- OK, guys, I'm going out of town to Ohio this weekend, but, if I were still in town and if I were you, I would head to the Landmark to catch MURDERBALL, this sports documentary about quadriplegic wheelchair rugby athletes. (Yes, quadriplegic ... not paraplegic. Apparently they explain it.) Lots of articles have been written, and the reviews have been uniformly strong. Beyond that, the athlete Mark Zupan is kinda hot in a tattooed, rough-trade way. And, beyond that, it's not like you've ever seen a quadriplegic wheelchair rugby movie before.
- Jenipher tells me she's just started THE HISTORIAN, and I was going to hand it to my mom this weekend so that she could read it on the plane. I'm still getting over having finished HARRY POTTER, and I don't know whether I should finish THE RAZOR'S EDGE or start something new entirely, like 44 SCOTLAND STREET. Anyway, what are you reading now that you're done with HARRY POTTER?
- Actually, I read a short story from this Annie Proulx book, CLOSE RANGE, over the weekend. The story was called "Brokeback Mountain," and it's been made into a movie with Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger. The story (and the movie) centers on two Wyoming ranch hands who are inexplicably drawn to one another and engage in this scorching hot, torrid affair, even though they're both married and have children. It's really, really well-written. (Proulx was nominated for a Pulitzer for it.) And, beyond that, it's got cowboy-on-cowboy action. I highly recommend it.
- Talking with my bookstore co-worker Shalewa about THE ISLAND, she said to me that she wouldn't see it because there was little-to-no chance that Ewan McGregor would appear naked in it. Then, she mentioned that it's really a rare Ewan movie where he's not naked, for the man appears to drop trou at any opportunity. I mean, there's YOUNG ADAM (which I've not seen), THE PILLOW BOOK, TRAINSPOTTING, VELVET GOLDMINE ... Surely, I'm forgetting one. Is Ewan McGregor a better actor when he's naked? Or is he just easier to watch then?
- Last night, I recommended Set Yourself on Fire, an album by Stars, to a guy who wanted Sufjan Stevens. He listened to a couple tracks of it, began to howl in ecstacy and then rushed to my register to buy it. So I thought I should recommend it. It's quirky and a little sad, but it's good music.
- Is it just me, or are the ads for THE 40-YEAR-OLD VIRGIN actually funny? Yeah, I thought it was just me.
- Yesterday, while in my office breakroom, I saw that warning on the Coke machine and wondered if anyone's ever really been crushed to death by a vending machine. That drawing's really funny. I imagine it must've happened at one point. Anyone heard anything about someone crushed by a soda machine. Friend of a friend? Or is this just an urban legend?
- I can't do any chores this week. I'm going out of town. Hee.
- Oh crap, I've not yet packed.
- Check last week's list.
- Create a list of things to do before you die, a list of goals (in no particular order) that you'd like to achieve. For more information, see this site.
- That missing Aruba girl, Natalee Holloway, is probably the best thing to happen to CNN since they fired me. Every night, it seems Larry King or that pudgy Melanie Griffith-looking woman Nancy Grace are talking about her. Thank God she's blonde and rich and pretty, otherwise she'd probably not get any news coverage. No one on CNN, though, has asked her distraught parents why in the hell they would name the girl something obnoxious like "Natalee."
- Finally, given that I've been in an inappropriate mood all week, can anyone think up a double-feature of movies that would be unintentionally funny or disturbing to watch together? I was thinking, you know, of watching BAD NEWS BEARS and MYSTERIOUS SKIN back-to-back so that I could get two different takes on traumatic experiences in Little League. Or SCHINDLER'S LIST and SWING KIDS for different takes on Nazi Germany. Anyone have any ideas? What's a really tasteless idea for a double feature?
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