Where do you go to relax?

For me it has to be Portland, OR. A friend got married last weekend, so we had the opportunity to go up. Actually, it has been 3 weddings in 3 years, all of them in Portland. Here is some pics from the Trip. First up is Powell's: the greatest bookstore in the world. I spent quite a bit of time in there. This is the newer entrance, and rumor has it, the ashes of a man who wanted to be buried in Powells are encased in the statue of books in front of the door.

Here is the only rose that had bloomed yet in the Portland Rose Garden and the worlds laziest squirrel.


And finally, here is an "Only in Portland" picture. I have no idea how these two coexist next to each other.

It was a great weekend, fun was had by all and I got some rest. More to come soon.

See this film for the GREATER GOOD!

Okay, I have been looking forward to "Hot Fuzz" since I starting hearing about it last year. "Shaun of the Dead" is one of my favorites, so how could these they go wrong with a buddy/cop comedy. They couldn't, and further more they didn't. I saw it this weekend and loved it. Easy enough to say, if you loved Shaun you will love this. This film plays to a different audience though too. It spoofs so many cop films that I lost count, however, it is not just a spoof. It has a real story and developed characters. Plus, some gore and lots of cameos by bigger name actors. Overall, best film I have seen so far this year. So please go see it for the greater good.

In facing danger, it is best to have a badger at your side

This has been really busy week, but I get a day of rest now. So I can update what has been going on. First there was Easter. Charli and I dyed some eggs and here is a pic of them. We were using rubberbands and so got these cool stripes. I really like the green/orange one that I made. I also baked a small ham, which was a first.


In the last week, things were more hectic. I presented a paper at a conference this weekend and helped run the catering for the conference as well. Charli took some pictures, and here is one. I was nervous to start off, but in the end I think it was a great experience. Speaking in front of 15 people and sharing your research kind of breeds anxiety. What if they think your wrong? But I got great feedback and got through it.


However, the thing I was most worried about was presenting a lecture in the class that I am TAing for. 15 people is one thing. 200 undergrads looking for you to explain the importance of World War I is somewhat different. Standing down at the bottom of a lecture hall with everyone watching you is kind of creepy. But, after starting a little rough, things calmed down and I had fun with it. I think the most important thing was using examples that I know really well, so that I wasen't just reading through the notes, but rather just talking to them. I'm glad I did it.

As for other news, lets just say that neither my Chicago Cubs or Melbourne Demons have started well this season. It could be a long summer of sports...

CUBS!

Yeah, its that time of year, Cubs baseball. I think they have a good team this year, even though they have started 1-2. I'm more worried about the anticipated sale at the end of the season. It already sounds like it will end in a mess. Really, how could you sell the team without Wrigley? That field is an intricate part of the team. Most of the potential bidders have already made that clear. No stadium, no deal.

I spent the last weekend down in La Jolla/San Diego relaxing before classes start back up. It was seal cubbing season, so I got to see tons of baby seals. Here is a pic.

Done, Done, Done, Done.....I'm Done.

Well, almost. Just need to turn in my grades tomorrow and that's it. On to next quarter. And which looks to be fun. Two classes that sound great, I mean come on, being assigned to go watch 300 is awesome and TAing again. However the work starts this week as I need to get ready for my conference presentation. Within the madness, I did see two flicks. "Volver", was ohkaey. Not what I was expecting, especially since the last flick I saw by Almodovar, "Mal Educacion" was execellent. I do recommend catching "Idiocracy" on DVD. Made by the same guy who did "Office Space", it imagines a much, much dumber future. later.

Finals Week

You know, I thought grad students were suppose to be pretty much work free during finals week. However, I've got two papers to finish, an essay to grade for 50+ students and their final exam. So not much is going on here. I did get to watch Borat and Stranger Than Fiction this last week. Both are great films. Stranger, was the better film though, as it exceeded my expectations greatly. Definitely check it out. More soon, when I get an assignment or two finished.

Demons

Ah, it is such relief to finish a huge assignment. At least for now. And so what do I turn to for relaxation? Demons Football. I'm not talking that XFL crap from a few years ago. I'm talkin about AFL. Australian Rules Football. Melbourne Demons! Think Rugby, but more violent. THe season is just starting downunder, and while they lost their first game I got hope for the season. The only hard part is following games at midnight. If we could just get rid Hockey here and replace it with this awesome sport. For those interested, I added a link to the team's website. GO DEMONS!

