2009-03-15 
 

snapshot of March 2009

I write a lot at work now. I also have this batch of ghost stories I'm trying to write on the side. With FB keeping me connected to most everyone, Love and Other Drugs is getting neglected. I'm not quite ready to let it rest yet, but the updates are dwindling.

A snapshot of my life in March 2009.

Started own business in order to work directly for company instead of through a temp agency. Very exciting, but one repercussion is that banks require at least a year or two of self employed status before they'll give you a mortgage. This means we're once again looking at rentals. Very excited about a potential opportunity in Cambridge, but don't want to count any chicken pieces before they actually make it into the bucket of delicious, fried goodness.

G spent two weeks in California visiting friends and family. I missed him lots, but took advantage of one weekend to go to NYC and visit college friends. Played WII for the first time and thoroughly enjoyed myself. Brian and I ended up going to see Hair, which was brilliant! I've always loved the music, but worried how they would go about updating it. First off, they played it more like a period piece. The modern mind can't help but make a few correlations between the struggles we were facing 40 years ago and the struggles of today, but the director didn't hit us over the head with anything. They also didn't overuse complicated pyrotechnics and special effects to enhance the experience. It was really about the people on the stage...and ended up being more powerful for it. Do you hear me falling chandelier? I'm looking at YOU.

Truly enjoyed it.

Not sure what the rest of the month has in store. The Cambridge place isn't available until May 1st. This is a good thing since it'll allow us to gather the first/last/deposit together without having to dip into savings. Okay, must stop. I'm beginning to salivate over tasty chicken that may not be destined for my table.

Labels: dose of mikey, linkage, random review

* posted by me at 12:04 PM

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2009-01-29 
 

sucking facebook

It's official. I've been sucked into FB and tend to ignore this blog now. I status update when I want to send out an APB. I post memes on the notes page.

I zip little notes back and forth to friends to keep in touch. Look at pictures and feel more connected to them. I've communicated more with friends on FB and know more about what's going on in their lives now than I did before. Reconnected with people from the past that I missed and, thanks to the privacy settings, kept away from those I didn't want to deal with. I'm not giving up on real-live contact, but it's nice to catch up with someone across the country during my lunch break. Someone who, before FB, I would have spoken with once or twice a year...if that.

My friends who aren't on FB don't know that I was lost in the thesaurus last week. Well, now they do...if they still check this blog. The friends on FB may or may not have that information. Depends on how often they check the status updates...if they even do. Some people find them annoying. (and so they should turn them down...it is an option for the haters) I find the updates akin to communicating telepathically. You write what you're thinking and someone far away, doing something else, sees what you're thinking. If they have it texted to their phone, it's almost instantaneous. (sorta like Twitter for techno-weenies) If they want to respond, they do, and you hear back. (I dream of the day when it really will get sent directly to my brain, but that might just be me. I do enjoy connectivity...as long as there's always the option to turn off when I so desire.)

Bottom line: I'm just as twizzled by my FB love affair as everyone else posting on the subject, but I'm going to enjoy it while it lasts.

Labels: blogging, dose of mikey, random review

* posted by me at 5:16 PM

(2) comments



2009-01-11 
 

tiddly pom

The more it snows
Tiddly Pom
The more it goes
Tiddly Pom
The more it goes
Tiddly Pom
On snowing.



Spent a good two hours outside with G clearing off cars and shoveling. I do miss the lazy Sunday afternoon in San Francisco on a day like today, but I also enjoy the feeling of accomplishment when the driveway's fully cleared and the cars are ready to drive again...as if we'd leave for anything but the very necessary. My New England upbringing clashes with over a decade of West Coast mellowness on days like today.

In other news, saw Slumdog Millionaire last week. It was NOT a romantic comedy as advertised on some random blog I stumbled upon. Still, it's very much worth seeing...if you can deal with the violence. It was realistic and rather grim. The folks behind us tried leaving two or three times. They'd stand up to leave, walk over to the top of the stairs, stand there for a few minutes, get caught back into the story and then return to their seats. (We were in the balcony section of the Loring so this wasn't quite as annoying as it could've been, but still.) They ended up staying throughout the whole thing, so I guess that's another thumbs up of sorts.

Labels: dose of mikey, random review

* posted by me at 2:33 PM

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2008-12-09 
 

book vs. movie

Hero sounded like a wonderful book: a coming of age story about a gay superhero. Unfortunately, the writing was a bit choppy and at some points even had me flipping back a page to see if I'd missed something. (I had missed something, but it was nowhere to be found in the text.)

The setting lacked any specific year though it was obviously written in a post 9-11 world where most teens have cell phones. Not a problem in itself, but somehow the coming to terms with sexuality story read a bit more Edge of 17 than edge of the century.

That said, it'll make a really great movie if anyone with a big enough budget bothers to pick it up. Since that's a bit unlikely given that it's a double sub genre, maybe animated is the way to go. Ooooh, yes! I nominate Joe Phillips. His style is perfect for the slightly divorced-from-reality physicality of the characters...though the story may seem a bit tame compared to some of his more recent work. (See: Stonewall and Riot, but not if you're at work and/or offended by explicit, animated gay sex.)

As for Twilight...go ahead, snicker away, I've both read the book AND seen the movie. The book was wonderful reading, albeit a bit angst ridden and generally aimed at a teen girl market. (Anyone who complains about those facts as being detrimental to their enjoyment of the book really should do some research before buying something new. I mean c'mon, what did they expect?)

The movie wasn't as good as the book by a long shot, but having read the book, I found it to be passable entertainment with various bits of eye candy to suit a number of different tastes and mildly interesting action sequences. (And for those complaining that it was angst ridden and generally aimed at a teen girl market, I ask again, how did they avoid those facts before going in to see it? I mean c'mon!)

I am excited to see what a different director does with the sequel. The worst thing about the movie was that bits of it felt rushed and unpolished. Carlisle's bad makeup job in that first hospital scene should never have made it to screen. I took special exception to this as Peter Facinelli is my favorite flavor of eye candy in the whole film.

Labels: random review

* posted by me at 5:07 PM

(1) comments



2008-12-02 
 

brief review

Milk, it does the body good. (and the brain and the heart.)

Sean Penn has never been a favorite of mine, but he won me over fully while playing this role. He managed to capture the nuances of the Harvey Milk I know from news footage and give him a depth that the footage often lacks. Oscar will be calling to him for sure.

It would be impossible for me to see this movie and not have the current situation with Prop 8 brought to mind. I did get angry again, but I left with a little more hope than I had going in.

Labels: dose of mikey, random review

* posted by me at 6:01 PM

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2008-11-29 
 

ten days

It's been ten days since I've popped in to post something. Thanksgiving rather sucked aways any extra time I had. That and doing a marathon read of The Book Thief. Devastating. Beautiful. It's aimed at the teen market, but then so is everything these days...don't let that dissuade you. Big recommend from me.

Looking forward to seeing Milk tomorrow. Vaguely annoyed as well. Somehow I've been made to feel by the media that it's my gay duty to go see it because it's an "important" film. Even though the reviews have all been stellar and I have a true desire to go, a small part of me is reacting like a teenager faced with a summer reading list. (I've always loved to read, but back when they would give me a REQUIRED reading list it got my dander up and was one of the few times I'd buy Cliff Notes. Odd way to rebel? Perhaps, but I never pretended to be normal.) Fortunately, the media got to me well after I'd seen the trailer.It's not often that a trailer gives me goosebumps; gay duty or not, I'm going.

Labels: dose of mikey, linkage, random review, the gay

* posted by me at 3:03 PM

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2008-10-14 
 

not so specials

We watched The Specials last night. We figured that it might be bad, but it had some actors we'd actually heard of and there was a sense that it might be cultishly bad. Nope. There were indeed moments of laughter, but overall I just didn't like the way it was executed. It may've been the editing - we didn't bother to watch any of the deleted scenes so I can't even judge from that - but the plot burst at the seams early on and little pieces of it rolled around on screen for the rest of the movie. Generally just made us dizzy and there weren't enough of the laughs to make it worthwhile.

Labels: linkage, random review

* posted by me at 5:38 PM

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2008-08-29 
 

two very different movies

So I'm going to take another break from writing a great toast for Dude's impending nuptials and hit you with some thoughts on two very different movies.

The Lives of Others
The story takes place during the early 80's and follows an East German Stasi agent who is tasked with spying on a well known playwrite. The Minister of Culture has organized this so that he can steal away the writer's actress girlfriend for himself. Ulrich Mühe is brilliant as the Stasi agent. Having no real life of his own, the Stasi slowly becomes swept up by the events in the lives of those he is spying on. (Hence the title.) Mühe really had me believing that the path he was on and the choices he made were real ones. I really don't want to give too much more away, but I must say that the film had me running through many emotions: disgust, fright, sadness, despair and lastly hope. It's truly a Pandora's box of a film, and one I highly recommend that everyone watch. Especially now, as we Americans slowly give up more and more of our rights in this era of "Homeland Security".


