Nominals

As you've probably already heard, the Oscar nominees have been announced, and I have to say, I'm a little bored by them. I suppose seeing "Good Night and Good Luck" and "Capote" up there is a bit unexpected, but I knew the others were shoe ins. Of course, I've only seen two of the nominated movies ("Brokeback Mountain" and "Crash") and only liked one of those ("Brokeback Mountain") so I guess I better get myself to a theater before I make any further judgments.

Although you couldn't pay me to see "Munich." I firmly believe that when it comes to directing movies, if it doesn't involve a lot of special effects, it shouldn't be directed by Spielberg.

Shut Up, Just Shut Up, Shut Up

Tonight's the State of the Union address and luckily, because we're on the west coast, it won't be interrupting any of our precious primetime TV fare. Well, at least on the channels I'll be watching tonight: the WB UPN CW channel 13. Still, be warned, you might want to avoid turning on the tube between the hours of 6 and 8pm!

Last night I came home from a lovely dinner to find half of my block without power, my apartment being one of the unlucky ones. Of course, by the time I lit about a dozen candles and stopped panicking over what the hell I was going to do for the rest of the evening without TV or the Internet to entertain me, the power came back on. Apparently the outage affected Fisherman's Wharf, and my block on Nob Hill. I'll never understand the San Francisco power grid, yo.

Don't Puke Where You Sleep

In the middle of the night (oh, who am I kidding? it was around 8am) my cat started meowing incessantly. She crept over to the side of the bed I was sleeping on and started meowing in my face, and when I rolled over to get away from her, she went to the other side of the bed and did it again. When I put a pillow over my head, she sat on the pillow and started meowing. I finally yelled, "What is your problem? Shaddup!" And she did.

She's normally very quiet and sleeps through the night with me. She falls asleep at the foot of the bed, but by the time I get up, she's moved to the top and I usually wake up with her sleeping right next to my head. I never even notice her creeping up on me during the night, so this bit of meowing was a bit weird.

It wasn't until I began to make my bed after I woke up that I realized what it was all about. She had puked on the comforter, and had been meowing because, I assume, she wanted me to wake the hell up and clean it.

I think this can be viewed one of two ways: She's a stupid cat because she didn't bother to jump off the bed to throw-up, and instead puked where she sleeps.

Or: She's a smart cat because she knows she can puke wherever the hell she wants, and she can just wake me, and I'll clean it up.

I choose the latter. And me not waking up was my way of telling her, "Nu-uh! I ain't waking up to clean YOUR mess!"

I also choose to ignore the fact that my refusing to wake up means I allowed her puke to soak into my comforter, because, y'all, that's just not the point.

Calling All Survivors

If it has been your dream to become a contestant on
"Survivor," tomorrow may be your lucky day. Details here.

She So Crazy

Reading about Ellen Pompeo trying to justify her crazy "Punk'd" appearance reminded me that I never actually saw that episode, and have only heard about it.

So here it is on YouTube.



Frankly, she's not THAT crazy in it, so I don't know what the hubbub was all about. Sure, talking about how you could stab the waitress and watch the blood trickle down her face is kind of nuts, but it's not like she actually DID it.

OK. Yeah, she's nuts.

You'll have to sit through the annoying Ashton Kutcher introduction, and hopefully YouTube will work better for you than it is for me right now. I believe I am experiencing what is called a "buffering" issue. And I only hope there's some kind of salve available for that.

Lies Lies Lies, Yeah!

I've got a little write-up about James Frey's appearance on Oprah today up on SFist now. And I almost feel sorry for the guy.

Yes, Happy Birthday!

I had a great birthday!

I rented a Mini Cooper convertible, and kept the top down all day. I also kept the top of the car down all day, too. BADUM-DUM!

I woke up pretty early (pre-11am is early for me these days) and drove a friend to San Rafael for a job interview and found a mall to wander around while I waited. Then I came back to the city, dropped off my friend, went to the library to pick up some books, and then decided to just...drive around.

First I hit Twin Peaks. It was a pretty bleak day, but the sun was breaking through the clouds enough to cast a nice glow on the view. I headed to Ocean Beach after that, getting a sandwich at some cafe at the end of Judah. Unfortunately, after telling them THREE TIMES to hold the mustard and the onions I opened up my sandwich after driving to the beach to find it was...covered with mustard and onions. What is wrong with people?

After driving the stretch of highway by the beach (the Great Highway?) I headed to the road by the Palace of the Legion of Honor, down towards Baker Beach and through the Presidio. I was hoping to jump into the San Francisco Bay ala Madeline in "Vertigo," but was sad to find the fort at Fort Point completely chained off, and the whole area unpleasant with the sounds of people working on the Golden Gate Bridge above.

