EDIT ADD:
Got a call back for a 2nd interview at APU for the Undergrad Articulations Administrator…yipee!
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NERTZ SCORES:
The following names have been changed to preserve the identities of those involved in our game tonight…

Maniel: 115
Beidi: 111
Thristy: 60
Lara: 54
Xeanne: -4

Good luck with that…but here’s the bottom line–I WON. AGAIN!
Thank you, thank you…
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Well, I didn’t actually make it to class last night. The professor told me I didn’t have to come this week, but I was going to go anyways to get ahead on the final project, but I didn’t. I just emailed him the assignment that was due and I’ll return next week!

I was on my way to school, and Shack called to give me some info on a new project I’m working on for him. So I swung by APU to pick it up and just wanted to go straight home and get started on it–so I did…I guess I’m about half-way done now…

Nertz tonight–I’ll post the scores later, I’m sure I’ll win…

This will be our first LA Nertz game, so I don’t know what to expect with all the new players, except victory!!! Good luck Heidi!

Christy made a tasty blueberry jello dessert last night. Yummy! Thanks baby…it is tasty!

Other than that-just been working on this song all day…back to work!

Oh yeah, we’re almost to 11,000 hits! Let me know if you’re the lucky visitor…

EDIT ADD:
Good job bloggers! Keep it up. Except Mel, Shan, Joli, and a few more slackers–get to it! How long does it take? 5 mins? Or do you just want to cut me off from your life altogether?!?!
Thanks for updating for all the rest of you! And get ready for a NERTZ extravaganza this weekend after church!
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Wow

Xanga land is pretty quiet lately, except for a few faithfuls that are staying with it. Even Mike hasn’t posted a lot (but that is due to his lack of internet availability). I feel like I’m the only moron still posting. Why are you all so silent? What has happened to the frolic of the blog? Was it a phase that passed us by like the Summer wind in August?

Props to Chris and Melody for doing a great job with Big Sound. Also-props to Frank for ripping it up on the Yazz Trumpet during In Not Of–that was waaay cool…

One more weekend in San Diego. Let’s keep the crying to a minimum. If you must cry, do it now, ’cause you can’t cry and sing at the same time–it’s just not possible. Plus–I will continue blogging, but you all must promise to do the same…

I have my Finale class tonight. I’m way ahead…and learning a ton. Yahoo!

Are you sick of this yet? You probably are…I almost am…
I watched “The Upside of Anger” also…I know, I’m a nut…Here’s the thing–still don’t recommend it, but it’s good that I viewed it immediately following Junebug, because my opinion of it was much higher as a result. Mike warned me from the beginning that I wouldn’t like it, but because I watched Junebug right before this one, I liked it much more than if I hadn’t done so…all that to say: Junebug is a zero, and this one is a four on a scale of one-to-ten (ten being best). One thumb up from me (out of a possible two from me…).

One quick lesson I learned: anger is never good. The leading lady was angry through the whole movie, and it repulsed me. It was yucky, and seeing that portrayed in the way that it was made me disgusted at myself when I get angry–and it seems that I get angry over stupid stuff….anyways, one redeeming value that I got out of it…anger is never good!! Especially a  perpetual attitude of anger and bitterness…

25 Movies to Watch Before Oscar Night
–The Ones Daniel Has Seen
2 – Good Night, and Good Luck
3 – Crash
5 – Munich
6 – Walk the Line
7 – Cinderella Man
8 – Syriana
10 -The Constant Gardner
13 – Memoirs of a Geisha
17 – King Kong
20 – Junebug
21 – The Upside of Anger
25 – The Chronicles of Narnia
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Shopgirl (#24) is released to DVD on Tuesday.

Carry on.

EDIT: it was horrible. Sorry-and it’s just my opinion, but I thought it stunk royally. Yuck. The only good part was the fact that Amy Adams did a bang up job acting, but that is NOT reason enough to watch the movie. This is perhaps one of the worst movies I’ve ever seen. The only one that possibly could be worse is U-Turn (Oliver Stone–1997). THAT movie was horrible also…I digress–yuck. 2 thumbs down for Junebug, don’t waste your time.

25 Movies to Watch Before Oscar Night
–The Ones Daniel Has Seen
2 – Good Night, and Good Luck
3 – Crash
5 – Munich
6 – Walk the Line
7 – Cinderella Man
8 – Syriana
10 -The Constant Gardner
13 – Memoirs of a Geisha
17 – King Kong
20 – Junebug
25 – The Chronicles of Narnia

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Well–not even gonna give you time to comment on this one…

I’m in the middle of watching Junebug (don’t ask, it’s on the list), and I’m pretty sure it’s the weirdest movie I’ve ever seen in my life. It’s just out there…I’m only part way through, ’cause Steve went to pick up Karen from work, but I’m too far into it to turn back…it’s just weird. I can’t really think of any other words to describe it. Ok, some words: Odd, different, somewhat boring, kooky…Amy Adams is doing a terrific job acting in it, but that’s it’s only redeeming quality so far. Also-it has the Ben-guy from The O.C…anyway-I really don’t recommend it at all, sorry. We’ll see how some of the other movies turn out…Shopgirl comes out on Tuesday, and that looks interesting. Steve Martin is in it–but it’s not a comedy, per se.

