movie time

so i wasnt going to do a summer movie post because it requires some effort, which i clearly dont put into this blog. but the summer movie preview post is such a rich tradition here at kent drive that i didnt want it to end. plus, faithful reader josh baron commented that he wanted more posts on the blog and since i only have about 3 readers left, i have to listen to their requests if i want to keep thrm. so without further ado, summer movies:

what ive already seen:

star trek.

before the comment from sr. baron i was already thinking about posting about star trek. its a fabulous movie. critics loved it and with good reason. ive mentioned it before that i dont always follow what the critics like, but if 95% of all the critics that saw a movie gave it positive reviews, then its safe to assume youll at least get your money's worth. im no 'trekky.' never liked the show, but they sure did make this star trek hip and cool. and since that is what i am, i liked the movie. really though. this movie is everything you hope out of a summer blockbuster. not flawless, but very entertaining and very well done. just see it.

the brothers bloom.

were it not for roommate dave i would have never known this movie even existed. i dont know if its going to get a wide release, but it opened last weekend in select theaters in new york and l.a. dave said it would be great and it was. im glad we went. he gave a great recap about the movie on his blog (blog plug). dave also happens to be the guy that is the co-host of our popular, critically acclaimed podcast (podcast plug). i really enjoyed it. it had so many random funny moments. plus it was just a good story and a very rich ending.

for the kids:

up.

oh pixar. you are so brilliant. even when you arent considered brilliant its just because people dont pause to ponder what you have done and realize the subtle brilliance. an old man attaches balloons to his house and it floats away but when it does he didnt realize there was a chubby cub scout on his porch. who thinks of this stuff? nellie has been talking about seeing this movie for about a year now, so im pretty sure we will go.


based on kids stuff, only probably not for the kids:

transformers and GI joe.

im sure ill see both of these movies. probably with a bunch of dudes. we will talk about how great life was before we had to worry about life. we will reminisce about duke, flint, snake eyes, bazooka, star scream, optimus prime and every other thing that made being a child in the 80s better than being an adult in the 2000s. unfortunately for both of these movies, im pretty sure the reminiscing will be better than the actual movie. probably because the plots wont be anything better than what we could have or did make up while playing with the action figures when we were 10.

other blockbusters:

terminator.

last terminator movie i saw was T2. i guess there was a T3, but i had completely forgotten about it. this movie has christian bale in it. i like him so i might go see it. remember that 'batman' movie he was in last summer? remember how awesome it was? that was the highlight of my summer. well, besides getting married of course (love you nellie). seriously though, if i hadn't gotten married, it would totally have been number 1 on the list. i spent all summer studying for one test. i took one break in the month of july and that was to see that movie, which might have added to the greatness of the movie. you could have put me in an eddie murphy or adam sandler movie and i would have waslked out praising it like it was 'casablanca,' 'ben hur' or even 'toy story.'

angels and demons.

i havnt read the book so id rather not see this yet. not sure if ill ever get around to the book so i very well may never see the movie. even once i do though, im sure ill just be disappointed with the movie just like everyone else that loves a book but still goes into a movie with ridiculously high expectations that for the first time ever the movie will be as good as the book. if steven speilberg and jurrasic park couldnt pull it off, i dont think anyone ever will.

except for maybe this one:

where the wild things are.

so i honestly dont know what to make of this movie. some people are very excited about it. personally i think the 'wild things' sort of look like this guy from the muppet movies, who i was always afraid of as a little kid. i guess his name is 'sweetums.' i only remember him running around and screaming and chasing people, which is sort of what this movie looks like.

im sure ill go see it though for two reasons. 1. ill see pretty much any movie that uses an arcade fire song in the trailer. especially a b-side version of 'wake up.' great trailer song = decent movie at least (sound logic right?)

