Lazy Friday

It's Friday. It's nice outside. I don't feel like a long blog post today. What I will say is the beginning of this summer movie season is making me go into pop culture overload. I saw Iron Man late. I saw Prince Caspian last weekend (expect a post on it by Monday). I hope to see Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skulls this weekend.

With movies that I have to see in theaters, plus all the season finales. (Did you see Lost? Can you believe it?!?! PS, I'm lying, I wrote this Thursday evening before it aired, but I just assume, you know?) I also have way too many books, comincs, and magazines piling up, which I need to catch up with. And, on top of all of this the siren song of GTA IV calls me day and night. I'm in a bind people!

I am going to try to get to some additional posts this weekend to help me catch up, but with sprinkler repair, Indy, and an extra long hike planned, I have no idea if I will have time for even more blogging.

Anyway, I hope to get some comic reading in this weekend also, so to get everyone in the mood for more Secret Invasion, go check out Bully's Everyone is a Skrull post.

Nature Girl

While in Washington Mrs Titan and I decided that we needed an audiobook. Without the XM, a six hour drive with bad radio was killer. Also, I never found a station in Seattle I really liked, which is weird considering it is/was the home of Death Cab for Cutie, Nirvana, Foo Fighters, Modest Mouse, Pearl Jam, and Minus the Bear. I'm sure there are good broadcast stations there, but I never found one.

We headed to a mall to a Borders (I'm not a fan of Borders, but that can wait for another post). Looking through the audiobooks section is always kind of disappointing for me. The selection is usually quite slim and the books that I am interested in usually cost somewhere around $35, which seems like quite a bit of money for a book that I could buy for $10.

We finally settled on Carl Hiaasen's Nature Girl. We picked this for three reasons:

1. It was cheap, only $15.


2. It was short, only 5 hours, instead of 12 or more.


3. It was being read by Jane Curtain

Also, I think I heard something good about Carl Hiaasen once, but I might be making that up.

Well, Jane was pretty darn good. I was amazed that just about every character had a unique voice. I could tell almost everyone apart just by her voice, which was great. I have not listened to a ton of audiobooks, but Jane was quite good at reading.

As for Hiaasen...well, that's another story. It's not that his writing was bad, it's just that it was unbelievable (and this is coming from a guy who reads comics and sci fi!). The story centers on Honey Santana, a single mom living in Florida who gets so frustrated by a telemarketer calling during dinner that she tricks him into coming to Florida for an eco tour. The fact that he falls for it is just weird.

While they are on tour in the Everglades they run into a wannabe Seminole and a slutty and desperate college coed Hi again Googlers! who are having their own Everglade adventures. Hiaasen weaves four or five different stories together and bring everyone together before the whole thing ends. My biggest disappointment: no alligators! Come on! It's the freaking Everglades!

It's not terrible, just far-fetched. It is a trashy, pop novel that is easy to listen to (and read, I imagine). While it didn't make Carl Hiaasen my favorite author, I also didn't hate it. I wanted to find out what happened, and I laughed at a few scenes. I doubt I will read any of his books, although I would consider listening to more if Jane Curtain.

More Jane!

I'm As Shocked As You Are!

It's been so long since I have written up movies that I have tons to talk about. I have seen nine movies since I wrote last a few weeks ago (not counting Iron Man yesterday) so I will be catching up for a while.

While we were on our trip we stayed at the Friday Harbor House. They have flat screen TVs with DVD players in the room and a pretty decent selection of DVDs that you can check out for free. It was great. So, I picked Galaxy Quest, which I hadn't seen in years and I remember liking. And Mrs Titan picked Amelie.

Galaxy Quest

This movie has a very funny high concept. Galaxy Quest is a Star Trek-like show where, 20 years after it has been cancelled and become a cult hit, the cast is kidnapped by aliens. These aliens have modeled their culture and technology on the show (which was beamed into space) and they need the cast to save them from an evil alien warlord.

A lot of this film is corny. It stars Tim Allen (who against all odds, I like and have liked since Home Improvement) and Sigourney Weaver, as well as Tony Shaloub, Alan Rickman, and a young Justin Long. I even saw Rainn Wilson (Dwight Schrute himself)! The actors are great and I enjoyed the film just as much as I remembered. There is plenty of humor, a little heart, and some bad special effects, but overall, this film is great. As I understand it, the movie itself is starting to build a cult following, which is kinda neat. I doubt it will ever happen, but I would love to see a sequel.

Amelie

Now, this one was the surprise. At first glance it appeared to be a cutesy French romantic comedy. Bleh. But, it wasn't. Well, it kinda was, but it was weird enough to be really good. It stars Audrey Tautou, as Amelie, an innocent french girl who decides to help people around her in any way she can.

