Striving To Be More Like Kenneth

I think I may have a new favourite character on television.  Now that Swearingen and Deadwood are no longer giving us new episodes, and the sheen on Dwight from The Office is starting to wear off a bit due to familiarity, I think my new fave is Kenneth, the NBC page on 30 Rock.

Every time he shows up (he's a minor recurring character), my heart grows four times its normal size.  I am awe-struck and inspired by his approach to life and to his work ethic.  When I first started watching the show, I kind of discounted him as a jokey mat that others would walk over and abuse.  He was going to be *that* character, I thought.  But over the season, he's proven to be a very positive character.  He doesn't do the things he's asked to do out of any lack of self-importance.  He does those things because he truly loves his job and want to do it to the best of his abilities.

No doubt other characters take advantage of his open-ness. But the great thing is that his perception of the menial and sometimes degrading or dangerous things he does is that they are a necessary part of his job.  His job is to serve, and no matter what that service entails, he does is with a totally open mind and positive attitude.

He chooses to be happy.  Despite the things he has to do.  I like that.  I like that very much.


Technorati Tags: 30 Rock, Deadwood, The Office

Striving To Be More Like Kenneth

I think I may have a new favourite character on television.  Now that Swearingen and Deadwood are no longer giving us new episodes, and the sheen on Dwight from The Office is starting to wear off a bit due to familiarity, I think my new fave is Kenneth, the NBC page on 30 Rock.

Every time he shows up (he's a minor recurring character), my heart grows four times its normal size.  I am awe-struck and inspired by his approach to life and to his work ethic.  When I first started watching the show, I kind of discounted him as a jokey mat that others would walk over and abuse.  He was going to be *that* character, I thought.  But over the season, he's proven to be a very positive character.  He doesn't do the things he's asked to do out of any lack of self-importance.  He does those things because he truly loves his job and want to do it to the best of his abilities.

No doubt other characters take advantage of his open-ness. But the great thing is that his perception of the menial and sometimes degrading or dangerous things he does is that they are a necessary part of his job.  His job is to serve, and no matter what that service entails, he does is with a totally open mind and positive attitude.

He chooses to be happy.  Despite the things he has to do.  I like that.  I like that very much.


Technorati Tags: 30 Rock, Deadwood, The Office

He... Hit... Me!

It's driving me crazy!!

Somewhere, sometime, somebody uttered the line "He... Hit... Me!"  Each word is afforded its own equal punch of  emphasis.  I first suspected it may have been a Sketch22 line from some character (either a Dennis character or a character of mine), but I'm thinking now it's not.

Anybody know the origin of that quote?  I've been saying it since lunch, and it's driving me crazy!!

He... Hit... Me!

It's driving me crazy!!

Somewhere, sometime, somebody uttered the line "He... Hit... Me!"  Each word is afforded its own equal punch of  emphasis.  I first suspected it may have been a Sketch22 line from some character (either a Dennis character or a character of mine), but I'm thinking now it's not.

Anybody know the origin of that quote?  I've been saying it since lunch, and it's driving me crazy!!

The Thousand Dollar Offer

I get the feeling that there's lots of buzz about the upcoming special draw where someone could win a million dollars a year for 25 years.  I don't have a ticket, likely won't buy one, but if I did, and I won, I'd definitely take the 17 million dollar lump sum up front, rather than the million a year.

But lottery mania made me think of this question:  If you regularly buy lotto tickets, like I do, hopefully you realise you're likely to never win "the big one".  So, the question is:  if that Magical Entity came up to you and said "I'll give you X amount of dollars right now, but in so doing, you will be unable to ever win any more money or prizes in any contesting game again", what's the least amount of money you'd accept?

Would a guaranteed one thousand dollars in your pocket today be enough to keep you from, in the future, hoping that impossible hope that you'll win big money in the next lottery?  Chances are you'll never win a thousand dollar prize.  So, wouldn't that be better than nothing?  Me, I don't think a thousand would be enough.  I'd have to barter it up to ten thousand, I think.  However, if the offer was actually out there, rather than just a fancy in my mind, I'd no doubt give the thousand dollar offer serious thought.

By the way, wasn't Fancy In My Mind a top 30 country hit for Fatsy Charlene and Big Dick McPhealey?

The Thousand Dollar Offer

I get the feeling that there's lots of buzz about the upcoming special draw where someone could win a million dollars a year for 25 years.  I don't have a ticket, likely won't buy one, but if I did, and I won, I'd definitely take the 17 million dollar lump sum up front, rather than the million a year.

But lottery mania made me think of this question:  If you regularly buy lotto tickets, like I do, hopefully you realise you're likely to never win "the big one".  So, the question is:  if that Magical Entity came up to you and said "I'll give you X amount of dollars right now, but in so doing, you will be unable to ever win any more money or prizes in any contesting game again", what's the least amount of money you'd accept?

Would a guaranteed one thousand dollars in your pocket today be enough to keep you from, in the future, hoping that impossible hope that you'll win big money in the next lottery?  Chances are you'll never win a thousand dollar prize.  So, wouldn't that be better than nothing?  Me, I don't think a thousand would be enough.  I'd have to barter it up to ten thousand, I think.  However, if the offer was actually out there, rather than just a fancy in my mind, I'd no doubt give the thousand dollar offer serious thought.

By the way, wasn't Fancy In My Mind a top 30 country hit for Fatsy Charlene and Big Dick McPhealey?

Annekenstein Monster Oscar Pool Results

The accounting firm of Wyse-Porterhouse has finished tabulating The Annekenstein Monster Oscar Pool results.

Before I get to them, though, a few random thoughts on last night's Oscar telecast:

- I wasn't too impressed with Ellen. Her opening monologue was pretty weak, I thought. And when she got that tambourine and the choir came out, and she paraded with them around for a bit, then it was over... well, I didn't think much of that. Pretty lame. A few of her things were okay - I enjoyed giving the script to Scorsese, and getting Spielberg to take her picture with Eastwood. And the vacuum thing was okay. But overall, a somewhat weak hosting job, I thought.

-I enjoyed that opening bit where many of the hopefuls, known and unknown, very casually remarked to to the camera on various topics. I thought it did a wonderful job of humanizing all the names of the nominees, and reminding us that the people we don't "know" (the sound editors, costume designers, etc) are just as human as the ones we do "know" (actors, directors,etc). Very nice.

-I wanted to enjoy the Will Farrell/Jack Black/John C Reilly thing more than I did. It started off pretty good, but fell apart.

-The dance troupe that formed silhouettes behind the bedsheet was interesting at first. Then as the evening wore on, became merely a time-nuisance.

-I laughed a lot at the Gore joke where he was just about to announce his candidacy for POTUS when he got interrupted by the "speech time is up" orchestra. It surprised me how much I laughed at that.

-I'm tired of seeing Jack Nicholson at the Oscars.

-I wasn't too disappointed with any of the winners. I was surprised that The Lives of Others beat Pan's Labyrinth for Foreign Language film. Not that it wasn't deserving, I just thought Pan's Labyrinth was a shoe-in. I was also surprised that Melissa Etheridge won Original Song. I didn't like the song. While I wasn't crazy about Dreamgirls as a movie, or the songs nominated for it, I thought one would have (should have) won. Guess they cancelled each other out?