Walk Hard, The Dewey Cox Story
On the opposite side of the coin, a laugh riot. I initially avoided this movie because my search for a good parody movie has been thwarted too often by bad acting, uneven writing or just too many jokes that rely on either flatulence or debasement instead of more complicated humor. Don't get me wrong, there are some outright, in-your-face funny moments in this movie. That said, there's also plenty of clever humor to balance that out. It even dares to poke fun at the genre the movie is parodying instead of just replaying scenes from pre-existing movies for laughs. What a concept! The funniest movie I've seen in a long time.

Labels: dose of mikey, linkage, random review

* posted by me at 10:01 AM

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2008-08-27 
 

brideshead redux

I'm taking a break from contemplating Dude's toast. Instead I'll tell you about the movie we saw last night. (Four dollars each at the Cameo! Can't beat Economic Recovery Tuesdays!)

Brideshead Revisited

Worth a rental, if only for Emma Thompson's superb performance and the chance to see Castle Howard again. Emma manages to convey more emotion in ten seconds of acting than most other actors get out during a full movie. This is definitely a boon for this version. Overall, the story will seem a bit rushed to anyone familiar with either the mini series or the book. Emma's ability to communicate so much in such a short time is very necessary as they needed to cut out quite a bit in order to get the story down to movie size.

In case you haven't already figured it out, my review is going to be completely colored by my experience with the aforementioned miniseries, so if you haven't watched it already...go do so now. Are you back yet? Helloooo? Oh, that's right, the original runs well over 8 hours. It may take you a few days before you get back here and I have a toast to write so....

Matthew Goode does an good job playing Charles. He seems constantly caught in the headlights of the Marchmain train, yet is able to believably dodge to the side at the appropriate moment and even get in a dent or two himself now and again. I confess, I quickly forgot Jeremy Irons.

Sadly, Ben Whinshaw as Sebastian is a different story in that he never manages to give any real depth to his character. This is most noticeable when the story moves to Morocco, but by then I'd given up on caring very much about what happened to him and was glad the scene ended up being so brief. I'm happy that they didn't dance around the gay issue as much in this version as in the original miniseries, but overall Whinshaw's one note performance left me yearning for Anthony Andrew's original more than any other character in the movie.

The Charles/Julia relationship fares better, thanks mostly to Hayley Atwell who may seemed a bit dazed here and there but overall holds her own. That said, this is one area where the cuts to the storyline become most troublesome as characters' true motives get a bit lost in the shuffle. It may've been the director's intention to show them all in a slightly different light, but it didn't work for me.

To be fair, I'm sure the many cuts also added to my distrust of the Charles/Sebastian storyline. Either one of these two main relationships in Brideshead (Charles/Julia and Charles/Sebastioan) may have fit into a normal movie's running time and given the characters more believable motivation, but the compressed timeline ends up hurting them both. While the ending still rings true, I'm very glad I had the fuller story in the back of my head. It helped to fill in the gaps and overall allowed me to enjoy the experience.

Labels: dose of mikey, random review

* posted by me at 1:44 PM

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2008-07-14 
 

caspian redux

I didn't find the box with the book. (see previous entry)

I did spend the past weekend house/catsitting for our friends in Cambridge. They had a copy of Caspian there that I immediately reread.* There were some other differences between the book and the movie, but Peter's personality change is really the most significant.

In the book Peter is not the petulant guy from the movie. Instead it is Susan who is in need of an attitude adjustment...a fact I had totally forgotten. Given the sexism inherent at the time C.S. Lewis was writing, and the fact that I always found her character's arc the most unsatisfying, I now find myself applauding the decision to shift the burden of unpleasantness to Peter. That said, I wish they'd done more to finish off his story at the end. I'm hoping for some deleted scenes on the DVD and maybe even some commentary on the differences between book and movie. All in all, the sequel seems to have sucked me in just as much as the first one did!

*As a bonus, J had the same boxed set that I received myself back in the 70s. The same set that's now hiding somewhere in storage. Somehow that made the reread even more enjoyable.

Labels: dose of mikey, random review

* posted by me at 10:01 PM

(1) comments



2008-07-09 
 

caspian in storage

Enjoyed the air conditioning at the Loring theater today and saw Prince Caspian. Watched from up in the balcony because...well, when else do I get to sit in a theater balcony for a movie?

I admit to having a hard time at the very beginning since the movie quickly diverged from the original text with a fight in an train station involving Peter. It took me about half of the movie to get over the fact that Peter's personality diverged so much from what I remembered. Don't get me wrong. It worked out pretty well for the movie, but it made it harder for me to "let go" as I kept wondering if I'd missed some subtext in the books about Peter being such a prat.

This in turn made me want to reread the books for the umpteenth time. Then I began to wonder exactly which storage box held my copies of the books. Naturally I had to start imagining where in the storage locker that box was buried and when, if ever, we'll ever get to have our stuff within easy reach again. Fortunately, before I turned into a pity party of one, Susan made googly eyes at Caspian. That was all it took to snap me back to the reality of watching a movie adaptation that needed to conform to certain standards if any more sequels were to be made. Since Prince Caspian was never my favorite book in the series, I decided to give in and stop being so picky.

So, though it continued to diverge from the book here and there, I still left the theater a bit dazed as if I'd woken up from an odd dream. That, in my book, is what a good movie ought to do to you so I give it a thumbs up.

Labels: dose of mikey, linkage, random review

* posted by me at 8:45 PM

(2) comments



2008-06-22 
 

very brief reviews

Been watching a lot of DVD movies lately, because it's cheap and cheerful. Here are some very brief reviews:

8 Women: Fantastic cast, costuming and dialogue are weighed down by unnecessary musical numbers that cause this dark comedy/murder mystery to fall flat.

2 Days in Paris: Honesty is the best way to make a relationship work. I generally like Julie Delpy, but honestly, not enough to like this movie.

Charlie Wilson's War: Surprised myself by actually liking this movie. Sure it's got the megawatt stars, but they melted into their roles quite nicely and the dialogue popped. A bit scary to realize just how true it all is. Not the covert war itself, but the way politics gets played.

Wedding Crashers: Cute at points and pretty consistently funny, but a bit too long for the amount of story being told. (This one may have suffered because I heard too many enthusiastic reviews before seeing it and had high hopes for a laugh a minute comedy with a heart.)

The Fountain: Saving the best for last. I'll be upfront and say that this will not be every one's cup of tea and not something to watch when you're looking for some simple escapism. That said, I loved it. Beautiful to watch. Emotionally moving. By the end of the movie, everything that was being communicated gelled together for me and I burst into tears. They weren't sad tears or joyful tears, but something else entirely. Tears of truth sounds a bit pompous, but it's the closest I can come to explaining the feeling. A very odd and very wonderful experience.

Labels: linkage, random review, spirit

* posted by me at 12:05 PM

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2008-05-06 
 

channeling jasmin

For the past two mornings we've been washing the front of a friend's house. (She's got company coming in and wants everything to sparkle.) Today we had this super long brush that we'd dip into a cleaning solution of lightly bleached water. As we scrubbed away and the chlorinated smell began seeping into my skin, music from Bagdad Café started running through my head. You know, the bit where Jasmin (Marianne Sägebrecht) is sitting on top of the hotel cleaning the signs?



Okay, not exactly the image I was thinking of this morning, but it's as close as a quick google got me and gives the general idea.

Made me happy all day long and inspired this post. To top it off, I just found out from Wikipedia that the original German version has an extra twenty minutes. Naturally, I am now off on a quest to find myself a copy. I really do love that movie!

Labels: dose of mikey, linkage, random review

* posted by me at 10:20 PM

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2008-05-04 
 

the dirty gay play

A good friend of mine is directing a play in New York called F*ck Me, B*eat Me, L*ve Me, but given the difficulty of pronouncing an asterisk in normal conversation, he also refers to it as the dirty gay play. G and I had a chance to see it this weekend and enjoyed ourselves. Great acting and interesting structure. (and, of course, superb direction!)

While I'd love to recommend it to everyone, the play isn't for the faint of heart. It's about a couple searching for something deeper in their relationship and focuses heavily on the sexual side of things with full on nudity and simulated sex. I'm happy to report that the actors are both very nice to look at AND very good at actually acting, an often hard combo to come by. As for the sex, other than one particular scene which I ultimately decided was sweet, it ends up being either comic or slightly sad versus sensationalistic. That said, there's a S/M slant throughout the play that could prove challenging, even to those who have no issues with the gay part. (If it weren't for certain friends who've been wiling to share that side of their lives with me openly and honestly, I would have had a much harder time understanding the L*ve Me side of the play. As it was, it was only in a conversation with B after the play that I realized I'd allowed two bits of the text to color my interpretation of the action throughout and ended up experiencing a much less hopeful ending than was intended.) If one of my tens of readers can make it, please do so and let me know. I'd love to chat with you about it after the fact and hear your reactions to it. Hopeful or not, the acting and text make it a worthwhile way to spend the evening.

In other news, I want to say hooray for meeting up in NYC! We got to see, not only a group of my college friends who all went to dinner and then the play, but also V, P and little D. D has grown up so much in the short time we've been gone and it was very nice to see her turning into her own person. (I think that ages 2 through 5 are some of my favorite ages to watch. So much potential and so many possibilities!)

