Wild Kingdom

And this is my backyard in suburbia. At least he/she? didn't charge me, I can only imagine what fending off a savage turkey attack would be like.

Ephemera

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Initial Perspective

This may not exactly follow poetic conventions of meter, rhyme or quality, but I've never claimed to be a poet.

"Initial Perspective"

'Twas the day of NYC Pride,
and all were celebrating.
I watched a parade
just standing there, waiting.

I saw politicians
and go-go boys galore;
but I said to myself,
"Surely, there must be more."

I stood there for hours,
then round the corner I did see...
the Pride Center of Jersey
and my new friend Chris D.

I got his attention
and briefly we did meet;
then he continued marching
to Christopher Street.

I started to wander
over to Pride Fest;
not much to see,
certainly not their best.

Then Chris called me up;
"Hey, let's get together."
I went to go meet him
knowing the day would get better.

We walked through the fest,
again, not much of a treat,
then we decided
that it was time to eat.

We went on our way,
and accidentally walked north,
but eventually made it
to Broadway and 4th.

All during this time,
we talked as peers.
An amazing conversation,
best I've had in years.

After the lunch,
down to Stonewall Inn,
packed with many revelers,
hard to hear in the din.

First bar I've been too
in God knows how many years,
Though Chris managed to
allay all my fears.

A couple of drinks,
a couple of songs,
back into the street
away from the throng.

Up to the 20's
and a place called View Bar,
to meet Chris' friends,
since it wasn't that far.

We met up with Stephen
and also Chris Nash;
then things got really fun
as the stories got hashed.

Off to X es
and my lack of dance skill.
Seriously, I need some moves
for a vibe I can kill.

I gave it a try,
and I'm not good still,
then a random stranger grinded me
and got up in my grill.

A few drinks for Mr. Highbrow
and the shirt nearly comes off,
Sex Vs. Intimacy
and who we would boff.

Then Chris N. had to go
and help out a friend,
He was quite a great guy
sad the time had to end.

Off to Cafeteria
for a late night bite,
more great conversation
late into the night.

Now it's 1:30am
and Stephen left then
I had a good time with him,
hopefully we'll meet again.

So Chris and I walked uptown
thankful for no rain,
then one small problem,
Chris D. missed his train.

So to Jersey I drove him
and we talked more on the way.
Eventually his house was reached,
and thus ended the day.

We parted with a hug
and promises to meet again soon;
back to NY I drove,
and got home before noon.

On the way back home,
I was sad the day had to end,
but one thought made me happy,
I've made an awesome, great new friend.

Team Duncan

After a marathon viewing of Total Drama Island and the 1 hour special, I am ready to enjoy Total Drama Action! I've got the first 13 episodes ready to go, then will be able to enjoy it on a week to week basis. Plainly, I am rooting for Duncan to take the win on season 2. I find him to be the most consistently funny character after Izzy, but there's no way she'd ever win. Besides, who doesn't like the bad boy?

Strange End to a Strange Life

Surprised, but not shocked.

A former co-worker of mine put it best when he said: "I think it's ironic that every little boys crush dies on the same day as the guy who had a crush on every little boy."

Maybe not exactly the truth, but funny.

Which reminds me:



I never owned this poster growing up, I might have realized I was gay a lot earlier if I did (seriously, it's a bit creepy). At least both of them have their peace now.

Scratch That

Oh well, maybe it's Andy Roddick's time again.

Daddy?

Being adopted, I have occasionally wondered who and where my birth father is. Never really have had much of an interest in finding him, maybe someday. More often, however, I think of how cool it would be if he turned out to be a celebrity. And who would be cooler than Jim Perry? Sure, there are some game show hosts that might be more famous than him, but between Card Sharks and Sale of the Century (two of my favorites), well....I just think it would be neat.

Above is one of my favorite clips, the only time a contestant shot the moon on the Big Money cards.

How sad is it that all the great hosts will probably be gone in the next decade or so? Ludden, Cullen, Barry, Rayburn are already gone. Kennedy, Barker and Hall are in their 80's and Perry, Dawson, Eubanks and Martindale in their 70's. Only Chuck Woolery is still in his 60's and just barely.

Maybe I should do more game show posts? It's one of my favorite topics.

Le Sigh

Jeez, I just can't catch a break anymore rooting for Marat. Already out of Wimbledon. Oh well, hopefully I'll catch him at the US Open before he retires.

At least Janko and Andy are still in the running.

You don't need no stinking report

So I was on the job last weekend driving the taxi. It had been a nice, albeit long day. The last train pulled in at 2:30, I got two fares from it, both a couple miles away. Ok, so it won't be a quick finish, but I should still be done by 3:00 then home by 3:30. I drop off the last fare, turn to head back to the station where I will hopefully get the word to fill up, I go to turn left onto the main road back to the station when...

SHEAR!

A young woman blows through the red light facing her and takes off the front of the cab. It was a rather amazing accident. Oddly, I didn't even feel the hit. It was so neatly done that the car wasn't jostled into another position at all. The detritus covered about a 100 yard radius. The front part of the cab had nearly been shorn off; save for a few dangling pieces, it was a clean break. Bumper, headlights, grill, all neatly shaved off right to where the hood started. Three more feet into the intersection and it would have been the driver's side door she hit.

Then it got strange. The police were called. The young woman said her father worked as a captain in the police department. About four minutes later, her father did pull up to the accident scene, shortly followed by a squad car. The police took my information and my side of the story. I went to ask the woman for her information and exchange mine, but she wouldn't talk to me. She said I would have to go through her father. Her father would only mention how old the cab looked and wouldn't give me any information. He would keep going off to talk to the two officers by himself. Every time I would sidle up close to see what was going on, one of the officers would say that everything was all right and I could sit down and relax. When the father was not talking to the officers, he was telling his daughter to be quiet and sit in his car.

Eventually, I was given a slip of paper with both of our information on it and told that this was all I needed. The tow truck for the cab came, I went back to the station and got home about 4:40am, then had to be at work eight hours later.

