The Noms

Well it's that time of year. Oscar time is upon us and I'll be honest, no real surprises in the nominations for me this year. Unless you count the fact that Brokeback Mountain got 8 nominations and it was merely an okay film in my opinion. I won't bore you with a recap of all the categories, but you do get the majors with a sneak peek at my thought process on who might win this year. As soon as I get my fantasy pick 'em league up and running, an invite will be posted here on the old blog for any and all takers. Stay tuned.

Performance by an actor in a leading role
Philip Seymour Hoffman
Terrence Howard
Heath Ledger
Joaquin Phoenix
David Strathairn

Here's the thing about Best Actor, I genuinely like 4 of the 5 guys in this group and the fifth, Heath Ledger, gave the best perfromance in his movie Brokeback Mountain. Since Heath has been getting shut out by Hoffman in all the major awards this year, you have to think Philip Seymour is becoming a lock. Three of the five are playing real people, something the academy leans towards, but I must be honest I've only seen 3 performances (Phoenix, Ledger and Howard) and the one I enjoyed most was Hustle and Flow's Terrence Howard.

Performance by an actor in a supporting role
George Clooney
Matt Dillon
Paul Giamatti
Jake Gyllenhaal
William Hurt

Matt Dillon was incredible in Crash, but I've only seen his and Jake's performances. Giamatti's nomination appears like a make up for getting snubbed for Sideways, so he ain't winning. Clooney has 3 nominations this year, so look for him to get shut out of this one as well. William Hurt from what I hear is only in his movie for 8 minutes of screen time, something that hasn't prevented Paul Newman and Judi Dench from winning in this type of category in the past. However, I think the good money could be on Matt this year.

Performance by an actress in a leading role
Judi Dench
Felicity Huffman
Keira Knightley
Charlize Theron
Reese Witherspoon

Felicity Huffman has been battling Reese for trophies this award season, making this more interesting that you might think, but ulitmately Reese will have the edge based on the fact that she is playing June Carter. Looking across the nominations here I can't help but think that woman's roles are starting to suck again. What happened ladies?

Performance by an actress in a supporting role
Amy Adams
Catherine Keener
Frances McDormand
Rachel Weisz
Michelle Williams

Michelle Williams getting a nomination is exciting to me as a former Dawson's Creek die hard, but honestly she doesn't have much of a shot against such heavys as Catherine Keener and Frances McDormand. Rachel Weisz in addition to being the hottest nominee this year, apparently adds a lot to her film where as the other nominees are just what the title implies, supporting roles. But, the buzz is all over Amy Adams and Junebug, so she could pull this one out and shock us a la Marisa Tomei in My Cousin Vinny.

Achievement in directing and Best motion picture of the year
Brokeback Mountain
Ang Lee
Capote
Bennett Miller
Crash
Paul Haggis
Good Night, and Good Luck.
George Clooney
Munich
Steven Spielberg

I can't recall when the last time all 5 nominated Best Pictures shared the honor with their respective directors in the Best Director category, but it's nice to see. I am always mystified when a movie is nomiated for Best Picture and the director, the guy or girl who put the fucking thing together gets overlooked. Right on Academy. I think this is a two horse race between Crash and Brokeback Mountain, with the edge going to Brokeback due primarily to buzz. I would give it to Crash to be honest. What I don't get is the omission of Walk the Line here? Did Cloonely do that great a job with Good Night, and Good Luck?


Adapted screenplay
Brokeback Mountain
Screenplay by Larry McMurtry & Diana Ossana
Capote
Screenplay by Dan Futterman
The Constant Gardener
Screenplay by Jeffrey Caine
A History of Violence
Screenplay by Josh Olson
Munich
Screenplay by Tony Kushner and Eric Roth

Brokeback can pretty much lock this one up. This pick is my LOCK of the show. Mark my words.

