Really, I'm still alive

Every few days I think to myself, I should really write something on my blog. Then I think the following:

1) I've just spent 8-10 hrs on a computer at work. I hate computers.

2) I have nothing interesting to say. Worse yet, I don't think I have anything funny to say.

Then, of course, I don't write anything. I was checking out a couple of other blogs this afternoon and realized that I haven't updated since the end of flippin' February. Damn. Sorry. Chances are, there really isn't anyone still reading since I seem to have vanished from the face of the planet.

It's hard to feel inspired when all your energy has been drained at work. Ever since the 3rd assistant quit (that would be the passive agressive door blocker), I think I put in about 4-6 hours of over time a week. We have been crazy busy. Every school seems to be making HVAC releated changes this summer. This means everyone wants everything all at the same time. Disney and her engineer have actually not been hit too hard the last few months. She would have one job bidding the same week that I had 4. Or like one particularly crappy week in March, 7. She just got hit this past week, which made me feel slightly better.

I don't know that she's improved since door blocker left. She bid a job back in December that just recently got awarded to one of my engineer's contractors. This means that I have to do the submittals for the contractor (reports that specify how the equipment is made and how it performs under the scheduled conditions provided by the engineer that designed the system). While I was working on this set of submittals, I was reviewing what was selected and comparing it to what was requested. I discovered several errors.

I'm not saying I'm perfect by any stretch. I recently bid a really big job that had multiple alternate system options and I accidentally put gas heat on a system that should have been electric heat. Not my proudest moment, but at least the damn things had heat on them. When my boss pointed it out, I felt really bad that I had missed something that seemed pretty obvious. I think I apologized about 4 times.

Back to the other project. The units that Disney selected were cooling only. This was a bit of a problem, because both the schedule and the specifications of the job called out for electric heat in all the units. They also called out for a few other options that were left off. I showed the discrepancies to my boss first. Then, I went to the engineer that bid the job (and who I used to work for when I was shared by both the engineers). I asked him if there was something weird about the job. Had anything changed last minute that he would remember?

I showed him what I had found and he just shook his head. He said he didn't know why the units were picked the way they were. He said I should talk to Disney.

I tried to be as nice and non-judgemental as possible. The job bid right before Christmas, so I know almost no one was thinking about work at that time. I asked Disney if she remembered the job at all. I asked if she recalled any changes. I explained that I couldn't figure out why there was no heat on the units when they specifically asked for it.

Here is what I got back for responses.

"I don't remember."

"I'm not sure."

"I would have put any notes in the file."

That was it. Nothing like, "oops, I'm an idiot...I can't believe I missed that." Or, "how much did the price change?" Or, "That was my mistake, sorry."

She acted like I'd just told her we had run out of kleenex in the bathroom. Actually, she probably would have responded more emotionally if I had told her that. She's a bit of a germ freak.

I went back to my boss and said that I had talked to Disney. He asked what was up. I told him the truth. "I think she f##ked up. I think she didn't pay any attention to what she was doing and because everyone was in a hurry to get out of here a few days before our Christmas break that her boss didn't catch the mistake."

The really bad part is the cost of the mistake. If it were a difference of a couple hundred dollars, we could probably go back and ask the contractor for those dollars. But, it actually ended up raising the dollar amount by almost $5,000!

There is no way we can go to someone and say, gosh,we're sorry. We realize that you probably got this job because we were super cheap (having not actually provided everything for you), but we need a crap load more money.

The only way we were able to sell the corrected equipment at the original price was to get special permission to do so from the corporate gods. This special deal means that neither of the engineers will make any commission off of this job. And, considering they are 100% commission, that doesn't help them out at all.

I don't know if Disney's engineer had any sort of talk with her about this mistake or not. All I do know is she didn't seem to care either way what happened. It's all very disheartening.

On a completely unrelated note, I taped the big wedding and watched it last night. I opted to take in the BBCAmerica broadcast. I loved seeing Simon Schama talking about how in the early days, royal weddings often took place at night, in small chapels given they were more about the acquisition of power and land. You would want to make sure no one killed the bride or groom just as the big merger was happening I suppose.

