Did I talk about Christmas? I really didn’t. I don’t really need to. Christmas this year was everything it’s supposed to be, and nothing it’s not. Which is, you must agree, pretty dang good.
New Year’s Eve was fun. We went to the Austins’, and watched old movies, and snacked and drank. And got a promise of a visit from the Gordons, which made everyone present smile and, to a real extent, cheer. Actually cheer. I will not speak of further developments on that topic.
Since then, we’ve had a snow day. Well, not quite. I mean, I didn’t get to miss any work for free, because the Friday was my Regular Day Off, and the Monday was a federal holiday. So, shucks. But we were trapped in the house for a four-day weekend, so that’s the sort of thing that leads to blog posts.
Well, yes, of course you’re wondering why it didn’t lead to a blog post during my prolonged confinement, but the answer to that is simple: I had an XBox available. Played a lot of WoW, and a lot of Madden ’07, and watched a lot of movies.
Let me review, in brief (and in chronological order, if I remember correctly):
Reality Bites is very good. I would have loved it ten years ago. Also: people smoked a lot ten years ago.
Down Periscope is very good. I can’t believe I’ve only watched it twice. Stupid, yes. Funny, yes.
The Longest Yard (2005) is pretty good. As Kris says, too serious a subject matter to make a comedy out of it. But they did their best.
Dave Barry’s Complete Guide to Guys is okay. It’s not great. I like Dave Barry as a writer, but his deadpan works better on paper than film.
Domino is okay. It wasn’t awful to watch, but I’ll never watch it again.
Boondock Saints is fantastic. I recommend it to everyone who likes movies. Gory action flick. Awesome.
Idiocracy is not very good. It’s got it’s moments, but…meh. I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone.
Wedding Crashers is raunchy but hilarious. Take that analysis seriously. I enjoyed it for a second time.
Accepted is pretty good. It’s not as raunchy as I expected, and it’s actually a pretty good story. It’s an old plot (Revenge of the Nerds, Animal House, PCU and probably countless others), but they did a good job with it.
I know I watched at least one more (and possibly as many as four), but I can’t remember it at the moment. If I do, I’ll post a review.
That was the weekend. Then they made me go in to work on Tuesday, in spite of it being the release date for World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade — the much anticipated WoW expansion. My darling wife went and waited in line at Best Buy for me, though, so I was able to install the game over lunch, and play it last night. Awesome. So awesome. The best thing about it, is that everyone is so excited about it. Everyone you encounter in-game, and everyone you know who plays it, is just running around like a kid in a candy store. That’s brings a lot of joy to the experience.
Also, and this deserves a whole post rather than being a passing comment at the end, but I submitted three novels to Tor last week. Tor is one of the leading publishers in the Fantasy industry, and I sent them Taming Fire, King Jason’s War, and Sleeping Kings (to their mainstream editor). Of course, I’ll keep you posted if I hear anything. It’ll be six to eight months. Meanwhile, keep that in your prayers, if you would. It’s…unbelievably important to me.
I hope everyone’s well. Find something to smile about. I’m heading home to play some WoW.