Did anyone see Radiohead on Conan last week?
They were amazing.

I think that it is an interesting time in the NBA. The Sun's, the Nugget's and the Maverick's are all headed for shake ups and they all fell short of winning the title that they were built for. The Sun's and the Mav's especially remind me of the early '90's Trailblazer's who were solid and so close to making it happen, but ultimately couldn't win the big one. Do these teams quickly rebuild or will it take 5-6 years or so like it had with the Blazer's the last two times they almost made it. One thing is for sure, rebuilding in the West will be difficult for any team the next couple of years with so many good young teams these oldies could be done for a while.

Gas Prices Hit All Time High In Oregon!
I just paid 3.51 a gallon on the way home, and local news reports that it could get to $8 a gallon. Which sounds reasonable since the cost of living has also gone up 400% during the Bush administration. Oh wait, gas is the only commodity that has increased at that rate? Weird.

I love Charlie Chaplin

I also love Buster Keaton, so don't get me wrong I'm an equal opportunity lover of silent film comedians. I even have a Harold Llyod film recorded on my DVR right now so I may soon have more love to spread around.











I watched City Lights recently, and was truly smitten with this silent film star all over again. Chaplin has such incredible comedic timing. When I think of modern comedy and what it now takes to be funny in a movie, I am saddened that no one carries this torch of smart, physical comedy. There are physical comedians, I think of Jim Carrey's Ace Ventura trying to be stealth while dancing on of a roll of bubble wrap or the football play that Ace physically rewinds and plays again in slow motion. It's not that a market doesn't exist for these guys its just that they are truly special and there are not that many of them around. I guess we should just cherish these gems when they are captured on screen. The boxing scene in City Lights is probably one of the funniest things I have seen in a movie, and every time I watch another Chaplin or Keaton film I am amazed at the timelessness of the laugh that has been and will always be enjoyed by those who watch these films.

Pan & Scan, I Hate You.
Let me clarify, Whomever invented the idea of pan & scan, I hate you sir/ma'am. Pan & Scan is what television producers have done to kill movies from the inception of the idiot box until a few years ago when some genius decided it was a good idea to stretch televisions out to a more eye pleasing dimension. Pan & Scan refers to the concept of taking a film shot for the wide screen and cropping and/or squeezing the image to fit inside the more square confines of the TV screen. I am not here to drop math on you and use terms like 16:9, but I will say that when I recorded Steven Spielberg's Close Encounters of the Third Kind from AMC I thought they would have the decency to broadcast the film in the original format that the director shot and intended it to be seen in.

They did not.

I would say that about 65-75% of the film has this grinding pan from one side of the frame to another, especially annoying on any already existing camera movement. I found the whole experience off putting and degrading to the film watching experience. I am disappointed that through my trek of AFI's 100 greatest films to have not truly experienced Close Encounters as the film Spielberg had intended to show. AMC stands for American Movie Classics, so please continue to show classics, but give us proper presentation and while you're at it how about less commercials, most of which are only promoting your own channel.

Psst.. We're already watching your channel.

Turner Classic Movies is where its at anyhow, better movies, no commercials, and properly formated movies. Thanks Ted Turner.

This is my One Hundredth post!
I am going to celebrate with a cool refreshing Red Bull.

Movies with the Masses
I went to my local theatre last night with some bin candy for a show. It was a discount theatre full of teens and families. It was nice to see the film going masses in full force on a Saturday night. We saw Definitely, Maybe which was actually good. Cute.

Man I could use a Red Bull after that intense movie review.

No Country For Old Men.

Flawless script. Excellent cinematography. Brutal acting. If you don't mind a little violence, this is a film worthy of accolade.

I am addicted to Red Bull. I don't know when exactly it happened, but if I smell the stuff my heart rate jumps and I start thinking about when and where I can get my next fix. I'll even drink RockStar or Full Throttle or the one from the dollar tree. Look for more on this topic soon. I have to do some research to get to the root of the problem.

There Will Be Blood


If watching a QuentinTarantino movie is like get punched in the face until you fall down, then There Will Be Blood is like a starring contest in which your knees buckle by the sheer will of Paul Thomas Anderson's glare.

R I P

Charlton Heston
Passed Saturday at the age of 84.
If you have not seen a film starring Charlton Heston in a while, do yourself the favor and enjoy one soon. His presence on screen as a leading man in cinema is undeniable. I recommend Ben Hur, Touch of Evil, or The Greatest Show on Earth. As a matter of fact, go to the video store, because that would be a perfect weekend of movie watching.

My Better is Better than Your Better

I catch myself at times being a bit of a label snob. I tell myself that I get what I pay for, and that quality costs money. That is except for Nike. I buy Nike stuff (not exclusively) because I am a sucker for their advertising. Media Studies was my major in college, so this is what I spent my youth learning to immune myself to, and yet every time Nike rolls out a new ad campaign I am ready to buy some swooshed shoes and go train for something. I cannot think of another companies' ads that inspire brand consumption like Nike. A lot of slick ads can catch my attention with sly cleverness, but I usually end up just buying the music from the ad on the internet (hint: they weren't selling music). Nike has through the years made commercials that have stuck in my concessness and inspired me. My two favs are the Winter Olympics ad that used match cutting to portray various Olympic events with kids playing ie. a kid ridding a bike seemlessly cut with a speed skater on a track. The other was during the "We Love Runner's" campaign when a boombox weilding fan followed a guy jogging down the street blasting "eye of the tiger". Fantastic.

