Almost done

As I'm sure most of you are aware, the first of two movies covering the final book in the Harry Potter series came out last week. I have now seen it twice (and will probably check it out at least one more time). It always takes me at least two viewings to get a handle on my opinion of the film. The first time through has me trying to remember what the movie has left out that was in the book. The second time through, I can just watch it as a movie on its own. David Yates, who has directed the last couple of HP's, is behind the wheel for both part one and two of the finale. When book 7 came out, I discussed with several people how difficult it would be to try and present that book as one movie. I was very excited when it was decided to be done as two movies. I'm still glad they did it that way, but I wish the pacing on this movie had been a bit more intense.

Don't get me wrong. I really enjoyed the movie. All three of the leads have become, at the very least, solid actors as they have matured. The tone of the final book/films is definitely the darkest of all of them so it's good that their acting abilities are up to meeting the challenge of the story. I loved seeing Ron get all mushy around Hermione. I loved seeing Ron and Harry argue. I loved seeing Ron get to have his big hero moment. I loved that the CGI used for Kreacher and Dobby (house elves if you are not in the know) improved. The combination of having Dobby seem not so Jar Jar Binks-ish (along with some excellent voice acting for the character) and Daniel Radcliffe's spot on acting made Dobby's death scene a genuinely touching and subtle moment in the film. I loved seeing Draco conflicted. I loved seeing the very, very, subtle hints at Snape's true nature (thank you Alan Rickman!). I love the twins!

The only complaint I have about the movie is the pacing. We start off with a bang. Voldy almost gets Harry. There's the quick escape from the wedding. There is the whole thing at the Ministry. But then we get...walking. In the book, Rowling lets us know that the threesome traveled from place to place for several weeks. They didn't stay in one place for more than a night or two. They had to sneak around and "steal" food (Hermione usually left money in the till or, in the case of snagging some eggs at a farm, under a chicken). I guess I would have liked a more intensely edited montage of some sort that showed more of their struggle. We saw them walking over some really cool bits of land and it's all very expansive and gorgeous and that's great. But, it slowed the movie down for me. It took out some of the tension that should have been built by the fact that they were on the run. Maybe I'm just too picky.

I went to see this the first time with my friend and her 4 boys. When it was over, her youngest turned to me and asked when they were going to start showing the second movie. He was rather disappointed when I told him he would not be waiting just a few minutes, but actually several months. The wait should be worth it as we have only 12 chapters left in the book to go through and it should be almost non stop action, adventure, and snogging (finally the smooch between Hermione and Ron...wonder if it will be as touchy feel-y as the "evil" snog that anti-Harry and anti-Hermione had before Ron crushed the Voldy locket...I sort of wish that intensity was present between Harry and Ginny...maybe they are trying to keep that one more chaste for now...perhaps I'm thinking too much on it...hmmm...). See you in July.

Ring My Bell

I've always wanted to ring the bells for the Salvation Army at this time of the year. Can't really explain why, just did. I got the chance to "live the dream" as it were this weekend. The group I volunteer with, Generation United, took shifts helping ring out in front of a Hy Vee grocery store.

Saturday didn't provide us with the best weather. It was cloudy, a little drippy, and a lot windy. Still, I smiled, rang the bell, said hello to folks as they walked by and thanked them when they donated.

I could tell when people weren't going to donate. Even more particularly, I could tell when people weren't going to donate and they felt bad about it. Usually, they would avert their gaze as they got closer to me. A couple of people told me they didn't have any change.

One little girl wanted to know why Santa wasn't ringing the bell here. I explained he was very busy making toys so he needed some help right now. I think she bought my answer, but she still had a slightly disappointed look on her face. Toward the end of my shift, an older gentlemen came over to talk to me. He asked that I talk to my supervisor and let them know that the guy working the bell at Kroger that morning BROUGHT A CHAIR AND WAS SITTING IN IT!

Apparently sitting down on the job is a big no-no...or at least that is what this guy was telling me. He was in the know because he had a friend who worked for the Salvation Army and sitting down was against the rules. I almost asked the guy if he knew if the person sitting down appeared to be elderly or perhaps injured in some way, there by explaining the evil chair. But, I couldn't get a word in edge wise.

The other highlight of the experience was sharing the space with a dude I referred to as "The Cranberry Guy." Cranberry Guy, or CG as I will call him, was someone hired by Ocean Spray to stand out in front of the store promoting their cranberry juice. He had on waders and an outfit similar to the guys in the commercial. He had a decent sized rectangular wooden box that was about half full of water. On top of the water were cranberries. He had a rake and would move them around and explain to folks how cranberries are harvested, etc.

You would have thought this guy was Elvis or something. Cars stopped so drivers could take photos of him. He posed for pictures with people. CG even had his own camera and had people take pictures on it. I asked him what the pictures were for and he said that they would show his boss that his was mingling and they get sent to Ocean Spray who might put them on their website. CG had got there around 8 and had to work till 5. He came over twice to ask me to watch his display to make sure no one messed with it while he went inside to warm up. The big concern seemed to be people putting something disgusting in the water or some kid drowning in it.

I got to watch a mini soap opera unfold as a trio of teen age girls hovered around where CG was standing. It took them a good 10 minutes (and much pushing) before they went over to talk to him. There was a lot of giggling, hair flipping, and photo taking. After they left, CG came over and told me that they were quite flirty. He said they asked if he was cold. He responded, "I was, but then you came over and my heart started beating so fast I warmed up."

Yeah, I know.

Anyway, it was a worthwhile couple of hours of my day. I'll definitely sign up again. If you have the chance to volunteer in your area, I really recommend it.

'Tis the season after all...

Boo.

I had every intention of watching the two scary movies I'd gotten via Netflix BEFORE the 31st. This of course means that, as with everything else in my life right now, I fell behind and just watched them last night. First was The Human Centipede. I'd been reading about this movie in one of my British mags. It's a riff on the mad scientist who wants to create a monster. In this case, a mad Nazi-esque scientist who wants to make a centipede using 3 people. The gory draw is that the people are sewn to each other via their mouth and well...the behind of the person in front of them. I told you it was gory. The guy who plays the surgeon is darn creepy and I give props to the actors who spent the last third of the movie on hands and knees in a position that had to be interesting at the least. Otherwise, the movie was just sort of run of the mill. I was too busy trying to figure out how certain things were done and trying to work my way through the issues I had with the plot to really get scared. The director made the ending really dark so I guess it was more depressing than scary.

Next up was Trick 'r Treat. It came out in 2008 and was directed by the guy who wrote X-Men 2. Bryan Singer produced and there is even more X-Men connectedness with Bryan Cox and Anna Paquin appearing in the film. I was pleasantly surprised by this movie. It nice some really nice creepy moments. There is plenty of dark humor and some great ironic touches. The little "kid" with the sack over his head walking around in the orange footie pajamas was a nice touch. There are multiple stories that sort of loosely connect. The movie plays off of some classic Halloween motifs, but brings in some fresh blood as it were. It's a short film, only about 1:20 in length, which is perfect. Next year, plan on checking this one out...or be a rebel and watch it over Thanksgiving!

In theaters, Due Date came out this weekend. Directed by Todd Phillips (The Hangover), it stars the fab-I-want-to-have-your-child Robert Downey, Jr. and Zach Galifianakis. Zach and Robert made a great pair. Zach as a weird, man-child sort of guy and Robert as an uptight, somewhat angry man. They don't meet under the best circumstances. Zach gets Robert tossed off a plane and put on a no fly list. Because Robert has lost his ID, he can't rent a car so he ends up having to ride with Zach across country. Robert needs to get back to L.A. in time for the birth of his first child.

While there are funny moments in this buddy/road flick, there just didn't seem to be enough of them. I will say seeing Juliet Lewis as a "pharmacist" (she sells medicinal pot out of her kitchen) was very funny. Also a high light are the bizarre conversations Robert and Zach have. Hearing Zach's character claim that the Hoover Dam was built by the pilgrims was pretty flippin' funny. I enjoyed the emotional and serious moments more. I was impressed with Zach's range and the monologue where Robert describes a traumatic childhood event was really touching. Overall the script felt sort of unfinished, almost like they were rushing it out to keep us occupied while waiting for The Hangover 2 to come out. Still, it wasn't a bad way to spend the afternoon.

