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August 31, 2005
Hap, Hap, Happy
Jimmy reminded me:
Happy Birthday to Winston
If I could, I'd buy you the anniversary DVD of "The Blues Brothers" and make you watch it.
Posted by Nakia at 02:20 PM | Comments (2)
August 30, 2005
The Big Easy
A long time ago, I used to live in Houma, a small town a couple of hours west of New Orleans. I don't really remember it; I was only two. My dad worked construction and we soon moved back to Kentucky.
I've spent considerable time in New Orleans. I dated a girl who lived in St. Charles Parrish, just north and east of the city. I took a train to visit her the day after I graduated from high school. That summer I probably spend a total of three weeks or so in and around the city, hanging out in the Quarter, walking around City Park, strolling through the Garden District, and sweating in the heat. We visited New Orleans on Walkout because it was the only place in the country where the drinking age was 18. We (okay, everyone else) partied and did the Bourbon Street thing. I spent the night in New Orleans (at the same hotel -- Days Inn on Canal, a block or so from the Superdome), when I moved to Texas. I gave the guy working the night shift at the desk $10 to keep an extra eye on my car, since it was loaded with all of my worldly posessions and wandered the Quarter alone. Nervous and tired, I was in bed early. Sarah and I stayed in Biloxi on a trip back from South Carolina one New Years. We got up early enough to drive into New Orleans, eat breakfast at the Cafe du Monde, and watch the sun come up over the Mississippi. That was the last time I was there -- January of 2000.
Now, most of it's under water. For the moment, the Quarter is dry, but the city will never be the same again. It always was an odd place, a mixture of ease and menace, reverie and revelry, sitting eight odd feet below sea level, kept from being swamp by pumps and levees.
We are small and, in the grand scheme of things, insignificant. Try as we might to predict and control, we always come up short.
My thoughts and prayers are with those who are without power, whose homes are under water, who had to be airlifted off of roofs, and who have lost loved ones.
Posted by Nakia at 05:32 PM | Comments (4)
August 29, 2005
Media Monday
Seems like I really do have a case of the Mondays today. Very listless and unproductive here at WU for Dr. Pope. Maybe it's because I got up at 4:45 AM.
Sarah's sister Jen and her husband Robert were in town this weekend, after a stopover by the 803 crew last Thursday. We took Andre, Keith, and Paul to Luke's for some wings, then they were off Friday morning to a trade show in Charlotte. Jen and Robert got into town Saturday morning (courtesy of a $100 round trip flight from Baltimore on AirTran). We hung around, visited, and showed them the house Saturday afternoon, then went to see some of Robert's family in Monroe, NC Saturday night. After that, we found the Mellow Mushroom in Charlotte for Jen's birthday dinner, just in the nick of time. I say that because we were all getting tired, grumpy, and hungry before we found it. Sunday we went to a Charlotte Knights game, which turned out really good for us. We got free tickets while we were standing in line from a lady celebrating disabled citizen's day. Inside, we ran into our real estate agent. The Sandy Johnson team was there doing some promotional stuff and McCree hooked us up with some free Cokes and hotdogs. Sunday night was some DVD's (more Firefly) and the now-obligatory Sunday dinner at Chili's.
Speaking of DVD's, I've now watched seven episodes of "Firefly" and love it. The characters are interesting and the dialog is great. Some of the episodes feel rushed, but I wonder if it's just beacause I'm watching them without commercials. It makes me look forward to the Serenity movie this fall. Even Sarah likes the show and she's not a western, sci-fi, or Josh Whedon fan. It makes me wonder if I should revisit Buffy. I was never a fan of that show; I didn't hate it or anything, I just never got into it.
Speaking of movies this fall, Walk The Line comes out November 18th. Wow. Mr. Phoenix does all his own singing and guitar playing and certainly seems to do Johnny Cash justice. Wow.
We also watched I Am Trying to Break Your Heart, a film about Wilco. The movie was certainly interesting; my favorite part was all of the alternate versions of songs that appear on Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. I will be the first to admit it took me a long time to "get" that album, but when I did, it hit me like a brick. Phenomenal, phenomenal stuff. After watching the movie I promptly went online, saw that they had a show in Asheville in October, and got Sarah and I tickets. Go us.
