The Verdict

So, it's been a week, and here are the results for the latest quiz.

Some of you already know, but the show I picked for this week is The Office, since I think most of us have seen at least a couple episodes, and are at least somewhat familiar with the characters. First, the characters and their descriptions:

Dwight: You've always been a little.... different, but that's just because everyone else is too stupid to see what a total genius you are. Arrogant and a total stickler for the rules, you never seem to understand why some people are always avoiding you.

Pam: Easily intimidated and a hopeless romantic, you try to get through life by flying under the radar, but somehow you always end up hitting speed bump after speed bump. You're kind-hearted and also easily intimidated - if only someone would show you the respect you deserve.

Jim: You have so much promise, but you're more than willing to let a defeatist attitude overcome your ambition. Though you have lofty goals and are capable of receiving great praise, you'd just as soon strike a rebellious pose and avoid the grunt work.

Michael: Sometimes it's better to listen than to speak, but that's a lesson you've unfortunately never learned. Often loud and inappropriate and always eager to be a part of the gang, the only time you're the life of the party is when you're by yourself.

Ryan: There are those in life who drive and those who are driven, and you are nothing if not driven. Ambitious and energetic, you are a go-getter who manages to keep his eye on the ball, even as those around you aimlessly wander astray.

And now, the final tally. I've decided to include the score after the highest and lowest characters are listed, because I find the statistics interesting, and I don't care if you don't. Props to Carly for managing to give every character the same score.

Becca: Jim (4); Dwight, Ryan (1)
Carly: Everybody (2)
Chris: Michael, Ryan (3); Dwight, Jim (1)
Jessica: Michael (4); Dwight (0)
Rachel: Dwight, Pam (3); Jim, Michael (1)
Robert: Dwight, Michael (3); Ryan (0)

Great Expectations

So, the AFI list came out last week, and most of the things I hoped for came true. My overall percentage actually went up by 1%, although most of that was in the bottom 50 films. Oh well. "Star Wars" went up and "Gone with the Wind" went down, although they didn't pass one another, sadly. Also, "The Fellowship of the Ring" got on the list, at number 50 (way too low), but I think that might have to do with the fact that all three lists were on the nomination list, so I think some votes were lost that way to the overall trilogy, since I'm sure most people didn't vote for more than one of the films.

Sadly, "Citizen Kane" retained its top spot, but at least I've seen it. There were some interesting developments, one of the most interesting being that "The Searchers" made it to # 12, from its previous spot in the Bottom 10. Also, "Intolerance" took the place of "The Birth of a Nation" as the oldest film. "Intolerance" jumped to the number 49 spot from previously not being on the list. "The Matrix," which I was sure would make it, didn't manage to climb on the list. I'm not really sure how film people can convince themselves that it wasn't both a great movie and important to movie history, but then, they're probably all old. There were 43 new movies available for addition to the list, but only 4 managed to make it, and all of those #50 or lower. 19 other new films were added to the list, but they were all previously available.

The economist and philosopher in me want to know the constituancy of the voters to find out their ages, race, and other pertinant information to try to see if there are reasons for the way they've voted, and to find out if average ages and what not have changed since the first list. I have to imagine that the average age of the voters is fairly old, which is fine, but I think it does skew things a little bit. There are a ton of movies from the 70's, which I think might have something to do with the fact that many of the voters could sympathize with movies of that age, since that's when they were coming of age. But I could be wrong. I'll probably never know.

Quiz Show

It's that time again! Time for another fun quiz!

Comment your answers, and in about a week I'll put up all the results. And if you don't answer, I'll just have to answer for you, and you won't be able to complain about who you are.

Oh, and I'm not going to tell you which show I've picked until after you've answered.

Note: When answering the questions, don't pick your favorite of the possible answers, pick what best suits you. And if there's two that are equally true, you can pick more than one answer for each question. Just don't do it often, because it makes work for me. Also, if you don't know all of the options, just go with your gut. It's not necessary to research the answers.

1. If you were a kind of paper associated with the workplace, you'd be...
a) letterhead
b) legal sized
c) shredded documents
d) a Post-it Note
e) a business card

2. If you were a way to cook eggs, you'd be...
a) scrambled
b) sunny-side up
c) over easy
d) soft boiled
e) poached

3. If you were a way to get to work, you'd be...
a) carpooling
b) riding the subway
c) biking
d) taking the bus
e) walking

4. If you were a Steven King novel, you'd be...
a) Cujo
b) Carrie
c) The Stand
d) The Dead Zone
e) The Shining

5. If you were a part of a camera, you'd be...
a) viewfinder
b) focus
c) auto rewind
d) zoom lens
e) flim

6. If you were a finger, you'd be...
a) thumb
b) index
c) middle
d) ring
e) pinkie

7. If you were a sign of the zodiac, you'd be...
a) Gemini
b) Leo
c) Aries
d) Capricorn
e) Pisces

8. If you were a fabric care tag, you'd be...
a) Dry clean only.
b) Machine wash warm.
c) Hang to dry.
d) Iron at high setting.
e) Wash separately.

9. If you were a coffee order, you'd be...
a) black
b) with cream and sugar
c) with skim and Sweet'N Low
d) with nondairy creamer
e) decaf

10. If you were a comic strip, you'd be...
a) Dick Tracy
b) The Family Circus
c) Cathy
d) Doonesbury
e) Dilbert

This Film Is Not Yet Rated

I've been meaning for a while now to rant about the movie rating system. I've mentioned my dislike of it before, but I think this article sums it up fairly well. But it does require a few additional comments.

The line between G and PG seems very arbitrary. A comparison I think I've made before is between a movie like The Lion King, and a movie like Over the Hedge. One deals with regicide, family betrayal, and a villain with a scene reminiscent of Nazi Germany. The other deals with animals stealing food in the suburbs, and evil exterminator, and a bear who wants it's food back by the end of winter. Now you tell me which should be G and which should be PG. And don't even get me started on Ben-Hur, or any number of older movies.

Then there's the R rating, which is most of what the article deals with. It encompasses everything from violence to sex to torture to nudity. Honestly, with what I've seen in R, I can't figure out how NC-17 is necessary.

My sophomore year in high school I illegally went to see an R rated movie. While I still would have gone to see it without parental guidance had I known it was R, I honestly thought that it was PG-13. There was no sex, nudity, or torture. There was some violence, but it was pretty much what you could see on televison at any time (although way cooler looking). The movie was The Matrix, and I was amazed to find out that it was rated R. I still am. How a movie like that, and slasher/torture movies like Saw and Hostel can be rated the same thing, I have no idea.

So I have to agree with the writer of the article; it seems like a good idea to get rid of all ratings, and provide detailed information for parents that actually want to enforce what their kids see. Of course, there are parents out there who take their 4 year olds to see The Two Towers, so there are definitely parents out there who lack the decision making capabilities to moniter what their kids watch. But it's not like they're going to do any worse than the rating system already does.

Strike!

Time to catch up on a few things I've been meaning to talk about lately.

First of all, Rachel finally took the previous personality quiz, and I have her results.

Rachel: Jessie; Screech

I find it interesting that both of us scored a 5 for Jessie, but we only answer 2 questions the same.

It would seem like the summertime is the time that all good workers go on strike. As I drive by The Marketplace there are no less than three groups of people with a sign saying, "Shame on so-and-so" for a labor dispute. Then there's another one on Stockdale at BCHS saying, "Shame on Bakersfield Christian High School," for their labor dispute. I've always found strikes interesting. They make Keynesian economics necessary. Well, it's more labor unions that make it necessary, but strikes go along with unions.

Summertime is also the time for watching movies about strikes. I watched Modern Times today (since it's on both Top Films lists), and when I was at Buena Vista the music teachers was showing Newsies during the last music session of the year. As I walked in waiting for the time to end, he smugly looked at me and asked, "Do you know who that is?" Obviously I knew who it was, and said so, but I think he must have thought I said no, since he said, "It's Cristian Bale. He was in Batman."

I thought like responding with some other movies he's also been in to prove my movie knowledge, but decided that I didn't need to win that battle. I'm secure in my movie knowledge.

Oh goodie, something new and different for us.

No, I really don't get tired of quoting from 10 Things I Hate About You. And it's usually so applicable.

One of the best things about the summer is that AFI releases their new list in June. Now, I've come into knowledge of AFI fairly recently, so I have only gotten to see three of the lists on television, but all have been very fun and entertaining. Even the preparation for the lists is fun because I get to add a chunk to my spreadsheet, which I haven't really had a reason to do since last year's lists.

Anyways, this year is different because they've decided to redo the top films list instead of releasing a new one. So here are some of my hopes for this new list when it is released tomorrow night (8:00 PM).

1. That my percentage doesn't go down. I'm currently at 75%, and that had better not go down.
2. That Citizen Kane is no longer in the top spot.
3. That Gone with the Wind goes down and Star Wars goes up.
4. That one Lord of the Rings movie makes it on the list.

Something that actually is new are the graphic novels that I've picked up. I've been wanting to read V for Vendetta since the movie came out, and I've also been wanting to read Marvel 1602 since it came out. And since I've been enjoying the webcomics that I read, I decided it was time to check out the real thing.

