Chairlifts need to be in some places so that we can get to wonderful views without having to hike to them.

This morning I headed over to Hillsborough River State Park to meet with members of the Tampa Adventure Group for a morning hike along some of the trails. After hitting the River Rapids Trail we had planned on doing the 3.4 mile loop along the Florida Trail, however as we got part of the way through we got a call that portions of the trail were covered in water, thus ending the little hike. I spent part of the afternoon getting some furniture for the rental house and later decided to finally go see the Harry Potter movie at the Channelside IMAX theater. While the giant screen is nice (along with the 3D beginning portion), I don't think I want to pay $15 too often without the movie getting high reviews and the right graphics to make the extra viewing cost worthwhile. Fortunately, this was one such worth movie and I really did enjoy relaxing under the mega screen and the film itself.

I can construct a universe within the skull to rival the real.

Kristen, my father and I just got back from the new 'Indiana Jones' movie and I am quite sorry to say that it is the worst movie that I have seen in many, many years. To me, there was not a single positive attribute to any part of it. From the beginning to end there was nothing but implausible junk that even a heavy dose of suspension of disbelief could not overcome it. From taking refuge in a 'lead lined' refrigerator at the point of a nuclear blast, to plot holes the size of a Chinese earthquake, to the extraterrestrial / extradimensional; it absolutely sucked. There was no unpredictable moments as every bit of it seemed to be taken from other movies and all it seemed to be able to do was copy plot points of the previous three movies. I would have expected this movie from a B-list actor like Jean-Claude Van Damme or 'The Rock'. I am so sorry to have wasted all that time. this was the second movie I had seen in the theater in about a year, and it'll probably be another year before I go. With tickets now at $9.50 and even reports that the sound is *intentionally* being disrupted during the movie by the studios in order to "track piracy", it is easy to see why Bittorrent and other sources are winning. The movie was listed as starting at 6:15pm, however it didn't even begin for another 30 minutes. CGI was overused in nearly every scene. One would expect a lot in a movie such as 'Transformers', but such graphics are being increasingly used to make up for a lack of story. I really should have read the reviews, however like many, I had high hopes for the newest installment due to fond memories of the movies of old. I course I should have learned from the botched job George Lucas did with the disappointing Star Wars prequels.

Seriously, don't see this movie.

When there is no peril in the fight, there is no glory in the triumph.

I was lucky enough to score a pass for a pre-screening of the upcoming movie '300: The Battle of Thermopylae '. I have not been looking forward to see a movie in the theater in a very long time as I usually would just wait for the DVD release, however I have been really excited about this for some time; having watched the trailers multiple times. I was quite impressed overall and had a great time watching it and hope to get a chance to take a look at it in an IMAX theater once the crowds die down in a few weeks. In the general story, a bunch of Spartans swear they’d rather die than surrender or retreat, and then they do just that. Like Sin City, the images of 300 have been heavily post-processed to closer resemble Frank Miller’s comic book, and when there isn’t a slow-motion battle going on, the camera lingers over tableaux of warriors on a mountainside, trees hung with corpses, a fleet tossed about in inclement weather, and sweaty nymphs doing double-duty as corrupt oracles.

It’s all about as glorious as a half hour of the Battle of Helm’s Deep, without the rest of The Lord of the Rings to support, y’know, the characters. Instead, there are lots of speeches; about how freedom isn’t free, about how the only glorious death for a soldier is on the battlefield, and about how, yes, Spartans never surrender. In waves resembling nothing so much as the levels of a video game, the good Spartan king Leonidas (Gerard Butler) has to fight the villains at the Battle of Thermopylae while he is being stabbed in the back by treacherous politicians who refuse to support the troops and send reinforcements.

The movie seems to borrow liberally from John Boorman’s 'Excalibur' one of my favorite movies, ending of 'Braveheart', along with visuals and phantasmal aspects from 'Sin City'. In the world of 300, there is no room for art, negotiation, or weakness; there is only room for the strong. At the screening, outright murder brought great applause, and I would not have have been surprised to find an Army recruiting station outside the theater. Huah!

Overall it is definitely worth the effort to check out and is well done, so if you get an opportunity, go see it, especially if you can do so at an IMAX theater.

If incoming arrows block out the sun, then you fight in the shade.

