Ella is convinced that every movie should have a princess and an evil queen in it. Obviously she bases this on her obsession with movies that all do seem to have a princess and an evil queen type.  Movies like Snow White, Wizard of Oz, Alice in Wonderland, Cinderella, Little Mermaid, Sleeping Beauty, and even Star Wars (Which was actually the first movie she had seen with a princess in it. And although there is no evil queen, Darth Vader more than makes up for it).

I thought I had died and gone to heaven the day Ella asked if she could watch Star Wars. I hadn’t prompted her at all and had not planned on showing it to her until she was older. So I am still not sure how she got the idea – I am guessing maybe one of the older boys at the babysitter’s had mentioned it. I never even bothered to ask how she heard of it, I just sprung into action to find the original Star Wars.

Oddly, I couldn’t find the original. Since there was no way I was going to show her one of the others in the series until she had seen the original, we were off to Wal-Mart to buy a new Star Wars DVD. My obvious excitement during this father/daughter shopping trip may very well have added to the hype of it all. But I was ecstatic and  really hoping once we started watching the movie she would actually like it, or at least show some sort of interest beyond the first few minutes.

The rest is history – she loved it! Especially Darth Vader and the droids (because of their funny names). She wanted to watch it over and over. She told all her little cousins about it, and made them all watch it when they visited one night. She even asked to dress as Darth Vader for Halloween, of course we weren’t sure about a 2-year-old girl dressing as the Dark Lord of the Sith, so we were glad when she went as something a little cuter instead.

She has now made her way through both trilogies, but the original film is still her favorite. She has watched it many times (even when I can’t watch it with her). It is still her go-to movie at times, like when she felt ill at the water park and all she wanted to do was cuddle with daddy and watch Star Wars (brings tears to my eyes!).

She and I have had numerous lightsaber fights duels with cardboard giftwrapper rolls. And recently, Ella asked me to play make-believe with her, with this awesome invitation:

“Hey Daddy, let’s play. You be Han Solo and I’ll be Princess Leia!”.
(For the record, I will take any opportunity to be Han Solo, so afterward I changed my Facebook profile pic to Han Solo for a week or two).

Then the next night, she offered:

“Dad, how about you be a princess and I will be the evil queen.” Once I begrudgingly agreed and started pretending to be a princess she said,  “Well, queens don’t fight with lightsabers so we’ll just have to push each other.”
(Proceed to silly wrestling match that ends with Ella wrapped up in a blanket like a “burrito”.)

Adorable, or what?

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Human-flesh search engines — renrou sousuo yinqing — have become a Chinese phenomenon: they are a form of online vigilante justice in which Internet users hunt down and punish people who have attracted their wrath. The goal is to get the targets of a search fired from their jobs, shamed in front of their neighbors, run out of town. It’s crowd-sourced detective work, pursued online — with offline results.

… Searches have been directed against all kinds of people, including cheating spouses, corrupt government officials, amateur pornography makers, Chinese citizens who are perceived as unpatriotic, journalists who urge a moderate stance on Tibet and rich people who try to game the Chinese system.

Read more from New York Times

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I am being stalked by Schrödinger’s cat. I swear I hadn’t heard of this famous 1935 thought experiment until sometime last year, but ever since then it seems to be everywhere. Popping up in numerous TV shows, movies, and a book I was reading recently. I’ve even seen Schrödinger’s cat t-shirts online.

If you are unfamiliar with Schrödinger’s cat, here is the quick rundown:

We place a living cat into a steel chamber, along with a diabolical device that may or may not kill the cat at anytime. Since we cannot know whether or not the cat has been killed, the cat is both dead and alive according to quantum law, in a superposition of states. It is only when we break open the box and learn the condition of the cat that the superposition is lost, and the cat becomes one or the other (dead or alive).

So, the most recent pop culture appearance of this theory was in the movie Repo Men, where it actually plays a significant role.

Repo Men is a bloody action flick about a future where if you fall behind on your payments for expensive mechanical organs a “union” man will show up and cut you open to take it back, usually leaving you to die on the spot. (When I first saw the trailer I instantly thought of Monty Python’s Live Organ Transplant skit, so I was pleased to see it make a cameo in the film.)

Anyways, early in the movie the Jude Law’s character, Remy, briefly ponders on the paradox of Schrödinger’s cat.  Then it is not mentioned again, so I am guessing many viewers forgot about it completely by time the twist ending arrives. I won’t give away the twist, but clearly anyone that criticized the ending missed that connection.

Personally I liked the “twist” ending far better then the ending that we were led to believe was happening. The twist actually forgives some of the ridiculousness that occurs with the big hallway fight scene where Jude Law’s character feels compelled to kill people in as many ways as possible using every item in his toolbox.

The paradox could also be applied to other parts of the movie if you dig deep enough, such as Remy’s failing marriage. But that seems like a waste of a fun quantum theory.

