Feel free to check out any or all of our registries and feel free to also buy something off these lists too… you know… for science!

The theater that I was in to check out the movie was almost full to capacity. Despite the theater actually playing the wrong preview set (they were all in 3D) in front of the film (and quite possibly the wrong movie to boot) for my 7:25pm showing, I ditched the theater and went to the 7:50 showing instead. Ah… satisfaction. Let’s dig into the actual movie itself.

After the previews, the film starts out with the LucasFilm title card that has been running infront of all of the Star Wars movies as of late. For me, this instantly gets me feeling like I’m going to be treated to something EPIC (perhaps that may be downfall #1). What follows is another title card that sets the tone of the films emotional catalyst that drives the Tuskegee Airmen:

“Blacks are mentally inferior and by nature subservient, and thus are unfit for combat.”  - 1925 Army War College Study

Just reading that made a few people beside me squirm. Good. It did what it was supposed to do. And then as we see scene with bombers undergoing a mission with fighter pilots as escorts. The white pilots end up breaking away from the bombers when a few German pilots distract them, leaving the bombers extremely vulnerable. Unbeknownst to the US pilots, they are chasing decoys as the bombers are now picked off one by one (this is important later). Part of my issue initially with the film was the opening credits that played throughout. What was George THINKING? Dude… you are the father of Star Wars. Though we are still working on forgiving you for Jar Jar, if you approved the titling for this, I hope we get a CG render with the inevitable Special Editions. Moving on.

The Story:

We are introduced to all of our leads in the film. The fighter pilots of the 332nd Fighter Group have been saddled with patrols well behind friendly territory. The “upper brass” don’t feel that these pilots have what it takes to run actual combat missions. The maneuvers, intuition and instinct in this scene proves differently. You do kind of fall prey to stereotypes with the leads though. You have your steady and sure Captain (that has his own hidden shortcoming), the “comedian” that can’t be serious… the “young buck” and with a lot of movies “The hot head”.

There are definite mixes of great action, beautiful scenery (the movie takes place in Italy and Germany) and your fair share of racial tension between the white and black Airmen. I feel that the love story that is mixed in, while not contrived like the mess that was Pearl Harbor, was still less important than the meat of the story.

The flow of the of the story didn’t always falter thankfully. With a movie of this nature, the storytelling could easily be simple stepping stones from dogfight to dogfight. This wasn’t the case. The flow of the story was pretty linear. Something I admired was that there wasn’t a hidden “life message”. This was a simple story about a group of men with incredible talent trying to overcome the odds set against them to do something basic: prove that they were capable. The uphill battle that the Tuskegee Airmen have to fight in order to use those talents for more than simple patrols. The next few scenes featuring Terrance Howard going before his superiors were some of the most compelling. But this is also when I started noticing something that was making me a little upset while watching the movie…

The Cast:

I’ve seen a lot of reviews about Red Tails discussing the dialogue and poor writing throughout the movie. I wouldn’t completely blame the writers though. The delivery from a lot of the principle actors just seemed forced. Perhaps they didn’t know how to deliver some of them. I don’t know what it was but to me, Cuba Gooding Jr and Terrance Howard were a tad underused. They both commanded the screen whenever they made an appearance. Along with Gooding Jr and Howard, Bryan Cranston delivered some of the best lines. But one moment in the movie (aside from Terrance Howard’s rousing speech to the Airmen to “rally the troops”) blew me away. David Oyelowo (recently seen in Rise of the Planet of the Apes and The Help) plays Joe “Lightning” Little. His character is arrogant, constantly showboating and consistently disobeys direct orders. Throughout the movie, I hate to say it, but it seems like Oyelowo is phoning this one in. But at one point he has an argument with the Captain of his squad. During this scene he literally electrifies the screen and I thought to myself “Where has he been hiding this whole time?!” That seemed to be a high point for me. Oh if only the rest of the actors performed with that much conviction.

