My Fanaticism is Returning

For a while there I was ashamed to call myself a Harry Potter fan after geeky fanboys and girls raised a fuss about Warner Bros. deciding to push back the release date for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. I still don't mind that WB made the move, but the HP fan inside me was pumped after seeing the new trailer:



It would have been cool to see the flick a week ago, but at least I have something to look forward to this July.

My Thanks

It's another Thanksgiving, and once again I have a lot to be thankful for. Of course, I'm extremely thankful for my family. As the years go by, I realize how fortunate I am to have such a wonderful group of people supporting me. I'm also grateful for all of the blessings that I've received this year. I have a roof over my head, food on my table, and the chance to further my education. You can't ask for anything more. Happy Thanksgiving!

My Giddiness Mounts

The New Year cannot get here fast enough...the countdown has begun!

My Freeze-Ray

Since ABC has decided to pull the plug on one of the most creative shows on TV today, I've decided to promote something just as awesome that they cannot take away from us, Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog. For those who don't know, check out the trailer:





Dr. Horrible proves two things:

1.) Musicals are cool

and

2.) NPH freakin' rocks!

My Pick for Must-See Vampire Flick

Why watch Twilight (which looks like a vampire version of The Covenant), when you can see Let the Right One In

My Missing Piece

Last night in class, we had a former university president come to class to share her experience in higher education. From the get-go you could sense that she was good at what she did, and is a model of strong leadership. She talked about her tenets of good leadership, and she spent a lot of time on being passionate about what you do. This echoed the advice another guest speaker gave during a class last term.

In May, this woman gave a presentation about what she does for a living. It involved working with female inmates, and getting them ready to transition to re-enter the outside world by helping them learn a trade. Again, she showed great passion and dedication for what she did.

These two women got me thinking about what I want to do with me life. Now, I'm not saying that I want to work with inmates or be a college president for the rest of my life, or at all for that matter, but they were so passionate about what they did. I wish I had a fraction of that spark.

It still feels like I'm just drifting along in life. I still feel like I have zero direction, and for the first time in my life it's starting to scare me. You'd think I'd have the slightest idea about what I'd want to do for a living by now. Unfortunately, I don't. At least I don't think that I do.

Maybe that's not all true. I do think that I'm supposed to be some sort of teacher, probably in a college environment, but I'm not convinced that my heart is not totally in it, and I don't want to get stuck down a path that I regret. Now, I know that life isn't supposed to be mapped out for you, and you need to learn from mistakes and detours, but that's just such a scary thought.

The thing is, I don't know what I'm passionate about. I used to think that it was movies, but I know that's just a fantasy that will never happen. I have zero musical talent, so that's out of the picture. I don't feel the urge to save the pandas, or the polar bears, or the rain forest. I've never really given back to my community. I just sit here and think about what is missing in my life.

Over the last couple of months, I've had this nagging need to shake things up, but for some reason I'm hesitant to do so, probably because it's easier to sit back and whine about life rather than doing something to change it. I do think that getting involved in the community could give me some direction, but for some reason I keep talking myself out of doing anything. Organizations like the Boys and Girls Club or Big Brothers Big Sisters intrigue me, but I can't even figure out how to live my own life. I guess I'm just scared of messing up some kid's life.

At least I know that something is missing, and now I just need to man up and find the piece that fits.

My Two-Cents on Bond, James Bond

This afternoon, I checked out the new James Bond film, Quantum of Solace, and I wanted to share a few thoughts, but I also wanted to re-visit my take on Casino Royale, so I skimmed through my blog on Myspace to find my initial review of CR:

I was a little surprised that Casino Royale was able to rack up a 94% fresh rating according to rottentomatoes.com. The reason I was a little surprised is because I've never seen the appeal of James Bond. The 007 Franchise is one that I've never been able to get behind. To be fair, I've never really given the movies much of a chance. Casino Royale is only the second Bond flick I've ever watched (the other one being GoldenEye). I've always pictured Bond as a stuffed shirt, pretty boy with some really cool toys. The older movies either seemed too silly and unbelievable, so I never paid them too much attention.

Casino Royale changes all of that. This Bond movie is grittier, darker, and more realistic. Daniel Craig works because he does not look like your cookie-cutter Bond, and this is not your cookie-cutter Bond movie. Craig is still charming, but his Bond has depth, baggage, and a mean streak. He's pretty much a badass.

