Zenyatta lost her foal. :( They checked her on Monday and between last Thurs and this past Monday she lost the foal. It's not unusual before 45 days (after the breeding) and she's fine, but it's still a little sad. They'll breed her again next week to the same sire (Bernardini). It's kind of weird being kept this up-to-date with her because normally you never hear of the mare again after she's retired (except for her offspring) so I just hope nothing happens to her or the foal if it comes to term next year or it'd be just horrible. Also, some people are just mean and stupid. I haven't been able to read the comments on this because it gets my blood boiling sometimes. People.
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
More movies and school
Soo...Two more movies watched:
Fair Game (Naomi Watts, Sean Penn): This is the movie about Valerie Plame Wilson and the scandal back in 2003 (I think it was 2003) about her status as a CIA agent being revealed. The movie is based off her book with the same title. It was an okay movie. The movie started in early 2003 (I think) and basically led up to the moment she testified. It was an odd combination of trying to chronicle her being a CIA agent (she does some convert things in the Middle East) and the moment she's revealed. So it starts off like a spy type film and then moves into a drama. I don't remember the whole trial and investigation (I remember hearing about it too -- who can forget a name like Scooter Libby!), but this movie was really before the trial and the investigation happens in the background as it goes through her martial struggles with her husband and all that. It was okay. I don't even know if I can really grade it, but for shear entertainment, here's my opinion. Grade: C/C+
Love & Other Drugs (Anne Hathaway, Jake Gyllenhaal): This film was kind of weird because it's classified underneath a rom-com, but it migrates from a rom-com to a drama. It's definitely an adult film and there is a fair amount of cussing and nudity (saw Hathaway's breast a lot and Gyllenhaal's butt a few times). This movie is also based off a book called "Hard Sell" and it's mostly about a viagra salesman, which Gyllenhaal plays. However, Hathaway's character and story is thrown into the movie and (based on the book reviews) does not exist in the book at all. The movie has a feel of a true story since Pfizer is showcased and some other drugs. It was funny at points and it was a cute rom-com for itself, but it wasn't really that impressive. The love story definitely takes the forefront over the selling of pharmaceutical drugs and Parkinson's plays an interesting role in this too (Hathaway's character has early onset of Parkinson's). Other than that...eh. Grade: C
School started this week. My LAST quarter of grad school! I managed to make a great first impression with a prof because she thought class got out at 11:30, but the Bren schedule says 11:15. So at 11:20 I raised my hand and said, "Doesn't class get out at 11:15?" She said, "Does it? I have it written as 11:30. Oh well, I'll go ahead and let you guys out now." Weird. I have never been in a Bren class that lasts longer than 1:15 hours unless it's a lab and those are typically 1:50 hours. So...who knows. I guess I'll find out Monday who was right. LoL I have had a class with her before too. Although, I doubt she remembers me beyond facial recognition. :) That was my policy class...and I have to come up with a policy to do a case study on. I can't decide what to do...Anything I want to do isn't environmental or I've already done it if I know it. I guess I'll do some policy research. It can be anything too: state, local, national, international.
My other class that I might drop (can't decide) is climate change impacts. I want to learn in the class, but don't want to do any of the work! UGH! So...I don't know if I'll keep with it or drop it. We have to do a case study about some location, all the data, and determine if and how climate change will impact a location. It's interesting, but I don't want to do all the tedious work of the weekly writing assignments that are reflections on what we read. Ironically, climate change impacts has very similar assignments to my policy class and even requires us to turn them in 24 hours before the class. So weird.
My other class is the marine environment in a changing world and class was canceled on Monday. Supposedly it was going to be reschedule, but we still haven't heard about that so I wonder if we'll have class twice one week instead. I'm looking forward to that class, though. End of April is when my fisheries economics advanced class (1.5 weeks) starts. I'm a little intimidated, I must admit. Economics in 1.5 weeks...What was I thinking?! Oh well.
I ordered my Oberon iPad cover! I'm soooo excited! My "to buy/wish list" keeps increasing, though...Somehow when you buy things from it, it just manages to add a new thing on. :P I do really like their customer service, though. I ordered the iPad cover last night and this morning I got a call asking if I wanted it for the original iPad or iPad 2. They have been getting a TON of requests for them to do an iPad 2 cover so they wanted to make sure I knew it was only for the 1st version. It was very nice of them to double check.
Anyway, with that...back to rearranging the apartment and gotta do some school reading for next week. Trying to get ahead. Good intentions, but there's always "tomorrow".
Fair Game (Naomi Watts, Sean Penn): This is the movie about Valerie Plame Wilson and the scandal back in 2003 (I think it was 2003) about her status as a CIA agent being revealed. The movie is based off her book with the same title. It was an okay movie. The movie started in early 2003 (I think) and basically led up to the moment she testified. It was an odd combination of trying to chronicle her being a CIA agent (she does some convert things in the Middle East) and the moment she's revealed. So it starts off like a spy type film and then moves into a drama. I don't remember the whole trial and investigation (I remember hearing about it too -- who can forget a name like Scooter Libby!), but this movie was really before the trial and the investigation happens in the background as it goes through her martial struggles with her husband and all that. It was okay. I don't even know if I can really grade it, but for shear entertainment, here's my opinion. Grade: C/C+
Love & Other Drugs (Anne Hathaway, Jake Gyllenhaal): This film was kind of weird because it's classified underneath a rom-com, but it migrates from a rom-com to a drama. It's definitely an adult film and there is a fair amount of cussing and nudity (saw Hathaway's breast a lot and Gyllenhaal's butt a few times). This movie is also based off a book called "Hard Sell" and it's mostly about a viagra salesman, which Gyllenhaal plays. However, Hathaway's character and story is thrown into the movie and (based on the book reviews) does not exist in the book at all. The movie has a feel of a true story since Pfizer is showcased and some other drugs. It was funny at points and it was a cute rom-com for itself, but it wasn't really that impressive. The love story definitely takes the forefront over the selling of pharmaceutical drugs and Parkinson's plays an interesting role in this too (Hathaway's character has early onset of Parkinson's). Other than that...eh. Grade: C
School started this week. My LAST quarter of grad school! I managed to make a great first impression with a prof because she thought class got out at 11:30, but the Bren schedule says 11:15. So at 11:20 I raised my hand and said, "Doesn't class get out at 11:15?" She said, "Does it? I have it written as 11:30. Oh well, I'll go ahead and let you guys out now." Weird. I have never been in a Bren class that lasts longer than 1:15 hours unless it's a lab and those are typically 1:50 hours. So...who knows. I guess I'll find out Monday who was right. LoL I have had a class with her before too. Although, I doubt she remembers me beyond facial recognition. :) That was my policy class...and I have to come up with a policy to do a case study on. I can't decide what to do...Anything I want to do isn't environmental or I've already done it if I know it. I guess I'll do some policy research. It can be anything too: state, local, national, international.
My other class that I might drop (can't decide) is climate change impacts. I want to learn in the class, but don't want to do any of the work! UGH! So...I don't know if I'll keep with it or drop it. We have to do a case study about some location, all the data, and determine if and how climate change will impact a location. It's interesting, but I don't want to do all the tedious work of the weekly writing assignments that are reflections on what we read. Ironically, climate change impacts has very similar assignments to my policy class and even requires us to turn them in 24 hours before the class. So weird.
