It's not the power of the curse - it's the power you give the curse.

This evening, I saw Penelope, which stars Christina Ricci, James McAvoy, Catherine O'Hara and Reese Witherspoon. Lets plot it out. Christina plays Penelope, a wealthy girl who is born cursed with a pig nose and ears. To get rid of the pig nose and end the curse, she needs to be loved by one of her own. Her mother (Catherine O'Hara) keeps her locked up her whole life, embarrassed by her nose. Finally, after meeting Max (McAvoy) and having her heart broken, she sets out on her own, hiding her deformity by a scarf. On her adventures, she meets a feisty girl (Witherspoon) and then unveils herself to the world.
Witherspoon is very cute in her spunky role, bu I feel like she was kinda wasted in it, it was so small. I'm mixed on her getting more screen time though. This movie was definitely not about her or her character, so I'm glad we didn't see her too much, but I think because I thought she'd be in the movie more, I was surprised by the littleness of the role. This movie is very charming, I really liked it. Ricci is perfect in her role, everything from her facial expressions to her voice was just perfect. The story line is short, concise and to the point, I love when that happens. It's not slow or dragging, so you're not checking your watch the whole time, waiting for it to be over. Be cautious when seeing this though, if you like a quiet movie theater. With it being a PG movie, there were families aplenty. PJ made a friend with the little girls sitting next to us, that was nice. Catherine O'Hara is funny in her role, which was enjoyable, and James McAvoy was of course delightful, even though he had an American accent and not his trademark British accent. Oh, and as a side note-the movie took place in only what I can describe as a hybrid of America and Britain. I'll call it Ameritain. There were people with both American accents and British accents, and I'm not sure when it's supposed to take place, it had an old-time feel to it. All in all, I recommend this movie, it's a great way to spend an hour and a half.

Tiny Troop

This has been a sad week for my little Trooper. For those of you who don’t know, Trooper is my dog. She is my favorite little animal ever. Her breeding is unknown. She’s a mix of her mom, another dog I have, who is a miniature Alaskan Husky/Pomeranian mix, and her “father” is the dog that lived in the house next door. As you can see from the picture, she is black and brown and is pretty small. I've also included Troop as a tiny baby, because I think the picture with her and the bear is too cute. You're welcome. She is quite devoted to me, she follows me around the house, she sits on the couch with me whenever I am watching TV, and when I’m eating, she sits at my feet, waiting for her turn to have some delicious food. And, although I know it’s bad to give a dog people food, I usually give her some of mine. She loves bread and otter pops and milk. I’m not sure why, but hey, I find it adorable. And most people find her little scratching at you for your food annoying, I just think it’s cute, and I laugh at it. I treat her like she’s a tiny person, and during Christmas time, I dress her up. Usually as Santa or an elf, and even though she hates it, she doesn’t gnaw it off like our other dog does. I guess you can say I probably love my tiny Troop more than I love most people.
This past Monday, Troop had apparently jumped up on the bed (all this happened while I was at work, so I don’t know every detail, I just know what I’ve heard) and mom was having none of it. So she kicked Troop off the bed (literally, she kicked her) and when she fell off the giant bed (really, this bed is like 2-3 feet off the ground) she landed wrong and hurt her leg! So for the last few days, the poor thing has been limping around the house on her three legs. It’s the left rear leg she hurt, just in case you were wondering. Right now her trying to get up off the ground is sadly funny, when she’s been sitting or lying there. Because she can’t really use the leg, she struggles to get up and while I find it so sad, it’s really kinda funny to watch. I guess I have a dark sense of humor regarding such things. To help her out during this time, I’ve been carrying her around the house on my hip, like a baby. She is getting better, slowly. At least after the first couple of days, she puts her foot on the ground to test it out every once in a while. And while it’s not good yet, soon it will be, and she will be able to run and jump around like she used to be able to do. But for now, she’s just taking it easy. And I’m wondering, does anyone know where I can find a doggy stroller?

Where everybody knows your name...

First off, I grew up in big city Orem, which, according to Wikipedia is the sixth largest city in Utah. How about that? I always liked the size, never had any issues as a small kid with it. I don't think as a youngster I even realized what the difference would be. Anyway, as I was watching a movie today about a small town, I couldn't help but think how cool it would be to live in a small town. I'm sure would I move there now, it'd be quite a culture shock as first, but after a while, I'd settle comfortably into the groove. I'm sure things aren't always as they're presented in movies, but these little towns seem so fun. I'd love to live in a Stars Hollow, where my wacky friends and neighbors are always there for me. I'd love to live in a place where everyone knows my name, where I'd walk down a street and wave at everyone, and they would wave and smile back. In a place where your high school is like 300 hundred people would be awesome. I'd love to have a diner I went to every day, and I know the owner, and he knows what I get every time. And I love the names of the (fictional, that I've only heard in movies) towns. Jupiter Hollow, Stars Hollow, (whats with the Hollows?) they just sound fun.
On the flip side, would you really want everyone in town to know your business? Would you want only like, ten kids to date, and by the time you're grown up to marry, you're marrying the same guy you've been dating since you were like, 13? I know a lot of people do this, and they end up happily, but I don't know how I'd feel about this. And anything you do, you'll be haunted with forever. Your pants fall off when you were ten years old? Yeah, someone will tell that story at your wedding. Get drunk and end up doing something dumb? You'll hear about that forever, too. And they don't have that many stores in these towns, as I've learned, and I don't know how I feel about that. Its not that I'm a shopaholic, far from it, but pretty much every weekend, you can find me at some store. (I'm not always buying something, just fyi. I like to look at the sales and the like, in case I find something) Plus, in these towns, as I understand it, not every movie come there, so I would miss a lot of stuff! There are a lot being here that we don't get, and I have to wait for, and I don't want to have to do this for every movie!
I guess I'm undecided on the issue of being in a small town, I have pros and cons. I think the things I would love about it is I just want to know everyone around me. I think it'd be great to walk everywhere you wanted to be (like they do on the Gilmore's) and have a favorite table at your local diner. And maybe I'd pick a place thats somewhat near a big city, just in case I needed to escape for a weekend. I'd have a house with a white-picket fence, and a tree I could climb with a tree house in it. Maybe my problem isn't that I need to be in a small town, maybe my issue is that I'm in the wrong decade. I think the place I'm thinking of only existed in the 50's. In either case, this is where I'd want to be.

Definitely, Maybe? Probably Not

Ah, Definitely, Maybe. I’ll keep this spoiler-free. I so badly wanted to like this movie. The trailer looked so good, and it stars so many people I love. Ryan Reynolds, Isla Fisher, Rachel Weisz…I think that’s it. The others I don’t really care for. Let’s plot it out. This movie is like a romantic comedy mystery. A father (Reynolds) is telling the story of how he met his wife to their daughter (Abigail Breslin) with fake names so she can guess who her mother is. Sounds like a good idea right? And it kinda is, but it’s poorly executed here. Ryan Reynolds, although very charming usually, is really kinda bland here. He’s playing someone who is working in politics-which I find pretty boring. Especially here, the story is told starting in 1992, so we get politics from back then. One of my issues with movies/stories in the past twenty years or so, is you’ll always get a dumb joke, one that a character will say something innocent enough, but because we know how that history worked out, we know to laugh now, wink wink. Ugh. Will leaves his college sweetheart behind in Wisconsin to pursue his dream of working for the Clinton administration (in New York) in some capacity, telling her they’ll still be together. Of course, a few weeks in (I think, I can’t really tell how time flows in this movie) they break up, and he moves on to date other women. The movie then goes on to describe his other girlfriends, with a lot more detail than I think I’d be telling my daughter. In any story I tell, I don’t think I’m describing stuff as much as he clearly is, but more on that later. I found this movie pretty boring. You’d think it wouldn’t be, with all the star power and things that are going on, but it moves very slowly, and sadly, I couldn’t stay focused. The loyalties between the women shift suddenly, I found a lot of stuff in the movie unnecessary, and I kept thinking of questions during the movie. Why did his daughter not already know the details of how they met? And the thing that helps the daughter find out who her mother is is such a detailed thing, and why was he detailing the story this much? Nobody tells a story, describing every little thing that happened then, where hands were, etc. Why don’t any of these people dress like its 1992? And when the end of the movie comes, I just didn’t care anymore who the mom was. (Although, I found it pretty easy to deduce who the mother was, maybe you might be able to also.) My favorite person in this is Isla Fisher, who I find adorable. Her acting is really good, and she fleshes her character out, whereas the other girls are happy with their one-note performances. She was my one bright spot in the movie. So, essentially, the movie isn’t all that good, despite a few strong performances. (Sorry, Ryan, this does not include you) It’s slow, and sort of boring in bits, and, although it’s a romantic comedy, it didn’t give me that warm fuzzy feeling at the end of the movie, just a feeling of sadness for the 2 hours I just wasted here. I’d give this a thumbs down, and say definitely, not maybe, go see a different movie.

