One Word: Babysitter
Posted on June 4, 2006 by Ching under Movies.
Brian and I just got back from watching MI3. The movie was really good — better than the first two in my opinion. The story line is just interesting enough to hold your attention. Unlike the second one which was way too simple and the first one which was way too complicated. The action scenes were pretty good and they didn’t get too crazy with the technology. Some of the tools they used, we’d actually seen before in the other movies so viewers pretty much know what to expect. Also, since you’d seen the technology before it was far more believable.
Anyway, there were plenty of memorable scenes. I won’t ruin the movie for you, but definitely watch out for Maggie Q and her red dress. It is amazing.
So the movie was good, but the experience as a whole? Not so good. I don’t understand why people insist on going to movies (that are not meant for children) with their children. Oh, and we seem to be magnets for these people too. It never fails that they choose to sit next to us, or in our same row.
Usually, it’s not too bad. Tonight was the worst though. This kid was wailing. It wasn’t so bad during the loud action scenes because the gun shots and explosions were loud enough to cover up the atrocious sounds, but there was actually a tender scene between Ethan and Julia (his bride-to-be) where the wailing was just so loud. There weren’t any movie sounds to cover it up. It was doubly annoying because the characters were speaking rather softly and you could barely hear them over the crying child.
We were seated at the very first row that’s not on the floor and people who were seated at the very back of the theater actually called out, “Take him outside.” There were two other people (not in our row, mind you) who chimed in. Yes, it was that bad. What does the mom do? Absolutely nothing. She just lets him keep on wailing. It was horrible.
I realize that the price of movies has gone up and I understand that some folks would rather punish other movie goers by making us sit through the noise of their miserable children rather than forking the dough on a babysitter but, geez, have some decency. When the child starts being restless and starts to make noise, people should have the common courtesy of taking him outside the theater. Better yet, if parents have really young children they should just stay home and wait for movies to come out on DVD. You know the kid isn’t going to understand MI3 and the minute that shooting and loud noises start, they’re going to start crying. Why put other people through that? We paid to be entertained, not annoyed.
The child continued to be restless. Several minutes later, the mom finally comes to her senses and takes him outside. Thank God for it because I was really tempted to throw my shoe at them. I was wearing foam flipflops so it wouldn’t have hurt. Alright, I am kidding.
When she came back the child continued to make noise, but he wasn’t crying as loudly as before. So it was almost bearable. The older child, however, decided to run around the middle area (the open space directly in front of our row) just laughing his butt off, totally amused with himself. I was in disbelief. I contemplated getting up and complaining, but then I didn’t want to miss anything. I wanted Brian to do it, but he didn’t want to miss anything either. He did tell me that he noticed there were at least three people who got up and left and he’s pretty sure they complained. The loathsome people didn’t get kicked out, though. We didn’t really want them to be kicked out, we just wanted them to be quiet. But sometimes, the only way that can be accomplished is by making them leave. =P
Anyway, I think movie theaters should implement a rule against allowing children younger than six into movies like MI3. They have children’s movies for children. People should take their kids to see those movies. Please don’t take them to grown up movies where you might run into Brian and I because we will want to strangle your children.
So Bill, if you are reading this, I think you owe Brian and I free passes to see MI3 again. Actually, I think you owe everyone of us who sat through the 9:50 pm showing in auditorium 10. Except for the wretched family of four who were sitting right next to us, of course.
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Trip to Peabody
Posted on June 3, 2006 by Ching under Life, Sex.
The drive up to Peabody was nice and peaceful. I had forgotten how much I liked highway driving. Of course, Brian was driving and I was merely a passenger this time but you know what I mean.
We decided to take a drive to Peabody to check out what the town was like and if it would truly viable for us to move there. Even though the free land sounded like a whale of a deal, there were several glaring disadvantages.
The first and most important one being, there is absolutely no cellphone signal in Peabody. Despite this, however, Brian and I still almost talked ourselves into moving forward with the plan.
The second disadvantage is the nearly hour-long drive to get there from Wichita. I had orginally guesstimated (yes, I know this isn’t a real word; bite me) about 30-45 minutes based on the distance, but this is not actually the case when you’re driving.
It took us almost an hour to get there and this on a day with no traffic, no construction and good weather. Imagine what it will be like under unfavorable conditions. Also, that’s only one way. If we were to live there and continue to work in Wichita, it would involve a two-hour commute each day.. and a lot of patience! Granted the drive to and from will be relaxing, but staying in bed an extra hour and a half is much more so.
