King Tut Exhibit

Sunday, May 27, 2007

When I was younger my grand pop used to take me to the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia numerous times. I always loved going and today, when I returned for the first time in at least a decade plus, I was pleased to see some of the same attractions still in tact. The airplane room, the train room and electricity room all had many of the things I fondly remembered. The IMAX theater is still as curved as ever and you can swear you're hanging above some of the people in the introduction video of Philadelphia. But today I came to see the King Tut exhibit.

Sadly, I can not provide any photos of the exhibit as photography was prohibited, but here are a couple other snapshots from the day trip down to Philadelphia, featuring my first ever train ride! I know, I'm sheltered I suppose.















It all started out when we ran into the Fantastic Four and the Silver Surfer at the Fortuna station waiting for the train.





























You know all of the international flags on the Ben Franklin Parkway? Somehow Ryan Howard and Brett Myers found their way into the mix.




















The PBS logo, looking up at the giant King Tut banners (below)













































Part of the Sports Science and Health exhibit. I was at that game by the way.




















Some random guy gave me his ticket for this ride for free. It's pretty scary up there!















On the way back to the train station to go home Stef and I had to do the tourist thing and get our picture taken here.

Read more...

Shrek 3

Thursday, May 24, 2007

So I saw Shrek 3 last weekend, and like Spider Man 3, I was left unfulfilled. Perhaps I should have had the risotto?

I believe that the first Shrek was the best of the three, although I debate that with myself sometimes and go with the second. The third one was kind of dull and missing some of the humor that made the first couple movies so good. I don't know, I guess we can only hear the "Nobody likes an ogre" story so many times. We get it, it's what is on the inside that really counts!

The third installment of the Pirates of the Caribean saga comes out tonight so I'll be sure to check it out. I have high hopes that this movie will lift my spirits when it comes to summer movies. We're off to a somewhat disappointing start.

Maybe it was just me, but I thought the season finales of 24 and Lost both kicked butt! This season of 24 was somewhat dull so I was pleased with the traditional, upbeat, heart pumping, exhilarating season finale that 24 is usually good for. I don't know what will happen next in the life of Jack Bauer though. As for Lost, I loved the twist at the end showing that we were actually looking forward in the life of Jack Sheperd, instead of backwards. Creepy!

I'm looking forward to tv watching in the upcoming months now so I can catch up on some shows I've been missing out on (I'm looking your way Heroes and Alias.)

Read more...

All's Well That Ends Well

Friday, May 11, 2007

So while my car getting rear ended and it taking a while to get an estimate for the repair job, being massively busy at work trying to do the job of two people while training a third, and leading the youngens in my department all combined to take their toll on me stress wise and energy wise, I did find out that I'm getting a slight raise today.

This just goes to show you that hard work and dedication can pay off for you sometimes and it was a great way to end my week after the previous mishaps.

Read more...

Kevin McGuire and the Terrible Horrible No Good Very Bad Day: Part Deux

Tuesday, May 08, 2007

I'll start by saying that I'm fine and nobody was injured. And for you Preston and Steve fans might say, "All I did was get out of the shower!" I don't listen to Preston and Steve but I hear or read this quote often enough.

So I'm traveling on the Pennsylvania Turnpike this morning and I get stuck in stop and go traffic right before my exit at King of Prussia. I came to a stop, as did the car behind me. But the lady behind him didn't. Oops! She slammed into the guy behind me and he was pushed into the back of my car, which I had just sent through the car wash a day before so it looked mighty fine, except for my missing front hub cap. In the split second that it all happened I heard the crash behind me and yelled out a word I don't normally say because I knew I was going to be a victim here. Luckily I was at the front of the chain and the car in front of me, which was slightly nudged if anything had no damage, as the front of my car was also lucky.

The back of the car though, that's a different story. Sure, things could have been a lot worse so I guess after the shock of what had happened set in and I had a chance to talk to a couple loved ones and some coworkers, I began to feel better about things. I took these shots with my cell phone so you can see what I'm talking about!











































































I like the bottom one because you can see me in all my Staples glory. The one above it probably shows the worst part of the damage. Thank goodness for insurance companies!

Read more...

Spiderman 3

Sunday, May 06, 2007

*Before reading this rambling, be sure that either A) you have seen Spider man 3, or B) you have no interest in seeing the movie, because I will spoil part of the plot line for you. So, consider yourself forewarned.


Like many of you I'm sure, I saw the third installment of the Spider man movies. I have been looking forward to this film quenching my thirst for the Spider man story to reach a new level, yet I left still wanting to order a Vault to fill that need.

I felt that Spider man 3 fell into the same trap that Batman and Robin did. That problem was having too many characters and thus too many story lines. What I saw was essentially two Spidey movies crammed into the time they had for one. When I was in my comic book reading days my friend Jason introduced me to Venom, one of the baddest villains around. I quickly grew found of Venom and loved his storyline, even when it appeared to fight for good rather than evil. Venom was a twisted character and one tough dude and he hated Spidey. This movie did not give Venom his justice. And rather than leave themselves open for a, dare I say it, a fourth Spider man film focusing more on Venom, they killed him off. To me, a lot of potential died with him.

The whole Sandman character, to me, seemed kind of forced on us. It seemed that the character was thrown in there to either fill up space, or try to force another threat on us. To me, I feel there could have been stronger characters to put in the movie instead of Sandman, some more powerful Spidey foes. I would have liked to see Peter Parker's professor, Dr. Curt Conners, be written in to take his role as the Lizard. If a fourth movie is done, maybe that's the way they will go.

As I mentioned, Venom and Sandman were the two main villains, but the movie starts off by Harry settling his score with Peter, and then Peter knocks him out and that results in Harry losing his memory. How convenient. It's not like Spidey could have three enemies at the same time, right? And as if that weren't enough they introduce the black Spider man, sort of the evil alter ego of the friendly neighborhood Spider man. Again, the story line is jumbled enough as it is. Then of course there is the strained relationship between Peter and Mary Jane Watson.

Two movies could have easily been made out of this film. One movie could have dealt with Harry and Sand-Man, and then the other could have centered on the love story and Venom (as wella s the black Spider man).


Here is my hope for the fourth movie (if there ever is one). Carnage needs to be brought in. He is the toughest and most vicious of all the Spider man villains I think. And since Venom was already written off, Carnage would be the next best thing. I would have had Spider man and Venom fighting each other first but then have them team up to take out Carnage, but then again, I'm not a Hollywood writer am I? I wish another hero could be brought in, like Ghost Rider or Dare Devil, but the fact that those characters have been in their own movies surely will prohibit form that happening.

There were some excellent previews before the movie though, including Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer and the latest Harry Potter film, both due out this summer. And the popcorn wasn't too bad either. If you like the Spider man movies, you should still see this one, however I remain thinking that the original is still the best.

Read more...

  © Blogger template On The Road by Ourblogtemplates.com 2009, modified by Kevin McGuire.

Back to TOP