Zombeavers

So I wanted to watch something funny and mind-numbing, so I asked Ross to start Zombeavers. It was pretty much what I expected. Bad. The zombie beavers looked so terrible. It was no Wolfcop, but I did laugh. I think the best part might have been the outtakes at the end and the closing credits Sinatra-esque Zombeavers song. There is a final scene after all the credits that isn't really worth watching, but if you've made it all the way through the movie, you may as well watch it.

This movie fit the mind-numbing bill, and there were some good laughs. I'm going to start knitting again, so I'll be watching a lot of Netflix in the near future. I don't want to burn through all my episodes of Magnum P.I., so I'll be sure and watch some movies and tell y'all what I think.

Foreign Shows: La que me vida robo, Zhong Wu Yen, Velvet

I watched another show in Mandarin--a Taiwanese soap called Zhong Wu Yen. I like watching things in Mandarin. I picked up a few words, but the story was so trite! Toward the end I just wanted it to be over. The end was so predictable.

I thought I would start watching a Spanish soap opera, try to improve my Spanish. I tried watching La Que Me Vida Robo. I started with training wheels: subtitles. It was easy enough to understand, so I watched a few episodes without subtitles. Again, such a trite story. Upper class folks falling in love with working class, disappointed parents--totally trite. I couldn't take it. I stopped watching after about 5 episodes.

I just watched the first episode of Velvet-with subtitles. I'm not sure I can watch it without subtitles--Spanish accents, and they speak quickly. The thing is--same trite story. Store owner's son falls in love with worker. Parents of both kids disapprove. I don't know if I can keep watching. Maybe I should try and watch movies in Spanish.

Netflix Movie: Wolfcop

Recently this image of a cheesecaking werewolf kept popping up on Netflix. I kept laughing and shouting "Wolfcop!" Ross added it to the queue. I thought it would be a great Sunday afternoon movie. I expected a horrible C rate flick. Actually, we liked it. It was funny. Not so bad that we laughed funny, but actually funny.

There are some rather graphic scenes, but I couldn't look away. In all but a couple of places the special effects were good. We were both surprised. It was a fun movie, and apparently Wolfcop 2 is in the making.

How I got a one of a kind dress for about $10

My mom and I like to shop at Savers and Goodwill.  On my most recent visit to El Paso we went shopping at two different Savers locations. Here is how I got a great dress at a great price.

1. We went on a Holiday weekend. Because it was Memorial day weekend Savers had all clothing 50% off. I bought an all cotton dress for 6.50. I liked the material and cut of the dress, but I thought the black and white was boring.

2. I bought a bottle of fuchsia liquid rit dye at Hobby Lobby. With coupon it came to $2.40. Always use those 40% off coupons when shopping at Hobby Lobby. I have the app on my phone which makes it easy.

3. I used my new pressure cooker to dye the dress. I didn't use the actual pressure cooker function. I used the saute function to heat up the water, dye, and dissolve the salt. I got the dress completely wet before adding it to the bath. I turned the pressure cooker to warm and then let the dress cook for about 1.5 hours--stirring and shifting the dress regularly. After cooking the dress I rinsed it a bit in the sink, and then threw it in the washing machine. (Just to be safe I ran a tub cleaning cycle on the washing machine when the dress was done.)

4. When it came out of the dryer I had a whole new dress. I'm so happy with how it turned out. I then sewed shut one of the seams that had come unraveled. That's probably the reason it ended up at Savers. Someone didn't want to bother fixing that slight problem. I hand sewed it shut, and because it is the seam in the arm pit, it didn't have to be perfect. My hand stitching skills are pretty sad, but I knew I couldn't fit the sewing machine foot in the little area I needed to sew shut.

Voila. My new dress.

Book: Calves in the Mud Room

I checked out a bunch of small, short books for the trip to Las Vegas, and then I didn't end up reading any of them. Last night while Ross was playing video games I plowed through Calves in the Mudroom by Jerome Brown. It has been a while since I read a real book. I enjoyed this one. The author doesn't explain everything--leaves some things up to the imagination. I liked that. The long, descriptive list of what was in the guy's truck---didn't think that was necessary.

The main character helps some cows give birth. That's something I've always wanted to do. Sometimes I really think I shoulda been a vet.

Las Vegas 2015: The Bellagio

We ended up going to the Bellagio a couple of times. Once to eat pastries--yay, no more matzo, and once to hit the buffet. The Japanese garden display was much nicer during the day. The sunlight from overhead and lack of crowds made it much more pleasing. The giant super-fake tree in the center was lame, other than that it was really pretty.

The buffet was good. Lots of meat, but we ate our veggies. They had a kale salad with pine nuts and grapefruit that I found surprisingly tasty. They gave us the most adorable little jars of honey for our tea. They started bringing out the dinner food (seafood), and some new desserts. I picked up a coconut pudding topped with mango. I think that was my favorite thing.

Richard MacDonald has a gallery in the Bellagio. He sculpts dancers and Cirque performers. It was really interesting to look at the sculptures. This was our favorite one.

Las Vegas 2015: Stratosphere: Rides and Skyjump

We stayed at the Stratosphere, at the northern end of the strip. Because we were staying there we got to go up to the observation levels whenever we wanted. We also got discount tickets to ride the thrill rides. Our favorite was a tower-drop called Big Shot. The other two were just okay.

Here is the Big Shot tower. The top is 350m above the strip. We were surprised because it shoots you up. I thought it was just going to drag us up then drop us. Nope. Big shot up. I actually screamed the first time. I think we rode it 6 times. I could do that ride all day--in fact we did ride it during the day, then went back at night.

This ride wasn't scary, it just made us dizzy and disoriented. Not good.

The other thing to do at the Stratosphere is the Skyjump. You jump off a platform 253m high and descend to the ground. They slow you down at the end so you don't just splat into the bulls eye.  Ross and I both jumped! I expected a faster, more exciting fall than trapeze. Not so. In fact, when I first jumped off I felt like I was suspended in the air. It wasn't scary at all. It was like very long drop from the trapeze. Trapeze is actually scarier for some reason.

Mom caught this photo of me falling.

Ross walking away from the jump, not phased at all.

I do want to say that the staff was very safety conscious. I think my gear was checked a total of 5 times. So I definitely felt very safe. I'm glad we did it, but I don't think I'd do it again. I don't know how jumping from 829 feet could be so un-thrilling, but it was.