I saw "Marley & Me" on Christmas Day with my family and wound up liking the movie a lot more than I thought I would. It was a heartfelt story about the love a dog can bring to a family. And the dog did some damn funny things that reminded me of my German Shepherd, Callie.
Callie is a very spirited dog who does not always listen to other people (my whole family). She managed to fail out of doggy obedience school as a puppy which I take as a different kind of feat.
She actually has all of us trained quite well. She's smarter than we give her credit for. Except when leaves blow across the front lawn. That causes her to start barking her ass off and not stop for 30 minutes.
She's a great guard dog though because of her bark and enjoyment in jumping on people. Even in her later years she's still quite capable of knocking my friends over.
"Marley & Me" was a good movie because if you've had a dog and loved it you'll be sucked into the story. Yeah, the dog is a pain in the ass at times but it's also there for the family through thick and thin.
There are some genuinely sad moments in the movie but it has a bittersweet ending which works well for it. It's not an Oscar film but not every movie should be. This one serves its purpose almost perfectly.
Callie decided to sit in Lola's bed which she's not allowed to do. Like I said, part of her independent spirit. She's so sweet.
I'm running my next half-marathon on May 3rd. It's the Avia OC Half-Marathon and will be in the heart of Newport. Sort of like a jogging tour of exterior shots from "The OC."
Or not. Hooray running!
Needless to say I am very excited for this Sunday evening. JACK IS BACK!!!
I love 24 and am stoked the new season starts on Sunday night with a two hour premiere followed by another two hours on Monday. Holy crap this is awesome.
24 is some of the best programming on the air. The intensity is there from the moment the clock ticks for the opening credits. The show truly grabs viewers and sucks them in. You really begin to care about all the different characters on the show and what their fates might be.
Jack is one of the most intriguing and multi-faceted characters in television history. He's someone everyone roots for but at the same time his tactics are brutal. He's a person who kills others without much hesitation. He knows it's not necessarily the right thing to do but it's the only option he can find.
He's so flawed because he cares so much for the people close to him in his life but he can't seem to keep them protected at all times. He's lost a lot of those close to him because of his actions. He's lost his wife, has a poor relationship with his daughter, Kim (I love it when she runs) and at the end of the last season said goodbye to another woman that he loved, Audrey Raines.
There are moments of the show that seem extremely outrageous and this season has one that's going to top my list with Tony Almeida coming back from the dead (sorry if this is a spoiler to anyone but they show him in the previews and press material). He was another character I really liked and you got to know throughout the series.
One of my favorite moments in the whole series was in season 4 when Tony rescues Jack and Audrey. I almost shit a brick when the gun was lowered and saw his face. Ashley is madly in love with him and having trouble coming to terms with the fact that he's going to be a bad guy. This should be a remarkable season.
I'm really excited because they moved the location city from LA to Washington D.C. They actually spent a few weeks there doing on location shooting. This is a great change because LA can only be attacked so many times whereas Washington D.C. makes for a logical target because of what it represents to America as well as the rest of the world.
Chloe and Bill Buchanan will also be two other characters that are brought back, but CTU will be disbanded in this season. Chloe is one of those characters people did not like at first but all her quirks made her much more likable as each episode went along. She's Jack's right hand and always putting her neck on the line for him.
I could go on and on about my love for this show. I won't. You'll get bored and find something else to look at on the internet (if you're Dave it'll probably be a recipe for Ziti. Actually, Dave would probably keep reading. I got him hooked to 24. But he probably does look at Ziti recipe's online for fun).
Hooray Jack Bauer!
I spend a lot of time talking with my friends about any and everything. One topic that always seems to come up is my inability to get women and get laid. If you don't like getting laid or maintaining a relationship with a girl I have some good advice for you.
I'm not saying I want a different girl every weekend, I don't. I'm not good at faking interest in a girl either for the sake of getting laid. That always turns into me mocking her incessantly. Funny for me and my friends, not for her. This often turns into a Bad Life Decision (aka BLD).
One of the first steps to successfully making a BLD is to get as drunk as you physically can. This is easier said than done. It takes real dedication and often deep pockets to pull this trick off. A surefire way to do this without breaking the bank is buying the cheapest liquor you can.
I prefer prestige rum. At $10 a half-gallon it's hard to complain even when you feel like death in the morning. Another way to tell if the liquor is cheap is if the bottle is made of plastic.
What's vital with the cheap liquor is it's very cost-efficient to drink. Even if you get really sick and puke you're not wasting a lot of money on expensive booze.
