job transitions over ten years, I want to create my future instead of leaving it to someone else, letting them dictate my future. Let it be on my shoulders, not some board of directors or other business owner.

Traveling is another option that I really want to embrace. Visiting overseas locations in Asia and Europe was so exciting! I hope to have more experiences that are just as exciting! Developing myself so that I can help others needs to be a priority. Since being laid off, I have realized that I hadn't spent time to work on myself as a person. If I don't improve myself, how can I expect to help others?

I've been so very blessed. Back in 1999, my future was bright and I didn't know it. I believe this statement from Jeremiah 29:11, "I know the thoughts I think of you says the Lord, thoughts of good and not evil, thoughts for a hope and a future". I stand on this promise. I expect 2010 and beyond to be even brighter than the Decade of the Oughts. I wish for and believe the same for you. As we say in Hawaii, Hau'oli Makahkihi Hou!

Movie Review: The Twilight Saga: New Moon

New Moon is supposed to have a big opening weekend leading into the Thanksgiving holiday. It probably will regardless of what I write here. Team Vampire Edward or Team Werewolf Jacob? Could care less, I just wanted to see a good movie. I saw the first movie and only know the story by the movies.

The first movie Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) meets this mysterious person, Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson). I bit of mystery, a bit of intrigue until the big reveal, he's a vampire. He can read other peoples thoughts but not hers. She's attracted to the bad boy vampire who pulls her bacon out of the fire a couple of times (avoids getting crushed by a car and possible brutalization by some thugs). They get along. Alright, I can deal with that.

We get into this episode the heroine Bella is all moody. She's having her birthday getting older but Edward being a vampire is permanently frozen physically at age 17 although he's really now 109. She doesn't want to loose him so she's asking him to turn her into a vampire. He says no because she doesn't understand the ramifications of becoming a blood sucker including the state of her soul.

Through a series of events Edward says that he must leave her forever in order to protect her. She wants to go. He says no and disappears. She chases after him but he can move super fast and she can't so there's no way she's going to catch him. She figures he'll come back to protect her so she decides to sleep in the forest. Never mind about her dad and his concern that his daughter is missing.

Bella gets all depressed and hangs in her bed room ignoring the world as it passes by. She finally decides to join the living. While out with a classmate she ignores the classmate for another reckless act with possible thugs on a motorcycle. During the escapade Edward appears to her. She figures that the adrenaline rush causes the Edward image. She decides that she'll trying riding a motorcycle to try to get Edward back. She enlists her childhood friend Jacob (Taylor Lautner) to help her repair a motor cycle. During the process she starts to fall for him.

When the bike is finally finished Jacob tries to help her to ride and she ignores him and speeds off. She does see Edward images again before skidding into a rock where she hurts her head. Jacob comes over and takes off his shirt to wipe up the blood. In the theater, the ladies went wild and made cat calls since Taylor put on 30 pounds of muscle in order to keep the role.

Turns out Jacob has a gene as part of his American Indian heritage that is responsible for his transformation within the storyline. He and several others can transform into werewolves at will. They don't like vampires and there is a treaty between the two sides. He tries to protect her and shows his love towards her.

Jacob cares for Bella, but she used him to get her rush via the motorcycle. Through out the movie everything that people tell Bella not to do, she does. She has feelings for Jacob, she has feelings for Edward, she ignores her father, she dismisses the warnings of both the vampires and the werewolves. That is what put me off on this episode of the series was Bella's character.

She was self centered not caring about the feelings of her classmates, her dad, Jacob or Edward. She wanted what she wanted and screw the consequences or who she might hurt either physically or emotionally in the process. She didn't even care about the state of her soul as long as she could be with Edward. I found that me, me, me attitude extremely annoying and as a result it was hard for me to watch this film. Although I didn't look at my watch, I sat there wondering why this movie was dragging on and when it would be over. Ever been to the party and there's that ONE person who annoys you and you can't get away? Yeah, I'm sure you know what I mean. This selfish self absorbed character just grated on me and caused me to not enjoy the movie.

Was the movie good? With the "the world has got to center around me" attitude of Bella, I found it hard to watch this 2 hour and 10 minute "love" story.

Something that I did find interesting during this movie experience was the number of young kids in this movie. Even with the PG-13 rating, the themes were a little advanced for the number of 4-8 year olds that were in the theater. Another distraction though the movie were cell phones. I didn't hear anyone talking on them or having them ring, but the number of cell phone screen lights that were present through the movie was a little surprising.