I also really liked Tautou in A Very Long Engagement, which was also directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet (I think I like this guy). Huh, he also directed Alien: Resurrection. Maybe I don't like him, now I am confused and conflicted.

Okay, that was weird. Anyway, this movie is very quirky. There is a narrator who's sole purpose seems to be to describe every character's likes and dislikes. He speaks some of the most hilarious lines in the film. Here is the opening line, spoken by
the narrator:

On September 3rd 1973, at 6:28pm and 32 seconds, a bluebottle fly capable of
14,670 wing beats a minute landed on Rue St Vincent, Montmartre. At the same
moment, on a restaurant terrace nearby, the wind magically made two glasses
dance unseen on a tablecloth. Meanwhile, in a 5th-floor flat, 28 Avenue
Trudaine, Paris 9, returning from his best friend's funeral, Eugène Colère
erased his name from his address book. At the same moment, a sperm with one X
chromosome, belonging to Raphaël Poulain, made a dash for an egg in his wife
Amandine. Nine months later, Amélie Poulain was born.

Yeah, the whole movie is that way. Very dramatic, detailed, and bizarre. There is a lot of sex (15 women having orgasms in Paris at the exact same time!) Hi Googlers!, although it is treated in that carefree French way. The humor is very different and is something I very much enjoy. The adventures of Amelie are exciting and unique and tons of fun!

I expect this movie isn't for everyone. There are subtitles, which move very quickly and the bizarre humor and weird situations also strain the brain. However, the humor is unique enough to make this movie (along with A Very Long Engagement) very fun and memorable. I really truly hope Jeunet and Tautou make more films together. Even if they are French!

Iron Man, A Month Late

Well, anyone who is a fan/geek or both has already seen this film, so a review is a little pointless at this point. I will only say that I loved it. It was a ton of fun and Robert Downey Jr was pretty great! If you haven't seen it, go see it!

Before I left I read that you have to stay past the credits for a special surprise. If you aren't a geek, and/or haven't read any comics, it might not mean much and, like Mrs Titan, you really won't care all that much.

I, however, got the chills like a little girl, and even if nothing ever comes of the last lines of the movie, it was still pretty exciting and fun.

I don't have anything to add that you can't read on dozens (hundreds?) of other blogs, so I will leave it there. It you haven't seen this movie than go! Before Indy kicks it out of theaters!

Washington Trip Part 9

Alright, so, let's wrap this stuff up! Our last day in Washington was pretty relaxed. We drove to Storm King Mountain in the Olympics, and then drove to SeaTac (it's apparently a town as well as an airport!).

The drive up to Storm King was pretty great. We saw more deer, a grouse (I think), and some beautiful views.

We saw this guy on the side of the road, so we just pulled over, while Mrs Titan was taking some pics, someone else came over to see what we were doing.

He just walked up to us, so we took some pictures and kept driving to the top. Here is what we saw.

Nothing like flying across the country for some snow covered mountains. I mean, we would have to drive for at least half an hour to get to the nearest snow covered mountain, and I would have to go all the way to the back porch to be able to see one. I love Colorado. The mountains there were great though. It's always fun to see the ocean while standing atop a mountain. It was a beautiful drive.

While we were in Port Angeles we noticed that there was some kind of convention in town. There were a lot of older women staying at our hotel, and signs all over town saying "Welcome Espirit". I've never heard of Espirit before (well, except the clothes company). Anyway, one morning we saw some of the women standing around chatting, but, something didn't sound right. Their voices...they were men. Some of them kinda big men. Turns out we were staying at the hotel that was holding their convention.

Espirit is "the Pacific Norhwest's Premiere Transgender Convention." I really don't have a lot of experience with the transgendered, but it was always a little odd walking around town and at Storm King (where they were instructed to "wear their hiking heels." It's a little uncomfortable not being able to tell who the person next to you is. The bathroom situation was also a little disconcerting for both Mrs Titan and myself. This is interesting though, rule #1 for the convention from their website:

Presentation: Attendees are required to present a feminine or masculine gender
without ambiguity. When presenting as a female, you must be clean-shaven,
wearing makeup as needed, and conducting yourself as a proper lady. When
presenting as a male, you must conduct yourself as a gentleman and are not
allowed to wear exclusively feminine attire (for example, dresses). It is not
necessary to stick to one presentation during your entire stay.

I don't know much (or anything really) about presenting as a transgender, but it seems to me that if you are presenting as a female you should at least try to speak like one. Many of the "women" we saw had voices as deep as James Earl Jones with no attempt to mask it.