I also loved how the British commentators never seemed to make a verbal blunder. They had a beautifully formed comment for virtually everything. There were no "hey guys" or the like when they were talking. And, the crowd interviews were quite different than what you would have seen here in the States. Most of the time, the crowd would quite so that you could hear the response given by the person being interviewed. There was no random shouting from in the back. No one seemed to be pushing into the camera shot, while texting their friends to let them know they were on television.

I thought the dress was beautiful. I want to know what Harry said to William after he peaked back to see Kate walking down the aisle. I can't imagine the anticipation one would feel waiting for that moment when you could turn and see what everyone else has already been witness to. I loved the acapella song the choir sang. I enjoyed seeing a couple of looks between the couple during the ceremony that seemed to say "I can't believe this is all for us." There was one fun eyebrow raise by William at one point. The carriage ride was sweet. The moment where they went through that narrow archway and for a brief few seconds they didn't have to wave...when they came out the other end, you could see they were holding hands.

All in all, a very nice moment for the British. Even if the prime minister's wife didn't wear a hat.

Big Golden Guy goes to...

It's time once again for the Oscars which means it's time for me to reveal just how limited my social life is by letting you know what I think on the subject.

Best Picture: My pick: The Social Network What will win: The King's Speech.
Don't get me wrong on this one. I really enjoyed The King's Speech, as well as Inception which would be my other #2. But, when I walked out of the theater after The Social Network I felt exhilarated and exhausted at the same time. I was tingly and numb all at once. My pick is very much a gut reaction.

Best Director: My pick: David Fincher (I would tie him with Danny Boyle for 127 Hours, but he wasn't nominated) Who will win: I think Fincher has a decent chance, but Tom Hooper looks like the fave for King's Speech.

Best Actor: My pick: Colin Firth (but Jesse Eisenberg is a very close 2nd and I would have picked him if Colin wasn't an option) Who gets it: Colin Firth. The man rocked the house and he deserves it...he deserved it last year too...

Best Actress: My pick: Natalie Portman Who will win: Natalie Portman She did an amazing job as the ballerina who disintegrates before your eyes. I didn't get a chance to see Rabbit Hole (here for only one week damn it) or Blue Valentine (never got here, also damn it) so I'm not sure if my choice would be different.

Best Supporting Actor: My pick: tie between Christian Bale and Geoffrey Rush Who'll get it: Christian Bale Bale gets the nod for once again diving so completely into a different persona, while Rush gets a high five for really complimenting (and supporting) the lead character with his performance. John Hawkes gets a personal shout out for his work in Winter's Bone. He's one of those guys that you know him when you see him. If his part had been larger, I might have gone with him for my choice.

Best Supporting Actress: My pick: Helena Bonham Carter or Melissa Leo Who will win: Hailee Steinfeld I think the girl from True Grit has a serious chance at getting this, but Melissa Leo may swoop in for it (I love her). True Grit was the only picture up for Best Picture that I never got around to seeing...which is really lame since I kept saying I was going to go to it.

Original Screenplay: My pick: The King's Speech Who will win: The King's Speech It was smart, funny and touching...hard to beat that.

Adapted Screenplay: My pick: The Social Network Who will win: The Social Network Aaron Sorkin was able to draw out the human element in what could have been a really cold story. Instead, he showed us the irony of just how alone the creator of one of the largest socializing tools can be. Tragedy at its contemporary best for me.

I won't bore you by going into the other categories. Partly because I didn't get a chance to see any of the documentary nominees, let alone the foreign films. I will say I am rooting for Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross to win the Original Score award and Inception to win Cinematography (though it was almost a crime that 127 Hours wasn't selected for that one).

We'll see how I do with my guesses.

Now, back to the Ohio State game...

Lotus Flower

Normally I don't post while at work, but I just got an email from NPR that had the new Radiohead video with it. So, in honor of my obsession with really skinny guys who dance like they are having a seizure...



Well, maybe not a seizure. More like a cross between sex and krunking. Love it...makes me smile.

Oscar post coming this weekend. I know you are holding your breath for that; don't lie.