Hopefully this week I will get to Buried, starring Ryan Reynolds. I've read a lot about it and I'm curious to see how the director handles keeping the character and the audience in one very small space for the length of the film.

Then it's Harry Potter and the renewal of my moderately inappropriate crush on Daniel Radcliffe!

Reason 742 why I love Jon Stewart

I know I've been bad and have not updated much lately. I will try and get to it later this morning. But for now, please enjoy the very sane, Jon Stewart.



I wish I could have been there.

Quick Work Thingie

Here's a quick one. Last Friday, I was eating lunch out at our picnic table with a co-worker. She told me this story.

She was in the office of one of our accountants. Someone had brought him a watermelon from their garden. It was a little bit darker green in color, but she still knew what is was. She asked the accountant who brought him the watermelon.

He made the comment that he was glad she properly identified the watermelon. He then told her that earlier in the day Disney had been in his office. She too had seen the bounty from the garden and said, "Is that a green pumpkin?"

(Editor's note: when I was first told this story, I mocked Disney over the idea of there being a green pumpkin, then this weekend, I actually saw a green pumpkin...I guess that is what happens when the pumpkin doesn't get enough sun when it is first growing)

He looked at her, perplexed. He said, "No. What comes out of a faucet?"

Disney answered, "Water."

The accountant sort of motioned his hands to prompt her to connect the dots.

Disney thought for a second and said, "It's a water pumpkin?!"

I kid you not. This is one of the reasons why I recently noted on my facebook page that I now understand why people sometimes take a pee in their co-worker's office.

Another example of David Fincher's brilliance

I'll admit that when I first heard someone was doing a movie about the beginnings of facebook I thought "who cares." While I have page on facebook, I suck at updating (no surprise I'm sure). Then I found out that David Fincher (Se7en, Fight Club, Zodiac, the upcoming Girl With The Dragon Tattoo) was directing and I was there on opening night.

The movie is based on a book about the creators of facebook, but as I understand it, none of the folks involved talked to Fincher or to excellent screenwriter, Aaron Sorkin (West Wing, Sports Night, The American President). Talk about creative freedom. The opening of the movie features Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg) having a lightening fast conversation with his, at that moment, girlfriend, Erica (Rooney Mara, who will be playing Lisbeth in the American version of Girl With Dragon Tattoo). Mark's intellect is obvious, as is his social awkwardness, while he spins the talk from one tangent to another, often jumping far ahead of his girlfriend. She is left trying to piece together his logic as he moves ahead oblivious. His mental jumps reveal his insecurities and Erica picks up on his emotional stumbling blocks. None the less, he says some hurtful things and doesn't seem to be aware that they are hurtful. You get the idea that this has happened before and often. Erica has had it and she breaks up with him. At first, Mark doesn't understand what is happening. But, when he realizes she is serious, all his insecurity and his inadequately expression emotion comes forward in a burst of anger, hurt, and math. He goes back to his dorm room at Harvard and alternately blogs and writes code. He wants to get back at his girlfriend. After talking to a roommate, he comes up with the idea for facemash.com. He hacks into the web pages for the different dorms on campus and sets up a website where viewers can vote who is the hottest girl based on pictures he took from the student listings on those dorm sites. He sends out a few emails with a link to the site and quickly seemingly every guy on campus is playing this game...enough so that the site ends up crashing Harvard's servers.

But here's the thing...the break up with the girlfriend that seems to start the ball rolling didn't happen. The writer and director created a situation where they set up that our main character is both brilliant and insecure. Had Zuckerbeg talked to Sorkin and Fincher, maybe they would have had a real life example to use. Though, I don't think that's the point. This isn't supposed to be "historically accurate." It is a movie about social interaction both on-line and off. The Mark Zuckerberg in the movie shifts between being someone you feel sympathy for and someone who just seems like a dick. It is ironic that the guy who created THE social networking site seemed to have few friends. And, in the movie at least, he shafted his one best friend out of the business that they created together. The final scene in the film lets you once again feel sympathy for Mark. He's been told he will probably end up settling his various court cases. Through the trials, he has lost his best friend. He is left alone in a conference room with his computer. He goes on facebook and looks up the girlfriend he broke up with at the beginning of the film. He sends her a friend request then sits quietly while hitting refresh every few seconds waiting for her answer.

The film looks great. Eisenberg is quite good at keeping Mark from turning into a total dick. He plays him with the right amount of brilliance and emotional obliviousness. Andrew Garfield (the new Spider Man) is also excellent as his facebook co-creator, Eduardo Saverin. Eduardo does his best to stay Mark's friend and protect him from those who want to abuse his mental creativity...in other words, Justin Timberlake. Timberlake is very good at doing dickweed smarmy as Napster creator, Sean Parker. I was pleasantly surprised by his performance. The whole cast actually is great. There's even a girl from the Disney Channel who plays Eduardo's girlfriend that caught me off guard.

One more bit of super coolness, the score was done by my fave Trent Reznor along with Atticus Ross from Nine Inch Nails. Reznor is able to convey both the excitement of creating something new and forward thinking, while also tapping in to Mark's emotional landscape. I liked the score enough that I picked it up.

There you have it. The movie about a website I barely visit is one of the best movies I have seen this year.

Next time, I will try to remember to review Let Me In, which I also saw this weekend.

Rock on and don't forget to update your profile page.

I'm back and I brought chocolates!

Medieval house painting in Lucerne.



I loves me a good castle.



The Lion of Lucerne



A view of the Jungfrau from patio of my hotel.



Entrance to the "Cemetery of the Rich" in Milan.

Hello all! This time around I have a good excuse for having not posted. I was out of the country! I was lucky enough to have the chance to take a trip to N. Italy and Switzerland. It was one of those tours hosted by a local news person; in this case, it was a local weather man. I knew going in it could be a little bit of a rough ride. I was the youngest person on the trip. Everyone else was at least in their upper 50's or older. Needless to say, I heard a lot of "I'm cold" and "I'm tired" comments during the trip.

Milan reminded me of Rome in a way. Cool stuff to see, but the general vibe of the city made me uncomfortable, like I didn't quite belong. The Cemetery of the Rich was super cool. It is huge and no one in there has a plain head stone. Everything is massive and expensive. We were told that art students come here to study the sculpture that mark several of the grave sites. One family even had a huge representation of the Last Supper at their final resting place. The cathedral was great and the square in front of it was filled the day we were there. Just off of the square is the Galleria (I think I'm spelling that wrong...sorry). Once a marketplace for farmers and merchants, it is now a major hub of fashion. Prada, Louis Vitton, D and G, you name it and they are there...plus some guys promoting a free Africa with "free" friendship bracelets. Oh, skinny jeans. Lots and lots of skinny jeans.

We next hit a few of the lakes, including Lake Cumo where George Clooney has a place. I can see why he wants to live there. The area is filled with beautiful hills and beautiful lake front views. We lucked out and had excellent weather for all but one day. The sunny skies definitely show off the land to its best advantage. We took a ferry across Lake Lugano and stayed in one of the best hotels I've ever been in. The dining room had huge windows all the way around so as we ate would could see the city and the lake. Breakfast was out on a flower filled terrace. I wish we could have stayed there for more than one night.

Switzerland proper next. Cows, mountains, chocolate, amazingly smooth roads, quaint towns, expensive items (a soda in a restaurant or bar was about $4.50, that's last time I complain about paying $2.25 here), and my bus load of crazy older people. I think one guy in our tour group needed a new hearing aid because all he did was yell. I heard a lot of "WHERE ARE WE GOING?" during our various walking tours. Usually about 30 seconds after our guide had described where in fact we were going.

I took my opportunities where they came up to explore on my own. I checked out the Rosengart Collection in Lucerne. I enjoyed the Klee collection there the most. Lucerne also featured an excellent history museum (I got see see a guillotine up close!) and great medieval architecture. It was like opening a present when walking down the medieval streets. You would see the street open up into a square and almost every building in the square had paintings on it. From what I could gather, the owners of the building are responsible for the upkeep of the paintings. You could really see how proud the city was of its history.

