Bringing the Drama

so this morning i went to cut my grass since it was nearing the “abandoned house” height. i casually looked out one of my bedroom windows to check out the backyard when what meets my eyes but the horror of dead wildlife. is it bad that the first thing i thought of was “omg, i need to get a picture!” regardless, i got my camera, and opened by back door to take a photo. below is the view from my window…i’ll spare you the closeup.

it appears that the cause of death was “collision with house”, but with no witnesses, the cause really cannot be determined. i gave a fleeting thought to having a funeral pyre built, but instead went with the triple plastic bag into a large black garbage bag was the way to go. i knew i could not just move it and let nature take its course because nature still is taking it’s course on an egret along the route i run along. feathers apparently take a while to “disappear”.

other than the dead bird found on my patio, my weekend celebrating America’s 232nd birthday was great. it seemed very long. i realized today that it seemed like a week since i had been to work, but it had only been Thursday. i hung out with my parents on Friday, checked out their new tv that they got last week. i got home and watched “There Will Be Blood”, which in the end was rather good. Saturday i talked with my friend Len who is now home (!) then went for a long bike ride. too bad the weekend has to end and i have to go back to work.

today on my day off, i went to a matinee showing of Juno. so maybe you haven’t heard of it already, but you probably know some of the actors in it, like Sydney Bristow and CJ from The West Wing. i won’t spoil any of the plot for you, but i do want to tell you it was a fantastic movie. i laughed out loud several times, so i hope i didn’t bother the other 8 people in the theatre. though me laughing isn’t as bad as the lady who had her cell phone ring THEN ANSWERED IT during the movie. (wtf lady?!?) the dialogue was great, although at some points i felt old, and then thought, “i wish i talked like that sometimes”. i wasn’t really expecting the movie to be THAT good, but it was. the relationships between all of the people in the movie got me a bit teary at parts. the ending made me happy after a point where i thought it could have turned south. it was easily one of the best movies i saw that came out in 2007. however, the movies i saw that came out in 2007 really aren’t very many, so even though my opinion probably doesn’t matter as much, check out this guy’s. he’s kind of a big deal in movies.

after leaving the theatre, i stopped and bought the soundtrack. i’ve already listened to the song that was used on the opening credits 23 times (give or take) today. it’s probably not really music i’d listen to if i hadn’t seen the movie, but listening to the soundtrack reminds me of the great movie i saw. i guess that’s the point of the soundtrack, right?

folks, when they announced a live action Transformers movie, i threw up in my mouth a little bit. i had already had memories from my childhood tainted because Hollywood wanted to make a buck. does anyone remember the Dukes of Hazzard movie? I played with Transformers, i watched the cartoons, and hearing they were going to make a movie with live action robots just didn’t seem like a good idea to me.

fast forward to tonight, and after having seen it, it was TOTALLY AWESOME! sure the story had some holes and there was some needless politics, but seeing Optimus Prime in all his CGI glory ordering “Autobots….ROLL OUT!” made me smile. the amazing computer animation, the genuine robot transforming sound, the screechy voice for Starscream….it all worked. If only Mute Math’s version of the Transformers Theme would have made it into the credits, we may have had a near perfect movie. it was way better than i thought it would be. i was even able to forgive them for having Megatron not be a gun, Jazz not be a Porsche, and Bumblebee to not be a Beetle. i totally caught all of the references to the cartoons, which i’m still not sure if i should be proud or afraid of. either way, the imperfections in the movie were made up with the computer generated robot war going on, and i loved it.

just got back from the new die hard movie and it was great. except for the one part where he took on a plane that isn’t in production yet, i chalked everything up to creative license. i highly recommend it if you’re looking for a good action movie this weekend, or in the next few weeks. one thing though, don’t let your little cousins go to the movie. we were in line buying tickets, and there were these kids being dropped off by their mom to go see the 9:40 showing. wtf? it’s die hard, not disney for crying out loud.

so i meant to post some of the stories from the conference and wedding. first of all, i learned how to peel a banana backwards….which actually is a better way to peel a banana. we were sitting in a class one day, and one of the guys at my table started peeling a banana backwards. we all asked what he was doing, but after he explained it, this new way made perfect sense. go ahead, next time you go to eat a banana, peel from the bottom. no fighting with the stem, no squishing the top unnecessarily….just a perfectly peeled banana. i’m telling you, and it’s a good conversation starter also. when i met up with my friend heather for coffee last weekend, i bought a banana just so i could show her and talk about it.

i went to the conference last week not really looking forward to it because i’ve been to two before, and not really made friends with people from other sites. this time though, i did. we played darts and hung out, and now i’ve kept talking to new friends and might even go to their pirate party in the fall. the networking worked this time!

