Things I Wanted To Do Tonight...

But definitely did not do:

1. Watch the "recap" episode and Season 4 Premiere of Lost. I forgot to set it up to tape it and now I have to wait until tomorrow for it to go up on abc.com. Boo.

2. Watch The L Word from Sunday. It's still sitting there waiting for me to make time.

3. Start my observation reports for student teaching. They're due Tuesday so apparently that gives me license to procrastinate them until at least this weekend. Great.

4. Start reading The Other Boleyn Girl. I am pumped to read this before the movie comes out--and it comes out soon! I better get busy.

5. Watch all of the democratic debate on CNN. I watched like 45 minutes and then couldn't take any more. Isn't this like the 144-millionth debate of the campaign? I will make sure and read all about it tomorrow to make up for my lack of commitment tonight.

Let's hope the weekend is more productive than this evening was.

She's a Super Freak!

Lil Mouse had this test on her site and I, being somewhat competitive and pretty darn confident in my typing skills, decided to take on the challenge.

Here are the results:

96 words

Touch Typing

FRRRRREEEEEEAAAAAAK! I thought I could type fast but wow, I even impressed myself with this one. No wonder I get impatient with my mentor teacher watching her look at her fingers and occasionally hunt and peck. I'm a super typing freak!

Super Tuesday

One week from today is a very exciting day!

First, and probably most important, is that it is the day for like a gazillion primaries and what could be the ultimate forecast for who will win the Hillary-Barack showdown. It should be wery wery interesting (think Elmer Fudd).

Tuesday is also the release date for about 6 movies on my Netflix queue that I have been waiting for! I only get three at a time so I have until next Monday to figure out which three I want to see the most. Here's the top of my queue:


I think I am pretty happy with the order right now, although I would really like to see Across the Universe again. Buuuut I should probably watch movies I haven't seen first. The possibility that I will change this multiple times before next week? Pretty darn good.

Too bad I have my student teaching seminar class and an area meeting that day, too, but hopefully that will all be overshadowed by the superness of Super Tuesday!

Sex and the City: The Blog?

This post was all over the blogosphere today and I ate it right up.

Carrie Bradshaw as a blogger?

Of course she would be! In reality, that is, as there is no way a newspaper would continue to print a fluff column like that without turning it into a cool blog where Carrie could post snippets about her awesomely-impossible life multiple times a day.

What might stop her from blogging is the fact that she had the same crappy old Mac for the entire series--she wouldn't even upgrade when Aidan bought her a crazy colored iBook. And she was all weird about e-mail... so blogging might be quite a stretch for the technology-challenged Carrie Bradshaw.

Isn't it crazy how much things have changed in a few short years since SATC? I love it!

I also love discussing complex ideas about a fictional character and her "real life." Priceless.

Just Another Manic Monday

I'm all over the place today, and totally falling asleep as I type, so here are a few quick things to ponder:

1. Apparently those crazy rumors about New Kids reuniting are not true. Here it is, right from the source:I guess I won't have to dust off my NKOTB sleeping bag and giant buttons after all. He did mention never saying never, though...

2. I was bored during one of my plans and started to look through all the nominees for the Blogger's Choice Awards. Some great blogs in there--I added more to my Bloglines feeds... just what I needed--and it's nice to have them in categories to browse so conveniently.

3. Is it bad that I didn't even think twice about opting to watch the Weather Channel over the State of the Union address?

4. I did manage to catch the SAG awards last night and despite being totally pumped for an actual red carpet and awards show, I was totally underwhelmed by The Sopranos sweep, No Country for Old Men winning best ensemble cast (God I get depressed just thinking about that movie) and Sandra Oh's ridiculous gift wrapping--I mean dress.



5. Last but not least, I have such good dreams when I fall asleep to Sex and the City! Too bad I don't get enough sleep for the dreams to last...

LOL

Okay I literally laughed out loud at this one today:


I know that is the point of LOLcats, but today it worked. Mostly it made me think of my horrible 7th grade picture, when I still had a metal mouth and before I discovered the magic of a hair straightener.

Shudder.

I would put it up on here but I'm pretty sure I burned all those pictures in high school.