Zurich seemed a little more fast paced than Lucerne. It probably didn't help that our hotel was right at the start of the major shopping street in the city. One square meter of space costs $7,500 a month. As you can guess, pretty much only the major players were there so there was pretty much nothing I could afford...except for the chocolatier (sp?) where I got some cool truffles for my mom. Besides being close to the major shopping street, which was pedestrian and tram only, we were right next door to the train station which was right next to one of the absolute best history museums I have ever been to. Everywhere you looked there was something interesting. Much like an art museum, the each room/section had it's own vibe that really expressed some aspect of the part of history being shown in the displays. The displays were innovative (I really enjoyed walking amongst the knights in battle poses showing off the armor. You could get right up and examine each piece as opposed to looking at it from behind a piece of glass). It and the history museum in Lucerne were definitely highlights of the trip.

Another highlight was seeing the Rhine Falls. Damn, that water moves fast. I was able to take a boat out into the river and go right up to where the falls come down. There is a bit of rock where the boat can dock that is nestled almost in the center of the falls. You can take some pretty steep steps up to an observation deck. It's not quite as wet as going to Niagra, but it is still cool.

Finally, we have the mountains. I saw so many mountains, I can't remember all their names. I made sure to snag the front seat on the bus when we drove through one of the mountain passes. I took a cog rail train up to one town to then take a cable car up to another town, Murren, that is perched on the side of a mountain and that gives you the best view of both the North Face of the Eiger and the highest point in Europe, the Jungfrau. Thanks to the excellent weather, we had clear skies most of the time so you could really enjoy the awesomeness of the mountains around you. Speaking of the Eiger, our hotel in Grindelwald was essentially at the base of the mountain. The view from my room included some cute houses and cows (yeah Brown Swiss!).

I think I ended up taking almost 400 pictures. I'm still working on getting them loaded so I can post more of them. I think it took me almost the whole week to recover from jet lag...and to get back into the swing of things at work. Now, I need to finish getting the photo album organized and things written down before I forget. Project time!

No really, I'm still here

I have a friend, Amy, who is a bit of a renaissance woman. She's a mom, photographer, and a damn funny blogger. I have a link to her blog, Just Barely. I'm thinking I should rename my blog and call it Just Barely Blogging.

My current excuse is going to be the usual "busy at work" and the newly added "busy preparing for my trip." More on that in a second. But first, let's talk about the lovely Michael Cera.

I'll admit that I came in late in the game as far as Arrested Development is concerned. Brilliant, funny, and too damn good for television. Michael played the awkward George Michael on the show and I've been in love with him ever since. In his latest movie, Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World, Michael plays Scott. Scott is a young 20 something living in Toronto, playing bass in a band and sharing a tiny apartment with a young Trent Reznor. Actually, it's Kieran Culkin, but he looks a whole hell of a lot like a young T.R. Scott is not the best guy to date and after his last dumping, he is playing it safe by dating a 17 yr. old who personifies the term "newbie." Then, at a party, he meets Ramona. She is entirely different and he is instantly smitten. It takes a few tries for her to warm up to him, but she gives in and next thing you know, he has to defeat her 7 Evil Ex's in order to continue having a relationship with her.

If you haven't already guessed, Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World is based on a comic book series. The movie is directed by Edgar Wright, the fiendishly, brilliant mind behind Spaced (Brit tv series), Shaun of The Dead, and Hot Fuzz. He, Simon Pegg and Nick Frost are responsible for some of the best entertainment to come out of Britain in the last 10 years or so.

I absolutely loved this movie. Wright fully understands both the original medium and the pop culture that is a part of it. He embraces the use of motifs used in video games, music videos, and comic books without over doing it. The music is amazing (thanks to Nigel Godrich, producer of many a Radiohead album, and Beck, who wrote a good number of the songs). The visuals are impressive and the action sequences stand up to pretty much anything out there. The actors playing the evil ex's are obviously having a good time, as is the rest of the cast. It was fun to see several actors who often get stuck with dull small roles get real parts to play. I don't know that you have to be a fan of video games and/or comics to enjoy the movie, but I think you will get more out of the film if you are.

Here's some of the music. The actors are playing and singing. I tried to find something for "Threshold," which is my favorite song, but no luck. Instead, here's another good one, "Garbage Man." Not quite as rockin', but still a really good song.




The first girl in the video is the 17 yr. old, the girl with the pink hair is Ramona and the dark haired guy yelling "YEAH" at the end is Kieran Culkin, aka Trent Reznor.

Here's a link to the movie's website.

It's getting close to lunch time so I think I'll wrap this up by sharing yet another my co-worker's suck story. The preggers one didn't come in till 10:30 on day because she had to take some tests. A couple of days later, she had some follow up tests that made her tired so she texted the sales engineer we share and said she was not coming in that day. I ended up having to take care of two of her projects. Disney has decided to put her house on the market and buy this other house in the same town. One big problem, they don't have any money (partially because they over spent on all the renovations they decided to do this summer) so the only way they can afford the house is to sell theirs. They have not had their house appraised and are trying to sell it on craigslist. Because they aren't done changing up their house, no one can actually go inside until this weekend. Murmur about the office is the owners of the house Disney is looking to buy want some sort of financial commitment. That hasn't happened yet and I noticed that they too have put their house on craigslist. All this means Disney is roaming around outside a lot on her cell phone. This wandering puts a cramp in her work productivity which resulted in her sneaking a file and invoice to process into my office while I was posing a question to one of the engineers in his office. She didn't have the balls to come up to me and say "since this was your job originally, I thought you might want to do this." This is a phrase used often by both of them and was actually used by the preggers on earlier that morning. GRRRRRRRRR.

Twisted

Once again, it has been forever since I have updated. As usual, I will begin with an apology. Sorry.

Okay, that's done. So, is it just me or has this been a pathetic excuse for a summer movie season? There just hasn't been much that has compelled me to go to the theater. Thankfully, Christopher Nolan makes up for such a dire summer.

Inception is hard to describe. You don't want to give away anything, but you want to talk about the movie once you have seen it. Nolan has essentially become the leader in non-linear storytelling in film. Most of his movies, especially those that he and or his brother have written/created, explore psychological themes and issues. Inception is no different. The basic premise revolves around Leonardo DiCaprio's character working as a sort of corporate spy. He goes into a person's dream state and collects information to be sold to a competitor. All sorts of mental tricks are played in the dream state to pull forth that info. Leo has people who go into the dream state with him. Someone is technically the dreamer, someone is the architect who creates the "reality" within the dream, etc. The idea that moves the plot is literally an idea...or the idea that you can plant an idea in someone's head and they will believe that this idea actually originated in their own mind (hence, inception).

Visually, this is a stunning movie. Usually when you see environments that are CGI you can always see something that is off; something that gives it all away that it isn't real. I don't know how they did what they did, but everything is soooo smooth and realistic. You can easily get caught up in each of the environments and loose track of what is a dream and what is reality.

Keeping track is not impossible though. You can follow this movie. You have to work a little bit and pay attention, but for as much of a mind f*** that it is, it is still a thrilling story. It may fall just a bit short on a couple of emotional moments. None the less, you get connected to the characters. Even the small roles feel fleshed out.

The acting is all top notch. I'm a big Joseph Gordon-Levitt fan and I really enjoyed his performance. And, he kicked butt in his big action sequence while working a vest and tie. Sweet. I'm appreciating DiCaprio more and more as he gets older. He seems very comfortable portraying characters around his age and doesn't seem afraid of not always being the boyish-ly attractive lead. Which isn't to say he doesn't look good in an all black suit...

Just go see the movie and enjoy the ride.

Not much else to report. Project Runway started up again and as usual, I can't remember any of the designers names when there are 16 of them. The only one I do recall was Casanova, who sent out a model dressed in what essentially looked like a belly dancer's outfit. I think he'll be around for a couple of episodes. He is like this season's Ping. A little out there and a little hard to understand.

Work is work. Disney seems to have recovered from the raccoon incident, but apparently there is some other new issue. One day last week she went outside twice to talk on her cell phone. Once for about 20 min. and once for about 40. In between those phone calls, she was in her office with the door closed for between 1 and 1 1/2 hrs. That's what I call a productive day! Of course, she still left at 4:30 and I believe took at least a half hour lunch.

Now, you may be wondering how I know about all this activity. Let's just say it helps to be friendly with people in different parts of the building who feel free to comment on when they saw Tara walking past their window with her phone to her ear. It also helps to be in the breakroom when she snuck out the back with her phone and then be up front waiting to talk to a sales rep when she wanders back inside (that was the 40 min. call). Our owners are paranoid enough that they have been tossing around the idea of installing security cameras. Part of me really wants them to do so in the hopes that she gets caught. Sort of evil, I know. I just want people to do their jobs.