My other class is the marine environment in a changing world and class was canceled on Monday. Supposedly it was going to be reschedule, but we still haven't heard about that so I wonder if we'll have class twice one week instead. I'm looking forward to that class, though. End of April is when my fisheries economics advanced class (1.5 weeks) starts. I'm a little intimidated, I must admit. Economics in 1.5 weeks...What was I thinking?! Oh well.
I ordered my Oberon iPad cover! I'm soooo excited! My "to buy/wish list" keeps increasing, though...Somehow when you buy things from it, it just manages to add a new thing on. :P I do really like their customer service, though. I ordered the iPad cover last night and this morning I got a call asking if I wanted it for the original iPad or iPad 2. They have been getting a TON of requests for them to do an iPad 2 cover so they wanted to make sure I knew it was only for the 1st version. It was very nice of them to double check.
Anyway, with that...back to rearranging the apartment and gotta do some school reading for next week. Trying to get ahead. Good intentions, but there's always "tomorrow".
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Rango
Save your money and wait to see Rango on DVD. It's almost 1:50 hour long and it's a wee bit too long for what it is. There are some good things in it and the story is okay, but it's not a Dreamworks (I keep accidentally calling it "Dreamweaver"...) or Pixar film. The animation is excellent, but something in the story lacked. Plus, it's got some "gross" parts. Not like blood, body parts everywhere, or crude, but some parts that make you go "ewww." Like Rango eats a dragonfly and you watch it go into his mouth and munch it; an armadillo gets run over and you see his inner half is all squished in (no guts or blood) and he's still talking and stuff. Just random weird stuff like that. Also, it's not that much of a kid film because Rango uses some big words that kids probably have no clue what they mean. One word stuck out for me, but I can't remember what it is. So it might be an animation film, but I'm not sure if it's really kid appropriate earlier than 8 and, even then, may work better at 10. Other than that, I'm glad I saw it, but won't see it again and super glad I saw it at a matinee price. Grade: C (maybe C+ if I could have actually gotten into the movie, see below)
My movie watching experience was HORRIBLE! Chris said he thought he was going to have to stop me from strangling the lady next to us. She is an adult with her husband and two grandkids (around 6 and 8) and the girl sat on her lap the entire time and the girl ended up dangling her legs over the seat in front. The most annoying thing was the adult kept talking through the WHOLE movie and even sang with the songs (most songs were well known ones). It was utterly annoying. She talked 3 times more than the girl (who mostly asked questions about what was going in). Chris and I glared at her a lot, but she never noticed apparently. Could have shushed her, but I think she's one of those people who does not realize what she is doing and I had a suspicion she'd just complain about us being "rude". Sadly, we were the only adults around her other than her husband who fell asleep in the middle of movie. Theater was packed, but we got surrounded by kids after we sat down. It was kind of funny because during the exciting moments no talking occurred and she talked enough that I noticed how long she'd go without talking. I hope her granddaughter does not end up like her. I really wanted to shush her up badly.
Funny thing afterwards is Chris and I went to get food and this older guy was talking to the cute hostess. Chris shoved him out of the way to place our order and noted the girl didn't want to talk to that guy. The guy sat down and got back up like 5 minutes later and started talking to her again. She was totally giving him the "leave me alone creepy dude", but he didn't get it. We don't think he touched his food by the time we left with our takeout too. Poor girl.
My movie watching experience was HORRIBLE! Chris said he thought he was going to have to stop me from strangling the lady next to us. She is an adult with her husband and two grandkids (around 6 and 8) and the girl sat on her lap the entire time and the girl ended up dangling her legs over the seat in front. The most annoying thing was the adult kept talking through the WHOLE movie and even sang with the songs (most songs were well known ones). It was utterly annoying. She talked 3 times more than the girl (who mostly asked questions about what was going in). Chris and I glared at her a lot, but she never noticed apparently. Could have shushed her, but I think she's one of those people who does not realize what she is doing and I had a suspicion she'd just complain about us being "rude". Sadly, we were the only adults around her other than her husband who fell asleep in the middle of movie. Theater was packed, but we got surrounded by kids after we sat down. It was kind of funny because during the exciting moments no talking occurred and she talked enough that I noticed how long she'd go without talking. I hope her granddaughter does not end up like her. I really wanted to shush her up badly.
Funny thing afterwards is Chris and I went to get food and this older guy was talking to the cute hostess. Chris shoved him out of the way to place our order and noted the girl didn't want to talk to that guy. The guy sat down and got back up like 5 minutes later and started talking to her again. She was totally giving him the "leave me alone creepy dude", but he didn't get it. We don't think he touched his food by the time we left with our takeout too. Poor girl.
Friday, March 25, 2011
Movie review and Oberon
First, movie review for How Do You Know.
How Do You Know (Reese Witherspoon, Paul Rudd, Owen Wilson, Jack Nicholson) - Probably the worst Witherspoon in a while. It's not a good rom-com and is entirely too long at 2 hours. Rom-Coms should be around 1.5 hours long. This one also had story lines that went no where (at least I couldn't figure out their point) and some that were left hanging a little. One is implied, but...not a really satisfying ending to what the movie starts. It's like a bad mix of a rom-com and drama. It's not even a dramedy. To say the least, save your money. Jack Nicholson was good, but was apart of the weird storyline. The whole movie was kind of like "why was that written?" Grade: D
As for Oberon, it's my new obsession. I love their products: tooled leather and pewter. Sooo pretty too! You can find them here. If Chris wouldn't be displeased, I'd buy their iPad cover for my iPad (that I'm writing this entry on). I already have a good leather cover for it, but it's not an Oberon one and there are some things I wish my cover could do that Oberon's does better. Maybe one day...I already have one picked out: Creekbed maple in fern. One of the best things is simply picking out what you want and in what color. I have a whole list and am on their website almost once a day. I purchased a portfolio in the Triskellion knot (pad) in navy and it's gorgeous. I love to touch it and smell it. I mainly got it for job interviews since it'll look more professional to take notes in than my cheap spiral notebooks. The career team at Bren also suggested we get portfolios because you can take notes in it and easily carry a resume or anything in it and look professional. I also plan to bring it for the public presentstions when I have to be around looking professional at our table. I'm sure I'll use it until it falls apart and that may take a looong time. People with products over 10 years old say their stuff is going strong. Their hair clips look good too. I ordered one and am waiting for it to arrive. They also include a little charm with your purchase too. Anyway, for great leather and pewter products, I highly recommend Oberon. :) Good customer service and small operation too.
GP paper is almost ready to print! I've been figuring out what we want done and roughly calculating the costs before I talk to the printer next week. It's unfortunate that our paper is so huge and there are 6 of us on the team. We're going to use more than half our funds just for the report and it has to be in color. Oh well. At least we have enough! I also got my step aerobic bench and dvd today. Phew I'm out of shape. I had to to take a break in the middle and I feel it in my legs, but hopefully this'll help me be more active. I added a class on Tues/Thurs from 2:30-3:45. I might drop it, but I have it right now only as pass/fail anyway. I don't need it to graduate. As is, this class currently messes up my first week! If I didn't have it, I'd only have class on Monday from 10-11:15am because my Mon afternoon class is canceled and my Wed morning class is also canceled. Go figure. I'd have almost another week of no classes! Do have a GP meeting sometime next week, though. Oh yeah, the Goleta Borders is closing. :( It was super crowded when Chris and I went in and the sales weren't that good either. The best deal was 40% off mags. Everything else was 10-20%. Closing sale started on Thurs. Glad I'm leaving soon...no bookstore but downtown would be a bummer! Plus, it's sad.