Cut to today. I went downtown to get a copy of the police report. Everyone I know said it was very strange to have this father do most of the talking since he wasn't even there for the accident. I should make sure that this report didn't say something completely opposite of what happened. I agreed and went to see what the report did say. I get to the records office, give the details of the date, time and report number and was told the the report was a "Code 4", meaning that no official report of the accident was to be filed. Hmmmm. This smells to me like a cover up. Most likely the girl was drinking or realized she was at fault for the accident, and her father did not want negative consequences for her, so he made sure that nothing would be filed that could be harmful to his daughter.

I still haven't heard anything from the cab company about it, I would like to talk to the boss so I can find out if there's anything information I'm unaware of, but none of my phone calls are returned (not a huge surprise). For the moment, it looks as if the matter is closed, at least there's no report that claims something negative about me, and I drove this past weekend, so the company can't be too mad. If anything else develops from this, I'll update.

Waiting for the call.......

So back on June 9th, I had an interview for a teaching position. I thought the interview went rather well and even sent a thank you note the next day filling in some of the blanks I felt were left from the interview.

Cut to today...and....nothing. No word at all yet. I'm slightly loathe to call since I don't want to be viewed as a pest, but I would imagine that two weeks should be enough time to make the decision, especially as the school year ends on Friday. I'm not going around assuming that I didn't get the job, but after this amount of time with no contact, I don't think it's looking too positive.

Brooke

I don't know. I've just been in a Rupert Brooke mood recently. A tad melancholy, a tad crazed, a tad restless.

At least it's only once a year......

Thank God I'm still amazingly youthful looking.

Earth Shmay

I'm not sure where all the hoopla for this comes from. Earth Day? April 22nd? The way I see it is this. At this current moment in time, I'm 35 years old (36 in 8 days). If I'm a very lucky person, I'll make it to 100 to get a Willard Scott shoutout. Yes, there are some definite signs that global warming is speeding up, but I can't see anything truly significant happening to Earth in the next 64 years. So what do I care? I'm no Earth hater by any means, I'm not spraying aerosol cans into the atmosphere for shits and giggles, but I just can't buy into all the roohah for this. Now, if reincarnation is proved to me, thereby ensuring my continued existence on this planet beyond my life in this body, then I will reassess the situation.

Salmon P. Chase, Where Are You?

Slowly the Walls Start to Close

American Idol-- Free Child with Every Song

So I finally sat down to watch American Idol in earnest this season. I've sort of popped in and out the past few weeks, but after watching both of the last seasons in full, I just wasn't ready for another few months of auditions and Hollywood week. I didn't even really watch the first few weeks of public eliminations as they went back to the original way of eliminating contestants and I didn't want to watch 9 people sing every week that I wasn't going to see ever again.

So this was my first introduction to most of the contestants this season and I must say I was decently impressed. It's hard to choose an absolute favorite at this point, but Adam Lambert's version of "Black and White" was the best of the evening by far. Though how awesome would it have been if he performed the Macaulay Culkin rap piece from the song?

Anyhoo.....not that I'm old...I'm not....and maybe it comes from living in close proximity to NYC, but I was shocked at and lost count of the number of contestants who were 23 or under and were married with children or unmarried with children. Holy Crap! It seemed like every other person had a child or was divorced. I was just basically out of college at 23, and even if I could have gotten married in this country back then, it was the last thing on my mind. Even my sister didn't get married until she was 28 and was 30 when she had her first child. Is this something new, or has my head been stuck in the sand?

Another Reason I'm Happy

Dancing With the Stars is back on! I don't know exactly why, but I love watching this show. Plus it brings Mark Ballas (who is just hot) and Johnathan Roberts (who sadly is married) back onto my television. Here's hoping both of them make the finals......

Reason I'm happy.....

Thank God for Tivo! I thought Reaper was coming back on the 17th. I never took off my season pass from last year, so imagine my surprise when I found a brand new episode awaiting me the other day. Ah, so nice to have Bret Harrison back on the hair. Spring is definitely coming.

New Netflix Queue

I' ve added a something or other, feedburn? rss thingy? to the sidebar showing the top few films on my Netflix Queue, in addition to the ones I have at home. Cringe to the horrors of the crap I watch!

Hmmm..

Well, I've had time let it sink in. 21/24 correct on the Oscars, my best year ever. 87.5% Can't be upset though, never would have gotten all 24. Could have guessed Sean Penn, and possibly The Dark Knight in Sound Whatever, but never would have seen Departures in Foreign Film. I don't think it even opens here until June. Ah well, bring on next year.

My bologna has a first name.....

Well, my lack of a well-paying job and worsening financial situation has left me rather apathetic to posting on a semi-regular basis, hopefully when things turn around (if), it will all get better. Still though, no reason not to post my own personal Oscar picks. Tough one this year.

Best Actor: Mickey Rourke

This could just as easily go to Sean Penn, but as the ceremony arrives, I just haven't heard the buzz surrounding Penn as you would normally expect to hear around a winner; so I'm guessing the comeback story of Rourke wins the day here.

Best Supporting Actor: Heath Ledger

It could go to someone else, but then that person would be hated forever. The good thing is that Ledger would actually deserve the Oscar, as his performance was worthy, not just mass hysteria to honor a deceased star.

Best Actress: Kate Winslet

Again, this could easily go to Meryl Streep, and I'm sure the Academy would love to honor her again, but I think the Academy would love to honor Winslet for the first time even more. Plus, it's about the Holocaust, Ricky Gervais is right on that point.

Best Supporting Actress: Penelope Cruz

This race is a bit more open. The only performance that has stayed with me is Cruz's. The Wrestler is all about Rourke, so I don't think it will go to Tomei. Henson was fine but forgettable. Adams was also fine but a bit one note, though people do seem to like her. Davis did a great job with her scene, but I didn't think it was as amazing as others thought. So I say Cruz, with hesitation.

Best Animated Feature: WALL-E

The Panda beat it at the animation awards, but more people vote for the Oscar, so WALL-E will take home it's due.

Best Art Direction: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

The film looked beautiful, and it got to follow the characters through many different time periods. Maybe The Dark Knight could upset it, and if it had scored a Best Picture nod it might have, but Button has to win something.

