That's what she gets for forgetting him at the Oscars. People in the know seem to think that they will make it through this "tough time," but I have my doubts. Rob Lowe's brother and the Next Karate Kid? Not a match made in heaven. Her bubbies sure do look delicious in this picture, though. Is Chad even looking in her eyes?
It was really, really good. Probably one of the best movies I've seen this year (by year, I mean awards year, since the last Oscars). First of all, the cinematograpy was outstanding. You really get a sense of the loneliness of these two guys simply based on the landscape. Brokeback Mountain will most certainly win the best cinematography Oscar. Also, the music was wonderful - simple and slightly haunting, and perfectly evocative again of the loneliness Ennis and Jack feel whether they're together or apart.
One of the most fun things about being away from home for an extended period of time is all the mail that awaits you when you return. I got some really funny cards, a couple bills, and a few credit card offers, but the best piece of mail was a paper prayer rug from St. Matthew's Church. Now, this rug and its instructions came addressed to "resident," but Nate loves me so much that he saved it for me. What a guy.
If you want more information, you can go to randblair or callalillie - both of these folks got the rug, too.
After Nate picked me up from the airport today, we went to Bell's Diner for lunch, where I had some seriously awesome Korean food. Bi Bim Bap (or Bop, or Bob) is a crazy dish of hot rice, tofu, and egg, and cold shredded cucumber, carrot, spinach and sprouts. Let me tell you what, it was fantastic. It was incredibly filling and delicious; the hot and cold combined is a taste sensation! Adding the special Korean hot sauce makes it even zingier.
I know someone else in my blog circle wrote about Sudoku recently, but I just did my first Sudoku puzzle today and it may have changed my life. I thought it would be too hard, because I'm not a numbers-minded person, but this puzzle is AWESOME! My mom commented that it's a little like music, the way it's formulaic, and I guess it's sort of like a twelve-tone row (shout out to all my homies from Parker's music theory class!). Also, it's unlike crosswrods in that you can't really run out of knowledge. You may not know a four-letter word for "hodgepodge," but you can figure out that pattern of not repeating numbers. Sudoku is wonderful. I feel so trendy - I'm part of a craze that's sweeping the nation!
My dad and I ate lunch at Ron's today, and it was fabulous. The burgers are so greasy, and they put little fried onions on the patty while they cook it and the taste is just superb. The combination of the little amount of shredded lettuce and tons of pickles is stupendous. I would actually consider eating two of these burgers in one sitting, that's how good they are! The only bad thing about Ron's is they don't have onion rings on their menu. I've heard onion rings are expensive, even if you buy them pre-made and frozen, but I was having a hankering for onion rings and Ron's couldn't deliver. 
I had quite a day today. My dad and I went to see Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire this afternoon - we were delighted to find out that the movie theatre charges only $3.50 a ticket for all show before 6 PM. Can you believe it? Two tickets for seven bucks! I didn't absolutely love the movie. I feel like I've been giving a lot of half-hearted reviews of movies lately, but nothing has really inspired me. HPATGOF was good, very entertaining and had plenty of exciting moments, but it couldn't hold a candle to the book. So much of the book was missing that it was sad. I was really, really hoping for a sweet Quidditch Cup, and it was totally lame. Ralph Fiennes was great, the hot kid who plays Cedric Diggory was... well, hot, and little Emma Watson really carried the movie, but Daniel Radcliffe and Rupert Grint are starting to annoy me. They may look like Harry and Ron, but I don't think they can act.
Normally, I'm not into football - I don't watch every week or keep up with certain players or teams, but during bowl season, which is only about two weeks long, I become a maniac. I'm in a football pool, I obsessively check the scores of "my" teams, and I watch as many games as I possibly can. My team tonight was Penn State, and boy, did they pull this one out of their collective ass. This game was crazy. There were insane touchdowns, a missed extra point, missed field goal attempts, and yes, triple overtime. The poor kicker from Florida State missed his last field goal attempt because the ball bounced off the upright, and so Penn State gained possession and managed to score a field goal after missing their previous TWO field goal attempts. It was wild. They played for almost five hours. With Penn State's win, I have cemented my lead in my football pool - if Texas wins the Rose Bowl, I'm pretty sure that I'll take the whole thing.
Yes, we've been watching quite a few movies here recently! The Longest Yard was another one of those movies that was good, cute, funny, etc., but not brilliant and amazing. It was certainly entertaining - I really like Adam Sandler when he's not playing "Adam Sandler" (i.e. Billy Madison or Happy Gilmore), and he was actually pretty great as the quarterback convict Paul Crewe. There were a couple fun performances from professional wrestlers, athletes, and Nelly, but I didn't really like the drag queen super-gay prisoners, though... Tracy Morgan with lip gloss and a bow in his hair? Please. I guess guys who go to sports movies think really faggy convicts are funny. I'm not up in arms about it or anything, but it was just a little too much. Overall, The Longest Yard was a fun way to pass an afternoon, but I won't be adding it to my DVD collection any time soon.
Nothing says New Year's Eve like a zebra burro and a bin full of emtpies.
