Hm. Perhaps no one noticed that last movie review was numbered with all of the secret numbers from a certain show?

Or perhaps I am lame.

Oh well.

Christy and I went to see Eagle Eye at Harkins on the way to SD.

It was AWESOME.

It really felt like a summer blockbuster that got slammed with a late-September opening date (for whatever reason). It was great. It was NOT predictable, it was interesting, I was completely engaged in the story and the characters. It felt like they took special care to develop the character for each person. It felt whole and complete-unlike some of the movies I saw this summer (Hancock, X-Files).

Anyways. It’s a great movie. GREAT!
Check it out, but only if you like awesomeness.

Has anyone seen Fireproof?

And, of course…

Just kidding…just kidding…I’m not going to talk about my vasectomy ANYmore…except to tell you that I am probably 95% recovered—physically and mentally (I WAS TRAUMATIZED, PEOPLE!)

On a slightly related subject…

TODAY IS NOAH’S 5th BIRTHDAY!

I can hardly believe our precious boy is five years old!

Wow…five years ago we were living in San Diego in the Saugerties house, it was the beginning of our second year at Midway, the house prices were SKY high, and I was only 23. Oh, how the times have changed…

Noah is doing better than ever, and only keeps learning and growing every day. I hardly believe he has Autism–and although of course I can see it–most people can’t by now (unless they are experts in psychology/child development, obviously).  We are looking forward to another great year with our beautiful two sons!

So what were you doing 5 years ago? Were you giving birth to your second child? (Christy?)

EDIT ADD:

Went to Coldstone tonight for my free ice cream.
Due to Back to School Night and a couple other things, it took us longer than expected to get there and by the time we did (at 7:49pm) this is the conversation that was had:

Coldstone Dude: “Hi, can I help you?”
Daniel: “Hi. We’re here for the free samples!”
CD: “Oh yeah, well…um. That’s already over.”
D: “What? What do you mean, it’s already over??”
CD: “Uh-uh, well…uh…you know…it’s already waaaay past 8 o’clock…”
             (pulling out my iPhone to check the time)
CD: “…and well…”
Christy: “It’s only 7:51pm. The email said it goes until 8 o’clock…”
CD: “…rriiiiiight, well, um, ok. and also we’re out.”

             (looking around at allllllllll of the ice cream everywhere, knowing that they are clearly not out of ice cream)

D: “Um….OK…….(awkward pause)……..thanks”

GRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!

Thankfully, Daniel had signed us all up for the birthday club, so I had a coupon for a free LOVE IT sized ice cream.
Then we went to Starbucks.

Boooo.

The Worlds Largest Ice Cream Social


You’ll get a free 3oz sample of the new creations they are introducing…and there’s some stuff about the Make a Wish foundation as well

Sorry…no disrespect to Make a Wish…I just didn’t read that part of the promotion. I got held up after FREE ICE CREAM.

SO GO! GET SOME FREE ICE CREAM between 5-8pm.
I totally am.

Unfortunately, in 24 hours, this blog post will be useless.

I may have posted this audio file previously…I can’t remember.

I did some work for this composer last spring on a real-live movie! For REALSIES!

But, as things go, it will most likely be uncredited, and due to my own retardedness (I screwed up on another portion of this job), I never earned a penny from it.

I just couldn’t invoice the guy. He had to redo a good portion of my work that was non-orchestration-related and I was out of town so I couldn’t go back and fix it.
A good…um…learning experience…
(ok, ok…I was humiliated by the whole thing…but that’s another story).

BUT, nonetheless, I orchestrated for a film that will be on TV. Wahoo!

So go check out the website, or copy and paste the following link:

www.fireandice.ro

None of the music I wrote from the movie is in the trailer, so I put a midi version of it here below. I’m going to attempt to get the real files sometime soon.

It’s a little soft at the beginning, so turn it up…

Happy listening!

So…this just in:

I’m a control freak.

SURPRISE!!!

Um, oh, you already knew that.

It just comes with the territory of who I am and what I do…I guess…

So here’s the problem–as a control freak, I operate BEST with a tremendous amount of structure. This makes things easier for us control freaks…can I get a what-what?

The more structure in place, the more control there is already within said structure.
But when there is not as much structure, more control must be exercised to “keep things under control”. And sometimes, without structure, there is chaos.

And chaos is death.
 

This is not allowed.

So with the great lack of structure that surrounds most of my life right now, I am finding myself to be all the more “freak”-ish than ever.
Too controlling over everybody.
I mean, my wife almost punched me in the face this morning. And she should have. It probably would have helped.
And I would have deserved it.