Anyway, back to Eagle Eye on TV. I hope computers don't become this smart -- ever.
How Do You Know (Reese Witherspoon, Paul Rudd, Owen Wilson, Jack Nicholson) - Probably the worst Witherspoon in a while. It's not a good rom-com and is entirely too long at 2 hours. Rom-Coms should be around 1.5 hours long. This one also had story lines that went no where (at least I couldn't figure out their point) and some that were left hanging a little. One is implied, but...not a really satisfying ending to what the movie starts. It's like a bad mix of a rom-com and drama. It's not even a dramedy. To say the least, save your money. Jack Nicholson was good, but was apart of the weird storyline. The whole movie was kind of like "why was that written?" Grade: D
As for Oberon, it's my new obsession. I love their products: tooled leather and pewter. Sooo pretty too! You can find them here. If Chris wouldn't be displeased, I'd buy their iPad cover for my iPad (that I'm writing this entry on). I already have a good leather cover for it, but it's not an Oberon one and there are some things I wish my cover could do that Oberon's does better. Maybe one day...I already have one picked out: Creekbed maple in fern. One of the best things is simply picking out what you want and in what color. I have a whole list and am on their website almost once a day. I purchased a portfolio in the Triskellion knot (pad) in navy and it's gorgeous. I love to touch it and smell it. I mainly got it for job interviews since it'll look more professional to take notes in than my cheap spiral notebooks. The career team at Bren also suggested we get portfolios because you can take notes in it and easily carry a resume or anything in it and look professional. I also plan to bring it for the public presentstions when I have to be around looking professional at our table. I'm sure I'll use it until it falls apart and that may take a looong time. People with products over 10 years old say their stuff is going strong. Their hair clips look good too. I ordered one and am waiting for it to arrive. They also include a little charm with your purchase too. Anyway, for great leather and pewter products, I highly recommend Oberon. :) Good customer service and small operation too.
GP paper is almost ready to print! I've been figuring out what we want done and roughly calculating the costs before I talk to the printer next week. It's unfortunate that our paper is so huge and there are 6 of us on the team. We're going to use more than half our funds just for the report and it has to be in color. Oh well. At least we have enough! I also got my step aerobic bench and dvd today. Phew I'm out of shape. I had to to take a break in the middle and I feel it in my legs, but hopefully this'll help me be more active. I added a class on Tues/Thurs from 2:30-3:45. I might drop it, but I have it right now only as pass/fail anyway. I don't need it to graduate. As is, this class currently messes up my first week! If I didn't have it, I'd only have class on Monday from 10-11:15am because my Mon afternoon class is canceled and my Wed morning class is also canceled. Go figure. I'd have almost another week of no classes! Do have a GP meeting sometime next week, though. Oh yeah, the Goleta Borders is closing. :( It was super crowded when Chris and I went in and the sales weren't that good either. The best deal was 40% off mags. Everything else was 10-20%. Closing sale started on Thurs. Glad I'm leaving soon...no bookstore but downtown would be a bummer! Plus, it's sad.
Anyway, back to Eagle Eye on TV. I hope computers don't become this smart -- ever.
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
More movies and mini-mini school update
The Tourist (Johnny Depp, Angelina Jolie) - Interesting film. It has a few nice twists in it. It's a little slow and not what you expect given the movie previews. It's not as much of an action-adventure as you'd think. It's somewhere between a drama, action, and rom-com. It has a slightly odd feel to it, to say the least. Out of them all, it'd fit best underneath an action film. It's not cheesy like Knight & Day (Cameron Diaz and Tom Cruise), though. Makes you want to go to Italy too. I definitely enjoyed Depp's character and Jolie fit well next to him too. The best part of the film is probably the last 30 minutes. The beginning, as I said, is slow. At the moment, I'm going to give it this grade because the ending kind of made up for the rest of the film. Grade: B/B-
Due Date (Robert Downey Jr, Zach Galifianakis) - What a disappointment! I was expecting this to be somewhere along Knocked Up or The Hangover, which are both comedies that are actually funny and they're not super stupid like most Adam Sandler movies. Considering RDJ is in this, I expected it to be better. It was a disappointment and it was long. Galifianakis's character you just wanted to smack throughout the whole thing and RDJ had his funny moments and you like his character (who is just trying to get home to his wife who is having a c-section). The beginning of the film you want to slap RDJ's character, but it doesn't surpass the other one. It was just stupid decisions one after another and it wasn't really funny. It was just annoying. I think the characters were simply too dissimilar that they simply never had that "connection" moment you typically see in rom-coms where they ground each other from their polarities. If they had a better connection or something, I think it would have been better. The film just lacked that and was poor in trying to make it happen. Disappointment, but I liked RDJ and Galifianakis could work in other movies better. If it had that connection and actual laughs, it might have been a C to B- movie. Grade: D
In other news, will rent How Do You Know later this week and next week will be Love & Other Drugs and maybe Fair Game (the one about that female CIA operative and being exposed). By principle, I will not see 127 Hours. I am perma-scarred from selling the book (Between a Rock and Hard Place) at Borders.
Got an A in GP for fall and winter quarter! I got an A- in international law too. Funny enough, it means I get the same GPA for this winter quarter and last winter quarter. Weird. Stupid B+ ruins it all, though! My cumulative GPA went down again. So annoying. Oh well. I've never gotten a grade less than a B+, but those GPA point drops do hurt. Anyway, with that...I've ordered some business cards (just Master's candidate cards) for whenever I meet someone and will print out resumes for the public presentation on April 15th. Never know if I might click with someone randomly I meet. I also bought a really gorgeous portfolio for interviews (will be a life long thing I'll keep). So...I'm starting to get myself into the job hunting stage. I've been looking for jobs and nothing has come up that is anywhere near where I'd like to be living. In other words, I don't really want to move to Washington DC at this stage and that's where a lot of the interesting jobs have come up. I'll keep looking and start networking soon.
With that...Back to watching Wanted on TV. FX has been showing a lot of good movies this week. Sunday was Fantastic 4: The Rise of the Silver Surfer, Iron Man, Incredible Hulk, and X-Men: Last Stand. Monday evening was Tropic Thunder. Tonight is Wanted. Tomorrow is Mummy: The Tomb of the Dragon Emperor. Friday is Eagle Eye. Eagle Eye wasn't THAT great of a movie, but it makes for a good TV movie.
