Spider-Man + Calvin & Hobbes = Awesomeness!

Anybody that knows me should know that two of my favorite things in the whole wide world are Spider-Man & Calvin & Hobbes. Here, in this fantastic display by Mark Pelligrini and Timothy Lim, they managed to combine the two in a masterful - dare I say classic - display of awesomess. Thanks to both of them for this!!! Click here for a larger version.

It'd be even more funny if it weren't describing and summarizing actual storylines that our friendly neighborhood wall-crawler has been through in the past few years. It's pretty awkward.

Yep - Spider-Man has dealt with clones (far too often.)

It's true - Aunt May (or a genetically-altered actress) has managed to be "killed" several times.

As much as it pains me to say this - Spider-Man did sell his & MJ's marriage to the devil.

Pardon me while I throw up - but yes, Satan did "magically" erase everybody's memories after Spider-Man revealed his identity during the events of Marvel's Civil War - in exchange for the previously mentioned marriage.

I'm embarrassed to even acknowledge it.

What I will acknowledge is this cartoon strip's absolute brilliance and hilarity!

It's still awkward but hilarious. Seriously, the fact it summarizes (and satirizes) events in such a clever fashion actually makes it more funny. This is the best thing I've seen on the net in a while and I just had to share it with you all. Hopefully you enjoy! Any comments on this epic bit display of artwork, feel free to share once you're done laughing. I haven't been able to wipe the smile off of my face yet. Just too awesome for words. Until next time, excelsior!!!

P.S. - This post was written while listening to the song Spider-Man, track eight (8) off of Spiderman: Rock Reflections of a Superhero, a musical re-telling of the events surrounding Peter Parker's transformation into Spider-Man and the events following, complete with a few catchy numbers, a few eye-rolling numbers and some narration by the one and only Stan Lee! It has to be heard to be believed! The back cover alone is worth the price of purchase. Yes, ladies and gentleman, that is Captain America, playing the tambourine. I must have this!

The World Is New

Actually, the world isn't new. My laptop, however, is.

It seems like only last year that I bought a brand new laptop computer, if you recall my previous blog post, and unfortunately, it was only last year. Thanks to hindsight, it's obvious that it was a mistake. What might be the mistake? I bought a Compaq computer during a too-good-to-be-true sale at Wal-Mart. Well, you know the old saying about Compaq? Take the C, the A, and the P from Compaq - remove the O, M and the Q - add an R - and you have crap. Crude, but then again, it's an old saying.

And that's my final word on Compaq. Well, actually, the word I'm searching for.... I can't say because there's preschool toys present. (Bonus points if you know what that's from!).

Seriously, with the laptop, came a one year warranty. Almost immediately after the one year warranty, the troubles started. A whole host of errors one after the other. At first, I thought they were small and I tried to fix them on my own. At first, it appeared that my fixes worked but after a week, it was apparent that was not the case. Once my laptop was basically a giant, expensive, semi-working paperweight, I took it into Best Buy to have the Geek Squad take a look at it. (If only it was a Buy More...) Didn't take long for them to declare my hard drive pretty much...dead. And like a bad Mastercard commercial, they started to list the cost of repairing it...

Replacing Your Hard Drive: $49.95 (plus tax)
A New Hard Drive: $80
A New Operating System: $120
Your New Laptop Dying Two Weeks After Your Warranty Has Expired: Priceless.

With tax and other assorted prices that would be added on, it would be almost as much as the price of a brand new laptop. But, I still thought about it. The laptop still worked, albeit a little bit slower and with a fair amount of errors. I figured I could use it for a little longer, but fate (and the poor construction of a Compaq laptop) had other plans. Later that night, like Tom Hanks in Castaway, I discovered fire.

Specifically, on my couch as the power cord to the laptop had burst into flames. It had started to spark and then burst into a flame. A small flame - not like a huge wildfire or anything, but fire nonetheless. Enough to make a small scorch mark on my couch cushions, but thankfully that was all. A quick removal of the power cord and the emptying of a bottle of water onto my couch cushion made Smokey the Bear proud, even if we weren't in a forest at all. I think just the whole fire prevention thing should've made him pretty pleased.

And so, I took that as a sign that it was time to go laptop hunting. Once again, I considered all of the options (even contemplating a switch to Apple), but in the end was discovering that many of the more inexpensive laptops were Compaq again, which I had vowed not to do. Never again. I had to decide whether to accept a substandard laptop or perhaps I would have to go a bit outside of my price range to have a laptop that might be more than a one-year rental. Thankfully, not too far outside of my price range was a beautiful Gateway laptop (to be exact this Gateway laptop.) And so far, so good.

This time around, I have a much, much better warranty. (Check back with me in a year though) And hopefully much, much more blogging. (Check back with me in a few days to find out though). Until then, stay classy!

P.S. - And if you're wondering (probably aren't) where the title of the blog post came from, it's the title of a song from the 90's ska band Save Ferris (themselves inspired by the classic 80's film Ferris Bueller's Day off) and if you're at all interested, here is the music video to listen to: The World Is New.

Should I Stay Or Should I Go?

-Should I Stay Or Should I Go-

While this may be the title of a classic song by punk rockers The Clash, it was easily one of the easiest decisions I've ever made. For all of those who have been following at home, you should know by now that the city to win the sweepstakes for well, me, was the metropolis of Peoria, Illinois. I know, I know. It's not any closer to my friends in Ohio or family in Ohio, but it does get me away from Walgreen's and into the until recently seemingly unattainable world of professionalism. In March, I had a job interview at a place called the Bowen Center in Indiana and had what I thought was a great job interview. (I was to learn, later, that it was only a pretty good interview). Initially, I was like the little boy in this video here on the right but weeks later, when I finally realized they had decided to head in yet another direction, I was more like the little boy in about 12-15 seconds into the video.

Absolutely devastated. For a few short weeks, I was under the hope that I was leaving Walgreen's and then, that hope was cruelly ripped away. With under a month now until I needed to make the decision on renewing my lease there at my current address, prospects seemed slim. I would have to make a decision here soon and at the lowest point of my despair, I considered just taking my savings to travel around for the summer to make a pancake tour of America (which would be a tour of the United States to discover the best pancake places in the United States), an idea which was not really embraced by my family or friends. Or even me, for that matter. I'm not even that big of a fan of pancakes in the first place. But, I'll just claim temporary insanity on that score. After taking a day off to recover, I set out to start applying once more.

Before, I applied exclusively to other states closer to family such as Ohio, Indiana, Pennsylvania and even New York. But, now it appears that I would need to apply to Illinois as well. Apparently, that's what I should've been doing all along. Within days of applying to Lutheran Social Services of Illinois, I had an appointment for an interview. The interview was with the Adoption team supervisor and the Foster Care Supervisor. I won't bore you with all the details of the interview, but throughout the interview, it was very clear that I was wanted in Foster Care and Adoption Services. There was a brief tug of war and Foster Care was victorious. From there, they went over what I'd be doing at this job, taking me on a grand tour of where I'd be working, had me meet several team members and showed me what a great interview would be.

