Party Donations

Rufus' 5th birthday is just around the corner. I still can't believe it.
Anyone that knows Rufus, knows he has everything he could ever need or want and we would like to take the opportunity for this year's party to give to those in need.

There are many local rescue shelters which we donate to often, however, for Rufus' birthday we would like to spotlight one that is close to our family, even though it's over 400 miles from our home.

Carolina Poodle Rescue http://www.carolinapoodlerescue.org/
Although poodle is in their name, up at their Dreamweaver Farms rescue they have all sorts of different dogs and even horses. We first came to know of this wonderful place through my mother in law who is an active volunteer with them (yes 400+ miles away!).
2006 was - the start of Dreamweaver Farms and Rufus was born. They both turn 5 this year!

I don't think it's a coincidence that their initials CPR are also the acronym for a life saving action. CPR rescues animals that have been abused, abandoned or neglected. Some from breeders that don't see the value in their breeding poodle any longer. Some that have spent their entire life in a crate just to be let out to breed. Some that have just been found wandering the street. They all find a home at Dreamweaver Farms. Then comes the adoption process.

When we decided to get a poodle from Rufus' breeder, we thought it was us doing the prospecting. Even more, his breeder Tes interviewed us and made sure that our potential puppy would be going to a safe, caring home. CPR also has a thorough homing process. They check the people, homes and in most cases, the people are encouraged to come to the farm to meet the poodle face to face. Sometimes after picking a dog online, you meet them in person and it's not the right fit, but there's another dog there that you meet while you're there and it's just a fit.

To check out some great stories of adoptions, check out their site http://www.carolinapoodlerescue.org/happyTails.shtml

As with most rescue organizations, monetary donations go the furthest. Some items that are currently in need are:

Paper, pens, and dual pocket folders
Bleach, paper towels and toilet paper
Snap together adjustable collars for very tiny size (need mostly tiny) up to large
Sturdy dog tennis balls (No stuffed or squeaky toys)

If you would like to give a general donations and specify what the donation is for, you can do that. If you don't specify, the farm will get whatever the greatest need is at the time.
You can donate easily at http://carolinapoodlerescue.org/giving.shtml

Let's all get together and help these dogs. We think we're rescuing these dogs, but really, they're rescuing our hearts.

We are blessed to be able to get together, celebrate Rufus' birthday and bless CPR all at the same time. Thank you for your help and hope to see you at Rufus' party 07/30/11!

Doggy day care

Zeke is over for a few more days. He and Rufus are such best buds. Eat together, both sleep with their paws in the air and even spy on the neighbors together. This is just after the storm Saturday night. Our power was out for just over 3 hours.

New layout

August is just about gone and it's time for a fall-inspired layout. Bring on the cooler weather!

I'll get around to changing out the title bar pics from Hawaii and the Bahamas this weekend hopefully. Enjoy Rufus' end of summer haircut. Excuse the quality, that's what you get with camera phones!

Before - big baby bear

And after - Afro!

Doggy treat recipes from Rufus' 3rd birthday

On July 26th Rufus turned 3. I still can't believe it! Of course we had a birthday party :) We technically can celebrate his birthday on both the 25th and 26th because of the time he was born (if you missed that story, check it out here).

This year's theme was Hawaiian island. We had all sorts of leis and luau food for the people including DH's special smoked pulled pork, a tropical chicken salad and pineapple upside down cupcakes for the people. Everyone loved it all. We ended up with 20 people and about 15 dogs. Of course I didn't get any photos of the treats, I barely got to taste any of the food! Will work on that for the next party. Photos from the party will be up soon!

With the price of store bought treats and the questioning of ingredients, I love to bake treats for Rufus at home. We used to have a great doggy bakery in town, where we got his 1st bday cake, but they've since moved. For Ruf's birthday this year, we had a nice array of easy treats. I love easy treat recipes, ones with all natural ingredients that can be found in most pantries. And I wouldn't give my dog anything to eat that I wouldn't eat (or at least try) myself.
I've had a lot of requests for this 1st recipe. It's from a dog cookbook titled 'Cooking the Three Dog Bakery Way' by Mark Beckloff and Dan Dye which was actually a gift from my aunt for Ruf's 2nd birthday.
Here's a photo my MIL took while we were singing Happy Birthday to Ruf with the candle on his pupcake

It says it makes (2) 8 inch cakes, but I made cupcakes (or pupcakes) and it made about 12 total. (I made 2 batches, recipe below is for 12 pupcakes or 2 8 inch cakes)

