1. Bad, Bad TV
God bless my parents, who pay for every movie channel available on Comcast while at the same time being blissfully unaware that their TV goes beyond channel 25. Since I pretty much spent 18 hours per day for the first two weeks of my post-op time lying on their couch, remote in hand, I grew rather intimate with some of the more recent offerings emanating from the laptops of lazy Hollywood hacks. A quick review:
Fantastic 4, Rise of the Silver Surfer: Freaking terrible. There is absolutely no way more than two hours, including a break for lunch, were spent writing the script for this abomination. I know comic book movies aren't traditionally rife with intriguing dialogue, but for God's sake, this was an embarassment. And that kind of professional apathy doesn't go unnoticed by the talent. If you pay close enough attention, you can actually pinpoint the exact moment 18 minutes in when the actors stopped trying. And as for plot points, the inaccuracies from the classic comic book story lines are too egregious to let slide. First of all, the Silver Surfer is NOT dependant on his board as a power source. Basic fact of character history. But much more importantly, how in the hell does the Surfer, after going through a thirty second moral crisis, take on and defeat Galactus? Galactus eats freaking planets, and he can't handle a guy on a surfboard? It's maddening I tell you.
DaVinci Code: Meh. Sparking religious controversy may sell 8 trillion books, but it doesn't guarantee a good motion picture. The whole thing felt a bit labored; trying to stay true to the book while cutting out the majority of the scathing anti-Christianity rhetoric to save the pious demographic. One guys opinion? This will rank somewhere between The 'Burbs and Joe Versus the Volcano in the ol' Tom Hanks Lifetime Achievement listing.
Stranger Than Fiction: Now we're talking. Aside from being a great film, this movie represents the sole response to those that say Will Ferrell plays the same character in every role: overly exuberant figure skater in Blades of Glory, overly exuberant anchorman in Anchorman, overly exuberant soccer coach in...ah, you get the idea. Perhaps I'm biased because Ferrell plays the stereotypical IRS agent with aplomb, or maybe I just dig Maggie Gylenhall's over-the-top liberal craziness, but I love this flick. Quality writing, interesting dynamics between unlikely love interests, and a fantastic supporting role played by Dustin Hoffman. Kudos all around.
2. Reuniting with Old Music
Spent some time going through the CD collection with Lauren. With everything being IPOD-centric these days, anything that hasn't been converted to digital format has been relatively ignored for the past few years. So we dropped the discs into our CD player on the way down the beach for the weekend and reunited with some of our favorite bands:
The Refreshments: The Bottle and Fresh Horses As with most of the finer music I've come across in my life, I was introduced to the Refreshments by my brother Dave. Playing this CD the other day, it dawned on me that it's been a full decade since Dave first urged me to give them a listen. Of course, by the time I fell in love with the music the band ceased to exist, but the lead singer went on to form Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers, which while a bit of a more country sound, is still quality stuff. As for the Refreshments, they cranked out two CDs, and I dare you to find a bad song on either. Roger is a fantastic lyricist, and the band just had a super unique sound, as evidenced below.
Jellyfish: Greatest Hits Definately more of a pop sound, but their anti-institutional bent and ridiculously innovative lyrics won me over early on. Impossible to stay in a bad mood with this CD going. Andy Sturmer, drummer and lead singer, has gone on to do some other interesting projects, but in my mind, this was his apex.
Marvelous 3: Cigarette Lighter Love Song Ahh, Butch Walker. I'm plenty comfortable in my sexuality to admit my man-crush on the former lead singer of the Marvelous 3 turned solo artist. Dave sent me a Marvelous 3 CD in 1999, my first year living in Denver, and Butch's music has dominated my listening choices ever since. Pure genius, plain and simple. Brilliant songwriter and the best live performer you'll ever see. The talent literally pores out of the guy when he's on stage, and you can't help but laugh to yourself at some of the people who've made it huge without an ounce of his ability. Luckily, Butch has made a fortune as a producer, so he finances his own music and will keep it coming for as long as he chooses. Lauren loves him every bit as much as I do, so its something special we share, and we've made an effort to see him live at least once in each of the past four years. I've thrown two vids on here for your listening pleasure.
Enjoy.
3. Hanging with the Puppy
As you may or may not be aware, I've got a bit of an unhealthy attachment to my 1-year old yellow lab, Maci. In Aspen, she lives the life of Riley, coming with me everwhere: to work, to ski, to hike, you name it. That sort of relationship lends itself to a touch of separation anxiety when a 1-week hospital stay keeps you apart.
This weekend, I finally got to make up for lost time. Spending the weekend at LBI, I mustered the energy each day to walk Maci down to the bay so she could do some swimming. Now last summer, when we were on the island, Maci was only 5 months old and her swimming career was in its infacy. It wasn't until we returned to Aspen in August that she developed a penchant for finding the highest entry point into a body of water and launching herself off it at full speed.
I was curious if this sense of adventure would carry over to a larger, more ominous body of water. It didn't take long for us to get our answer.
Maci approaching her take off.
In full flight, a good 10-15 feet from the bulkhead.
Splash down.I've got to tell you, spending some time outside, with Lauren and Maci, has done wonders for my recovery. I'm feeling much stronger each day, and looking a bit less like Frankenstien as well. I really appreciate the cards and gifts that have shown up at the house; you people are amazing. I look forward to seeing you all soon. In the meantime, I'll keep killing time as best I can!!
