Monday, June 29, 2015
Keeping it Classy
My neighborhood is the best. There are constantly drunken Cubs fans puking or passing out on my lawn (well, the six-foot strip of wood chips between the sidewalk and the road we call a lawn) and every year there's a bar crawl where stabbings are par for the course. I once saw a girl getting fingerbanged by not one by two dudes in a port a potty. Another time I saw a dude getting blown on the hood of what I assume must have been a Camaro. Also, there's never any parking. And did I mention all of the sports bars?
But the classiest touch has to be the fact that lately people have taken to just randomly leaving rat poison all over the place. I mean, I get it, nobody wants rats. But maybe we also don't want to kill our pets? And of course Aubrey snaps that shit up like its a flat screen TV at Wal-Mart on black Friday. Fortunately I have become quite adept at unlocking beagle jaws over the years.
Also she tried to eat a dead fish that had washed up on the dog beach the other day. Some days I just feel like a Disney princess come to life.
Tuesday, June 23, 2015
Film File
Our relationship with the dog has finally evolved to the point where we feel comfortable leaving her alone for a few hours so we can go see a movie. True, this often results in the destruction of a shoe but shouldn't we really update our footwear selections occasionally anyway?
First we saw Spy, which was pretty good. I honestly found the plot to be a bit hard to follow and kind of wished that they wouldn't even have bothered with one, but the actors were all fairly strong and there were plenty of funny lines. I do like Melissa McCarthy and appreciate it when she gets material that doesn't just involve her being loud and ungainly. And, dare I say it, I'm kind of a Rose Byrne fan, though I'm not entirely sure that's really a thing. Jason Statham I kind of couldn't understand. The words he spoke, I mean, not him as a phenomenon. Well, both.
And this weekend we saw Inside Out, which was amazing. Frankly, I don't understand how it has taken this long for Amy Poehler and Pixar to come together; if it were up to be all movies would feature this combination. And Tina Fey. And maybe that cute little dog from The Artist. Anyway, the writing was good, everything looked amazing, and it was funny and touching and really fairly perfect in every way. Also we saw it at the good theater with the reclining leather seats and little tables for your drinks and popcorn, so it was all in all a fantastic night. I'm simple, what can I say?
Our relationship with the dog has finally evolved to the point where we feel comfortable leaving her alone for a few hours so we can go see a movie. True, this often results in the destruction of a shoe but shouldn't we really update our footwear selections occasionally anyway?
First we saw Spy, which was pretty good. I honestly found the plot to be a bit hard to follow and kind of wished that they wouldn't even have bothered with one, but the actors were all fairly strong and there were plenty of funny lines. I do like Melissa McCarthy and appreciate it when she gets material that doesn't just involve her being loud and ungainly. And, dare I say it, I'm kind of a Rose Byrne fan, though I'm not entirely sure that's really a thing. Jason Statham I kind of couldn't understand. The words he spoke, I mean, not him as a phenomenon. Well, both.
And this weekend we saw Inside Out, which was amazing. Frankly, I don't understand how it has taken this long for Amy Poehler and Pixar to come together; if it were up to be all movies would feature this combination. And Tina Fey. And maybe that cute little dog from The Artist. Anyway, the writing was good, everything looked amazing, and it was funny and touching and really fairly perfect in every way. Also we saw it at the good theater with the reclining leather seats and little tables for your drinks and popcorn, so it was all in all a fantastic night. I'm simple, what can I say?
Wednesday, June 17, 2015
Riot Fest
You know how you can tell you're getting old? When people take to the streets in your neighborhood to celebrate the Blackhawks' win and, rather than wanting to join them, you just worry that they're going to freak out your dog.
And indeed the lady was a bit freaked out; our pre-bed bathroom trip ended up taking about half an hour due to constant distraction. I'm not sure if it was the helicopters or the people stumbling by screaming things.
Also: it's kind of hard to sleep when it sounds like they're staging Miss Saigon outside your bedroom window. Plus there's the fear that someone is going to set your car on fire.
Anyway, I'm glad that they won, and also that it's over. Of course, baseball season still has several months to go...
You know how you can tell you're getting old? When people take to the streets in your neighborhood to celebrate the Blackhawks' win and, rather than wanting to join them, you just worry that they're going to freak out your dog.
And indeed the lady was a bit freaked out; our pre-bed bathroom trip ended up taking about half an hour due to constant distraction. I'm not sure if it was the helicopters or the people stumbling by screaming things.
Also: it's kind of hard to sleep when it sounds like they're staging Miss Saigon outside your bedroom window. Plus there's the fear that someone is going to set your car on fire.
Anyway, I'm glad that they won, and also that it's over. Of course, baseball season still has several months to go...