Despite my extensive knowledge of superheroes, I have only read one comic before (and it was Marvel, not DC!). I decided to do a little bit of research before I bought any, and both 1602 and V are highly touted by critics and readers alike. But since both of those are graphic novels, meaning they are contained in one book, I also wanted to get something that was also released in comic form. So I did some research and found out that an up and coming favorite author of mine did a lot of comic work which has also been lauded by critics, so I decided to get the first book of his (where they combine like 10 or so of the comics into a single book) of Neil Gaiman's Sandman.

I blazed through 1602 (and gained a new appreciated for Marvel, which I'll talk about at a later date), and had to force myself to slow down and really enjoy the art (which is amazing). I'm having a bit more trouble with Sandman. Although I love the story, the art isn't really to my liking. It's a bit too gothic for my tastes. But I hear that Gaiman doesn't really find his voice until the second book, so I think I'll give it time. V is good, but since I already know the story, I don't feel the pressing need to find out what happens next, so I'm taking my time with it.

The funny thing is that only one of the three is about superheroes, and it's not even about my favorite ones. I think I'm either going to have to get some Superman books (I'm thinking about starting with The Death of Superman), or some Justice League ones. Maybe I'll do that after I finish with these three.

If the teacher pops a test I know I'm in a mess

Okay, I've finally gotten around to posting the results of the first personality quiz. Sorry for the delay, but just think, now there's less time until the next one (assuming I get it out on time). Anyways, I chose the tv show Saved by the Bell, because I'm pretty sure everybody watched it, and you all probably expected me to choose something like Veronica Mars or Arrested Development.

I have to include the little snipit before the quiz because it's trivia, and I love trivia. "This sitcom, salvaged from a failed Disney Channel series titled Good Morning, Miss Bliss, centered around a group of Students at Bayside High School, in Palisades, California."

So, there are an option of 5 characters and I'm going to include who each person is most and least like, and any ties that there are. Bold is most like, italics is least like.

Profiles:
Slater - Your predatory ways and aggressive mind-set make you an innate alpha dog. And sure, you've got the strength and speed of a natural-born jock. But don't let that tough exterior fool anyone. You're a puppy god on the inside, especially when it comes to love.

Kelly - You appreciate the finer things in life, and if one of those things happens to be reflected in the mirror, so be it. Some may think being cute, popular, and perfect must have its drawbacks, but who has time to even worry about what those drawbacks are?

Zack - People think things come easily to you, but all that scheming takes a lot of work. You've got some scam or prank brewing at any given moment, and it usually revolves around getting a date for Saturday night. Wipe that devilish grin off your face.

Screech - You're a little nerdy, sure, but you wear it as a badge of honor, managing to keep things light and breezy. In fact some might say that your eccentricities make you all the more fun. You march to the beat of your own drummer and let your freak flag fly.

Jessie - You are strong, you are invincible. Free of society's constraints, you know who you are and have no problem taking a stand for what you believe in. You battle the patriarchy, you fight for the environment, and you stand up for the little guy no matter what. Anyone got a problem with that?

Becca: Jessie; Slater, Kelly
Carly: Zack, Screech; Jessie
Rob: Slater; Kelly
Jessica: Screech, Jessie; Slater, Kelly
Chris: Zack, Jessie; Slater, Screech

I could include scores, but that's really just too much effort. If you want more details, let me know, and I might provide them.

And look Friday for the new quiz!

Yeah, not going to happen

So I was going to post the results of the personality quiz tonight, but that's just not going to happen. We had my cousins and their spouses over tonight, along with my uncle, and it was mad fun. You have to bear in mind that there are 9 months between my cousin Matt and Billy and me, us and our cousin Jenny, and Jenny and Robby. Add to that the fact that we grew up living about 5 minutes away from each other, and we cause a little bit of trouble in our day. I take that back. We still cause a bit of trouble when we get together.

So the point of this evening was to meet my little cousin once removed (Shea) and actually get to talk to my new cousin (Christine). And to show them how the Jennings play cards. James (Jenny's husband) thought that he had learned how to play Oh Hell, but he really hadn't. I showed them how it's done in the first round (winning by 9 points) and then let some other people have a turn winning in the second round.

It was a great time spent rocking out to music, yelling at one another, and accusing one another of cheating. I think all together we went through two bottles of wine, 18 bottles of beer, and three pitchers of Margaritas (one person didn't have anything to drink since she's now pregnant (and it's not me)). Apparently I missed out on going to Fishlips, but I think I had enough fun to make up for it.

So look for the results tomorrow (which means Rachel has another day to answer the questions, but she probably won't).

That's going too far!

A staple of my life might just have come to an end. I might have to boycott reading the Star Wars books. I own just around 80 of these novels, and have read about more than 90% more than two times. But they've done something to heinous that I'm not sure I'll be willing to read them anymore.

So here's a spoiler alert, although I'm pretty sure nobody will care if this is spoiled. Except for perhaps Chris, who shares my love of Star Wars, but you never got into the books, so I'm figuring you'll be okay with it.

Now you all know that I'm generally fine with, and even am glad for, main characters dying. I think it gives us a more emotional attachment to characters if we know the author isn't afraid to knock a couple of them off. Kudos to JK, OSC, Joss Whedon, and various SW authors (to name a few) for doing so. But Karen Traviss, author of Sacrifice has gone too far. I really am contemplating boycotting the rest of the SW series because of what she's done.

Now, I know it's not her fault, and that she's following an outline created by LucasArt bigwigs (stupid George Lucas), but still. Star Wars has already killed off some of it's best characters, first in the movies, and then in the books. Usually it's okay since they provide other interesting characters to fill in the gap. But that's just not possible with this latest death.

When Chewbacca died, I didn't really care, mostly because he has no dialog. His purpose is really just to serve as Han's conscious, so it could be filled with Han losing his way (for a while) and later by Leia. No big deal. Later, they killed of Anakin Solo, and I was much more pissed off, but still got over it because he didn't have much depth, and well, I've always been more interested in his siblings. I'm probably biased because they're twins.

But now, now they've gone and killed the single character who (if I had to) I would claim as my favorite. Of all time. This character is Mara Jade Skywalker. Part of the reason that I'm not okay with this is that Jacen Solo has been come a pain in the butt who I really just don't care to read about. And he seems to be all this recent series is about. It is all about his descent to the dark side, and how it parallels his grandfather's, but I really don't care. We've already seen all that in the newest trilogy of movies, and really, it way too closely parallels his grandfather's. Couldn't they have thought of something new. I guess they considered not killing of the Padme character new.

Of course, I saw this coming, since nobody can really write Mara Jade the way that Timothy Zahn can, and she has basically been put into the role of being where Luke is and not having much of a plot of her own. She has become redundant. So she could die and it won't ruin anything, but will serve as a catalyst for Ben (her son) to get really pissed off and defeat Jacen.

But I don't care! Kill Luke instead! They didn't even have the decency to let Zahn write her death, they gave it to some author nobody's even heard of. Stupid George Lucas. I see this being the end of Luke, eventually, which will be nice, but that might just be the end of the whole series. Even though there are enough of the second generation to make things interesting, but sadly, the authors only use the younger generation for filler when they need it. And really, since I know nobody is interested, or probably even read this, I'm going to stop. But I still haven't decided if I'm going to keep reading the books.

Who are the 4400?

Granted, it's a bit late, but I'm not ready to post this month's tv/movie on DVD. Last month I picked a random television show that I've heard good things about to try out, but this month I'm going to talk about a show that I already own, but which more people need to watch. The show is USA's The 4400.

The first thing you have to get past is the fact that this show is considered to be science fiction. Actually, I think it should be considered more fantasy, but that isn't much better for most people. The thing about sci-fi is that there's good and there's bad. The bad sci-fi is what most people picture - bad B movies with creatures from outer space invading and horrible special effects.

This show (and many others out there that people are biased against) is good science fiction. The special effects are seemlessly inserted, and there are actually very few special effects needed, because the show is set today, with no other technology than what we have right now. Where the sci-fi comes in is that there people appear in a ball of light from space. Yes, that's sort of weird, and yes, some of them have special powers, but that is not what the show is about, it's merely a catalyst for what happens. The show is about how the core group of characters (some 4400, some not) manage to rebuild their lives after the ball of light, and how other people make them outcasts and are scared of the 4400. The two main characters aren't even 4400, but are Homeland Security agents who are tasked with helping the 4400's to readjust to society.

It's a very well done show, with lots of interesting characters (and not just because of their abilities). The first season is only 5 episodes long (the first one is two hours long), but it's packed with action, and the two later season improve on the preceding ones. Which I'm hoping means good things this summer, since it's a summer series on USA.

So borrow it, watch it, and beg the current seasons episodes off of me when you catch up. It's that good. Oh yeah. New episodes start Sunday, June 17 at 9 PM.

It's that time of the month...

While I should probably be putting up my movie/tv show of the month, instead I'm going to start another monthly trend, although I'll probably end up making it a twice a month thing. I got a book of Who's Your TV Alter Ego today, so I'm going to be putting up some of the questions. Comment your answers, and in about a week I'll put up all the results. And if you don't answer, I'll just have to answer for you, and you won't be able to complain about who you are.

Oh, and I'm not going to tell you which show I've picked until after you've answered.

Note: When answering the questions, don't pick your favorite of the possible answers, pick what best suits you. And if there's two that are equally true, you can pick more than one answer for each question. Just don't do it often, because it makes work for me.