It was virtually a lock, but it's not official until they make the job offer. And after one, long, agonizing week, they did. Not to let it get missed here in this paragraph like the moment where Frodo throws the ring into Mount Doom (it's a quick moment in the Return Of The King. Shockingly short, in my opinion but I digress), I was officially hired by Lutheran Social Services of Illinois! That's a bingo!

And now, it was time to say farewell to Walgreen's and to Kankakee. No hard feelings either way. In fact, I was pretty impressed by the support from everybody there. The people there were simply amazing and although I probably won't miss the job very much, I will certainly miss my co-workers and managers and staff. But, it's on to a new adventure. Continuing with the the Lord of the Rings from earlier, let us “Remember what Bilbo used to say: It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to."

Except now I know for the moment, where I'll be swept off to and now, dear reader, so do you. Off to Peoria, Illinois.

Away We Go!

-82nd Academy Awards Review-

-82nd Academy Awards Review-

It's the day after the Academy Awards and just like sports fan are gathered around the water cooler in heated debate and discussion after the Super Bowl, it's time to discuss what is Hollywood's version, the Oscars, so named for the statuettes that are given to the award winners. It was quite a night, filled with some surprises and plenty of moments that weren't so surprising, but pleasant anyway. This certainly won't be a full review, but just a few quick and general thoughts regarding the Oscars.

First of all, let's discuss the big award of the night. I don't know what I expected from the Academy, the same academy who ignored "Star Wars" in favor of "Annie Hall", which is a good movie but certainly years later, which film is remembered better? I think that'll be the case here. Avatar is a film that I expect will be remembered very strongly, as long as they don't overdo it as they did the case with Star Wars (those prequels...*shakes head sadly*) and seeing as how most people didn't see the Hurt Locker before it came out, I doubt that'll change too much, despite the big Oscar win. I think it'll definitely get an Oscar bump after winning, but let's not take anything away from the Hurt Locker at all, even if it wasn't my personal vote for movie of the year (neither was Avatar). Hurt Locker was a film that realistically explored the difficult issue of the Iraq War filled with a number of amazing performances throughout the movie, from its taut and tense opening sequence to its gripping conclusion. Definitely worth watching. But, I was hoping, against all odds, to see a different movie rewarded on Oscar night. Up In The Air was a great film. But, lots of great films win best picture and lots of great films don't.

I have to admit I didn't enjoy the comedy stylings of Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin, who trust me, I usually enjoy, but last night, I was not impressed at all. One such comedy bit featured banter such as -
Steve Martin: I really enjoyed the Hangover.
Alec Baldwin: Me too. Four guys who can't remember anything after a night of binge drinking.
Steve Martin (repeats): I really enjoyed the Hangover.
Get it? See what they did there? It earned a chuckle, but that's about it which summed up their performance pretty much. I was pleased to see that the Hangover at least got a mention during Oscar time as comedies are generally ignored when it comes to the Academy Awards. Comedians are good enough to host the Oscars, but not to be nominated for the actual awards. Not to say that the Hangover deserved to be nominated, but it's good to see something other than drama get a mention there.

Which also brings me to the fact that they did a tribute to horror movies. I was actually pleasantly surprised to see this as horror movies have been a staple of the movie industry for years, but get absolutely no recognition come Oscar time. It was interesting to see that Kristen Stewart mentioned that horror films have had no presence for about 37 years, but in the Oscar Montage to horror, they clearly show scenes from Silence of the Lambs, which swept the Oscar Awards in the early 90's. So, is Silence of the Lambs a horror movie? It's a question certainly worth asking, but glad to see horror films which have helped out the industry and its stars for years.

I was also really glad to see a tribute to John Hughes, the seminal director of such classics as "Ferris Bueller's Day Off", "Pretty In Pink", "Some Kind Of Wonderful", "The Breakfast Club" and so many others. Getting to see some of the moments in the montage reminded me of how much I loved those movies and how much they had an impact on me. To this day, some of those are still some of my favorite movies and ones I love introducing to people who have (for some unknown reason) yet to see them. Seeing Molly Ringwald at the Oscars was definitely a highlight for me.

Another highlight for me was seeing Up's wonderful score from Micheal Giacchino get rewarded with Micheal Giacchino finally getting the award after doing so much amazing composing work over the years. This year in particular, he not only composed the score for "Up", but also for "Star Trek", giving him the honor of composing for two of the year's biggest blockbusters. I first noticed Micheal Giacchino as he composed the music for one of my favorite shows of all time, "Alias", and then continued his collaborations with J.J. Abrams to also help score another one of my favorite shows "Lost". I'm glad to see him finally starting to see the recognition he deserves.

While Micheal Giacchino got to score two of the biggest blockbusters of the year, Sandra Bullock had the dubious honor of being nominated for Best Actress of the Year at the Oscar Ceremony and Worst Actress of the Year at the Razzies (which honors the worst in cinema each year), winning both of them, for 'The Blind Side" and "All About Steve" respectfully. I think Sandra will deal with it though as she showed a great deal of class in accepting both awards, although it's the one acting category that I was least sure of as I had a friend recently make a great recommendation for the actress in "Precious" to receive the Oscar, whereas I've heard a number of rave reviews for the other actresses involved. I'll have to reserve my opinion until I've seen all of the films. I've seen enough of "All About Steve" to know she deserved that one though.

I have yet to see Crazy Heart, but I certainly can't be any more happy to see the award go to Jeff Bridges to receive his first Academy Award win after his previous four nominations. When it comes to the Oscars, it's hard to tell whether this is for this particular film or in recognition of the years of excellent acting he's given us. Either way, you can't deny he deserves it. It was such a joy to watch his acceptance speech, which was filled with his natural exuberance that has always made him so fun to watch on screen, probably setting an Oscar record for the uses of the word "man" in his acceptance speech. Definitely somebody worthy to respect in Hollywood as he has shown that you can deliver amazing on-screen performances consistently, remaining married in a loving relationship while raising your kids and not becoming constant tabloid fodder. Congratulations Jeff Bridges. The dude abides.

From the opening award where Christoph Waltz got his much-deserved Supporting Oscar nomination by creating one of the great villains on screen and gave a really great opening accepting speech as well, setting the stage for a great Oscars which including such momentous moments such as seeing Kathryn Bigelow become the first female director to win the Oscar for Best Director. Although I didn't enjoy Barbara Streisand setting up as she said "Tonight we could have the first woman to win the prize, the first African American to win the prize or the man who brought together the biggest grossing movie in box office history" and then completely made no mention of the other two nominees, who were certainly very deserving of their nominations in Jason Reitman and Quentin Tarantino.

However, the night was filled with too many good moments to let any small things spoil it. I really enjoyed the tributes to each of the individual nominees for the best actor awards as you could tell they really had a lot of respect for the person they were championing and got to set up their personal road to this award. I mean, Gadboury Sidibhe took a day offschool, pursued her dream and is nominated for one of the biggest awards in the industry. Pretty amazing stuff.