We also got our tickets today for the Texas A&M vs. Clemson game on Saturday. Sarah and I are driving down Saturday morning and have a hotel room in Greenville for that night. It should be a good game. We're just excited about getting to see an A&M game and the return of college football in general. Sarah is the most excited of all.
College football is the big reason we're signing up for cable this week. Looks like we're stuck with Comporium. They are the only people around that offer high speed internet; otherwise, we would have gotten Direct TV or something.
Another pretty cool movie blog: The Movie Blog
I checked our Netflix history and we've only rented 13 movies since August 4th. It seems like more, but I guess 13 movies in just under four weeks is a lot.
Posted by Nakia at 03:20 PM | Comments (5)
August 28, 2005
Some Game of Thrones Questions
Since the new George R.R. Martin book comes out in November (God willing), I've started to reread the series. I just finished A Game of Thrones and have some questions and observations I'd like to put out there.
I'm sure spoliers will follow. I've already read the published books, but have stayed away from spoliers from A Feast For Crows, so PLEASE don't give me any spoliers from unpublished material.
If you don't know what I am talking about, A Song of Ice and Fire is an epic fantasy series by George R.R. Martin that I happen to like a lot. It's realistic, with very little "magic" or elves or any of that stuff. It's also not for kids, as it's pretty violent and there are some "rated-R" moments.
Check out these websites for more:
George R.R. Martin Homepage
Westeros, A Big Fan Site
GoT centers on some mysteries, some of which are explained and some of which are not. These mysteries are:
1. Who killed Jon Aryn? All fingers point toward the Lannisters (Cersei, et al). Jon had figured out Joffrey was not Robert's child and was going to go to the king with this info, so they had him killed. But what of the (mis)information that Jon's son Robert was supposed to be fostered with Stannis at Dragonstone instead of with the Lannisters? That comes up a couple of times, but I'm not sure what to make of it.
2. Who gave the guy the knife to kill Bran? It's Littlefinger's knife, but he claims he lost it to Tyrion, which Tyrion denies. Was it Cersei? Did she hope to kill Bran and goad the Starks into war? Or was it Littlefinger? It's the attempted murder of Bran that sets the whole war into motion.
3. Who were the guys Arya overhears in the dungeon and what are they planning? They seem to be Illyrio and Varys, but I'm not sure. What are they up to? Are they conspiring to put Daenerys on the throne? If so, what's Varys' role in everything else that follows?
I'm also wondering about the idea of "honor" and what Martin is trying to say about it. Ned is, ostensibly, the most honorable of the characters, but that gets him and his family into all sorts of trouble. He eventually gets killed for it (though, interestingly enough, only after he "dishonors" himself by publicly lying about Joffrey's parentage). The death of Ned is the death of the traditional fantasy hero, I think. Jon is the other "honorable" character, but central to his conflict is what the honorable thing is. Is it helping his family or upholding his vows to the Watch? We know in later books he breaks some of his vows by riding with the wildlings and taking one as a "shield-wife", but he then breaks those promises and goes back to the Watch. Jon, who is the easiest character to like, shows the conflict between honor and fairness, or honor and "what's right." It's hard to criticize Jon, even when he breaks his vows. He also demonstrates the most growth in the first three books. Tyrion is another sympathetic character who is frequently "dishonorable" but often does "what's right." You can see some of the same elements in Daenerys' journey. As she becomes more self-confident, she strays further away from traditional notions of honor (either Westero's notions or the Dothraki ones) and more toward guiding herself and doing what is right. Jamie is on the same path beginning in the second book. Come to think of it, all get put on that path of growth by losing something important. Jamie loses a hand, Dany loses two families, Jon loses Winterfell and that family. Tyrion is in a constant state of loss due to his stature.
I know I am rambling a bit. In fact, I should probably stop my lit crit of the Martin series and do some actual work. I'm interested in what others think, though.
Posted by Nakia at 10:27 AM | Comments (5)
August 25, 2005
Thursday Top Five
I'm not sure if this will be a regular feature or not, but today I'm going all "High Fidelity" and asking:
Top Five Movies Starring Former SNL Cast Members
(We're Sonic Death Monkey).