Best Cinematography: Slumdog Millionaire

Maybe not the best choice, but it was vibrant and kinetic, and that will win the day.

Best Costume Design: The Duchess

After watching Elizabeth: The Golden Sequel win, I realized that Best Costume means best period film, so The Duchess will win for its finery.

Best Director: Danny Boyle

I actually liked Slumdog Millionaire and was happy to see it nominated for so many awards. Frost/Nixon and Button I thought were boring, The Reader was good until that twist, then the film started to unravel. I loved Milk, but I don't think it has enough oomph to overthrow Slumdog in major categories. So Boyle will take home the Oscar.

Best Documentary Feature: Man on Wire

A two way race between Man and Herzog's Encounters. Man wins because 1. The man involved is a great storyteller and 2. It's about the World Trade Center.

Best Documentary Short: Smile Pinki

I arrived 3 hours early for the screenings of the shorts and it was already sold out! What's the deal? MOMA needs to hold 2 screenings at least. A tougher call without seeing them, but consensus seems to be between the MLK associated The Witness and the Indian Cleft Lip story Smile Pinki. I'm thinking cute and adorable wins the day, so Pinki will take it.

Best Editing: Slumdog Millionaire

Spirited and kinetic wins the day. It does seem as if fast paced usually wins the day here.

Best Foreign Language: The Class

The Class is an amazing film, and not just because I'm an unemployed teacher. This category can be tough to call as only qualified voters and vote, and 3 of the nominees has not been released to see yet, but I can't imagine much being better than The Class.

Best Makeup: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

I'd love to see Hellboy II win here, but I think most people would associate the makeup jobs with visual effects, so Button will pick up the Oscar here, and hey, it has to win something.

Best Original Score: Slumdog Millionaire

Hmmm....I wonder what the opposite of this award would be? Remember when it used to be 2 different awards? Anyhoo, the Indian rhythms of Slumdog will win as it's new to many.

Best Original Song: Jai Ho

Everyone watches the dance to it over the end credits of Slumdog, so how can it not win?

Best Picture: Slumdog Millionaire

The coronation will be around 11:30ish EST. I found Button to be rather dull and that seems to be a minor refrain, so that will keep it from winning. Frost/Nixon was also dull and I'm not exactly sure how that got nominated. Milk would be my second choice, and it would be a worthy winner, but again, no oomph. The Reader's second half keeps it from winning. So Slumdog it is.

Best Animated Short Film: La Maison en Petits Cubes

These I did see. All 5 are good, but La Maison was quite touching and brought a tear to my eye. Only Presto has a chance to unseat it.

Best Live Action Short Film: Toyland

It's about the Holocaust, and is actually good to boot.

Best Sound Editing: Slumdog Millionaire

This probably should go to The Dark Knight, but I think most voters are going to give it to Heath Ledger and call it a day, so the kineticism of Slumdog will win here.

Best Sound Mixing: Slumdog Millionaire

This probably should go to The Dark Knight, but I think most voters are going to give it to Heath Ledger and call it a day, so the kineticism of Slumdog will win here.

Best Visual Effects: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Brad Pitt looking 16 again? What's not to love. Besides, Button has to win something.

Best Adapted Screenplay: Slumdog Millionaire

Slumdog takes a concept that sounds cringe inducing to hear and makes a great film out of it. I know some others don't like Slumdog, but I'm not one of them.

Best Original Screenplay: Milk

Here's the category that Milk can win in. Unless there's an swelling of support for Mike Leigh, Dustin Lance Black will win.

Good Bye 2008

And Good Riddance; hopefully 2009 has better things in store.

Merry Christmas

A few days early, but I won't be around to post the next few days. So I wish all a very Merry Christmas!

Really Black Friday

WalMart worker killed.

Gobble.

Happy Thanksgiving all!

Fingers Crossed!

Ok, I finally broke down and made an appointment with a career counselor. I'm not finding a job on my own and my nest egg has sprouted wings and is flying away quickly. I'm hoping a professional can shore up my resume and presentation skills and I'll be jobbed again ASAP. Then I can be a bit happier and will actually feel like posting more often than 1 time a month, contrary to what I wanted to do, but the lack of employment and the current financial status don't put me in the mood to do much of anything than crawl under a rock.

BWA-HA-HA-HA-HA

And I thought my students were hard to get an answer out of.

GAHHH! Get out of my Head!

Crap

AWWWW...I was hoping to see him dance more. He's my favorite. Why did they have to stick him with a sucky partner?

[title of show]

I finally had the chance to see this on Saturday night. I had heard about the show for a few years, and when the closing notice went up, I didn't want to miss it. I was not disappointed. The show had me laughing from start to finish. I'll skip plot specifics since they should be pretty well known by now or www.titleofshow.com can give them to you. The actors are all from the off-broadway version and it's obvious they truly have come to inhabit their roles. Even most of the songs were catchy, to the point where I ordered the cast album, something I haven't done for a show in years.

After the show, all the performers come out the stage door and spend as much time is needed to say hi to all the fans and sign autographs and take pictures. I've never seen Broadway actors act so nice toward their fans. I've gotten my share of autographs, but most actors make it seem like a chore they have to do. Here, they sign, chat you up and thank you for coming. And Hunter Bell in person....very attractive.

Such a shame that it's closing on Oct. 12th. Hopefully something can be done to keep it going a little longer. I'd love the opportunity to see it a few more times. If anyone reading this has thought about seeing it, or is looking for something to see in the next two weeks, I would highly recommend it.

New York Film Festival

So I will be attending the NYFF again this year, as I have been doing every year since 1994. Damn, time flies fast. Either way, here is my schedule of films (there are a few I can't attend, so if anyone sees this who lives in the NY area, you're welcome to ask me for my ticket.)