Who let those white kids in here?!

This evening, I caught a showing of Step Up 2 The Streets. I enjoyed this movie! It wasn't a really good movie, plot-wise, but I did like. The movie has a bunch of white kids, trying to act black with the dancing, and doing a pretty good job at it. I don't know who of you have seen the first Step Up, which I really liked, and the second one...has nothing to do with it. I think the way they tie it together is having super McHottie Channing Tatum make a cameo in this. Which, I'm not complaining, because just looking at him is like a present, right to me.
Ok, lets do a little plotting. Movie opens with Andie, a white girl in Maryland who can dance it as well as the next person. To avoid being sent to her aunt's house in Texas, she auditions (and somehow makes it into) the Maryland School of Arts. She immediately hits it off with a weird looking fella, all the while teasing the popular hot kid, while he teases her right back. Of course, they deny anything is going on between them, while the eyes tell everything. She gets kicked out of her crew for being a part of the MSA, and decides to make a new crew with kids in the school. After some humiliations, some dancing, and some tears, they make it to a dance-off of sorts, where they get to represent their skills. And boy, do they. Well played, white rich kids from Maryland. Way to stick it to the black kids.
This movie is way fun to watch, and the music and dancing will get you moving. As soon as it was over, I wished I was on a dance crew. You know, I just might start my own! If you're interested, give me a shout out, and be prepared for a dance-off!

You gotta recognize your sedimentary rock formations!

We’re here today to celebrate the passing of a friend. My Tivo. You all know of how I love it, heck, it’s my comfort blanket, when times are tough. During my recent trip to Vegas, I had an upgrade to my Tivo delivered to my house. My thoughtful father, ever helpful, installed the new upgrade for me, even putting the new timers for to record my shows. Sadly, here is where we went wrong. What I didn’t realize about the new upgrade before we installed it, is that they don’t transfer all the info over, like it were on a hard drive (hence the setting of the new timers). The thing I definitely didn’t realize until it was too late is that with the timers being deleted, so would be my beloved saved items on there as well. The things I lost were a part of me. I watched bits of them in times of trouble, of sadness. The thing I think I’ll miss the most is the Justin Timberlake-hosted Saturday Night Live of 2007. There is a skit on there, Hip Hop Kids Episode #42: Yo Yo Yo, how we gonna get out of this mine shaft yo? I’m laughing just thinking about it! It was the perfect thing to make me smile. Find it, watch it, please, and enjoy. If you don’t laugh at it the whole time…well, something is wrong with you, and I’m sorry. PJ and I constantly quote it, and there’s nothing funnier. Some other things I had on there were just other SNL things, but they contained the adventures of the A-Holes. If you haven’t heard of these, oh boy, are you missing a gem. See if you can search for them on google or something, they are freaking hilarious. I also had a movie, High School Musical 2 (I’m not ashamed of this, I love that movie. I would just watch some of the musical numbers, not necessarily the whole movie. Come on, Bet On It has got to be one of the most ridiculous dance sequences ever. You know what I’m talking about)
Things I had on there but hadn’t saved were just a few episodes of things. Lost, from last week was one of them. I’m actually not sad about losing this, because I hate Lost right now, but I keep watching. I figure, I’ve put in three years already, I’m-a see how this show ends. Plus, before every new episode of Lost, they replay last week’s, so I’m ok there. I lost my Eli Stone episode of last week, so I have to either watch it on the internet (which I don’t have time to do) or just have skipped a week, which is looking more like what I’ll be doing. If only I could hook up my computer to my tv, then I could watch as I ran or whatever, but, alas, twas not meant to be. I lost my Psych, the season finale! (Which luckily, I watched most of in Vegas, and it will be replayed on Thursday, thank goodness) and finally, my episode of The Soup. But the E! channel replays every show a flobbity gillion times, so I for sure could catch that again. Other than those, I just lost a few movies I had just recorded. I’m hoping to maybe catch them again or something. But its not like I’m dying to see them. If I were, I would have seen them by Netflix or in the theater before now.
I know that compared to other things, losing the things on my Tivo are trivial, but they had become a part of me. I’ll miss being able to watch these things and laugh at the drop of a hat. And I know I just nerded myself out with this, admitting the saved things on my Tivo, but dear readers, I feel we have grown closer in the short time I’ve had this bloggity blog , and I’m comfortable enough my choices to not care what you think. I’ll rebuild from this; I’ll move on. I’m sure one day, I’ll look back at this and laugh, but for now…I miss my Hip Hop Kids. Keep dancing, guys.