Original screenplay
Crash
Screenplay by Paul Haggis & Bobby Moresco
Story by Paul Haggis
Good Night, and Good Luck.
Screenplay by George Clooney & Grant Heslov
Match Point
Written by Woody Allen
The Squid and the Whale
Written by Noah Baumbach
Syriana
Written by Stephen Gaghan

Cool to see Gaghan nominated again, Traffic was a solid winner a few years back, and now that he is nominated for a movie starring a fellow writing nominee in Clooney is an interesting twist on things. The Wood man usually squeaks in a direting nomination, but here he is at 97 years old getting a writing nod. My dark horse is the buzz heavy The Squid and the Whale, but Crash has the best shot here.

So there you have it. My lingering questions will hopefully be answered before the big night, I have several of the major films on my Netflix list so I can handicap things accordingly, so some of my predicitons may change based on a viewing.

What I'm bummed about is that Jeff Daniels didn't get a nomination for The Squid and the Whale, nor did Steve Carell for 40 Year Old Virgin. It would be nice for the Academy to step up and acknowledge that it's not easy to play comedy for once. And with regard to Jeff Daniels, he's just a guy who has been plugging along for years and he could use the encouragement.

Grizzly Man

This documentary is nuts. I'm not even sure that it isn't fake, even though it appears to be completely real. Who decides to live among Grizzly Bears in the Alaska wilderness to protect them from poachers? A clearly mentally unbalanced man named Tim, that's who. The footage of the bears is astonishing, but the staged interviews are borderline creepy. Worth a view.

The Weekend, Thus Far

The rare 2 for 2 weekend for me. I managed to leave my house both Friday and Saturday night to partake in some night life. Friday night was a much overdue appearance at the Firehouse, which was kind of mellow to be honest. The usual crowd was thin, so I just 5th Wheeled it with Joolie, Eric, Mike and Erika. Mike recently moved in with Erika, a sweet single Mom with a Supersuckers fetish like mine, and she was giving me tips on houses for sale in her neighborhood. Otherwise, pretty tame night consisting of 4 beers and some conversation.

I took it easy Friday night to be in a position to go to this coffee house near Augusta State University on Saturday morning to see Science! at her work place. We were overdue on a conversation about her love life, so I was going to see her and grab some coffee. As an added bonus, my friend Sydney was there and we wound up hanging out for a few hours reading the paper, fucking off on the internet and talking about long distance relationships. I followed up my coffee overload with a viewing of Hostel, a disgusting porn with blood as Syd likes to call it. I'm in agreement with both Joolie and Syd that the movie was entertaining. I'm not a huge fan of Cabin Fever, but Eli Roth does make interesting horror films. Never knowing who is behind the evil is the lingering scare that is kind of cool. However, whenever I see Jay Hernandez in a movie I think of Kirsten Dunst's boobs due to Crazy/Beautiful, so it was kind of like boobie overload.

Last night I went to a new bar that I have never been to here in downtown Augusta called the Still Water Tap Room. It was very quaint, lots of fancy beers on tap for a flat rate of $3.75 a pint. I'd say the place was moderately packed for the star attraction, this honky tonk band from Tennessee called the The Tennessee Rounders. These guys were amazing, both guitar players sing and have distinctly different voices, and I'm a sucker for Upright Bass. Do yourself a favor, (especially you Jared) and check them out here. The song Pabst Blue Ribbon was a crowd pleaser, but I'm partial to Black Cadillac from this collection available on Myspace.

Being There

For once I was not a contributor or a victim in an emergency room visit.

Yesterday while minding my business at work, an associate and friend of mine just completely freaked out and had a severe panic attack. Now I've never been around someone who just couldn't breathe, was vomiting and crying relentlessly in my life, so I was 100% shocked and shaken at the sight. It's possibly the scariest thing I've seen in real life. Once the ambulance arrived and our victim was situated on board, she pleaded with me to accompany her to the ER.

As tempting as it was to get a free ambulance ride, I decided that driving my car there would be a better option than having both of us stranded at the hospital 25 minutes away from work and near both of our residences. It pained me to not be on board while she was afraid and hyper ventalating, but I more than made up for it by sitting in the ER with her for the next 6 hours. Yep, six fucking hours. Took 3 hours just to have a doctor come by for the consultation. We passed the time by talking, me being funny to take her mind off the madness, and with her trying to relax and rest as much as possible considering.