LOVED it! I think Drew Barrymore is the key to a successful romantic comedy, and I have a huge crush an Jimmy Fallon. This movie had all the tried-and-true elements of good rom-coms: mismatched lovers, goofy friends, a big fight, and a great makeup, but it also had the fun addition of the crazy Red Sox fan. Fever Pitch made me want to be a baseball fan, and I can't stand baseball, so that must mean it was good! Also, knowing some extra stuff about this movie made it even more fun - did you know that they had to rewrite the ending of the movie because the Red Sox actually won? I don't know how it was supposed to end, but the Farrelly brothers had to change it at the last minute after the American League championship series when Boston actually came back from 3-0 to win 4-3. It's kind of magical that they were making this movie about the Red Sox, who hadn't won a World Series in such a long time, and that year, while they were filming, ths Sox made this terrific comeback and won. Mad props to the Sox. See this movie!
Must Love Dogs is cute, but not the best romantic comedy I've ever seen. It has a great cast, especially the supporting actors - Stockard Channing, Christopher Plummer, and Ben Shenkman? I love all of them, and I love it when "serious" actors have fun in fluffy little movies. Also, Diane Lane and John Cusack are just adorable... nonetheless, it was just alright to me. I think what put me over the edge was the family sing-along. I don't like it when families break into song for no reason in movies - it was ridiculously wonderful in My Best Friend's Wedding, but in Must Love Dogs, it's just ridiculous. If you're looking for a romantic comedy, there are many out there that are much better than this one, even though it wasn't really that bad.
Like my friend Charlie, I love the Oscars. I spend lots of time thinking about my predictions, and even more time trying to see all the nominated movies. But, unlike Charlie, I just pick six I think will be nominated - no top five and runners-up. Also, I know so little about the screenplay categories, I'm just going to leave them out this time, but they'll be in my updated predictions that will come out right before the nominations.
I have just discovered The Things I Want, the most awesome wish list website. You set up your account, and add items by linking to the websites where you can buy the items. For example, on my list, you can click on "ER - First Season," and my list will take you to the Amazon page for the ER DVDs. I think it's pretty brilliant. I don't expect to receive any gifts or anything, but it sure is fun making a wish list! I think I'm going to add a car soon. Or a pony!
You absolutely must check out Undressed!, the year-end review of celebrity bad fashion. Kat Giantis is a god, and no one is safe from her scathing comments - Mary-Kate and Ashley, Nicole Kidman, Fergie, both Simpson sisters, and even Madonna get lambasted for their sartorial choices (I learned the word "sartorial" from reading Undressed!). Here's what Kat has to say about Mariah:
My parents are huge Boston Legal fans, so I watched this show for the first time tonight, and I LOVED it. It's the quintessential dramedy - it's really, really funny, but in a courtroom setting with no laugh-track, and it has an all-star cast and good story lines. I would probably watch this show again, but I am already firmly committed to four TV shows, and this one airs on Tuesdays, when I have my night class. Boo. Maybe I'll rent the DVDs...
This movie was pretty good. I never realized how much I liked funny trained animals until I watched this - the penguin was funny and cute, but not as funny and cute as the walruses... trained walruses are awesome! The rest of the movie was definitely entertaining, and Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore played just enough away from the characters they always play to make the movie fun and interesting and heartwarming, but I thought the whole thing was sort of sad and irresponsible. I don't want to give anything away, so let me say 50 First Dates doesn't have the "perfect Hollywood ending," but close to it; I liked it more because it doesn't all work out just right in the end, but it made me kind of sad nonetheless. I know this doesn't sound like a rave review, but I actually really enjoyed it, and this movie proves that even romantic comedies can make you think at the end. Probably one of the most clever romantic comedies I've seen in a while, so check it out.
On Saturday morning, my cousins Mike, Lisa and Joelle cam over for a pastry and coffee breakfast (for those of you who have been reading my blog since its humble beginnings, these are the Mike and Lisa I wrote about very early on, and their daughter). It was very chill - I think some people were still in pajamas - and we had a delightful time doing a whole bunch of nothing. Dad's cousins on Friday, Mom's cousins on Saturday... good times.
Even though a bunch of my cousins live in Oklahoma, I almost never get to see them, so it was super fun when Tom, Kathy, Dia, Chauncey, and Chauncey's wife Jennifer came over to eat dinner and hang out last night (if you're reading this, you guys, welcome to the neighborhood!). That's Dia, my brother Pat, and Chauncey in the picture with me. There was a kid's table for everyone under 35, and since we outnumbered the grownups, they ate at the little table in the kitchen. After some delicious potato soup, we moved into the living room where Tom and Chauncey told the most incredible stories about their adventures in moving from Utah to Oklahoma and a "fishing trip"to Canada. As most of you know, I love a good story, and I can honestly say that these two stories have catapulted to the top of my "best stories ever" list - two of the top five now belong to my cousins. Way to go, guys! Unfortunately, I will never be able to retell them - there was just way too much nuance and comedic timing. You'll just have to take my word for it that these guys can tell a mean story... and would probably win if they ever went on The Amazing Race.
First up, my saga of the ATL: I've been to Atlanta once before, and it was awesome, but yesterday I experienced a side of it that I had never seen before - the Atlanta airport. That sucker is huge. It has a food court, for crying out loud! We had a lovely three-hour layover, and all I did was crosswords (okay, it's not much of a saga). Next time, ATL, show me what you're made of.