PAWSHAKE CAKE
(2) cups whole wheat flour
(2) teaspoons baking powder
(1/2) cup honey
(1/3) cup unsalted peanut butter (I used chunky)
(1) large egg
(1) cup skim milk
(1/4) cup chopped unsalted peanuts

Preheat oven to 350 deg F.
Spray baking pans with nonstick vegetable spray and dust with flour (or insert cupcake liners).
Stir together flour and baking powder and set aside.
In large bowl, cream together the honey and peanut butter with an electric mixer or wooden spoon.
Beat in the egg and milk.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until smooth.
Pour the batter in the cake or cup cake pans (about 1/3 way full if making cup cakes).
Sprinkle the top with peanuts.
Bake 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the top comes out clean.Cook to room temperature.
Store in airtight container for up to 3 days, or wrap well and freeze for up to 2 months (thaw before serving).

Can be frosted with this frosting (we skipped it for the party, may be too messy for 20 or so dogs at once!)
(1) 8 oz. package low-fat cream cheese, softened
(3) tablespoons carob powder (usually found at health food stores)
(1) tablespoon pure vanilla extract
Combine all ingredients and beat until smooth.

Another great and easy treat we had was dehydrated sweet potatoes. You can make them in a dehydrator, but I've found it easier to make in the oven. Preheat oven to 250 deg F. Wash and peel sweet potatoes, microwave for a minute or two to soften, slice approx. 1/4-1/3 inch thick slices, arrange single layer on cookie sheet, bake for about 2-3 hours, or a little longer for crunchier treats, checking often to make sure they're not burning.

We also had these two types of treats which came from this website. I loved that I could just throw everything together in my Kitchenaid mixer!

Chunky Peanut Butter Molasses Cookies
4 cups whole wheat flour2 cups oatmeal
½ - ¾ cup chunky peanut butter
2½ cups hot water2 Tbs molasses
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350° F (180° C).
Mix all ingredients together, adding more hot water if dough is too sticky. Knead well. Roll out to ¼" and cut into shapes with cookie cutter (I used a dog bone shaped cutter, may want to roll out a little thicker than 1/4 inch so they bake up a little thicker, some of our thin ones burnt). Bake on greased cookie sheet for 40 minutes (or until lightly browned). Turn off heat and let cool in oven overnight (we skipped this too, baked them the day of the party, they cooled for 6 or so hours on racks).

Savory Peanut Butter Biscuits with Cheese
1 cup flour
½ cup milk
2 Tbs peanut butter
2 Tbs grated parmesan cheese
1 tsp baking powder (I forgot to add this and they came out like discs, but everyone still loved them!)
1 egg white
1 Tbs chicken broth
Directions: Preheat oven to 350° F (180° C). Mix flour and milk until lumpy. Add Peanut butter and chicken broth. Mix parmesan cheese with first four ingredients. Add egg white. Mix well or until it has the consistency of pancake batter. Add baking powder. Pour onto cookie sheet sprayed with nonstick spray, in 3-inch diameter blobs. Cook until golden brown. Serve cool.

More treat recipes to come in future posts. For now, happy baking!

Take your dog to work Day!

Today was 'Take your dog to work day' here in the US (or maybe international?). Rufus loves his daily nap time at home while I'm at work, so he went in with me after work until 5. He naps a little while at work, but always has to be supervising and knowing everything that's going on. Here are a couple examples

First, napping. This is the view I saw if I looked under my desk (I had to crouch under to take this pic)

Next - the supervisor

Weekend recap

Quick post today - I love that it's lighter later now - DH and I just got back in from gardening. Pics and details on that later, let's get you caught up on some of this past weekend.

Friday night was pretty quiet. I think we watched some race on TV, which means I went to bed early :)
Saturday early morning DH and I went and picked up my MIL and one of her pups Clancy and went down to the ribbon cutting ceremony for the New Smyrna Beach boardwalk. The event was sponsored by Southeast Volusia County Humane Society, Friends of Smyrna Dunes Park, the Obedience Club, Chris' Critter Sitters , and others. This officially opened the boardwalk back up to dogs (leashed dogs that is). Aside from the ribbon cutting, there were demonstrations of obedience and pet first aid. DH and I are interested in the 6-8 hour Pet Tech First Aid class - it covers a lot of good information.