Next weekend is the big Mad Dash for Generation United. It's a fund raiser set up as an Amazing Race style competition. I'll try and take my camera to get some photos.

Finally, a friend of mine brought this video to my attention. She is also a big Jane Austen fan. Enjoy!

Things that go bump

It's been a weird week at work. Everyone was trying to recover from the holiday weekend. You know the drill...even though everyone knows you have a day off they send you an email anyway. On Wed., I can hear Disney's princess-ey (and not in a good way, but in a breathy, annoying way) voice down the hall from my office. I can't quite make out what she is saying, but it's DRAMATIC and VERY IMPORTANT. At one point I hear her exclaim, "That must be it! I bet that's what did it!"

Next thing I know, she and our boss are walking outside. I ask our office manager what is going on. What follows is a prime example of why some people should not be allowed to procreate.

Seems Disney was driving along, at high speed, minding her own business. At some point along the way, her car starts over heating. I'm not sure if she pulled off the road a few times or not, but she described it as over heating repeatedly. Because she's on her phone all the time at work and left her charger at the office, her cell phone was dead so she couldn't call anyone for assistance. She gets to work late and immediately starts telling her tale to our boss. Because, being a guy, he automatically knows everything about cars.

She just can't figure out why her car would be overheating. Our boss asks her if her radiator was leaking. This path of inquiry assumes Disney actually took the time to look over her own vehicle before coming in to share her tale of woe. She didn't know. Our boss asks if there had been any recent damage to the car. You know, like accidentally pulling up too close to one of those cement parking lot block thingies. You know what I'm talking about. I have scrapped my front bumper on those things on more than one occasion.

Disney thinks about it and then says something along the lines of..."I hit a big raccoon on my way to work this morning. It made a big thump. That must be it!"

And now, a brief interruption for an editor's comment.

ARRRRRGHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Back to our story...

Disney was clipping along, probably way over the speed limit. She readily admits to driving fast most of the time. She was probably trying to figure out why her cell phone wasn't working too. She sees a raccoon in the road. SHE ASSUMES IT WILL MOVE OUT OF THE WAY WHEN IT SEES HER COMING.

Editor comment: WTF?! She thinks raccoons have the agility to out run a speeding car? More importantly, she thinks they have the mental ability to comprehend what is about to happen and dodge her?

She saw the raccoon people. She had enough time to recognize the animal and think "oh, it'll move." She could have slowed down and let it scamper on its way.

Nope. She just kept going, was surprised that it couldn't dodge her car (or maybe it had a death wish and it was staying in the road on purpose), and more importantly, she was still unable to put 2 and 2 together and consider the possibility that hitting a medium size creature hard enough to hear a thud UNDER your car as you kill it could maybe, just maybe, do some damage.

Our boss looked at the underside of her car as best he could and he was able to tell that 1) something, probably the radiator was leaking and 2) it looked pretty ripped up under there.

The rest of the day was spent on the phone with her husband and with the car repair place. Our office manager had to follow her to the car repair place and give her a ride back to work. Disney had to call several people through out the day and recant her story. And she still left half an hour early like usual. Then, yesterday, she forgot to bring her lunch. Instead of considering the option of walking a few blocks to a couple of possible locations, or nicely asking someone to pick up something for her if they were already going somewhere, she goes back to talk to the owner's son (who runs the parts department) and he sends his kid out to pick something up for her. The enabling must stop people...otherwise, how will folks ever change...?

And people wonder why I want to ram my head into a wall when I hear the sound of her voice...

What I've Been Doing...

Yes, I've been bad again. So, what have I been doing may you ask...

1) Going to the movies. I saw a sweet documentary called Babies. It follows 4 kids from birth through their first birthday. There is almost no dialogue. The babies are from the U.S., Japan, Mongolia and Namibia. I think my fave was the little boy from Mongolia. He was quite the explorer once he figured out how to crawl. It was interesting to see the different approaches used by each culture as they raised their child. But, there were plenty of similarities in the newborns' experiences. Discovering your own hand or foot is a pretty universal moment. I also saw The A Team or as I call it The Eh Team. The guy who directed Smokin' Aces directed this, which should have been my first clue. I hated Smokin' Aces (except for Jason Bateman's bit). I went in willing to over look a lot, but when it started turning into just one action sequence after another while sometimes trying to toss in a "deep" storyline here and there, I just got annoyed. I will give props to my man Sharlto Copley. He played Murdock and he was fab. He had just the right combo of crazy and funny without overdoing it. He provided most of the best parts of the film. It would probably be an okay rental. I have to wait till my friend and her kids are available for Toy Story 3 before I get to see it. Right now I am anxious to see Inception.

2) Volunteering. Thanks to my friend Lindsay, I have been working with Generation United. Gen U, as it is called, is the "youth" organization within the United Way. I spent 4 hours helping set up for the Relay for Life in a nearby town. A few days later I helped out at the Midwest Food Bank.

3) Sitting in front of a fan trying not to move...watching free HBO. During the heatwave last weekend, my cable company happened to be offering free HBO and Cinemax. This also included free HBO on demand so I got through 6 hours of season 2 of True Blood and 2 episodes of the new season. I am fully prepared to marry Sam Trammell (assuming Sharlto Copley isn't ready to commit). On a side note, I watched a few minutes of late night "Skin-e-max." There is almost nothing funnier than soft core "porn," especially when the title of the movie is The Devil Wears Nada.

4) Went to a play and a wedding reception. My friend's four boys were all in the local kids production of A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court. Her oldest was the lead and he did a pretty darn good job. He has a nice voice and he projects well. He really shone during his solo song and in a duet at the end with this girl who also had a solid voice. His brothers had smaller parts, and other than maybe saying their lines a little too fast, they did a fine job too. The wedding reception was for my cousin's daughter. They got married in front of the justice of the peace a few months back. Another cousin (brother to the father of the bride) was performing with his band. They are just a bar band, but they do okay around the area. The song selection wasn't quite to my taste (they were all about the country), but it was amusing to see some of the older folks get up and dance. This side of the family is very into the good time and that night was no exception.

5) Read some books. I finished The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest. It reminded me of the first book in the series. There was a lot of set up before the action kicked in. I liked it, but not as much as the other two. It really felt like it was preparing you for the 4th book. The author had originally planned on having 10 books in the series, but he died before he finished the 4th book. I read that his long time girlfriend has not only what has been written for the 4th book, but also the outline. She apparently would work with him on the books so the scuttlebutt is that she could finish the 4th book. His family sees it differently and until they come to some sort of agreement that 4th book is going to stay as it is. I'm almost done with A Girl Named Zippy. This was one of those books that every time I would see it at the book store I'd say to myself, "I should read this." I am really loving it. As someone who grew up in a small, Midwestern town, I can sympathize with a lot of her experiences. Haven Kimmel writes really well and has a good sense of humor and appreciation of the absurd.

6) Once again, considered smacking my co-workers. So far this week, one of them has been gone for two hours on Mon., 90 min. on Tues., today she left at 3:30 and she is taking Friday off. The other one just wanders outside "to get some fresh air" with her phone a couple times a day for anywhere from 10-30 min. at a time. Sigh. I'm sort of hoping my bosses install some security cameras. I'd be happy to review the footage and give them the highlights.

7) Finally, eating dinner and watching a movie with friends during a tornado outbreak. We have the best parties!

Sorry again about not posting. I beg your forgiveness. Be sure and check out the first Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows trailer. I got goosebumps on my arm the first time I watched it. Have a great 4th everybody!

Letting go and moving on

No, this has nothing to do with me confronting the issues I have in my life. This has to do with the Lost finale.

I wanted to go over a few things in my head before I put forth any comments. I have to say that right after the episode ended last Sunday I was satisfied. I cried all over the place. I loved the bookend created by having the last shot be Jack's eye closing as he died mimicking the opening shot of Jack's eye opening as he regained consciousness after the plane crash. I loved the emotional satisfaction of seeing characters reunited in the alt-verse. I loved that Ben stayed good and that he knew he had some more things to work on before he could join the others. (HA! I didn't even mean to write it that way...the "others"...get it?) I also liked that Hurley ultimately ended up being the protector with Ben as his number two. Hurley was always the heart of the series, who better to protect what was often referred to as the heart of the island. And, who better to help Ben get past his insecurities, but the person who was most willing to take care of others unconditionally.

