Don't Cross The Streams

Hawk in Harlem

2008-01-15T10:56:00.000-05:00

So it was a lovely Saturday afternoon, Jasmine and I just finished watching the last two episodes of Friday Night Lights. Jasmine went to her room and called me over. I looked out the window and there were a bunch of people staring in the direction of our building. We were like, 'What the fuck?" (Well, I was. Jasmine does not have as much of a sailor's mouth). We ran outside to see what the commotion was.

Well, on top of the apartment next door (Langston Hughes House, no less), there was a hawk eating a pigeon. Apparently, there has been a family of hawks roaming the city.

Anyway, I took some photos...

Remember When...: 100 of My Favorite Memories

2008-01-08T17:10:00.000-05:00

Memories are wonderful things if you don't have to deal with the past.
~ Celine from Before Sunset

This will be my last "100" list. Seriously.

The party we threw the night before graduation from New York University at Bar 85.
Oversleeping for graduation and wearing the clothes I had on at the party under my gown.
My first night at NYU when I met Anya and Rashida and we all went to Tower Records.
When I tied Anya to her chair so she would finish her paper
Getting my first tattoo in Philly in 1999
When Nou yelled at me from the stage and accused me a heckling her. Then talking at the bar and becoming great friends immediately
Black Lily at Shine on Hannah’s birthday (technically)
When Joey convinced the Mrs. Cantino (the Spanish teacher) that he had jumped out the window
The first time I went snowboarding with Eva
Going all the way to New Hampshire to get furniture for Anya’s apartment and driving back to NYC in the largest U-Haul truck they had on the lot.
My first kiss on the bus of Young People’s Day Camp on the last day of camp.
The first time I kissed T.Y. at Todd’s house waiting for her father to pick her up
The first time I kissed E.B. on her couch after I rushed to her house in Queens from NYU.
The first time I kissed F.J. in my car after weeks of just sitting in my car and talking and, well, NOT kissing.
Eric and I getting in trouble during our first high school dance at St. Mary’s for dancing too promiscuously with the girls during the reggae portion of the DJ set
When Nou, Tank and others who I can’t recall were listening to D’Angelo’s Voodoo for the first time.
When I got laid off from Sukin Law Group
First time I went to Great Adventure with F.J.
After the blackout in 2003, walking down to Jen’s apartment and sitting on her stairs with Suzy, Sheila and Jen drinking her remaining Bud Lights
Celebrating the Yankees 1996 World Series win with E.B.’s mother because E.B. didn’t care.
Celebrating the Yankees 1999 World Series win on street in front of Third North Dorm. All the bars between 10th and 13th street let out and we stopped traffic until a truck full of cops made us go back inside
After an argument before I had to go to work, E.B. driving in the rain from Queens to Broadway Mall in Hicksville to give me a balloon that said “I’m Sorry.”
When F.J. made me a makeshift pair of glasses.
When Pierre interrupted E.B. and I in bed then decided to hang around and watch Mr. Wrong with us until she left.
The first Okayplayer reunion in Philadelphia
When I finished moving into the Harlem apartment and just passed out in my bed
When none of us could get a rental car, driving down to Atlanta from New York with Kristy, Derreck, Eric, Fatima, Tara and Bill.
Going to Chik-Fil-A on the way home
The first time I went to England to visit Hannah and she brought me to a wine bar with her friends and I pretended to be a "rude American".
Watching the Giants beat the 49ers in the NFC Championship game with my brother and his friend Seth
Winning that writing award and $500 bond at my 8th Grade graduation.
Lance kicking the Nintendo every time I was about to beat him in RBI Baseball via the mercy rule
Going camping with E.B. and all her friends
Helping Jen paint a room in her house
Visiting Angie on the set of Scrubs
Mercy Flush Ski Weekend I & II
Seth: "I think I blew my load on that granny shot."
Kaiva’s going away party
Winning the Unsung Hero Award at the OPR Professional Achievement Awards
After Jeremy’s Ale House, K.P. breaking into a Axl Rose impression that caused Nikki, Kevin and I to fall to the ground simultaneously.
Tara falling in front of Nevada Smith’s Matrix-style
2002 New Year’s at Kristy’s apartment in Far Rockaway
Paintball with Tony, Kevin and T.J.
Finally winning Student of the Month in 4th grade
When Kerwin and I got drunk on our suitemate's Pepsi that, unbeknown to us, had vodka in it then heading to NeoLounge and havign he best night ever
Going to Great Adventure with Bill and Yusef
Hannah's birthday at Kristy's house in which her birthday cake cracked so we wrote "Boom" on it
Hugging Anya in Loeb Student Center and cracking her back to which she gave an orgasmic reaction
Riding in the "cage" on the way to Great Adventure with Pam, Nikki, Alison, Andrea and Copas
