Snow!!

So people are going to look at these picture and say "Hey, where did they go for all that snow? Somewhere in Utah, or maybe up in Flagstaff?"  Nope!  We stayed in Tucson.  Just north of the city lies the Catalina Mountains, they actually dominate the view in Tucson.  The great thing about them is you can drive up into the mountains and in the summer when it's 110 degrees in the city you can be in a very mild 70 degree day.  Also in the winter when it's 60 in the city you can head up for a great winter day.  It's only about an hour's drive with a 6000 foot elevation change (which is substantial)  There's even a ski resort there, although I haven't been yet (they are rarely open).  So we headed up on Valentines Day with some friends.  Griffin loved it and Matilda got her first taste of snow.  Here are some pictures:

Disgusting

So yesterday morning I was in the kitchen making Griffin's lunch while both kids were playing in their room, when suddenly I heard a splashing sound. I thought that was weird so I went to investigate. I found Matilda in the bathroom standing up at the toilet with her hands in the water happily splashing away! So gross! Unfortunately my first thought was to scoop her up and clean her off otherwise I would have some very decent pictures. It was totally my fault for leaving the baththroom door open and the kids unsupervised.

new pics

Tree

Our next-door-neighbor had to get rid of the big, beautiful Eucalyptus tree recently because some of the roots had winded their way into her foundation and were causing problems with the plumbing pipes and such.  It's a shame, because this tree, even though it was in her yard, provided a lot of shade for our yard.  Our carport is directly underneath, so it's a good thing we have that, now more than ever.  Griffin and Matilda and I watched the men take down the tree.  It only took a few hours, here's some progression pictures:

So now just a big, empty hole in the sky where the tree used to be.

Oscars

So I was looking at all the oscar nominees yesterday and was feeling underwhelmed.  I know the awards have turned into a popularity contest but I still think they should be about rewarding quality.  I was particularly surprised by a couple movies that got lukewarm reviews that are nominated, so I cross referenced with Rotten Tomatoes to check the score.

They seem to have gotten Slumdog Millionaire (95%) Milk  (93%) and Fost/Nixon (91%) right as those three movies got excellent reviews.  But then there's Benjamin Button (72%) which is an OK score, but nothing special.  I know I've read plenty of mediocre reviews for it, and no great ones.  And last is The Reader (60%) which is quite poor for a "best picture nominee"

To put it in perspective here's some other movies that got far better reviews:

The Wrestler (98%)

Wall E (96%)

The Dark Knight (94%)

Happy-Go-Lucky (93%)

Iron Man (93%)

The Visitor (91%)

Transiberrian (90%)

Rachel Getting Married (87%)

Vikki Christina Barcelona (81%)

Most of these movies are nominated in other major categories and have far better reviews than Benjamin Buttons and The Reader.

Heck, even Tropic Thunder gets 83% !

I know a lot of these movies aren't typical "best picture nominees" but I don't think a movie should get extra consideration just because it's about the holocaust.  Just like I don't think a movie should be ignored because it's animated, or a comedy, or a comic-book movie, or a little-seen indie.

There's plenty more too.  If you look at the Rotten Tomatoes list of best-reviewed movies for the year Benjamin Buttons doesn't even crack the top 100.  Granted a lot of those are documentaries, re-releases, or super-indies, but it doesn't change the fact that the movie is middle-of-the-road at best.

Don't forget Rotten Tomatoes is a compilation of hundreds of critics' reviews so it gives the most accurate consensus of what kind of reviews a movie got.

Just bloggin'

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/?intcmp=topnav_home

Crazy Mon

Today Griffin and I were in the car and I said something silly and Griff responded "That's crazy mon, crazy!  I started cracking up and asked him where he got that from.  He said "from you daddy."  Of course I have no memory of ever using that phrase in my life, not to mention recently.  Just goes to show that kids hear everything, and will repeat it back to you at appropriate times.

One day Griffin opened my cell phone, looked at the screen and said "No service??  What's up with that?!"

He definitely got that from me

Sabino Canyon

This past weekend we took a hike up around Sabino Canyon with our friends Ruth, Rafael, and their son Ving

There's only a handful of areas with water in the vicinity, and most of the time this is just a dry riverbed, however the mountains had gotten some snow recently so now the river is flowing moderately well.  Lots of fun, Griffin and Ving always have a good time playing together

Organ Pipe

Just after Christmas we decided to take a short mini-trip down to Organ Pipe National Monument, near the Mexico border southwest of us.This is the cabin we stayed in:

Griffin and his cousins playing:


Desert Hike:


Matilda wasn't digging the backpack: