New Year Wishes

Happy 2019.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

Penny Marshall

I was saddened to hear Penny Marshall had passed away.  I enjoyed Laverne and Shirley when I was a kid.

Thanksgiving wishes

Stan Lee and Roy Clark

I was saddened to hear about the recent passing of Stan Lee and Roy Clark.  They will be missed.

Happy Veteran's Day

Happy Halloween

God's Not Dead

In God’s Not Dead, Christian college student Josh Wheaton (Shane Harper) accepts a challenge by his atheist college professor, Jeffrey Radisson (Kevin Sorbo) to debate God’s existence versus non-existence.

God’s Not Dead has a good underlying message concerning speaking up about and sticking to your beliefs, but there are parts that are rather stereotypical.  Atheism doesn’t necessarily equal hating God, not all Muslims are violent and hate Christianity, and not all Christians are fanatics who try to force their beliefs on everyone else.  The purpose of this may have been to address some of the different belief systems.  However, this could have been accomplished in a less clichéd manner.

The classroom debate is my favorite part of the movie.   Harper’s character makes good points about how believing there is a Creator makes more sense than believing everything exists because of chance, and that we have free will.  Sorbo’s character is extremely hostile towards Christianity, and it turns out this is because he lost his mother at a young age.  I understand why someone would wonder why God would allow bad things to happen, but not everyone who goes through hard times blames God.  There is also a good message that God is bigger than your circumstances.

I liked this movie in spite of the issues I mentioned, and I am interested in watching the rest of the series.

The Beach

Some pictures from a recent trip to the beach.

The Flash

I have been watching The Flash on Netflix, and the show is enjoyable.  The idea of a young man dealing with his mother’s death and father’s conviction for her murder, and later getting super speed after an accident is engaging.   I like the way Barry wants to use his speed to help others, and the interaction between the characters is good.  I especially like Barry’s (Grant Gustin) relationship with Joe West (Jesse L. Martin).   Martin did a wonderful job as Detective Ed Green in Law and Order; I am glad he is in another series.

I like Barry’s interaction with his friends in the lab also. Cisco Ramon (Carlos Valdez), Caitlin Snow (Danielle Panabaker) and Harry Wells (Tom Cavanagh) are interesting characters, and the actors do a good job with their roles.  I don’t think the writers should have included the bit about Barry’s unrequited love for Joe’s daughter Iris (Candace Patton), but that is personal preference, and I do like the Iris West character.

I haven’t finished the first season yet, so I’m not very far into the series, but I’m looking forward to continuing to watch The Flash and seeing what happens.

Happy 4th of July

Happy Father's Day

Happy Memorial Day

Happy Mother's Day

Something amusing....

This is too funny not to pass along...And there is truth to it.  LOL.

Out and about

Some more pictures from La Romeria park in my area.

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks (Movie)

I watched The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks online recently and liked, didn't love it.  As is usually the case with movies based on books, I prefer the book.  The story of the family dealing with a relative's cells being collected for research without permission is interesting, and the performances are good in my opinion.  However, the movie focuses on the family's anger at the medical establishment (John Hopkins specifically).  That is an issue in the book, but isn't really the point or focus of the author.  The book discusses other issues that aren't brought up in the movie that are important also.

This is a movie worth watching at least once, but I doubt I'll go out of my way to watch it again.

Places

A picture taken at El Camino College (Compton campus) where I am taking a class.  I have been occupied with school lately but am almost finished.

Happy Easter

A nice park

This is a pretty park (La Romeria) in my area.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Out and About

I took some pictures at a couple of parks nearby while I was out running an errand today.  This is Sunnyglen Park.

And this is Vincent Park.  These parks are small, but good places for kids to play.

Nice Park

I had the opportunity to visit a park (Wardlow) recently.  This park is very pretty.

Happy Valentine's Day

A silly dog

This is Spooky.  He's my brother and sister-in-law's dog and I've had the chance to get to know him over the last few months.  I enjoy him, although he's silly.   He's not used to being where there are a lot of people, so loud noises, people out and about and cars kind of scare him.  He also doesn't know what to think of leaves being blown by the wind.  He's funny.

Out and About

I visited Franklin Park not long ago.

It's a pretty park.  I love the trees.

Guardians of the Galaxy

In Guardians of the Galaxy. Peter Quill is abducted from Earth by a group of space pirates (the Ravagers) led by Yondu Udonta.  On the planet Morag 26 years later, Peter steals an orb.  It turns out there are quite a few others who are interested in this orb.  The orb is actually an Infinity Stone, which gives great destructive power to whoever happens to possess it.  Peter has quite an adventure as he attempts to keep the orb from being used for evil.  He has to deal with others attempting to get the stone and being attacked and taken prisoner by aliens, and he shows courage and resourcefulness in handling his challenges.

I re-watched Guardians of the Galaxy recently and enjoyed it as much as the first time I saw the movie.  The plot is interesting and the characters are entertaining, particularly Peter Quill/Star-Lord (Chris Pratt), Groot (Vin Diesel) and Rocket (Bradley Cooper).  The whole cast does an excellent job and the interaction between the characters is well-done.  I like how Peter, Groot, Rocket, Gamora (Zoe Saldana) and Drax (Dave Bartista) start out as rivals and end up working together for the common good.

This is a movie worth seeing more than once.