Kim's Thoughts
Just a few thoughts I feel worthy of jotting down!
Movie Review – Swing Vote
I went to see “Swing vote” yesterday and I have to say it was actually quite good! It can’t be compared to other Costner classics, like “Field of Dreams“, “The Bodyguard“, “Bull Durham“, or “Message in a Bottle“. But it also doesn’t fall to the level of Costner bombs, like “The Postman” or “Waterworld“, either! It was good, but not great……
To summarize what you already know if you saw any of the trailers: Costner plays a man named Bud, who is a lazy, drunk, single father who would rather sleep or drink than work. His daughter, Molly, played by Madeline Carroll, is very smart and civic minded. She takes on the roll of “parent” to keep the small family going and get her Dad out of bed and on to work – most days. Molly tries to get Bud to care about the world around him and make him understand the importance of voting in the Presidential election. She tells him to meet her at the voting place after work to pick her up! But – after getting laid off from his job at the egg packing plant, he goes to the local bar, gets drunk, and passes out instead of meeting her. Hurt, frustrated, and determined to have Bud’s (her) political voice heard, Molly takes advantage of the chance to sneak into the building, sign Bud’s name, get his ballot, and cast it! But, a malfunction results in his ballot getting scanned, but not counted. Then, in a “could never happen in a million years” turn of events, the outcome of the Presidential election is a dead heat and it is discovered that one vote in tiny Texico, New Mexico wasn’t counted. Once the mis-cast vote is re-cast, it would be the deciding vote! Of course, the media finds out who that one voter is and the entire world’s media and the two politicians swarm onto him to find out who he is and how they can get his vote!
Now for my opinion: (warning — there may be some minor spoilers here — but not enough to ruin the movie — I promise!) The actors they cast were perfect — Costner seems comfortable playing the bum, Bud – a little too comfortable – ha-ha! He is a natural actor that is able to fit into whatever character he plays – this was no exception! Madeline Carroll is wonderful as his daughter. Kelsey Grammer does a nice job as the incumbent President. I found it hard to believe Dennis Hopper as a Presidential candidate, though — I’m sorry, I know it was 40-some years ago and he’s done a TON of other films, but every time I see him, I still picture Billy from “Easy Rider” and just can’t imagine him as a potential President of the United States! ha-ha Then, there was Stanley Tucci — I adore Tucci — he is a great character actor! I was disappointed that we didn’t see more of him as Grammer’s campaign manager. He can make a movie — like his character in “Devil Wears Prada“, for example!
Yes, the story line is far fetched – so are the story lines from a lot of movies! But, this one actually makes some strong statements! It is funny, touching (there were some scenes that brought tears to my eyes – yeah, I know – what else is new), and does a good job of sending a powerful message in a tongue-in-cheek format! Here are some of the messages I got out of the movie:
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Obviously, the importance of voting and how every single vote counts – even though it doesn’t usually get quite this literal! There is a statement in one of the press broadcasts that says, “I’ll bet if there is anyone in Texico that didn’t bother to vote, you’re kicking yourself now!”
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We should constantly be reminded of what is most important in our lives — family, friends, personal relationships! Pay attention — care for them — show them you understand what is important to them!
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Politicians will do ANYTHING to get your vote — whether they believe in it or not!!! The two candidates switched their platforms and changed what they had stood for all along just because they thought that was what Bud wanted to hear!!! They bent over backwards to pretend to like what Bud likes! It was sickening — but totally believable!!! I can just see real politicians doing exactly the same thing if the situation were real……
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We need to do more to make sure that politicians know what is important to US — not what they want us to think is important to us!!! Yeah, the big issues are important — but when it comes right down to what matters to your ability to live comfortably and provide for your family, they tend to not have a clue!!! The final scene where Bud gets to ask questions of the candidates in a televised debate is incredible!!! He begins by talking about his life and his previous interest (or lack there of) for politics. Then he uses letters he had received from people across the nation to come up with the questions — they only show the first one, but it is a doozy!!
You don’t find out who Bud votes for, but that is OK — it wasn’t the point!!! The point was the process he finally went through to come to that decision and how important it is to go through that process!
So — I do recommend this movie! Like I said, it’s probably not destined to be a classic, but it was enjoyable and even thought provoking! I give it a solid B or 3.75 out of a possible 5!
See you at the movies!
Bagels, Flea Market, Phones, and Movies!!!