1. If you were a bird, you'd be..
a) toucan
b) swan
c) flamingo
d) cardinal
e) hawk

2. If you were a Dr. Seuss character, you'd be...
a) Yertle the Turtle
b) the Cat in the Hat
c) Sam-I-Am
d) the Lorax
e) the Sneeches

3. If you were sold at a bake sale, you'd be...
a) brownies
b) Rice Krispies Treats
c) oatmeal raisin cookies
d) cupcakes
e) sponge cake

4. If you were a piece of jewelry, you'd be a...
a) stud earring
b) shell necklace
c) rubber bracelet
d) rope anklet
e) diamond tiara

5. If you were a piece of furniture, you'd be a...
a) desk
b) vanity
c) chest of drawers
d) lamp
e) love seat

6. If you were a school supply, you'd be a
a) protractor
b) pencil sharpener
c) ruler
d) magic marker
e) eraser

7. If you were a Tom Cruise movie, you'd be...
a) Risky Business
b) Top Gun
c) A Few Good Men
d) Jerry Maguire
e) Rain Man

8. If you were a breakfast beverage, you'd be...
a) orange juice
b) coffee
c) grapefruit juice
d) tea
e) a Bloody Mary

9. If you were a Monopoly piece, you'd be...
a) wheelbarrow
b) thimble
c) Scottie
d) top hat
e) race car

10. If you were a synonym for the word "saved," you'd be...
a) "hoarded"
b) "liberated"
c) "converted"
d) "treasured"
e) "helped"

They're getting younger and younger

I heard an advertisement on the radio for a dance studio, and they accept children aged 18 months and up. Can infants who are a year and a half old really be coordinated enough to dance, let alone follow instructions and comprehend what to do? Now, granted, I don't know much about little kids (don't make me deal with them until they're at least 2.5), but you had asked me, I wouldn't have even been sure that 18 month olds could walk, let alone dance.

It does remind me of a scene in the Gilmore Girls' pilot. I'd describe it to you, but I really can't do it justice, so you'll have to watch it for yourself.

EOM adjustments

My two week adventure with third graders is now over, and I must say, getting paid to show kids movies and teach them oragami isn't such a bad thing. I ended up showing them two classic films and one not-so-classic film, and taught them about the legend that is Robin Hood (full with Norman/Saxon oppression and all!). I have plenty of tidbits to relate, but that will have to wait until I get back from Yosemite.

Every year my family goes with about 10 other families for a weekend vacation in Yosemite, right around Memorial Day. The conversations are generally very interesting (they tend to focus around education since over the years almost every single adult has become a teacher), and while the kids are mostly younger than me, I grew up with most of the, so it's okay.

I'm sure I'll have plenty to say about that too, once I get back, especially since I'm going to have to put up with Robby all weekend. Thank goodness for Soren, that's all I can say. Also, when I get back I'll have my latest DVD/TV show that I think everybody should watch this month. I bet you're really looking forward to that.

Smokin!

Chris and I saw Spiderman III (Roman numerals look so much cooler than a silly number like "3") last night in Bakersfield while, at the same time, Rob and Jessica saw it down south. We didn't plan this, but it is kind of funny. Anyways, I thought that it was good, although not as good as the second one. The only downfall to the movie was this 20 minute section in the middle when I had to turn to Chris and say, "All of a sudden I feel like I'm watching The Mask."

The rest of it was great, since Sam Raimi has this amazing ability to direct great action scenes while not losing his signature cheesiness. All the main actors did great jobs, with the exception of Dunst (who didn't do a poor job, she just didn't have all that much to do). Topher Grace was in his usual form, and James Franco was hilarious (I hope he meant to be). Not to mention Bruce Campbell (I have to wonder how many people will realize that he played a different character in the first movie).

I don't want to say too much about it since I know people haven't seen it, and that means it's probably best if I end this post here.

Not Yet Rated?

So I'm trying to follow the rules and only show the little third graders that I have until the end of the year G rated movies. This means that I can't show films like Hook, Harry Potter, or even Flushed Away (sorry Rob). So after discussing my problem with Chris, we went online to look for a list of classic movies that are rated G. Here's some of the more interesting finds (in no particular order):

1. Modern Times
2. The Court Jester
3. 2001: A Space Odyssey
4. Gone With the Wind
5. Ben-Hur
6. The Day the Earth Stood Still
7. Giant
   
8. Forbidden Planet
9. The Ten Commandments
10. The Great Dictator
11. Planet of the Apes

I find of particular interest numbers 3, 8, 9, 11, and especially 5. Four of those movies are on AFI's Top 100 Thrills list. And yet I can't show The Adventures of Robin Hood? Or Hook, Guys and Dolls, Over the Hedge, or Shrek.

I'm tempted to show Ben-Hur just because I can.

I hate the American public

I don't think I can possibly express how much I hate the American public. My hatred of it is so deep seated that I don't think I ever recover. If I was a nicer person, my hatred might have become something like pity, but I'm not, so it's hatred, loathing, and all around disgust.

Why, you might wonder, does sweet Becca have this unreasonable hatred for her culture? Let me lay it out for you in two lists:

1. Firefly
2. Veronica Mars
   
3. Freaks and Geeks
4. Brisco County Jr.
5. Roswell
6. Firefly

1. American Idol
2. Survivor
3. America's Got Talent
4. Everybody Loves Raymond
5. Friends
6. American's Next Top Model
7. Every other reality tv show there is

Yes, there is another number on the first list. And I blame it on the American public for liking crap like the things listed on the second list. I also blame it on stupid studios who can't manage to promote anything except crap, and even promotes that poorly. Stupid freaking people. Stupid freaking television companies. Stupid freaking crap tv shows.

Not that I'm bitter or anything.

Who do I have to kill...

... to get the stoplight at El Portal and Ming fixed? Here's what the street looks like


Now, there seems to be no problem with the blue turn. The red light changes to green fairly frequently, and the sensor seems to work. But the problem is the green turn. During the day, the blue gets to go twice before either the cyan or the green gets to go. This seems a little strange to me. I know the sensor works, because at night the green turn happens quickly. The green only gets to turn after cyan has gone, but blue goes twice between each cyan. At least.

It mostly annoys me because it doesn't make sense, since there's not that much time lost in the grand scheme of things. Maybe the stoplight really is greener on the other side.

Robert needs to post more

Recent Disappointments:

1. The third chunk of Veronica Mars: while I'm glad it's back on air showing new episodes, it would appear that there's not going to be a big mystery to solve in this last chunk of time. Which really sucks.
2. This week's Heroes: Nothing happened. It was really just boring.
3. My immune system: I used to have an agreement with my immune system that it didn't get sick during a sport season (which meant I didn't get sick), but it has apparently forgotten this (or thinks that coaching doesn't count). I did have my one doctor's office trip of the year, though.
4. Showtime: what's the deal with only 10 episodes of Weeds in the first season. Uncool.
5. The lack of new posts going up on friend's blogs.
   

Recent Appointments (or would that be un-disappointment? Is there a word I'm looking for and can't find?):

1. Antibiotics: those things kick butt!
2. Last week's Heroes: While I think it could have been better (and less obvious) it was still good.
3. Weeds: Although I'm disappointed in the length, the show is great, although it's almost too much.
4. The Riches: Good stuff, that's all I have to say.

That is all. Oh, and if you comment (although really, who's going to) please don't put any spoilers, since some of my friends are lame and don't watch certain tv shows that they should.

You can't handle the truth.

It occurred to me the other day that I enjoy shows that center around deception. Or at least ones that have characters who have no qualms about lying to other people (usually to get information). There's Alias and Veronica Mars, especially. But also Weeds, Smallville, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and any other show that centers around superheroes saving the world and hiding who they really are.

I'm sure this says that deeply hidden desire to lie to the people around me and hide who I really am, or something like that.

Or it could be that it makes for good television.

"Putting the herb in suburb"

Chris has his CD of the month, so I've decided to do a movie/TV show for the month. Sometimes this will be an old movie that I think everybody should watch, sometimes a new TV show that I've discovered. Or sometimes even an old TV show that I think people should watch.

To start things off, I have a completely new show to start watching this month. It's called "Weeds", and I'm sure many of you have seen it. It's only available on Showtime, but I've bought the first Season on DVD. I haven't cracked it open so I can't tell you if the critics are right, but I'm hoping it will somewhat fill the void left by Arrested Development.

Hoppa!

My cousin Matt got married this weekend up in Fresno. He decided to be like his sister and have a wedding out of the blue (although he wasn't pregnant), but it wasn't quite as rushed as hers. My brother, dad, and I went up there on Saturday because they guys were going to play golf (I wasn't invited), and I went along because I knew much of the family was going to be driving up on Saturday.

Karma intervened and it rained on Saturday, so the guys only got about 7 holes in before calling it quites (take that!), so we all went over to the hotel where everybody was staying. This was a large hotel, but when my whole family went into the bar, we completely took over the place. Some had to leave for the rehearsal dinner, and the rest of us went to The Cheesecake Factory, which was a couple blocks away (and I was completely bummed - who wants to eat cheesecake?). We discussed Snowcrash (which I need to reread), clairvoyant dreams, and blogs, among other things. It was a very fun discussion with the three generations that were present.

