The Final Steps Post

Last week I received a notice in the mail that I will be sitting my exam for American citizenship early February. I am really excited that the process has taken much less time in Virginia than forecast down in Florida. I dug out my civics question CD and have been listening to the questions and answers I’ll need to know for the exam. I’ll also be required to prove that I have reading and writing abilities in English, which should be relatively easy despite the quality of my blog postings. Now if you’ll excuse me I need to figure out the difference between Mark and John Warner.

The Scrubbing Back In Post

Scrub’s is back on TV this time it’s made the jump to ABC. Tuesday was the season premier and I have to say, so far it looks pretty good. I’ll like the show no matter what they do with it in all honesty, but I would be a lair if I didn’t admit that the last two seasons have been sub par. Fortunately they seem to have learnt from their mistakes and have the show back on track. While it may be a bit soon to call only 2 episodes in, but I am noticing that it feels more like classic Scrubs, and less like the goofier random-plotted episodes of late. Any show where your main characters get less screen time than the cardboard minor characters should start thinking about getting back to basics. You listening Simpsons!?)* Gone is the ridiculous self parody and self referencing form the last two seasons and back are the quazi-heartfelt plots dripping with hilarity. Good job guys. My only complaints are that J.D. needs to shave the stubble pronto, and we need more Elliot being hot. That’s it. The rest is golden.

*Minor characters are key. Don’t get me wrong. But Ted the lawyer and Professor Frink don’t need spin-off shows.

The Bemoaned Ad of 08 Post

Do you like hilariously inappropriate commercials? I know I do. This is apparently the most complained about commercial of 2008. Its from Australian tampon manufacturer Kotex. Honestly its not bad at all, but is pretty funny. Considering the product it’s pushing its light-years better than the completion’s attempts. Check it out.

The Benjamin Button Post

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is an interesting tale of a man who lives life backwards. Born as a geriatric baby that grows into a charming old-man of a toddler, all the way back to senile baby (with the obligatory Pitt-stop* In his hunkey midlife of course). Button brings in elements of past charmers Big Fish and Forrest Gump and mixes them into an interesting blend of outlandish fantasy and a humble life. Button’s tale recounts a magical existence being told from the end-backwards. while mimicking Gump by living through the ages experiencing everything one should do during the decades of his existence. He goes to war, he works the seas, he travels from country to country and city to city. He becomes a ping pong champion…no nevermind.

Pitt himself does a terrific job of playing the part during it’s various stages, and the supporting cast do a great job of playing their parts in Button’s life. Captain Mike and 'Lightning Geezer' where my personal favorites. Cate Blanchett did a good job of playing the equally complex counterpart to Pitt’s Button also, and evolves with his devolution with notable symmetry. The aging effects are rather remarkable but for some reason Brad Pitt looks like Yoda for the first hour or so of the movie and then turns into Val Kilmer for half an hour. Who knew?

The movie does an excellent job of highlighting the cyclical nature of life and bringing to light the childlike nature of being elderly and the senile aspects of infancy. The long length of the movie while clearly intentional works against the film more than it helps in the (very) long run. When a film is based on illustrating a mans entire existence while at the same time taking great efforts to portray said life in a manner that forces the viewer to think differently about life as a whole, its pretty much expected that it will run for the better part of three hours. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but don’t ever randomly decide to watch this Curious Case. Only commit if you have the time and emotional energy to dedicate an evening to it. That being said it is a fantastic movie and very well made, but not one that I feel I need to see again to appreciate. As with Button himself this only needs to be experienced once per lifetime.
*Sorry, had to.

The 2009 Post

Happy New Year to everyone! Sorry again for being so delayed with my postings… I have really let things slide as far as getting things on here in a timely manner. I’ll try to be more on the ball in the future. Speaking of half-hearted resolutions I don’t think I am going to be making any this New Year. I’d rather just keep last years ones running for now unless I think of something better to add to the list.

