As the weather slowly, and I mean slowly, starts to look more and more like spring I fondly think back to my childhood summer days spent at the Beaver Run pool. I think the Beaver Run pool was special because it allowed me to have an experience similar to growing up with a local pool in the 60's. It was safe, it was cold, it was crowded, it smelled of mass quantities of sunscreen and chlorine, and there was usually a lifeguard dressed in red. Looking back I know none of these life guards were "lookers" but as a 12 year old boy I thought they were my Wendy Peppercorn.
Summer days would run into each other and really the only day that was different from the others was Sunday because I had church. Other than Sunday I was at the pool almost every day of the summer from about 11 years of age to 15. When my friends would get dropped off by their parents at my house we would spend the day at the pool and the other kids wouldn't even introduce themselves, they were just melded into the group without question. One more kid for pool games was something to be celebrated not questioned.
As a younger kid I would try and get involved in the pick up games of Shark but the older kids would dominate me. Flying overhead, diving underneath, or just swimming around me there was no catching them. I was an extra body but not much of a competitive one. Over the years I found myself soaring over the heads of 10 year old sharks treading water right in front of me. At the time I felt like I watched myself become a man at the Beaver Run pool.
What made the games of Shark so special was not just swimming from one side to the other but the massive chains we would for to protect our friends from being Shark, jumping wildly into the pool while screaming, "Shark Bait" and trying to surprise the person who is the shark, and best of all was whispering your plan to a friend to do a "Drain Chain" and it done correctly reach the other side without any semblance of being caught.
Nothing as an adult can compete with the all inclusiveness that Shark felt like. When I would head to the pool on a Wednesday afternoon and feel the sting of over chlorinated water on my eyes there were no worries in the world. School was months away, work was non existent, girls were exciting but not in the picture yet, and Shark was all that mattered. The only thing I can be grateful for is when the life guard yells, "Adult Swim", I can continue swimming and don't have to try and avoid boredom for 10 to 15 minutes.
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Operation Repo
As I have stated in earlier posts, the new baby has my wife and I stuck in doors for agonizing amounts of time. The day we can take her up to Pine Mountain and hike a few miles will be a day I can't contain my excitement. Like most Americans one thing that takes up much of my time while indoors is a TV. We have many many shows that currently are set to record each week. The ones that are currently in a season that we are watching are SNL, The Soup, Tosh.O, The Office, Parks and Recreation, Community, 30 Rock, House, Lost, American Idol, and embarrassingly Project Runway. Thats a lot of TV. If you take American Idol into account that is about 175 hours of TV per week! We are stuck inside so much that this somehow is not enough. We go through movies from Netflix like there is a minimum requirement for the amount of movies seen to get into heaven at the end of our life.
This weekend I found a new show I liked, no, loved. Operation Repo. It is similar to Dog The Bounty Hunter but the people on the show are somewhat less skeezy and the job is somewhat less sketchy. Katherine and I watched in amazement as people became livid over their vehicles being repossessed after they had failed to make payments for 4 months. Words were said, fists were thrown, mace was sprayed, and guns were pulled.
The first episode that first made me question the reality of the show was one that saw the repo group go to a secluded plot of land that was owned by gang members. When the gang members saw them it led to gun fire and the repo guys jumping in the car and swiftly leaving the scene. The camera showed the car drive quickly away. Wait. What? The camera angle showed them drive quickly away? That means the camera crew was left with violent gang members who were shooting with the intent to kill. Okay.
A few days later the episode had them pull up to a home that the guys car whom the were repossessing was parked at. He was a pool cleaner and was supposed to be cleaning the pool. They rang the front door but no one answered so they went around back to check out the pool. When the repo guy got back there the pool guy came out of the house shirtless and buttoning his pants. A woman still in lingerie followed. And then another woman buttoning up her shirt came out. Seemed like something right out of a movie, not something out of a reality show that is in fact based on reality.
