Jenn & Matt Riffle

Last Updated: 8/1/10 3:30 AM EDT

7/16/2010

Jenn's Reviews: The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (Swedish Film Version) (9:06 PM)
Lisbeth Salander, the most complex female character in film in a very, very long time. Mikael Blomkvist, an ambitious journalist for a monthly magazine called Millenium. The Vanger family. None of these people have much in common, but it all comes together brilliantly in the film. Background of the movie. Mikael Blomkvist had just been on...

Jenn's Reviews: Toy Story 3 (5:57 PM)
I do have to say that I didn’t expect this movie to be as good as Parts 1 & 2. Part 3 always declines in quality, doesn’t it? Well, Toy Story 3 broke that trend. The premise is that Andy, the little boy in the previous films, is going to college. He has to decide what...

7/14/2010

Jenn's Blog: Nieces and Nephews and puppies, oh my! (5:14 PM)
I don’t know how it can possibly be mid-July already. Why do the nice lazy days of summer go so fast? Days of endless daylight and sun, being able to just put on flip-flops and go, grocery stores abundant with fruit! I love it all. And it goes so fast. Soon we’ll be in the...

6/21/2010

Jenn's Blog: The First Six Weeks (11:51 AM)
It’s been six weeks already since we moved into our house. How are things going? Well … pretty good, actually. Despite the fact that we still have one more room (the library) to finish unpacking and need to get our stuff on the walls, I can say that I’ve definitely had more energy living here. Today,...

6/3/2010

Jenn's Blog: Just something I threw together (4:01 PM)
In my current attempt to eat healthier (yes, I am always making new attempts), I am working on upping my fruit and vegetable consumption from sometimes none, but only a few to LOTS. Last night, I was looking for something healthy, didn’t feel like looking through recipes, or cooking anything extravagant. Here is what I came...

Jenn's Blog: Another trip to Vegas (3:46 PM)
This time it was different though, as we travelled with friends. Two couples and two single guys. The first couple, S&A, have been friends of ours for a long time. S and Matt went to school together and lived practically next door to each other. It’s a very long relationship. We didn’t know the...

5/16/2010

Photo Gallery: Jacob (10:17 PM)

Recent album activity (21 new items). Visit Jacob...

5/13/2010

Jenn's Blog: Hope’s Housewarming. (3:12 PM)
Look at this face: That face belongs to Hope, my adorable and sweet little 7.5 year old Snowshoe cat. Besides wanting to squeeze the juice out of her, I want to protect her always. Wouldn’t you? (If you are a cat lover that is). And I’ve done a pretty good of that so far! Last Friday, my...

4/28/2010

Jenn's Blog: House Mysteries (4:51 PM)
For the last month or so, at the house we currently live in, I’ve been complaining to Matt that the water is “not right”. I hadn’t taken a very good shower in a long time, because I kept being unable to moderate the water temperature. I was either freezing or scalding myself. Matt claimed that...

4/20/2010

Jenn's Blog: To My Running Peeps (4:26 PM)
Although I am not running at this time, running is never far from me. My husband is a runner, and I have many friends who run as well. I also meet people frequently who are runners. And there are some themes to the thoughts that I notice that these runners have....

4/9/2010

Jenn's Blog: Craziness (5:24 PM)
Chaos. That is my life lately. Maybe nobody else thinks it is, maybe its just me, but I have just been running around, making phone calls, doing stuff. And since nobody offered to be my personal secretary, well, then I had to deal with all of this myself. As far as the move...

3/26/2010

Jenn's Blog: Hip Check & Clutter (5:44 PM)
Is that a hockey term? I somehow remember that being the case. I meant it to be a pun. Yesterday, I had my last physical therapy session and a check-up with my orthopedist. Neither feel more PT is necessary, as long as I continue to weight train on my own....

3/10/2010

Jenn's Blog: Procrastination Pays Off (6:41 PM)
It really does! Procrastination is one of my very best personality traits. Or worst. But I’m also a perfectionist. And so the perfectionist in me procrastinates doing things until I have time to do it perfectly. Or I just procrastinate doing things I dread or don’t enjoy (making phone calls...

2/26/2010

Matt's Reviews: His Father’s Son – Bentley Little (8:47 PM)
I’ve read most of Bentley Little’s horror novels, and they’ve been pretty consistent in what they offer. Start with an interesting idea; race onward in an inventive, typically gory, fashion; arrive at a resolution that doesn’t really live up to the rest of the book, but the ride was so fun you’re okay with that....

2/14/2010

Matt's Other Blog: Only Like A Hole In The Head (9:52 PM)
Not even a little bit. Sure, the invasion of Iran would’ve been exciting, up until China or Russia got involved and it escalated into a nuke-you-lar World War III. But, no, no I don’t miss you. Please give the “teaming up with Pres. Clinton to raise disaster relief money” job back to your father...

2/13/2010

Matt's Blog: A $5* Game Pack For Your iPhone or iPod Touch (2:48 PM)
(* – pre-tax, anyway) The iPhone/iPod App Store has thousands of 99 cent games these days. A lot of them are great. A lot more of them, however, and to put it mildly, suck. Below are 5 games I find myself playing again and again, getting far more entertainment for my $5 than I would’ve with,...

2/8/2010

Jenn's Reviews: The Book of Eli (3:01 PM)
I didn’t expect much from this movie, what with the horrible review from Entertainment Weekly and Rotten Tomatoes.com. However, the movie exceeded my expectations and I really liked the movie. Simple plot: Post-apocalyptic America. Denzel Washington is the lead as Eli. Eli has a King James Bible in his possession that he reads every night on his...