So I come to you, O Great Electronic Friends of the Interweb.

Have you ever experienced this? If so,

WHAT SHOULD I DO TO OVERCOME THESE TENDENCIES?

…comment away…

After seeing a slew of movies that were clearly my pick–and none of them being “chick flicks”–it was time for Christy’s turn to choose.

So, of course, we saw “The Women”.

The Gimmick
Not bad. This movie included a cast a fabulous actresses. Old timers, hotties, the seasoned, and everything in between. All girls.
But it wasn’t that all the leads/main characters were women…no…ALL the people in the ENTIRE FILM were women.
I’m talking about extras, cast…everyone…was…female. There was nary a man in sight.
Only in the last 5 minutes of the movie do we see our first glimpse of a man–in the form of a baby boy that has just been born.

So I get it. No men.
No men anywhere.

It was only slightly off-putting to see an entire New York City block shot from a wide angle with all females walking around. But I get it.

Unrealistic?
Yes.
A kinda cool gimmick?
Also yes.

The Performances
Excellent. Candice Bergin, Diane Lane, Debra Messing, and a whole bunch of ladies did a bang-up job in the film. A truly excellent cast.
But the real award goes to longtime leading lady Meg Ryan.
I haven’t seen her light up a film like this since…since…well…I CAN’T REMEMBER! It’s been SO long since she’s totally kicked bootaay in a leading role, and she DID in this one. Help me out here people…when was her last great female lead? The mid-90′s?
Anywho–she did a stellar job. Nicely done. It was a little bit like John Travolta’s Pulp Fiction comeback. I feel like she might start working again, and the audiences won’t be so sick of her now.

The Production
Nothing to complain about.
Great editing–great soundtrack…really–no complaints.

The Message
Every movie–like it or not–has a message.
I have found that every time the credits begin to roll on a movie I’ve just seen for the first time, I immediately ask myself the same question, “So, what is the message this movie is trying to send? What am I taking away here?” Because every movie has something…

The Happening was about being nice to our environment (or the plants will kill you with poison leaf-gasses–in horrible ways, I might add)
Children of Men was about hope–and the chaos that ensues when people have nothing to hope for
The Incredibles was about family
…and I could name a thousand more…

So what was this movie about? Well…I was a tad annoyed, to say the least.
Here’s what I learned from watching The Women:

1) Finding out that your spouse is cheating on you is hurtful, but cool, because, you know–everyone does it. And although it stinks, it’s probably much better to keep it all quiet so as not to embarrass yourself or your family. Just try to ignore it altogether, but I guess if you must, confront your spouse and get a divorce. Cause you know, that’s just how it goes.

2) When the chips are down, and it seems like you’ve made all the bad decisions by trying to be “a good person”–screw that. The only person that gets anything in this life is the person that thinks about themselves first. So stop worrying about your family or any charitable work and just focus on YOU. That’s all that matters in this life. What YOU want, and what is best for YOU. You, you, you.

3) Even though this road of self-absorption has alienated your closest friends and loved ones, don’t worry, cause you’ll all eventually make up and get back together. In addition, your child/children needn’t be bothered during this time because YOU are really the only thing that matters. AND!! AND!! Your kid will like you better when you look and act more successful anyways. So again, go for it. Do what’s best for you.

4) Life stinks–unless you focus on the things you want and the things that make you happy. If friends and family figure into that, then cool, but if not–it’s OK. As long as you’re happy.

5) Affairs are normal. Everyone has one. And they probably just mean nothing to your spouse so try to forget about it and move on.

ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME?!?!?!

I honestly was aghast at how messed up we all are if what this movie is saying really reflects our culture/society in any remote way.

What has happened to anything good?

What happened to commitment?
What happened to self-discipline?
What happened to being more committed to your spouse than anyone else in the world?
What happened to us that we’re OK with being so selfish?

How did these things become the norm?

Now, I must say—I’m no right-wing-fundie. I’m not going to say we need to fight the moral values of America and stuff–I think that’s a fight that was lost generations ago and we’re a part of a society that is lost and in darkness. I mean, we’re all human and we all fail each other at given times.

But I’ve never seen such a disregard for love and commitment. I was appalled.
And I don’t think I would be so tuned in to this issue if I hadn’t seen a few other shows and movies recently that ALL had the exact same thing happening in them.
Married people cheating on their spouses as a normal way of life.

Come on folks.

If you don’t have trust and loyalty in this life, you have nothing.

