The New Musings of a Quiet Geek

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 decade ago quite overwhelming. That's in addition to everyone I knew of course... As befitting the occasion, there was tons of food... I drove up and back with my grandmother, uncle and little cousin, who is even more annoying in a small car. On the way back, we saw a moose by the side of Route 1. It was still far off in the distance so we didn't get a great view. I get home and realize my glasses case, with my glasses in it, was still in the car (I was wearing my sunglasses) so that added even more excitement...

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 hopefully there's a better one.) I realize now there was transference as well. Many things the two of his children who spoke related to us my own father would do/does. And then I discover he had the same cardiologist as my grandfather... As I was preparing dinner last night, I blew up the microwave which caused the whole apartment to fill with smoke. Just before I had to go back to work... I had followed the directions on the package and never had a problem withthe product before save for water leakage but something wasn't right. I couldn't possibly have cooked it for more...

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... People have complained the end falls flat but I pointed out, in my review of the book , the death wasn't surprising to begin with. Yeah, the final battle(s) in the book was better but that would have added another half hour at least to the movie which is really not the way to go. That's what the director's cut of the DVD is for. (Actually, the only thing if you ask me...) With the opening scene in the movie, it's established Harry is a playa which makes his infatuation with a certain young lady make more sense than it does in the book. My mother, who only read the ...

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 too call and reschedule for next month. Hopefully, the penalty for a missed a appointment isn't too steep... Wednesday night at work, I finished reading Death Star by Micheal Reeves and Steve Perry. The book was good all the way through but had no central plot until the last third in my opinion which was a downgrade. In that last third, we basically get a "Lower Decks" retelling of most of A New Hope . I did like how they were able to incorporate what we now know about Darth Vader and Grand Moff Tarkin into it though...The question I now have is, if Millennium Falcon is w...

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 Portland to visit my cousin this past Thursday and we went out to lunch. Nothing exciting happened. Today, another mutual cousin and her husband, who have rented a house up near my parents, stopped here for lunch. It was good to see them as I don't think I really had since their wedding. Maybe... Going to the dentist tomorrow. I'm not expecting terrible news; just the usual "floss more" stuff. I'm just not looking forward to it. Like haircuts, it must be done... The weather has been nice finally after days upon days endless rain. Living in a...

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 Town and the City by Jack Kerouac. As really most of his books, it's a fictionalized autobiography about the Martin family of Galloway, MA which anyone who spend one night in the area knows it's Lowell. Despite the fact that there wasn't really a centralized plot per se, there was many a scene or chapter that was interesting. But Josh, if it was so good, why'd it take you six months to read it? Well, I kept getting distracted by books my book group wanted to read and I didn't say it was good; I said it had it's moments. I got the sense while reading it...

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 glad the Sox finally capitalized on Lowe's weakness. Prick him and he bleeds. -Saw Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore . Apparently basis for '70's sitcom. But funnier. -If Green keeps this up, Lugo may never play again. #redsox -Saw The Proposal with parents and aunt. Green card wife couldn't make it. - Centurions not as good as I remember from my youth...

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 say the songs she actually did write are the best but I really can't say that. My favorite tracks are "All I Ever Wanted", "My Life Would Suck Without You" (Which she didn't write) and "Already Gone" (Which she co-wrote with one other). I know this can't be the first example of an album that combines phat (which is in Firefox's vocab apparently) beats touching lyrics throughout the entire album but it's the first I've thoroughly enjoyed. Yesterday, our final movie was The Spirit . It was very good but the che...

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. (True story: he blames himself for William Shatner's rise to stardom.) I loved the Dennis/Mr. Wilson dynamic between Carl and Russel. ("Can help walk you across your yard?" "No.") Last night, our friend that likes to cook and watch movies came up so we watched The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and The Exorcism of Emily Rose . The first film was full of deep meaning and sadness. The one problem I had with this movie and I really don't think this is a spoiler, Benjamin is born as a baby-sized old man. As he grows taller, he grows younger at least until ...

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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 50. (I don't think that last bit's important but maybe...) The book had it's moments but, frankly, aside from all the name dropping, I've seen better Lifetime movies because "men are evil and they will hurt you." The book basically deals with her life between like '57 and '62. Several instances were interesting and amazing that one woman actually went through all this but it simply was not a "guy's book."

