Reviews and More

Gambling has long been a favorite pastime of mine. I hit the Chicago-area riverboats at least once a month with a group of friends, and find few things more relaxing and entertaining than playing shoe after shoe of blackjack all night long. The only thing that could make my casino trips even better is if my husband would go with me.

My husband doesn’t enjoy casino games very much, but I think it’s just because he hasn’t had enough exposure to blackjack, craps, roulette, and slots. He grew up in Japan, where they only have pachinko and horse racing, so I guess it’s understandable that he doesn’t know how to play these other games.

I’ve been trying to get my husband to share my passion for gambling, and it seems that he’s coming around little by little. I think my next step would be to get him a game of the month club membership from Executive Gaming Monthly for his birthday. This membership would make a great gift because my husband would be able to choose which games he wants featured each month, and then he’d receive the appropriate gaming packages once a month right here at home. After he gets the packages, he’ll be able to practice these casino games in the privacy of our own home until he becomes confident enough to take the action to the boats.

I’d recommend that my husband start with the blackjack package for sure, because I think every gambler worth his or her salt needs to know how to play this game well. The Player Level package comes with a 4-deck shoe, table layout, chips, and cut card, which is enough equipment to get started learning the game. I’d then urge him to select the Player Level craps package for the next month’s choice so he could learn how to play that game as well.

I’m anxious to try out this gift idea to see if it helps change my husband’s attitude towards gaming. Wish me luck!

Sunday night’s episode of Desperate Housewives was called “Gossip” and dealt mostly with the various ways that neighborhood gossip interferes with people’s lives. We got lots of interaction between the wives (which is always a good thing), plus a nice mention of Bree. Anyway, here’s a more detailed look at what happened in episode 3×20.

Lynette/Tom: Tom is becoming more mobile after six weeks of bed rest, so one night he surprises Lynette at the pizza joint — just as she and Rick were about to head out to a restaurant event together. Lynette pulls herself together quickly and doesn’t let on that she’s disappointed to see her family, but Kayla sees her talking to Rick and gets the feeling that something’s up between those two.

She opens her big mouth to Tom, saying that she thinks Lynette “likes” Rick. No, likes likes him, ya know? So Tom puts the feelers out there and tells Lynette that he thinks it’s time for him to get back to the restaurant. That way, they’ll be able to cut Rick loose and enjoy more of the profits for themselves. Lynette skirts around the issue, saying Tom needs to rest some more so he doesn’t injure himself again. Plus, why would they fire Rick when he’s the one that’s responsible for their new-and-improved menu in the first place? At that point, Tom realizes that Lynette is acting strange and that maybe he has something to worry about after all.

Susan/Ian/Mike: Both Ian and Mike continue to try to get back with Susan, but she refuses to see either one of them. The strain of her personal life is causing her to stress out over little things, and she flips out on a guy in a mall parking lot. She ends up assaulting him, then has to go to court-ordered therapy.

While in therapy, Susan decides that she really does love Ian and that she wants to marry him. She goes and breaks the news to Mike first, then calls Ian to celebrate. Just before they head upstairs, Susan checks her phone messages and hears one from Mike (he’s congratulating the couple and telling them he’ll stay out of their way). She listens to it again, not knowing that Ian is standing behind her. At that point, Ian knows for sure that Susan will never be his, so he breaks up with her.

Later on, Susan hears from a neighbor that Mike packed up his truck and moved away — all without stopping to say goodbye to her.

Gabby/Carlos/Edie: Gabby has an engagement party to celebrate her upcoming nuptials with Victor, but Edie ruins her night by admitting that she and Carlos have been seeing each other for a while. Gabby is outraged, and tries to get Lynette and Susan to join her in dissing Edie. They reluctantly agree, but Edie gets the last laugh by asking Lynette to cater Travers’s birthday party and asking Susan to do a book signing at the party.

Gabby ends up making a scene at the party, at which point Carlos physically hauls her off to have a chat with her. He wants to know what her problem is, since she’s the one who demanded a divorce in the first place. He’s free to date whomever she wants, and Gabby’s engagement should mean that she doesn’t care what Carlos does. Gabby finally relents, but only because she can see that Carlos is still in love with her.

Mrs. McCluskey: As expected, it’s revealed that Mrs. McCluskey didn’t actually kill her husband before putting him in the freezer. He died of natural causes, but since he didn’t change the beneficiary on his pension plan, his first wife stood to get everything and Karen was about to lose it all. So she decided to put him in the freezer, not report his death, and keep cashing his pension checks.