2. the director is spike jonze. a white dude that spells his last name with a 'z.' i dont know what movies he's done, but he's directed two of arguably the best music videos of all time. weezer's buddy holly and the ever famous beastie boys 'sabotage' video. thats a good enough resume to see what he can do on the big screen.

ok, so im running out of steam on this post and there is a ton im missing. so ill just rattle them off:

harry potter: i never see them. why start now?

dance flick: isnt it sad that some people are unemployed in this country while others are employed to make junk like this? and they are employed because unemployed support the junk by seeing it.

land of the lost: does actually look funny. im pretty sure we will get around to seeing it at some point.

night at the museum: first one was surprisingly good because i wasnt expecting much. this time im ready for it and expecting mediocrity so im skeptical it will deliver. plus, its called 'battle at the smithsonian.' the least they could have done was put it overseas. i dont know why, but somehow it would be better in europe. 'duel at the lourve.' or 'pandemonium at the prado.' or 'vengeance at the vatican.' admit it, you would rather see any one of those than the smithsonian.

the proposal: nellie told me last night she is excited to see this movie. im a huge ryan reynolds fan. the movie looks terribly predictable but hopefully he will have a couple of moments that make it so i feel like i only lost $9 by seeing it and not $10.

500 days of summer: another dave axelgard suggestion. looks great. probably better than the proposal.

and finally:

year one.

at first i wasnt that excited about this movie. any time any former cast member from 'arrested development' does anything, im intrigued and always want to support them in their endeavors by giving $10 to the movie studio that produced their movie as though it will in some way bring arrested development back to tv. it wont, but at least i have 30 rock now. anyways, i was intrigued because this has george michael bluth, or michael cera. but then i saw the preview and i thought it looked really funny. i dont always like jack black, but sometimes he can be really entertaining. this looks like an enjoyable summer movie. funny, but probably not brilliant funny. entertaining, but not moving. just shut off your brain and enjoy life for a couple hours because its the summer and that is how you are supposed to live life, even when you are no longer 10.



sorry its a shorter movie preview post than normal. it just needs to be long enough and entertaining enough to keep josh faithful. hopefully it is.

extras

so the other night nellie and i finished the tv series 'extras.' its the second series created by ricky gervais, the same guy that created 'the office.' similar to 'the office,' 'extras' consists of only two seasons and one 2 hour christmas special. seasons in england however are only 6 episodes. so really its just 12 total episodes and one 2 hour special.

so the 2 hour special revolves around the ricky gervais character and that he wants to move on to bigger and better projects but he's not big enough to get quality roles and he turns down most of the other offers that come through the door. at one point he is talking to his agent and asking why he's not getting any roles. his agent basically tells him that he needs to decide what he wants. he wants to be super famous, yet he also wants to have credibility and respect, which his agent tells him is something that few people in this business have ever achieved and that he (ricky gervais' character) will never be one of those people that achieves both. he eventually decides that he wants fame and fortune.

so i dont know if the show in any way has any sort of similarities to what ricky gervais actually faced in his own life, but in a way it seemed like it. both of the series he created were very popular (hence the american spin off) and didnt need to end after two seasons, but ricky gervais wanted to move on to other projects. he totally could have milked them for tons of money (as it turns out he has made a ton of money anyways from his projects). but i admire him quite a bit for walking away to try something else even though what he had created was doing extremely well. he wasnt making the shows for the fame and fortune as much as to satisfy his own personal interests and desires. so many other shows just go on and on because 'they can' even though they arent producing a good product anymore. i would argue the american office is in this boat. my brother and i were talking about that the other night. i was finally converted to it a couple seasons ago, but its just lacking inspiration and brilliance now. the problem is that they have no motivation to be brilliant. they have created a fan base where no matter what they did, their loyal following would stick around for at least another 5 seasons, and they know it. compared to a show like '30 rock,' 'the office' is hardly putting out an impressive product week after week. 30 rock is on par with 'arrested development' and 'seinfeld' brilliance. two other shows that exited at the right time. granted, 'arrested development's' exit wasnt by choice, but its that premature exit that creates such a lasting impact. seinfeld's exit was voluntary, but they were at the peak of popularity which made their exit feel premature.

anyways, i could go on and on. ive never seen 'lost,' but i think it could have benefited by lasting only a couple of seasons. 'prison break' should have lasted just one season. just break out of the prison and be done with it. people would still be talking about that awesome 'prison break' show that was only around for one season but it was 'so coool.' as it is, they tried to milk it and it got canceled. the 'band of brothers' series was a fantastic series because you got to know the characters, followed them through an incredible experience, and then they were out of your lives forever. if they would have had a 'band of brothers - the post war years,' i would have for sure watched it, but it would have completely ruined the series. it just ended and i was longing for more, which is why i will always love the show. same thing with 'extras.' once it finished, nellie mentioned how it was a great ending. i agreed. a fantastic ending to a fantastic show. we sat there on the couch and i wished there was more, but knew full well that as much as i hated to admit it, it was better this way.

