George.

This short cartoon from Disney's animated release Fantasia 2000 pretty much sums up everything I thought New York would be. After 14 months here, I'm happy to say this is exactly how it is, just with less of the Gershwin soundtrack. I'm putting more Gershwin on my iPod today, then it'll be EXACTLY like this.

More vacation ideas

A couple of weeks ago, I posted a blog entry about some exotic vacations I hoped to take. I received quite a response to that post, and have a few more ideas thanks to many suggestions. I've listed some of my favorites below.

A rare and lengthy ten day visit to Bhutan sounds incredibly interesting, or boring. I know next to nothing about Bhutan, other than the picture looks amazing, so this trip would definitely take some extensive planning. According to the website however, “This is the real "Shangri-La". Isolated by the Himalayas for centuries, these independent people with strong Buddhist & animist traditions are just beginning to welcome tourists. Less than 9,000 foreigners per year visit Bhutan. Bhutan is an enlightened monarchy. Universal health care and education are free to all. Everyone studies English and ecology, so communication is easy and the scenery is gorgeous. Bhutan is 70% forested and 29% national park. Wildlife is unique (ie. golden langur, snow leopard, takin) and abundant. Frequent religious festivals feature spectacularly colorful dancing monks against a rugged mountain backdrop. The architecture is incomparable in design and brightly painted detail.” This sounds pretty good to me, and it’s a steal at only three grand for a ten day trip.

Three hours of actual dog fight training. (That would be airplane dog fights; as in aerial combat, come on!) This would be an amazing trip. At just $1,195 you get up to three hours of in flight fighting. You seriously can’t beat that… well, maybe you could. But it would still be an amazing experience. I’m thinking that while this would be tons of fun and would be a story worth telling later, I could probably get a lot more for my 1200 bucks than three hours of fun. It’s possible, but not top on my list. http://www.aircombatusa.com/

A seven day guided climb of Mt. Kilimanjaro in Africa. For only $4750 you get a professional led private expedition through Africa and up Mt. Kilimanjaro, the most famous mountain in Africa. That includes all amenities, like food, tents and climbing gear etc. According to the website, “Kilimanjaro is one of the best-known mountains of the world, and it has been an alluring destination for adventurers for more than a century. The peak has remarkable power to elicit a sense of adventure and exotic travel, and as one of the Seven Summits, it remains a strong draw for climbers and trekkers alike throughout the world. The New York Times recently named it one of The 53 Place to Go in 2008.” Of course, that New York Times list also includes Detroit as one of the top 53 places to go, so it’s hard to take them seriously. New Yorkers sure are crazy for their Detroit. http://aai.cc/ProgramDetail/kilimanjaro/

The ultimate vacation would be one year on board the classic sail boat the Picton Castle exploring the world. Obviously, a person has to be extremely dedicated to their vacations to take one that a full year long, no to mention the $39,000 price tag. To spend a year learning to sail
while travelling around the world might just be worth the hefty cost. And according to the Picton-Castle website, “No sailing experience is needed” sounds good to me. Anyone have 39 grand lying around? www.picton-castle.com/train/

Personally, I think the idea of driving classes to be much more realistic. Learning about managing cars at extreme speeds or in extreme conditions sounds like a great time to me, especially if the car being used is a BMW. At the BMW Performance center, conveniently located in Spartanburg, South Carolina, anyone can take classes in driving on a variety of courses and skill levels. I’m down for this one. http://www.bmwusa.com/performancecenter

Finally, how’s a motorcycle tour of Tuscany sound. In fact, the company that sets these up has tours all across Europe and New Zealand. Riding a BMW bike along the curving roads of the Italian Alps sounds like a great time. This one costs just $6,000 for a two week all inclusive trip. In my mind that’d be money well spent. The cost also covers the van that will drive your luggage from point to point for you and a local motorcycle guide if you want one. http://www.bmca.com/

Upcoming Movies

When I am extremely eager for a films release, I've made a habit of buying tickets to the 12:01am show on Thursday night at the AMC 25 in Times Square. I've had an average of one such film per month since my move to NYC. This month is different. Two weeks ago, I caught the 12:01 showing of Wanted, and have at least one film per week for at least the next few weeks that I'll be waiting in line to see. I've listed some that I'm looking forward to below.