Movie Review: Pirate Radio

These days when you think of pirates, Johnny Depp is probably what comes to mind. In Pirate Radio you have Bill Nighy, Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Nick frost, probably not anything like you would have thought of in a million years. The year is 1966 and these pirates are not plundering and looting for treasure, they are pirating the airwaves. The Rock in Roll world is alive with The Kinks, The Who, The Hollys and lots of other groups that begin with the word "The". The British government won't allow this music on the regular radio so a rogue band of DJs organized by Quentin (Nighy) start broadcasting 24 hours a day from a ship off the coast of Britain that is outside of the jurisdiction of the government.

We follow Carl (Tom Sturridge) , a expelled high school teenager who is sent to the boat by his mother. He is introduced to the the eclectic, colorful band of DJs by his god father Quentin. Most of the DJs are British with the exception of The Count (Hoffman) who is from America. The only female on the boat is Felecity. She's the cook and a lesbian. To make up for the shortage of available women, they have Sexturdays where a supply boat brings over not only food and mail but women who stay for the weekend.

While the station hangs out on the North Sea, back in Parliament, they are trying to figure out a way to get these people off the air. They considered them immoral and reprobates among other things. This falls to Sir Alister Dormandy (Kenneth Branagh) who in turn hires a gentleman by the name of Twatt (Jack Davenport) to actually come up with the details of how to do it. These two were wound very tight. Actually, they were wound so tight they could have doubled for the rubber bands on a balsa wood airplane.

The government tries different machinations to get them off the air waves while at the same time we watch and hear what is happening on the boat. Just how to you play table football on a boat that is rocking? While Carl is not a DJ, we see the various DJs working the microphone and turn tables. Some DJs with mouths constantly moving and some hardly saying anything at all. As they are on the air we hear a selection of music from the time. In turn we see how their listeners are reacting to the music. As some of life's events happen to the crew they in turn share it with their listeners. One of the editing decisions that I liked was they had several groups of listeners that they revisited with each of these events.

In the end, the government finally passes a law that will outlaw the pirates because one of the neat things about being the government is that if you don't like something you just pass a law to make it illegal according to Dormandy. Will the government be successful with their attempt, will the pirates being pirates find a way to keep going? You'll have to go see the movie to find out.

This movie for me was very enjoyable. Along the lines of 2003's Love Actually (another Bill Nighy film), this was very British from the clothing (broad vertical stripes) to the language (snogging) and the culture (Boxing Day). The ensemble cast and their interactions, the editing, the music pull together for a fast moving 138 minute movie. The editing of the audience actions and reactions gave the movie a great energy. These are rogue DJs in both action and language so the R rating is well deserved, but don't let this be a distraction for not going to see this movie.

Movie Review: 2012

2012 is probably what you'll spend on this movie for ticket, popcorn and soda if you go by yourself to a matinee show. My cost was $20.75, so pretty close. Why do I mention popcorn? Because this is a good popcorn movie. Roland Emmerich who brought us Independence Day and The Day After Tomorrow brings us his latest "Look out world, something bad is about to happen" movie. Clocking in at 2 hours and 38 minutes, you could go through a LOT of popcorn. For me about about 90 minutes into the movie that large soda needed some attention, if you know what I mean other than that, it moved right along.

In this apocalyptic movie the reason the world is going to end has nothing to do with aliens as in Independence Day or nature getting back at mean old nasty man for not treating the earth like a goddess from The Day After Tomorrow. This time, it's pure physics and science with a bit of spiritual thrown in on the side. At least science and physics that make for the storyline. The planets are about to align and sun spot activity is throwing off neutrinos bombarding the earth's core heating it up causing the destabilization of the crust which is as you know where man lives. This end of time is tied in with Mayan calendar which stops in 2012 and the beliefs of other indigenous peoples. Based on this movie we know why their calendars stopped.

We are given a glimpse back in 2009 of what's happening. A scientist in India played by Jimi Mistry of The Guru (cute movie worth a look on rental) calls scientist friend Adrian Helmsley (Chiwetel Ejiofor) to the world's deepest copper mine. Satnam (Mistry) shows Adrian some pretty shocking evidence and theorizes as to what's going to happen to the earth. Adrian runs back to Washington DC and informs the President's Chief of Staff, Carl Anheuser (Oliver Platt) of the bad situation. We then get glimpses over the following years of things happening like the evacuation of people from Chinese highlands to make way for a dam and the replacement of the Mona Lisa with a copy to keep if safe from vandals.

We jump to the year 2012 where we meet our hero Jackson Curtis played by John Cussack who is a published author lives in the LA area who lost his family in the process of ignoring them while be focused on his book. Since his book didn't do all that well, he drives a limo to help make ends meet. Through a series of events he ends up meeting Adrian in Yellow Stone National Park and Charlie Frost a conspiracy theorist. Charlie (Woody Herrelson) has been broadcasting to the world that it's about to end, the world governments know about it but are leaving the people clueless.