I got suspicious and looked it up on the internet. Turns out this show is simply based on real events. They use paid actors to reenact these events and I am sure they don't add any drama to these situations or make up situations! Lame. There is a warning before the show starts that says as much but is worded in such a way that unless you are really paying attention you don't catch on to. I have never been a big fan of reality television and this finished me off. My only question is if this is based on reality couldn't they have found someone who looked less like the love child of Satan, Ursula from Little Mermaid, and Pennywise the clown from It to play Sonia.
This weekend I found a new show I liked, no, loved. Operation Repo. It is similar to Dog The Bounty Hunter but the people on the show are somewhat less skeezy and the job is somewhat less sketchy. Katherine and I watched in amazement as people became livid over their vehicles being repossessed after they had failed to make payments for 4 months. Words were said, fists were thrown, mace was sprayed, and guns were pulled.
The first episode that first made me question the reality of the show was one that saw the repo group go to a secluded plot of land that was owned by gang members. When the gang members saw them it led to gun fire and the repo guys jumping in the car and swiftly leaving the scene. The camera showed the car drive quickly away. Wait. What? The camera angle showed them drive quickly away? That means the camera crew was left with violent gang members who were shooting with the intent to kill. Okay.
A few days later the episode had them pull up to a home that the guys car whom the were repossessing was parked at. He was a pool cleaner and was supposed to be cleaning the pool. They rang the front door but no one answered so they went around back to check out the pool. When the repo guy got back there the pool guy came out of the house shirtless and buttoning his pants. A woman still in lingerie followed. And then another woman buttoning up her shirt came out. Seemed like something right out of a movie, not something out of a reality show that is in fact based on reality.
I got suspicious and looked it up on the internet. Turns out this show is simply based on real events. They use paid actors to reenact these events and I am sure they don't add any drama to these situations or make up situations! Lame. There is a warning before the show starts that says as much but is worded in such a way that unless you are really paying attention you don't catch on to. I have never been a big fan of reality television and this finished me off. My only question is if this is based on reality couldn't they have found someone who looked less like the love child of Satan, Ursula from Little Mermaid, and Pennywise the clown from It to play Sonia.
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
The Boy Who Never Slept and Never Had To
I just finished reading DC Pierson's first book "The Boy Who Never Slept and Never Had To". DC Pierson wrote and starred in a movie that was popular at movie festivals last year called "Mystery Team" and has guested on the popular show, "Community".
The book starts out as the story of a typical high school student who is into video games, Star Wars, super heroes, and avoiding conversations at all costs. What makes the book so lovable at first is the fact that we all knew someone like this in high school and even had a few traits similar to him. One of the best parts of the book is when he goes to house party with the high school drama team and they are all dancing to music playing over a computer.
SPOILER
The book somehow finds it way into science fiction. The main character befriends another nerdy kid who eventually shares that he is unable to sleep. This lack of sleep eventually evolves into him having day long hallucinations and eventually these hallucinations become real. Craziness ensues, but only for a few brief time because it is introduced so late in the book.
One of the main things I took from this book is a wonderment of what my brain would hallucinate into existence if given the power. Let's just say the world would know the fury that is millions of T-Rex riding,semi-nude replicas of my wife attacking the world while brandishing Chinese throwing stars and singing The White Stripes, "Seven Nation Army" at the top of their lungs. Please take a moment to be thankful that this book is only fiction and if you are one of the few people that happens to enjoy a story about an awkward teenager who somehow befriends another awkward teenager with super powers then also take a moment to read, "The Boy Who Never Slept and Never Had To".
The book starts out as the story of a typical high school student who is into video games, Star Wars, super heroes, and avoiding conversations at all costs. What makes the book so lovable at first is the fact that we all knew someone like this in high school and even had a few traits similar to him. One of the best parts of the book is when he goes to house party with the high school drama team and they are all dancing to music playing over a computer.