So I left and made my way to Coit Tower and took the elevator to the top. I think I did that as a child, but I haven't been up there since. It's kind of weird. There's NOTHING up there, it's just the top of the tower--no roof--with glassed-off windows overlooking the City. A stunning view, yes, but there's something about the place that just feels uncared for.

I strolled down the Greenwich steps hoping to see some parrots, but all I saw were a few hummingbirds. And while I certainly envy all the people that get to live in those fabulous homes with the equally fabulous views, I can't say I envy anyone who has to lug their groceries up those steps to get to their house.

After that I headed to my Grandmother's and later went to dinner with my parents. It was a pretty great birthday. I love being able to go to San Francisco's touristy spots in the middle of the week, during winter, when there's no one around, traffic is sparse, and the parking is plentiful.

Of course, the birthday celebrating isn't over yet. This weekend still counts as my birthday, and I hope you all know that.

Not HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Indeed, today is my birthday, and I am going to spend the majority of it driving around in a rented convertible with the top down. I don't care HOW cold it is.

Anyone who has called me on my birthday in the last few years and has gotten my machine has no doubt heard the, "No no..not that!" message. But if you'd like to actually SEE the cartoon it comes from you can, right here!

Called "It's Hummer Time," it's a Warner Bros. cartoon featuring some characters that, as far as I know, only made it to one other cartoon. Perhaps because they were really quite sick and sadistic. Even more so than most Warner Bros. characters.

I'm off, and I hope my birthday is, if not sick and sadistic, at least a little hilarious.

Holy Crap!

Chris Penn died!

I'm sure more details will be released, but the above article doesn't mention a cause.

I briefly dated a guy that I liked to think looked like Michael Madsen, and when I told him that, he told me that people usually told him he looked like Madsen's "Reservoir Dogs" costar, Chris Penn.

The relationship ended shortly thereafter.

But every time I see Chris Penn, I think of that guy. I guess I won't be thinking of that guy very often anymore.

Built!

I started around 11:30am, and I finished around 7:00pm. That includes the building, the moving of the old bookcase, the cleaning and moving of the fishtank, the reshelving, the vacuuming, and the near-fatal moving of the big bookcase over the bed and nearly on to my head.

But, it is done. And I think they look pretty good, if just a little too big for the room. But then again, the bedroom is tiny, and anything you put in there is going to instantly look too big. (Dirty!)

Why Don't Y'all Go Back to Your Own Cabin If You Wanna Play With C.W.?

News that UPN and the WB are going to merge into one network called "CW" sounds like some kind of April Fool's prank, but I guess it's legit.

I just hope that the network's new mascot will be Michael J. Pollard's "Bonnie and Clyde" character, C.W. Moss.

AGERUM!

I have to spend the rest of my life day attempting to build some IKEA bookcases in the only open area of my apartment, which also happens to be, at most, about three-feet wide. Fun!

So, here's some "Arrested Development" news to tide you over. Seems if the show disappears, we might have someone else to blame for that aside from Fox. And that someone is the show's creator, Mitch Hurwitz.

You Are Beautiful, Not Matter What They Say

I think Drew Barrymore deserves an Xtina quote as well as applause for her appearance on "Saturday Night Live" last night.

Bravo, Drew. Bravo.

TGIF!

It's been a pretty good week for a number of reasons, the biggest being that I GOT A JOB!

I start in February, and I'm really excited about it, and that in itself is surprising. In the past I've faced the beginning of a new job with dread and fear, but for this one, I'm nothing but excited. It's a pretty great feeling.

I wasn't able to blog much today as I had papers to read, sign, and send off, but I did manage to get another post up on SFist. Enjoy!

Kiri Kiri Kiri Kiri!

I've got another post up on SFist. I hope you have the intestinal fortitude needed to handle it.

No, I've Never Heard of "Geronimo Jackson" Either

But Michelle Rodriguez's brief appearance at the end of last night's episode of "Lost" reminded me that I need to continue my obsession with her teeth.

If you look at her appearance at the end of season one, when she's talking to Jack at the bar, you can clearly see she has regular teeth.


OK, maybe it's not that clear in the picture, but trust me. Those teeth are not the same as these teeth:


What happened? Was there a dentist on board the plane giving out free veneers or something? And most baffling of all, why would anyone willfully choose to have teeth that look that...chompy?

I just hope they write it into the plot, somehow. Like, she turns out to be an android...or a cannibal.

Icy Humiliation

Today's SFist post is now up, and it's full of icy goodness.

