Movie Review: The Incredibles

The Incredibles is a CGI animation film by the ubercool Pixar Studios. As much as I love Toy Story, this is definately their best film. The centers around Mr. Incredible and his super-family. He is really strong. His wife, Elastigirl, is stretchy. They have a daughter, Violet, who can go invisible and create force fields, and a son Dash who is really, really fast. Also, the have a baby boy, Jack Jack, who doesn't seem to be able to do anything super. They are fairly obviously based, to me anyway, on the Fantastic 4. I think any comic/cartoon/superhero fan will be able to see many, many parallels to other superheroes and villains in this movie.

The plot is of your standard "Outcast-becomes-supervillain-bent-on-world-domination" variety with a twist - there are no more superheroes. In a mini-commentary on society, the superheroes have been sued until they don't do anything super anymore. Enter The Incredibles, who are going to save the world, lawsuits be damned. Eventually, when things get bad enough, everyone wants the superheroes back. The battle for the entire world is on.

This was Pixar's first movie to recieve a movie rating above G when it got a PG. May not seem like much to those of us who think R is tame, but you can really tell the difference. There is a lot more action. There are collisions, explosions, gunfire, near decapitations, the lot. Also, the dialogue is a little more grown-up. During one scene, the henchmen play a drinking game. We, the 6 of us, were all stunned to hear that out of a Pixar movie. We all laughed and looked at each other in a "did they really just say that?" way.

Overall, this movie was excellent. There is no reason anyone should not see it. The kids will like it. Parents will like it. College kids bored on a Saturday liked it. I probably would have enjoyed it if I was balding, fat, and 40. It may be a little late to see it in the theater. We saw this in early November. I'm a little behind because I'm lazy. But, I'm in time for the DVD release in March. At the very least, rent this or borrow it from a friend. I'll have a copy if you need it.



The Incredibles

The Amazin' $194 Million Mets

Ask yourself: What would you buy if you had $194 Million? Personally, I'd have a castle in Scotland before you could get through security at Des Moines International. Complete with a Bose surround sound system and the biggest freakin' TV you've ever seen. I'd be calling JumboTron. I'd have a fleet, a fleet, of vehicles - jets, helicopters, cars, motorcycles. Some of those, specifically the jet and helicopter, would be fully armed and outfitted - cocked, locked, and ready to rock. Sound outrageous? Then consider what the people in charge of the Mets decided to spend that much on. I seem normal.

Pedro Martinez, Kris Benson, and Carlos Beltran. That's it. No progressive scan blue-disc DVD player. No highlands fortress. Just a 34 year old pitcher, a pitcher with a career record of 47-53, and Carlos Beltran. Pedro is getting $53 Million over 4 years ($13.25 Million per), Benson is getting $22.5 Million over 3 years ($7.5 Million per), and Beltran $119 Million over 7 ($17 Million per). 34 isn't particularly old for a pitcher, but Pedro is not exactly renowned for his durability. Kris Benson benefited from the hype machine that came up during his free agency period. I'd heard of Kris Benson before the mad dash for him, but that's because I'm a baseball nerd. Most people hadn't and then all the sudden he's hot stuff. It's amazing what mediocre pitchers on even worse teams can get out of a year in which their contract is up. Having a very open wife doesn't really hurt the publicity either. Carlos Beltran acutally went from a cellar team to a contender, and then showed up big-time in the playoffs.

I think that the Carlos Beltran signing is a pretty good move. Compare him to Alex Rodriguez. He makes approximately $7 Million less per year. He steals more bases. He has a higher slugging percentage, and only trailed in OBP by 10 points last year. But the post season is where I think Beltran makes his dough. In his only post season, Beltran hit .435 with an OBP of .536, 8 homeruns, and 14 RBI. In 4 post seasons, Rodriguez has only hit .330 with an OBP of .395, 6 homeruns, and 16 RBI. In 14 more postseason games, Rodriguez actually has 2 less homeruns and only 2 more RBI. I still think $17 Million per is ridiculous for anyone, but comparativly, Beltran seems a bargain.

I'd still get a helicopter.

UK 2005

Travel

Trains
Planes
The Tube

Cities (coming soon)

London
Edinburgh
Stirling
York
Salisbury

Pictures

Miscellaneous

Twins in the UK

UK 2005 - Travel: Trains

Before we went to the UK, we got rail passes. They were good for 8 days and would let us go anywhere in England, Scotland, or Wales. Our first trip on the train was fairly stressful. We went up to the ticket counter and asked about our tickets' validity on the sleeper train. We were taking the midnight train from London to Edinburgh. We wanted to make sure that they were good on sleeper trains. All the lady had to say was "They are good for seats, but not sleeper units." That would have been fine. But no, she goes on and on about reservations and crap. We end up with these little orange cards that have our reservations on them. I ended up losing one of them. I was not happy. We went back to the train station to ask if we could get a replacement. Ends up we don't even need it in the first place. The second lady was much nicer and more understanding. I think she realized we don't use trains in America and we had no idea how they worked.

