2006-04-03 Here's the latest scam: when you send in a rebate, the manufacturers seem to be universally rejecting random submissions for vague reasons like "postmark past date" or "insufficient proof of prior ownership". I've received no less than four (4) rejections recently and in every case, when I called, they ended up approving the submission without further proof of anything. Either they're just collecting my phone number and adding me to the "cheap ass" list, or they're pulling the same crap every health insurance company has been doing for years (rejecting virtually every claim in hopes that you won't resubmit it). Sometimes I'm ashamed of this country.
Movies: War of the Worlds (Tom Cruise, Spielberg crap; one of the weakest movies I've ever sat through; damn Spielberg sucks), The Island (I really liked this for an action flick and I thought the premise was good), The Man (Eugene Levy and that black guy; pretty funny for a silly movie), Loaded Weapon (spoof of Lethal Weapon has one of the best lines about "...your worst nightmare"; watch it and find out), Stuart Little 2 (probably better than the first; good for kids), Dark Corner (decent film noir with Lucille Ball before she became that annoying whiner on her unfunny TV show), The Baxter (silly relationship flick, but enjoyable nonetheless), Junebug (more family dynamics; not that great)

2006-03-23 I don't even know where to begin explaining where I've been the past two months. Essentially, I've lived through a 3-D nightmare and am just now re-inhabiting my body and am re-entering the real world. An extremely tragic event has happened in my life and it's just now sinking in as reality. It's been so truly surreal for the last couple months that I still can't really come to grips with it. Thank goodness for those around me who have been so giving and supportive, especially my significant other and my little girl (who has no idea how much she gives with each smile). The rest of you can sniffle my biffle.
Movies (Briefly, cuz there are lots): Undertow (violent, predictable), Santa Clause 2 (better than the first, OK for a kid flick), Johnny Dangerously (lite fun), Sky High (modern kid flick, OK), Boatniks (old Disney throwaway), Kung Fu Hustle (OK, but I don't remember), Under Suspicion (damn that Monica Bellucci is gorgeous; decent), Tears of the Sun (damn that Monica Bellucci is gorgeous; this was better than I expected), Lt Robin Crusoe USN (old Disney Dick Van Dyke flick; it was fun when I was a kid and it was still OK, all things considered), Broken Flowers (yet another slow moving, boring Bill Murray flick), Chumscrubber (this is Heathers meets Pump Up The Volume, which is probably why I liked it), Waiting (decent American Pie-type movie; aim low and you'll be satisfied), Snowball Express (another old Disney favorite), Get A Clue (Lindsay Lohan complete throwaway TV movie), Underclassman (better than the 2.7 IMDB rating would indicate, but still not that great), Deuce Bigalow 2 (quite possibly the worst movie ever made), Beautiful Country (very good), Paradise Lost (true child murder case/trial; interesting, but other than the crime itself, little else was interesting), Flight Plan (OK, but many plot holes kept it from being great), Up The Sandbox (weak Barbra Streisand flick), Ladies In Lavender (very enjoyable and damn that Natascha McElhone is gorgeous), Twins (OK at best Arnold Schwarzenegger/Danny Devito comedy; Terry Bozzio has a cameo), Skeleton Key (OK horror flick), Sudden Fear (very good Joan Crawford film noir), Island Of The Blue Dolphins (true story of young girl's survival after being left alone on an island sometime in the 1800's; weak acting and low budget, but I always loved the book as a kid, so the film is acceptable on that merit. Interesting footnote to the story is that after surviving for many years on the island, once rescued, she died only a few months later), Brothers Grimm (kinda weak, but damn that Monica Bellucci is gorgeous!), Mind The Gap (this is one of those intertwined, connected lives of unrelated people movies, but it's better than its formula would indicate), Bad News Bears (2005 remake, weak), Lila Says (very good, but I don't know why), Ballad of Jack and Rose (sort of a family dynamic movie; overall weak), Fantastic 4 (Ugh, what crap), SFW (I thoroughly enjoyed this flick; it's also in that Heathers & Pump Up The Volume vein)