What happens in Vegas...is usually pretty dirty.

That title sounds dirty, but it really isn't meant to be. This past weekend, PJ and I took a trip to Las Vegas. I have never been to Vegas, so we decided it was time to go, and the entire reason we went down there was to hit up the Hard Rock cafe. We have a dream to visit every Hard Rock cafe and buy a T-shirt from there. We have 4 so far, San Diego, Salt Lake City, Denver, and now Las Vegas. As we were eating at the HR this time, there was a sing-along, to YMCA. S couple of employees jumped up on the counters and just went at it. It was so fun! I have pictures of it, but I still can't get my computer and camera to talk to each other, so you won't be blessed with them. We weren't really looking forward to the Vegas part of it, but we went into the weekend with high hopes. Ok, not high hopes, but we weren't dreading it, and thats whats important! We had a pretty low key weekend. We hit up the M&M's store, gambled a little (I didn't come out in the positives, sadly) and walked about a gillion miles. We went to this restaurant, Roxy's, at the Stratosphere. What we didn't realize, of course, is that the Stratosphere is 2.38 miles from our hotel, the Mirage. So when we set out in our flip flops to walk there, it took about an hour, and when we got there, oh man, we were limping. And the walk back...not so good. We definitely learned our lesson about flip-flops. Had it been later, like in the summer, we'd have no problems. We have walked around Disneyland in them, but I guess this time, they got the better of us.
To me, the problem with Vegas is that it just feels dirty. There's porn everywhere, and it reeks like cigarettes, alcohol and desperation. I feel sad for the people who think its the greatest city ever. And for those of you who read this and feel that way...maybe its time to find a new city. Seriously. But, we had a great time, and felt better leaving the city than when we got there. And, as an added bonus, on our last morning, went to the Original Pancake House, and I got some chocolate chip pancakes. And I had been wanting some pancakes all weekend long, this was a great note to go out on!

Jumper

I have decided that I will start to review movies on my bloggity blog. I see enough, so really, I’m doing people a favor, telling them what to watch, what to avoid, etc. So, to start off, I will review Jumper. I caught this movie last night because the movie I wanted to see, Step Up 2 Tha Streets, was sold out. Dejected, we chose this one, thinking that the trailer had led us to believe this movie would be fun.
Boy, we were wrong. I didn’t expect this movie to be awesome or Oscar-worthy or anything, I was just hoping it would be a good crappy movie. You know those movies, the ones that are awful, be it dialogue or the plot, but you can’t help but love it. In my case, my favorite of these movies would be The Covenant. Haven’t seen it yet? Quickly head out to your local video store and snatch it up. Jumper, however, is not one of those movies. The plot jumps around (ha ha jumps…get it?) and there is so much stuff that isn’t explained that you’re like, huh? And boy, Hayden Christiansen, while being some good eye candy, is not what I would call a “good actor”. Originally, having only seen him in the Star Wars movies, I thought, well, of course he isn’t a good actor in this; he has these awful scripts to work from. But now, having seen him in this, I realize, that boy can’t act. Who keeps putting him in movies? This I don’t know, but good for him. Maybe it’s his smile that keeps him in movies, because I won’t lie, I do dig his smile. But that isn’t enough to save this movie.
Anyway, the movie is about a guy, David, who has an ability to teleport anywhere. He uses his powers to rob banks and get rich, then live as he likes. He doesn't work, he just travels the world, playing atop pyramids, surfing in the ocean, etc. To me, this life would be boring. And then, Samuel Jackson shows up and wants to kill David for bieng an abomination against God. Ooh, scary. The rest of the movie (well, the latter hour) is devoted to them playing a cat and mouse game, while David meets up with a fellow Jumper (Griffin) that he butts heads with. And of course, along the way, he finds his old crush from high school-Rachel Bilson, who, in this, is Blandy McBlanderstein. The whole time I couldn't help but wonder why, after an 8 year absence, he has gone back for her. Of course, evil guy uses Blandy as a plot point to lure David back, but not until he's had an awesome CGI fight with his frenemy, Griffin. The fight goes on for a while and doesn't really serve purpose other to show what awesome effects the movie has. The fight is pretty stupid, and ends stupidly also. I didn't really like the end, which brought up more questions than I cared to ask, and practically screams "Sequel!" at you.
Most of this movie doesn’t really make sense, but I guess that’s not what you go into this movie for. You go in to ooh and aah over his powers and the great life he has, and a bunch of plot points that you don’t really care about are also thrown in your face. So all in all, I do not recommend this movie. Save the 8 bucks it would cost you to see this, and spend 3 of them on renting The Covenant.