In no order:
1. The Blues Brothers
2. Fletch
3. Animal House (Does this count? Was it out before Belushi was on SNL? I'm too lazy to do the research.)
4. Vacation
5. Ghostbusters
(Honorable mention to Happy Gilmore, Lost In Translation, and Stripes).
Posted by Nakia at 04:22 PM | Comments (11)
August 24, 2005
Nakia Killed the Radio Star
I like radio. I am not exactly sure what it is that prompts me to turn on the radio instead of putting in a CD or listening to the thousands of songs on the IPod. Maybe it's not knowing what's coming next. Maybe it's the possibility of hearing something I've never heard before. Maybe it's the idea that radio is a public medium, available to anyone. The point is, I like radio and haven't given up on it quite yet, despite the presence of XM and IPods.
The radio around here makes me want to give up.
I suppose I was a little spoiled by Charlottesville radio. I listened primarily to two independent (not owned by Clear Channel or some other huge conglomerate) stations: WNRN 91.9 and WVWV 97.5.. NRN is a non-profit station that plays a variety of stuff. I liked it because of the relative variety and *gasp* I could hear stuff I had not heard of before. Since I am now way out of the music loop, NRN was where I first heard bands like Death Cab for Cutie and The Shins. Sure, it had some issues (an odd station manager, an overabundance of nu-metal in the afternoon hours, same songs at the same time, and some snobbiness), but I liked it. WVWV was classic rock, so you got what you paid for there. I liked the morning show guys and they played the "Peanut Butter Jelly Song" on Fridays, which was always amusing.
Some of thestations I have programed in my radio here are:
95.7 The Ride
93.3 The Planet
106.5 The End
Some general observations about radio here:
1. People talk -- A LOT. There's a morning show where people talk, there's a drive home show where people talk, there's a night show where people talk. I thought music was involved in radio somehow. Silly me.
2. For the "Modern Rock" stations (The Planet and the End) music reached its peak in 1995. 90% of the stuff either comes from the mid-ninties or from bands that sound like they come from the mid-90's. While I like Alice In Chains, I don't need to hear "Would" three times a week. And, really, did we need to hear Candlebox ever again? Then there's all those new bands that sound like Nirvana-Jam-In Chains-Addiction. The epitome of all this was a "special live cut" of Staind (I think) playing Pearl Jam's "Black". That is just wrong on so many levels, it makes me throw up a little in my mouth.
3. I was all kinds of excited by The Ride, which plays deep cuts and album versions of rock songs, mostly classic rock. I heard lots of Beatles. There was Billy Joel and Fleetwood Mac and some Steve Miller. There was even some REM. There was also some Billy Joel, Fleetwood Mac and Steve Miller, followed by some more Fleetwood Mac and Steve Miller, then some Steely Dan after some Billy Joel. Seriously, I heard "Piano Man" four times in one week. WHY, IN GOD'S NAME, WITH ALL THE MUSIC AVAILABLE TO YOU ON AN ALBUM ORIENTED ROCK STATION THAT'S NOT AFRIAD TO PLAY DEEPER TRACKS, DO YOU PLAY THE SAME SONGS OVER AND OVER? Sorry, I got excited there for a moment. I just don't get it.
I am going to go listen to ITunes and calm down.
Posted by Nakia at 10:24 AM | Comments (10)
August 22, 2005
A Case of the Mondays
Clouds are rolling in as I prepare for Convocation here at Winthrop, where I get to wear the black robe with the hood and the stripes on the sleeves. Classes start tomorrow; I feel ready.
I've spent the day here at the office polishing things off for my classes that start tomorrow -- copied the syllabus, emailed my advisees, labeled my notebooks. . .
Speaking of my advisees, I freaked out when I noticed they were all born in 1987. 1987!! This means I am old. Withrop also lets you look up photos (from the student ID pictures) of your students and advisees in the computer. This is good for me because I have trouble with names. Hopefully, it will make it easier to remember the 75 or so students I have this semester.