Other than that slight mishap, the trains were just fine. Using mapquest.co.uk, the amount of traveling we did, if we were in a car, was 979 miles. The rail tracks were near the road in most cases, so it's pretty safe to assume we traveled approximately that much by rail. Each leg of our journey was pretty nice. Some trains were a little more crowded than others, but nothing too serious. This is a rundown of our excursions:

London-->Edinburgh-->Stirling (daytrip) --> Edinburgh --> York -->London (switching trains) --> Salisbury --> London to leave.

The nice thing about our pass was that it got us on the Heathrow Express. This is a train going from Paddington Station, the same area of London as Paddington Bear, straight to London Heathrow. We were there in 15 minutes. It would have taken about 45 minutes on the Tube. We caught the 7:55 and were at the airport around 8:10.

The National Rail Service gives out "franchises" to rail companies to run on the rails. GNER runs from London to Scotland. Western runs in the west of England (duh). VirginRail is in there. So we rode on all different types of trains. I must say that they were all nice. If the US could come up with this, I'd use it. The only problem is that the US is so freaking big. From my house to the Mississippi River is the same drive as London to Edinburgh, and I never leave Iowa.

A New Direction

I've finally decided that I am not cut out for physics. The math is entirely too hard. So, that means no more math major either. I really wanted to stay in astronomy, but it is just a physics degree with a couple of astronomy classes thrown in. So, I dropped all of my physics classes, 7 credits worth. I picked up a class entitled "Civil War and Reconstruction" in lieu of those credits. I only have 14 hours now, so its a pretty easy semester. The best part of this all is that Dr. Nelson said there is no reason to drop Astrophysics, easily my favorite class this semester.

I feel very secure in my decision. I don't feel any fear of not having a major. It's as though a huge pressure has been lifted from above me. Physics always loomed over my head: Will I pass this class? What about the next one? Will I understand this? What am I going to do for a job? Is this what I want to do with my life? Right now, I'm still a physics/astronomy/math major until I turn the paper work in. I'll probably do that at the end of the semester once I know what I'm going to switch too. I'm thinking about history right now. Once I'm done taking Linear Algebra, and I retake Differential Equations, I'll be done with all reminants of my old path.

My parents seemed ok with my decision. Their main concern is that I'm not going to be behind. I am still going to graduate in 4 years, so no worries there. Under the surface, I'm sure they are more worried than they let on. They just want what's best for me, and they realize that physics wasn't it.

Baseball has lost its collective mind

Exhibit 1: Roger Clemens signs a one year, $18 million dollar contract with the Astros.

The Astros lost Jeff Kent to the Dodgers, Carlos Beltran to the Mets, Lance Berkman to injury, and Wade Miller when they cut him. Instead of investing some money in replacements, they tied it up in one 42 year old man. Yes, Clemens had a terrific year last year. Yes, the Astros almost made the World Series. Yes, Clemens won a Cy Young. But Clemens was helped by the fact that almost no NL hitter had seen him before, allowing him to start the season 9-0, half of his win total. Also, none of those 9 teams were the same. And it can be argued that Beltran's offense helped the Astros more in the playoffs. And Randy Johnson had a legitimate claim to the Cy Young, only to be on the worst excuse for a ball club I've seen in a long time. The Astros, in an attempt to salvage something, ended up paying out the ass for a pitcher who is in no way worth that much. If some more of the players had stayed, maybe, but not now.

Exhibit 2: The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim

Back in 1961, when the Angels came into being, they played in LA and were called the Los Angeles Angels. A move to Anaheim came 5 years later, along with a name change to the California Angels. For 30 years, they were the California Angels, only to switch to the Anaheim Angels in 1997. This is where we were until this week. The Angels wanted to switch their name back to Los Angeles to cash in on the name of Los Angeles. This would mean bigger TV deals, licenseing, and the like. Except the lease the team signed with the City of Anaheim for the stadium required the name "Anaheim" be in the team's name. To get around this, they just slapped it on the end. This would be like the New York Yankees of Newark or something. Anaheim is pissed because they are going to lose out on a lot of advertising money. LA is pissed because the team is mooching off their name. The team looks like a bunch of money grubers. There are no winners here.

Exhibit 3: Doug Mientkiewicz wants the ball from the final out of the World Series.

