I saw Jackass: The Movie over the weekend. Call me crazy, but I think the stunts are hilarious. Sure they can gross you out, but that's what makes them so funny. That and the reactions of people that are involved but unknowing. A couple of the guys live here in Portland, which makes it fun to watch too.
The Strokes were fabulous. I had never been in the first row of a concert before unless it was the mosh pit. It was great. They played most of their new stuff with some old selections thrown in. During the last song, Julian Casablancas, the lead singer, plunged down into the crowd and headed up the main aisle as far as his mike cord would allow. Then he thanked the crowd and said we were very polite. No encore though...bummer. We were out of there by 11 p.m.
I saw Tom Tykwer's new movie Heaven over the weekend. I loved it! Great cinematography and a wonderful story. The ending scene is perfect.
On Internet sites like Television Without Pity, fans post passionate responses to their favorite shows. Writers and producers are taking this advice seriously — and turning TV into an interactive medium at last.
Seabiscuit is proving to be an utterly fascinating read. Laura Hillenbrand combines great storytelling with very interesting history. I have a new respect for jockeys and the thoroughbreds they race.
On Wednesday night I attended a class called Map and Navigation Skills. I have always had a skewed sense of direction that was guided by memorization, so I thought I needed a little help. Ironically enough, I was 10 minutes late for class because I read the map of how to get to the location wrong. Figures. I did learn how to use a compass and read the Univeral Transverse Mercator (UTM) grid on a map. Those two things alone were worth the long, long, long, long, long drive out to Hillsboro. Tomorrow morning we all meet up at the zoo to practice our new skills!
Sometimes there's nothing better than drinking an ice cold Coke from a can.
Local superhero Chuck Palahniuk was featured in last Sunday's NY Times Magazine where he discussed his new novel Lullaby. He was charming, but not as charming as in his Willamette Week interview.
I saw Barbershop last night. It was better than I expected. There were some very funny parts, mostly from Cedric the Entertainer's character. The ATM storyline was a bit tired after a while, but it is central to the entire story. I thought it was interesting that all of the previews, except the one for the new James Bond flick, featured movies with mainly African-American casts, the target audience for Barbershop. I was a little offended because I would probably pay to go see one or two of those movies. They should be showing those previews in all theaters.