Tron

It was a really fun day! It was raining, but Dylan and I love the rain - and we are both always so thankful that neither one of us is the type to complain about rain or gloomy weather - so we went to the Grove to do some holiday shopping, thinking that the rain would keep the crowds away, which it did for the most part. We ate at the Farmer's Market there, at the Gumbo Pot, which is one of my favorite places to eat in all of LA! I had gumbo and fried oysters, with cornbread and collard greens - delish!
We did quite a bit of shopping, got presents for nephew Connor and then went to Cost Plus World Market where I got some presents for Brandon and Angie. It was so much fun being at the Grove in the rain!
Then after we got home, Marc and Dan came and met us so we could ride together to El Capitan Theatre for Tron: Legacy. I've been pretty excited to see the movie, since I first heard about it quite some time ago. I've always love the idea of Tron, and I know I had one of those cool Disney record/book things when I was a kid, but the actual movie falls a little flat. I rented it after I first moved to LA once and could barely get through it. When they announced the new film, and showed a teaser clip for it, I was psyched because the graphics finally look like how they should, and the fact that they were true to the first film and kept Jeff Bridges as the main character is just awesome and highly honorable. The only thing I was slightly disappointed with was that they got Daft Punk to do the soundtrack instead of synth innovator Wendy Carlos, who scored the first film. However, I think Daft Punk ended up being an amazing choice and their score simply kicked ass.
It was raining really heavily by the time we got to the theatre and we had to stand in line off of Hollywood Blvd. Everyone had umbrellas, but we were crunched into this tiny area, and everyone was different heights so no matter how you held your umbrella, the rain would flow off of your umbrella, onto someone's who was shorter than you, and you would have a stream of water just dousing you at different parts of your body. I was completely drenched by the time we finally were let in to the theatre, but it was so fun and exciting that I didn't care.
Before the movie, they had a laser light show with music from the film that was just amazing! That is what makes the El Capitan so special, they always have pre-show activities. This was my first time seeing a movie there and I was thrilled.
The movie itself was a blast. Although the plot was not anything groundbreaking, it was entertaining and engaging enough. But the visuals were just mind-blowing, especially in 3-D. The closest thing I can think of to relate it to was the recent movie version of "Speed Racer" but this was so much more fully realized. I enjoyed every second of it - it was pure candy for the eyes.
After the show we looked around in the gift shop and I really wanted to buy something for Connor but since we had already gotten his gift earlier today I restrained myself. I think I really wanted to buy one of the toys for myself!
In other AWESOME news - Don't Ask Don't Tell became history! I have continued to support President Obama even when he hasn't been able to enact as much change as I and some others would like, but this is just great - I have a whole new love for him. It's just ABSURD to think that this country was willing to let gay people DIE for it, but would ask them to LIE about who they are in doing so. Good riddance to bad rubbish!