Hans Zimmer returns to the Caribbean

Our old friend at SoundtrackNet is a wonderful person. He just posted his exclusive "First Listen" for Pirates 3, and it sounds like Hans Zimmer is back with some wonderful new themes. I already know I'm gonna love everything on this album, but here are a few of my new favorites:

• the new love theme in track 3
• the playful romp and new theme in track 5
• the heroic version of the new pirate theme in track 10 (also heard in track 1 and track 7)
• a brand-new, ultra-cool arrangement of the original Pirate theme from the first movie in track 11
• the various themes woven together at the end of track 13

And given the description of each of the tracks, there's a lot of stuff in there that the clips simply don't capture. In my opinion, based on the music alone, Pirates already blows Spiderman out of the water.

Fracture

Summer isn't here yet, but the summer movies are starting to arrive. Spiderman 3 will be the "official" start of the summer movie season next week, but a few decent movies have already appeared in theaters. I recently watched Fracture (Anthony Hopkins, Ryan Gosling), and since Ray has been asking me to start reviewing movies again, I figured I'd start with this one.

As of today, RottenTomatoes gives Fracture a 70%. I'd personally put it a bit higher (around 75%), primarily because I generally like courtroom dramas, because I like puzzle movies, and because I really like Anthony Hopkins. He doesn't break any new ground here. In fact he plays his character almost the same way he played Hannibal, but that didn't bother me in the slightest. It's enjoyable to watch Hopkins' character manipulate everyone else in the cast, despite their best efforts. But primarily I enjoyed Fracture because of the snappy dialog. I wish they'd included more scenes with Hopkins and Gosling together, because it was fun to follow their verbal sparring.

The plot does include a few holes, which is one reason I can't universally recommend it. People who go out of their way to poke plot holes (<cough>Coach</cough>) should probably avoid Fracture. But for the most part you won't see the implausibility of it until you're talking about the movie afterwards.

I also docked it a few points because it dropped in a few too many "Character Alignment Shifts". Those are the moments when a main character thinks about his/her life, realizes that he/she has been a complete jerk, and resolves to change. Most of the time, the C.A.S. is identified by a montage of contemplative scenes in which the character either:

a) stares off into space
b) walks alone down a dimly lit street (usually at night)
c) plays an instrument alone (usually a piano or a guitar), or
d) performs some routine mindless action (like taking out the garbage), followed by one or more of the above.

Fracture's C.A.S. was a bit too outlandish for me to believe. But I understand that's not the sort of thing that seems to bother most people (after all, believe it or not, there are some people who bought into the insanity of Lady in the Water).

If you like courtroom dramas or Anthony Hopkins, you'll probably like Fracture. But don't try to nit-pick it while you're in the theater. Save that for the drive home.

Sunrise, Sunset

Last week I took Kathryn to Kindergarten screening for District 15. I thought that was bad enough. Kindergarten screening is one of those big "my baby's growing up" moments. But then Kathryn called me at work today to announce that she had "pulled out her loose tooth!" So Kathryn officially lost her first tooth today. Time is moving way too fast. To celebrate tonight, Kathryn chose to make a "special" popcorn while watching Star Wars with me. Though I am again encouraged that she likes to spend time watching sci-fi movies with me, I shudder to imagine what she's going to be like in a few years.

Little Becca isn't quite so little anymore. She's growing up too fast too. Last weekend I had to move the shoulder straps in her car seat up to the highest notch because she'd outgrown the smaller settings. Here are a couple of pictures for you.

Rebecca's 6-month checkup

From Kristin's e-mail:

Rebecca had her 6 month check up today, and she's doing great.

Weight: 14 lbs 11oz (between 25 - 50 percentile)

Height: 25 1/4 inches (between 25 - 50 percentile)

Head circumference: 16 inches

Doctor said that everything looks good, and she's right where she should be developmentally. So, you're asking yourself, where is she developmentally? Well, I'm glad you asked. Rebecca is right on the verge of many milestones.

• Rolling over from back to front. She actually did this a few times in late March, but had a growth spurt and hasn't done it since, but she's about to start doing it again.
• Sitting up. She has the head control, but not quite enough control of the rest of her body. She'll sit if we support her, but if we don't, she slumps over immediately.
• Teeth. Rebecca has been exhibiting all the signs of teething for the last few weeks: constant streams of drool, crankiness, gnawing on whatever gets near her mouth.
• Solid foods. Just this past weekend, Rebecca started accepting her rice cereal. And last night she ate about 8 or 9 little spoonfuls. At this rate, we'll be able to add a second serving of cereal next week, and maybe a different flavor / texture the next week.

Rebecca is officially sleeping through the night now. She'll fall asleep between 10-11pm and sleep until 7-8am. Its wonderful!