Drew Barrymore's Golden Globes

For the 150+ people who have stumbled upon this blog looking for a photo of Drew Barrymore at the Golden Globes, I give you this.

There. Feel better now?

I Knit (Knitted?) a Pair of Socks!

I don't have a job. These are the things that bring me excitement these days. Sue me.

They don't really match, and the second one I did is way better than the first one, but they're actually wearable, and don't have any noticeable holes, so that's good enough for me. They were done on four double-pointed needles, and I was finally able to get the whole sock-knitting concept down, which is the biggest thrill of all.

I also made two hats and finished a scarf. Like I said, I'm unemployed. It's easier to save money when you don't actually leave the house.

I Love Monkeys

Which comes as no surprise to anyone.

In other news, today's SFist post is now up.

Miss Golden Globes

Yeah. I watched them. Here are my thoughts.

Thanks, Golden Globes musical director, for that awful "Don't Cha" redux, ("Dontcha think that Reese has a shot tonight? Dontcha?...Dontcha?"), which only helped to make me cringe--and remind me that I need to download the original and add it to my "Horrible Pop Songs That Are Awesome" mix CD.

Also, thanks George Clooney, for making me look-up who the hell Jack Abramoff is.

Drew Barrymore--bras are your friend. Do not be afraid of them.

Geena Davis's lying about a little girl who told her she had inspired her to be president one day made up for the awful dress she was wearing.

Hugh Laurie's speech was also good. If only I found him as amusing on his show. I know "House" has gotten tons of praise, and people seem to love it, but I've tried to watch it, and I find him intolerable. He overplays his character; there's no sublety at all. And that's not necessarily bad, but it just doesn't work for me in the context of the show.

Melanie Griffith's daughter Dakota really, REALLY looked like she wanted to be anywhere else but on stage as "Miss Golden Globe." Poor girl.

I never even knew that Steve Carell was married to Nancy Walls. She was on "The Daily Show" too. I'm dumb.

I'm really pleased that Mary Louise Parker beat out all of the Desperate Housewives for her portrayal of a desperate widow on "Weeds." Her performance puts all those Housewives to shame, and the show is a much better satirical look at suburbia. Speaking of which, "Desperate Housewives" won for best comedy, which is just wrong. And if they're awarding it for this season, that's REALLY wrong. The show was barely entertaining in its first season, and outright sucks now.

Jean Rhys Meyers, what the hell did you just say?

Anthony Hopkins, blah blah blah.

"Brokeback Mountain," yadda yadda.

And yay, "Lost"!

The End.

Koko Sad

Today's a holiday. For those people who have to work, all I can say is what's up with that? Why would a company not give its employees MLK Day off? Of all the holidays to withhold from your workers, it seems to me that this is the last one you'd be stingy with. There's no way it doesn't make you look bad.

So I'll take the holiday for all my peeps who have to be at the office today, and I won't do any work! Of course, I don't have a job, so every day is Martin Luther King, Jr. day to me. To make up for that, I won't do any blogging. Uh, aside from this post...

Tonight is the Golden Globe Awards, and I am really, really not at all excited about it. As most of you know, I hold my excitement for the big show, the Oscars, so I could really not care less who wins tonight. Everyone says it's a good barometer for the Oscars, but until I figure out just what the hell the Hollywood Foreign Press actually is, I'm not going to take that too seriously.

This weekend I had a fancy dinner (and frankly, wasn't too impressed with the food), and went to a rock show (for about an hour. I'm old.)

I also saw "King Kong."

That was the saddest movie I have ever seen. Ever. At times, I just couldn't stand to watch it, and I had to stop looking at the screen and just stare at the wall. Last month, my cousin told me that when he went to see it, he had to leave the theater before the end of the movie because it was too sad. I kind of thought that was silly, but I had the same exact feeling as I was watching it. If I was that sad before Kong even got to New York, there was no way I was going to get through the ending without some serious sobbing. I think if I ever watch it again, I'm just going to have to turn it off after the sunset scene on the mountain top, and just pretend that Kong and Ann live happily ever after in some kind of platonic Tarzan and Jane evermore.

Say, Pardon Me, But Could You Help Out a Fellow American Who's Down on Her Luck?

I added some Google ads over on the right, way down at the bottom. I tried to make them as un-annoying as possible, but of course, I've practically made them invisible, which doesn't do me any good. So, if you have the time, why dontcha just click a few of them?

C'mon. It won't hurt one bit.

Thankfully, I Find the Olympics Unbearably Boring

According to this blogger, the final four episodes of "Arrested Development" will air Friday, February 10th. Nice of Fox to dump the shows on a Friday, a low night of TV viewership, and on a night when those who ARE watching TV, will most likely be watching the Olympic's opening night ceremonies on NBC.

