Ono Grindz

Last Saturday (1/21) we went to lunch at another little place here in Mesa that reminds us of home

We met there with the Moncurs. They live here now. We reconnected with them last year. (For that backstory see the Feb '11 blog post.) It was terrific to catch up over lunch. It's an amazing coincidence how much we have in common. Many years in the Kaneohe Hawaii Stake, both adults in education, and now each couple living with their adult downs syndrome daughter. And we all love "local" foods. Well, Gramma not so much. But she did find a couple of items on the menu that she ate.

Here are the girlz. Alyse, 27 on the left. Becca, 35 on the right. They sat across from each other and chatted happily

Da boyz -- Jim and Papa (note the Reyn's shirts on both -- true sign of cool)

Sharan and Gramma

For dessert Hawaiian cake. Extra credit for those who remember the flavor

The menu was very local -- both Hawaiian and Asian. Sure sign of authenticity -- several couples and little families came in, all wearing sleepas and ordering plate lunches. Glad we went, but Moki's has the edge

Baskin-Robbins

Gramma got a sweet gift card for Christmas from Kelly. Today we scouted out a B-R place in Mesa.

Gramma was especially happy that this store had her favorite flavor - Nutty Coconut. She got two scoops in a waffle cone. Brought back memories of the Baskin-Robbins in Kailua town.

Mahalo Kelly

Mesa Temple Visitors' Center

Today (1/12/12) was a special day for us. It was the Skyline Stake temple day. This weekend is our Stake Conference. Our Bishop suggested that families might want to check out the Visitors' Center at the Mesa Arizona Temple. So we did.

The temple grounds are beautifully tended with many flowers. Gramma liked these. She called them "eggs--sunny side up"

The lobby has an impressive Christus statue.

Our main activity was to watch the film "Joseph Smith, Prophet of the Restoration". We were very impressed with this professionally produced film. The cinematography including the film stock selection and lighting, the casting, locations, details to the costumes, set dressings and backgrounds were all superb. Best of all was the well tailored script, taking us from Joseph's birth to Brigham's arrival in the Salt Lake Valley.

We also spent some fun time at these kiosks watching church PSAs

Out the back door is the Temple.

I like this photo Becca took of me and my girlfriend.

Alvin and the Chipmunks – Chip Wrecked

After viewing a “behind the scenes” thing on TV, Gramma wanted to see this film. So the Auswanderers went the 2:10 showing at our local multiplex, and we were the only ones in that little theater. I told Gramma I reserved the space for her. She liked that.

We have seen several of these Chipmunk films, some better than others, but all rated G. We believe in supporting family films. This one began with Alvin being disobedient on a Carnival Cruise ship. Dave was taking the chipmunks and the chipettes to some music festival. The more Alvin was bad, the more I felt that my review would be negative. But the disobedience moves the plot into the “shipwrecked” part, which was a better part of the film. It also gives the movie a plausible reason to include a nice message about a parent’s unconditional love. (Dave considers the chipmunks his children.) But for the record I think the “shipwrecked” part could have been brought about by less willful disobedience on Alvin’s part.

So with a little suspension of disbelief, all six chipmunks, Dave, along with the slimy bad guy/music agent from previous episodes, wind up on a deserted island and the good part of the film (for me) begins. Some of the shots reminded us of Hawaii. End credits confirmed that some shots were in Hawaii, but others were from Florida and the Bahamas. We like islands.

Now, if you’ve seen “Swiss Family Robinson” (or any of the spin-offs, especially the Phineas and Ferb one), “Gilligan’s Island," Tom Hank’s deserted island film, “Cast Away” and “Treasure Island," nothing in this film is new. Except the major characters are animated chipmunks mixed with live actors and real locations. This is a Huge Exception. What Amazing Technology! If you are a student of film and/or animation it is worth seeing just for the tech part.

I felt the island part of the film, which is 80%, is fun. The six chipmunks are all given consistent personalities and traits which helps drive the plot. There’s even a fun switch of traits between characters for part of the time. I could understand most of the chipmunk dialog, but understood almost zero of the singing lyrics. But, then again, I can’t understand the lyrics of much of the regular popular music of the day. There was a lot of music and dancing. The Chipettes’ dancing routines reminded me of some our granddaughters who love to dance.

Toward the end, there was occasion for the slimy guy to discourse about how “envy, hate and revenge” were wrong. Good for the G rating.

Becca says, “the movie is awesome," “I love the chipmunk movie," and “I love the music”. There you go.

I’m glad we went. It will probably be out on DVD soon. You might want to catch it then

This is Gramma’s Closer Look at the animated movie called Chipwrecked.

I give this movie 2 chocolate-chip cookies and a glass of chocolate milk.

It would be possible to watch this movie without ever giving a thought to how it was made or how many people it took to make it. Have your parents taught you to watch the end credits of a film? The stars of this movie are drawn to not only look like chipmunks but to have a unique personality and voice. I wouldn’t say they are just like real chipmunks because the chipmunks in the movie are way more talented. The chipmunks in the movie can sing and dance and swing on ropes. Real chipmunks could never keep up with that.

This film is not an animation. The animation is mixed with real people and real sets. When real actors are asked to work with animated actors, they have to use their imaginations in a whole new way. They not only have to pretend that they are hot but when they reach for the suntan lotion, they must imagine that they see the chipmunks are squirting the suntan oil on the deck but then they must imagine which way the chipmunks are running so they can pretend to chase them. The actors will be filmed chasing the chipmunks when there are NO chipmunks. The chipmunks will be added later.

Chipwrecked is a great film because all these pieces and parts come together so well that most people will never even think about them because they are done so seamlessly.

This kind of movie that is a combination of live action and animation is not new. One of the first series of animation films that Disney did was the series called Alice, which combined the real little curly haired girl, Alice in an animated environment. Another artist did an animation called Out of the Ink Well which starred an animated clown in a real environment. Yes, these were black and white productions but the basic production process was the same. Anchors Aweigh was mostly a live action film but there is a place where Gene Kelly dances with Jerry, of Tom & Jerry and it is in color. Who Framed Roger Rabbit was also in color but the animated-live action combination was through-out the entire movie. Both were milestones at the time. Recently, the animation part of a film like this is done on a computer. Some people seem to think that this makes it easier. Don’t believe it. At lease not until there is only one name listed in the credits. You will know when that happens, if you make it a habit to always watch the credits go by at the end of the movie.

Other films with similar quality that you may want to see: Enchanted, The Chipmunk Christmas Movie, and Hop

More baking adventures

#1 Pillsbury has pre-made "Giant" biscuits. The store was out, so we got the tiny roll

The tiny ones, unbaked, look like this. Some would call them regular size.

They cooked up pretty good and they were tasty.

#2 Before she baked the tiny biscuits, Gramma baked her homemade cookie recipe. This is the recipe she perfected for her chocolate chip cookies. Instead of walnuts and chocolate, she used pecans and butterscotch chips. Super Ono!

#3 Finally, last night, the Queen of Pie Crust, baked her first pie in the new oven.

The pie was beautiful and tasty. But Gramma felt that after her long time out of the game, she'll need more practice to regain her perfection.

I'm all for helping with that practice.