All in all, it's not how I would have wanted to spend a Thursday night, but sometimes in life you have to just be there for someone else. I know that if the roles were reversed and something happened to me, I would want someone to be by my side while I was sitting in a hospital. This might be the biggest hurdle to deal with associated with relocating to a new area of the country. You are forced to bond with people who will get your back when the shit goes down. I'm sure she would have much rather had her Mom or boyfriend there with her instead of me, but at the same time she was elated to have someone be there for her. And I was happy I could be there for her. Selflessness is empowering, and I don't live my life like that enough.

Like I was remarking at work today, I'm still probably going to hell, but I may have gotten an upgrade by my actions yesterday. Where I'll be will be slightly less hot perhaps?

Chris Penn - Dead @ 40

Brother of Sean and Michael Penn was found dead today in a condo. Cause of death is unclear, but I'm gonna guess heart related considering he has gotten bigger and bigger over the years. Mix in some possible drug use for good measure perhaps. But does it matter how he died? Not really. It kind of sucks to die at 40 years old. Even if you are the least sucessful member of your family.

In looking over Chris' career I can't help but notice a shitload of clunkers on the resume.

Beethoven's 2nd
Corky Romano
Stealing Harvard
One Tough Cop
Too Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar

Yikes.

But something about his early work makes me think about how much I liked the guy when he was in his early twenties and so fucking cock sure and goofy.

Footloose - Everyone remember's him learning how to dance to the strains of Let's Hear it For the The Boy.

Rumble Fish, All the Right Moves - He played a good side kick kid.

At Close Range - Chris Walken playing Dad to the Penn boys was something to behold.

The Wild Life - Incredibly underrated teen comedy from 1984 with Eric Stoltz. I love this fucking movie!

Pale Rider - Clint Eastwood obviously saw some potentil in Chris to cast him in this cowboy classic.

Resevior Dogs - Nice Guy Eddie is probaby his signature role, and this movie is a cult classic is it not?


Anyway, Chris hasn't done much of value since 1996, the year Mulholland Falls was released, but it's still tough to see him go.

I guess I'm trying to say Rest in Peace dude.

Copious Amounts of Useless Junk

Forgot to mention that on Saturday, oh wait, let me back up a second. So downtown Augusta is like a giant hospital much like Temple pretty much occupies all of North Phily at this point. We have Medical College of Georgia, University Hospital, some Veteran's hospital, etc. In any case, trying to locate someone who is stuck in one of these hospitals can be quite a challenge or so I found out on Saturday morning when I spent an hour trying to locate the right hospital. The worst part is that I had the name of the hospital (MCG) and the room number, yet I was still in 2 other hospitals before I located the right one.

I, yet again, digress.

So this really good guy Chris I met down here apparently got a mean case of Acute Pancreatitis and wound up spending a few days in the hospital. In case you, like I, wonder what the hell Acute Pancreatitis is, let's see what WebMD tells us...

Acute pancreatitis is associated with excessive alcohol drinking and gallstones about 80% of the time in the U.S., with the rest as a result of viral and bacterial infections, drugs, blockage of the pancreatic duct, trauma or surgery to the abdomen, elevated calcium levels, or extremely high triglyceride levels (a type of fat that circulates in the blood).

Considering that this is Augusta, GA and most, if not all,of the people I associate with are found nightly in the Firehouse take a guess as to what put old Chris in this situation? Yep, excessive binge drinking. Looks like he will be the second guy I've met here that has to quit drinking. This other guy Jason, another swell dude, blames his crumbling marriage and the assault of one of his friends on the evil beast known as alcohol. I'm so thankful that I don't have an addictive personality or a desire to get loaded all the fucking time. Finally my irritable bowels come in handy!

I've been listening to the same rotation of songs over and over again lately and can't seem to get sick of them. Since I'm all about sharing, here's the list.