Labels: local getaway, random review, shout out

* posted by me at 3:06 PM

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2008-02-11 
 

teen pregnancy and potato soup

B treated us to the movies yesterday which gave us a chance to finally see Juno. A good movie, but I wish I'd been able to avoid the hype a bit before hand. As always, the overuse of the words "groundbreaking" and "genre shifting" had me expecting something more than it was. Don't get me wrong. It was quite lovely, well acted and indeed quite different than your average teen movie. Sadly, it probably was groundbreaking for the Hollywood machine to have let this one through. It didn't inspire me though. Then again, I'm not a teenager anymore. It may've been different for me 20 years ago...or if I were hetero. (Not that there's anything wrong with that.)

After the movie, B had us over for homemade potato soup and other good snacks. Her friend R joined us for both the movie and the afters, and we ended up dissecting the evening news together. (This was made entirely more interesting by the fact that B and R both work on the inside and had some insight as to what was going on behind the scenes. I love peeking behind the curtain.)

Labels: dose of mikey, linkage, random review

* posted by me at 11:42 AM

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2007-12-13 
 

language problem

Watched The 40 Year Old Virgin last week. For the most part it lived up to the hype and managed to be raunchy with a side order of sweet. The closing sequence had me laughing all the way through and caused an ohrwurm of epic proportions over the past few days. (Let the sun shine indeed!)

One thing did bug me. As I may've mentioned, we're living with the parentals right now, and they watched it with us. As much as my 30-something self realizes that she's a mature woman and very capable of handling herself, I really wanted to smack the screen at certain moments and tell the actors to stop swearing in front of my Mom. Language people!

Labels: dose of mikey, linkage, random review

* posted by me at 12:07 PM

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2007-12-10 
 

cold art

Took advantage of free admission at the ICA yesterday to check it out. The new building is impressive, but a bit too imposing for my tastes. (Mind you, it was cold and dreary yesterday which will bring everything down a notch or two. There's also the fact that the neighborhood around the building consists of beaten up parking lots and construction which don't do much for the overall ambience.)

The collection itself is a bit smaller than I'd thought it would be given the size of the building, but interesting enough. I am glad I had a chance to see the original cramped space the ICA occupied back in the day. Because of that, I have a greater appreciation of how just how much more they can display in the new space. (No way they could've had any of the installations back in the old building.)

We attempted to walk the path around the edge of the harbor, but the wind and cold pushed us back before we'd made it too far. Should be quite a nice walk in a different season.

Labels: boston, dose of mikey, linkage, random review

* posted by me at 11:13 AM

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2007-09-30 
 

rather long meme

Saw this meme over on Yaniblog and it's a bit fresher than most, at least to me. Please feel free to ignore as it's rather mundane. I'm thinking this mini capture of myself will be interesting to myself in a few years as it showcases my current mental state. Yes, I'm navel gazing.

Does someone love you?
I'm happy to report that several people do.

Do you know anyone named Dave?
I actually know many people named Dave.

Ever kissed anyone with the name starting with a J?
Yes, both men and women actually.

Has anyone ever mistaken you for a family member?
This used to happen quite a bit on the phone. When I was little they'd think I was my mom which was always a bit mortifying. Now it's either my dad or brother.

What colour are the walls of your parent's bedroom?
What an odd test of memory. I believe they are beige.

Do you think that hair extensions look skanky?
Really depends on who's wearing them. If you can't tell that they're extensions, then obviously it's fine, but it takes a certain chutzpah to pull off the obvious ones.

Are you named after a grandparent?
Nope, but I think my middle name comes from an uncle.

Say you were given a drug test right now. Would you pass or fail?
What kind of test? I'd pass blood or urine tests, but some of the longer hairs on my head might betray me. Not going to go all Britney though.

Are you taller than 5'6"?
Yes. I have nothing against shorter folk, but I'm very glad I'm not one of them. I'd really handle it badly. I'd either bulk up to ridiculous proportions or chunk out way more than I have today.

Do you know anyone in jail/prison?
Not currently.

Ever see a dead body?
At wakes and increasingly on the news.

Do you like the colour green?
One of my faves.

What is your best friend's Dad's name?
This is a tricky one, but I'll go with G's dad. It's Lonnie, but everybody calls him Dale.

How old are you?
37, otherwise known as three years from forty.

Who was the last person to send you a text message?
The stupid Cingular advertising service that I'm too lazy to unsubscribe from. As for a real person, it was G.

Ever drove into the ghetto to buy drugs?
I've always been fortunate enough to have some version of a fakery to buy drugs from. Not that I've visited Agrestic any time in the near past. (Hear that potential employers? I'm clean...well, unless you count scotch or coffee, then I'm a dirty bird indeed.)

Last restaurant you went to?
Butterfly...no that was lunch and then Blow Fish Sushi was dinner. Actually, the next day was Slanted Door. All very good, and all paid for by somebody else. (The biggest advantage of moving is that EVERYone wants to take you out to eat.)

What is the weather like today?
Typical SF that I'll miss dearly. Foggy morning breaking up into midday sun. In the high sixties.

Last voice mail you received?
Mr. Burgreen.

What did you do yesterday?
Packed! (and watched The Holiday which was way cuter than I thought it would be.)

What's the first thing you would do with five million dollars?
Put it in the bank. Five million dollars is an awful lot of money to be carrying around. Then, assuming that I've already paid the taxes on that amount, I'd pay off debt, buy a home in SF and one on the Cape. Pay off Mom and Dad's mortgage, help Dude and Dudette get a house and live off of the remaining interest for the rest of my life. (Which, as I figure it, comes to 60K a year at 2% though I'd hope to be able to get a higher rate of return.)

What nationalities are you?
Scotch and German mostly with a little French thrown in for good measure. Oh, and the Scotch comes by way of Canada...eh.

How many hours did you sleep for last night?
Somewhere between 7 and 8

Any upcoming concerts you want to attend?
Not really.

Who's the last person that you felt was stalking you?
I had a rather uncomfortable experience back in 96 with a guy named Randy, but I'm pretty sure in retrospect that it was all in my head.

What jewellery are you wearing?
Hmmm...let me digress to note the British/Canandian spelling of jewellery. Eh?
Seriously though, I'm just wearing my en-gay-ment ring. Meaning the ring G and I exchanged back in 2002 to represent the foreverness of our love together regardless of what society dictates. We may actually get a chance to have more traditional wedding rings now that we're moving back to a state that recognizes it.

If all of your friends were going on a road trip, would you?
G and I are about to go on a pretty big trip. Anyone who wants to convoy along is welcome.

How much money do you have?
On my person at the moment? Nothing. (I'm in my sleepy clothes.)

Do you swear at your parents?
I sure hope not.

Is your phone right beside you?
Nope, it's...actually, I just realized the cordless from the living room is on top of the desk.

Have you cried today?
Not this morning, but being a bit of a weeper, I did tear up towards the end of The Holiday last night. So yes, within the past 24 hours, I've cried.

Do you think that someone is thinking about you right now?
I'm pretty sure G is since I type pretty loud. And in a time twisting sense, whomever is reading this in my potential future is definitely thinking about me as they read it in their current present.

Do you untie your shoes every time you take them off?
Most of the shoes I wear lack laces.

What is the colour of your bedsheets?
I wish I could say that there's flannel monkey sheets on the bed, but right now we just have the beige linen on.

Have you ever crawled through a window?
On several occasions.

Are you photogenic?
My head has a tendency to pumpkinize in photos, so I'm going with no on this one.

What's your star sign?
Cancer. Krebs.

Where do you spend most of your money?
Rent. I have been living in SF after all.

What was the last thing you did?
I made coffee.

Do you have a tattoo?
Yes. Mark helped me design in and got a matching one. Been thinking of getting a monkey on my back in honor of G. (and yes, I appreciate the wordplay in that statement)

Do you still watch cartoons on Saturday mornings?
Nope. But I watch Cartoon Network when flying on Jet Blue.

Is there a secret you've never told any of your friends?
I'm sure there is, but you're not getting it out of me that easily.

Have you ever told someone you loved them but didn't mean it?
Once, when I was very high, back in my crazy youth. It's one of the reasons I won't do hard drugs anymore.

Have you ever changed your clothes while in a vehicle?
Not in recent memory, but I'm sure I have.

What are you doing in 2008?
Hopefully owning our own home.

What is your ring tone?
This is rather complicated as there's several.
Cell: Sing Sing Sing
Home, G's parents: Star Spangled Banner
Home, my parents: Beethoven's 9th
Home, Dude/Dudette: Fur Elise
Home, M and E: Aura Lee
Home, TNTP: Flicker
Home, G and my Cell: Lightening Bug
Home, Hugs: Irish Eyes Are Smiling
(note, not sure why Hugs got that one instead of M and E)

What were you doing at 2am last night?
I believe that's just about when G woke me up on the couch and helped me stumble to the bed.

Are your parents married/divorced/separated?
Married, and for that I'm very thankful.

What are you doing tonight?
Watching some left over premiers on Tivo and eating Ikea meatballs in order to clean out the freezer. (and because they're yummy)

What are you doing tomorrow?
That would be my last day of work.

Who did you last message on Myspace?
That would be nobody since I don't use Myspace.

