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You Tube sample

I went to Little Rock last weekend and got cultured! You Tube culture that is. My family there is very up on popular You Tube videos and taught us about these three. They really are funny. It got me thinking about how You Tube has changed lives. It has launched careers. Do you remember when it first came out in 2005? I remember thinking home videos: it's America's Funniest Videos online! Did anyone you know predict its impact?

Well, here are three for you to learn about, in case you're as out of the loop on culture as I am. Enjoy!

1) Family Feud "Naked Grandma" answer

2a) The Bed Intruder - interview

2b) The Bed Intruder - song

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMtZfW2z9dw

3) Pants on the Ground - American Idol interview and song

I heart Pandora

Pandora is awesome! For those of you who don't know, Pandora is a radio program that you download to your iPhone or iPad. You can customize your own radio stations. It plays right over your iPhone, and even on first generation iPhones, the reception and sound are excellent. I've been listening to it pretty regularly for the past few weeks, and it hasn't missed a beat yet.

I listen to Pandora while getting ready in the morning, and then in the car on the way to work. Pandora is giving satellite radio a run for its money. If Pandora had sports broadcasting and talk radio, then I'd probably give up the satellite radio subsription.

There are two really good things about Pandora: 1) You create your own radio station as broad or as narrow as you like; 2) You can dislike a song.

For example, I have a Rascal Flatts station, and it plays mostly Rascal Flatts, but it also adds other songs that Pandora thinks you'd like. But, if it plays a song you don't like, you can give it a thumbs down. At that point, Pandora will fast forward to the next song, and Pandora won't play the disliked song again. On the other hand, you can like a song and this will clue Pandora into your preferences. The more you like/dislike songs, the better Pandora is able to finetune your playlist.

About the only downside (and this is more related to the iPhone and IPad limitation) is that it doesn't play in the background. If you switch over to reading your email, for instance, then Pandora switches off. But the good news, is that as soon as you switch back to Pandora, the song picks up where you left off.

You can see my list of radio stations pictured above.

Everybody's Fine

We watched Everybody's Fine Friday night. Oh boy: what an emotionally charged movie! Scrolling through the Comcast on Demand movies and seeing that Robert De Niro and Drew Barrymore star, I counted on Everybody's Fine being about a dysfunctional family but figured that there would be on a lot of comedy thrown in.

I was wrong: there was very little if no comedy; however the movie was a gem. Robert De Niro was totally endearing. He plays a widower who's trying to reconnct with his 4 adult children. Ok, he wasn't a very involved parent, leaving that role to his wife, but he wanted the best for them. That's where the conflict comes in. Whereas he thought he was encouraging them to take advantage of every opportunity, they thought he was too pushy and critical.

I was pretty much teary-eyed the whole movie. For one, the Robert De Niro character is so likeable. You just want to hug him as he muddles through being a recent widower and doing a commendable job trying to reconnect with his children. It was sad to me how the children basically shun him. You feel his pain.

It's not hard to see the children's point of view though. They remember a father who pushed them and was never happy with their results.

Fortunately, the movie ends mostly on a good note, but that's all I'll say.

It makes me think of my father, who pushed us pretty hard too. I guess parents, especially fathers, really do want their children to succeed and have good careers and not go through the struggles they had to endure. And children resist. Just part of the natural tug of war between parents and children, it's healthy, to a degree. If each could only see the other's point of view, maybe there wouldn't be so much strife.

Anyway, if you're up for an emotional movie, I'd very much recommend Everybody's Fine.

Up in the Air

We saw Up in the Air a few weeks ago and, despite the overall theme of people getting fired, I really enjoyed it. (George Clooney stars in it!) Unfortunately, in a very brutal way, life imitated art about a week later when my husband was abruptly laid off from his job.

The movie is about an HR company hired by corporations to lay employees off off. At the start, the HR representatives at that company actually tell the person face to face that he's about to get fired. Then, a young enthusiast chick fresh from grad school is hired who believes it's way more efficient and cost-effective to get the job done via video conferencing. The movie is a kind of tug of war as the the young lady attempts to prove the beauty of video conferencing to a very type-A George Clooney character, who actually thrives on traveling. The George character does have a point-blank way of firing people, yet in a few cases he actually springs hope, for example the man whose passion is cooking may finally get to do what he really loves for a living. The grad school gal hasn't quite found her groove, although she's certainly trying!

By the way, I heard that the "actors" in the movie who were getting fired were real people who had actually gotten fired, and they were told to react the same way in the movie as they did in real life.

As the movie progresses, the George character begins to evaluate his nomadic existence and ponders the thought of settling down... and you can imagine that the young lady begins to wonder if she picked the right industry to get into! There are some romantic sub plots and some plot twists to keep everyone interested. One of the best scenes is when bachelor George gives his future brother-in-law a pep talk right before the wedding. (That's all I'm going to say!)

So, let me just end by wishing that everyone find a job or career that he loves, and that anyone who is laid off may turn it into an opportunity.

Up!