Due Date (Robert Downey Jr, Zach Galifianakis) - What a disappointment! I was expecting this to be somewhere along Knocked Up or The Hangover, which are both comedies that are actually funny and they're not super stupid like most Adam Sandler movies. Considering RDJ is in this, I expected it to be better. It was a disappointment and it was long. Galifianakis's character you just wanted to smack throughout the whole thing and RDJ had his funny moments and you like his character (who is just trying to get home to his wife who is having a c-section). The beginning of the film you want to slap RDJ's character, but it doesn't surpass the other one. It was just stupid decisions one after another and it wasn't really funny. It was just annoying. I think the characters were simply too dissimilar that they simply never had that "connection" moment you typically see in rom-coms where they ground each other from their polarities. If they had a better connection or something, I think it would have been better. The film just lacked that and was poor in trying to make it happen. Disappointment, but I liked RDJ and Galifianakis could work in other movies better. If it had that connection and actual laughs, it might have been a C to B- movie. Grade: D
In other news, will rent How Do You Know later this week and next week will be Love & Other Drugs and maybe Fair Game (the one about that female CIA operative and being exposed). By principle, I will not see 127 Hours. I am perma-scarred from selling the book (Between a Rock and Hard Place) at Borders.
Got an A in GP for fall and winter quarter! I got an A- in international law too. Funny enough, it means I get the same GPA for this winter quarter and last winter quarter. Weird. Stupid B+ ruins it all, though! My cumulative GPA went down again. So annoying. Oh well. I've never gotten a grade less than a B+, but those GPA point drops do hurt. Anyway, with that...I've ordered some business cards (just Master's candidate cards) for whenever I meet someone and will print out resumes for the public presentation on April 15th. Never know if I might click with someone randomly I meet. I also bought a really gorgeous portfolio for interviews (will be a life long thing I'll keep). So...I'm starting to get myself into the job hunting stage. I've been looking for jobs and nothing has come up that is anywhere near where I'd like to be living. In other words, I don't really want to move to Washington DC at this stage and that's where a lot of the interesting jobs have come up. I'll keep looking and start networking soon.
With that...Back to watching Wanted on TV. FX has been showing a lot of good movies this week. Sunday was Fantastic 4: The Rise of the Silver Surfer, Iron Man, Incredible Hulk, and X-Men: Last Stand. Monday evening was Tropic Thunder. Tonight is Wanted. Tomorrow is Mummy: The Tomb of the Dragon Emperor. Friday is Eagle Eye. Eagle Eye wasn't THAT great of a movie, but it makes for a good TV movie.
Saturday, March 19, 2011
Santa Anita Trip #2
Went to Santa Anita today with Melissa and her boyfriend Kyle. It didn't rain! It was cloudy pretty much the entire time and sprinkled for maybe 30 seconds at one point, but the rain stayed away from the time we arrived to the time we left. It started raining when we got into SB County, though. So it wasn't too hot at Santa Anita and it wasn't too cold. It was pretty good weather. We had lots of fun and did the tour, got free BBQ aprons, and I bought a sweatshirt from Santa Anita. I'm going again in 3 weeks for the Santa Anita Derby and I want to get another pen from there, but I'm pretty stocked up on Santa Anita stuff now. :P I love that place, though. It's got a nice energy and is just fun. I like looking at the horses in the saddling paddock, the paddock, and when they race. It's an exciting 1-2 minutes and everything that goes with it helps build it up for sure. The only thing I dislike is the smoking. Gah. It wasn't like someone smoking in my face the entire time (only happened once) and you usually can move out of the way fine, but it's just the stale smell of smoke near the main entrance of the grandstand that is just annoying. No headaches because I was never near enough at one time, but it's just not always fun. I placed no bets, but Melissa and Kyle did. I'm not sure if they were up or down. Melissa had a good first bet. She got $5.50 back (in addition to her initial $5) on a show. Kind of downhill from there. I didn't do too shabby on my hypothetical betting. I hit the board a lot, but not in the right orders. I got one right here and there (always did a win, place, show or trifecta), but who knows. I have never paid so close attention to odds in my almost 10 years of horse racing! So I learned something new. :) I am a little sore in the legs too. We walked/stood pretty much from 10am to when we left at 4pm. We sat for maybe an hour total here and there (e.g., for lunch). We also went up and down a lot of stairs. Good workout, I suppose!
Anyway, here are the photos with captions here and there: Santa Anita Trip #2
I also got to see The Factor's Rebel win at Santa Anita on the TV monitors (Rebel is at Oaklawn in Arkansas). He was able to go 2-turns so he's now my emotional favorite for the Derby. We'll see how he does in the Arkansas Derby in about a month, but his trainer is Baffert (one of my favorites) and he's a grey/roan (my favorite horse color). He's a freak too (horse racing terminology for super talented -- basically off the charts). He's got some AMAZING speed. I'm not sure how far he can carry that since he doesn't seem to like to rate and going in the Derby, he could wire the field (start to finish in 1st), but...that's not normal when there will be 20 horses in the field. So I don't know if he can win the Derby, but he'll be a fun horse to watch this year.
Saw Limitless yesterday. It was a good film, but Chris and I both agreed for a guy who is supposed to be using 100% of his brain at all time so he's (basically) the smartest man alive, he made some pretty stupid decisions. Shouldn't his brain he working fast enough to be able to work out scenarios out ahead of time? Oh well. It was a nice little action-adventure/psychological type film. There was a gross scene (guy drank a dead man's fresh blood), but other than that it wasn't bad. Wouldn't see it again and it's not quite good enough to buy on DVD. Glad I saw it, though. Grade: B-/C+
Anyway, here are the photos with captions here and there: Santa Anita Trip #2
I also got to see The Factor's Rebel win at Santa Anita on the TV monitors (Rebel is at Oaklawn in Arkansas). He was able to go 2-turns so he's now my emotional favorite for the Derby. We'll see how he does in the Arkansas Derby in about a month, but his trainer is Baffert (one of my favorites) and he's a grey/roan (my favorite horse color). He's a freak too (horse racing terminology for super talented -- basically off the charts). He's got some AMAZING speed. I'm not sure how far he can carry that since he doesn't seem to like to rate and going in the Derby, he could wire the field (start to finish in 1st), but...that's not normal when there will be 20 horses in the field. So I don't know if he can win the Derby, but he'll be a fun horse to watch this year.
Saw Limitless yesterday. It was a good film, but Chris and I both agreed for a guy who is supposed to be using 100% of his brain at all time so he's (basically) the smartest man alive, he made some pretty stupid decisions. Shouldn't his brain he working fast enough to be able to work out scenarios out ahead of time? Oh well. It was a nice little action-adventure/psychological type film. There was a gross scene (guy drank a dead man's fresh blood), but other than that it wasn't bad. Wouldn't see it again and it's not quite good enough to buy on DVD. Glad I saw it, though. Grade: B-/C+
Friday, March 18, 2011
More movies
Since my workload has decreased...Let the movie watching begin! Oh, wait, I've already put in 6 movies this week (thank you RedBox). At $1.09 (including tax) for 24 hours, it's not a bad deal. I put in 6xs the movie for less than it costs to go to a matinee movie. Sweet!
Anyway...movies!