Another important aspect to the heavy consumption of cheap booze is (if you're like me) it disables any sense of judgment you might have. When you look like I do in the picture you're ready for the next step of going home by yourself.
It is extremely vital you lack the ability to make a sound decision, even if your life depended on it. At this point pretty much any girl (or guy for the ladies and gay men out there) will look good to you. Another crucial part of being this drunk is you're uninhibited and lack any sort of real filter. If you can control what you're going to say, you better hit the bottle harder and faster.
My expertise comes in this next part: being extremely offensive. This is where I've made a name for myself amongst my friends and earned the BLD title "Chief of Insults." It takes a real lack of moral decency and kindness towards others to stand out in the BLD group and become the Chief of Insults (in the above pic I'm standing next to the infamous Dave aka the BLD Head of Sales, Coporate Division. Which is a dumb and not funny title. He should be the head of lasagna making).
One of the most efficient and time-tested methods for being offensive is calling the other person stupid. It never fails to insult someone's intelligence especially when both parties have been drinking. If that doesn't work try and find specific things about them that are stupid and point them out to large groups of people.
If you're really daring you could even offend the person for being a certain type of person, such as a girl being dumb for being a girl.
For the record I'm not a sexist. I'm all for women's rights and believe there is nothing better in this world than a strong, independent woman. I come from a family of extremely strong women who love nothing more than to put me in my place every time I open my mouth. They've gotten very, very good at it despite my best efforts.
If your morals begin to act up (it happens to me from time to time) and you realize what you're doing you have two options: 1. Begin mocking yourself and make yourself look like an ass in a playful charming way (this can work but it's not a guarantee) or 2. Go for broke and mock the living hell out of this person.
Going for broke will almost guarantee you getting yelled at and told what an asshole you are. A couple of your friends might find your antics to be amusing given they're not on the receiving end of your insults. Other people will not.
A true BLD takes dedication. A strong committment to doing something that will be a stupid decision. Many try, few succeed. When in doubt call someone ugly or stupid.
p.s. I have no idea who the girl in the picture is. I know nothing happened beyond that picture but if something did that would've been another example of a BLD.
Sunday turned out to be a pretty big day. Not only did I go ice skating in the evening but I also went to the Clippers/Pistons game in the early afternoon at the Staples Center with Jon, Pete and Lucy (a co-worker of Jon's and former MSU alum).
I know it'd make more sense to blog about the basketball game first then the ice skating but the ice skating was fresh in my head. And you can kiss my ass if you really have a problem with that.
It was my first time to the Staple's Center and we took the subway to get there. Not nearly as hectic as the subway in New York or London.
Our seats were in the nosebleeds but they were cheap and it was a damn good time.
Another good thing was the Pistons won! It was a good game, down to the last few seconds. The Pistons should've won by a lot more but it was still nice to see them win.
p.s. Clippers games are a lot cheaper then Lakers games. Probably because they're not as good.
Yesterday was the birthday of my friend Aubree (also Dave, but I didn't get to hang out with him and drink my guts out. :( )and she came up with the surprisingly genius idea of going ice skating in Santa Monica last night. At first I was apprehensive because it was ice skating. In Santa Monica.
I arrived there with Jon, Pete, Corey and Tyne (they tend to be a package deal, plus they're good people) and the "rink" was pretty much what I expected it to be. A small slab of ice, probably 100x100 feet, with a bunch of people going around it in a circle.
Ok, the sun is shining in this picture which was not the case seeing as we went at 8pm. However it was a damn good time. The rink is very similar the one in downtown Grand Rapids at the Rosa Parks park. The ice was equally as crappy.
This was no hockey rink but that didn't stop me from zipping around the ice and challenging Jon in some balance games. He won. Bastard.
At the end of the evening I was the last one off the ice and didn't want to leave. I was just skating around and around while my friends looked on and wondered what the hell I was doing out there by myself.
I was having fun.
Also, after we went skating we walked down to the Santa Monica promenade to get hot chocolate (for free thanks to starbucks and the ice skating place). This little venture through that part of town helped solidify the idea that I want to live there soon. That part of town is awesome, right by the beach and much cleaner than the majority of LA.
The ice skating was fun. I would do it again. And there were some cute girls there. Always a good thing in my book.
I'm proud to say I've already followed through with one of my resolutions. I rang in the New Year drunk. And with Cris Judd (J. Lo's ex).
Callie is a very spirited dog who does not always listen to other people (my whole family). She managed to fail out of doggy obedience school as a puppy which I take as a different kind of feat.
Callie decided to sit in Lola's bed which she's not allowed to do. Like I said, part of her independent spirit. She's so sweet.
