Twilight of My Misery

I was reading Entertainment Weekly last week and I didn’t get one of the cultural references in a joke. I decided it was time to catch up on the current major cultural phenomenon around. Yes, I am watching the Twilight films.

Last week I waded through the first film, Twilight. Tonight it’s New Moon. I don’t think I’m the intended audience for this vat of wimpy moodiness.

At least there are werewolves to lighten the mood. Plus we get Michael Sheen, an actor that I love. He plays Volturi, the leader of vampires. Why do all vampire leaders come across so decadently? I’d love to see a jolly fat one.

I will not be standing in line to see the upcoming Eclipse. I might eventually get around seeing it on DVD when I’m needing some snooze time.

Schultz Fire Today

We had a scary afternoon in Flagstaff. We heard that the firefighters had a handle on the Schultz Fire, but around 1:00PM a huge plume of smoke roiled above the Dry Lake Hills north of town. It looked like things were out of control.

Photo of Schultz Fire by Dan Stoffel

We all felt quite happy when hearing that it was all due to a planned burnout operation.

The fire is now 40% contained. That is some lovely news!

From Paris With Love review

John Travolta playing a crazy kind of super-duper agent allows From Paris With Love to have a few fun moments. Here’s the review.

The Night for Knight and Day?

Do I go see Knight and Day tonight or wait until this weekend? Or do I even want to see it at all? Romance, action, comedy – I love ‘em all, but how many of these action-comedies actually deliver all three? It’s been sparse pickings lately.

Must decide soon. Maybe I’ll go see it…maybe not. Hmmm….

Update: I did go see it. Was it an excellent film? No. Was it still enjoyable? Yes. The movie managed to keep me entertained. If I had to write a review, which I don’t, I’d give it a “B” or possibly a “B-” (give me a night to sleep on it and I would come up with a firm decision on the grade).

When in Rome review

Here’s another one of my reviews that I’m finally getting around to posting. I seemed to get stuck with all of the romantic comedies to review. Now I like rom-coms, but I’m finding it harder and harder to like ALL of them. Poor When in Rome. It came out after a long chain of mediocre rom-coms. It didn’t stand a chance. Here’s my review.

Fires Around Here

It’s been crazy in Flagstaff the last few days. Two fires have hit us, coming close enough to cause evacuations. None have hit near where I live, but it does make for a case of the jitters where you pay attention to any alerts to new fires in the area.

The Hardy Fire that started on Saturday is in good shape. The firefighters took care of it enough to have the evacuees affected by that fire able to return home. Now we’re dealing with the Schultz Pass Fire. This thing has grown to 10,000 acres and has caused evacuations in northeastern Flagstaff. One of my co-workers is stuck in a Motel 8 waiting for the all clear to return home.

Good firefighters and lots of support from all around Arizona are helping beat back this fire, but it looks like it will take some time to contain the whole thing.

I’m telling you, it’s just crazy time around here.

Toy Story 3 Did Not Disappoint

I took a long lunch yesterday to go see Toy Story 3. I tried to hit the 11:00 film, but it was sold out by the time I got there. That meant that if I wanted to see it yesterday when it would be less crowded I had to go to the noon showing that was in 3D. Dang.

I don’t think I see much in 3D with my regular vision (I have a lazy eye), so I have no desire to give myself a headache trying to see things on screen do their 3D magic. Luckily for me, Toy Story 3 did not give me any headache. Nope, I ended up with a big smile and traces of a few tears. Yes, the Pixar folks know how to make me cry.

That doesn’t mean that I didn’t laugh. There are plenty of jokes, especially surrounding that well-dressed doll, Ken. There are also plenty of intense moments that had me nervous for the gang of likable toys. It’s another grand chance to see the Pixar folks come up with another charmer of a movie.

Extraordinary Measures review

A decent cast can’t help raise this film to more than another “disease of the week” TV movie status. Here’s my review.

Leap Year review

Here’s another review that I have not yet posted. Sweet, but also the usual frustrating romantic comedy, Leap Year has its good points, but settles for the usual rom-com tropes. Here’s my review.

Nine review

Here’s an old review I haven’t posted. I do like musicals and found Nine entertaining, but it wasn’t quite as good as I wanted it to be. Here’s my review.

Twilighting Tonight

Do I suck as a blogger or what? I’ll post something tonight just to prove I’m alive, but what? Should I post about what I’m watching? Sure, I’ll get past the shame and tell you.

I’ve finally taken the plunge and decided to catch up on a cultural phenomenon. I’m watching “Twilight.” You know, the one about moody teens and vampires.

Yes, I’ll finally understand what the whole Team Edward and Team Jacob thing is all about.

Survived Another One

My birthday was Monday. I became older. I survived it.

Ready for the Lost Finale

I’ve watched the penultimate episode of Lost and am now ready for the grand finale. So, who is going to live? Who will die? Will it be a satisfying ending or something unsettling that does not satisfy? I guess I’ll have to wait until Sunday night. What will happen to Hurley?

Hurley is my favorite character. I will so miss him when the show is over. Here’s one of my favorite scenes:

Barking Dogs

Barking dogs. That’s what I have in my house. Two dogs, one who barks a lot, and one who is in a rare mood to bark. Of course, it could be that his rare bout of barking is in reaction to my blowing in his face.

The Guild

I stumbled upon the comic book version of The Guild, which I am enjoying. This led me to view both “seasons” 1 and 2 of the web episodes.

I have to admit, I do like Felicia Day and the characters created. It helps that I’ve had fun with Second Life so much, and though the game that the Guild plays (World of Warcraft type game?) is different than Second Life, that whole creating a role to play is familiar.

Season 3 is my next viewing fun this week. I tell you, there’s just too much clever TV and web programming to keep up with. In honor of the fun that Felicia Day offers, here’s there video “Do You Wanna Date My Avatar?”: