The Pirates and The Prius

Now that's a strange post title, isn't it? Hang on, and I'll explain. :)

This afternoon dear husband and I went to the movies, a rare and enjoyable treat for us! My mother, God bless her, offers her babysitting services whenever we need them, it's just finding the time to go! Well today we made the time, and caught the matinee showing of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest.

And let me tell you, the reviews may have been iffy, but we found it to be highly entertaining! We're big fans of the first one (which we watched last night as a refresher), so we were really looking forward to this one, the second (of three) in the series. I gave it 3.5 stars out of 5, while dh says 7 out of 10. ;) You say tomato, I say tomahto ...

I will say this one is definitely darker (i.e. more gore, more violence and more adult themes) than the first one. Not one for the young'uns! (Not mine anyway.) But boy, I just loooove going to the movies - the popcorn, the previews, the 2-hours of peace, LOL!

And I do I love the swashbuckling genre ~ Pirates, Indiana Jones, Lord of the Rings, The Mummy, The Princess Bride and Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves come to mind. Enthralling (if not plausible) adventures and damsels in distress. (Call me old-fashioned.) But if asked - and no one's asking, but I'm telling anyway - my top five movies are hardly what you'd call action flicks ~ Emma, Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, Little Women and Meet Me in St. Louis. Sense a theme? Chick flicks, some might call them; nary a swash or a buckle among them. But I can appreciate a good action-adventure, when it's fun and tastefully done. And Pirates 2, I'm happy to report, was both. :)

Now the other piece of the post puzzle is the Toyota Prius, my husband's new (well, 2 yo new!) car. Up till today I have only looked at it, and barely even sat in it ... haven't yet ridden in it, nor driven it! And he's had it a whole month! It's not that I don't like it - I do. And it's not that I'm not very happy he's realized a long-held dream to own an electric car - I am! But to be honest, I've been a bit timid about driving it.

I'm not a big car person. I like my van, I know my van - vans are what I know. I'll admit that this new vehicle parked so unassumingly in our driveway intimidated me! The whole hybrid-electric thing threw me:

"What do you mean there's no key?"

"What do you mean I push an ON button to start up?"

"What do you mean, I get 60 miles to the gallon?!!"

So today with dh by my side, giving excellent directions and quiet encouragement, I finally rode in, then drove the Prius! And I must say, it drives very nicely! Great pick-up too. Once I figured out the on/off and gear "shift" I was completely comfortable and can see myself using it for weekend errands (like he's wanted me to do). It's surprisingly quiet too - I almost ran over a pair of mourning doves in the driveway who literally didn't hear the car coming and had to be shooed away before I could pull in! And of course it's economical - it saves TONS of money on gas! And then there are all the environmental benefits to consider ... :)

So there are my reviews for the days folks! If you're in the mood for a movie, the latest Pirates film is a good bet, and if you're in the market for a car, the Prius is, to borrow a phrase from Bookworm, one sweet ride!