This flick also works because it focuses more on story and character development and less on cool gadgets and blowing stuff up. I liked the reboot approach that was taken with Casino Royale because it makes Bond human. We get a little glimpse at what makes Bond click. We get to see a little bit of his back-story. We get to see the man before he puts on the tux. This is similar to the approach that we saw with Batman Begins. We get to see James Bond become 007 just like we saw Bruce Wayne become Batman.

The lack of toys and ludicrous action sequences does not mean that this movie is boring. There are some great fight scenes (the chase through a construction site was worth the ticket alone), some good chuckles, and a love story to boot.

There are some flaws with this installment. The movie went a little too long and had a Return of the King feel because it could have ended two or three times before the actual credits rolled. The opening credits seemed a little too campy. I also did not like Texas Hold'em being substituted for baccarat. Sure, poker's more popular but there's something iconic about seeing Bond play baccarat.

Overall, I enjoyed Casino Royale. It didn't make me want to go out and watch the previous 20 flicks, but I will be watching Bond 22 when it comes out.

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Now, on to QoS. This was a nice follow-up to Casino Royale, but it did not reach the high bar that was set by its predecessor. Sure, this installment has some great action sequences, fights, and amazingly hot women, but it really didn't add much to this new Bond.

The story was a little weak, and the villain was not as menacing as other baddies that have been introduced to cinema, but they serve their purposes. It's been said that QoS is the second part of a Bond trilogy, and that's what it feels like. You get some closure, but ultimately it's a bridge to the next chapter, which should be on par with Casino Royale.

Solace's strength relies again on Daniel Craig's portrayal of Bond. He's still brooding, vengeful, and dark but still a badass. He's also able to toss in some well-timed dark humor, which is never a bad thing. I know that I'm totally biased and uninformed, but Craig's Bond is by far the best in my book (NOTE: I've never seen a Connery Bond film, so let's not even debate). This is not your father's Bond, but that's a good thing because the character has new life. I love how people are bitching about the new Bond is more like Jason Bourne than the Bond of old, but wasn't that the point of the reboot? I have three words for them: get over it. It's kind of like people saying they prefer George Clooney's Batman over Christian Bale's.

Overall, Quantum of Solace is no where close to being as good as Casino Royale, but I was still entertained, and I'm looking forward to Bond 23, and isn't that the point of a good franchise.

My Daisies are Being Pushed

It looks like I should have done my research before putting out my dream, ABC prime time lineup. I can't say that I'm surprised to see that Pushing Daisies is on the bubble because it hasn't been bringing in the numbers, but it'll suck if this show is canned due to circumstances it had no control over.

Every sophomore series was devastated by the WGA Writer's Strike because they did not have the chance to really find a wide audience. The strike also kept new shows off the air for months, so potential viewers didn't have the chance to see shows like Pushing Daisies. I also think some viewers were turned away from network TV because of the strike, but that's just my own conspiracy theory.

So, it looks like Ned, Chuck, Emerson, and Olive will be pushing daisies themselves, which is unfortunate because this show has tons of potential.

My Mid-Season Clusterfrick

It's almost that time of year, mid-season on network TV. Usually, mid-season has little to no buzz, but I'm actually excited this year because Scrubs will start its new life on ABC.

Unfortunately, this mid-season might be a downer for some of my other favorite shows; namely Pushing Daisies. Apparently, PD's second season numbers are drastically lower compared to last season, which could spell doom for the Pie Maker. According to Wikipedia, Daisies is not on the mid-season calendar and has been replaced with Scrubs and The Goode Family. Ironic, huh?

I understand why Daisies hasn't been a huge hit for ABC since it actually promotes creativity rather than reality based schlock. Brightly-colored, quirky, fantasy shows will not resonate with all viewers, but then again watching washed up celebrities prance around doesn't either.

The thing is ABC has the chance to set up a pretty fun night if they just gave Pushing Daisies a shot. For example, you could have an hour block of sitcoms by pairing up Scrubs with Samantha Who?, follow that up with Pushing Daisies, and round out the night with Eli Stone.

Now, I haven't watched an episode of Samantha or Eli, but from what I know they both have that slightly quirky edge to them which could work nicely with Scrubs and Daisies. Sure, you may turn some viewers away with an all "outside the box" night, but you could keep a lot of viewers for the entire evening.

