The New Musings of a Quiet Geek

It's Not Nice To Insult the Mentally Ill...

2011-01-09T12:29:00.002-05:00

I'm sure I'll lose followers for this but my head is about to blow apart. Politicians on both sides of the aisle have made idiotic statements. Dan Quayle said "A Mind is a terrible thing to waste and not to have a mind is being very wasteful." Al Gore invented the internet. John Kerry's favorite Red Sox is "Manny Ortez." George W. Bush made up his own vocabulary. (Which may in fact just make him

Move Over Theo; I Have My Own Hot Stove Rock and Roll

2010-09-18T10:47:00.006-04:00

I did post a video from the Grace Potter and the Nocturnals concert (Well, from a concert...) but let me describe the experience in more detail. Best concert I've been to in years. Maybe since college when I went to see Bob Dylan with Natalie Merchant... (To be fair, the first time I saw Jewel she had just broken her collar bone and the second time she was forced to open for Rob Thomas...Jakob

Rather Random

2010-09-11T16:41:00.002-04:00

1. Watched American Gangster over Thursday and yesterday. That was a great movie and so well acted. I'm not old enough to know about the true events that inspired it but I'm surprised no one made a movie about it before. Russell Crow, who was also in the recently watched State of Play (Like that period of time where I watched like three Jennifer Aniston movies, this is my "summer of Russell" I

Eat. Pray. Love. Eat Some More.

2010-09-06T11:30:00.004-04:00

Before and during my vacation up to see the 'rents, I saw three movies but I decided to focus here on the one still in theaters. Eat. Pray. Love. begins Julia Roberts leaving her boring marriage. Really, why did she think it would work? She was a CIA Agent and he was mole planted at the IMF by an arms dealer. Then she falls for The Green Goblin; who, frankly, was too young for her. She decides

I Blogged, No Big Whoop...

2010-08-13T16:56:00.005-04:00

My regular readers, if you're still around, may remember that at least twice in the past I've gone into my "I'm going to die poor and alone" mental state. It happened again about a month ago now. In the past, as you may remember, this feeling coincided with getting dumped or rejected from a job. Sure the latter has happened but, truthfully neither event coincided with the feeling this time and

My Writing Style

2010-08-04T23:44:00.001-04:00

I write likeDouglas AdamsI Write Like by Mémoires, Mac journal software. Analyze your writing!

2010-04-15T00:17:00.001-04:00

Avatar Character Quiz from Quiz Rocket! Celebrity Quizzes & Teen Quizzes Questions, Answers, Trivia

My Take On The Healthcare Bill and Other Musings

2010-03-23T15:45:00.004-04:00

So the process of healthcare reform has taken a huge step. Sure it's a small step but look what will take effect in a few short months: sick children will no longer be denied coverage. How in God's name could that be a bad thing? Children can't be kicked off their parents coverage until before the age 26. When I came of age and had to get my own coverage, health insurance was a good hundred

Another Mismash of Stuff

2010-02-26T14:16:00.004-05:00

1. Last Saturday night I was invited to a party by a student at the Seminary where I work. He's housemates of sorts with a couple I know from church but most everyone I knew there was from work as the others from church had the "dual identity" as did. As the house was in my neighborhood, I walked down. I gave myself about 25 minutes and ended up being the first to arrive. I also ended up being

Movie Deja Vu (Good-ish and Bad-ish)

2010-02-15T15:46:00.003-05:00

Valentine's Day-If I had seen Love Actually, I probably would have really enjoyed this film. The acting was more than fine except maybe for both the Taylors. (Who's idea was it to make Taylor Lautner and Taylor Swift a couple anyway? Surreally lame.) There were several "surprises" in the movie. I figured out all but maybe two ahead of time. I feel stupid for not figuring out those two... I think

Africa: Fact And Technically Fiction

2010-02-06T10:32:00.003-05:00

Last weekend, I watched more research material. Somewhat anyway. After watching The International, I wanted to see The Interpreter, a movie the former supposedly was a rip off from. I didn't see that at all. Sure one had Nicole Kidman and the other had her best friend Naomi Watts but that's really where the similarities end. Sean Penn here reminded me more of Kevin Costner than Clive Owen. And

Because I'm A Lemming...

2010-02-03T23:19:00.002-05:00

This wouldn't fit as my status on Facebook so here it is...Go to www.urbandictionary.com. Type your first name into the search bar, and then post the FIRST entry about it. Copy, paste, share!Joshua is a sexy, masculine individual exuding the most desirable of traits. Although Joshua may be timid at first, his genuine and compassionate charm shine through above all things. He can be trusted with

I Don't Really Like Short Posts

2010-01-30T12:34:00.003-05:00

I was thinking I'd have a book review or even news on my own book to share right now but no. Instead here's reviews of two pretty different movies. 1. Havoc- This movie starred Anne Hathaway as a upper middle class socialite who's understandbly bored with the superficiality of her life and wants to experience something "real" like Hispanic gang culture. The movie was neither as good or as bad as

Why Can't Movies Make A Decent Ending Anymore?

