Random Ramblings

Rambling at Random

Precious

March 30th, 2010 Posted in Movies
Mar, 30 2010
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With all the Oscar buzz this year, I made it a point to queue up Precious from Netflix.

I’m glad I did. I thought it was a great movie. I won’t give anything away here, since I’m not too keen on spoilers. If you want to find out what it was about, you can check it out on IMDB.

The film managed to make me laugh, but also made me feel very uncomfortable at times. It drives its point home very effectively, and you can’t help but feel terrible for the title character. Of course, she’s not the sparkling, can’t-do-wrong type who just can’t get a break. And, I think that’s a good thing!

I was so amazed with Gabourey Sidibe’s portrayal of Precious. I think she definitely deserved her Oscar nomination. I would almost say she should have won, but I’m not here to create arguments. I also don’t want to deal with anyone hating on Sandra Bullock. She’s awesome.

Mo’Nique as Precious’ mom just blew me away. Wow. I hated her character, which, to me, says a lot about her performance. I think she definitely deserved her Academy Award.

I even liked Mariah Carey’s turn as Mrs. Weiss. I think she managed to hold her own against some stellar performances.

Overall, I would encourage you to check it out. If strong themes like verbal and physical abuse really bother you, you may want to reconsider — the film plays very heavily on those elements.

To my fellow movie-clubbers, I give this movie five stars. Discussion to follow…

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Don’t wake me up if I’m dreamin’…

March 28th, 2010 Posted in Everyday Stuff
Mar, 28 2010
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Of course, if it’s a nightmare, please wake me up.

Last night, it wasn’t Kalena, Jonny, or even a nightmare that shook me from my peaceful slumber.

It was a hellishly painful, muscle twisting cramp in my left calf.

I tried frantically to grab my ankle and stretch it out. Nope. I stood up on one side of the bed and tried to stretch it out that way. No dice. All this time, I’m trying not to yell, because I didn’t want to wake Kenny and Kalena who had fallen asleep in the living room. For some reason, I thought I was going to die, which, obviously, would not have happened. I rolled over the bed and tried to stand up on the other end. My foot landed on the floor, and shot even more pain through my calf. I could no longer contain myself. I let out a yelp of pain, lost my balance and crashed hard on the floor beside the bed. As my leg continued to spasm, I remember hanging on to the corner of the bed and seeing light creep in from the space under the door. I was just about to call out for some help, when suddenly, my muscles stopped spasming, and everything relaxed. I decided to stay on the floor for a while. Thank goodness the pain had stopped. I also remember being thankful I didn’t wake anyone, because I thought that would have been uncool of me. Of course, when I told both Kenny and Kalena about the whole thing, they told me I should have yelled for help.

Hopefully, it won’t happen again, tonight.

On another note, the title of this post is a reference to the theme song from California Dreams (which I blogged about here). I finished watching seasons one and two over the weekend. The only problem is that I don’t think they’re ever going to release seasons three, four, and five. Perhaps it’s not a lucrative option for Shout Factory Video at this point, but one can hope. I also own seasons one and two of  Perfect Strangers. It’s been well over two years since its release, and a season three is nowhere to be found. Of course, Warner Home Video could ignore poor sales figures, and just give the fans what they want.

Hah! Don’t be ridiculous.

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A second chance…

March 26th, 2010 Posted in Everyday Stuff
Mar, 26 2010
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Sometimes, you just have to give things a second chance.

Of course, there are some things that probably don’t deserve a second go-around, but this blog is neither the time, nor place for that kind of content.

Anyhow, some of us in our department gathered today to celebrate a co-worker’s birthday. I won’t give the name of where we went, because I don’t want to make it sound like I’m trashing the place. I’m not. I quite enjoyed the burger I ordered. However, I also ordered a cup of tomato bisque to go along with it.

I’ve usually had pretty good luck with tomato bisque, no matter where I bought it. Today, luck decided to smile on someone else. For some reason, it tasted like someone took a bottle of spaghetti sauce, poured it into a pan, and then poured water into it. As I understand it, tomato bisque is supposed to be somewhat creamy. This cup of soup was NOT creamy at all. I couldn’t even finish it.

But, I just gave them the benefit of the doubt. Maybe a new employee made today’s batch. Any number of things could have gone wrong. I told myself, I’d need to go back to try it a second time. However, if it still tastes like watered-down spaghetti sauce, I’ll just remind myself to order something else.

Side note — I kicked myself for not ordering the turkey / cream cheese / cranberry sandwich.

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You know it’s March Madness when…

March 25th, 2010 Posted in Everyday Stuff
Mar, 25 2010
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you’re walking around the newsroom during a time when a newscast is normally on.

Suddenly, a deafening “OOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!” erupts from every corner of the room.

At first, I was like O_O, and then, I LOLed.

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Simple pleasures…

March 24th, 2010 Posted in Everyday Stuff
Mar, 24 2010
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Sometimes, the smallest things in life can make you smile.

It could be a ridiculous, yet innocent, question a child asks you. Maybe someone held the door open for you because you had your hands full. It could even be a greeting from a co-worker.

I had something last night, that made me smile.

It was a grilled butter roll from Liliha Bakery.

It’s not the greatest thing for my overall health, but it sure tasted yummy. Sliced open, buttered, then grilled to a nice, light, golden brown. Heck, even the blacklight-reactive jelly they gave me made me smile.

Oh jelly, oh jelly, thou art such a sight. Pray tell, what maketh you shine so neon-bright?