What's your opinion on sex without emotional commitment?
I have no issues with it as long as both parties are aware that there's no emotional commitment. (this is harder for some folks than they'll admit)

Does it annoy you when someone says they'll call but never do?
Yes, this does annoy me. This explains why I'm so vague when making potential plans with friends since I never want to commit before I'm sure I can follow through. This, in it's own way, is also annoying I suppose.

What did you dress up as for your first Halloween?
Either a woman or a baker. Can't remember which photos come first.

Favourite Disney movie?
I was about to type in Finding Nemo, but I think Ratatouille has edged in to the top spot. (As I type this I realize that Big Business and others I've laughed at could be counted as Disney films under their Touchstone division, but I'm sticking to the traditional idea of a Disney film.)

What is the wallpaper on your cellphone?
A shot of the shoreline up in Ogunquit, ME.

Labels: dose of mikey, linkage, memes, random review

* posted by me at 4:16 PM

(0) comments



2007-09-14 
 

100 things

It seems that no blog is complete without one of these lists laying around somewhere. I'm going to be kind and give it a page of it's own so that you can feel free to ignore it if you wish. Also, please note that the page this links to has been available since March. I just now realized that the entry announcing it never got published. That said it, I reread it today and it's still all true.

RANDOM LIST OF 100 THINGS YOU MAY NOT KNOW ABOUT ME

Labels: blogging, dose of mikey, g, memes, memory lane, random review, rant, reading, san francisco, sharketing, shout out, spirit

* posted by me at 8:18 PM

(0) comments



2007-08-22 
 

post about poster boy

Watched Poster Boy tonight. The acting was better than I'd expected, the storyline darker and the dialogue sharper. All good things, but that said, I mistakenly thought it would be a comedy and it ended up being a drama. A bit like taking a sip of lemonade and suddenly realizing that it's milk.

There were some things that bothered me in general. The camera work went back and forth between artsy/shaky to normal. The editing went from normal to docu choppy and back again...and back again.

There was also the annoyance of a narrative framing device that contradicted itself. (The story is being told by one character and we see everything as a series of flashbacks, yet we also end up seeing quite a few things that this character couldn't have known through first hand experience. I'm doubting that he would've heard it about them from the other characters.)

All that, and it still may have deserved a thumbs up just for my new celebri-crush, but the ending bugged me too much. I can't go into specifics without revealing spoiler material, but it's not because I missed everyone being at their shiny/happiest at the end. It is a drama after all. There was a plot thread that was abruptly dropped without a proper explanation and an error of omission that really bugged me regarding a major character. Basically, for those of you who have seen it, why didn't Anthony attend a certain event at the VERY end of the movie that we as the audience only hear about? I need more back story to believe that would happen no matter where he and a certain female were in their relationship.

Funny how one picky detail at exactly the wrong moment can change your opinion about something.

Labels: random review

* posted by me at 2:18 AM

(0) comments



2007-08-20 
 

stardusted

Saw Stardust tonight. The first part seemed to meander a bit too much, but it picked up speed as it moved along. Glad I haven't read the book yet though. Seems to be some dissapointed folks out there who did read it and disagreed with the decision to go more for the comedy and lessening the gore of the original.

I liked it, and I predict that this will be one of those movies that eventually everyone sees at least a few scenes from because it'll play endlessly on cable.

Labels: random review

* posted by me at 2:11 AM

(0) comments



2007-07-31 
 

d'oh! nuts

Saw the Simpsons Movie. As interesting as it was to see Springfield up on a big screen, I almost wish I'd waited for the DVD. Sure, it was funnier than the average episode, but my yellow friends just seem more at home inside the box in the living room. That said, there's something to be said for seeing a comedy with an audience. Laughter is infectious after all. Sort of like the Spider Pig song that's still rattling around inside my head. (the operatic closing credits version)

Labels: random review

* posted by me at 6:52 PM

(0) comments



2007-07-28 
 

ever after

G and I attended a performance of Into The Woods the other night at CTA Crossroads Theatre in Walnut Creek. It's small venue in the suburbs and, I have to admit, my expectations weren't that high. That said, they really put on a good show. I've absorbed enough theater from various friends that I could go hypercritical on certain things, but I truly enjoyed myself too much to do that.

Grant you, I've always had a soft spot for this particular musical...and not just because I ended up sleeping with one of the princes after the first time I saw it in my early twenties.

Retro apologies to POC, with whom I was supposed to be visiting at the time...and gratitude too him too for not kicking me to the curb for being such a selfish prig. Would it help all 8 of my loyal readers to know that the gentleman playing the prince also played the part of the wolf? I mean, how could I resist? And he made me feel excited- Well, excited and scared. Point is that POC is one of my best friends and I haven't heard from the prince in well over a decade.

Into the Woods also accompanied me on my cross country odyssey and hearing songs from it usually fills my head with images of wide flat plains, Santa Fe, the Colorado Rockies and a certain corner of the Grand Canyon.

But I digress...back to the performance. I was very impressed by some of the actors. The Baker, in particular, sang beautifully and managed to look so sad towards the end that I wanted to jump up and give him a reassuring hug. (Yes, we were that close to the stage. Due a severe back up at the Caldecott Tunnel that added TWO HOURS to the normal 30 minute drive we were ushered in through the backstage area and into the front row. Only missed half of the first number and were rewarded with the ability to see the entire cast up close and personal.)

I also have to give a thumbs up to the witch. While I caught one or two of the other actors mimicking the intonation and/or actions that I know so well from the American Playhouse DVD version, the witch made that part her own. In my mind, no one will ever top Bernadette Peters' iteration, but very interesting to see a different take on it.

To sum up...I'd forgotten how much I love live theater. Between Into the Woods and last weeks' treat viewing of Kiki and Herb, my new goal is to see much more of it. Avenue Q will be in SF over the next few weeks and I'm going to try to coax G to see that one next.

Labels: dose of mikey, g, looking eastward, memory lane, random review, san francisco

* posted by me at 11:28 PM

(5) comments



2007-07-22 
 

unspoiled

No spoilers here, but I did finish the final Harry Potter book today and am currently experiencing a minor reading hangover. (Just means that all the characters are still running around inside my head. Not entirely unpleasant actually, but my brain would like to be resting now.)

Normally when I like a book a lot, I try to read it over a period of several days or even weeks in order to prolong the pleasure of the story living in me, but I chose not to do that with HP7. Too easy for me to inadvertently find out something in the outside world that I'd rather know by reading it myself.

My verdict? I liked it. Can't say much about why without spoiling it, but I'm really eager to discuss as it should give a little rest to the plot twists and ponderables running through my mind. Thank goodness for the internet!

Labels: dose of mikey, random review, reading

* posted by me at 2:11 AM

(0) comments



2007-07-02 
 

another fine tale

I received my first birthday gift this year about a week before my birthday from TNTP: a signed copy of Armistead Maupin's Michael Tolliver Lives. The inscription reads, "Happy Birthday Mikey!" (So very cool.)

Now, I know this will sound typical, but Maupin's Tales of the City books are a big part of why I ended up in San Francisco. I'd always felt a pull towards Northern California, but usually pictured myself at Berkeley. After reading the series, there was no doubt in my mind that I'd end up in San Francisco instead.

I've reread the original books several times each, yet always felt a bit unsatisfied upon finishing them. Mostly this is due to the fact that the final book of the original six, Sure of You, always left me feeling flat, as if there was a chapter or two left untold. Michael Tolliver Lives more than makes up for it, and I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoyed the original run. It takes place almost 15 years after Sure of You, but catches us up on important events that happened in the time between 1987 and today.

While I'm the sort of person who could have easily read this in one sitting, I forced myself to put it down on several occasions because it turned out to be exactly what I needed to be reading after the long interval. I wanted to savor each new piece of the story and live with it for a while before moving forward. Rather hard for me to do, but very worth it in the long run. I can close my eyes and see the characters again, a little more aged but no less loved.

And…that's all you'll get from me. Don't want to spoil anything

I would recommend reading at least one or two of the originals first if you haven't already discovered them. While I loved this addition and am now inspired to run through them all again myself at some point in the near future, I really can't judge how well it stands up on its own. I've lived here in SF too long and imagined interacting with the characters too often to really know if there's enough exposition in this latest edition to yank someone unfamiliar with the rest of the series into the book. (I believe there is, but –as you may've noticed– I'm a bit biased on this point.)

Either way, I say, "Go forth and read!"

I would like to add one quick note to the publishers. The correct spelling is Duboce Park….with a "C" not an "S". A minor distraction, but rather glaring to someone who lives in the Triangle himself.

Labels: dose of mikey, memory lane, random review, san francisco

* posted by me at 9:52 PM

(0) comments



2007-06-30 
 

opening night

The song Be My Guest from Beauty and the Beast has been waltzing through my head most of the day. I can't tell if it's annoying or not.

In other Disney (and Pixar) related news, G convinced me to see Ratatouille tonight, and I'm very glad that he did. Not that I didn't want to see it, but we rarely see a movie on opening night because of the crowds and lines and general anxiety of being too late. Okay, my anxiety about being too late has a tendancy to drain the fun from an evening like a rat sucking on a grape. (see the movie)

Tonight went very smoothly, as if the universe was greasing the wheels for us. Random free parking spot just half a block from the theatre. Immediate seating in a very busy Mel's Drive in that had a line waiting in front just five minutes after we were seated. After dinner, a short 20 minute wait in a line that was only 15 people long when we joined. By the time they filtered us up the escalator, the line was snaking around the building. Easy to grab seats in the double wide legroom section. Very funny movie with an appreciate San Francisco audience. Cuddly company. (that would be G, not the rats, though the main character does display the prerequisite look that will translate very well into a plush toy) Overall, a great night out.

