Neglect, Self-Respect, and a second thought on Wall-E

Yes we're neglectful- there's a reason we don't have kids- mostly I would probably be the dad that forgot to pick the kids up or drop the kids off, or some random combination thereof- heck if I can't keep up with a blog how can I keep up with other things that don't just live at a certain URL. That aside, I feel like I want to address Wall-E first. See I finally put my finger on it: They just kinda took half a movie and stretched it out to let us believe they had a whole story. Now I know there are a lot of people who are all up in arms about the fact that it seems to be making this large statement about enviromentalism/capitalism/Americanism- my thoughts- fine, whatever, I don't care if you have an agenda to push- by all means push it- just don't forget to entertain me while you're doing it. That's just it- the story took the super easy way out. They didn't bother filling in plot holes, they didn't explain many of the aspects that we see, heck they even contradict themsleves during the movie! That's the reason I feel cheated. Yeah, the funny part is that this movie was conceived years ago (same time Toy Story, Monsters Inc., Finding Nemo, and several others were discussed) so do I feel that they were setting out to make a social commentary? No. Am I bothered by the political issues presented? No. The opinion of one group is just that, the opinion of them. To be upset by it would be to contradict everything that I have been taught at home, and in the church. I'm sure many who read this blog agree with what they present, and I am not an anti-enviromentalist by any stretch of the imagination (sorry to break it you but I also don't think that pollution is gonna end the world- maybe spiritual pollution but that's a whole other ball of wax); no, I'm bothered because they just didn't bother to develop a complete story, instead they kinda take the easy way out, and then just end the movie. Ehhh. Not on the same scale as something as great as Toy Story or, for me especially, The Incredibles. I feel that maybe there's a reason this was the last of those movies discussed at that fateful luncheon to be developed- maybe they just didn't have the complete story, and knowing how good they are (were?) they figured, "Hey, we can still do this!" Maybe I'm wrong- I hope I'm not- because I would hate to see the end of the Pixar reign of nothing but quality come to a close. But see here's the thing: Alicia and I saw the first standees and teasers for this a year or two ago at Disneyland and even then I was apprehensive, as was she. Seems my spidey sense for movies hasn't completely left me after 9 years of being movie theater-free. I'm also optimistic because of the short at the beginning- in my honset opinion it was THE BEST short Pixar has ever done. It felt complete, like a whole story, and not just a single joke or a tech demo. So maybe that is a sign of good things still to come. I sure hope so.
Wow- that took a lot longer than it should have. So on a different front... we're hoping to have some pictures posted in the next few days of random San Diego, so that'll be nice I suppose.
I've been surfing a lot- I plan on doing a post on that in the near future about new additions/subtractions from the surf catalog. Until then...

Chris