Up is a very emotional movie. I saw it today and teared up during the beginning montage, at the end and a few times in between! There are these sentimental scenes along with some sad, funny, suspenseful, and simply beautiful ones. The animation is exquisite and the music lyrical.

I thought it was going to be a more light-hearted "up" movie than it was. It took the whole movie to give me that uplifting feeling... but it was a powerful feeling when it did come! The main character, Carl, travels to South America to fulfill a lifelong dream that he and his wife had. He accidentally takes an over-eager Wilderness Scout who is trying to earn his final assist-the-elderly badge before becoming a Senior Wilderness Scout. This little boy is a cutie-pie, which Carl literally drags along at some points in the film. They meet a very interesting chocolate-loving bird down there and lots of dogs. Carl also runs into his childhood hero who has turned old, disillusioned and is now a villain. 

It takes the adventurous and sometimes perilous trip for Carl to realize that his life before going to South America was already a pretty good adventure in and of itself. The cute little Wilderness Scout sums up my main take-away when he muses to Carl, "Sometimes, it's the boring stuff I remember the most."

(If you haven't seen the movie... the few details that I describe above is just the tip of the iceberg of this movie! There is so much more to it.)

BY the way, I think Up is more for adults than children.

A couple of good movies

So, we rented 2 good movies this past weekend: Gran Torino and He's Just Not that into You.

I liked Gran Torino because Clint Eastwood as a crusty old bud is a riot! The words he utters under his breath will make you laugh. The scene with the Italian barber is a classic; and then the scene with the barber and the teenager is even better! The transformation of Clint's character through the movie and up to the very end is inspiring. Cranky old men do have a heart afterall! The ending is powerful; there is sacrifice.

He's Just Not that into You was funny as well. The main character played by Gennifer Godwin is so charming and likeable. She befriends the just-call-a-spade-a-spade Justin Long, better known as the Mac guy in those television ads. (I've forgotten what their film names are!) There are a lot of other good actors too: Drew Barrymore, Jennifer Aniston, Ben Afleck. What I liked about the movie is although the title is rather negative, the good characters get the happy ending, while the seedy ones... well, their ending is not so perky.

Both movies are on Comcast, and I'd highly recommend either one!

Sunshine Cleaning

Looking forward to a quirky movie that recounts the struggles of an optimistic single mom who doesn't give up, I saw Sunshine Cleaning yesterday. There was definitely a lot of optimism. The single mom, whose life ain't what she dreamed it would be, presses on. She does what she has to. She doesn't give up; and she takes steps to improve herself and the lives of her family. I like these kinds of people!

Her name is Amy. A housecleaner for one of those Minute Maid type of businesses, she is desperate for money to pay for her son's private school. Amy hears that the crime-scene cleanup business is way more lucrative than merely cleaning bathrooms and making beds, and she dives in with the help of her not-so-enthusiastic younger sister Norah. They don't become millionaires by any means, but by elbow grease, perseverance and by bringing a little humanity and hope to the torrid scenes, Amy manages to build up a good little business. There are some funny scenes, some poignant scenes and some terribly sad ones.

While Amy is growing the business, the girl's father is struggling to build up his own selling business all the while teaching his grandson about business "acumen." A favorite scene is where he finally succeeds selling some gourmet popcorn to a reluctant candy shop owner. The grandson plays a critical role here.

There are some unexpected plots in the movie. (It's not all sunshine and optimism.) One of the characters, and I won't say which one, is having an affair. One of the characters smokes pot. There are some flashbacks to the girls' mother who died tragically herself. And, the strangest subplot recounts the strange connection between Norah and a lady who works at a blood bank.

Since I love stories of women who persevere and remain positive no matter what life throws them, I recommend this movie and will see it again when it comes out on DVD.

An interesting movie to see

The WSJ had a nice review this morning of the new movie, Sunshine Cleaning. Two sisters (one enthusiastic and the other a lot less so) start an unusual cleaning business: they clean up bio hazardous waste. What appeals to me is the perkiness vs the pessimism between the two sisters. And, their sort-of cranky and reluctant father, played by Alan Arkin, probably injects a lot of opinions in a funny/sarcastic way.

Here's the review: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123689237471111537.html - The reviewer says the movie is a bit contrived at times, but... so is The Sound of Music... and that's one of my favorite movies!

I don't think Sunshine Cleaning will be in the same league as The Sound of Music. Even so, when things die down next week, this movie may just be one that I see at the big screen.

Yes!

We saw Yes Man yesterday and what a joy it was! The main character whose life is in the pits, agrees reluctantly to say yes to everything. As you can imagine, it opens up life to him and wonderful, serendipitous things start happening! Oh, it's funny too! Of course, there are some plot twists that don't work out so well, but nothing to deter a positively happy ending.

Maybe I can say yes to more opportunities and quit letting life pass me by.

24

Season 7 of 24 is coming. There's a 2-hour special in November, and the season begins in January. Yeah!

http://www.fox.com/24/trailer/