2010-01-25T10:03:00.003-05:00

1. The International-This is one of those movies I like to call "reference material." The plot of a bank cornering the market on weapons deals to third world countries is something I wish I came up with first. The acting was superb. For some reason, I kept thinking what a great join Naomi Watts was doing hiding her accent as if she'd never done that before... The ending was both cool and WTF at

Somewhere Between Rant and Rave

2010-01-21T14:33:00.002-05:00

I discovered TNT is making a TV series on my favorite Maine author Tess Gerritsen's Rizzoli/Isles series which is exciting news. First off, it should be called Rizzoli and Isles as Maura is just as much the star of the series. In fact Body Double for instance was really more about Maura than Jane. Whatever.Angie Harmon is about the right age and personality to pull off Jane Rizzoli though,

Snowy Holiday Musings

2010-01-18T10:41:00.007-05:00

1. It's been awhile. I'll begin with a week ago this past Friday when I went down town to hear a band. A friend from high school plays drums. A couple other people from high school were there. It was a great time and welcome change of pace. 2. Finally had the Davis family Christmas party this past Saturday. Ugh. So boring. Only two presents for me as everyone else had already given theirs to me.

Mad Libs!

2010-01-06T23:32:00.001-05:00

Romeo and Juliet: Prologue Two cats, both alike in dignity,In fair China, where we lay our scene,From ancient sunshine break to new mutiny,Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean.From forth the fatal loins of these two foesA pair of star-cross`d goats take their life;Whole misadventured piteous overthrowsDo with their tree bury their parents` strife.The fearful passage of their

Random Holiday Thoughts

2010-01-01T10:26:00.003-05:00

1. Gave my parents the new Beatles Trivial Pursuit game for Christmas. I thought the 3 of us would have an easy time of it but they added six levels of difficulty to every category. Of course we got a lot of 5 and 6 level questions like where did John go to school or what street he lived on. Yikes! Get this there's a movie category and we watched Hard Days Night. It didn't help. It was good

Hot Stove Commentary

2009-12-15T15:10:00.002-05:00

I was pleased with the signing of former Twin Boof Bonser the other day. To me he seems like an improvement over Wakefield; age-wise anyway. It looks he's gonna be a long man in the annual revamped 'pen. Whatever.I say whatever because yesterday's signing of former Angel ace John Lackey makes the Bonser signing completely irrelevant. Despite stating the season on the DL for his former team the

Rules For A New Star Trek Series

2009-12-07T16:42:00.005-05:00

After reading, this article, I think all of my readers know I had to comment. Actually, I did at the article itself but what kind of host would I be if I forced you to go there and search for them? Besides this is why I have blog in the first place.I loved the new movie and agree a reboot needed to be done. It's more Trek than Universe is Stargate That said, it's too soon to use that alternate

What Does Alanis Morrisette Need With a Starship?

2009-12-06T17:02:00.005-05:00

For this month's book group at church I read The Shack by William P. Young. Simply put, not nearly as bad as I feared it would be given the beginning reminded me of Left Behind which as a pretty good story but "nauserating" theologically. In fact, Young's novel was quite thought provoking.The book tells the story of a man irritatingly named Mackenzie Phillips (Young never saw One Day At A Time

One More For November

2009-11-29T14:25:00.005-05:00

We're down to our last piece of pie and we're tossing the turkey carcass out so I think Thanksgiving 2009 is finally over. It may have actually ended when my parents went home on Friday but whatever...Yes, my parents came down and we had the dinner upstairs in my aunt's apartment. It was just the five of us. On Wednesday, I tried once more to get my ID replaced. They were open this time but I

More Thoughts By the Numbers

2009-11-24T16:42:00.003-05:00

1. In case you missed my raving about the movie, I so enjoyed Pirate Radio. What do you get when you mix the hilarious Brit writer Richard Curtis, of Vicar of Dibley, Love Actually, Notting Hill and 4 Weddings and a Funeral, and music of the '60's? This gem. Go see it!2. I'm thinking I should try the DMV again tomorrow as I have Wednesday and Friday off and Friday is Black Friday which may be

Updates and Commentary

2009-11-09T16:47:00.003-05:00

1. It's been almost a week since the same sex marriage law was shot down. I'm not totally pissed about it as I was as, you know, time heals all wounds or what not but I still am a bit irritated. There was a discussion about it at the seminary today on how for many opponents it was the word "marriage" that did it for them. The only openly gay student present responded she wanted the word. I can't

New Fall TV And Other Musings

2009-10-17T14:06:00.005-04:00

1. With the exception of two episodes of Courtney Cox's Cougar Town which as only two things going for it,Cox and co-star Crista Miller, I've really only started watching two new shows: NCIS: Los Angeles and Stargate: Universe. I can see now why producers or CBS or both didn't want it called NCIS: Special Projects or whatever. Supposedly, they're an uncover branch of the Naval Criminal

MLB Divided More Like NFL?