SPOILER
The book somehow finds it way into science fiction. The main character befriends another nerdy kid who eventually shares that he is unable to sleep. This lack of sleep eventually evolves into him having day long hallucinations and eventually these hallucinations become real. Craziness ensues, but only for a few brief time because it is introduced so late in the book.
One of the main things I took from this book is a wonderment of what my brain would hallucinate into existence if given the power. Let's just say the world would know the fury that is millions of T-Rex riding,semi-nude replicas of my wife attacking the world while brandishing Chinese throwing stars and singing The White Stripes, "Seven Nation Army" at the top of their lungs. Please take a moment to be thankful that this book is only fiction and if you are one of the few people that happens to enjoy a story about an awkward teenager who somehow befriends another awkward teenager with super powers then also take a moment to read, "The Boy Who Never Slept and Never Had To".
Monday, March 15, 2010
Sonic
My wife, Katherine, and I recently brought our baby home from the hospital. She was born over 3 months early and spent the first two months of her life in the hospital. She is home now and other than keeping me up all night is doing great. The only real issue we have had so far is a serious case of cabin fever. Luckily, I can get out of the house to work but then I am back in to our house that at times feels like a torture dungeon. My wife is stuck inside at all times except for doctor's appointments and once I kept the baby so she could go to church. Let me clarify that it is not our baby, Mckinley, that makes our home feel like a torture dungeon but the fact that we can't leave to do ANYTHING! Want to see a movie? Too bad. Want to go out to eat? Too bad. Want to go grocery shopping? Too bad. Want to go run some errands? Too bad. Want to go to a park? Too bad.
So, this past Friday Kat and I figured out a way to foil the dungeon master that is Colonel Possible Sickness and go out to eat. How would we do that with a baby that isn't allowed to go anywhere you ask? Sonic. There are few things in life that a place like Sonic is the answer for but when one wants to eat out but can't leave the confines of your car Sonic is the answer. Kat, Mckinley, and myself all piled in our car and drove to the closest Sonic having little to no idea what we would find on the menu. We have cheered Sonic on for years after falling in love with their commercials, but we suddenly realized after all this time of stopping the fast forward of our DVR during commercials to watch the new Sonic commercial we had never paid attention to the food they advertise on said commercials. I knew something about how they offered sandwiches on toasted bread because they often make fun of Burger King for not offering this item that is apparently just amazing. Once at Sonic it takes us about 5 minutes to take in the map of the world that is the Sonic menu. Burgers, chicken sandwiches, fries, onion rings, cheese sticks, limeades, slushies, shakes, ice cream, dollar menus, combos, corn dogs, and flavors to add to your drink amazed and confused us. I ended up getting stuff off of the dollar menu simply because I am cheap but I did spring for a limeade which had way more lime than it did ade. After eating our food we finally realized why Sonic had leaned so heavily on humor and avoided it's food except for quick clips. If you were on the ad team for Cheesecake Factory or Carrabba's life would be easy, just shoot a slowly moving angle of the food. If you are on the ad team for Sonic life just got hard. Quirky humor is your only hope. Diner food is good but it hasn't sold itself since the 1950's.
The food wasn't great and it wasn't bad, but Sonic served it's purpose wonderfully. It got us out the house on a Friday night when no other options were available. It filled our bellies with something other than pick up El Vaquero or Morningstar wanna be meat. It kept Mckinley safe from all of those big, bad germs but allowed mom and dad to keep their sanity for a few more days. It felt like a big deal just because it was a first for us, now I just have to remind myself next time, that you are supposed to tip the Sonic guy that carries the food to your car so I don't look like an idiotic cheapskate again.