The Next Three Days (Russell Crowe, Elizabeth Banks) - This is an overly looong movie and the exciting stuff doesn't happen till the last 45 minutes. It's about Crowe's character trying to break his wife out of county jail before she's sent to prison for a murder (he strongly, strongly believes) that she did not commit; however, the evidence pointed to her and she was life-in-prison. Olivia Wilde plays an odd role, which you think she will have a bigger part and she doesn't. Anyway, it's an action film, but for only the latter part. The story was okay. You could poke fun of it at times and I think the cops were made to be a little (very minute) stupid than you normally see in movies to make Crowe's character look so much smarter. Or, maybe that's just what my impression. Anyway, if it wasn't so long, perhaps I would have liked it better. Grade: C
The Switch (Jennifer Aniston, Jason Bateman) - One of the better Aniston films. Unfortunately, considering her movie role resume, that's not saying a whole lot. It's a rom-com, but takes place from Bateman's point of view and not Aniston's. It was cute and Bateman's connection to the kid was also nice (even Aniston at points). The kid was cute too. Aniston's character got a little annoying at times, but it also wasn't from her POV. It was okay in the way of rom-coms, but it won't turn into a movie you see on TV. Grade: C
Morning Glory (Rachel McAdams, Harrison Ford, Diane Keaton) - I enjoyed this. It's not really a rom-com, but it has the feel of a rom-com. The two main characters are McAdams and Ford so it couldn't end up as a rom-com, but McAdams does find her guy (that's her age) that takes a side story role. I think all three main actors were very good with each other. Keaton and Ford are the older ones and they worked as co-anchors on Daybreak. It also nice seeing McAdams come into her own as an executive producer of a TV show. Overall, I enjoyed its story, funny moments, and touching moments. If you buy almost every rom-com you see, this one would be a buyer. Not quite enough for me, though. Grade: B
Life as We Know It (Katherine Heigl, Josh Duhamel) - You're typical Heigl rom-com. You knew from the beginning what was going to happen. In comparison to her others, I like 27 Dresses better, but I'd say it's on par with Knocked Up. The end with the Child Protection Service was pretty funny and the CPS person ends up being a ruse for some comic moments. She makes some good points, but it's the manner in which she arrives (always at the bad moment for Heigl and Duhamel) and how she portrays herself. It's an interesting concept for a rom-com (lots of expectantly becoming a family in odd circumstances and also friends-with-benefits movies of late...), but it's just your average rom-com in the end. Grade: B-/C+
Chris and I are seeing Limitless (Bradley Cooper) in an hourish and tomorrow is Santa Anita! Which it's forecasted to be raining tomorrow. Joy. Next week will be renting Due Date and The Tourist since they both come out on Tues for RedBox (RedBox is a month behind the DVD release of Due Date).
Grades are not as exciting as I'd like...A- in conservation planning (knew that), A- in coastal zone law (knew that), and B+ in enviro institutions (totally not happy about that...Gosh dang it, I had like a 89%. Give me the A- for effort since he knew I struggled with his assignments!). I am destined to have at least one B+ every quarter and I don't like B+'s. I like A's and A-'s much more. Oh well. Still waiting to hear about GP and international law. I'm hoping I'll get an A in both of those, especially since GP is 8 units (two quarters) of the same grade. If I get an A in GP, last quarter (Fall 2010) will be my one-and-only B+ free quarter! At least I manage to always get B+'s over B's.
With that, gotta get ready for the movie. It's at 1:10.
Anyway...movies!
The Next Three Days (Russell Crowe, Elizabeth Banks) - This is an overly looong movie and the exciting stuff doesn't happen till the last 45 minutes. It's about Crowe's character trying to break his wife out of county jail before she's sent to prison for a murder (he strongly, strongly believes) that she did not commit; however, the evidence pointed to her and she was life-in-prison. Olivia Wilde plays an odd role, which you think she will have a bigger part and she doesn't. Anyway, it's an action film, but for only the latter part. The story was okay. You could poke fun of it at times and I think the cops were made to be a little (very minute) stupid than you normally see in movies to make Crowe's character look so much smarter. Or, maybe that's just what my impression. Anyway, if it wasn't so long, perhaps I would have liked it better. Grade: C
The Switch (Jennifer Aniston, Jason Bateman) - One of the better Aniston films. Unfortunately, considering her movie role resume, that's not saying a whole lot. It's a rom-com, but takes place from Bateman's point of view and not Aniston's. It was cute and Bateman's connection to the kid was also nice (even Aniston at points). The kid was cute too. Aniston's character got a little annoying at times, but it also wasn't from her POV. It was okay in the way of rom-coms, but it won't turn into a movie you see on TV. Grade: C
Morning Glory (Rachel McAdams, Harrison Ford, Diane Keaton) - I enjoyed this. It's not really a rom-com, but it has the feel of a rom-com. The two main characters are McAdams and Ford so it couldn't end up as a rom-com, but McAdams does find her guy (that's her age) that takes a side story role. I think all three main actors were very good with each other. Keaton and Ford are the older ones and they worked as co-anchors on Daybreak. It also nice seeing McAdams come into her own as an executive producer of a TV show. Overall, I enjoyed its story, funny moments, and touching moments. If you buy almost every rom-com you see, this one would be a buyer. Not quite enough for me, though. Grade: B
Life as We Know It (Katherine Heigl, Josh Duhamel) - You're typical Heigl rom-com. You knew from the beginning what was going to happen. In comparison to her others, I like 27 Dresses better, but I'd say it's on par with Knocked Up. The end with the Child Protection Service was pretty funny and the CPS person ends up being a ruse for some comic moments. She makes some good points, but it's the manner in which she arrives (always at the bad moment for Heigl and Duhamel) and how she portrays herself. It's an interesting concept for a rom-com (lots of expectantly becoming a family in odd circumstances and also friends-with-benefits movies of late...), but it's just your average rom-com in the end. Grade: B-/C+
Chris and I are seeing Limitless (Bradley Cooper) in an hourish and tomorrow is Santa Anita! Which it's forecasted to be raining tomorrow. Joy. Next week will be renting Due Date and The Tourist since they both come out on Tues for RedBox (RedBox is a month behind the DVD release of Due Date).
Grades are not as exciting as I'd like...A- in conservation planning (knew that), A- in coastal zone law (knew that), and B+ in enviro institutions (totally not happy about that...Gosh dang it, I had like a 89%. Give me the A- for effort since he knew I struggled with his assignments!). I am destined to have at least one B+ every quarter and I don't like B+'s. I like A's and A-'s much more. Oh well. Still waiting to hear about GP and international law. I'm hoping I'll get an A in both of those, especially since GP is 8 units (two quarters) of the same grade. If I get an A in GP, last quarter (Fall 2010) will be my one-and-only B+ free quarter! At least I manage to always get B+'s over B's.
With that, gotta get ready for the movie. It's at 1:10.
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Goodbye, Male Shrimp
My 2nd shrimp died. This time it's the male. He seemed fine two days ago when I fed them, but they are getting to the end of their lifespan. I hope it's not my cutting down their food, but I feed them regularly every two days and always made sure the shrimp got a pellet so I doubt that was the issue. Must have been age. He must have died yesterday because the female shrimp already tore him apart and I checked on him two days ago when I fed them. The only things that are left (icky) are his front legs and the carapace where his eyes were (no actual eyes) and his tail, which looks a lot like a cocktail shrimp (ugh). I'll have Chris fish it out when he gets home from work (I'm still traumatized from fishing out the dead fish over a year ago). That much extra protein in the tank isn't good and I'd rather the tank kept getting flakes than just this big piece of food left for days.