My fight with Frederico which resulted in getting hit in the ribs with a shovel and having my finger bitten so I couldn't punch him back
When Kenny, Nick and I went into Broadway Mall and stole more than $100 dollars worth of cassette tapes
Snowball fights at the dead end of Montauk Court
Kerwin and I playing NBA Live until 5 AM because he wouldn't let me go to sleep until he beat me
When I accidentally did the Rock Bottom to Jasmine in Chicago
Getting pulled over in Port Washington with Todd driving and Andrew, Brian and Eric in tow. Andrew starts singing "Bad boys, bad boys. Whatcha gonna do?" and Todd freaks out and yells, "Shut the fuck up!"
Passing History in Junior year of high school. The teacher said you couldn't pass if you didn't do the homework. I proved him wrong.
Sneaking out of art class, jumping over the fences and buying new cassette tapes every Tuesday.
Sneaking out of art class to play basketball with Todd, Eric and Rueel.
Getting on the bus to go to Roosevelt Field to buy TY a Valentine's Day present, falling asleep in the bus and ending up in Jamaica, Queens.
Passing notes in high school with Eva and Jen.
Jessica R's overly-extravagant and drama-filled sweet 16 party.
Dressing like an idiot for high school prom - white gloves, sunglasses, cane and Kangol
The first post Ogilvy PR hug from Sheila
Taking care of my baby cousin Christopher at my grandparents' house in Jamaica
Getting chased by Brother Joseph in the hallway after he noticed I had shaved my head
Going to the Intrepid with Mona for no reason and taking 50 pictures
Senior formal at NYU until I got drunk, locked out and stuck with a whiny Rafick
The Halloween Black Lily show where I dressed as Dr. Evil with my personalized Mini Me
Rock Lily when Danophonic Dan tried to jump into the crowd but took too much of a running start and jumped over the crowd
Jen and Christine's housewarming party where we all agreed not to show up drunk and we showed up obliterated instead
Setting my alarm to chest Kevin at midnight at the housewarming party and hitting him so hard, he collapsed
Drunkenly walking Crosby around the block at the same housewarming party.
Getting paid to dress up as Blade at a comic convention
In Chicago, walking all the way to the store in the rain and coming back to the hotel empty handed forgetting that I went to the store for food.
Attempting to drive to New Jersey with Danophonic Dan and ending up in Deleware
Dinners at Tara's apartment before Black Lily shows
Playing Kickball in Prospect Park and then attempting to play Every Man For Themselves Dodgeball
Tara's birthday cake that had an inappropriate message on it
Getting drunk on Stella Artois with Hibo in London
After a girl he was messing with had left the dorm room, Kerwin and I trying to determine what that foul odor was
Playing tackle football in Cantiague Park on Sundays
Handing out flyers for Black Lily shows with Nou and Tank in the city
Sex
Getting chased out of Sherwood Gardens on Halloween for being from Westbury Hills
Matt: "What kind of stupid name is 'Hibo'?"
Seeing The Ring with Kristy and Eric (spoilers) and a) busting out laughing when the horse jumped off the boat and didn't clear the ledge and b) huddling up and yelling "WHAT THE FUCK?!" when the girl crawled out of the TV
Going to a random park, seeing Harold & Kumar Goes To White Castle then going to White Castle and ordering Crave Cases with Eric, Derreck, Bill, Tara and Ian
Getting kicked out of English Honors Class twice in 15 minutes: First for being late (I wasn't) and second when I was sent back to class without a detention and I chuckled at Mrs. Hill when he looked at me during attendance
My backrub exchange program with Anya
When my brother and his friends were riding around the neighborhood with weapons because they thought someone stole me bike
When my father foolishly had the barber shave my hair almost bald and I was so embarrassed that I opted to wear my Superman hat in class the next day. The teacher took me outside and told me to show her and it couldn't be that bad and I did and she laughed.
Out last day in Amsterdam when Derreck wouldn't let us leave any unfinished business
Lining up with Andrea to try to get the perfect space to watch Casablanca in Bryant Park
Racing back to the city from my high school reunion because Nikki and Tony were sending me text messages that Kevin was drunkenly making out with a really tall girl
The one year in Little League when our team won our division after playing on last place teams for three years
When Mary showed me her nipple piercing in Houlihan's in front of the window
Seeing the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy in New Jersey from 10 AM to 1 AM at a movie theater in New Jersey with Tia
Playing "Red Light" on the bus on the way home from school.
Making mix tapes in my brother's room for T.Y. and E.B.
When Kerwin, Troy and I had to drag Rafick out of Christine's dorm because he was drunk, professing his love for Christine and wouldn't leave. Then we got him back to our room and he threw up and missed the the trash can and Kerwin kicked him.