its a chicken! in the parking lot!

so today at work, there was a chicken in the parking lot. you know, one of those birds that lays eggs that you eat that are filled with protein. youve seen one probably eight hundred times. not that big of a deal. unless of course you work in a law office. although our building is in newport beach, its situated right next to an equestrian community. its a really random spot where everyone in the community has to own or does own horses. in typical newport beach fashion, the owners of the community made our office tint and 'fog' the windows on one side of the building so that the sun wouldnt reflect off the building into the horses eyes, AND so that the horses wouldnt get spooked by people looking out of their offices at the horses. as though we have nothing better to do than stare at horses all day. we actually do, but it would be somewhat distracting seeing them outside your window wondering how much better it would be to be out riding one rather than working on discovery requests. i think they fogged the windows as a result of the attorneys not the horses. which makes sense given the response today when a chicken flew over the wall into the parking lot. one attorney came down the hallway to let everyone know about the exciting news. when i looked out the window to check it out, i saw a paralegal down there taking a picture of it with the camera on his phone. id explore all of the many potential commentaries available, but i just dont think this is the time or the forum.

anyways, the experience really did remind me of the 'arrested development' episode 'bringing up buster.' at the beginning of the episode lucille is talking to michael on the phone and finds out that everyone is hanging out and 'corn balling' without buster. meanwhile in the background buster is swatting a broom all over the house because a bird flew in the house. when lucille yells at him for knocking over the chandelier with the broom, buster is super giddy and responds, 'mom! its a bird! in the kitchen!'

anyways, like everything in that blessed show, its a great moment and it was all too familiar today. unfortunately i couldnt find the actual clip of buster trying to swat the bird with a broom, but i did find a fantastic clip at the very end of that same episode. enjoy.

music and sports

so michael jackson is bankrupt and going on tour again. there is plenty of discussion about how a guy like him even goes bankrupt with all the money he has made, but that can be for another time. but awhile ago nellie and i were talking about concerts and discussing:

1. what concert would you want to go to more than anything? and

2. how much would you spend on that concert before you even questioned the purchase?

for the second question we are talking about good seats. not necessarily pit tickets, but definitely not nose bleeds. a seat where you would be very happy sitting. not pit, but maybe first section after the pit or something like that.

anyways, when we had the discussion and even now, i think that at the top of my list was michael jackson. granted, when i think of michael jackson concerts i think of late 80s or early 90s concerts that i see on dvd. im sure it would be very different now. but i still think it tops my list. how much? probably $250 before i really questioned it. i know. thats a lot of money. but remember, these are good seats. i guess things always change when you are married because its no longer $250, but $500 for the pair, so quite a bit more. but seriously, the king of pop. and in case youve never seen clips from a michael jackson concert, here is one:



im not sure what that is from. it says its from korea, but its similar to a performance he did at the mtv video music awards in 1995. either way, its pretty incredible. his long dramatic pauses are a little over the top, but what about michael isnt over the top? as nellie says, 'it looks like he's floating when he's dancing.' so true. too bad that man on stage is long gone and even that man on stage is a long way gone from who he once was back in the 80s. either way, he still dominates and no one puts on a production like he does. he's my first choice.

after michael, its tough. ive never seen u2. they are also iconic. ive heard amazing things about them in concert. id pay quite a bit for good seats. nellie says depeche mode are great. ive never loved them. id like to see them in concert, not sure that i would pay much more than $75 though.

i think the two right below michael would be led zeppelin and paul mccartney. im a huge beatles fan and to see one of the original beatles performing beatles songs live, would be awesome. as long as he didnt do any of his solo stuff i think it would be just a fantastic performance. not quite a production like what michael would do, but a very satisfying concert. and zeppelin. that would just be awesome. i might even put them above paul mccartney. only because i think they would have a better show. paul mccartney is bigger or more of a legend i think so i dont think you could ever pass on the opportunity to see him play a show. but how hard would zeppelin rock? to be in a stadium full of people with zeppelin walking out playing immigrant song?