1. Ordinary People by John Legend. This is a song that's time has come and gone, but I can't help by sing along with it at the top of my lungs daily. It's my black side I suppose. Joking. I do dig a passionate, soulful tune from time to time. I have this fantasy of singing it for Ms. Beele since I know she likes Mr. Legend, and in the fantasy she rather enjoys it. I'm sure this plays out better in my head than it ever would in person.

2. Song For You by Alexi Murdoch. This dude sings that song Orange Sky that was featured I'm certain on the OC since every trendy, indie band/artist appears to be these days. In any case, this song is better than that one.

3. Friend of a Friend by Foo Fighters. Dave Grohl is probably my favorite song writer/singer over the last 10 years. This song might be about Kurt Cobain, who I always thought was an idiot. But I like it.

4. Life on Mars? by Seu Jorge. This is from the Life Aquatic soundtrack and it's in another language. It's real pretty and such.

5. Jackson by Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon. "We got married in a fever..." Not the best song, but the harmonies are sweet. Makes me think about Walk the Line and just Johnny Cash in general, and that's cool.

West Wing got walking papers today by NBC. And I just literally got into the show over the holidays. On the plus side, I only have to catch up on 7 seasons as opposed to like 12 or 14. I guess they have to make room for Skiing with Celebrities or some shit.

I learned the other day that I have been mispronouncing Sufjan Stevens first name for like 2 years now. Interesting.

I totally said I wasn't going to watch American Idol this season. I lied. That shit is like crack I tell ya.

Oh yeah, Intervention made me cry tonight while I was eating dinner. Eating and crying simultaneously is just a horrible scene. And then on top of it I got a phone call that I had to take. Ridonkulous.

Brokeback Mountain

I'll give you this, Brokeback Mountain is the Best Gay Movie of the last year. However, it don't think it's the Best Picture of 2005. There is no doubt that the nominations for Oscar will flow in Ang Lee's way in the coming weeks, but I honestly think that this movie is slightly overrated due to the it's casual handling of the gay factor. If you aren't shocked by two men kissing, for the record I'm not, then really what it comes down to is that this movie is a historical portayal of closeted gay men in the 1960's Wyoming and it plays out really slowly, so bring a catheter if you can. I'm not saying I was bored, and I don't think Sydney was bored either. What? You think I'm going to a gay cowboy movie while the AFC Championship Game is on without a female escort? Anyway, like I was saying, the movie is kind of slow. Wyoming is beautiful to look at, and I'm guessing for the ladies so are Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhal, but it's not quite enough for me to stay connected. Instead I was focusing on bad wigs and horrible facial hair. The acting was solid, Heath did a great job and I was worried about him pulling this off. Michelle Williams and Anne Hathaway both shed some of their teenage pigeon-holing as well as their clothes. Jake had a tougher time "transforming" into a 39 year old, but was still solid. I guess I just found the material a little dry. Usually I cry at the slightest emotional tug in a movie, yet with this one I didn't even get upset. Maybe that's the direction? In any case, I'd still recommend the movie to others with the caveat that there is some need for movies like this to widen the exposure of homosexuals in the world. Even if this one is just good and not great.

Why Do Birds Suddenly Appear?

Hot on the heels of me declaring the SNL might be funny again due to a musical bit revolving around a kid's movie and reefer comes this horribly UNFUNNY revelation. Rick Moranis of SCTV and Honey I Shrunk something movie fame has release a country CD this past week. I am not lying. I swear on my mother's grave.

Click the link and see for yourself. If you are brave, sample some songs.

Why? Why? Why?

Chronic (Narnia)

Is SNL funny again? Well, I always liked Chris Parnell anyway. Click the link and watch this shizzz.

Organized Chaos?

I'm venturing a guess that Georgia doesn't run the smoothest Traffic Court in this fine land based on my experience this morning. I was naive enough to think that "my court date" at 8:30 AM this morning was just that, mine. Instead, it was about 100 people's court date as well. Two mind numbing hours of waiting and then I don't even get to speak to a judge, just a clerk who asks if I'm pleading Guilty or Not Guilty to the charges. Apparently, this court date is just an arraignment and there will be a round two if you want to fight the ticket. That's fucked. Needless to say I didn't fight it and wound up just paying the fucking thing. However, the prosecutor let me plead No Contest and pay the fine in lieu of assessing points on my license and considering it was a 4 point offense, I guess it was worth it. Especially in light of getting a ticket just 4 days ago for the same violation in the same state I like to call home now.

