It's Free Comic Book Day!

As most of you already know today is Free Comic Book Day. If you're a fan or not, you should check it out. I plan to go to my favorite shop, Secret Headquarters, and get a few. Then I'll be seeing X-men Origins:Wolverine.

Earlier in the week the film was getting mixed reviews but as of yesterday, the reviews have gotten worse. I just block them out. Honestly the trailer has been kind of lackluster to me except for a few cool moments. Then again the Batman Begins trailer wasn't all the spectacular and that film ended up being awesome. I think a problem today is that film trailer pack to much of the good stuff from the movies, so when you end up seeing the film you get the "been there done that vibe".

I'm still excited about Wolverine, though. I loved the first two X-men films. The 3rd wasn't great but had a lot of cool little moments. I'm hoping for that with Wolverine as well. I like that some mutants that weren't used in the other films will get a chance to shine here. In particular Gambit and Deadpool. Two of my favorites. These two seem to be polarizing between long-time X fans. I'm not sure about Deadpool's following, I know that Gambit is either loved or hated.

I'm looking forward to see how they are in the film. So far the casting for both characters seem to be good. I've been a big fan of Ryan Reynolds since his Two Guys, A Girl, and a Pizza Place days. He's very funny and has proven to be able to handle action scenes (Blade Trinity and Smoking Aces). The combination of comedy and action is exactly what Deadpool is about.

Then there's Taylor Kitsch who plays Gambit. So far Kitsch's biggest role has been Tim Riggins from the Friday Night Lights TV series. Of all of the characters on the show (which I haven't watched since early in the show's second season) he was one of the best. The character is when I think of it very Gambit-esque. From the scenes I've seen, he looks like he was a good choice.

Finally, I might as well talk about the star of the show, Wolverine. A lot of comic readers feel like he is overexposed. He might be. For a while the character was in a lot of comics. I was among those who were tired of him. But you know what, he's a good character. He has that mysterious past factor going for him. He's also a bit of an outsider. He is a good guy but with an edge. His solo adventures are always fun. His stories with the X-men are great too. When he's teamed up with non-mutant heroes like Spider-man, well you're in for a treat. As far as the movies go, Hugh Jackman has really made this character his own. I can't think of another unknown actor who has taken a hugely popular character and just deliver an amazing performance. For that matter be able to carry an action movie of a popular franchise.

I've just psyched myself up. I'll be posting a review later.

Shock of the day

Today was pretty normal except for one thing. I got a shock early this morning. My friend's sister's ex-boyfriend passed away recently. They had dated for a few months and just broken up about two weeks ago.

I don't know the details other than he had diabetes and was a pretty private person. Apparently he had some set backs in his health over the past week and hadn't really brought it up. My friend's sister went to check on him last night or this morning because no one had heard from him in a while. He didn't answer the door so she called the sheriff's department to open it up. I'm assuming she was still there when they found him. I can't remotely imagine what she's going through right now.

I met this guy about three weeks ago, briefly at a spring football game at FSU. I had no idea he had severe health problems. He was also 27, my age.

I have known people who've died before but it was always expected. I wouldn't say I "knew" this person but it was still a surprise.

My day has been good but every now and then my mind drifts to this young man and his family and my friend's sister. Apparently he was not real communicative with his family either.

I'm not going to go into the whole "life is short" or "make sure you tell your family you love them" speeches. We've heard that countless times. This is just the one event/story that has stuck with me today. It's given me quite a bit to think about and consider.

Cupcakes!

At the end of the day my brother sends me a link to a place he wants to visit when we go to Chicago, Molly's Cupcakes. Looking at the menu throws a craving on me like no other for a cupcake. It was major.

I never think about it but I love cupcakes. Sure it's like a regular cake but better. It's really just the right amount and if you have one more you won't be considered a pig. At least I don't consider it to be an act of gluttony. Now if you went for a second piece of cake, forget about it.

I got off work right at five and headed straight for the one place I knew I could get an above average cupcake, The Cake Shop. I was under the gun here. They close at 5:30 and since I had downtown traffic I knew this was a close to impossible mission. With the windows rolled down and the music blaring I navigated my way through the bumper to bumper traffic. I made touchdown at exactly 5:25 p.m. I got my cupcake, well two.