Doug, not a good idea. Don't tell people who have not won the World Series in almost 90 years that you, a mid-season signing who only played in defensive situations, want to keep the symbol of their victory. The acutal ball from historic occasions are often the best physical representation of the event. The ball is central to almost every play in baseball, stolen bases and the like excluded. This causes the to acquire great meaning and sentimental (and often financial) value. With no legitimate claim, Doug feels he should be able to keep the ball. Perhaps someone like Pedro, who had been a Boston staple for years, would have more of a claim. Sorry Doug, but you've got your head up your ass a little too far.

Twins in the UK

I was in a cafe in Edinburgh last week when some crappy British boy band came on the TV. Their name was "McFly". I don't know if it is a reference to Marty McFly or not. The first thing I though of, being in Scotland, was that these white kids thought they were "fly" and then to be cute, put a "Mc" in front of it. I really wanted to just throw up when I heard that. Upon further review, I realized the drummer had a Twins shirt on. We asked around, and liking baseball over there (or at least wearing baseball apparel) is the "in" thing to do. Here is a link to the kid: Harry. We saw a lot of Yankees hats. I think they are kind of the Manchester United of baseball. Everyone knows who they are, even if they don't know anything about the sport.

Music Review: Franz Ferdinand by Franz Ferdinand

Franz Ferdinand, besides being a pain to type over and over (ctrl-v, if you catch my drift), are a Scottish alt-ish pop-ish rock-y band with a dance type feel. They make some of the only music that makes my white ass want to move. Granted, it's just a head-bob that is not in time with the music, but still. I listened to them on my MP3 player while I was in Scotland; I found it appropriate. Now, for my notes:

• "Come on Home" - The guitar intro reminds me of the song from MLB 2005 that reminds me of "White Wedding"
• "Michael" - Very creepy song
• "Tell Her Tonight" - Terrible cadence and phrasing
• "The Dark of the Matinee" - Personal Favorite
• Can get repetitive to the point of annoying
• Pretty good intruments and vocals

Best Songs
Take Me Out
Matinee
40'
Darts of Pleasure

Avoid these songs
Tell Her Tonight
Auf Achse

Super Bowl Poll

With the Conference Championships just next week, it's time to find out how you all feel about Super Bowl XXXIX.

Who do you want to win Super Bowl XXXIX
	Eagles
	Any body but the Eagles
	Falcons
	Any body but the Falcons
	Patriots
	Any body but the Patriots
	Steelers
	Any body but the Steelers
Free polls from Pollhost.com

Who Will Win Super Bowl XXXIX?
	Eagles
	Falcons
	Patriots
	Steelers
Free polls from Pollhost.com

Colts at Patriots

Well, I just got done watching the end of the Colts' season. I can't say I'm happy I stayed home one more night to watch it here. I was so bored during this game. Just some notes about the game I noticed.

• The o-line really needs Ryan Diem. He didn't play tonight, and Peyton never really looked like he had all the time he needed. It always seemed he was rushed by 1/2 second. Which brings me to...
• Peyton is not Brett Favre. Quit trying to roll-out and wing it. It didn't work at Tennessee, it didn't work early in your career, and it isn't working now. It seems he always brings it out against the Pats. It makes me think of playing Madden and you are down so you start picking "Hail Mary" on every play, like a security blanket thing. He's not getting time, so he just runs around.
• The receivers needs to get some of those springy grip strength dobobers.
• I lived in Indiana until I was 12. There is no reason that the Colts can't get used to cold weather with a week's notice. It may not get New England cold there, but it's cold and it's more realistic than the dome or the practice facility out by Eagle Creek.
• Tackling backwards is a lost art. It seemed everytime the defense had to tackle Corey Dillon, they hit him forward 3 or 4 more yards. Then again, having to jump on everyone's back because they blew past you at the line doesn't help at all.
• This is just a continuation of the Colts' futility against the Patriots. This ineptitude stretches back far before the time of Peyton, Edgerrin, and Marvin. In the past 10 years, from the 1995 season on, the Colts are a combined 4-12 against the Patriots in the regular season. They are also 0-2 in the playoffs. Only one year, 1995 when they went all the way to the AFC Title Game only to lose when Jim Harbaugh's "Hail Mary" fell incomplete through the hands of Aaron Bailey (oh, do I remember that game!), did they beat the Patriots twice in a season. One year, 2002, they did not play. During that stretch, the Colts are an overall 86-74. As Dad said of the restructuring - "At least the Colts don't have to play the Patriots twice a year anymore."

