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!)