Congratulations to all of the winners and thank you to the Oscars for giving us another Academy Awards to showcase films and performances that deserve to be recognized. Although it will take some time for all of the award winners to be out on DVD, especially some of the documentaries and short films, I'm certainly glad that we have such a show designed to highlight them.

But, that wraps up another great year of film with a ceremony that was too long as always but very enjoyable. However, with the film industry, the wonderful thing is that unlike sports, there is no off-season. A film that is released next week could be a nominee next year, so keep watch for what should be another great year in cinema. Until then, stay classy.

Academy Award Predictions (No. 1)

-Academy Award Predictions-
-(No. 1)-

Well, the day is finally here. And no, I'm not just talking about the second trailer for Iron Man 2, which will make its debut on the Jimmy Kimmel Show and no doubt online shortly after. Keep an eye out for that, which will build up the anticipation for what will no doubt be summer's biggest movie. However, the debut of that trailer will be after the night's other big event, which is the 82nd Academy Award ceremony.

As described by Frank Capra, "The Oscar is the most valuable, but least expensive, item of world-wide public relations ever invented by any industry." It's a symbol of amazing achievement in the world of film and certainly an occasion to celebrate every year if you follow movies, though for whatever reason, we don't get off work the next day for it. No doubt that'll change someday as it becomes a nationally recognized holiday for recognizing excellence in the world of movies. Although this probably should've gone up earlier, it's been a busy week and honestly, I'm just adding my own predictions to an already overwhelmingly crowded field of predictions. However, I really enjoy trying to predict the Oscars and so I'm happy to make my choices here.

Now, I won't be picking in every category, because in some categories, such as Best Costume (seeing as how I haven't seen any of the films nominated), likewise with Documentary Short and others. I'll be putting down my honest prediction as to who I think will win and I'll also, just for the sake of fun, adding my own prediction as to who I think should win. I certainly won't be the most informed candidate because I didn't get a chance to see all of the movies in theatres and some of them have yet to arrive on DVD, but I have seen a majority of the films nominated for Best Picture and the performances within, so I feel pretty good about my choices tonight, which are, for your consideration:

Writing (Best Original Screenplay)
"The Hurt Locker"
"Inglourious Basterds"
"The Messenger"
"A Serious Man"
"Up"
Who Will Win: "The Hurt Locker".
Who Should Win: Personally, my vote goes to Inglorious Basterds.

Costume design

"Bright Star"
"Coco Before Chanel"
"The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus"
"Nine"
"The Young Victoria"

Writing (Best Adapted Screenplay)

"District 9"
"An Education"
"In the Loop"
"Precious"
"Up in the Air"
Who Will Win: "Up In The Air"
Who Should Win: "Up In The Air". Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner have written a very excellent script, dealing with a very pressing issue today, in a very impressive manner that deserves recognition.

Best foreign-language film

"Ajami"
"El Secreto de Sus Ojos"
"The Milk of Sorrow"
"Un Prophète"
"The White Ribbon"

Visual Effects
"Avatar"
"District 9"
"Star Trek"
Who Will Win: Avatar
Who Should Win: Avatar. There is literally no reason in the world why Avatar will not take this home. All due respect to Star Trek and District 9, the best graphics all year belonged to Avatar and they should take this one home easily.

Sound Mixing
"Avatar"
"The Hurt Locker"
"Inglourious Basterds"
"Star Trek"
"Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen"
Who Will Win: Hurt Locker
Who Should Win: Avatar

Documentary short

"China's Unnatural Disaster: The Tears of Sichuan Province"
"The Last Campaign of Governor Booth Gardner"
"The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant"
"Music by Prudence"
"Rabbit à la Berlin"

Best documentary feature

"Burma VJ"
"The Cove"
"Food, Inc."
"The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers"
"Which Way Home"

Sound Editing
"Avatar"
"The Hurt Locker"
"Inglourious Basterds"
"Star Trek"
"Up"
Who Will Win: Avatar
Who Should Win: Avatar

Art Direction
"Avatar"
"The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus"
"Nine"
"Sherlock Holmes"
"The Young Victoria"
Who Will Win: Avatar
Who Should Win: Avatar

Short film, animated

"French Toast"
"Granny O'Grimm's Sleeping Beauty"
"The Lady and the Reaper"
"Logorama"
"A Matter of Loaf and Death"

Short film, live action

"The Door"
"Instead of Abracadabra"
"Kavi"
"Miracle Fish"
"The New Tenants"

Best Film Editing
"Avatar"
"District 9"
"The Hurt Locker"
"Inglourious Basterds"
"Precious"
Who Will Win: Avatar
Who Should Win: Avatar

Best Cinematography

"Avatar"
"Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince"
"The Hurt Locker"
"Inglourious Basterds"
"The White Ribbon"
Who Will Win: Hurt Locker
Who Should Win: Inglorious Basterds.

Best Original Song
"Almost There" from "The Princess and the Frog"
"Down in New Orleans" from "The Princess and the Frog"
"Loin de Paname" from "Paris 36"
"Take it All" from "Nine"
"The Weary Kind (Theme from "Crazy Heart") from "Crazy Heart"
Who Will Win: "The Weary Kind (Theme from "Crazy Heart") from "Crazy Heart"
Who Should Win: After listening to all of the choices today, I have "The Weary Kind (Theme from "Crazy Heart") from "Crazy Heart" as my pick too.

Best Original Score
"Avatar"
"Fantastic Mr. Fox"
"The Hurt Locker"
"Sherlock Holmes"
"Up"
Who Will Win: "Avatar"
Who Should Win: "Up". Out of all the film scores released this year, it's Micheal Giacchino's score that is both heartfelt and whimsical that should take home the prize.

Make-Up
"Il Divo"
"Star Trek"
"The Young Victoria"

Best Animated Feature
"Up"
"Coraline"
"Fantastic Mr. Fox"
"The Princess and the Frog"
"The Secret of Kells"
Who Will Win: "Up"
Who Should Win: I will take a moment here to discuss one of the bigger Oscar snubs this year in mentioning that the latest release from Hayao Miyazaki wasn't nominated with "Ponyo". Let me just make it simple for you, Academy - any year that Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli release a film, just nominate it. It's going to be in the top five animated features released that year. But, even it had been nominated, I still would've voted for Up. Just a great, great film that is rightfully nominated not just here, but in the running for Best Picture overall. If "Up" won Best Picture, I would be very happy.

Best Director

Quentin Tarantino, "Inglourious Basterds"
Kathryn Bigelow, "The Hurt Locker"
James Cameron, "Avatar"
Lee Daniels, "Precious: Based on the novel 'Push' by Sapphire"
Jason Reitman, "Up in the Air"
Who Will Win: Kathryn Bigelow
Who Should Win: Kathryn Bigelow. Look for Kathryn Bigelow to become the first woman to take home the best directing honors. It's about time.