If you are mentioned somewhere here, thanks for the memories. If not, I'm sure we have some beautiful memories that I just couldn't remember while I was putting this together (did I mention I drink a lot?). Feel free to leave a comment mentioning a memory of us you think I forgot (or if I got one I did post wrong). Otherwise, I look forward to making future memories with you. Bring a camera though. It will be easier for me to remember.

Eye Deal

2008-01-07T19:45:00.000-05:00

I always say that I don't have a list of things I look for in women to decide if they are worthy of killing brain cells over but I know that's not true.

Everyone subconsciously has a list. If not a list of what they want in a significant other, they definitely know what they DON'T want.

The funny thing about these lists is they tend to be pretty hypocritcal. People will say they want things in a person that they don't have in themselves. Don't ask for a rich dude if you are working at McDonald's. Don't ask for a six pack when the only six pack you have is the Wise Snacks lunch pack because you couldn't decide between Dipsy and Cheesy Doodles.

All lists of significant other requirements should be made in context of what you are bringing to the table.

So, I'm going to try to pull my list out of my head and on to the screen and leave myself open to cries of hypocrisy. Also, I've always wanted to do my own version of Tank's 32 Ways To My Heart...

Activity Level: You have to like to stay in as much as you like to go. I'm a house plant myself but even I get cabin fever.

Age: Plus or minus five years. The closer the better. It's nicer if we watched the same cartoons growing up.

Bigotry: Racists and homophobes need not apply.

Body: I find myself attracted to people of all shapes and sizes BUT, I'm not going to bullshit you. I am naturally attracted to fit people. We all are and I don't imagine I will ever reach the enlightened state where I can automatically ignore their body. But then again I'm not that fit either. Doesn't mean I'm not attracted to be people who aren't fit but I'm not going to lie and say that I'm not.

Career: Have a job or be employable. I'm not career-minded. I'm not planning to be CEO of anything. I'm sure that screams of "a lack of ambition." Whatever. I'm paid pretty okay for a guy with no discernible skills aside from being a "people person." If she's out to rule the world, more power to her.

Children: I want them. Shit, I hate taking out the trash and doing the dishes now. You think I want to be doing that shit for the rest of my life? Seriously though, I'm at that age where that needs to be upfront knowledge so if you don't want kids, any potential relationship gets downgraded to "fooling around."

Dietary: Carnivores preferred. Non-judgmental vegetarians welcome.