2009-09-29T17:07:00.003-04:00

After reading this article this morning, I was inspired to blog. I personally like the wild card but I admit the Sox could have tried harder this weekend.I've never understood why the Nation League has 16 teams and the American League has only 14. Why not 15 each? Having teams hurting for money makes it hard to think about making even more teams but what do I know? Also, I've never understood

Media Report

2009-09-13T14:54:00.004-04:00

MoviesNow that we have NetFlix, we've been watching more movies lately. First was the animated Superman: Doomsday. Overall, it was a great film but too short. I realize the whole "multiple replacement angle" may have been too convoluted for it but it still seemed more simplistic than it really should have been. Running at only seventy-something minutes, they could have expanded it more...Last

Thoughts on a Holiday Weekend

2009-09-05T10:45:00.001-04:00

This whole controversy on permission slips being handed out to parents on whether they want their child to watch President Obama's speech to them is just one more example on the whiny losers conservatives really are. I personally think children should know who their president is. You only have to watch one installment of "Jaywalkin'" to see most adults have no grasp of current events. (As an

Making Babies

2009-08-23T17:07:00.003-04:00

Except for the Neanderthal brow ridge, cute!: What do you think about my little new baby Julia? MakeMeBabies.com - What will your baby look like?OK, I don't know where the curly hair comes from but the kid is cute... What do you think about my little new baby Dresden? MakeMeBabies.com - What will your baby look like?My son looks like a cancer patient...

Something More Important Later

2009-08-09T00:14:00.001-04:00

There Are 0 Gaps in Your KnowledgeWhere you have gaps in your knowledge:No Gaps!Where you don't have gaps in your knowledge:PhilosophyReligionEconomicsLiteratureHistoryScienceArtDo You Have Gaps in Your Knowledge?

A History Lesson Into My Family

2009-07-27T16:26:00.004-04:00

Oscar Fellows had two sons Frank and Raymond. The descendants of these two branches gathered this past Saturday on a lake in mid-coast Maine. Frank, my great-grandfather, had more children so, naturally, more of them where there. It may have been tough for many but still being introverted, I found meeting relatives I've never met and then others who I haven't seen since some family funeral a

The Meh Day

2009-07-23T17:05:00.003-04:00

Yesterday morning, I went to a funeral for a well-respected churchgoer. It was very touching. Though I knew the man well enough to want to pay my respects, I wouldn't say I knew him all that well. Yet, I cried twice. One of the hymns they'd played makes me weepy anyway as perhaps I will always subconsciously connect it to when we moved away from my hometown. (That's my explanation for that but

Let's Go To The Videotape!

2009-07-19T16:11:00.003-04:00

After going to see the latest Harry Potter film, I had to re-read my reviews of both this book and The Deathly Hollows. Interestingly, the biggest peeve I have with this movie was that they left out the "Half-Blood Prince" explanation that didn't make much sense to me in the book anyway but, still, some explanation on why this person went by the name in the first place would have been good...

Of Dentists and Death Stars

2009-07-18T10:36:00.003-04:00

Tuesday, I was supposed to go to the dentist. I call for a taxi as I didn't want to risk being late on the bus. They said they'd send one right out. I wait outside and when the taxi arrived, the fun began. Another person in my building apparently called the exact same taxi company not 5 minutes before I did! I realize now that this confused them. It became too late for my appointment so I had

Simply Because I Haven't Posted This Month

2009-07-13T18:50:00.004-04:00

I've seen a lot of family recently. This has been good. Went with my parents to spend the Fourth visiting my father's, and my "upstairs aunt's" sister in New Hampshire. This was a nice change of pace. The weather wasn't too bad but it wasn't good swimming weather so boo to that! Now that he's 10, that little cousin is not the annoying little kid he used to be. They themselves came here to

Can Anyone Tell Me What These Two Reviews Have In Common?

2009-06-26T18:26:00.007-04:00

I almost forgot to go to work Wednesday then forgot to actually make sure the door was unlocked for the groups to get in. I've been pretty absent minded lately. That's of course including the leaving my cell phone charger at my parents while clearly "remembering" it was in my pocket...After I unlocked the door and finished dinner, I finished finally finished reading a book from Christmas: The

Twitter Update

2009-06-24T16:44:00.006-04:00

Instead of giving you a huge recap of what I did over my little vacation up north, I decided to give you, more or less, what I'd have said on Twitter, more or less, at the time. I'm not counting characters and this probably won't be in order.-Had root beer float with dinner. Why is that funny, Dad? Hmmm? -Why does the new Iron Man cartoon suck? I mean besides them making Pepper annoying...-I'm

The Good, The Better And The Meh

2009-06-15T15:08:00.005-04:00

It's been awhile since I did a full CD review on here so let me tell you about Kelly Clarkson's new All I Ever Wanted. It's more and more awesome with every listen. It's not as good as her previous two albums. She has less writing credits with this album so it's less personal or "personally personal" as it contains genuine emotion but in the more generic sense. The sensible side of me wants to

I Was Going To Call This "Russel the Wilderness Explorer" But...

