Movie Review: Fantastic 4

Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer(2007)
My Rating: 2.5/5 stars
When I was a kid I loved Silver Surfer. How much cooler can you be than flying around on a surfboard with almost unlimited power! Too bad the movie was never destined to be a blockbuster. Jessica Alba is not a good invisible girl, the first movie pretty much sucked, and the movie sub-plot is a wedding.
I did enjoy this movie for its plot. Silver Surfer comes to earth to destroy it. The superheros have some issues with switching powers and ultimately use them to their advantage. Silver Surfer is as badass as I expected and I hope he's back in another movie.
What I hated was the product placement. The worst line in the movie "Does this thing have a hemy?". And even DosEquis sponsored the movie. It's everywhere! I dock them a full star for that alone. Also, why call the movie 'Rise of the Silver Surfer'? If it's a metaphor I don't like it.
This movie is worth renting to watch on your big screen for one of those "I don't want to think anymore" type of nights.

Speaking of big-screens... mine arrives today!

Zoning Out

Here's a good article by my friend Mike (owner of Crossfit Eastside) on the Zone diet. It's no joke, try it! I try to eat about 4 "blocks" per meal. Usually I'm not able to eat as often or as much as I'd like so I supplement with snacks of nuts and veggies between meals. Give it a shot and your performance will improve!

*update* Mike just pointed out a nutrition section of their site. Very cool stuff!

Learning to Sail a Hobiecat

On Sunday Tom, Gil and I ventured out onto the waters of Lake Washington to sail a "Hobie cat" sailboat. It was my second time on the boat and Gil's first. Tom has a membership at Sail Sand Point and we tagged along. The Hobie Cat is a Catamaran Sailboat with two pontoons and a flat deck. The vessel we sailed has a 16 foot sail and room for 2 or 3 people. The first two trips out were fun and we became comfortable tacking in 18 mph winds. On the second voyage we noticed a small 2-man race sailboat turtled (flipped over) in the middle of the lake. We sailed over and the found a guy and his girlfriend in their early 20s with no wetsuits. They were clinging to the top of the boat in cold water and high winds. I jumped into the water to help right the sailboat(wearing a 3/4 wetsuit) while tom/gil picked up the girl to bring her back to the shore. With high-winds and choppy water it took the guy (Cameron) and I two trys to flip the sailboat over and get in without it rolling over again. The boat was pretty full of water and Cameron was cold and not an experienced sailor so I limped the boat back upwind to the dock. I wasn't too cold but the former occupants of the sailboat were happy to be out of the wind and in the sun.

Mission complete, tom and I decided to go out for one more sail on the Hobie while Gil enjoyed the sun. This was the best run yet! We got the pontoon right out of the water and were truly "flying" the boat. Here's a video of a hobiecat flying and flipping over. Tom and I didn't crash (somehow) and managed to get back to shore without any problems.

Cam, Amanda and I plan on taking some sailing courses through sand-point to learn the proper techniques of sailing. If anyone's interested let me know!

update: more cool vids
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JtQjIsvdvo
http://youtube.com/watch?v=js-Z1m7zqvk