Iron Man Review

I hope everyone had a great weekend and possibly got to check out one of the first movies of the 2008 Summer Movie season. My brother Rick and I wandered into the local cineplex and plunked down our $10 bucks for our tickets to Iron Man and it was a great ride.

I’m a big Marvel superhero fan, and one of the heros that I enjoyed the most as a kid was Iron Man. So when I saw the previews last month, I got excited. I think that the appeal of Iron Man is that anyone can be him just by wearing the suit! He is highly accessable as a character since we don’t have to be bitten by a spider, be exposed to Gamma Rays or be born on an alien planet. He could be you or me.

I really like good script writing and I must say that the dialog between the main characters and the bad guys and everyone in between was great. In fact they fleshed out the Tony Stark aka Iron Man beyond what I had in my imagination by making him as slick tongued as they come. The jokes are fast and swift and perfectly timed with the movie. They made it a genuinely funny movie.

In fact, the story is a solid story that stays true to it’s origins and executed perfectly. The clever writers somehow made this origin carry over PERFECTLY into the actual plot of the movie, which is more political than you would think.
I only wish that this movie had more action scenes to allow Iron Man show off his hardware.  There’s only a couple of them, but when it happens it’s great to watch. You just can’t help but want a suit for yourself.

The action scenes sometimes plays out like a scene from Transformers, but it’s not totally a bad thing. It’s just a couple of scenes you can tell is green-screened, and some scenes that flows seamlessly into the movie. It didn’t take anything away from the movie for me however.

Based on initial results, it had a great opening weekend and I feel one of the most well-written movie out of all of the Marvel movies.  I wholeheartedly recommend this move with a rating of 4 stars and insist that you check it out for yourself.

Cat and Dog Theology

There is a joke about cats and dogs that conveys their differences perfectly. A dog says, ‘You pet me, you feed me, you shelter me, you love me, you must be God.’ A cat says, ‘You pet me, you feed me, you shelter me, you love me, I must be God.‘

This is the beginning premise put forth by the book, “Cat and Dog Theology: Rethinking our relationship with our master.”  I just begun reading this book and really like how it challenges in a gentle and introductory way,  the readers’ understanding of their relationship with God. Our understanding of how we relate to God may not be wrong, but it may be incomplete. The God-given traits of cats (‘you exist to serve me’) and dogs(‘I exist to serve you’) may be similar to certain theological attitudes held by us Christians.

 We will find in our personal theologies, that some attitudes may draw us closer to God, and others can also pull us away from Him. I am finding that this book helps me differentiate those attitudes, and learn to draw closer to the God! After all, it really is all about learning to walk closer to God and serve him. Give it a read and let me know what you think… I placed a link to Amazon on the book’s title above.

 

DOGS versus CATS

  

I have owned both dogs and cats and I still don’t know for sure which one I prefer. I think that they are wonderful for all of their various idiosyncrasies. Maybe the insight recounted below can tell us how they feel about their living arrangements with us. What do you think?

.

Anonymous Cat and Dog  

 

The Dog’s Diary

 

8:00 am – Dog food! My favorite thing!
9:30 am – A car ride! My favorite thing!
9:40 am – A walk in the park! My favorite thing!
10:30 am – Got rubbed and petted! My favorite thing!
12:00 pm – Milk bones! My favorite thing!
1:00 pm – Played in the yard! My favorite thing!
3:00 pm – Wagged my tail! My favorite thing!
5:00 pm – Dinner! My favorite thing!
7:00 pm – Got to play ball! My favorite thing!
8:00 pm – Wow! Watched TV with the people! My favorite thing!
11:00 pm – Sleeping on the bed! My favorite thing! 

The Cat’s Diary 

Day 983 of My Captivity

 My captors continue to taunt me with bizarre little dangling objects. They dine lavishly on fresh meat, while the other inmates and I are fed hash or some sort of dry nuggets. Although I make my contempt for the rations perfectly clear, I nevertheless must eat something in order to keep up my strength.

