News Around da Twin Cities

So a bear was sighted in the neighborhood of da wood. A BEAR! Apparently, bears are known to wander into the metro this time of year looking for a place to hibernate. According to authorities, we humans shouldn't be alarmed, but to be quite honest, I really don't know what I would do if, for example, I was walking around the corner of our place to get the mail when lo and behold, there's a black grizzly wandering in my direction. The only survival tip that comes to mind is to play dead...but in my fear, would I remember even that? They say not to panic because, just like they say for other nasty rodents, they are more scared of you than you of them. Suuuuuure. They say, as long as you're not trying to harm them, they will leave you alone...for the most part. For the most part?!

The authorities have not caught anything just yet (and by caught, I mean, use the tranquilizer gun thingy and drag him back into the woods), but a lot of calls came through about a black grizzly wandering around the shopping area not too far from where we live. In fact, it was sighted near Lifetime Fitness, the gym that hubby frequents! That is just way too close to home!

But my question is, if they have a tendancy to wander into the metro area during this time of year, where are they usually spending their days? Are they really that close to us that we realize? I mean, after winter is done, how likely will I be to run into a bear if I went out for a run?

See peoples...just another thing to add to my list of reasons of why people should hibernate, too!

Peter Jackson flicks

Everyone has been talking about this movie as one of the last huge blockbusters of the year...and I have to agree. Directed by Peter Jackson, director of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, it did not disappoint with delivering a 3-hour flick that only resulted in me wanting more. As hubby commented, it was like a LOTR three-hours and not like a Dances With Wolves three-hours. It was good! It was intense! It was awesome! (And btw: hubby and I have been on a Lord of the Rings trip these past couple of days. We popped in the Special Editions and have been soaking up anything and everything Middle Earth. It just reminds me what great movies these are and what huge fans we are!) And maybe I'm not a very good movie critic because honestly, i'm easily impressed. I'm not one of those viewers to continually point out the CGI graphics, the green screen effects, and whatnot; rather, I am one of those people who will get so into the movie that even when the most obvious is about to happen, I will be genuinely surprised and shocked that it did! I'm such a dork! Lol!

Again, the movie was intense...dinosaurs, freaky natives, bugs (and ya'll know how I DETEST bugs!), and oh yes, a huge ass chimp! It's got its moments where I was like, "okay, THAT was weird." If you've already seen it, I'm talking about the vaudeville entertainment show for Kong and the ice skating/sliding around scene. If you haven't seen it, don't worry, I didn't ruin anything...according to hubby, those scenes were put it to show the "connection" between the blonde and the chimp. Ha. Ok. Whatever. I really did like Adrien Brody's character. Here's another one of those leading men, not Brad Pitt-esque, but still quite romantic and sexy in a way. Who cares about the huge nose! But really, just his willingness to keep on going to save the girl was just totally heart melting...wow...damn.

But okay, enough about the huge ass chimp, let's talk about the movie reviews for May 2006 for a sec. I think that May is going to be quite anticipated by lots of moviegoers- here's just a list of what's coming out!

- The DaVinci Code. Starring Tom Hanks and Audry Tautou (from Amelie), and Ian McKellen (plays Gandalf in LOTR). If you have yet to read the book, please do so BEFORE the movie comes out! This Dan Brown novel is such an intelligently woven suspense thriller that will leave you questioning all the things that you already know. If you've read the book, you know what I'm talking about. After I saw the new trailer, I was totally psyched, but also kinda freaked out. I heard that Harrison Ford was also up for the main character, but I think either way, Tom Hanks will do a great job, too.
The DaVinci Code opens up on May 19, 2006.

- X-Men 3. Jean Grey returns stronger than ever as the Phoenix. Cyclops. Storm. Rogue and IceMan. A very pissed off Wolverine and a whole new bunch that includes Beast and Angel. It's funny because I was never a big fan of X-Men until the movie...the only Marvel Comics superheroes that I was familiar with was SpiderMan and Batman! In any case, this is going to be the big showdown that can't be missed.
X-Men opens up on May 26, 2006.

- Mission Impossible 3. Okay, let me just say that I'm tired and done with the whole Tom Cruise-Katie Holmes otherwise known as TomKat fiasco. Too much attention, too much media, too much exposure, just plain too much is just sickening. BUT, haha, there's always a 'but' in there, I really enjoyed the Mission Impossible movies thus far and will probably head out to the theaters to catch the latest (and maybe the last?) one. Of course we can expect the directors to out-do the last one, make it more heart-stopping, more intense, more thrilling, and all the other mores you could think of to make it the best. And that alone will make me want to see it...'cuz it's all about the movie experience!
MI:3 opens up on May 5, 2006.

There you have it ya'll...the best is yet to come!