Rebuilding

Rebuilding
Originally uploaded by soelo

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Four More Years

Yesterday was my fourth anniversary playing KOL. Back then I didn't even know there was a difference between Bugbears and Saucerors. Boy was I silly.

A date with Harry Potter

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince comes out November 21st, 2008
and it has been announced that Part 1 of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows will be released November 19th, 2010. Part 2 will be in 2011, but there is no date yet.

Taking Calls

My job title is "Credit Representative", which means I take calls in the department that handles payments. Except that I haven't taken any calls in about seven and a half years. Instead, I am on a team responsible for reporting and administering worklists.

A month ago "they" decided that one of the groups in our department needed more people taking calls, and they asked for a person from my center. Instead of giving up a person, "they" decided to have each of us take calls for 4 hours each week.

At least, that is what we were told. Most of us suspect there is a more political motivation behind this decision. Regardless of the why, I will do what "they" ask of me. However, even though I am being asked to do 4 more hours of work each week, I am not getting any reduction in the other work I am expected to accomplish. Some weeks, I can get it all done, but others are so busy that I can't even get my stuff done much less 4 hours of another team's work.

There are several other issues we have with this, but basically it feels like we are expected to do plenty of extra things all the time and that suddenly that isn't good enough. Some of are going to stop going the extra mile, whether we realize it or not.

Anyway, today was my first day taking calls. It was pretty much what I remember, answering questions and not getting many payments. But there were several things I did not get done today because I only had about 5 hours to do them, and on a normal Monday I have at least 7.

SendMeRss

SendMeRss This site emails you RSS feeds.

Feline download complete

Feline download complete
Originally uploaded by soelo

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horses

horses
Originally uploaded by soelo

Running Aces
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Outdoor Vacuum

Outdoor Vacuum
Originally uploaded by soelo

I know it is exciting that the snow is gone, but this is a bit much.
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Media Randomness

New York magazine asks, "Who Will Be the next MIA?"

Utne Reader calms us all down by assuring us that, "Wal-Mart will never take over the world."

Postcards from Yo Momma posts something I would not be surprised to see in my email box. My mom is smart enough to know they probably are the same person, but humble enough to ask one of us to be sure.

Pride

I <3 New York

"New York, I Love You" is being filmed right now. It's from the same guy who produced "Paris, je t'aime" in 2006 and will be followed by "Shanghai, I Love You" in 2010.

Paris was a great series of 20 short films about love set in Paris, so the other two will be essentially the same thing in their respective cities.

Celebrity birthdays and children

Kanye West is only 16 days older than me. I would have guessed he was at least 35.

Liv Tyler is nine days younger than I am, which I think I knew. If not, I would have guessed she was a bit younger, like 28.

I love this picture of Lourdes.

It's Wednesday; I need some humor

Hey you look like...

Except the first one, this blog post found some great pictures to compare the actors faces with the people they might be portraying.

Back

I got back last night. I had to hurry to my connection in Chicago yesterday afternoon, and my luggage didn't make it. But United delivered my bag late last night. Sweet. I'll be posting my trip diary just like last year. Hopefully it won't take as long for me to post it all.

The Brandenburg Gate

The Brandenburg Gate
Originally uploaded by soelo

Built in 1788. Napoleon had a victory parade through this when he conquered Berlin. This was part of the Berlin Wall and where it was first opened in 1989.

Germany and Prague - Day 4

Wednesday March 26 - Berlin Day 1

I got up and headed back to Kurfürstendamm. I bought the transit half of the Berlin Welcome card and then headed over to KaDeWe, a big department store. I was looking for an adapter and some food, so I went up several escalators to the electronics department. There were no adapters in sight, but I did find a wall charger (with a Euro plug) for mini USB devices. Both my Blackberry and digital cameras are mini USB, so I grabbed it. I went up one floor to the food department. Wow! I got to see the hundreds of varieties of cheeses with my own eyes. I grabbed various things and went up to a register, but the woman said I had to go to register by the soda, since she couldn't ring up beverages. Okay, I guess. The guy ringing me up by the sodas gets annoyed that I have something electronic in my basket and tells me I have to buy that down on the electronics floor. Hmm, this is less like a store than a mall. Anyway, I head back to my hotel and have some lunch.