So...That leaves my last super-mama female shrimp. I guess the big and strong do survive since she was the biggest shrimp of the three. She's carrying another set of eggs too, which will be her last since I don't have the male anymore. I'll have to watch her carefully. I may get some algae eating shrimp next because I have this funky algae that is growing that they could eat, but I don't know. I may wait till this female passes on because she's probably 2-3 times bigger than them.
It's a sad day in fish tank land. My shrimp always entertained me.
So...That leaves my last super-mama female shrimp. I guess the big and strong do survive since she was the biggest shrimp of the three. She's carrying another set of eggs too, which will be her last since I don't have the male anymore. I'll have to watch her carefully. I may get some algae eating shrimp next because I have this funky algae that is growing that they could eat, but I don't know. I may wait till this female passes on because she's probably 2-3 times bigger than them.
It's a sad day in fish tank land. My shrimp always entertained me.
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Movies update
My movies update! I actually haven't seen that many movies recently. Partially it's because of school (I haven't had a lot of time to think about going to the movies...) and also because not that many interesting movies (for me) have come out. However, now that my workload is lighter and all the winter movies I missed in theater are coming out on DVD, expect to see a more movie reviews. Also the more interesting movies are comin' out now.
So...catch up!
The Illusionist (French animation up for Oscars) - Other than the fact that there is no speaking (except the occasional mostly-French mumble), this movie was still interesting. My ears were almost bleeding by the end because they were straining to hear someone talk, but the film had some funny, cute, sad, and touching moments all in it. It's probably what silent films were back in the day! Odd...Hadn't thought of that till now. It's not a children's film, for sure. It's rather docile and lacks any real excitement that most animation films have these days. Some adults may even find it boring and children would probably be bored after the first 20 minutes. It's good for a one-time watch, unless it's your thing then maybe you'd want to buy it, but it's unlikely I'll watch it again. I still remember the strain of trying to hear words from the wordless movie... Grade: B
Unknown (Liam Neeson) - This film has flavors of Bourne in it, but it has a twist that Bourne does not have. It's a basic action film of a not-too-interesting script (other than the small twist). Chris and I are convinced that Taken Liam Neeson would kick Unknown Liam Neeson's butt also. So, though it's portrayed as an action film, it's less action-like than you'd think. Most action films get the heart going after about 30 minutes and Unknown takes you all the way to the end and in the last 40 minutes or so does your heart start to really pick up. Most of the first half of the film is him trying to determine whether he is insane or whether he knows who he is. So it's rather...slow. I suppose it's more unexpected than slow. Anyway, if you want to see Liam Neeson kick butt, see Taken. The story, action, and everything about it is infinitely better than this movie and actually induced me to want to rewatch Taken after watching Unknown (which I did). Grade: C
Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps - I didn't watch the first one, so I don't exactly know why what's-his-face was put into prison, but you get the general idea he did some financial robbery so it's not needed. The acting was good, the story was okay. I like Shia LeBouf and he did a decent job. Movie, as predicted, has the moral meaning that money corrupts and can destroy your life if you're not careful. Not sure if it's something to rush and see, but it was good to see when nothing else was more exciting. Grade: C+/B-
Resident Evil: Afterlife - I didn't watch the first ones, nor have I played the game so I was a little lost in this movie. It's okay if you like this type of sci-fi thing, but I think most people won't particularly like it since it's a little "out there" in the series even. It's based on one of the lesser characters and was okay. It had some good fighting and lots of "zombies", but that was about it. Grade: C-
R.E.D. - This was "cute." The acting was good and the stories were funny. It's based off of a comic so it has a slightly unrealistic flavor to it. I'm not sure if anyone will know what I mean, but you can tell the story is not one to make it realistic or even into a sci-fi category. It's good and Helen Mirren is amazing at her age. Malkovich plays a funny role too. It's good if you don't mind an action film (there is a lot of gun fire in this movie) with older people in it with a little humor thrown in. Grade: B/B-
Unstoppable (just watched today!) - Talk about stupidity all around. You can definitely tell it's beefed up to make it more exciting than the "inspired by true events" that is tagged on the front. Even I could tell when something was a stupid move to try with a train that heavy and going that fast, but oh well. I do enjoy Tony Scott movies (or Ridley Scott, his brother) because they're just your basic action films with 100% adrenaline. You definitely felt your heart pumping at the end even if you did know everything was going to be okay. It's got its stupid moments that make you want to rip your hair out because people are being stupid, but it's good for the pure adrenaline sake. I was joking by the end that all you have to do to repair your marriage and keep everyone liking you is to be a hero, but...you know. :) Grade: C+/B-
The Fighter (just finished!) - I enjoyed it! I can see why it was picked for Oscars. The acting was really good, but the supporting actors/actresses really made the film. Wahlberg's role was low key as, well, his personality was meant to portray since he was being dominated by his mother (Melissa Leo) and brother (Christian Bale). Leo and Bale were both excellent. Bale, if anything, showed some really good acting chops and Amy Adams was also good as the support/backbone for Mickey as he was trying to move away from his dominating mother and brother. It had some exciting fights, but the character development was good and the story was well paced. It had a good moment too about family. I enjoyed it and would recommend it to people who are considering watching it. It's a little long at 2 hours and it takes a little time to get into what is going on and the relationship dynamic and history, but it was good. Just note the f-bomb is dropped a LOT. It fits the characters, but fair warning. Some drugs and smoking too. Enough to say I suppose it got its R rating for the drugs and language more than anything else (Adams is seen in her underwear for a minute). Not a movie buy for me, but glad I saw it. Grade: A-
Soon to see DVDs (through April): Due Date, King's Speech, (maybe) Switch, The Tourist, and (maybe, maybe) Black Swan.
Soon to see in theaters (through April): Rango, Limitless (seeing it Friday), and The Adjustment Bureau (might be rental). Water for Elephants will likely be a rental.
May theaters: Thor, PotC 4 (!!), Hangover 2, and Kung Fu Panda 2
June theaters: X-Men: First Class, Super 8, Green Lantern (!!!), Cars 2
July theaters: Transformers 3 (!!), Harry Potter DH, Part 2 (!!!!!!!), Captain America, Cowboys & Aliens (depending on reviews -- I'm intrigued)
November theaters: Puss in Boots, ew...really don't want to see Breaking Dawn, Part 1, but I've managed to see the rest. Ugh.
December theaters: Sherlock Holmes 2 (!), Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (time for the American version!)
I look at that list and it just didn't feel as exciting as last summer. Hm. I think a lot of those films I could see on DVD just as well in theaters (in particular, Thor, Captain America, Hangover2, and X-Men).
So...catch up!