9/26 8:00pm The Class
9/27 6:00pm Happy-Go-Lucky (This is one of the films I can't attend, anyone?)
9/28 12:00pm Happy-Go-Lucky
9/28 9:00pm I'm Gonna Explode
9/30 9:15pm The Northern Land (Not sure I'm going to see this, anyone?)
10/1 9:15pm Waltz with Bashir (Stuck in Westchester that night, anyone?)
10/4 6:15pm Ashes of Time Redux
10/4 9:15pm Changeling
10/5 3:00pm Four Nights With Anna
10/5 9:00pm Gomorrah
10/6 9:15pm The Headless Woman (Not sure I'm going to see this, anyone?)
10/7 6:00pm Che
10/9 6:00pm Tokyo Sonata
10/9 9:00pm Tulpan
10/10 6:00pm A Christmas Tale
10/10 9:45pm Let it Rain
10/11 1:30pm Darren Aronofsky: Director's Dialogue
10/12 2:30pm Bullet in the Head
10/12 5:15pm Serbis
10/12 8:30pm The Wrestler

I will attending all of these alone, save for The Wrestler. Look for the person who is the saddest one there and come say HI!

Mood Upswing

Well, my attempt to find decent employment has not produced anything yet, but at least I'm back to tutoring. This way, my bank account won't quite fall off at the rate it has been. I'm still holding off on the last resort of prostituting myself, I think I'm attractive enough, but would any possible cients be?

Either way, I've been kicking myself at not writing more. I believe the complete lack of focus going on in my life doesn't add. I think about writing a post, but then remember that I could go watch this TV show, or go see that movie, or read some book, and all thoughts about posting fly out the window. I watched both of the Sci-Fi Dune miniseries in 2 days, when I could easily have talked about the movies I've seen, or my trip to Ocean City.

But I've been reading other blogs for quite some time now on a regular basis, and I figure I have to do something, even if it's something as simple as posting a video, so I'm going to try to forget all the other distractions and try to do something each day.

Idea....Stolen

I'm still wading my way through the countless hours of the Olympics I've Tivo'd, hence the total lack of posts for the past few weeks. I was hoping to do some Olympic posts, but am basically spending all my free time watching Table Tennis. Anyway, I saw this on MSNBC today and couldn't pass it up. It's the way I'd like to go, except I want my eyes open.

www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26290833/?gt1=43001

The Other O.C.

Part 3 of my summer vacation starts in a few hours. I'll be driving down to Atlantic City for the night (and hopefully a few jackpots), then on Saturday, a short hop to Ocean City. This one will be a family vacation for the week: sister, brother-in-law, nieces..... I'll be back on August 9, just in time for the Olympics and finding a job. Hopefully, once I get a job, I be able to do more regular updates here. Without a job, all the free time I have makes it harder to write posts, every time I try to type, my mind races to about 10 other things I could be doing. With the regiment of a job, I'll be forced to budget time more wisely.

Have a great week everyone!

Step Brothers Haiku Review

Ferrell and Reilly
Hate then learn to tolerate
Much laughter ensues.

The Dark Knight Haiku Review

Batman, Joker, Dent
Good and Evil push and pull
Viewer is left pleased.

Fdot responds to panta924

This is basically a continuation of my Revolutionary Road review and the comments left by panta924.

I purposely left out technical considerations of the film. Being a screening, we will given the typical caveat that color correction and sound still needed to be completed; and indeed, the first few establishing shots of the film were so dark that it was difficult to discern what they were. I assume those will be fixed up in time for the general release. Addressing the mentioned areas:

Cinematography: It's certainly serviceable, but nothing that truly stood out from the film. A large percentage of the film takes place indoors during the daytime, so there is a lot of typical indoor office and house lighting. The cinematographer is Roger Deakins, so I was hoping for a bit more. It's not disappointing by any means, just not amazing.

Such: The music was bad. This is not one of Thomas Newman's better scores. It was either too dramatic for the scene, or didn't fit the mood the scene.

Screenplay: This is the film's major flaw. The screenplay is the major reason I gave the film a C-. Revolutionary Road is not a bad film, it's a dull film. The decision to start the film with a major argument and continue after the opening credits with more marital strife never allows the audience to develop a relationship with the characters. You just don't really care what happens to them. The decision to movie to Paris is milked for a few laughs, but the decision is made right after another major argument. One scene is Frank and April yelling at each other, the next scene is April playing the doting wife and coming up with this plan. The way that Winslet plays April gives the audience a sense that there is some sort of mental imbalance within her, but the film doesn't spend 1 second exploring that possibility, so April just comes off as an incredibly strange character. I don't need everything explained to me in a movie, but dropping no clues can leave one confused. Mental Issue? Suburban Malaise? Who knows? The ending of the film also falls short (I haven't read the book, so I don't know if it matches up). It's telegraphed well in advance, so it's not much of a shock, then it's followed by a strange coda of two scenes featuring the secondary characters of the movie (a neighbor couple and Kathy Bates' real estate agent). The film just presents Frank and April as miserable for so much of the running time, that it just wears you down.

Leo: Well, I like Leo, so I'm happy to say that he does do a good job in the film. However, he isn't given that much to do. Apart from the arguments with April and an argument with Michael Shannon's character, he is largely reactionary. His character arc is very small and undramatic, so he has nothing big to sink his acting chops into. He pulls off what he has to do well, but I wish there was more for him to do.

Flames

Yes, I did it, I killed Yvette. I hated her, so much... That... it... it... flam - flames. Flames, on the side of my face, heaving... breath - , heaving breaths. Heaving breath...

FDot breaks down "Revolutionary Road"

N.B. I saw Revolutionary Road at a test screening this past Wednesday. Obviously, there will be some changes made to it before the final version is released later this year.

Directed by: Sam Mendes

Written by: Justin Haythe based on the Richard Yates' novel.

Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet, Kathy Bates, Michael Shannon

The Short of it: A depressing slog through a disintegrating marriage that not even test screenings can save.

The Long of it: Obviously, reviewing a test screening comes with it's own set of issues; the least of which is that the version I saw will no doubt have some changes made to it before the final release. However, with a running time of 1:51, there's not a whole lot to work with.

The story is actually quite simple; in 1955, Frank and April Wheeler (DiCaprio and Winslet) are a young married couple (with 2 children) in the suburbs. They both suffer from a superiority complex, believing they are more important then the other rubes who live in the suburbs, and both feeling that they don't have the lives they were meant to live: April wanted to be an actress and Frank just doesn't want to be doing his job. On a whim, they decide that a move to Paris will be beneficial to both.