Single Awareness Day

It’s that time of year, when guys are furiously searching for gifts for their gals, and girls are busy practicing their surprise faces: Valentines Day. Or, as I like to call it, Single Awareness Day, or SAD. But that’s not to be confused with the SAD of being depressed during the winter, lets make that clear right now. I like to change the name up to reflect my status at said time. To date, I have not yet called it Valentine’s Day. I’m not sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing. I don’t particularly hate this week that much. I say week, because, lets be honest, the week leading up to this day is pretty much like the day itself. You see Valentines Day cards everywhere, there’s red and pink in every store, and hearts all over the place. It’s being shoved down your throats. Probably so that men have no excuse to say they forgot it. Good work stores, way to make sure we celebrate this fake holiday. I know that people do say this is a “real” holiday, from a saint back in medieval times or something, but let’s be honest; it’s not a legitimate holiday. I like to think of holidays as times you get off of work, but then we’d have no holidays! We don’t even get Halloween off, and to me, that is a tragedy. But I digress.
I don’t have any hate towards SAD, I am actually quite glad I don’t have a boyfriend/husband during this time. I might just be naïve in this respect, but I’m glad I don’t have to spend time with a significant other. I can do what I want to do, and I get to mock the couples out who look slightly uncomfortable with each other. Not every couple is like that, of course, and I’m sure many of you out there are laughing at me in my single ignorance, saying, Oh, that Vieve. One day, she’ll understand, and I’m sure I will, but for now, I am enjoying my singledom. I don’t want to have to think of other people’s feelings or thoughts or whatnot when all I care about right now is my own thoughts. I don’t have to stress about getting a gift for a boyfriend, and thinking, is this too much? Is it not enough? Have we been dating for enough time to get each other gifts? Its way too much for me to have to deal with; I have a hard enough time with Christmas gifts for people I’m not particularly close with.
So please, for those of you in a relationship, please don’t pity me. Don’t think this is an attempt to just “make myself feel better”; because I truly am glad I only have myself to worry about. I won’t be sending myself flowers, or envying the people who get them (well, not too much) But if you do see me, I’ll be giving free hugs out, so for those of you who just need a little squeeze to get through the day, I'm totally there for you.

Food, glorious food.

I love food, but I am a very picky eater. I'm nowhere near liking all foods, though I don't know of anyone that likes all foods, but I do like many. Mostly I'm so picky because of previous stomach problems. Not being able to digest foods very well limits what you can eat. You end up eating the bland foods, chicken, bread, rice, pastas, but only if the pasta sauce doesn't have too many spices, or else you can't eat it. Luckily, I'm on some miracle pills that make it so I can eat pretty much anything. I still have to be careful, of course, but I can eat a lot more of the foods that I used to have to look longingly at. Of the ones I hate, only a few stand out as being the most despised of all. Fish, walnuts, cantaloupe, honeydew, tomatoes, seafoam, chocolate cake, soup (of any kind), and white lettuce seem to top off the list. And mostly, I don't like food because of the texture. Sure, the taste comes into it, but mostly its the texture, how it feels in my mouth. I'm sure seafoam is delicious, but because it feels so weird while chewing, I'm out. I can't even fake eating it. And soup? Come on-its not a real food if its liquid! And don't come to me saying that stew could be better, because it isn't. Its like a drink with chunks in it. And the only way I do liquids is a drink, I won't be "eating" it. Tomatoes are gushy, I don't care if they're fresh or old, I swear there isn't a difference, there's all sorts of juices squirting out at you, and random seeds all over the place.
I know lots of people do this, but when I'm eating, I'll eat the stuff I don't like first, to get it out of the way for the stuff I do like. Pretty much, whenever I go out to a restaurant, I don't mix it up and try new things, I go for the same thing I always get, because I know it'll be something I like! I have begun to branch out a little, though. For instance, at the Red Robin the other night, instead of getting a boring old cheeseburger, I got a bacon cheeseburger! Thats right, I'm going wild! And I do sometimes ask the waiter/waitress what they recommend...and end up getting the thing I usually get anyways. Sometimes, what the suggest just sounds gross. And I'm not wasting hard earned money on food I'll pick through, and then still be hungry by the time we leave.
Now, to cheer myself up, I will talk of the things I love. Pizza. Oh, pizza is so delicious. I'm pretty sure I eat pizza every weekend now. And my winning combination is pepperoni and green peppers, with ranch dressing on the side for to dip the pizza into. I don't necessarily have a favorite place, but I do like the Two Jacks pizza here in Spanish. Especially with extra cheese. Mmmm...so good. I'm a huge fan of macaroni and cheese, people actually make fun of me because I order this when I go out to eat. Come on, mac and cheese is the food of the Gods. Right now I'm loving steak. I used to hate it so much, and when people would talk about it, I'd be like, ugh, gross, but then I had this super delicious steak at Ruby River, and since then I just can't get enough of it! But that could also be because it's winter, and in the winter, I always crave meat. Just like how in the summer, I always crave salads. Its a cycle I go through. I am a fan of cereal. Right now, my favorite is multi-grain cheerios. Its healthy, and delicious! And pie. I am so in love with pie lately! Lemon, coconut, banana cream, strawberry rhubarb, apple, cherry, I love it all. I want some of that right now!
Thats really all I can think about right now. Plus, talking about all this food has made me pretty hungry.