Jackson ends up back in LA just as all hell breaks loose. Apparently Adrian's time lines and calculatons aren't right, a recurring theme along the way. They have less time than expected. Jackson gets his old family along with the new husband in the limo and then navigates through a crumbling LA avoiding fissures, upheavals of land, falling highways, sky scrapers being reduced to pebbles and scattered cars better then any professional stunt driver. How does he know how to do this? It's never explained. He's either very, very skilled or just one massively lucky son of a gun!

He gets to the airport and again, oh so lucky, Gordon, the new husband has an inkiling on how to fly a plane. Time and time again, this family is very lucky to miss massive disaster after disaster. They have to go back to Yellow Stone and then Las Vegas and finally over to China where the G8 have been building giant arks to save people.

All through out the film, time tables get pushed up. Decisions have to be made. Do you be very pragmatic as Carl does throughout or do you take the humanistic approach which is Adrian's part of the movie. These are questions dotted throughout the movie. Do you just forget about people and worry about yourself, do you risk your life for family and what about strangers people that have had no connections prior to this moment.

There are several tsunamis in this film as crust breaks and the mantle of the earth shifts. There is one scene reminiscent of Deep Impact where the wave is coming and one person stands there knowing what their fate will be in 4, 3, 2, 1 seconds. I can't help but think, back in 2004 in Indonesia and more recently the Samoas while they didn't have a 1500ft wave heading towards them, they had to make decisions like these as water was rushing in and around them. While I hope that no of us ever have to make these kinds of decisions you have to wonder what would I and what could I do if placed in this sort of situation.

Enough of the reality for a moment let's jump back to fantasy. For this film you really have to suspend a lot of what you know in order for this movie to work. Cars jumping over things and not damaging the under carriage, that a plane can fly through an ash cloud and not have the engines get choked out, that the secret can be kept and that ships the size shown in the movie could have enough natural resources, technology and man power to build them in the given time frame are among some of the points that you leave scratching your head.

The special effects were incredible. The film is rated PG-13. While we see hundreds and thousands of people dying enmasse, you don't see it happen directly. You see a body afterward or just before, but you don't see that last second directly. Emmerich likes to take out the White House in his movies and this was no exception. Seeing large land masses ending up bobbing in a sense like ice cubes in a glass or a wave washing over part of the Himalayas were eye candy. Irwin Allen would be proud of the ocean liner meets big wave scene. For me, seeing his interpretation of what would happen to my home in Hawaii was interesting. If this one tower near me was gone I could see Diamond Head from my Apartment in Paradise which would definitely be a hot spot!

So take a healthy does of suspension of belief, grab that large soda and popcorn, sit down and just have a good time. If you buy some of those white cheese, cheddar cheese or kettle corn sprinkle toppings for the pop corn, it will be all that much more fun!

Movie Review: Where the Wild Things Are

I didn't know what to expect from this movie and I got it. Having seen the previews for a few months, I checked out the book at Borders to refresh my memory. It was a short book, very short. There is a video on youtube that is narrated and uses the pictures from the book and it runs a total of three minutes. So this movie releases today with a PG rating and a running time of 101 minutes. How do you get from that short blurb into something so long? That is where director Spike Jonze with the help of Dave Eggers have to fill in the missing parts that weren't part of Maurice Sendak's classic children's book.

In the book, we know that when Max puts on his wolf outfit he creates mischief. In the movie we see Max played by Max Records that sometimes he wears the wolf outfit and sometimes he doesn't when he creates his mischief. It's not really clear why he's causing mischief, there seems to be several reasons, one of them being daddy issues which seem to be a common reason these days.

Instead of being forced to stay in his bedroom and have it turn into a jungle, Max runs away from his mom played by Catherine Keener. He keeps running and running until he finds the boat and sails for a long time to an island where he eventually finds the wild things. The meeting is rather interesting. The wild things have names, and voices and attitudes and attributes that weren't part of the book. Max reveals himself to them and they make him king after some chit chat.

The images of the beasts are right from the book. Created by the Henson Company, they look great. It's obvious due to the lip movement that these are not audio animatronic items like Mr. Potato Head who is the barker at Disney's Toy Story Midway Mania. The faces are computer generated. For me, they are memorable and I bought it.

