the week in review

Tuesday to Friday

The President of Ireland in Toronto

Friday and Saturday

Prime Minister of Canada in Toronto, ON

Sunday

Me at home...alone.....losing my mind.

Monday to Tuesday

Prime Minister of Canada in Thunder Bay, ON

Wednesday, 00:05 hours

Right this moment.

Thankfully, though, I am now officially on days off for five (5) whole days.

Well.....assuming things don't get out of hand.

soundtrack of dave

(Disclaimer: I usually don't do these....but I was curious. :P)

IF YOUR LIFE WAS A MOVIE, WHAT WOULD THE SOUNDTRACK BE?

So, here's how it works:

1. Open your library (iTunes, Winamp, Media Player, iPod, etc)
2. Put it on shuffle
3. Press play
4. For every question, type the song that's playing
5. When you go to a new question, press the next button
6. Don't lie

Opening Credits: Casey's Song - City & Colour

Waking Up: Don't Go Off Wandering - Limp Bizkit

First Day At School: With You - Linkin Park


Falling In Love: Come Around - The Watchmen

Fight Song: What Do You Do For Money Honey - AC/DC

Breaking Up: Alabama Motel Room - Matthew Good Band

Prom: Kecharitomene - Loreena McKennitt

Life: Creep - Stone Temple Pilots

Mental Breakdown: The Workers Sing A Song Of Mass Production - Matthew Good Band

Driving: Factory - Melissa McClelland


Flashback: Calculation Theme - Metric

Getting Back Together: Sharks and Danger - Alexisonfire

Wedding: On My Way - The Watchmen

Birth of Child: Nutshell - Alice In Chains

Final Battle: 21st Century Living - Matthew Good

Death Scene: Ghost Rider - Rollins Band

Funeral Song: Blue Orchid - The White Stripes

End Credits: Champagne For My Real Friends, Real Pain For My Sham Friends - Fall Out Boy

i'm back....

....with a video link.....'cause I'm lazy, yo.

Alex (kinda) walks.

today's poll: closed, open, or with tongue?

two reviews, one low price

It's funny how things work. Since Alex was born 7 months ago, I haven't been able to see a movie at the theatre. And yet this week, I made it to the big screen twice.

The first one I took in was earlier in the week while on training for work. We had a free evening, it was cheap night at the show, so a group of us got together and made our way into town. The movie I wanted to see was Hot Fuzz, but it wasn't playing at the theatre in question, and the ultimate decision by the group was to see Next. The general consensus was that if nothing else, it had Jessica Biel in it.

It had nothing else.

The basic premise is that Nicolas Cage is a precognitive who can see the future. But only his future. And only two minutes. Except in the case of Jessica Biel's character. He can see further where she is concerned. The FBI are tracking a group of terrorists who have smuggled a nuke into the country and are going to blow up Los Angeles. Julianne Moore is an FBI agent who thinks Cage is the key to finding the terrorists. Apparently, the terrorists also think this. These are superstitious times.

The entire plot for this movie is absurd. To believe that the FBI would abandon traditional investigative measures in a time of crisis to chase after an alleged precog who wants nothing to do with them requires an unreasonable suspension of disbelief. Add to that the fact that the minute the terrorists hear the FBI is looking for Cage, they decide they need to find him first?

The characters are revealed in such a two dimensional nature that it is almost impossible to feel anything for them. Cage is creepy and uncharismatic. Julianne Moore, who I generally enjoy, is completely ridiculous as an over the top FBI agent. The terrorists are....possibly French? It's hard to say, since it's never really revealed who they are or what their motivations are. The whole terrorist plot appears to be just a vehicle to have Julianne Moore chase cage down, and then team up to take out the bad guys.

I've heard that the movie wasn't screened for critics. It seems the people behind the movie could see into the future as well.

Next.

This afternoon, we took advantage of Alex's Aunt Sheri and had her babysit while we went out to see Spiderman 3. I had been eagerly awaiting this release for the better part of the last year. I've always been a big Spider-man fan, the first two films were excellent, the black Spidey suit is one of the greatest storylines in comics, same cast, same director. What could go wrong?

Everything, it would seem.

At least X-Men: The Last Stand was able to blame it's craperific-ness on a new director. Spider-man 3 has no such scapegoat. The writer's completely pooched the story. As I watched this 2 1/2 hour train wreck, I kept asking myself how they could possibly get things so wrong. I could list the problems.....in fact I will:

1. The retcon of Uncle Ben's death.
2. The convenient and unexplained arrival of the alien symbiote.
3. The strange and mind-boggling experiment responsible for creating the Sandman.
4. Mary Jane singing.
5. The fact that edgy Peter just came off as comical......and looking like Crispin Glover.
6. Peter dancing.
7. Uninspired action sequences.
8. The Twist. Literally.
   