Book Report(s)

So I've read a few books of late and thought I should pass along the good word on them to strum up sales. I've just begun that book A Million Little Pieces, even though it is apparently falsafied and shit, but so far it's quite good.

Oedipus Wrecked by Kevin Keck is a hilarious memior about basically jerking off. Entertainment Weekly called this guy incredibly perverted and funny, so I had to check it out. Adolescent sexual experimentation is the topic of this short book that is a funny and quick read. I'm guessing guys will like it more than the ladies.

Superstud by Paul Feig is a book by the creator of Freaks and Geeks and Undeclared (two shows I adored) and therefore this book was a no brainer to buy. The subtitle of Or How I Became a 24 Year Old Virgin drew me in and made me think this book would be relatable for me and I wasn't disappointed. In fact, if you want to know more about me, read this book. Some of the hobbies and events are slightly different, but all in all it's close to my experience as a teenage lothario. Again it's a memior, my genre of choice these days, and the guy is very funny, another commonality I'm breaking with Million Little Pieces I suspect.

The Truth by Al Franken basically says G. W. Bush lied a lot. And frankly I enjoy this type of book when it's funnier. Al went straight on me and I was kind of bored. I get that GW is an a-hole, but I kind of like when Al makes fun of him a lot more. Sorry.

The End of an Era

Okay, so I just got back from a couple days in VA Beach for my old man's retirement party and here's what I figured out:

1. Bad things happen to me. Example; My return flight from Atlanta to Augusta was cancelled, with no re-scheduled flights until tomorrow, forcing me to land in ATL, rent a car for $200, drive 140 miles home and naturally I manage to get clipped doing 90 MPH in a 70 MPH zone. Total bullshit. This story is way more involved considering that my brother in law just made sergeant in the police force and supplied me with a new family member PBA card just two days ago that failed to work on the Good Old Georgia cop who flat out lied about my MPH. How do I know he lied? Because I was on cruise control at 80 for about 20 miles before he snagged me. Crooked cops.

2. My Dad apparently was quite the man at his work place for the last 37 years. The people who came out to honor his career said some incredibly nice things about him, not only in a speech setting, but to my face nowhere within earshot of the old man. He was responsible for advancing a lot of people's careers and there were a lot of grateful people there. I learned that I get a lot of my management style from the guy whether it be osmosis, genetics or his mentoring and I feel kind of validated to know he really was a vital part of his company's operations for oh, so many years.

3. While on the subject of dear, old Dad...he's incredibly unashamed at his love for Avril Lavigne. The man made me watch a DVD concert of hers from a few years back and I honestly felt odd watching it. Not as odd as having to watch this New Jersey chick Lisa Bouchelle that he adores play at his retirement bash in the flesh. My Dad was so well liked that his company paid this chick a couple grand to come sing for 30 people in a ballroom on the beach on a Monday night. It was cool for him since he is such a fan (his wallpaper on his cell phone is a picture that he snapped of her a couple months back), but it felt strange being in the same room as my Dad and his "celebrity" crush at the same time.

4. My sister loves the mall. Yesterday I spent hours and hours in the mall with my brother in law, my Dad and my sister wandering around looking for shoes that she just had to have. I will admit that I took the opportunity to buy some cheap clothes at Old Navy and this t-shirt place, I even bought a new book to read.

5. I love reading. I finished another book, one that I'm working on describing for you all in the form of a review, so stay tuned. Dealing with airports and air travel goes so much smoother when you have a book that you can get lost in.

6. My Dad's new apartment in a high rise down by the beach is incredibly nice. 16th floor, pool, steps from the ocean....you can bet if I were a shore guy I'd be there all summer long. Apparently the old man is doing well for himself, let's just hope now that he is retired he doesn't blow through my inheritance like a crack head looking for a rock.