Momentarily Stuck

Depending on where you are in the country, you got a bunch of snow on Tues. As you can see from the pictures if you were in the front yard at my place, you got 15 inches of snow. The back was a mere 12 inches. It took me 45 min. to clear off the steps (and to find the bottom step) and dig out the car. I lucked out that one of my neighbors helped me or I would have been there much longer.

Knowing it was going to get bad by noon-ish on Tues., I planned ahead and took my work laptop home. I actually did work most of my 8 hour shift. I took an extra break to clear off the landing mid-blizzard. Tuesday evening I experienced my first Thunder Snow, which sounds a little like an episode of Thundercats that takes place in the Arctic. That or it's a sorta cool, sorta cheesy spy code name. Agent Thunder Snow at your service.

Wednesday the office was closed so I didn't have to do anything work related, which was good since I'd done everything I'd brought home the day before. Disney sent out an email last night yammering on about how she might not be in to work today because she'd heard that Rt. 8 was totally covered in drifts...blah, blah, blah. Apparently she didn't know about the 2 other ways to get to town. She eventually figured it out, but didn't get in until 11 am because she had to take her kid to a doctor's appointment...still left at 4:30 though. She's such a dedicated worker.

Speaking of, the other nutty assistant...the one who blocked her door with the table, no longer works with us. She has been gone on maternity leave since the beginning of Nov. A few weeks ago, she sent her supervisor a message via Facebook (!) to say she hadn't decided yet if she was coming back. He asked her to let me know sooner rather than later. Later seemed to be the plan because she finally got back to him last week. And, once again she used Facebook to tell him she was quitting. If you ever wondered about her level of professionalism, I think that move should clue you in pretty good. She called Disney, who promptly got a hold of some crazy chick she knows and had a resume in hand before our boss had even announced that the job was vacant.

So far, our newly freed former employee has yet to return her company laptop, her key to the building, and she hasn't picked up her personal items. I want to move the desk away from the door. Ideally, I'd like to have some sort of ceremony, not unlike what happened when the Berlin wall came down. Do you think the Hoff is available?

Enough of that, let's talk about people cutting off their own appendages...

I went to see 127 Hours last Saturday and it was fabulous! If you don't already know, the film is based on the story of Aron Rolston, the climber/canyon guy/adventurer who got stuck and had to cut off his own arm to free himself. I have long been a fan of Danny Boyle's films. He seems to always have a clear vision of what he wants to do as a story teller. The cinematography is excellent. I'm not a big fan of the southwestern vista, but everything looks beautiful here. The music is great, as usual. James Franco reminded me of why I liked him so much in Freaks and Geeks. He does a great job moving between Aron's different emotional states and never veers into melodrama. For being trapped in a tight space, the film moves thanks to Aron's flashbacks and imagination.

There is the right amount of tension flowing through out; impressive considering most people know how the story ends. A lot has been made of the scene when Aron cuts off his arm. It is graphic, but is edited in such a way that you don't feel like you've just stepped into a schlocky horror movie. In fact, it's almost a surprise when he makes the decision to do what he is going to do. I was actually leaning forward as he progressed, waiting anxiously for him to finish. The look on Franco's face is priceless and I felt relieved and (maybe not too strangely) exhilarated when he stumbles away and sees his forearm still pinned by the rock.

It took forever before it got to my neck of the woods, so if you aren't able to catch it before Oscar night, I strongly recommend renting it when it comes out in early March. It is worth seeing it on the big screen though.

Time to wrap up. Archer is on in 30 min.! Stay safe out there.

Really?

You know it's a weird day when the highlight is not having to stand in line at the DMV. I went to get my plates renewed as well as my driver's license. I decided to go early and thanks to the time and the chill in the air, I went right up to the counter when I got there. A couple of checks and one crappy picture later, I have my new license. It's very mod and tricked out to make it harder to copy. I decided to be fairly honest and update my weight this time around. Only fairly honest though...I'm not crazy.