The only thing that keeps me going is my dream of escape. In an attempt to disgust them, I once again vomit on the carpet. Today I decapitated a mouse and dropped its headless body at their feet. I had hoped this would strike fear into their hearts, since it clearly demonstrates my capabilities. However, they merely made condescending comments about what a “good little hunter” I am. Idiots!

There was some sort of assembly of their accomplices tonight. I was placed in solitary confinement for the duration of the event. However, I could hear the noises and smell the food. I overheard that my confinement was due to the power of “allergies.” I must learn what this means, and how to use it to my advantage.

Today I was almost successful in an attempt to assassinate one of my tormentors by weaving around his feet as he was walking. I must try this again tomorrow, but at the top of the stairs.

I am convinced that the other prisoners here are flunkies and snitches. The dog receives special privileges. He is regularly released, and seems to be more than willing to return. He is obviously retarded. The bird must be an informant. I observe him communicate with the guards regularly. I am certain that he reports my every move. My captors have arranged protective custody for him in an elevated cell, so he is safe. For now …

 

Happy Cartoonist Day!

Hello Web Friend, Cartoonbug here…

CARTOONIST DAY

Today is a very special day since it’s the beginning of CARTOON APPRECIATION WEEK May 3-9. May 5 originally was designated as CARTOONISTS DAY because the first comic strip, “The Yellow Kid,” appeared in the newspaper on May 5, 1895. This year Saturday May 3rd is Free Comic Book Day, so visit your local comic book store to see if they are participating in the celebration.

I have been an avid fan of Comic Strips since I was a small fry and I was always clipping, collecting and copying my favorites. Here are some links to those Daily Comic Strips that I religiously check on:

CURRENT FAVS ( I try to follow these daily)

Dilbert at http://www.dilbert.com/

Garfield at http://www.garfield.com/

OLD SCHOOL COMICS (My favorites from the past)

Calvin and Hobbes at http://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/

Broom Hilda at http://www.comicspage.com/broomhilda/index.html

Why don’t you check yours out now? This link goes to a site that collects all of the comic strips available on the Internet from the major syndicates: http://www.stus.com/3majors.htm

 

2008 Annual Yosemite Family Trip

 My family and I are quite fortunate to live so close to one of the most beautiful places in the world: Yosimite Park. We visit this Valley of Splendor every year and always find new and exciting vistas to fall in love with. This year we were very lucky since we had both Snow to play in and melting snow for totally awesome waterfalls! Here are some photos from this year’s trip in April 2008. Enjoy!

SERENE AND PEACEFUL IS YOSEMITE VALLEY 

 FAMILY PORTRAIT AT THE YOSEMITE VALLEY ENTRANCE

 CLASSIC YOSEMITE FALLS SHOT

 CHILLIN’ IN THE VALLEY

BRIDIALVEIL FALLS IN FULL BLOOM!

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU STAND UNDER BRIDALVEIL FALLS?

 

Thursday Night Small Group Study

Bible Verse: Philippians 4:6-7 : “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” NIV

Thursday Night Small Group Study

Welcome to a brand new blog entry for Thursday which happens to be my Thursday Night Small Group Study where I lead the discussion. Tonight we are finishing a 4 part series on the book of Philippians, which is a nice sized book for study since it has only 4 chapters. This epistle by Paul is very up beat since it’s all about Joy and Rejoicing! We have really enjoyed going thru the lessons, so I am sharing our chapter outline with you so you might be encouraged to explore the book for yourself.

Chap.	Literary Outline	Spiritual Application
1	Paul’s Account of His Present Circumstances	Christ is my life
2	Paul’s Appeal to Have the Mind of Christ	Christ is my mind (attitude)
3	Paul’s Appeal to have the Knowledge of Christ	Christ is my goal
4	Paul’s Appeal to have the Peace of Christ	Christ is my sufficiency

Max Lucado’s John 3:16 Bible Study

Next week we are beginning Max Lucado’s best selling book: John 3:16. This wonderful small group study digs deeply into one of the most famous and oft-quoted passages of the Bible-John 3:16. First situating it in its biblical context as part of Jesus’s conversation with Nicodemus, Lucado then dissects the 26-word promise phrase by phrase, picking out key theological ideas that provide hope to Christians.