My Reaction: While this wasn’t a great episode, I did enjoy it very much. There were even a few laugh-out-loud moments along the way, like when Lynette and Susan were crawling around on the ground trying to hide from Gabby or when Susan attacked the guy in the parking lot. This felt like a fun episode again, and that’s really what Desperate Housewives should be. Here’s hoping this trend continues next week!

I was talking to a friend of mine last night and we got onto the subject of our favorite “comfy” clothes. Since both of us are work-at-home moms, we rarely have the need to get dressed up from day to day, but instead can hang out in whatever makes us the most comfortable. For me, it’s definitely just a t-shirt and shorts or sweats (depending on the season). My friend surprised me by telling me that she likes to wear nursing uniforms and scrubs when she’s puttering around the house.

I have to admit that I’d never really considered wearing scrubs just to lounge in, but after hearing my friend rave about them, I guess I can see the appeal. They’re roomy, allow for a wide range of motion, are ultra-comfortable, and are also very easy to care for. Plus, nursing uniforms and scrubs are pretty cheap, with tops and bottoms available in a variety of colors for less than $10 each.

My friend hyped up her scrubs so much that I just might have to buy a set for myself soon. I’m all for being comfortable when I’m doing my computer work at home, so we’ll see!

Sunday night’s episode of The Sopranos was called “Chasing It” and dealt almost exclusively with Tony’s escalating gambling losses, along with the ensuing tension caused by his mounting debts. Here’s a quick recap of what happened in episode number 6×16.

From the last episode, we know that Tony borrowed $200,000 from his good friend Hesh to cover some of his gambling losses. Well, in this episode, we see Tony consistently making terrible bets — and losing big. For instance, after hitting a number straight-up in roulette, he lets the $18,000 ride on the very same number and loses. After winning at blackjack, he puts $100k on a horse race just because the horse’s name is Meadow-something.

All of his losses cause Tony to become anxious and pissed off with everyone he deals with. He gripes about having to pay Hesh back, and can’t pass over the $3,000/wk vig without making biting comments as well. He gets into a huge fight with Carm when she doesn’t want to put money from her first commission on a “sure thing” football game. And he snaps at his crew because they’re not earning what they should be.

Aside from the gambling, Tony has to deal with other nagging problems in this episode as well. For instance, Vito Spatafore’s wife comes to him complaining that Vito Jr. is acting up in school, and she asks Tony for $100,000 so the family can relocate to Maine. Tony is livid that she’s placing the burden on him, especially since Phil Leotardo caused the problem in the first place and Phil’s her cousin. In the end, Tony offers up $18,000 to send Vito Jr. away to a camp in Idaho for troubled teens.

Other things that happened: AJ proposed to his girlfriend Blanca. She was hesitant at first, but AJ told her that he loves her and is willing to work hard to support her and Hector (her son). She then agrees, but later changes her mind again and ends up breaking up with AJ.

Hesh’s girlfriend Renatta was found dead in bed one morning, and the writers didn’t make it very clear what happened to her. She could have just died in her sleep, or Tony could have had her clipped because he didn’t like the way Hesh was acting about the big debt. Either way, Tony shows up at Hesh’s house and pays off the $200k in full the same morning that Renatta died.

My Reaction: I had mixed feelings about this episode. First of all, I have no idea where Tony’s huge gambling problem is coming from. It’s like the writers just decided to pull this whole storyline out of a hat and make it loom large for a while. I mean, I know Tony’s a mobster and a big part of his business is taking in sports bets, so he’s obviously been around that kind of action for his whole career. But no one has ever dropped so much as a tiny hint that Tony had any kind of gambling problem, so I’m calling b.s. on the whole thing.

Usually I feel bad for Carmela for the way Tony treats her, but in this episode she showed just how selfish she can be as well. Wasn’t Tony the one who gave her the money to get started with the whole realtor business? And now when she finally turns a profit she doesn’t want to share with him? Um, okaaay.

And poor AJ. I never really liked him before, but he seems to have sincerely changed his ways for Blanca. So I felt bad for him when Blanca dumped him so unceremoniously.

Just a handful of Sopranos episodes left. I can’t wait to see how this series ends!

A couple weekends ago, my family and I took a short trip out to a city called Iga, where we got to tour an old-style ninja house. This house was pretty cool because it was full of secret compartments, hidden doors, and underground passages that the ninja used to help overcome enemy attacks. Of course, as soon as we got home, my son started asking me to buy him some ninja gear of his own so he could dress up like the tour guides.

