They won

Yeah for my husband's team, they won.  We ended up watching the game in the hotel lobby with a lot of other fans.  Nice people really.  My husband is really happy and maybe tonight he can sleep.  He was too pumped up last night to get much rest.  I on the other hand, was asleep by midnight.  This morning, we're up early to work out and then to have breakfast and do some more shopping.
Roll Tide.

Alabama Crimson Tide

So here we are in Tuscaloosa, Alabama to watch the game with several other nuts, I mean, fans.  It makes my husband happy so I'm happy to do things for him that make his life more enjoyable.  Even though the game's being played in Miami, we are looking for a place to watch the game here with the fans.  I'm sure we'll end up at a restaurant or bar.
Got to Alabama safe yesterday afternoon and had a delicious breakfast today at the Hampton Inn, bagel toppers, my FAVORITE!!!
We'll do some shopping today and then watch the game tonight.  Wish my husband luck!

Leaving Horse Cave

Got to Horse Cave safe and sound last night.  The hotel was almost completely empty, but it is in the middle of nowhere.  Great breakfast in my stomach and we are on our way to Alabama.

Leaving town for T-town

Leaving today for a long car ride to Horse Cave, Kentucky.  We will stay there overnight in a Hampton Inn and then tomorrow we are continuing onto Tuscaloosa.  I'll keep you updated....

What's Your Number?

Released: 2011
Comedy
Director: Mark Mylod
Starring: Anna Faris, Chris Evans, Blythe Danner
Running Time: 106 minutes
Rated: R

The breakdown:  A recently unemployed woman hunts down her old boyfriends to see if one of them is Mr. Right.

This movie had a disgusting premise, but I hadn't seen it and I was bored, so I watched it.  I would've been better off bored.
I don't know who Anna Faris is, but I'm guessing she's from Saturday Night Live since it seems a lot of other cast members were from there too.  If that's not the case, then it sure felt like a movie based on an SNL skit.
You should also note, often times when a movie is starring the same person that's the executive producer, it might not be a good movie.  Meaning no one else wanted to produce the idea but the "star".  That's the case with this one.
Here's the premise.
A recently fired young woman reads an article in a women's magazine that says what the average number of men a woman has slept with in her life.  The woman discovers this average number is much lower than what her personal number of lovers is and is worried after talking to her friends that she won't be able to find Mr. Right in the future.  She doesn't want to sleep with any more guys so she goes to the past boyfriends she's slept with to check and see if any of them might be the Mr. Right she missed.
She hires the Gigolo across the hall of her apartment building to track down the old boyfriends since he mentioned his dad was a cop.

This woman has no job and doesn't look for one, instead she spends her money on trying to find old boyfriends.  Meanwhile, her sister is getting married and is the "perfect" daughter to her mother's eyes.  She spends a lot of buddy non-sexual time with the guy across the hall and you can guess what happens by the end of the movie.  So formulaic!

There's lots of nudity (which in Chris Evans case is good) and lots of cursing so it's not a movie for kids.  There's lot of bathroom humor and gross jokes that aren't funny.  Unfortunately, there's not a lot of entertainment here so if you're looking for a good movie, keep looking.
1/2 out of 5 for a naked Chris Evans.  It's not the worst movie I've ever seen, but it's easily forgettable.

New Year's Eve (the movie)

Released: 2011
RomCom
Director: Garry Marshall
Starring:  Michelle Pfeiffer, Robert De Niro, Halle Berry, Cary Elwes, Jessica Biel, and a ton of others who want to ruin their own career.
Running Time: An agonizingly pointless 118 minutes
Rated: PG-13

The breakdown: Intertwining love stories shown on a random new year's eve day and night.

First off this was supposed to be a romantic comedy.  With no laughs, and no romantic stories within the film I hardly see how this movie could qualify.  Second, I knew this was going to be a bad movie since Garry Marshall directed it and lately, all he cares about is a paycheck and not his reputation, nor a good movie.  He also made Valentine's Day which was equally bad, but actually made to look a lot better with the release of this new cinematic piece of crap.  Third, there's no story line here, and no interesting characters, so I ask why even bother to make this movie?  A paycheck is the only answer I can think of.  All of the actors included only did this for a paycheck, with no regard to their now dying careers.
I used to respect some of these actors like Michelle Pfeiffer and.....hmmm, well maybe just her.  The rest of them are no talent has-beens, respectable actors that started taking questionable movie roles a long time ago, or just a flash in the pan, hot-at-the-moment type "actor".  And I do use that term loosely.