The Welcome card is both a 48 hour transit pass and a discount book, but I have to go to a Berlin infostore to get the discount book. I stop at the one in Neues Kranzler Eck to pick it up before heading over to the Zoo. It gets me 3 Euros off the 12 Euro admission.

Inside the Berlin Zoo, I wandered around looking at the outside animals, like elephants, goats, water bucks and giraffes and then went into the Primate house. Monkeys and Apes can be fun to watch, but I always like the lemurs the best. I can see the Gedächtniskirche from the southern end of the zoo, and get a few more pictures. I finally come to the Giant Panda, named Boa-Boa. This was my initial reason for coming to Berlin, to see a Giant Panda, and nearly every vacation I take involves a visit to a zoo or aquarium. Boa-Boa was pretty underwhelming since he was sleeping. Who can blame him? Being that cute must be exhausting. The enclosure can be viewed from 3 sides so while my first few pictures just look like a pile of fur, the ones from the other sides show a definite Panda shape. There is a picture of Boa-Boa wide awake here.

The Panda exhibit was attached to the Predator building. Inside there were wolverines, mongooses, meerkats, lions and my favorite, jaguarinos. I can't seem to find the English name for them, but they look like domestic cats that can tear you apart. I went through a bird building, past the sea lions and then out to see the Polar Bears. No, Knut wasn't out. I finished off with the rhinos, tapirs and hippos. Here are lots of other people's pictures of animals at the Berlin Zoo and here is my picture of a hippo. The oddest thing about the zoo was the number of adults I saw feeding or trying to feed the animals. One man was feeding the birds some seed and a woman was trying to get the tapirs to eat hay out of her hand.

Day Five

Germany and Prague - Day 3

Tuesday, March 25 - Day in Munich, Afternoon Flight to Berlin, Sleep in Berlin

I woke up and had the awesome breakfast with the pretzels again. After checking out, I walked to the Haubtbahnof in the snow and left my bag in a locker that cost 3 Euros. I went looking for a department store called Hertie's, but I couldn't find it. Instead, I went into a store called Mueller, which was like a CVS/Walgreens. I got some cough drops and Kinder Eggs, and then went back to the Hb. I got a Tagskarte(day ticket) and took the S-Bahn to the Isartor stop. I got pictures and then walked back towards Marienplatz, since it was 11:30 and the Glockenspiel goes off at noon. This time I went inside the Neues Ratshaus and took some pictures. It started snowing pretty hard and so I took refuge in an alcove in front of a men's clothing shop along with many other tourists. The Fischbrunnen fountain was right in front of me and I could see icicles forming on some of the figures, and I took a picture.

The snow stopped just before noon, as if it was giving us a break or something. I stood and watched the Glockenspiel with all the other tourists, getting pictures and video. I heard a few people speaking in Russian around the column of St Mary. After the show was done, I headed back to get my bag and then hopped on an S-8 to the Munich Flughafen (airport). I assumed the airport was the last stop on the route, but at some point I began to get paranoid that I'd missed the airport stop because I was reading and didn't see the current stops on the map I had. So, I left the train to check the map. It turned out that I was still 2 stops from the airport, which meant I shivered in the snow for another 15 minutes waiting for the next train.

I checked in and killed time reading and eating cough drops until the flight. We all had to walk down stairs and board a bus that brought us out to the plane. It reminded me of my RyanAir flight last year, but this was Lufthansa. At least we all had assigned seats. Anyway, the flight was pretty turbulent, so thankfully it was short. I got my luggage and got into the terminal, but I had no idea where to catch the bus into town. Berlin Tegel is a round airport, so I just walked one direction (counterclockwise) and finally saw a sign directing me to the bus stop. I got on an X9 and took it to the Zoo/Tiergarten station. On the way, we crossed a river twice and I started to see lots of Communist era buildings. My hotel was very close to the Zoo station, so I started walking the 3 blocks. At a busy intersection, I looked left and saw the very top of Kaiser Wilhelm Gedächtniskirche. It is a church built in the 1890s that was bombed in 1943. The ruins have been preserved and a new building built around it, but it's still breathtaking.

