There is not enough alcohol in the world

A friend of mine wants to go see He’s Just Not That into You. He really really wants to see that movie. He has asked more than once, and begging was involved. I said no every time though, because I suspect, in a 2009 that has brought viewings of The Unborn, My Bloody Valentine 3D, and The Uninvited, that He’s Just Not That into You could very well be the worst of the bunch. I have to be honest that his intense, totally unironic desire to see this movie makes me think poorly of his tastes in films (this is, after all, the same guy who got me to see Hot Rod). As if I needed further reason not to see He’s Just Not That into You, I found a hilarious post over at Que Sera Sera about seeing it. I appreciate that Sarah was able to make a drinking game out of the movie, but I think I’d probably put myself in an alcoholic coma if I tried this.

So apt

I don’t really talk too much about what what went on in my love life last year, but sometimes I allude to my single state and how I got there. I’m not intentionally trying to be cryptic, it’s just not much of a story: boy loves girl, girl loves boy, boy is no longer sure if he loves girl, girl doesn’t stick around to see which way will be up when the dust settles. Even though I’m okay now with being on my own, and even feel sane enough to date again, sometimes I will hear a song that speaks so much to what I was feeling when my world fell apart.

This time, I was listening to Toad the Wet Sprocket’s 1994 release Dulcinea. I love Toad, but I’m also listening to the cds of theirs that I don’t frequently play, in anticipation of seeing them in concert later this month (squee!!). So this song is, appropriately, entitled “Stupid,” and here is the chorus:

And it’s frightening
Oh, I didn’t expect that from you
It’s blinding
Serious are you seriously
I am feeling really stupid now

I would listen to Glenn Phillips read the freaking phone book if they’d sell tickets to such an event, but these words and the emotion in his voice pretty much summed up my July.

What he said

I went to see Push last night, and it was just as terrible as the previews made it seem. You may wonder why, going in to this film suspecting that it stunk to high heaven, I would even bother. The short answer is friendship, and the long answer is, “Because I absolutely refused to see He’s Just Not That into You or Paul Blart: Mall Cop.” My friend R has truly horrific tastes in movies, and Push is where I drew the line. Please remind me next time to draw it a little lower.

Here’s what one review of this film said:
“I thought Hayden Christensen in last year’s Jumper would be as bland a mutant as the screen would ever give us, but that was before I saw Chris Evans in Push.”

That probably wasn’t the point

So I was reading Doug Glanville’s latest column for the New York Times today. He was discussing the revelation that Alex Rodriguez, baseball god, Madonna-lover, and all around hot stuff had admitted that recent allegations that he’d taken steroids were true. And holy crap, the best player in baseball admitted that he’d taken performance-enhancing drugs. True, he wasn’t the one who broke the story; ESPN did. But Rodriguez confirmed quite quickly, which seems admirable when compared with the Clemenses and McGwires of the world. So I thought that Glanville’s article was interesting and well-written, and it’s a shame that the thing that really caught my attention was this: there is such a thing as a curveball machine.

Amazing! I’d love to have one. What will they think of next?

There goes that

I deleted the Windows 7 partition on my Macbook because I found it annoying and almost never actually used it. Plus, it slowed my boot time to an unmanageable minute, from a previous low of about 12-15 seconds. Unacceptable. I thought that it would be kind of a tedious process, but the whole thing took about 10 seconds in Boot Camp. I continue to be astounded by this operating system. I still have Windows 7 on my Gateway, and plan to play around with it some more this weekend, as I have been quite remiss. Even the new, shiny beta operating system doesn’t really make me want to use the older computer that much…

And now that I found boxee, and can watch my Netflix instant access content on the Macbook, the other computer is even less useful to me.

Please hug a soldier

According to this article, the United States Army suspects that, when all the numbers are in, the total number of American soldiers who died in January in combat in Iraq and Afghanistan will be less than those who died by suicide. If you know a soldier, please reach out to that person and say that you recognize and appreciate his or her service. If you know a veteran, please thank that person for service rendered to this country. I think that everybody, regardless of whether one agrees with the reason that our troops are in these nations, understands that soldiers do a dangerous job and deserve recognition, thanks, and support.

Whatever, Mo

I wish that Maureen Dowd was a dude, so that I could kick her in the junk. She’s always saying stupid things, and nothing makes her happy. First she tried throughout the campaign to imply that President Obama was weak and unmanly, and now that he has the most important job on the planet, she’s calling him elitist and arrogant. If he keeps his promises to Democrats, she says that he’s ignoring Republicans. If he reaches out to Republicans, she accuses him of ignoring those who put him in power. What does she want from him? Does she understand that life does not exist only at the ends of a spectrum?

I find Maureen Dowd obnoxious, and I do not for one minute believe that that is her actual hair color.

Oh boo!

I’m really sad that this New York Times reviewer isn’t more charmed by NBC’s Life, and I find it interesting that she considers Sarah Shahi’s Reese to be more a product of sexism than a flawed character who happens to be female. I’ve never read Reese that way, and think that she gets to be tough and smart a lot of times. She’s obviously not the focus of the show in the way that Charlie is, but I don’t think that anybody who pays attention could mistake her for Charlie’s cheerleader (that would be Ted). I hope that Ms. Bellafante enjoys this week’s episode better than she did the earlier part of this season, which I found to be mostly awesome.

Oh, and mazel tov to Sarah Shahi and her fiance, Steve Howey, on the upcoming birth of their first child. That is going to be one crazy good-looking kid.

Holy crap

Whoever did Penelope’s eye makeup on Gossip Girl needs to become my best friend, stat. That girl looks amazing tonight! If I find a decent screen cap, I’ll append this post with the picture.

Found two pictures, thanks to the dedicated and slightly terrifying people over at Gossip Girl Gallery. I’m using larger images than I usually do in order to convey the cosmetic awesomeness.

It was the best of times

Today I realized that Chuck was back after the longest month and a half on record. There was much excitement in my world, and possibly even some jumping and clapping. But then I realized that it kind of sucked, because Chuck was 3D. What’s with all the 3D stuff lately? I mean, I understand the appeal of My Bloody Valentine 3D, because even I thought that watching a naked 3D woman run away from certain death was pretty entertaining.

Watching this episode gave me a bit of a headache, but that’s not to say that I won’t save the program and watch it again once I borrow my friend’s 3D glasses that he stole from a showing of Bolt. Although there were some gags that were fun to watch, on the whole, I think the 3D thing was a cheap and unnecessary stunt.