Pound-for-pound, I may have enjoyed that butter roll even more than the steak and eggs it came with. Don’t get me wrong, though. I give Liliha Bakery’s steak and eggs a thumbs-up any day.

Thank you, Liliha Bakery for being the purveyor of such smile-inducing comestibles!

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Elevator etiquette…

March 22nd, 2010 Posted in Everyday Stuff
Mar, 22 2010
1 Comment »

I think everything has a natural order. Or, at least, an order that would be considered common sense.

You flush a urinal AFTER you go wee wee (though, some people haven’t learned that lesson yet). You look left and right BEFORE you cross the street. You don’t try and play a DVD without first putting it into the DVD player.

So, why do many people try to enter an elevator before you exit? More often than not, when the elevator stops at the floor on which I’d like to exit, I nearly collide with a person, or people trying to push their way in. Why?

I truly believe that the exiting person should have the right of way. Logic dictates that it’s much more efficient to let someone exit first. If you try to do it the other way, the person would enter the elevator, and block the path out. Then, the person exiting has to waste time and effort by trying to get around the person who just entered. Add to this equation the probability that the person who just shoved their way in, will try to push their desired floor button AS SOON as they step in. This means that you either have to be a jerk and try to shove past them before they stick their arm out, or rush out the door before it closes, which may or may not involve slight personal injury.

I think most people who read this blog are the type who let people exit the elevator before they enter. If not, please consider letting people off the elevator before you try to get on. I know it’s super manini compared to society’s everyday problems. But — I believe we can make a difference, one step at a time.

So ultimately, I know someone will ask me, “So, do you let people get out of the elevator before you get on?”

Yes, I do.

I also wash my hands every time I use the bathroom.

But, that’s another story.

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Blogging, remotely…

March 20th, 2010 Posted in Uncategorized
Mar, 20 2010
1 Comment »

Remember when widely-accessible e-mail didn’t exist?

Now, we can blog from our mobile phones, which is exactly what I’m doing right now.

Sure, it takes longer on this tiny keyboard, but it works. I’ll probably refrain from doing this unless I really have to, simply because it’s not as easy as doing it from a computer. But, when inspiration strikes, it’s best to jot down those ideas!

Does anyone else use their phones and stuff to blog?

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It’s all a matter of taste…

March 20th, 2010 Posted in Everyday Stuff
Mar, 20 2010
1 Comment »

As a child, I was very finicky when it came to food. I hated rice, and would never eat it. When I went to McDonald’s I demanded that they make all my hamburgers plain. When I say plain, I mean PLAIN. Bun-meat-bun. No condiments! If I so much as tasted a small smear of ketchup, I would throw a fit and not eat the burger. No, scraping the ketchup and mustard off wasn’t good enough for me. What a jerk, huh?

My, how times have changed. I can’t live without rice. Now, when Kalena and I go to The Counter, I always pick some oddball toppings for my burger. Italian, Korean, Japanese, Thai, American — you name it, I’ll eat it (pretty much, anyway).

These days, one of my favorite foods is one I never thought I’d enjoy. Poke. Yes, the very idea of eating raw fish disgusted me at one point in the past, but no longer! I’m no expert on poke, but I know what I like, and I’ve recently discovered a new favorite, thanks to my colleague, Jaytee. It’s Foodland’s ahi avocado poke. It’s just spicy enough, and the avocado adds a creaminess that really works in the mix! Mmmmm…

Do you all enjoy yourselves a nice helping of poke every now and again? If so, what’s your favorite kind? For those of you who don’t like it — what don’t you like about it? I’m curious!

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Surf Dudes, with attitude…

March 19th, 2010 Posted in Everyday Stuff
Mar, 19 2010
1 Comment »

Well, my California Dreams Seasons 1 & 2 boxed set arrived earlier this week.

I love this show. It’s sooo bad, but there’s something about it that I can’t get enough of. As a musician, I get a big laugh out of how bad the characters mime the musical segments. Yes, they all sing their own parts, but when Matt stops playing his guitar to tear up a vocal line, you can still hear the guitar playing in the backing track. Or, when Jenny jumps up to the front for a song, the keyboard part magically remains in the mix. One could argue that they sequenced the keyboard part, but then Tony would have to be machine-perfect to keep time with that keyboard part. But, no one should ever think about something like that too much.

Somehow, I got off the main subject (did I ever have one?). I wanted to find out what some of your favorite television theme songs were. I’ll give you two categories – vocal and instrumental.

Here are some of my picks:

Vocal:
Perfect Strangers
California Dreams
Growing Pains

Instrumental:
Batman (1966)
Hawaii Five-0
Magnum P.I.

Do any of your favorites match mine?

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Would it be the same?

March 18th, 2010 Posted in Movies
Mar, 18 2010
3 Comments »

I just read that Columbia / Sony doesn’t want Ivan Reitman back to direct Ghostbusters 3. I don’t quite know what I think of that just yet. With me, remakes / reboots / reimaginings are a total mixed bag. I’m a Trek fan, and I loved the new Star Trek. I’m also a Superman fan, but I totally hated Superman Returns. I loved The Karate Kid, and I’m pretty excited to see The Karate Kid (2010), but I think it’s inappropriately titled.

Back to the main subject — the studio wants to bring in a younger director. Ok, fine. I just hope, that is this happens, he keeps the spirit of the original series. Well, mainly the first one. It seems that Ghostbusters II has a lot of haters (me not included).

We know that the original Ghostbusters are supposed to be passing the torch off to a younger set of Ghostbusters. I’m not exactly thrilled with that, but hey, years of working with highly nuclear equipment can’t be safe.

What do you think of this latest development?

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