I wonder if they'll advertise it...or if they're just leaving it to bloggers to spread the word.

This Article is NOT Crazy Delicious

Someone at the Baltimore City Paper REALLY doesn't like that "Lazy Sunday" SNL short.

I think he's taking it a little too seriously, but I do admit to being a little surprised at how freaking popular the video has become. And my biggest fear is it will mean more solo Chris Parnell rapping, which I have always, ALWAYS, found almost impossible to watch.

Hey, Dad!

Thought you'd be happy to read this.

P.S. They might eventually correct this, but right now, the article says he's "directed 86 movies," and we all know that ain't true. Last I checked, TV shows didn't count as movies...

San Francisco Twin Powers Activate!

Last night I had dinner with a friend at a neighborhood restaurant, and the San Francisco twins were there. They sat in the window, and we sat right behind them. They managed to polish off a bottle of wine, and got pretty drunk. They were arguing about something at one point, and one turned her back on the other slurring, "I don't even want to hear it. I don't want to hear it." At another point, the same one (Marian or Vivian, I just don't know) kept standing up and pointing at a spot on the glass of the window. It was like a tiny scratch, and she kept saying to her sister, "You don't see that? How can you not see that??"

It was awesome.

Then today I found this site that says they eat at that restaurant (The Nob Hill Cafe) every Tuesday and Friday night. So, if you ever want an authentic San Francisco dining experience, I recommend checking it out.

What Kate Did? How Can I Possibly Remember That Far Back?

Don't forget: A new episode or "Lost" airs tonight at 9. (The 8:00 ep is just a recap show.)

I think tonight's show is going to focus on Mr. Eko.

Personally, I want another Locke episode. I know we had one not too long ago, but I'm more than ready to find out what the hell happened to his legs.

Please! Make Another Joke About Being Chinese or Gay! HAHAHAHAHAH!

There's more talky talk about that NBC show "The Book of Daniel" and how it's loosing advertisers. I watched the pilot last week, and didn't find it very shocking as far as its take on religion is concerned (of course, it could have featured puppy sacrifices in front of a pagan temple and I wouldn't of been shocked. OK...maybe a LITTLE shocked.) But I was surprised at how BAD it was. The humor was forced and delivered by actors who think they're being cute, when in reality, they just sound like they don't know how to be funny. And the moments between the priest and Jesus? Painful. There was a bit where Jesus says something "funny" and the priest starts to laugh, and laugh, and LAUGH, so unnaturally that I thought he was being sarcastic. But no, Aidan Quinn was just doing a really bad fake laugh.

So, I'm not going to shed any tears if it gets pulled before all the episodes air, but I would hope it would be because the show sucks, and not because of its religios content.

Maybe There Is Such a Thing as Too Much TV

This freaky news item reminded me that at one point in my life I was so afraid of being buried (not even alive, just plain old buried) that my wishes were to put my body in some cabin in the middle of nowhere with all of my stuff. Just in case, you know, when you die, you actually do remain sentient.

Yeah. I know. Crazy! But apparently I wasn't the only one with such thoughts.

You're Looking at Country

This week's SFist post is now up.

Read it. It's good for you!

I Miss Those Early Days When Drooling Was Socially Acceptable

Some good friends of mine had a baby last year. In the interest of privacy I won't name them or the baby, but I just needed to post this picture.

Thank god they didn't have an ugly kid.

His Own Personal Jesus

"The Book of Daniel" premieres tonight on NBC. It stars Aidan Quinn as an Episcopalian priest who talks to Jesus. (And Jesus talks back.) I'm sure there's much more to the series than that (and I believe it falls into the realm of "dramedy"--or is that "dramady"?) but it's already causing controversy, and some stations are refusing to air it.

That's reason enough to watch the pilot, methinks. (Although that whole Jesus-as-a-character thing was done pretty well on "Rescue Me" already.)

Love Him

Jon Stewart has been named Oscar host for this year's ceremony.

Gotta say, I love him, but just as I had qualms about Chris Rock, (and I think they proved to be valid) I have some qualms about Stewart. I still think an Oscar host should have some ties to the movie industry (even though Carson was a great host, granted). I also think the Oscar host should be kind of bland, which Steve Martin has always been good at (and I mean that in the best possible way.)

A lot of right-wingers are getting their panties in a twist over the choice, but come on. Did they think Rush Limbaugh was gonna be asked to host or something?

