Posts from — December 2008

As it’s the end of the year, I’ve been looking back to do a self-review. Part of it is so I can write my goals for next year, but mostly I just want to know how this past year went for me. My goals are almost always the same thing, so it gets boring sometimes and I need to get creative when writing new ones – or I have to be very specific.

But as I was looking back over ‘08 I realized that I haven’t been enjoying the movies as much. Well, I knew that but I wanted to think about it more and to find out why.

Here are two things that stuck out at me:

1) I think I only went to the actual movie theater twice this year. That’s it!? Just twice?! I saw No Country for Old Men and Batman: The Dark Knight.

EDIT: I saw No Country in Dec ‘07. Uggh, I only went to the theater ONCE in a year? That’s unheard of for a Schwartzman. That can’t be right.

2) Most of the moviesDVDs I watched this year, I kind of whined about. Various little things here and there… plot points, characters, etc. And as this is a blog, I don’t get into why that is, I just whine and move on. But why is that?

For item #1- I know there’s a lot of “stuff” surrounding theater-goers woes: ticket prices, concession prices, cell phone noise, cell phone texters, loud talkers, etc. But that’s not what has kept me away. I think I just don’t schedule my time correctly, or I wuss out and look for excuses not to go if I’m invited. (I get invited to a lot of daytime showings – “long lunches”.) That’s fixable.

For item #2- I think the reason that I’m whining more is that I’ve lost some of my escapability. I’m probably not wording this correctly- but what I mean is that sometimes I just can’t sit back and get lost into the movies like I used to be able to do.

I could with Torque (and enjoyed it) but I couldn’t do it with Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (review pending). With Indy, it was because I had wanted to see it and my expectations were high. And even though I was at home and on my couch, I couldn’t get into the film without picking it apart (and thinking “Southpark was right!”).

It wasn’t until later (my 3DMT™) when I heard Kevin talking about it over Pho that I realized it was a fun movie despite it’s flaws and that I should “lighten up, Francis”

So for ‘09 I have two movie goals: go to the theater more and just enjoy what I’m watching without picking it apart.

Here’s a video for you as a follow-up to the initial Batter Blaster post.

Yes, I know I look like crap, but whatever….

I’m going out for dinner, then to Bourbon and Branch tonight with some out of town friends. Mmm

Paul and Stef of Stefania Wine have a great post up on their blog about wine labels and naming rules that they have to follow from the TTB:

The TTB has an entire set of rules on what you can say about where a wine was produced. These laws were mostly drawn up in the 1970’s. The top ‘ranking’ is Estate. That’s the most strict labeling in theory. To call something Estate, it must be grown, produced, cellared and bottled on property owned by the winery. The thought in the 70’s was this would be a way for consumers to identify the very best wines.

It never worked that way of course. …

Go check out the rest of the post, it’s a revealing rant…

Batter Blaster Runs Kenny Town!

So three things happened in a relatively short timespan… as they do… and this convergence has led to a short-term life improvement. 1. This article was on the Chron’s site about Waffle Man. I’ve yet to find him and try his waffles though. 2. I was cleaning my kitchen and looking for an au gratin pan. I thought I had lost it, but it was in a blue box that I use to store stuff. You know what else was in there? My little-used waffle iron! 3. During an ill-advised trip to Costco, I saw something that used to only be sold at Mollie Stone’s. I’m glad it’s come down to the proletariat finally. That something? That’s right—- THE BATTER BLASTER. As the BB wasn’t expensive, I picked some up. I thought if it sucked, I’d just have a pancake brunch and make my friends eat it and if it was good, more waffles for me. Well you know what? It’s good! C’mon over, I’ll make you one, or four. Oh, and for you hippies– it’s organic.

I only barely stumbled upon this story the other day.(link 1 | link 2)

I’m surprised it wasn’t a bigger story. I mean– the protestors are lucky that more of them didn’t get the ever living crap beat out of them by both cops and shoppers.

After Mumbai, if I saw masked people rush into a shopping center I wouldn’t know what to think and would probably go into fight or flight mode and if I were near that… well, I’d try to get some swings in.

But maybe it wasn’t that big a deal as it wasn’t all over the websites/tv?

You know how I know I’ve lived in SF too long? I have a hoodie and I’m not afraid to use it.

Having a drafty apartment in an unusually-cold-this-season SF will do that too you.

Dr Debs has her Top Twenty Wines under $20 for 2008 list up on her blog.

It’s a good list, quite diverse and a lot of the wines should be available all over.

I’m still reading the list, but after a quick scan I don’t think I’ve had any of these particular wines (but have had some similar ones). I guess I need to swing by the wine store soon.

Oh, and her 2007 list is here.

Also check out the story for the WSJ Top Wines Under $10.99 (2007 list)

Well, my break from caffeine ended on Saturday when I fired up my Rancilio and pulled a double-shot of espresso. I’m back to my espresso loving ways.

I’m going to try to stick to just one a day though and not have any cokes (unless they are mixed with rum or bourbon).

It’s 11:45 and even though I went for a really long jog tonight after a rough day at work, I’m not that tired. I’m not wired, but I’m not sleepy and I want to be.

I had last caffeine at 10:45am today, more than 13 hours ago. So I’ll definitely need to figure out how to balance this out if the running’s not going to wear my out.

Your Friday fun links via laughingsquid.com. Drums-n-Bass has never been as fun. Click that link for more of the backstory.