Then, I headed out to do some tooling around town! First, I went to “Bagels and Stuff” next to Cafe Vesuvio for lunch! I had my usual warm corned beef on an onion bagel/roll with macaroni salad and a pickle. I really should try something different cause they have so many great things on the menu, but I just can’t resist my old standby cause there isn’t anywhere else in town I can get it and I do love it so!!! Some day, though, I am going to stop in and have something different!!! Anyway – while I was there, I talked to the owner, Lenny, about the CIS Gala and found out that he had been thinking about it since I stopped in a couple weeks ago and has decided to be one of the restaurants participating in the “Taste of Lee County” — so, we’re adding him to the list!!! The list now includes:
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Amy’s Confection Company
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Bagels and Stuff
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Bella Bistro
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Cafe 121
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Chef Paul
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El Rancho
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Fresh Choice Cafe
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Myra’s Kitchen
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Smith’s Coffee and Bottled Water
If you happen to frequent any of these restaurants, please thank them for their efforts to give back to our community — let them know you read about their participation in this year’s CIS Gala on my blog!
Then, I went to the new Regional Flea Market at the Fair Grounds. It is starting out small with just a few vendors with typical flea market items for sale. I really hope it grows cause I love flea markets!!! I was really tempted by a couple pretty serving bowls I found — I have a real “thing” for serving bowls and tend to buy all kinds of shapes and sizes of them! But, I decided against them — not really sure why — they were pretty and not at all costly!!! I’m suffering from reverse buyer’s remorse — I guess you could call it non-buyer’s remorse! I wish I hadn’t left without them!
After that, I went to the AT&T store to upgrade my phone and cell service! I guess it is time I entered the world of technology — my phone, up until today, was a plain cell phone with no camera and my service didn’t include any internet or text messaging package. It has started not holding a charge well and some other problems, so I decided it was time to replace it and wanted to trade up while I was at it!!! I now have a Pantech Duo phone that will do everything but serve me lunch!!! It has a little keyboard that slides out to make it easier to type and has all the typical PDA features! So now I can check email and access the internet from my phone wherever I am! I never really thought I needed to do all those things, but more and more I wish I could — so now I can!!! I’ll wipe the old one clean and donate it to Haven or somewhere like that.
The next thing I did was go to the movies!!! I went to see “Swing Vote”! I liked it — it wasn’t great, but it was actually quite good! I came home to write my review and got probably half way through a very lengthy review and I don’t know what I did, but suddenly in a split second, the entire blog disappeared and all that was left was the title!!! Then, as quick as that happened, it auto saved, so I couldn’t even go to the draft to get at least part of it!!!! Uuuugggghhhh!!!! So — I was pretty frustrated at that point —- I decided to do this post now and go back and rewrite my review after I get some supper! Watch for it later tonight!
So — I had a very nice, productive, and pleasant day!!! I’m pleased with myself!!! ha-ha-ha Now it is supper time!!!
My blog is having a birthday!!!
Some bloggers stick to a theme, some have a main focus while deviating from time to time, and some – like me – just write about whatever is on our minds!!! My blog is called “Kim’s Thoughts” and my tag line is “Just some random thoughts I feel worthy of jotting down” – I am glad I have stayed true to that! I didn’t want to think too hard about what to write about — I just wanted to sit at the computer and write whatever traveled from my brain to my finger tips! On that first post, Joe Jon left a comment telling me that I’ll be surprised what I find to talk about! And he was right — and, boy have I had fun doing it!!!
I have written a lot about my dogs (even started their own blog that I don’t keep up as well as I had hoped), reviewed a few movies, touched on some nostalgia and sentimental memories, and described my adventures and favorite places around town. And then there has been the “in general” brain dumps!!!
At first, I was really concerned about trying to keep my blog from being discovered by too many strangers – even though I knew it was a public forum and anyone knowing how to do a Google search could find me. I tried to only give out my address to a few friends and hoped it wouldn’t get out too much. In fact, I noticed that Joe Jon added me to his blog roll and I asked him to please not do that — I also asked Billy Liggett to not put me on HIS blog roll, which he honored (for a while). But – as I got more comfortable about it all, I slowly made it more known — then, just as I was about to tell Joe Jon and Billy to go ahead and add me, Billy outed me!!!! ha-ha-ha-ha!!!! And the rest is history!!!
I now have a nice list of regular readers – mostly local folks that I have on my blog roll and personal friends and family – and I get around 40-50 hits on average most days – some days more! That’s not huge and many of them are one time hits that find me through Google searches, but I’m happy with that!!! I still write for my own benefit more than to give my readers something to read — but if they find it interesting or entertaining, then that’s great, too!!!