Education: College graduate preferred, college attendee or a successful high school graduate. I went to college and the only thing I got out of it was to put "New York University" on my resume. That said, the reason I prefer college graduates is it's something we share that we can reminisce about. Sure we can share our high school experience but then there are four years of my life that will be "You had to be there" stories.

Humor: If you don't make me laugh, the other stuff really won't matter. If I don't make you laugh, ditto. I'm not saying I'm Dave Chappelle but if I don't amuse you, I'm going to find it incredibly frustrating. Laughter is a mental orgasm and saying "That's funny" instead of actually laughing is the equivalent of "faking it."

Intelligence: Smart enough to argue with me but not smart enough to know I'm full of shit. This is not at all related to "Education." I know some pretty dumb Masters degree having fools.

Interests/Tastes: To quote Rob from High Fidelity, "...what really matters is what you like, not what you are like...these things matter, and it's no good pretending that any relationship has a future if your record collections disagree violently, or your favorite films wouldn't even speak to each other if they met at a party." I wish I could say that these things don't matter to me but nothing compares to talking to a person who loves something that you do.

Kindness: I find myself drawn to ultra-nice girls but that can get annoying since I'm not ultra-nice and I feel like a bad person around them. She can be a "bitch" as long as she means well.

Politics: Republicans need not apply. I'm sorry. I just can't do it. Unless you are Republican the same way I am Lutheran: raised it but not practicing.

Profanity: She has to curse. She doesn't have to curse like a sailor but a "fuck" and a "shit" every once and awhile makes me feel better about my own potty mouth.

Race: Open to races but if you aren't a minority, you have to acknowledge that a) racism exists and b) it will always exist.

Sex: Don't be lazy or at least allow me to be lazy every once and awhile.

Sports: You don't have to love sports but you have to be accepting of my love of sports.

Social Life: Have one that doesn't center around me. I had a tendency to put the person I'm dating at the center of my universe and rotate around her. I'm working on it! But until I get over it, I can't have someone who's like me. It's be like a supernova of social dependency.

Television: This gets a separate mention from "Interests/Tastes." You don't have to love television as much as I do but you have to like it. More importantly, you can't be one of those self-righteous non-television watchers who thinks they are better than everyone else because they don't get sucked into the idiot box.

EXTRA CREDIT: Bring something into my life that I didn't know I wanted from another person (or be one of these women)

Not that I'm looking...

The 200 Greatest Television Shows I Ever Watched

2008-01-04T14:27:00.000-05:00

By "greatest", I do not mean the pinnacle of the art form (although some of these shows definitely fit the bill). After looking all over Wikipedia, I pulled out the 200 shows that I loved since I was able to remember what I was watching on television. The original goal was 100 but, obviously, I've watched a lot of TV in my 30 years of life and I didn't have the heart to pare this list down to 100.

If it wasn't outright canceled, a lot of these shows saw drops in quality before they were taken off the air. This list was developed looking at the shows during their creative peak (in my opinion). Some of these shows were canceled during their creative peak which is why I remember them so fondly.

Anyway, let's get on with it.

In alphabetical order (all links are to the show's Wikipedia page):

All shows in bold are still on the air so it's not too late!

Radiohead's Scotch Mist Webcast

2008-01-03T13:33:00.000-05:00

At Midnight on New Year's Day, Radiohead webcast live in-studio performace of songs from In Rainbows (coupled with other weird Radiohead-esque shit). Enjoy!

