Tuesday, January 30, 2007

Quote(s) of the Day

Ridicule is often used as a substitute for reason.
-Frank Mills (28 January 2007)

When you are moving forward, making progress, and involved in revival, there will always be opposition, criticism, distractions, discouragement, those who feel threatened, those with different opinions, [and] those who resist change.
-Frank Mills (28 January 2007)

Monday, January 29, 2007

Life of Jim #2


[click for a better picture]

Thursday, January 25, 2007

It's Time For Animaniacs...


You know, I liked all the Christmas presents I received this year.

But one stands out from the rest.

It's my Animaniacs Season 1 DVDs.

There are 2 things that set it apart from the other gifts I've enjoyed.

1. The nostalgia factor.

When I was in grad school (it's been about 10 years now), there wasn't a lot that made me happy in life. There was Krista. There was going to the movies with Krista at Towson Commons (if you read that article, the Borders was still there when we lived in Baltimore). There was visiting our friends Lynne and Richard (and Betsy) - who we saw about once a month.

And there was Saturday morning cartoons. I got up religiously every Saturday morning at 8 am (which was made easier by the fact that we had two Saturdays - we weren't going to church at the time) and watched the Fox cartoon line-up of Animaniacs, Eek! the Cat, X-Men, Spiderman, and The Tick. It was great joy. And fond memories of a time that had few are a great treasure.

2. Then there's the Julianna factor.

It's awesome to be able to have something that gives me great memories that I can share with my daughter. She dances to the opening tune, It's time for Animaniacs... and she loves it when Pinky and the Brain comes on (What are we going to do tonight, Brain? Same thing we do every night, Pinky - try to take over the world!).

It's great fun.

Wednesday, January 24, 2007

Quote of the Day
I'm starting to accept the fact that there are better things to do than covet the friendship of people who don't understand me, don't accept me and bore me anyway.
-Harvey Pekar

Saturday, January 20, 2007

Anybody got $400?

This has got to be one of the coolest commercials I've ever seen. It makes me want to go out right now and buy and XBOX 360.



Of course, I won't; but it'd be cool.

Tuesday, January 16, 2007

Life of Jim #1


That really happened to me at work today. [Click for a better picture.]

Sunday, January 07, 2007

Podcasts and Upcoming Movies

Lately, I've been listening to podcasts during my nearly 3 hours of commute each day. It makes the trip go much faster than turning on the radio and hoping the hour-and-a-half one way trip shrinks down to something more manageable. If you're not familiar with them, podcasts are audio shows, usually produced on a regular basis, that you can listen to on an iPod or mp3 player. Mostly I've been listening to comics podcasts (The Acme Comics Dollar Bin is the best, by far), but the geek in me has really been enjoying Grammar Girl's 2-10 minute discussions on, well, grammar.

Anyway, I downloaded a Buffy the Vampire Slayer-related podcast the other day, and found out about a bunch of interesting films that Sarah Michelle Gellar will be involved in over the next year.

Of course, I knew about Happily N'ever After (out now). I'm struggling with whether or not to see it before I take my four-year-old, Julianna. It's PG, and if it's at all Shrek-like, it could have some humor that, in my opinion, is a little too old for children that young. (Have you seen Shrek 2? Call me old-fashioned, but I don't need to answer questions like, "Why is Pinocchio wearing girl's panties?") Plus, it's got Andy Dick and George Carlin. Not exactly kid-friendly.

Because of its comics history, I had already been following Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (out in March).

Also, Richard Kelly (creator of Donnie Darko, one of my favorite films of all time) is following that with Southland Tales, to be released this year.

What I didn't know, is that Gellar (or SMG, as all the Buffy-related sites refer to her) is also starring in an interesting film called The Air I Breathe. She plays Sorrow, opposite Forrest Whitaker, Kevin Bacon, and Brendan Frasier, who play Love, Pleasure, and Happiness, respectively. It's based on a Chinese proverb that breaks life down into those four emotional cornerstones. Sounds interesting. Maybe it'll come to Florence. (It's a May release, according to IMDB.)

The only reason I picked up on this next one is because I remember Krista reading The Girl's Guide to Hunting and Fishing. That will be adapted into the film Suburban Girl, to be released later this year. Why do they change names like that? It's already got a great name, and as the podcaster mentioned, pretty widely recognizable from the book's popularity.

And finally, the most exciting news. She'll also be starring in an adaptation of American McGee's Alice, which is one of the most interesting video games I've ever played. It is, of course, based Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland, but takes place after that story. After Alice returns from Wonderland, her father and mother die in a fire, and she lands in an asylum. She ends up returning to Wonderland, only to find that it's become a much darker place and she determines to help set things back to normal. Or at least what constitutes normal in Wonderland. According to IMDB, this one should be hitting the theaters in July.

I can't wait!

Tuesday, January 02, 2007

Miracles?

CNN recently ran a story about a man who was miraculously healed of (legal) blindness.

Soon to be explained away by Scientists, Atheists, and Christians Who Have Proven Beyond a Reasonable Doubt That Miracles No Longer Exist.

Monday, January 01, 2007

I'm Sorry, Max

Many of the people reading this probably know we are (well, rather, my wife is) expecting in early March.

His name will be James Maxwell.

We'll be calling him Max.

I'm glad we don't live anywhere near New York.

Max has maximum appeal among dog names
Thu Dec 28, 2006 9:40am ET

NEW YORK (Reuters Life!) - If you're in a New York City park and tell your dog Max to fetch, you might find a strange pooch retrieving your ball.

That's because Max was the top dog name in New York in 2005, according to the city Health Department.

The name Max was engraved on 1,228 dog licenses of the 101,274 issued last year, the department said.

All top five names remained the same as in 2004 -- Max, followed by Lucky, Princess, Rocky and Buddy.

Mixed breeds outnumbered any other variety, with 7,374 licensed in 2005, the department said. More Labrador retrievers were licensed than any other breed, followed by pit bulls, Shih Tzus and German Shepherds.

All dogs must be licensed and have a tag on their collars while in public, according to state law. However, the health department estimates only a fifth of the city's dogs are licensed.


I'm glad we didn't name Julianna "Princess".