it would be hard to top that. gives me goose bumps just thinking about it. so zeppelin tickets i think i would pay $200 before really debating the purchase and id probably put mccartney at $150-175. i know paul mccartney is playing at coachella in april or may, but again, this is the price for good seats. there are thousands at coachella and you have to sit through hours in the heat, which takes away from the experience.

so those are my top 3. 1. king of pop. 2. zeppelin. 3. mccartney. with u2 being 4th. they are probably the only realistic one at this point. your list?

btw, speaking of mccartney and the beatles, have you seen this? awesome. awesome. awesome. nellie and i own a wii. we thought about buying rock band or guitar hero for christmas. im glad we didnt. 1. it would have been stolen. but 2, we would have missed the beatles version. could there be a more fun version? i honestly dont think so. september couldnt come soon enough. for our anniversary ill give nellie the online pre-order confirmation number. im such a romantic. she's so lucky.

ok, most people can leave now. you dont have to, but i have a few sports thoughts and i think it bores most readers, but i must vent.

look, i dont ask for much in this world, but i have two sports related requests. the best time in sports in upon us. march. which means march madness and champions league knock out rounds. technically they start in february, but whatever. i think the only other better time in sports is college football bowl season.



first of all, is that the biggest logo or what? and thats the 'small' version. its just a demonstration of my love for the team and hopefully helps you understand how much it hurts when they lose. so the champions league hasnt been excellent in a long time if you are a real madrid fan. a 5-0 aggregate loss to liverpool! shoot me now. they are a good team, but we were just embarrassed. and anyone that saw the game knows that it could have been 7-0 tonight if it werent for iker casillas being brilliant as always. he's so amazing. if we ever lose him i dont know that we would ever win a game. we were completely outmatched tonight. just looked poor, like we didnt belong on the same field. maybe the pk was a bad call or the torres goal shouldnt have counted because he pulled on pepe, but even if we did get those calls, we still would have been beat. we were completely dominated.

so this is the 4th or 5th season in a row when we have bowed out in the round of 16. and perhaps you could say we should just be grateful to get to the round of 16 or even the champions league each year. no we shouldnt. not with our payroll and legacy. we have more champions league trophies than any other club. we arent built to compete. we are made to win. but we havnt been winning. at all. and its frustrating. ever since the greatest goal ever, we have struggled. a couple of league titles, but nothing to show for it in the champions league. when we get on the stage with the great clubs we collapse. speaking of the greatest goal ever, here it is (btw, i chose this one on purpose not just for the great announcer, but its also great because they must have been broadcasting to submarines or something because they bust out with morse code after the goal):



so here is my quick analysis of the team. thanks to goltv, ive been able to watch a few games lately. robben has to go. he's not a team player, hes exactly what we dont need right now. he is a legit ball hog and whines all the time. the team plays better without him. there are stats to back this up, but i dont care to search for them right now. we have plenty of talent, we just need chemistry and he does nothing but mess it up. im sure we will pursue ronaldo like crazy in the offseason, i hope he doesnt mess things up either.

get rid of cannavaro and put sergio ramos in the middle with pepe. get rid of heinze, he's no good. diarra is excellent. a masterful defensive midfielder. put marcelo on the outside midfield. he's exactly what you want and expect out of a brazilian. short, quick, great skill, and just plays his heart out every time he's near the ball. also sort of runs like he's a little crazy, which is fun to watch. our midfield is fine. guti hates the club and is leaving, but we have plenty of reserves. gago is a great addition as well.

raul is old but still picks up scraps. not sure if he should start anymore, but hes still the team leader. i do really like huntelear though. i like him because he's a workhorse. lots of passion. really loves the game.

anyway, all i want is improvement. i want a respectable showing on the european stage. i want to continue on past the round of 16. i dont think its asking for much. not with all the resources we have.

the other thing i ask for, which i dont think is too much, is for the cougs to win one game in march madness. i went with the old logo because i still think i like it more, and it wasnt since the days of the old logo that they actually won a march madness tournament game. but i dont think thats asking too much for them to do it again. ive never seen it happen and i would like to. this year they are projected as an 8 or 9 seed. i dont even care if they get clobbered in the next round. if they are an 8 or 9 they would play a number 1 seed in the next round and for sure get clobbered. its the greatest tournament in all of sports. it so exciting. i look forward to it each year. i love watching the games and ill watch them regardless. i adopted kansas a few years ago because of a roommate and its fun to have a vested interest in a team even if you have no legitimate ties to the team besides the guy that slept down the hall from me was from that state. but it adds to the excitement. how much greater would that excitement be if it was my alma mater? my cougs. it would be awesome. really, its not too much to ask.

