I couldn't believe they wanted this man dead

I've kept busy recently. Friday I hooked up with the Danny, Trip and Corb and we played some Halo 2. It'd been a while since we got together and that was fun. On Saturday, Trip and I went to Roanoke for wings and a movie. We saw The Longest Yard, which was pretty good. Not the greatest movie ever, but a remake made with some respect for the original. What can I say, I'm an Adam Sandler fan. I'm torn between foot massage and +1 chainmail. I need to see it again to give it a final rating. What I found amusing once, may not stand up under closer scrutiny.

I suited up for some heavy lifting on Sunday and Kevin, Langdon and I got up some hay on their family farm. Man I am not cut out for that type of work. I was chugging. But I got a little cash and a free meal so it's all good.

Monday I felt "as tho a bear had laid on me" (to quote a friend of mine online). So I just lazed around here and finished watching the final season of Angel. That was good, but I was a little annoyed with the ending. Not that it was bad, it just left more story to tell and there isn't going to be anymore told most likely.

I also finished Palahniuk's Haunted. It was good, a nice mindfucky type of read. It's not my favorite of his works (Fight Club is gonna be hard to top, although I think Lullaby was close). I really favor the novel over the short story. I lose focus with shortstories, they break things up to much. Who thought I'd argue against the short attention span version of something? I'd say it's a foot massage of a read. Although if you take away the shock value of Guts, it'd drop a bit.

Iggy was here?

Hey I just noticed the comments from my earlier posts and Iggy left me a message. He's a celebrity among the poker blogging crowd, nay a poker blogging legend and he was here. I feel all warm and fuzzy. Makes me wanna go all in with a 7-2 offsuit. Check out his blog for what's really going on in the poker world here.

Completely random crap

Haven't had much to say lately. Basically nothing new going on, just watch tv and movies and playing video games. I'm just gonna do a brief list of stuff I've caught lately and random thoughts on it.

• The Terminal- Tom Hanks was good as always and this movie was a lot better than I had heard. I'd give it a foot massage rating overall.
• Drumline- I was bored and it came on TNT. Pretty much exactly what I expected so it achieves a heartfelt Meh.
• House- Watched the season finale tonight and I gotta say this show is pretty damn sweet. I do think that any doctor that actually behaved as the lead char. would have long ago been sued out of the medical profession, but it's def. entertaining.
• Deadwood- I'm now three weeks out of the loop! Man I miss it. I start to freak out if I don't hear someone being called a cocksucker a couple times a week. Fortunately my neighbors like to argue so I'm not gonna be dying anytime soon.
• Halo 2- Been playing a lot of this lately, it's just caught my attention for some reason. Got my rank up to 13 and climbing, woohoo.
  
• WoW- I continue to be this game's willing thrall. I don't know if I can ever give it up at this point. Between creating alternate characters and getting the best equipment for my warlock and player vs. player action this game holds my attention vigorously.
• Lindsay Lohan- She hosted SNL this weekend and while she is hot, man she needs to eat something. Those little twig arms are not sexy. Makes me think of Auschwitz or starving African children.
  
• Poker- This weekend I bet I watched no less than 7 different poker programs on tv. You gotta love that. The really sad part is that I loved most of them. The rerun footage of the World Series of Poker, the World Poker Tour, Celebrity Poker Showdown, Fox Sports Poker Stars Showdown, The Heads Up Poker Championship, etc., etc. Hell Gabe Kaplan has a new show coming out... I mean come on, poker resurrected the Welcome Back Kotter guy, it's power knows no bounds.
  

You are unwise to lower your defenses

Well I did it. Trip and I went to a matinee of Ep. 3. I suppose I get some nerd cred back, seeing it on opening day. Anyway I have to say it is easily the best of the prequels. Granted the bar isn't too high, but it's pretty good. The acting isn't nearly as wooden and there is nigh constant action.

My favorite bits were the ones with General Grievous, who rocked. I liked him in the Clone Wars cartoon and my respect has only deepened. But yeah, it this is def. the fourth best Star Wars movie ever made. My personal rankings for the films (and, really, the only sensible way to rank them) are: Empire Strikes Back, Star Wars (A New Hope), Return of the Jedi (extraordinary except for the Ewoks), Return of the Sith, Attack of the Clones and, last and least, The Phantom Menace.

It's funny, when the movie finally started and the Star Wars theme kicked in with those old 70s Star Wars font scrolls up the screen I can't help but feel a little giddy. It's something visceral and ingrained. I mean that is a great lead in. There will never be a new movie with that lead in. It's the end of an era.