The main beasty is named Carol, a guy voiced by James Gandolfini. He wants to be happy, but KW (Lauren Ambrose) left him. We don't know if they were married or dating, we just know that he's upset that she's spending time with Terry and Bob. You'll have to see the movie if you want Terry and Bob explained. Judith and Ira are a couple (Catherine O'Hara and Forest Whitaker). Alexander, Douglas and the one character without a name, the bull beasty complete the menagerie (Paul Dano, Chris Cooper and Michael Berry Jr). Through their dialog, it sounds like they all have issues from not being listened to, to loneliness, to insecurity and self deprecation. Quite a bunch of heady items for a "children's" movie.

The beasties except Carol aren't sure about making Max king, but they go along to make Carol happy. When Max declares, Let the Wild Rumpus start, they go through the forest and start destroying things. I'm sure down the road some environmental group will complain that the movie sets a bad example for kids. Doesn't matter that it was filmed in Australia, they'll complain.

Eventually after a few misadventures and bad decisions, it's discovered that Max really isn't a king. To avoid the emotions of the wild things and the possibility of becoming a snack to one of them, Max journeys back to his home where like all good stories his mom is waiting for him and embraces him heartily.

Some of the set designs are amazing. The look of the world had me going wow! In the previews you see an idea that Carol turned into reality and it looks awesome. The big home that they built makes me wish I could do something like that with branches.

Is this a kids movie? Not really for the small kids. It has a PG rating for a reason. There are fights, people and wild things get hurt. There is talk of eating Max. Some of the emotions that are shown both in the real world at the beginning of the film and those of the wild things themselves might need some explaining. Really. During the first part I thought to myself, this kid needs some anger management therapy. Would I call this movie a classic? No, not in my book.

Movie Review: Couples Retreat

Let me say up front, what attracted me to this movie in the previews was not the story, but the location. As soon as I saw the images, I knew this was filmed in Bora Bora which is part of Tahiti, French Polynesia. For over a decade I've had fliers from the Bora Bora Lagoon Resort hanging on my wall as a place that I want to go. The bungalows over the ocean with see thru floors and an outdoor lanai that leads down to the water..it's BEAUTIFUL and this coming from a guy who lives in Hawaii! While not the BBLR, it was filmed at the St Regis Bora Bora.

So what's it all about? A group of four couples, three married and one dating go to Eden a luxurious resort in Bora Bora to work on their relationships. Well, actually only one couple, Jason and Cynthia (Jason Bateman and Kristen Bell) wants to work on their relationship, the other three are there because the foursome were going to get an awesome Pelican Package pricing deal and are told they don't have to participate in any skill training aka relationship counseling sessions. While there they can enjoy what the island has to offer in the way that any world class paradise resort can offer.

The four couples fall into the stereotypes for these types of movies: Jason and Cynthia are having problems conceiving and wonder if they should call it quits and get divorced. Dave and Ronnie (Vince Vaughn and Malin Ackerman) have work, house remodeling and two boys to keep them busy in their daily lives. Joey and Lucy (Jon Favreau and Kristen Davis) are the ones who have been together since high school due to a pregnancy and once the daughter is out of the house in a few months plan on getting divorced. Lastly is Shane and Trudy (Faizon Love and Kali Hawk) a divorcee who is having trouble understanding why he's divorced and is now dating a 20 year old to fill the hole in his life.

Once on the island they discover it's an all or nothing deal for all the couples, all participate or all go home. After enjoying a delectable meal they decide that it can't be that bad and are willing to go through the skills training. In steps Jean Reno as Marcel, their training leader and his assistant Briggs played by Temuera Morrison of Star Wars Jango Fett fame. Marcel will help them explore their relationships and what is their animal spirit guide. Huh, what? Every other time we hear about animal spirits it's based on a person, not a couple. Weird mumbo jumbo stuff if you ask me.

The couples go through large and small group sessions and private counseling. We discover their hopes, fears, pains, loves, insecurities, and perceptions play out in the various settings. Several of the funnier moments of the movie are when Salvadore (Carlos Ponce) comes to train them in yoga. His long hair, chiseled body and speedo make the men uneasy and the women weak at their knees. With the beach scenes you do see the guys and they were not in shape...the women on the other hand were in shape for the movie and looked HAWT!

In the end the three married couples figure out their paths and the dating couple come to their resolution with an unexpected twist. The animal spirits are awarded and let the end credits run. Again, what with the animal spirits...did the screen play writers watch too much Brother Bear? Make sure you stay to the very end to get an easter egg.

Was it great....no. Was it bad...no. Both sexes got some eye candy on the screen and the location shots are eye candy by themselves. I wouldn't pay full price, but I would pay a matinee price to go see it. It has a PG-13 rating due to some very awkward sexual scenes that you probably don't want to have to explain to someone who hasn't gone through puberty and runs for 107 minutes.