Twenty years later, another trip to Alaska. We met my parents (who were on a two month trip of their own) for one week. And oh, what a place for taking pictures Alaska is.

Another long flight back? The perfect time to rewatch the Lord of the Rings.

Or perhaps just one of them–with the Extended Edition. Man those are long movies (especially in that version).

And man, I forgot just how awe inspiring those movies are.

It all began with the forging of the Great Rings.

It’s the tale of a little man (literally in this case) on a mission oh so very much larger than him–and even larger still; than perhaps he realizes.

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Our last full day. A bit quieter. We went to a museum and a store with a chocolate fountain.

Such a great trip. I’m ready to head home.

Back through Portage to hike again on our way to Anchorage. We made it to Blue Ice Trail and Byron Glacier Trail. Very cool. Literally.

Our one full day in Homer. We went out to the tidal flats. It wasn’t quite like I expected, but still neat. Also out to the Spit in the evening.

We went to the Sealife Center in Seward before the (long) drive to Homer. Along the way, we stopped in Soldotna, which happened to be having a festival. That was a fun surprise.

Out into the ocean. We saw a decent amount of sea life, including three humpbacks (1 calf!), puffins, and seals.

The part out on the more open ocean was so rough. Just about everyone got sick to various extents.

A hike at Exit Glacier and pictures at the marina.

Another day, another hero.

This time around, we open with Jason. Another obvious (to the reader) demigod, hidden in plain sight. Battle reflexes, special powers, purple T-shift… ability to speak Latin…

Jason scratched his head. “You named him Festus? You know that in Latin, ‘festus’ means ‘happy’? You want us to ride off to save the world on Happy the Dragon?

Wait. What?

Oh we’re in for a ride this time.

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Our first day in Alaska, at a house just outside of Seward. Man. The forests and mountains and rivers and life just everywhere. It’s very pretty.

It’s been a while since I watched these movies. But hey, when you’re on a plane for five hours and they have a screen full of movies? Worth!

In a nutshell–it’s a quintessential heist movie. Gather the crew, plan the heist, deal with what goes wrong, and walk away in the end victorious. And then show the audience how in the world you actually pulled it off.

Building the crew? Great.

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Made it back to Holliday Park for probably the last time until classes begin again this fall.

The 3rd to the 5th. Good fun!

Miyagi: Wax on, wax off. Wax on, wax off.

Oh this movie. It’s a classic, but somehow I’ve never actually seen it. Right now is the second best time though, so here we go!

In a nutshell, it’s a pretty straight forward coming-of-age / underdog sports movie from the 80s. Really. Daniel moves to a new town, gets beat up, meets the girl, gets beat up some more, meets the mysterious mentor figure, learns (but doesn’t realize it), learns (but does), loses the girl, gets her back, and, in the end, wins the day.

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It took a while (relatively speaking) to get to this one. And, while this one has a lot of great individual scenes, I think it’s the weakest of the series.

This time around, we’re in the 70s, with the introduction of Beyoncé’s Foxxy Cleopatra. I enjoyed her role, especially her introduction, talking (so obviously) through a third party. She seems like she’s having fun and is a good counterpoint to Austin.

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Onward in Harry Potter. And still without making it back to the first.

Plotwise, this is one of my favorites. It’s an action packed story with a lot of mystery going on and a twist to the plot that (long ago) I did not see coming–and which actually pulls the last part of the story together very well. Even if, in the broader world Harry Potter lives in doesn’t make any sense.

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He’s stuck out there. He thinks he’s totally alone and that we all gave up on him. What kind of effect does that have on a man’s psychology?” He turned back to Venkat. “I wonder what he’s thinking right now.”

LOG ENTRY: SOL 61 How come Aquaman can control whales? They’re mammals! Makes no sense.

With the recent release of the Project Hail Mary movie, I decided to reread the Project Hail Mary book. So of course I also had to re-read The Martian (I’ll watch it at some point too!). But the last time I read it, I wasn’t writing reviews yet… so here we are!

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This is it! The Last Battle¹. Kronos and his army of titans, monsters, gods, and demigods is about to reach New York City and Mount Olympus. And, because of a rampaging Titan coming across the country, the city is almost entirely undefended.

So it’s up to Percy and the demigods of Camp Half-Blood to save the day!

Oh, did I mention that Percy is about ot turn 16 in this book? And that there’s a certain prophecy all about that?

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I watched (and reviewed) Despicable Me 2 years ago, in theaters. We watched those movies over and over again for so long when my children were younger. But now, it’s back in favor, so it’s a good time to review it!

Gru, criminal mastermind, has a glorious plan.

Gru: …we are going to steal… pause for effect… THE MOON!

To do that, he needs cookie robots and three little girls to deliver them. And oh, the girls are a delight. Margo, serious and holding everything together. Edith, agent of chaos. And Agnes. Just, cute.

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With my new lens, birds are so much easier to take pictures of. And they’re so dynamic. And sometimes weird looking.