The Proust Questionnaire

2008-01-02T22:26:00.000-05:00

The story of The Proust Questionnaire intrigued me so I'm going to try to answer the Age 20 questions as honestly as possible

1. What is your most marked characteristic?
Usefulness

2. What quality do you most like in a man?
Immaturity

3. What quality do you most like in a woman?
Maturity

4. What do you value most in your friends?
Comfort

5. What is your principal defect?
Easily content with a situation, positive or negative

6. What is your favorite occupation?
Being a friend

7. What is your dream of happiness?
Having more options than you know what to do with.

8. What to your mind would be the greatest misfortune?
Not having any good options

9. What would you like to be?
Living my dream of happiness

10. In what country would you like to live?
This country is good enough

11. What is your favorite color?
Red

12. What is your favorite flower?
Quoting Proust, "Hers - but apart from that, all"

13. What is your favorite bird?
Seagull

14. Who are your favorite prose writers?
Nick Hornby, Neil Gaiman, Chuck Palahniuk

15. Who are your favorite poets?
Khalil Gibran is the only one who comes to mind

16. Who are your favorite fictional heroes?
Batman, Hamlet, Lloyd Dobler

17. Who are your favorite fictional heroines?
I can't think of any

18. Who are your favorite composers?
I don't have any

19. Who are your favorite painters?
Salvador Dalí, René Magritte

20. Who are your heroes in real life?
Martin Luthor King, Jr., Malcolm X, Kevin Smith

21. Who are your favorite heroines of history?
Joan of Arc, Harriet Tubman, Elizabeth I of England

22. What are your favorite names?
I'm not saying because if I have children, I'd like to use them and I don't want to give anyone reading this with a better shot at having children than me stealing them

23. What do you most dislike?
Tactless manipulation

24. What historical figures do you most despise?
Hitler seems like an easy answer

25. What event in military history do you most admire?
The Eastern Front (Third Reich vs. Soviet Union in World War II)

26. What reform do you most admire?
I don't know how to answer this (and neither did Proust)

27. What natural gift would you most like to possess?
Charm

28. How would you like to die?
Alone

29. What is your present state of mind?
I don't know if I'm depressed or bored

30. To what faults do you feel most indulgent?
The ones that I think no one notices

31. What is your motto?
I don't have one.

So This Is The New Year...

2008-01-02T11:41:00.000-05:00

How did I celebrate New Year's Day?

I left my friend's house at 10 PM. I went home, threw on my sweatpants and continued watching season three of The Wire (I rewatched seasons 1-3 this weekend in preparation for the season premiere of season 5 this Sunday). I drank three beers in Sean-like speed.

I may or may not have been awake at midnight but if I was, I definitely fell asleep shortly afterwards (Sorry to anyone who sent me a text message and didn't get one in return)/

Who cares about New Year's anyway? If you're single and not looking for a immediate-yet-temporary substitute, it's just a night to spend more money drinking than you would any other night. Why should my New Year's be anymore eventful than any other day of my life?

No resolutions this year (at least that I am publicly announcing) althought I didn't do so bad with last year's Do's and Don't. What changes I make, I make.

Death Cab For Cutie - "The New Year"

Melanism.com's Top 20 Movies of 2007

2008-01-02T10:03:00.000-05:00

I decided to try something different this year:

In The Theaters

On Netflix

Movie of the Week: Lars & The Real Girl

2007-12-31T16:57:00.000-05:00

Great, great movie that completely falls apart with Ryan Gosling doesn't play Lars perfectly.

Gosling played Lars with the perfect amount of humor, sadness and creepiness. As hard as was to swallow an entire town rallying around a delusion (more likely a psychotic break), everyone played it straight.

It's a shame that Ryan Gosling won't get the attention come Oscar time but he really should because can only think of a handful of performance this year on par.

I Fought The Future And Won

2007-12-26T14:42:00.000-05:00

Beginning in May, I began a Netflix project. Being an avid Lost disciple, I wanted to watch one of its forefathers, The X-Files. Despite seeing the movie in the theaters, I had only watched a handful of episodes over the course of its nine seasons. I hate jumping on a show like this from the middle.

I burned through the first three seasons pretty quickly but when summer movie season and then the new fall television rolled around, I found it harder & harder to find time to watch episodes especially when the quality started to lessen.

Luckily, the TV strike came around and I found tons of free time to watch the occasional episode.

Last week, I finally finished the entire thing.