All in all, if you go into Red Tails not expecting multiple Oscar worthy performances and enjoy it for the first in what I hope are many explorations into African American history, I don’t think you’ll be disappointed. I DO recommend that you go see this in theaters if not for anything other than the dogfights. One thing I can say is, George Lucas, while not Director, knows how to approve a dogfight (whether its in a galaxy far far away or over WWII Europe).

Hollywood, I’m looking at you right now. You shouldn’t have denied George Lucas for so long because even though I (along with a ton of other geeks out there) still hold a little Star Wars Special Special Ultra Deluxe With a Twist of Lemon Edition grudge for all of the changes to the Star Wars universe, the man knows what he’s doing. If you look at the box office results, even with 500 less screens, Red Tails came in a pretty close second to Underworld Awakening. Instead of recycling old TV Shows (Jonah Hill? really), pick up some of the hundreds of stories of valiant African American soldiers that fought and died for more than just their country. They fought for the right to just be there. And that is a story all in itself.

P.S. Ne Yo. I had NO idea how much comedic timing you had. And Method Man… what the heck happened to you man? Seriously…

Interested in more Red Tails related media? Check these out:

Yesterday changed all that. With my ongoing “battle” with the 4 Hour Body program, my day of decadence and delectable debauchery is Saturday. And during that time, my daughter wanted to give me a sweet treat to eat. She knows that one of my favorite dishes is Red Velvet Cake Anything. My wife just so happened to have a box of Betty Crocker on hand as well. So my bright eyed daughter, upon hearing that I would LOVE a cake (who wouldn’t), decided to take the initiative and get to baking. The catch was, she wanted to do it alone. I had no problem with this and my wife was agreed as well. That’s all my daughter needed to hear.

She quickly started acquiring all of her ingredients for her first solo project. She was having a blast already. My wife and I would occasionally pop our heads around the corner into the kitchen to see how she was doing and she was in the zone. I’m actually rather amazed at how adapt to the kitchen she is already. Everything was in order and the concentration on her face was awesome. A moment later we hear the mixer going as she’s plowing through getting things ready. My wife did help her grease the pan, but that was about it. The oven was to temp and the mix was in the pan. And my daughter couldn’t have been glowing any more than she was at that moment.

Once the cake had cooked thoroughly and as allowed to cool and was iced… it was time for a taste test. And by test I mean a whole section. Here’s my review:

Presentation:

My wife did help with the icing as she was trying a new recipe herself. A cream cheese icing coating the top of the Red Velvet cake was smooth, silky and simply amazing. Not too sweet, not too thick. It was perfect. Once the slices were made, the icing seemingly wrapped itself around the top edge of the crimson morsel of awesome. PERFECT presentation.

Consistency:

ZOMG. Some cakes are way too dense. Almost as if you have to saw through it. And then you have some cakes that are overly crumbly as if they did not have the right ratio of egg, oil and flour. This cake was spot on perfect. Perfectly moist, soft and fluffy. You slice your fork through to take a bit and it slowly grows back to the original form (sans piece you just took).

Flavor:

ZOMG: The Sequel. I’m a bit of a Red Velvet snob honestly. There have been 2 Red Velvet cakes that hold the title of the best. My wife makes an amazing Red Velvet cake. And a few years back, I attended a Christmas party at the International Speedway in Daytona Beach where one of the deserts was Red Velvet. My daughter’s Red Velvet cake has joined the ranks. A proper Red Velvet cake has a flavor that is nothing like a chocolate or devil’s food cake. I’ve tasted a few others’ attempts at Red Velvet and it tasted exactly like a red food colored chocolate cake. Not even close in regards to what my daughter has created.

Lastly, I must give credit to my wife as well. She has taught my daughter how to be someone that is passionate about being creative, cooking, and enjoying seeing delight on someone’s face when you create something that they enjoy. If my daughter continues to watch and learn from her mother… she will no doubt join the ranks of the “bakers” during the holidays!

If you live anywhere near me and would like to have my daughter make you some, let me know. I may just have to have her make a few to sell (yes.. it’s that good). Plus, she already is a budding entrepreneur. This might be a great teaching tool!