we podcast, do you?

when i was in 6th grade or so i had a 'gotcha' t-shirt that had a picture an elderly couple and a caption that read, 'we surf, do you?' well, i dont surf. if i was cool, i would surf. i have surfed, but not enough or consistently enough to say that i surf. since i dont surf, i podcast (makes sense right?). we podcast. dave and i. we started a podcast. is it good? well, no. probably not. we just discuss awkward things that happen in our lives. we had the idea one day and so we started doing it. we have recorded three, but only two are up on itunes. we have had some struggles with our editor (dave) going on strike (being busy at work) and refusing to put them up. but i just thought i would just let people know. much like when i started this blog, im hesitant to really tell people. i want people to read the blog and enjoy it, like i want them to listen to the podcast. but we really do it because we find it fun and entertaining. this isnt an attempt to start a career in podcasting, like the blog wasnt an attempt to start a career in writing. i enjoy writing and its cool to have a forum where you can put it out there for everyone to read, even though only a few do actually read it. podcasting is the same way i suppose. we publish it so that its 'real' and more than just a phone conversation between dave and i, but we really just do it for our enjoyment. and because nellie totally digs it. she loves being married to a podcaster.

anyways, enough trying to justify it or explain my way out of it. i should just own it. im a dork. we're dorks. we podcast. if you care to listen, its up on itunes. open up itunes. on the left part of itunes, click on itunes store. once it opens, click on 'podcasts' on the left. you can then search for it. its called '5 minutes of silence.' you can also search 'dave and kent' and it will come up. the second 'episode' is better than the first. not that the second one is brilliant or anything. just better in my opinion. granted i dont guarantee anything brilliant or that you will even enjoy it. youll probably be bored out of your mind or think its really lame, which is fine. it wasnt meant for you anyways.

videos

so i havnt blogged in over a month. life has been busy. but it always is, so thats not really a good excuse. its not that i dont want to blog, its just that it often times requires more time than i have to commit to it. i still have thoughts, just no time to write them down. so ive resolved to do shorter posts. which im sure the reader appreciates. not that i have any idea as to who frequents this blog besides my loyal commenter/sister paige (she always makes sure each post has at least one comment, and its appreciated). but unless the writing is brilliant, i think im the only person that really gets enjoyment out of the writing, whereas the reader is undoubtedly bored after 1 paragraph of no pictures. no offense. im actually basing this off of the fact that i usually get bored with long posts on other blogs. so ill try and appease to the masses in this one last ditch effort to keep this blog alive.

anyways, here are 3 random videos ive stumbled across during the past couple months that i thought were worth sharing. the first one is courtesy of dave reid. just a funny random video. the second was found on someone else's blog. id name it but id rather not admit that i looked at the person's blog nor do i want to encourage traffic to the blog. the third one i found on dave axelgard's blog. potentially offensive. but also pretty funny (i love the wheelie). plus, anytime you combine the 'white stripes' with mormons, im sold. the video does ring true to a certain degree. not quite in the way portrayed in the video though. usually the women arent attractive at all and/or are 13.

random music thoughts

1. i dont like linkin park. i never have. i cant think of one song that i like. most of them i find to be annoying. im sure they 'speak to' many troubled teens and other angry people, but i have yet to hear a song that i enjoy or can even really tolerate. for whatever reason, i dont enjoy any of their music. there arent that many successful bands out there where i dont at least like one of their songs. if it wasnt for the 'zephyr' song, i would probably feel the same about red hot chili peppers. they might be a little different in that its not that i dont like any of their songs, but i only mildly like their one song (pick one - not the zephyr song though) and since that song sounds like every other song on every album, i dont really like their stuff.

