The HP Mini it can do a lot (service provided byVerizon Wireless). Will someone hit that popup bubble? It's ruining the picture.

In my home, I have a desktop computer, a laptop computer, a home theater PC.  Each is connected to the internet.  At work, it’s a similar situation, with the exception of the editing computers, every computer I sit at is connected.  On the road, I have my Palm Pre, which provides excellent mobile functionality, but there are some limitations to having just a cell phone while on the go.

Enter, the netbook.  I’m convinced there’s a place for the netbook in my repertoire, even though I’m surrounded by computing devices.  The HP Mini Verizon sent me is small, compact, light and has a bevy of connection options.  There’s something about the netbook that just fits.  Having to soon send it back, I’m going to be disappointed I won’t have that “always on” option available.  I recently switched high-speed internet providers, and in the interim downtime, the only connection I had (not including neighbor’s open WiFi) was through the Verizon mobile service.

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One of “New Moon”’s actors to take part in “Twilight Night”

“Twilight Saga: New Moon”’s  Alex Meraz is scheduled to make an appearance at a Grand Rapids Griffins hockey game three weeks after the new movie is released.

Meraz will take part in the Griffins’ Twilight Night” at Van Andel Arena for the Grand Rapids on Saturday, December 12th at 8:00 pm. (more…)

 Horror storms the box office

“The Final Destination” beat out Rob Zombie’s “Halloween II”, but last week’s number one “Inglourious Basterds” split the two finishing in second place.   Three movies held their ground the best losing less than the average: “Julie & Julia” (lost 16% of audience from last week)  “(500) Days of Summer” (lost just 9% from last week), and “The Hangover” (lost just 2%).
Overall, the final weekend of summer movie season was up, turning around a two week slide, but it was only a 3% improvement… still clocking in as one of the lowest earning weeks of summer.

 TOP MOVIES AT WEEKEND BOX OFFICE (estimated results):
1. “The Final Destination” – $28.33 million (1st week)

2. “Inglourious Basterds” – $20.04 million
(2nd week, was #1 last week, lost 47% of audience from last week)

3. “Halloween II” - $17.40 million (1st week)

4. “District 9″ - $10.70 million
(3rd week, was #2 last week, lost 41% from last week)

5. “G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra” – $8.00 million
(4th week, was #3 last week, lost 35% from last week)

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Well, we’re a week away from a holiday and you know what that means.  The latest from Ed & Bill: “Michigan is selling at more than a negative four-cent margin by my numbers. In Indiana that is more than six cents, and that’s with five cents taken out of the fair price due to the Indianapolis rack being so much lower than Chicago’s. This usually means a spike. Speedway rarely goes up on Saturday and never has on Sunday since I have kept track.  My point is we are very close to a spike, and we may see the price spike up Monday or Tuesday. Keep an eye on your local retailers, as they may spike up, even if Speedway doesn’t.”  Bottom line…it might be a good idea to fill up this Monday AM.

“500 Days of Summer” is a great romantic comedy, almost perfect.

Its a movie that isn’t told in chronological order, but unlike some that use this tactic and fail, “500 Days of Summer” is easy to follow where we are in the timeline of the couple’s relationship…. and as the narrator points out early, while it is a boy-meets-girl movie… it is not a love story.

This movie was almost a 10.0… it was sooo close… but in the end… one scene destroyed the chance of me handing out my first 10.0 since starting this blog…. it was so very close… I really wish I could have given out the 10…
  

(My spoiler-free review)

This may come as a surprise to some of you, but I like great movies… movies with a good story, good writing, well developed characters, good acting, good cinematography, good editing, good production value, good soundtrack, good special effects/makeup (when applicable), etc.  And my list of great movies can be as varied as great Horror, great Western, great Action/Adventure, great Science Fiction, great Drama, great Comedy…. and yes, great Romantic Comedies.

On the surface, “500 Days of Summer” may seem like your average rom-com (romantic comedy)… which are often relabeled by some as a “chick flick”.    This is not an average rom-com and is most certainly not a “chick flick”… its a great piece of storytelling.

While the movie jumps around in the timeline of the life and times of Tom (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) and Summer (Zooey Deschanel), it has an order that makes sense and is easy to follow.  “500 Days of Summer” is injected with brilliant little moments of humor, pop culture references to Bruce Springsteen, the Beatles, Knight Rider, Han Solo, and more.     But the overwhelming success is the true realistic take on the ups and downs… the joys and heartaches… the euphoria and pain… of love.  Its about what love does to people… good and bad… to ourselves and to our friends and family.  Its something we can all relate to in some way.

From the palpable devastation of rejection to the incredible high of love (complete with its own musical number)… the audience is pulled right in to what the characters are feeling, not as if they are watching a movie… but as if they are in the room with the characters.