9. Peter being so geeky the geeks would make fun of him.
10. Strange butlers who come out of nowhere to completely alter the storyline.

I'm sure there is more, but I've already started to wipe this traumatic experience from my memory. The one good thing I have to say is that Bryce Dallas Howard was well cast as the lovely Gwen Stacy.

Too bad she should have appeared and died in the first film.

'Nuff said.

alexandra in april

Okay......so my posts sort of fell by the wayside for the month of April. What can I say? I've been busy.

But I'm not the only one. Little Alex is growing like a weed, and accomplishing a number of firsts. I unfortunately have been away at work for much of it, but fortunately with digital technology, we've been able to capture some of these momentous events.

While we haven't taken too many pictures (and may have accidently deleted some), I have recently uploaded a number to my flickr acount so go check it out.

We've also managed to capture a few videos as well. Some of the events include:

First Easter (with family)

First (semi) solid foods.

First unassisted sitting.

First assisted steps. (The jury is still out on this one. Mom says she walked. I'm a little more skeptical. Have your opinion heard in our comments section.....now open.)

First teeth. (Note: As I write this, mom was heard screaming upstairs as Alex sunk her new teeth into mom's hand while getting her evening bath.)

So much happening. And I'm bound to miss more as I have to head out and play secret agent for a week. When I emerge from the shadows this weekend, perhaps there will be more to report.

(maybe even a Spider-man 3 review)

(if I'm brave stupid enough to attend on opening night)

jessica mae stover

"It is time that we stop focusing on what we are not and start focusing on what we are. Long ago, I chose me. I chose to believe." - Jessica Mae Stover

(photo courtesy of Jessica Stover Dot Com)

I do not recall the exact instant that I decided to join the RCMP, but I know it happened early on in my high school experience. It was then that I abandoned my previous ambitions as a designer of architecture and started focusing on a career path as an officer of the peace. Strangely enough, it was also during this time that I really started to explore my creative side. There are probably a number of teachers who could attest to the fact that I put more time and energy sketching new superheroes in my binder than on graphing parabolas on the x and y axis. Whether it be art, or movies, or music, playing role-playing games after school or writing short novella's or haiku in Mr. Goddard's creative writing class, I spent more time with my head in the clouds than focusing on the rather academic leaning of my course load. To a certain extent, this trend continued into university, though I was able to reign it in a bit (and working 30 hour weeks on top of a full university course load kept me occupied). There was even a time that I considered abandoning law and pursuing a career in the entertainment industry (as a writer/director of television or movies), but considering where I am today, we all know what decision I ultimately made.

To me, Jessica Mae Stover is the embodiment what might have been; the other path. She is someone who I have come to greatly respect and admire over the course of the last year since making her introduction.

Avatar of the Awesome.

I first became acquainted with Jess, an actress/(screen)writer/industry insider, through Wil Wheaton.

(yes....of Star Trek fame)

(no....I don't know him personally)

Wil has a rather popular website and linked to a rather hilarious string of posts in which she visits the Nerds lining up outside Grauman's Theatre in preparation for the release of Revenge of the Sith (even though it wasn't screening at Grauman's). The piece was aptly titled Revenge of the Nerds. It was enough to get me to start reading her website, Jessica Stover Dot Com (JSDC) on a regular basis.

Now at this point, I could go on at length about Jess' biography and adventures and poems and hilarious posts and etc etc, infinity x2. But I won't. Instead I'll direct you to JSDC where you can explore for yourself. Take the time to visit the different areas and read the cleverly archived posts. It's well worth it.

What I would like to do here is talk about some of the interesting projects currently underway.

One which I have talked about here before is The Silver Legacy, which is the full-length epic screenplay that Jess is trying to get greenlit for production. An audience Demand has been initiated to start a grassroots movement supporting this project, and if it's something that appeals to you, I encourage you to support it.

There are also new Limited Edition Prints of concept art from TSL available for purchase, the proceeds of which are now going to fund Jess' new project, a sci-fi fantasy short film (codename: AAE) that she has written and is executive producing. Anyone purchasing one of the prints (I already have mine....just waiting to be framed) or donating at least $5 to the project will have their name listed in the credits under Special Thanks. Isn't that worth five bucks (or a sweet limited edition print, numbered and signed by the author and artist)?

I've been following the exploits of this spirited lass from Virginia (now in L.A.) for well over a year, and can tell you that I have no doubt that she is going to be successful and become a famous screenwriter and important artist in the genre of film. Now....so I don't have to say "I told you so", why don't you join me here on the ground floor of something big?

Seriously.

I'm not going to ask you again.