Quickie Review: Eat, Pray, Love

I just finished Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. I now understand why it has been such a bestseller and why it's featured on every book club/bestseller list under the sun.

This book was a very fast, easy read but also meaningful, which is a hard combination to master. Split into three distinct parts, the book follows Gilbert's travels to Italy, India and Indonesia after a messy divorce. Gilbert's writing is entertaining, as she obviously enjoys poking fun at herself, and her journalistic experience shines through, mixing effectively into the memoir genre. Admittedly, my favorite section of the three was the first--Italy--as I fantasized about being there, enjoying the cuisine and learning the language. I got a bit tired of the spiritual discussion, but overall this woman's journey to self-actualization and individual strength was an excellent read and I would definitely recommend it.

Cornflakes and More

Tonight we went to People's downtown to see Dick Prall play--he's this singer-songwriter guy who has a fun Cornflakes song Tony has been obsessed with for a while. Dick made a stop in crazy little DSM so we figured $10 was worth a night NOT spent watching movies in our apartments or playing yet another game of Settlers (we may have overdone it with that game a bit!)...

The verdict: $10 definitely well spent. He was entertaining, a good singer, fun songs and--bonus points--he and David had on basically the same outfit!

Check out Dick Prall's MySpace page and listen to The Cornflakes Song, or my personal favorite from the night, Halfway to Hollywood. It would be my new song on my MySpace page but it keeps having network issues when I try to add the song to my profile. Whatever MySpace... this is why I never go on you and am way partial to Facebook.

Here's the Cornflakes Song. Enjoy:

7 Random Things

Soooo Lil Mouse tagged me over on her blog for a 7 Random Things meme. I'm always up for exposing random stuff about myself, plus hello! Getting tagged on someone else's blog is WAY. FUN.

With that in mind, here goes:

1. I am indeed a housing geek. At least for the time being. I was an RA for 2 years, an undergrad assistant hall coordinator for a year and now a full-time hall coordinator about to wrap up my two-year stint. I love residence life but after 6 years, I am ready to live outside of a residence hall and grow up and be a real person. I'll miss the students, though.

2. Luckily I won't have to miss students too much cause I am gonna be a teacher. I am currently student teaching at a high school. I have a challenge with one of my students tomorrow to know the name of every person in the class. I will totally win that one.

3. That's cause I am ridiculously good with names. I meet you once, hear your name and know it for a really long time. This results in awkward interactions where I know someone and even know that person's name and they don't remember me at all. Then I look like a creeper. It's great.

4. I also feel like a creeper when people catch me talking to my computer. Or my TV. Or my car. Or other cars on the road. Or pretty much anything in my apartment. I tend to do this fairly often, mostly without even realizing it.

5. I did realize today that I am embarrassed or even offended by how much crap Meg gets on Family Guy. It's like because she has half of my name, I need to stick up for her for some reason.

6. I am also very offended by people who use the words "gay" and "retarded" in the place of "stupid." It makes me want to banish those people to a far away planet for idiots and bigots.

7. Finally, speaking of idiots, sometimes (like today) I hate watching Jeopardy because it makes me feel dumb. I consider myself a smart person and I am very well-educated, but those questions are insane! How did Amanda know all about woodworking AND opuses (is that even a word anyway?!) Seriously!?

And I think I am supposed to tag 7 other blogs of people I want to know more about but I don't really know anybody in other blogs to tag them. If you would like to be tagged, let me know! Otherwise, there are my random facts for the day. I talked about Jeopardy and Family Guy, so hey, it was even media-related! Score!*

*Did I just say SCORE? Really? Maybe I am actually offended by Meg being made fun of because I, like her, am a huge dork.

The Element of SurPRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII...

The Get Smart trailer was just released. Looks like a perfect role for Steve Carrell! Can't wait for summer '08! (Good lord that rhymed)...

You Have GOT To Be Kidding Me

According to this post on Mamapop (and others on other blogs), effing Fred Phelps & Co. plan to picket Heath Ledger's funeral.

Seriously?! SERIOUSLY?!

Not that I didn't already think they were a bunch of bigoted crazy conservative wack-jobs, but they do realize that Brokeback Mountain was a movie, right? Fiction? Hello!

Here's the press release:How can people be so horrible?