We will learn what it means that God “so loved the world”- What must we do to gain everlasting life- Using his trademark folksy style, Lucado employs great stories and real-life illustrations to drive home points about God’s love, justice and determination to save. I anticipate some life changing lessons are ahead for us! He calls this verrse the “hope diamond of the bible”. I’ll let you know how it goes.

Dad’s 82nd Birthday

My Dad’s 82nd Birthday has just come and gone, but I wanted to report it out to the world. We gathered as a family at his favorite restaurant, “Jumbo Buffet” which is an all you can eat chinese resturant in Modesto that has all you can eat Crab Legs!!! He eats his body weight in these and it’s well worth the price of admission to watch him enjoy himself.  Happy Birthday Dad! You are a fantastic role model of a family man with integrity  to all of your kids.

 

start! Heart Walk

Hey Everyone. I hope you are all well and living a hearty life style and if you are not, I have a great suggestion to help you get back on track. It’s called “start! Health Walk” and it’s promoted by the American Heart Association.

As the American Heart Association’s signature fund-raising event, the Start! Heart Walk promotes physical activity and heart-healthy living in a fun, family environment. This year more than 1 million walkers will participate in some 500 events, raising funds to save lives from this country’s No. 1 and No. 3 killers — heart disease and stroke.

The Start! Heart Walk experience includes:

• Creating a community among participants
• Instilling passion for reducing disability and death from cardiovascular diseases and stroke
• Generating excitement for a new or renewed commitment to heart-healthy living

It begins soon and it’s an easy program to start and maintain since all it involves is walking! Jumping the gun, I have already begun and I have seen improvement in my stride and the muscle complaining from day one are gone. Not I’m taking it up a notch and I’m up to the 30 minutes a day recommendation for the amount of time to walk.

In my younger days, I ran constantly and enjoyed races like the Bay to Breakers, but a busy career life took it’s toll on me and the weight started to climb. I have begun to turn this around and it feels good. I will be running again (albeit slower) within months I am sure. Gotta do something to reverse all of the ill-effects of all of my other hobbies which all involve lots of sitting!

Movies, Movies Movies!

Talking of hobbies, I forgot to mention that I am also a huge movie fan and have a rather large collection. It’s well beyond 3,000 DVD movies and growing every Tuesday when the new titles come out. My wife is so awesome for allowing me to persue this enterprise, so I also keep an eagle eye out for the romantic comedies that she enjoys. Compromises are sometimes necessary in a marriage and it works for us.

I will also include reviews as a part of this blog, so as to generate discussion. I have a particular interest in horror movies when they are very well done. Still looking for that movie that scares me the way I remember feeling when I was twelve years old.  Any suggestions?

Greetings and Fond Felicitations!

Hi There,

Welcome to my Weblog whether you are family, friends, or curious bystanders. Hopefully there will be something to see as I periodically provide News and updates of the going-ons in my life to fascinate and amaze you!

I call myself Cartoonbug since I was bitten by the “cartooning bug” very early in life and was a “professional cartoonist” (professional in the sense that I fooled people into paying me for my work) for a few years. I gave up that “fantasy world” as my dad called it and went into the business world where I now scratch out a living. However, the Cartoonbug still lives within me and you will see it displayed regularly on this site. It should be fun, at least for me!!!

I am a family man with a wonderful wife and 2 lovely daughters. I enjoy cartoons and comics, DVD Movies, computers, video games (World of Warcraft, PS3, Wii and Sims), programming (Visual Basic), databases (SQL and Business Objects). Also foremost is my life as an authentic christian and deep bible study. I am developing a Bible Answers website which I will share more about later.  

Please feel free to share also as we build community with whatever we have in common. Let’s begin this cyber-journey together with this first blog posting…

Best Wishes,

Lance Muller