I got to my hotel and watched some Simpsons in German. After a while I got hungry, so I set out to find some food. I walked east on Kurfürstendamm and saw the church again. I went through a passage, which is like a skyway on the ground, and came out near the Aquarium entrance. It looked very Asian. I kept walking and found the Europa Center, which had signs promising food, even if it was just KFC. I ended up eating at an Irish pub, grilled cheese and Weissherbst wine. On the walk back to the hotel, I passed the Gedachtniskirche again, and this time the newer buildings were lit up. They have lots of blue glass in their walls, so they have pleasant glow at night. I got a lot more close ups of the church, even some where you can see the inside.

Day 4

Germany and Prague - Day 2

Monday, March 24 - Arrive in Munich, Sleep in Munich

Once on the plane, I watched Dan in Real Life, Juno and some of Enchanted. I had already seen all 3 of them. I got some sleep, but I am not sure how much. I turned on my Blackberry at about 1:30 am Minneapolis time. All the networks were turned off, I was just using it to listen to music.

We landed in Munich and I got through Passport Control in no time. It was about 9am in Munich, 3 am back home. At the airport, I got a one day transit pass and boarded the 9:20 S8 to Haubtbahnof (the main train station). At the Daglfing stop, the train just sat for 10 minutes. There was some kind of announcement in German, and then when we reached Ostbahnof (East train station), the marquee said "Nicht er..." and everyone got off. I got on the next train, an S7 which was also going to the Haubtbahnof.

Once we got to the Hb, I had to walk a few blocks to the hotel past some sex shops, casinos and a place called "Sarah Supermaket". I was too early to check in, so they had me leave my bag at the front and go up and have breakfast. This was where I discovered the joy of Bavarian breakfast. They had big pretzels hanging there, so I had two with cream cheese, as well as some cereal and juice. I started to lose the tired feeling I had from the crappy night sleep. I went down after breakfast and got my room.

I got into my room about 11:30am and ended up sleeping until 4:30pm. I woke up and watched some tv before leaving for the Hb again. I took the S-Bahn to Marienplatz and heard lots of church bells as soon as I came up from the station. On Marienplatz is both the New and Old town halls (Ratshaus), as well as the Frauenkirche, Peterskirche and a Glockenspiel. There were lots of tourists and shoppers wandering around, and many of them had dogs along. I wandered around and found the Hofbrauhaus, traditional home to the Oktoberfest. I took some pictures of it, but didn't go inside. Instead, I got some pizza and hopped on the S-Bahn back to the Hb. As I was watching a bit more CNN, I find out it is supposed to snow tomorrow and there could be delays at the Munich airport. Great.

Day 3

Germany and Prague - Day 1

Sunday, March 23 - Flight to Chicago and Flight to Munich

I woke up at 7:30 this morning and couldn't get back to sleep. I got up and packed a few very last minute items. I had brunch with my boyfriend and family. My mother had just gotten back from Paris on Friday, so she had lots of postcards and stories. She also gave me a green Pashmina scarf that I was glad to have along.

My boyfriend drove me to the airport at about 1:45, since my flight was at 3:20. I found out it was delayed until about 4:05, which put us in Chicago at 5:15 or so. My connection was leaving at 5:57pm, but the gates were very close. For the short flight, I had the whole back row to myself, and I got some sleep. I also watched some 30 Rock. When we landed in Chicago, I had just enough time to check for my next gate and be one of the last people on the plane.

Thankfully I had carried my bag on the plane, since I doubt my luggage would have made it.

