Year: 2005

…or “How I Learned to Stop Nitpicking and Love Lucas”

To be honest, I enjoyed Episodes 1 and 2. No, they certainly weren’t as compelling as the original trilogy, but it was foolish to think they could be. There was too much at stake, too much time had passed, and too many high expectations for them to even come close. But in the end, Lucas learned his lessons. Attack of the Clones dropped a lot of the childishness and plotless wow factors from The Phantom Menace. And now Revenge of the Sith (possibly the best named episode) loses almost all of the failures of the previous two and delivers the movie I dared not dream to be made.

In case you couldn’t figure it out, I caved in and ordered two tickets for Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith for Lisa and I just after work. And now I’m just soaking in the beautiful realization of a movie done right.

At this point, you should probably stop reading if you haven’t seen it yet. Not that I plan on spoiling anything, but I wouldn’t want to influence your opinion (because I know how much sway my words hold)…

Continue reading “OMFG! Wookies rox0r!”

It’s May 18th. You know what that means, right? I have to admit, I’m really looking forward to this third installment, yet I have no tickets. Planmaking is certainly not my forte, and these days seeing a movie in the theater (especially opening night) just isn’t a big enough motivator. Of course, now I’m regretting that decision, as I saw the last two releases and the original trilogy re-releases on their respective opening days. Oh well, what’s a geek to do?

My real concern is having to avoid spoilers and discussions from those who took the punishment of entering a theater at midnight. I don’t want to be left out! And while my job is flexible, it’s not like previous years where I could just skip half the day in order to see a movie. So now I’m not even sure when I’ll get around to it.

I am such a terrible geek! So, what plans do you guys have, if any?

The Comcast tech came Friday morning. I was already at work, which left my somewhat less technically savvy partner to make sure matters were taken care of. Not that I thought Lisa would screw anything up, mind you, but cable techs don’t always know what they’re doing and sometimes you need to know more to keep them on track. My fear was that another day would come and go and I would be left in the Internet-less void my apartment had come to occupy. Lisa did call me while I was at work, and left me with a sunken feeling that our connection would never be restored.

Well, at least at first she did. The tech was all sorts of confused with my rig (I’m not exactly sure where that term came from) and left in a bewildered state, muttering foreign curse words as he stumbled down the street. He thought it was the modem, the poor fool. If only someone had bothered to let him know that we already tried THREE OTHER MODEMS. And while his half-assed job did not conclude with some good ol’ fashion web browsin’, Lisa assured me that the “Connected” light was, in fact, on. Which meant that the rest of the troubleshooting would be left as an exercise for the paying customer. Namely, me.

But a funny thing happened on my way home to get my download on – I didn’t go home. That’s right, faced with an unknown evening lacking any concrete plans, I still decided that heading over to Hoboken for whatever adventures may await was a better scenario for a Friday night than catching up with e-mail and blogs. No offense to all of my regular reads, but it’s time that I get my life back.

Lisa and I have somewhat isolated ourselves out here in Montclair. It’s not like we’re avoiding people, but there aren’t nearly the opportunities for random socializing as we had in bustlin’ ‘Boken. Even the Arts and Music Fest was a bit of a downer with no central hub to congregate and a lack of apartments for crashing, leading us to an early departure. But we’re slowly getting into the swing of the more suburban lifestyle, and that often means going out of our way to see people. In this instance I took the free time (while Lisa was visiting another friend) to enjoy some quality time with a mutz and sopresseta sandwich from Luca Brasi’s (it’s been way too long), some intense browsing at Tunes (more music to come later), and finally a stop at Busker’s (the unfortunately named new hangout in Hoboken).

And that’s exactly the kind of night I needed. Chillin’ out on the sidewalk, knockin’ back a few Smithwick’s, and catchin’ up with some friends. Don’t get me wrong, I still need to catch up with all my online reading, but I’d like to start putting more effort into re-connecting with my “real world” friends.

Man, sometimes these “sorry I haven’t been writing” posts can become a big mess. Next up, my Internet identity crisis!

Thankfully Comcast just called to confirm the appointment tomorrow morning. Even if the modem were working again, I’d make them send someone out as reparation for the hell my life has been without the Internet.

Yes, I am exaggerating (about the hell part, not about making them send the guy out anyway), but that doesn’t change the fact that I am looking forward to being re-connected tomorrow as one might look forward to being released from a Taiwanese jail.

Okay, so maybe that’s a little more hyperbole. But can you blame me? I barely have the time to do any online reading at work. My website redesign has once again been put off (and this time it isn’t my laziness). And goodness, I can’t even check what the weather is like until I get to work!