Anyway, that's enough of a trip into the world of the transgender. It's a little different.

All in all, the Washington trip was amazing. I would recommend it to anyone looking for a unique and beautiful place to go. It was amazing and Mrs Titan and I will have memories to last a lifetime. I hope you all enjoyed my trip diary. I will be back to normal posting tomorrow. We'll be skipping comics for movies this week.

Washington Trip Part 8

Alright, so the second to last day of the trip we decided to hike around Olympic National Park and it was incredible. Shockingly, this post will be picture-heavy, but it will worth it.

First, we did a short (a mile) hike to Marymere Falls. This hike starts right from the Lake Crescent Lodge, an amazing hotel/lodge right next to the lake and in Olympic National Park. We saw a deer on the way. A cute little Columbian Black Tail, not the Mule Deer we have here.

We have already decided to stay at the Lodge the next time we take a trip to Washington (and Friday Harbor, of course). Here's a view from right near the Lodge.

The hike was very easy and had some great scenery. Here are is one of the cool bridges and a shot of the falls.

That was just the start. Next, we decided to drive to the Hoh Valley Rainforest. It is way over on the other side of the peninsula, but it was well worth the drive. As soon as we got into the valley, it started raining (shocking, I know, but this was only the second time it rained the entire time we were there).

The first thing we see at the ranger station when we pull up?

Roosevelt Elk! I love Washington! These guys were just laying around chewing their cud. When we went in to pay for our visit, the ranger asked where we were off to. We wanted to try the Hoh Valley Trail, which is an 18 mile trail that goes all the way to some glaciers at the top of the Olympic peaks. He told us it was more or less flat for the first 13 miles, so it wasn't too bad. And truly, having lived our lives 6,000 feet higher than the valley, it wasn't difficult at all. We made it to the top in less than 3 hours. Okay, okay, I'm kidding, the hiking wasn't too hard besides the mud, but there is no way we could have made it 18 miles! He did say all this, but he also told us there was a waterfall 3 miles up the trail, so that was our goal. Here are some shots of the hike, culminating with the waterfall. We made it!

Wow! Right? Anyway, I also took a really short video while walking. I wasn't sure if the pictures would show the depth, so I thought I would try video. I loaded it to YouTube, my first video! Anyway, it is a little muddy (both literally and visually), but I filmed it, it is me hiking. Awesome!

So, the Olympic National Park is incredible. It rained on us about every half hour while we were in the rainforest, and that just made it that much more fun. If you ever get the chance, go there and go hiking. It's incredible!

Washington Trip Part 7

Alright, so we've made it to Port Angeles and we are getting ready to head to Victoria, BC on the ferry (that's in Canada for you slowpokes out there). Unfortunately we have to take the Coho, a ferry that transports vehicles instead of this boat the Victoria Express. We were just one week too early! This (and the lack of whales) may have been the only downside to traveling in the off season. Oh well, we had a nice relaxing trip and I got to read a lot, so it wasn't all bad.

Victoria is a beautiful place (I know, I'm shocked too). We didn't spend much time there, as we were in a hurry to get to Butchart Gardens, the whole reason for the boat ride. Check out the Empress Hotel. It's crazy!

So what is this Butchart Gardens that we have to make such a big deal about? I'll let their website explain:

As Mr. Butchart exhausted the limestone in the quarry near their house, his
enterprising wife, Jennie, conceived an unprecedented plan for refurbishing
the bleak pit. From farmland nearby she requisitioned tons of top soil, had
it brought to Tod Inlet by horse and cart, and used it to line the floor of
the abandoned quarry. Little by little, under Jennie Butchart's
supervision, the abandoned quarry blossomed into the spectacular Sunken
Garden.

This place is incredible, who knew such beauty could grow in Canada?! Wow! I have what seems like 1,500 pictures of the gardens because Mrs Titan is such a fan of flowers and all things that grow. Check it!

Ok, enough of that. We ate quick and had to rush back to town to catch the ferry back to the US, or we would have been stuck in Canada. There are usually a lot of street performers. Most of them are pretty talented. Then, there was this lady.

Now, some of my favorite comedians are Canadian, but this lady was just too wacky and weird. She was decked out all in Canada gear (as you can see) and she tried to tell jokes. Some of them weren't bad, but she apologized for EVERYTHING. It was so bizarre. She told a joke. "Sorry if that wasn't funny." She dropped the flaming stick. "Sorry." Someone started to walk away. "Sorry you have to go." I have never seen anything like it and I don't think it was part of her act. I think she just felt bad for everything. Aren't Canadians cute?

I just hope she appears on the upcoming season of Last Comic Standing. I would so root for her just so I could hear her apologize to everybody.