RACER PIG

Here is a pic of Lucinda as her alter-ego, Racer Pig. Usually they are both kind of mellow when on the floor, but every now and then, Lucinda will start running back and forth across the living room at full speed. When she does it, she sort of makes this, "thump, thump, thump, thump" noise. It is hilarious. I will put a pic of Olivia when she is in a photogenic mood.


As for me, here is a shot of my life as it currently exists, doing lots of work. I have also included a self-portrait pic. Who says a picture taken with a camera at arms length will never come out good?

COFFEE!

I realized that even though I have given the site the name "Rusted Coffee", I have not given a shout out to my favorite drink in the world, you guessed it, COFFEE! Yup! hot, cold, iced, whatever, it is good. My favorite drink has to be Iced Mochas, especially from Peet's. And for coffee shops, you cannot beat Peet's. Everything they have/make is great. They are based in the Bay Area, but luckily there are enough down here in So Cal. that I can get my fix, although they are now within driving distance rather than walking distance. Oh well, that seems to be the standard measurement of distance here. Ah, I remember when I worked right next to Peet's in San Francisco...those were the days; knowing staff and getting free drinks. Included here is a pic of coffee beans. I took it at a coffee plantation we stop at in Guatemala two years ago.

RANT: Post Offices

I need to vent my anger at the postal system! Why does the post office that serves all of campus and parts of Irvine have to be so small? I waited in line for 30 minutes to send one thing. Newport Beach's post office is huge and spacious, with like 7 or 8 tellers. We get 3! And why are they so slow? I mean really, if you see 20 people in line...Don't stop to have a conversation! If only I had quicker way of getting to any other postal facility. Arggghhhh!

It's only been two weeks since the last post, so I take it as a sign I'm getting better about writing. Illness, excessive school work, and lamenting the Bear's loss in the Super Bowl have taken up a fair bit of time recently. I am hoping to get back on track this week....we'll see if that happens.

As for movies, go watch "The Five Obstructions" a great little documentary about challenging a film director to remake one of his finest films 5 times, each with different rules he must follow. Skip, "You, Me and Dupree" just not funny. By the way, have I mentioned my love for "Heroes". Best show on TV right now. More soon. with pictures (maybe)

Wow its been a long time...

Well, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's have passed since I posted last. All of those holidays were really good. I ate alot, had fun and relaxed. I also aged another year in there as well and now set at 28.

Everyone needs to check out the Decemberists. My friend recently recommended them and they are awesome. I have been listening to the first two tracks of their "The Crane Wife" album a ton. Also, how cool is it that Little Miss Sunshine is up for 4 oscars!!! That is by far my favorite movie of the year.

In other news, school is keeping me totally busy and has been the main reason for my pseudo-disappearance. I am going to try and get better at this...

Trytophantastic!

What's better than halloween candy? Thanksgiving turkey with all the fixins. I will report on the glorious day of gluttony afterwards. In the meantime go check out this new webcomic I discovered. strindbergandhelium.com

Halloween!

Wow, the day before Halloween. I look forward to Halloween. I love fall and the cool temperatures it brings with it, so of course what holiday could be better. Plus there is all the candy. What ever is left over I get to eat.

I saw two movies this week. First, "The Last King of Scotland" this movie is a well crafted fictional account of Idi Amin's personal physician during his reign. Apparently he had several, but they are condensed into one for the movie. I loved and think that Forest Whitaker should be a shoe for an oscar. He commands the screen and terrifies as the ruthless dictator. A great movie. Also saw "Running with Scissors" not that great. It was okay, but the actual memoirs by Augusten Burroughs are much better. Not sure why everyone is crazy about Annette Benings role as his mother. Wait for Dvd on this one.

Enjoy the ghosts and goblins and hopefully some fall rainy weather...

Oy Mates!

School has kept me so busy these last few weeks. 7 more until the end the of quarter. Writing and reading seem to be taking up my whole life. Blah Balh, I know, but well its what I enjoy doing. I did manage to squeeze in two movies. "The Girl Next Door" was okay. Not great by any means, but enjoyable especially becuase of the main characters two best friends. A great movie is "La Mala Educacion" or Bad Education by Almoldavar. It has Gael Garcia Bernal and it is awesomely creepy. The whole last part of the movie cast the story in a completely light. Check it out. Maybe next time I will post about something other than movies....

