Ultranormal

Category: entertainment

  • Someone at NBC loves Snatch.

    Someone at NBC loves Snatch. Have you been watching the NBA playoffs on NBC? I have, and every time they cut to a stat graphic (Shaq has X free throw attempts per game per blah, blah, blah) they play a snippet of a different song off the Snatch soundtrack. It’s pretty funny. The first time I noticed it was when they played the theme song (called Diamond – track #2) during Kings/Lakers Game 5. They’ve been working their way through the CD. I’m keeping an ear out for Massive Attack Wednesday night.

    Oh, and what do you think of the new colors? I’m going to play with moving things around when I get some free time.

  • My ribs are killing me.

    My ribs are killing me. I spent all weekend coughing and in a general cold-fueled funk. I’m feeling better today, but the congestion is still here, and coughing hurts like hell.

    I did see Heist this weekend. If you like David Mamet, you’ll like this movie. It’s slow-paced for a thriller, but as a whodunit, it’s good. It’s not my favorite Mamet movie. I liked The Spanish Prisoner more, and even State and Main was better, even though it was completely different. Heist had something missing. I’m not sure what it was, but it was missing something important.

  • Tardy is Terrific Greg the

    Tardy is Terrific

    Greg the Bunny was hilarious tonight. What a great show that’s getting no promotion at all. It was off for sweeps, and then tonight’s episode got nothing. I didn’t see an ad at all. Tardy had a bunch of lines, and yes, they were all great. The show is pretty much perfect, and well, it’s on the list of summer shows that should keep me entertained during the heat and reruns.

  • Three’s Company A post in

    Three’s Company

    A post in three parts… First, the world’s most perfect guacamole recipe:

    Ingredients

    • 2 ripe avacados
    • a dash of chili powder
    • a pinch of cumin (if you don’t have cumin, curry will work)
    • a splash of salsa
    • 1 small tomato

    Peel and pit the avacados, dice into small, dice sized bits and put in small mixing bowl. Dice tomato and add to bowl. Add salsa and spices, mix lightly with potato masher. Leave small chunks of avacados and tomato. There you go, it should be perfect!

    We’re watching the end of the Lakers/Kings games, and I’m having a ball watching Jen react to every little thing. She’s much better and more entertaining (and cuter too) than anyone NBC could have calling the game. She’s hilarious. The game just ended and Sacramento won. Two fat white guys in Hawaiiian shirts high-fived Chris Webber, and Jen, being extremely excited that the Kings won, squeeled, “I love those two fat guys! They’re my favorite two new guys!!!” She’s now exulting over all the replays. My wife could not be cooler, cuter or more attractive to me right now. She’s the best.

    And I finally finished Metropolis. I stand by my comments from earlier. It’s good. It has some of those corny Anime moments, but overall, it was great. It was beautifully done, with some seamless CGI integrated with the traditional cell. Excellent. If you liked Fritz Lang’s Metropolis, and liked the idea of A.I., but thought the execution sucked, this is the movie for you.

    There you go, food, fun and film. Does it get better than that?

  • The Weekend Roundup Max was

    The Weekend Roundup

    • Max was sick so we spent most of the weekend pummelling popsicles and baby Tylenol Cold into him. He was not a happy camper.

    • Him being sick gave us a chance to watch a bunch of movies, which I’ll go into more detail on below and some surprisingly good NBA basketball.

    • Now for the movies:

      • Bandits: It had its moments, but overall, it was a disappointment. I’m not sure what I expected because I missed all buzz about it when it came through the theaters, but I expect more from Barry Levinson and Billy Bob. Speaking of Billy Bob…

      • The Man Who Wasn’t There: So, this is what happens when the Coen’s make a film noir. This movie is beautiful, and I completely agree with the Coen’s decision to shoot it in black and white. The smoke, the shadows, everything about this movie had amazing texture and depth. Billy Bob gave a great performance, as did Tony Shalhoub (who should have received an Oscar nomination for his greasy lawyer… amazing). But, for some reason, it was still a disappointment. While it was beautiful, I wasn’t into it the whole time. I found myself looking at my watch, which I’ve never done in another Coen brothers movie. I can’t quite put my finger on it. On one hand, they’ve created a classic film noir, one that automatically ranks in the top 5 all time, yet it was still missing something. Can you make a great film noir and just make a decent movie?

      • The Others: This was the real winner of the weekend. What an amazing film. Forgetting all the hype, it felt like the first time I watched The Sixth Sense. The director did an excellent job of setting the mood from the very beginning, and, while there weren’t a lot of real scary scenes, I was on edge throughout. The ending was perfect, and Nicole Kidman’s performance deserved the Oscar. What a great piece of work. The lighting, atmospherics, acting, everything were spot on. This could not have been done better.