Oh yeah-Christy was bored after five minutes. She left to go read a People magazine.

Another EDIT:
Saw #2 on the list tonight w/my wife. I loved it. Didn’t know George Clooney was the director-great job. Every nomination for that film was well deserved. Christy hated it. Bored her to death! She was waiting for the love story to kick in…got a few more movies to go!!!
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ALSO: Decided to go ahead and buy the MUNICH soundtrack–John Williams 4th movie score in 2005 (along with Star Wars Ep III, Memoirs of a Geisha, and War of the Worlds). To write that many complete scores in a year is absolutely incredible! I’ll listen to the soundtrack and let you know how it is…

EDIT ADD: Saw Memoirs of a Geisha. It was good, not great. It did, however, teach me a lot about Asian culture–at least some of the history. For that reason, it was cool to see. The score is pretty, but not one of John Williams’ that I will buy the whole album of. I got a few tracks off iTunes (thank you iTunes!). Here’s a new list of movies I’ve seen…

25 Movies to Watch Before Oscar Night
–The Ones Daniel Has Seen
2 – Good Night, and Good Luck
3 – Crash
5 – Munich
6 – Walk the Line
7 – Cinderella Man
8 – Syriana
10-The Constant Gardner
13- Memoirs of a Geisha
17- King Kong
25- The Chronicles of Narnia

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LOVED singing for Al last night. It was so fun! Yes we knew most of the songs, and yes he made Christy sing a solo and me conduct, but it was great! I don’t know what it was about it that made it so enjoyable, but it was great to see Al back on his feet and as spry as ever since he just had his surgery a little while ago. Also- his choir seems really cool, and they were really friendly to us. We sang two of my all-time favs, “All Glory Be to God”, and “The Mind of Christ”. Yahoo!

Also-if you read Christy’s blog you know that I met with a dude at a church yesterday and it sounds like a sweet deal-so please be praying! All-in-all it was a fun day–FUN day–which we haven’t had a ton of since we’ve been up here just mostly because I’ve been stressing too much about not having a job–but yesterday was cool…

Got class again tonight, and I’m excited about that, and then it’s a quick interview on Friday morning at APU for a new job prospect at Undergrad Registrar, and back to San Diego for my 2nd-to-last weekend at Midway.

PS-that new profile pic was taken at my parents house in Twain Harte while I was keeping score at the Nertz game I was dominating. Just thought I’d let you know…

I saw SYRIANA last night. Went to the 10:20PM showing at the Edwards down the street…I think I’ve only strayed from my loyalty to AMC theatres two or three times in the 80-90 times I’ve been to the movies in the past 3 1/2 years–mostly because I have an AMC MovieWatcher card that gets my free stuff when I rack up a certain amount of points. Evidently, Edwards has one too–which I got last night and picked up some free popcorn on my way in–it was really salty (yuck).

Sooooooo maybe I’m  retarded, but this movie was really hard to follow. I’m no genius–but I tried to figure out what was going on (and I have a vague idea) but still can’t tie all the pieces together. It was complicated! Oil/The Middle East/US Politics/Muslims/Matt Damon/George Clooney/Dr. Bashir (from Star Trek: DS9), etc…Oh well, I’m sure I’ll figure it out soon enough…

Updated List

25 Movies to Watch Before Oscar Night
–The Ones Daniel Has Seen
3 – Crash
5 – Munich
6 – Walk the Line
7 – Cinderella Man
8 – Syriana
10-The Constant Gardner
17-King Kong
25-The Chronicles of Narnia

As you can see, I finished Cinderella Man. A great movie, but not an incredible one (the second half was better than the first). A must-see, however, because of the story of the lead character AND for Paul Giamatti’s job as supporting actor (for which he scored an oscar nomination). In addition, I took 40 Year-Old Virgin off the list (per Mike’s request) since I didn’t actually finish the movie.

Speaking of Oscar Nominations, the list is out! Check it out…Props to Crash and Munich for scoring Best Picture nods–both of those films are incredible, and I would be happy if either won.

The good news is that most of the movies that were nominated a lot, but have already left theatres will most likely be re-released immediately (due to the nominations), so that people like me can go back and see them…I say, great! Movies that otherwise would be stuck in the land between Theatrical release and DVD release during the time between OSCAR nominations and the awards show. So this weekend, Good Night, and Good Luck and Capote will be back in town. Sweet! I’m there!

PLUS: Memiors of a Geisha and Match Point are still in theaters, and Junebug and The Upside of Anger are out on DVD. If I see all of those, I have 14 out of 25…that’s not too bad…

Also-I’ve been reading the book of James lately–a very appropo book for this time in our lives.
“Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.” (James 1:2-3)

I might go sing for Al Clifft tonight. I talked with him briefly last night and he is doing better, and is back to work. He invited us to go sing in his choir, just for fun, and HEY! When can I turn that guy down?? It will be sooooo fun!