Run Chickens!

Alright, a week gone by and nothing posted...Well school is back and I am busy. Just after the first week. And TV shows have been premiering. I really like the new show "Heroes", but I am just waiting til LOST comes back this coming wednesday. I did see "Chicken Run" which was pretty good, and am hoping to the Michel Gondry's "The Science of Sleep" this weekend. Well, just have to see how long my reading and assignments take up. Ahhhh, school.

The Office of Dorian Gray

Well, I finished "The Picture of Dorian Gray". It was alright. Not sure which book will come down from the Barnes and Noble Classics Shelf yet, maybe Beowolf. It's nice and short. School starts back up next week, so fiction will probably be put aside for awhile. There is always time for movies however, and I watched Season 1 of the NBC version of The Office. I had only seen a few pieces of episodes before, but it is good. I still think the BBC version is better, but Carrell and the rest of the cast are awesome.

This Post Has Not Yet Been Rated

Folks, go see the new movie "This Film Has Not Yet Been Rated". It is a great behind the curtain view of how the MPAA rates movies and how f***ed up the system is. He even hires a private detective to track down who the secret movie raters and appeals board members are. A very revealing film that highlights important facts we should be aware of. Such as, why is the MPAA the only film ratings board in the world that finds sexuality instead of violence as the aspect most in need of restriction.

In literature I read another Neal Stephenson book, "Snow Crash." A great novel that provides a glimpse of a possible near future. Over commercialized, technologically advanced and intriguing. "The Picture of Dorian Gray" is taking some time, but it's okay. The fiction reading will be ending soon, as classes start again. But as I get to read stuff I will note it.

I hope this finds more readers, or at least more hits, as it still does not come up when searching through Google, Yahoo or even the Blogger search tool. Oh, well.

Currency

Alright, I saw Crank on friday and the movie was so bad that I need to rant about something completely entertainment related. Currency!

Yes, I hate pennies and believe them to be worthless. Actually they are worthless now that the government announced they cost more to produce than their monetary value. Every penny made hurts our economy. I also dislike dollar bills. Now they are fun to enter into wheresgeorge.com, but in reality we are one of the few high power economy nations that still uses one dollar bills, instead of coins. Now we have one dollar coins, but for some reason people are fearful of them. Now back to pennies, one of the big reasons we still have them is due to the influence of the copper mining industry. Here is my solution. Stop making pennies and stop making dollar bills. Instead, make dollar coins that have a high percentage of copper in them. Thus making mining interests happy, and me happy because we have switched to dollar coins. To start I think everyone reading this should go to the bank and get some dollar coins from a teller, they do have them there. And go out and spend them. Get people really used to the idea of them.

Books!!!

I just finished reading two great books. "The System of the World" is the final book in Neal Stephenson's The Baroque Cycle. The series covers about 50 years of war, invention, and politics from the late 1600's through 1700's. Even better is that the main characters are the ancestors of the characters in his other great book, "Cryptonomicon." He has a great writing style that I love.

The other book I just finished was "The Dante Club" which chronicles a series of fictional murders from Dante's Inferno being reenacted in the late 19th Century Boston. And who must solve the murders but Longfellow and friends who comprised the actual "Dante Club" whom aided Longfellow in his first American translation of Dante's work. It is a great mystery that holds the readers attention.

I also now must blaim Barnes and Noble for the following. They recently made their classics half-priced, which means that I have bought a ton of these things. My goal is to read them as they are actually classics. I will start Dante soon given I just read the Dante Club, but am starting with Wilde's "The Picture of Dorian Grey." I have about twenty others that I will report on as I read them. As classes are starting up again soon, I will just have to see how much time I have to read.

One quick note on movies: RV was okay, but predictable. Robot Chicken from Adult Swim is absolutely hilarious! Claymation and 1980's action figures in comic sketches! Awesome!

Ripoff Movie

Alright, I saw this at Blockbuster today and could not believe this existed. I kid you not..."Snakes on a Train" Here is a link to the IMDB site for the movie. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0843873/

Why does crap like this get made? Snakes On A Plane I can get behind. Samuel L. Jackson, Theatre Release, ect. But this??? NO!

An update on books, that's right not movies, will be coming soon.