YAY for half days

It's funny how when you're a kid, you love having a half day of school.  The same goes for work in adulthood.  Yesterday I had a half day at work and it was great!  So I worked 4 hours then went up to Newport.

First off, because it was lunch time, I got FREE parking!  That's always exciting in my book!

Then I went to lunch at Brothers.  Apparently they run a lunch special on burgers.  The place was packed so I had to sit at the bar, but it was all good.  I got a Summer Shandy beer and a bacon burger for $10.  Talk about deliciousness!  The homemade chips were pretty rockin too!

Then I went over to the Aquarium to see how things were going.  Being a member, I find that I can get through the place within 30 minutes now.  I check on my favorites, see what's new, and make sure things are okay.  I'm happy to say that I saw my sea turtle this time, so he's not dead like I presumed before.  Also, they've moved some of the fish around into different tanks which is always fascinating to me.  They put one of my pufferfish in a new tank and I swear it's grown to like 3 times of its previous size.  Then I picked up some cute tees in the gift shop for Jack and Mikayla for their birthdays.

Then I took in a viewing of "The Amazing Spider-Man".  Personally, I'm a bit disappointed.  It was given really good reviews and it was being pegged as a different story.  The movie itself was good, but "amazing" is an exaggeration.  It didn't really offer anything new into the Spider-Man universe and that's what let me down.  The basic differences were: Spider-Man was in high school, Gwen is the female love interest instead of Mary Jane, and you see Peter Parker as a little kid before his dad drops him off with his aunt and uncle.  I guess I was hoping for a totally new approach like they did with Batman, but Spider-Man doesn't really offer anything all that new or revealing.  Spider-Man is still a dorky kid and his back story is basically the same (we aren't given anything new really).

The only tidbit I did pick up was about the character Gwen, but I got that online and not from the movie.  Apparently her character was killed off in the comic books because Spider-Man was too late to save her and it threw the comic book world upside down.  Many Spider-Man purists believe Gwen was his first love and Mary Jane just the girl who came after.  To make it even more complicated, the 2007 movie, Spiderman 3" featured Gwen Stacey as a new love interest for Peter Parker.  I remember being extremely disappointed by the 2007 movie, so maybe that's why I don't remember a character named Gwen Stacey.  Time to rewatch?  Maybe.

So was "The Amazing Spider-Man" worth seeing?  The answer is yes.  While the story doesn't really offer a new perspective into Peter Parker, it is well done.  They did more actual stunts than CGI in this film and their hard work really makes a difference.  Also, the cinematography is clear and crisp, while the acting is actually pretty good.  Plus, everyone loves a superhero movie.