The Misadventures of the Herren clan and Bad sci-fi

Well, the two are only slightly related, but I feel compelled to yak about both today. 

Last week my husband went to Samoa for business.  Because he is the greatest father of all times, he decided it would be a great opportunity to connect with our youngest daughter while giving her the opportunity to get off the NZ islands at least once this tour.  Unfortunately it was also the week Cyclone Evan decided to travel the Pacific Islands for a vacation of his own. 

Unable to get off the island in time, hubby and little Herren were stuck in the path of the storm.  From my safe and sunny (which is unusual for here) vantage point in Wellington, I searched the web and TV frantically for news of how the cyclone was affecting Samoa.  What I found is that even in the midst of a news worthing disaster, info on the islands and weather in the Pacific Ocean is not that much of a concern for much of the world and I had to be content with infrequent contact with the missing part of my clan.  I had a few “Holy Cow!” moments (actually not the exact words that passed through my mind, but trying to keep it PG here).  Like when I pulled up the news on Samoa and saw “Aggie Grey’s Resort sustains heavy damage… Fortunately it was the hotel in Apia.  NOT the Resort that my loved ones were staying at out by the airport.  Whew! 

In the end, they both came back home, safe and sound, if a little irritated that their little vacation was so rudely interrupted.  Little Herren maintains she had a great time despite the weather and both were happy to be able to spend some quality time together.  Master Herren was not pleased with Cyclone Evan one bit and has filed a complaint with the Cyclone Travel Agency asking that he please be informed about the travel plans of storms in the future…

Onto bad sci-fi and fantasy…

What is up with the movies?  lol.  I love sci-fi films and shows.  Even the bad ones usually.  But lately I’ve been pushed to even my limits. 

A few months ago Master Herren and I decided to treat ourselves to a movie at Deluxe Theatre.  You know – the kind where you have a specialty coffee, or wine, or even a meal while enjoying a movie in reclining plush seats? 

Well, we watched Abraham Lincoln.  No!  Not the Abraham Lincolm with the enigmatic, gorgeous Daniel Day Lewis.  No it was Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter.  I have no idea how this movie was received in the US.  Did it take itself as seriously as the kiwis seemed to?  I found myself laughing at the premise and at several interesting moments.  But it seemed like I was the only in the theater doing so! And really do we need to make all southerners look completely, hopelessly evil?  Ah, so that’s why we had slavery – so that the evil, southern landholders not only had free labor, but so that they had a steady food supply as well…

Anyway, by viewing it with humor, and by relishing the comfy seats in the theater in the company of the best man ever, I was able to enjoy the show. 

Now on to Iron Sky.  WTH? 

Although I did pay to watch it on pay per view, I am so very, very glad I did not see this one in the theaters.  It had some (some, some, very little, but at least some) potential to be an interesting idea.  But then just degenerated into complete ridiculousness.  What the heck was up with that last scene at the UN? I’ve thought about googling it, trying to see if there was some sort of message the writers wanted to convey, but the more I think about it, the more I think, I just really don’t care! It was a bad, very bad movie. 

Do these films get much viewing in the US?  Or do we just get really bad stuff overseas? 

I just don’t get it sometimes.