WHOOPS

Kind of forgot about this thing. I haven't always been into blogging but I've always WANTED to be into it. I think with a lot of these websites I've felt that expectations were to make considerable posts about specific topics or about what's been going on in my own life. I'm not a good writer and so even if there were something here that I wanted to talk about I'd do a shit-poor job of writing it.

I've also always been averse to being too personal on the internet. I think in the back of my mind I can see myself being in a public position someday and having intensely personal things on the internet has never been good. Sadly most of my free time is spent thinking about those same things I'm unwilling to put out there in the public realm. This makes keeping up a traditional blog difficult. Trying to find some kind of mythical medium between substance and interesting miscellany isn't my cup of tea. So instead of disappointing expectations with infrequent, uninteresting posts I've decided to make a move to a more alex-friendly blog: tumblr. From now on you'll find me here:

fortyandtwo.tumblr.com

My idea for this so far is to have two posts each day: a quote and then some form of media (picture, video, etc). I'll do my best not to overlap with the things I share on Google Reader. If you've never used tumblr before I highly suggest it. It's simple and user-friendly. The queue feature is what sold me on it. I'd love for there to be a way to easily sort my queue instead of only "move to top" which makes for organization to be more like chess. But for the most part it offers me the simplest way to express myself without feeling burdened by it.

For most of you the things I post will be pretty typical of who I am. For others you might be getting a glimpse of something new. But since I've recently turned 25 I've decided it's time to be honest with myself about who I am. You might not get any more of the "THIS IS LITERALLY WHAT IS HAPPENING IN MY LIFE" crap from before but you'll certainly read more about the things that go through my head on a daily basis. Enjoy.

My Dad Got a Smartphone

Our most recent conversation:

Dad: "Moe, Moe, Moe........You're disgusting" followed with a picture of Moe that he took a few days ago that Lisa mentioned on her twitter.

Me: "Hahahaha didn't you send that to lisa too?"

Dad: "How'd jew no?"

Me: "Lisa updated her twitter with that picture. And also it's not exactly PC to use jew like that but it's okay. You have a lot to learn about the 21st century."

Dad: "LOL. And you about the 20th."

Me: "Dad I have a history degree. I'm alright on the 20th century stuff."

Dad: "Hahaha."

I got a phone call this evening at 11:30 from an unknown Chicago number. Sometimes people from work call to switch shifts and whatnot so I figured it might have been someone from there. But I've been at the store for almost 6 months now and I have almost everyone's number that would normally call. Anyway I listen to my voicemail and this is what I hear:

"Hey Alex this is Melissa. I got your number from the store two days ago was just giving you a call. See ya!"

Couple of things went through my head:

1. There is no Melissa working at the store.
2. She sounded like a dude.
3. I haven't worked since last week.
4. Who the fuck gave my number out to some random potential drag queen?

More details to come in the next few days. But for now I plot revenge.

OSCAR RANKINGS

I'm only ranking the stuff I've seen. I'll get through all of it eventually and update this accordingly.

Best Picture:
1. The Hurt Locker
2. Inglourious Basterds
3. An Education
4. A Serious Man
5. Up
6. District 9
7. Up in the Air
8. Avatar
9. The Blind Side
10.

I like that the Academy decided to expand the Best Picture field to 10. It gives movies normally not considered Academy-friendly to be recognized. With this year's field I felt that the top 7 were all excellent. I gave the top spot to The Hurt Locker because I loved everything about it. The acting was fantastic, the directing was top-notch, and the screenplay was spot-on. I would have put Avatar at the bottom of the list (IT'S NOT A GOOD FILM) but I feel that its technical achievements were amazing enough to put it ahead of the bland Blind Side.

Best Actor:
1. Jeremy Renner - The Hurt Locker
2. Jeff Bridges - Crazy Heart
3. Morgan Freeman - Invictus
4. George Clooney - Up in the Air
5.


Right now I'm giving this one to Renner but I haven't had the chance to see Jeff Bridges in Crazy Heart. Not only did Renner do a great job with the role, but the character was expertly written. Morgan Freeman as Nelson Mandela is spot on but I didn't feel that he had to go to quite the depths that Renner needed to for his role.

Best Supporting Actor
1. Christoph Waltz - Inglourious Basterds
2. Matt Damon - Invictus
3.
4.
5.

It doesn't matter what anyone else has done this year. Christoph Waltz gave one of the best supporting actor performances I've ever seen. Put him up there with Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight and Robin Williams in Good Will Hunting. Also take Matt Damon off this damn list. Just because he lifts weights and has a passable South African accent in a Clint Eastwood film doesn't mean he should get nominated. His spot should have been given to Alfred Molina in An Education. But really it doesn't matter since Waltz destroys everyone else anyway. I also wanted to say that I'm becoming a huge fan of Stanley Tucci. He does such a great job in Julie and Julia and was great in The Devil Wears Prada. I'll try to watch The Lovely Bones sometime this week.

Best Actress
1. Carey Mulligan - An Education
2. Meryl Streep - Julie and Julia
3. Sandra Bullock - The Blind Side
4.
5.

I still have a bit left to see in this category but what an excellent job Carey Mulligan did. It hurts my mind that she's dating Shia LeBoeuf. And I know Sandra Bullock has received a lot off buzz but I just got done watching The Blind Side and she's essentially every other southern mother with a son or daughter in a competitive sport. Yes, she played the role well but there was really nothing especially difficult about it. And holy hell Meryl Streep is amazing. She just has this ability to step up into a high-profile role and always do a fantastic job. But I'm still giving this to Carey Mulligan mostly because I believe Streep was limited by the character.

Best Supporting Actress
1. Vera Farmiga - Up in the Air
2. Anna Kendrick - Up in the Air
3. Maggie Gyllenhaal - Crazy Heart
4.
5.

Best Adapted Screenplay
1. An Education
2. District 9
3. Up in the Air
4.
5.

Best Original Screenplay
1. Inglourious Basterds
2. The Hurt Locker
3. A Serious Man
4. Up
5.

Quentin Tarantino is simply a master of dialogue. I know Inglourious Basterds received some criticism for being boring but that's only because those viewers didn't appreciate the tension in every scene. The opening scene, the scene in the bar, and the scene in the restaurant all had me on the edge of my seat.

Best Director
1. Kathryn Bigelow - The Hurt Locker
2. Quentin Tarantino - Inglourious Basterds
3. James Cameron - Avatar
4. Jason Reitman - Up in the Air
5.

The Hurt Locker was just a complete film with a little bit of everything without seeming like it was too diluted or spread out. The balance was excellent.

So this new season of 24 is going to be AWESOME just by looking at the cast.

There are all the usual players but all of the newcomers to the show scream ridiculous. There's Horace from Lost, Baron Wolfhaussen from Beerfest, Starbuck from Battlestar Galactica, the game show host from Slumdog Millionaire, Bubba from Forrest Gump, and one of the Cylons from Battlestar. There's also Freddie Prinze Jr. but he's turrible. Also Jack lodged a fire axe into one guy's chest and then used the axe+terrorist to knock another guy down 10 flights of stairs. AWESOME.