But Be My Guest is still buzzing in the background. I think I'll just kick back and enjoy it.

Other than the obvious, and in this day and age almost necessary, merchandising potential, I have to say, Brad Bird's done it again. Ratatouille gives off a different vibe than The Incredibles, but it's no less interesting.

I give this movie 9 gourmet cheeses out of 10.

Labels: dose of mikey, random review, san francisco

* posted by me at 3:27 AM

(0) comments



2007-06-26 
 

the rest & best of the weekend

So, after it's inauspicious beginning, the weekend improved dramatically. G and I did end up spending some time in the gayborhood enjoying the vibe. Had steak frites at Chow out on the patio, wandered into Harvest for some birthday cupcakes, and then went to the movies. Shrek the Third, while amusing, doesn't quite stand as tall as the first two.

Deciding to make it a full on movie night, we got home and watched Marie Antoinette. Loved it. I remember it getting some mixed reviews, but can't quite imagine what the fuss was about. Was it deep? No. Did it tell me anything I didn't already know? No. Did it really make me want to see Versailles? Yes.

I gave myself today off as a bit of a birthday present. We made mac and cheese for lunch, did a bunch of crosswords and then went over to Baskin Robbins to cash in our free birthday cone coupons. Ended up down at Ocean Beach because it seemed like the right place to eat ice cream. Gorgeous day today. Walked up and down the beach well into the evening just talking and showing each other interesting flotsam and jetsam. We stayed long enough to watch the sunset and then took our chilled selves home to warm back up.

Reminder to those of you out there experiencing that event called "summer"...while there were some brave folk out there jumping in the waves, I had on jeans and a sweatshirt during our walk and never felt too warm.

All in all, turned out to be a pretty wonderful weekend.

Labels: 1000 words, dose of mikey, g, linkage, random review, san francisco

* posted by me at 2:22 AM

(0) comments



2007-06-12 
 

warm cookie

Watched Stranger Than Fiction last night and found it to be wonderful. Some, more cynical than myself, may find it predictable or point out that Will Ferrell doesn't so much act as he does manage to not act like his usual persona. That said, those people need to allow a little ray of hope into their lives once in a while.

It's like a warm cookie for a brain that's been eating too much of the store bought variety.

Labels: random review

* posted by me at 10:10 PM

(0) comments



2007-06-09 
 

nostalgic deja vu

Stumbled upon the website for Future Loop Foundation which is currently featuring the upcoming album Memories From a Fading Room.

While I've never encountered anything quite like this, it seemed almost too familiar to be brand new. Maybe I've just been a bit more nostalgic lately than in the past and this whole concept resonated especially strongly for me...or maybe I just wished I'd thought of the idea first.

Mark Barrot has taken family recordings/interviews from the 70's and paired them up with ambient music. Pairing this with old 8mnm family videos edited to the music makes for a rather brilliant experience. Of course, if ambient music makes you itch, I'd give this one a miss. Otherwise, check it out. the sea and the sky

Labels: linkage, looking eastward, memory lane, moving pictures, random review

* posted by me at 4:47 PM

(0) comments



2007-05-13 
 

lost again in lost

I admit it. I doubted the show after being a bit dissapointed by this seasons openers. The extra long hiatus they took didn't help me rekindle my fire for the show. Then the hiatus finally ended and the episodes ran hot and cold....okay, even the worst were at least lukewarm, but not the great blow-my-mind episodes the first season had served up. The past five or six weeks have more than made up for it. The end of every episode has me once again turning to G and asking WTF? I'm legitimately excited about the last two episodes of the season.

My LOST is back!

Labels: dose of mikey, random review

* posted by me at 10:36 PM

(0) comments



2007-04-23 
 

turn to the left

Finally saw The Devil Wears Prada the other day. I expected I'd like it given that I work in the suburbs of the fashion industry, but it surprised me by being even better than I thought it would be.

The fact that the primary actors did a great job and that Meryl Streep's character wasn't a one dimensional boss from hell probably helped a lot, but I also liked that the movie didn't skewer the fashion world. The scene where Meryl Streep explains in detail how the down market blue polyblend sweater Anne Hathaway was wearing originated in couture was pretty dead on. We're all sucked in whether we like it or not. Well, except for nudists I guess.

Doesn't mean I'm extolling the virtues of the industry, but it's really no sillier in scope than any other.

Labels: random review

* posted by me at 2:54 AM

(0) comments



2007-04-06 
 

screwed

Living so close to wine country and having a fondness for a good red wine, I can't help but get caught up in the latest debate raging through the wine world.

Actually, it's not a new debate. I first learned of it several years ago on our trip to Costanoa, and it may be even older than that. We had a Bonny Doon wine there that had a screw cap and a little advertising piece that explained why screw caps were, in fact, superior to the cork. It explained that most wineries won't switch because of the stigma screw caps seem stuck with: that of only being used on cheap inferior wines.

Since then I've encountered more and more brands that employ a screw cap. Some of them excellent wines. In fact, most have been as good or better than the corked wines within the same price range.

That said, there's something in the experience of decorking a bottle that I miss when opening up one of the screw tops. I'm sitting here with a perfectly fine Syrah on the desk waiting for me to take another sip, but the screw cap opening of the bottle lacked something that leaves me feeling just a touch deflated. I suspect I'm missing the mini ceremony of getting out the corkscrew, placing it carefully over the head of the bottle, making sure the twists are true, and then the satisfying POP as the bottle releases the cork. A mini winegasm if you will.

Seeing that cork is less environmentally friendly, I'm not going to advocate we keep it forever. Change can be hard, but is often for the best. Still, I'm glad that this change seems to be moving along slowly, and that I can anticipate many mini ceremonies in the future.

Labels: dose of mikey, random review, san francisco

* posted by me at 1:24 AM

(0) comments



2007-03-25 
 

day late

Yesterday was Shutdown Day. A social experiment in which people were encouraged to not use their computers for a day.

Ironically, I read about it today for the first during a random surf. G and I were very much not shut down yesterday as we spent most of the afternoon playing Dwarf Complete. An addictive Zelda-ish adventure game.

Oh well, maybe next year...or maybe next week. People say it's good to go outside during the weekend and it just might be true.

Labels: dose of mikey, g, random review

* posted by me at 5:53 PM

(0) comments



2007-03-24 
 

herald mage

I recently reread Mercedes Lackey's Herald Mage trilogy and was a bit surprised how much I enjoyed myself. Not because I hadn't liked the books the first time around. I remembered myself quite enjoying the experience. At the same time, I recall wishing that the tale had either ended a bit differently or allowed the characters happiness earlier on. I had also been disappointed in the way the author treated sex. As if the camera shifted focus from couple to crackling fire...and faded out. (At the time, I had just come out and wasn't quite as experienced as I wanted to be. The vagueness frustrated me.)

This time, because I'm older and less tied to certain romantic ideas, I fell more easily into the ending and the long path they took to get there. As for the sex, I've certainly had enough experience since then. The allusions made were adequate enough for me to draw my own conclusions about what was going on just off page.

Labels: dose of mikey, random review, reading

* posted by me at 9:33 PM

(0) comments



2007-02-12 
 

connect the dots

Had a pleasant weekend, but won't bore you with the details of us finally having Michael and J over for a mini BSG marathon on Friday to finally start watching the third season. Then we saw J again the next night for dinner and Running With Scissors. No, I won't bore you by mentioning all that, but I will bore you with some random reviews.

Running With Scissors surprised me because I ended up liking it. I had been prepared to love it when it first came out, but allowed myself to be swayed by the mixed reviews it got. Still interested, but went into watching it prepared to be a bit dissapointed.

Now, it definitely isn't for everyone. It's a bit drama/dark comedy, and it's a bit choppy (but intentionally so.) Some reviewers thought the movie relied too heavily on popular music of the late 70's, but I really enjoyed how the songs helped tell the story. The use of no sound during pivotal scenes really helped counterbalance those other scenes that relied heavily on the music to help move the story along. I thought it was pretty brilliant.

The acting was pretty great all around with another performance by Annette Bening that reminds me why I love her as an actress. If you like dark comedy and can handle a narrative that asks you to connect some dots here and there, then give it a looksie.

Oh, and just to keep it in perspective, I haven't read the book yet so my review isn't colored by that. Normally I have a harder time accepting a movie if the books already permeated into my subconscious.

As for Battlestar Galactica? Still one of the best television programs on air today.

Labels: dose of mikey, random review

* posted by me at 2:05 AM

(0) comments



2006-11-22 
 

sci fi now and then

THEN: Having recently rewatched the original widescreen cut of The Empire Strikes Back on my shiny, new special edition DVD, I must say, it stands the test of time and is still thoroughly enjoyable. Sure, I can quote blocks of stilted script along with the movie as it plays, but that just adds to my viewing pleasure. I have yet to watch the dvd containing the johnny come lately "revised" version to do an official compare and contrast, but I think it may have to wait. The joy of seeing the original is still too much with me.