As a side note, can I just say I think Forrest Whitaker is the best lazy eyed, excessive blinking, black actor to ever grace the screen. Seriously though, he is one of those guys that you can’t help but pay attention to. The best examples of these types are guys like Steve Buscemi and Christopher Walken. I could watch those guys read the phone book.

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I finally saw Blind Side the other night. It was a decent movie, mostly because it was a very sweet true story. For me, knowing something really happened always take the experience to another level.

However, I wish I had seen it before the Oscars, because I am guessing I elevated my expectations for Sandra Bullock’s Best Actress performance. I just didn’t see anything that made me think it should have been nominated, much less win the Oscar. Am I wrong? Am I missing something? I knew from all the pre-oscar hype that she was a lock, including articles that handicapped the judging based on historical trends. Everything said she was going to win it, unless Meryl Streep happened to cash in, something she seems to have trouble doing, she gets nominated often but doesn’t win much.

Anyways, I liked Quinton Aaron, who played the lead convincingly after career highlights like playing roles as “Perp”, “Bouncer” and “Bodyguard” on TV shows like Law & Order. The kid, Jae Head, who played the little brother was cracking me up. I even liked Tim McGraw as the dad. And I do think Bullock gave a good performance, but to me an amazing acting performance is one where you can not imagine anyone else playing the role, but sadly I can see dozens of other actresses pulling off a performance on par with Sandy’s. I can see any of these actresses doing the role, and probably getting no attention for it at all: Nicole Kidman, Maria Bello, Diane Lane, Jodi Foster, Michelle Pfeiffer, Maura Tierney or maybe even one of the Desperate Housewives. (Notice I didn’t mention Streep? This role is way to pedestrian for her talent.)

That said, I really like Bullock and am glad she won one. Do you think that’s it, she is just so liked that it was her time? Because she has done better roles in 28 days, Premonition, The Net, A Time to Kill, heck Miss Congeniality showed more range. She has a real gift for comedy which is a grossly underrated talent.

Now to the REAL TRAGEDY of the whole Blind Side and Micheal Oher story. In a better world it would have ended with the Detroit Lions drafting him at 20, dammit. What is wrong with the Lions taking a tight end instead of a franchise left tackle with as great a story as Oher’s!

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According to the new health care bill, restaurants will be required by law to show the number of calories each item on their menu contains. I guess by displaying how many calories each item is packing, we will be better educated about our eating, and will no longer need the internet to find out how fat we’re going to get if we eat something.

In other words, guys like me will not be able to claim ignorance as we pig out with delusionally guilt-free.

Example, just the other day I made my wife laugh aloud when I told her I thought a Big Mac only had 185 calories, sure enough a couple clicks on her Palm Pre and we discovered it was three times that many calories! So while she figured out the best calorie choice, I decided to quickly order some Angus burger on the drive-up sign I had never seen before so she couldn’t look it up fast enough for me to change my mind. And so instead of the 576-calorie Big Mac I was guilted out of eating, I instead ate a 760-calories Angus Deluxe. Hooray, I am an idiot! Because it wasn’t as good as the Big Mac I wanted all along, and clearly the extra 200 calories was all grease.

So anyways, while having the calories listed right on the menu won’t mean the gut busters will be taken off the menu, but it could sway restaurants to offer some lighter options.

I am guessing it is going to take a few years for the FDA to implement this new labeling system, so until then ignorance is bliss – enjoy as many 185-calorie Big Macs as you want. I hear the fries are fat-free too!

(SERIOUSLY though, if you haven’t had a Big Mac in awhile and can spare the calories, go for it, it’s better then you remember! Just look at that delicious photo. I might have to go get one now.)

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But if you know anyone hooked on games like War of Warcraft you know its possible.

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On March 19, 2007 my little Ella Ray was born. Things have never been the same.

It’s so hard to believe she has been with us for 3 years already. Then again there are also times that I can’t believe she is only 3! She acts so old at times and talks more like a 5 or 6 year old.

She already had her birthday party last weekend, her cousins (or “my friends” as Ella refers to them) came over and the party was a dress-up theme with princess dresses, doctor, cowboy and policeman outfits. Ella already owned a bunch of princess dresses and accessories, but we picked up the others so her boy cousins didn’t have to wear dresses like they had been on previous visits.

As I type this post, I wish I had kept Ella home today for her birthday and just hung out with her all day. We have so much fun together. Like when we went to the movies together last night or to the basketball game the other day (see pic below). We really can hang out with each other and it is so much fun! I hope the day never comes where she doesn’t want to kick it with her dad.

Two really sweet moments pop to mind just now: recently I was away for work for almost a week and returned on a Friday – the day I pick the girls up from daycare. When she saw me, she ran out the door to hug me and told me she missed me when I was away! And then just yesterday, we were all shuffling around the kitchen getting dinner out to the table and Ella suddenly hugged my legs and when I looked down at her she told me she loved me. How frigging sweet is that?!