In other playoff news

• The Eagles can win with out Terrell Owens, so shut up already. Personally, I was hoping the Vikings would lose (sorry Seth). I've not taken to the Vikings like I did the Twins. Also, my uncle's favorite team is Philadelphia and he's not well, so I was rooting for him.
  
• Did you see the Eagles' touchdown off the fumble that when straight to the other guy who was in the endzone? Freakin' sweet. It was definately one of those plays that makes you say "Hey, come see this, quick!"
• The Jets took the Steelers to OT, which I find amazing. I think must root for Pittsburgh next week for 2 reasons: 1) My aforementioned distain for the Patriots, and 2) Antwann Randle El, former Hoosier QB, is the 3rd option reciever, behind Burress and Ward, and returns punts for the Steelers.
• St. Louis definately looked like a team that didn't deserve to be in the playoffs yesterday, which was true. This is how awful the NFC was this year. St. Louis at 8-8 was able to make the playoffs while two 12-4 teams, Indy and San Diego, were the 3 and 4 seeds in the AFC.

UK 2005 - Travel: The Tube

The Tube is the informal name for the London Underground. It's not a subway, because subways are sidewalks underground, like the ones that you walk through to get out of the Tube Station. We rode the Tube a lot.

The first night we get there, we only rode the tube for a little bit. It was late, so it was pretty devoid of human life. The next day was a Saturday, so we got a weekend pass for zones 1 and 2. The Tube is broken down into zones, as shown on this map. Downtown is mostly contained in Zone 1. We were staying in Zone 2, hence the need to get back. On top of being Saturday, it was New Year's Eve. The Tube was absolutely packed. Also, to prevent DUI's, the Tube was free from 11:30 until 4:30 in the morning. Usually the last train is around1, but it was open late and free so the drunks could get home. Funny story about the drunks I'll relate later in my New Year's Recap.

We went everywhere on the Tube. Most major attractions let you know which Tube Station to go to so that you are close as possible to it. I don't think that anywhere we went was more than a 10 minute walk from a Tube station, if you know which way to go once you leave it.

Emerging from a Tube Station is possibly one of the most disorienting things I've ever experience. As you saw on the map, the Tube only makes turns in a few places, right? That map is not to scale and is drastically straightened out. It's fine for getting from one station to another, but not for navigation beyond that. Furthermore, I don' t think any two roads in London meet at a right angle. All of this left me very confused.

I've ridden on public transportation in NYC, DC, Chicago, and Sydney. I would say the Tube is probably the best, considering the insane amount of people it transports everyday. DC was also very nice, definately the best in the US. For ease of use, from getting a ticket to finding your train, it could not be simpler.

I don't really have any crazy stories from the Tube. I saw only one little mouse the whole time, as compared to the 'roided out rats in New York. We did define a new term: to gimel v. To arrive at your platform just as the train is opening its doors. i.e. "Dude, we totally gimeled that train" It derives from playing dreidle. I learned that if you get a gimel, the symbol that looks vaguely like a lambda, you get the entire pot. Gimel is the best possible outcome from a dreidel spin. Other than that, I got nothing. No drunken idiots, no near death experiences, no crack dealers - go to New York or Chicago if you want those.

Overall, London knows its shit when it comes to moving a lot of people quickly, and of course in a friendly manner.

Johan's Contract Negotiations

I know that this blog contains the word "Baseball" in the title. Lately, I've not written much on baseball. The offseason in Iowa doesn't lend much to write about. But recently, big news has floated down here from up North. The process has started.

When I got home, I started hitting up on all the baseball sites I usually visit to see if I'd missed anything important. It appears that the Twins have offered Johan an extention of $19.5 Million for 3 years, or an average of $6.5 Million per year. I think that this is low, of course. You never want to start by offering your max, so people should really chill at his point. Johan's people are going to ask for too much, and they'll end up agreeing somewhere in the middle. Or they will go to arbitration.

I see Johan getting 4 years in the end, before arbitration. The total salary for this period will be between $30 and $36 million. I think that Johan should be around for a long time. He definately has the potential to one of those players that people will sit a game to avoid facing. But on the other hand, he has only had one full season as a starter. That season was great, but who out there can guarantee it will be the norm? Best not to pay too much right now. After the 4 years, if he's proven himself, give him a shitton of money.

Straight, Ace High

I checked my grades this morning. I'll tell you, if they were a poker hand, I'd be all in. I got an A in Psychology, a B in History of Math, a C in Multivariate Calculus, a D in Physics, and my seemingly manditory F in Diff Eq. This is now two semesters in a row I've failed a math class. Lay it out: ABCDF. I don't know whether to be worried or impressed. Right now I really just don't care.