I am a man of my word.

I also am a man.

So please, no more all-chick movies.

They hurt my insides.

If there’s anything that was amiss from last year’s shortened (and very jacked up) TV season, it was everyone’s favorite guilty-pleasure-super-violent-but-we-love-Kiefer-and-America-and-the-good-guys-always-win TV show, 24. 

YAY-YUS! We LOVE us some Kiefer. (That’s how they say “yes” in the south. “Yay-yus”…it’s a two syllable word…I can prove it).

And we were all very sad when FOX announced that they would not air any of the series last year in order to keep their commitment to give us consecutive new episodes every single week.
An honorable move, but sad.

VERY sad.

In fact, I remember back to the first week of the writer’s strike–one of the people picketing was yelled at by a passerby and told to “Get back to work” so he could watch 24. In as much as I supported the strike and continue to support the fight for an artist’s rights in the wake of new media, for a moment one of my heartstrings resonated with this mean, mean person. I wanted my Jack Bauer.
(He would be my ideal choice as a #2, but he is unavailable, fictional, and overqualified.)

Well, we still have to wait until January to see DAY 7 of 24.

BUT

This November FOX is releasing a 2-hour 24 movie event titled “24: Redemption”.

It looks pretty cool…but I warn you…keeping with the normal 24-vibe…it also looks a little disturbing.
But this is real.
And things in 24 are modeled after real-life situations. Sure, there is no Jack Bauer in real life…but there are children in Africa that are being forced to become soldiers–complete with machine guns…it’s horrifying…and a little scary to watch (which reminds me, don’t see Blood Diamond…it’s not a bad movie, it’s just similarly disturbing).

(SEASON ONE SPOILER ALERT)
But if there is anything we can accuse 24 of being, it’s REAL. I mean, who in their right mind expected Jack’s wife to die in the end of the first season? NO ONE. And that’s what cemented the show in reality…everyone is not sappy-happy at the end of the show. It’s what makes us all scared to watch. No one is safe. Bad things happen to the good guys. Jack gets tortured and heads off to China in a boat. That was crazy!! But also kind of awesome…

OK–ENOUGH SAID.

Watch if you dare.

Politics.

Politics are politics are politics are politics.

Whether you’re talking about a basketball team at a high school, your job at the office, your church’s praise team, or the race for the most powerful position on the planet–politics are politics. The game of politics is here to stay, and there is nothing you can do about it. So stop trying to ignore it, condemn it, or fix it–you can’t successfully accomplish any of those things, so deal with it and play along.

Politics are a part of life on this planet. Whenever something worth having is up for grabs, inevitably more than one person is going to want it. When that happens you have a little bit of healthy competition. Good, right? Right.  Although it can be ugly at time, inevitably politics has a positive impact on the consumer.

The consumer never loses when corporations,  political leaders, or companies have some healthy competition. Generally this means that one or both of the parties involved ends up trying to “win over” customers (or in the case of the presidential race–voters), so they try to offer the better product…maybe even at a lower price.  So is it bad that McDonalds is in a secret competition with Starbucks over breakfast?

NO WAY. It’s actually GREAT! Just think about it! If McDonalds is actually successful in winning over iced coffee drinkers and can offer it at a rock bottom price–especially compared to “The ‘Bucks” as we like to call it here at Dunder-Mifflin–then Starbucks will be forced to lower prices and/or offer something even better in return for their higher prices. Why do you think Starbucks introduced all of the breakfast sandwiches that looked remarkably similar to all of the kinds of Egg McMuffins? Ultimately the customer wins here because they’ll end up with a better product for a lower price than if ONLY ONE company were to offer that product at one set price.

It’s all about the secret competition for breakfast (and your soul…hahaha).

OKOKOK but I didn’t come here to talk about Starbucks.

I think ultimately my question is this–

If politics are here to stay (and they are), and the presidential race is–when it comes down to it–the race for the most coveted and powerful position on the planet and in history, THEN WHY ARE WE SUPRISED AT ALL OF THE NEGATIVE CAMPAINGING?

I mean, really?

McCain did a bold and positively mind-blowing thing by picking a female running-mate. Should we expect the Left to blast her? OF COURSE!
It’s politics.

So why are we all so outraged? I’m certainly not. I’ve come to expect it.
It’s politics.

And why would both sides be engaged in outrageous attacks on one other?
It’s politics.

Why are we shocked when someone lies, takes something out of context, or greatly exaggerates the claims of the other side? I’m not.
It’s politics.

Politics are politics.