Best Supporting Actress
Vera Farmiga, "Up in the Air"
Mo'Nique, "Precious"
Anna Kendrick, "Up in the Air"
Penelope Cruz, "Nine"
Maggie Gyllenhaal, "Crazy Heart"
Who Will Win: Mo'Nique.
Who Should Win: Having not seen all of the contenders this year, I don't really feel qualified to offer my opinion but Anna Kendrick has my vote out of the ones that I've seen.

Best Supporting Actor
Matt Damon, "Invictus"
Woody Harrelson, "The Messenger"
Christopher Plummer, "The Last Station"
Stanley Tucci, "The Lovely Bones"
Christoph Waltz, "Inglourious Basterds"
Who Will Win: Christoph Waltz
Who Should Win: Christoph Waltz was one of the best actors you'll see on screen this year, creating a memorable character from the beginning of Inglorious Basterds to the very end. I can't imagine anybody else getting this award.

Best Actress
Meryl Streep, "Julie & Julia"
Sandra Bullock, "The Blind Side"
Gabourey Sidibe, "Precious: Based on the novel 'Push' by Sapphire"
Helen Mirren, "The Last Station"
Carey Mulligan, "An Education"
Who Will Win: Sandra Bullock for "The Blind Side".
Who Should Win: I've heard amazing reviews for Carey Mulligan, but having not seen that film, I'll say the award will go to Sandra Bullock. Why? Because they can't give it to Meryl Streep again.

Best Actor
George Clooney, "Up in the Air"
Jeff Bridges, "Crazy Heart"
Colin Firth, "A Single Man"
Morgan Freeman, "Invictus"
Jeremy Renner, "The Hurt Locker"
Who Will Win: Jeff Bridges
Who Should Win:Jeff Bridges. Jeremy Renner did a great job in the Hurt Locker, it's hard to pick against Morgan Freeman's portrayal of Nelson Mandela, I've heard rave reviews of Colin Firth's performance and I really would love to see George Clooney pick up an award for his role, which I really do think is one of the best of the year. However, Jeff Bridges has been nominated so many times before that I doubt the Academy will pass him over again and nor should they. From what I've heard, an amazing performance.

Best Picture
This is clearly the biggest award of the night and it's going to be different this year as instead of the usual five, there are ten films to select from this year, which allows for not only the big blockbuster movie to get in but also some smaller films that might not have received recognition before. This rule change occurred in response due to the fact that the Dark Knight was inexplicably left out of the Best Picture race last year, resulting in some of the lowest ratings in history as feel-good movie Slumdog Millionaire won it instead. Slumdog Millionaire was a deserving winner, though. Who should win this year? If you've been noticing my selections throughout the blog, you'll see that I definitely think more of "Avatar" than I do of "Hurt Locker". While both are very good films, I enjoyed Avatar more, despite it being not the most original movie in the world, it was in a word: awesome. But, despite it being the highest grossing film of the year, one that obviously stroke a chord with audiences around the world, does that mean it deserves to be labeled the best? Let's not forget that that atrocity committed to film Transformers: Revenge of The Fallen was one of the biggest box office movies of last year, so box office success has little to do with whether it's one of the year's best. Which of these following films should have the right to place "Winner Of Best Picture" on their DVD in the future, to declare themselves the best in this years to come?
Nominees:
"Avatar"
"The Hurt Locker"
"Precious: Based on the novel 'Push' by Sapphire"
"Up in the Air"
"Inglourious Basterds"
"Up"
"The Blind Side"
"District 9"
"An Education"
"A Serious Man"
Who Will Win: Avatar. I really think that the Academy will recognize Avatar this year and not just the geek in me speaking.
Who Should Win: Realistically, it's a two horse race. Avatar has swept a number of film awards though lately it's been the Hurt Locker gaining the most momentum in recent award shows, placing it as the front runner. My personal vote has the two front runners canceling themselves out and allowing "Up In The Air", one of my favorite films of the past year to gain the prize. However, I'll be very happy if (and hopefully when) Avatar takes home the top prize, finally giving science fiction movies a well deserved win in the Best Picture category. Then, with fantasy films getting their due with "Lord of the Rings" and science fiction hopefully this year, we can work hard towards getting a superhero film as best picture. One day...

Until then of course, it should still be a very exciting show at the 82nd Academy Awards. The only thing it'll be missing is Stan Lee, who makes a very compelling case for his own Oscar award in this video here. Stan Lee deserves an Oscar. Watch that video and see whether you don't agree. But for now, go enjoy the culmination of another great year of film and then check out the Iron Man 2 trailer after the show to see what, in my mind, should hopefully be a front runner for the Oscars in 2011.

P.S. - It could happen.

Top Five Friday #3

Top Five Friday #3

-Worst Superhero Movie Scenes Ever-

This is a tough list to make. Not merely because you have to narrow down the top five worst comic book scenes of all time, which is in itself a difficult task. Honestly, Hollywood has had a very bad record adapting graphic novels to the big screen and only recently have started to get them right. However, even with some of the better adaptions, such as X-Men, for example, you have such moments as Halle Berry's Storm "What happens when a toad gets struck by lightning?" line, which my dad and I both saw the other night for my birthday and laughed at what I'm sure was supposed to be a pretty awesome moment for Storm. That moment narrowly didn't make the list, but it's up against some pretty awful competition. You not only have to narrow down the list, but you have to remember and watch some of these scenes again, which is excruciatingly painful.

Imagine being set on fire while somebody simultaneously punches you in the face and simultaneously douses you with acid while simultaneously shooting you in the knee caps and at the same time, has your significant other break up with you while your boss fires you while shoving you into a lake full of boiling lava filled with special lava-resistant piranha. Watching some of these scenes is, honestly, I think more painful.

Now, I've tried to focus on some of the more prominent adaptations of superheroes on the list, because it would be easy to mock Nick Fury, Steel, or Supergirl, but let's focus on some of the bigger names and modern adaptations in which they have just completely made me want to slam my hand into a car door or something similar just to give my body some other amount of pain to focus onto.