This plot device is where the problems with the movie start. The film opens with a major fight between Frank and April, so it's hard to develop any feelings for the characters. Then, even though April was majorly annoyed with Frank, suddenly on a dime, she proposes this Paris trip. She'll work as a secretary while Frank just does stuff (seriously, the idea is for him to lay about and read). A good chunk of time is spent watching every secondary character's reaction to this news. Obviously, complications ensue, with Frank in his professional life and April in her personal life. Unfortunately, the movie continues on a slog through fight after fight and depressing scene after depressing scene until the very end of the film.

Here are my main issues with Revolutionary Road.

1. The obvious comic relief. The Wheeler's real estate agent (Kathy Bates) asks the Wheeler's if they would be willing to entertain her son (Michael Shannon) for an afternoon, while he is on a furlough from the local psychiatric ward. Shannon is a breath of fresh air in the proceedings, and is supposed to be the one character who can see through the facade of happiness that the Wheeler's put up, but his character is so odd and tic-y, that it becomes obvious he was needed solely to relieve the film of it's dour tone and liven up the screen for a moment. There are no laughs to be found in the film when Shannon is not on the screen. So while the character is enjoyable to watch, he feels a touch shoehorned in.

2. April Wheeler. This is where the film truly lost it. The character of April obviously suffers from some sort of mental imbalance. In one scene, she will be having a major fight with Frank, telling him that she hates him, never wants to see him again, yet in the next scene, she is playing the perfect housewife. There must be some sort of disorder going on, but the film's major flaw is that it never even remotely delves into examining this idea. The viewer is left with the possibility that either she does have some sort of imbalance, or else she is suffering from the worst case of suburban ennui ever recorded. Winslet overacts slightly in the role, making it even more frustrating that the film ignores this tack.

3. The tone. The film is just depressing. Save for Michael Shannon's two scenes, all the rest of the scenes tend to be fights or discussions about how unhappy they are. I have nothing against a film that wants to be bleak, but Revolutionary Road is such a downer, you can't catch your breath.

4. The ending. I can't imagine that it will be left alone. It's just bad. It's set up so boldly that it comes as no surprise to the viewer when it happens. Worse, it's a bit of an abrupt end, then strangely followed by two scenes with the secondary characters discussing the Wheelers.

The Sum Up: Again, this was a test screening, so the final product will be somewhat different. With a running time already under 2 hours, I'm not sure what can be done with the film. It's just a depressing movie with no surprises that doesn't examine the issues it should. Lightning has not struck twice for DiCaprio and Winslet.

Home Again, Off Again

Well, I arrived home late Tuesday night, just in time to do all my laundry, catch up on my internet sites and pack my suitcases once again. I'm off to Chicago for the 17-22. Then I'll be back for 9 days and it's off to NJ. Aftetr that, I'll be around for a while. Enjoy your weekend!

FDot

I'm Going to L.A.

Or somewhat close by. I'll be hitting Pasadena this weekend to spend some time with my 95 year old grandfather. (Cue the AWWWW'S) Quick trip. Leave Friday, return Monday, perfect amount of time. Then I'll be home for 2 days before taking a week in Chicago to visit even more family. Hopefully, I'll remember to take some pictures to bore everyone here with.

Journey's End

GRAH! Saturday needs to get here tomorrow so I can bittorrent this.

Janko Out....Marat In!

Ok, so Janko flamed out the other day.....hopefully he'll be at the US Open so I can stalk....uh....watch him. For now though, an old favorite is somehow still in the mix at Wimbledon. Marat Safin! No idea how he's managed to keep himself composed to get to the quarterfinals, but I've always enjoyed watching him play, and I've got to have someone to root for, so I'll be keeping my fingers crossed for a semifinal berth for Marat!

It's Worked So Far.....

Janko's about to take the court in his 4th round match against Rainer Schuettler. So far, every time I've posted a picture of him, he's won. Highly doubtful it's because of this, but superstitions abound. Janko's favored in this match, so hopefully it will be a cakewalk for him.

Edit 1:21pm: AAAAARRRRRGGGGHHHHH! DAMN DAMN DAMN!

Round 3

Janko tries to make the 4th round at Wimbledon today for the 2nd time. His opponent this round is Dmitry Tursunov. He's ranked a little lower than Roddick, and by Tipsy's own admission that he doesn't try as hard when he's up against a lower ranked player I feel a touch of forboding here. Still, I will have my fingers crossed, and my camera ready for when he come to NY for the Open this August.

Tipsy Vs. A-Rod

I've done a bit of soul-searching, and as much as I would love to see Roddick advance to another Grand Slam Championship, he just cannot break my love for Tipsy. So when the two play on Thursday, I'll be keeping my fingers crossed for Janko to make it to the 3rd round.

Should this feat fail, at least he is in the 2nd round of the doubles, so hope is still alive there also.

Edit (6/26 3:15pm) YES! YES! YES! YES! YES!

Go Tipsy!

My favorite tennis player, Janko Tipsarevic, has his first singles match today at Wimbledon. Fingers crossed!

Edit (4:06pm): YES! Janko won his first match 7-6 6-4 6-2. Next up is Andy Roddick. I'm going to be so conflicted over this one. I want both to make it to the end, yet now only one can. Soul searching is required to determine who I want to win more.

Insanity

AHHHHHH! 1 sister, 1 brother-in-law, 1 two year old, 1 two month old and 1 giant mess. How will I survive to Thursday? Can't even get to movies....tv...and barely internet.

THWACK!

I just found out that this is the student I've been tutoring for the past few weeks. I changed the names in the article to initials (and removed addresses), just to be nice; but they are public information. He does get points for originality for choosing a wrench as the possible weapon. And he's been nothing but super respectful with me.


Rye high school student accused of threatening principal with wrench

RYE - A high school junior is accused of threatening his principal with a pipe wrench after the teen was told he couldn't attend the prom, police said.

CA, 17, has been charged with third-degree criminal trespass, third-degree menacing and fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon with the intent to use it, all misdemeanors, said Lt. JV of the Rye police.

