Of Weekends and Legends

Another weekend has flown by and Christmas will soon be upon us. I have yet to purchase (or create) presents for loved ones, but I am working on something I plan on giving anyone who wants it. I'll wait for it to be complete before I ask if anyone wants it, simply because I'm afraid it won't be done before I leave for winter break.

My brother was kind enough to send me Super Mario Galaxy for Chanukah, so I have been playing that of late. A lot of fun and rather addicting, but I have a hard time finding moments to play.

Friday evening, (after I futzed around with Galaxy) Shannon and I basically hung out at the house. Made some dinner, caught up on some television and just relaxed. After driving all day, I really couldn't ask for more.

Saturday was spent drawing (for me) and running some other errands. Listened to some Ricky Gervais podcasts which made me laugh so hard I almost drove us off the highway. I can't think of the last time we laughed that hard. We caught I Am Legend that night and we loved it. A great blend of art house direction and big budget looks. Not perfect by any means (CG still looks like CG no matter how you slice it) but it was an extremely tense and (emotional?) distraction.

Sunday we complained about being lazy. We made a delicious breakfast (pancakes and eggs!) then tried to get out of the house. Went to Petco, saw some kitties (our weekend ritual) then tried to see how close we could get to the mountain range. Saw some huge houses, found a few parks, drove on the mountain then headed back. We lounged watching television, movies (Bewitched still sucks) and I drew a lot. That night we watched 30 Rock we missed that Thursday (it is quickly becoming my new favorite show) and Curb your Enthusiasm until we were exhausted.

I now have four days to finish the project, assuming I can do the copying, stapling and mailing on Friday/saturday.

I am looking forward to vacation. I fly out of LAX on Saturday and arrive in West Hartford on Sunday. Sunday I have lunch with family then drive up to Boston to spend Christmas with Shannon and HER family. On the 26th I drive back down to West Hartford and hang out with my family for the rest of the break. On the 29th we're going to see Sorkin's new play, the Farnsworth Invention and on the 30th I fly back out to LA. Brian and I are going to try to shoot some of "Keys," a sequel to Cloth and directly involved in Rhiannon Stories. Hopefully shooting that will spark some inspiration for the comic.

Of Movies

No Country for Old Men was incredible. Juno was merely good. Clerks 2 was not as bad as Shannon and Brian said it was (because there were a few moments that I sincerely dug) but it was still pretty awful. There was one line that I thought was brilliant, but it was so cliched and predictable. Where is Dogma Kevin Smith!? Where is edgy with a reason Kevin Smith?! Moving on.

I just finished blasting through the American Elf archives. Wow.

Also, 30 Rock has been really growing on me.

Of Sparkles and Sunshines

I am extremely disappointed in myself that I stopped watching South Park years ago. In Middle School, I watched the series first episodes with rapt attention. But as years went by my attention fell onto other exploits and South Park was lost in the fray. I started re-watching (semi-religiously) last year with Shannon as she was a rabid fan. They were good, if not great episodes. But it's THIS season that has really rekindled my love of the show. Imaginationland alone is an incredible endeavor, (perhaps) due to the overwhelming amount of references that littered those episodes. Excellent writing and excellent commentary have made it a must-watch for me just in time for this season to end. The most-recent/last episode of the season was also particularly side-tickling. Entitled "The List" we watched as the girls made a list (obviously) of the cutest guys in the class. Having found out I was number three on a list of the cutest Syracuse film majors (sultry blond Joe Moore was number one and tall/dark/handsome Colin Bannon was number two...or vice versa, it doesn't matter) this episode really cracked me up. I never knew how much power those lists had on our feeble minds. Of course, being number three, I don't really care either way.

This season is already drawing to a close. We've got three more episodes of Heroes (seven less than there should be, in my opinion, since it took nine to get the season going) and the last episode of The Office (for now) premiered last night. Soon we will all feel the cold hard grasp of the strike when we realize that we only have episodes of A Shot at Love with Tila Tequila reruns to keep us warm on dem lonely nights.

I'd like to take a moment and talk about what I'm currently watching (or, by next week, what I used to watch). Does that sparkle with everyone?

Mondays are Heroes nights, plain and simple.

Tuesday nights we usually use as "catch-up" nights, since there really isn't much on.

Wednesdays is our busy night. We've got Pushing Daisies and America's Next Top Model, followed by Project Runway, which is great as per usual. For Top Model, we're currently rooting for Heather, the mildly autistic dynamo with a heart of gold. Project Runway looks like it could be good this year, but I don't really like anyone that's on it yet. The crazy art teacher marionette designer makes me want to actually sit down and give it a chance. South Park has also graced the Wednesday night lineup.

Thursdays is our Comedy Night Done Right...night. We usually skip My Name is Early, simply because Shannon don't dig it and I don't have anything invested in it to watch. If we're laptop gaming we'll usually leave it on as white noise, but otherwise we skip it. 30 Rock I've been starting to watch more religiously, solely because I get a pretty good laugh out of it. My biggest problem with it is that most of the jokes I see a mile away, too obvious/too easy. This past episode was pretty good though and there is enough going on that I'll watch next weeks as well. The Office is a given, being the best "sit-com" that's on cable, and this season has been pretty great. Last nights was more heartwarming than usual, what with Michael Scott fighting loyalties between a bitchy girlfriend and a supportive company in order for Jan to win "a whole lotta guacamole." A great episode and sadly the last.

Friday and Saturday are dead nights, except for The Soup. If we watch television, it's usually DVDs of whatever show we're catching up on. Right now it's Angel and The West Wing, depending on our mood. I'm sure we'll move to Dead Like Me next, being such big Pushing Daisies fans.

Sundays are a mixed bag. Usually we just watch The Simpsons and (sometimes) Family Guy, but we don't really care enough to put the time in.

So yeah, that's our schedule. It seems like we watch a lot of television...which we do. But I'd rather watch any of these shows in lieu of seeing a movie these days.

Sunshine!