2006-01-15 It's a lot of work taking care of a baby, but it beats the hell out of collecting stuff, which is what I spent most of my life doing. Now all my little "collections" are collecting dust, maybe one day to be uncovered with/by my little girl (or better yet, to be sold on Ebay). Life moves on and Bush is still a prick and most of my thoughts are still completely random. I've re-thunk my view on Howard Stern moving to satellite radio -- now I think it's a great move and I think he's brilliant for doing it at the perfect time. I also heard that now the FCC is considering having their useless power extend to satellite...now, you tell me, are they out to get him or what? The freakin' FCC serves no function and should be disbanded immediately. In another news, Johnny Carson died (and no one cared), Nirvana is sick again (for about another week), Howard Stern is brilliant (did I already say that?) and I feel totally ripped off that Cyndi Lauper put out another CD of recycled material. Kate Winslet out, Monica Bellucci in...film at 11.
Music: Nirvana - Nevermind (now that Kurt's ridiculous suicide is near forgotten, it's become Dave Grohl's band and he was so ultimate, and, as an added bonus, he's still alive!!)
Movies: Me Myself and I ('what if' scenario film about woman who ends up meeting herself as the woman who took a different path in life; I dislike the format (too formulaic), but this was better than average), Dogtown and Z-Boys (excellent documentary with archival footage of skateboard pioneering team; best film on the subject), House of Wax (Elisha Cuthbert's cute, but I don't wanna see her finger snipped off; lame), Pretty Persuasion (I love movies like this: pissed off teenage girl's world laced with sardonic wit; a bit uneven, but some very funny lines/scenes), Wedding Crashers (Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson playing Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson, respectively; exactly what you'd expect), Cinderella Man (excellent film about boxer James Braddock, somewhat typical story, but very well acted; even Renee "you-can't-tell-if-she's-smiling-or-frowning" Zellweger was good in this), American Pie 4 Band Camp (pretty good considering it's the 4th in the series and I expected nothing), The Interpreter (Nicole Kidman, Sean Penn; damn Sean Penn's a good actor; very good film), Deeply (Kirsten Dunst throwaway; OK at best), The Owl and the Pussycat (Barbra Streisand before she became so annoying; decent), No Direction Home (Bob Dylan documentary; very well done covering more around Dylan than about him; worth watching), Ripe (two teens run away after their abusive parents die; could have been good, but teetered a bit on the lame side), I'm Not Scared (I'd never heard of this film, but it turned out to be surprisingly good; go rent it), Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (total chick flick and has all the trimmings of every chick flick; only get it if you're a chick), Smoke Signals ("Hey Victor"; film about two Indian guys (one nerdy and the other a young Johnny Depp type) who visit one of their recently deceased dad's home to pick up his belongings; very good), Four Brothers (violent 'revenge' movie full of plot holes, but, hey, it's a movie; average), The Great Zeigfeld (overrated, overlong 1937 'Best Picture' about famed showman Florenz Ziegfeld's ups and downs), Valiant (animated kidflick about pigeons in WWII; inspired by the Dickin Medal, awarded to pets for bravery during wartime; OK, but should have been better), MurderBall (if you're one of these morons that assume all handicapped people are helpless and deaf and retarded, check out this film and you'll see that they are not only capable of kicking your butt, but they're also just as capable of being an a#$hole as the next guy, which is good to know)

2006-01-02 This'll have to be quick, even though I haven't been around in forever. Now that the staged Xbox "shortage" predictably left all these losers feeling obligated to buy another stupid video game console at outrageous prices, it seems another xmas has come and gone. Baby's first xmas was somewhat uneventful, save for a little wrapping paper tasting (by her, not me). Our tree sucked for the second year in a row, so we may go with the dreaded fake tree from here on out. I always like to avoid everyone on xmas because then it actually becomes an enjoyable day without obligation. I do like small gatherings (but I hate people; isn't it ironic?) around this time of year. This year was especially cool, though, because our little one got some incredibly adorable outfits. Trust me, as macho as you may think you are, you'd think these were cute, too. Happy New Year!
Movies: Key Largo (Humphrey Bogart; decent film noir; highly rated of the genre), March of the Penguins (documentary about involved (under extreme conditions) penguin mating ritual; it's amazing what these animals go through for their species' survival; we should be so strong), Heights (I usually hate this sort of intertwined relationship movie, where there's always a gay character and it's so annoying, but Glenn Close was very good in this and, well, let's just say I didn't hate it; it's worth a look), The Real John Lennon (UK documentary about Lennon's early days; more personal recollections than Beatles history; excellent), Wife Vs. Secretary (Clark Gable, Myrna Loy; idle 40's flick about exactly what the title implies; I'm biased towards Gable and Loy, so I enjoyed it, but it was about average), Mr. and Mrs. Smith (Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt; better than I thought, although it was still pretty stupid; some isolated funny parts; scan through the first half -- it stunk), Libeled Lady (1936, William Powell, Myrna Loy; this is an "It Happened One Night" ripoff, but since IHON is a top 20 favorite, this one ruled, too; very good in that screwball comedy vein), Gas Food Lodging (1992; OK film about mother raising her two daughters; some plot elements were just a little too cliche though), Two For the Road (Audrey Hepburn, some guy; excellent film portraying different stages in a couple's relationship; doesn't fall into all the pitfalls this theme usually does), Bark (bizarre film erroneously tagged a comedy about a man's having to deal with a wife who think's she's a dog; it's actually kind of depressing and a little engrossing (although I would have killed her after an hour); I guess it was decently done, but probably would have been much better as a 15 minute short)