Here are a couple of stray thoughts:

The first six seasons were great. Period. But after that it got bad pretty quickly. Once they added Reyes and put the whole search for Mulder thing behind them, the show got okay again until the end.
It was funny watching the evolution of Gillian Anderson. She was very "plane jane" for the first few season and then all of the sudden, she got a haircut, started wearing nice suits and she became hot. I'm in love with her now.
The biggest problem with the post-Mulder seasons were the attempts to make Doggett the new Scully and have Scully be the old Mulder. They rectified this with Agent Reyes but then they made another mistake by making Reyes and Doggett the new "Will they/Won't they" agents.
They mythology never made sense.

Next up, Twin Peaks (once season one becomes available on Netflix)

Movie of the Week: Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

2007-12-22T20:38:00.000-05:00

Tim and Johnny, all is forgiven for Charlie & The Chocolate Factory.

This is the Tim Burton I race to the movies to see. I've never seen Sweeney Todd on Broadway so I have nothing to compare it to (and maybe that's for the best).

It's takes about half a song to get used to Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter singing but they both did great jobs.

I think I could watch Alan Rickman read the phone book and I'd be interested. I don't there has ever been an Alan Rickman performance I haven't enjoyed.

Warning: it's very bloody, comically so. Think Kill Bill - The Bride vs. The Crazy 88's

Dewey Cox & The Hard Walkers at The Knitting Factory

2007-12-20T09:40:00.000-05:00

After the screening, we were bused over to the Knitting Factory to see the final performance of Dewey Cox & The Hard Walkers (until the Oscars with the strike doesn't destroy it).

The show was hilarious. The best parts were his covers of Rehab (Amy Winehouse),Cocaine (Eric Clapton) and Sabotage (Beastie Boys).

The world needs more Cox.

Movie of the Week: Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story

2007-12-20T09:24:00.000-05:00

(I know...another 3 stars)

This movie was stupid and full of dick jokes (and actually some dicks) but you know what, it was fucking hilarious.

It helped that John C. Reilly can sing his ass off and that there were more cameos than a Robert Altman film.

The jokes were coming so fast that I'm going to need to see it again.

My favorite parts were Tim Meadows' anti-drug warnings to Dewey throughout the movie. "No Dewey, you don't want no part of this shit!)

There was a lot of stuff in the commercials and trailers that didn't makethe finalcut so expect a loaded DVD.

(Some Of) My Favorite Albums From 2007

2007-12-19T09:45:00.000-05:00

While I'm sure better music came out this year and I haven't had a chance to really listen to a couple of albums I just ~~downloaded~~ acquired (Lupe Fiasco, LCD Soundsystem, Ghostface, Wu-Tang Clan) but here are my some* of favorite albums of 2007 (in no particular order) with my favorite song from each.

"No Cars Go" by Arcade Fire from Neon Bible

"Breakin' Up" by Rilo Kiley from Under The Blacklight

"Back To Black" by Amy Winehouse from Back to Black
(Yes, I know it really came out in 2006)

"I Feel It All" by Feist from The Reminder

"All I Need" by Radiohead from In Rainbows

"Say Hello" by Jay-Z from American Gangster

"When Your Mind's Made Up" by Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová from Music From The Motion Picture Once

"The Heinrich Maneuver" by Interpol from Our Love To Admire

"Flashing Lights" by Kanye West (featuring Dwele) from Graduation

"Lucky Ones" by Kevin Drew from Spirit If...

"When Everything Is New" by Little Brother from GetBack

"Burn Your Life Down" by Tegan & Sara from The Con

* I say "some" because these albums are just the ones I thought of when I decided to make this post and not some well thought out list like I was working for Rolling Stone or Pitchfork Media.

New Lost Season Four Trailer

2007-12-18T16:42:00.000-05:00

Click picture for all types of awesomeness

The Dark Knight International Posters & Trailer

2007-12-17T09:00:00.000-05:00

Click either poster for the trailer

Movie of the Week: I Am Legend

2007-12-15T16:00:00.000-05:00

This was probably my favorite Will Smith performance ever.