The town itself is not that bad. It reminded me a bit of Starshollow. Which brings me to the third point, there is absolutely nothing to do there. There’s a small grocery store (smaller than most Kwik Shops), a small bowling alley (about the size of the one in Rhatigan Student Center at WSU but only more antiquated), a pub called The Hub (they actually had live entertainment on some nights so it looked kind of promising as small town bars go) and a Carnegie library (a lot smaller in size than your average Wichita bookstore but it boasts being the first free public library in Kansas).
Brian and I half-joked (I say half-joked because we did seriously consider the prospect for about two seconds) about going to Montana Mikes in Newton for date nights if we moved to Peabody. The rest of the date would be spent having outdoor sex in the outskirts of town, finally making one of my long-time fantasies a reality. But then, we could always drive to Peabody to have outdoor sex anytime. A lifetime of date nights spent at Montana Mike is a huge price to pay to fulfill a fetish.
A note to Kansas entrepreneurs, Brian and I actually discussed (over breakfast at Sharon’s Korner Kitchen; incidentally this is probably the best breakfast I’ve ever had) opening up a drive-in movie theater. There are no movie theaters in Peabody so it would give residents something to do. We thought about placing it near Peabody and Newton to maximize profit but then we decided to nix the idea because we figured we wouldn’t have time to save enough capital and we couldn’t borrow the money because we wouldn’t be able to make the payments. We couldn’t really forsee making a ton of money of the venture because Newton folks just drive to Wichita for entertainment anyway. We might make enough to make ends meet but probably not enough to pay our loan premiums. We just figured it would be something nice to do for the town of Peabody.
The bottom-line is that the whole idea of moving to Peabody in a couple years has been pretty much squashed. However, we did find out that the homesteading thing is happening all over the United States. There is free land everywhere. While this may be the end of the line for Peabody for us, it’s merely the beginning of our prospecting and speculation.
So who knows? In a few years, we may be moving to a small town near you. 😉
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The GMAT Challenge
Posted on June 1, 2006 by Ching under School.
So a couple of weeks ago at my graduation get together at mom and dad’s I told Jen and Ray that I was about to take the GMAT. I mentioned that I was a bit apprehensive because I had heard so many horror stories from other people.
Ray was like, I’m going to take the GMAT too but I won’t study. He had previously expressed that he was planning on returning to school to get his MBA so he would be taking the GMAT eventually.
Anyway, after receiving a pretty decent score on my GMAT without studying I told Jen to tell Ray that I scored a 600 and now it’s his turn. He goes, “Screw Ching! That costs money!”
So I asked Jen what that comment from the grad party was all about. She’s like, “That’s just Ray. He likes to make people feel bad.”
I will laugh my butt off if he studies for the GMAT before taking it and scores less than I did! I’m sure I’ll probably never find out, though.
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RPG Class Test, What Class are You!
Posted on May 30, 2006 by Brian under Games.
| Ranger 70% Combativeness, 53% Sneakiness, 29% Intellect, 75% Spirituality |
| Combative, stealthy, and spiritual; you are a Ranger! Rangers are the warriors of the woodlands. Stealthy, skilled in combat, and capable of casting spells, they are fearsome opponents and skilled hunters. Rangers are usually accompanied by an animal companion and have a tendency to either use a bow, or to wield a melee weapon in each hand. Sneaky, aggressive, and faithful, though not overly inclined towards that “book learning,” you’re probably a pretty dangerous person when you want to be. You may be a staunch defender of the forests, but I don’t trust you. |
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My test tracked 4 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender:
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This was a pretty accurate test for me. I play a Hunter in World of Warcraft. It is the same as a Ranger in D&D.
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Personal Goals Statement
Posted on May 29, 2006 by Ching under School.
I just finished writing my Personal Goals Statement. Although it took less than an hour to write, I don’t plan to re-write it so I sure hope that it is good enough. I’m actually waiting for Brian to finish playing WOW (or at least stop long enough) so that he can proof-read my essay. I figured there will be some typos and misspelled words and such. I anticipate some minor corrections will need to be made, but I’m not writing a whole new essay altogether. No way, Jose.
If it’s crappy, then that’s the price that I have to pay for procrastinating. I can’t really be expected draft anything spectacular in this short of a time frame (the admission deadline for fall semester is June 1). Besides, I have met people who can’t even put together a good, grammatically-sound paragraph who have been admitted to grad school so it shouldn’t be that hard, right? In any case, my co-worker Mo is currently in the WSU MBA program says he doesn’t think they actually read these things. I’m sure they do but geez, I’d need at least thousand words to tell my story. How am I to express my goal of world domination in five hundred words or less? It’s not happening.
Kidding aside, this is my attempt at rationalizing my lackluster admissions essay. If I don’t get accepted, you can all tell me I told you so. =P
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