Blake Schwendiman's Blog and Blook

I'm getting a little tired of the really hot days. It happens.

But I still love the monsoon. Holly has some great pictures and video from a storm at our house last week.

Posted by Blake Schwendiman at 04:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

It's a special day in my life when I see a movie that can actually be added to the worst-ever list. This is due primarily to the fact that a movie really has to suck for it to even be considered for the list. These movies have a special place in my heart because they are the ones by which all other movies that I dislike are judged.

For example, when I saw The Fountain with Hugh Jackman and Rachel Weisz I said to myself, "That was one weird movie." But when comparing it to the worst-ever list, it was just too much better than those to even be considered. The Fountain was at least a visually stunning movie.

Then I watched Premonition with Sandra Bullock. Wow. What a terrible movie. It's the kind of movie that makes you appreciate the better experiences in life -- root canals, junior high gym class and the smell of week-old, coagulated baby formula.

The good news about the worst-ever list is that there's always room for more. Just because Premonition makes the cut doesn't mean that any of the others somehow get abandoned. If you made the same mistake as I did and have already seen this film, contact me, I'm starting a support group.

Posted by Blake Schwendiman at 08:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

There have been plenty of sequels this summer -- both in movies and in books. Right now, it's time to talk books. I finished reading the sequel to Fablehaven while I was on vacation a few weeks ago. The book has been out for a while, but I've been so busy with other things, that I failed to stay on top of my fiction reading list.

As you may remember, I really enjoyed Fablehaven. It's a fun story that introduces a world of unique characters and fantastical creatures. There's a lot of familiarity in Fablehaven, but so much that's new and so craftily re-engineered that you get to reconsider all of the fairy-tales you've ever encountered.

The sequel, called Fablehaven: Rise of the Evening Star is better than the original. It jumps right back into the Fablehaven world and really runs. The main characters are back and there's so much new that you can't help but speed through the pages to find the resolution. I have to admit that I love fiction like this. It's fast-paced and it's written to a younger audience (like Harry Potter) so it's like watching a fun movie. You don't have to analyze or really assert yourself much, you just get to ride along and enjoy the scenery. If you haven't read either, you need to start with the first book, but they're both so much fun that you'll thank me later!

The next book in my review should be obvious to anyone who has followed my blog for very long. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows arrived on store shelves this past Saturday. I finished reading at 2:00am Sunday morning. I hadn't actually planned on reading it that quickly, but I got to the "good parts" by about 11 and couldn't stop.

I'm obviously not going to spoil this book for anyone, but I will say that it took the #2 spot in the series for me. I still like book 3 (Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban) best, but this final installment displaced everything else. I am glad that I stuck with the series and I think that Rowling did the whole series justice with in the final book. Like the Fablehaven books, reading Harry Potter for me is just plain fun. Just enjoy the fun! Maybe later I'll do a more in-depth review of the Harry Potter series when there's no chance I'll spoil the fun for anyone, but until then just get it and read it -- then you can comment on my comments.

Posted by Blake Schwendiman at 10:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

If you haven't seen this movie yet and you're considering any movie this week, I recommend going to see Transformers as soon as you can. This has been a pretty good movie summer so far. I have enjoyed a lot of movies already and I'm still looking forward to a few more, but Transformers absolutely blew me away.

I'm just a little too old to have been a part of the original Transformers frenzy, so when I first heard about this film I wasn't excited at all. But then the trailer arrived and I saw effects that were so cool that I started to change my mind. I went to see Transformers in Beach Haven, NJ last week in a small family-owned theater. The screen was okay and the sound was good, but I'm still going to see this movie again this week at a digital projection screen. I want to get the 100% experience of the effects.

It's a fun -- and a very funny -- movie. It's the kind of show that you just keep talking about after you've seen it. My brothers, my wife and I spent a lot of time talking about our favorite parts, the funniest lines and the overall story for hours afterwards. Then, coming back to work, I found myself having the same conversations again with my co-workers. I personally think this is going to be the most talked-about movie of 2007. It's just great fun.

Posted by Blake Schwendiman at 01:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A long time ago I wrote a blog entry about vacationing, driving and GPS. At the time I didn't have any practical experience using a GPS navigation system. This time I do.

From July 4th to July 15th, my family and I were vacationing on the east coast and having an incredible time. We flew to Manhattan, stayed a few days, then rented a car and took it to the beach in New Jersey for a week of sun and fun, then drove to Philadelphia to round out the trip.

I've been to Manhattan and the beach house before, but I've never been to Philly and I've driven very little in any of the three. For this trip I decided to give a GPS navigation system from TripGadgets.com a try. We had to make a few extra stops on this trip and I'm not really very patient with maps (ask my wife), so I hoped a navigation system would be the right solution. It definitely was.

To be honest, I was a little tentative about the navigation system concept. I was concerned about coverage and resolution -- basically I was worried that it might not work everywhere I wanted to go and it wouldn't show all of the little roads I would be travelling on (particularly in Beach Haven, NJ). I received the device the day before we got on the plane and was pleasantly surprised to learn how simple a navigation system is to use. Turn it on, pick a destination (more on that later) and click OK and it just starts working.

Picking destinations is surprisingly easy. Start by entering a Zip code or city name. Then you will be prompted for a street name. Finally you will be prompted for a street number. That's it. Once you have programmed an address, you can save it to an address book for easy recall later. The night before our trip, I programmed all of the addresses: Sam's Club in Secaucus, NJ, the Newark Airport, the beach house in Beach Haven, the Marriott in Philly and the Philadelphia airport. Then I turned the thing off, packed it in my suitcase and forgot about it for a few days.

In Manhattan, I rented my car, plugged in the navigation device and selected my first destination (Sam's Club). At this point I must mention the first caveat of using a GPS navigation system: it takes a little bit of time for the device to "lock on" to your current location. When I first turned on the device, it still thought I was in Arizona at home. That was the last place it was when it still had a GPS signal. I asked the rental car attendant for brief instructions toward New Jersey so I had a general bearing before I left. After driving for a little less than 1/4 mile, the GPS figured out exactly where I was and started giving me meaningful directions. Unfortunately I had already taken a couple of wrong turns and was starting to get a little freaked out. When it finally kicked it, though, it took me right to the Sam's Club store in spite of several mistakes on my part. Each time I made a wrong turn, it recalculated a new route and gave me new instructions.

The second caveat should seem fairly obvious to most people, but it's worth mentioning. The navigation system will get you to the address, but it can't possibly tell you exactly where to park. This happened when we arrived in Philadelphia. The Marriott's address is on Market Street, but the parking and entrance are on the back of the building. Obviously the GPS couldn't possibly know that, so it took me to a point right in front of the Marriott and we had to find our way to the parking and entrance ourselves -- a tiny price to pay for so much functionality and peace of mind.

So, after having experienced travelling with a GPS navigation system, I'm sold. I still don't see a great need to own one where I live and with my current work schedule, but I'd definitely rent one from TripGadgets.com in the future for my next trip. The great thing about the rental service is that the device comes completely ready to go. There's no setup or downloading or anything. Just plug it in and go. It really made our trip a piece of cake.

Posted by Blake Schwendiman at 02:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)