      • Metropolis: Not the old silent movie with Jocasta the lovely robot. This is an Anime film but some guy who’s name I can’t remember that the guys in the video store were watching. I haven’t finished it yet, but so far, it’s beautiful. It’s one of those complexly drawn animated movies I’ve ever seen. The characters and sets are a beautiful mix of cell and digital animation with hand-painted backgrounds. I haven’t finished it yet, but it’s basically what A.I. should have been and wasn’t.

    • Summer TV sucks. Almost all the season finale’s are done, and none of the guilty pleasure summer series have started yet (yes, I’m looking at you Big Brother). Thankfully, the NBA Conference Finals have been excellent and worth staying up for.

  • I’ve been listening to a

    I’ve been listening to a lot of The Police lately. Man in a Suitcase is my new favorite song. The live version from their boxed set is one of the greatest happy depressing songs ever. Before Sting went all new age hippy, they were one of the world’s greatest ska bands. Sting, what happened to you?

  • The Big Roundup – Part

    The Big Roundup – Part One

    Friday Night

    Jen and I went to see No Doubt at the Charles E. Smith Center on the GW campus. We took a bus from the Park and Ride in Herndon, and then the Metro to Foggy Bottom. It was a surprisingly easy trip, and we got in and found our seats at 8 sharp (like I had planned it that way or something – of course I hadn’t). The people watching was amazing. We were three rows up from the main thoroughfare to the floor seats and we got a good look at pretty much everyone in attendance. They all filed past at one point or another. The audience broke down like so:

    • 65% MTV TRL Pre-teen – 25 year-old girls, all with Destiny’s Child single strap tops or variations on the belly shirt. After a while, it became crystal clear that there are people in this world who were meant to wear these shirts, and those who weren’t. 90% of the people wearing them shouldn’t have been.
    • 20% Frat Boys of various clothing schemes, mostly checking out the 65% listed above
    • 5% Parents of the pre-teen audience
    • 10% Old-School No Doubt fans aging from mid-20’s up to mid-fifites (maybe older). This was the group we were in.

    The opening act, The Fate, was horrible. They want so much to be Rock Stars and fail completely. They have every rock band cliche. They have the Jim Morrison / Robert Smith wannabe frontman saying stupid things in ridiculous poses trying to make everyone think he’s sexy. You have the guitar playing flinging his floppy hair like one of the Ramone’s third cousins, and the keyboardist dry humping his instruments every time is has to play one of his three chords. They were not well received. Jen summed it up best, “Why didn’t they get a good old school ska band to open for them?”

    Thankfully, No Doubt came out later and took care of the rocking. They were amazing. I’d never seen them before, and was never a really big fan before this. They put on an amazing show. Gwen Stefani is a god. She has the whole “I’m sexy, but can rock” thing to the next level. She has bravado and power and testosterone and blew everyone away. She and the rest of the band really know how to get an audience moving. It was great to watch.

    I had a great time at the show, and am looking for other concerts we can go to this summer. I forgot how much fun live music is (duh, I know).

    The trip home was… eventful. We missed the last bus back to the park and ride and ended up waiting at the bus stop for over an hour (putting us a about 12:30am on a Friday in downtown DC) for a bus going the wrong way. We ended up paying \$40 for a cab ride back to our car. Next time, we drive in.

    I’ll update the rest of the weekend and this week later… I’m starting to fall asleep.

  • If I ever start a

    If I ever start a punk ska band, it’s going to be called Cryptosporidium Toothpaste. I should never blog while ill. I’m not sure what’s wrong, but my head feels like a bowling ball. My eyes don’t want to focus. My stomach hurts and I can’t seem to wake up. I will never ever ever let the optometrist dilate my eyes. Nor will I ever not eat for twelve hours. Thus endeth the stupidest post ever.

  • Why Do I Love Thee, Tardy?

    The hits just keep on coming for Tardy queries. So, I thought I’d share my favorite things about the dim little turtle from Greg the Bunny. Like Barney on The Simpsons, Tardy gets the throw-away one liners. They’re usually brilliant non-sequiters or add that perfect touch of lunacy to a scene. After four episodes I can honestly say he’s my favorite character on the show, and that’s saying something. The show is great. It’s this generation’s puppet show (my generation had Alf, and the one before it had all those Sid & Marty shows and The Muppet Show). The idea that puppets are real people, like with the Muppets, is a great one, and they’ve really pulled it off. But, Tardy stands out. With his quiet song and “I’m dead, Gil.” from the paintball episode, the “I am strong now!” from the blackmail one and “People aren’t allowed to touch me where my bathing suit covers” in the first one, he has captured my heart. I will forever be a Tardy fan. Well, at least until he sells out and goes Hollywood.

  • They cancelled Ally McBeal

    They cancelled Ally McBeal, which is just as well. I cancelled it at the beginning of the season. That new girl was kind of cute, but it turned into The Muppet Babies with Mini-Ally running around with Mini-Greg and Old Ally watching them all jealous. It was a good show in its prime, but it ran its course. Bye bye, Ally.