Day 2

Planes

Planes
Originally uploaded by soelo

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The Wisdom of the music from Juno

Barry Louis Polisar - All I Want Is You - If you were the wood, I'd be the fire. If you were the love, I'd be the desire.

Kimya Dawson - My Rollercoaster - If home is really where the heart is then we're the smartest kids I know, because wherever we are in this great big world we'll never be more than a few hours from home, and that's important because I need to travel.

Kimya Dawson - Tire Swing - Cuz I like to be gone most of the time and you like to be home most of the time, if I stay in one place I lose my mind. I’m a pretty impossible lady to be with ...I’ve got one hand on the steering wheel, one waving out the window.

Belle & Sebastian - Piazza, New York Catcher - I will be your Ferdinand and you my wayward girl ... You’d settle for an epitaph like “Walk Away, Renee”

Kimya Dawson - Loose Lips - Broken hearts hurt but they make us strong … while we strive to figure out a way we can survive these trying times without losing our minds … and ask you what you think because your thoughts and words are powerful

Sonic Youth - Superstar - Your guitar, it sounds so sweet and clear, but you're not really there, it's just the radio

Kimya Dawson - So Nice So Smart - You're so nice and you're so smart, you're such a good friend I have to break your heart, tell you that I love you then I'll tear your world apart, just pretend I didn't tear your world apart.

Velvet Underground - I'm Sticking With You - When we swing, we hang past right or wrong.

The Moldy Peaches - Anyone Else But You - I'm in love with how you feel.

Sixteen Hours

... or so until takeoff. I still have to pack a few last minute items, but that's it!

Obama on Race

In today's speech, he speaks about race and some recent controversial moments in the election.

A Dream DVR

I often recap my dreams here, if I can remember them clearly enough. What I really would like is a way to record and watch them when I wake up. Even if it was just the video portion with no audio.

Well, that could theoretically happen. Scientists are working on a way to use MRI scans to guess what your brain is seeing. You have to retrain the software for each person, but that is still quite cool. They can't do video yet, only still images, but I'm sure they'll get there.

Silhouette against evening sky

Silhouette against evening sky
Originally uploaded by lizjones112

Six days until I fly to Munich, 7 days until I get to Berlin, and 10 days until Prague...

Waterloo Sunset - The Kinks

Dirty old river, must you keep rolling
Flowing into the night
People so busy, makes me feel dizzy
Taxi light shines so bright
But I don't need no friends
As long as I gaze on waterloo sunset
I am in paradise

Every day I look at the world from my window
But chilly, chilly is the evening time
Waterloo sunsets fine

Terry meets Julie, waterloo station
Every Friday night
But I am so lazy, don't want to wander
I stay at home at night
But I don't feel afraid
As long as I gaze on waterloo sunset
I am in paradise

Every day I look at the world from my window
But chilly, chilly is the evening time
Waterloo sunsets fine

Millions of people swarming like flies round waterloo underground
But Terry and Julie cross over the river
Where they feel safe and sound
And the don't need no friends
As long as they gaze on waterloo sunset
They are in paradise

Waterloo sunsets fine

-----------------

I am completely obsessed with this song right now. I brings me back to my brief time in London and makes me want to go there again.

Travel Plans

My mother is going to Paris in two days, and I leave for Germany in 11 days. So many people that I know have gone on trips lately:
My boss went to Ireland and will be going to Mexico in like two weeks
Le Van is in Mexico right now
My aunt and uncle just got back from Mexico
My cousins went to Vermont
Aaron and Ian went to Vegas and
Gee and Drew went to Amsterdam.
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101 things Update - One Year to go

I made a list of 101 things that I wanted to do in 1001 days. On that page, red means done and green means in progress.
I only have a year left, since my end date is 3/8/09
Right now I have 29 things done and 8 in progress, so I am not on pace to complete them all.