-While I think he totally deserves an Oscar, I was kind of hoping Scorsese wouldn't win, so that we all would have that outrage to join us all in camaraderie.

- I thought the various film clip presentations were pretty meh. I did like the foreign film montage.

-I enjoyed it that Ennio Morricone spoke in Italian, and Eastwood had to sort of interpret. It seemed rather surreal. I hate whomever is responsible for putting words to that Morricone score, and getting Celine Dion to sing it.

-I thought Forest Whitaker made the best speech of the night. Even though I missed a bit of it because I was busy tabulating Pool scores.

Speaking of which:

There were 28 people who had entries qualified to win this year's pool.

The person who had the most correct guesses (15) was (just like every year, it seems) Matt Rainnie. However, both he and Dave Moses (who had 10 correct) submitted their entries too late. I had a Friday noon deadline, and received them on Saturday. So, both are disqualified. (let the controversy begin!!)

I ended up with 12 correct. I was 2 behind the winner (3 behind the eliminated not-winner) and the only one who had 12 correct. Many people had 10 correct. One person had 4 correct. That was the lowest score.

Four people had 13 correct.

One person had 14 correct. That person is the official winner of this year's The Annekenstein Monster Oscar Pool. That person's name (or nickname) is watsonly.

Watsonly wins!! Congratulations! You win two tickets to a Sketch22 performance of your choice this summer. We'll have to figure out a way to get you the tickets.

Annekenstein Monster Oscar Pool Results

The accounting firm of Wyse-Porterhouse has finished tabulating The Annekenstein Monster Oscar Pool results.

Before I get to them, though, a few random thoughts on last night's Oscar telecast:

- I wasn't too impressed with Ellen. Her opening monologue was pretty weak, I thought. And when she got that tambourine and the choir came out, and she paraded with them around for a bit, then it was over... well, I didn't think much of that. Pretty lame. A few of her things were okay - I enjoyed giving the script to Scorsese, and getting Spielberg to take her picture with Eastwood. And the vacuum thing was okay. But overall, a somewhat weak hosting job, I thought.

-I enjoyed that opening bit where many of the hopefuls, known and unknown, very casually remarked to to the camera on various topics. I thought it did a wonderful job of humanizing all the names of the nominees, and reminding us that the people we don't "know" (the sound editors, costume designers, etc) are just as human as the ones we do "know" (actors, directors,etc). Very nice.

-I wanted to enjoy the Will Farrell/Jack Black/John C Reilly thing more than I did. It started off pretty good, but fell apart.

-The dance troupe that formed silhouettes behind the bedsheet was interesting at first. Then as the evening wore on, became merely a time-nuisance.

-I laughed a lot at the Gore joke where he was just about to announce his candidacy for POTUS when he got interrupted by the "speech time is up" orchestra. It surprised me how much I laughed at that.

-I'm tired of seeing Jack Nicholson at the Oscars.

-I wasn't too disappointed with any of the winners. I was surprised that The Lives of Others beat Pan's Labyrinth for Foreign Language film. Not that it wasn't deserving, I just thought Pan's Labyrinth was a shoe-in. I was also surprised that Melissa Etheridge won Original Song. I didn't like the song. While I wasn't crazy about Dreamgirls as a movie, or the songs nominated for it, I thought one would have (should have) won. Guess they cancelled each other out?

-While I think he totally deserves an Oscar, I was kind of hoping Scorsese wouldn't win, so that we all would have that outrage to join us all in camaraderie.

- I thought the various film clip presentations were pretty meh. I did like the foreign film montage.

-I enjoyed it that Ennio Morricone spoke in Italian, and Eastwood had to sort of interpret. It seemed rather surreal. I hate whomever is responsible for putting words to that Morricone score, and getting Celine Dion to sing it.

-I thought Forest Whitaker made the best speech of the night. Even though I missed a bit of it because I was busy tabulating Pool scores.

Speaking of which:

There were 28 people who had entries qualified to win this year's pool.

The person who had the most correct guesses (15) was (just like every year, it seems) Matt Rainnie. However, both he and Dave Moses (who had 10 correct) submitted their entries too late. I had a Friday noon deadline, and received them on Saturday. So, both are disqualified. (let the controversy begin!!)

I ended up with 12 correct. I was 2 behind the winner (3 behind the eliminated not-winner) and the only one who had 12 correct. Many people had 10 correct. One person had 4 correct. That was the lowest score.

Four people had 13 correct.

One person had 14 correct. That person is the official winner of this year's The Annekenstein Monster Oscar Pool. That person's name (or nickname) is watsonly.

Watsonly wins!! Congratulations! You win two tickets to a Sketch22 performance of your choice this summer. We'll have to figure out a way to get you the tickets.

A Terrible Dinner Party

DaveS and I sometimes ask each other to come up with what we think would be a terrible group of people to have to be at a dinner party with.  Kind of a self-flagellation sort of exercise.

Watching the Oscars last night, I came up with a howlingly horrific Hollywood version of a downer way to spend an evening.  Dinner for four:  Me, Marly Matlin, Celine Dion, and Jada Pinkett-Smith.

Who would be the three Hollywood celebrities you'd least like to spend an evening with at a dinner party?

A Terrible Dinner Party

DaveS and I sometimes ask each other to come up with what we think would be a terrible group of people to have to be at a dinner party with.  Kind of a self-flagellation sort of exercise.

Watching the Oscars last night, I came up with a howlingly horrific Hollywood version of a downer way to spend an evening.  Dinner for four:  Me, Marly Matlin, Celine Dion, and Jada Pinkett-Smith.

Who would be the three Hollywood celebrities you'd least like to spend an evening with at a dinner party?

Craig Ferguson on the Britney thing

I strive to ignore those big irrelevant "news" stories about celebrities.  The ones like Anna Nicole's Death, and Bald Britney's Binge.  I get angry at how so many people get involved in them, simply because they are being covered.  I wish more people would take a personal initiative to ignore the celebrity news we are spoon fed.

Here's a YouTube link to a Craig Ferguson (he of the Late, Late Show on CBS) monologue where he promises to  take a higher road in his comedy rather than picking on/making fun of people who are in vulnerable situations.  It's a nice sentiment, and I wish him well with that goal.  Good luck!  His reference to Britney is only tangential and most of the monologue is when he was still a drinker, and how he sees similarities between those days for him and the current situation for her.

Craig Ferguson's Britney Monologue

Craig Ferguson on the Britney thing

I strive to ignore those big irrelevant "news" stories about celebrities.  The ones like Anna Nicole's Death, and Bald Britney's Binge.  I get angry at how so many people get involved in them, simply because they are being covered.  I wish more people would take a personal initiative to ignore the celebrity news we are spoon fed.

Here's a YouTube link to a Craig Ferguson (he of the Late, Late Show on CBS) monologue where he promises to  take a higher road in his comedy rather than picking on/making fun of people who are in vulnerable situations.  It's a nice sentiment, and I wish him well with that goal.  Good luck!  His reference to Britney is only tangential and most of the monologue is when he was still a drinker, and how he sees similarities between those days for him and the current situation for her.