So — here’s to another year!!! If you are still reading what I have to say a year from now, then I guess I’m doing something right!!! Be sure to check out my blog roll and visit all the other super cool Sanford Blogs! I’ll see you along the Information Super Highway — I’ll be the one with the red Mustang tooling along with the top down rambling on about whatever random thoughts I might have when you happen to cross my path!!!
Paris For President!!!
Unfortunately, the HTML didn’t work, so you’ll have to click on this link — but it is worth the effort – I promise!!!
They really are well behaved!!!
That’s my girls — they sit pretty for treats, they come when they are called (with some occasional exceptions), they lay down and be quiet when I ask them to, and on and on……but only when it is just “us”!!!! When there is any other human or animal within their depth of view, all bets are off!!! They just don’t listen – until they are done getting all the attention and things settle down!!!
Case in point — last night, the little girls from next door came with their school fundraiser brochures. I like to reward kids who actually get out there and beat the pavement in the safety of their neighborhoods to sell their stuff – rather than those who just give the brochures to Mom and Dad to sell for them at their work. Anyway, when I opened the door, the girls (my girls, not the neighbor girls – although there was some ooing and ahing from their side of the door, too) were so excited to see them and wanted so bad to play with them, I could barely keep them from rushing out the door! They never try to get out the front door when I open it to go out and no one is on the other side!!! So, I excused myself to put them out in the back yard. But — they can see in the back door straight through the living room to the front door, so they just kept jumping and barking at the back door trying to get our attention and let them play with the neighbor girls!!! We conducted our business and they went on to the next house, but I’m sure they left thinking that Katie, Megan, and Amy are uncontrollable little monsters and, well, they are correct – sometimes!!!! Ha-ha-ha-ha
Reflecting on the Weekend Activities
I went to the Arden sale on Saturday! Every time they advertise a sale, I plan to go and then forget to go – they only hold these overstock sales a couple times a year!!! I was going to go on Friday afternoon and forgot!!! Then, I almost forgot on Saturday, too!!! I was thinking about all the things I wanted to do on Saturday and suddenly realized I wasn’t working the Arden sale into the plans!!! So, I dropped the thought about going to see “Swing Vote” (moved it to the plans for Sunday) and put the Arden sale on the top of the list as my first priority. You see, I really needed to go!!! The girls have eaten all but a couple mis-matched cushions from all of my patio furniture!!! They shredded and strewed foam all over the back yard several times last season!!! Also at the end of last season – the table umbrella I have had for several seasons broke – it wouldn’t crank to open up anymore – it just served as a nice visual effect to tease me into thinking I might be able to create some shade!!! So, I needed cushions and an umbrella — but, I was not about to pay a fortune for them and have a heart attack if the girls take advantage of any time I may forget and leave them out when they are playing outside by themselves……….. I managed to get SEVEN sets of cushions and a 9′ umbrella and a pack of 15 great bar mop towels – all for only $77.00!!!! The umbrella was only $25.00 and the cushion sets were only $7.00 each and the pack of towels were only $3.00……..I was VERY happy!!!!! Here’s some pictures of what I got:
For dinner, I met some friends at the new Down Home Buffet place. I wasn’t very hungry, so I didn’t eat much, but it was very good and nice to sit and chat with my friends!
As for today — I had planned to go to see “Swing Vote”, but never got there! In fact, I didn’t do a darn thing all day long!!! I wasn’t feeling too good (probably cause I spent 3 hours in the hot sun with no protection — duh — what an idiot I can be sometimes!!!!), so I pretty much laid around and played with the girls.
I did fill their pool for them, though — I haven’t filled it in a while cause it’s been so hot, they don’t like to stay out too long and lose interest in the pool when the water gets warm so fast! So, I tend to keep it fresh and full in the early and late summer months, but not so much in the peak months – they just don’t usually get as much enjoyment out of it when it is too hot to stay out and run around as much. But, today I decided to fill it for them!!!! And they went NUTS!!! They ran around and leaped in and splashed all over the place and then ran around some more and rolled in the dirt to dry off and then leaped into the pool again!!! They had that water filthy in no time at all, but loved it just the same!!!! They all love the water and love to dunk their heads underwater and bite at the bugs or whatever is on the bottom of the pool!!!! I wish they made them bigger so they can all have more room to play in it together, but I have the biggest one I could find!!! Here they are having a blast all in there at the same time pushing each other around and playing away:
Amy likes to get in there and lay right down so that only her head is sticking up out of the water — then, she scooches all around on the bottom of the pool on her belly and it looks like she’s actually swimming — it is hysterical to watch — I laughed and laughed – here she is doing her thing:
So – that was my weekend!!!
Don’t forget to go Stuff The Bus!