This formula doesn't work Garry Marshall.  You can't take a whole bunch of actors, throw them together with a laughably bad script and hope that it turns out good....it doesn't.

Stop with the formula's Hollywood.  Stop with the ensemble casts with the terrible scripts.  Stop with the pointless movies that don't need to be made - no one wants to see them.  The movie has no message, the movie has no point really.  When you get to the end of it, you're still hungry to see a fulfilling story.  It leaves you completely empty and feeling as you've just played the fool for wasting two hours of your valuable time.
Here's some of the "stories" if you can call them that:
A man is losing his battle with Cancer and just wants to see the ball drop one more time.

A man is wrestling with the idea of meeting a woman who he's interested in back at the same restaurant he met her at last new year's eve, but she ran out on him and only left a note on a napkin telling him things are complicated and if he's still interested in her in a year to meet back there on next new year's eve.

A couple is about to have a baby and wants to be the first to deliver in the new year to win $25,000.

A 15 year old girl wants to be with a boy she likes in New York's Time Square to watch the ball drop and maybe kiss him at midnight.

An old meek secretary hires a courier boy to make her list of new year's resolutions come true even though they're impossible to do in 24 hours like save a life, go to Bali, and travel around the world.

A man (I'm being generous here considering the "man" is Ashton Kutcher) and a woman (also being generous considering the "woman" is the mean looking, no talent, Lea Michelle) are stuck in an elevator together in their apartment complex and apparently hate each other at first, but of course, fall in love by the time the night's over.

Sappy, saccharine, sugar coated crappy totally unrealistic "love stories" this movie is SUCH a waste of time.
The strongest parts of the movie are De Niro in the hospital one on one with Halle Berry or Cary Elwes just because men really do die of Cancer and have no one left in their lives to die with.  It's the most believable part of the movie, it's not because of great script writing or acting in those scenes.  Anyway, I can't say enough bad things about this movie.  There are no great love stories here, and there are no laughs.  Even at the end credits with the blooper reel running, Marshall decides to plug his other crappy romcom Valentine's Day by showing two DVD copies being delivered by a pregnant actor.  Pure disgust.  Garry Marshall has no shame and no good movies left in him.  I mean, this is the same guy that directed classics like Pretty Woman, Beaches, and Overboard - those were thoroughly entertaining good movies.  What happened?

1/2 out of 5 for too much sugary, unrealistic stories, empty emotionless characters, and an ensemble cast that was brought together for no apparent reason.  DO NOT SEE THIS FILM.

Man on the Moon

Released: 1999
Biography
Director: Milos Forman
Starring: Jim Carrey, Danny DeVito
Running Time: 118 minutes
Rated: R

The breakdown:
A film about the life of eccentric and ground-breaking actor/comedian, Andy Kaufman.

When you think about a formula for a successful movie, in this case a biographical movie, you have to consider one thing...Does the movie make you want to learn more about the main character?  If the answer is yes, then the movie's a success.

It's too bad that this movie did not get a larger audience or make more money because it was really well done.  I had no interest in seeing it.  I had no interest in learning more about Andy Kaufman, and personally I didn't think he was funny, but after seeing this film, I changed my mind.

Andy Kaufman was at the time a genius for coming up with a routine that no one else was doing, and he certainly was like no one else.  He grabbed people's attention and really never let go.  He blurred lines between himself and his characters so well, that almost no one knew the real person inside, and he fooled people so well, they didn't know what was real or faked.  He did it too well since when he did actually pass away in the 1980's even some of his close friends thought he had faked his own death and would come back to say he had fooled everyone with the biggest gag ever.