I'll fill you in on the rest of the weekend tomorrow. For now, enjoy some pics from Saturday morning - as you can see, the weather was perfect. And make sure to check out flickr for more pics (and a couple videos) from the day.

Boardwalk ribbon cutting ceremony

The pretty (and long!) boardwalk

My 2 boys - DH + Rufus (in the background is Disappearing Island where DH proposed to me!)
And everyone enjoyed the water, here's Beans and Clancy
Yes, I said everyone - even Rufus!

Weekend recap

It was a lazy weekend for us. Friday we had Giuseppe's pizza and wings which was delicious! I called ahead to get takeout and thankfully I did - there was a waiting line out the door. Their food is always worth the wait though. We watched The Rocker with Rainn Wilson. It was just so so. We really enjoy Rainn as Dwight Schrute from The Office but this movie was more geared toward teeny-boppers similar to Mean Girls and other such movies.

Saturday we worked around the house - laundry, gardening, boat projects. We went to Bob's 2x on Saturday! Our boat trailer is almost brand new. Sandy and Kevin are now out on vacation until March 9, so we'll miss them next weekend. Saturday night we went out to dinner with DH's dad and step mom to a local favorite, The Chart House. The food is always top notch and my in-laws go there so often, everyone knows their names so it's like their 'Cheers'. They've got a new manager who wasn't very friendly as the previous manager, but Chef Alex was there and friendly and courteous as usual. His personal recommendation - the seasonal Cashew Crusted Sole. We had already ordered the Pu Pu platter as an app before he came out to greet us. He sent out some extra polenta fries which were superb - what can be better than fried grits?! Also on the platter: lobster spring rolls, cajun shrimp and scallops with mango salsa - yum!

And of course, I had to try Chef's recommendation. DH's dad and I both had the sole. Who could have thought cashew crust on fish? Oh it was good. Served with fingerling potatoes and grilled veggies. We all had the wonderful salad bar as well - fresh tossed caesar salad, caviar, the best salad dressing.

DH had prime rib and a HUGE Australian lobster tail and MIL had another seasonal item - hazelnut trout with shrimp, parmesan risotto and veggies. As always, we finished off dinner with a molten lava cake dessert (had to order that right when we arrived -
Godiva Chocolate Liqueur, molten center, Dreyer’s vanilla ice cream, served with warm
chocolate sauce and Heath Bar Crunch) and the best creme brulee I have ever tasted. Man that was a good dinner. DH and I were stuffed after and basically went home and went to bed.

Sunday was one of the worst days of weather we've had in a while. We couldn't get much outside work done at all. It started off with dark gray skys and then wind and sideways rain. And it was COLD, maybe no warmer than 60. I was out on the phone talking to my SIL when Rufus and I saw this:

The pool was covered in suds!! For a second it looked like snow, but then my brain set in and reminded me that while it's cold, it wasn't that cold, then I noticed the suds being wisked away by the 20 MPH gusts of wind. I ran inside to alert DH and he nonchalantly said, oh, yeah I put some treatment in there and that's normal. Nice of him to tell me and Rufus. ;) All was forgiven when he pulled out this delicious, perfectly smoked chicken a short time later.

Today is my MIL's birthday - Happy Birthday! It's freezing here so we're not going out to the monthly dog night at Ritters. Maybe next month.

Vets and candles

Just another Thrursday today. Rufus went to the vet to get his heartworm prevention meds and got weighed - at 2-1/2 years old he is 96 lbs. Not too bad considering he was 94lbs on 06/27/08 and 93lbs on 07/27/07. Our vet is building a new building and it's looking great so far. Their current building is pretty small, but the vets are so nice. After the vet, Rufus looked like he wated to go back to work with me, so here he is all jolly in the car. (don't worry, we were at a stop light when I took this pic!)

I know I mentioned the quarter auction at the Partylite meeting the other night. My mom won a beautiful Moroccan Spice Lantern with universal tealight tree (which is an awesome insert that is like a ladder for tealights and allows many levels of light, as in this photo) and a trio of glass candle holders similar to the set in the photo, but not frosted stems, more decorative stems. Oh, and we won the necklace and braclet set which isn't shown here.

Here's a display of the items I won.

So, we've got the Whispering Pines Tree Votive tree set (9inch and 12inch) which I only took 1 out of the box for the photo. I have a set of these and they're great during the fall and winter holidays, $32.95/set. Then there's ball candles (blue, box says Woodland Spice, but I don't agree $17.95/pr) and Iced Snowberries snowball candle $15.95/pr. I have a set of the smaller snowball candles and love them - such a different type of candle! The snowball's sitting on the Deco Ball Tray ($20?) and then pillar garland which there's a closeup in the next photo, so pretty, retails $12.95.