Imagine how happy your kids will be to get that nice new back pack, pack of pencils, and box of crayons!!! Then, imagine all the kids who’s parents can’t afford to buy them the supplies they need to start the school year. Imagine their embarrassment and lack of feeling like they “belong”. YOU CAN HELP!!! And it won’t cost you much at all —- while you are out picking up school supplies for your own kids (or for yourself), pick up a couple extra items to donate to the School Stuff Campaign.
As sponsor, Office Max will have a Lee County school bus parked in the parking lot for generous shoppers to “STUFF” with school supplies! Local Girl Scouts will be there to help you stuff that bus! We will also have donation barrels and volunteers at WalMart and KMart – look for the Communities In Schools signs and barrels! OR – wherever you buy your schools supplies from – bring a few extra by any of the three locations and drop them off!!!
All donations are sorted out and given to counselors at all the Lee County Schools to be made available for Lee County children who need supplies! All donations stay in Lee County!!!
The campaign is:
Old Home Night at Myra’s Kitchen
I went to Myra’s a little later than I usually do so that I could just take my time and try to talk to her when things started to settle down for the night. I wanted to talk to her about participating in Communities In Schools’ upcoming Gala (more on that later)! I sat just inside the entrance door and “people watched”. Some ladies I know from when I used to be a BPW member were already there. Then, after a while, Amy Burns and her family came in (note to fellow Sanford bloggers — she was celebrating her BIRTHDAY – it was Tuesday!!!!)! Then I was surprised to see a friend from work and his wife, who I have not seen in AGES, and their 8 year old daughter, who was a BABY the last time I saw her!!!!
Aside from the friendly “hellos” when they arrived, I sat there and ate my dinner and let them all eat theirs (the meatloaf tonight was to die for!!!)! I spoke with Myra about the Gala and she gave me a verbal “YES, count us in”!!! YIPPEE!!!! I’m so glad she’s going to be part of our “Taste of Lee County” this year!!!
Then, I paid my bill and made my rounds to say goodbye to everyone! Each table I stopped at I ended up having a very nice conversation! I really enjoyed talking to Amy — I don’t typically see her outside dealings with her as “Amy’s Confection Company”, but hope to rectify that!!! She’s such a great person and so much fun!!! Next table stop was the ladies from BPW — I haven’t seen them since I decided to resign from BPW and miss seeing them a LOT!!!! Then, I actually sat down with the friend from work and his family so that I could catch up with the wife — she also used to work with us, but took another job in Raleigh quite some time ago. So, we had a LOT to talk about and catch up on! Their daughter is a precious 8 year old – going on 30 year old!!! She’s a HOOT!!!
So — I had the BEST time tonight and got a new restaurant to add to our “Taste of Lee County” feature at the Gala in October!!! WOO HOO!!!!
Live At 9, CIS Stuff The Bus, and More….
Speaking of the School Stuff Campaign……This weekend is the Tax Free Weekend and Communities In Schools will hold our annual School Stuff Campaign. What is this? Glad you asked……Office Max is working with CIS as the sponsor of this event. This weekend, Office Max is putting all their school supplies on sale – BIG sale – and they have brought in additional stock from a Raleigh store so that parents can buy their kid’s back to school supplies at great prices with NO tax added!!!! Imagine how happy your kids will be to get that nice new back pack, pack of pencils, and box of crayons!!! Then, imagine all the kids who’s parents can’t afford to buy them the supplies they need to start the school year. Imagine their embarrassment and lack of feeling like they “belong”. YOU CAN HELP!!! And it won’t cost you much at all —- while you are out picking up school supplies for your own kids (or for yourself), pick up a couple extra items to donate to the School Stuff Campaign. As sponsor, Office Max will have a Lee County school bus parked in the parking lot for generous shoppers to “STUFF” with school supplies! Local Girl Scouts will be there to help you stuff that bus! We will also have donation barrels and volunteers at WalMart and KMart – look for the Communities In Schools signs and barrels! OR – wherever you buy your schools supplies from – bring a few extra by any of the three locations and drop them off!!! All donations are sorted out and given to counselors at all the Lee County Schools to be made available for Lee County children who need supplies! All donations stay in Lee County!!! The campaign is from 9:00-6:00 on Saturday and from 1:00-5:00 on Sunday and, again, the locations are Office Max, WalMart, and KMart! Come out and support this great event!!! Also – this is the second year in a row that Office Max sponsored this event — their support by paying for the advertising, promoting the event at their store, and allowing us to park the bus at their store is greatly appreciated!!!
SPREAD THE WORD — we really want that bus stuffed to the rafters this weekend!!!