Basically, the movie shows Kaufman playing little gigs here and there for small audiences and getting some big attention.  He gets noticed by an agent that wants to represent him, and his new agent gets him on the first episode of Saturday Night Live.  He makes several appearances there and also plays to college campuses and gives other performances around the country.  When the television show Taxi got it's start after seeing Kaufman, the producers really wanted him on their show.  He agreed, but hated the idea of sitcoms, so after a very short time, he wanted off the show.  Eventually, Taxi was cancelled, but Kaufman continued to perform and cause lots of trouble.  Characters that made women angry like the only intergender wrestling champion of the world brought about a fake on-air fight live on David Letterman with Jerry Lawler that people thought was real for years.  Unfortunately, he died of a rare lung cancer though he lived a mostly healthy lifestyle after giving up small amounts of smoking as a young person.  Knowing what we know now about second hand smoke with him playing all those gigs in small bars where everyone smoked, maybe that helped it develop in him.

Jim Carrey did an excellent job and I see why he won a Golden Globe for it, though he should have been nominated for an Oscar in my opinion.  I actually was curious about someone I never liked after seeing a film about him, so to me, that's a successful biopic.

I say, see it if you haven't, even if you don't like Jim Carrey, or Andy Kaufman.

4 out of 5 for making me interested in someone I never even liked before.  I still don't think Andy's funny, but I see why so many people thought he was a genius.

Happy New Year

Just wanted to say
Happy New Year!
Hope 2013 is the best year yet for you and your family!

Going to Jacques tonight

So my plans have been to have a romantic new year's eve dinner with my husband, just the 2 of us, but that's been shot to hell.  Now my in-laws are attending plus a couple that we are friends with.  The only thing I can hope for now is that my father in-law does not embarrass me too badly tonight.  Chez Jacques is a sometimes quiet, but always classy kind of place with an expensive menu.  It's not the kind of place for my father in-law to be snapping his fingers at waiters and being loud and obnoxious.

No matter what you're doing tonight, be safe and don't drink and drive!
Have fun!!

My personal New Year's Eve Resolutions

Time again to sit down and focus on what you need to do this year, what you want to do this year, and face the facts of what you will really do this year.
My new year's resolutions for the world to see.

Drink 8 glasses of water a day.
Reality - this one won't be too hard.  I drink a ton of water & tea already, so I'll only need to make sure I drink a little more then I normally do.

Drink only one glass of soda as a treat, once a month.
Reality - I've completely given up cola so that's not a challenge at all.  The problem is every once in a while, I can get into a pattern of wanting a Sprite, or Ginger Ale.  Those are the soda's I do like, and I enjoy some carbonation   I'll have to get flavored seltzer water instead as a low calorie substitute and try not to do that too often either.

Limit myself to only one sweet a week like a candy bar or a cupcake.
Reality - this one is a tough one for me.  I love sugar and trying to restrict it completely for me, is just not a good idea.  I'll end up bingeing after staying away even for a little while, so I've got to have it worked in there somewhere for myself.  The only thing I can do is try to be strong and keep my weight loss and health goals in mind with this one.

Work out 6 days a week.
Reality - when I'm home in Phoenix this is not an issue.  It's something I can easily do since I enjoy my walks to the gym, have someone to go with, and the weather's good there almost all the time.  While I'm away from home is the issue here.  I hate cold weather and the snow and ice make it dangerous for me to take walks outside.  The basement has an exercise bike, but it's frozen down there and it's filled with bare light bulbs and spiders.  I just hate the environment down there so I resist going down there as much as possible.  I'm planning on getting an elliptical upstairs so I can watch tv and be warm without spiders hanging over my head.

Eat out only once a month.
Reality - again, good at this in Phoenix, not so much when I'm with my husband.  He always wants to treat me by taking me out for a meal or a treat like Dairy Queen.  As much as I love his gestures, I just can't be healthy and continue to eat out too often.  I wish he'd treat me with a shopping trip instead of food.

Eat 5 servings of fruit and vegetables every day.
This is not as challenging as I thought originally.  All you have to do is work in some blueberries in my morning oatmeal, snack on some mandarin oranges at lunch.  Eat an apple, or some V8 during the day and I'm set.