So, this past Friday Kat and I figured out a way to foil the dungeon master that is Colonel Possible Sickness and go out to eat. How would we do that with a baby that isn't allowed to go anywhere you ask? Sonic. There are few things in life that a place like Sonic is the answer for but when one wants to eat out but can't leave the confines of your car Sonic is the answer. Kat, Mckinley, and myself all piled in our car and drove to the closest Sonic having little to no idea what we would find on the menu. We have cheered Sonic on for years after falling in love with their commercials, but we suddenly realized after all this time of stopping the fast forward of our DVR during commercials to watch the new Sonic commercial we had never paid attention to the food they advertise on said commercials. I knew something about how they offered sandwiches on toasted bread because they often make fun of Burger King for not offering this item that is apparently just amazing. Once at Sonic it takes us about 5 minutes to take in the map of the world that is the Sonic menu. Burgers, chicken sandwiches, fries, onion rings, cheese sticks, limeades, slushies, shakes, ice cream, dollar menus, combos, corn dogs, and flavors to add to your drink amazed and confused us. I ended up getting stuff off of the dollar menu simply because I am cheap but I did spring for a limeade which had way more lime than it did ade. After eating our food we finally realized why Sonic had leaned so heavily on humor and avoided it's food except for quick clips. If you were on the ad team for Cheesecake Factory or Carrabba's life would be easy, just shoot a slowly moving angle of the food. If you are on the ad team for Sonic life just got hard. Quirky humor is your only hope. Diner food is good but it hasn't sold itself since the 1950's.
The food wasn't great and it wasn't bad, but Sonic served it's purpose wonderfully. It got us out the house on a Friday night when no other options were available. It filled our bellies with something other than pick up El Vaquero or Morningstar wanna be meat. It kept Mckinley safe from all of those big, bad germs but allowed mom and dad to keep their sanity for a few more days. It felt like a big deal just because it was a first for us, now I just have to remind myself next time, that you are supposed to tip the Sonic guy that carries the food to your car so I don't look like an idiotic cheapskate again.
Friday, March 12, 2010
Bumper Stickers
I have long been a fan of bumper stickers. When I was a teenager I would change out my bumper stickers often. Whatever band had most recently impressed me would go up, and whatever band had gone out of my favor would come down. Typically had somewhere between 5-8 stickers on my car. As an adult I have not lost my zeal for bumper stickers. I currently have 8. I sport a Widespread Panic sticker, an Auburn sticker, a Yellowstone Park sticker, a Glacier National Park sticker, a ultimate frisbee sticker, a REI mountain biking sticker,a Patagonia wave sticker, and a Mountain Hardware sticker on my car. I know having all these on my car is not "cool" to have as a 26 year old guy but I just love them. I love showing support to the things I enjoy and I love seeing someone else on the road who enjoys similar things in life. It is nice when I roll up on someone else with a Panic sticker and for 3 seconds we make eye contact and understand each other. Perfect. Not much else can do that. When I pass by another Subaru owner it does nothing to me, when I see someone else in a North Face jacket it does nothing, if I see someone else mountain biking...nothing, but with stickers it brings a connection.
Where I become less of a fan of bumper stickers is when the stickers are controversial simply for the sake of being controversial. If you love a candidate so much you want to put his sticker on his car, then good for you and the political system. I once put a Herman Cain sticker on my car when he ran for Senate and was pretty proud of it. When he lost though I immediately took it down. Don't understand people who still have Gore stickers on their car. But, those are fine. You are a republican or a democrat, about 50% of the country shares similar sentiment with you either way. However, when your sticker is there basically just to upset everyone who disagrees with you it seems silly. I get that God created Adam and Eve not Adam and Steve, but really what is the point of this sticker? Does if change anyone's mind? Does it teach people something they didn't already know? Or does it just anger people that are homosexual?
Even then I don't get too upset about these because at least they are humorous and entertaining but the past two days I have seen two different stickers that just seem ridiculous. It seems like the creator of them created it simply to tick certain people off. Yesterday I saw a sticker that said, "Id rather be water boarding". Really? When choosing between driving your $25,000 truck through Columbus and listening to music or water boarding someone you would choose water boarding? Clearly this is simply created just to upset all the people who view this as torture. Then today I was again behind a truck and I noticed they had a sticker of a confederate flag and the sticker said, "It Ain't Over". What? The Civil War ended in 1865. 145 years later and you still aren't convinced it is over? Let's pretend this person's great great grand poppy was in the confederate army and this person actually does think the south would be better off if they had seceded. Even then that person has to know that the confederate flag means one thing to most people these days and that is slavery. So this person is driving down the road with a sticker that says, "I support slavery".