You can’t run away from it.
You can’t hide from it.

So let’s embrace the game of politics. LET THE CANDIDATES FIGHT IT OUT in front of America. I really want to know what’s going on over there and not just what YOU want me to know. Bring on the competition! BRING. IT. ON. It can only be heathly for the common American for the two parties to be duking it out right now. Fight for it. Tell me why you want my vote–’cause right now I’m pretty open-minded. SWAY ME. Play the game. Outwit. Outplay. Outlast. Until there’s one…sole Survivor…

Politics.

Did I mention the word politics?

Oh yeah, what was this post about?
Politics.

And by the way…I’m just about the least informed of anyone on all of this. I don’t read Fox News, CNN, MSNBC…or any of that.
Mostly I get my politics fill from here:

Well, as I learned from good ole Dr. Baloin, you cannot have an Act I unless there will be an Act II. (Ok, now that I think about it, that may have been in reference to points on an outline, not dramatic readings, blogs, or any kind of expressive medium).

So here we are.

It has now been 48 hours since the procedure, and according to the pamphlets and reading materials I was given by the hospital, I should be OK to return to work. I also should be OK to take a shower, get up and be moving around, and some other normal daily activities…but I am NOT. Are you kidding me? I’m milking this thing for as long as I can…so, yeah…I’ll be chilling all day today and tonight. I’ll get one more night’s sleep and then attempt the shower and all of that…

But really…would you want to leave this phat setup?

And yes.

I just used the word PHAT.

Life sure does fly by when all you do all day is play Lego Indiana Jones and watch DVDs.

I’ll actually be happy to get back to normalcy (somewhat) tomorrow. It’ll be nice to move on from this ugly chapter in my life.
I know…I’m so dramatic.*

Christy and I watched Baby Mama yesterday. It was good, but not awesome. Tina Fey and Amy Poehler were solid, and there were some nice surprises, like Steve Martin and Greg Kinnear, but it wasn’t quite what I expected…funny though!

*I tend to greatly over-exaggerate things up in here…

OUCH.

Yesterday, a little piece of my manhood was taken away from me.

Well…two pieces…to be exact….of my vas deferens…ya know…if we’re being precise…

…and although I know I’ve done the right thing, no amount of Extra Strength Tylenol or frozen-peas-turned-into-an-ice-pack will bring back what I’ve lost.

OK, ok…I’m just being melodramatic. But it does hurt…

(Believe me when I tell you that I’ll spare you the details–THIS POST WILL REMAIN PG-RATED, ok?)

It all started well over a year ago. 

Several times Christy and I had discussed whether or not we were going to have any more kids.  Christy–of course–entertained the idea of having a little girl, but who’s to say we’d actually have a girl if we tried again, eh?  And then there was also the Noah-factor: if we got pregnant again there is a 10% chance that baby would have autism. One child with autism is enough to deal with, much less two. We LOVE our two kids–don’t get me wrong here–but that was something to consider in this whole thing. (And while we’re talking about Noah, let me just say he is SOOOO precious. We couldn’t have asked for two better little boys, and have SO much love for our children.)

BUT the decision was sealed not too long ago on a dark and stormy night driving home on the 15 freeway from San Diego. I remember it like it was yesterday.
We were talking about having a third child AGAIN, and the conversation went a little like this:

Christy: “Wouldn’t it be just sooooo sweet to have a girl? We could dress her in little cute girl clothes…”

Daniel: “I dunno…”

C: “But girls are so cute…blah blah blah…”

D: “We are NOT having another baby…do you really want to go through all of that again?”

C: “No…not really….we could ADOPT!!”

D: “Why would we adopt when your uterus is perfectly capable of…” (GASP) “Wait! What about Harkins?”

C: “Harkins??”

D: “You know, the movie theatre we love and adore that offers babysitting in the lobby for $6 per child, per movie, that our kids love and is only available to them whilst they are ages 3-8 years old?”

C: (GASP) “Ohmygosh.”

D: “Nathaniel is 6 (he was when we were having this conversation) and if we have another child, even if we adopted TOMORROW, that baby wouldn’t be 3 until AFTER Nathaniel had already passed age 8. Therefore, we would no longer be able to go to Harkins–the baby would be too young and Nathaniel would be too old by the time that kid is old enough to go!”

C: “You’re right. We can’t do it.”

D: “I KNOW!”

C: “That settles it. We are not having any more kids. Go get a vasectomy.”

D: “Praise the Lord! Wait. What?”

And there you have it. Harkins made me get a vasectomy.