Craig Ferguson's Britney Monologue

Sketch22: A Trouser Turding

I'm waiting for the bus to take me home from work.  I have headphones on, listening to music.  Some guy, 40-ish,wearing sweat pants, crosses the street and approaches me rather briskly.  He's saying something to me but I can't make it out because of the music.  I turn the music off and I hear "...Sketch 22 last year!  My god it was funny! We laughed.  My wife nearly shit her pants!!"
And with that utterance he was off down the street.
I've heard of pissing oneself with laughter (and I know that I've made at least one person literally pee her pants from laughing so much), but it's far less common to shit oneself when laughing.  Honestly, it's a comedic achievement I don't want on my resume.

Sketch22: A Trouser Turding

I'm waiting for the bus to take me home from work.  I have headphones on, listening to music.  Some guy, 40-ish,wearing sweat pants, crosses the street and approaches me rather briskly.  He's saying something to me but I can't make it out because of the music.  I turn the music off and I hear "...Sketch 22 last year!  My god it was funny! We laughed.  My wife nearly shit her pants!!"
And with that utterance he was off down the street.
I've heard of pissing oneself with laughter (and I know that I've made at least one person literally pee her pants from laughing so much), but it's far less common to shit oneself when laughing.  Honestly, it's a comedic achievement I don't want on my resume.

Don't Make Me Come Down There...

So, I've been thinking of trying to start this video project.  Very simple, with no reward other than doing it.  Basically, the idea is to get random people (friends, mostly) at random times and at random places to perform a very short, very specific one person, one-take, one shot (partial) scene on my digital camera, and then compile them all.

Here's the scene:

This is the backstory to the scene:
You play a tough guy or gal.  You're like muscle for the mob, or something.  A collector. You're talking to someone who owes money.  This person is someone you know from your past.  Someone you know of outside of your life as a collector, though you aren't close.  Maybe someone from "the neighbourhood".  The relationship is up to you.  The important thing is that you are familiar enough with this person that a meeting with them isn't only about business.  They know what you do, but maybe they don't know the extremes to which you'll go to get your point across.

The shot in question takes place after there's been a bit of "getting caught up" small talk.  Small talking done, you move on to the matter of the money you owe.  The person sort of non-committedly says that you'll get the money.  They promise.

Now the specific shot and dialogue that I'd shoot each time:

You have three lines of dialogue: 

Don't make me come down there.  No, relax, I'm just joking.  Seriously, though, don't make me come down there.

You can say the lines any way you want.  Your objective, though, is to convey that you are serious that if you don't get the money, the person will get hurt.  The way I hear the lines is this:  first line is said kind of as a faux (but real) threat.  Second line is to lighten the mood of the person who is maybe afraid by your first line.  The third line is said in a way to make it clear that you are not just joking.  But you might find a more interesting way to deliver them.

I doubt I'll ever get around to getting anyone to give it a go.  If you see me around town, and I happen to have my little camera with me, be brave and ask me to shoot you saying these lines.

Don't Make Me Come Down There...

So, I've been thinking of trying to start this video project.  Very simple, with no reward other than doing it.  Basically, the idea is to get random people (friends, mostly) at random times and at random places to perform a very short, very specific one person, one-take, one shot (partial) scene on my digital camera, and then compile them all.

Here's the scene:

This is the backstory to the scene:
You play a tough guy or gal.  You're like muscle for the mob, or something.  A collector. You're talking to someone who owes money.  This person is someone you know from your past.  Someone you know of outside of your life as a collector, though you aren't close.  Maybe someone from "the neighbourhood".  The relationship is up to you.  The important thing is that you are familiar enough with this person that a meeting with them isn't only about business.  They know what you do, but maybe they don't know the extremes to which you'll go to get your point across.

The shot in question takes place after there's been a bit of "getting caught up" small talk.  Small talking done, you move on to the matter of the money you owe.  The person sort of non-committedly says that you'll get the money.  They promise.

Now the specific shot and dialogue that I'd shoot each time:

You have three lines of dialogue: 

Don't make me come down there.  No, relax, I'm just joking.  Seriously, though, don't make me come down there.

You can say the lines any way you want.  Your objective, though, is to convey that you are serious that if you don't get the money, the person will get hurt.  The way I hear the lines is this:  first line is said kind of as a faux (but real) threat.  Second line is to lighten the mood of the person who is maybe afraid by your first line.  The third line is said in a way to make it clear that you are not just joking.  But you might find a more interesting way to deliver them.

I doubt I'll ever get around to getting anyone to give it a go.  If you see me around town, and I happen to have my little camera with me, be brave and ask me to shoot you saying these lines.

Commentucating

Hey, I think I just made up a new word:

Commentuncating, or commentucation

That's where your relationship with someone is based pretty much solely on communication through the comments you leave each other on your blogs, internet sites, forums, etc.

Commentucating


Technorati Tags: commentucating

Commentucating

Hey, I think I just made up a new word:

Commentuncating, or commentucation

That's where your relationship with someone is based pretty much solely on communication through the comments you leave each other on your blogs, internet sites, forums, etc.

Commentucating


Technorati Tags: commentucating

Meh, Yeah, Meh

Three TV shows I watched last night.  The first hour of the Grammys (meh), the HBO serial Rome (yeah), and the Space soap opera Battlestar Galactica.

This is when I remember being concerned about the future of The Police:

You consider me the young apprentice


Caught between the Scylla and Charibdes.

When I first heard those lyrics in Wrapped Around Your Finger, I started to look for the large aquarium that housed the shark that The Police had jumped.  Not the kind of lyrics, I remember thinking, that a rock song should be made out of.  We lovers of rock don't want to have to buy the abridged version of the lyrics to understand the references.  Anyway, it didn't matter, since Synchronicity (the album the song was from) was their last.  Sting, of course, went on to a career full of such Thinking-Man's lyrics.  I liked my The Police punky and rocking.  Less jazz, more backbeat.

So, when I heard The Police were reforming, and would open last night's Grammys, I was excited.  However, which The Police would show up?  The Police where the lyric "chasm" might make an appearance as Sting forgo a stand-up bass for a bass-lute?  Or The Police where ears would be ringing a half-hour after they played an impossibly fast version of "Man In A Suitcase"?  Turns out more of the former, less of the latter.
They played only one song (was disappointed in that, was hoping for at least two), that song being "Roxanne".  After a kind of ugly and lame shout-out "We're the Police, and we're back!!" by Sting, they started playing.  First verse, I was thinking "Oh, how I've missed this sound!"  Second verse, they started getting a bit flowery with their rendition of the song.  "Uh oh, here comes the lute".  Fortunately, it wasn't too awful, and they ended the song pretty solidly.  Overall, though, it was a pretty "Meh" performance for the beginning of a "comeback".  Still, I'd love to see them in concert somewhere.  The rest of the first hour of the Grammys was pretty meh too.  Although, I got a little shiver of excitement when I saw Prince come out on stage.  Disappointed that he was only introducing Beyonce.  It would've kicked ass if a Prince performance was one of the "surprises" the announcer kept talking about.  What were the surprises anyway?

