Happy New Year

So we’re minutes away from 2008. I’m getting ready to celebrate myself but I wanted to wish everyone a happy new year! Let’s see what we can do with 2009.

Winter’s here

There is little doubt now that the season of Winter is officially here, if not in name definitely in spirit. I’m not a big fan of this season — only because of the weather. The holiday time is magic for me.

Right now I can’t see more than 20 feet out my window. I made sure to hit the store yesterday to pick up the previsions as it seems I’ll be snowed in for the better part of the weekend.

Dad’s in Morris right now, just came out of surgery and seems to be doing well. He did a smart thing and broke his leg last week. Another reason I’m not fond of this forsaken weather. Those who enjoy their “snow machines” or whatever, I just don’t get it. Give me a little warmth this time of year and I’m a happy camper.

At any rate, this weekend is proving a good opportunity to watch some DVDs and listen to some music without worrying about going out and about. Good times.

Things I’ve been doing instead of blogging

Instead of just pointing out that I’ve been bad at blogging (please don’t search and find out how many times I’ve done that), I figured I would post what I’ve been up to instead of writing personal musings and such.

• Reading the Watchmen graphic novel
• Working like a mad dog
• Watching more then a few mini-series on DVD
• Playing video games like Dead Space
• Listening to a lot of music

I’m not saying that I’m going to be blogging a whole lot any time soon, but whenever the mood strikes, this will be the place I blab about things.

Remember, vote on November 4th if you live in the U.S., make up your own mind on who — but please vote!

Tina Fey as Sarah Palin

Tina Fey was amazing on Saturday Night Live. No matter who you’re going to vote for, this was the best impression ever done on SNL.

The Simpsons : Lego Style

From Wil Wheaton.

As the vacation ends

For the last week I have pretty much done nothing in particular. From catching up on DVDs to watching the Olympics, I finally got around to spending a week of doing very little.

To say that I haven’t done anything really isn’t accurate. Here is a short list of things I did do this week in no particular order.

• Saw “Star Wars: The Clone Wars” in the theater. Great flick but a few flaws here and there. If you dig Star Wars, you’ll probably dig this Star Wars flick. More on this later.
• Started playing BioShock after picking it up new for $20 on clearance. I’ve been wanting to play this game for a while and it really does hold up. Shaping to be one of my favorite 360 games.
• Watched a boat load of DVDs. From most the first season of “Felicity” to “Superman II” and so on, I made my way through a number of DVD discs.
• Slept, a pretty good amount. I think I’ll do some more of that here in a few minutes.
• Pre-ordered the special edition of the new Oasis album, “Dig Out Your Soul” out in early October. Joy.

That’s the short list of what I’ve done. Congrats to Michael Phelps, amazing job man.

I used to be a doctor for pretend

Happy Fourth of July

Just wanted to wish all my fellow Americans a Happy Fourth of July. Just finished watching some fireworks out of Boston, nothing like celebrating our country’s independence with big explosions.

Laufty goals

A few months ago I picked up some small pocket sized notebooks with the idea that I would keep them with me at all times. I would write down little ideas that strike me throughout the day, things that strike my fancy for a good blog post.

Cut to now and I’m still sloppy about sharing the details of the things going on in my life. I’d blame Twitter, the place where most of my fleeting thoughts end up, but that’s not really fair. Many of the topics that have popped into my head over the last few weeks would require more than 140 characters could provide.

Instead of going through the empty white pages of the notebook I stopped carrying with me three weeks ago, I figured I would list out a few of those topics here. Who knows, maybe I’ll actually get the motivation to do more with them soon if seeing them on the computer screen un-fleshed out doesn’t annoy me enough.

• Definitely, Maybe - the movie, not the fantastic debut by the best band ever. The flick is a love story told as a bedtime story, that spans 15 or so years. It’s a touching story about a father and his daughter, the loves he lived and the mistakes he has made. A must see.
• The golf swing - Alex and I finally got back out on the golf course, heading out to Savannah Oaks in Lynd. It was my first time on the course and Alex’s third. He was breaking in new clubs and mine were going for their second round. Terrible round for myself, but hitting the driving range later, I might have found my golf swing. Finally. Five years later.
  
• Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends - New Coldplay album is extraordinary.

At some point I hope to expand on those three subjects, but for the time being those will lay flat on the screen as they are. I’m horrible like that some times.