UK 2005 - Travel: Planes

Here, I'll be discussing the main modes of transportation on my trip and other travel related items. First up, the plane ride.

Getting There
We originally had a 7 AM flight from Minneapolis to O'Hare. When we got to the check-in counter, the lady asked if we wanted to get on the 6 AM flight so we had more than 20 minutes to make our connection in Chicago. It's 5:30 so we decide what the hell. We get to the gate at like 5:45. Security was a joke. (Remember this, as it will be a reoccuring theme). The flight was delayed due to a dohickey that keeps the oil in the engine not working correctly. I was ok with it, as I'd rather be late and alive than take off on time only to crash in a field somewhere in Wisconsin. We ended up taking off about 7 anyway, which just meant the plane we were supposed to be on took off around 8. We got to O'Hare no problems and got on our flight to London Heathrow.

The flight to London took 7 hours and 20 minutes. We did each get a little TV in the headrest of the seat in front of us, which was cool. I ended up watching the same thing like 3 times. We got to London around 10:30 PM. We had to stand in a really long line in Customs because only 4 people were around to staff the place. Most had gone home for the night. The guy that stamped my passport was a kinda grumpy. I woulda been too if I had to do what he did. That was the only thing we had to do. That's it. We went through the door marked "Nothing to Declare" because all we had were clothes, and all the sudden we're out in the middle of the baggage claim. That's it. No further anything. Next time, if I do have anything to declare, I'm not bothering. Again, the fact that it was 11 at night probably helped.

Coming Home
We had a 10 AM flight from Heathrow, so we got up around 7 so we could catch breakfast and the Heathrow Express (more about it in Travel: Trains). We checked in fairly easily. We asked the ticket guy if there was anything he could do to make us not have 3 hours of layovers in Boston and Chicago. There was, for $200. We stuck with our original plans. Security was fairly tight in London, everyone got patted down.The flight crew on the way to Boston was terrible. They seemed annoyed that they had to do their job.


When we landed in Boston, Customs again had a terrible line. But they had all the booths manned, we were just the last off the plane and in the middle of the day. They were doing the best they could, so no complaints. Now, funny story about this. Mark and I both have whiskey from Scotland in our bags. I have a mini-bottle, so I didn't worry too much about it. Mark had an entire liter. But, once again, we walked right through. I suppose they figured Americans returning home didn't really warrant close scrutiny. Perhaps if we'd returned from Amsterdam.

So, we took the wrong door out of customs and left the secure area. We had to catch the cross airport bus to the terminal where our flight to O'Hare was, the furthest terminal from us, naturally. When we got there, security again. We just walked right through pretty much. Evidentally, having a boarding pass is one of the key weapons in the fight against terror. That and tensa-barriers. Let me just say that Boston Logan is the worst airport I've ever been in. Heathrow was under massive construction and it was nicer.

We got to Chicago with 3 hours until our flight left at 9:30. We went to the re-ticketing booth and got put on stand-by for the 7:30 flight to Minneapolis. We ended up on the earlier flight, which was really nice. Two less hours putzing around in Chicago. We were delayed till about quarter after 8 due to "malfunction with the forward galley" and not to worry because "maintainance was on board taking care of it". We ended up in Minneapolis about 10 PM, or 4 AM London time. We'd been up for 20 hours or so. It was nice to get to sleep.

The domestic planes the whole way were Boeing Super 80's, some of the oldest planes still in the domestic fleet. They were designed back when you only got 1 carry on, not a carry on and a "personal item". Some people have taken that to mean that you get two of those wheeled suitcases, or a wheeled suitcase and a garment bag that is 3 feet x 3 feet. Seth, Mark, and I were able to get all 3 of our bags in the bin designed for the 3 of us. How other people couldn't figure this out probably has something to do with the fact that each of them had 2 monstrosities.

Back from the UK

Hello, everyone. I'm back from trapsing all over Britian. I'll be posting my review in segments. Right now I'm looking at the following categories:

• Travel
• London
• Scotland
• Other parts of England
• Museums and Monuments

Note that these are subject to change and will probably look nothing like this list by the time I'm done.

This may take a while, I'm exhausted. Monday, we got up at 7 AM London Time to catch breakfast and the 7:55 Heathrow Express to catch our flight to Boston. 7 AM in London is 1 AM here in the Central Time Zone. 18 hours later, I was in Minneapolis on my way to Mark's house. I'm not quite fully aclimated to Central Time yet. I'm also sick, which is affecting my sleep. Yes, poor me. I knew having all that fun would come back to bite me.

Pictures of my Trip

Hello from London

Just killing some time in an Internet Cafe in London. Hope you are all having a good 2005 thus far. Tomorrow: Scotland