Posts tagged meeting
“The Five-Year Engagement” More Like the Five-Year Movie
0“More Like the Five-Year Movie”
“Hotshots” looks at a movie!
The Five-Year Engagement was made by the same people who made the 2008 Forgetting Sarah Marshall, and so it must be good, right?
Well, yes and no. Yes, it is good in some places, and no, it is not good in other places, mainly the scenes that go on for too long and the scenes that should have been cut in the first place.
Jason Segal and Emily Blunt star as Tom and Violet. They met a year ago at a New Year’s Eve party, which we keep seeing in flashbacks at various times throughout the movie.
They get engaged, and during a meeting with Tom’s relatives to plan the engagement party, one of the men comments that the men will all be wearing yarmulkes, of course. Violet says to Tom that he doesn’t have a yarmulke, and he replies that he does and, “It’s in my Jewish drawer.”
The story begins in San Francisco, and you can guess from the title that the engagement isn’t going to go smoothly, right?
Correct. Violet is working on her doctorate in psychology, and she gets accepted to a position at the University of Michigan, which will take two years to complete.
However, because Tom is a chef in a restaurant, he says that he can always find a job anywhere, and so they decide that Tom will move to Michigan with Violet, and they will postpone the wedding for two years.
I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking, couldn’t they get married in San Francisco before moving to Michigan, or couldn’t they even get married in Michigan?
But if they did that, then the filmmakers would have to change the title of the movie, wouldn’t they?
Well, you can guess from the title that the two-year plan isn’t going to go smoothly, either, right? Violet’s work at the University of Michigan gets extended, and I don’t want to spoil anything, but at one point the situation gets so bad that it looks like there won’t be any wedding at all.
Now, you know how the DVD version of some movies contains deleted scenes? Maybe the DVD of this movie will thankfully be missing some scenes that should have been cut.
The Five-Year Engagement lives up to its reputation of being a comedy, but it is more like the five-year movie.
I’m Dan Culberson and this is “Hotshots.”
Boulder to ban disposable bags?
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City to collect input/host public meeting on disposable bag use
The city’s Local Environmental Action Division (LEAD) is evaluating a variety of options for reducing disposable plastic and paper bag use in Boulder. Spurred by community concerns, City Council requested that staff develop potential options to reduce the use of disposable checkout bags in the city.
The potential options under development include bag bans; bag fees; or a combination of both.
The city is currently seeking public feedback. Residents can provide input in
two ways:
- Take the Bag Use in Boulder Survey; and/or
- Attend the Bag Use in Boulder public meeting (details below).
The Bag Use in Boulder public meeting is from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. on Monday, April 23, in the Creekside Room of the West Boulder Senior Center, 909 Arapahoe Ave. At the meeting, residents will have the opportunity to review and provide feedback on the proposed options. Meeting materials will be posted to the project website for those unable to attend.
Potential options will be presented to the Environmental Advisory Board (EAB) on Thursday, April 26. The EAB will then make a recommendation to City Council.
For more information, visit www.bouldercolorado.gov/LEAD and click on the “Bag Use in Boulder” image or contactJamie Harkins at 303-441-1846.
Let there be Pot by Rob Smoke
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Rob Smoke, columnist
The city council will vote THIS TUESDAY (April 17th) on a resolution from CU regarding their 4/20 enforcement effort.
I recommend attendance at the meeting. Friends of 4/20 (or political freedom) can sign up to speak online at bouldercolorado.gov
or in person at 5:oo pm on Tuesday at the Municipal Building, corner of Canyon and B’way in downtown Boulder.
You need to sign up early if you want to speak –
however, people can show support just by showing up at the meeting, which starts at 6 p.m.
The City of Boulder, in a tough economy, has received enormous revenue from Boulder dispensaries and it shouldn’t be a stretch
to ask that they not condemn people who would like to see an end to marijuana prohibition.
If there are problems with marijuana use in Boulder, the police haven’t been able to identify them.
Meanwhile, there are reams of police reports for people taken to Boulder Community Hospital with alcohol poisoning, bar fights,
parties out of control — all related to alcohol use.
If there is some sort of “solution to the marijuana problem” needed, it’s not going to come from over-the-top law enforcement
strategies. I have personally attended more than a hundred city council meetings lifetime. Council does frequently respond to
political pressure from agencies like CU; however, they also sometimes listen to people who show up at their meetings.
There probably should be a reverse resolution against CU; however, I would just advocate the city council not
endorse this particular resolution, which flies in the face of common sense, as the 4/20 event might have had minor crowd
management issues at times, but nothing to merit a campaign of police ticketing and intimidation.
Faithfully,
Rob Smoke
720-982-2439
Rob Smoke is a columnist for Boulder Channel 1 news. He writes about city politics.
Boulder County to air decisions on oil and gas
0Public meeting regarding oil and gas development set for April 16
Boulder County, Colo. – The Board of County Commissioners will hold a public meeting on April 16 to further evaluate oil and gas development in unincorporated Boulder County.