Super Kathryn: Episode 7

Kathryn had about twenty minutes left before bedtime, so she wanted to play "Super Kathryn" with me. I told her that I didn't know how to play, but she promised to explain it to me. Basically, it's Kathryn telling a story while everyone else (in this case, just me) follows her. As she explained the basic story, I typed it. Here, for your enjoyment, is the background of Super Kathryn: Episode 7.

Kathryn: "In Super Kathryn: Episode 7, Super Kathryn and her team..."
Me: "Who's the team?"
K: "AJ, Katie, Lava Girl, and, of course, Super Kathryn their leader. And their new person, Superhero Daddy. They're all walking along, and suddenly Super Kathryn loses her powers."
M: "How did she lose her powers?"
K: "They don't know that. We'll find out in Episode 8."
M: "Oh."

K: "Now they have to go to the Sword & Shield, where they learn how to use the sword to destroy badguys when superheroes lose their powers, and the shield to protect you from badguys trying to hit you."
M: "Do I still have my powers?"
K: "No. You don't have any powers yet. To get powers, you have to go to the "what powers you want" place."
M: "Oh."

Later...
K: "Welcome to the "what powers you want" place. Here. Take this dinosaur. If you say, "Dinosaur, come alive!" you will be a dinosaur. And then, when you try to talk, you will scare the badguys away with your loud roar! Very useful."
M: "OK."

Our Disney Trip

I don't have time to write too much about the trip right now (and most of you have either heard about it already, or you're waiting to hear about it from Kathryn). But here are the pictures we took. You can view them at Snapfish.com.

Another Nelson Enters the World!

Randy and Amber are now the proud uncle and aunt of Christopher Paul Nelson! Christopher arrived in the world at 11:37 a.m. yesterday (February 18, 2007). He weighed 8 lbs., 11 oz. and he was 22 inches long. Congratulations to Paul and Christina and to the whole Nelson clan! Pictures to come... hopefully <that's a hint, Randy>.

Rebecca's 4-month-old update

Kristin sent out this e-mail today. Just in case she missed someone (I doubt it), I'll duplicate it here:

Greetings everyone!

I can't believe how the time has flown. Rebecca is 4 months old and has grown and changed so much! I have to apologize for not sending out an update at 2 months, the last time she was at the doctor's, but we had spotty Internet connection that week, and then got caught up in the Christmas rush.

Here are the numbers:

Birth: 6 lbs 9 oz, 19 1/2 in

2 mo: 9 lbs 5 oz, 21 1/2 in (25th percentile)

4 mo: 12 lbs 1 oz, 24 in (weight between 10 and 25th percentile; height between 25 and 50 percentile)

So, even though she's on the small side, she's growing very consistently, and there is no need to worry. So its time to move up to the 3-6 month size clothes (the 0-3 mo size goes to 12 lbs and 23 1/2 in). I had just noticed yesterday that she was stretching the sleeper she was wearing, and decided to get out the larger size this weekend. =)

The activities:

Rebecca is smiling at us, and "talking" to us with a wide variety of sounds. We're even starting to get occasional laughs, though we can't always tell what is prompting the laughter, let alone get her to do it again. She's also starting to use her hands...the thumb is making it into the mouth with more frequency, and small toys and light blankets come along with her when we pick her up. Once or twice while I've been holding her, she's reached for my face and it seemed a deliberate motion, rather than a random one, which gives me this warm tingly feeling.

Rebecca is also starting to squirm a lot. She's no longer lying down like a lump wherever we put her. She's not (quite) at the rolling over stage, but she's definitely working on it, because she can get up onto her side or rotate herself through a 90 degree turn. When she's on her tummy, Rebecca is not yet using her arms to push herself up, and she gets frustrated really quickly that she can't see whats going on. It's really cute, because she gets her bottom higher into the air than she gets her head. =)

Teething. Ouch. The drool, the random crying, the drool and the associated dry skin on the cheeks and chin, combined with the two white spots I can see on the lower gums all point to the fact that those first teeth are on their way. Who knows when they'll appear, but we'll all be relieved when they do.

Sleeping like a baby. Rebecca has always been a good sleeper, giving me 4 hour stretches from birth. She would have a nightly "fussy" period from about 10pm - 2am, where she would want to nurse constantly. Then, at about 2 months, the fussy time shifted to 10pm- 1am. But at the 3 month mark, she made a distinct shift in pattern. When she turned 3 months, this nightly marathon vanished. (YAY!) She started to carry the feeding intervals that we'd settled into during the day (every couple of hours) into and through the evenings. She'd be eating for the last time between 11:30 - 12:30, and then sleeping until 5-7am. And in the last 2 weeks, she's started falling asleep around 11pm, after eating at 10:30, and sleeping until 6 or 7am! So we're actually in a nighttime routine! Its wonderful! This past Monday morning (Jan 29) I was woken up by the alarm clock instead of a crying baby. What an odd occurrence! =)