Things I know I won't do:
Buy a condo or a house
Go to a live KOL meeting
Take 3 additional classes (at most I'll get 2 others)

Things I probably will:
Get contact lenses and wear them
Make an asian noodle dish in my wok
Journalize my time from age 18 to 28
Make a scrapbook of all my travels - I will at least start this one
Go Snow Tubing somewhere official, with tube rental and lift
See a live play
See some petroglyphs

Stress Dreams

This morning I dreamt I was at the airport before my trip. I was in a small office with a guy who had to fill out some form for me. I got my boarding pass and had to run around trying to find my gate on all the little TV screens. Finally I just looked on my boarding pass and found I had to be in Terminal C.

I was concerned that I would be late, but I had to make a stop first. I went into a room that looked like a dentist's office and don't remember anything until I woke up. Apparently I'd had gastric bypass surgery right before getting on the plane. I was annoyed that I wouldn't be able to eat much in Europe. But somehow it was okay that I'd just had abdominal surgery and was going to get on a plane and then run around Germany and Prague! I was concerned I had not booked my last night in a hotel, though. As I got dressed, I checked out the scar, which was just a faint red line that ran from my throat to my stomach.

My Car as seen on Google Street View

Dreams

I was in some sort of classroom situation but I had these worms on a tray. They started out normal worm color but then started swelling up and turning lime green. I had a way of getting rid of them, but some started to escape around the room, so I had to chase them. One turned into a Grimace shaped guy before dying.
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Leap Day

What kind of special thing should I do for Leap Day?
I am still trying to figure that out.

Well the main thing that I did was figure out that my rss feed is here.
I saw that my feed was working right in Google Reader, even though I thought it was completely broken. Well, the address looks funny but at least I found the one that works now!

Delicious Music

Lately I have been discovering my music on del.icio.us.
A sampling:

• She + Him = Zooey Dechanel and M Ward - some of the tracks from their March 18th album Vol. 1 - Bring it on Home to Me is probably my favorite.
  
• The Kinks - Waterloo Sunset
• AA Bondy - American Hearts
• American Spring - Forever
• BOA - Duvet
• Feist covering the Kinks - Nothing in the World Can Stop me Worrying 'bout That Girl
• Irma Thomas - I Gave You Everything
• Nada Surf - Blankest Year
• Of Montreal covering the Kinks - Do You Remember Walter?
• Paloma Faith - Love Ya
• Petra Hayden covering the Beach Boys - God Only Knows
• Rosie Thomas - Much Farther to Go
• They Might Be Giants - Am I Awake?
• Vandaveer - However Many Takes it Takes

Yes, I realize this list reveals a bit of a Kinks fixation. I am woefully undereducated about music, especially anything from the 70s that isn't disco or country.

Fender Bender

Taken at 9th and Marquette

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When is my show coming back?

Zap2It tells you when your shows are coming back now that the writer's strike is over.

Germany and Prague

In about 5 weeks I will be going back to Europe, this time visiting Germany and Prague.
I am flying into Munich, flying up to Berlin, taking the train down to Prague and then another train back over to Munich. I got a flight on Lufthansa from Munich to Berlin for about half the cost of a train ticket, and since the train is over 6 hours and the flight is just over 1 hour, I am saving time as well.

Blackberry

I got a Blackberry yesterday and my boyfriend got an iPhone. So we have spent the day ignoring each other and playing with our new toys.

Panda Trivia

There are only four cities in America that have Pandas on display in their zoos: Washington, DC, San Diego, Memphis and Atlanta. The only other cities outside of Asia with Pandas are Mexico City, Berlin, Vienna and Madrid. If I go through either Berlin or Vienna on my way to Prague, I'll try to see one.

There are two subspecies of Giant Pandas, Ailuropoda melanoleuca melanoleuca which is the most common, and Ailuropoda melanoleuca qinlingensis, which only live in the Quinling Mountains.

While Giant Pandas are classified in the bear family, the Red Panda is not a bear, but is more closely related to raccoons and is considered the only living member of the Ailuridae family.

Coins and Bills

What is the going rate for the Tooth Fairy these days?
Ask MeFi answers.