Note of course, that this is just a top five list. These are for me, my least favorite scenes in superhero movies. Many of these movies, I will either fast forward past this scene or probably am unable to watch the films any longer. I'm sure that after I write this list, I'll end up talking about the blog with somebody and realize that there are other far more deserving moments on the list, but after a lot of thought, I'm wondering whether this is a good idea after all. I mean, just thinking about some of these scenes have me so angry. Angry enough to turn into Hulk, which makes me think of Ang Lee's interpretation, which makes me think about Hulk poodles and his dad becoming Absorbing Man or the entire ending sequence or....deep breathes, Richard. Deep breathes. While I go find a stress ball or something, here for your consideration:

5. X-Men 3: The Last Stand (2006) Cyclops Killed Off Screen
To be perfectly candid, I almost didn't include this scene simply because it never happens actually. When Bryan Singer left the X-Men franchise to go direct Superman Returns after his admittedly fantastic work on the first two installments, he forever altered (read: killed) the directions of two promising franchises. By handling the reins of direction over to Brett Ratner (a man we both know can't finish a trilogy - Rush Hour 3 is one of the worst movies I've ever had the unfortunate "privilege" of watching and in theaters no less. I don't blame my brother though who dragged us to go see it - he couldn't have known. Nobody could've). The fact that Brett Ratner was given control of the franchise was a troubling sign to say the least. Producers were also upset at James Marden, the actor who played Cyclops, for signing on to play a role in Bryan Singer's superman. The whole scene plays out like revenge, but the real ones who suffered were the audience. A very popular character from the first two films, one of the original X-Men, the leader of the group and one of the main characters, is killed OFF-SCREEN. You read that right. He wasn't even given the dignity of an on-screen death, never mind the fact that his death in the film makes absolutely NO sense.
After Scott and Jean share a passionate, "last" moment together, Xavier apparently senses a great disturbance in the force and sends Logan & Ororo out to the lake. There, they find Jean Grey, Scott's glasses and no body to put them on. Logan doesn't mention this to anybody else apparently and instead, just confronts Jean about them later as she is apparently very stressed about it and the glasses disintegrate in Logan's hand in what I'm guessing is a not so subtle hint about what happened to Cyclops. Even worse, nobody seems to care. I certainly did, and one of the only reasons I continued with the film was to see whether it could redeem itself (it didn't) and whether Cyclops was somehow still alive. I even stayed after the credits to see whether they would reveal Cyclops being alive and if they had, I might've been able to forgive the rest of the film. However, Cyclops was never seen again in the X-Men film franchise and like Cyclops, the franchise died a sad, inglorious death. However, in a sign of eternal optimism and/or stupidity (I really thought that Cyclops would be back), I'm still hoping for X-Men 4....


4. Spiderman 3 (2007) - Emo Dancing.
The black symbiote is one of the most famous storylines in comic books as is the character Venom, but somehow, when it came to film, it translated into this scene of Peter Parker emo dancing on the streets of New York City. I don't exactly know what emo dancing is, but calling this emo dancing is probably an insult to the term. The symbiote is an alien lifeform, one which causes your inner desires and emotions to emerge in increasingly dangerous and hateful ways. I can only imagine that the film makers hated the audience and wanted to punish them in some way. Pay special attention (if you can make it through the clip) right near the end, at about :46 seconds as Peter gets down with his 'bad self' as people veer away from him as if afraid of catching whatever moron disease he's caught. A low point for the movie, for the franchise as a whole and shockingly enough, not the only dancing scene in the film (one of three in fact - an inexplicable decision), but it was probably this scene which led to, as with Superman coming up, a reboot of the entire film franchise.


3. Superman Returns (2006) - Superman Has A Kid.
"Congratulations - it's a boy!" Normally these words would be greeted with joy - not so in this uneven (to say the least) film adaptation. Superman Returns was a good film, although not a great film by any stretch of the imagination, as it was sadly hampered down by scenes of Stalker Superman and the Kryptonite Mountain and Lex Luthor again (apologies to Kevin Spacey). However, the worst moment in a movie which was otherwise pretty enjoyable was the reveal that Superman had a kid. The fact that Superman had a child doesn't bother me so much as the reasons why it was done and how it was done. For example, Superman didn't have a child in the comic books and apparently was done in an attempt to make Superman more "relatable". In the famous I'm A Marvel...I'm a DC series on Youtube, the third installment covered this very well as Spider-Man asks "They thought the best way to make you relatable to younger audiences was to give you an illegitimate child?" Touche. It's a very valid point. Not only did they introduce an element not covered in the comic books, they did it in such a way that ensured that this would have to be rebooted and of course, now it is. Superman is one of the easiest characters to connect with in comic books, despite his alien origins and near limitless powers. Watch the video - it makes the point quicker than I ever could. This scene is so high up because it just shows exactly what happens when filmmakers stop trying to take what makes the character work and instead imprint their own vision onto the character, which results in failure - every...single....time.


2. Batman and Robin (1997) - The Entire Movie
The Batman movies, lock up the top two spots with ease. When it comes to Batman and Robin This is a film so bad, that it led to the entire franchise being given up. Most of the cast has never completely recovered. I'm pretty sure comic book adaptations in general have a restraining order against Joel Schumacher. Later, when I do my worst comic book movies of all time, this is almost guaranteed to be a lock for number one, although the whole early Batman franchise might just nab the top spot. In fact, I don't know why opponents of Arnold Schwarzenegger out in California didn't just show this movie to voters - I can't imagine him ever being elected. George Clooney actually apologized for it and so should everybody involved. I defy you to find a moment in the film where it doesn't suck. It can't be done. So, singling out one horrible moment was just impossible. There are just too many to choose from (Bat Ice Skates, The Bat Credit Card, every time Mr. Freeze opens his mouth, Uma Thurman's portrayal of Poison Ivy, Bane being reduced to an idiotic thug able to be beat up by Batgirl, Batgirl being Alfred's niece, Alfred's Macgregor's Syndrome storyline, to every single moment in the film). From the opening scenes to the final moments, it is one of the worst things you'll ever see on film - EVER.
Fun Fact: Rumor has it that the Ring, the movie where the video kills you within seven days of watching it, was based on this movie.


1. Batman (1992) - Alfred Brings Vicki Vale Into The Batcave
"A visitor for you, sir.."
Why in the world would you bring Vicki Vale into the batcave? Why?
What more needs to be said? Seriously. This is, without a doubt, the worst superhero movie moment in history. It will probably be the standard forever. Comic book movies are already too well known for not taking the secret identity seriously (but that is a blog for another day and soon.), as nearly all comic movies usually have the hero have some desperate need to reveal their secret identity and manage to do so throughout the film. This film, however, takes it to a new low as Alfred, Batman's trusted butler, brings Vicki Vale into the Batcave. Just writing the sentence makes me want to punch something or somebody. Alfred is completely trustworthy, has served Bruce Wayne/Batman for some time and in the comics, would never reveal the secret. In the movie, his true motivations will never be known. I don't know whether Alfred was drunk, wanted to raise some Wayne toddlers, angling for a pay raise or what was going on, but this was an epic fail on every level. This is the worst performance by a Butler ever (although Harry Osborn's butler certainly gave him a run for his money in Spiderman 3). Introducing some woman to the biggest secret of Bruce Wayne's life - a woman that he's had minimal contact with thus far and has spent most of the movie stalking Bruce Wayne - and a reporter no less, just is completely indefensible. You can't defend it. In a movie filled with horrible moments, this is definitely the worst. This should never have occurred. In fact, the Batman movies almost deserve a top five list of their own, but perhaps it's best if we are just thankful that Christopher Nolan came along and ensured that we can have Batman movies to be proud of once again.