Anyway, I just got back in town, my mail is like an overgrown lawn that needs addressing and I'm incredibly sore from sleeping on a futon for 3 nights and sitting in a car/plane all fucking day today. Just wanted to pepper in a little something about the weekend. And oh yeah, Glory Road was just okay. Remember the Titans with basketballs.

Eureka!

I was packing tonight for my trip to Virginia and had to use my back pack that has gone untouched since moving here and I found all kinds of tee shirts in it that I assumed I tossed out in the trash before I left Philly. It's like getting a new wardrobe without spending a cent.

Tripping

So in the midst of having a slightly bad time at work this past week, I'm under the gun on completing so appraisals for my team and I've inadvertantly allowed gift card redemptions to pile up to an unacceptable level, I'm about to head to Virginia Beach for a few days. Before I explain why I'm heading to VA Beach, let me first say this about web shoppers. When you get a gift card for Christmas, there is no rule somewhere that you have to use it within the first 2 weeks of ownership. Take your time, mull over some purchases, think about what might be hot in 6 months. I swear to God everyone I sent a gift card to at work has decided to use them this past week. It's downright annoying! I have performance appraisals to write people!!

Anyway...

So my Dad retired after 37 years of employment with Household Bank on 12/20 of last year. I know saying last year this quickly after New Year's is kind of retarded, but so be it. I've committed at this point. I guess when you retire from work there is a mandate somewhere in corporate America that you are required to be roasted/taken to dinner by all the big wigs and shit. So that's why I'm going to VA Beach this Saturday morning at the ass crack of dawn. My Dad's employers thought it would be nice for him to have his kids there to share in the joy that is retiring and since the old man bought me a plane ticket, it's the least I could do. Ha.

Speaking of plane tickets, I scored a nice cheap fare heading North to see Ms. Beele (the flame to end all flames for this whiner) from Travelocity yesterday. For a little over $200 I get to not only spend a nice, relaxing weekend with a stone, cold fox....but I also get to fly through picturesque Detroit on the way there AND the way back. I hope I see Eminem! I only hope that the airfare remains at this affordable rate for some time so that I can visit Philly a decent amount this Spring.

Munich

Steven Spielberg is probably the greatest living movie director. The man can switch genres effortlessly and always bring his A game. And his movies as a result are very watchable and very, very good. He does get a ton of money at his disposal everytime he goes out there, so why shouldn't they? Munich is a nice mixture of history lesson and thrills that turns out to be quite topical considering we live in the age of TERRORISM. In 1972 a terrorist group, Black September, raided the athlete's village in Munich at the Summer Olympics and held hostage the Israeli athletes ultimately killing them after a long drawn out stand off that was shown around the world on TV.

Munich cleverly incorporates both reinacted scenes from this attack with archival footage featured on ABC anchored by Jim McKay, a young Peter Jennings and Howard Cosell but the focus of this movie is the aftermath rather than this vicious attack in Germany. Munich follows the Israeli governments covert operation to target and assassinate "backers" of this tragic event, many of the who's who in the Arab world sprinkled throughout Europe. Eric Bana, who hasn't impressed me since Chopper, stars as Avner Kauffman the leader of a band of operatives from different countries assembled to take as long as it takes to enact revenge. Bana does a fine job portraying a devoted family man and Israeli who eventually is driven to madness by hunting down human targets. There are elements of the movie that are very Ronin or Mission Impossible in nature, the team of assassins dynamic is a familiar one in action movies, but what makes this movie better than most is the insightful way Spielberg explains what has happened between Palestine and Israeli without giving too much time to think that the movie is preachy. The action is swift and furious, like his Minority Report or War of the Worlds, but more representative of the era, late 70's. Home made bombs replace robots, but the man knows how to make even a blow gun murder seem larger than life.

The close to three hour commitment might scare you off, and it's definitely about 20 minutes longer than it needs to be, but the performances, especially by Geoffrey Rush and Daniel Craig, are of the highest caliber and the story is very engrossing. I'm not saying it's the best movie I've seen this past year, nor is it Spielberg finest work, but it's certainly better than most of the shit our there at the local multiplex.

