hee hee...

Hearst Castle...

A couple of weekends ago some friends and I traveled up north to go check out Hearst Castle. The castle was built by William Randolph Hearst between 1919 and 1947. To say that it's elaborate, is an understatement. At the time it was built, it cost about 10 million dollars. Translate that into today's currency, and you'd be talking about a 100 million dollars. While I was fascinated by the history and grandeur of the place, part of me kept wondering, would I build something like that if I had the money? My answer to that was no...I just don't think I could justify spending that kind of money when I know there are so many people in the world who are in need...I know that sounds super cliche, but really stop and think about that...how much good could you do with 100 million dollars?

Here are some photos...

This is what greets you as you come up the main stairs...

This is one of the guest houses...

This is the "Main" house...

Anyone for a swim?

The Dining Room...

"The Happening" - Movie Review (Spoiler Alert!)

A friend of mine wrote a great review of the new M. Night Shyamalan movie "The Happening" I agree with most all of it, so instead of writing my own review, I just borrowed his. (Thanks Stephen!) The only thing I disagree with is that I loved Lady in the Water. For all of you who didn't, you need to watch it again!

If you haven't seen the new movie and you don't want to know the plot, then don't read any further...



...Um yeah. Let me start of by saying this. M. Night Shyamalan has made some great movies. I even liked him all the way up to The Village. Yes, even The Village. Lady in the Water was...eh. Honestly. I felt like he slipped a bit. And now we come to this. The Happening.

I can't express how bad this movie was. It was horrible. I don't even know where to start on how horrible it was. Let's start simple. The acting was bad. Really bad. I don't even know how to say how bad it was. Now it's not entirely the actors/actresses fault. The script was bad too. Really bad. Horribly bad. It was cheezy when it needed to be and just plain stupid at other times. Trust me on that one.

Let's jump to the story though. It's not like its a secret anymore. It's about a bunch of people running around away from a toxin thats released from plants that makes people kill themselves. That's really the entire movie in a nutshell. But seriously...half the time it feels like Mr. Shyamalan took all the birds from The Birds and replaced them with wind blowing through trees. But what worked for Alfred Hitchcock is the downfall of M. Night.

I think that he decided to rewrite An Inconvenient Truth with his own twist on it. But I wish they would just title it: A 101 Unconventional Ways of Killing Yourself. It would be more accurate. But in the end the moral stands strong. At least give it that. The moral being: Be nice to nature....or else.

The Long Beach Project

The church I go to recently started an outreach project that focuses on serving the city of Long Beach. It's called The Long Beach Project. I've gotten involved and it's been really great. I've been going to help serve dinner at the rescue mission on Monday nights, and I LOVE it. I know you've all heard the saying "It's better to give, than to receive"...it's so true! I'm serving, but I feel like I'm cheating because I'm getting so much out of it. I love feeling like I'm finally reaching out and doing SOMETHING! It's not that I haven't served before, it's more about the fact that this takes me way out of my comfort zone. Click on the link if you want to learn more about the different opportunities to serve...

Dollhouse Trailer

I don't know if I've mentionied it...but I love ALL things Joss Whedon. He's the mastermind behind my some of the best shows ever seen on television...Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Firefly. This is a promo for his new show that's coming in 2009. I can't wait!

History

It's official...Barack Obama is the Democratic nominee for President...As an American, I am extremely proud of us. Not just because I like Obama, but because I didn't know if I would be alive to see this day come. It makes me stop and take a moment to reflect on the civil rights movement. I think about all of the people who struggled, and died so that something like this could happen. I'll vote for Barack Obama, not becaue he's black, but because I believe in what he's saying...

"Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek." ~Barack Obama