I just don't get people. If you have things in life that make you happy and you like sharing that with people go for it, but if your entire intent is to be divisive just leave your car parked in the garage.
Where I become less of a fan of bumper stickers is when the stickers are controversial simply for the sake of being controversial. If you love a candidate so much you want to put his sticker on his car, then good for you and the political system. I once put a Herman Cain sticker on my car when he ran for Senate and was pretty proud of it. When he lost though I immediately took it down. Don't understand people who still have Gore stickers on their car. But, those are fine. You are a republican or a democrat, about 50% of the country shares similar sentiment with you either way. However, when your sticker is there basically just to upset everyone who disagrees with you it seems silly. I get that God created Adam and Eve not Adam and Steve, but really what is the point of this sticker? Does if change anyone's mind? Does it teach people something they didn't already know? Or does it just anger people that are homosexual?
Even then I don't get too upset about these because at least they are humorous and entertaining but the past two days I have seen two different stickers that just seem ridiculous. It seems like the creator of them created it simply to tick certain people off. Yesterday I saw a sticker that said, "Id rather be water boarding". Really? When choosing between driving your $25,000 truck through Columbus and listening to music or water boarding someone you would choose water boarding? Clearly this is simply created just to upset all the people who view this as torture. Then today I was again behind a truck and I noticed they had a sticker of a confederate flag and the sticker said, "It Ain't Over". What? The Civil War ended in 1865. 145 years later and you still aren't convinced it is over? Let's pretend this person's great great grand poppy was in the confederate army and this person actually does think the south would be better off if they had seceded. Even then that person has to know that the confederate flag means one thing to most people these days and that is slavery. So this person is driving down the road with a sticker that says, "I support slavery".
I just don't get people. If you have things in life that make you happy and you like sharing that with people go for it, but if your entire intent is to be divisive just leave your car parked in the garage.
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Waiting on the elderly
I love old people. They have sweets in their pockets that they are willing to share. They have stories of times way cooler than today. Many elderly men have killed someone which is way more than I can say for myself. But mostly they all answer to names like "Noni", "Nana", "Big Mama", "Papa", "Gang Gang", and even as my great grandfather was referred to "Daddy Wow Wow". That is awesome. They are like really sweet, slow people with a hard core rapper secret identity.
If you ever are around an older person you know they are cuter and nicer than any of us could ever be. When I go to Wal-Mart my fury shows to everyone and I can barely pay for my wart remover cream (don't ask) without biting one of the two clerks who are working head off. You can smell the anger dripping out of my pores. Meanwhile old people are buying weeks worth of cat food and hundreds of magazines that they will be forced to read alone because their spouse either died or has no idea what is going on, and they are smiling the entire time. They carry on conversations with the Wal-Mart employees that are more friendly than I have my best friends.
Sure they are agonizingly slow with every single action they take but their personality makes it worth every moment of your time that they take up. With one glaring expectation. In the day and age where everyone uses credit cards or debit cards and the one goof ball who is on the envelope system busts out a few hundred dollars in tens and twentys and slows the whole line down, old people cling to their paper checks in fear of change. Checks were once the way of the future. That future sucked. Can you imagine waiting for every single person in the world to fill out a check when they buy something. The terrorists would win. Zombies would attack. North Korea would have a better nuclear weapons program than they already do. Katherine Heigl comedies would fill the theaters. Checks are the bane of any speedy shoppers existence.
Old people are great. I love them and I am excited that soon, thanks to the baby boom, we will have more of them. Is there any way we can train them to use a debit card and get rid of these check users though? Please.
