Kicked off an absolutely gorgeous, sunny morning with sleeping in. I read and wrote in my journal until I heard Charlie cursing downstairs. Had breakfast and puttered around while watching more Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes. The Skrulls' "Infiltration" of Earth has begun, and Wakanda is their first target. Ms. Marvel has an easier time dealing with Skrulls posing as the Avengers than with a stubborn Black Panther who won't fight.
Captain America is a "Prisoner of War" in the Skrulls' ship. He manages to break loose and lead several other prisoners to freedom, including villain Viper. Meanwhile, "Secret Invasion" has the Skrulls using Captain America's position with the people on Earth to try to coax them into submitting to their rule. It'll take the original Avengers coming together - and the Captain returning to Earth - to finally take down their Super Skrulls.
Headed out around 11:30 for a walk after delivering my rent next-door. The day couldn't have been more perfect. It was dry and comfortable; the humidity must have vanished with the storms last night. Lazy white clouds drifted across a very blue sky. Chilly wind kept it from feeling nearly as hot as it has the past few days and rustled the lilies and roses. It couldn't have been warmer than the upper 60's-lower 70's. There were quite a few people out and about, working on gardens and taking walks with friends.
First stop was the Oaklyn Library. Needless to say, it was too nice for them to be busy. It was just the librarian, me, and one other woman on the computer. I gave the DVDs a quick look, went through the board books and picture books, and looked at a book that collected articles on local history from the Collingswood newspaper the Retrospect.
Strolled down to Dollar General after leaving the library. I was hoping they'd have the Star Wars Vanity Fair edition I've been looking for, but it doesn't seem to have arrived yet. The Acme didn't have it, either. I didn't really need anything else and headed out with nothing.
Decided to stop at WaWa to check on my food stamp cards on the way back...not to mention, I was parched. I picked up a bottle of WaWa's cheaper French Vanilla Cappuccino. Yes, my food stamps came off. I guess they come through on the third day.
My windows were dripping when I got home, despite the nice day. Charlie was spray-washing the entire house, including my side and the porch. Shutting the windows kept water from coming in, but it didn't drown out the noise from the sprayer or his potty mouth. I did look up some blogs and list sites I could send writing into, but gave up trying to concentrate after a half hour.
Switched to cleaning the bathroom while listening to the Andy Gibb record I'd picked up this weekend. It badly needed to be done. There were two people using it last month. The bathtub and sink in particular were really grungy.
Returned to writing after I finished, this time switching to my new fanfic. We've moved ahead two and a half years to the brutal winter of 1979. A group of bounty hunters have been stealing khyber crystals and parts for computers and refrigerators from warehouses and boats stranded in the snow-ridden port of Ord Mantell. Rudy, the diminutive handyman, and his buddy Charlie are the first ones to catch them in the act. The bounty hunters think they're a joke...but they're really stalling until the rest of their group arrives...
(Incidentally, Charlie didn't stop spraying the house until his sprayer ran out of water. Even Willa called him on it.)
Broke at 6:30 to have leftovers for dinner and make Blueberry Crumble Bars. Switched to the last set of Earth's Mightiest Heroes as I worked. "Along Came a Spider" named Peter Parker when the Serpent Society holds up a subway train, trying to rescue Viper and King Cobra. Captain America is dealing with people no longer trusting him after the Skrulls incident...but Peter, whose alter ego is considered a menace by publisher J. Jonah Jamesion, knows what it feels like to be misunderstood.
"Behold...The Vision," an android who wants to steal vibranium from Wakanda. Thor, Captain America, and Hawkeye team up with Black Panther to save his homeland and try to get him back in the Avengers. His boss, Ultron, is now "Ultron Unlimited" when he has his army robotic Avengers clones kidnap the real things. Ultron sees them as "imperfect" humans and wants to make "perfect" androids in his vision...including turning the Wasp into one.
"Assault on 42" is somewhat similar to "Prisoner of War." Captain America, the Wasp, and Ms. Marvel are bringing a prisoner to the heavily guarded space jail for super villains. When a group of alien bugs invade the jail, they have to work with the villains, some of them formerly bitter enemies, to eliminate these extraterrestrial pests.
Moved on to Lego Pirates of the Caribbean after dinner. "White Cap Bay" was shorter and generally a bit less complicated than some previous rounds. Jack, Angelina, and two of Blackbeard's men have to figure out how to use light to get the spyglass on the top of a tower working, then after they've seen a mermaid chat with Phillip, use explosives carried from the island to blow up the tower and send them literally flying back towards the ship. No problems here (and no glitches, either). I was even able to pick up a few characters in the port area afterwards.
Finished the night with The Amazing Spider Man 2. Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield) is still fighting crime in New York City as Spider Man, even on his way to his high school graduation. He manages to arrest Russian hit man Alexsei Sytsovich (Paul Giamatti) and rescue nerdy scientist Matt Dillon (Jamie Foxx) from a speeding taxi, but things don't go well after that. Fearing for his girlfriend Gwen Stacy's (Emma Stone) safety and remembering what happened to his parents, Peter breaks up with her. His best friend Harry Osborn (Dane DeHaan) just inherited Oscorp after the death of his father...and an incurable disease. He thinks Spider Man's blood could help him, but Peter thinks a transfusion could be too risky. Meanwhile, an accident with electricity at the Oscorp labs has turned Dillon into Electro, a being made up entirely of electromagnetic fields. Resentful of Spider Man for not helping him more, he teams up with an equally angry Harry to suck out all the electricity in the city...and take down Spider Man once and for all.
This was...just ok. There's way too much going on. You have Peter trying to figure out his relationships with Gwen and his Aunt May (Sally Field), and there's Harry being sick, and what happens to Dillon/Electro. Any one of those plot lines probably would have sustained a full movie. The special effects look incredible, especially towards the end, and there's some really neat makeup work on Foxx and Giamatti...but the movie lacks focus, and Garfield is too laid back and not especially exciting as Peter.
Although it did relatively well in 2014, it wasn't enough to make Sony want to continue its plans to create an entire universe around Spider Man. It turned part of the rights back over to Marvel, which is why we got the reboot and the much younger character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Honestly, I think they made the right decision. These films were good, but not great - they're mostly fun for fans of Spider Man and his world.
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