Jenn's Reviews: Last Night in Twisted River, John Irving (2:25 PM)
There is nothing I like more than a long novel, with a good plot. Add in a multi-generational story, and I am hooked in. In that regard, this book did not disappoint. The simple storyline is about a father, Dominic, and his son, Daniel, and their friend Ketchum. One night, Daniel mistakes the local town’s...

1/29/2010

Jenn's Reviews: Wesley the Owl: The Remarkable Love Story of an Owl and His Girl, Stacey O’Brien (3:48 PM)
As an animal lover, I love to read books about animals. They don’t have to be about cats. They can be about dogs, cats, rabbits, wildlife, etc. When I saw this book featured on the table at Border’s, I picked it up simply on the picture alone. I guess I judged a book by its...

Jenn's Reviews: The Best of 2009 (3:33 PM)
I have not reviewed most of these movies and books and probably won’t. The fact that they are on my top of the year list should be good enough. :) Now for my Top Movies of 2009, in no particular order: Note: I have not seen the following movies that are up for all kinds of...

1/14/2010

Photo Gallery: Maddie, Owen, Ginger & Coco (11:45 PM)

Recent album activity (36 new items). Visit Maddie, Owen, Ginger & Coco...

Photo Gallery: Joey, Nick & Katelyn! (11:37 PM)

Recent album activity (46 new items). Visit Joey, Nick & Katelyn!...

Photo Gallery: Cats (11:16 PM)

Recent album activity (111 new items). Visit Cats...

12/1/2009

Photo Gallery: Ben & Sydney (10:38 PM)

Recent album activity (20 new items). Visit Ben & Sydney...

10/27/2009

Photo Gallery: Kayla (11:20 PM)

Recent album activity (8 new items). Visit Kayla...

Photo Gallery: 10th Anniversary Party (11:19 PM)

Recent album activity (9 new items). Visit 10th Anniversary Party...

10/22/2009

Jenn's Reviews: Julie & Julia, Julie Powell (5:01 PM)
I really wanted to like this book. I read it when half asleep on my flight to Kauai, when I wasn’t sleeping. I thought once I landed and had some sleep it would get better. But it didn’t. I must explain why I didn’t like it. I expected this to be a book all about cooking...

Jenn's Reviews: Homer’s Odyssey, Gwen Cooper (4:43 PM)
Sometimes, the unexpected turns out to be the best gift ever. That summarizes this book perfectly. Many of us multi-pet owners have animals we didn’t go searching for, but instead, they found us. And it happened to Gwen Cooper. We first meet Homer as a little three week old kitten, who was taken to the veterinary...

10/11/2009

Jenn's Reviews: Lost & Found, Jacqueline Sheehan/Good Grief, Lolly Winston (11:18 PM)
Two books. Same underlying premise. But very different. The premise being woman’s husband dies, she has grief and the way to get over that grief is to move north, get a simpler job and fall in love again. Jacqueline Sheehan’s Lost & Found takes place in Peak’s Island, Maine, where the protagonist, Rocky, a psychologist, moves...

9/23/2009

Matt's Reviews: The Lost Symbol – Dan Brown (11:08 PM)
With The Lost Symbol, Dan Brown supplants James Patterson (*) as king of what I call the “popcorn books” — books that work best when read straight through in as few sittings as possible, with no reflection on what’s come before as you plow ahead. Whether you’ll like the book or not depends on how...

9/21/2009

Matt's Reviews: Kauai – Adventures (9:50 PM)
I recently returned from a vacation on Kauai, one of the islands of Hawaii. I’ll be doing a series of posts reviewing the places we went and the things we did, to help out the next person who comes along trying to Google them, as I had before we left. :) Today, it’s...

9/19/2009

Photo Gallery: Kauai 2009 (3:20 PM)

Recent album activity (93 new items). Visit Kauai 2009...

9/15/2009

Youtube: Kauai Plantation Railway (1:16 AM)

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9/12/2009

Youtube: Ziplining Matt (3rd Person View) (3:26 AM)

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Youtube: Ziplining Jenn (3:19 AM)

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Youtube: Ziplining Matt (1st Person View) (3:13 AM)

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8/30/2009

Jenn's Reviews: Ponyo (10:19 PM)
I have to admit right off that I am a big fan of Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli. They are responsible for such films as Spirited Away and Howl’s Moving Castle. I am always excited to hear about a new release. And Ponyo did not disappoint me in the least. It is a retelling of...

Jenn's Reviews: Introduction (9:56 PM)
This is where I will be reviewing things. This blog started after stating a desire that I would like to be a professional book reviewer. I don’t know how to go about doing that, but in the meanwhile, I’ll blog here. I’ll be blogging about movies, books, cat products and the occasional “CD” or household good. Thanks...

8/29/2009

Matt's Reviews: G.I. Joe: The Rise Of Cobra (3:55 PM)
Let’s face it: you probably already know if you want to see this film or not. Go with your first instinct. End of review. Oh, you’re still here? Okay, here’s something else — if you’re a child of the 80s and you hated what they did with Transformers, then skip this movie. If you were at least...

8/23/2009

Matt's Reviews: The Birthing House – Christopher Ransom (1:25 PM)
The Birthing House is the debut horror novel from Christopher Ransom, a writer whose promise shines through about the first two-thirds of the book, after which it falls apart a bit. The setup is compelling — let me just quote from the inside jacket copy: Conrad and Joanna Harrison, a young couple from Los Angeles, attempt to...

8/17/2009

Matt's Reviews: Ponyo (12:37 AM)
Ponyo is the new film by anime master Hayao Miyazaki, director of such films as Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke and Howl’s Moving Castle. It offers Miyazaki’s own unique take on the old Little Mermaid story. The story in a nutshell involves Ponyo, a little girl who is more like a fish (the humans refer to her...

8/11/2009

Youtube: Jungle Fever - Tiger Style (Part II) (10:56 PM)