Jedi in the Future | Qwertee : Limited Edition Cheap Daily T Shirts | Gone in 24 Hours | T-shirt Only £8/€10/$12 | Cool Graphic Funny Tee Shirts.

Now MIB 3 is on the horizon starring Mr Jones, Mr Smith and now… Mr Brolin. And his little snippet at the end of this teaser…

Has me STOKED! Will on the other hand… May be time for him to give up the neurolizer. Hope it’s good. Here’s the Tesaser:

Theresa Woodfin – 28, dies in car wreck.

She had two children, 10 year old boy and a 3 year old girl who now do not have a mother. I have 3 kids… one on the way and I have to say that I could not even begin to imagine what her husband is going through right now. What would I do in this situation? How would MY kids handle this?

It’s heartbreaking to watch this all unfold with their family. Based on some conversations I’ve had my friend (the surviving sister), the boy and girl aren’t really expecting much this year due to the circumstances. I just can’t sit and watch as this family has to go through this during Christmas. I found out that the boy likes {edit} Star Wars* and a few other things, and the little girl likes Mickey mouse, Dora and Fairy’s. So what I’ve done, based on the recommendation of someone from Reddit, is create an Amazon Wishlist just for the family. I’ve only put 30 items on there (all under $30 each) and was wondering if anyone might be able to help! I have the address set to go to the sister so that she can wrap anything and get it to the father before Christmas. Here’s the list:

The Amazon Wish List

So if you have a little extra in your budget this year or you feel that you would like to contribute, please don’t hesitate to click the Amazon Wish List… it’s set to be shipped straight to the family so. Thanks guys!

*UPDATE!!! It has come to my attention that the little boy our of the siblings (the 10 year old) is an AVID Star Wars Fan. I’ve updated the Amazon Wish List with a bunch of Star Wars items and if anyone out there could take a look at some of the Star Wars related items, I’d really appreciate it!!

On Christmas Eve many years ago I laid quietly in my bed. I did not rustle the sheets, I breathed slowly and silently. I was listening for a sound I was afraid I’d never hear: the sound of Santa’s sleigh bells.

This is the opening line to a movie that my family has watched together since 2005 (the year it hit DVD). The Polar Express represents a few different things to us. Hope, joy, wonder… the stuff of wonder. Once we moved to Augusta in 2007 and became friends with Chris Harrison, it was brought to my attention that there were several places in the US where you can bring your family on a real train to actually experience the Polar Express for yourself. From the second I told my wife, she was on board.

Due to our work schedule, we have never really taken a family vacation. There have been times where we’ve taken little day long excursions, but we’ve never done anything quite like this. With a family of 5, group events can add up financially so this year, my wife and I decided that we were going to give it a go. We were going to do it.

Unfortunately, clients had another thing to say about our plans. Due to a few set backs, it looked like we were not going to be able to make it. The words that I heard from my wife were “Looks like we won’t be able to do it this year…”

My response was “Okay…” But for me, that simply wouldn’t do. It wasn’t okay. So I set out on my mission. First, I went and started working multiple side web projects (unbeknownst to my wife). I was (and still am) determined to make this Christmas a time of “miracles”. And luckily, I managed to get 5 first class tickets to the Polar Express Excursion in Bryson City, North Carolina.

I booked the trip almost a month before the day we were to take the trip (November 19th). Do you have ANY idea how hard it was for me to keep this a secret? As my wife says, I’m a blabber mouth. But honestly, I’m not the best secret keeper. When I have something planned for my family (my wife in particular), it takes everything in me not to say something. So keeping this bottled up inside (even after being asked on several occasions by my wife if I either A. got the tickets or B. Planned on getting the tickets).

So yes, I did lie a tad, but it was for a good cause. Honest. I wasn’t content though to just get the tickets. I REALLY needed to do it up. If you’ve ever seen the movie, you know that the “Hero Boy” wore a house coat throughout the movie. My kids are obsessed with house coats for a reason. But none of them actually HAD one. So over the course of the weeks leading up to the 19th, I purchased 3 house coats for them to take on the trip. Then I spoke with one of the booking agents (Thanks Gail Findlay), and she encouraged me to make sure that the kids should wear pajamas. Well of COURSE I had to pick up new pj’s for them as well. Add some embroidering done by Palmetto Twisted Threads (thanks Brenda) for the house coats and the wardrobe was ready for the night.