On Sunday was the wedding, and it was being held at a Serbian Orthodox church in Fresno (my cousin is Greek Orthodox and his new wife is Serbian Orthodox). My family is rather large, and the church it was at was really small, so it was standing room only for the ceremony. Luckily, the reception hall was plenty big. It was great to run around with my cousins, corrupting them by telling them to dump a whole basket full of birdseed on Matt and Chrissy's (his new wife) head (and of course they did it), and telling them to call my other cousin fat (she's 9 months pregnant).

Many people think I hate weddings, but I don't really mind them when it's a family one because we manage to have fun no matter what. Some cousins and my uncle (who's son was getting married) were worried that the wedding might be dry, so they brought a water bottle full of Ketel 1. There was wine at each table (Merlot and Chard, so I didn't really drink much, at the wedding at least), but they still managed to find some punch to add "water" to. We joked that the people from Fresno would think we didn't like their water because we kept adding our own to the punch.

Of course after the wedding we weren't done partying, so we headed back to the hotel and invaded the bar again. Then after we got kicked out of there we went to a hotel room where there were cigars (and other unmentionables) to be smoked (but not by me) and our own bar to use. Then after getting too many complaints at that room, we took it to another. So all in all it was a great weekend, full of family, good food, and good drink.

I don't care if I never get back.

Yesterday I went down to LA with my brother to watch a Dodger game. He and some buddies have four season passes, and they weren't being used last night, so I got to invite some friends. After a long string of turn downs, Chris and Nate were finally able to go, so we met up with them at Jessica's place to drive in together ($15 for parking is such a rip off).

We got there after the first half inning (somebody was late), but it wasn't a sold out crowd, so we still got our free hats. The seats are in the first row of the second section of the pavillion, if anybody cares, but there are two important features of these seats. The first is that there's tons of leg room, which is very nice. The second is that everybody who goes and gets food has to walk past you to get to their seats. So by about the third inning we were all craving Dodger dogs and nachos. There was a mass exodus from the stands, and we all went to find some food. Billy, Chris, and I all managed to do so in a reasonable time frame, but I think it took Nate two and a half innings to finally get his two super Dodger dogs.

It was a good game - there was a home run to score the first run, and then lots of doubles and base hits by the Dodgers (and not so many by the Padres), so we won pretty easily 9-1. All the while discussing movies and TV shows, of course. I think the best conversation was when we got to talk about bad kid's sports movies, like The Sandlot (which isn't bad), A Kid in King Arther's Court, Little Giants, and some that I think I've forgotten.

Oh, and it cracked me up that the words for Take Me Out To the Ball Game were incorrect on the board during the 7th Inning Stretch.

You had me at merlot.

So this past week was a week of family vacation. We went over to Los Osos, which is situated right by SLO, and really isn't a bad place to go vacationing. Anyways, my siblings and I joined our parents over there on Tuesday, and we had a surprisingly pleasant ride over there. I don't know what was wrong with my brothers, but something must have been.


It was a vacation of firsts! First (long distance) car ride I can remember with my brother's that wasn't horrible. First time buying Converse (it was past time for a new pair of shoes). First time I was able to drag any members of my family wine tasting (I got all of them to go, even if only three of us tasted!). First time that my brother (Billy) tasted and bought wine. It made me so proud. First time that somebody thought I was older than Billy in a long time. And I quote:

Castoro Pourer: I'll let you pour it out. I'm not mean like your older sister over there.
Me: Actually, I'm his younger sister.
Pourer: Really?
Me: Well, only by four minutes.
Pourer: You just seemed much wiser than him.

That made my day.

So it was a good vacation, as much as I had my doubts going into it. And now it's onto Easter weekend, which is always fun because people come back to town. So hopefully this will be a good cap to a fun week.

Chilling at the BN

So I went to Barnes and Noble to get some entertainment for this week and I saw a guy sitting in one of the aisles in a camping chair with a water jug sitting next to him. I guess that's something to aspire to.

Close Encounters of a Three Kinds

I decided to take a trip down to LA this weekend and to visit with Robert a little bit. So I left on Sunday morning to head down to Santa Monica. When I was about to Pyramid Lake, I looked into my rear view window and see a white Trailblazer. So I thought to myself, "Hey, that could Tim, going back from Spring Break." Of course I didn't really think that it would be Tim. But lo and behold, that Trailblazer pulled up next to me and I looked over and it was Tim! Which was pretty hilarious.

Now, everybody knows that I procrastinate, and the latest thing that I've put off doing has been to register my car. So as of yesterday my registration was officially expired. Normally I don't see very many cops on the drive down to LA, usually one or less. But this trip I saw no less than 4 cops, and 3 park rangers. One of these cops almost pulled up right behind me at a red light, where he would have had a perfect view of my out of date tags. Luckily he turned left just before the light. But it was pretty funny. Or annoying or whatever.

The last encounter was of a different kind. Some of you may know that Rob has been playing D&D with some people for the past year. Well I decided to finally go down and join, which was part of the reason for the trip. So I got to play a regular character in the party because his player couldn't be there this weekend. Now D&D isn't like your normal video game where if your character dies you can just reload the previous auto-save and try again. If your character dies, she's dead, unless you can find a cleric to rez her, and that's rather difficult and expensive.

Generally if you die you just reroll another character and start over at level 1. Of course, dying isn't all that common since you have to get down to -10 health. I got this guys character to 0 health (at -1 you drop unconscious and bleed out 1 health per round until -10). I'm not all that attached to this character, but I imagine that Jerome is pretty attached, so I don't really want him to die. So I run away to a healer (who happens to be Robert) when we only have the last guy left to kill. Most of the party was beat up, so I decided to try to be a hero and fire my bow at the guy instead of hiding, even though I knew that after I fired he would have a clear shot at me.

I hit the guy for 5 damage (which really isn't that much), but considering he was at 0 health (which we didn't know) it was enough to knock him unconscious and out of the tree. And of course the fall killed him. So I didn't die. But since it was April Fool's Day, one of the group members called Jerome and told him that Jork had died, which was pretty hilarious.

Deep Thoughts

I'm completely amazed that they haven't tried to remake The Sound of Music yet. Actually, that seems to be the one thing in Hollywood that is safe from remakes - musicals.

It's a very interesting experience to go drinking with your father and his crazy friends from teacher school.

I'm worried for the youth of today if the people I just went drinking with are going to be tomorrow's teachers.

Freshmen are stupid. And very funny.

Horsism is very true - school makes you dumber.

Some people can't hold their liquer. And it's very entertaining when they can't.

A bee story of my very own!

After playing soccer at BHS today, I went over to where my shoes were, and there was a bee crawling on my laces. I'm not really scared of bees, so I merely flicked it off and proceeded to change shoes.

So I walked to my car and decided that on the way home, I would check to make sure that there was going to be something for dinner, so I decided to call home. Nobody answered, so I called my dad's cell and my brother's cell, but neither of them answered. Now, I know some of you drive a stick, so you'll know that it's fairly difficult to drive, dial on a cell phone, and drink a soda at the same time, but what can I say except I'm talented.

However, during my third call, I look over at my window, and I see a bee crawling on the very top. I know there's no way that I can try to flick it off while I'm drinking and talking on the phone, so I put my soda down so that I can unroll the window, hoping that it will take it's chance for freedom and fly away.

Alas, it decided to crawl down the window, so now I'm dealing with a bee that I can't flick out. I end my phone call, but now I have to wait for a light because it seems the bee is scared to jump out of a moving vehicle. Unluckily for me, though, I went through like four green lights down California. So I'm driving, trying to watch the road, and also trying to watch the bee to make sure it doesn't attack me. Luckily a light finally turned yellow, and although I usually would have gone through it, I stopped and flicked the bee outside. I think I angered the person behind me, though, because they promptly got out to the side and passed me.

So while I didn't get to attack it with a pan, I do have my very own bee story. I should turn it into a movie and call it Bee Movie! Oh wait, I'm too late.

Ode to a name

Henceforth, ye shall be called Sebastian,
And loud shall be the sound of your processing!
Games shall come forth in great abundance,
And loud shall be the sound thereof!

Great battles will be fought,
Great fortunes will be lost,
But evermore shall ye perform,
never failing!

So yeah, I finally decided on a name (Sebastian), and decided to write 0.01% of the epic poem of Sebastian.

Green and Gold plus a little Driller Blue

I had a softball tournament this weekend. Now, going in to the tournament, I didn't have very high expectations, mostly because I have no idea what a good Frosh Soph team will play like, so I can't judge how good my team currently is.

Apparently I do know what a good team plays like, because my team plays like one. We got 2nd place in the tournament, and only lost to Frontier, who has a better pitcher than is on our JV team. (They don't have a Varsity team, so basically everybody is moved down one team). After an okay game on Friday we brought our A game on Saturday and schooled some schools that needed it.

Seems like a little blue goes a long way.

Bittersweet

Today, my team of little freshmen (and some sophomores) beat BHS. Now, I never really cared about BHS softball (even when I was playing I wanted to win, but wasn't all that upset if we lost, unlike in softball), but there's still the Driller in me that wants to win at every sport we play. Soccer is a different story, obviously.

Still, I almost feel like a traitor to myself being glad that West beat BHS at anything.

Doncha Wish (that your favorite TV shows stayed on air?)

I find it horribly ironic that after saying this, Veronica Mars was replaced this past week by show "Doncha Wish You Were A Pussycat Doll," or whatever the hell they decided to name that horrible show.