NOW: Battlestar Galactica? Best frakkin' show on television today. I've only just finished watching season 2.0, but Tivo's been saving up the 3rd season for us and I'm itching to get to it. There's no stilted dialogue, but fully realized characterization, exiting twists and pretty great acting make this my favorite action show right now. Genre busting.

In other news: Still managing to avoid a trip to The Doldrums. Weekend was lovely, seeing Bun was fun...though I feel like I left a lot unsaid that I wanted to let her in on. There's also a rather nice four day break in front of us. Sure, there'll be some traditional thanksgiving disfunction to enjoy, but I'm actually looking forward to it all.

Hope I'm not cursing myself...am I cursing myself? IF so, I wish to have the curse reversed.

Labels: dose of mikey, random review

* posted by me at 2:14 AM

(1) comments



2006-11-02 
 

twitches

The title for the day references the odd movements my legs have been making this eve, not the Disney Halloween Movie that aired the other night starring Tia and Tamera.

You see Father, it's been four days since my last cigarette. STUPID carcinogenic sticks, WHY do you enthrall me so?!

The other day, as we watched a TiVoed episode of Ghost Whisperer...No, I'm not a 15 year old female, why would you ask that? Shut up. It is true that Melinda's husband is required to be shirtless at least once an episode and that he's quite easy on the eyes. Even with this season's new haircut- the one that's trying a bit too hard- he's still worth two drinks.

I'm also a sucker for any supernatural fare that keeps the gore level low. Hence my ready knowledge of Twitches...hmmm...maybe there is an inner 15 year old girl struggling to be heard.

Seriously though, I shouldn't perpetuate that particular stereotype. It would be easy enough to digress at this point into a gender studies discussion about the arbitrary entertainment boundaries set by society. (and those marketers seeking to pigeonhole us all into certain demographics)

Yes, it's true, I have met the enemy and he is me...well not really, isn't the goal for most of us to have more consumers instead of less? That would explain why for every shirtless Jim shot, there's a shot of Melinda in a revealing nighty or lingerie-inspired dress, right? Maybe marketing folk just want us all to get along and like the same things. You know, be equal, homogeneous, safe, boring...oh dear, no matter how you slice it, it's still B-O-L-A-G-N-A.

Where was I? BOUNDRIES. Boundaries that determine that certain programs can be considered quite proper entertainment for one subset of the population, yet decidedly eccentric for another. Sadly, the need to even type these paragraphs in proves that those boundaries are still much too firmly in place, and it'll be many a day before The Hulk and My Pretty Pony share screen time. (Robot Chicken aside.)

Forthwith, I declare that no demographic divider, be it gender, age or other, should force anyone into a certain block of entertainment...but I drift further away from the point of this entry and having already, rather desperately, used up my daily allotment of "forthwith", I'd best get on with it.

DAMN! I want a cigarette.

POINT BEING. Four days. No cigarettes. A few nights back, first night with no smoke, a character on Ghost Whisperer went outside with a cigarette at a traumatic moment and just went through the motions of smoking without lighting it. I thought to myself...hmmm, I kinda get that.

That was then. Tonight I fully understand the urge to go through the motions, but fear the relative ease of lighting the sucker should I try to play a game of chicken with him. After all, my pride's at a low ebb and I'd be more likely to swerve first.

I can't even slurp on a beer or sip slowly on a glass of wine to chill me out. Drinks and the satisfying smoke are as magnets ever pulling towards each other. Neither feeling quite complete without the other there to hold its hand.

So, I'm off to chomp on pretzel sticks and day old Halloween Candy (another magnetic duo.) BUT before I go, let me state quite firmly that the first non-smoking person to encourage me on my quest will be summarily dismissed...and I then promise to light one up in that persons' honor. And if I should succumb and smoke again, I dare you nonsmoking lot to say something. I'll blow rings right into your face.

It may sound unkind, but only the truly initiated can understand what I'm missing. The rest of you, zip it.

Labels: dose of mikey, medical mystery, random review, sharketing

* posted by me at 12:19 AM

(2) comments



2006-06-01 
 

alternate outlets

Spent most of this week doing some minor copy writing at work and some pretty major document creation/manipulation. Came home tonight to leave a rather long response to names' latest entry, so I'm just about typed out.

I will say that I've seen both The Davinci Code and the latest X-Men movie this week and feel that neither deserve the negative reviews they've received from some quarters.

That being said, Davinci Code is too faithful to the book, and ends up a bit meh (that is, less than suspensful) to someone who read it first. (and Tom Hanks, though I like him as an actor, really wasn't who I wanted in that role.) Not my fave, but not the heinous atrocity others have claimed it to be.

X-Men: The Last Stand did lack a few vital scenes that would have solved some of my minor gripes with the film, but it's a slam bang action film with characters I've grown to love and I liked it much more than I thought I would. Especially after hearing the initial reviews. I'm also quite hopeful, given the context of some scenes that did make it into the final film, that those missing scenes I've imagined will appear on the eventual DVD release.

Labels: dose of mikey, random review, sharketing

* posted by me at 11:03 PM

(0) comments



2006-05-02 
 

missing baltic avenue

Trabby pointed me over to this Monopoly site where you can vote on updated properties. This probably sounds silly, given that it's a game that revels in capitalistic ideals, but I'm sad to see Monopoly revamping itself. I never had a problem with the local editions of the game that would pop up now and again because they seemed like fun additions and the original stayed true. These new landmarks are going to replace the originals. I'm hoping for a New Coke size snafu, but doubt it. Gen Y seems to enjoy buying into the buzz even more than their baby boomer parents did. /disgruntled gen Xer rant

On the bright side, I can drive youngsters crazy in about 15 years by saying things like, "Whither Baltic Avenue?" and "There ain't no place like St. James Place!"

Except they'll probably both be answers in the 3D anniversary version of Trivial Pursuit that'll launch in 2021 and becomes as outrageously popular as the original.

Okay, I do realize that there's more pressing issues facing us today, but I've got board games on the brain this evening. If you're in the mood to truly take action on something, go here and help keep the internet neutral.

Labels: dose of mikey, random review, rant

* posted by me at 2:33 AM

(2) comments



2006-04-23 
 

v for very good

Saw V For Vendetta last night on IMAX. Liked it a lot.

People should not be afraid of their governments. Governments should be afraid of their people.

'Nuff said.

In other news, went shopping downtown with G and Michael today. A brief review:

H&M is a dangerous and very popular store.
Cupcakes are still trendy. (and always delicious!)
Cupcakes being eaten by gym buffed bodies give me the giggles.
European tourists are beginning to look rather East Coast preppie. Especially the men.
Union Square is not as unpleasant on a Sunday afternoon as I remembered.
Cuter men on the KLM lines vs. the N and J. (Not that I haven't seen hotties on the N or J, but in general I find this to be true.)

Yes, eye candy was plentiful today on the streets of San Francisco and we enjoyed every lick.

Labels: dose of mikey, g, random review

* posted by me at 10:40 PM

(0) comments



2006-01-21 
 

brokeback mourning

Read an entry that Names wrote a few days back that got me thinking about my own reaction to Brokeback Mountain.

Overall, I did like it. Cried buckets back at home about an hour after the movie ended. It was the final scene that did me in, but more because after I internalized it there was a possible correlation to my own future that the dramatist in me wallowed in for a while.

I do have to agree with several of Names' comments about what bothered him about the film. The first sex scene was a big disappointment for me. Especially after the media hype about boundaries being broken in what was being shown. I didn't see that at all. We saw more of Anne Hathaway later on than either Jake or Heath during that scene. Would've been nice for the voyeur in me, but I didn't need to see more flesh to believe it was more than raw sex. My question was where was the kissing? It almost started out with some and sure, we saw that later at other points in the film, but was the idea of putting it all together so frightening? Maybe it's me because my idea of good sex goes beyond the wam/bam variety, but I don't think I'm alone there and that first encounter fell quite flat for me.

I also agree that the relationship between the two men seemed, on the surface, to be missing something. I understand that the world they lived in forced them to hide it all and do feel the actors did a good job at "repressed emotions", but I needed a bit more openness/tenderness between the two of them during those "fishing" trips to believe that there was much more than a fXckbuddy relationship happening.

The final scenes did begin to capture a deeper emotion that Ennis had held inside, but I wanted more up front and I wanted much more from Jack's character than the one outburst by the lake. Maybe I interpreted too much of the angst during the rest of the film as being about the characters accepting their orientation instead of accepting their love, but it seems just a scene or two more would've solved that for me and given me a bit more of the love story the media promised.

Bottom line is that the hype left me feeling cheated. Once again, I understand that the time and place dictated how they both reacted and interacted, and maybe I ought instead to be happy that my own relationship, mere decades later, is leagues ahead of where Jack and Ennis could ever be back then. Still, I wish I'd seen the film earlier in its release or that the marketing had been different.

I do anticipate watching it again in the future and enjoying it more because I'll be expecting another sad tale of doomed gay love made for Heteromerica, but the romantic in me longs for a mainstream film that shows our struggles and the reality of our lives yet ends with two men quietly asleep and happy, in each other's arms.

