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.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!

I just read that Satan's mistress has signed a deal with Fox News. It's good to see that someone who ditched her last job without a second thought can bounce back quickly. ARRRGHHHHH!!!!!

Walter is spinning in his grave.

Eventually I will leave the house for milk

This is Buster, my sister's puppy. I tried to take a good picture of him at Christmas, but he kept moving on me. He is my new favorite little ball of love and fur.

I know I had said I would do a Best of list, but I realized that I was somewhat disappointed with a lot of the pop culture that was out there this year.

So, instead, here is a Fave Things '09 list that will be a big mishmash.



A Few Of My Favorite Things...in no particular order:

Movies--Up was my fave film of the year. Words can't properly describe how brilliant it was. Here's some other great ones: The Hurt Locker, District 9, 500 Days of Summer, Fabulous Mr. Fox, Away We Go (that did come out this year right? I finally saw it on DVD a couple of weeks ago), Thirst (a Korean vampire flick) and Up In The Air.

Music--I feel like I was totally left behind as far as music goes this year. I looked over some year end lists via NPR, Pitchfork, Spin, etc. and realized this was the first year I felt uncool. Sigh. Just so long as I don't start listening to jazz.. However, I can strongly recommend Muse's The Resistance and Lily Allen's It's Not Me It's You. I really loved Lily's song The Fear so I eventually broke down and bought the CD. I was pleasantly surprised by how strong a songwriter she is. The live R.E.M. set that came out this year which featured their rehearsals for their last album was fabulous. It was refreshing to hear the band revisiting material from the first few years of their existence.

TV--Community and The Soup have helped me continue to adore Joel McHale. Mad Men was very brave as it shook everything up in its season ending episode. Battlestar Galactica proved why it was one of the best shows ever on television. Lost gives us some of the best ensemble acting out there. And, the final David Tennant Doctor Who episodes had me crying on my couch.

What will the new year bring? Hopefully a great season of 24 and Lost; less division and anger in D.C.; Glenn Beck losing the ability to speak; excellent music; happiness and peace...you know, the usual...Happy 2010.

Look! A deer head!

A few weeks ago my little town had its Santa parade. Now, the week prior it had been almost balmy for this time of year. That of course meant it would be freakin' cold for the parade. Luckily, I live on the main drag so I can sit on my front porch bundled up in a blanket and watch the parade without much trouble.

I went on the Santa stroll and tossed my name into various drawings the local businesses were having. I actually won an exercise ball from my chiropractor's office. I haven't yet inflated it. That's the new year's goal...well, inflating it and actually using it.

The picture is of my sister and big deer head on a shopping cart. My sis is the manager of the bakery at the local grocery store. The store always has their departments decorate a cart and it gets pushed in the parade. For some reason, the bakery went with the idea of making the cart look like Rudolph. It seems someone in the store had offered to give them one of their deer heads off their wall. Tah dah! I yelled at my sis to come closer to me and quickly took the photo; hence the blur. Thankfully, my sister was able to scoot away before the next float caught up to her.

As you all know, I've been very bad with updates. All I can do is offer up that it has been a busy December. I co-hosted a sweet party the first weekend. The following weekend was my office party. For the second year in a row, the person sitting next to me won the flat screen tv. I think I'm going to sell tickets to get the seats next to me. After a few years, I could buy my own tv.

I've gone to a couple of flicks. I think I already talked about how great Fabulous Mr. Fox was. Or did I? It is super cool; a perfect vehicle for Wes Anderson's quirky talents. I saw Avatar and was disappointed. The effects are cool, but it's way too long. You could have easily taken out an hour of stuff. You see every plot point long before it happens and some bits seem like ideas that were later used in Aliens. And, the final big battle made me laugh. Not a good thing. The big highlight was seeing a 3D trailer for Tim Burton's Alice In Wonderland. Oooohhhh, I can't wait for that one. Hopefully next week will be Precious, Up in the Air, and Sherlock Holmes.

I am also going to serve up the usual Best Of Lists. Don't know yet if I will try and tackle a Best o' the Decade or not.

MERRY CHRISTMAS LOVELY FOLK!!