The Illusionist (French animation up for Oscars) - Other than the fact that there is no speaking (except the occasional mostly-French mumble), this movie was still interesting. My ears were almost bleeding by the end because they were straining to hear someone talk, but the film had some funny, cute, sad, and touching moments all in it. It's probably what silent films were back in the day! Odd...Hadn't thought of that till now. It's not a children's film, for sure. It's rather docile and lacks any real excitement that most animation films have these days. Some adults may even find it boring and children would probably be bored after the first 20 minutes. It's good for a one-time watch, unless it's your thing then maybe you'd want to buy it, but it's unlikely I'll watch it again. I still remember the strain of trying to hear words from the wordless movie... Grade: B
Unknown (Liam Neeson) - This film has flavors of Bourne in it, but it has a twist that Bourne does not have. It's a basic action film of a not-too-interesting script (other than the small twist). Chris and I are convinced that Taken Liam Neeson would kick Unknown Liam Neeson's butt also. So, though it's portrayed as an action film, it's less action-like than you'd think. Most action films get the heart going after about 30 minutes and Unknown takes you all the way to the end and in the last 40 minutes or so does your heart start to really pick up. Most of the first half of the film is him trying to determine whether he is insane or whether he knows who he is. So it's rather...slow. I suppose it's more unexpected than slow. Anyway, if you want to see Liam Neeson kick butt, see Taken. The story, action, and everything about it is infinitely better than this movie and actually induced me to want to rewatch Taken after watching Unknown (which I did). Grade: C
Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps - I didn't watch the first one, so I don't exactly know why what's-his-face was put into prison, but you get the general idea he did some financial robbery so it's not needed. The acting was good, the story was okay. I like Shia LeBouf and he did a decent job. Movie, as predicted, has the moral meaning that money corrupts and can destroy your life if you're not careful. Not sure if it's something to rush and see, but it was good to see when nothing else was more exciting. Grade: C+/B-
Resident Evil: Afterlife - I didn't watch the first ones, nor have I played the game so I was a little lost in this movie. It's okay if you like this type of sci-fi thing, but I think most people won't particularly like it since it's a little "out there" in the series even. It's based on one of the lesser characters and was okay. It had some good fighting and lots of "zombies", but that was about it. Grade: C-
R.E.D. - This was "cute." The acting was good and the stories were funny. It's based off of a comic so it has a slightly unrealistic flavor to it. I'm not sure if anyone will know what I mean, but you can tell the story is not one to make it realistic or even into a sci-fi category. It's good and Helen Mirren is amazing at her age. Malkovich plays a funny role too. It's good if you don't mind an action film (there is a lot of gun fire in this movie) with older people in it with a little humor thrown in. Grade: B/B-
Unstoppable (just watched today!) - Talk about stupidity all around. You can definitely tell it's beefed up to make it more exciting than the "inspired by true events" that is tagged on the front. Even I could tell when something was a stupid move to try with a train that heavy and going that fast, but oh well. I do enjoy Tony Scott movies (or Ridley Scott, his brother) because they're just your basic action films with 100% adrenaline. You definitely felt your heart pumping at the end even if you did know everything was going to be okay. It's got its stupid moments that make you want to rip your hair out because people are being stupid, but it's good for the pure adrenaline sake. I was joking by the end that all you have to do to repair your marriage and keep everyone liking you is to be a hero, but...you know. :) Grade: C+/B-
The Fighter (just finished!) - I enjoyed it! I can see why it was picked for Oscars. The acting was really good, but the supporting actors/actresses really made the film. Wahlberg's role was low key as, well, his personality was meant to portray since he was being dominated by his mother (Melissa Leo) and brother (Christian Bale). Leo and Bale were both excellent. Bale, if anything, showed some really good acting chops and Amy Adams was also good as the support/backbone for Mickey as he was trying to move away from his dominating mother and brother. It had some exciting fights, but the character development was good and the story was well paced. It had a good moment too about family. I enjoyed it and would recommend it to people who are considering watching it. It's a little long at 2 hours and it takes a little time to get into what is going on and the relationship dynamic and history, but it was good. Just note the f-bomb is dropped a LOT. It fits the characters, but fair warning. Some drugs and smoking too. Enough to say I suppose it got its R rating for the drugs and language more than anything else (Adams is seen in her underwear for a minute). Not a movie buy for me, but glad I saw it. Grade: A-
Soon to see DVDs (through April): Due Date, King's Speech, (maybe) Switch, The Tourist, and (maybe, maybe) Black Swan.
Soon to see in theaters (through April): Rango, Limitless (seeing it Friday), and The Adjustment Bureau (might be rental). Water for Elephants will likely be a rental.
May theaters: Thor, PotC 4 (!!), Hangover 2, and Kung Fu Panda 2
June theaters: X-Men: First Class, Super 8, Green Lantern (!!!), Cars 2
July theaters: Transformers 3 (!!), Harry Potter DH, Part 2 (!!!!!!!), Captain America, Cowboys & Aliens (depending on reviews -- I'm intrigued)
November theaters: Puss in Boots, ew...really don't want to see Breaking Dawn, Part 1, but I've managed to see the rest. Ugh.
December theaters: Sherlock Holmes 2 (!), Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (time for the American version!)
I look at that list and it just didn't feel as exciting as last summer. Hm. I think a lot of those films I could see on DVD just as well in theaters (in particular, Thor, Captain America, Hangover2, and X-Men).
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Update: End of Quarter
Well...It's been a while since I updated and it's mostly because it's the same thing and it's just been crazy.
I finished classes on Thursday and next week is finals and the 21-25 is Spring Beak. Most of my classes are finished. I took my coastal zone law final two weeks ago (was due the 1st). I got it back on Monday and I got a 92! The 2nd question I kind of bombed on, but I did very well on the other two questions. The 1st question I missed 2 points and the 3rd question I had more than a perfect on, which I'm confused about. Our final said it was worth 40 pts and I got 41...So...I'm not sure what happened there. Anyway, it all worked out to a 92 point wise, but whatever. Since I did the rewrite on our case brief and got an A on that, I'll get at least an A- in the class, but we'll see what she does to participation. Granted, half our class dropped by the end (almost half when the final was given out) so maybe we should all get brownie points for that. In addition, I think I'm one of the few in the class (that are left) who kept their grade as letter grade and not pass/fail (some people changed that before turning their final in). So...I don't know. I some how take these classes everyone drops! It's like cost-benefit analysis last quarter when the class went from 45+ students down to 9 by finals. It was ridiculous! This class was like 30 down to 10, I think. My enviro institutions class was at 12 and went down to 9. So...I've had some very small classes of late.
Anyway, environmental institutions is almost over. Had our presentation on Thursday and our paper is due on Monday. So got that, but my work is mostly finished for it. Not sure what I'll get in the class. I think I'm pulling, right now, a B+/A-. I think it'll come down to the paper for what he wants to give me.
Conservation planning is finished. Turned our final paper in yesterday (Friday) and had our presentation on Monday. We kicked butt because we changed our objective and did all our modeling in 2 days (Thurs/Fri) before our presentation so our professor was very impressed with us since we were first to present on Monday and the last she heard (the Wednesday before) we had nothing to show and had not modeled anything to that point. So...We rocked it! This grade will be dependent upon our final paper, but I'm thinking an A- at least. I'd be surprised if I got less than that, but who knows with our final paper. We've had very little graded and our final paper is worth 40% of our grade so it'll be dependent on that.
Environmental international law is still going along even though the class ended almost 2 months ago. That's basically done and we all agree that we'd be surprised if everyone who turned something in just didn't go ahead and get an A. We've gotten NO feed back on the thing we turned in last time and it's basically like "uhhh...what is there to grade us on?" So...I'd be surprised if I got less than an A for this class.