My poor Illini failed to defeat #1 Ohio State this morning. With about 7 min. left, we were up by 8 and then those damn people at CBS had to show a graphic. The graphic pointed out that Illinois had only turned it over 2 or 3 times in the half. Kiss of freakin' death...well, that and some questionable calls by the refs, some killer defense, and the strange decision to send a bounce pass to a guy who is 7 feet tall. Sad, sad, sad.

Then, I decided to go see The Fighter. As a movie, it was okay. As an avenue to see some excellent performances, it scores a bit higher. Christian Bale steals this puppy away from everyone. Melissa Leo and Amy Adams hold their own, but Mark Wahlberg seems to get sort of lost in the shuffle. I'm not sure if that is because his character is dominated not only by his brother's life and personality, but also set aside by his mother. Or, it could just be the way the script was written. Not a bad movie, but not a super one.

For some reason, I have started watching Criminal Minds. A & E and ION both show it about a million times during the week and I've been catching it here and there. I can't decide if I watch because of the strangely hot Matthew Gray Gubler or because I'm waiting for the script to slip into melodrama. Maybe I need to watch it from the beginning, but every time I hear the voice over featuring a quote that ties into the story, I start to giggle a bit. Plus, Thomas Gibson's expression never changes...ever. I like the guy, don't get me wrong. But, dang. I think there are 3 hours of it tonight. It'll be good to bounce back and forth between that and the Purdue/Michigan State game. At least watching someone catch a serial killer will get my mind of off the Illinois loss.

GO BEARS!

Hello again

I realize it seems like I have disappeared since I haven't updated since right after Thanksgiving. I did not purposely take a vacation or anything. I just didn't feel really inspired to write. I haven't felt particularly inspired by much of anything lately. But, I'm going to try and get back into the groove. It will start slow; I'll probably update during the weekend. So, let's get started.

After a few weeks of begging the movie gods, The King's Speech finally came to town this weekend. I have been a fan of Colin Firth's for quite some time and was rooting for him to win the Best Actor Oscar last year for A Single Man. He definitely has a shot this year for his portrayal of King George VI (or Bertie as his family and friends called him). I'm sure a decent amount of people know that after George V died, his eldest son, Edward, became king. Edward abdicated the throne about a year later so he could marry an American who was twice divorced. As the Head of the Church of England, you couldn't really do that so Edward chucked the whole king thing to get hitched. George VI then helped lead the country through WW II. But, thanks to much larger personalities like Churchill, Hitler, etc., George sort of gets lost in the shuffle. I don't believe his story is very well known in America and probably only sort of known in England.

Bertie was a stammerer. He apparently had been since he was 4 or 5. Being the second son, it was unlikely he would ever become king, so he could be comfortable enough with his speech issues since he wouldn't really have to do much public speaking. Things began to change when he had to give a speech in his father's place and it went really, really, badly. Bertie's wife, who most of us know as the Queen Mother, kept trying to find someone to help her husband. Eventually, they came across a speech therapist named Lionel. The movie takes us through Lionel's treatments and their growing friendship.

You totally believe Colin's performance. Nothing seems forced or fake. You can see the frustration and feeling of inadequacy move over his face as he tries to express himself, to find his voice as it were. You feel for him every step of the way. Geoffrey Rush is a great foil for Firth. It is funny and heart breaking to see their relationship grow and change. Helena Bonham Carter plays Elizabeth (Bertie's wife) and, as my friend Jackie pointed out, it was good to see her "not playing crazy."

If you are a fan of these actors and a fan of period/historical pieces, this movie is right up your alley. It is funny, moving, and has just the right amount of triumph without becoming too sentimental. The script is whip smart and I like that the director seemed to let the story unfold on its own.

I would put this up there with my 2 other favorite movies of the year, The Social Network and Inception.

Hopefully, Colin will pick up a Best Actor Golden Globe this evening. He already snagged the Critic's Choice award for the same category on Friday. Fingers crossed.

Oh, on a side note...for those of you who are fans of the BBC's production of Pride & Prejudice that made Colin a major star, the actress who played Elizabeth Bennett, Jennifer Ehle, plays Lionel's wife. I don't know if this is the first time Colin and Jennifer had acted together since P & P, but it was fun to see them together again.

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.