Then I remembered I needed milk. So a quick stop at the grocery store and I had it. I told myself I should eat dinner first and then I could indulge. Well after getting dinner started, unloading the dishwasher, making a sandwich for tomorrow and talking to my brother on the phone, I had to have one. I did and it was breathtaking. As a result I didn't eat much of my spaghetti which is ok because I don't really like spaghetti. It's just something easy to make and there's usually enough for leftovers.

I was going to write about playing golf on Saturday. But who wants to hear about how I had a great time and still shot a 124? I'd rather hear the story about the guy who raced time and got a cupcake.

Quick hits

I've slacked off on blogging. No particular reason. I have stuff to blog about just didn't feel like it. So here's some quick hits of what's been going on.

This Legislative Session has been weird. Not too many late nights. I've still been busy during the day. It also seems to be going by fast. It might be that everyone if focusing on the budget and not other issues.

I've been out to an actual club a few times now. It's not something I did in college. I have had some fun experiences and some not so fun experiences. Fun experience: random girl buying me a shot for no reason- twice! Not so fun experience: Driving two really drunk friends home. Both of who could barely walk straight and are twice my size. That was a new experience for them too.

I'm planning on taking a vacation to Chicago in May with my brother and his girlfriend. I'm looking forward to it. We've got our hotel and flight reservations already set.

I got excited about the Master's tournament this past weekend so I went to the driving range twice. I'm playing golf with some friends this Saturday.

Out of sheer boredom this week I made a twitter site. It's been fun though.

This weekend is the Tallahassee Film Festival. I plan to kill a lot of time there this weekend.

It's only Tuesday!

Tuesday is typically a throw away day. But I'm having a great time. The work day was typical. I pulled my weight when I had to.

My friend called me to go have Mexican food for dinner. Which I was already thinking about. We tried a place that was under new ownership. It was good but just like every other Mexican place in town. Another friend met us there. It was good times.

We're back at my place just the one friend and I. I have to go to work tomorrow but I'm already drinking more than I should. I'm having a good time. We're watching Sideways which is about wine and an indie film but it's totally a guy movie. I relate to the main character, Miles. It feels like a Friday. But it's not. Anyways, I'm having fun. I'm also looking forward to work tomorrow. The one day of the week I should be there.

Get Lost!

One of the best shows on television returns tonight. That's right, Lost is back. We get two hours of weirdness. Three if you count the recap special which I have on as background noise.

If you don't remember what's happened the past four seasons you can also read this recap: http://jgoat.blogspot.com/2009/01/lost-023-refresher-updated.html.

I'm No Gamer

The past few days I've been playing some video games. Not many just a few. Let me start by saying that while I have been known to play until my brain turns to jelly and my thumbs go numb I am not what you call a video game expert.

I own a Wii and only 3 games, Guitar Hero 3, Guitar Hero World Tour and Wii Sports. Sadly I don't play as much as I like. I get distracted by other things. Plus I've beaten both Guitar Heroes and well those and the Wii sports are more fun to play with other people. Also as I get older I have to be in the mood to play. I'll get in a video game mood and play for about a week. After that I'm through.

This weekend I got the chance to play some games at my friend, Trey's house. He bought a used PS2 and has numerous games. Plus he has four controllers which means good times. Saturday I played Marvel Ultimate Alliance with Trey, his wife and their nephew. That was a lot of fun. I've been wanting to play that game for a long time now. It was cool that we got to each be a different hero with different abilities. Plus it has all sort of cool things right from the comics, that makes it even that much more fun for a geek like me. Sunday I went back over and played some Tekken Tag and Twisted Metal. Both were fun. I realized video games are more fun when you play with others. Usually people that are about as good as you are better. I've played with people who are experts and well the fun runs out quickly.

Last night at another friends house I played some Grand Theft Auto 4 which is fun and then I played Conan the Barbarian. I believe GTA was on PS3 and Conan was for Xbox 360. Conan isn't a great game but it's fun. It's pretty simple. All you do is hack people up and save half naked women. What's not to like? Also my friend was playing some rock music in the background that went well with the action. In particular Here I Go Again by White Snake and Carry on Wayward Son by Kansas are great Conan songs if you know anything about Conan.