There's $91 worth of product for about $4, and that's not including the jewlery or the big ticket items my mom got which probably retailed for about $95 ($40 for trio, $45 for lantern, $10 for tealight tree).

And that's about the gist of it for today. No big news. I still don't know what we're having for dinner. Guess I should start planning out the week again, that seemed to always work out well. I'm excited to watch Lost from last night - that show intrigues me and makes me mad at the same time. The late time slot and cliffhangers from commercial to commercial have made us record it and watch it the next day.

Weekend recap

Friday was Uncle Nick's memorial service. It was a nice service full of good memories of times with Nick. The service was at my FIL's church Seventh Day Baptist Church of Daytona Beach. The church building has been around since the early 1900s, but the chuch itself started in Daytona in 1884! It's a beautiful little church with tons of character, from the wooden floors to the stained glass to the aged pews. After the service, Nick's ashes were released into the Halifax River near the Orange Ave. brige, one of his favorite old fishing holes. A reception was held at one of his brother's houses in South Daytona.

After the memorial, DH and I went home and watched The Mummy 3: The Tomb of the Dragon Emperor. I'll call it entertaining. No where near as good as the first 2, but I stayed awake and that usually means something. Brendan Fraser was back as Rick O'Connell, but instead of the great Rachel Wiesz as his wife, a new lady was cast, Maria Bello, who was ok, but has done better work. Jet Li was the Emperor, and he was ok too.

Saturday DH and I did some work around the house, went to lunch with his mom and step-dad and then ran some errands. Rufus had a playdate at my MIL's in the afternoon and then we stopped at the new ice cream shop Neighbors for doggy day around 6pm. Ruf approves of their ice cream, but we still prefer Ritter's for dog night as Neighbors had limited outside area for all the pups.
Sunday was the finale of Winterjam with the Volkswagon show in Port Orange around the City Center lake. DH and I went over around noon and there were already a ton of people and MANY cars and vans around the lake. The weather couldn't have been better. And get this - they had food as usual, but Hooters was there! So nice to have their wings and not have to drive across town for them. We met a big black stnd poodle named Willy and I wished I had brought Rufus. But then after walking around with all the people, I was glad he had stayed home - it would have been too much for him. Here are a few photos of the day, taken from my camera phone which has pretty good photo quality in daylight.

Weekend Recap 1 - Rufus' haircut

My little Rufus was due for a haircut soon so we decided to have it done before we went on vacation. We've been to Petco before, their price is reasonable but one time they kept him for 9 hours, so that's always in the back of my mind. There's a small place right down the street from our house called Pauline's that is about 30% more in price, but they usually only take 4 hours and it's local, but it usually takes at least 2 week notice to get an appt there. We've been there a few times but decided to try the other option in town which is in between on the price scale, Petsmart. They're on the other side of town, but we got an early appt. for last Saturday so I figured I could do some shopping and also get some stuff done around the house while Ruf was out. So this is what he looked like before.I brought him in at 8am and the lady Ruth was very nice. She went over what I thought was every detail on how I wanted his hair cut. They even had a little chart with fake fur so we could choose the correct length clippers. We ended up going with a #4 on his body and face, a little longer on the back of his hind legs because the hair is thinner back there, clean poodle feet, and the shaved base of the tail. Plus all the standards like brush out, bath, dry, ears, nails, teeth. I then kissed and hugged my little bear and left him in Ruth's hands. About 4 hours later, Ruth called and Rufus was almost ready. I drove up there to get my big boy! This above pic was taken Wednesday at work. You may notice something different. Everything was great except that SHE SHAVED HIS TOP KNOT! For anyone that knows poodles, you know you scissor their top knot (hair on top of their head) just to clean up and stray hairs. But no, she saved it. I know it'll grow back, but he looks like he's got a shrunken head now. :( She did great on the other parts though, so we may give her another shot in 4 months. Good note, in the planned Pavillion at Port Orange here in town, they've got a Petsmart on the drawings so that will be great coming this fall.

After Rufus' haircut, I knew he would need some good play time, so after a nap, we went to my MIL's to play with her pups. More photos from that playdate here
This is a good shot she got of Rufus in the sunlight, shaved top knot and all!