2009-06-14T12:06:00.005-04:00

Yesterday, since my roommate was going with friends anyway, I went to see UP! What a great movie. After seeing Wall-E, I worried that Pixar had lost it but this was great. There are few actors still living that I can think of when I think crotchety old man and Ed "I Hate Spunk." Asner is at the top of the list. Christopher Plummer was awesome as the villain but this should not surprise anyone.

A Survey For June 2009

2009-06-13T10:32:00.001-04:00

15 Super Special Awesome Questions Survey from Quizopolis.comAre you awesome? - YesDo you like nachos? - Who doesn't?Do you know a person named Ashley? - Know a person? Yes. A few...Do you have blog? - ApparentlyWhat's your favorite food? - macaroni and cheese (homemade)Puppies, kittens, or pot-bellied pigs? - KittensDo you forward those irritating chain e-mails? - Not usually. Do you have any

The Heart Of A Geek

2009-06-07T18:17:00.000-04:00

While doing two stints at church this week unlocking doors, etc., first at the dance group and domestic violence group on Wednesday then for the final string quartet concert of the season just yesterday, I finished reading Heart of a Woman by Maya Angelou for this afternoon's book group. Today due to vacation schedules and possibly naps, I was the only male among four women; all of whom are over

Here's An Update (In Bullet Form)

2009-06-03T16:29:00.005-04:00

1. My boss at the library is on vacation this week though was here on Monday anyway. Yesterday, it was fine. The semester is over so, besides the workstudy students, we had only one come in who needed help with the copier occasionally. The biggest problem lately has been our computers are totally crappy. We have 4 and it really seems like I have to go to each one to perform a specific task and

I Can't Believe Chirstian Bale Actually Said "I'll Be Back..."

2009-05-24T18:42:00.003-04:00

The movie reviewing continues this episode with Terminator Salvation. I've said this before, twice, and I'll say it again: the acting was way better than I was expecting. Christian Bale was great as the finally adult John Connor. Sam Worthington was awesome as was Bryce Dallas Howard who was somehow in a smaller role yet way more interesting as Kate than Claire Danes' more-involved version in T3.

Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight.

2009-05-22T11:42:00.006-04:00

Wednesday was the Seminary's end of the year party. Despite no homemade feast this time, this was more fun to me than the last Christmas party. Once again, graduating students rang the bell for every semester they attended. This year, we had two 16s! But, Josh, you work on Wednesday night. Yes, I was working I just didn't get the money I'm used to. The dance group was canceled so we could use

To Boldly Go Where No Quiet Geek Has Gone Before!

2009-05-15T15:19:00.006-04:00

JJ Abrams has taken the mantle of God, if you will, from Rick Berman. Starting with Alias, I can't think of anything that guy has done that hasn't totally rocked. (Didn't watch Felicity and don't want really want to...)His vision for the new Star Trek universe is scary cool. Almost every nitpick I may have had was wiped out from the opening scene. Every review I read say the same thing about

I Could Wait For This But...

2009-05-08T18:02:00.003-04:00

Walking back in the rain from seeing Wolverine didn't dampen my enthusiasm for this movie. One thing this movie did well was threaten to fuck with continuity (In terms of the other movies. Let's forget the comics for the moment.) and then turn out really not to. I had worried when Cyclops entered the pic but he never encountered Logan and the latter doesn't remember nothing anyway. I didn't

I Can't Think Of A Title

2009-05-03T17:30:00.003-04:00

Last Sunday, and I can't believe I didn't post about this, I went to a workshop on energy conservation tips for church congregations. A 3-hour workshop. May energy was sapped after that...I'm glad I went though. My friend needed the moral support from her friends and I was the only one to show up. The presenter of the PowerPoint (Yeah, that's how Firefox wants to spell it...) reminded me of my

The Neglected Blog

2009-04-25T10:26:00.002-04:00

With the discovery of the time-waster that is Facebook, I find I no longer need to waste my time here. This is mainly why I haven't done any quizzes or other memes here in a cat's age. (I'm not a dog person...) They're all over there. Also why tell you all about what's not going on in my life when I can better waste time by making fake money off Lindsay Lohan's hi-jinks? Added to that, you can

The Quiet Geek Uncensored.