Today I haven't done much. I rented Iron Man for my Wii. It's pretty cool and easy which is good for me. I'll probably play some more after I finish this post. There wasn't much of a point except to talk about my experience with video games.

Hump day

It's been a while since I last posted. I don't want to drop the ball on this thing like I did last time. I just haven't felt like blogging.

The past few weeks have really crept by. This week has gone by much quicker. At the Legislature we're at the end of a depressing special session (budget cuts). The committee I work for had a meeting today. It went surprisingly well. I'm always tired after committee meetings though. I think it's because I'm sitting around Senators who do whatever they want and the audience is mostly lobbyist who also do what they want so I have to be alert for an hour or two. Then I have to go back to my office and report out all of the details of the meeting, mostly data entry type stuff but it requires detail. Even after doing this for almost three years it's still exhausting.

After work I met my parents at Outback. It had been a while since I've been there. The last few times I've been it hadn't been great but tonight was good. Must've been because I was tired and hungry. I also had a Foster's beer for the first time. It was pretty good. Similar to a Miller or a Bud.

The rest of my week has been going ok. I've seen three good movies three days in a row. Sunday I watched Almost Famous. It had been a while since I've seen it. It's still one of my all time favorite movies. Monday I saw Slumdog Millionaire. That is a terrific film. It has such a great story to it. Last night I saw Gran Torino. That was excellent was well. It probably was one of my favorite Clint Eastwood films.

Good Eating

My dinner was a success. Everything was delicious. The potato salad was a big surprise. The pesto worked perfectly on the steak. It looks like I might have a new go to dish.

There's a First Time for Everything

Tonight I did something I've never done. I prepared a few things for tomorrow night's dinner. Instead of trying to do it all at once tomorrow I went ahead and took care of a few things.

First I made homemade pesto in my new food processor. That was actually fun. Then I got some potatoes boiling for a blue cheese potato salad I've been wanting to try. While the potatoes were cooking I cut up a sirloin steak and seasoned it with salt, pepper and the pesto. I plan to skewer the cubes I cut up and grill it tomorrow. I then mixed all of the ingredients for the potato salad and put it in the fridge to cool. All the flavors should come together overnight and give it a good taste, hopefully. Oh and before that I went to the store and bought all the ingredients I didn't already have at home. Tomorrow I also plan to cook some asparagus in my new grilling skillet.



Not sure if I'll do this again or not. I was pretty tired when I started around 9 p.m. and I'm more tired now.

The World is Yours

Last night I watched the film Scarface. It was my second time seeing the film all the way through. The firs time was when I bought it in 2003. This is a film that has always been hyped up to me. As with the first viewing, I still feel the movie is overrated.

Unless something else comes along, The Godfather part 1 will always be the gangster film which I measure all other gangster films. Scarface has it's moments but it is no Godfather. Now I don't think it was ever intended to be the next Godfather, maybe it was. I didn't get that vibe.

The film to me is over the top in just about everything. As a result it is extremely dated. All of the music and clothing scream 80s. That's not a bad thing but it takes away from giving the film a timeless feel.

The acting is very over the top. Pacino overacts in every scene. Of course that is the essence of Tony Montana. He's an extreme person. Some scenes it works but others just feel silly. The best scenes to me were when Tony had a blank, glazed over look on his face. Those moments show the character is out of his element. He's either trying to process his situation or he's just not thinking about anything.

To me it's best to watch this movie as a time capsule. That is, view it as a slice of an extreme and extravagant lifestyle from a time period that has since passed. It's also a good study in greed and what it is capable of. That is what I believe has given this film a cult status. People seem to be fascinated by greed and this lifestyle of extravagance. And I suppose to some extent the story of an immigrant who achieves success by force has it's appeal as well.