May I Have the Envelope Please...

Last night, since nobody probably knows, was the BAFTA awards. For those of you who don’t know what that is, it’s the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, and it is akin to our Oscar ceremony. Of course, the crème de la crème of British cinema was there, handing out awards to their own. There’s nothing actors like better than patting themselves on the back, which is what awards season really is. We missed the Golden Globes because of the writers strike, and that made me sad, because I love the Globes. They’re a little better than the Oscars because unlike the Oscars, at the Globes there is alcohol on every table, which I think just loosens up the actors. And every once in a while, you’ll get someone who is a little tipsy making their acceptance speech; it’s really a treat to hear.
As I sat there, watching movies I didn’t care for getting awards (really, Atonement as the best picture of the year? Were we watching the same thing? I was almost bored to tears!) I thought of my own list of movies I’d give the awards to, and sadly, hardly any of them were even nominated for awards! So, without further ado, I will bestow upon you my list of movies to make the cut (And some categories I’ve invented also):

Best Picture: Juno. I don’t know what it is about this movie, but it was my favorite of the year. I could watch it over and over again, and never get tired of it.
Best Actor: Charlie Cox, Stardust. He’s so endearing and lovely, and his performance is so great.
Best Actress: Ellen Page, Juno. I heart this movie so much, and her acting in it was just fabulous
Best Director: I don’t really understand this category. Surely the best director is the one who directed the best movie. But I could misunderstand that. In either case, I can’t really pick the best.
Best Animated Film: Ratatouille. Not only is the movie so loveable, the actual dish is delicious!
Best Action Sequence: Transformers, the big fight at the end. I don’t care that the movie in itself is kind of ridiculous; I love this movie and all its actiony goodness.
Best Fight: Jason Bourne vs anyone in The Bourne Ultimatum. Nothing is better-or hotter-than Matt Damon fighting people
Best Musical/Romantic Comedy: Enchanted. It can’t be best musical of the year, because I think Hairspray deserves that honor, but I loved this movie, and Amy Adam’s wide-eyed innocence and happiness made me love her just that much more.
Best Musical: Hairspray. These songs get you singing along with them, and the performances by everyone (excluding maybe John Travolta and Christopher Walken) are so great, you just have to love the way they all interact.
And I know this isn't an award, but I want to give a shout out to Waitress. I loved that movie-Keri Russell's acting is just heartbreaking as you watch her character going through things.

I hope you enjoy my list more than the actual Oscar list. And if you haven't seen any of these movies, please, sprint out and rent them. And feel free to add any to my list that I neglected to add or you think deserves the Oscar more than my choice. And everyone, get ready for the Oscars at the end of this month. I'm sure they'll be thrilling!

Real sport? I've got your real sport right here.