I started checking out some online stores just to humor him, and was surprised to see that there’s a wide selection of authentic ninja weapons and clothing available from various websites. I really had no idea that it was so easy to buy a full ninja costume, complete with a hood, mask, tabi socks, and tabi boots. The costume looks best when it’s accented with weapons like swords, daggers, and shuriken — all of which are readily available as well.

These products look like they could really do some damage, so I wouldn’t buy them for my four-year-old, but I’d definitely recommend them to adults!

Last night HBO treated viewers to yet another new Entourage episode. It was number 3×16 and was called “Gotcha!” In this ep it seemed that Ari, Drama, and Turtle got more screen time than Vince and E, which was actually a nice change — especially since there’s not much going on in Vince’s career right now. Anyway, here’s a closer look at what happened:

Ari/Mrs. Ari: I just realized that Ari’s wife has no name! I went to look it up on IMDB.com for this recap, and saw that she’s listed simply as “Mrs. Ari.” Strange, huh? Anyway, these two spent the ep entertaining an old frat buddy of Ari’s. They hadn’t seen the guy in 10 years, and back then he was a loud, obnoxious loser who was bartending at Hooters and didn’t have a decent future ahead of him. Plus, he always made lewd comments about Mrs. Ari, which Ari found hilarious, but she didn’t.

Anyway, when the guy arrives, he’s got a hot young fiancée who looks even better than Mrs. Ari. The Golds can’t believe what’s going on, and after repeated questioning, the frat brother finally explains himself: he was one of the early investors in Stamps.com and when he sold his share, he got $65 million. Ari, despite laughing about how absurd the whole thing sounds, becomes insanely jealous and spends the rest of the ep making an ass of himself.

Drama/Turtle: Turtle tells Drama that Pauly Shore is doing a Punk’d style show and wants Drama to be the first victim for the pilot episode. Drama hates Pauly Shore, but the thought of being in a pilot is too tempting to pass up, so he agrees. Since Turtle already explained to him that there would be hidden cameras around, all Drama has to do is “act surprised” and everything will be ok.

Those two head out to the scene of the supposed punking and get into a confrontation in the parking lot as some guy tries to pull into the same space. Drama thinks this is the punk, so he gets out and acts tough even though the other driver is an Ultimate Fighting champion. Turtle tries to tell Johnny that’s not the punk, but Johnny is past the point of no return. The fighter threatens to kick his ass later on (he can’t do it now because his daughter is in the car).

Drama spends the rest of the ep worrying about having this ultimate fighter after him, but Turtle comes up with a way to earn the guy’s forgiveness. All the have to do is show up at the fighter’s charity event, make a donation, and apologize. They go there, and the guy calls Drama into the ring where he tells him he has two choices: either get down on his knees and beg for forgiveness in front of everyone or start fighting. Just as Drama drops to his knees, they reveal that this is the punk after all.

Vince/Amanda/E: E figures out that Vince and Amanda slept together, and he thinks it’s a huge mistake. Vince doesn’t agree, however, and it’s clear that he and Amanda actually like each other as more than just business associates. The ep didn’t really pursue this avenue very far, but I’m sure this storyline won’t just go away. Could this be how Vince eventually finds his way back to Ari??

My Reaction: This was pretty much a throwaway episode with filler content, but like I said above, it was fun to see some of the other characters take center stage for awhile. Plus, anything that keeps E off my screen is fine with me! Oh, yeah — did you see that shot of a shirtless Jeremy Piven?? OMG, he’s got some abs!!!

These days it’s more important than ever to have a college degree in order to embark on a successful career. Employers expect job candidates to have at least a Bachelor’s degree in order to be considered for both entry-level positions and promotions, so it makes sense to secure your future by earning a degree right now.

The good news is that a college education has become increasingly accessible over the years, thanks in large part to the availability of elearning options at accredited academic institutions everywhere. The ability to take online classes means that working adults and other non-traditional students have just as much of a chance to obtain a Bachelor’s degree as those students who can afford to go live on campus for four years immediately after high school.

To find out more about how you can continue your education and get ahead in your field, visit Capella.edu today.

This blog post was based on information provided by Blogitive. For more information, please visit Blogitive.com.

I occasionally go back and watch old movies that I’ve liked in the past to see how well they hold up with time. An Officer and a Gentleman was first released in 1982, making it a quarter of a century old already! I saw it when I was in high school (not in 1982, mind you), then again a few years later and liked it well enough both times. I still wanted to view it once more, however, with a more adult perspective to work with.

