Via Frequencies: Mr. Clucks – Hurleys New Chicken Shack!.

(500) Days of Summer released to Saint Louis theatres yesterday. We drove out to Landmark Theatres’ Plaza Frontenac cinema in Saint Louis to catch this film. A couple weeks ago Jessica and I heard an interview with the director, Marc Webb, on NPR that built our excitement for this film into near-frenzy. See, we rarely go see films on opening night. This one was different.

The way Webb described their method in making the film, was to try and convey the emotions a young male goes through when falling in love. And they wanted to communicate that through music and song choices. So, right off the bat, the soundtrack is fantastic. It’s up there with a Cameron Crowe soundtrack, I think; especially so when combined with the sort of story this is.

We’re warned at the start that this is not a love story. And it certainly isn’t. Witty to melancholy, hilarity to downright despair, (500) Days of Summer puts the viewer in the middle of the thrilling uncertainty that comes with infatuation. And it does so with such exacting precision that you feel each elated moment and every painful word.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt (one of my favourite actors) and Zooey Deschanel were cast very well. Interestingly enough, Deschanel, in my mind, seemed to become less attractive over the course of the movie — an oddity when you consider most guys find her really attractive. I’m not sure if that was done purposefully using visuals, or if it was just my mental and emotional involvement in the characters. The acting from the leads was superb, creating an effortless chemistry that was entirely consuming, while the supporting cast was cohesive enough to create a believable world.

Definitely go see this movie. But be warned, it’s not all happy and feel-good. If your life and sensibilities are at all similar to mine, you’ll connect to this movie on a level that truly affects you. It will bring forgotten memories back to the surface and make you appreciate devotion.

From the summer after I interned at the militia group. This song came up in iTunes yesterday and jogged my memory. Glad I remembered it too. What a great album.

…Or, Why Half Blood Prince Was Not a Good Film

Blah, blah, blah. I am a Harry Potter fan. Books, films, etc., I love the world of Harry Potter. I think they are great stories and a lot of fun. But too many Potter fans have trouble facing reality. Whether they feel they can’t say anything bad against the franchise or their infatuation tricks them into believing nothing can possibly be wrong–for whatever reason–some of the films are just bad.

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince (HBP) is definitely not a good movie. No matter if you look at it as a book adaptation or as a standalone film, HBP did not live up to its immediate predecessor’s quality, nor did it turn out to be a compelling, decently paced movie.

As my friend Robb pointed out in a Facebook discussion:

[Order of the Phoenix] is my least favorite book but my favorite movie, mainly because they realized they couldn’t fit everything from the book into the movie so they focused on getting the themes and feel right. HBP reverted back to the Goblet [of Fire] mold where they fit in what they could and what they couldn’t they brushed over or left out.

This was frustrating to me. Especially as HBP, the book, has some of the most spectacular and tide-changing action in the entire saga. So what was wrong with the film? Let’s get into it.

Beware of Spoilers Ahead »

I just pushed stop on my DVR after a half hour of non-stop craziness from two Finnish man-boys racing across Russia experiencing whatever they can lay their eyes and hands on.

Exploring an abandoned city that was the site of nuclear holocaust, being treated with and then eating leeches, jumping off of St. Petersburg rooftops attached to a bungee cord… The sneak peek of Travel Channel’s Madventures was insane. In fact, I can’t remember the last time I was so excited about a new television show.

It’s not just that they do crazy things. No. The show is shot with so much energy. Tunna, one of the hosts and the show’s director/cinematographer, is brilliant. His shots are amazing. The programme itself is just really gorgeous. The image quality, camera angles, and editing make the show high-energy and a joy to watch.

Past that, the hosts, Riku and Tunna, are infectious. They are exciting, energetic and funny. I can’t wait for this show to start up in full swing this September. Here’s the opening so you can get a taste of what it’s like:

Check out Madventures on Travel Channel »

the hard part, originally uploaded by waysideviolet

My wife takes really cool photos. She took this while I was punching out the dough for our pizza crust a couple of days ago. There’s something very therapeutic about making dough. I love the sifting and kneading and the smell of the yeast and the flour…

Yeah, I’m a big fan of bread making.

Check out more pizza-making photos (and other cool ones) in Jessica’s Flickr Photostream.

Man, this past week might have been the roughest I’ve ever experience. It was for sure the roughest in my young working career.

Suffice it to say that all institutes of higher education are hurting financially due to light wallets and expensive tuitions. And many of those schools are having to take drastic measures to stay afloat. And it finally hit my small school in the Midwest. And particularly the office I was working for.

No, I didn’t lose my job. But I have been moved to a different department and am working for different bosses now. And it’s certainly a welcome change. The move to IT actually relieves a lot of stress that I think has been building up for the past three weeks since we found out the VP over our department was heading to a different job at a different school. I take uncertainty hard. But this shaky ground solidified fairly quickly and I now know what I’m doing and who I am working for.

There’s a lot of change going on in my workplace, but I’m glad I am now apart of a supportive office working with some of the smartest people I’ve ever known. Even better is that I’ve known many of them for a long time. It’s good to be back in IT.

Yesterday we probably had the best July 4th in a long time. Well, the best July 4th in the USA at least. Last year we were in Portugal on our holiday and I’ve been in both Mexico and in the air on the way to Hungary on 04 July in the past. But since Jess and I have been married we haven’t really done the whole fireworks “thing”.

The summer we lived with my in-laws we had a fun time on the fourth. We let off our own firecrackers and sparklers and whatnot. Growing up in California, firecrackers were illegal. So we settled for watching the professional shows on 04 July.

Last night we met up with my friend Ryan and his new wife Laura and grabbed dinner before heading out to the Arch for the fireworks show over the Mississippi. Special bonus: Train was playing a concert there. Which was cool.

In any case we braved the crowd and watched the fireworks under the Arch. It was pretty cool. In the 7 years I’ve been in the St Louis Metro-East, we’ve never been out to the city for the fireworks display.

This past year I’ve begun, through a lot of reading and research, to appreciate more the United States and its history. I’ve never been particularly patriotic. I’ve always worn Union Jacks and such as a tongue-in-cheek expression of … whatever. But this 4th felt a little more meaningful to me. Despite how I feel about our current leadership and policies coming into play, this national holiday felt different.

Not that I don’t still want to live in England or practically anywhere else in the world. Because I do. But for a few minutes last night it was good to be an American, I suppose.