Or is a happy gay love story still too threatening?

Labels: random review

* posted by me at 4:10 PM

(0) comments



2005-12-29 
 

trippy dots

This optical illusion is new to me. (thanks to Bart for pointing it out)

The human mind is a wonderful and strange thing.

Labels: dose of mikey, linkage, random review

* posted by me at 11:18 PM

(1) comments



2005-12-05 
 

warm room

I have a confession. I love hotel rooms.

Especially hotel rooms paid for by someone other than myself. Now, I've stayed in some of the more upscale places in New York, Chicago and other major cities, but my favorite is still the Westin in St. Louis. A former warehouse, it's only 7 floors total, but the rooms are huge, COMFORTABLE, and decorated stylishly.

I'm here for only the second time and only for a night, but it's almost worth the five hour plane ride just to be surrounded by this feeling that all is right in the world. Only thing missing right now is G to snuggle up with on the heavenly bed.

And no, I haven't hit the mini bar yet. It's just a nice hotel.

Labels: dose of mikey, g, random review

* posted by me at 7:47 PM

(0) comments



2005-12-01 
 

an entry in two parts - part one

Recently I've been going through the Tomorrow People DVDs in the Netflix library. (in order, of course)

I remember watching the series on Nickelodeon as a young teenager and how it marked a bit of a turning point for me. I had always loved fantasy, but until that point felt uncomfortable with SciFi because the sometimes frightening ideas and possible negative paths for humanity that the stories depicted followed laws and logic that I knew deep down could allow those ideas and paths to become realities.

It scared the shit out of me.

Then I found the Tomorrow People which showed a world with a bit of hope, where people chose to live a caring life because it felt like the right thing to do and not because there was someone standing above them enforcing codes written by a select few with oft skewed viewpoints. It was around this time when I went from being afraid of SciFi to craving it; precisely because of the challenges it presented. The frightening ideas turned into warnings and encouraged me to think of alternatives.

Alice's six impossible things before breakfast suddenly had quite a few variations that I'd never considered before.

Rewatching the series, I'm forced to admit that the acting wasn't always top notch and that the dialouge sometimes left a bit to be desired. All the same, I'm still completely sucked in as the 14 year old I was relives his wish to "break out". To share in the three T's of Telepathy, Teleportation and Telekenisis, and to rejoice in finding others who shared the dream of making the world a better place.

Labels: dose of mikey, memory lane, random review

* posted by me at 12:42 AM

(1) comments



2005-10-09 
 

flying high

Let me start with a brief review of Serenity. Kick ass! I don't often use that term so it may sound odd coming from me, but this movie rocked. Best SciFi that I've seen in a long time.

In other news, Fleet Week in SF means hearing quite a few jet engines over the past few days. While some folks complain about the noise and comment on the waste of fuel, I have to own loving it all. I spent many a summer swimming in Peter's Pond and playing in the sand. The sound of jets flying low overhead as they prepared to land at nearby Otis Airforce Base became as normalized to me as the sounds of crickets in the woods at night. Those summers are far away, but the sound of a low flying jet jerks me back into a past that was so much simpler. Besides, pilots are HOT.

Labels: dose of mikey, linkage, memory lane, random review

* posted by me at 9:26 PM

(0) comments



2005-09-20 
 

flying high

Have you ever noticed that people will readily own up that they watched a movie that doesn't fit into their normally viewed genres when they can qualify it with the fact that they were on an airplane at the time?

I caught myself doing this today. Yes, I watched New York Minute…but I was on a plane.

Translation: Yes I watched this total teen chick flick that was basically a mediocre mishmosh of several stories we've all heard before...but don’t question my masculinity or sense of good taste. After all, I was on a plane at the time and they forced me into it!

As if the flight attendants came around with Clockwork Orange type devices to keep us all focused on the little screens that descend from the ceiling.

Labels: dose of mikey, linkage, random review

* posted by me at 10:40 PM

(4) comments



2005-07-28 
 

fly by

Had free passes to a screening of Stealth last night. Didn't have any big desire to see the movie, but free tickets! Ended up being pleasantly surprised. Pretty good action flick...considering it was free. Not sure how happy I would've been if I'd payed to see it.

In other news: Wally is coming in this weekend and we're all going out for dinner. Should be interesting since it's been about 10 years since we've last seen each other. Lots of catching up to do!

Labels: dose of mikey, linkage, random review

* posted by me at 11:57 AM

(0) comments



2005-07-21 
 

fantastic


I've always thought Chris Evans was a cute guy, but he's achieved new levels of hotness in F4.

Oh, good movie too, if you like the sci-fi/action adventure/tounge-in-cheek comic book retread sort of thing...which I do. Think X-Men meets The Incredibles meets Chris Evans with his shirt off...okay, maybe I'm giving the movie too much credit because of the latter, but yum!

Labels: random review

* posted by me at 1:49 AM

(0) comments



2005-07-20 
 

cover closed

Finished the book. No spoilers here. Just gotta say, so many questions answered, but so many new questions created.

Best of the lot so far, but a little much for the under 12 set. (Or at least the under 12 set as I imagine them to be. Lord only knows what growing up with 24 hour media has prepped these kids for.)

Labels: random review, reading

* posted by me at 12:56 AM

(0) comments



2005-07-17 
 

from windy city to hot red woods

Spent most of the week in Chicago for work. Came home and left the following morning to go camping down Big Basin.

That's where I've been in a nutshell. If you care about some random particulars, read on.

I guess I could whine about the Chicago trip and how I had to share my unrequested center seat with the arm of the large man to the left of me and the odor of the man to my right....but then, that's a tired tale that too many have told before me. Suffice it to say that United is no substitute for Jet Blue.

Did have some great food in Chicago at Vermilion. Also had great margarittas and mexican food at a restaurant who's name escapes me because I had too many margaritas. We had a nice time, but regretted the next morning when we had to wake up at 5...again. Sometimes I really do miss being 25.

Camping was, as usual, a nice break from the world though a bit hotter than we usually deal with. Upside is that sitting still reading kept the heat bearable, so I had a chance to finish up a few books in order to prepare myself for HP and the HBP. Picked it up today on the way back from camping. I should see you all again after the back cover closes.

Labels: dose of mikey, linkage, local getaway, random review, reading, sharketing

* posted by me at 11:41 PM

(0) comments



2005-07-09 
 

wrapped up

Finally saw the latest Star Wars. It left me feeling pretty satisfied, but only because the circle was truly complete and I'm a sucker for a tidy red bow. I really feel that they could've told the whole story using just two movies instead of dragging it out to three.

My only other comment is directed to the owners of the Century Cinemas down in Daly City. Why invest in the technology to run a movie digitally and then leave up the old screen? There was an obvious hole in the middle that showed up like a pimple every time the scene shifted to lighter hues. It was a bit like listening to a favorite song while the neighbor's television seeps quietly through the walls just on the edge of hearing.

Labels: random review, rant

* posted by me at 2:11 AM

(0) comments



2005-06-21 
 

extremes

Ended up skipping the blockbusters this weekend and saw two indy films instead. Ladies in Lavender is a quiet film, but well worth watching if you like that sort of thing. I do. My only disappointment was that Maggie Smith remained relatively subdued throughout the film. It suited her character and is in no way a discredit to her skill as an actress...I just like movies where Maggie gets feisty. Dame Dench got the meatier of the two roles and played it quite wonderfully. Daniel Brühl gets extra points for holding his own with those two.

Next up was Gregg Araki's Mysterious Skin. Going from Ladies to Skin felt a bit like climbing out of a nice mellow hottub and jumping directly into a pool of ice water.

Skin is one of those movies that I'll put on my great movie list, but will rarely want to watch. It brought up a lot of shit that I haven't thought of for quite some time and left me a bit more shaken than I thought I'd be. I like to pretend that I left that particular childhood trauma behind me in counseling years ago, but the truth is that it'll always be part of me. I wouldn't be the guy I am today if I hadn't survived that particular chapter in my life and in an odd way I'm happy that my path was bumpy at the beginning instead of now. Made me a hell of a lot stronger than I would've been otherwise...but I digress. Point is, I'd give this one a miss if you're not in the mood for a rough ride. However, if you're in the mood for something beautiful and harsh, I highly recommend it.

Labels: random review

* posted by me at 12:56 AM

(0) comments



2005-05-15 
 

fantasmagorical

Spent the day shopping SOHO. Mind you, this was considered a work day. Sometimes my job rocks. You know what else rocks? My boss is NOT a morning person. We didn't have to meet until 10 this morning, which gave me a few extra hours to recover from my fun night with Launce. He and I dined at the Chelsea Grill and then crawled from a bar out of Woody Allen's Sleeper over to the East Village and ended up at The Cock. I decided it would be a good idea to walk back from there to SOHO in order to give myself a chance to sober up a bit, but ended up calling G to mapquest me back to the hotel. I had failed to remember that Broadway and West Broadway are two different streets. Ain't modern tech grand? 15 years ago I would've ended up in Little Italy and been very confused.