the wedding was great. the decorating of the car was the one thing i wish i could have had a better handle on. you know the drill, the wedding party decorates the car of the newly married couple as they drive off into the sunset. i told one of my fellow groomsmen (not a groomsman) the night before to get some white shoe polish. as the honorary best man, i was with the groom the whole time providing protection and assistance, so i wasn’t going to take the groom himself out to find supplies to decorate his car. lame, right? so i asked someone to get some shoe polish, and anything else he could think of. he was already married, so i figured he could carry out this task…no problem. so the post wedding activities are going on, and i negotiate time with the wedding planner to decorate the car. our supplies are a pack of oreos, some canned whipped cream, and these face painting pencils that you have to have water for. you can see where this is going. i chose the face painting pencils which worked less than stellar…..actually, they sucked. i actually just started finger painting on the car because the pencils were not working. the rest of the groomsmen (not groomsmen) used the oreos and whipped cream. of course, it being a summer day, by the time the bride and groom got to the car, the whipped cream and oreos had melted. other than that, we were all able to perform our duties without falling down, tripping on something, or not having the right sized tux.

the speech i gave actually came off pretty good. i was a little nervous before, but the guy who went before me kind of rambled on about stuff, i lost what he was talking about (partly cause i was trying to remember what i was going to say), and made things a little awkward by saying he and the bride’s father used to go after fast cars and fast women. (i laughed for him) i forgot to include a few parts of what i thought about saying, but i totally went without notes and winged the speech. well, maybe not winged, i remembered what i had written, but i didn’t have anything written to look at, so i did it all from memory. it came off pretty well i think….i mean, i was still in the wedding the next day so i must have done something right.

it was a really great week/weekend and i’m glad i took so many pictures to remember it by. i think i’ve finally broken through taking a lot of pictures. i used to be awful about taking pictures with film cameras. it would take me a couple of months to finish one roll of film. i am taking my camera with me to both cookouts tomorrow as i celebrate America’s birth. should be a great day of family, friends, and good brew. so this july fourth, be a true patriot, take pictures of yourself in an american flag bandana…such as this one of me from last year.

so the roof is done. its pretty exciting, and today i talked to a guy who can actually do the rest of the work that needs to be done, so hopefully he’ll actually come thursday like i talked to him about today. these contractors say a lot of things, but it takes a special one to actually come when he says. anyway, but things are looking to be done for the middle of december, which would be awesome. i was hoping thanksgiving, but that’s not looking likely anymore, esp since thanksgiving is next week! here are some pictures. (also some memphis pictures are loaded too). be sure to see the before and after.

the new blog is taking off i guess. chad just posted a review of a hootie show he went to recently, and coming up a three part series of ‘the state of dmb‘ with parts from me, and my fellow dmb fans and longtime friends marika and robbi. should be fun to read.

i’m so excited for friday night. jacob and i are going to hit up a movie theatre and see the new johnny cash movie, ‘walk the line‘. after having been in the actual sun studio, to see production pictures of them filming there was really cool. i had read about cash’s spiritual journey, and i’m really looking forward to how much they deal with that in the movie. it was really powerful.

oh, and i’m going to clemson the weekend after thanksgiving (ie first weekend in december). no football game, but i think i’ll be able to hit up a basketball game while i’m there. i don’t know if i’ve looked forward to a trip there more than i am this one.

do you ever have movies that push you over the edge? i’m talking get you from thinking ‘yeah, that’d be good’ to ‘i really want to do it…NOW’. i went and saw elizabethtown today and i’ve never liked a movie that much walking out before. yeah, i’ve gone through my top 5, but elizabethtown had something more. the way it made me think of things in my own life set it apart from other movies i’ve seen, and the music in it wasn’t bad either. two ryan adams songs appeared, including one of my top 2 favorites, english girls approximately. and some things i’m dealing with my dad about, after seeing the movie, i think i’m going to try to talk to him in the next week because i sure don’t want to end up standing over his casket as ‘my father’s gun‘ starts to go in my head wishing i had done more. the sense of family was awesome. and how she made him that road trip box..to think of how much time and thought went into something like that. if a girl did that for me i’d be her’s forever.

and i want to quit my job. any suggestions on what i should do? i think i should just move to tennessee or something. i’m sick of dealing with the crap at work, i’m tired of what i do, and i don’t want to wake up in 5 years and still have it.

i definitely think a trip to memphis is in my near future.

so i caught a gecko in my breakfast room tonight before i ate dinner. that really has nothing to do with what i’m going to type, but i found it interesting. anyway, i went and saw ‘war of the worlds‘ with my buddy ryan today. it was very good i thought, and tom cruise was fine. although at one point i couldn’t help but think of all the ‘acting crazy’ he’s doing and all the headlines he’s been making. it was only during one scene, the rest of it i kept thinking about how creepy tim robbins was, or how cool the movie was.