Not only that, but now that Studio 60 has gone off for who knows how long, it seems that VM is also taking a break, as is Heroes. I guess that means that March is going to have me either watching a lot of movies, reading a lot of books, or playing a lot of video games.

A moment of silence

Manny as he was is officially gone. He got a brain transplant, and now is back good as new! Of course, this means that I have to try and remember where all my install cds are for all the programs I had on Manny, but that's okay.

So, my new computer needs a new name. What should it be? Any suggestions?

Mustn't get excited...

I keep telling myself that I will be disappointed in the end and that I can't get my hopes up, but I really can't help it.

It's official. There's a date and everything.

For a little while

My brother and I came home yesterday from the driving range and put our clubs in the garage. We saw water had come all the way to the door of the garage, but figured that it was just from the rain. See, the back door into the garage leaks when it rains and if we forget to put a towel there to stop it, that side of the garage becomes a swamp. Luckily, I was intrigued by how much water was in the garage and actually looked at the back door. It was completely dry.

We figured out that it was actually the water heater which had sprung a leak. So no hot water until that's fixed (and knowing my family, who knows how long that will take). Luckily, coinciding with this breakage, I've started house sitting for the next few weeks, so I, at least, will have a hot shower. Score!

Oh, and my little team got its first win yesterday (and only our second game). Go us. Unfortunately, we'll be playing basically the equivalent of a JV team tomorrow since Frontier only has two teams (JV and FS). So I don't think it will be a pleasant game for us. It is a chance to see what my team is made of, though, which'll be good.

Post Oscar Season

So, the Oscars happened last night, and we had a nice little shindig to celebrate. Like most shindigs, we had to have a contest, so we printed off Oscar ballets to see who could get the most right. There were, of course, prizes, with the first prize being a copy of The French Connection. For those of you wondering about a strange choice, it's really not all that strange. For one, it won best picture, and for another it's on a number of AFI lists, and rarely comes on TV for Chris and me to watch.

Anyways, the winners were Jessica and Chris (who tied) with 14 each, I think. I got 8 right, but most of that was because I generally picked what I thought should win, instead of what I thought would win. There were a couple disappointments, and a couple exciting upsets, and I'll relate my favorites here.

Where the Academy got it wrong
Best Visual Effects: In my opinion, Superman Returns should have won, instead of Pirates. I can see why Pirates won (the effects were more varied - lots of sea creatures and effects as opposed to mostly flying), but the effects in Superman were truly amazing and perfectly seamless. Pirates was too flashy for my taste to win this, but I can't be too upset, I guess.

Cinematography: Pan's Labyrinth won (which I can't get too upset about), but I think Children of Men should have. Don't get me wrong, the cinematography in Labyrinth is good, I just thought Children was superb. Then again, I'm a sucker for long, cut-less, drawn out shots. But that's not all Children had. While it didn't cut very often, the camera movement and angles really let you feel and see what the characters were feeling and seeing.

Best Foreign Film: Granted, I've only seen one film in this category, but I can't imagine the other films being better. While I'm glad that Pan's Labyrinth won some other awards, I think Jessica was right in that they were given to it to make up for the lack of this Oscar.

Best Picture: I really don't think that The Departed deserved to win in this category. I didn't see all of the films up for the award, but I feel like the movie that wins this should somehow be important, and I didn't feel that The Departed was all that important. Honestly, I expected The Queen to win, and I'll give my opinion as to how right that was once I've seen it. I still think the Academy was wrong, but I'll try to withhold judgment until I've seen more of the films on the list.

Awesome Upsets
Best Supporting Actor: I'm very glad that Alan Arkin won this award. He truly deserved it, but I didn't expect him to get it. A very nice surprise for Little Miss Sunshine.

Best Original Screenplay: Another deserving win for Little Miss that I didn't expect. But I'm happy about it.

Best Supporting Actress: While this wasn't really an upset, I think it's awesome that Jennifer Hudson who on her first time out. And after America didn't vote for her. Which really just shows how much the audience of American Idol knows, really.

And Finally
Best Directing: I thought this might be the year for Scorsese, and I was right. Part of this probably had to do with the fact that his cast was amazing and he directed them perfectly. Part had to do with the fact that he was doing what he does best - a violent mob film. But most of it had to do with the fact that he really is a great director.

Honorary Oscar: How Ennio Morricone didn't win an Oscar for Best Score in 1987 for The Mission I'll never know. But at least he got one for his whole body of work, which is sorely deserved.

Oscar Season

So, it's that time of year again. Time for me to put out my list of movies from this past year. Now, it's true that I really haven't seen all that many movies this year (well, movies that were released this year, at least), so you'll have to keep that in mind as you look at this list.

1. Little Miss Sunshine
Reason for ranking: Everything about this movie works so well. The soundtrack is great and fits perfectly. The cast is amazing and hilarious. And it makes fun of beauty pageants. What more could you look for in a movie.

2. The Departed
Reason for ranking: While mob movies usually aren't my cup of tea (nothing against them, they just all pale compared to The Godfather), this one was good. I was constantly wondering when the moles were going to be discovered, and who wasn't going to die (because there are more that die than don't).

3. Children of Men
Reason for ranking: I'd like to put this one at the number 2 spot, but feel like it could have been better. Granted, the cinematography was amazing and I'm a sucker for movies with long, continuous shots, but some of the plot was lacking, and I felt like it was a little too preachy.

4. Pan's Labyrinth
Reason for ranking: This was a very visual movie, and I absolutely loved it. If this was a list of my favorite movies, it would probably be ranked second, but it's a list of which were the best, in my opinion. There were gaps in the story that I think could have been plugged, and it jumped a little bit, but I still loved it.

5. Brick
Reason for ranking: I love film noir, and this new thing - teen noir - isn't much different. This film put new life into a genre that has sadly seemed to lose it's place in our current society. The cast of young actors was great, too.

6. A Prarie Home Companion
Reason for ranking: There's just something about ensemble movies when they're done correctly. This movie was short on plot, but made up for it with randomness and great acting.

7. A Scanner Darkly
Reason for ranking: A very difficult movie to follow, and one that deserves a re-watching. There was some amazing voice acting, and the process of animation that they use is pretty cool. I don't want to say too much about it because most people haven't seen it, still.

Worst movie: Eragon
While the first book wasn't the best thing out there, it was far superior to the movie that came out. It was so bad, I'm not sure if I'll see the second one (if they make it). The only good thing about the movie was that Saphira looked wicked cool. Before the movie came out, I said that the entire movie would rest on how much effort they put into making the dragon look awesome, but it seems that's the only effort they put into the movie. Perhaps next time more script and character development, and the same amount of special effects. It wasn't the actors' fault, it was the writers and developers.

Loss of Innocence

There was an intervention on Friday night. A group of friends sat me down and decided that it was time I drank beer from a can. See, all of the beer that I've ever had in my life has either been on tap or in a bottle, and Chris finally decided that it was time. Actually, he decided this while he was at Von's and looking for something to drink. He decided that he hadn't had Bodington's in a while (which is an English beer somewhat like Guiness), which only comes on tap and in cans (it has a cool little CO2 capsule to make it way cooler than regular canned beer).

In completely unrelated news, I really like the new Window's Vista commercial, but hate what it's advertising. You know, the one where they show all sorts of cool stuff with people saying, "Wow," and then ruin it by saying that Vista is going to be like that. I'm sorry that I have no faith in Microsoft anymore, they've just failed so often that there's no room for hope in my heart anymore when it comes to Microsoft.

And in more unrelated news, there was once a pool that existed, for which there is no longer a reason. Congratulations Natalie.

Celebrate good times (come on!)

So, after months of being lazy, I finally took in Manny (my computer) to get fixed. And after thinking I would get him back in a day (like they said), I've finally gotten him back after a week. But the awesome thing is that he's back, and I now have my computer back in my room, so I can waste who knows how many hours updating things that really don't need to be updated and the other useless things I do on the computer.

So, be on the look-our for more posts more often.

Too much of a good thing?

So my leg seems to have finally recovered from whatever it is I did to it. Occasionally I will still feel a twinge, but it doesn't hurt while I'm running, which is what's important. And it healed just in time for me to hurt something else, too, although hopefully not. I played again as an alumnus today at BHS, and had a good time. It was nice to not hurt every single step I took. And this weekend we have an adult tournament here in Bakersfield, which should be fun. We can usually get people out for the Bakersfield tournament that can't usually play, so it's a nice change of pace for the team, and a good warm-up for the Vegas tournament in April. I just have to hope that I don't hurt something else.

Continuing my recent rash of watching movies (if you can believe it, I didn't watch many for November, December, and the first part of January), last night Rachel and I watched Little Miss Sunshine, which was as good the second time as the first. I also watched Philadelphia since it's on some AFI lists and I've never watched it before. It was exactly what I expected, and I had to keep reminding myself of when it was made, and what a huge movie it must have been back then. Of course, it got me to philosophizing about ethics and the law, so really, I spent most of the movie only sort of watching it and philosophizing. It was also very interesting to see how much the world has changed in only about 13 years.

Super Lame

As I hope everybody out there knows, this past weekend was the Superbowl. Now, I'm really not that into professional football (at least the American kind), but I will sit down and watch most of the Superbowl, because they're generally alright games, as far as they can be. It's also a great excuse to go over to somebody's house and eat a lot of junk.