Leading up to the day, I concocted a story that I needed to go film for one of the local radio stations on a bogus project that I made up. The kids thought I was going to be coming home and we would have a movie marathon. I needed to make sure that they would be all ready and waiting for me when I got home. I left at 10am and went to pick up the pjs/house coats from my friend Gomi’s house. Once I picked all of that up, I went to pick up a few goodies (like our copy of The Polar Express book along with treats to eat on the way there as it’s a 4 hour drive from where we live to the Great Smoky Mountains.

I arrived home and BOOM, dropped the bomb on everyone. I don’t think my kids fully understood what was going on. We had kept it from them that there was such a thing. They knew they were going to get to ride a train, but I don’ think they knew exactly what was in store.

I didn’t know what we had in store.

We packed all the kids in the van, had our snacks and goodies ready, and headed out to the North Carolina for the day. We had Christmas movies playing on the portable DVD player, Christmas music ready to jam once we got there, and excitement pulsating through the van.

From the second the kids piled in the van, we had magic running through our veins. Might as well call me Harry Potter. Let me tell you that The Great Smoky Mountain Railroad has their act together. Seriously, you pull past the train station and seeing the families with their children all in their jammies, the Christmas lights, the toymaker in the window making actual toys as you walk to the train depot… it’s a perfect perfect perfect set up. The anticipation that builds is insane.

We parked and checked in to get our tickets. Families beaming, excitement in the air, classic Christmas music playing, the Christmas lights all around… it was almost too much. I was like a little kid in a candy story. We arrived about an hour and a half early. Went through the gift shop (which was REALLY reasonably priced), and then we began to line up. We waited outside at Gate 3 (though we were supposed to be at Gate 2), and once the train arrived, just about everyone in line (and there was ALOT) lost it. Kids, parents, elderly people riding the train without any kids at all just to experience the Polar Express alike, were so excited. We loaded onto the train with the assistance of or car’s hostess (who was SO nice). The first thing we see? A basket on each table with muffins, petit fours and gingerbread cookies. The car hostess announces “We want your kids to be up and running around during the train ride! It’s time to go to the NORTH POLE!” At that point, my middle child looks at me with eyes wide as silver dollars and says to me “… Are we really going?!”

That says it all. From there, the hostess took over. The kids were running up and down the train car doing a sudo conga line, singing, and just getting all riled up! And it was GREAT. The kids took a seat and that’s when it started. It was time for HOT CHOCOLATE!

If you’ve ever seen the movie, you know the seen. The waiters come out and dance their heads off all the while delivering Hot Chocolate. The GSMR crew delivers again and put on a show! And the Hot Chocolate was SO delicious. And if you ride in the first class compartment… you get to KEEP your special mugs! Oh, and they also pass out some amazingly tasty chocolate chip cookies.

Shortly after that it was story time as a voice came over the PA to read the actual Polar Express book that the movie is based on. All of the kids on the train got quiet (even the big kids that at first seemed to think they were “too cool” for the trip). After the reading of the book, we hit the North Pole followed by Santa coming on the train. Each child received a bell just like at the end of the movie and we made our way back to the station.

Guys, on the way home, the kids were so buzzed. They were tired, but buzzed. Once they fell asleep, including my wife, I drove. 4 hours through the dark. It was quiet. While driving I reflected on the day (as well as the past month worth of planning). Myself, my wife and my kids will ALWAYS remember this. So, without further ado, here is the video synopsis of that eventful day! Thanks again GSMR and we look forward to next year! More pictures after the video!

To Book Your Own Excursion, head over to http://www.gsmr.com and click Events. Not only is there the Polar Express ride, but also a few other holiday excursions!

And now the pictures:

So. Congress wants to classify Pizza as vegetables. Thanks internet for not letting me down!

The movie opens Christmas Day: December 25, 2011