The Hangover - Part 2

Finally watched 'The Hangover - Part 2'. For more info on that movie check out the IMDB Page of 'The Hangover - Part 2'.
Here are my thoughts on that movie: The movie opens exactly the same way as the Part 1. This is a recurring theme throughout the entire movie. By the time the movie is over you've watched Part  1 of 'The Hangover' again. There are 2 things that have changed: The location is different and the picture reel during the credits is different. All in all I would say this movie is quite a disappointment!
The dialogue is by far not as good as during Part 1. The jokes aren't either that funny or a remake of the ones in Part 1. The wedding rehearsal dinner stands out as a scene of social awkwardness. While we watch an copy of Part 1 we meet a slew of characters, that actually don't do anything to the story. We meed Mr. Chow from Part 1 again. Their former nemesis has suddenly become Alan's BFF. No real explanation is given for that. That probably is one if the main reasons why that doesn't work for me. It's just way over the top to be even remotely convincing. Besides that the character of Mr. Chow does very little to propel the story.
There is something about the main characters in 'The Hangover - Part 2' that just doesn't work. Stu is freaking out every 5 minutes for no real reason. Phil on the other hand is just there. He doesn't seem to have much of a character definition. And then of course there is Alan. He just seems way too outrageous and crazy compared to the outer main characters.
After several hits and misses the movie follows the exact same path as Part 1. They find the missing Ted again and barely manage to make it to the wedding in time. We have another appearance of Mike Tyson, that didn't seem to have much of a purpose, except the fact that he had an appearance in Part 1.
All in all an funny movie. On a scale of 1 to 10, I probably would give it a 4.5!!

X-Men First Class

Finally got around to watching 'X-Men First Class'. If you have no idea what movie I'm talking about it, just check out the IMDB Page on 'X-Men First Class'.
It was a really fun action movie and I did enjoy it a lot. I've to admit it's not your typical comic book movie, like Spiderman 2. But it is very well thought through action movie. Some of the SFX like the rockets changing direction in midair were very well done and I enjoyed them a lot.
In general this movie lives a lot from the dialogue. It explains how it all started. In my opinion this movie is way more dialogue driven than many other action movies. There are not many odd jumps within the plot. The actors portray their roll very well, but don't do much on their own with the character. They keep pretty much to the script. If they had done a little more with their character and added some more humor to the character it would have made the movie even more enjoyable.
The movie is set during the Cuban Missile Crises and that works very well. In the movie the setup for the standoff between USA and USSR is done a little too quick to be really convincing. If the producer had spent here a little more time setting things up, that would have been a significant improvement. Although I love the SFX with the rockets changing direction a midair, it also adds an almost comical element to the movie. Not sure how that could have been done differently, but this scene should have been serious.
The scene were Magneto starts moving into the direction he's going to play in the other X-Men movies, is not what I would call a happy fit. It's done too quickly. The producer didn't take enough time to set up things right. There is just too little explanation given to really explain it, so that the viewer would be convinced. And of course I just loved Wolverine's great line!
All in all a very good action movie. On a scale of 1 to 10, I would give it a 8!!

What's new in 2012 ??

Well, 2011 was the year of changes on a personal level: I broke up with my partner of 8 years, planned a transcontinental move and finally moved in August back to Austria.
2012 will be a year of big changes on a professional level. Let me explain that a little more in detail. The break-up in 2011 was way more than just the end of a long term relationship. For me it was a time to completely reevaluate my life on a personal and professional level. It was a time to figure out how and in which way do I want to tackle future relationships. For me that was way easier to figure out than the changes on a professional level. I had to ask myself if I really wanted to do what I had been doing the past 20 years. The answer to that question was: No. So I spent several month to figure out what direction I wanted to go. The thing I would love to do, just doesn't pay the bills. So I had to find a more workable solution.
It occurred to me that it is not to line of work that I had been doing during the past 20 years that was bothering me, but the actual job position I was able to get. Furthermore I realized that the right way to go would be to change the job parameters and that can only work by adding to an existing job qualification. Yes, guys you heard right. I'm 40 years old in and in January I will be going back to school! At least for 6 weeks I'll be attending the Financial Academy in Vienna!
In January I will start to go after my Certification as Public Accountant after UGB and IFRC and the certification as EMA (European Accounts Manager). It's a currently well sought diploma and not that easy to get and certainly not what I would call cheap. All in all it will cost me about 2.800 bucks.
First up will be an intensive 6-week course in Advanced Accounting. After that I might take 2 additional classes to refresh my knowledge of Electronic Accounting and Accounting on SAP. That by itself will open up an entirely new 'job pool'.
After that I will be taking evening and weekend courses pretty much for the rest of 2012 and 2013 including the following topics:

• Economical Mathematics
• Human Resource Management & Salary Calculation
• Tax Law
• Value Added Tax Law
• Advanced Tax Law
• Income Tax Law
• Advanced Economical Tax Law
• Cost Calculation
• Commerce Law
• Advance Accounting Rules and Regulations
• Advanced Salary Calculation

After I've passed each of these exams I have to pass the final exam in front of a commission. Once I've passed that final exam I can call myself Certified Public Accountant and European Accounts Manager!!
So there will be lots of going to school in the next 2 years!

New Years Eve

I was invited to 2 parties for this New Years Eve. I was only interested in going to one of these parties. Daisy would have to stay home from the party, since there would be too many "crazy" people and too much noise to be fun for her. This would also be the first New Years Eve in 2 years with fireworks going off left and right, so I decided to spend New Years Eve with Daisy at my parents. 
My parents had invited a former co-worker of theirs, whom I hadn't seen in almost 20 years. So catching up and chatting with them was actually quite fun. For the most part of the evening Daisy was doing just fine. She slept to most of the fireworks that were going off periodically throughout the entire evening. At midnight when all the fireworks were going off at the same time, well that was a little too much for her. First she hid right under my chair. Since that didn't seem to do the trick, she sat right next to me looking for protection. Of course I paid attention to her and it calmed her right down. She still wasn't happy about the fireworks and luckily the worst part was over after about 20 minutes. After that Daisy just chilled out for the rest of the evening. I had to wait till about 2 am to take Daisy for her last walk of the day, since she doesn't do her business with fireworks going off. At that time it was already fairly quiet and everything went off without any problems. So all in all a fairly easy New Years Eve and I'm glad, that I chose to stay home with Daisy!!