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 it involves much rebooting. Today, I walked down as usual to find the seminary closed today due to the elevator project my church has been involved in. (You knew it was the same building, correct?) Was I called? Nope. The secretary called me once so I don't know why she wouldn't have my number... ::shrugs:: 2. Though thinking back I know when it happened, we discovered a couple nights ago that we no longer have BBC America as they moved it to the digital cable level. This was the cable system I've encountered where it was expanded basic but still... Epic Fail. 3. I heard through Fac...

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 . I never thought Danes was was a terrible actress by any means so it was either script or direction. (Um, wait. Didn't McG direct this one?) Moon Bloodgood (No, not Moon Zappa. Where is she now anyway?), from the kick-ass, yet tragically short-lived, Journeyman , had an oddly bigger role in the movie than Howard and it was not wasted in my opinion. One more casting point: Anton Yelchin, whom I just saw in Star Trek as the re-imagined Pavel Chekhov, was more convincing to me as the re-imagined Kyle Reece. One could rightly argue the latter role isn't nearly as iconic so th...

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 the space. The seminary gives more money to my church in terms of rent so there you go... The family crisis group still met so I had to give directions. To both groups actually. My mother and aunt came down to visit their mother as my aunt was on vacation this week. I went over for dinner on Monday and then they took me, my cousin and my other aunt out to lunch. (Well, actually, only me and my roommate hadn't actually eaten yet but whatever...) While they were down, their brother's cat was very sickly so they offered to pay to have him (the cat, not my uncle) put down. It wa...

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 the casting: Eerily close but slightly different. I agree with this assessment. Exact quotes were even used. Abrams said, probably more than once, that he wanted Star Trek to be more like Star Wars . So, he blew up Alderaan. I don't think I would have had the balls to obliterate the planet they did but, reading interviews with writers Kurtzman and Orci, I understand why they did. They wanted to show that this universe isn't the one we know and love. Because I can't do a review without nitpicks, here they are: Kirk's older brother's part apparently ended ...

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 think the action was too unrealistic considering the genre so that's another plus. I do have one peeve; and what would a review from me be without that? Stryker worked for the American government. Maybe there's a Washington in Canada. The capital I know is Ottawa but...In the comics, and I did say I'd only forget for the moment, Department H, the people behind the Weapon X program (and pointing out that's a Roman numeral was a nice touch) is part of the Canadian government. Even if they removed the Canadian involvement, I really don't think they'd like wea...

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 uncle but a bit more of a snob know-it-all. I think he was probably a lax Catholic as he seemed to suggest we're all about the building and not spiritual matters. After that and a Q&A, they decided a tour would be a good idea though it was held at my church so I declined. They also asked if I wanted to be a part of their board. Um, no... Not that I really could afford to but it was a nice day so I walked do to the Old Port and bought a couple CDs at ye olde local music shoppe. I was really looking for a good deal on the Pretenders new one as even Amazon is selling it at a...

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 regularly follow the mundaness that is my life on Twitter. I don't want to say I'll never blog again. Frankly, this site and I have chronicled much over the years and I'm not ready to give it up fully. Every so often, something comes up worth sharing. Case in point, Thursday night, there was a retirement celebration for our outgoing OT professor complete with a guest lecturer from Boston, dinner and a vesper service designed by the professor herself. It was good Thai food, though admittedly not my favorite Asian cuisine, and saw many people I knew. My parents c...

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... I don't think I mentioned this last time I did it but for the second time, I was the roamer/floater for my Sunday school this morning. All you do really is wander back and forth between the classes and make sure there's no murder or molestation going on. OK, there's more of a point than that but you understand... Yesterday, I went to the mall and got my haircut. The guy who cut my hair asked me twice if it started raining yet. Do I get weather reports beamed to my brain every ten minutes? Sadly, no. When I returned home, I started to do some writing but was int...

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, having Quetesh was of course mandatory. (That was a cool part however.) When I was watching it, I thought Apophis being the last Ssytem Lord to resist Ba'al seemed strange but I realized today that Ba'al helped take down Anubis in the proper timeline so...Two questions/statements about Daniel: One, his losing a leg was glossed over as the movie went along. I realize a whole year went by but...And Two, why does he just happen to to know the name of the ship that brought the Stargate to America? I realize he probably read it somewhere or Catherine told him at some point but ev...