****
On a totally unrelated note, I was so busy fretting about Heath Ledger's death yesterday that I didn't even notice it was my 100th post! What a sad 100th post, but I guess it had to be something. 100 doesn't seem like much, but it's a start for sure.

RIP Heath Ledger

Sad, sad news today. David called and told me "Keith Ledger died" to which I replied "Do you mean Heath Ledger? And no he didn't."

I found out about 10 minutes later that it was true. I am really saddened by this today--I have loved him since I first saw him in 10 Things I Hate About You and first swooned him in The Patriot. Definitely a terrible loss of a tremendous talent.



Seeing The Dark Knight in May is going to be sad now!

RIP Heath Ledger--you will be missed.

America Supports Hillary!

America Ferrera, that is. Here she is on the road supporting Hillary Clinton. Love it!

Fingers Crossed!

WGA/AMPTP Informal Talks Begin Tomorrow

I don't want to jinx it but there may be hope for the strike to end! Eeeeee!

Hi, my name is Megan and I'm a Lurker.

God that sounds creepy.

Unfortunately, despite the creepy name, it's true. And I feel guilty about it!

I read a gazillion blogs about people's lives and kids and jobs and thoughts. Even though they're inviting me into their worlds by posting it on the Internet, I feel bad about reading it all. I know that a few weeks ago was Delurker Week or something along those lines, and I should have taken advantage of that to, well, delurk... but for some reason I didn't.

And a few awesome people have been commenting on my blog, which I really thought would never happen, so I feel like now is a good time to officially delurk.

But I don't know where to start! I feel like I am outing myself as a random creeper who reads the blogs of people I don't know and will never meet in "real life." I just gotta suck it up, take a deep breath and comment. I can't be afraid of sounding dumb. Or random. Or... yeah.

Sunday Post Secret

I look forward to every Sunday when new secrets are up on the PostSecret blog.

I always want to submit a secret to them and see if it will show up, but then I remember that my life is not nearly interesting enough to have a cool secret that would show up online.

Today my favorite was this one, though, as it made me realize, as I glance at my giant pile of unread books under my bedside table, that maybe I do have secrets...

Nerd Game...

...and no, it's not Dungeons and Dragons. It's Settlers of Catan! [read with an Irish or Scottish accent for the ultimate affect]



During RA training, Tony and Matt convinced/taught David and me to play this game called Settlers of Catan. I am always up for just about any game anyone wants to play (apart from Monopoly which bores me to tears--even the new electronic version) so after listening to the giant "almanac" of rules, the battle was on.

Night one ended with a victory for me (I was just as surprised as Matt and Tony were) which was, nevertheless, attributed to beginner's luck. Whatever. It probably had more to do with the fact that David and I were allies and he gave me whatever resources I wanted. And, of course, amazing skill and strategy on my part. Right.

Night two... well, maybe it was beginner's luck before, cause I'm pretty sure I came in dead last the second time around. David also was way more competitive so that did not help. In my defense, the sun was in my eyes.

UPDATE ONE:
Night three was too much like night two for my liking. I think I tied for dead last this time though. What happened to all that skill?

UPDATE TWO:
Night four = me losing... twice. Night five may or may not have resembled night five. Okay it did.

Waitflixing

I saw this on BuzzSugar and got to thinking about my own Waitflixing ("what happens when you add a movie to your queue but keep moving other films ahead of it so you never actually watch it").

I am most definitely a Waitflixer, and a multiple-offender at that.

See, as of lately my queue is set up in a very specific way: the bottom 1/4 of the list is "Coming Soon" stuff to remind me what needs to be moved to the top of my queue each week, the next 1/4 is "Movies I want to watch but won't until I either watch all the TV shows or get sick of them" (i.e. the Waitflix section), the next 1/4 - 1/2 of the list is a "TV Shows to watch" section (i.e. what really gets watched) and the top are new releases that get moved up from the bottom right before the release date. Sometimes nothing is in the top 1/4 and that's when the second 1/4 gets whittled down.

That sounds way too complicated when written out, but it totally makes sense in my head.