My student loan business seems to be taken care of. The woman I spoke to today was very helpful when I explained my problem, then called me back within an hour to tell me she had figured out what happened and that she cleared it up. Looks like I won't be needing Winston's services after all.
I spent a little time on ENWorld
today while eating lunch. GenCon was this past weekend. I'm jealous of all those people who went (Rich, Tim, I'm looking at you). Next year, perhaps.
Andre and Heidi arrived back from their honeymoon yesterday morning. Sarah and I picked them up from the airport. They rested at our house for a bit, then headed back to Conway, taking Harley back with them. Of course we miss the dog now, despite our complaints of last week. The first thing Sarah said when we got back from dinner was "I miss Harley waiting for us at the door."
Movie report: Saw "War of the Worlds" in the theatre Saturday. It was pretty good despite really, really obvious logic and continutity problems -- like the guy using the camcorder after an EMP knocked out all the electricity and Tom Cruise having the only working car in New England. I am usually willing to let the small stuff go -- it's a movie, after all -- but these were enough to shock me out of my suspension of disbelief. In the spirit of world disaster, we also watched "The Day After Tomorrow" via netflix. I knew that was going to strain credibity, so the "ice age in 6 days" thing didn't bother me as much as the "fighting wolves in an abandoned oil tanker outside of the NY Public Library" did. Really, that was just silly. Also Netflixed "Big Night" about two brothers and their failing Italian resturant. Good stuff, there, and a nice indie, small film contrast to special effects driven blockbusters.
Next in the Netflix Queue is more "Sex and the City" for Sarah, more "Firefly" for me, and "I am Trying to Break Your Heart" -- the Wilco documentary.
I'm also rereading A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin, since the next book in that series comes out in November. More on that later, as I've noticed a few new things about that book on this reading.
Now, I've got to don the black robe and kick off the new school year.
Posted by Nakia at 02:55 PM | Comments (3)
August 18, 2005
I need a nap
I'm feeling really tired today. It's a combination of having a busy week of meetings and orientations and taking care of Andre's dog, Harley. Harley is a wonderful, sweet beagle. She does, however, have allergies that are exacerbated by something in our house and yard. Thus, there's a lot of itching, scratching, and moving about -- a lot of which takes place in the wee hours of the morning. It wakes me up, and I get up to try and comfort the poor dog. Occasionally, she'll hop into the bed (she sleeps in the bed at home) and I don't have the heart to kick her out. This morning, about 5:30 AM, she crawled up to the head of the bed, between me and Sarah, and put her head on the pillow. Cute, yes, but not exactly conducive to restfull sleep for Nakia.
I don't mean to complain, because we love the dog and are happy to take care of her for Andre and Heidi while they are on their honeymoon. We'd do it again in a second. Now, though, I need a nap.
Posted by Nakia at 12:59 PM | Comments (1)
August 17, 2005
Student Loans Suck
A whole lot is happening here, as I prepare my syllabus and go to many meetings in preparation for class next week. One thing that is stuck in my head like a splinter, however, is a problem with my student loans.
Back in May and June, I began the process of consolidating my considerable student loan debt. I wanted to only write one check per month and needed to spread out my payments a bit so I wouldn't be financailly overwhelmed as I started my new job. Due to some confusion on my part and some incomplete instructions on the part of lenders, I actually submitted two different consolidation requests to two different companies. That doesn't work. Thus, I had to cancel one of the consolidation requests. I thought it was all taken care of until this week, when I recieved a statement from Company 1 saying I owed them $20,000. This is after I had made two payments to Company 2 on the $30,000 student loan debt they consolidated for me. That $30K included the $20K from Company 1, so I should not owe Company 1 any money, as I canceled my consolidation request back in June. I called Company 1 today to try and explain what was going on. I only succeeded in confusing the poor girl on the phone who said she would have her supervisor call me back. Well, no call back.
So, I am going to try again tomorrow. This is not at all what I need to be dealing with right now, as I have to get ready for the semester and have lots of meetings this week. I am not sure what my ultimate recourse could be. I shouldn't owe Company 1 any money. The total amount owed to Company 2 represents my total debt (aside from the money I own Furman directly. I didn't consolidate that since it's a quarterly payment and a fixed rate).