I only watched the first hour of the Grammys because I switched it over to watch a new episode of Rome.  I'm really enjoying this series, and last night's episode was great.  Full of some neat twists and turns in plot, and enticing in what its unfolding promises for the final few episodes of the series (this second season is supposed to be the final season).  So, a "yeah" from me for last night's episode of Rome.

A big "meh" from me, though, for last night's Battlestar Galactica.  In fact, for the most part, this whole season has been mostly "meh" with a few episodes of "yeah" thrown in.  Last night's show was not a must-see if you happened to miss it.  It was one of those totally self-contained contrivances that don't add at all to the overall arc of the show.  Barely any forward movement on the show's main plots, and a storyline that I totally didn't care about. 

So, just to make it easier for you to keep notes for the test that will be coming up later in the semester, it's a  meh yeah meh from me on the TV I watched last night.  Write that down:  meh yeah meh.



Technorati Tags: Grammys, The Police, Rome, Battlestar Galactica

Meh, Yeah, Meh

Three TV shows I watched last night.  The first hour of the Grammys (meh), the HBO serial Rome (yeah), and the Space soap opera Battlestar Galactica.

This is when I remember being concerned about the future of The Police:

You consider me the young apprentice


Caught between the Scylla and Charibdes.

When I first heard those lyrics in Wrapped Around Your Finger, I started to look for the large aquarium that housed the shark that The Police had jumped.  Not the kind of lyrics, I remember thinking, that a rock song should be made out of.  We lovers of rock don't want to have to buy the abridged version of the lyrics to understand the references.  Anyway, it didn't matter, since Synchronicity (the album the song was from) was their last.  Sting, of course, went on to a career full of such Thinking-Man's lyrics.  I liked my The Police punky and rocking.  Less jazz, more backbeat.

So, when I heard The Police were reforming, and would open last night's Grammys, I was excited.  However, which The Police would show up?  The Police where the lyric "chasm" might make an appearance as Sting forgo a stand-up bass for a bass-lute?  Or The Police where ears would be ringing a half-hour after they played an impossibly fast version of "Man In A Suitcase"?  Turns out more of the former, less of the latter.
They played only one song (was disappointed in that, was hoping for at least two), that song being "Roxanne".  After a kind of ugly and lame shout-out "We're the Police, and we're back!!" by Sting, they started playing.  First verse, I was thinking "Oh, how I've missed this sound!"  Second verse, they started getting a bit flowery with their rendition of the song.  "Uh oh, here comes the lute".  Fortunately, it wasn't too awful, and they ended the song pretty solidly.  Overall, though, it was a pretty "Meh" performance for the beginning of a "comeback".  Still, I'd love to see them in concert somewhere.  The rest of the first hour of the Grammys was pretty meh too.  Although, I got a little shiver of excitement when I saw Prince come out on stage.  Disappointed that he was only introducing Beyonce.  It would've kicked ass if a Prince performance was one of the "surprises" the announcer kept talking about.  What were the surprises anyway?

I only watched the first hour of the Grammys because I switched it over to watch a new episode of Rome.  I'm really enjoying this series, and last night's episode was great.  Full of some neat twists and turns in plot, and enticing in what its unfolding promises for the final few episodes of the series (this second season is supposed to be the final season).  So, a "yeah" from me for last night's episode of Rome.

A big "meh" from me, though, for last night's Battlestar Galactica.  In fact, for the most part, this whole season has been mostly "meh" with a few episodes of "yeah" thrown in.  Last night's show was not a must-see if you happened to miss it.  It was one of those totally self-contained contrivances that don't add at all to the overall arc of the show.  Barely any forward movement on the show's main plots, and a storyline that I totally didn't care about. 

So, just to make it easier for you to keep notes for the test that will be coming up later in the semester, it's a  meh yeah meh from me on the TV I watched last night.  Write that down:  meh yeah meh.



Technorati Tags: Grammys, The Police, Rome, Battlestar Galactica

Happy Valentimes. Seriously.

Last night's 30 Rock was great.  Alec Baldwin is wonderful.  The whole cast is fun.  My biggest laugh came when Rachel Dratch, this episode a trampy prostitute, screamed "Happy Valentimes!!"  I appreciated that the line wasn't commented upon by any of the characters.  It was just allowed to live on its own merits.

Anyway, I just saw a photo, and then read a story about a couple who recently got married.  I'd recommend you read the story first.  Then look at the photo.  Because if you do it vice versa, like I did, you'll likely feel sad, until after you read the story.

Here's the link to the story.

Here's the link to the photo.  It won first prize at this year's World Press Photo.

I hope it makes you feel good.  I hope any cynicism you have can be ignored for the duration of your involvement in the story and picture.

Happy Valentimes.  Next week.

Happy Valentimes. Seriously.

Last night's 30 Rock was great.  Alec Baldwin is wonderful.  The whole cast is fun.  My biggest laugh came when Rachel Dratch, this episode a trampy prostitute, screamed "Happy Valentimes!!"  I appreciated that the line wasn't commented upon by any of the characters.  It was just allowed to live on its own merits.

Anyway, I just saw a photo, and then read a story about a couple who recently got married.  I'd recommend you read the story first.  Then look at the photo.  Because if you do it vice versa, like I did, you'll likely feel sad, until after you read the story.

Here's the link to the story.

Here's the link to the photo.  It won first prize at this year's World Press Photo.

I hope it makes you feel good.  I hope any cynicism you have can be ignored for the duration of your involvement in the story and picture.

Happy Valentimes.  Next week.

Rob's Top 50 Artists Listened To

I've had my music player on my computer and iPod synced up with Last.FM for a while.  Here, then are the top 50 artists who've been played.  Even though I have my players set up to play random tracks, I think this is a pretty good representation of what I'd consider my favourite music.  A couple of anomalies are the Theme Songs showing up at Number 8, and Emmanuel College Chapel Choir showing up at all (don't understand that one??).  Elvis Presley is surprisingly high, too.  And, really, Emmylou Harris probably shouldn't be on that list (I'd replace her with Iris Dement).

Top Artists

1	The Beatles	260
2	Tom Waits	172
3	Johnny Cash	144
4	R.E.M.	98
5	[unknown]	78
6	Elvis Presley	75
7	Bruce Springsteen	65
8	Theme Songs	58
8	Hank Williams	58
10	The Simpsons	57
11	XTC	56
11	The Clash	56
13	They Might Be Giants	52
14	Prince	50
15	Elvis Costello	45
16	The Police	41
17	George Jones	40
17	X	40
17	Dolly Parton	40
20	John Lennon	38
21	Willie Nelson	37
22	Neil Young	36
22	Rufus Wainwright	36
22	Ron Sexsmith	36
25	Frank Sinatra	35
25	Violent Femmes	35
27	Pixies	33
28	Neko Case	31
29	Liz Phair	30
30	David Bowie	28
30	Simon & Garfunkel	28
32	Townes Van Zandt	25
32	U2	25
32	Tony Bennett	25
32	Paul Simon	25
32	Gillian Welch	25
37	Loudon Wainwright III	24
38	Bob Marley & The Wailers	23
39	The Specials	22
40	Emmanuel College Chapel Choir	21
40	John Hiatt	21
42	Talking Heads	20
43	Dwight Yoakam	19
43	The White Stripes	19
45	Coldplay	18
45	Bob Dylan	18
45	Tenacious D	18
45	Emmylou Harris	18
45	The Kinks	18
45	The Velvet Underground	18

Rob's Top 50 Artists Listened To

I've had my music player on my computer and iPod synced up with Last.FM for a while.  Here, then are the top 50 artists who've been played.  Even though I have my players set up to play random tracks, I think this is a pretty good representation of what I'd consider my favourite music.  A couple of anomalies are the Theme Songs showing up at Number 8, and Emmanuel College Chapel Choir showing up at all (don't understand that one??).  Elvis Presley is surprisingly high, too.  And, really, Emmylou Harris probably shouldn't be on that list (I'd replace her with Iris Dement).

Top Artists

1	The Beatles	260
2	Tom Waits	172
3	Johnny Cash	144
4	R.E.M.	98
5	[unknown]	78
6	Elvis Presley	75
7	Bruce Springsteen	65
8	Theme Songs	58
8	Hank Williams	58
10	The Simpsons	57
11	XTC	56
11	The Clash	56
13	They Might Be Giants	52
14	Prince	50
15	Elvis Costello	45
16	The Police	41
17	George Jones	40
17	X	40
17	Dolly Parton	40
20	John Lennon	38
21	Willie Nelson	37
22	Neil Young	36
22	Rufus Wainwright	36
22	Ron Sexsmith	36
25	Frank Sinatra	35
25	Violent Femmes	35
27	Pixies	33
28	Neko Case	31
29	Liz Phair	30
30	David Bowie	28
30	Simon & Garfunkel	28
32	Townes Van Zandt	25
32	U2	25
32	Tony Bennett	25
32	Paul Simon	25
32	Gillian Welch	25
37	Loudon Wainwright III	24
38	Bob Marley & The Wailers	23
39	The Specials	22
40	Emmanuel College Chapel Choir	21
40	John Hiatt	21
42	Talking Heads	20
43	Dwight Yoakam	19
43	The White Stripes	19
45	Coldplay	18
45	Bob Dylan	18
45	Tenacious D	18
45	Emmylou Harris	18
45	The Kinks	18
45	The Velvet Underground	18

One Long Drive For A Woman...

...One giant leak for Womankind.

I don't follow stories like this one about the astronaut woman who drove from someplace to someplace to allegedly kill someone, mostly because news channels like CNN glom onto them and make them much, much bigger than they deserve to be.  Kind of like a Slow News Week "being called up to the big leagues" sort of deal.

But even I'll admit that 1) female astronaut, 2) driving a long distance while wearing a diaper, 3) attempted murder charges, 4) love and intrigue, and 5) look-like-a-nutjob photo makes it hard for ratings-craving news agencies to ignore this one.  Still, though, a brief skim of the headline and first couple of paragraphs of an internet story about it will be enough for me.

One Long Drive For A Woman...

...One giant leak for Womankind.

I don't follow stories like this one about the astronaut woman who drove from someplace to someplace to allegedly kill someone, mostly because news channels like CNN glom onto them and make them much, much bigger than they deserve to be.  Kind of like a Slow News Week "being called up to the big leagues" sort of deal.

But even I'll admit that 1) female astronaut, 2) driving a long distance while wearing a diaper, 3) attempted murder charges, 4) love and intrigue, and 5) look-like-a-nutjob photo makes it hard for ratings-craving news agencies to ignore this one.  Still, though, a brief skim of the headline and first couple of paragraphs of an internet story about it will be enough for me.

Auto Body, Manual Choice

Hey, anyone in the GCA (Greater Charlottetown Area) have any positive experiences with auto body shops?  This morning, a non-observant driver did us the favour of making us require the services of a fair and honest auto body shop by becoming rather too familiar with the back end of our vehicle.

Where has my loyal reader gone and was rewarded with honest and fair auto body service?

Anyone?  Anyone?  Bueller? 
(and the award for pulling out an age-old reference goes to... Rob MacDonald!... "I'd just like to say, I'm surprised and shocked that I won this award.  I mean, the competition was pretty crazy this year.  There's that guy who was blogging about his dog, and wrote "Who let the dogs out?".  And of course, that lesbian-written blog post entitled "Where's the beef?!".  Worthy competitors, all.  [orchestral music starts to surge]  Anyways, I just want to thank everyone who voted for the Bueller reference, and also thank God and the marvelous Mr. Ruddy, my grade nine Industrial Arts teacher.  He's gay... wait, that's common knowledge, right?  That he's gay.  I mean, I'm not telling secrets out of school, am I?  Revealing that Mr. Ruddy is gay, right here in this award speech for age-old references?  Anyway, looks like my time is up.  I'm just so happy that you love me!  That you really, really love me!")

Yeah, so about those honest and fair auto body shops?  Anyone got one?  Anyone?  Anyone?

Auto Body, Manual Choice

Hey, anyone in the GCA (Greater Charlottetown Area) have any positive experiences with auto body shops?  This morning, a non-observant driver did us the favour of making us require the services of a fair and honest auto body shop by becoming rather too familiar with the back end of our vehicle.

Where has my loyal reader gone and was rewarded with honest and fair auto body service?

Anyone?  Anyone?  Bueller? 
(and the award for pulling out an age-old reference goes to... Rob MacDonald!... "I'd just like to say, I'm surprised and shocked that I won this award.  I mean, the competition was pretty crazy this year.  There's that guy who was blogging about his dog, and wrote "Who let the dogs out?".  And of course, that lesbian-written blog post entitled "Where's the beef?!".  Worthy competitors, all.  [orchestral music starts to surge]  Anyways, I just want to thank everyone who voted for the Bueller reference, and also thank God and the marvelous Mr. Ruddy, my grade nine Industrial Arts teacher.  He's gay... wait, that's common knowledge, right?  That he's gay.  I mean, I'm not telling secrets out of school, am I?  Revealing that Mr. Ruddy is gay, right here in this award speech for age-old references?  Anyway, looks like my time is up.  I'm just so happy that you love me!  That you really, really love me!")

Yeah, so about those honest and fair auto body shops?  Anyone got one?  Anyone?  Anyone?

Congratulations, Graham the Conquerer!!!

Graham the Conquerer 142-125 (53.2%) 159 pts
Jim Simmonds 131-136 (49.1%) 126 pts
spragger2002 122-122 (50.0%) 122 pts
reverseflash 128-139 (47.9%) 117 pts
RFTT1985 127-140 (47.6%) 114 pts
annekenstein 123-144 (46.1%) 102 pts

Here are the final results for The Annekenstein Monster's The Weekly NFL Picks Page pick'em pool.  Graham the Conquerer smashes the competition with a startling 53.2% picking accuracy.  Yours truly performed atrociously, embarassingly so.  Never before have I picked so poorly.

