Currently Listening Garage By Cross Canadian Ragweed Late Last Night see related

Quarterly Update

and now, kiddies, for a segment i like to call.....

THE CRAZIEST DAMN THING I HAVE EVER SEEN, EVER.

i awoke this morning at about 4:30 to the sound of what i took to be someone shooting off fireworks in the parking lot of my apartment complex.  i thought to myself, "stupid huntsville people.....always being loud when it's really late...." and attempted to go back to sleep.  however, the noises were not to be ignored.  they increased in volume and regularity and were soon accompanied by various voices, shouting incoherent phrases.  i was still in somewhat of a dream state so i took the noises to be gunfire (small arms, probably 9mm) and began to get quite irritated.  it occurred to me that, in the first place, the noise was loud enough to wake me from a deep sleep so it had to be pretty loud.  secondly...IT WAS 4:30 IN THE F'ING MORNING AND I DON'T HAVE CLASS UNTIL 11:00 SO I WAS BEING DEPRIVED OF 5 1/2 HOURS OF SLEEP!!!!!!!!!!!  at this point, i decided it was time to call the police.  however, before i could even reach for my phone, a sound that can best be described as the sound a shotgun would make if it were fired in my room jolted me from sleep and prompted me to ask myself, "what the hell was that?" 

i looked out the window next to my bed that faces the next building and saw two girls walking towards my building with a sense of urgency.  next, i heard someone outside shouting something about the fire department so i decided that the matter merited further investigation.  if someone had been shot, they would need an ambulance; not a fire truck.  i rose from my bed, crossed the room and looked out the window that faces the parking lot.  the sight that greeted me, my friends, can only be classified as The Craziest Damn Thing I Have Ever Seen, Ever.

in my parking lot, no more than 40 feet from my building, was a truck.  at the time, the primary, and most notably distinguishing charactaristic of this truck  was that it was completely engulfed in flames.

i'll say that again, a little louder, just because i think it bears repeating.

IN MY PARKING LOT WAS A TRUCK THAT WAS COMPLETELY ENGULFED IN FLAMES.

upon closer observation, i noticed that my friend betsy's car was parked immediately adjacent to the flaming vehicle and was also on fire.  once i made this obeservation, i took it upon myself to do the neighborly thing and inform betsy as to the state of her shiny ford focus.  i never thought i would get to bang on one of my friends' door at 4:30 in the morning, only to tell her, "hey, i just thought you should know that the truck parked next to you exploded and that your car is on fire.  you may want to get dressed and come downstairs."

thankfully, no one was injured.  the sad part is that three cars were totalled.  the flaming truck, betsy's car and the mustang that was parked on the other side of the truck from betsy.  the mustang is truly the sob story of the bunch.  apparantly, it was a special edition model, only 2500 of which were ever made and it was in cherry condition.  thus, my day began with The Craziest Damn Thing I Have Ever Seen, Ever, and i haven't slept since.  oh yeah, i didn't get to bed until about 3:00.  work should be interesting tonight.

~peace and chicken grease

Currently Listening Mezmerize By System of a Down B.Y.O.B. see related

welcome back, my friends, to the show that never ends.  we're so glad you could attend.  come inside, come inside...

MOVIE REVIEW:  "Munich" - 4.5/5 Stars

very well done, if you couldn't tell that by the rating i gave it.  an article i read called this one the most serious film that spielberg has done since "Schindler's List" and i believe it.  it's the story of an jewish man, played by eric bana ("Hulk", "Troy"), who is recruited by the israeli government to locate and assassinate 11 members of a palestinian terrorist group called "black september."  according to bana's superiors, the 11 targets were the minds behind the kidnap and eventual murder of 11 israeli athletes at the 1972 munich olympic games, hence the title.  it moves a little slow throughout the entire three hours (give or take) but it holds your attention the whole time.  bana and his crew are wiped from the face of the earth in preparation for the operation, i.e., they have "never heard of israel" and israel has "never heard of them" *wink-wink*.  as such, the black-ops/espionage aspects of the movie are very intricate and very well laid.  overall, this is a great film.  i'm not very familiar with the historical version of the events that the movie documents, but this one has the feel of a movie that is very true to life.  it's a good example of why spielberg is the master of dramatic and harshly real films such as this.

Currently Listening The Man That I Have Been By Cory Morrow Just Like You see related

ok...i promised movie updates so here goes.

MOVIE REVIEW:  "Fun With Dick and Jane" - 2.5/5 Stars

not jim carrey's best work by any means but still pretty decent.  it sorta dragged towards the beginning but it picked up about half way through.  alec baldwin played the millionaire, big-shot CEO really well and tea leone worked fabulously with carrey onscreen.  be careful while you're watching it though or you might miss the cheap shots they take at president bush and corporate America.  wait....no you won't.  they're pretty blatent.  don't rush out to see this one unless you absolutely must, but, it's definitely at least a renter.  check it out.

MOVIE REVIEW:  "The Ringer" - 3.5/5 Stars

yes, believe it or not, i liked this one better than the jim carrey movie.  despite the bad press it got initially (the first rating the MPAA gave it was NC-17), the final product was actually pretty well made and surprisingly tasteful.  that's right.  you read that correctly.  i said that a movie about a guy who fakes mental disability in order to rig the special olympics so that he can make money by gambling is tasteful.  it actually sends a good message and johnny knoxville's character goes a big rubbery one in the end.  interesting tidbit about this movie.  the farelly brothers checked with the special olympics to make sure that they were portraying the athletes in an appropriate light.  the farellys even went so far as to give the organization final script approval, according to E! Online.  check this one out for sure.

i'll probably have another one for y'all tomorrow since i think it's another movie night.  maybe i'll get lucky and i'll get cut at 11:00.  yeah, right.  never happen...

~peace and chicken grease

wow....long time, no update.  just thought i would drop a line to anyone that might still check this and is wondering whether or not i'm alive.  rest assured, i am alive.  i'm just insanely busy with school.  i've got finals this week and really should be sleeping.

in any event, the movie reviews will, most likely, start back up over the Christmas break since i'll be previewing again for a few weeks.  check in then for the must-sees and the stay-aways of this Christmas season.

~peace and chicken grease

Currently Listening Queen - Greatest Hits By Queen We Are the Champions see related

oh yeah baby!  world series, here we come!  we're gonna put the boots to the white sox somethin' awful.  you know why?  cause we're from HOUSTON, TEXAS and that's the way we get down!

GO 'STROS!