Of course, all this is really Congress and the President's fault, since their tinkering with the Higher Education Act increased student loan interest rates significantly, thus leading to my frantic desire to consolidate before rates jumped July 1.
Posted by Nakia at 04:19 PM | Comments (2)
August 15, 2005
Monday Update
Still thinking of a catchy title for my Monday Updates. . .
Sarah and I have spent the last few days in Conway for Andre and Heidi's wedding, so that's mainly what's been up.
We drove down Wednesday night after I had a unproductive morning at work. I was just too excited to get much serious work done at the office. GTD has this bit about organizing things so you can do mundane mindless but necessary stuff when you are feeling unproductive; I should have followed that advice last Wednesday. Anyway, we got to Conway just in time to meet my dad and head over to Myrtle Beach. We dropped in on Andre at his bowling league, then ate dinner at this new fancy Mexican resturant called Abuelo's. It felt like The Cheescake Factory but with Mexican food; it was decent, but not wonderful, although it had a cool inside setup.
Thursday we helped prepare for the wedding -- mowing the yard until the lawnmower broke, putting up tents, etc. Thursday night was the Bachelor Party. About 20 of us had dinner at The Rivertown Bistro, a great resturant in Conway that my brother's company has done work for. The food was great and the company wonderful -- I saw lots of guys I hadn't seen in a long time that are shared friends of my brother and I. After dinner we --- deleted --- and got home about 2:00 AM.
Friday was more running around, this time to get the tuxes. Andre picked out some nice one's. White, long coats over tuquoise vests and bacl pants. The kicker was our groomsmen presents. Dre ordered us customized Converse Chuck Taylor's, complete with embroidered names, to match the tuxes. Very nice. That nice was the rehearsal dinner, which was held at dad's old (and Andre's current) house. Some old family friends who now have a produce company and do some catering grilled chicken and steaks, lots of friends and family came by, and we all had a good time.
The lowlight of the whole weekend was Saturday morning, when Andre, Mark (Andre's friend from Atlanta and fellow groomsman), and I had to move 150 chairs about 300 yards from the parking lot to the dock where the ceremony was going to be held. Not fun in 100% humidity and 85 degree heat. Having survived the Chair Death March, we all went out to breakfast, where Andre's ex-girlfriend promptly showed up. It was a little odd, but everyone was nice and civil. We then went home, where Andre packed for his honeymoon and I took a nap.
The ceremony was at 5:30 on the Riverwalk at the Conway marina. It was raining just a little at 5:15, but that soon passed. Sure, it was hot and humid, but I was proud and honored to be standing up there for my brother with fellow groomsmen Kieth, Scott, Mark, Emerson, and my dad as best man. Heidi looked wonderful. The ceremony, performed by Heidi's uncle, lasted about 20 minutes. Then there were the obligatory photos. After those, we walked over to the COnway shrine club for the reception which was catered by the best bar-b-que joint in the world -- Radd Dew's. The cakes were great, the music was fine, I danced with my wife (whom, it seems, I had not seen very much over the weekend), my new sister in law, and my mom. Andre and Heidi were taken away by Paul and his 54 Chevy. Sarah and I helped clean up for a bit, then went home and went to bed.
Sunday we were up fairly early. Andre and Heidi were flying out of Charlotte to their honeymoon in Rome (not Georgia) and were leaving their car and dog (Harley, who was also in the wedding) with us in Rock Hill. They got to the airport no problem, and are probably going to bed in Rome even as we speak.
Today was spent at the office, working on my syllabus and taking care of random office catch up stuff. Our home builder is coming by the house tonight to check out underneath. There is a lot of moisture under there, and even some small pools of standing water under the moisture barrier. While that bugs me, they general contractor was very cool when I talked to him today on the phone, telling us he'd come over when he took his son to football practice at the high school down the road.
Tomorrow is the first of many meetings this week, as classes start next Tuesday.
Netflix watching -- Bull Durham (overrated), Firefly TV series.