Washington Trip Part 6

We then traveled from Seattle to Port Angeles (Google map it!). But, instead of taking the direct route, or a ferry, we drove all the way to the Pacific and then around on the 101 until we reached the town of Port Angeles. This took about 8 hours are so with all the stops, but it was well worth it, we saw some beautiful sights along the way.

Then we got to the beach. Wow. It was incredible. Some of the sights there are jaw dropping, and there is beauty everywhere you look. It is also so absolutely empty that you are able to feel alone and peaceful. This was a great place to visit and if we were not getting really tired from the drive, I would have loved to stay longer.

Yeah, this just keeps going, the Olympic Peninsula was just amazing!

One of the weird things though, is that were grabbed lunch at a Quiznos in Aberdeen on the way, and the owner of the store, after asking us where we were headed, kept warning us over and over about not getting carried away by the riptide. I guess this must happen a lot, as he repeated the phrase "I don't want to read about you in the papers" at least four times. It was quite odd and kinda disturbing. It goes without saying that Mrs Titan and I survived the ordeal.

One other thing that I forgot to mention previously. When we were in Seattle, we checked out the Underground Tour, which is amazing and well worth seeing. They also pride themselves on humorous tours, which make them very fun and a few times even like standup, it was great. Anyway, as we were walking back to the hotel this guy walks up to us and just starts talking to us. Asking us what we thought of the tour, where we're from, etc. Anyway, this goes on for a while and it's obvious that he is there alone with no one else. This wouldn't have been that big of a deal to me until we got to Friday Harbor.

In Friday Harbor, as you recall, we went on a whale watching tour. Well, on the boat were two guys without anyone with them. They were not together and did not know anyone else on the tour. This just seemed weird to me. I can understand the lonely dude in Seattle (business travel, etc) but two more lonely, single, and frankly kinda creepy guys in a purely touristy area. This was odd. I have never seen single people traveling alone as tourists (not counting backpacking-across-the-country-types or homeless people), so I was a little surprised. So, just a question for all the readers out there. Have you ever gone on vacation alone? Why and did you have a good time?

I'll be back tomorrow with Victoria, BC.

Washington Trip Part 5

The next day started with a beautiful walk near the water on San Juan Island. Luckily, we had a great hostess at the Friday Harbor House who pointed us in the right direction (we were without car, which was wonderful for a short time). Along this walk we got to see some amazing waterfront property. If I could work there I think I would move to San Juan Island. This is not a park:Next we went on a kayaking trip. Our first one on the ocean! This was a half day trip led by our guide, Jesse, from Discovery Sea Kayaks. It was a little shorter than I would have liked. Next time I think we will go for a full day instead of half day. We were in a tandem kayak and I got to steer. Those things are complicated, as you steer with your feet! Here's Jesse:

Kayaking on the ocean was great and I would recommend it to anyone who has never tried it. It's pretty darn intimidating, what with the waves (they were small too) and the large open areas with deep deep water, but it is sure great!

I'm not even going to bother posting on Day 6, all we did was drive back to Seattle. It was sad leaving Friday Harbor. Here's our ride back to the mainland:

Washington Trip Part 4

The forth day was one of the coolest. We got up at 6 am to drive from Seattle to Anacortes, WA, where we hopped on a ferry to Friday Harbor, a small town on the San Juan Islands. The islands located on the northern end of Puget Sound and have some of the most beautiful scenery that I have ever seen. Here's a little view from the ferry.

The first thing we did when we got to the island was to hop on another boat for some whale watching. On the way to the boat we saw this little girl, Popeye. What a cutie!

Well, bad news about the whale watching. There were none. However, we did see some pretty amazing things. There's a privately owned island there called Spieden Island. Apparently in the early 1900s a rich guy bought the island and put a bunch of exotic animals on it so he could bring his buds for some hunting. These animals are still all over the island (which is now owned by the founder of Oakley's sunglasses). We also got to see some beautiful bald eagles.



We also got to see some Harbor Seals (cute like Popeye) and Harbor and Dall's Porpoises. They were pretty great.

The best part about the whole trip was the company, Western Prince Whale Watching and Wildlife Tours, a small locally owned joint that was very fun and personal. I would have linked to them, but their webpage is down right now.

Finally, the hotel there. Friday Harbor House. Awesome! The best hotel on the whole trip. Check out the view from our room.

Yeah, awesome, and the view of our room?
Jacuzzi tub, fireplace, and a flat screen TV (not pictured). Three nights were not enough. I never wanted to leave. The free breakfasts were great also, with fresh muffins and fruits. Mmm. It is a great place!