The usual disclaimer: I don’t know how to critically review a movie. Thus, this post shall be plain and brief.
Ratatouille is a marvelous achievement. Again and again, Pixar exceeds expectations. Ok, maybe “Cars” just met expectations last year. But heading into the film last night, I was thinking, “It’s a Pixar movie, so it will be good, but isn’t the whole story of the young rebellious creature getting separated from his family/home (Nemo, that car) getting old? The great news is that there is nothing at all stale about the story. It’s very clever. And, of course, the animation is tremendous. I’m sure that has a little bit to do with the fact that a guy I went to elementary through high school with, Sudeep Rangaswamy, is still working on these things. (Ok, so that’s a little Google nugget-dropping to see if anyone from years ago stumbles upon this blog in a drunken search some night for Sudeep. Sorry, I don’t keep in touch with Sudeep, but you’ve found me!)
So…Ratatouille…very highly recommended, and if you don’t believe me, it has a 95% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, which I imagine makes it one of the top ten or so films ever reviewed on their site.
Joe Scarborough is one of the more palatable conservative talk-show hosts. (Is palatable conservative talk-show host an oxymoron?) But the star of this clip from today’s post-Imus MSNBC morning show is actually newsreader Mika Brzezinski. Her disdain for a lead story on Paris Hilton appears to be sincere. It any event, it makes for some captivating television…
It’s been six days since I dropped off the contract to purchase with the seller. It’s finally been signed. While my last post might have seemed like an official kickoff, the madness only officially begins now. Closing date: August 21…
With apologies to Tampa Bay, Tony Bennett, and Tuberculosis, I plan to use the prefix ‘TB’ to designate entries that pertain to the new and exciting saga that could alternatively be titled:
Toastie Buys a House
Toastie Builds a House
Toastie Rebuilds a House
Toastie’s Money Pit
Walltown Miracle
The Upside of Termites
You’re Buying THAT?
WTF Am I Doing?
While not technically under contract just yet, I have received enough information from the buyer’s representative to believe that the house will be under contract within a day or so.
I have been under a great deal of stress regarding this for the past eight days. There is a great deal to be written about this house–what kind of shape it’s it and why I have felt such a strong desire to own. I’ll speak to those questions, and I’ll plan to chronicle the transformation of this abode from it’s broken-down current state through its rebirth and renaissance. (Or maybe this decision will backfire, and this purchase will be a complete disaster. But I’m not a negative person…certainly not….)
Now, if I were a “Durham blogger”, I’d be writing about Durham Rising, the celebration in downtown Durham tonight to mark the planting of bricks downtown (and the reveal of a bull statue? I don’t really know; I wasn’t there)
If I were a political blogger, I’d be writing about…actually, I haven’t paid attention to the news of late. I’m oblivious. I did decide I’m not a “John Edwards” supporter anymore. Maybe I’ll write about that sometime.
I could write about how I just made an offer on the house I’m renting. But it’s a little complicated. I’ll save that topic until after I found out if the offer has been accepted. If it’s accepted, I’ll have a lot to write about (as in, “holy crap, I’m buying a house!”) If it’s not accepted, I’ll have a lot to write about (as in, #&$*(&*(#$!)
Ah, here’s something I can write a quick tidbit about. I’ve neglected to do so up until this point because I didn’t really want to make a big deal out of it. I don’t like that label that’s applied to people who don’t eat meat. No offense meant towards v’s. I’m not a true v. anyway because I’m eating fish. And I don’t care if my fries were fried in the same basket as the chicken nuggets. I’ve also neglected to do up until this point because I don’t feel like I explaining why I’m doing this. If you surveyed 100 v’s and asked precisely why they stopped eating meat, it would be unlikely that any would match my reason. The main reason I took down my weight-related post last week was because I realized that to stop eating meat would likely mean, in the short-term, that I’d gain weight. I hate carrying around such a gut. But that’s not my top priority right now. I have been and will eat lots of craps in the near-term–lots of bread and cheese and other junk. Because a major dietary change is tough enough to do, so I’m not going to go cold-turkey on enjoying food altogether. So just because I am not eating meat does not mean I have been eating any f’s or v’s. Spare me the v. cookbooks and telling me about all the wonderful, delicious meatless dishes out there.
Anyway, I very much miss and will continue to miss Egg McMuffins and Whole Foods’ Arizona Grills (chicken) and Jimmy Johns’ meaty subs and…ok, no time for a list now…I’ll miss it all…and maybe it’s not forever; maybe it’s just for another week or month or two years.
Oh, and I’ve neglected to mention it because I don’t want to hear the question from anyone at anytime, “Can you eat ____? Will you be able to find anything to eat at ____?” I’ll live. Seriously, whether or not I’ll find appetizing foods that fit my diet at an eating establishment is not something I will expend much effort worrying about.
I don’t plan to have this blog devolve into nothing more than daily YouTube clips. But when time or circumstances or mood preclude me from writing anything, I’m still going to stick with this daily exercise for now, because I kinda need the daily amusement…
This is from a New Rules segment from a May ’07 episode of Real Time with Bill Maher. I’ve been catching up the iPod audio podcasts lately. Real Time is one of the best shows on television…
With apologies to Tampa Bay, Tony Bennett, and Tuberculosis, I plan to use the prefix ‘TB’ to designate entries that pertain to the new and exciting saga that could alternatively be titled:
