Randy Newman Can Keep It

Good Afternoon Ladies & Gentlemen,

Well, had a basketball game Thursday night… and we did okay… but again, the officials kind of reamed us good in the 2nd half once we started getting our sh*t together. Then a few people on our team lost their tempers a bit, more like just voicing their opinions more than once & it just went downhill from there. I had the play of the game with my first in-game dunk in a long time. Spin move along the baseline, spinning up at the hoop & BOOM goes the dynamite. We lost though… so whatever.

After the game, Nurse was excited to watch her new DVD purchase of “Bridesmaids” starring Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph & Rose Byrne, so I joined her as I kept hearing it was “The Hangover for girls” which is quite a bold marketing ploy. Then again… it’s not like there’s a lot of movies out there saying that they’re “Dirty Dancing for guys” or anything. Anyway, the story is about a woman (Wiig) whose best friend (Rudolph) is getting married, which is awesome. However, there’s a new friend in the mix (Byrne) whose rich, pretty & a bit of a b**ch at times… so catty hijinx & craziness ensues for some reason. Yeah, the plot didn’t really appeal to me… but yeah, it was pretty hilarious. I’m sure that most of you who are going to ever see it have already… but I’d recommend it. By the way, on a side note, I want to be Jon Hamm when I grow up. “This is awkward because… I kind of want you to leave, but there’s really not a way for me to say it without being a dick.”

Remember a while back when J-Mo & I went to see “Captain America” in theatres… and we talked about going to see “Thor” in theatres (apparently a few weeks late)? Well, I finally got “Thor” through Netflix, so J-Mo & I met up to watch it. By the way, he’s got a great new job near closer to work than where he was before… so congratulations to J-Mo!!! Anyway, back to “Thor” starring Chris Hemsworth, Sir Anthony Hopkins & Natalie Portman. This is another one of the Marvel comic book adaptation movies that are leading into “The Avengers” next year (along with Iron Man, Hulk, Captain America, etc) to be directed by THE Joss Whedon (“Firefly”, “Buffy”, etc) in a culmination of awesomeness. However, I’ve heard from multiple sources that this was the worst of the bunch. We shall see. The story is about a prince among the Nordic gods named Thor (Hemsworth) who is a bit of a childish arrogant war-hungry prick… but after starting a war between his people & interstellar frost giants bent on domination of Earth (no, that wasn’t a typo, I said frost giants), his father King Odin (Hopkins) strips him of his powers… and casts him down to Earth to… I don’t know, sit in the corner or something. Meanwhile, his evil brother Loki is in cahoots with the frost giants (gasp, spoiler alert, but not really) so that he can become king instead of Thor… and while on Earth, Thor meets a superhot scientist (Portman) and learns how to think of others & be selfless… but will it be too late for Earth? Anyway, check it out. It was pretty good… but yeah, I would have to agree with the worst of the Marvel bunch thus far. Not really director Kenneth Branagh’s fault (“Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein” & Shakespearean adaptations mostly) but the source material was the toughest to make plausible and work with the other titles. Also, another great line that I’d love to use one day from the movie… casually walk into a pet shop & yell out “I NEED A HORSE!!!”

Friday after work, I headed straight to Malibu… as I was told that the weekend would be spent there. Long story short, I drove through Malibu for about 5 minutes Sunday morning… the rest was in Woodland Hills, West Hollywood, etc. No worries. The drive down there Friday night was pretty boring by myself… but luckily I was entertained by good tunes, lightning storms & of course… wildfire. Since it was dark the whole 6 hour drive (pretty good time given delays, but Gretchen goes 80+ very easily on the open road), it was appreciated. Got to the hotel just before midnight & would meet up with Filly & her family the next morning.

Saturday, I met up with them at a nice little brunch place… next door to the Church of Scientology. The food was pretty good (Eggs Benedict & some great French toast).

The rest of the day was spent doing thrift store shopping & wandering around WeHo… then out to the LaBrea Tar Pits for a few minutes (free wandering of prehistorical stuff) then I took Filly to Venice Beach, but because it was a little gloomy & chilly, the freaks were nearly non-existent. She felt let down… but hey, I was there, so it’s all good.

Saturday night, we went to a Gothic horror rock opera that Filly’s sister was starring in called “CarnEvil” at a theatre in West Hollywood (I think, got so turned around & can never tell where neighborhoods start or end in LA). The story is about a family carnival… and the dark twisted history involving the family… chuck full of magick, suspicion, betrayal, murder, shadow puppets dream sequences, alligators, fetuses, dancing, love, torture, and above all… music. The actors were pretty fantastic… but you could tell that a few of the actors were only there for dancing… but overall, I thought it was great… and you know that musicals aren’t my thing. It was very interactive, small venue of maybe a hundred people in attendance, special effects were pretty good for the budget too. The sound could’ve used some work… but it was opening weekend, so I’d highly recommend going to check it out. I want to say it was the Sacred Fools Theatre or something of that sort. Google CarnEvil.

After the play, we went out for a few drinks at a nearby bar with some of the actors & had a few beers and laughs. That evening, Filly wanted to just drive around LA a bit… so I took her down to see the lights of downtown by LA Live, then back across town… and around 2 AM, I was pretty bored so we parted ways & I drove back to my hotel getting there around 3:30 AM thanks to 405 being closed & rerouted. Yay! Traffic jam, even at 3 AM, gotta love LA. Randy Newman can keep it as far as I’m concerned.

Sunday, I met up with Filly & her family again for brunch at The Shutters on Santa Monica Beach… and then said my goodbyes as they were heading to the airport & I was heading northward towards San Francisco. The drive back wasn’t that bad either, just getting back around 10 PM or so. Good times! Filly was a little agitated with her family (they can do that) but I was there… and again, she really makes me feel like her best friend… and she’s certainly one of mine. I know that she would do anything she could for me… and vice versa. The world needs more great friends like that.

Monday, we won at softball again… and we went to a nearby bar for beer & pizza afterwards. We talked about doing it after most games now… you know, to keep the undefeated streak alive & build comradery. We’re even talking about doing a winter league too… which would be great because practice makes perfect… and I’m doing okay, but I don’t like being a weak link or anything. I’ll keep you posted.

Tuesday night, I got a surprise. After nearly two weeks of hounding the doctor’s office for an appointment, they finally called back & let me know that there was an opening Thursday morning for the minor surgical procedure that I needed. Kind of last minute… but hey, I’ll take it. Work was okay with it. Now I just have to get used to the idea of wearing a pretty noticeable bandage on my left cheek for a bit (and probably bruising, etc). Oh… and that’s after somebody cuts out a piece of my face. Okay, so it’s really better than that… but hey, it is what it is. Of course I’m a little worried, but I know it’s just minor. It’s not even that big of an area. I plan on working Thursday afternoon… but after speaking with the doctor, it might not work out that way. They recommended that I plan on taking the full day off. We’ll see though. I’m a pretty big guy.

Oh… and more good news about the trip… Filly FINALLY remembered to make me a copy of the Halloween pictures from last year (11 months later). What does that mean? Well… tomorrow… when I’ll be at the apartment recovering from a minor surgery instead of playing basketball… you may get to FINALLY hear the incredible stories & see some of the beautiful sights of Halloween in the Big Easy. You are so lucky that I decided to go on the trip this past weekend.

Anyway, I guess that’ll do it for today. Sorry it’s been so infrequent with the postings… but hey, I’m a busy guy. Three more weeks until my dad comes to visit for our male bonding weekend. Plenty of things going on between now & then. Have a great day everybody!!!