Slumber Party Weekend!

So this weekend I basically laid around my apartment drinking, watching TV and playing board games. Why you ask? Well, two reasons actually. One, I'm still not 100% healthy from my return from Philly. This flu or ebola or whatever it is just isn't going away. Two, my sisters and their friends were in town to visit and since they are under 21 and this is Augusta, GA, there weren't many options. And so, I loaded up the fridge with Beer, Vodka, Red Bull, Mike's Hard Lemonade and we went to town.

My apartment was aptly renamed the giggle factory by me ,since at times that was all I could decipher from the ladies' conversations. I had not spent time in a confined space with 5 girls at once in so long that I wasn't prepared for the transition into sleep over mode. Most of the time everyone was in comfortable clothes and either lounging about or hooting and hollering drunkenly at something someone said or did. Night one saw me take a rare loss in Cranium while teamed up with Danielle, my sister Tina's 18 year old roommate from college. Being thrust into a team situation with someone you don't know contributed to our loss I'm afraid. That and our inability, or rather my inability, to spell backwards in tandem. The object of one task is to spell a common word backwards as a team, i.e. trading off letter for letter. Sausage was our first word, E-G-A-G and thanks for playing. That unnecessary G was all me I'm afraid. Next word, Quarterback, was a word that we were able to take a little further but yours truly miffed on that R betwix the A and T. Way to show these girls who's boss numbnuts. After all was said and done, Bridget and Tina took home the gold, with Candace and Alyssa coming in last. Second place wasn't acceptable for Danielle or me, but alas it was time to move onto drinking games and goofing around.

Night 2 was a different story. After a nice dinner out at Carrabbas, where the ladies got all dolled up to show Southern Boys what Yankee Girls have to offer, we decided to re-match in Cranium. Actually the competitive spirit that both Danielle and I possessed drove us to insist that the rest of the crew re-match us now that we got a "practice" match under our belt as a new team. We were still reeling from our loss the night before and made it a point to crush the other teams in this new match. I'm happy to report that we focused, knuckled down and destroyed the other teams winning in record time. It wasn't even close. VICTORY! This very well could have been the highlight of the weekend for me. I love to win.

The night continued on with another round of drinking games, giggles and sing alongs. In describing the events of the weekend to one Ms. Beele, all she could muster was "I miss my roommates" which leads me to believe that this is what girls in college do routinely on the weekends. I should have set up a video camera and made a documentary on the life of a 20 year old female. I was just happy that my head didn't explode from estrogen overload.

Sunday was another loaf around day for me, as I was a touch ill from Carrabbas on top of my never ending cold. The girls, with the exception of my sister Candace, killed several hours eating at IHOP and cruising for bargains and boys at the mall. Watching girls show you all of their purchases upon returning from a shopping trip can be down right scary. After everyone settled down we went and grabbed Sonic, a local fast food joint that drew the girls' eyes and watched Roll Bounce. Eventually we wound up (again) playing drinking games and getting loose one more time, all of us wishing the weekend wouldn't come to an end. Okay, that last part is only half true. As much as I love contact with my family and friends, it was nice to get my apartment back to myself today. Squeezing 6 people in this place is tight and girls are flat out messy. But yeah, it was sad to see them go this morning all of them adorned in Poison Scooter wear.

Okay, there's my weekend. Click the title to check out the exciting pictures.

You Will Be Missed.

You'll never find, as long as you live
Someone who loves you tender like I do
You'll never find, no matter where you search
Someone who cares about you the way I do

Rest in Peace Lou Rawls

Creeping Death

I am still fucking sick. How is this possible? I can't stop coughing and I've taken just about any over the counter medicine money can buy. I am thinking I might actually have to go find a doctor and then go see said doctor for some antibotics. Motherfucker. And this is on the verge of having a house full of visitors this weekend. Oh that's right, my sisters Candace and Christina are coming to visit for a few days and bringing along some of their friends. I sure hope I am not a wet rag while they are here. It's bad enough Augusta doesn't really offer much to do, but factor in that they are all under 21 and I forsee a lot of drinking games in my apartment. Joolie and Eric might be around Saturday night to offset the boredom, but otherwise it's me and the girls doing what girls do I suspect.