And last, but not least, GP. *sigh* The short of it: we're in editing. Our poster and brief have not been made yet and those drafts are due the 18th, but our final paper is due the 18th so our main focus has been that. Unfortunately, we've had a hiccup with one of our groupmates and it's going slow on certain parts of the paper. It's stressful, but at least we're getting close to being done. We also got an extension to have our report printed after Spring Break since we knew we weren't going to get it done in time to be printed and bound by the 18th. In addition, the copy we turn in has to be signed by everyone and we have a funky schedule where one person will be here the 18th and one is leaving the 17th and we'd have to pre-sign and then make sure the printer remembered to swap out signed sheets with non-signed before binding and...I just decided they offered us the extension to print so we will take the extension for the print job. (It's not preferred we turn the print copy in later, but it's okay if we ask for it ahead of time.) Our paper is 175 pages (so far) from cover to end of references (includes two appendices) and we're still missing a few pieces (e.g., executive summary hasn't been written and we haven't put our flow charts into one appendix). I think 250 (or is it 200?) is our absolute max they allow and I'm pretty sure we'll be fine. I can't image writing that many more pages since I think we have maybe 5-10 more since the flow charts (3 pages) and the exec summary (2 pages) is the last big pieces we have to do. Oh well, the important thing is we're almost finished. It's a little stressful, but at least all my other school work will be completed come Monday and I can concentrate on GP and what needs to be completed. But we are in the homestretch!
Saturday the 19th (day after our GP paper is due) Melissa, her boyfriend Kyle, and I are going to Santa Anita! Oh yeah! Soooo excited and they're both relatively new (Melissa's been to a racetrack once) so it'll be fun. It's also the Saint Pat's Pitch that day and you can sign up to throw a horseshoe and if you get a ringer, you win $1mil! (Totally not doing that myself.) And it's also a giveaway day. You get a BBQ apron. LoL It's not special at all, but...hey...it's a freebie! We're going to try and make it to the track tour too since I missed most of it last time and they've never been. We'll see how we succeed.
Anyway, with that, I'm off to watch How to Train Your Dragon. :) I bought the soundtrack (finally) the other day and I love it and I still love the movie. Time to relax! Oh...movie updates. I've watched like 3 movies since my last movie update, but I'll have to remember hard what those were and update later. I watched The Illusionist (animation foreign film in the Oscars), Unknown (Liam Neeson), something else I can't remember, and I did finally watch Monster vs Aliens which is a few years old animation film now. LoL
I finished classes on Thursday and next week is finals and the 21-25 is Spring Beak. Most of my classes are finished. I took my coastal zone law final two weeks ago (was due the 1st). I got it back on Monday and I got a 92! The 2nd question I kind of bombed on, but I did very well on the other two questions. The 1st question I missed 2 points and the 3rd question I had more than a perfect on, which I'm confused about. Our final said it was worth 40 pts and I got 41...So...I'm not sure what happened there. Anyway, it all worked out to a 92 point wise, but whatever. Since I did the rewrite on our case brief and got an A on that, I'll get at least an A- in the class, but we'll see what she does to participation. Granted, half our class dropped by the end (almost half when the final was given out) so maybe we should all get brownie points for that. In addition, I think I'm one of the few in the class (that are left) who kept their grade as letter grade and not pass/fail (some people changed that before turning their final in). So...I don't know. I some how take these classes everyone drops! It's like cost-benefit analysis last quarter when the class went from 45+ students down to 9 by finals. It was ridiculous! This class was like 30 down to 10, I think. My enviro institutions class was at 12 and went down to 9. So...I've had some very small classes of late.
Anyway, environmental institutions is almost over. Had our presentation on Thursday and our paper is due on Monday. So got that, but my work is mostly finished for it. Not sure what I'll get in the class. I think I'm pulling, right now, a B+/A-. I think it'll come down to the paper for what he wants to give me.
Conservation planning is finished. Turned our final paper in yesterday (Friday) and had our presentation on Monday. We kicked butt because we changed our objective and did all our modeling in 2 days (Thurs/Fri) before our presentation so our professor was very impressed with us since we were first to present on Monday and the last she heard (the Wednesday before) we had nothing to show and had not modeled anything to that point. So...We rocked it! This grade will be dependent upon our final paper, but I'm thinking an A- at least. I'd be surprised if I got less than that, but who knows with our final paper. We've had very little graded and our final paper is worth 40% of our grade so it'll be dependent on that.
Environmental international law is still going along even though the class ended almost 2 months ago. That's basically done and we all agree that we'd be surprised if everyone who turned something in just didn't go ahead and get an A. We've gotten NO feed back on the thing we turned in last time and it's basically like "uhhh...what is there to grade us on?" So...I'd be surprised if I got less than an A for this class.
And last, but not least, GP. *sigh* The short of it: we're in editing. Our poster and brief have not been made yet and those drafts are due the 18th, but our final paper is due the 18th so our main focus has been that. Unfortunately, we've had a hiccup with one of our groupmates and it's going slow on certain parts of the paper. It's stressful, but at least we're getting close to being done. We also got an extension to have our report printed after Spring Break since we knew we weren't going to get it done in time to be printed and bound by the 18th. In addition, the copy we turn in has to be signed by everyone and we have a funky schedule where one person will be here the 18th and one is leaving the 17th and we'd have to pre-sign and then make sure the printer remembered to swap out signed sheets with non-signed before binding and...I just decided they offered us the extension to print so we will take the extension for the print job. (It's not preferred we turn the print copy in later, but it's okay if we ask for it ahead of time.) Our paper is 175 pages (so far) from cover to end of references (includes two appendices) and we're still missing a few pieces (e.g., executive summary hasn't been written and we haven't put our flow charts into one appendix). I think 250 (or is it 200?) is our absolute max they allow and I'm pretty sure we'll be fine. I can't image writing that many more pages since I think we have maybe 5-10 more since the flow charts (3 pages) and the exec summary (2 pages) is the last big pieces we have to do. Oh well, the important thing is we're almost finished. It's a little stressful, but at least all my other school work will be completed come Monday and I can concentrate on GP and what needs to be completed. But we are in the homestretch!
Saturday the 19th (day after our GP paper is due) Melissa, her boyfriend Kyle, and I are going to Santa Anita! Oh yeah! Soooo excited and they're both relatively new (Melissa's been to a racetrack once) so it'll be fun. It's also the Saint Pat's Pitch that day and you can sign up to throw a horseshoe and if you get a ringer, you win $1mil! (Totally not doing that myself.) And it's also a giveaway day. You get a BBQ apron. LoL It's not special at all, but...hey...it's a freebie! We're going to try and make it to the track tour too since I missed most of it last time and they've never been. We'll see how we succeed.
Anyway, with that, I'm off to watch How to Train Your Dragon. :) I bought the soundtrack (finally) the other day and I love it and I still love the movie. Time to relax! Oh...movie updates. I've watched like 3 movies since my last movie update, but I'll have to remember hard what those were and update later. I watched The Illusionist (animation foreign film in the Oscars), Unknown (Liam Neeson), something else I can't remember, and I did finally watch Monster vs Aliens which is a few years old animation film now. LoL
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