Honest to Christ

David Letterman's confrontation with Bill O'Reilly really rocked last night. Everyone's talking about their discussion of Iraq and Cindy Sheehan, but I thought the earlier bit about O'Reilly's ridiculous obsession with the so-called "War on Christmas" was much better. Letterman summed up my feelings about all that baloney perfectly with his complete boredom with the whole topic, and his opinion that O'Reilly is taking incidents that have occurred here and there, and is turning them into a National Crisis.

Here's a link to the entire interview.

Edited to add: Looks like that link isn't working right now. Maybe it's getting too much traffic. All the other clips I've found are only of the last part of the interview, but I'm sure it'll pop up on YouTube at some point today.

Sharing

This week's SFist post is now up. And if you do go and read it, could you please post a comment on it? There's nothing sadder than posting something that's basically a request for comments, and getting absolutely nothing...

Please, Tell Your Friends About This Show

One of the best things about being unemployed is being able to watch an episode of "Arrested Development" at 11pm (thanks to TiVo) while eating a late dinner of Fruit Loops (because of the lack of money. Cereal is cheap!) and then watch it again three times in a row (because you don't need to go to bed early. And because it's an absolutely hilarious episode.)

Even though I knew this episode was coming, and I had read about the "HBO" and "Showtime" jokes already, I was not suspecting the 3D, celebrity appearances, and "live" ending.

It was a completely brilliant episode and a fitting end to the series, if that is indeed the case. I know it's not on next week, but I thought there was at least one more episode in the can...guest starring Justine Bateman as Michael Bluth's previously unknown sister.

The Events of This Blog Occur in Real Time

Except when they don't.

I did end up spending the 31st (and part of the 1st) watching the 24-hour season one marathon of "24" on A&E. I'm not sure why I never watched the show back when it premiered, but I imagine it must have interfered with some other program that aired at the same time or something, so I missed the first season, and then the second, and the third, etc. The fifth season is premiering in two weeks but I don't think I have it in me to rent two more seasons, and also watch marathons of season four on A&E. Instead, I'll just slowly catch up with re-runs every Sunday night. I'm two-hours into Day Two already...

I can't say I LOVE the show, but I appreciate its gimmick. At least it's doing something different. It doesn't always succeed (the whole "events occur in real time" thing was a real stretch in season one, and I think they drop that notion by the second episode of season two, although I could be wrong about that) but I like that the gimmick, for the most part, keeps the show focused. When you need to have a story tied up in 24 episodes, and can only spend one hour a week propelling the story forward, there's no room for tangents. "Lost" is kind of the anti-"24". That show is all about tangents and flashbacks, but with "24" what you're allowed to learn about the characters can only be presented within the context of one day in their lives.

Because this is a TV show, that often means that characters will have conversations that no one would ever have in real life (especially if one were dealing with an national emergency). This is, in my opinion, the biggest problem with the show. On the one hand, it's hard to feel true compassion for a character you know nothing about yet, and on the other hand, the show's attempts to tell us about those characters often sound too much like Exposition and nothing more.

This might change with further seasons, and I am curious to see how they manage to keep Jack Bauer within the show without having the audience constantly thinking, "Jeeze! What's up with this guy? Why does he always have to get everything done in 24 hours? And after the second 24 hour emergency, why would he ever, EVER, volunteer to deal with one again?"

And I'd really like to see one season that was just an hour of him sleeping for three episodes, then an hour of him showering, eating breakfast, walking the dog. And then a couple of hours of him watching a football game or something. If only Andy Warhol were alive and directing TV...

Le Poisson, Il est Mort

My fish died on New Year's Eve. As I was taking to my bed around 3am that night, I saw that while he was indeed still floating upside down, he wasn't breathing anymore. A sad way to begin the new year, that's for sure.

Dealing with a dead pet of any kind is tough. And I'm not just talking about the emotional aspects of it. I'm talking the practical parts, too. Like, what do I do with his body? Sure, most would say "Flush him!" but he was kind of a big fish, and the last thing I want to deal with is a dead fish clogging up my toilet. The other obvious choice would be tossing him in the trash. But that just seemed so needlessly callous an option.

So, I placed him in a zip-lock bag and put him in the freezer.

Now, before you start to worry that I've gone all Jeffrey Dalmer or something, calm down. I'm not going to eat him or take him out occasionally for midnight chats. I'm just thinking about perhaps giving him a burial at sea. There's something kind of wrong about burying a fish (ashes to ashes doesn't seem appropriate when you're dealing with a creature that lived in water) hence the whole tossing him into the sea idea.

The other fish is (knock on wood) doing fine, so I don't think this one died of anything contagious. So maybe he'll make a good meal for some seal or seagull or something. That would complete the cycle of life a little better than tossing him down the garbage shoot, methinks...