Oh, here's a funny story. I am so stupid that I went to transfer all my fantasy football money from my savings account with ING into my checking account with Bank of America and instead did the exact fucking opposite. I wiped out my checking account, overdrafted the hell out of it and now I'm trying to undo the mess and it's going to take me a week minimum. One careless mistake is all it takes.

My Throat Hurts, and other Bullshit

So yeah, I keep getting into coughing fits and it's annoying. I was so sick of coughing at work today that I blew out of there a couple hours early so I could come home and cough in the privacy of my own home. I hate noisy, coughing people so much that when I am one of them I want to kill myself.

I have been having concentration issues of late too. I thought it was because I was sick, but now I'm not so sure. I find myself in the middle of doing something at work or driving my car or sitting on my couch and my mind drifts off. Usually I'm thinking about Beele, sometimes I'm thinking about that annoying cough of mine, but mostly it's Beele. I don't know, I guess I'm into this chick something fierce. I already planned out a return trip back to Philly so I can see her again. I'm fucking smitten and I love every minute of it. Hopefully, hopefully I don't freak her out and scare her off. I have a tendancy to go full throttle from time to time. As Audrey would say, "no shit."

Yeah, so I bought Sirius Satellite radio for my car. That Best Buy gift card covered it, so I guess technically my Dad bought me Satelitte Radio which is ironic considering that is what my sister and I gave him for XMAS. I'm stoked. No more Alice and Chains!!! Left Of Center is all I need. And some Howard Stern on ocassion. I'm curious to see what his new found freedom will sound like.

In other news, Woody Allen movies suck ass. I used to love this man, Annie Hall, Manhattan, Bananas, but over the last 10 years he's had like 2 good movies. I tried to watch Melinda and Melinda last night and it bored me to tears. I was so bored I put on My Bodyguard (1974) with Chris Makepeace, Adam Baldwin, Matt Dillon and a very young Joan Cusack. On Demand is a wonderful thing I tell you. Still haven't made it out to the theater like I said I would for the last couple weeks. I'm kind of getting used to watching movies on DVD anymore. I thought about going today when I ditched work, but then I thought about how I would have been the guy coughing through 3 hours of King Kong. Not cool.

I do!

Apparently my friends Kevin and Noele got engaged last night. I'm pissed that I wasn't able to be there to share in the moment, because honestly speaking Kevin is like a brother to me at this point and I think that Noele is the best chick he is ever going to find.



It's great to see two excellent people decide to give that wacky marriage thing a shot. I fully support this union whole heartedly and wish them the best of luck.

So This Is The New Year

Last night could have been my somberest New Year's ever. I drank a 6 pack of Red Stripe while watching The Girl in The Cafe and then went down stairs to John's for a midnight toast. At 11:59 PM I got a text message from a local number that I didn't recognize that merely said Cocksucker!, shortly thereafter I spoke with a very drunk Katie Beele back in Philly and wished her a good New Year and then I drank a whole bottle of champange and eventually passed out in my bed naked.

Rockin' New Years Eve! Minus Dick Clark.

I think part of me wishes I went to Atlanta with Joolie and Eric, another part of me wishes I extended my trip home by a few more days so that I could have rung in the year with friends. There's something about being alone on New Year's that polarizes my situation. It's like this huge microscope looking down on me, nah rather it's like a spotlight. Whatever it is, it sucks. I would have liked to be in a more comfortable setting, around familiar people and what not. But perhaps this is what I needed to help me realize what I don't want in my future. Maybe watching The Girl in The Cafe wasn't a smart idea either? It's about this shy, older fellow who awkwardly attempts to romance a young college student. The movie strays a little too much towards being about politics than I cared for, but the dynamic of the relationship was relatable for me. I guess the bottom line is that I realized last night that I don't want to be alone on New Year's ever again. It flat out stinks. And I'm gonna spend the time in 2006 to assure that it won't happen again. Mark my fucking words people.

Oh, and Happy New Year.