Argo

 Argo is a fine movie, just about as good as advertised, and I hope it does well at the Oscars.

Kudos to Ben Affleck, who never deserved all the hate the media piled on him over the last decade. I will say I thought the final airport scene was a little much, and the opening montage (which seeks to explain the political situation) is horribly skewed to favor a Democrat's rationale of events.

Excusing those two miscues, I’d rate this as well deserved A+

No Z

 Total sleep on Thursday: 2 hr 45 min. Total sleep so far today: Zip. This is gonna hurt.

Coming to Summerfest!

 

My Thoughts - Hypocrisy

 Hypocrisy doesn't necessarily falsify a premise

Ash Wednesday

 

Has anyone ever told you, that for a guy with such dashing good looks and a well developed sense of humor, you have eyebrows designed and engineered by nature to make people fear for their lives? - Fred Bryan

A Friend's Van was stolen!

Last night around midnight my friend Erv came over to visit for half an hour. During that brief stay someone STOLE his van from directly in front of my house, in the middle of bleeping Bay View! 

We spent the next three hours either talking with police or driving around the neighborhood looking for the punks. The van was recovered this morning - where else? - at Bay View High School.

Nothing was stolen from it; not his ladders, his radio equipment, or the three laptops he had in the back. Apparently someone just wanted a joyride in a 2003 Chevy work van.

Tee-Hee

 Walked PD and OJ home from school today, while GC and LK drove home with Mom (da wimps)

Stache's for Team Slap

 

House Hockey

Junie is rollerskating around the house wearing a skateboarding helmet and using a broom as a hockey stick; her Mom's pumice stone is the puck and the net is the space below the ottoman.

Fred Bryan: 

Any sweeter, and I'd need supplemental insulin

At the Dentist

 

2 Facts

1. 70 years ago today Guadalcanal was declared secure by US forces.

2. The world needs a new biography of Nelson Rockefeller

Beautiful Work

 A sampling of the arrangements Lisa has made at Michaels Craft Store!

Mean Ol' Junie

My five year old who looks like the sweetest blue eyed angel thinks she's gangsta. I cleaned out her folder, and apparently took out her "words"...I don't recall any flash cards this go-round. Anyway....this morning when I couldn't find "her words" she gets in my face w/ her little pointing finger and whispers (so daddy can't hear her trying to bully her mama) with a gritty threatening tone "you BETTER find my words or..." and she let it trail off like that....lol...or what lil mama? OR WHAT? - Lisa

 Fox 6 is reporting that the nut who held that boy hostage in an underground bunker for days is dead and the boy is safe . . . .

A Favorite Moment

One of my favorite pics of all time.

 

King Richard III has been Found!

CNN is confirming that the skeletal remains found under an English parking lot belong to King Richard III. I first read of the discovery months ago in Archaeology magazine, and I'm ecstatic that DNA tests have now validated the discovery. Well done!

A few reviews

Total Recall is a remake of the Arnold Schwarzenegger movie of the same name, and in my opinion its far inferior to the original. I won’t argue that Quaid’s angst was much more believable in Farrell’s hands up to the point where he visited ‘Rekall’, but from that point on it was your standard-issue shoot ‘em up.  The greatest gaffe, in my opinion (other than Jessica Biel’s stilted ‘acting’) was their complete abandonment of the “is it real, or is it recall?” idea that permeated the original right up to the finish. In this one, the ambiguity was all but ignored from the moment he sat in the chair. The way they played it, I’d say it was pretty darn obvious this was all just a little vacation in Quaid’s head (a few friends thought the opposite, so maybe I’m full of it.)

Grade: C-

DC Cupcakes was a reality show centered on the two sisters who run Georgetown Cupcakes in the nation’s capitol. It is mindless fluff, and worst of all the acting is so terrible you lose all pretense of this being a ‘reality show’.

Katherine is hot tho’.

Grade : C-

On the other hand, Mindy Kaling’s new sitcom The Mindy Project is smart, funny, and a pleasure to watch.  Tune in Tuesday’s on Fox.

Grade: A

Frankenweenie is a stop motion animation movie by Tim Burton.  When I saw this with the family I was worried the kids would rebel because it’s in black and white, but happily they loved it. It’s the story of a boy whose beloved dog dies and is brought back to life ala Frankenstein’s monster, but there’s nothing monstrous about this pooch.  Soon the secret is out, however, and the safety of the entire town is threatened.

I loved the movie. Sweet and funny, with plenty of nods to Mary Shelley’s novel and the film adaptations of it, this was a hoot.

Grade: A

Dinner with my Godmother

Last night we saw my Aunt Jackie and Uncle George at Mass and invited them to eat dinner with us afterwards. What followed was a very nice dinner and conversation at Denny's. Thanks go to them for accepting, and for the kids (LuLu and Junie) for being good throughout a long dinner dominated by adult conversation!

Also, before I forget; when I complimented LK on being good in church she said she 'had to be' because she didn't want to get "left behind like last time" - meaning when she was a terror in church and we left her with Entourage and took the other kids out to eat. Huh. Whaddaya know, a punishment/deterrent that WORKED. Maybe we'll get the hang of this parenting thing yet.

Cookie Booth

This morning, for the 3rd of 4th year in the row, LuLu and I manned the Girl Scout cookie booth at the early mass at St. Paul's.  I'm kinda proud of that.

On a small side note, having listened now to the sermon at both St. Paul's and Immaculate Conception this weekend, I can say that Father Ron had a deeper grasp of the week's readings and formed it into a great, inspiring sermon. He gets the 'W' this week.

RIP Buddy

RIP Buddy, 54 yrs gone.Wish you were still here.

Dinner with my Godmother

Last night we saw my Aunt Jackie and Uncle George at Mass and invited them to eat dinner with us afterwards. What followed was a very nice dinner and conversation at Denny's. Thanks to them for accepting, and for the kids (Lu and Junie) for being good throughout a long dinner dominated by adult conversation!

Also, before I forget; when I complimented Junie on being good in church she said she 'had to be' because she didn't want to get "left behind like last time" - meaning when she was a terror in church and we left her with Entourage and took the other kids out to eat. Huh. Whaddaya know, a punishment/deterrent that WORKED. Maybe we'll get the hang of this parenting thing yet.

So Far This Year:

As of Feb 2nd: 6 books, 33 movies.

Columbia: 10 Years On

Today marks the 10th anniversary of the loss of the space shuttle Columbia.

Ed Koch

 RIP former NY Mayor Ed Koch. Growing up, he was synonymous with New York City.