I realized as I was re-watching part of the episode the other day (and crying in the same parts) that I am really going to miss hearing Michael Giacchino's beautiful score once a week. As much as using contemporary music in a television series can be great (Alias, that also used Giacchino as a composer, was great at this, as was La Femme Nikita), in some respects, it has become the lazy go to that replaces real scoring. Thankfully, he is a busy guy so I know I will hear him again. I think he needs to do like They Might Be Giants once did and set up a phone number you could call to hear a new song everyday.

I'm sure plenty of people are horked off that we didn't get answers for everything. But, the creators had been pretty clear in interviews that they weren't going to provide answers for everything. The only answer they guaranteed was that they would show how the alt-verse and happenings on the island were connected. Part of me wonders if they got caught up in the cool cues (the numbers, the connections between characters revealed in the flash backs, name choices, the books that Sawyer read, the Dharma Initiative) that they hadn't quite figured out how it all tied in so they just decided to not provide answers that don't exist. But part of me wonders if I just need to re-watch the series with the knowledge I know have thanks to the finale. Maybe the cues were just simply tools of compelling storytelling. Maybe it was the rabid fanbase that made the cues bigger than they should have been.

Ultimately, I don't know that I care if I didn't get answers. Sure, I have questions. How did Jacob get off the island? Did Desmond ever get off the island or was he there with Ben and Hurley for the rest of his life? Is Ben going to stay in the alt-verse till he gets his baggage with Alex and Rousseau resolved? (He is aware of his island life, but we didn't see any sort of revelation for Alex and Rousseau.) How much time passed between the characters deaths?

Not having these answers doesn't take away from the experience I had watching the show. It gives me a chance to continue to think about the stories and the themes the show offered up. I'm okay with that. I can let go. What happened, happened.

On a side note, I was talking about the finale with a couple of co-workers. One is still, somehow, convinced that everyone died at the very beginning. Um, I don't think so. I'm not sure how he came to that conclusion. I tried to argue my perspective. Everything that happened on the island happened and that's what brought about the redemption that we see in the alt-verse. While talking about it with my boss on Friday, Disney was walking by us. When she heard me mention Jack's name, she squeals, "Are you talking about Lost? I haven't watched it yet...don't say anything." I have a very hard time believing she's been watching this show. This is the person who had to have someone else set up her Facebook page. Plus, I think most people who have been fans from the start have seen the finale by now. Sure she has kids, but they are little and in bed by 7 or 8pm. You got time to watch chick. (Yes, I am a TV snob sometimes.) Anyway, my boss decided to mess with her and immediately says, "Can you believe that they made Jack gay?!" Disney about screamed. I added that I thought that Jack and Locke made a cute couple. Disney kept saying we had ruined the finale. I can't honestly say whether she was playing along or if she really believed us. It's very hard to tell. I sort of hope she believed us.

Here's some of the most beautiful music television has ever had grace its airwaves.

No, no, no, no, no, no....

All right Lost writers...if you make my Ben turn out to be a baddie, I'm gonna...I'm gonna...well, I'm not sure what I'm going to do. But, I will be pretty horked off. Last night's episode left me a twee bit confused on several points.

I can understand why Ben wouldn't have a problem with the suddenly reformed Charles W. dying, but why go with Fake Locke? I'm hoping it's because he has something up his sleeve and he's going to help destroy old Smokey.

Next question, if Jacob took Kate off the list of candidates because she became a mom, then why were Jinn, Sun, and Sawyer still on (at least until Jinn and Sun died) when they are also parents? I need answers people. I'm thinking I'm not going to get a lot of sleep on Sunday evening.

Here's one other little bit. It seems as though most of the group are going to run into each other at the concert in the Alt-verse. Miles is going, as is Charlotte, probably Sawyer, Jack, Jack's kid, the kid's mom (who we haven't seen yet), Desmond, Kate, and I think Hurley and Sayid. It struck me that wouldn't it be interesting if Juliet ended up being Jack's ex. They are both doctors; they could have met at a conference or something. At this concert, if Sawyer goes as Miles' "date," then he and Juliet could meet. Kate and Jack could also meet at this point in time. Don't know that any of the above is feasible, it was just something that struck me while driving home today.

On other pop culture fronts, I saw Robin Hood this past weekend. Sadly, it's a bit of a snooze fest. The story just wasn't compelling enough to carry a 2 1/2 hr. movie. I was looking forward to seeing a new twist on the Robin Hood legend. But, the film just seemed to stroll along until it hit an action sequence. It's too bad, because I liked the chemistry between Russell and Cate.

Also last week, I got the chance to see The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. If you haven't had the chance to read the book, I strongly recommend doing so. Lisbeth Salander (the girl with the aforementioned tattoo) is one of the more unique and interesting female characters in contemporary literature. The book is the first in a trilogy. The final book comes out next week.

Back to the films. Because the series of books have already been released in Sweden, the corresponding films are also already done and have been shown overseas. Dragon Tattoo centers around the mysterious disappearance of a 16 yr. old girl. She hasn't been seen in about 40 years. She comes from a wealthy and powerful family. Her favorite uncle has spent most of his life trying to find out what happened to her. He decides to make one last effort and hires a recently disgraced journalist to go through all the police reports, etc. to see if any new clues can be found. Salander, who is a researcher for a security company and a computer hacker, gets involved and the story speeds along from that point.

The movie was tense, even though I knew what was coming up. The screenwriter did an excellent job of staying true to the source material without being a slave to it. I didn't miss what was cut out. I was a little surprised that something we learn in the second book was sort of revealed in the movie, but it wasn't that big of a deal. Since I'm sure most of you won't find this in the local multiplex, try and snag it when it comes out on DVD in July...and suck it up and read the subtitles please.

That's it for now. Dig the new LCD Soundsystem cd that came out this week! And check out the latest incarnation of Doctor Who on BBC America, Matt Smith...woo, hoo! Or should it be woo, Who?

I'm such a dork.

Blog or watch Glee online...hmmmmm...

That was the question last week. I was all ready to update and instead I watched the Madonna themed episode of Glee. Sorry.

It's been a long two, three, four weeks. My anxiety was created indirectly so I shouldn't complain too much. One of the sales reps had a family emergency so he was essentially gone for 3 days. The whole thing was rough for him and his wife. I was trying to do my best to help handle the work load which resulted in several hours of overtime on my end and some inappropriate questions from Disney. Sigh.

Here's the super spiffy update on the stuff that is my life.

MOVIES:
The Losers-I meant to write on this a while back. I saw it the weekend it opened and was disappointed. It was just a standard action movie really. The one highlight was Chris Evans. He needs to get more cool gigs. It was a bit disturbing to me that there was a brief media storm over Kick Ass, which opened the week prior and was rated R, having an 11 yr. old character who was a vengeance driven killer. Then, we have The Losers, rated PG-13 making it available to a younger audience, offering up a fight between the male and female lead. I swear the female lead got punched in the face and of course, they end up sleeping together. The PG-13 version of that included a slow-mo lap dance. And, a woman gets shot in the face by the bad guy for not holding an umbrella correctly. Now, we don't see her get shot directly. She is just off screen and we see the bad guy lift his gun and pull the trigger. I don't remember seeing anything about either of these two scenes. In fact, Ebert gave the movie 3 stars and only gave Kick Ass one. Something there is just not right.

Iron Man Deux-You generally can't go wrong with Robert Downey Jr. The movie is good, summer fun, but I didn't get quite the same thrill out of it as I did the first one. I'm sure a lot of that has to do with the origin story being stronger that the plot of the second movie. Still, Robert has some great lines and great moments...totally worth seeing.

Theater: I went and saw the road show of Avenue Q last night and freakin' loved it!!!! The songs were fab enough that I'm seriously thinking of getting the cast album. How can you not love a show that features a tune called "The Internet Is For Porn?" (Fave lyric from that tune, "I grabbed my dick and double clicked...") Normally, I really don't enjoy musicals, but with plenty of edgy humor and puppet sex, this show entertained me to no end. If it comes to your town, go see it and laugh your butt off.