Earlier today I was having a discussion with one of my editors about the bad habits us writers suffer from. Wanting to improve as a writer, I asked if he would shed light on some of my bad habits. The thing that came time mind for him was my complete aversion to compound words.

Ironically I was writing two stories at the time that featuring “landowners” as “fireworks.” Of course reviewing, I realized on more than a couple occasions in each there was a space in the middle of the compounds that should have been there.

I’m sure this blog reveals a number of other bad habits I’ve picked up as I fly through the keyboard trying to get my point across. I’m working on it, I promise.

Indiana Jones blog on the Independent

The following is a re-posting of a blog I wrote in responce to a co-workers blog about the latest Indiana Jones film. The original blog posts can by found on the Marshall Independent Web site.

Indiana Jones and the Cranky Sports Editor

I grew up loving the Indiana Jones film franchise. I started with the second, “Temple of Doom” and spread my wings further, finally catching the first movie shortly after.

In 1989 a dream came true, I got a third Indiana Jones movie “The Last Crusade.”

The excitement I felt as a kid for the third movie is actually similar to what I felt when I heard they were making a fourth.

A few years ago the news reached me that a fourth film starring Indiana Jones would be hitting the big screen.

It took a few years and a number of “it’s never going to happen” doubts, but we finally have the new movie.

I didn’t make it to the theater right away to see it, I was busy that weekend, but the following weekend I was sure to have a ticket for the movie.

Before I ever got to see it, co-worker and sports editor Andy Rennecke told me he hated the movie. He later expanded on his displeasure with the film in his blog post “Bad Indy.”

By that point I had heard a few voices express displeasure with the movie including a few film critics but I had actually heard more positive reviews.

The Web site Rotten Tomatoes, a site that compiles film critics reviews and determines how “fresh” or “rotten” a movie is, scored “Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” a 77 percent fresh rating. To translate, most critics really liked the movie.

Even the highly critical movie fans that frequent the Internet Movie Database rated the movie a 7.5 out of 10.

Unlike my fellow blogger here at the Independent I will not be posting any spoilers in my write up about the movie, some of the fun in this franchise and this film are the surprises.

What I will say is the obvious, Dr. Henry Jones Jr. is growing up. He’s no longer that kid just discovering a whip on a circus train. He’s no longer that middle aged adventurer who saved small villages and discovered lost relics. Instead Dr. Jones is a seasoned adventurer who never stopped exploring and discovering over the 20 years that we’ve missed him.

It’s the 1950s, a different world from the one he rode away from in the Last Crusade.

In his blog, Andy complained about the opening sequence of “Skill,” which had our hero captured without any explanation as to how that happened.

I’d like to remind Andy, that’s pretty much how all the Indy movies have started. How did Indy find himself at the edge of a temple ready to discover an idol only to find himself face to face with his nemesis. How did that happen? What brought Indy to the table with bad guys who were ready to poison him? And how did a young Indy find himself in the middle of a desert where he would face off against the bad guys on a train?

The movies (and even the television show about the young Indiana Jones) have always had an edge of cheese. They’re based on old serials from the early days of film. Each serial picked up where the last one left off.

I think that is one of the problems some people have had with the movie, in some ways it doesn’t feel like the same world that Indiana Jones first explored in.

It’s a little more modern, but there is still the dangers and mysteries around.

Jones has always been running from improbable traps, shying away from snakes and fighting over-the-top bad guys.

That’s all here in this latest film.

I think sometimes we remember movies from our youth a certain way and we’re not willing to accept newer versions of them.

“Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” has a lot of supernatural elements, but remember that too has always been present in the franchise.

Andy suggested waiting to see this movie on DVD or just skilling it all together.

I think that’s a mistake. If you’ve been looking forward to this movie I say go see it in theaters. If you were going to wait for the DVD, that’s on you.

It might not be the best of the Indiana Jones movies, but Skull has a lot going for it.

It’s a really good time.

Andy cited Steven Spielberg and George Lucas as part of the problem with the movie. The two film makers that created Indy and have virtually shaped film making to how we see it today.

Spielberg and Lucas have been both praised and lamented for their choices in movies. The one thing that can’t be disputed is many film makers have tried to emulate their styles and storytelling.

I think that might be where some of the concern actually stems from. What might feel like something we’ve seen 1,000 times can actually be traced back to these film makers.

I’m glad to have Indy back, I just hope it’s not another 20 years before we get another one.

Andy is free to his opinion, he just happens to be wrong on this one.