Mail order steaks

Look what arrived on our doorstep last week - Mail order steaks from Omaha Steaks.
DH got the American Celebration with the Omaha Steaks gift card his sis got him from Christmas. I think we're set for a while.We had the stuffed sole with potatoes au gratin the first night, it was delish as previously mentioned.
This package came with:
(4) 5 Oz Top Sirloin Steaks
(4) 4 Oz Boneless Pork Chop
(2) 4.5 Oz Stfd Sole with shrimp and crab
(8) Gourmet Franks
(4) 5 Oz Filet Mignon
(10) Potatoes Au Gratin
(4) Omaha Steaks Burgers
Bonus - (6) Omaha Steaks Burgers and (1) Cutlery Set W/cutting Board
Over the past week, DH has had a couple burgers he said were good as well as one of the sirloins (a little tough) and a filet mignon (ok, nice and tender).
We got a free knife set and cutting board with purchase. Here's Rufus checking it all out as usual. The knives are bendable, sort of like gag knives. What a joke! And the cutting board. I think my printer paper is thicker than that thing. Good thing they were free! :)

DH had an experience one time years ago when he lived in CA with a door to door meat salesman. He and his roommates paid about $150 for a freezer full of meat they said was some of the best beef and pork they've had. We had a guy come around a couple months ago, but we had just eaten dinner and were too full to think about getting anything from him. I tried to find him before Christmas and couldn't. Guess they have to find you!

Anyone have experience with door to door or mail order meats?

Weekend recap

Thursday and Friday of last week were burn out days for me. I've been pretty busy at work, which is a good thing. I wasn't able to go with MIL to bring Blaze down to Miami area for his flight to CA, but everything went well and he's been enjoying his first few days with his new family in CA.

Thursday we had a Sears rep come out to give an estimate for new windows. The more we think about it, the more we think we can just buy the windows of our choosing and install them ourselves into our block openings. If we get in a bind, we could always hire a handyman to help out. That way we can get all vinyl impact windows (if you don't have impact windows in our area and you're getting new windows, you must have shutters, cut and labeled plywood or some other type of hurricane protection). I'll have to do another all about windows post later. We've got a couple more companies coming out this week to give us estimates. This is a double hung window. Most windows these days tilt in for easy cleaning.
Saturday was a rejuvenate day, a much needed relax day. DH neared completion of his re-routing our cable project. Let me just say it seems like hired cable people just run the quickest, easiest job. We found about 4 splitters and more than 50 extra feet of coaxial cable in the attic and around the house. DH ran the cable how it was supposed to be ran (or how we think was best), moved the splitters to inside the attic so they won't be affected by the weather and now we've got crystal clear cable reception.

Sunday my friend Missy came over and cut nearly 5 inches of my hair! It was scary. It's still about down to my shoulder blades in the back, so it's still long. Just will take some getting used to. Must not be too drastic of a change because not many people noticed yet. She also fixed my super dark roots, so I'm back to blond. She's the best! Can't beat catching up with a friend at your house while she does your hair.

In other news - Rufus got out of our backyard yesterday (we left the gate open). We were watching TV and started wondering where he was, since he's usually always hanging out with us. Then DH said the gate may have been left open, so I went to the front door to go outside to look for him and there he was, just smiling and staring in patiently waiting for us to let him in! What a good boy. He got lots of hugs and treats after that one!
We saw a couple movies over the last week or so. Pineapple Express and 7 Pounds. Pineapple Express was one of those movies where you have to be in the mood for it. I stayed awake for the whole thing. Some parts were pretty funny. As slap-stick as the movie was, Seth Rogan and James Franco were actually pretty good.

7 Pounds is with Will Smith, I'll try not to give away any of the movie, but if you don't want to know my opinion of this movie, STOP READING (I personally don't like it when people tell me if they liked or disliked a movie before I see it because as much as I try to not weigh their opinion to mine, I still try to figure out why they came up with their opinion of it - I'd rather see it first, then they can tell me their opinion).