Other CIS news:
Our Executive Director, Alison Poole, had her baby this past Friday morning!!! Baby Aiden Poole arrived about 8:00 am and weighed in at a little over 8 pounds! Alison will be leaving CIS in the fall when she takes an exciting job at Lee County High School……we wish Alison the best of luck with her new baby and new job!
We are actively interviewing for two positions at CIS – Executive Director and Program Coordinator.
We are also busy working on plans for our 3rd Annual Gala Benefiting Children to be held on October 10th at the beautiful home of Mark and Ruth Stewart. Pentair Water Pool and Spa is our major sponsor for the second year in a row! Live entertainment will be provided by Jackie Gore Entertainment Group (formerly of The Embers). On of the most popular features of the gala each year is our “Taste of Lee County” with samples of signature dishes from many of our wonderful local chefs — so far, we have confirmed Amy’s Confection Company, Bella Bistro, Cafe 121, Chef Paul, El Rancho, Fresh Choice Cafe, and Smith’s Mountain Bottled Water. We also have a FABULOUS silent auction – the local businesses out-do themselves with great items for our guests to bid on! The income from the gala represents 50% of our annual operating budget, so it is an important fund raiser for us each year! Tickets are $100 each. Sponsorships range from $250 – $5000. Of course, any size donation is always welcome! If you are a Lee County restaurant and want to participate, if you want to reserve a ticket, or if you want to be a sponsor, please call the office at 919-718-5426 or you can leave a comment here with info on how I can reach you!
We are always looking for volunteers, too — you can volunteer to help in a wide variety of ways! Mentor or tutor a child, participate in our Careers At Lunch programs where you can speak to students in the high schools about your career during their lunch period, help out in the Teacher Resource Room, help out in the office, help us with our web site, proctor a test, assist a teacher in their classroom, or provide a variety of services that the schools may need.
Speaking of the Teacher Resource Room — this is a great program! Communities In Schools has a trailer located at Lee County High School that is FULL of great stuff that teachers can get free of charge to help them in their classrooms. Local businesses, industry, and individuals donate slightly used items that can be used to help teachers avoid paying for some of the things they need out of their own pockets. Things like slightly used file folders, binders, office furniture or equipment, scrap items that can be used for projects (carpet scraps, empty paper towel rolls, cloth, yarn, wall paper, etc – you name it, they can use it), little trinkets the teachers can give to students for incentives (stickers are extremely popular). You wouldn’t believe how creative and resourceful teachers can be with things that someone else might have thrown out, but are still usable!!! If you’re cleaning out that attic or switching out your files and want to donate to the Teacher Resource Room, call the office at 919-718-5426.
OK – I’ve plugged CIS enough for now —- but, you’ll hear a lot more about this as we get closer to the Gala!!!
Don’t forget this weekend’s School Stuff Campaign at Office Max, WalMart, or KMart!!!
Get Rid of the Pig!!!
I’m talking about that total eye sore humongous pink pig on Horner Blvd!!! I was happy to see they made them move it from where it was first located cause it violated a code for the way it was positioned. But, they just put it on a trailer and moved it to one of the busiest sections of Horner Blvd – now, apparently it meets code because it is on wheels and movable!
My issues with it are this:
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It is an ugly, in your face, eye sore in an area that already needs some serious beautification efforts – this adds to the problem!
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After the first few days, it lost its novelty factor and is now just something that is trashing the scenery along Horner Blvd.
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You can’t read their message, anyway, unless you take your eyes off the road for much longer than you should on a busy street! I have no idea what the pig says cause a quick glance wasn’t enough time to read it and I won’t sacrifice safety to get their message!
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Which brings me to my concern with safety – I witnessed a near accident at least twice since its been there where someone was gawking at the pig and almost rear ended the car in front of them!!! In one case, I believe if I hadn’t tooted at them, they might have plowed right into the back of the poor guy in front of them! Will it take an actual accident to get them to realize they aren’t creating a positive marketing opportunity? Or don’t they care about the safety of their fellow man? Maybe all they care about is the novelty of finding a freaky way to advertise!!!
I have no issue with their right to make a point – whatever that may be!
MY point is — its ugly, it doesn’t paint a pleasant picture of the people responsible, and it should be replaced with a more appropriate sign to get their message across — it might even be more effective advertising!!! And, don’t think “gee, must be working cause we have people talking about it” — its not a good reflection of what they want to accomplish! I think it is a ridiculous display of “we don’t care about making your city better, we only care about our message regardless of the consequences to public safety and city beautification efforts”!!!
Get rid of it!!!!
OK – I put my soap box back in the closet for now!
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