If you ever are around an older person you know they are cuter and nicer than any of us could ever be. When I go to Wal-Mart my fury shows to everyone and I can barely pay for my wart remover cream (don't ask) without biting one of the two clerks who are working head off. You can smell the anger dripping out of my pores. Meanwhile old people are buying weeks worth of cat food and hundreds of magazines that they will be forced to read alone because their spouse either died or has no idea what is going on, and they are smiling the entire time. They carry on conversations with the Wal-Mart employees that are more friendly than I have my best friends.
Sure they are agonizingly slow with every single action they take but their personality makes it worth every moment of your time that they take up. With one glaring expectation. In the day and age where everyone uses credit cards or debit cards and the one goof ball who is on the envelope system busts out a few hundred dollars in tens and twentys and slows the whole line down, old people cling to their paper checks in fear of change. Checks were once the way of the future. That future sucked. Can you imagine waiting for every single person in the world to fill out a check when they buy something. The terrorists would win. Zombies would attack. North Korea would have a better nuclear weapons program than they already do. Katherine Heigl comedies would fill the theaters. Checks are the bane of any speedy shoppers existence.
Old people are great. I love them and I am excited that soon, thanks to the baby boom, we will have more of them. Is there any way we can train them to use a debit card and get rid of these check users though? Please.
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
All Star Special
All Star Special. Many things come to mind when I think about this feast offered by Waffle House.
Many late nights were spent inside of a Waffle House eating the beloved All Star Special. When I was done attempting to eat this behemoth that is called a meal I would always been caught off guard by how expensive it is. I would vow that next time I came back I would remember the price and order something smaller that is more the size of what a grown man can eat and less the size of what a bison can eat. Upon my next visit I would always forget and give in to the beautiful picture displayed at the top left corner of the Waffle House menu.
The Jukeboxes that litter every Waffle House have cost me a pretty penny over the years. I almost always use a few quarters of my own (or of my wife's) to play some horribly outdated music. Today we listened to Freebird simply because my friend wanted to get the most music for his money. Biting into a syrup soaked waffle while listening to Ronnie Van Zant sing his soul out trying to convince me that he is free was just too perfect and let me know that we surely did get the most (if not the best) music for our money.
Post concert road trips were always spent inside of a Waffle House. When packing for the road trip I would grab things like tickets, printed out mapquest directions, eye drops because people smoking cigarettes always dried my eyes out (actually often I would skip the drops and just wear glasses), cd case full of trendy cds, and a coat. Even in August a coat would be included in my packing list. I never went further north that North Carolina for a concert and yet a coat was always included. There are 1500 Waffle House's in America. Each and every one does the darndest to offer indoor ice skating and a petting zoo where one can pet penguins, polar bears, and even woolly mammoths. They are all colder than a normal AC unit can go. Thus, every concert I would go to I would pack a coat just for that 1-2 hours I spent inside of a Waffle House.
The All Star Special itself. Two eggs, 1 waffle, 4 pieces of bacon, grits, and two pieces of toast. Way too much food. Today was the first time in my entire life that I was only a few bites away from finishing the All Star Special. I could have finished it but foolishly I left a few bites of grits for last and I just didn't want to do anything to get the sweet sweet flavor of waffle out of my mouth. Waffle House does not offer their nutritional information but someone was able to break into the top secret headquarters and found out the waffle alone is 314 calories. Whatever it actually is I can just guarantee that it is way too many calories and the fact that after eating it I do not feel sluggish is enough alone to let me know I need to get into shape.
The All Star Special is an All Star and is Special in my heart and it is something nothing can force me to give up, not even the coronary heart disease I am sure to be diagnosed with in about 10-15 years. It is part of what makes me an American and I love it for that. Today when I blessed it I thanked God for "this feast of food that I am able to eat on just a regular day" and it really is the little things in life that can make you understand how blessed we have it in life.