In fact, thanks to a new generation of filmmakers, producers and other film talent who are taking comic book adaptations seriously, hopefully we will never see scenes like this again. That will be something worthy of celebration for sure and like any celebration, feel free to dance. Do the Batusi.

P.S. - Hopefully this further establishes the fact that dancing and superheroes should not go together. Superheroes shouldn't dance - not Batman, not Peter Parker, not Reed Richards - stop them from dancing. C'MON!!! Okay - I'm going to go calm down now. Until next time, stay classy.

Happy Birthday Wishes To Myself

-Happy Birthday Wishes To Myself-

Well, my birthday was approximately two weeks ago now, so given my natural pace of reporting the news long after it's over, it's about time to talk about it. (Coming up soon, I'll be discussing the state of the comic book world after Marvel was bought out by Disney, DC's reorganization in the wake of it and the Spider-Man reboot - all of which have happened quite some time ago. Better late than never, right?) So, while I'm at it, let me say thank you to all of my friends and family who took time to acknowledge my birthday. Thank you very much. I received a good number of phone calls, texts, Facebook wall posts and other methods to wish me a happy birthday. I really appreciate it and it made my birthday a fantastic one.

This year was my 26th birthday - not a particularly big one, though this does have the potential to be a big year, for me. Last year, of course, was the 25th Anniversary since I was born - which could've and should've been a national holiday. Schools should've been closed down, the nation ought to have taken a moment to stop in reflection and remembrance, parades should've been held in my honor and it could've been a time of great celebration. However, my accomplishments thus far, being what they are, were not recognized and fervor did not sweep the nation. I'll blame in on the recession. Who would pay for the parades, for example? I certainly don't have the funds and given the state of our economy, I wouldn't ask the taxpayer to foot the bill. Seeing as how our economy has not yet been stimulated yet, I decided to keep it low key this year as well. We'll see how our economy is doing for my 30th birthday and I suppose, whether I've done anything worth celebrating by then. Besides being me, of course.

However, even though my birthday is under the national radar this year, that still means doing it right and this year, that meant home. Home to the parents, who know how to spoil a kid like nobody else. This year, I went home to Indiana to stay at my parents for the weekend. I got there early on Friday night where we stayed up chatting for a while, then my dad and I played Wii Fit for hours. Literally hours. That game is a workout for sure. My favorite was the Snowball Fight game, which I rock at. I was like Buddy in the movie Elf. Unstoppable.

The next day I got to sleep in - perhaps a little too late, but regardless, soon enough, we were off to Ft. Wayne and my favorite birthday dinner place - Olive Garden, which for me, is a magical land - of infinite breadsticks and chicken alfredo pizza. Hold on here while I contentedly sigh. What a happy time that was, though surprisingly hard to get into on a Saturday afternoon. From there, we headed to another magical location - a Half-Price book store.

My dad almost had to drag me out of there - I could've spent hours in there. Knowing that it was my birthday, I spent conservatively on only two books - I Am America (And So Can You) by Stephen Colbert, a book of political satire which I enjoyed and Zot: The Complete Black & White Collection (1987-1991), which as the title would suggest, is a compilation of the majority of the run of Zot, a comic written by Scott McCloud, which I loved immensely. Simply amazing.

The half-price book store was amazing and it officially made the list of things that I need to have in my next town. For the record - those are (and I reserve the right to add to the list) - a Chipotle's, Blockbuster, Olive Garden and now a half-price bookstore. Fort Wayne has all of those, so it's definitely moved up on the list. However, some friends and family have informed me that Columbus has those options and also New York. These are some tempting offers - who will win the Richard sweepstakes? If you'd like to enter, by all means, let me know what's so interesting about your town and what job opportunities await. All entries must be made by no later than the end of March or beginning of April. Enter right away to increase your chances.

The rest of the weekend, food-wise, was very fantastic. More pizza, breadsticks, McDonald's, Alfredo pasta and yes, the one and only, strawberry shortcake. As you can see, my parents went all out. Neither were my family slackers in the gift department.

My parents, for example, got me Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, the first major release by Studio Ghibli and a great film, in addition to the surprisingly underrated Iron Giant. My brother got me a World Map shower curtain, which I've been wanting to get since I saw them at a friend's house a few months ago (Lindsey's house in PA) and just was very impressed. I mean, with all the time we spend in the bathroom and with the number of ways we're undereducated about the world in general, why can't we use the time productively? Plus, I also received Bioshock, which is an older game (and by older, I just mean 2007, where it received numerous game of the year awards), but definitely a classic. I've been playing that game for the past week or two since I've received and I am hooked. It's one of the best games I've played yet for my Playstation 3 and when we're talking about Metal Gear Solid 4 and Resident Evil 5 as the competitors, that's saying something.

My sister got me Civil War, a trade paperback collecting one of the biggest events in comic book history of the past decade and Sense And Sensibility And Sea Monsters , because you can't go wrong with the classics. This comes from the creators of the amazing Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, which is to me, one of the best books. Seriously, how did people go through books without monster mayhem? I simply can't imagine it and am looking forward to the upcoming movie adaptation. If you thought that Colin Firth, Keira Knightly or Bride & Prejudice set the standard, just watch in shock (and awe) as Natalie Portman battles zombies (and her own heart) in the film. This will be one of the ideas that I'll always kick myself for not coming up with first.

Throughout the birthday weekend, I got to hang out and talk with family (at varying intervals), which was a real blessing. I got to hear the saga of my adoption, which was met with fond recollection and was extremely touching. Unfortunately, all good things come to an end and eventually, I had to go back to Illinois. It gets harder every time I come home to visit, but here in a few months, I will probably be calling some new place home.

I heard it said once that "You are only young once, but you can be immature for a lifetime." Which is true. Looking over my birthday blog here, you can tell that I'm still young at heart. I still love video games, sleeping in, superheroes, comic books, monsters and hanging out with family. But, that doesn't mean I have to be immature. Believe it or not, you can like comic books and still be professional. It's true people.

But, here in a few months, I'll be making one of my biggest decisions as I decide where I'll be living next, where I'll be working next, where my friends that I'll depend on will be in these all too important years and where I could even end up meeting my wife. It's a huge decision and one I don't take lightly. So, as I remember this birthday, just keep me in your prayers and thoughts. Thanks to all who made it memorable, touching and definitely a birthday that I don't ever want to forget.

However, even in this time of upcoming decisions, of growing older, of getting wise, I take heart in what I've been told by Robert Browning, Frank Sinatra and even Metal Gear Solid -

The Best Is Yet To Come.

Top Five Friday (No. 2)

Top Five Friday
-Number 2 (Two)-
-Top Five Romances In Comic Books-

Well, in writing this blog, there were at least two things I realized. First of all, I have been wildly inconsistent with my blogging. In what I hoped would be a weekly installment or at least a semi-regularly installment, this is only my second Top Five Friday, which is completely unacceptable and should not be tolerated. Second of all, I realize that this would've been far more timely preceding the holiday of Valentine's Day, but one thing I'm certain of is that romance should be in season no matter what.