I work with basketball fans. After every Jazz game, the next day, I have to hear about the game, and what happened, and they discuss it all. Sadly, I have no one to chat at work about the soccer games I watch. Last night, for instance, I saw the Mexico vs. USA game, and what a game it was. Tons of good goals, a few yellow cards, all that you can ask for in a soccer game. Sure, Chelle and Jules try to be nice and listen to me as I talk about it for a minute, but its not the same as say, chatting about it to a person who also saw it. And now, a fellow I work with has come out and said that if I watched a real sport, then I would have people to chat about it. Really? Basketball is a real sport over soccer? Le’s compare the two, shall we?
Basketball. Two teams vying for points against each other. Not unlike soccer in that respect, but let’s focus on the differences. In basketball, the court is 94 feet long by 50 feet wide. Not a long distance. You play five people versus five people, and they barely fit on that little court. You are stopping every few minutes to restart a play, or to wait and watch to see what your opponent is going to do. You have 15 minute quarters, and time-outs available to stop play whenever you get tired. You are constantly stopping to catch your breath and what not, but you hardly need it, seeing as how all you do is maybe a light jog. The point system is ridiculous. 2 points for every basket? No wonder the score in these games is so high. And you get three points for shooting just a tad farther out than normal. And why are people cheering so much for every basket? You’ll have another one in like two minutes, so calm down. You have five chances to foul before you have to leave. And everything is a foul, it’s a wonder people stay on as long as they do.
Soccer. Let the angels sing the glories of this sport. You are playing on a field that is 360 feet long by 240 feet wide. You have eleven on your team, and you are all spread thin. You have a 45 minute half, and the only times you get to stop to take a breather is when the ball goes out, and you have maybe 45 seconds to rest up, or if someone is injured, then you’ll have maybe a minute and a half. You get no time outs. You get 3 subs FOR AN ENTIRE GAME. If you’re playing, I’m telling you right now, you’re in for the long haul. You get 1 point for every goal, and they are hard to score. You have a guy blocking the goal, for crying out loud! If you really want to score, you have to get past 10 guys, and then out-smart the goalie! Its hard to do, and thus, the screaming with every goal is completely justified. There are nowhere near as many points in soccer than there are in basketball.
And to throw another 2 cents in about another favorite American pastime. Baseball. I don’t even consider this a sport. You sit around for 6 hours, and every little bit, you have to sprint 90 feet. No wonder half of the baseball players are overweight guys. They’re not even getting any exercise. They do not compare to our soccer guys, who have legs of steel, and calves that make me go weak in the knees.
I hope you enjoyed this tutorial in soccer. I think everyone should be watching this sport, and now maybe you’ll start. At least you know you’ll have me you can talk to about it!

Holy marathon! I'm getting a stitch, Batman!

I'm a runner. You know this, I know this. Its hard to shake 10 years of soccer off. You always feel lik e you gotta be in shape, just in case a pick-up game happens. Or, in the more likely scenario, you happen to meet a soccer idol and they ask you to play a quick game with them. Mantilla, I'm crossing my fingers. Recently, my friend PJ informed me of a marathon we could run, and we decided to do it. Keep your pants on, not a full marathon. We'll be running the 5k, and believe me, we'll be running the heck out of it. Ever since we were informed of this, I've been in training, and PJ has been training too. I feel soon that she will surpass me in the running, but to combat this, all I can do is run harder better faster stronger. I feel pretty confident in this race to be, at least I know we'll finish it. In the back of my head, where the crazy happens, I'm like, we could totally run the half-marathon! It's only 13 miles, I could run that! But then the logical side of me picks up and I'm like, what?! That would take forever! Plus I'm pretty sure that at like, mile 6, I'd give up and start to walk. Waving at all the people who pass me, yelling, "Good luck! I hope you make it!"
Anyway, now for the shameless plug of the day: visit PJ's blog and read about the marathon, and if you feel inclined, please visit the website she's promoting. We're so psyched to be doing this, its something we've been wanting to do for a while. I just can't wait for it to get a little warmer, so I can start running outside. I can run this race (and then some!) on a treadmill, so now I just need to see if I can run it outside. I don't really know if running on the treadmill is different, but its probably better to find out sooner rather than be at the race, hoping it'll be ok. Now to you runners out there, a 5K might be easy for you to run, but this is my first time, and I can't wait to get over that finish line to be able to say, "I did it, I finished. I'm the best." Wish us luck!

Exercise gives you endorphins. Endorphins make you happy. But nobody is that happy.