Many late nights were spent inside of a Waffle House eating the beloved All Star Special. When I was done attempting to eat this behemoth that is called a meal I would always been caught off guard by how expensive it is. I would vow that next time I came back I would remember the price and order something smaller that is more the size of what a grown man can eat and less the size of what a bison can eat. Upon my next visit I would always forget and give in to the beautiful picture displayed at the top left corner of the Waffle House menu.
The Jukeboxes that litter every Waffle House have cost me a pretty penny over the years. I almost always use a few quarters of my own (or of my wife's) to play some horribly outdated music. Today we listened to Freebird simply because my friend wanted to get the most music for his money. Biting into a syrup soaked waffle while listening to Ronnie Van Zant sing his soul out trying to convince me that he is free was just too perfect and let me know that we surely did get the most (if not the best) music for our money.
Post concert road trips were always spent inside of a Waffle House. When packing for the road trip I would grab things like tickets, printed out mapquest directions, eye drops because people smoking cigarettes always dried my eyes out (actually often I would skip the drops and just wear glasses), cd case full of trendy cds, and a coat. Even in August a coat would be included in my packing list. I never went further north that North Carolina for a concert and yet a coat was always included. There are 1500 Waffle House's in America. Each and every one does the darndest to offer indoor ice skating and a petting zoo where one can pet penguins, polar bears, and even woolly mammoths. They are all colder than a normal AC unit can go. Thus, every concert I would go to I would pack a coat just for that 1-2 hours I spent inside of a Waffle House.
The All Star Special itself. Two eggs, 1 waffle, 4 pieces of bacon, grits, and two pieces of toast. Way too much food. Today was the first time in my entire life that I was only a few bites away from finishing the All Star Special. I could have finished it but foolishly I left a few bites of grits for last and I just didn't want to do anything to get the sweet sweet flavor of waffle out of my mouth. Waffle House does not offer their nutritional information but someone was able to break into the top secret headquarters and found out the waffle alone is 314 calories. Whatever it actually is I can just guarantee that it is way too many calories and the fact that after eating it I do not feel sluggish is enough alone to let me know I need to get into shape.
The All Star Special is an All Star and is Special in my heart and it is something nothing can force me to give up, not even the coronary heart disease I am sure to be diagnosed with in about 10-15 years. It is part of what makes me an American and I love it for that. Today when I blessed it I thanked God for "this feast of food that I am able to eat on just a regular day" and it really is the little things in life that can make you understand how blessed we have it in life.
Monday, March 8, 2010
2010 Oscars
So late night was the Oscars and for me it was a night filled with triumph and defeat. I had four movies that I really hoped would do well and they were Inglorious Basterds, District 9, The Hurt Locker, and Avatar. Meanwhile I had not seen Precious, Up In The Air, and An Education. Excited to see all three but when the only way to see a movie is to pay 9 bucks to see it in the theaters I must be picky with what I decide to see.
Some of my highlights of the night are as follows.
My personal pick for Best Picture was Inglorious Basterds. The opening scene in France was simply amazing and something I will never forget. I would have been pretty upset if either Up, A Serious Man, or The Blind Side won. Up had a great opening montage, but anything with talking dogs is just clearly not Oscar material. The Blind Side was a fun, heartwarming movie and I honestly enjoyed it, but Oscar material it was not. A Serious Man was just horrible and boring, it is one of those movies that just panders to the Oscars and is too weird to be enjoyable to anyone not trying to impress others for how "cool" and "artsy" they are. The Hurt Locker won which was fine with me. Kept Avatar from winning which was nice. Avatar was epic but was also just to weak on the script to win.
Best Actress. Oh good gosh. Sandra Bullock should not own an Oscar. I keep hearing people say she nailed a strong, southern woman. Can't anyone? I see many strong southern women every single day, why not just hire one of the to play the part. But, at least Meryl Streep didn't win for her annoying portrayal of Julia Childs. I have never seen Julia Childs but she must have been really grating. Again, people keep saying she did such a great job of being Julia Childs that she even had her mannerisms down. Don't they do that on SNL every Saturday for other people. Not impressive. Haven't seen the other movies so I really don't know who I would have rather won than Bullock, but man oh man there had to be someone better than her to choose!