CA had met Friday with the principal of Rye High School, JR, to discuss whether he would be allowed to attend the school's junior prom that night. CA was serving a three-day suspension after pulling a chair out from underneath a teacher's aide and causing her to fall.

When CA was told he was banned from the prom, he left the school and returned 20 minutes later with a 2 1/2 -foot pipe wrench, the kind used to open fire hydrants, Lt. JV said. CA joined the Rye City Fire Department as a junior volunteer member in January.

The school psychologist saw CA pacing with the wrench outside the principal's office and asked the teen to come to his office. The principal joined them, as the psychologist tried to coax CA into surrendering the wrench, Lt. JV said.

"At that time, the young man raised the pipe wrench above his head in a threatening manner toward the principal," Lt. JV said. "Ultimately he turned over the weapon to the psychologist."

CA was taken to St. Vincent's Hospital for mental evaluation before school officials notified police. The teen was arraigned on charges Friday night and released on $500 bail.

Superintendent ES of the Rye City School District said "based on the threat of violence, he has been suspended again," pending a school hearing scheduled for next week.

"It certainly isn't something that happens very often," ES said of the alleged threat. "From time to time, there are young people that make poor decisions in response to anger and frustration."

ES said CA couldn't be expelled from school under state law, but could be given a lengthy suspension. He said it's possible CA could be suspended up to a year, meaning he would receive school instruction at home.

JD, a fire inspector and lieutenant with the Fire Department, said neither volunteers nor career firefighters are issued fire hydrant wrenches by the department. He said he thought the fire chief would suspend CA, pending the outcome of the charges.

"He's always been respectful and nice around me, but I don't know what he's like in the classroom," JD said. "Obviously as he demonstrated here, he is not ready to be a member of our service."

A call to CA's home was not returned. The teen did not respond to an e-mail message.

Summer Fun

The school year is drawing to a close here in NY in just a few scant weeks, and it's looking quite likely that I won't have a job in a district for next year before that happens.

I have an opportunity to drive a cab for a family friend's company over the summer, that might prove to be fun for a bit, I always enhoy meeting new people.

I was thinking that if I can't get into a school for next year. I might try the field of journalism or publishing. I do have a M.A. in English, so it might be enough to get my foot in, then see what happens from there.

Is there anyone reading this with knowledge of either field and what possibilities there might be out there for me?

Tutoring Frustrations

Ugh......now that the school year here in NY is winding down, all the problem students/parents seem to be finding their way to my schedule. Let's see....

Student #1. Didn't bother to show up for 6 weeks in a row, never answered the phone if I called and wouldn't return messages. Then she calls the company and says that now she really wants to work so she passes for the year. I had her transferred to another tutor.

Student #2. For the past 3 weeks, has refused to get out of bed to come to tutoring. One time, I even had to go to his bedroom and try to cajole him to come. No luck. and kind of creepy. The parent &/or relative just stands there and asks him to get out of bed, but he just says no and they just shrug. They threaten to take away his video games, but they don't know the systems, so they don't know which components to take. I'm not for child abuse, but if I ever have a child who pulls that, I guarantee that he/she will be gotten out of bed for the tutor.

Student #3. The one student I could trust, catches the flu. No clue when he'll be better.

Student/Parent#4. I've been calling them to set up an appointment for the past week, yet no one has called me back yet. Looks like she'll fail too.

Student/Parent#5. The information for the student comes from the school. This family gave the school 3 different numbers. 2 don't work anymore and the third is for a local bank that no one for the family works for. So no way to contact them.

Student/Parent#6. I called this parent today to set up an appointment, but she does not speak English, only Spanish. I took French in high school, so I had no way to convey to her what I was calling for, so she hung up on me. Now don't accuse me of being immigrant phobic, I don't know the backstory of this family, so I can't pass judgement, I'm solely coming at this from the point that I have to tutor this student for two weeks and administer an exam, yet short of constantly calling the house till I get someone else, I have no way of setting up an appointment.

The next 2 weeks should prove interesting.

Patti LuPone in Gypsy

WOW. Just WOW.

Anyone do Accomplice?

This one is for my NYC readers. I was wondering if any one has taken part in the Accomplice show. It looks like a lot of fun, but $65 is a little steep for me to try it blind. Has anyone done it? Is it worth it?

International Idiocy: May the Force be with You Edition

May the Force be with You

This story is just too funny. Nothing I can say could possibly do it justice. Box of wine.....love it.

FDot breaks down "Speed Racer"

Directed by: Larry and Andy Wachowski

Written by: Larry and Andy Wachowski

Starring: Emile Hirsch, John Goodman, Susan Sarandon, Christina Ricci, an annoying monkey

The Short of it: Good beginning, good ending, bloated middle

The Long of it: Full disclosure here: My friend knows the night manager of a local theatre, so I've been seeing a number of movies recently for free, Speed Racer included. I believe that when one sees a movie for free, it does alter slightly one's perception of a movie. I'm a bit more forgiving of a movie when I don't have to shell out $11 to see it.

Speed Racer actually starts off quite well, quickly setting up the main character and his motivations. Much has already been said about the visuals of the movie, so I can't add much to that discussion. However, while they certainly are something to behold, by the end they just become part of the movie; there's no more WOW factor about the visuals at the end. The first 40 minutes zip by quite quickly, as the rest of the Racer family is introduced and the character arcs are set up. At the 40 minute mark, however, is when the movie takes a turn for the worse.

Speed has been approached by a large corporation about racing for them. Speed wants to maintain his Independence and chooses not to sign. This is where the villain of the piece launches into a large discussion about racing and how it's always operated and how certain races affect the stock prices of companies and the machinations that went into certain racer to enable takeover bids and........my god I got lost listening to this. If this movie was rated PG-13, I might buy into a more complex description, but this is quite obviously a PG movie aimed at 10 year old, and what 10year old is interested in a minutes long discussion about the stock market?