Anyway, went to see Chitty Chitty Bang Bang at the Hilton. Fabulous effects and rather good singers made for an enjoyable show. The only problem? The songs are very much stuck in my head right now. I swear the air conditioner in my room is saying, "chitty chitty chitty chitty chitty chitty." Or maybe that's the drink we had at Balthazar after the show.

Labels: dose of mikey, linkage, random review, sharketing

* posted by me at 1:39 AM

(0) comments



2005-02-17 
 

in the moo

Tonight we're having some leftover sirloin steak. While Rainbow Grocery has become our one stop shop for most culinary needs, good meat had been a hard to find item. Then G found Guerra Quality Meats over on Taraval

So good, and highly recommended for anyone able to get themselves over there. fulfills most of our meat-eating needs.

In other carnivorous news: Tomorrow I'll be dining with Bun for the first time in years. While I confess to a slight trepidation because of the new folks I'll be meeting, I'm truly looking forward to partaking of a home grown ham. They raised it on their farm up north, and I'm honored to have been invited to this particular feast.

In honor of the occasion, I'm sharing our psychedelic pig with the world.

Labels: 1000 words, dose of mikey, g, random review, san francisco

* posted by me at 9:28 PM

(0) comments



2005-02-08 
 

keep on dancing

Just stumbled upon Matt's site and need to share. The blog is interesting on it's own, with updates from all around the world, but I highly recommend checking out his dancing movie after reading a few of the entries. It blew me away.

Labels: blogging, linkage, random review

* posted by me at 11:04 PM

(0) comments



2005-02-07 
 

not to put too fine a point on it

There's something about Birdhouse In Your Soul by They Might be Giants that always puts a smile on my face. (Clicking on the song title should stream the song to your computer. Dialup folks: it's 2MBs, but you can always click the back page button if your connection can't keep up with the stream.)

Listening to it on the walk home tonight, I found myself dalking up Castro street.

Dalking: A combination of dancing and walking that, while fun, results in a rather dorkish appearance. Also see: Wancing

Birdhouse often causes me to dalk. Maybe it's the beat, the lyrics, the memories it inspires, or a combination of them all; but I start humming and my feet start tapping. It might look funny, but it's a mighty nice way to end my commute. Speaking of commute...

Overheard on Muni today:
Today we've secretly replaced his blood with mountain-grown Folgers Crystals, lets see if he notices the difference!

Labels: dose of mikey, linkage, random review, seen and heard

* posted by me at 10:59 PM

(1) comments



2005-01-15 
 

new friend

I'm in New Jersey visiting an old friend.

Old friend's are the best kind. No standing on ceremony, able to speak truth without silly societal rules about buffering it in layer upon layer of carefully crafted verbiage in order to obscure intent. Making new memories while revisiting cherished ones. But I digress...

My new friend is an airline: Jet Blue. Good prices, friendly service and a sense of humor. Slogan on DirectTV screen at my seat: Without you, we'd just be flying a bunch of TVs around.

G, as is often the case with things of this nature, has been trying to get us onto JBlue since they started having service to Oakland, but I kept a death grip on United because of my fear of losing miles.

It's good to let go. G, thanks for putting up with me. We are SO going to the Bahamas this year.

Labels: dose of mikey, g, looking eastward, random review

* posted by me at 11:25 AM

(0) comments



2005-01-03 
 

memories of a day mare

I took my lunch break at my desk today in order to read through recaps of some of my fave shows on Television Without Pity.

I've avoided TWP for quite some time now because I knew that it would become like heroin to me, yet another maze to lose myself in on the internet. See, what I love about the internet is the words. Pictures, moving images, and sound all add to the experience, but I'm almost happier with a text-centric page since I've always had the ability to bring text to life inside my head. It's not as intense when reading non-fiction, but exists in a watered down form. The more descriptive the passage, the better the trip.

I don't read fiction as often as I'd like because this ability to shut out everything but the vision of what I'm reading can sometimes distract from important happenings in the physical world around me. This made itself clear again today when a link from a page on TWP describing an episode of LOST took me for a ride into memory town.

The author made a reference to a series of books I'd been quite obsessed with as a teenager. He also kindly linked to a web page recapping each chapter. Only a few lines to describe each chapter, but the characters and places depicted jumped back to life for me as if I'd only left them yesterday. Entire story lines were pulled from somewhere in my subconscious and began playing again.

Sitting at your desk and having a vision of a story you once knew is not the best thing to be doing at work. My parents used to tell me that they could've cracked an egg over my head while I was reading and I would only have noticed should the yolk come between myself and the pages.

The VP who stopped by didn't have an egg and it took him tapping me on the shoulder to break me out of it.

Now a tap on the shoulder may not seem a worthy alert based on my earlier mention of a cracked egg on the head so I need to confess to the following: It wasn't the tap that actually alerted me, but the fact that someone had "invaded" my cube. Funny how easy it is to feel territorial about a small square of space that the company truly owns.

Fortunately it was just after lunch, and the VP's a nice guy, but I don't think he would've been quite as amused if it had been a bit earlier or later in the day.

All that being said, I wouldn't trade my ability to fade into the written word for anything in the world. In fact, I plan to indulge in it a bit more often -at appropriate times of course- in hopes of avoiding a future workplace incident.

Labels: dose of mikey, linkage, memory lane, random review, reading, sharketing, writing

* posted by me at 11:03 PM

(0) comments



2004-12-28 
 

jerry lewis moment

So I found the BEST Philly Cheesesteak in San Francsico over in North Beach this afternoon. Being adventurous - and a bit skeptical that the sub would taste anything like a true cheesesteak - I ordered it with hots. They were good, but the sub was SO true to what a cheesesteak should taste like, that I pulled 'em all out to better savor the truly authentic taste I found. (If you've ever enjoyed a real Philly Cheesesteak, you'll appreciate my quest for a good facsimile. Seems they get less authentic the further you are from Philadelphia. In a way the same is true for burritos and Mexico...but I digress.)

Here's the Jerry Lewis part. During lunch my glasses started driving me crazy, and I decided to put my contacts in.

Ouch. Don't put in contacts after pulling jalapenos out of a sub. Double ouch. I spent the better part of an hour looking as if I'd been tear gassed. Thankfully it's a very quiet week at work and there weren't many people around to see me looking like a 60's radical who didn't get out of the president's office in time, but did I mention ouch?

Labels: dose of mikey, random review, sharketing

* posted by me at 9:05 PM

(0) comments



2004-12-27 
 

quest for mp3

Spent much of yesterday looking for mp3s. I'm not too keen on the peer to peer sites since they mostly seem like a good way to open the computer up to attack. (Not to mention the whole copyright issue.) I'm still a bit on the fence about that one. In some ways I feel that it's silly to have to pay for something I've bought in many versions before, but then I've always believed in TANSTAAFL too.

Truth is that I would be happy to pay for the songs, but the little Lie-Pod G got me is a bit finicky. (not as stylish as the actual IPOD, but much more mini and thus even cuter in his own way) LPod and I had some pretty significant disagreements yesterday in our search for songs, but I've already grown quite fond of the little guy and refuse to trade him in just because he won't play nicely in the sandbox with Microsoft. (Truth be told, it's Microsoft who isn't playing nicely in the sandbox with L-Pod, but it amounts to the same thing.) Most WMA files that one can purchase are useless to me because they've been "protected" and are only playable with MS compatible devices.

Thankfully, I've found emusic which offers files from all the artists who want people to hear their music. Their collection is eclectic, but vast and features quite a few tunes that feel good in my ears.

Labels: random review

* posted by me at 7:19 PM

(0) comments



2004-11-28 
 

sim-sational

Yesterday, on the way home from seeing The Incredibles, we stopped into a Best Buy where I found a deal that got me Sim City 3000 Unlimited for four bucks. How could I say no?

I'll be up for air sometime next week.

Oh, and The Incredibles very much live up to their name. I'm already looking forward to the eventual DVD release which is bound to have loads of fun extras. Go Pixar!

Labels: linkage, random review

* posted by me at 8:50 PM

(0) comments



2004-11-20 
 

25 words or less

National Treasure = (Davinci Code + Indiana Jones) x American Historical Association. A great movie, if you like that sort of thing. (and we do, so two thumbs up!)

P.S. Justin Bartha is HOT! (OK, 40 words or less.)

Labels: linkage, random review

* posted by me at 5:33 PM

(0) comments



2004-11-14 
 

internet junky

NOTICE: If you have no interests in things magical, lit theory or fanfic theory, I'd skip this blog entry. Everyone else...forge on!

I've always been a bit of a Potterhead, but had never done any extensive internet searches before a few months ago.

Oh, what wonders awaited me when I first started looking! The official JK Rowling site boasts hidden easter eggs throughout alongside interesting tidbits from JK herself.

Mugglenet is always good for some updated news on everything Potter and boasts a North Tower column that revived the lit theory student inside me. I need to pass thanks to the NT column for pointing me towards Red Hen. The slow load time for each page is well worth the wait. Make your way down to the "My Work" tab and check out the articles on the Potterverse...or any of the other pieces she lists. Fascinating! (and the reason I spent most of yesterday glued to the computer screen)

If you're up for whiling away a few hours, click on through.

Labels: linkage, random review

* posted by me at 6:12 PM

(0) comments