It's hard to carry a majority of a movie when you are the only person acting. A perfect example of the right way to do this is Tom Hanks in Castaway. I was a little worried for Mr. Smith who has only tried to flat out act a handful of time (Six Degrees of Separation, Where The Day Takes You, Ali).

Well, he did quite well. He didn't try to force the humor too much (an issue for him). He was the appropriate amount of stoicism, desperation and insanity. There's one scene during a "conversation" he has in a video store that shows you how much Will has stepped his game up.

The movie was a lot more suspenseful than I expected (one of my female companions who I went with spent various moments in the fetal position). There were a lot of elements that reminded me of 28 Days Later. Also, the creatures sort of moved like the robots in I,Robot when they were vaulting on top of poles and walls.

My problems with the movie: There is an evolution of the vampire-like creatures that goes acknowledged by Robert Neville (Smith) which bugged me. It went more in line with what happened in the book. Also, they completely changed the book. I didn't read the book but I looked it up after the movie and it was much cooler than what happened in the movie.

I saw this in IMAX, mainly for The Dark Knight prologue which was awesome. I'm a strong believer in seeing any movie shown in IMAX but that was an added incentive.

Movie of the Week: Enchanted

2007-12-14T08:13:00.000-05:00

Ok, I'll admit it. It was really cute.

Amy Adams was amazing (as expected). I hope this leads to bigger and better things for her.

This was a great parody of old Disney flicks. There were a couple of surprisingly disgusting moments involving vermin which is why there will never be a Disney romance cartoon set in New York City. No one finds singing roaches cute.

One thing did kind of bother me. Given that this was a Disney film, the animated portion of the movie wasn't very good. I know it wasn't a large part of the movie but they really slacked here.

Lost Season Four Trailer

2007-12-13T13:37:00.000-05:00

Too bad there are only eight episodes...

100 Things That Make Me Happy (If Only For a Second)

2007-12-11T13:35:00.000-05:00

Another project from Sheila:

Will Ferrell's scenes in whatever movie he is in
New comics on Wednesday
Snickers bars
New episodes of my favorite shows
Hearing a song that is line with what I'm feeling at the moment (if that moment is a good moment, of course)
Receiving cards in the mail (not e-cards, USPS style)
Receiving hugs in proportion to the hugs I'm giving
Trying to have a intelligent conversation with someone under the age of 9

This song

First kisses

Inside jokes

False glimmers of hope from crushes

Receiving a complement about something I don't necessarily believe about myself

The ten seconds between just finishing cleaning your room and starting the process of messing it up again

Seeing something I want on sale

The moment you realize a movie is going to be one of your favorites

Learning something new about someone I care about

Not having to get out of bed when other people are at work

Sugar

Beating the hard part of a video game

Winning

Being right

Having a conversation with a friend who is just as drunk as you are about how drunk you both aren't

Holding hands when its cold (locking fingers, not grasping hands)

Noticing something cute about someone they may not notice about themselves

When one of your favorite movies are on cable and you turn to it and it's at your favorite part

When I realize the person I saw a movie with loved it just as much as I did and instead of defending it, we can exchange praise, favorite parts and quotes all the way home.

Being finished with a project

When an album I've been dying to hear leaks on the internet

Soft vanilla ice cream in a cone with rainbow sprinkles

Getting comments on my blog especially from friends I didn't know read it

Watching recaps of the Yankees or Giants winning on SportsCenter

Getting a phone call right after a new episode of 24 or Lost concludes

When someone loves a movie I recommended

Finding a present that is perfect for someone

The first sip of the first beer after a long shitty day

When a book turns into something you have to finish, instead of something you are just reading