Congratulations Graham!!
Thanks for playing, folks.  Most likely, it'll be back next August, when I'll vow to kick ass, and make it my personal goal to finish each week on the plus side of 50%.  Of course, I'll also be high on the speculation that the Miami Dolphins will be able to make it to the playoffs (where anything can happen) this coming year.  I predict great things for the new coach, Cam Cameron.  Ricky Williams will be back, will remain drug-free for the entire season, and will be a legitimate backup to Ronnie Brown, who will have a banner year.  Culpepper will rebound from a terrible (injury-crippled) season and make a star out of Chris Chambers.

By the way, with Peyton Manning winning the championship, Dan Marino once again retains his mantle as the unquestionably best quarterback ever to never win a SuperBowl.  I'd say when Peyton didn't have one, he'd have given Dan a bit of a run for that title.

Congratulations, Graham the Conquerer!!!

Graham the Conquerer 142-125 (53.2%) 159 pts
Jim Simmonds 131-136 (49.1%) 126 pts
spragger2002 122-122 (50.0%) 122 pts
reverseflash 128-139 (47.9%) 117 pts
RFTT1985 127-140 (47.6%) 114 pts
annekenstein 123-144 (46.1%) 102 pts

Here are the final results for The Annekenstein Monster's The Weekly NFL Picks Page pick'em pool.  Graham the Conquerer smashes the competition with a startling 53.2% picking accuracy.  Yours truly performed atrociously, embarassingly so.  Never before have I picked so poorly.

Congratulations Graham!!
Thanks for playing, folks.  Most likely, it'll be back next August, when I'll vow to kick ass, and make it my personal goal to finish each week on the plus side of 50%.  Of course, I'll also be high on the speculation that the Miami Dolphins will be able to make it to the playoffs (where anything can happen) this coming year.  I predict great things for the new coach, Cam Cameron.  Ricky Williams will be back, will remain drug-free for the entire season, and will be a legitimate backup to Ronnie Brown, who will have a banner year.  Culpepper will rebound from a terrible (injury-crippled) season and make a star out of Chris Chambers.

By the way, with Peyton Manning winning the championship, Dan Marino once again retains his mantle as the unquestionably best quarterback ever to never win a SuperBowl.  I'd say when Peyton didn't have one, he'd have given Dan a bit of a run for that title.

Love's Language Lost ???

DaveM, DaveS, J-Ro and I went to see Pan's Labyrinth Saturday night and then went out afterwards for drinks.  We stopped at a few places and had a good time.
After DaveM left us, we went to the Gahan House.  There, DaveS requested we each name the first male and first female actor we each think of.  I said Meryl Streep and Greg Kinnear.  Jay said Sharon Stone and Billy Baldwin.  Dave said Demi Moore and Tim Robbins.  These people, it turned out, were to be the stars of the purposefully bad movie we were about to plot out there at the Gahan.  Here is the awful movie we came up with:

Meryl Streep plays an author on a book-signing tour.  She is hawking a book about love, a book whose message she doesn't really believe.  She is also a person who only speaks in her own language.  Why she speaks this language, or where she learned it, is a mystery to all.  Only she and her interpretor (who spent years studying Streep and her language) can understand her.
Her interpretor is Sharon Stone.  Maybe we need a little scene here to see how dependent Streep is on Stone.  Without her, she couldn't survive in the world alone.
For some reason, they need to hire a private plane to fly to over the Atlantic Ocean to their next book-signing date.  Sharon reluctantly suggests they could hire the pilot she used to date (and still is not quite "over"?), Billy Baldwin.
On the flight, Baldwin and Streep hit it off.  A real connection. Lots of flirting. Maybe Baldwin is playing it up a bit to make Stone jealous?  Whether the Baldwin/Streep connection is real or not, it affects Stone, who begins to purposefully mis-interpret the flirty things Streep is saying to Baldwin and vice-versa.  One phrase she does not mis-interpret, though, is the utterance that Streep screams upon looking out the plane's side window. "Ack, ugh, glub, bluggah!" says Streep.  "Look out for the seagulls?" puzzles Stone.  Then Stone looks out here window, sees the flock of birds and screams herself, "Look out for the seagulls!"  A great scene!  Baldwin's over-attention to Streep caused him to fly into a flock of seagulls.
The plane crashes into the ocean.  Baldwin perishes, but Stone and Streep manage to make it to a small deserted island.  Things on the island go from bad to worse as the Stone/Streep relationship deteriorates quickly, due to Stone's jealousy about Streep/Baldwin.  Some great chances for overwrought emotions between the two.  While on the island, they discover some sort of strange-looking golden amulet, or golden bowl, or something likewise golden that they note as being odd.
I am admittedly fuzzy on the sequence of events that we discussed beyond this point, so if DaveS or Jason want to correct me on the following, please do.  (as I've written the following, I made some small changes to the plot as I went, as I thought they would improve the story we talked about)

Just as things are about to come to a murderous head between Stone & Streep, Greg Kinnear, a likable fisherman, arrives on his boat.  "Didn't know this island existed," says Kinnear. "Not on any charts!"  As they get to know each other, the girls tell Kinnear about the golden thing they found.  He raises an eyebrow (as only Kinnear can do).  "Rescue us," says Stone.  For some reason (maybe the boat is full of fish?  Or maybe he has ulterior motives?) he can only take one of them back with him to civilization, and he won't be back to get the other (not sure why this is).  He chooses Streep, leaving Stone to likely die.  This, combined with her jealousy over Baldwin, puts Stone over the edge and, as the boat is leaving with Kinnear and Streep, Stone is a wild, screaming, vindictive crazy nutjob on the beach.  Another great scene.

Back in civilization (somewhere in Florida?), Greg's friend, Tim Robbins, who is a treasure-hunter, greets Kinnear and Streep.  Kinnear immediately tells Robbins about the golden thingy.  Turns out Robbins has spent his entire adult life searching for this island and this golden thingy (and the fabled tribal community that created the golden thingy).  They make preparations to go back.  We can see Robbins as the self-interested, treasure-mad money-grub his character is, but we don't know, yet, whether Kinnear is a good guy or a bad guy.  Since his navigational GPS system broke down during a storm on the way back to civlization, Kinnear doesn't know if he can find the island again.  In another great scene where Robbins and Kinnear try to understand her, Streep indicates that she could find the island.  Off the three go.

Back on the island, Stone is delerious with rage.  That's when Baldwin comes out of the sea and walks, zombie-like, up the beach towards her.  As he walks, he eats whatever is washed up on the beach.  (We get Baldwin to really eat these awful things.  He'd do it.)
Despite (or maybe because of) the fact that Stone is crazy and Baldwin is some kind of voodoo-influenced almost dead guy, the Stone/Baldwin romance rekindles.  And that's when Demi Moore, as the daughter of a tribal witch doctor (played in voice-over by Morgan Freeman, who is the movie's narrator), appears on the scene.  Moore speaks in a made-up language similiar to, but different than, Streep's language.  Yet it's similar enough that Stone can understand Moore.  Moore and Stone immediately hit it off, with a real sexual chemistry that excites Baldwin too.  There's a great scene where Stone has to try and safe-crack the tribal chastity belt that Moore wears.  it's a very tender, very provocative, very sensual scene.
Moore and Stone continue to sizzle with sexual energy.  Baldwin's involved too, but we, the audience, can see that it's really the two women who have the hots for each other.  Maybe it's hinted at that for now, they'll allow Baldwin to participate but once they tire of him, he'll become expendable?