What doesn't make sense is that I add to the movie 1/4 of the list occasionally (especially if I miss a release date for a new release and it turns into a "long wait") but really don't watch anything on it. That's where my Waitflixing talents come into play--currently included are The Lives of Others, Rescue Dawn, Miss Potter, Gracie, The TV Set, and Pirates of the Caribbean 3, among others. I have been Waitflixing most of those for at least a month, if not several. I also tend to Waitflix movies I saw in the theater but want to eventually see again.

I get frustrated by this "movies" section because I really do try to keep my queue below 30 if at all possible (right now it's 36--oops!), and often go through and cut movies out.

At least that's one good thing about the writer's strike--I've definitely been keeping up with my queue! What do you Waitflix?

AAAHH! REAL MONSTERS!

Much MUCH to my surprise, I actually liked Cloverfield.

I basically had to be dragged to the theater against my will for this one (which rarely happens), but I actually liked it. Go figure!

This review on BuzzSugar really sums it up a lot better than I could hope to at this point, and I definitely agree with most of what she says about the movie. Apart from more than a few vomit-inducing running scenes and only one ridiculously completely unrealistic component* (Beth has a pipe through her chest and then runs down 5o-some flights of stairs), it was very entertaining and I loved the way it was shot and edited in the home-movie kinda way.

*Well other than the giant alien monster destroying Manhattan, that is...

You're Always Welcome at Morehouse!

This year's winter RA training brought the return of RA Airband--the best lip syncing show, well, ever! Each hall does their own little performance to whatever crazy song they pick and I have to say, ours has to be the craziest. We found this song called "Our House" and changed the words to "Morehouse," naturally.

Here's the Morehouse staff performing:

All the RA's after the amazingly creative performances, including Thriller, Sk8rBoi, Anything You Can Do I Can Do Better and many others:


And here's a hilarious YouTube video of our song on the Muppet Show. Ours was an Irish version that was a little more peppy but it's the same murderous tune!

America is Cringing...

Against my better judgment, I watched the premiere of American Idol last night. I have never been huge on these first shows where mostly I just end up feeling horrible for people totally humiliating themselves--I'm more about the actual contest when we get the top 12.

Unfortunately, that's not for like 2 months. All we've got right now are crazy people and so, since nothing else is on due to the Writer's strike, we watched them.

There were plenty of noteworthy delusional auditioners, but this poor guy is the one I can't get out of my head. There's low singing and then there is LOW singing. I had to do a full American Idol post because I found this video of the guy:



I didn't really see any top-12-worthy auditions, but odds are somehow I will end up watching the next two hours of this circus tonight--hopefully better talent awaits!

Hard Evidence

I found this quick Media Addiction quiz online and figured I should test it out since I claim via this blog to be an addict.

Results: 16 out of 20 (80%)
15-20: Yikes. You probably have a serious addiction problem. You may need to take extreme steps, including getting rid of your TV or video games, to get in control of your time. Start with the device which squanders the most of your time. Life’s too short to just “watch” it go by.

Uh oh!

Oh well. At least I'm not a liar.

Random 3

1. I finally upgraded my lame plain Blog design with a banner image! Woohoo! Now if only I had the time to create an entirely new template, but that ain't gonna happen for a while at least.


2. American Idol is back in action as of tonight! They might have been some of the craziest auditions yet and, while entertaining, I didn't see anyone final-12-worthy. 2 more hours tomorrow night--my God!

3. I am thoroughly disturbed by the fact that I am pumped for the Screen Actors Guild awards--it is potentially the only big red carpet show this season but I'm pretty sure I didn't even know they had an awards show last year. Yikes.

ABC.com Update

I'm all screwed up with when new episodes of my shows air because of the writers' strike, so I didn't even realize last Thursday was a new Grey's and Ugly Betty.



I also didn't know last night was a new Brothers and Sisters.

I know it's totally not what the writers want me to use and I feel kinda guilty about it, but THANK GOD for ABC.com. I headed right on over there and caught up on my shows with only limited commercial interruptions from Charles Schwab and one-too-many promos for the Lost premiere.