I got my first Presidential (Madison) coin in change today, which is odd because they've been out for a year now, right? It came from a stamp vending machine that also gave me a charred nickel. We are currently dissolving the 'char' with Mountain Dew in a coworker's cube overnight. Yes, sometimes our work is not stimulating enough and we have to entertain ourselves.

Anyway, the Ask MeFi question is rather appropriate since most of them stress that you should use coins and not bills.

Speaking of coins vs. bills, I think it's high time we forced the switch to dollar coins by lowering the number of bills printed each year.

I'm the One That I Want

22. I'm the One That I Want by Margaret Cho

A book about her painful childhood, drug use, bad romances, sucky career problems, body image issues and final descent into alcoholism. But it is really funny.

Dead trees

My book list updates since the end of August:
17. Life of Pi
18. The Amber Spyglass
19. Girls' Night Out
20. Twilight
21. The Lost Continent: Travels in Small-Town America

Okay, if I am going to get to 33 by March 11th, 2009, I only need to read 12 more. I totally slacked off on my personal reading while I was taking the Writing class. It didn't help that we had to read 3-5 essays each week.

Presidential Dreams

Last night I dreamt that Barack Obama was trying to get into my sister's apartment building to knock on some doors. I was there and saw a man refuse him entry. He started walking away and I called out to him, "Barack! I'll get you in!" I was about to let him in when another guy came to open the door.

Booklists

I have an Amazon wishlist and IMDB and Netflix to help me remember which books and movies I want to buy or watch, but I have now joined 3 more sites that all keep track of what I have read, am reading and want to read.

All Consuming - part of 43 things. This site includes Music, Movies and Food& Drink categories.

Goodreads

Shelfari

Top Ten Movies of 2007

3:10 to Yuma
Across the Universe
Charlie Wilson's War
The Golden Compass
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Juno
Knocked Up
Lars and the Real Girl
Superbad
Waitress

Double O Seven

2007 in review:

January - I packed all of my possessions, got a new apartment thanks to Craigslist, and moved in the last week of January (movers rock). I also got Microsoft certified in Excel 2003.

February - I unpacked most of my stuff and started making dinner at my house once a week, starting with chicken lettuce wraps. I also got to go to a Minnesota Wild Game.

March - I started the month by booking my airfare to Europe in May and applying for my passport. The rest of the month spent I booking hotels and tours.

April - My grandparents moved out of their house and held an auction to get rid of stuff.

May - Europe!! But first, I had to beg and plead for my passport.

June - I turned 30.

July - I reread Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, and the Half-Blood Prince and then read the Deathly Hallows. My niece and I hit Borders at midnight for the Deathly Hallows release party. I saw Order of the Phoenix at midnight the day it came out, and 3 more times in the theater.

August - It started with the bridge collapse. It ended with the first meeting of my Writing 2 class.

September - I met a guy online, started dating him and made him my boyfriend, all in 30 short, rainy days. We went to the Renaissance Festival on the 29th.

October - I visited Duluth with the new boyfriend and I transformed myself into Medusa for Halloween. My brother-in-law and I took my sister to see Jim Gaffigan at the Orpheum for her birthday.

November - I finally got to see MIA in concert at First Ave.

December - I stopped biting my nails. I used the method of wearing a rubber band on my wrist. It served as a reminder and on the few times I did bite, I snapped the rubber band. Lastly, I posted to my blog on 27 of the 31 days in December, which was one of my 101 things to do.

It's All Greek to Me

A Prologue is a piece of writing at the beginning of a larger work, while an Epilogue is at the end. Now an Epigraph is a short saying or quote, again usually at the beginning of a larger work, while an Epigram is a short poem or saying with a twist at the end.
None of those should be confused with an Epitaph, which is text that honors the dead, and is usually on a tombstone.