Best Supporting Actor. Christoph Waltz! Yay! He was brilliant and was easily the most memorable character from this year. Glad to see Inglorious Basterds recognized for at least something. If Quentin is only recognized for one thing it should be his characters anyways. He has created some of the most memorable characters of all time.
Animated Feature Film. I know I am in the minority here but I was just not a fan of Up. My wife and I even saw it at the theaters in 3D so we got the full experience. Toy Story, Monsters Inc, The Incredibles, Ratatouille, and Wall-E were all more enjoyable to me than Up. It just wasn't that amazing. My pick would have been Coraline just because it was original, beautiful and it was wild how much time they put into it.
I was glad to see Avatar win so many awards for its art and visual effects but at the same time I was sad to see District 9 snubbed at every turn. Avatar was a spectacle, but when I watched District 9 I fully believed the prawns were real creatures. So believable.
The Oscars did a pretty good job this year. Extending the Best Picture nominees to ten instead of five seemed like a brilliant move to me. Not sure who they would have picked had they only picked 5 but it was nice to see all of my favorite movies at least up to win even if some stood no chance. Now I just have to wait for a few of the movies to come to DVD so I can Netflix them and make sure there were no surprises that I actually liked better.
Some of my highlights of the night are as follows.
My personal pick for Best Picture was Inglorious Basterds. The opening scene in France was simply amazing and something I will never forget. I would have been pretty upset if either Up, A Serious Man, or The Blind Side won. Up had a great opening montage, but anything with talking dogs is just clearly not Oscar material. The Blind Side was a fun, heartwarming movie and I honestly enjoyed it, but Oscar material it was not. A Serious Man was just horrible and boring, it is one of those movies that just panders to the Oscars and is too weird to be enjoyable to anyone not trying to impress others for how "cool" and "artsy" they are. The Hurt Locker won which was fine with me. Kept Avatar from winning which was nice. Avatar was epic but was also just to weak on the script to win.
Best Actress. Oh good gosh. Sandra Bullock should not own an Oscar. I keep hearing people say she nailed a strong, southern woman. Can't anyone? I see many strong southern women every single day, why not just hire one of the to play the part. But, at least Meryl Streep didn't win for her annoying portrayal of Julia Childs. I have never seen Julia Childs but she must have been really grating. Again, people keep saying she did such a great job of being Julia Childs that she even had her mannerisms down. Don't they do that on SNL every Saturday for other people. Not impressive. Haven't seen the other movies so I really don't know who I would have rather won than Bullock, but man oh man there had to be someone better than her to choose!
Best Supporting Actor. Christoph Waltz! Yay! He was brilliant and was easily the most memorable character from this year. Glad to see Inglorious Basterds recognized for at least something. If Quentin is only recognized for one thing it should be his characters anyways. He has created some of the most memorable characters of all time.
Animated Feature Film. I know I am in the minority here but I was just not a fan of Up. My wife and I even saw it at the theaters in 3D so we got the full experience. Toy Story, Monsters Inc, The Incredibles, Ratatouille, and Wall-E were all more enjoyable to me than Up. It just wasn't that amazing. My pick would have been Coraline just because it was original, beautiful and it was wild how much time they put into it.
I was glad to see Avatar win so many awards for its art and visual effects but at the same time I was sad to see District 9 snubbed at every turn. Avatar was a spectacle, but when I watched District 9 I fully believed the prawns were real creatures. So believable.
The Oscars did a pretty good job this year. Extending the Best Picture nominees to ten instead of five seemed like a brilliant move to me. Not sure who they would have picked had they only picked 5 but it was nice to see all of my favorite movies at least up to win even if some stood no chance. Now I just have to wait for a few of the movies to come to DVD so I can Netflix them and make sure there were no surprises that I actually liked better.
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