I haven't been excited about seeing a movie in a long time, but after seeing the trailers, especially the international trailer one [http://www.worstpreviews.com/media.php?id=453&place=trailer)], I'm looking forward to the release of '300' in early March. The story tells of the Battle of Thermopylae where 300 Spartans stood their ground against tens of thousands of Persian invaders and are still considered the be the greatest warriors ever known.

The use of Nine Inch Nails's 'Just Like You Imagined' was perfectly suited!

If thanks were fishes, I'd buy you an aquarium.

Since it was a bit cold and rainy, we decided to head over to the Florida Aquarium instead of doing Busch Gardens. since we couldn't go for some reason last time Jason was here, we went to check out the Victory class merchant ship, 'American Victory' that is berthed behind the aquarium complex. Since it was relatively late in the day, we pretty much had the ship to ourselves and after paying the entrance fee went off to explore the many areas of the ship. I've always been enthralled with old places such as historic ships, old factories, hotels, tunnels or warehouses for a little 'urban spelunking'. It is a shame that these places are either so closed up due to liability concerns or destroyed by transients that don't allow the curious to really appreciate them.

The difference between this ship and those found at Patriot's Point in Charleston is that this is still an operating vessel that does tours and trips in the area as well as working as an educational platform. Very little of the ship was actually blocked off from access, and we took that to our advantage in really getting a chance to explore. Besides all the different rooms, this was my first chance to really check out an engine room since most exhibits are all closed off because it is so difficult to block the numerous small nooks and crannies. After bypassing a few signs that I figured would not apply to us, being natural explorers and all, we found ourselves in many great spots, including tall ladders heading up the smokestack and into the bottom areas of the ship. We were found out by one of the custodians of the ship, however he seemed more pleased that we were enthralled with the ship and really curious than he was annoyed and left us to continue the 'self-guided tour'. Since it was near closing time we quickly checked out the bridge area and the front portions of the ship before heading out. Prior to leaving, we did a brisk walk through all the aquarium exhibits.

Afterwards we headed home to check out the movie show times and decided to go see 'Eragon' at the theater. While the acting and graphics were good, the storyline/plot was really, really lacking of anything decently substantial, so I wouldn't recommend getting thus until it becomes a DVD rental, even if then.

A radical is a man with both feet firmly planted in the air.

The weather Christmas Day precluded being able to go to Busch Gardens since the forecast was rain for the while day so instead Jason and I went with some friends to MOSI to check out the 'Monsters of the Deep' exhibit. The exhibit spans 360 million years and included prehistoric reefs to the whales, sharks and turtles that inhabit today’s oceans. The exhibit also included life-size specimens of whales, aquatic reptiles from the prehistoric, as well as the giant squid.

After going through the exhibit and part of the Disasterville exhibit, we headed over to the IMAX dome to see another movie, this time the commercially released 'Happy Feet'. I was pleasantly surprised by the film and thought it was a nice story with some decently funny lines. After the show Jason and I walked around the museum a bit more to play on ..er.. learn from some of the displays. Then it was back to the house where I cooked up some chicken/pork chops, spaghetti, green bean dish, and watch a movie for a while. While I was disappointed to not be able to enjoy the park today, I still think it was a relaxing way to enjoy the remaining opportunities.

Man is not the creature of circumstances; circumstances are the creatures of men.

After sleeping in today, being exhausted from the paddling Saturday, Jason and I decided to hit the IMAX dome theater at MOSI to check out one of the movies. since we're planning on seeing the 'Monsters of the Deep' exhibit by the end of the week, we figured this would be a good preliminary exposure. The movie was produced by James Cameron and covered a short story of marine biologists and even astro biologists diving to the ocean's bottom (e.g. 3,500 meters) to explore life in the most harsh of environments of chemicals and physics where there are extreme pressures and temperatures within inches (where many of these creatures thrive) ranges from freezing to boiling. The show ran a bit longer than most of the IMAX films tend to do and was quite enjoyable and interesting. There were so many great displays of some wondrous and truly amazing creatures. It would be amazing to see the kind of things that the human imagination would barely be able to conceive. A good point was made in that the study of these creatures would be vital in learning about life that is so detached from our own, such as may be the case if anything is ever found on other planets, for example Europa. Visits to the deep such as that really can color the imagination.