An Officer and a Gentleman stars Richard Gere as a young man named Zach Mayo who has enrolled in the Naval Aviation Officer Candidate School in Washington. We learn early on that he’s had a rough family life: his mother committed suicide when he was a child and he had to go live with his father (a Rear Admiral in the Navy) in the Philippines. It didn’t help that all his father cared about was drinking and chasing hookers, so by the time Zach enrolls at the OCS, he has the usual problems with authority figures as well as commitment issues.

Mayo’s drill instructor is Gunnery Sergeant Foley (played by Louis Gossett, Jr.), and we can see right from the start that they’ll butt heads before all is said and done. Mayo actually does very well with the physical aspects of the training, but struggles with the academic component. That’s when he hooks up with Sid (David Keith), another candidate who promises to help get Mayo through their Aerodynamics class if Mayo keeps Sid well-supplied with polished belt buckles and boots for barracks inspections.

While most of the story takes place at the OCS, there’s a major subplot involving Zach, Sid, and two local women they meet during their weekends off from school. These women are Paula (Debra Winger) and Lynette (Lisa Blount), so-called “Puget Debs”: working-class girls who try to hook up with officer candidates and perhaps get a marriage proposal out of the deal. Some Puget Debs would go so far as to fake pregnancy in order to trap a man into proposing. Paula pairs off with Zach, while Lynette gets Sid.

The rest of the film follows Zach as he tries to get through the 13 weeks of OCS and deal with Paula at the same time. Since Zach is the “officer and gentleman” referred to in the title, viewers can pretty much guess what the end result will be on each front, but that doesn’t detract from the enjoyment of this movie.

My Reaction: Even after 25 years, An Officer and a Gentleman is still a pretty powerful movie. There are some truly great scenes in this film, scenes that have become classic movie moments for fans everywhere. For example, Gere’s “I got nowhere else to go” confession to Foley and (of course) the final scene are still moving in this day and age — even when you know they’re coming.

I thought the pacing of this film was pretty good as well. The running time is nearly two hours, which was practically an eternity in 1982, but I didn’t get bored along the way because the OCS scenes were neatly balanced with the love story. In addition, viewers get plenty of time to come to care about the characters — not only Zach, but Sid and Paula as well, so what happens to them really matters in the end.

Overall, I give an Officer and a Gentleman 7.5 stars out of 10 and recommend that you watch it again if it’s been awhile since you’ve seen it. It has held up remarkably well after 25 years!

My husband has been riding motocross bikes since he was 18 years old, but strangely enough, his passion for two wheels never really crossed over into street bikes. He has a couple of 50cc scooters that he uses to go to work, but that’s been about the extent of it — until now, that is. Recently he’s been talking quite a bit about getting a sport bike like the Kawasaki Ninja 250R, and from all the research he’s been doing, I know he’s pretty serious about it.

I know some wives would be completely opposed to their husbands buying a street bike, but I’m not like that at all. First, I know my husband is an experienced rider who always puts safety first. He can control a motorcycle and wouldn’t attempt anything stupid while on the road. Second, I think a 250cc Ninja is safer than a 50cc scooter because the Ninja is better able to keep up with car traffic on some of the busier roads that my husband uses to get to work. And finally, I saw that we can get a Ninja for less than $50 per month with some of the special financing deals going on right now, so the purchase wouldn’t put a strain on our budget.

I haven’t been too involved in my husband’s motorcycle hunt thus far, and I think I’m going to stay out of the way. If he wants to buy one, I’m going to let him go ahead and do it, and if he drops the whole idea, that would be fine with me too. He was into bikes long before I came into the picture, so it would be unfair of me to start changing the rules now!

The weekend box office receipts have been tallied up, and Shia LaBeouf’s Disturbia is again the No.1 movie in the country — for the third week in a row. The suspense/thriller took in just $9.1 million, one of the lowest weekly grosses for a No.1 movie in years. A couple of my friends have seen this film and say it’s a total Rear Window ripoff that doesn’t even acknowledge the Hitchcock classic as an “inspiration” or whatever. Hmmm.

At any rate, second place went to Disney’s The Invisible, starring Justin Chatwin and Margarita Levieva. I’ve never heard of either of these two actors, and the plot doesn’t sound that good, so I think I’m going to pass on this one. Nicolas Cage’s latest effort, Next, came in third with just $7.2 million in its first weekend in wide release.

Here’s the complete top 10 for 4/29/07:

1. Disturbia, $9.1 million
2. The Invisible, $7.6 million
3. Next, $7.2 million
4. Fracture, $7.1 million
5. Blades of Glory, $5.2 million
6. Meet the Robinsons, $4.84 million
7. Hot Fuzz, $4.8 million
8. Vacancy, $4.2 million
9. The Condemned, $4 million
10. Are We Done Yet?, $3.4 million