Here's how I see (saw?) it:

Ugly Betty
What a cute episode. I love that this show is family-friendly but still entertaining. I also love that Daniel is such a nice guy. This may be the land of make-believe fashion world but it really works! How funny was Amanda with her tongue when she found out who her father is? And it was the return of Cliff--but only for a second. He must be too busy shooting Subway commercials. Overall everyone is more light hearted except for crazy Alexis! She is back to nasty like no other, rigging the scales and all. Let's hope she sees the "light" soon. If there's even another episode!

Grey's Anatomy
How great to have an episode without Meredith narrating! This was all about Bailey and I loved it. I want her life to work out and it doesn't look like it will, which makes me sad. For some reason we had to bring the Ghost of Christmas Past (George's mom) back to revisit the whole Calli-George marriage debacle I would have rather not heard about again. Plus, of course, Meredith and McDreamy are on the skids-yawn! Overall though it was a good episode. I just hope it isn't the last of the season!

Brothers and Sisters
This can't be the last episode cause I really need to see Jason again--hello hot! Even though there were sad moments, it seems like this episode got some things out in the open that needed to be talked about (i.e. Tommy's affair, Robert's thoughts about waiting for kids, etc.) and it seems like maybe, possibly, for one little second, things are going well for the Walker clan. Yay!

A Nano Conundrum

Slate.com featured this article today about the Nano, a new car being developed in India that will cost only $2500.


$2500?! That's the price of a crappy used Datsun on a shady lot, not a brand shiny new car! Amazing!

The problem is they are worried that so many people who couldn't afford cars before (i.e. low- to middle-class citizens) will buy them now and, as a result, the carbon emission will totally screw up the environment.

It's a liberal conundrum: support mobility of the lower class and the economic opportunities it creates or worry about the environmental impact? That's a tough one to decide for certain and the article's author makes some great points. Definitely something to ponder.

Bored-en Globes

The title of this post is almost as lame as the Golden Globes winner announcement show. Actually it's not even close--this show is just that lame.

Billy Bush and Nancy O'Dell? Seriously?
The Access Hollywood set? Seriously?
Mindless banter following each winner announcement? Seriously?
Billy Bush's crazy hair? Seriously?

Oh. My. God. We NEED writers. We need them back NOW. TV has become painful to watch.

AMPTP get out there and negotiate cause Hollywood will not survive with this kind of crap. Who wants to work their butt off on a great show to be nominated for an award announced by flipping Billy Bush?

I'm not sure I'm going to be able to watch an entire hour of this. It's making the snorefest of a 2-hour Dateline special before this look The Bourne Identity.

Good lord, pleeeeeease let them work out SOMETHING for the Oscars.

We Love Wii

Alright, alright I realize that the Wii has been out for like a year and a half, but I really got my first real quality Wii play time today and HELLO! Where you have you been all my life?

My Wii fitness age may have been 412 or whatever it was, but I sure had fun bowling, playing tennis and hitting home runs.

Plus, while I have watched Tony and Chad play Super Mario Galaxy for hours on end, I never got the chance to actually play myself until now. What a great game! Super creative and only made me want to throw up due to dizziness two or three times.

I guess this is a good situation for that old "Better Late Than Never" saying. Now I just need to save up ten zillion dollars to buy one of my own.

They Were Right--There Was Blood

I'm still in Chicago and today Kelly and I went downtown for some shopping and a movie. We decided to see There Will Be Blood because we've heard so much award hype about it, especially Daniel Day Lewis' performance.

And just let me say, the DDL hype is not unwarranted. At least the first 5 minutes were just shots of him with no dialogue at all, but when he did finally talk, it had that much more impact. It's not too often that you can't decide if the main character is a good-guy or bad-guy, but that's definitely the case during the majority of this 2 hours and 38 minutes of drama (with a few chuckles thrown in for good measure).

Of course, by the end, when there is, in fact, blood... well then it's pretty easy to figure out.

Daniel Day Lewis definitely deserves some awards for this performance--I counted only three scenes (and two were super short) that he wasn't in and those scenes just weren't the same without his powerful presence.

Not an uplifting movie, but more enjoyable than No Country For Old Men. ****

Oh What A Night!

Ces Soirees-La!

Jersey Boys...
Ahhhhhhhh it was so ridiculously good!!!
I want to see it again. RIGHT. NOW.

As much as I love more serious musicals like Les Mis and Miss Saigon, there's nothing like leaving a feel-good musical like Jersey Boys, skipping and/or dancing.