I know there are some other things I was going to comment on, but I'm drawing a blank and I hear thunder coming closer. I should probably shut down the computer at this point.

Stay dry and safe kids.

Pain in the Ass, Kick Ass and Dumb Ass

PAIN IN THE ASS

There I was, minding my own business, waiting for the light to change, listening to Nine Inch Nail's The Fragile when suddenly I and my car are moving forward even though my foot was on the brake. An obvious phrase left my mouth and before I could continue to cuss, I get tapped again. The light changes and I pull into the first parking lot I get to, as does the car behind me.

My mind is racing and I'm sure I had a lovely look on my face. I get out of my car feeling twitchy all over from the adrenaline rush. I haven't been in an accident since I was about 17. The young woman who was driving the other car gets out and we do the usual "are you okay" conversation. Once we determine no one is hurt, we check our respective cars. Her front bumper is fine, but her license plate is a bit mangled. I fully expected to have a dent in my rear bumper. I go to check it out and was surprised to see nothing more than a crack about the length of my pinkie finger and a random screw sticking out of my bumper (see above).

After a bit of discussion, we exchange our info and head out. I debated on calling my insurance agent since there wasn't much visible damage. After talking to one of the guys at work who does his own car stuff, I decided to start the claim process. Of course, this means getting a hold of someone to check out the bumper to see if anything that isn't visible needs to be replaced. I'm dying to know where the screw came from. I call down to my dealer because they are a "select" service group with my insurance company which will make the paperwork tons easier. Of course, the body guy isn't there on Saturdays and apparently they don't have any pens or pieces of paper around because I couldn't leave a message. Now, these are the same people who drove me nuts last year when I had to get work done so I'm not particularly optimistic. I just am trying to make this process as painless as possible. Now I get to start the pain in the butt planning so I can get an appointment, get someone to follow me to drop off the car and get a vehicle to drive to work (all before 8 am including a 30 min. drive to work), get the claim number from the insurance agent, have a car for work, get my car back....arrrghhhh. If only I'd turned left instead of right.

KICK ASS

I have been looking forward to this movie for several weeks now. I haven't read the comic that the flick is based on, but I am a fan of the director, Matthew Vaughn. Without Layer Cake, I'm not sure Daniel Craig would have been considered for Bond and Stardust was one of the best book adaptations I've seen in awhile.

Don't have any delusions about Kick Ass; it is an R rated movie in every sense. It is violent, there is tons of cussing (a decent amount coming from a character who is about 11 years old), adult humor...have I mentioned the violence. This not Spiderman or Superman. In tone, it comes closer to The Dark Knight.

I really enjoyed it. Aaron Johnson as Kick Ass was solid. His expressions gave off just the right amount of optimism and naivete needed for his character to even consider trying to become a super hero without super powers. Nick Cage used his nuttiness for good instead of evil and chewed the scenery as Big Daddy. Wearing a costume just a couple of utility belt accessories short of being Batman, and channeling both Adam West and William Shatner, he practically takes over most of the scenes he is in. That is, until his daughter comes into the picture.

Ah, Hit Girl. Instantly iconic and the best part of this movie. Chloe Moretz seems to dominate without even trying. She is perfect in the role and even though she and her father are essentially psychopaths, you root for her. You want her to get the revenge she needs and has trained for. Extra kudos to the movie's costume designer. Hit Girl's crime fighting costume is spot on. And major kudos to Chloe, her stunt double and the stunt coordinator. Chloe is the main focus of not one, not two, but THREE major fight sequences (one of them fabulously carried out to Joan Jett's "Bad Reputation"). For me, it was exciting to see a girl as the focus of a fight sequence without having her character in some skimpy outfit, there by making the fight more about the violence and anger than making it about sex.

I was checking Chloe's resume and she is going to be in the American remake of Let Me In. She will be playing a child vampire who befriends the boy next door who is being taunted by bullies. I wasn't sure how I felt about this remake, but now that I know she is in it, I am excited.

Kick Ass is one of those movies that you will either love for what it is or you will absolutely hate it...like Roger Ebert, who I don't think got it. Just don't take the kids.

DUMB ASS

On tax day, there was a tea party downtown in the town where I work. I know at least one co-worker took the day off to go (really? seriously?). I think one of my sales reps took an extended lunch to be there. I'm surprised our office didn't close. Sarah Palin came to a near by town and charged people to see her. I haven't read the coverage just because I get angry every time I think about her. I keep hoping she will disappear from the public scene, but no luck so far.

Well, I think I've caught up now. OH, almost forgot. Duke won the NCAA men's tourney. It was a very exciting and well played game. I read yesterday that one of Butler's best players, Gordon Heyward put his name in the NBA draft, but hasn't hired an agent yet. That just means if he changes his mind, he can go back to school with no problem. I was disappointed when I read that. He's only a sophomore (if I remember correctly) and knowing that all but one of the starting 5 could be back next year had me really excited to watch Butler play. I know that money is a powerful lure, but I prefer it when the guys stay in school and get the most out of the college experience. That's just me.

Basketball Bender

My excuse for not really blogging last week revolved around the start of the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament. As a college b-ball fan, this is my favorite time of year. I used two of my vacation days so I could gorge myself on the sport. I bounced back and forth between my TV and the computer in order to catch as many games as possible. I think I ended up watching about 44-ish hours TH-SUN. It's been awhile since there have been that many overtimes and games won by a basket at the very end.

I'm happy to see the Duke is still in it. I nervous about their game with Baylor later today, but I think they have a good shot at going to the Final Four this year. As long as the big three all hit their season averages, and we keep up inside, I think they are there.

When I haven't been watching basketball this week (I can't even tell you how tired I was after the double OT Xavier/K-State game), I have been enjoying/subjecting myself to local high school theater. More frighteningly, musical theater. Those of you with whom I have discussed theater, know how much I don't really like musicals. They make almost no sense to me. I find it annoying that suddenly everyone in town breaks into song and dance.

There are exceptions to my hate. If the story itself has something to do with music, I'm usually cool with it. I love Hedwig and the Angry Inch. I enjoy Grease. I liked Rent, but that's probably more because of how contemporary the music was.

I also dig The Music Man. A good friend of mine teaches English, Writing and a few other things at a local high school. He is the director of the fall play and co-director of the spring musical. He has been into theater all his life and has an extremely supportive wife, so he really pushes the high school theater program as close to a college program as possible. I think he is safely into JuCo range. Anyway, I saw his production of The Music Man on Friday night and was really impressed. The sets looked way beyond what most high schools do. The staging was really good. The choreography rocked. The kids all acted well and pretty much everyone who had a singing part had a solid voice. One of the side players did such a great job with her small part, I actually felt compelled to tell her in the "meet and greet" afterward that she was my new favorite person.

The flip side of this was a production of Once Upon a Mattress that I saw last night. Can I just say can't see the point/logic of writing a musical where one of the main-ish characters is MUTE!!! Seriously! The songs the mute king participated in almost caused my soul to leave my body in hopes of finding shelter. I don't blame the kids really. They are only performing what has been written and acting the way they are being directed. It was like watching a really bad game of charades with some music tossed in. For some reason, at the end of most of the songs, the kids were doing the thing where they face the audience and as they are hitting that final note, lifting one arm out from their body. Eh? Okay for swing choir maybe, but not a good thing for musical theater...unless it's a big, everybody is in it, finale sort of song where choreography has been involved, then it is a little more understandable.

Here's a couple of random blurbs about the office:

Worst recent quote from the guy in the office next to mine (on the phone to a customer I believe):

"When someone drops a deuce, it kills the whole hallway."

Sadly, he is correct about this, but still. For some reason, the boys can't figure out that the Lysol disinfectant is not the same as air freshener.

I think I have decided to change the name of our "let's be best friends" lunches from Hands Across the Office to That Time Of The Month. Why I didn't come up with that the first time I don't know.

Okay, games are gonna start soon and I still have to make lunch.

GO DUKE!

One out of Two

Well crap. Illinois just didn't have it for the second overtime. I think their chances are still good for getting into the tournament. Duke hangs on to go to the championship tomorrow! Guess I'll go see the new Matt Damon flick during the week.

Half Time

WOO HOO! Illinois is up at the half. My poor remote is getting bitch slapped today. I'm constantly bouncing back and forth between IL vs. Ohio St. on CBS and Duke vs. Miami on ESPN. Miami, not surprisingly, has come back and hit a 3 pointer with seconds to spare to go up at the half. I think things should be getting going again soon so this is a short hello.

