Hacking Democracy

Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God. This is one of the most disturbing films that I have ever seen.

The movie is a documentary that follows a grandmother out of the Seattle area as she tries to find out more about the electronic voting process. It reveals extremely disturbing facts and scenarios; as well as cover-ups and voter fraud all over the nation. The movie does not address who does any of the hacking, but there are several examples of who is the beneficiary….let’s just say that there is a hot place waiting for DoubleU. Don’t worry, there is an example of an election that benefitted the Democrats as well. Extremely scary movie that should send all of us to our local election officials demanding a change in ballot tabulation.

Watch this movie ASAP. 

Oh yea, nothing to report with the baby.

Click here for a You Tube link to the movie in 9 parts if you don’t want to rent it

Lightning Images

These pictures were taken last night standing on the driveway of my parent’s house. The picture with the blue glow in the sky is the result of a transformer (I think) being struck by lightning. The camera was processing the previous image when the lightning struck, but I was able to snap another picture in time for the blue glow. Oh yea, the first one? Not cropped…it just struck that close.

Rockin’ The Horse

My grandparents arrived into town last night! Yea! They made the trek from Jacksonville, Florida all of the way to Colorado in just four days – I suppose that they were excited to get here. We were able to go down and visit with them for a couple of hours last night and they presented us (really the kiddo) with an incredible gift: a rocking horse. They made the horse by hand (craftwork by PopPop, painting by Grandma) a little at a time over the course of two months. It goes great in the baby’s room, I can’t wait to see the little one on it!

The Color Of Freedom

So this review is a little late – we watched the movie two days ago. It’s based on a true story as told in a book by James Gregory, a prison guard for South Africa. He was assigned in the position to be in charge of the censorship office on Robben Island – where Nelson Mandela was held for 20+ years. The movie is about the relationship that the two of them form and their respective roles in Mandela’s freeing. It’s got pretty good acting and directing, but the story is so compelling that it comes to you as highly recommended. I can tell you that having been to South Africa and on Robben Island and into Mandela’s cell certainly added a lot of context to the film. 

Sex And The City

Isn’t that how we got to this point in the first place? Don’t worry, no spoilers here. Anyway, we went to see the movie last night, so a review is in order. It’s actually pretty good….you don’t have to know the TV series to understand the movie, but it certainly helps. It was interesting fun to see a theater full of mostly middle-aged white women dressed up and in groups of three or four, clearly already having consumed a martini or two. The movie was exactly what I expected it to be: cheesy at times, over the top at other times, good writing, soap opera story telling, high fashion, and true-to-life in spurts. I found the ending to be a little annoying, but Ahna thought it was okay. If you are a fan of the series, you have to see the movie. Even if you are just looking for a good evening flick (date or night out with the ladies), it’s worth it. 

The Lounger At The Doctor’s Office

The doctor’s appointment was a busy, three-stage deal that gave us the wonderful opportunity to stay there for 2+ hours. Since yesterday was the due date, it started with an ultrasound to check the size of the baby. We asked not to know the size unless it was medically necessary, so I don’t have much to tell you other than it wasn’t medically necessary to find out the size of the baby. We did get to see it on the monitor, which was pretty cool. The ultrasound did confirm that the baby is head-down and face-down. 

After the ultrasound we had a NST, or Non Stress Test. For those of you who haven’t had one, basically they strap Ahna to a fetal heartrate monitor and make her sit in a lounger for 30 minutes. They are looking for 3 good movements of the baby in that time period, and our baby had 4 good movements. The moving of the baby and the corresponding heartrate was perfect – the nurse said that if she were teaching someone how to read a strip from the monitor, she would use the one that we produced yesterday. 

Following the NST, we had the normal doctor’s visit. It was pretty quick as she went over the results of the ultrasound and the NST with the simple statement: everything looks good. Ahna is dialated and mostly effaced, but the doctor wasn’t going to give us any timeframe for labor. She did end the visit with “it won’t surprise me to get a phone call from you at any time.” Keep your fingers crossed that it will happen soon!

Time Goes By…So Slowly

Madonna tells the truth: time goes by…so slowly. Well, as we patiently wait for the arrival of the baby we have still gone about our normal activities. Last night we enjoyed a wonderful family dinner at the Columbine House with a special guest that was an old-time friend of Tori’s. This morning involved a walk and breakfast with my Mom, and now Ahna is planting some flowers outside. I think the pictures are sort of mixed up, so go with the flow.

Baby Wit And Wisdom

A wonderful gift from Ahna’s class at the end of the year….so fun, it deserved it’s own page. Click the link at the top, or click here

Not A Movie…

Today’s review isn’t of a movie, rather of something that was similar to a bad film: the USA vs England soccer friendly. We watched most of the match (took a nap or two) that was broadcast live from Wembley Stadium in London…it lacked drama, enthusiasm, comedy, action, or any skill by the American side. To keep this short for the non-soccer fans, the US can’t even score a goal against a team that couldn’t qualify for the Euro 2008 tournament. Final: 2-0. Maybe a movie tomorrow? 

PS: nothing happening with the baby.

27 Dresses

As the movie reviews are now rolling in one per day, here is the latest. This afternoon amidst the rain and clouds, we watched suffered through the movie 27 Dresses. It didn’t take long to realize that we were about to completely waist the next 2 hours of our life, but it was like watching a train crash and we couldn’t hit the stop button. If you are looking for a study in bad acting, bad directing, bad writing, bad music, and a bad storyline; this is the movie for you. Otherwise, stay away from it like it would suck your brain dry – which is exactly what it does for 120 minutes.  This is the sort of debacle that you will end up watching on a Tuesday night three years from now on Lifetime because you have seen The Matrix six straight nights on TNT.

PS: Still nothing major with the baby.