Boat arrives with Kinnear, Robbins and Streep.  Robbins is an ass as he tries to take control of the group.  Maybe Kinnear starts to see Robbins as the ass he is and begins to question what's important to him?

(this is where our plot kind of fizzled out, but we'd like all the above to maybe be about two-thirds of the entire movie)  We do know that in the end Streep is able to write a world-wide bestseller on Love, based on her third-act experiences on the island.  I kind of forget what happens to the rest of the players.

If anybody has any ideas on how to improve this story (that is, make it worse), let's hear them.  We really need a good ending third.

Love's Language Lost ???

DaveM, DaveS, J-Ro and I went to see Pan's Labyrinth Saturday night and then went out afterwards for drinks.  We stopped at a few places and had a good time.
After DaveM left us, we went to the Gahan House.  There, DaveS requested we each name the first male and first female actor we each think of.  I said Meryl Streep and Greg Kinnear.  Jay said Sharon Stone and Billy Baldwin.  Dave said Demi Moore and Tim Robbins.  These people, it turned out, were to be the stars of the purposefully bad movie we were about to plot out there at the Gahan.  Here is the awful movie we came up with:

Meryl Streep plays an author on a book-signing tour.  She is hawking a book about love, a book whose message she doesn't really believe.  She is also a person who only speaks in her own language.  Why she speaks this language, or where she learned it, is a mystery to all.  Only she and her interpretor (who spent years studying Streep and her language) can understand her.
Her interpretor is Sharon Stone.  Maybe we need a little scene here to see how dependent Streep is on Stone.  Without her, she couldn't survive in the world alone.
For some reason, they need to hire a private plane to fly to over the Atlantic Ocean to their next book-signing date.  Sharon reluctantly suggests they could hire the pilot she used to date (and still is not quite "over"?), Billy Baldwin.
On the flight, Baldwin and Streep hit it off.  A real connection. Lots of flirting. Maybe Baldwin is playing it up a bit to make Stone jealous?  Whether the Baldwin/Streep connection is real or not, it affects Stone, who begins to purposefully mis-interpret the flirty things Streep is saying to Baldwin and vice-versa.  One phrase she does not mis-interpret, though, is the utterance that Streep screams upon looking out the plane's side window. "Ack, ugh, glub, bluggah!" says Streep.  "Look out for the seagulls?" puzzles Stone.  Then Stone looks out here window, sees the flock of birds and screams herself, "Look out for the seagulls!"  A great scene!  Baldwin's over-attention to Streep caused him to fly into a flock of seagulls.
The plane crashes into the ocean.  Baldwin perishes, but Stone and Streep manage to make it to a small deserted island.  Things on the island go from bad to worse as the Stone/Streep relationship deteriorates quickly, due to Stone's jealousy about Streep/Baldwin.  Some great chances for overwrought emotions between the two.  While on the island, they discover some sort of strange-looking golden amulet, or golden bowl, or something likewise golden that they note as being odd.
I am admittedly fuzzy on the sequence of events that we discussed beyond this point, so if DaveS or Jason want to correct me on the following, please do.  (as I've written the following, I made some small changes to the plot as I went, as I thought they would improve the story we talked about)

Just as things are about to come to a murderous head between Stone & Streep, Greg Kinnear, a likable fisherman, arrives on his boat.  "Didn't know this island existed," says Kinnear. "Not on any charts!"  As they get to know each other, the girls tell Kinnear about the golden thing they found.  He raises an eyebrow (as only Kinnear can do).  "Rescue us," says Stone.  For some reason (maybe the boat is full of fish?  Or maybe he has ulterior motives?) he can only take one of them back with him to civilization, and he won't be back to get the other (not sure why this is).  He chooses Streep, leaving Stone to likely die.  This, combined with her jealousy over Baldwin, puts Stone over the edge and, as the boat is leaving with Kinnear and Streep, Stone is a wild, screaming, vindictive crazy nutjob on the beach.  Another great scene.

Back in civilization (somewhere in Florida?), Greg's friend, Tim Robbins, who is a treasure-hunter, greets Kinnear and Streep.  Kinnear immediately tells Robbins about the golden thingy.  Turns out Robbins has spent his entire adult life searching for this island and this golden thingy (and the fabled tribal community that created the golden thingy).  They make preparations to go back.  We can see Robbins as the self-interested, treasure-mad money-grub his character is, but we don't know, yet, whether Kinnear is a good guy or a bad guy.  Since his navigational GPS system broke down during a storm on the way back to civlization, Kinnear doesn't know if he can find the island again.  In another great scene where Robbins and Kinnear try to understand her, Streep indicates that she could find the island.  Off the three go.

Back on the island, Stone is delerious with rage.  That's when Baldwin comes out of the sea and walks, zombie-like, up the beach towards her.  As he walks, he eats whatever is washed up on the beach.  (We get Baldwin to really eat these awful things.  He'd do it.)
Despite (or maybe because of) the fact that Stone is crazy and Baldwin is some kind of voodoo-influenced almost dead guy, the Stone/Baldwin romance rekindles.  And that's when Demi Moore, as the daughter of a tribal witch doctor (played in voice-over by Morgan Freeman, who is the movie's narrator), appears on the scene.  Moore speaks in a made-up language similiar to, but different than, Streep's language.  Yet it's similar enough that Stone can understand Moore.  Moore and Stone immediately hit it off, with a real sexual chemistry that excites Baldwin too.  There's a great scene where Stone has to try and safe-crack the tribal chastity belt that Moore wears.  it's a very tender, very provocative, very sensual scene.
Moore and Stone continue to sizzle with sexual energy.  Baldwin's involved too, but we, the audience, can see that it's really the two women who have the hots for each other.  Maybe it's hinted at that for now, they'll allow Baldwin to participate but once they tire of him, he'll become expendable?

Boat arrives with Kinnear, Robbins and Streep.  Robbins is an ass as he tries to take control of the group.  Maybe Kinnear starts to see Robbins as the ass he is and begins to question what's important to him?

(this is where our plot kind of fizzled out, but we'd like all the above to maybe be about two-thirds of the entire movie)  We do know that in the end Streep is able to write a world-wide bestseller on Love, based on her third-act experiences on the island.  I kind of forget what happens to the rest of the players.

If anybody has any ideas on how to improve this story (that is, make it worse), let's hear them.  We really need a good ending third.

Two, Right On, Rock Videos

It's not that I don't enjoy Patti Smith. It's just that she's one of those artists that I just never got around to "getting into". However, this video above, absolutely rocks. It's Patti Smith, in 1979, on some kids television show called "Kids Are People Too". She sings "You Light Up My Life". Seriously. She sings "You Light Up My Life".

This is U2's new video for "Window in the Skies". Kind of a videographic mashup. A great idea for a video, and pretty well executed. I often wonder how things like this come together. I mean, like the nuts and bolts of it, after the "hey, here's a neat idea!" stage. You know, the "okay, now we need a two-second clip of somebody plucking a bass" stage. "Anybody know of a clip where the drummer drums to this beat?"