Tonight: (obviously)


Next Thursday: (This is going to be great!)


Thursday, July 24th: (This one could go either way.)


Beyond this, unfortunatly I have nothing to look forward to until Quantum of Solice on November 7th: (My God, this looks amazing!)

I can't wait until Friday!

You may remember a short Hellboy promo I posted a week or two ago:
Bravo's Inside the Actors Studio


Well, it looks like Universal Studios is using it's newest family member to conduct some unique team advertising with many other Universal characters and shows. Here are two more that've been recently released:

NBCs CHUCK


NBCs American Gladiators


NBCs 'The More You Know'


I'm not sure what this is connected to, but it's a good one.


Rumor has it we'll be seeing more of these involving the casts of Law and Order, The Office, and Heroes to name a few. I'll keep an eye out for them and let you know when they're posted.

What it's like in my head.

This was meant to be a quick blog entry about the band Vampire Weekend, but it somehow took a horrible A.D.D. trip down a completely different path. Still, I thought it was a great way to show everyone what A.D.D. is like, so enjoy the ride.

The holiday weekend was fantastic, but busy. I'll surely be filling you in on everything that went down, but first I have a quick music recommendation. Last year sometime I posted a playlist on my myspace page that included a few songs by the local NYC band Vampire Weekend. Since then, they've released an album, had some time in the spotlight, and now are enjoying a little 'fame' in the indy rock scene. I realize that most of you know all about them now, but if you haven't heard them yet, this is your chance to get on board. Check out the music videos below.


Vampire Weekend - Oxford Comma


Vampire Weekend - A-Punk

Now check out this Minnesota College a cappella group perform Vampire Weekends Oxford Comma.


Now watch the same Minnesota College a cappella group perform Daft Punks Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger.


Now we watch a student from the same school also with a unique performance of the same song... (this is pretty cool, so be patient.)


Now for a real treat; the a cappella group and the daft hand kid performing live together!!! Awesome.


Isn't the internet great!

Finally, tune into hulu.com for all of your favorite classic and new shows for free, and even a few good movies, any time you want. They've added some commercials, but it's still far better than TV. -No, I'm not paid by Hulu, I'm just a fan.

This is my life. Now I'm going to watch Men In Black online at Hulu.com while I fall to sleep.

Mad Men

I've talked about it before, but I really must insist that if you haven't already, you watch AMCs critically acclaimed drama, Mad Men. The first season is available on DVD and on iTunes, so there are no excuses. Season Two begins at the end of July, so catch up now! Also, if you were thinking of ignoring my advice, I've posted the series premier, thanks to AMC, below in three chapters. Pay attention to the subtleties in the acting and writing. This is a show not to be missed.

I warn you, this show can be graphic in to the often uncomfortable realities that existed in New York in the year 1960. Sexism, racism, and adultery are only some of the themes portrayed unapologetically, without the usual 'moral of the story' ending we'd expect to see in mainstream television. This fresh and true approach to the time period is only an added reason to love this show.

Give Evil Hell

In my last post I briefly mentioned one movie from my short list of all time favorite films. Another movie from that list would be the 2004 film version of Hellboy. Based on the Dark Horse Comic by the same name, Hellboy was on film as unique as he is in print. Academy Award winning director Guillermo Del Toro did an amazing job of intertwining all the aspects and challenges of Hellboys’ life into an epic story that everyone could appreciate. Unfortunately, very few ever gave the film a chance, let alone appreciated it. The movie barely broke even at the box office and the executives at Revolution Studios decided that Hellboy wasn’t a profitable franchise. It appeared that there was no hope for a sequel. But, when Sony dropped Revolution Studios the rights to Hellboy were up for grabs and Universal saw it’s potential. Surprisingly, almost everyone from the original cast returned faithfully to revisit their eccentric characters. Next week, Hellboy II, The Golden Army will be released into theaters, and I’m planning to be first in line for the midnight show on Thursday night. In anticipation of the film, my Sunday comic book ritual has been dominated by back issues of Hellboy and the new spin off – Abe Sapien, in which Abe finally stars in his own comic. (maybe he’ll get his own movie too.) So, if you are one of those people who never gave the first film a chance, do so this week. I don’t think you’ll regret it.