Posted by Nakia at 03:45 PM | Comments (6)
August 10, 2005
Brotherly Love
Sarah and I are about to head out of town for a few days. We're going to Conway for my brother Andre's wedding. I'm very excited for and proud of him. He's a very talented graphic designer, a font of ideas (I get these calls all the time that begin "Tell me what you think of this idea. . .") and a good businessman. With his buddy Keith, he's started his own design firm -- 803 Productions that has grown from Keith's living room to having five full time employees and even interns. He's started another website dedicated to the new Sony PSP -- UMD Planet. Now, he's getting married to a really cool girl -- Heidi. We're excited to bring her into the family.
I'll have full details of the wedding when we return. For now, I just wanted to give some internet love and congratulations to my brother.
Posted by Nakia at 12:23 PM | Comments (0)
August 08, 2005
Monday Update
I think Monday's will now be the "general update". I'll post the general what's going on kind of stuff, then get to specific rants/raves/comments as the week progresses. I could call it "More Cowbell" if that weren't already taken by The Sports Guy at ESPN. I'm willing to entertain suggestions.
Sarah and I joined Netflix. It's the bomb, especially if you don't have cable. This weekend we watched "Anchorman" and "Closer." Both were good; I liked "Anchorman" better than "Wedding Crashers". We have "Napoleon Dynamite" up next, then some "Sex and the City" and "Firefly" episodes. (and, yes, we are way behind on movies, which is why I am just getting around to seeing "Napoleon Dynamite" long after it has worked it's way into the zeitgeist).
Although I do not have cable and thus, no Sportscenter, I'm checking in on the Red Sox via my internet phone (which rules). Seven errors in three games? The Metrodome must suck, although wierd turff is not the cause of mental mistakes or throwing errors. And I'm glad they didn't trade Manny, even if he is a head case.
Made reservations for Homecoming today. Good ole FU is only 1.5 hours away now, so we're certainly going and excited. We're actually going to go to the football game this year, I think. FU all the time.
We're also trying to get tickets for the Texas A&M at Clemson football game on Sept 3rd. A&M does not come this way that often, so we're trying to take advantage. If anyone knows where I can get a couple of tickets, let me know.
All this sports talk makes me realize that, come September, we'll have to get cable for the baseball playoffs and college football. Sarah is pushing for the College GameDay package, or whatever it's called. 578 college football games. That's a lot.
Turned in my final grades today for the summer course. It was a good class and a good way to get started here at Winthrop.
Sarah and I came into the office yesterday and did the "Getting Things Done" organization. It took awhile, but now everything is well organized. I haven't fully implemented the system yet, but am getting there. It's working pretty well so far and has been very helpful.
We also had a great time with Leanna this weekend. Thanks for coming!
Monday's Question: As a teacher, is it better to present material through a given ideological lens but be upfront about it and certainly willing to listen to alternative viewpoints OR aim to be "ideology free" in one's presentation of the material? Can one even be "ideology free?" Isn't that, itself, an "ideology?"
Discuss.
Posted by Nakia at 02:39 PM | Comments (7)
August 05, 2005
Eating update
Since Sarah has gotten here, my eating habits have returned to a normal range. I've returned to about 12oz of Coke per day (some days more, some days less). We're cooking at home quite a bit. Wednesday night Sarah cooked salmon with dill sauce, peas, and Rice (well, rice-a-roni). My big weakness so far is the wings at a local sports bar -- Lukes. The wings are great, with the best teryaki wings I've ever had. The place is pretty inexpensive, too. Since Sarah and I have yet to get cable, we end up there once per week to eat wings and watch baseball. Probably need to cut back on the wings.
We've also joined the local YMCA, so I was at the gym three times this week. That's a good thing. The Y isn't the fanciest place in the world, but it's inexpensive and convienent for us. It's only a couple of blocks from my office. We were spoiled in Charlottesville, since Sarah worked for the nicest gym ever and we got free memberships as a result.
Sarah's younger sister is here this weekend, so we'll be out and about a lot. I've no doubt we'll be eating out quite a bit as well. Next week, though, I'm going to pick a "no soda day" and try to avoid Cokes and the like on that day of the week from now on. In fact, I'll take suggestions as to what day it should be. I'll be teaching Tuesdays & Thursdays in the fall, so it should probably NOT be one of those days. But the other days are open. Thanks for all the encouragment on the new eating plan thus far.