Sunday, June 14, 2015
Boy II Man
We watched Boyhood this week. I thought it was really good and am honestly kind of amazed that it didn't win best picture. I blame that creepy Entertainment Weekly cover where they spliced together pictures of the kid at three different ages to make it look like they were all hanging out. And let's be real that puberty was no less difficult for that kid than it was for the majority of us.
Anyway, I felt like the fact that they shot it over the course of many years, combined with the semi-improvisational approach, made it feel so much more authentic than anything else out there. There were a lot of moments in it that reminded me of my own experiences, even some experiences that I had forgotten about until I saw the movie. And I loved that they didn't feel like they had to pick all huge, pivotal moments in the kid's life; sometimes it was just bowling with Ethan Hawke, which sounds like the worst prize from the silent auction.
It was too long, of course. But I feel like a movie that covers years of a person's life has more reason to be long than, say, Transformers. Although I would love to see how Optimus Prime changed as he grew up. Somebody get me a meeting with Michael Bay.
We watched Boyhood this week. I thought it was really good and am honestly kind of amazed that it didn't win best picture. I blame that creepy Entertainment Weekly cover where they spliced together pictures of the kid at three different ages to make it look like they were all hanging out. And let's be real that puberty was no less difficult for that kid than it was for the majority of us.
Anyway, I felt like the fact that they shot it over the course of many years, combined with the semi-improvisational approach, made it feel so much more authentic than anything else out there. There were a lot of moments in it that reminded me of my own experiences, even some experiences that I had forgotten about until I saw the movie. And I loved that they didn't feel like they had to pick all huge, pivotal moments in the kid's life; sometimes it was just bowling with Ethan Hawke, which sounds like the worst prize from the silent auction.
It was too long, of course. But I feel like a movie that covers years of a person's life has more reason to be long than, say, Transformers. Although I would love to see how Optimus Prime changed as he grew up. Somebody get me a meeting with Michael Bay.
Wednesday, June 10, 2015
Baby, Boom
As promised, here are some pictures of Baby Jack. We're continuing the great family tradition of naming a child one thing but calling him another. His legal name will be John (like me and my dad) but he will go by Jack. It will be so much fun for him every year on the first day of school.
This is the one week photo. He looks kind of like he's over it. So he'll fit in well around here.
This was in the hospital right after the big event. Apparently they have mood lighting in hospitals now.
I believe this is the very first photo of Jack. Not his first selfie, though. That will be the real measure of the man.
Here is the Boo/Jack summit. Many important policy accords were no doubt reached.
As promised, here are some pictures of Baby Jack. We're continuing the great family tradition of naming a child one thing but calling him another. His legal name will be John (like me and my dad) but he will go by Jack. It will be so much fun for him every year on the first day of school.
This is the one week photo. He looks kind of like he's over it. So he'll fit in well around here.
This was in the hospital right after the big event. Apparently they have mood lighting in hospitals now.
I believe this is the very first photo of Jack. Not his first selfie, though. That will be the real measure of the man.
Here is the Boo/Jack summit. Many important policy accords were no doubt reached.
Sunday, June 07, 2015
Welcome to the Family
My sister had her baby this week! (Did I even mention she was pregnant? For nine months, if you can believe it.) It was kind of weird because the little guy's arrival was a moving target. The due date was June 1, but then they said they thought that it would be earlier based on the baby's size, but then they said it would be later because nothing seemed to be going on with her contractionwise. And then all of the sudden he was here, around 12:30 Tuesday morning.
He's great! Super small, as babies tend to be. (Though actually quite tall for a baby, or maybe the word is long since he's not exactly standing up?) A good sleeper, if you put aside the twenty-four hour period where he never stopped screaming/eating. Looks a bit like both of his parents, though I think his closest analogue right now is Dorinda's boyfriend on Real Housewives of New York. And the dogs have approved of him, which is good, because it's not like they have the option of voting him off the island.
I'll get some pictures together soon. "Soon" being a relative term, of course.
My sister had her baby this week! (Did I even mention she was pregnant? For nine months, if you can believe it.) It was kind of weird because the little guy's arrival was a moving target. The due date was June 1, but then they said they thought that it would be earlier based on the baby's size, but then they said it would be later because nothing seemed to be going on with her contractionwise. And then all of the sudden he was here, around 12:30 Tuesday morning.
He's great! Super small, as babies tend to be. (Though actually quite tall for a baby, or maybe the word is long since he's not exactly standing up?) A good sleeper, if you put aside the twenty-four hour period where he never stopped screaming/eating. Looks a bit like both of his parents, though I think his closest analogue right now is Dorinda's boyfriend on Real Housewives of New York. And the dogs have approved of him, which is good, because it's not like they have the option of voting him off the island.
I'll get some pictures together soon. "Soon" being a relative term, of course.