I changed the look of the page. I'm not super excited, but I haven't had a chance to look for a lot of options. Maybe after the games are done today...

I-L-L!

I-N-I!

Drowning, Not Waving

I think I may have used that post title before, but after the last few weeks, it is worth a repeat. Things have freakishly picked up at work. In general, that's good. More bids means the chance at more jobs. What is not good is having one of the reps losing track of what is bidding when...it results in me getting handed decent sized bids and having about 6 hrs. to get them finished. Ugh. I've pulled about 3-4 hours of overtime the last couple weeks which has left me less than enthused about getting on the computer when I get home.

But, if anything will pull me back, it will be the Oscars. And Maru the cat videos, but I digress.

I have a feeling that this year's Oscars will be more of a popularity contest than usual. I've had a chance to see most of the nom'd performances and movies so here's what I think:

Best Actor: I think Clooney or Colin Firth should win, but Jeff Bridges probably will win. And, he probably deserves it (I never did make it to Crazy Heart). Bridges has won most of the Best Actor awards that have already been given out and thankfully, is crazy talented.

Best Actress: I think it should go to Carey Mulligan for An Education. It will probably go to Sandra Bullock. Don't get me wrong. I am a Sandra fan. I don't always like her choices, but she's a nice person and I think she works hard when she makes a film. She's quite good in The Blind Side, but I'm not sure it's a role that has the traditional "Oscar-ness" to it. Still, she's a nice person, a lot of Hollywood folks like her and who knows when she will get another part that will bring her this close to taking home the golden man.

Best Supporting Actor: Christoph Waltz in Inglourious Basterds should and will win. He is the absolute best thing about that movie. Well, that and the use of the song "Cat People (Putting Out Fire)." He makes the evil that is a Nazi all the more creepy by making him articulate and eerily calm.

Best Supporting Actress: Mo'Nique should and will win. She had no fear playing an abusive mother and her final monologue will knock the air out of your lungs. It's too bad that Up in The Air hadn't come out this year because Vera Farmiga and Anna Kendrick were both very good too.

Best Score: Up should win. When I watch this movie, I always cry at the same three places. I am convinced that the third time I cry, it's because of Michael Giacchino's score that calls back to the first time I cried. I love Giacchino's work (he does the music for Lost) and I'm pulling for him.

Best Foreign Film: I'll admit that I haven't seen any of the nominated films. Not surprising since it's rare that a foreign flick comes anywhere near where I live. But, the film A Prophet is directed by the guy who did "The Beat That My Heart Skipped" which I really enjoyed so I'm pulling for him. Another option is The White Ribbon, which I've heard lots of good things about. The only problem is it is really long and there's a chance not all the voters took the time to watch it.

Best Adapted Screenplay: In the Loop should win. I just watched this movie on DVD and it was one of the funniest and wittiest scripts I've heard in a while. The film is about the political maneuvering and backstabbing that occurs while Britain and the U.S. decide whether they are going to invade an unnamed Middle Eastern country on the premise of their being weapons of mass destruction, but no one has been able to provide evidence that the WMD's even exist. Sound familiar? I will admit that I pretty much love any movie that features British people cussing in profuse and creative ways. Sadly, that could be the downfall for this screenplay. If In The Loop doesn't get it, I'm pulling for either Up In The Air or An Education.

Best Original Screenplay: This was tough because I haven't seen The Messenger or A Serious Man. I'm leaning towards A Serious Man because I'd heard such good things about the script.

Best Animated Feature: Up. I wish Coraline and Fantastic Mr. Fox had come out in different years because they are worthy of this award as well.

Best Director: Kathryn Bigelow should win. After he snagged a Golden Globe though, I think James Cameron will take it home, which sucks.

Best Picture: I think it should be either Up or The Hurt Locker (though I am also secretly rooting for District 9, but there's no way that's happening...). I think if James doesn't get best director, The Hurt Locker has a shot here. It's been pretty traditional to have the film done by the best director win best picture. It doesn't happen all the time, but often enough. I do like James Cameron. I frickin' love Aliens. But, Avatar is not the best picture released this year.

We'll see how I do with these guesses come Sunday night. Good thing I'm not putting down any money on this stuff.

Weekend Roundup

I have a few minutes before I head off to the theater so I figured I should update. Now, did it sound posh of me to say "the theater?"

I've been trying to cram in as many Oscar nom'd flicks the past couple of weeks while also struggling to not maim my co-workers. Here's the quick flick run down.

A Single Man: First, I'll get the silly stuff out of the way. Colin Firth mostly naked...bonus! Matthew Goode mostly naked...bonus! This movie really lets Colin step into the limelight. He deserves his best actor nom as he takes us through the (possibly) final day in his character's life. He is a professor whose boyfriend of 16 years died 8 months earlier. He is struggling to just get out of bed every day, let alone live any sort of life. He has decided to kill himself and we spend the day with him as he says good bye to those around him (although they don't realize that is what he is doing). The movie is set in '60's California and the film is treated in such a way that you feel like you are watching a movie made with film stock of that era. It is all very cool and has gray overtones until we come across moments that make Firth's character start to want to live again. Then the film becomes warmer and the colors more vibrant. At first it's very subtle and you question whether or not what you saw actually happened. The film is a gentle, character study which means a lot of people probably won't seek it out. But, it is a beautiful movie both in look and in the acting with in it. Check it out...it will be worth it.

The second flick I've seen recently is not up for an Oscar, but it's a new release so I'll toss something out.

The Wolf Man. Ugh. I was really expecting it to be good because I really like all the actors involved. Sadly, it sucked. The script wasn't very strong. The issue with the story of the wolf man is he only goes wolfy once a month. So, you have to come up with something to keep the story going between wolf attacks. The first couple of bits were okay. Wolf Dude kills a guy and it takes a few weeks for the body to be discovered and for Emily Blunt to write Benicio Del Toro and tell him his brother has disappeared and for Benicio to come to the family estate. Fine. I can live with that. I can even live with the month that goes between Wolf Dude attack #2 where Benicio gets bit and then it takes him a month to recover.

But, when it presumably takes Benicio a month to walk from London to the estate while at the same time it takes Emily a month to get to the same place, but she's traveling by horse and carriage, I start to get annoyed.

Then there are the leaves in the foyer. I was obsessed with these frickin' leaves. At the start of the flick, we find out that Benny and Anthony Hopkins have been estranged since Benny was 11. Benny comes back because Emily wrote him about his brother. The first time he walks into his old house it is dark and dank. There are massive cobwebs everywhere and there are dead leaves all over the foyer. This is called I can't come up with actual tension so I'm going to create it by tossing a bunch of dead plants everywhere. I appreciate that the director wanted a very Gothic feel to the flick; I expected that. But, just tossing dead leaves around isn't going to cut it.

Now, if Anthony lived alone there, I could work with it. It would be as though he was a hermit. But, he wasn't. The brother lived there and the impression was given that Emily, the brother's fiance, was currently living there too! Now, you tell me that a woman from a respectable family would put up with cobwebs everywhere and a ton of flippin' leaves in the hall. I don't think so. And even if I was mistaken and Emily wasn't living there, when Benny gets bit, she comes to stay with them and the flippin' leaves are still there. They are there for the whole flippin' movie! And, I saw at least one servant rambling about besides Anthony's butler type dude...like they couldn't come up with a broom somewhere.

I hated those damn leaves.

Finally, we have Shutter Island. I'll state right from the start that I love Marty Scorsese. I've also recently become a fan of Leonardo DiCaprio (he was amazing in Revolutionary Road). So, I was ready to enjoy this from the get go. I was not disappointed, but I think some people might be.

To start off with, the trailer makes it look like the movie is a scare-fest that moves at a break neck pace. Not so much. It is actually a slow burn psychological mystery. It is about 2 1/2 hrs. long and while you do see all the moments shown in the trailer, there is a whole lot of set up in between. I thought the movie was just fabulous visually. When Leo's character is either dreaming or having an odd flashback, I instantly thought of Alfred Hitchcock. In fact, when the second dream was being shown on screen, I thought of Hitchcock's great movie, Marnie. (As a side note, if you are a Sean Connery fan, you should check this flick out. And if you always thought Sean was hot, you definitely want to see the moment when he's all wet in a white shirt...I'm just saying.)