That scene was just the precursor to an incredibly bloated middle section. The audience is treated to about 40 minutes of screen time on a cross country race only to serve a plot point that could have been wrapped up in 5. This was the main issue I had with the film. Slice off 45 minutes and Speed Racer would have been a great film, but it looks like the editor fell asleep. 135 minutes for a children's movie not about Harry Potter is a dicey proposition. The other main bloat issue was Spirtle and his monkey. I am aware that in the TV show these 2 served virtually the same purpose, but here they just detract from the story. While Speed is hearing about stock takeover bids, Spirtle and the monkey go on a candy eating spree at the company's headquarters, then take a joyride around on a cart until they are finally caught. What does that scene have to do with the movie. Nothing. It's just total filler, no doubt included to make young people laugh. Maybe it does, but it's scenes like this that just added to the running time. At least have Spirtle spot something or perform some task that will actually assist Speed Racer later on, but instead, he and the monkey are just comic relief that serve no purpose to the overall story.

At least Speed Racer does pick back up at the end. The final race and especially its finish is done quite well. Even I couldn't help getting excited watching it, even though I knew what the outcome would be. Obviously, everyone got exactly what was coming to them, good or bad.

The Sum Up: The visuals are fantastic, but don't WOW throughout the entire film. The story is needlessly convoluted and contains way too much filler, but the beginning and end of the film shine through and it's an enjoyable enough movie to sit through.

FDot receives a proposal!

It appears that I must exude some amount of sexiness I'm unaware of; for today, I received my first proposal from a total stranger on Myspace. I must admit that on one side it is a touch flattering to receive some attention as its been quite a while since I've had any. Quite a while. However, on the other side, it's a bit creepy. Let's see what I received. My comments will be in italics, plus the names have been changed, though as you'll see, he did a good job of that himself.

Subject: hiya [Hmmm...not technically a word, but OK]

Body:
Hey FDot, how's it going? I'm Bill from the North Bronx---and occasionally Hartsdale. [Two nearby areas, sounds plausible enough]

I was just browsing thru [not correct spelling] profiles of people who live around my area, and I came across yours. I liked what I saw! [How charming. Out of the many random profiles that were looked at, supposedly I'm the one who stood out. Not that he sent similar notes to many others.]

I know its [no apostrophe] strange enough receiving an e-mail from someone you dont [no apostrophe] know, so not having a pic in my profile can't make things any better. [You think? The profile has nothing; supposedly Bill here went to two high schools 23 years apart and had no information about himself listed]

It's just that I'm not "out", so that's why there's no pic. [Um, ??? I know this is a personal decision, but I doubt a picture of yourself on myspace automatically makes you gay.]

If you'd like, I'd send you my pic or i'd [not capitalized] go on webcam for you "live" so you can see me. [Wow, that's inviting. No doubt I'd need my credit card too.]

If you're into it maybe we can chat further on here or on the phone or instant messenger (mine is [redacted] on aim) or something. [Between the offer of chatting on Myspace, the phone and AIM, what is left for something to cover? That sounds ominous.]

I'm a nice guy, goodlooking, I workout 4x/week. [How would I know? You have no picture.]

I'm just a little iddy [iddy?] bit older than u----41. [Ugh. u? Really...YOU was too hard to type. No comment on the age, 41 is ok for me]

I play and teach tennis and I love basketball. I'm a [redacted] too. I saw on ur profile that ur an unemployed [redacted]. Was thay [typo] by choice? [ur...sigh. I redacted the job description just as a caution. No, my unemployment was not by choice, though that's an entirely different story.]

I'm sorry to bother you bother you if ur not interested, but if you are I hope to hear from you real soon man! [How cute, a stutter! At least he calls me a man.]

Joe [Here's where he lost me. If I was really desperate, I might play along and send a response back; but at the beginning of the letter, he said his name was Bill, and suddenly now it's Joe? You don't accidentally type your name incorrectly, I'm not sure what this is, but it's not something I'm going to respond to.]

So it looks like for the time being.....I will remain single.

Gravatar help needed

Does anyone reading this use Gravatar? I've been wanting to change the avatar I use for over 2 weeks. However, the Gravatar site has been down for me since I made that decision. I type in the address and the cursor just spins until the request times out. Same thing if I pull up a cached page from Google and click on a link. Nothing. Does anyone know a way to get into the site; or at least a way to override the Gravatar avatar with an avatar from another site?

The Greatest Worst Comic

A thank you to, of all things, Cracked Magazine for tuning me into this comic strip.

Mark Trail is a comic strip that has been around for just over 60 years. The strip revolves around it's title character, a photojournalist and erstwhile conservationist. He also helps people solve injustices against animals. He has also been in his early 30's for many decades (even Charles Schultz allowed his characters to age a few years).

The strip tends to suffer from a few glaring flaws. First, the humans aren't drawn terribly well. There are some body ratio issues. In addition, every evil human in the strip is given sideburns and long hair. Secondly, while the strip follows a story line, every Sunday is devoted to some wonder of nature, effectively killing the momentum of the story. Finally, as it is a nature strip, there are some beautiful drawings of animals, however, the animals are drawn in instead of the humans, causing one to believe that either the humans have transmorgified or that the animals are suddenly capable of speech.

Allow me to show a few examples from the most recent storyline, which involves a pet kidnapping ring.

Here are the kidnappers planning the kidnapping of a puppy. Note the sideburns and ponytail (how evil!) Oddly, the kidnappers appear to be in cahoots with a local sparrow:



The next day shows that perhaps it's the sparrow who is the brains of the outfit:



Here's a Friday strip, where the plan to kidnap the puppy is set in motion:



Here's the Saturday strip, where it looks like the plan might work:



Oh no! Will the puppy fall for the ruse? Quick, let's find out on Sunday, where all comic strips have more room to tell a story:



Yay! The puppy.....uh....what the hell? A MONKEY EATING EAGLE? BAD HAIR DAY? What does this have to do with anything? Did I tune into that show with the Crocodile Hunter's scary looking daughter? Oh well, it turns out that the puppy is indeed kidnapped, so now it's Mark Trail to the rescue! Though for some reason, he lets a wild rabbit do the questioning for him:



And those hands in the final panel? What can he do with those tiny little things?
Notice how in this final example his hands have grown back to a more normal size, but HORRORS, the poor girl's mother has transformed into a goose!