Not that I would ever do that, of course. Just, you know, hypothetically. Right.

The costumes and set were amazing. The acting was fantastic--especially the super cute guy who played Bob Gaudio who, from our seats (which, admmittedly, were not in the front row), reminded me of Jim from The Office. The audience was so much fun, clapping and cheering and swaying to the beat in our seats.

And the music-- oh the music was absolutely the best! You can listen to the soundtrack on CD in your car all you want, but when you actually see them on stage performing the songs, well... there's not much better than that.

If you haven't seen Jersey Boys, find some way to do so as soon as possible. You'll be glad you did!

Development Arrested

Just finished watching the last episode of Arrested Development.

All I can say is GOD that was a great show!

I will have a full tribute to the amazingness (not a word, I know but do not care) that was the complete series of Arrested Development, but for now, here's David Cross trying to explain why Fox would cancel such an amazing feat of pure television genius:



How can there be shows like Make Me A Supermodel and Law and Order: Blue SUV and all that other crap on TV but Arrested Development couldn't make it?

And That's All I Have to Say About That.

Gloria Steinem wrote this Op-Ed piece in the NYTimes today:

Women are Never Front-Runners

I don't want to incite a bunch of backlash (From whom? Not sure--I guess my like 4 readers) so I'm not going to say much about this piece except that I agree with everything she says and I'm glad she was able to put down in words what has been going through my head lately.

Maybe it's feminist and I'm sure my friend Valerie would be quick to denounce it as such, but I guess that makes me, as Steinem so smartly states, a you-know-what.

Sad News

It may not be as important as the New Hampshire primaries, but I am sad about it:

NYTimes: Strikebound, the Globes scale back awards

I don't want three hours of BS interview shows and party coverage. I want red carpet, I want amazing dresses, I want snazzy tuxes, I even want crazy Joan Rivers insulting her interviewees and Isaac Mizrahi getting to second base with his.

I certainly don't want to find out who wins at a "press conference."

The People's Choice Awards (kinda goofy, I know, but still an awards show) are suffering a similar fate. Can the writers reach even a temporary agreement for the Oscars to give us at least one show?

I want my awards season back!

For God's Sake...

...Hillary did NOT cry!

The media is pissing me off today.

I have watched the footage of the alleged blubbering many times and SERIOUSLY there was not a single tear shed. Perhaps she got a bit choked up but come on people! First you say she's too tough and you don't like her. Now she's too emotional and people are playing the gender card.

Honestly? What do you want her to be?!

If I see the playback of the speech one more time on CNN or NBC or Fox News or wherever, I might cry myself. And not out of passion for my country.

This post on Slate discusses the evolution of "crying" in politics. Interesting, especially because it's always been seen as a good strategy and oh-so-nice when a male candidate cried.

And here's the Newsweek story about "Hillary's emotions"--why is the media so obsessed with this today? As I type this entry, there's Anderson Cooper (that silver fox) analyzing it for the gazillionth time again.

Plain and simple: I liked her speech and what she said. End of story.

Weeds, Season 3: Not as Potent?

Throughout break I've been watching Weeds: Season 3 on Showtime on Demand and finished it up the other day.
I love love loved the first and second seasons but overall season 3 was not as good. There was way too much gangster stuff in this season. I realize that this stuff is probably the most realistic the show has been in terms of life as a drug dealer or whatever, but still... it seemed like every time she turned around, Nancy's life was being seriously threatened by a Mexican or Lithuanian or some guy named U-Turn.

Plus everybody knows now! Nancy's kids know, Celia knows, even Silas's Christian girlfriend (poorly acted by Mary Kate Olsen) knows--and ends up dealing! So it's not so sneaky-in-a-funny-way anymore.

Aaaaand Nancy was kinda slutty this season! The Christian neighborhood developer, the Mexican ganglord, Conrad, etc. I do not think Judah would approve.

But the whole Majestic absorbing Agrestic thing was pretty entertaining. And that episode where Shane thought he could see Judah's ghost was a good one. And oh my God Kevin Nealon is hilarious as Doug, rejoining the city council and then sending up a sewage fountain at the Majestic press conference. Oh and Andy as the foot-porn star!