For some people, the big reveal at the end might be disappointing, but I was comfortable with it. It didn't let me down because the performances by Michelle Williams and Leo are so strong. They sold me so I was fine. I think the movie was interesting, visually engaging, the performances are solid, the sound track is good and moody; it is worth going to see. Just don't go in expecting a roller coaster ride.

If I can fit it in this week, Crazy Heart is still in town. We'll see. If I have another day when my co-workers leave at 2pm and 3pm, I may be too tired to swing it.

Oskee Ow Ow.

Yes, you are reading that score correctly. We could not hit the broadside of a barn today. I lost track of how many shots rolled around the rim and then popped out. I think our FG% ended up being 35. Ugh. This was not the same team that beat Michigan State and Wisconsin (at flippin' Wisconsin for goodness sake) last week. Maybe there was too long a break between the WI game and this one. I don't know what it looked like on national television, but it wasn't pretty in person.




I took this shot during the pre-game shoot around with about half an hour before the game started. This gives you an idea of where our seats were. During the game the place was packed with people in orange and one little section of folks in red. Damn them.

Oscar!

Damn, it's been awhile since I've updated. I suck. Anyway, the Oscar nom's have come out. I, of course, printed them out at work moments after the announcement. I am that big of a dork.

I guess I can appreciate expanding the Best Picture category to get more flicks noticed, but it still feels weird. I believe the theory is that with a larger group you can get more variety (ie. comedies, sci-fi, animation). Not to mention, those films will get people into the theaters or renting the DVD's just to see something that was nominated (more moola for the man). My worry is that it's going to end up being a dumping ground. As far as I'm concerned, if a film is amazing enough to be nominated, it shouldn't matter if it is animated, science fiction, or a silent movie. Whatever.

I'm sorry, but The Blind Side? Avatar? Inglorious Basterds? Really? The Blind Side was a good movie, but not really a Best Pic. I think you know my opinion of Avatar and Inglorious could have been better. It will be interesting to see how things go over the next few years. I think that will be the real test of whether or not this was a good idea.

Along those lines, over the last couple of weeks I got the chance to see two of the Best Pic nom's. Both pictures were about teenage girls struggling to work their way to adulthood.

First up, An Education. For me, the big draw was the screenplay written by Nick Hornby (High Fidelity, About A Boy) and (lead actress nom) Carey Mulligan, who is one of my favorite new-ish actresses. The movie follows Carey's character as she grows up in the London of 1961. She is working towards going to Oxford. She is smart, funny, and is tired of her parents' (and England's) quiet and boring life. By chance, she meets a man who is all that her parents are not. He loves art, music, most things French...he travels, he's funny and respectful to her...oh and he's about 30. She's 16.

We get to watch as he woos her parents into trusting him to first take her to a concert, and then eventually taking her to Paris for the weekend. Even though her parents only want her to be happy, her father still holds on to the idea that all she needs is a husband. He does support her desire to go to Oxford, but he doesn't know what sort of job she's going to get when she finishes school so she might have better luck getting married. I won't spoil the rest of the story, but I will say Carey's character learns the lesson that most of us learn in our late teens and early 20's. The world is a much larger place than your own head and while your feelings are important, they are not the be all end all.

The second movie was Precious. I missed it the first time it came through so I was very happy to see it come back. Precious is one of those movies that I recommend seeing, but I don't think I'll probably watch it again. I've had that happen with other movies: Requiem For A Dream, Affliction, Heavy...I could probably add several more.

Set in 1987 NYC, we join Precious as she is pregnant with her second child at the age of 16. She gets tossed out of school, but is enrolled in an alternative high school. There she meets a teacher that genuinely wants to help her get out of the misery that is her life. Precious is abused in several ways by her mother and father. It's amazing she has not been completely defeated by her situation in life. But, somewhere inside, she still has this little ember of hope. Bit by bit, she opens up to her teacher and fellow classmates. She creates a new family for herself.

Even though I haven't seen all the best supporting actress nominees, I really think Mo'Nique deserves heaps of praise for her role as the abusive mother. She does not back down in her performance. The abuse is harsh, realistic, and jarring (especially when she explodes without warning). The scene where she is explaining to the social worker (nicely played by Mariah Carey) why she did not keep her boyfriend from abusing Precious is heart stopping. Gabourey Sidibe, who plays Precious, also gives a strong performance. She almost seems like two different people as she goes from Precious in reality and the Precious seen in the dream sequences.

Precious is one of those movies where you feel emotionally and mentally drained afterward, but it is definitely worth your time. I believe Lee Daniels is a first time director, but don't quote me on that. There were a couple of montages that I thought were a little cheesy, but overall, he had a solid grasp on what he wanted. It's not all gloom and doom. Precious' classmates provide needed humor. Plus, Lenny Kravitz is in it. Something I didn't realize until I was watching the credits.

Next up, A Single Man and hopefully Crazy Heart next week. February is going to be an expensive month.

Spielberg doesn't answer my calls...and neither does Emily Blunt

I've been meaning to donate to help the Haitian earthquake victims, but I had kept forgetting to do it when I got home. While paying bills this evening, I was watching the Hope for Haiti benefit show thingie (often referred to as a telethon) and decided to call. I got a busy signal for several minutes. Finally, after I don't know how many redial button pushes, I get actual ringing.

Sweet! I'd just seen Steven Spielberg talk to some lady, maybe he'd answer the phone. Or maybe Leo would, or John Cusack, or that old dude sitting next to Julia Roberts (later found out that was Mel Gibson).

No such luck. I got a guy named L.J. Nothing against L.J., he was nice and all, but he's no Daniel Craig. When I finished up the call, I thought maybe only the folks tossing out the big bucks get moved up the phone line to talk to the famous people.

Wrong again! Some woman donated $5 more than me and she got to talk to Taylor Swift. Maybe I should have said I was donating the money in honor of someone. The phone calls I heard on the show mostly involved people donating in honor of their kids, a parent or grandparent who had passed away, or someone they knew who had some awful disease.

Now that the telethon is over I have two questions:
1) Did Justin Timberlake choose the Jeff Buckley cover himself?
2) What the bleep is up with Brad Pitt's beard?

If you'd like to donate, please do so here.

Weekend Update

I probably should have posted this photo last week when we got hit with the snow. Oh well. I was trying to show how deep the snow was. I'm not sure I was quite successful. Now that we've had 30 degree days I am actually seeing some green on the path I had dug to my car from the homestead.

I worked from home on the snow day and successfully resisted the urge to play Lego Indiana Jones 2 which was calling to me from the living room. I have to say I enjoyed being able to stay in my jammies all day (except for the hour of snow shoveling that is).

One of my completely meaningless wishes is coming true tonight...Ricky Gervais is hosting an awards show. In this case, it is the Golden Globes. Be prepared to hear plenty of comments on how award shows don't mean anything when compared to what is happening in Haiti. Hopefully Gervais will be able to lighten the mood (although I feel the freely flowing alcohol will probably help the audience out as well).

If we're lucky we'll get Steve Carrell accepting something.



Speaking of movies, I was able to see The Young Victoria last week-ish. If you are a fan of Emily Blunt, who is one of the best young actresses out there, English period pieces, and/or the history of the monarchy, you will enjoy the movie. Emily is practically shining in the role and convincingly takes us from a 17 yr. old girl to a proper queen. The art direction, production design, costumes, etc. are amazing. The opulence of a recently finished Buckingham Palace is a sight to behold. I thoroughly enjoyed watching the political intrigue that surrounded her ascension to and initial phase as The Queen. Rupert Friend, who some of you may know as the guy who sort of looks like Orlando Bloom and was dating Keira Knightly, plays Prince Albert. I've read some reviews that claim there wasn't enough spark between the two actors, but I disagree. In a time when you had to essentially date with about 10 hangers on and you only saw each other a couple times of year max, I think it's too contemporary to have a huge amount of heat going on. It was more fun to watch the awkwardness and to see him pining while she was busy running a nation.

Time to return to football before not only the Golden Globes, but also 24 starts tonight (!!!!! get me the schematic Chloe!!!!)and it's part 2 of Return to Cranford on PBS. I don't know what I would do if I actually had a social life.