2. achtung baby is the best u2 album. this may not even be debated as that statement may already be the consensus and it might be something that everyone agrees upon and i just dont know it. but i was in the gym the other day and there were 3 songs on nellie's ipod from this album and it reminded me how great the album is. joshua tree might have the best 1-2-3 punch of any album. the first three tracks of joshua tree are: 1. where the streets have no name; 2. still havnt found what im looking for; and 3. with or without you. a pretty solid and impressive beginning. hard to beat. but top to bottom, i dont know that you can beat achtung baby. here is the list of songs:

#	Title	Length
1.	"Zoo Station"	4:36
2.	"Even Better Than the Real Thing"	3:41
3.	"One"	4:36
4.	"Until the End of the World"	4:39
5.	"Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses"	5:16
6.	"So Cruel"	5:49
7.	"The Fly"	4:29
8.	"Mysterious Ways"	4:04
9.	"Tryin' to Throw Your Arms Around the World"	3:53
10.	"Ultraviolet (Light My Way)"	5:31
11.	"Acrobat"	4:30
12.	"Love Is Blindness"	4:23
55:23

you may not even recognize all those songs (acrobat?), but im telling you, if you havnt ever listened to that album from start to finish, you are missing out on some fantastic music. other u2 albums are great. im not even a huge u2 fan. i was turned off by them when living in utah where they are as close as mormons will get to worshiping a graven image or idol. mormons adopted u2 as their own like bono adopted africa.

but i just did a quick look at their discography and songs on their albums and its amazing all of the many great songs they have done. you could discuss their albums for hours and im sure somewhere people probably are right now, especially since they have a new album coming out next month. as far as im concerned though, there is nothing to debate as achtung baby takes the prize. hands down.

3. its amazing how sometimes music or a song can immediately take you back to a time and/or place in your life. while driving to work the other morning i heard coldplay's 'viva la vida' on the radio and i immediately felt like i was back in june of last year. i was honestly swept away to the point that you could have told me while i was listening to the music and driving that it was june 2008 and i would have believed you because everything just came rushing back. which is only concerning because i wasnt in june of 08, but actually driving 65 along the 405 freeway and probably endangering people because i was in a daze.

but in june i was in the middle of bar prep. i was pretty much living alone in a shell of our house in long beach. i didnt have hot water, or a fridge or electricity throughout the house, just one outlet in the front room. i essentially lived alone. zach sort of lived there for about a month but as mentioned, the house didnt have much to offer so he avoided it when possible. plus, he and every other american hates cold showers so it was all the more reason to leave.

anyways, every morning i had a muffin, banana and a vitamin water. no fridge, no cereal. for lunch i would eat a peanut butter and honey (not jam because you have to refrigerate it) sandwich along with some nutty bars, spicy cheeze-its (both of which i cant eat anymore), some cookies and some carmel flavored rice cakes. for dinner i would get something on the way home from studying or just eat a can of the campbell's thick and chunky soup. i did have a microwave so i could heat that up and dip bread in it and eat it as i watched an 'around the horn' episode online before going to bed. wake up. repeat.

i had recently received my new laptop. my other one crashed and so i lost all my music. i had my ipod but it had already 'maxed out' on the computers that you could hook it up to, so i wasnt able to put any of those songs on my computer. which was probably better since it would have just been distracting during bar study. but i remember hearing viva la vida for the first time and i really loved it and so i went and downloaded it on to my itunes. not the whole album, just that one song. the entire time i was bar studying, my computer only had that one song on it. i didnt play it too often or overkill it. but sometimes while in the library i would just take a break from studying and listen to that song while checking email or surfing the net. i was usually all alone in a study room all day just eating my lunch and reciting outlines to myself, so it was nice to have music every once in awhile.

which is what is so funny about the song. at the time i used it as my escape from studying. it helped me relax for a few minutes and forget about the bar. now, whenever i hear it, it takes me right back to the study room in the library or the dark home in long beach, the exact places it helped me escape only a few months ago. which is actually fine because life wasnt as bad as i may have painted it. life was great. spain won the euro cup that summer, which was fantastic. i guess i was also engaged that summer too. i never saw my fiancee but she planned a great wedding and showed up on the wedding day, so that all turned out great. and i ended up passing the bar. no bitter memories at all.

anyways, im not sure why i share all of that. i guess because that experience made me think of other songs that instantly take me to some point in life or remind me of something. i realized there are tons of songs, from chris brown to yanni, that i will always associate with something or some place in my life. which is kind of cool. its neat to think of the profound impact music can and does have and the places it can take your brain. provided of course that the place you go is somewhere you want to be, and not the chapman school of law library.