Forget refrigeration, combustible engines, vaccination, sliced bread, and the wheel, how did man survive before broadband?!?!

Just in case anyone out there might be working on a screenplay or something *cough* *cough* John August is willing to help. He’s blogging about screenwriting and answering questions from readers.

And just in case you don’t know who he is, he’s got a decent resume (even if he did write both Charlie’s Angels movies).

(thanks to A Whole Lotta Nothing)

I really wanted to write about Scott getting dumped. Really, I did. How could I not be excited about losing that complete waste from the competition. Sure, we’ve still got the white boy and the robot up there, but I can at least tolerate (or sleep through) their performances. Anyway, it’s that (belated) time again…
Continue reading “American Idol – Top Four”

I had a fairly nice weekend, despite the viciousness of my allergies. Unfortunately, I returned home to find a rather confused cable modem. I’ve been pretty happy with Comcast’s service up until this point. The guy who installed everything did a great job, and the few problems I’ve had were cleared up quickly, but now this.

The first tech tells me that it’s a cable modem problem. Okay, no biggie, I’ve still got spares from my Cablevision days. So I give them the info and pop another one on the line. They seem to be having some problems and then… click… click… “If you’d like to make a call…” Great. So now I have to call back and see if I can get this process started with minimal retelling of steps taken. The next tech is helpful and tries to get me up and running as fast as possible. But then he figures out the real problem. It’s an issue with the line. They’ve got to send someone out. There’s an opening on Thursday.

Thursday.

That’s real helpful. Especially considering we can’t even take that one and have to settl for an appointment Friday morning. That mean I have no Internet access at home until the end of the week. I really don’t care that they’ll refund me the money for this week, it’s outrageous that cable companies still operate on this BS “We’ll get a tech out there sometime this month” mentality.

In other words, I’m not very happy.

And neither are my sinuses.

I forgot to mention that I’ll be down in Philly tomorrow participating in the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation‘s Race for the Cure. Lisa and I will be walking the 5K with my family in honor of my sister. I’m looking forward to spending the time with them, and taking a stroll around Philly for a good cause. Hopefull I’ll get some nice photos to share, too.

If you are interested in donating, you can do so directly for our team, Lisa’s Lot.

There comes a time in everybody’s life when their parents finally say, “When the hell are you getting all of your old crap out of our house?” Well, maybe not quite like that, but those of us who have bounced around from rental to rental live our lives in fear of both losing our precious possessions and having to store them ourselves. That time has come for Lisa.

Tonight she came hom with 4 large Rubbermaid tubs filled with “Teen Beat” and “Bop” magazines, tour books from assorted concerts, old newspaper clippings, postcards, letters, photos, Smurfs, bracelets, and Garbage Pail Kids. It’s a veritable cornucopia of the precious nothings one collects over the course of a lifetime – in particular the part of one’s lifetime when one believes everything is worth collecting. I have smaller treasure troves myself, but the masculine side of me has prevented the overwhelming attachment to all things cute and barely memorable that has developed in Lisa.

Of course I would not dare dream of making her part with these vestiges of a life gone past. They will, however, most likely find their way to a storage facility. But there is a certain line that must be drawn. a-Ha and Duran Duran world tour books? Let’s pack ’em away. College newspapers and notes from old friends? Sure, why not? Souvenir junk from past trips? As long as they fit in a box, the more the merrier. A rubber bracelet that her hamster chew threw? Alrighty, I think we may have found where that line gets drawn…

But the real fun is in sorting through all of these snippets of yesteryear. It’s a way of briefly reliving the days when life seemed so far ahead of you. And being able to share it with someone you love who missed it the first time around, well, that’s priceless. Especially when it involves photos taken in the eighties…

Amidst all of the cute pigtailed little girls and young college co-ed pictures in which you’d swear she hadn’t aged a day since, I found the most precious photo of Lisa. Her immediate response was to deny, and then to protest that she was supposed to get a haircut that day. Quickly she scrambled for others to distract my attention, or to at least point out that it normally was that… extreme. And under penalty of death and dismemberment I will probably never be able to share that photo with you. But I swear, we’re talking at least 3.5 inches of added height, and not just by the bangs. The entire top swoops up as if Moses himself were commanding, and rises to such tremendous heights that I questioned her ability to walk through doorways.

Perhaps I will be able to share some of the adorable little girl shots, or the tame ones of her from high school in which she looks exactly the same as today! But the true prize will remain hidden, as I do not wish to relocate myself to the couch. Then again… such commanding heights… it would almost be worth it…

That’s right, my stupid commentary is back be popular demand. What can I say, none of us seem to have real lives to compete with our real TV. You know the drill…
Continue reading “American Idol – Top Five”