Posted by Nakia at 10:13 AM | Comments (1)
August 04, 2005
Formulaic and Mostly Funny -- Wedding Crashers
I was eagerly anticipating this movie. Andre said it was good. Rolling Stone was calling Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn the new Belushi and Ackroyd. Sarah and I saw this movie this past Sunday. I thought it was hilarious for about forty minutes. . . unfortunately the movie was about two hours long.
Spoilers, if that matters for a movie like this
Okay, so it's a silly premise. Two guys crash weddings to have no strings attached sex with the women who go to weddings. (Okay, maybe it's not that silly, since I could totally see people I know doing that sort of thing.) It's a formulaic plot -- one of the guys actually meets someone he cares for at one of these weddings and gets into trouble because he's made all this stuff up to get into the wedding and meet the girl in the first place. But it's still funny. Wilson and Vaughn play off each other very well; you believe that they are best friends. Vaughn (who always plays, well, Vince Vaughn) takes the laughs while Wilson plays the sensitive, straight man. Movies like this are not really about the plot, since you know exactly what's coming. Nor are they about character, since every character is rather "stock" -- crazy sibling, uptight dad, the rich, villainous boyfriend. This makes it easier to for us to identify people and get into the film without exposition. No, these movies are about the little, absurd bits in between all that that make us laugh. The first half of this movie has plenty of those.
And then, something happens. I can hear the studio execs now:
"Hey, this Wedding Crashers movie is pretty funny!"
"Yes, but we're alienating the female demographic. There are lots of failrly crude jokes in the beginning. And lots of breasts."
"Can't have that happen. Turn it into typical romantic film at about minute 50. That'll get the women back in!"
So, after the hijinks are up for Vaughn and Wilson -- after they are found out to be wedding crashers, the funny stops. Not just peters out -- stops. The movie goes from way funny to not at all funny. It simply becomes a romatic semi-comedy. Wilson mopes, tries to get the girl back, alienates Vaughn, etc. Blah.
Why can't filmakers make a movie that is just funny, from beginning to end? I'm thinking Landis here (and Vaughn/Wilson being compared to Ackroyd/Belushi just brings this further into my mind). Did The Blues Brothers have a "message"? Did Animal House have a major romantic subplot? Nope. They were just designed to make you laugh from beginning to end. The last movie I saw that really did that was Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle. Despite (or, really, because of) it's absurd, juvinile plot and gags, I was very entertained and laughed very hard. A lot.
I stopped doing that (laughing) about halfway through Wedding Crashers. Which is not what is supposed to happen in a comedy.
Posted by Nakia at 03:57 PM | Comments (7)
August 02, 2005
I saw rain, but not much fire
Saturday, Rich and Laura came down from Charlottesville and we all went to see James Taylor at the Verizon Ampitheatre in Charlotte. I'm not a big James Taylor fan. Sarah was especially enthused. Personally, I'm not a huge fan. I certainly like his stuff, but couldn't name more than a couple of his songs. Although I do know that "Fire and Rain" has nothing to do with a girlfriend and a plane crash. Anyway, we made the 45 minute drive to north Charlotte to see JT.
Laura put it best. James Taylor is like a comfy chair. Consistent, comfortable, and pretty safe. That best describes the concert as well. Nothing too flashy or spectacular, just comfortable. The uncomfortable part came about halfway through his first set, when it started to rain pretty hard. Fortunately, I had invested $20 in a giant tarp from Home Depot to sit on, since it had been raining on an off for a few days prior. It was big enough to sit on and hold over our heads. We spent most of the concert, arms held upward and outward, keeping the rain off of us so we could watch Taylor play "Carolina on my Mind" "Sweet Baby James" and a bunch of other songs I don't know. We stayed fairly dry, Sarah and Laura had a very good time, Rich and I had a good time seeing our wives have a good time, and, well, generally had a good time despite the weather.
(Rich came up with the title for this entry, btw. Credit where credit is due).
Posted by Nakia at 08:09 PM | Comments (1)