New Year’s Eve itself wasn’t what we where originally planning on and ended up being a lot more low-key that Sarah and I would have ideally liked. We has spoken to Eric who is similarly minded on the matter and have decided that this year we are going to make a point of doing something big to bring in 2010. Hopefully we’ll be able to get more people on board that in the past, but either way we want to have a blast and aim big. I am leaning towards an overnight cruise or a ball at a swanky hotel, maybe book a penthouse suite somewhere ostentatious if we can get enough people on board. We do have 12 months to decide so I’m not stressing yet, but it’s definitely something I want to do this year. Watching Carson Daily and some party streamers aren’t going to cut it for the 2000- double digits! I want to go big leagues. Or maybe just bigger-league.

The iMac Post

Duncan is starting up a new business that will focus accessibility in the DC-metro area, and has enlisted me as his graphical confidant for much of the project. I won’t go into detail on the company itself as there is much to be ironed out and much more to share in a future posting- in order to get things rolling Duncan is getting his ducks in a row with the financial planning and making sure he has the manpower and hardware to pull off his ideas. To overly sweeten the deal on my end he has very generously equipped me with a refurbished iMac to work off of. I have been wanting to make the adaptation to being a dual PC-Mac user for a while. Being a graphic designer and living in the PC-only camp is a rarity these days and can potentially be a hindrance. I will never be a 100% Mac-Head but I definitely see their merits and want to become as versed with them as I can be. This is the perfect opportunity to make that transition.

Well it would be…if we could get the damn thing to stay on for more than 20 seconds. Unfortunately there are some technical issues with the hardware (Duncan is thinking its still the power supply) which means that the pretty white screen has to sit idle at the moment until the stubborn thing can be repaired. It’s very upsetting… but so pretty…. Oh I can’t stay mad at you. Time for another dusting!

The December Festivities Post

One of the best parts of the holiday season is the constant flow of holiday parties and gatherings. Spending time with the family is always fun, but throw into the mix social gatherings with co-workers and friends that otherwise tend not to happen in the less festive months and December is always a nice change of pace.

After being at my new job for two weeks Sarah and I went to the company Christmas party which was a lot of fun. One would except that after only meeting people for less than a fortnight, going to a formal party would be a bit difficult. Fortunately that was not the case and we both had a lot of fun. The next day we were tasked with coming up with ugly holiday sweaters for Eric’s annual Christmas Sweater Party at THE CITADEL. I opted to borrow one of Mum’s eclectic teacher waistcoats while Sarah and Melissa decided to craft their own festive attire with various Christmas craft items. It was a lot of fun and getting to see the Arlington crew (as they are now to be dubbed) was much overdue. Unfortunately with the move in full swing at the time we weren’t able to attend Coy and Holly’s Christmas dinner the night after however which was a real shame but unfortunately just not in the cards for us that weekend.

Christmas itself was a whirlwind of family gatherings. With Sarah’s sisters in town, Stefan making his return, Craig visiting, plus all the regular shady characters who we like to call ‘family*’ being around we barely has a moment where we weren’t wrapping gifts, stuffing our faces or spending time with loved ones- you know all the stuff that the holidays are great for. We went out to the Russia House for a delicious Christmas Eve dinner to celebrate everyone being together- promptly followed by the traditional Hunt Family Sheppard’s Pie dinner (somehow I was still able to finish a whole plate at both meals). Christmas day had many stages being at the apartment, my house, Sarah’s house and the customary overeating at two family Christmas dinners.

Two days after Christmas we went down to Re-Ra’s in Clarendon for a surprise welcome home party for Stefan and Greg’s return from overseas. Both families where there in full force as well as all their friends to great them. Greg’s family has it organized that the guys thought that they where going to out to a family dinner with both sets of parents. They where surprised when all of their friends where upstairs in the bar waiting to greet them. It was a fun night.

So January might have its work cut out for it when it comes to matching the variety of after hours entertainment of December… or it might give everyone a chance to rest…maybe do a few crunches and work off the 3rd helping of figgie pudding.

*Sarcasm of course guys. Except you Jake… you’re pretty shady.