Well the newest campaign is a quickly cut montage of in your face trash talking from a bunch of today's best athlete's including my favorite... Mr. Brandon Roy. I have to say though that my favorite line comes from Sonics rookie Kevin Durant when he states that his fast and his quick just had a baby named speedy. Once again this onslaught of pure adrenaline has readied me to work... For what I am not sure, but I better get going because my better isn't really better than anyones better. Yet.

When given a day off with nothing to do, the average human being might write out a list of important things to do. Tasks accomplished in that precious free time that no one suffers too much of. When I have a day off with no plans, I watch movies. And Saturday I watched four movies. Now now, I had previously started three of them (short attention span), but I finished all of them. These four films all were all included in one of the two AFI lists that I have blogged about previously. So my quest to catch up to Lucas continues with, Dr. Zhivago, All The President's Men, Duck Soup, and lastly The Searcher's. Fear not Lucas I am still like thirty behind you, but heed this warning, I am only nine days off (in which Amber also works) away from catching and passing you to the finish of the Great AFI Watch of '07-'08.

Speaking of the films Dr. Zhivago was a snooze, All The President's Men was excellent, Duck Soup was better than I thought it would be, and the Searcher's, I grew up on John Wayne so I always enjoy his movies.

Thanks for the Memories

I don't mean to poo-poo, but watching the Oregon Duck Men's basketball team implode in the NCAA tournament today completely incinerated my desire to care about March Madness. I didn't know I cared this much, but I guess I did. They missed 15 straight 3-point attempts during one stretch of the second half, and yet it did not stop them from heaving brick after brick. What could they build with all those bricks? How about a lead for MSU who went from 13 down to winning by 10 or something. Sorry again, I mean I am still proud and all, but wow, they sucked the life out of the whole thing for me. Short of a winning bracket I just don't see myself watching a bunch of basketball this weekend or next. Just ask Amber I am actually this cranky.

Tourney Time!

If you would like to know who will win in every years Eight vs. Nine match-up... Look at my bracket (I'll happily show you) and bet on the other team.

I am half way through day one and I am already in last place in my division. Good news is that I just got beer and I have nothing to do for the rest of the weekend except watch every other team that I pick to win, lose. If I could only pick wrong on every game I could try to pull some reverse bracket scientology or something, but I am just mediocre, not fantastically good or bad.

I am mildly upset that I listened so much to all the hype only to pick Georgia upsetting Xavier and miss one more pick. A fourteen over a three, what was I thinking. I am glad however that unlike Lucas I only picked one Georgia upset. Sorry bud, no sweet sixteen for the Bulldogs.

Lastly, Bravo to the local Portland State Vikings. They got crushed this morning, but what a great time they must have had (until the game started)

Do Not Fret Al Gore!
I read a story on npr.com about how scientists are not finding an increase in ocean temperature even though air temperature is rising and the ocean levels are expanding. The water temperatures are actually slightly decreased.

I do believe in our power to control global warming, and that global warming is a very real and serious threat. This story is however, an interesting example of how much we have yet to discover about this planet of ours.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=88520025

New York City

I had an I miss New York day today. I was bored during some training at my new job and found a Sudoku puzzle on a desk. I picked it up and after my first scan of the numbers I had to work with, it struck me. I was heart sick missing the bright lights of the big city. I always did Sudoku on the A train and I guess I haven't done many/any since we moved back. It has been interesting being back in Oregon since last fall. I suffer from manic swings of contentedness and longing that keep me fairly unstable most of the time.

AFI Update
This is an update to a MySpace.com blog wherein Lucas and I tallied how many of the AFI's 100 greatest movies we had seen. Once that I found out that I had only seen like half (I was shocked by this) I was inspired to get a hold of these movies and watch them quickly. Well I worked my queue and DVR and I began catching up slowly. That is until AFI released a ten year anniversary list last summer adding like twenty new movies to the list. Well recently I have been working hard to spend my movie watching free time knocking films off of both my lists. So as I move forward I will be bringing up a film now and then that is worth getting a hold of.

This Week I fell in love with 12 Angry Men, again. It is a perfect film. I thought I had seen it before, but couldn't remember exactly (so I had to watch it again). I started it while doing dishes and before five minutes had gone by, I was on the couch entranced. This drama was filmed mostly on a single set, and plays out one of the simplest stories, just perfect.

Stay tuned... I have lots of films to go.

The King of Kong
My little sister and I decided to build birdhouses yesterday. I decided quickly that I didn't want to build some cute little bird house that would quaintly compliment a small water fixture in a modest yard.
I wanted to build a monument to birds, and one of the great archatectual marvels of my favorite city not named Portland. So alas construction began on an all day project that would turn out to be a three nest home in the guise of the Empire State Building. Ridiculous, maybe. Preposterous, sort of. Obnoxious, well yes.

There is a dedication ceremony not yet scheduled for the day this modern cedar marvel lands at its resting place (somewhere in the Burt's yard). I dedicate and give proper ownership of said property to my dear friendo Lucas Burt. May your dreams be as big as my bird house.