While the film has it's moments and is by no means a bad movie, it doesn't work for me. The film has a long running time that just drags at times. It also feels choppy in progression. As I mentioned the flashiness of everything is distracting. I also feel some elements could have been explored more. Halfway through the film Tony sees a blimp that says "The World is Yours". This is after he takes over crime boss Frank's empire. It obviously has an impact on Tony. We see it again at the end of the film when Tony meets his fate. I think if we had seen that phrase in some form or fashion at the beginning of the film it would have given Tony a more clear goal we could follow. This showing up in the middle kind of felt like it came out of nowhere. This guy started with nothing and worked his way up. I think "the World is Yours" could have been a nice touch at the beginning of the film and then again in the middle after he's at full power then again at the end.

It will probably be a few more years before I see it again. Maybe my views on it will change or maybe not.

Productive Day

I went to bed last night around 1 a.m. This morning I woke up at 7:30 a.m. on my day off and ran errands.

First I went to get an oil change. I really do not like doing that. I'm always afraid that there'll be something wrong with the car. And as most of you know getting cars fixed can be expensive. My car is still new, I've only had it a little over a year now. Fortunately there were no problems. I then went to my next stop.

Which was getting my tires rotated and balanced. I go to a different spot for this because I get free rotations and balancing, for life! That took a while but they had free coffee.

Finally, I got my car washed. That was it for the car. I then went to the store to get stuff for dinner and some band aides, because I don't have any. I had knocked a chunk of skin out of my pinkie the other day and since then I keep hitting it on stuff. The band aides protect it, a little bit.

I went to the comic shop today. Always a good time. Today I picked up; Avengers the Initiative, Secret Invasion Requiem, Green Lantern, Wolverine, Justice Society America, and a new series call Incognito (look for a write up for that series very soon).

The rest of the day was good. I took a nap. Went to the dry cleaner. Cooked dinner. Drank Tequila. Went to Barnes & Noble. Rented a game for the Wii, Spider-man: Web of Shadows.

I've spent the last few hours playing the game. It's ok. I like flicking the web remote and suddenly I'm swinging on spider webs. Very cool. It's probably one of the better Spider-man games I've played. It made me wish I was still getting the Spider-man comic. I dropped it over the Summer because I wasn't enjoying it, but apparently it's gotten better.

Another bit of news, I got through the career mode on Guitar Hero World Tour today! It's a fun game. The new multi player function makes for some good times. However this time around the developers went for quantity over quality. We have more features, more songs and more instruments. But the song selection is weak. There some good songs but they aren't necessarily fun to play. Some are too easy and other's are too hard. Still it's a quality game. I think Guitar Hero 3 is still the best of the series.

I have a bit of a dilemma. Well not really. I got a message via myspace from a friend who I went to elementary and middle school with. But I haven't seen in 10 years or maybe longer. I had found him on myspace 2 years ago and corresponded some. But that last time was two years ago. His message wished me a happy new year and said to look him up the next time I'm in Pensacola (my former home town). I said I would. I don't get back much because none of my family lives there any more.

Here's the dilemma. I'd like to see this guy and he still sees some of the people I went to elementary and middle school with. All of whom I haven't seen in 10 years. It'd be great. He didn't invite me per say to come this weekend. But I'm half tempted to drive over tomorrow, just for the night and see what happens. My brother has been going out with his girlfriend the past few nights and has plans with her again for tomorrow. the rest of my friends all already doing stuff and usually don't call me anyways. I tend to be the initiator for everything. I have to be out of the house tomorrow night anyways because my bro's gf is coming over for dinner. So why not do a road trip? I really don't know if it'd be worth it but then again I don't have anything better to do.

Happy New Year

I hope everyone had a happy new year. I just got finished hosting a party. It was a different group than who I'm used to hanging out with. There was plenty of booze and food to go around. All in all it was a good time.

Not much else happened today. I guess I mean yesterday since it's already 2 a.m. here! I got off work early. I cleaned the house up and finally watched the Big Lebowski. It was as great as I remembered. I always catch something new everytime I see it. Also it's one you can leave one and casually watch and enjoy pretty much any scene.

I hope everyone has a happy and prosperous 2009. I plan to keep blogging this time around. So add me to your blog role!

Also I decided I liked the look of my old blog so I went back to it.