Now that I think about it, it was actually pretty good--just not quite as good as the first two seasons. Luckily they have next season to make it up to me. Is it summer yet?

Quite the Debate

The New Hampshire Debates were tonight and since I'm pretty lame, I spent my Saturday night watching them with my mom.

Today the bloggers went crazy with commentary, discussing the Republican side of things (i.e. the group bashing of Mitt Romney)...
Salon: Mitt Romney in the Crosshairs
Slate: The Mitt Maul
and the Democratic portion of the program...
Slate: Comeback Swing

Now I'm no expert, but I did watch the things and here's my take on the performance of each candidate in the debates (in as few words as possible):

Repubs/Band of Old White Guys
McCain-- He looks ollllllllld. And needs his teeth fixed. But pretty darn smart.
Thompson--Learned a lot more about him. Major bags under his eyes--yikes.
Ron Paul-- Honestly? I took my bathroom breaks when he started to talk.
Romney-- I disagree with almost everything he says but oh, he is so good looking! He should be president in the movies!
Huckabee-- Aw shucks what a nice guy. He delivers his jabs at the competition with such a nice smile.
Giuliani--Oh. My. God. We get it. 9/11. Great. Kick it into gear dude!

Dems/"Change" Group
Edwards-- The only middle-aged white guy in the bunch. And he's all for change. Right. But I'll agree with Stephanoupolous... he was pretty vibrant.
Obama-- Kept his cool and made good points but looked really tired and overall pretty bored.
Richardson-- THE ONLY PERSON IN EITHER DEBATE TO MENTION EDUCATION!!!
Clinton-- Responded well to criticism, showed some humility and humanity.

Feel free to jeer, throw rotten fruit or even concur with my take, but there it is.

Oh What a Circus...

Oh What a Show!

I watched Evita on Encore Romance today with my mom. I really don't like Madonna or even Antonia Banderas all that much, but the music is so great and the film is really beautifully done. Too bad it was made in 1996 before movie-musicals were popular again or else it might have done better at the box office.

And now I can't get the songs out of my head.

Great--another musical to add to my list. I really should turn on the radio sometime to diversify what I listen to.

Nah.

Seriously? Seriously?!?

Oh, Iowa, you have got to be kidding.

HUCKABEE?!?

And just for the record, I have now reached my lifetime fill of Fox News.

At Least I'm Not Alone In My Inappropriateness

I found relief in the form of this post over at the PopWatch Blog on the Entertainment Weekly website:

Inappropriate Crush Quiz No. 2: Michael Cera

Apparently I am not alone in my creepy older person crush on this geeky, not-old-enough-to-drink-legally but oh-so-cute guy. And let me tell you, watching all the seasons of Arrested Development is not making it any better.

Creepers of the world unite!

And 3 More Makes 7...

Three more quick reviews from this movie-heavy holiday break of mine:


Sunday: Charlie Wilson's War
Man this movie made me miss West Wing. Typical Aaron Sorkin--smart, funny and entertaining... but also very educational. Great acting by Tom Hanks and especially by Philip Seymour Hoffman. I swear Julia Roberts was only in it for like 20 minutes, though--fine with me! ****


Monday: The Great Debaters
Apparently some critics have said this movie was "just like Glory Road"--that makes me laugh because there was definitely not a single sport in this movie. I loved it though, despite its somewhat cliche underdog-come-from-behind premise. There was a lot more to this movie than most "sports" movies (again I laugh at that classification) and Denzel Washington was great, as always. *****



Wednesday: No Country for Old Men
Oh. My. God. So. Many. People. Died. Javier Bardem was the ultimate psychopathic killer in this movie, shooting down basically anyone (and everyone) who comes in his path. I'm still trying to figure out exactly what the point of the movie was, but it was definitely... gripping. ***

Blog365

Once again, I've lost my mind. I joined this Blog 365 thing where we're challenged to blog every single day of 2008.


I know it will go okay at least until student teaching starts, but after that, we'll just have to see. And that's only Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. Ha!

Anyway, here's to big change in 2008--lots of things happening, lots of stuff to decide, lots of excitement [hopefully]... I can't believe it's already here!