What: Public meeting on oil and gas development
When: Monday, April 16 at 4 p.m.
Where: Commissioners’ Hearing Room, Boulder County Courthouse, third floor, 1325 Pearl St., Boulder
The meeting will also be streamed live at www.bouldercounty.org/gov/meetings/pages/hearings.aspx.
NOTE: The public is welcome to attend, and additional staff information may be presented, but public testimony will not be taken at this meeting. Comments were received in-person at a public hearing on March 1 and in writing for weeks prior to the hearing.
Background
On Feb. 2 the commissioners approved a temporary moratorium on the processing of the required development plans for local oil and gas permits under the county Land Use Code (Resolution 2012-16) and released a statement detailing their concerns about the potential for significantly expanded oil and gas drilling within the county.
At the conclusion of the four-hour public hearing on March 1, the commissioners directed staff to continue gathering information about the impacts of oil and gas drilling on air, water, land, roads and infrastructure.
Boulder County remains concerned about the potential for significantly expanded oil and gas drilling within the county, and supports appropriate, tighter restrictions on drilling and increased local control to mitigate the impacts of these activities. While the county endeavors to ensure its Comprehensive Plan and Land Use regulations are as thorough and up-to-date as possible, the moratorium will remain in place and could be extended if necessary.
The meeting on April 16 will allow the commissioners to:
- Discuss the information presented by staff and consider public comments made at the March hearing
- Provide direction to staff for pursuing amendments to the county Comprehensive Plan and Land Use Code or take other appropriate actions
- Make any additional necessary decisions regarding the nature and duration of the temporary moratorium
Visit www.bouldercounty.org/dept/landuse/pages/oilgas.aspx for more information.
“Jeff, Who Lives at Home” Is Good, but Unoriginal
0“Good, but Unoriginal”
“Hotshots” looks at a movie!
Jeff, Who Lives at Home may strike you as being familiar as you reach the end, which once again proves what I have been saying for years: Hollywood has run out of ideas.
If you have seen the 1998 Simon Birch, when you get to the climax in this movie, everything that leads up to it will suddenly become clear and you will quickly realize that you might have been watching a remake, only with the title character of this movie grown up from the title character of the previous movie.
However, the biggest clue comes at the beginning of the movie when Jeff says in a voice-over, “I can’t help but wonder about my fate.”
Jeff is played by Jason Segal, he is 30 years old, he lives in the basement of his mother’s house, and he believes that everything happens for a reason.
So, when he answers the phone and the caller is looking for someone named Kevin, that starts a series of events that guides Jeff through the rest of the movie, and they are mostly comic events.
Jeff’s mother, Sharon, played by Susan Sarandon, also calls Jeff from her workplace, and she sends Jeff on an errand that contributes to this day in the life of Jeff, who lives at home, also.
Then there is Pat, Jeff’s older brother who is played by Ed Helms. Pat is married, although there are problems in the marriage, and Pat doesn’t help their problems any when he surprises his wife by buying a new Porsche that they can’t afford.
The story takes place in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and thus it is possible that Jeff and Pat could run into each other while Jeff is out fulfilling his errand, it is possible that while Pat is showing off his new Porsche to Jeff that they happen to see Pat’s wife and believe that she is having an affair with the man she is meeting, and it is also possible that the subplot involving their mother with a co-worker could bring everyone and everything together for the climax at the end.
And, yes, it is possible that the filmmakers of this movie didn’t realize they were copying the plot of that previous movie, only with grownups instead of kids.
Jeff, Who Lives at Home is good, but not original.
I’m Dan Culberson and this is “Hotshots.”
Youth Corps application deadline approaching
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Boulder County, Colo. – Boulder County residents ages 14-17 have until Friday, March 30 to apply for summer jobs with the Boulder County Youth Corps. Boulder County is especially in need of female corps members.
The Youth Corps will hire up to 160 teenagers to work 30 hours per week, Monday through Thursday, from June 18 to Aug. 8 on a variety of community service projects such as forest thinning, historic preservation, construction and repair of fencing, trail maintenance, removal of Russian olive trees and noxious weeds, landscaping and replacing light bulbs with compact fluorescents. Youth Corps teams will work in unincorporated Boulder County as well as in Lafayette, Longmont and Superior.
Applications are available online at www.bouldercounty.org/youthcorps. Applications can also be picked up at counseling offices in Boulder Valley and St. Vrain Valley schools; city and town personnel offices; most local recreation and youth centers and libraries; and the Boulder County Human Resources Department at 2025 14th St. in Boulder.
Corps members will earn a starting wage of $7.64 per hour, with the possibility of earning a $100 bonus at the end of the program based on merit and strong attendance. Teens who have worked for the corps in past years can earn up to $8.14 an hour. In addition, corps members are eligible for reimbursement for the purchase of work boots and gloves. RTD bus passes for the purpose of traveling to and from centralized work meeting places may be subsidized.