2009-04-19T16:26:00.003-04:00

Today, relatives came to my aunt's apartment (Did I mention that she lives in our building now?) to celebrate my grandfather's 87th birthday. Nothing completely annoying happened but it frankly tests my love of mature conversation. It didn't help that it was scheduled during a Red Sox game. I had heard all the news already. I don't care if my uncle is shopping around for truck to plow is driveway

Stargates, Potlucks And...

2009-04-11T15:06:00.004-04:00

Watched Stargate: Continuum last night. Overall, I liked it. Never have I seen an alternate timeline actually complain about getting fixed. Of course, they were going to anyway because yuck...Alternate timeline stories on Stargate all have similar elements. Teal'c is always First Prime to someone although making it Ba'al instead of Apophis was different. Also, because Vala is part of the cast now

Busy Weekend #235

2009-04-05T17:26:00.006-04:00

On Friday after work, I helped set up for Saturday's string quartet concert and then walked to the bank in the pouring rain. Fun times but I suppose if you walked in a nor'easter, that was nothing. Besides, I had Chinese food waiting...Saturday was the concert itself. I showed up when I was told but I really think I could wait at least another half hour before going. Since I'm "the guy" now, I

Updating Previous Topics

2009-04-02T15:25:00.004-04:00

Some of you may be interested in knowing what's new in my life. A couple weeks ago, I finished reading Ernie's Ark which is a collection of short stories written by Maine author Monica Wood. Recently, I read on fellow Maine author Tess Gerritsen's website that she felt the short story format was dead. I agree it's dying but I'm not sure it's totally dead as this book, put out only a couple

Research Material?

2009-03-22T13:36:00.003-04:00

Yesterday, I went to see the new Julia Roberts/Clive Owen picture Duplicity. Hearing it advertised, I assumed it was a MI-6 agent and a CIA agent having a relationship without revealing their respective allegiances. No, they've actually left their respective agencies and now are supposedly working a corporate espionage scheme for a company when, in reality, they're using the situation to raise

Well, I'm Not That Old!

2009-03-09T08:27:00.001-04:00

Created by Train Horns

I Guess I Should Have Waited...

2009-03-03T18:20:00.003-05:00

Though it snowed a lot yesterday and it looked like every class was canceled, the seminary had the final New Testament professor candidate make his presentation. Since no one answered the phone when I called three times, I assumed they were closed so I didn't go.Here's what I know. Candidate One was a woman who admitted she just turned fifty. (Age I think is less of an issue here but there you go

When A Crocodile Eats My Mind.

2009-03-02T11:42:00.003-05:00

There was more than one thing I wanted to discuss but I can only think of one thing at the moment. I just finished reading When A Crocodile Eats The Sun by journalist Peter Godwin. Of course not counting Winter Storm and The Bone Garden, this was my favorite book we have read for my book group. I was pretty much alone in this as the general consensus was it was too depressing and badly edited.

My Bologna Has A First Name...

2009-02-23T16:31:00.002-05:00

I wasn't impressed with Hugh Jackman's hosting job. Will Smith was said it best when he implied the guy must be napping. The musical mash-up sucked. It had no place at the Oscars. That's a Tony thing and even less people watch that awards show so do the math! Letterman's "Oprah/Uma" turd back in the day was more interesting.The Academy voters seemed particularly lazy this year. Slumdog

Wrestling With Life and Other Issues

2009-02-19T15:48:00.005-05:00

In the last week or so, I've watched two completely different movies for two completely different audiences. First, The Spiderwick Chronicles. This movie was clearly trying to cash in on Harry Potter and perhaps even the Narnia movies. This was also based on a book series but instead of just one book per movie so they could legitimately milk it, this movie had plot and storyline from books 1-3

Valentine's Classic

2009-02-14T10:12:00.004-05:00

Last night, friends from the seminary, along with three friends of one of the students, met downtown for drinks and to hear a musician known by my boss. Yes, I was the token male in a group of 6 women. (Like immortals, apparently, there can be only one. But there must be one.) The music, food and entertainment was great. I mean who wouldn't like a block of Tom Petty on a Friday night? Of course,

News and a Review

2009-02-12T14:11:00.004-05:00

This is a time of change at the seminary where I volunteer. By the end of the month we'll have new professors in Old and New Testament. This week, we were treated to a lecture and Q & A over pizza with finalists for the position vacated by our retiring OT professor. Without getting into too much detail, both are women aged mid-30's to mid-40's and "of color." I choose to believe this is a

Why Didn't I Post Up North?

2009-02-03T15:46:00.003-05:00

1. Yeah, so no eventful bus rides. It was kind of close making the bus home and for some reason the Metro bus driver didn't give me my free ride from the station. Maybe they dumped that arrangement due to the economy or maybe there's limits... 2. Wrote 10 pages. Actually, I wrote 16 but thanks to the cat, six were lost. She also managed to turn the display on my mother's laptop completely

Writing Retreat

2009-01-21T15:12:00.006-05:00

Because I know you all care, I figured I'd get on this here blog to report that tomorrow I'm back up north to cat-sit. My parents are going on a mission trip to the Dominican Republic for about a week and we all figured poor Susie would be happier not only having someone there full-time instead of just dropping by once a day but someone she knows and loves. This is where I come in...I hope to

I Have No Life!