So a small gathering of us went to the Burzlaff's house to enjoy the game, and continued the tradition we started last year of having a pool. This is the pool where everybody buys squares in a grid, and you look at the last digit of each teams score at the end of each quarter, and whoever has the square gets some money.

I generally never expect to win something when it comes to pure luck. In fact, I hate games that rely heavily on luck, because I tend to trust my own abilities more than luck. And this was proven to me once again on Sunday. With two seconds left in the half, the Colts (I think) had to make a less than 30 yard field goal for me to get some money. Now, they're kicker is one of the best and most consistent in the league, so I figured this might be my chance to trust somebody else and rely on luck. But of course, I should know better, and he missed the freaking field goal. Wide left. I was so angry, especially because it meant that Paul won on the same square for two quarters. I think that made me angrier than actually losing.

Working (or not) for the weekend

So I've been thinking about changing the look of my blog, but honestly, there aren't any of the other default skins that I like, and I'm much to lazy to both figure out what I want on my own and then implement it, so my blog will stay the way it is for the foreseeable future. Maybe when I finally get around to getting Manny fixed I'll celebrate by updating it, but probably not.

This past weekend was a heap o' fun. Friday night Rachel and I went out to play darts and visit some bars with my friends Brandon and Matt, and had a great time. Then, Saturday evening, we went (with the same people plus Brandon's sister) to play some mini-golf and then spend the evening at my house eating dinner and playing Settlers. All around fun was had by all, I think.

Somehow I hurt my leg in the last soccer tournament, and it's still hurting me three weeks later, which is very strange. What's also strange is that I have absolutely no idea how it happened. Usually this only happens with minor hurts like bruises and cuts, not with injuries that have me hurting almost a month later, so it's very strange. What's also bad is that it has had me sitting out of practicing with BHS when my team plays on Monday, and also passing on some reffing assignments. I'm almost tempted to go see a doctor, but unfortunately, I don't have insurance, and don't know any in Bakersfield who I can just stop in on. Maybe I'll try to get a hold of one of my teammates who works in a physical therapists' office. She's usually the person anybody on my team turns to when they are hurt.

Electric

Every single time I get out of my car after any time in it, I get a nice little shock. It was funny when it was happening to Robert in Santa Barbara, but enough is enough. It does, however, make me often think about that Mythbusters episode. You know the one I'm talking about.

Just too... pink.

Rachel knows what that's a quote from, and it was doubly applicable today. Not only did we have pink lemonade at the baby shower today, but everything that was there was pink. It was horrible. Pink bags, pink clothes, pink candles - everything was pink. Even the bag my mom gave me for the books Jessica and I gave Beet was pink. But I guess you have to expect that when it's going to be a little girl. I just hope my cousin has a boy so that I don't have to put up with all that pink again in a long, long while.

Oh, and the quote is from The Sound of Music, which is now triply applicable because we watched The Americanization of Emily earlier this week. This was the week of movies because Chris and I watched Cool Hand Luke, The Americanization of Emily, and Reefer Madness all this week. My favorite of the three was definitely Reefer Madness. If you haven't seen it, you should. It's a musical and completely off the wall. One of the funniest movies I have seen in a really long time. And it has some amazing actors in it - Kristen Bell, Alan Cummings, and Steven Webber to name a few. In many ways it reminded me a lot of Dogma, although not as gross.

And now I have to read because for some stupid reason I decided to reread all the Wheel of Time books from the beginning, and now I can't put them down, because I want to get to the most recent books. Although I am seeing a ton of little things that I've completely forgotten about. As much as I want to hate Jordan for taking so much freaking time with the plot, I have to admit that he is a master at making everything little thing important and connected in his story. I can't imagine what his outline must have looked like before he even started writing The Eye of the World, but I wouldn't be surprised if he had everything planned out even then. He almost surpasses Tolkien when it comes to that. Almost, but not quite.

Carpe Vino

So I got back from SB yesterday, and let me tell you, it was an awesome trip. Two of the best things in the world, soccer and wine, combined with one of my favorite places in the world, Santa Barbara, makes a trip that can't be bad. Let me show you mathematically why it was such a good trip.

6 wineries - Kylara, Fess Parker, Epiphany, Consilience, Koeler, and Gainey
6 bought bottles of wine
4 soccer games
5 new wine glasses
3 nights of sitting in front of a fireplace
6 different types of Tequila
3 different types of Scotch
1 Arroyo Hondo (my grandparents' former ranch)
2 rope swings
and 1 cat named Eliza Doolittle


It all adds up to one fun weekend.

...so much better on holiday

I got reprimanded last night for not having a new post in a while, so I promised I would get one up today. I don't know how long it will be since I have to head off to soccer very soon (BHS vs. Liberty - should I really be put on that game?), but I'll try to get some stuff in.

Last week I apparently disappeared from the face of the planet (according to Rachel), but in reality, I was in Mammoth, getting my snowboard on. It was fun. Tuesday and Wednesday there wasn't much snow, but we still managed to get some good riding in. Wednesday it was supposed to storm and leave us with 2 nice inches of fresh powder, but instead, it dumped over 4, which was a very nice surprise, if it did make for some harsh conditions. But some of us braved the cold and snow and managed to make a good day of it. Friday was awesome, if a little crowded.

Of course, once I got back, I basically stayed in bed for two and a half days, very sick. But I'm just glad that it didn't hit in full force when I was up in the snow, because that would have been lame.

It's a good thing that high school soccer goes on during the winter, because it is by far my most expensive season. First of all, there's Christmas, and spending money then goes without saying. But it also tends to be when I do the most shopping for myself (I can't go to the stores for other people without seeing at least a few things that I need), when I see the most movies (except for the rare instance when good movies come out in the summer), and take the most trips. Plus, snowboarding is expensive. Luckily soccer pays well.

My dad just started working at West High as a math teacher, and now apparently the AD emailed him because they are in need of softball coaches. He said he probably won't have time, but said that his daughter might be interested. We'll see if I am. I've always known that I would enjoy coaching softball more than I did playing it, but I don't know if I would enjoy doing that at West, or at the JV or Frosh Soft level. I guess I'll have to think about it. Plus, it would take a lot of time. And I don't know if I like softball enough. Soccer goes without saying, but not softball. Plus, bad softball is way worse than bad soccer. Way.

Speaking of soccer, I'm headed off to SB again this weekend for a little soccer tournament. I'm definitely looking forward to it, and especially to the Monday afterwards, when I'm (hopefully) going to go wine tasting. I'm hoping the wineries will be open since it will be a holiday, and if not, maybe I'll just have to break in and find some wine myself.

New news

So, apparently blogger has gotten it's newest version out of Beta, so if you belong to the quote page, you're going to have to change your account or something, since I switched it over. It's not difficult, and it looks like there might be more options in this new version. That's the first piece of news.

Another is that my dad is going to be a math teacher starting next semester at West High. He decided to go to teacher school starting last summer, which I think was a good decision on his part, since he wasn't enjoying his job very much at the time. So this is yet another teacher in my family, but at least it's not elementary.

I think I already mentioned it, but it's worth mentioning again. We're having frisbee on Saturday at noon. Call me if you need directions to Liberty Park.

And the last piece of news it that the title for the last Harry Potter book has finally been released. I'll let you find it if you'd like, so I'm not going to put it here. Apparently you can play hangman or something like that at her site to try to figure it out - Robert can send you the link if you'd like.

And that's it for the news from Becca.

KOL and frozen cheesecake

So lately Rob and I have been playing a browser based game called Kingdom of Loathing. It's pretty entertaining, and you can only play for a fixed amount of time each day (you have a fixed number of adventurers that you can do), which means I can't get sucked into it like I can Gemstone. It's completely off the wall, and makes fun of everything that it possibly can. Which, in my opinion, makes it great.

You should check it out if you find yourself bored at work. You don't have to install anything, and all you need is access to the internet. Check it out at www.kingdomofloathing.com

In other news, if you're going to be in town on Saturday, we're playing frisbee at noon at Liberty Park, which is across the street from Liberty High School. Just go down Stockdale until you get to Jewetta (past the new Riverwalk Park), turn right, and stay on that street until you see the park on the right.

And now I have to go find a cheesecake popsicle that my aunt sent us for Christmas. And play with some dry ice that it came with. Today is going to be fun.

A miracle

Two days in a row with a post! Even I don't believe it.

But now, sadly, I can't remember what I wanted to post about. Oh.

A couple weeks ago I was a sub for three days in my former seventh grade science teacher's classroom. I was painfully reminded about the only thing I really hated from Jr. High - dumb people in my class. Now, I loved math and English because they were tiered by ability, but for some reason, the state of California hasn't seen any reason to make history or science broken down by ability. I couldn't ever see a reason for this (and still can't, honestly). Most people didn't have a good Jr. High experience due to whatever, I really don't know. I loved Jr. High, expect for history and science. And yes, I'm a jerk and elitist or whatever, but really, there's no reason to put students of widely different abilities in the same class. Neither is going to get the help they need; one is going to be bored out of her mind, and the other is going to (probably) be lost.

So, there's my second post in two days.