one scene did grab my attention, and made me mad. i don’t like being angered or frustrated by movies. i don’t like arlington road for this reason. one scene in the movie today angered me. i’ll preface it by saying again how i’m reading blue like jazz. one of the first chapters is about how we as humans have a sin nature. in other words, the smart money is on that we would do the wrong thing if given the choice most of the time. we’d normally do bad things if we knew we would not be held accountable for it. he makes an analogy about how you drive the speed limit when there’s a cop around, but when there’s not one, you speed. at least i do. you have to train a child to behave, they are not born with the mindset of obeying their parents or anything. see what i’m saying? so back to the movie today…there is one scene where mob violence occurs. i’m talking people jumping on top of the van cruise and his kids are driving and punching out windows while they’re in the car, people physically pulling them out of the car. i was angered by this…is this what i should expect people to do in the case of a catastrophe? they actually carjacked the van and then a few minutes later, a guy opened the door and shot the driver who carjacked cruise. shouldn’t i expect people to have common sense? i have a cynical way of looking at people i don’t know. i know i probably shouldn’t, but i’m not one of those people who assumes people are going to do the right thing. i see people blatently disregard others and it angers me. and seeing the carjacking scene in the movie just really got on my nerves. if aliens invaded earth, are people just going to go around shooting each other over caravans? really? if so that is terrible. i don’t understand how people can do that to each other. i want to believe that in a crisis, we’d all band together. i have reason to believe this, we all were all friends in the days following sept 11th. so i guess i can chalk up the carjacking to movies, but i wish they could have left that part out.

all this went along ironically with a new commercial for the one campaign. i was watching some of the live 8 shows today and saw it. its very powerful. am i to believe humanity cares about each other that something like the one campaign can be successful? i saw a documentary movie of the tibetan freedom festival one time a few years ago. most of it was filmed during the first concert. i remember they showed the entrance gate and one guy came in yelling “FREE TIBET!”, but in that ‘i’m drunk and i’m at a rock show, YEAH!’ way. i couldn’t help but think that person really had no idea what the tibetan freedom festival was all about. i thought of that type of person today watching live 8. do the people in the crowd really understand how big of an undertaking ‘making poverty history’ is? my cynical attitude towards humanity lends me to believe no, they don’t. most of them are just there for the music. i really think the one campaign is a good thing. i think the wide array of people involved leads me to believe it will work. i notice they have wrist bands, and my first thought is ‘hey, that’s been done‘, but i give them credit for trying. getting a daily reminder out there is tough, and a bracelet brings up conversations.

anyway, i’ll wrap up this meandering entry by saying i want to believe society has good in it. i want to think people will treat each other decently when faced with crisis. i guess i just need to see more people treating each other with respect on days when there are not giant metal alien controlled tripods roaming the earth.

what a week! okay, for those interested i called claire wednesday night and we’re going the friends route. so i’m glad that’s over and done with. where i go from there, i don’t know. work was incredibly boring this week, but its been cool becoming better friends with people from work. i actually ate in the cafeteria a couple of times this past week, which is not something i have done twice in about the past 3 months. a lot of the younger people at work just i don’t know, bother me. they moved to new orleans cause of the party city rep so they like to go out all the time, they all live in the city…just not stuff i’m interested in. however, i think i’ve found my niche with a few people from work who i like hanging out with. in fact, these people came to the party my boss threw at his house yesterday. i had been there one time before with andy, but yesterday was a department wide party slash surprise wedding shower for both thomas and laurin. they are each getting married, but not to each other. anyway, it was fun to be out near the river he lives on drinking beer, eating lots, and talking with friends. i think my boss is pretty cool. now if he could give me some work to do!

i’m now two chapters into blue like jazz and i really like it. speaking of other things i’m discovering to like, i feel somewhat vindicated by a kelly clarkson song. yes, her new song ‘behind these hazel eyes’ is so great because finally those of us with hazel eyes have a song to call our own. no thanks to the who (behind blue eyes) or van morrison (brown eyed girl). and its pretty defiant, so i really like it. i don’t know what this does to my music taste rep, but i figure i have some leeway to play with. i also listened to some of the new reliant k record and i was impressed. its emo/rock, but it has a point and is not whiny.

in other news, i was very happy to read a story related to one of the all time best sports movies, ‘field of dreams’. the character in the movie, moonlight graham, was a real person. everything about him from the time he played in one game but never had an at-bat, to the part about him being a doctor for kids back in minnesota. i thought the story was great. and it would have been fantastic had you taken out the bonds quote. seriously, the general public pretty much dislike the guy, and he’s not even playing this year, so why even quote him in an article like that? sad.