2009-01-19T16:26:00.000-05:00

Star Wars: Retold (by someone who hasn't seen it) from Joe Nicolosi on Vimeo.

Atlantis Deep Sixed

2009-01-10T11:02:00.004-05:00

The main point I want to get across here is the finale of Stargate: Atlantis was much better than the one for SG-1. For one, they finished the storyline. I thought it was both touching and predictable they killed off Hammond given that Don S. Davis had recently passed.Oh, I would be remiss not to point this out, when Major Davis was introduced, Carter was only a captain and now is a "full bird"

Post 666!

2009-01-09T15:18:00.002-05:00

I wonder if that's significant for a Hot Stove talk...I think it's time to talk a little Red Sox. I have no problem disposing of Coco Crisp for a relief pitcher because he really isn't needed and pitching always is.The signing of Rocco Baldelli is an interesting one. I think, though am not really sure, he'll be able to play all the outfield positions where as they only used Crisp for center. (I

Book Group Musings

2009-01-05T14:12:00.002-05:00

As some of you know, the book group I am part of at my church, decided my book would be a good one to read over the holidays. We discussed it yesterday afternoon. It went much better than I thought it would, honestly. The format of our monthly meetings is to just discuss the book of the month but, since I the author was there, it turned into a Q & A with moi. I'd have to re-read the interview I

One More Movie. A Christmas One No Less...

2009-01-04T12:12:00.003-05:00

Fred Claus: This is the story of Santa's older brother Fred (Vince Vaughn). The plot is about an evil efficiency expert played by Kevin Spacey trying to end Christmas because he didn't get the present he wanted as a child; a Superman cape no less. Spacey's character reminded me a lot of Lex Luthor but somehow it worked quite well...Nick Claus was played by Paul Giamatti and his was a combination

New Year's Day Movies

2009-01-02T16:56:00.005-05:00

X-Files: I Want to Believe: I wanted to like this movie. Admittedly, I was never a fan of the series (I do love Fringe oddly enough...) and still have not seen the first movie. This didn't suck but but it was underwhelming.Billy Connolly was great as the psychic priest. (I won't go into how priests are always either psychics or pedophiles and he was both here...) Amanda Peet was great and still

Drabble

2008-12-31T14:08:00.004-05:00

I was going to use this as entry into a contest but I decided I didn't wanted pay to do it so I'll let you enjoy it instead:Old Joe thought he was going to be sick. The hamburger sandwich wasn’t sitting well. He should have known the lunch counter wouldn’t just give away their best food to a homeless bum like himself. Sure, many still had the Christmas spirit but what can you do?As he stuck

Christmas in Maine

2008-12-28T17:00:00.004-05:00

My story begins on Friday the 20th. My bus was delayed due to the previous days storm and the inefficiency to get back up and running 100% when shutting down. Later we hear from a father talking to his daughter on his cell. Her bus from Boston, and therefore my bus was broken down in Kennebunk. Alternator was shot or something. Another bus bound for the north finally arrived going a different

Closing In On Post #666

2008-12-16T18:39:00.009-05:00

Thursday, I drove up to Bangor to see the play "A Year With Frog and Toad," which my second cousin was in, with my uncle and grandmother. My aunt and parents met us there. A drive that would normally take like 2 and half hours took about 5 because, well, the weather was just so awesome...The musical was great, as I still love the stories, with, honestly, the best parts thanks to my cousin as

Another Shatner Series Cancelled Prematurely

2008-12-09T17:20:00.004-05:00

The final episode of one of my favorite series was last night. Boston Legal was both thought-provoking and zany all the same time. Creator David E. Kelly basically combined the sensibilities of his previous law shows. It had the seriousness of the show it spun-off from, The Practice, but knew how to have fun at the same time like Ally McBeal.And the cast was amazing. Only James Spader, Candace

Thoughts on Christmas Music

2008-12-08T15:18:00.003-05:00

I could've Twitted about 6 times about this but I decided a short blog pot would work better:On the Song "Do They Know It's Christmas Time At All?" by Band Aid in 1985(?):1. Since Africa is like two-thirds Muslim, the age-old question should be "Do they really care?"2. My favorite line is "Thank God it's them instead of you..." I assume they were just imitating assholes hearing this song but it

Stirfry In The Devil's Wok

2008-12-01T14:26:00.003-05:00

The title is a reference to my favorite line, found in chapter 4, of the book club book I just finished Saturday night: Here If You Need Me by Kate Braestup; who, by the way, went to the seminary I now work. The book tells the true story of how she dealt with the sudden death of her husband through mothering her four children, her job as Maine State Game Warden Chaplin, and her faith. There were

Ten Years Gone

2008-11-29T10:28:00.004-05:00

So far, my Thanksgiving weekend has been quite different. My roommate and I had my parents, grandmother and uncle over for the actual meal. My aunt/his mother had to work but she provided the chocolate cream pie and got a plate later. As is usual when my family gets together, we laughed a lot. My father told this story he heard on the radio where astronauts have this machine that turns their

Had To Share

2008-11-26T08:03:00.002-05:00

Apparently the new trailer for the upcoming Star Trek film has been updated:So excited!

