Super Fast Pics...no commentary

I have to leave in about 10 min. and I still need to dry my hair, yet look what I'm doing. My Pics:

Best Pic: Slumdog Millionaire
Actor: Frank Langella
Actress: Kate Winslet (though I love Melissa Leo, but I haven't seen Frozen River yet)
Sup Actor: Heath Ledger
Sup Actress: Taraji Henson
Animated: WALL*E
Director: Danny Boyle
Screenplay Adapted: Slumdog or Frost/Nixon
Screenplay Original: In Bruges

Okay. Gotta go. Sorry that was fast, but I'm not sure I'll be back online before the show starts.

I think the honeymoon is over.

You may be wondering why I haven't posted in awhile. I wish I could report it was because I've been hired to write for Lost and I've been busy trying to work it out so Ben (Michael Emerson to your left) is a good guy. Not so much. No, this past week and few days have been a big cup of suck.

Work has been completely insane. I'm not sure if it's an issue with my menopausal hormone levels or I was just losing my mind, but I was on the verge of tears almost everyday. After staring at a computer for about 9 hours a day straight, I had no desire to write here. Hope you can forgive me. Things are slowly calming down as I am finally starting to make headway on finishing up the jobs I got stuck on my plate when one of the reps took her maternity leave early. It didn't help that I got a MAJOR school job handed to me mid-afternoon Tues. that was due this morning...oh, and that we didn't get the final instructions on until 4pm yesterday!!! Flippin' hell.

Here's a quick run down of some stuff on my brain:

What the hell is up with Duke? I'm getting that same scared feeling I had last year at this time. If they don't start to turn things around and get back to hitting 3's to cover up their lack of power in the post, we will be going out in the first round of the tournament. Up side is Illinois moved up in the rankings; of course, we lost to Penn St. last night by the freakishly low score of 38-33 I believe.

Who here has been watching Lost? Every single episode so far this season has had at least two "what the?!" moments. The puzzle pieces are starting to fall into place and it seems as though knowing that their days are numbered has really brought focus to the writing of the episodes. It's tough waiting 7 days between shows. I can't wait for next week's episode...all I know is the preview showed Ben kneeling in front of John while he stood on a table with a cord noose wrapped around his neck. DAMN!!!

President Obama was in the area last week and a friend of mine at work could have had passes to be at the CAT facility he visited. But, she had to work. Air Force One flew overhead and all felt well for that moment.

The Oscars are this Sunday and I didn't get to see quite as many of the nom'd films as I would have liked. The bad part about there being so many "heavy" movies in the running is when you aren't in the mood for heavy. Or, you aren't in the mood for heavy every single week. If I have time, I'll toss out my predictions.

Finally, I got goaded into joining Facebook and I'm sheepishly admitting I'm glad I did. I've found college radio friends that I'd lost touch with and that makes me happy. I'm there about as often as here, but still.

Let's all root for Slumdog Millionaire! More later.

Winners and losers

Well, they didn't get Album of the Year, but Radiohead did pick up the Best Alternative Album Grammy! Yeah! I'll have to go back through what I taped to see them actually pick it up. I fast forwarded to their performance before going to bed last night. I was a little disappointed that it was just Thom (looking super cutie shaggy by the by) and Johnny performing. Still, it was fun to watch Thom do some of his crazy dancing and the band was having fun. You can watch it here. OH-and how annoying that Gwenyth Paltrow (sp?) was the presenter since Coldplay were supposed to be the new Radiohead until they decided they wanted to be the new U2. I'm guessing she was winking at her hubby at the end of her introduction. ACK.

On the losing side, my flipping phone is out. I have no dial tone. I have had no dial tone since sometime after 1pm on Sat. Strangely, my internet that goes through the same damn phone line is just fine. I used a friend's cell phone to call to report my issue. After many minutes of pressing one number then another, I got frustrated and hung up. Seriously, what sort of question is this..."are you calling from the phone line you are having trouble with?" REALLY? How the hell to you call from the line that you've just told the automated entity has no dial tone and you can't make calls from it? ARRRGHHHHH!!!!