Rilo Kiley songs

Telling people who make at least $20,000 more than me what to do

Giving somebody something they wanted, especially if they didn't ask for it

A good chicken cheesesteak

Someone liking something I wrote

Not having to do anything

Genuine surprises

Seeing someone smile at me

Being complimented on what I'm wearing

Receiving voicemails & text messages from drunk friends

Being missed

Reading my friends' blogs

Having a good week in fantasy football

Game winning home runs by the Yankees

White Chocolate Mocha Latte from Starbucks

Black noodles with chicken from Spice

Reading Ask Ausiello on Wednesday morning and talking my friends about it

Looking at my checking account online and realizing I'm not going to be broke before my next paycheck arrives

Kristin Chenowith on Pushing Daisies

When the Yankees beat the Mets or the Red Sox

When the Mets and the Red Sox lose

Seeing pictures of myself that I actually like

Getting a back massage of equal or better quality than one I would give myself

Finding money in a pair of jeans

Finishing all the shows stored on my DVR

Shelia's morning instant messenger hugs

Tara's "eeeee" when something is hilarious

Nikki's 3D dance

Andrea's "I wanna see that!" face after a good movie trailer

Getting sincerely thanked

Seeing my friends who are pregnant

Open bars

Spring

Waking up at my stop on the subway (on the first try)

Having a really good idea

Welch's grape soda

When there are Twizzlers in the vending machine at work

When Jack Bauer shoots someone

Being done with work for the day or the week

When a movie I've been dying to see again finally comes out on DVD

Getting answers on Lost

Tropicana Orange Juice (No pulp)

Egg and bacon on a roll in the morning

H&H plain bagel, lightly toasted, one butter

New Perry Bible Fellowship comic strips

Being needed but not manipulated or abused

Juvenile humor

Getting a new tattoo

Being comfortable with someone or something

Having all my shirts ironed and put away

Meeting someone new who loves things that I love

Finishing my bag of comics for the week

Seeing someone I miss

Soft white chocolate and macadamia nut cookies

New t-shirts on Threadless (even if I'm not allowing myself to buy anymore)

Getting White Castle after 2 AM after a night of drinking and hanging out

Laughing hysterically with friends

Epiphanies

Seeing someone on the street I don't feel like talking to first so I can avoid them

Making someone feel better

Getting a blog post out of my system

Hearing an amazing album for the first time.

Making someone else smile...if only for a second

Movie of the Week: I'm Not There

2007-12-10T22:00:00.000-05:00

Well, that was weird.

I don't know how much I liked it. For the first 90 minutes or so, I was in love with it. Everyone playing different incarnations of Bob Dylan was great but none better than Cate Blanchett. I've made my feelings known for Ms. Blanchett but as Jude Quinn, she was amazing. She had Dylan's mannerisms and tics in the 60's down pat. Christian Bale was also great as the reclusive folk-hero Jack Rollins.

But when the Billy the Kid (Richard Gere) portion of the movie started up, I got lost. Maybe if I was more familiar with the history and iconography of Bob Dylan, I would have appreciated it more but I'm not so I didn't. Every time those scenes came up, I got pulled out of just enjoying the picture and trying to figure out what all this means.

Still, it was really beautifully shot and directed. I was just lost for thirty minutes.

Movie of the Week: Juno

2007-12-07T08:22:00.000-05:00

This year's Little Miss Sunshine.

The movies started slow and sometimes the script tried to hard to be witty but it was still one of the better comedies of the year.

Ellen Page (Juno) was great (I've loved since Hard Candy) and will probably be nominated for an Oscar (or at least a Golden Globe). Actually everyone was really good - Michael Cera, J.K. Simmons (good to see him playing a nice guy), Alison Janney, Olivia Thirlby. I especially liked Jennifer Garner. Who knew she could pull off such a sad, controlled performance?

The soundtrack was also great.

The Moldy Peaches - Anyone Else But You

Sex and the City trailer

2007-12-06T22:13:00.000-05:00

The apocalypse is nigh...

The Dark Knight poster

2007-12-05T08:52:00.000-05:00

Movie of the Week: The Golden Compass

2007-12-01T22:11:00.000-05:00

It had some good moments and Dakota Blue Richards was really good but for the most part...