Reviews!

2008-11-16T11:56:00.005-05:00

This past week I finished reading a classic Star Trek novel. The Pandora Principle is the official, until debunked in a movie or TV series, origin story of Lt. Saavik; who's now a captain in the recent "Vulcan books" by Sherman and Schwartz. I really have to doubt the two women read this book by Carolyn Clowes when they decided Spock and Saavik would be betrothed to each other. In the Pandora

An Experiment With Last.fm

2008-11-11T17:50:00.006-05:00

Musical Magic 8 BallGo to your music player of choice and put it on shuffle.Say the following questions aloud, and press play.Use the song title as the answer to the question.NO CHEATING.1. How does the world see me?"Band on the Run"- Paul McCartney & Wings Do they see me as stuck inside a room?2. Will I have a happy life?"El Salvador"- Peter, Paul & Mary I'm gonna have to go with "No"...3. What

This Must Be Said.

2008-11-10T17:01:00.003-05:00

Probably every four years, maybe more often, maybe less, the "Christian Right" determine which candidate best follows their interpretation of the Bible. This forces the implication that to be a follower of Jesus' teaching you must be a Republican. I have no idea where people get this. I personally do not remember the verse or chapter where Jesus goes to Abraham's homeland (Find Ur on a map. It's

I Am The Quiet Geek!

2008-11-01T11:39:00.003-04:00

A revelation hit me the other night while I was trying to sleep. Terry Brooks' Word and Void series continuing with the just finished Genesis of Shanarra trilogy (I haven't read the final book Gypsy Morph yet.) Is basically The Dark Is Rising series for a more mature audience. Yes, fantasy book fans will point out that every fantasy series is basically about good versus evil but the similarities

Birthday Bulletpoints

2008-10-30T16:24:00.004-04:00

Related in the order it appears in my head:1. My parents and I watched two movies on TV. the 1939 Hunchback of Notre Dame with Charles Laughton and Maureen O'Hara; who isn't Scarlett's sister, we explained to my father, because Scarlett is a fictional character...This was on TCM so it was unedited. I thought it was being shown because of Halloween approaching but my feeling at the time of that

Flood Insurance?

2008-10-19T16:56:00.005-04:00

Last night, and finishing this morning, my roommate and I watched Evan Almighty with Steve Carrell and Lauren Graham with Morgan Freeman reprising his role from Bruce Almighty as God. Carrell plays Evan a newly elected congressman who is charged by God to build an ark for the coming flood. I was expecting a much less religious movie with raunch but this actually would work in a middle school aged

Lucky Town

2008-10-11T10:13:00.003-04:00

Recently, I finished reading the fourth book in the Dark is Rising series: The Grey King. I had hopes for this book given that it won a Newberry Medal when it came out in the late seventies. At first, I was willing to concede it was better than Greenwitch but it was hard for me to figure out how this won anything but now that I've finished it, I was, to quote a certain turtle from Finding Nemo, "

Will Tomorrow's Debate Have A Talent Portion?

2008-10-06T15:43:00.002-04:00

How the Vice Presidential Debate should have gone. (Or is it how it went?):

This Wheel's on Fire

2008-10-04T10:32:00.003-04:00

I came across this article the other day and have been dying to share it with you. Thank God this wasn't thought of in '84... This leads me to my thoughts on the VP debate. While Palin wasn't a "deer-in-headlights," this really wasn't a good performance for her. There was one question Biden totally didn't answer and others he answered frankly half-assed but Palin was not answering questions all

Hey Mister!

2008-09-29T17:03:00.006-04:00

The first selection from my book group was Collateral Damage: America's War Against Iraqi Civilians by Chris Hedges and Laila Al-Arian. This maybe the first non-fiction book I've reviewed here. (For now, we'll just say it is.) My conservative readers may say that this book is pure liberal trash but no it isn't. Sure, it ultimately supports a liberal point of view but it was compiled from

Music Activity

2008-09-20T17:32:00.004-04:00

Today, my roommate and I were at Starbucks and I saw a new collection of Canadian artists called Northern Songs. I liked a handful of the choices but wasn't pleased by a few omissions. Googling the album to see what others thought. Doing so, I came across an assignment from a professor of Canadian studies at the University of Vermont (Where else would they have a major like that?) to come up with

Up From Under

2008-09-18T15:46:00.003-04:00

I guess we'll start on Saturday. I had an alumni Homecoming celebration downtown. As usual, nobody from my class came but I was surprised as I entered that a friend from high school was there. It turns out that her sister is the director of Alumni Relations at my college. Somewhat weird I think although I didn't go that far way to college so that may explain it...Sunday we were supposed to go out

I've Meant To Do This For Days. Really...