If I ran ABC, I would put this lineup on Tuesday nights starting this winter. Sure, it would go up against American Idol, but the same is true for Wednesdays. It would make the most sense to put these shows on Mondays, but then Scrubs or Daisies would probably have to go up against How I Met Your Mother, Chuck, and House. My DVR's already working overtime on Monday nights.

So, that's what my ideal ABC lineup would look like if I ruled the world (or Disney). I just hope Pushing Daisies gets some new life, and Scrubs doesn't get crushed on its new network. Either way, it could be an interesting mid-season.

My Giddiness Continues

Scrubs: Season 7 comes out tomorrow! Can't wait. I know how I'm going to celebrate Veteran's Day...Scrubs marathon!!

My Tears of Joy

Very rarely do I tear up over anything...I did tonight. I can say that I was able to see Senator Barack Obama become the President-Elect of the United States of America. To be honest, I knew this day would come in my lifetime, but I'm happy to see that it happened so soon. Tonight has been an exclamation point on a pretty amazing day.

Earlier today I was walking from one of the parking structures at Portland State, and I saw one of the daycare workers walking with four children around my niece's age. There was a little white boy and girl, and the other two were black twin girls. I was amazed when I saw the little white girl grab and hold onto one of the black girls' hand as they walked...like it was natural for her to do that. It was an instinct. This little girl did not pull her hand away because she was reaching for a hand that was not like hers. She just took it and held it. I was surprised and hopeful, especially on a day like today.

I walked a few more feet thinking about what I just witnessed, and I realized that I shouldn't have been so surprised. One of my earliest memories is playing with a little black boy in the schoolyard of my daycare center. I didn't realize that he was different than me until years later when society told me that he was. I remember having white friends, and Hispanic friends, and black friends growing up, and not giving it a second thought. My generation is fortunate because I bet thousands of my peers have similar experiences. We were brought up in a more tolerant age, and while it may not be as accepting as we'd hope, it is still light years ahead of where we've been. Tonight is proof of that.

My Belief in Change

Here we are on the eve of one of the most important days in modern American political history. Hopefully, by the end of tomorrow night we'll know who the next President of the United States is. Personally, I'm hoping that it is Senator Obama, but I hope that every American who can vote gets out (if they already haven't) to cast their ballot for whomever they see fit. I don't care if it's for Sen. McCain, Sen. Obama, Ralph Nader, or one of the other candidates...just do it already.

I've been an open Obama supporter because I believe that he is the right person for the job. I believe that he's ready to lead us towards a better United States. I know some people agree with me, and some don't, and I'm cool with you either way. I respect Sen. McCain for everything he's done for this country, and he's put up one helluva fight regardless of the outcome. Either way, we cannot forget how lucky we are to be Americans. Sure, the U.S. is broken right now, but I cannot imagine living anywhere else.

Be grateful for what we have as a country and show your gratitude by getting out and voting tomorrow.

My Two-Cents on Zack & Miri

This flick is probably the filthiest romantic comedy ever, and one of Kevin Smith's better movies. Zack & Miri has more laugh-out-loud moments than Mallrats & Clerks II combined. Right now, I'd have to rank Z&M up there on my list of Smith movies, probably at No. 3 behind Chasing Amy and Jersey Girl, and only slightly ahead of Dogma, but I'll probably have to watch it one more time before solidifying the final rankings.

The story was pretty straight forward and predictable, but the movie's strength relies on the performances. Rogen pretty much plays the same character that's made him a star, but the biggest surprise is Elizabeth Banks. She is able to combine the raunch with the heart, and she comes off as charming and cute. Banks is by far the best leading lady in any of Smith's films, but then again she doesn't have too much competition (I'd say Liv Tyler is the only person to give her a run for her money). Craig Robinson ("The Office") steals the show as Rogen's friend and producer, and the View Askew alums (Jason Mewes & Jeff Anderson) have some decent post-Jersey performances. There are some memorable cameos to boot. Let's just say I won't look at a Mac ad or Superman the same way again.

Overall, it was exactly what I expected. It was raunchy, obscene, but with some sweetness thrown in there for good measure. My only gripe is how people are going to say Smith is making an Apatow film, when we all know Smith was making these kind of flicks way before The 40 Year Old Virgin was a hit. But it was kind of cool seeing the two Comedy Families (View Askew & Apatow & Co.) meet on screen. Hopefully, this is the first of many collaborations.