“500 Days of Summer” is a journey movie, not a road trip, but an emotional journey from one point of feeling and understanding to another…. one of my favorite lines is when Summer pokes fun at Tom that he believes in love, to which he replies: “Its love, not Santa Claus”.

The acting is great, Gordon-Levitt breaks out of his previous roles (”3rd Rock from the Sun”, “Angels in the Outfield”, “G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra”) to show he can really pull it off and Deschanel shines, continuing her previous solid performances (including “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy”, “Elf”, “Yes Man”, and the tv mini-series “Tin Man”).   The supporting cast does a good job, but there are few scenes without Gordon-Levitt  or Deschanel who overshadow everyone else.

The script is great, very polished – the movie flows like a good book.  The production values are very good: camera angles, light and focus, the use of lines to show distance, frame characters, etc.  The use of color palettes for moods and jumps in timeline is well done.   The cinematography and editing are great.   It has a cool soundtrack.  Plus, the director has some little clever tricks and gimmics that are used wisely for moving from one scene to another.

BOTTOM LINE:  (possible spoiler here, but I gave the movie a 9.5, my explanation could be a minor spoiler)

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We set a record for the lowest high temperature ever for August 29.  Saturday we struggled to only 62 deg.   It reached only 61 at Muskegon, Fremont and Ludington, just 55 in Cadillac and Marquette could reach only 54 Saturday afternoon.  Today (Sunday) will likely be the fourth day in a row with highs no warmer than the mid 60s.  The average high is 77.    There’s a frost advisory for northeast Minnesota for early Sunday AM.  Some patchy frost is likely across Upper Michigan and northern Lower Michigan early Monday AM.  The good news is that this is going to turn out to be a very sunny week here in Michigan, as the clouds start to erode today (Sunday) it should be partly to mostly sunny from Monday to Saturday (good start to the Labor Day Holiday weekend).  We’ll start out chilly (esp. in the early morning with a chance of patchy fog Monday and Tuesday AM) then we’ll get temperatures back up to at least the upper 70s later this week.  Enjoy!  Side Note: Here’s an interesting story about a man who makes really cool artwork from trees damaged in tornadoes.

<–Live radar of W. Michigan.    Five of the last 8 days we’ve failed to get above 70 degrees.  Here’s GRR NWS radar, Great Lakes radar, Storm Total Rainfall, latest surface observations, a surface weather map, GRR NWS discussion, Visible Satellite loop (daytime), Infrared Satellite Loop (night), Here’s Milwaukee NWS radar and Chicago radar, the Spyglass Weather Station (Holland Channel) and the Muskegon GLERL weather station. Small Craft Advisories will be up for Lake Michigan for Sunday.   Rain totals here.  The coolest high temperature ever on any Aug. 28 (Friday)  was 61 in 1965 – at least we’ve struggled above that to 65.

“Danny” is moving through the eastern Canada.  Here’s a satellite picture.  There are rainfall warnings out for Newfoundland.   As expected, the storm did produce some wind damage and heavy rainfall in Massachusetts.  Up to 5″ of rain fell and a wind gust of 61 mph was recorded on Nantucket Sound.   Waves at one buoy off the coast were reported up to 19.4 feet.   The graphic should update so come back here for the latest.   (more…)

<–click the picture for full screen and discussion.  You’ll find other severe weather information/data when you click the pic.  No Severe Weather for West Michigan this week and beyond.  It’s been a quiet summer in general for severe weather in the Great Lakes.  We’ve had only 13 severe weather watches in Michigan this summer (39 is the recent annual average).  They did have some hail out of t-storms in Wisconsin late Friday.

The water level of Lake Michigan (and Lake Huron – they’re at the same water level – connected at the Mackinac Bridge) is up one inch in the last week (and 1″ higher than one month ago).   That’s because of increased precipitation (esp. at the south end of Lake Michigan – Michigan City, Indiana had 2.7″ of rain Thursday and Thursday Night) and low evaporation.  The Grand River in Grand Rapids is at 186% of average flow at 7:45 PM Friday evening.   Rainfall since June 1 is about 3″ above average in Grand Rapids.  Lake Michigan/Huron stands 11″ higher than last year and the lake is now only 4″ below the long-term average level.  Lake Superior is up 3″ in the last month, up 1″ in the last year and 4″ below average level.  Lake Erie is 6″ above one year ago and 3″ above the average level.  Lake Ontario is at the same level as one year ago and 4″ above the average level.  Look for gusty winds of 15-25 mph from the WNW at the shore on Saturday, with occasional showers and 4-7 foot waves.  There is a possibility of a waterspout, with cold air aloft coming over the water waters, but the wind is a little more than you’d like to see for waterspout formation.  Have a great weekend.