Here's a scene of Hellboys visit to one of my favorite shows, Inside the Actors Studio.

"Thats why they're for girls."

Over the past few weeks, I’ve written a few positive movie reviews, listing all of the movies that are worth seeing. Now for the list of movies that aren’t worth seeing. I’ve been avoiding TV lately, hoping to free up time to live more and enjoy the city. Still, when I need a fix of electric entertainment, I rent a movie on iTunes. Most of the sure things action movies I’ve already seen, which left me with a less than excitable choice of obviously bad flicks that I had no interest in or romantic comedies/dramas that had some, however little possibility of being good. Here’s the entire list of the few I gave a chance and what I thought of them:

1) Enchanted. I honestly don't know what I expected. This has to be one of the worst concepts for a movie falling in line just below Kate & Leopold for worst romance movie idea ever. Apparently the executives in Hollywood think that women will buy into anything, and apparently they aren't far off. I just don't understand what could possibly have driven these actors to be involved in this, seriously? And what about all of the saps who paid to see this in the theater? The saddest part of all is that this movie is my favorite on the list.

2) Definitely, Maybe. I once heard Definitely, Maybe compared to the 2002 hit, About A Boy. About A Boy is a great movie whaich has stayed in my short list of favorites since it's release. Definitely, Maybe is no About A Boy. When I read the reviews and saw the adds, I expected this movie to be about a young guy who's dating three girls and one get's knocked up eventually becoming his babies mom (I attempted a slang version of the word, but it failed miserably, but you get the point). I thought it could really be enjoyable. The unfortunate truth is that this movie has nothing in common with About A Boy, other than starring Rachel Weise. Ryan Reynolds does not play a convincing dad, and in fact, doesn't convince me at all. His acting is stiff, often forced and over the top. It seemed as though Adam Brooks had written this with some serious wit and true humor fused in, but it didn’t play out on the screen as well as it could’ve. The only actor who seemed to properly deliver Brooks' work was the 11 year old Abigail Breslin, who we know from Little Miss Sunshine. Watching her react as she realizes her dad once drank and smoked is fun, but those moments occur too rarely. In truth, the majority of the movie was stiff and forced, despite it's potential.

3) 27 Dresses. I know, I know, but once all else is exhausted you have to do something for entertainment. Let me tell you, this is not the thing to do. I will say that it started out pretty strong, and I actually thought I might be entertained for some length of time, until they started singing karaoke at the bar. This movie had a typical storyline that attempted to tug on women’s heartstrings, which I apparently lack. I’m so glad this auto-deletes from my computer after 24 hours.

4) P.S. I Love You. I was attracted to this movie because of the impressive cast. What, Harry Connick Jr. doesn’t play the romantic lead? Hillary Swank and Gerard Butler do? That’s an odd combination. I’ve got to see that. Well, first off, Hillary Swank is no Julia Roberts and certainly can’t pull of the romantic girl all that well. Harry Connick Jr. as the bumbling bartender with psychological disorders just wasn’t believable either, and Gerard Butler, well he could’ve been alright had he actually been in the movie. Just trust me and don’t bother.

To tell the truth, the Richard Gere, Julia Roberts days are done, and so am I. For years I’ve done my best to stay open minded to all genres of film, but for the first time I’m finding myself swearing off this category altogether. How’s that expression go? “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.” Let me know if anything comes out that’s worth my time or money, meanwhile I’m sticking to the comic book movies.

Crazy Busy

I have about 16 more blogs in my head right now, but no time to get them down. Work is crazy and my brother is coming to town on Thursday, and I don't think I've cleaned in months. Anyway, check out this site to keep yourselves busy. Have fun, I'll post again soon.