snagabag

Well, I finally figured out my “problem.” Yes, I suffer from neophilia.

So what is a neophiliac? No, it’s not someone obsessed with Neo from The Matrix. It is someone who has “a love of novelty and new things.” In other words, a gadget geek. …and boy, do I love gadgets! I should probably spend more time blogging about my toys, but I have a lot of gadgets. It’s a bit ridiculous really, but in the most positive sense of the word of course.

Let’s not forget I’m also a technophiliac!

I’ve watched another batch of movies the past few days, and since I know many of you depend on my reviews here they are…

Worth watching:

• Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby - Very funny. Same type of humor, but not as funny, as one of my all time favorite comedies, Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy.
• Good Night, and Good Luck - Extremely well acted and well written. Made more powerful by the inevitable contrast to present day media.
• Big Fish - I like most of Tim Burton’s movies. Entertaining story and good acting.

Worth watching if you prepare yourself with low expectations:

• Grizzly Man - Documentary on a non-scientist who spent 13 years living amongst Grizzly bears in Alaska before finally getting eating alive by one (along with his partner). Very interesting to see the bears and other wildlife so up close and personal, but the activist, Timothy Treadwell, is a fraud and before long I found myself agreeing with those who felt he did more harm than good.
• Night Watch - The first Russian film I have seen (the movie is dubbed). The story doesn’t really make sense, but the movie is still watchable. Maybe because it was the first Russian film I have seen, but I thought the directing, producing, cinematography, etc. were all unique (in a good way).

Ok, so I know spiders and scorpians are not ‘bugs,’ but I choose to lump all critters under that heading.

Why spiders and scorpians? Because our house seems to have an abundance of them. Just yesterday I was sitting at my desk working on the computer when a damn spider came crawling across it. I practically fell backwards in my chair! For those who know me, you know what this meant… I couldn’t work in my office the rest of the day. Yes, when I see a bug I simply leave the room and close the door until someone else removes it or I’m convinced it has moved on. Rational? No. Sigh… yet another fear I must find a way not to teach Liah.

Happy 37th anniversary to my mom & dad!!

I couldn’t find any traditional gifts or gemstones associated with anniversary number 37, but I did find out the “modern” anniversary gift for the 37th has a theme of… alabaster! Doesn’t say much for #37 does it?

But who am I to say anything? I’m still working on making it to 7!

Yeah! Aparna & Liah are on their way home after being gone a week.

I made it. Whew!

Those of you who know me, know how much I love hanging out by myself. I must admit, Mowes Cinema proved to be very useful. I watched a lot of movies this past week. I also finally discovered Sudoku. I must’ve played at least 50 rounds this past week.

Other than that I passed the time by bugging my friends. In the end, they are the ones most depressed when Aparna & Liah leave town.

While I’ve been to lazy to blog, I haven’t been to lazy to sit around and watch movies. While I have been giving Mowes Cinema a workout, I’ve even seen some movies at movie theater. Amazing I know. With us going to Dallas recently, and with Aparna & Liah currently on vacation, I’ve been able to steal some free time.

Allow me to give you my opinion on my recent viewing experiences.

Worth watching:

• The Devil Wears Prada - Very entertaining. Great acting.
• Mr. and Mrs. Smith - Anjelina Jolie. Enough said. Ok, the movie is actually just OK (ie-worth watching if you set your expectations low), but since this is my blog I’m here to proclaim any movie starring Anjelina Jolie is worth watching! Our generations Marilyn Monroe.
• Collateral - Great directing. Suspenseful. Nice to see Tom Cruise cast against type.
• Lost in Translation - Very engaging. Fantastic acting.
• The Aristocrats - Very funny. Be warned: high shock value.
• Dumbo - Very touching and funny. Classic Disney.
• Cinderella - Quite funny and entertaining. Classic Disney.

Worth watching if you prepare yourself with low expectations:

• Miami Vice - Nice visuals. Very good acting. Script is a little weak. A bit violent for my tastes.
• The Seven Year Itch - The first Marilyn Monroe movie I’ve seen. I didn’t care for it really, but I did feel MM had an amazing screen presence. Enough to make me want to watch more of her movies.
• Reign of Fire - A dragon movie. A bit cheesy, but it has dragons!
• Syriana - Great acting. Script aspires to be more than it is in my opinion.

Not worth watching:

• War of the Worlds - Awful screenplay. Ruins the movie.
• Find Me Guilty - Another poor screenplay that brings down the entire movie.
• The Count of Monte Cristo - Story was not engaging. The movie never really captured my interest. (I have read the book and thoroughly enjoyed it.)