Yes, I do still exist

To those of you who need a daily infusion of blogs to entertain them at work, I'm sorry for not updating. I have a somewhat legitimate excuse, though, in that my computer was broken. For that matter, it's still broken, but I am on the laptop in the front room. Hopefully my computer will be fixed soon, because I'm running out of books to read.

I've thought of a great many things to post in the time since my last one (way back near Thanksgiving? Sheesh!), so not it's time to see if I can remember any of them.

I did write up a post of the things I hate about Thanksgiving, but I really don't want to find it right now, so we'll see if I can give you the Reader's Digest version. I don't think that we as a country need to turn our slothfulness into a national holiday. The reason behind Thanksgiving is a good one, but what it has turned into is a holiday celebrating all the laziness of American by eating a huge dinner and following it up with doing nothing for four days except watching football and eating leftovers. Of course, I try to do the opposite, cramming in a football and frisbee game, but still, that's not what most people are doing. Also, I don't like getting beat over the head with the idea that I need to be thankful. Yes, I'm very aware of how nice my life is, and I'm thankful for it. But I don't want to have to talk about all the things I'm thankful for. Nor do I want to go around the table and list two things I'm thankful for, which has somehow become a Jennings family tradition for Thanksgiving. Thanks, but no.

Okay, got that out of my system.

So high school soccer is in full swing, and I'm loving it. It's one of the major reasons that winter is my favorite season (along with snowboarding, of course). We just had the Garces Tournament, where I was paid $45 dollars a game for games that consisted of two 30 minutes halves and a 10 minute halftime. Not bad, not bad at all.

I am reminded of the differences between volleyball and soccer as I'm bored while reffing a JV game. I told Chris that the differences are much like the differences between Plato and Aristotle. So here I shall explain (skip if you'd like).

In volleyball, every point matters. The game can be broken down into individual elements of points. Generally, the first team to 25 points wins the game, so each individual point is very important. You have to look at each serve, each hit, each spike, to see how the game is going to end up. You see the overall game through those individual points.

In soccer, you can't look at individual kicks and passes to see the whole game. There is so much of the game that would be lost if you only looked at what the ball does - much of the game is the positioning of players away from the ball. You have to look at plays, runs, attacks, and counter-attacks, to get a sense of how the game is going.

So in volleyball the individual things are very important. Each time a player hits the ball they have the potential to greatly impact the game, and mistakes (even minor ones like a mis-hit) are costly. This is not true in soccer. An individual can make a mistake like a bad pass, and the whole team can recover so there is no real impact on the game. In fact, this is expected. You cannot look at any individual play (or even a smallish group of plays) in soccer and know how the game will end up.

So, now onto the philosophy. Plato and Aristotle talked about universals and particulars. Universals are, well, universal things, or the essence of things, and particulars are individual things that we experience in the world. Like a chair would be a particular and the idea of a chair would be the universal. It's much easier to imagine universals as things like beauty and truth, but they are also things like desk and chair.

So, for Plato, universals are all that's important, and exist on their own. Particulars are reflected instances of the Form that they draw from. It's much more complicated than that, but just keep in mind that universals are important and all that's truly real. For Aristotle, universals are in the particulars, and do not exist outside of the elements that are seen in the particulars. So, how does this relate to volleyball and soccer?

In volleyball, you can look at individual points (particulars) and see the universal (the game or match). How each point plays out will tell you how the game will play out. If one team makes mistakes in hitting or setting the ball while the other team doesn't, you know who's going to lose, because you can see the game in how each particular is played out. Every particular (point, or even so far as hit) matters. This isn't so in soccer. Sure, you can look at lots of touches, passes, shots and figure out if there's a better team, but that is not necessarily going to tell you what the game is going to look like. Every particular doesn't matter, and a coach isn't going to yell at players for making a few mistakes (unless the coach is Leslie O'Conner). Instead, you have to look at overall strategy and knowledge of the game to see who is going to win. In volleyball, you can look at who hits, blocks, spikes, and serves better to know who is going to win. In soccer, it's who understands where and when to run, and how to beat the other team strategically that will tell you who wins, not necessarily who can pass, trap, and shoot better.

So there it is, a very lengthy and useless explanation of why soccer is like Plato and volleyball is like Aristotle. And one of the reasons that I like soccer better than volleyball (there are about a thousand others which I can list if you'd like to know).

Maybe I'll try to post the rest of the things I've thought of tomorrow, but then again, maybe not.

Worthless

I've probably posted about this every year since I've had a blog when this time of year comes around, but it must be said again: Thanksgiving is a worthless holiday. It's my least favorite (meaning stupidest in my opinion) holiday (ranking even behind Valentine's Day if you can imagine that), which ought to tell you something about how I feel towards Thanksgiving.

And it's really much too late to be discussing this now, so I shall continue my rant on why Thanksgiving is stupid tomorrow.

A little excessive

So apparently it wasn't enough that I spent all yesterday playing and watching soccer. Last night I had two dreams about soccer last night. Both were about playing the Valley Championship, but in the first one we won, and the second we lost. It was very strange. I woke up this morning knowing there was something I had to do today, and it took me a couple moments to remember that it was to help out at church with these shoe box gift things instead of playing soccer.

The Solution!

So, according to a recent commercial, all that was needed to combat Red China was a little hair styling solution. Am I the only one who cracks up every time I see that commercial? I mean, are Chinese Communists still the bad guy? Because, remember, they aren't communists anymore, they're "special capitalists." Which might crack me up more than the commercial.


But it sure does make me want to rebel and bust out some VO5 styling gel. Or whatever it is.

Once More With Feeling

While I haven't seen Hush yet, I think that Once More With Feeling is possibly the best Buffy episode ever. And it really makes me want to see the Evil Dead musical.

You see, in this particular episode, a demon makes everybody randomly break into song because of pent up emotions, and eventually these emotions cause the singers (and dancers! It is a musical, after all) to burst into flame. It's brilliant. And all of the actors did their own singing and dancing, which is even more brilliant. If anybody wants to borrow it, I have it.

An evening well spent

My Friday night was spent winning a soccer ball for a very cute young man. Before you get excited, he's 1, and we had a blast at Papa O's on Gosford. Unfortunately they don't have any good games there, so the only thing to do is play the halfway carnival games that give you tickets. Now, normally I don't do the whole ticket thing because I could easily buy whatever I win with my tickets for half the cost of winning them, but it was a for a good cause, and most of it wasn't my money.

After that I hung out with Callie and re-watched some VM season 2 that I had been missing (because I missed this week's episodes). Even knowing what's going to happen, I still love that show. Then I watched A Day at the Races to try and make myself like Marx Brothers movies (it wasn't as bad as A Night at the Opera - I didn't fall asleep during it twice). All in all, it was a productive evening.

Where have all the pants gone?

So it used to be that baseball had the tightest pants around. Back in the day, they only went down to mid calf, and that was only barely. Now days, they're all loose and baggy, and hand all the way to the floor. There's not even a point to wear socks anymore in baseball since you can't see them.

I remember the day when I couldn't for the life of me find baseball pants that were baggy enough for me, and now there would be no problem. That's just not fair.

Of course, once I started playing softball I couldn't convince my teammates to wear pants, no matter how much better protection they give you when sliding, and how much more comfortable they are than those stupid sliding pads. Doesn't matter that most college teams wear them, we certainly wouldn't.

And I don't really know why I'm making this post, except that's what stuck me when I saw the cover of SI after the World Series. (And how presumptuous is it of us to call something that only involves the US (Canada doesn't count) anything with the word "world" in it?).

Animate dead

If it was possible to animate inanimate objects (like you can in games and stuff) I would so bring to life a soccer ball as my familiar. That way I could kick it, and it would come back to me. It'd be like having a dog that could fetch a soccer ball.

The end is nigh

So last night was the end of volleyball. Or rather, of the regular season. Playoffs are next week, but there's only one game per night, so it's much better. This is the second year that I've reffed high school volleyball for those of you who weren't aware (Robert), and it's really not all that fun. Luckily it's relatively easy, and not a lot of work (you just stand still the whole game), so I can manage a couple months of it.

However, not having to do a lot during a game, my mind is usually free to wander and explore the inequities of volleyball (especially as compared to soccer). I once told Chris that the differences between soccer and volleyball are much like the differences between Plato and Aristotle, to which he laughed. I'll explain my reasons at a later post.

Lately I've been dreaming a lot about soccer, particularly about high school soccer. Last night's dream wasn't very fun since I kept slipping on the field, and it was also really small. In all the dreams I've been missing something I needed to play (last night my shoes weren't on), and had to go find them. All in all, it's been strange, especially since I was never as apprehensive about playing in high school as I am about playing in my dream.

Noir

So I have been remiss in posting lately, and I don't really know why. I've thought of great things to post (which all allude me now, of course), but just haven't gotten around to doing it. So what shall I talk about now? Well, let's see...

Last night was Halloween, which is one of the great holidays ever. Not only do I get to wear my Jedi cloak, but everywhere there are peanut butter cups for me to eat. Seriously, it's possibly my favorite holiday, although there are some others that I love, also.

Last year my mom made me an absolutely awesome Jedi outfit to go along with the cloak that I've had for many a year, and to show my adoration of it, I used it as my costume again this year (I didn't think that the time and effort she put into it was sufficiently rewarded after only one use). Okay, so those of you who know me know that really, the reason I was a Jedi again is because I'll use any excuse I can find to show my Star Wars nerdiness, and I love wearing my cloak. But I can pretend it was out of gratitude to my mom.