If you're still looking for a little romantic inspiration, you really can't go wrong with some of the classic romances found within the printed pages of the graphic novels found in your local bookstore (half price or otherwise) or feel free to support your local comic book shop. Many of these romances stretch over years, time, space, over continents, through numerous stories and situations that defy belief.

As one of my favorite characters from television, Logan Echolls put it to describe another one of my favorite romances on one of my favorite television shows (Veronica Mars), "I thought our story was epic, you know? You and me. Spanning years, and continents. Lives ruined and blood shed. Epic!" Indeed. These are some of the most epic romances ever put to the printed page and deserve to be treated as such.

Without further ado -

5. Bigby Wolf and Snow White (Fables) -

Snow White: "Do you think happily ever after is possible after all?"
Bigby Wolf: "We'll see."

With these two, I certainly hope so and can't wait to see what happens next. This is certainly one of the newer romances on the list, since the critically acclaimed series Fables has only been around since 2002. However, the characters are based on two names in the literary world that everybody is familiar with (Snow White and the Big Bad Wolf) ensures their status on the list. I won't spoil anything about their romance (although including them on this list is a minor spoiler already), but I am a big fan of this relationship and can't wait to see them continue to blow other relationships away in the comic book scene.

4. Batman and Catwoman (Batman) -

Batman: "I'll do everything I can to rehabilitate you."
Catwoman: "Marry me."
Batman: "Everything except that." (He'll come around...)

If you thought your ideal of romantic tension is Ross & Rachel or Jim & Pam, they have nothing on Bruce Wayne and Selina Kyle. The underlying chemistry between the two is a constant in the Batman universe and a tantalizing tease on whether these two vigilantes will ever officially embrace each other in order to realize their relationship. They've been enemies, allies, lovers and no matter what, the dichotomy between the two has yet to grow old. Once Batman returns this coming year, I'll be interested to see what new path their relationship takes as they fight crime, and occasionally each other, in Gotham City.

3. Scott Summers and Jean Grey (X-Men)

"Once upon a time, there was a woman named Jean Grey, a man named Scott Summers.
They were young.
They were in love.
They were heroes."

In those few sentences, Chris Claremont defined one of the greatest romances in the history of comic books. Jean Grey belongs with Scott Summers. No doubt in my mind. When it comes to Scott and Jean, their love truly does stretch across time and space, in some cases quite literally when the Phoenix Force becomes involved. Their story has seen its fair share of complications, twists and turns, ups and downs, the most recent being that Jean Grey is currently not among the living. However, like the Phoenix, I'm certain that Jean Grey will be back and their romance will burn even brighter than before.

2. Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson (Spider-Man)

"You just hit the jackpot, tiger!" - Mary Jane Watson.

Peter Parker certainly did and as it turns out, so did the readers. Out of the death of one of the most ideal romances and characters ever (Gwen Stacy), came what turned out to be one of the better (if not one of the best) romances in comic books. As big a fan as I am of Spider-Man, it's almost inconceivable to me that they aren't number one on the list, but recent events (One More Day) have forced me to place them at number two as Marvel appears to want us to pretend that they never happened. Ever. At all. But, in spite of Mephisto or Marvel editors, these two are undeniably unforgettable. We'll see these two together again and the comic book universe will be better off for it. We all will.

1. Clark Kent and Lois Lane (Superman) - Even without the most recent events of One More Day over, it'd be hard not to place these two at number 1. Lois and Clark.

"Lois Lane: Will we see you? Around?
Superman: I am always around."
- Superman Returns

And if we're lucky, this couple always will be. For over 70 years now, this has been the definitive comic book romance. From the start, it was always Clark Kent in love with Lois Lane, while Lois Lane is madly in love with Superman, always so close to discovering his secret identity, although common sense would always indicate that she knew before Clark Kent trusted her enough to reveal the secret. Regardless, that old familiar dynamic is a thing of the past as they've been married for many years now and now, their romance is probably one of the strongest you'll find in the comic book universe or anywhere else. Nothing can stop these two - they've been through it all and come out even better every single time. Superman and Lois Lane really do soar up, up and away over all the other couples as this is the stuff that superhero love stories are made of.

These are my top five, but there are so many other relationships that you can read about in comic books that are just as great. For example Bruce Banner and Betty Ross (a real Beauty and the Beast story), Reed And Sue Richards, Ralph and Sue Dibney (not even death can separate them), Green Arrow and Black Canary, Hal Jordan (Green Lantern) and Carol Ferris, Wally West and Linda Parks. If you're twisted, you could look at the example set forth by Harley Quinn and the Joker. Oh, and let's not forget Hawkman and Hawgirl, who continually are reincarnated and killed throughout history, only to find each other and fall in love again. Regardless of your opinion of graphic novels, that is epic.

Even though good romance finds joy in the day to day, in the little things that make your relationship work, in the tiny things that only you know and make you smile even when you're having a bad day, and rejoices in just finding comfort knowing that they're there - who doesn't want a little epic awesomeness in their love story? Everybody does.

Lost In Translation

-Lost In Translation-

Personally, I believe so many of the world's problems can be due to a breakdown in communication. If you examine so many of the issues that we witness in this world, many of them can be reduced to the fact that communication simply didn't occur. For example, I think we can all agree war is an awful, awful thing. What makes it more terrible is that it is really never necessary. It's a last resort when one side or both opt to resort to violence as the means to solve their problems. It means they no longer are able or interested in continuing to try to solve the problem. Dialogue breaks down and rather than talk about their problem, they decide they'd rather have the person dead than try to work it out.

But, unfortunately, many people don't know how to communicate. It's not limited to any particular stereotype, ethnic group or country. There are far too many people, myself included at many times, who don't know how to express what they want or what they want people to do. For example, I just watched a video from This Is Our Moment, a website which appears to be supported by several celebrities and dedicated to "mobilizing America for a sustainable future" Their short-term goal would appear to be making sure that the Clean Energy Jobs and American Power bill that is currently in the Senate gets passed. It states that it's one of the most important pieces of legislation in our time but doesn't state, which I think would be crucial, is how. On the website or in the video, there is really no explanation of what the bill is supposed to accomplish or most importantly, how. I would love to get behind something like this - making ourselves reliant on our energy to countries that would like nothing more than to see us dead has never made sense. But, tell me how this bill is going to accomplish what it does. If it's that important, right?

Perhaps an even better example would be one of the top issues that has dominated headlines for the past year here in the United States - health care. I don't think anybody can deny that our health care system needs to change. I mean there are still some people who maintain that our health care system is the best in the world, but it's not. Last time I checked, our health care system ranked 37th in the world, pulling right ahead of Slovenia (go us!), so yeah, it's pretty clear we need to do some work. A great majority of Americans are uninsured and even those who are avoid major, in some cases necessary, procedures because they simply can't afford them. If we are the best health care system in the world, people who need health care, should be able to get it. But we don't and they can't. But, the health care reform is in "critical condition" or "life support" because they have failed to explain how this health care reform will affect the average American, how it will help them, how it will be paid for and how it works. Again, huge breakdown in communication and now, this much-needed piece of legislation probably won't happen and if it will, it's going to be woefully inadequate.

