End of the Year

Well, I officially finished my second year of grad school, but still have work to do. Polish a conference paper, and TA this summer. Its good to be busy, but tiring at the same time. So quick movie notes, Go see Day Watch, it is awesome. "Smokin' Aces" was not so smokin, buy okay. Epic Movie just sucked and, with a 67 minute running time, might be the shortest wide release movie I have ever seen.

I am reading fiction again too! Dave Eggers' You Shall Know Our Velocity. So far, really good. Great story and extremely well written.

Promised Pics and more

So the promised pics of Big Bear are below, but first... I actually watched three movies this weekend, and highly recommend two. Go see "Knocked Up"! It is hilarious and a wonderful movie. The jokes are great, lots of pop culture references, and a good story. I also saw "Confetti", its a British import about three couples competing in the most unusual wedding competition. It is a mockumentry and really funny, especially the tennis couple. Just see it. The last film was "Trust the Man". Avoid it. It was an unfunny version of Knocked Up without the baby. That's just the easiest way to describe it.

And now for pictures.
Here is me standing outside of our tent.

Big Bear Lake from the top of our hike up one of the mountains.

Me standing near the "Solar Observatory" which oddly enough is run by the New Jersey Institute of Technology.

And finally, Charli and I with the lake in the background.


And finally, how about the fact that Cubs win a game, but their manager is suspended indefinitely for arguing with a umpire???

Crooked French Canadians are awesome!

It has been a busy month, with almost vacations and real ones taking place. The title refers to the song "July July" by the Decemberists. I have been listening to them a lot recently and I highly recommend all of their albums. I'm not sure how to describe their music besides saying its catchy and full of great lyrics.

As for the almost vacation, we were going to head out to Catalina Island. Unfortunately it caught on fire and that trip was finished. Last weekend though, we went camping out at Big Bear Lake. I had never been up there before, but it was beautiful and quiet, even for Memorial Day. It kind of reminded us of miniature Lake Tahoe. Really, it was just nice to be away from school and email for three days. It recharged my batteries as we head into the final two weeks. I have pics, but they are saved on my other computer. I will post them soon.

As for Sports, well my Cubbies are not looking good. They are playing terribly right now and last night the pitcher and catcher got in a fight. Generally, fights break out between teams, not within them. My Melbourne Demons recorded their first victory of the season last night. Too bad it came in Week 10 of a 22 week season. I somehow doubt they will be in the playoffs this year.

That's it for now, more soon.