2008-09-06T11:32:00.006-04:00

Two "major events" have happened to me recently that I thought I'd share with you all and I'll throw in a couple reviews too because, well, why not?On Labor Day, I was invited to the seminary's picnic up at Camp Mechawana which is the state's Methodist camp. Though apparently built about 10 years before, it reminded me a lot of Pilgrim Lodge the summer camp I went for many years as a child.

Something to Blog About?

2008-08-30T08:42:00.004-04:00

This past week gave me a few things to talk about so...Yay!My parents were down so Monday we went out to Applebee's. First off, when I ordered the Strawberry Mojito, I was carded. Am I now at the age I should be flattered by this or is it still an embarrassment? Second off, I don't know what was more annoying the fact I really didn't like it or the fact my mother knew I didn't like it. It wasn't

Another Reason the Yankees Suck.

2008-08-28T19:11:00.001-04:00

If you can't go to the bathroom during the 7th inning stretch, when can you?

Living Up To The Title

2008-08-23T13:15:00.000-04:00

I apologize to my readers who have been short changed on blog posts from me but there has really been nothing worth talking about. In the past, I filled this blog up with TV episode reviews. I basically did this because in grad school and, living at home with my parents, I really had no one to discuss what I was watching with. Moving in here with my cousin has given me someone to discuss this

Drama On Multiple Fronts

2008-08-14T17:06:00.004-04:00

Literary Drama: Last night, I finished the Star Trek novel Uhura's Song by Janet Kagan. It was a very good book if drawn out a bit longer than it needed to be. There was one subplot of the mysterious new doctor that really was unnecessary in my opinion. I think it was included to give Spock more to do but I think he had enough to do as it was. The plot involved finding a cure for disease

Wow. Have I Ever Gone This Long Without Posting?

2008-07-31T17:14:00.006-04:00

This will be long but probably not too informative because, that's not how I roll... Before I left to go up to keep my father and cat company in the absence of my mother who was at a church youth thing in TN, we watched the live action Alvin and the Chipmunks. Overall, it was a great film and throughout the movie they answered my "But what about this?" questions. (I'm still not sure why Simon

I Hate Reusing Titles.

2008-07-12T10:36:00.006-04:00

I was reading TV Guide's review of Wall-E yesterday and I really don't agree with it. They suggest that it's the best Pixar film to date. I think the exact opposite. They particularly liked that it shows humans will be fat and lazy a millennium to two from now. My thought is "Well, yeah..." but this is not really what I want from a cartoon. You know what I would like from a movie? Dialogue. Even

Only One Thing to Say

2008-07-06T18:26:00.002-04:00

The Incredible Hulk movie totally rocked. It was so much better then the Ang Lee massacre. One, they had a villain in Abomination and didn't waste Absorbing Man as the first attempt frankly did. I thought Eric Bana's acting wasn't terrible but casting Ed Norton in this one to me worked better on two levels: One, Norton is less "buff" so the contrast was more appropriately striking and, two,

Sports Because I Don't Want To Talk About Me

2008-07-04T10:46:00.003-04:00

It's almost the All-Star Break. The Red Sox aren't leading the division and, despite the fabulous win last night, really can't seem to win on the road. Are they trailing the Yankees? No. The Yankees really suck this season. I really think their reign of terror is over. No, the real threat this season for the Sox is Tampa Bay. I watched the hideous sweep down in St. Pete earlier this week and I

Do Any Guys Read This?

2008-07-01T08:09:00.003-04:00

My creation.

Google Life

2008-06-27T00:35:00.004-04:00

My life according to GoogleType in the following and choose from the first page.1: Type in "[your name] needs" in the Google search:-Josh needs support to learn how to express his anger appropriately. 2: Type in "[your name] looks like" in Google search:-Josh looks like he's picking his nose. 3: Type in "[your name] does" in Google search:-What Josh does when he's supposed to be sleeping. (!)4:

The Conference And The College

2008-06-23T17:06:00.003-04:00

This past weekend, I went up with a group from my church and my parents to the Maine Conference UCC's Annual Meeting up at the University of Maine at Farmington. Overall, it was a good meeting. In the past, I'd would go to this with my parents and get "I changed your diapers when you were a baby." Thank God no one said that exact phrase to me this time but I did see people hadn't seen me in years