Now, I wouldn't say that I'm an exercise junkie. I do exercise, and I enjoy it, sometimes. I do some pilates, a little Tae Bo, and once in a while, I do some yoga. I gotta tell you though, I have a problem with the people in these videos. There is not a single person in the entire world that is that happy while they're exercising. These people are working their way through what is a pretty intense routine sometimes, and they're smiling at me like they haven't a care in the world. And their outfits, come on! They're in these tight little numbers that look like they're so uncomfortable to be in, and we're supposed to believe they're moving around in them and having a good time? And their hair is never messed up, it looks all nice, and everything is in place, and they have makeup on that isn't smudged by sweat. Now, its not like when I work out, I'm drenched in sweat, hair all askew, but nobody looks like a freaking supermodel while they work out. Like its not enough I have to be working out to lose weight or whatever, now I gotta compete with these girls?
Another beef I have with these things is the locations. Why are these people randomly in the mountains or on the beach working out? Is it supposed to be serene? Am I supposed to be calm while trying to get my heart rate up? They're sending me mixed messages! And being on the beach? Come on, aren't you getting sand everywhere? I walk on the beach for a minute and a half, I'm washing sand out for like a week, I can't even imagine how bad the sand for that chick has got to be.
Now, I know nothing will change for these videos, they will forever be ridiculous. To prove my point with that, I think you should go out and rent yourself a video (thats right, VHS) of an exercise tape from the eighties. I suggest getting a "Buns of Steel" one. The outfits are laughable, the things they're teaching you have, for the most part, now been shown to be totally wrong, so thats pretty funny. So enjoy these gems, and hey, work out a bit while looking at them, because clearly, you can tell, by looking at me that they work. Because, not to brag, but uh, I myself have a body of steel, so...

Get ready to throw down

(Sorry this picture is sorta shady)

Last night, I did something I have never done: Go to a hockey game. Our own Utah Grizzlies vs. the Alaska Aces. I was excited, anticipating the violence that I could witness, and our boys in green didn’t let me down. There were smashes aplenty, some yelling, and one really good fight. Normally I don’t see myself at the hockey arena, but PJ scored us some tickets through her employer. There are so many sporting opportunities I would miss it if not for them, so thanks guys.
We arrived at the arena, and immediately I could feel the excitement radiating from the 30 other people who had shown up for the game. We took our seats (front row baby! Right up in the action!) and waited for the bloodbath to begin. (I truthfully was wishing for someone to bleed. I hear blood bounces on ice; I want to see this happen.) Watching the players warm up, PJ and I were commenting on all the players’ names. That’s a fun game, I think everyone should play. After a delightful rendition of our national anthem, the game started. I will admit, I don’t really know any of the rules of hockey. I know it’s frowned upon to raise your stick above a certain level, what this level is and when it is inappropriate is something I don’t know. I also knew fighting was encouraged, or at least, appreciated by the fans. Other than that, anything goes in my book. We got off to a good start; we seemed to be scoring more than the other team, which is how I understand you win games. It startled me every time they smashed into the glass in front of me, I would totally jump, and once a puck hit the glass right in front of us, and I about jumped out of my skin. During one of the intermissions, (that’s what they call the half-time things, weird), guess who was featured on the Jumbo-Tron dancing? That’s right, Vieve! They were telling people to get up and dance and I was sitting in my chair, shimmying a little, so they put me up there. I felt really cool.
There was one shining moment in the game: a glorious fight. It was between our own Forbes and someone else (hey, I can’t be expected to know names! First game, people!) and it was delightful. I didn’t see what it was that set it off, but all of a sudden; they were taking off their excess sports equipment. Helmets, gloves, throwing down the sticks, et cetera. All of the other players skated off to the side, and they met in the middle of the rink. After a few swipes (this was all closely monitored by the refs. I assume in these cases, they become like refs in boxing; they’re just there to keep it clean) they started to punch each other. It was a pretty good few minutes, watching two men fist-fight over what was probably something stupid, but we all paid (well, not us) for a fight, and by golly, we were going to get one. After the fight was clearly going the way of Forbes, the refs broke it up, sending each player to a penalty box. Well fought, fellas.
After a lot more hockey, the game ended, with a resounding victory: Grizzlies 6, Aces 3!
We win! I don’t know if they usually win, since I don’t follow the world of competitive hockey, but it was a good game for my first one, to have a win. I don’t know that I’ll ever get really into this sport, but now I know if I had to go to a game again, I’ll at least enjoy it!
Man of the Game: Forbes, for starting that kick-ace fight
Loser of the Game: Cheesman, of the Aces, for failing to smile at me twice. I was trying so hard to get him to smile, but oh no, he refused. And its not like I was trying to get him to smile during the action, it was whenever everyone was just standing around! That disappointed me. So, sorry, Cheesman, you lose this game