Nerd shangrila

These are the times when geeks thrive. The final Star Wars movie is released, E3 has been going on and there are a ton of nerdy summer blockbusters on the horizon. I'm up to my pocket protector in goodness.

Of course, honestly I haven't paid that much attention to E3 since its mostly been about the next gen consoles that I can't afford. I also didn't make the midnight opening of Star Wars. So I suppose my nerd cred is under suspicion. But really Trip didn't feel up to standing in line and really I didn't want to deal with the nerds I knew would be in line around these parts. I'm sure I'll see it before the weekend is out, but I'm not slavering at the idea as I have in the past.

Watched House of the Flying Daggers and I'm not sure why it was marketed as a kung fu movie. I mean there was kung fu, but it was really a love story and really slow paced. But again it made wonderful use of color and landscapes. I'd give it a Meh. all told, with moments of sheer beauty.

I've got a bad feeling about this

So I have been fairly low key lately. Watched Apollo 13 a coupla times on Bravo and that was good. I also watched three hours worth of Cartoon Network's The Clone Wars. It's pretty awesome. None of the horrible Jar Jar crap or wooden acting of Ep. 1 and 2. Makes you wonder how good Star Wars coulda been if George Lucas wasn't both an idiot and a douche.

This afternoon I spent a little time reading on the porch with the rain pouring down. That was nice. I then hooked up with Gabe online for some Diablo. Of course I've also been WoW a lot. Woo.

Yep. That's my life. Ugg.

Que?

Man it's a beautiful day. I'm actually gonna end up outside for a while and enjoying it for a change. Gotta do some mowing, which once I get started on I don't mind at all. I just dread it beforehand... like most things.

Anyway, not much is going on atm. I've been doing my usual bumming around. I watched Spanglish yesterday, which I thought was pretty good. Not spectacular (although Paz Vega's body definitely deserves that term, Tea Leoni looked good too, but I don't have the fixation with here that Trip and Kevin do). I think it got kind of a bad rap because Adam Sandler is in it. Critics only see him as the goofy bastard that makes somewhat juvenile comedies (which I love). But with this and Punch Drunk Love, he's shown he can be more than a fart joke punchline, he's got some emotional range. Don't get me wrong he ain't Brando yet, but give the man a chance. Anyway I'm giving it a +1 chainmail rating.

I'm now reading Haunted, by Chuck Palahniuk. It's a collection of short stories strung together by an odd narrative. The stories, in usual Palahniuk fashion, tend toward the disturbing. I can't remember if I commented on Guts when I read it in Playboy, but man it is one of the most off-putting tales ever. It wraps the awkwardness of youthful masturbation with the horror of real life tragedy in a way that makes your skin crawl. It's one of those things that you have to experience to get, but honestly it's not for everyone.

crushing murk

I've had a busy week. Lots of moving and delivering, but now I suppose I can relax again. Nonetheless, I've been in kind of a foul mood for most of the evening. Just brooding and thinking too much.

Watched Ocean's 12 with the rents and it really didn't stand a second watching. It was ok, but some bits of the plot look a little weak the second time through. Still there were some nice moments.

I suppose I don't have much else to say that wouldn't be me just unleashing vitriolic comments all over everyone and thing.

The big cheesebread

My tendency to not update here is becoming more and more prevalent it seems. Honestly I don't have much interesting to report. I've been doing a lot of mowing the last coupla days and have been playing WoW as if my life depended on it.

I finally wrapped up the Incarnations of Immortality series and it just wasn't as good as I remembered it. I suppose that's the trouble with going back to reread things that you read when an adolescent. They tend to disappoint with the passage of time. Whether the cause is simply because it is easier to impress the young mind or if I recall them with a sense of nostalgia I'm not sure.

In other news I'm rereading Fight Club, which certainly provides no disappointment. After I complete that I have Palahniuk's new book Haunted to dive into. Hoping it's better than Diary, which I didn't care for overmuch.

And to finish, a haiku from Fight Club:

Flowers bloom and die
Wind bring butterflies or snow
A stone won't notice

Those that doubt me suck cock by choice

So I watched the last episode of Deadwood finally and man do I miss that show when I don't see it regularly. The sheer poetry of the cursing, it's glorious. My aunt and I spoke about it earlier and she asked me to remember the phrase that has become the title of this post. And so now she knows it.

Also got to hang with Kevin for awhile today, which was cool. We had a fine Hardee's dinner and played some Halo 2 before he was off to bang on his drum all day. Trip and I then caught up on some tv watching.

I suppose that's about it. Today was the first day I'd left the homestead since Tuesday... Maybe I'm finally become a recluse. I wish I could actually afford for that to happen.