After passing out candy to the little kiddies (who were all very surprised to find a grown up dressed up (as a Jedi, none-the-less) handing out candy), Rachel and I headed over to Chris' where we drank some Vampric wine (which was quite tasty), and enjoyed quizzing ourselves with TCM Scene It trivia. Okay, so it was mostly Chris and myself that were quizzing ourselves, but I think Rachel had fun, too.

Then I returned home to watch the episode of VM that I had taped, and was not overwhelmed by the episode. This season has just been too fluffy for me, and they had some definite opportunities to make this episode dark (I mean, it's Halloween for heaven's sake), and let it slip by their fingers. I'm sure I'm one of the few people who likes all things dark, but come on, lets get back to the film noir roots here! The show has turned mostly into seeing how many times they can try to throw in a little twist at the end (which are almost always predictable) and still keep an audience guessing. As one who has almost always seen through their little charades, I want some grittiness! But then again, I suppose I could just watch Brick if I want to true modern film noir.

Speaking of noir, Rachel and I watched A Prairie Home Companion the other night, and it's just as great the second time as the first. The cast is amazing, and the second time around, I was much more able to appreciate the subtle little things that Altman did to make it a true ensemble movie. It's the small things like seeing characters off to the side of the stage during numbers even when it's not necessary that make me love good directors. And this is long, so I'm done rambling.

The only way to watch

So Deal or No Deal is on NBC right before Heroes, and I usually leave the TV on the channel of the show I'm going to watch next while I play Gemstone, but leave the TV on mute. It was hilarious to watch that show with no sound. I look up and see this guy doing a completely idiotic dance because he found a box with $1 in it.

Now, I don't know the rules to Deal or No Deal (and really don't want to, so please don't inform me), but I think I had more fun making up the rules for myself. I do have to wonder what could possibly make one those those box holding girls want to do that for a living though. They all looked to me like they were in pain, and all seemed to have trouble opening their box when picked. I'm reminded of the 3% rule, and have to wonder how much intelligent it would take to beat a metal box at the 3% rule. Not much, I'm guessing.

But, somebody from Bakersfield won something from the show tonight, which was exciting (okay, I'm lying, it wasn't exciting).

A story...

Thursday was Katherine Hepburn night on TCM. It was great. They showed Bringing Up Baby and The Philadelphia Story in one night. I didn't know what to do with myself, so I watched one and taped the other.

In a movie full of great characters, I think Elizabeth Embry is my favorite, although not the most entertaining. Which is why Dexter's character is my second favorite, because he is the most entertaining. And I'd go into why those are my favorite, but why give away a great movie for those of you who haven't seen it. And if you're one of those, you should see it right away.

Oh goodie, something new and different for us.

I would like to say that I hate the new Veronica Mars' theme song. Well, I guess it's not technically new, but merely a remix of the original. Not only is the new song horrible, but the original was great.

Coaches always amuse me. I find them hilarious, most of the time, whether I'm coaching against them or reffing a game for them. Some, of course, give me more amusment than others. Highest on the list are the coaches that are just clueless. Now, at the high school level there aren't all that many of these out there, but there are a few (and I encounted plenty that I've coached against). They have no idea what's going on, have no clue what the rules are, and really have no idea about anything regarding strategy. There is one high school coach like this who's games I always look forward to reffing, or watching if they're playing BHS. This coach (and her school) shall remain nameless, but I always have to stop myself from laughing out loud when I hear what she says on the sideline to her players. I would explain what she tells her players that is so stupid, but nobody would understand, so there's no need. Just believe me that it's hilarious.

The next type of coach that cracks me up are those that scream and yell at the ref, and when that doesn't work (or gets them kicked out), they fall back on making wannabe-sarcastic comments about the ref and/or the other team. Invaribly, the "ref wants us to lose," and "we would have won if it wasn't for the ref," even though the team was far less technically skilled than the other (in fact, it's very common that the first and second types of coaches are embodied in one person, so usually the lack of skill is the coach's fault).

See, I know that while refs may suck, they usually don't want one team or the other to win or lose (there are exceptions to this, I know), so when a ref makes horrible calls, it's because they suck, not because they're biased. So instead of getting angry at them, I just sit back and laugh at them. And keep on laughing, because otherwise dealing with horrible refs (and lets face it, most of them suck) would just get lame. So intead, I get a good laugh out of those games, even if they are frustrating.

Happiness...

So, the car I drive used to be my grandmother's. Now, there's nothing wrong with that, she takes good care of cars and stuff like that. The only thing is that it came with a license plate holder which I haven't yet replaced. It says, "Happiness is being a grandparent."

Now, I'm sure it is (especially if you get to be my grandparent), I just wouldn't really know yet.
Luckily the holder is on the front of my car, so most people don't see it.

See, the thing is, I just don't know where you find good license plate holder. Anybody got suggestions?

Oh, and frisbee this weekend. If you're going to be in town, you're required to attend. Saturday afternoon, I'll tell everybody the exact time later.

Because, really, happiness is playing ultimate frisbee.

That's epic.

Going back to my earlier topic of books and movies (from a couple posts ago), I'd like to talk about epics today. There's nothing else in the world that can satisfy like a good epic, either in book or movie form. Most people don't agree, but most people are stupid, so I can live with them disagreeing with me.

I really don't have much to say about epics, except that they rock, and I've been watching them recently. I started with Star Wars (because the Lego video game made me want to watch the movies) and now I've moved on to the Lord of the Rings. I'm currently watching Fellowship, and I think I'll watch the rest then move on to the books. Because as good as the movies are (and they're great) they can't compare to the books.

And it makes me sad that practically none of my friends have read those books. Sure, some have read the Hobbit, but it's so different from the trilogy (or, if we're being specific, the six books) that it really doesn't count. I won't name any names, but you know who you are. And you really should read them. I won't even make you read the Silmarillion, just the main ones.

I also think the phrase, "That's epic," should become new slang for, "That's amazing," and plain "Epic," can be the new sweet.

Who's with me?

Victory

Growing up playing soccer, I got used to not winning. It's not that my teams weren't necessarily good, it's that you get used to there always being a better team than you somewhere out there. Then high school came along, and I always went into a game expecting to win. It's just something that you do when you play for BHS. Especially if you play for the BHS soccer team.

Now, this isn't to say that I always expect to be the best team out there (okay, to be honest, I usually expect this, and usually did in high school), but there's just something about my team (or perhaps my coach) that knew how to win when it came down to it. There were games when we would admit that we weren't the better team. But we won. We wouldn't always win the unimportant games (like pre-season), but when it came down to playoffs, we always managed to pull it off, even if pulling it off meant playing for a tie and knowing that our goalkeeper was better than theirs.

Now, in my adult league, we expect to always win - there just isn't the competition to make us doubt ourselves. But tournaments are a different story. We still go in expecting to win, but sometimes get a wake-up call. We'll become complacent about passes and going to the ball because we've become used to our usual competition. So it's fun and refreshing to have to play your heart out just to tie a team that is obviously better than you, and then beat them in a shoot-out. (As much as I think shoot-outs are a horrible way to decide a soccer game, I have to admit that they've usually gone in my favor). There's just something sweet about being able to say, "Yeah, you're probably better. But we beat you when it counted." (Even if you would prefer to both be better and beat the other team). And I got to say that this past weekend.

Required viewing

This excites me.

And then what happens?

For all the things I love about movies, there are a few things I don't like about them. Two of the huge ones are beginnings and endings. Now, that might seem a little strange, but let me explain. When good (meaning interesting and well developed, not necessarily morally good) characters are involved, I always want to know what happened before we're introduced, and what happens after we leave them.

Why is probably why, as much as I love movies, I'll always love books more. And the books that I especially love are the ones that keep going. Usually, this is a bad thing, but not always. See, sometimes, an author thinks that just making the initial storyline drag on and on is the same thing as keeping us interested in the characters. Not true. We need differing plots to keep us interested, otherwise more books is just annoying. (For an example of annoyingness, see Robert Jordan's books).

But in a few great instances, the author keeps us interested by coming up with enough things for the characters to do. This is great, and these authors generally become my favorites. For examples of this, see David Eddings, and in some ways, Orson Scott Card.

But the best is the Star Wars books. Now, initially, they were all disjoined, with authors creating their own characters, and using the main characters however they wanted. The great authors shone through, but there were some not so great ones thrown in the mix. But recently, Lucas and his team of whatever have realized what potential there is in the books, and grabbed the better authors (and some great new ones) to create books where the plotline is planned out in advance. Then the authors are allowed to use the characters they previously created in the best way possible.

Of course, Luke, Leia, Han, and the rest are getting on in years, so this is going to have to come to an end soon, but there is my hope that the new characters who are just as interesting as the old favorites (and are usually their children) could continue the tradition of fun battles and mysteries of the force. That is, if the authors can come up with enough enemies for them to battle. There comes a point where you think, "Hasn't this battle already been faught before?" But so far they've done a good job, so I have my hopes.

More to come on the reasons I like the books I do later, because I feel like talking about books. And maybe a little about movies, too.

Interesting...

So I'm going to be in SB (Santa Barbara for all of you not in the know) next weekend for a soccer tournament. Anybody interested in, say, taking off Friday and doing a little wine tasting?