Two, Right On, Rock Videos

It's not that I don't enjoy Patti Smith. It's just that she's one of those artists that I just never got around to "getting into". However, this video above, absolutely rocks. It's Patti Smith, in 1979, on some kids television show called "Kids Are People Too". She sings "You Light Up My Life". Seriously. She sings "You Light Up My Life".

This is U2's new video for "Window in the Skies". Kind of a videographic mashup. A great idea for a video, and pretty well executed. I often wonder how things like this come together. I mean, like the nuts and bolts of it, after the "hey, here's a neat idea!" stage. You know, the "okay, now we need a two-second clip of somebody plucking a bass" stage. "Anybody know of a clip where the drummer drums to this beat?"

Rob's Film Rankings for 2006

Below is a pretty complete list of all the year-2006 movies I watched:

These first ten movies are the ones I enjoyed the most.  They are ranked from favourite down.  Of course, a "Favourites" list is always a fluid thing, so the order would change from day to day.  Still, I think these top ten would remain in my top ten, even if the order might change, whimsically.

PAN’S LABYRINTH
BABEL
CHILDREN OF MEN
THE DEPARTED
THE GOOD SHEPHERD
PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MAN’S CHEST
LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE
APOCALYPTO
THE ILLUSIONIST
BORAT

The following list are movies that I quite liked, but not quite enough to make my Top Ten.  They are not ranked.

UNITED 93
THANK YOU FOR SMOKING
THE QUEEN
IDIOCRACY
TRISTRAM SHANDY: A COCK AND BULL STORY
THE DESCENT
CASINO ROYALE
DREAMGIRLS

The next list are movies I more or less enjoyed, but were nothing special.

INSIDE MAN
FIREWALL
16 BLOCKS
MISSION IMPOSSIBLE 3
X-MEN: THE LAST STAND

This list are movies I watched and liked okay.  Some of them I had to search harder for likability than others.

LUCKY NUMBER SLEVIN
EIGHT BELOW
AKEELAH AND THE BEE
NANNY MCPHEE
HOSTEL
POSEIDON
SUPERMAN RETURNS

These final movies are 2006 movies that I didn't really enjoy very much.

V FOR VENDETTA
TALLADEGA NIGHTS

Rob's Film Rankings for 2006

Below is a pretty complete list of all the year-2006 movies I watched:

These first ten movies are the ones I enjoyed the most.  They are ranked from favourite down.  Of course, a "Favourites" list is always a fluid thing, so the order would change from day to day.  Still, I think these top ten would remain in my top ten, even if the order might change, whimsically.

PAN’S LABYRINTH
BABEL
CHILDREN OF MEN
THE DEPARTED
THE GOOD SHEPHERD
PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MAN’S CHEST
LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE
APOCALYPTO
THE ILLUSIONIST
BORAT

The following list are movies that I quite liked, but not quite enough to make my Top Ten.  They are not ranked.

UNITED 93
THANK YOU FOR SMOKING
THE QUEEN
IDIOCRACY
TRISTRAM SHANDY: A COCK AND BULL STORY
THE DESCENT
CASINO ROYALE
DREAMGIRLS

The next list are movies I more or less enjoyed, but were nothing special.

INSIDE MAN
FIREWALL
16 BLOCKS
MISSION IMPOSSIBLE 3
X-MEN: THE LAST STAND

This list are movies I watched and liked okay.  Some of them I had to search harder for likability than others.

LUCKY NUMBER SLEVIN
EIGHT BELOW
AKEELAH AND THE BEE
NANNY MCPHEE
HOSTEL
POSEIDON
SUPERMAN RETURNS

These final movies are 2006 movies that I didn't really enjoy very much.

V FOR VENDETTA
TALLADEGA NIGHTS

My Ordinary Lunch

Before I went to lunch today, I decided I would write here about what transpired.

Leaving the ATC, I wasn't sure where I'd eat today.  I chose Captain Subs because I dig their 5 dollar lunch:  A half sub (I got the pizza sub on parmesan), fountain pop and bag of chips for 5 bucks tax included.  Crossing University Avenue, I noticed a guy with a kind of feathered-hair hairstyle, and an arrogance about him.  Very early 1980s New York business guy.  I only mention him because he ended up being in front of me in the Captain Subs lineup.
The guy behind me turned out someone who was planning on contacting me in a couple of weeks about a project that he says is almost ready to roll, and for which he wants my involvement.  It would take quite a commitment from me, in terms of time, so I don't know yet how I'd manage that, plus my full-time work, plus my Sketch22 preparations and performances, plus my family.  He's gonna contact me in a couple of weeks to talk about it further.
There were no tomatoes for my sub.  I was a little disappointed, but I'll manage to get over it.  The sub, despite the lack of tomato, was pretty good.  It had a real nice toasted flavour which I really dug.
Some thoughts I had while eating:
- I realized that I was (not sure if I still am) having an "I am thinner than I am" day.  That is, I was feeling thinner than I actually am.  Somedays I feel like a bloat, and some days I feel better about how I feel, girth-wise.
-I noticed another guy who looked like someone I may have known during my first two years of university.  He looks how imagine that guy would've aged.  I highly doubt it was him.  The guy struck me as a guy who would have been an arrogant Hamilton business guy in the 80s and/or an aging dumb hockey player.  He looked very middle-class Canadian, either way.
- I accept the way I look, and understand that I'm not heart-throb material.  Still, sometimes I wish that a woman I think is attractive would give me a second glance.  Even if it was a "hey look, a freak! (or whatever)" second glance, I could interpret it wrongly.  But I'm like boring wallpaper.  Something to look beyond.  I accept that.  Anyway, I was thinking that after I saw, as I was eating my sub, an attractive woman in the lineup to order.  She scanned the room and I could tell I didn't even cause a blip on her "interest" radar.
-After my sub, and a walk around the Confederation Court Mall (listening all the while to a great selection of random songs on my iPod, by the way), I went to Timothys for a coffee.  Usually, I'm only a one-coffee a day guy, but I find myself slipping into the two-a-day column.  I won't fight it.  Anyway, I walk in, and there's a table of young women.  I take them in, of course, and notice one of them (one who was facing me) glance at me with more than a "nice wallpaper" look.  Just barely more, mind you.  But I'll take it.  Then, after I pass by them, I sense a couple of them who were facing away from me, turn and look in my direction.  I can only assume it was a "hey look at that vaguely familiar guy who may or may not be a freak" kind of scenario, but I'll take that too.  Just find it interesting that that would happen (when it never happens) during the same lunch hour when I was pining about it never happening.
- I have an Atlantic Lotto ticket for last Wednesday's draw.  I understand that there was a $100,000 tag won in Charlottetown this past draw.  I am sure it's not my tag, and I suspect it's already been claimed, but I purposefully didn't check it today so that I could wait and check during my usual Monday/Friday lunches with DaveS.  Tomorrow, I find out that I'm a hundred-thousand-aire.  As I said, I know I'm not, but let me dream a bit, 'kay.
-I find it backwards that there will be a longer winter if the groundhog sees its shadow.  Why wouldn't a shadow, which implies sunlight, why wouldn't that mean a shorter winter?  I *so* don't want to find out the answer.

And that was pretty much the sum of my ordinary lunch today.