also, my movie pantheon has one rule…no movie can be added within 3 months of having first seen the movie. my favorite movie to watch over and over again is ‘swingers‘ and my favorite dramatic movie is ‘garden state’. i saw a trailer yesterday for cameron crowe’s new movie, ‘elizabethtown‘ and i think it may take the spot as the top overall dramatic movie. its repeatability is yet to be seen. it comes out in october.

this past week my opinion of things and myself have gone from one side of the spectrum to the other. i went to the wedding in nashville for my friend brooks. it was awesome. i loved being in a wedding since i didn’t have to stand up and turn around when the bride walked in. i also got to play golf with my friends and participate in some groom hazing the night before. we actually duct taped brooks’ wrists and ankles and carried him out into the elevator. when that didn’t work, we wrote on his chest with sharpie then did the duct tape thing again. neither worked exactly as we planned, but it was fun and i have pictures. no they will not be posted here. i didn’t get to walk in with the hot bridesmaid (HB), but i did talk to her and dance with her. i came home thinking i wanted to date her, but after a couple of days of thinking about it and how i was acting around her, i realized i was being stupid. i dated this triathlete girl last summer. she was super hot, but when i was around her i kept feeling like i had to impress her. this is what i was feeling with HB. of course that’s not good, and i thought about how i feel when i’m around claire and i don’t feel i have to impress her. in fact, i don’t even try, and it hasn’t hurt me yet.

i went out with her tonight actually and it was really cool. i had to skip bible study, which i didn’t like having to do, but hey, it was important i find out if she’s worth taking to the keane show in a couple of weeks. concerts are important to me, and in fact, i’ve never taken a date to a show. ever. i know that’s hard to believe, but its true. so taking claire to keane is going to be a first. i’m not taking her to the ryan adams show the next night though. i’ll keep the superfan hidden for the time being.

i’ve mentioned before how i think almost famous is one of my favorite movies ever. so tonight after we ate and got coffee, we went back to claire’s and watched the movie. it was important to gauge her reaction to it because its in my top 5 movies of all time and to see that movie and how it treats music and relationships really gives insight on me a bit. i have the director’s cut version and we watched it. it was actually longer than i thought, and it had been a while since i had seen it. she actually enjoyed it, but kept saying it was ‘random’. but that’s okay, she did go on record saying she liked it, which is good enough for me.

and finally, i completed another album review. this time as a late fill in for my friend jacob for the new audioslave album. i thought it came out better than my cold roses review, and yet you may have noticed in the comments section in my last entry, jacob says it may get trumped for his coldplay review. what, can they not run TWO album reviews in the same week?

one more thing, i only need two more referrals for my free ipod. thanks so much to the three people already signed up.

have you ever been to movies on opening night? kari’s blog today gave me an idea for a blog and i hope she doesn’t mind. i like going to see movies when they first open because you skip having to deal with people who are only going to see the movie cause its ‘cool’. like the chick who had her cell phone go off during daniel day lewis’ monologue scene in gangs of new york. opening night movies have no cell phones going off because everyone is there to see the movie because they want to see the movie. the crowd gasps when they’re supposed to, and they get all the jokes. its like seeing a movie with a whole lot of friends, you’re there for a common purpose. i’ve been to see a handful of movies on opening night, and all of them were great experiences.

probably the most memorable is when my friends and i went to see matrix reloaded on opening night. now of course, everyone thought going into the final two matrix movies that they were going to be great, there wasn’t going to be a giant disappointment with the movie. so we go, the theatre is packed to the gills. the lights go dim and the music starts. you know what i’m talking about. the loud horns and then the matrix theme. then the warner brothers logo, the anticipation builds, then the film starts going slanted, then you can make out the opening scene with trinity, then the film goes unwatchable. people started to boo, but of course these days no one stays with the film reel, its all automatic. people start yelling at the guy nearest the window to climb on top of his seat and knock on the glass. he does so, but nobody is in the little room. more booing. it was chaos, but so much fun. then they cut the film off, and fix things, but we’ve missed the entire action sequence at the beginning with trinity jumping a motorcycle off a building to another building. good thing it was a dream sequence and it was replayed later, so i didn’t feel too bad. but the whole experience made the night memorable. other good memories of movies on opening nights, the whole crowd cheering like it was a football game when the humans beat the aliens in independence day, people applauding the two towers, the way people were buzzing before spiderman 2 started, or the shear emotional outpouring at the passion. oh, and one other memory, my friend andy organized a whole lot of people at work to go see matrix revolutions on opening night at the imax in new orleans. it was pretty cool, and the feeling outside was ‘there is still hope for this last one.’ and then when it was over the weak clapping, like the kind where you know its people feel they have to. yeah, it was a bit disappointing.

maybe i’ll go see the new star wars opening night. if i can remember when its going to be.