At home, I printed out the directions on how to check to see if the issue is my problem (bad phone cord, bad phone) or if it is the phone company's (no dial tone at the connection on the outside of the house). I took one of my phones and one of my Mom's outside, opened the box, unplugged the line from my jack, plugged the phones I had in one at a time and guess what--no flippin' dial tone! Now, I've sent in my request for repair on line and supposedly I will have it fixed by 7pm tomorrow. Of course, I will be at work (or en route) from 7:30-5:30 tomorrow so I hope they can take care of things on the outside of the house. Probably not with my luck.

Quick Bits

Generally, I think the Grammy Awards don't really matter much. These are the people who gave both Starland Vocal Band AND Milli Vanilli best new artist awards after all. None the less, I will mention the show happening on Sunday because my favorite band, Radiohead, will be performing. According to one website, they will be opening the show with 15 Step. The USC Marching Band will be accompaning them. That should be, as the kids say, pretty sick. For a warm up, go here.

A friend of mine has a newish blog I want to point out. Todd has become very green minded over the last year. Recounting his struggles and successes, the blog is very much an everyman's journey to better living that is good for making you want to be more proactive in your own life without making you feel like an idiot. Check it out here.

Time to wander outside and enjoy the Spring like temperatures!! Have a good weekend all!

Use The Leg!!

The original plan had been to go see a couple of movies yesterday, but I ended up staying at home putting together my 6th bookcase and sorting through my titles to see what was going to stay and what was going to be donated.

I did, however, get to see The Wrestler. I've always been a fan of Darren Aronofsky's movies (even The Fountain which seems to have been one of those love it/hate it movies). One of his strong suits is showing us characters that are fractured rather than bad. Case in point, Randy "The Ram," the wrestler played by Mickey Rourke.

I have to give a lot of credit to Rourke. Much of the acting in the film is subtle...a look, a wry grin, a slouch of the shoulders. Randy is not a bad person by any stretch; he just doesn't make the best decisions and he has plenty of bad luck outside the ring.

Rourke appears to do most, if not all, of his own stunts. The bouts in the ring are that much better for his effort. You get right in there with the sweat and the grime and the pain. I also came away with a strange appreciation for the 80's style shown in the film. They flat out show you everything is planned out, but that doesn't mean there isn't tons of athleticism involved. One of my favorite bits is crammed into a really gory fight. Randy and his opponent are outside the ring and he has plopped a trash can on top of the guy. Someone hands him a chair to hit the opponent with, but before he can do so, an audience member in a wheelchair offers up his prosthetic leg. The crowd starts to chant "USE THE LEG" over and over. So Randy does. HA!

The catalyst for Randy's story involves the heart attack he has after one bout. The desire to re-examine his life isn't done like a big lightning bolt moment. Instead, it is does almost with a sense of dread and fear. Really beautiful actually. I won't go into much more in case you want to check out the movie. I'll just say I was impressed with the movie, with Rourke's performance and with the ending. I know Marisa Tomei was nominated for her role, and while she is perfectly fine, it is not quite what I expect in a Supporting Actress part. Hopefully it has nothing to do with her going topless.

Speaking of Oscars, I rented Tropic Thunder since Robert Downey, Jr. is up for his role. I think it was supposed to be a funny movie. Not so much for me. I was fully prepared to enjoy it. The teaser trailers at the beginning were great. I almost fell off the couch when the one for "Satan's Alley" popped up with Robert and Tobey Maguire. Perfect! Great, I thought, this is going to be funny. Nope. Sorta dull. Wasn't that impressed by the Cruise cameo. I did like the actor playing Kevin (Knocked Up right?) and I laughed at the "Lance" bit at the end. Otherwise, eh.

I had more to chat about, but this is already pretty long. I will however give a shout out to something my friend Paul is involved in. Check out www.futureperfectradio.com. I'm listening to it right now and I think it is going to give my Q radio station a run for its money. As a bonus, I get to hear Paul's voice very once in awhile say "Future Perfect Radio."