Grade: B

The new Robin Hood movie is pretty mediocre. It is lacking the adventurous feel of the old Robin Hood movies, and orphans too many interesting threads of plot. In the end, it really doesn’t convey a memorable story.

This movie is the precursor to the Kevin Costner Robin Hood movie that kicked ass in the 90′s. That movie was tight, concise, well written, and action packed the whole time.

This new movie, while the acting, especially Russel Crowe and Maid Marion, is quite good, falls far short. It is good entertainment though. A few good action scenes and some amazing trick-shots with a bow and arrow.

My major gripe is that there are too many characters introduced, too many “short stories” told about them, and very few of those stories ever conclude. Robin’s father, for example, gets about 5 minutes of screen time. The point of his appearance is to explain why Robin becomes a fighter against the tyrannical monarchy, but even a computer scientist like myself knows that writers need to develop a character more for him to impact the viewer. This such quick flash story happens at least five times. Big wonder why I can’t remember the exact count: The story just wasn’t that memorable.

Plus, who does a PG-13 action movie anyway??. No blood and no breasts, what a letdown!

The arch villain looked just like my girlfriend’s ex, and when he inevitably dies, we got a good smile.

I just discovered that you need to set your facebook albums private, one by one. They are set to visibility “everyone” by default. Their privacy policy is ridiculous. On one hand, I wouldn’t have posted these pictures if they weren’t ok for everyone to see. On the other hand, can’t FB have some common sense before using default setting “everyone” if the rest of your profile is fairly locked down? Some people will someday have to look for a job, and may care about their web persona!

School is wrapping up for the semester. Lots of work, but all of it is enjoyable. My Thesis proposal is being put through the wringer this week.

If anyone wants the password for the post below, just drop a comment and I’ll send it to you.

Heinz “57 flavors” ketchup actually has zero flavor. I realized this while grilling hot dogs for lunch. I have delicious whole-seed mustard, some nice hot pickle relish, but I’ll be damned if I’ve ever found a ketchup that has any taste. It wasn’t always this way, and I remember topping my chicken nuggets (didn’t eat the beefs back then) with incredibly delicious, red, sweet, tangy ketchup.

Perhaps Heinz has changed their recipe to accommodate diabetics, high blood pressure folks, or people not allowed to have flavors. It sucks.

When finals are over, I’m making myself a big batch of Spicy Homemade Ketchup, according to this recipe from Emeril: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/spicy-homemade-ketchup-recipe/index.html

You want to put this on your burger:
* 3 pounds very ripe tomatoes, coarsely chopped
* 1 1/2 teaspoons vegetable oil
* 1 small onion, finely chopped
* 1 large clove garlic, minced
* 1/4 cup light brown sugar
* 1/2 teaspoon ground mustard
* 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
* 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
* 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
* 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
* 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
* Pinch ground cinnamon
* 1/4 cup cider vinegar
* Salt

Can’t stop playing this. It is terrible yet so addictive.