Opening the Photo Album

My mind is a photo album filled with pictures from my past. Some of them are blurry and unfocused or have someone’s thumb covering the left half of the scene. A few of them are overexposed, leaving the viewer only bright spots and shadows to discern where the faces were and who was laughing while I was crying. Some are portraits where everyone is posed in their Sunday best with hair recently cut and lipstick freshly applied. Lots of them are candid shots that depict some sense of movement or laughter.
There are some landscape or postcard shots that remind me of places I’ve traveled, and there are yearbook photos to remind me of my own painful adolescence. Doesn’t everyone have at least one school picture that they hope no one ever sees again? Some are family pictures that were obviously taken just minutes after some well-meaning third cousin shoved everyone up against the wall and demanded that they smile. Many pictures are from weddings or birthday parties. Some were taken on holidays and some are actually more like video clips or montages that depict several days that were all alike.
When it’s time to write about something that happened, I take out the picture and examine it. Fears, laughter, memories and joy come spilling out of each one. Remember how he wore his hair? Remember how cute she was when she was a baby? Who could forget that sweatshirt that I wore everyday for three months? I can easily get bogged down in the details and forget the big picture. So, it helps me to outline what I want to say before trying to write. I think some of my favorite exercises were the ones that involved imagining an event from someone else’s point of view or if it had happened in another way.

Random Quotes about TV and Movies

"90210" was all about teens behaving like adults. "Melrose" was the opposite. It started with a group of adults--doctors, advertising executives, fashion designers--and dared to have them behave as foolishly and as naively as adolescents. - Malcolm Gladwell

I have observed before that giant corporations have replaced Nazis as dependable movie villains. - Roger Ebert in the review of Robots

It's fun even as it's tense, and it's smart all the time. So smart that some reviewers have no clue what they're seeing. - Hat Rack talking about Firefly

Pakistan

Benazir Bhutto has been assassinated.

X-Men Movie News

There is a Wolverine spinoff planned for 2009, still starring Hugh Jackman.

There is also a Magneto film in the works. There is no official word yet on who will star.

Christmas Eve

There are four stories to the house, a big garage that holds an El Camino and another car, a barn full of motorcycles and two old sheds. The road curves up and around the back of the house and the yard rises alongside it.The basement is where you enter the house after parking in the gravel driveway. You might have seen the dead deer hanging in tree, but if you were lucky, you missed it. Inside you take off your boots and scarf and sit by the wood stove. Soon you remove your jacket, too. Aunt Jean, Uncle Mike and their kids Adam and Heather are there. You and Adam find a board game to play while you wait for Angie to show up. Heather and your sisters start talking about boys and clothes. Adam rolls his eyes and Heather shoots him a dirty look. Once everyone has arrived, you go up to the main floor for dinner. The food is good but nobody talks at the adults' table. All you hear for 20 minutes are the kids talking, forks clanging and people clearing their throats. After dinner there is some dessert and lots of questions about school, work and how you're Mom is doing. Then, it's upstairs to sleep in the room with the scary pictures. You wonder if you are actually related to the people in those pictures.

December 23

Merry Christmas Adam*

*because Adam comes before Eve

Half Birthday

Today is my half-birthday, so now I am halfway to 61.

Kevin Smith’s Universe

In 1993, Kevin Smith dropped out of film school and amassed a budget of just under $28,000 to film Clerks, a movie that was picked up by Miramax and won awards at the Sundance and Cannes film festivals. Clerks has since earned upwards of $3 million and Smith has gone on to write and direct six more feature length films, including the sequel Clerks 2.

Smith appears in most of his movies as Silent Bob, a character that speaks very little dialogue, often getting just a single line at or near the end of the movie. In Clerks, he tells the main character that he needs to stop looking for a better girlfriend, because the one he has is pretty great, she’s just not perfect. In Chasing Amy, Smith’s third film, Bob actually gets an entire monologue in which he tells the main character that he was wrong to reject his girlfriend to whom he felt sexually inferior because she had so much more experience than he did. This is a recurring theme in Smith’s movies, and he claims this is a recurring theme in his personal life.