The Youth Corps offers one of the best first job opportunities available in Boulder County. Teams have completed projects such as building the new Fourmile Trail connector at Betasso Preserve Open Space and preserving the historically significant lower barn at Walker Ranch Open Space.
For more information, visit www.bouldercounty.org/youthcorps or call the Youth Corps office at 303-678-6104.
CU president Bruce Benson cracks back at news media over salary debacle
0Perception and reality
CU President Bruce Benson
Public universities such as ours are subject to public scrutiny. Even though the state of Colorado provides less than 6 percent of our budget, we have an obligation to be open and accountable to our students, alumni and citizens. The close examination that comes along with that obligation is fair.
Bruce Benson
President
Open house for proposed #Boulder Transit Center area improvements
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The City of Boulder is evaluating a variety of options for multimodal transportation improvements to the Boulder Transit Center area on 14th Street, between Canyon Boulevard and Walnut Street (in and around the area where the current RTD transit center is located).
The public is invited to attend an open house on Monday, March 12, from 4:30 to 6 p.m. in the Municipal Building lobby, 1777 Broadway, to review a variety of concepts currently being considered as part of this project.
The project, which will be jointly funded by the City of Boulder Capital Improvement Bond and a Colorado Department of Transportation FASTER grant, has the following goals:
- Improve bus access, capacity and circulation;
- Improve pedestrian safety, access and experience;
- Enhance the streetscape and landscaping in the area;
- Enhance the transit passenger drop-off zone;
- Improve bicycle access and parking;
- Minimize impacts to automobile parking and circulation; and
- Improve the character and utility of the existing transit center.
For those unable to attend the March 12 open house, meeting materials and an online comment form are available atwww.bouldertransportation.net.
For more information about the open house and options being considered for Boulder Transit Center area improvements, contact Cris Jones at 303-441-3217.
This project is partially funded by the city’s Capital Improvement Bond, which is the result of a 2011 ballot item that voters approved, giving the city the authority to issue a bond to address significant deficiencies and high priority infrastructure improvements throughout Boulder. For more information on the Capital Improvement Bond projects, visit www.bouldercolorado.gov/bondprojects.
“This Means War” Has Four Ridiculous Endings
0“Four Ridiculous Endings”
“Hotshots” looks at a movie!
This Means War starts off with an excessive beginning like a typical James Bond movie and then quickly turns into a romantic comedy with two men trying to woo the same woman, except that in this case the two men are agents for the CIA.
The woman is Lauren Scott, played by Reese Witherspoon, and when she meets her old boyfriend on the street with his fiancee, she lies to them about her own boyfriend, even though she doesn’t have one.
However, when she tells her friend Trish, played by Chelsea Handler, about her encounter, Lauren says, “I’m going out. I’m dating. I’m meeting friends.”
Meanwhile, the two agents have been grounded by their superior for botching the mission that we saw at the beginning of the movie, and out of boredom, they both sign up for an online dating service.
One is FDR Foster, played by Chris Pine, and the other is Tuck, played by Tom Hardy, and not only are they partners, but they are also best friends.
Well, you can guess it. Trish signs Lauren up for the same dating service without Lauren knowing it, and FDR and Tuck eventually discover that they have both picked Lauren as the woman they would like to get romantically involved with and start dating to see where it leads.
When they find out that they are both dating the same woman, even though they make a gentlemen’s agreement to let the better man win, with all the resources of the CIA at hand, what do you think they will do to interfere with the other one’s chances?
And so we see FDR and Tuck date Lauren and watch the shenanigans that they both pull with supposedly spy equipment and expertise, and we are supposed to believe that the events could actually happen and that they are supposed to be funny.
This is where the movie starts to get really ridiculous.
And, of course, there is still some unfinished business from the botched mission at the beginning of the movie that keeps interfering with the romantic-comedy half of the story.
In other words, there are no surprises in this movie.
There is, however, a ridiculous ending.
No, make that two ridiculous endings.
No, make that three ridiculous endings.
This Means War is a no-surprises movie with four ridiculous endings.
I’m Dan Culberson and this is “Hotshots.”
#Boulder wants an ear full on pesticide usage
0City hosts open house, invites feedback on proposed changes to pesticide use
The City of Boulder is evaluating a variety of options for improving its Integrated Pest Management (IPM) program and its use of pesticides on public lands, including city parks, open space and other municipal properties.
The public is invited to attend a presentation and open house on Thursday, March 22, from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Panorama Room of the East Senior Center, 5660 Sioux Drive, to review and provide feedback on a variety of options that are currently being considered.
The project to update the Integrated Pest Management Program has the following goals:
Comments may be submitted at the meeting or through the comment form on the city’s website at www.bouldercolorado.gov/ipm.Materials for the meeting will be posted to the website on the day of the meeting for those unable to attend.