Will Mark Trail be able to find the kidnapped puppy and return him safely? How many more animals are involved with this scheme? Will the girl's mother return from going south for the winter in time to continue being a mother? (At least you could make a nice down pillow from her.) Time will answer all these questions, and I will be happy to bring you the answers to them, provided you don't actually get the comic strip in your newspaper.

Abracadbra!

A thank you to Cracked Magazine for tuning me into this comic strip.

Mark Trail is a comic strip that has been around for over 60 years. The focus of the strip is on the character of Mark Trail, a photojournalist and erswhile conservationist. The stories revolve around animals and the dangers they face. Recently, the strip has been running a story about a pet theft ring, where pets are kidnapped then ransomed back to their owners at high cost. However, the strip suffers from a few flaws.

1. There is no Sunday strip. Excuse me, there is no Sunday strip that forwards the story. Every Sunday strip is a dissertation on some aspect of the animal kingdom, while the story takes a one day break.

2. The drawings of the humans stink. They look about as generic as a humna can be. A sketch artists nightmare.

3. The animals look beautiful, which is good for a comic strip that revolves around animals; however, the animals are sometimes randomly given the foreground in a panel, leading to what appears to be either the transmorgification of the human characters, or animals spouting off random thoughts about a subject.

First, in the midst of the kidnapping sotryline, here is a Sunday strip apropos to nothing.

Just Another Day

As much as I love Cookie Puss.....I much prefer a chocolate cake with chocolate icing. Anything with massive quantities of chocolate will do.

Ok...let's see what has transpired on my birthday in years gone by:

Births:

1908: Eve Arden--good comedienne, love Grease
1923: Al Lewis--Grandpa Munster!
1926: Cloris Leachman--From the down years of The Facts of Life
1946: Bill Plympton--I love The Tune!
1956: Lars Von Trier--Damn you for never finishing The Kingdom
1959: Paul Gross--God, he was hot in Aspen Extreme
1973: Akon--Oh well, bound to be a turkey in the bunch
plus many others

Deaths:

1900: Casey Jones--Choo Choo!
1945: Adolf Hitler--That's right, my birthday killed him.
1989: Sergio Leone--Hmm...need to see more of his films.
2007: Tom Poston--Aww...I loved Newhart.
plus many others I've never heard of

Events:

1812: Louisiana admitted to the U.S.--never been there
1939: World Fair Opens--FDR first president to appear on TV
1993: Birth of the World Wide Web
plus a bunch of observances I've never heard of.

All in all, not a shabby day to have been born!

2 days to another year closer to my death

35 isn't old, right?

20TH CENTURY FOX-----RELEASE THIS ON DVD IMMEDIATELY

T - 4

For some reason, this week has always filled with birthdays for my family and relatives. My father's birthday was today (hard to believe he's been gone for 4 1/2 years...where does the time go?), my cousin was the 28th, my niece is the 29th, I'm on the 30th, and my uncle is May 1st. Must be something about the end of July that makes people frisky.

The Countdown Continues

5 days left. Then I'll be 35. Do I look 35? I hope not.

The Countdown Begins

Ick.....already only 6 days left to my birthday. Another year older. Another year closer to losing my looks (such as they are). Another year closer to whatever else life has in store for me.

American Idiocy: Screwed by the Pooch Edition

Screwed by the Pooch

Here's a novel way to end one's political career. She doesn't even offer any proof as to the dog being "neglected" by the original owners. And it was on the Today show? Alice, Texas? I don't even know where in the state that is. Today must be hard up for news stories if they have to dig that far down. I hear there may be some rumblings about an incident with a ferret in Lebo, Montana. Perhaps that will merit national news time.

R.I.P. Buddy

I was on Facebook the other night and got into one of those 'search on every name I know' jags, seeing who had a profile and who didn't. I got to searching on some students I once taught to see how they were doing and to my utter shock, one name came up with a memorial page.

I'm not going to go into his name or his picture, but he was one of my favorite students ever. Even though we were 15 years apart in age, he was still loads of fun to talk to at school. He was a bit of a computer wiz, creating his own websites and his own text game. I remember he even hacked into the school computers once to retrieve some internal memo he wanted to see. Even after I left the district for another job, we would periodically keep in touch online or over the phone to see how the other was doing. I saw big things for him in the future and am just devastated that his life is cut short at 19.

I don't know all the details, it sounds like it was some freak medical thing; I just hope he went quietly and peacefully and is able to keep up his love of computers whereever he is. Hopefully someday I'll be able to say hi to him again.

What could it be?

I posted this earlier today for Puntabulous' Teach Me Something Tuesdays. Naturally, Craig, being the intelligent webmaster he is, had no problem solving it. (Hi, Craig!) So I thought I'd post it over here for those random people who find their way to my site and are looking for a small brain teaser.

The Question is:

3212333, 222, 399, 3212333, 322321

The answer is: ?

Reaper Returns!

Yay for writer's strike end! One my new favorite shows from this season comes back with new episdoes tonight. The previous episodes ended on a good note, so the writers have had plenty of time to make the new episodes even better. And who doesn't love Bret Harrison? I could spend oodles of time watching him watch paint dry. Renew this show, CW!

Give me your Comet, your Clorox

I recently visited the Statue of Liberty (how touristy!) with some out-of-town friends. Getting an up close look at the statue again gave me two thoughts.

1. She's tiny. Really, Lady Liberty is a lot smaller than I had remembered.

2. Besides the tired and poor, Lady Liberty has been taking in a lot of dust particles. She's filthy. The picture above shows the better half of her as the other half is all dirt-caked. Somebody needs another cleaning stat. Plus, it should be simple as no one is allowed into the statue herself anymore.

What the Fuck?

So I went outside to collect my mail this afternoon and was greeted by this sight about 2 feet in front of my mailbox. This can only be what might be politely described as the partial remains of a squirrel. Seriously though, what the hell happened to it? It wasn't run over, no car can do that; nor do I live in an area overrun by vicious animals. It looks like someone or something had a massive vendetta against it. Whatever happened, it had to be about as ugly a way to go as can be imagined. Ick.