This failure to properly communicate what you're about can even extend to Christianity. A fantastic book called Unchristian, which everybody should read, discusses what people think about Christianity and why. Not to spoil the book at all, but it should be no surprise to you that people have a negative image of Christianity. People view Christians as judgmental, intolerant, hypocritical. More than a public relations problem, this is a communications issue. It's not the message - the message is the same as it's always been, but it's the messengers who aren't communicating the same loving message that Jesus did. Again, the problem is communication as we have completely managed to misrepresent the greatest message ever told. How did it come to that?

The great newscaster, Edward R. Murrow once said, "The speed of communications is wondrous to behold. It is also true that speed can multiply the distribution of information that we know to be untrue." We live in an era of basically instant communication through Facebook, twitter, texting, e-mails, cell phones and the like. It's easier than ever to get your point across nowadays, but so many of us fail to. And if we do, it's oftentimes not what we wanted to get across at all. We have to really be careful with what we're saying, what we're telling people, what we're communication. Why do so many of us have trouble saying what we want out of life, what we want to do and what we want to communicate to the people we share this world with? I think this is an issue that affects everybody - a basic problem that we need to overcome through honest dialogue, direct discussion and above all, clear communication.

Even after all that, I don't know whether I said what I meant to in order to make it understandable, but I hope it came across and that my random (rambling) thoughts made sense to you. Feel free to let me know your thoughts or ideas on this subject and as always, stay classy.

This post was written with the help of the new Motion City Soundtrack album My Dinosaur Life, out in stores today and wherever music is sold.

Brand New Year

Brand New Year

I'm sitting at home now, wearing a Spiderman Snuggie and playing Resident Evil 5 on a Playstation 3. My apartment is freshly cleaned - practically as spotless as it gets for me - and I have a warm cup of hot chocolate as I look out at the snow and music plays over my laptop. I'm back home again after a week with my family, which was a much needed vacation from work, getting to relax over the Christmas and New Year's holiday. I've arrived home safely using GPS which is an amazing little invention, making my trips practically worry-free now, both for me and my family which should not have to worry about me getting lost ever again. Now it's a brand new, bright and shiny New Year, full of possibilities and even better yet, a brand new decade. Life isn't perfect right now - just a few more things I need to make it perfect - but I have to say, it's pretty good. Pretty great in fact.

As you can tell by the above paragraph, I made out pretty good this Christmas. Not only did I get some of the above items, but lots of other gifts and best of all, time with family. It was definitely a different Christmas this year as for the first time in our family's history that we weren't able to be together on Christmas. My brother was in New York and though he was able to surprise us all for Thanksgiving (which was awesome), he couldn't make it home for Christmas. So, we used a service called Oovoo to connect over video chat and through the miracle of the internet. Plus this year, my sister would not be with us for very long, since she had to go basically the next day back home so she could go work on church planting in Africa. I'm so proud of her, but was a little sad that I didn't get to spend as much time with her, because the time that we did spend together, was fantastic.

This year, I was actually looking forward more to the gifts that I was giving rather than the ones that I received. We gave my parents a Wii, which blew their mind and that made it completely worth it. We did good this year. My sister is definitely a Wii fan as she had that set-up minutes after we finished unwrapping our presents and really got into the Wii. Seeing her do a victory dance after she absolutely killed me in baseball (I didn't even know it would invoke the Mercy Rule in Wii baseball, did you?) was definitely a sight to see. It made me wish I'd gotten a video camera instead of Erika this year. Not to say I'm not very excited about the gifts that I did receive and the time that I got to spend with family. Playing Wii with my dad, watching movies with my family, sleeping in, helping take down the Christmas decorations, catching up with everybody, and just relaxing to help bring in the New Year was definitely the way to go.

But now it's a brand new year and it's time to focus on making it one of the best years ever. So, in order to get that accomplished, here are a few of my New Year's Resolutions. For those of you following at home, you can read these and try to keep me accountable or help me in any shape, fashion or form. That'd be fantastic, just like I hope this year will be.

(1) Get A New Job - This is at the top of my list. Not to say I'm not very blessed to have a new job or that this job isn't better than the jobs that some people have to work at, especially in this economy, but I don't find it very satisfying, in any way. It's allowing me to pay my bills, but certainly not letting me get ahead financially and it's not moving me ahead career-wise at all. In May, when my lease is up, it's like 99.9% sure that I won't be staying here and that I'll be moving somewhere for a new job, which will be ideally be closer to family or friends or both. So, if you hear of anything, feel free to let me know. I'd like a new job.
(2) Be A Better Friend - Since I've graduated from college and moved away, I've stayed in contact with many of my friends. One my friends actually just called me to discuss something completely random and that is a great thing. However, there are many friends that I have not been quite as good at staying in touch with and that should definitely change. Friendships and family is what makes everything worthwhile. As a great man has told me repeatedly, everything in life comes down to relationships. Everything comes down to relationships.
(3) Be A Better Person - There are so many things going on in this world that are so right and unfortunately, all too many things that are very, very wrong. I know it's easy in this world that we live in to just want to try to focus on trying to make sure things are going good for you and getting ahead. But, we can't ever forget that there are lots of people in worse situations than you all over and you could make the difference through just a little money, a little time, a little consideration and I want to definitely work more at that this year to make sure that I do my part to make the world a little bit better. There are few things more dangerous than apathy but almost nothing more powerful than love, which can overcome all the evil in this world.
(4) Trust God More - Personally, I need to definitely work on this. As I mentioned up above, I plan on moving here in the next few months to either Indiana or Ohio or somewhere else in the United States. But God, in his infinite wisdom, may choose to have me stay here at my current job or location. God works in mysterious ways, but whatever His plans are, I definitely need to trust Him. I have no idea where I'll be in a few months, but I need to believe that it's where I'm supposed to be.
(5) Get A Girlfriend - More likely than not, I'll find myself a girlfriend (and with any luck, a wife), when I'm not even looking. That doesn't stop my family or friends from looking for me (thank you) and not to say I'm not keeping my eyes and options open. I've been pretty much out of the dating game for a while and haven't been in a serious relationship for years. My attempts to date again have met with mixed and occasionally embarrassing (albeit humorous) results, but all it takes is one girl. This could be the year where I meet the girl of my dreams. You never know. But when it does happen, it's going to be worth all the waiting.

Overall, those are just a few of my resolutions and it'll be interesting to see how they all play out over the coming year. I'm definitely looking forward to seeing how 2010 goes, but as a writer once said:

"We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year's Day."

Happy New Year to all!!!

This post was written with the help of the (500) Days Of Summer soundtrack.