Anyways, I am not sure what we will do tonight to celebrate as a family, we got her a few gifts, mostly doll house accessories and some cute outfits from the Disney store closing sale. But also I am going to give her the Sweet Pickles books I bought for her. I looked through them last night and have such fond memories of them, I hope she likes them even half as much as I did.

Happy Birthday stinky butt!

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I only caught the last half of the 82nd Academy Awards show from a hotel room, but it seemed a success, especially in a year that was pretty easy to predict the winners – at least for all the big acting awards.

I had no doubt that Jeff Bridges, Sandra Bullock, Christopher Waltz and Mo’Nique were going to win their categories. The only other nominee that even had a chance was Meryl Streep who could win it almost every year and has been robbed more than once. (i.e. Gwyneth Paltrow winning for Shakespeare in Love over Streep’s powerful role in One True Thing).

The big question I had going into the Oscars was if Avatar was going to take the big awards or if the better Hurt Locker would pull through to topple the box office behemoth. So congrats to the academy for seeing past the earning power and technical special-effect prowess of Avatar. Avatar wasn’t a bad movie, but not deserving of Best Picture when compared to Hurt Locker or even Inglorious Basterds or my pet fave District 9.

I would have liked to see Quentin Tarantino win Best Director, but have no problem with Kathryn Bigelow winning for Hurt Locker, I guess Best Picture = Best Director,  but Tarantino really is amazing at what he does.

I love Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin, but you have to wonder what Sacha Baron Cohen would have done with the hosting gig, but I guess I can’t blame the Academy for rejecting the idea. He’s obviously a little too unpredictable and generally less likable then Martin/Baldwin. I found out later that Cohen was also set to take part in the Ben Stiller sketch about Avatar and would be dressed as a female Nu’vi and declare he was pregnant with James Cameron’s baby, but he got cut off the show all together.

Overall the show didn’t live up to the hype promised with the tagline “You’ve never seen Oscar like this!” In fact, it seemed very much the same as always, except the longer vignettes of the films which I enjoyed. And the expansion of nominees for Best Picture back to 10 like it was prior to 1944, even if some never had a real chance of winning.

The most memorable part of the show itself was the tribute to late writer and director John Hughes, who surprisingly did not receive a single Oscar honor in his lifetime.

I forgot how many good movies this guy was responsible for, the obvious 80s films come instantly to mind “Breakfast Club, “Sixteen Candles”, “Pretty in Pink” and “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” – but don’t forget these classics: “Weird Science”, “Planes, Trains and Automobiles”, “Mr. Mom”, “She’s Having a Baby”, “Career Opportunities” and the “Vacation” movies. (Notice I didn’t mention “Home Alone” and its gazillion sequels)

Bringing up the actors he made famous to say a few words was a nice touch – it was almost a complete Brat Pack reunion.

Hughes gift was clearly the ability to dive into the details of what it was like to be a teen and make it wholly relatable. John Cryer, who has had a rebirth with his hilarious role on “Two and a Half Men”, may have said it best: “John (Hughes) created characters that were at once familiar, almost painfully ordinary, yet at the same time transcendent and iconic.”

I did wonder who decided to have the Hughes memorial tribute, since it was the first telecast since 2005 to include a single tribute other then the annual In Memoriam segment. The 77th telecast had featured a memorial to Johnny Carson presented by host Chris Rock, and the prior year’s ceremony featured memorials to Bob Hope and Katharine Hepburn presented by Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts. Why not Paul Newman last year?

Anyways, my favorite speech was Jeff Bridges, probably just because I dig him and the Dude so much. But I thought his speech about his folks was great, “Thank you, mom and dad, for turning me on to such a groovy profession.”

Give Bullock some credit for being humble saying “Did I really earn this or did I just wear you all down?” (she really did show up for everything possibly in the months leading up to the Oscars.

The best speech, however, might have been for Best Short Animation, “Logorama” – which I am going to go right now and watch on YouTube here.

The French producer of the film that is composed almost entirely of brand logos said “… I have to thank the 3,000 non-official sponsors that appear in the film. And I have to assure them that no logos were harmed in the making of the project.” (yeah right, I’m pretty sure there are more than a few irate brand managers out there, but I’ll save that for a later post)

And then he ended with “It took, like, six years to make this 16 minutes, so I hope to come back here with a long feature film, in about 36 years.”

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Sorry for the lack of blogging, but I’ve simply been too busy.

I was on the road for work all last week and could only muster posting the barber photo.

And I returned Friday for a weekend full of family activities – namely a birthday party and a baptism.

All very fun, but very exhausting….

I promise all my readers (all 3 of you), that I will get back up and going in the next few days.

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