Last chance, remember, don't read this next part if you don't want my opinion of the movie!
For about 3/4 of the movie, DH and I were trying to guess what the movie was about, what the point was, then at the end, it all summed it up. We guessed what it was about, but thought they should have at least hinted a little more about Will Smith's character's motivation. Definitely a heart wrenching tear jerker, so be prepared if you see it. The same director and producing team from Will Smith's earlier life-touching movie The Pursuit of Happiness (which I haven't seen yet!). I always like Will Smith, even back in the Fresh Prince of Bellair days. This movie's kind of slow in places, but Will Smith seems to keep it going. Stick with it, it's a story of sacrifice and redemption. Rosario Dawson is great, as is Woody Harrelson even in the short amount of time he's in the movie. Even after the movie, I couldn't figure out the meaning behind the title. http://www.imdb.com/ suggests the meaning (don't visit this site if you don't want spoilers, the synopsis explains what the movie is about - that would have kept DH and I front being confused for the first 3/4 but I still don't like to know too much about movies I'm going to see). I just read the mystery behind the trailers and the majority of the movie is intentinoal: Director Gabriele Muccino explained the intent: "The [audience] will not know exactly what this man is up to." Good job on that one :)

Catchup

Rufus came to work with me again today. This is a photo from a few weeks ago when he was 'on the clock'

Friday I went and toured 4 Ever Fitness and last night I had my first work out there. I went arond 6:15 and it was not packed at all. Very nice. Dan, the manager, took me through the circuit strength training and I also put in some time on the stationary bike and treadmill - making sure to keep my heart rate at aerobic level of around 150. I was not tired at all afterward. I'm going tonight to check out the YMCA. The Y will be a little more each month, but they offer the cardio classes that I love such as the pilates class I'm going to tonight. I'll weigh both options and make my decision this weekend.

Saturday and Sunday DH and I worked on house projects including door trim for some of the interior doors and finishing up the base boards. All of the rooms are now finished with the base, and we've just got 4 closets left to do. It's looking great. These are 2 different doors, but same before (first) and after (second). Please excuse the photo quality, I'll get better ones later.

Monday I was in Stuart for business again. That's actually not a bad drive at all. I prefer I-95 to I-4, but more of the business is along the I-4 corridor. Looks like I'll be going south down I-95 again Friday with my MIL to bring Blaze to Miami area so he can fly out to CA on Saturday. Speaking of California, DH and I got our tickets to go out there! We almost got a great deal out of Orlando airport, but I just had to check Daytona airport one more time (even though those flights had doubled since I last checked), and wha-la, flights from Daytona were reasonable! We figured in the $100 for parking if we flew from Orlando, plus the gas, plus the hassle of the busy MCO airport and we decided it was best to go out of Daytona. So, we fly out early early Jan. 30 for a short trip to San Diego. I'm really looking forward to it!

Happy New Year

We cooked a whole chicken on the new grills rotisserie on New Years Day. It was great, we're still eating it. You know Rufus liked it too.
During these long holiday weekends, DH and I have been catching up on the new movie rental releases. Recently, we've watched 'Wanted', 'House Bunny', and 'Death Race'.

'Wanted' is with Angelina Jolie and Morgan Freeman. I always like both of these actors. It's a sort of sci-fi action flick that's pretty good. It's about an ancient fraternity of assassins who follow who the loom tell them to kill. Yes, an actual loom weaves binary code for the names. As always, they could have left out plenty of the curse words and other raunchy scenes still had a good movie, but that's Hollywood. It's a good watch if you're just looking for cool special effects.

House Bunny was a typical no-brainer chick flick. Well, maybe a little guy flick because it was about a girl who got kicked out of the playboy mansion. She finds a not-so-popular sorority and makes them popular in order to save their house. Very predictable, not so entertaining. It's a Happy Madison film, Adam Sandler's company, so there are a few pretty funny lines in it. The main actress is Anna Farris, who also stars in the Scary Movies.

Death Race is actually a remake of a movie from 1975 with Sly Stallone. The original takes place in the future, which was 2000. The newer movie takes place just a few years away, 2012. The main reason we rented this one was for Jason Statham. He's one of my favorite current action stars. He's been in movies like War, Transporter, Crank, Chaos. This movie was definitely action, but had a few yucky blood scenes. Not for the squeamish (I covered my eyes, mom! :) ). Now we've got to check out the original version, which I'm guessing will be less action packed given their limited CGI access back in the 70s. But it can't be that bad if they did a remake 30 years later, right? I've got a free rental at Blockbuster for an older movie anyway, so if it's terrible, we're not out anymore than a couple hours of our lives.

We also watched 'Eagle Eye' last weekend. It was another 'the government is watching you' movie. Ok for a standard action movie. I don't know about Billy Bob Thorton playing a federal agent. I couldn't look at him during the interrogation scene and not think 'french fried taters, mmm hmmm'.