Wow, it has been quite some time, eh? I know like 5 people read this blog, and that was BEFORE I took a month off, but oh well, this was mostly for my own benefit anyway. And in my defense, the high school I teach at blocked this website, so I wasn't able to post on my prep period, which is about the only free time I've had in the last 2 months. But I'm back, and off for the summer, and ready to post. So here's the lowdown, down-low, no doubt, about what I've been doing lately, and what I have on tap.
Baby:
Lacey is already at 2 cm! The due date is fast approaching (June 20th), and we are pretty much ready for little Noah. I am getting extremely excited to welcome my firstborn into the world, and Lacey's belly is getting bigger and moving a ton! She has been having contractions, mostly in the morning, to get her ready for the big event, and even had one for a minute yesterday! So that is (obviously) the biggest news.
Music:
I haven't bought basically any new CD's lately, both because money is tight, and because not much has come out recently. I did buy the soundtrack to Music and Lyrics, because I am amazed at the skill they were able to write (admittedly fluffy) pop music with, and all by filmmakers! There are some extremely catchy songs on it. I've mostly been making playlists for the Ipod, music that strikes my mood whether I'm out washing windows, or camping with the 'rents. Popular albums lately have been Pearl Jam's self-titled release, anything David Gray, Audioslave's first, RHCP's Stadium Arcadium, and Weezer's Blue album. Other than that it has been playlist after playlist. Maybe I'll post one of my summer lists soon.
TV:
Almost all of our shows have (finally!) ended, which frees up our time a lot to watch random stuff. I was bummed at the end of Lost, but I'll let the comments section fill up if anyone wants to talk specifics. 24 ended with a bit of a whimper, and our reality shows were pretty much par for the course. The season finale I was most impressed with was Desperate Housewives, which I"m (not that) ashamed to admit I watch. They really pulled out the stops for a great show! Anyway, now we are on to season 5 of Scrubs on DVD, followed by a few movies, and probably season 1 of the O.C. which continues to be probably my favorite season of any show, ever, with the exception of anything Seinfeld. Oh, and we've still got Entourage, which has consistently been my favorite show on televison.
Movies:
Last but certainly not least. I haven't been able to watch or see my normal amount of movies, what with the pregnant wife, monetary concerns, window washing, and inordinate amount of TV shows. But I've been able to see a few, so I'll do the rundown.
In the theater, all I've been to in the last couple months is Spiderman 3. I was pretty disappointed, to be honest. I liked it and all, and there were some great moments, but it certainly didn't live up to the other 2. Don't get me wrong, I had a good time, but there is a section in the middle, where they went off the deep end. The way he combs his hair as "bad spidey" and the over-the-top crap they pull in that section almost ruined the entire film. Anyway, I'd never see it again in theaters, and I saw the other 2 at least twice before rental. I'm looking forward to Pirates 3 and the summer movie season, but I'm not getting my hopes up.
At home, I continue to be incredibly impressed with the year 2006 in movies. We saw both Half Nelson and Notes on a Scandal a while back, and they were both pretty strange, but very skillfully made. Ryan Gosling is impressive. Dreamgirls was mostly for Lacey but I ended up liking it more than her. The Fountain was a wondrous film to look at and think about, but it was so far out there that I didn't feel like I understood it enough to love it. Which leaves Pan's Labyrinth. What a FANTASTIC movie. It was like a grown-up fairy tale, and I loved every frame. I swear, this movie was amazing, and it would definitely go on a revised top 10 list for last year's movies. Suffice it to say that 2006 was as good a year for movies as I can remember IN MY LIFE. Incredible movie after incredible movie. Maybe I'll even repost (again) my top 10 or 20, with the necessary changes. Till then........
josh, it will be the first time maybe that we have agreed on many things.
First. Lost wasnt disappointing. Did you notice that when jack in the present called kate, her number was to the tune of good vibrations? that was huge, did you also think that the next season 2 seasons will lead up to this. they will probably drop the whole future thing and just head back to the island trying to figure out what went wrong and why jack would be ready to kill himself because he wanted back. How many did they leave there? Who was in the casket? I thought it was so huge. So many didnt like it that they know they made it back. But i thought it was great that they didnt want to be back, and you thought "HOW could you not want to be back!@@@!!!"
As for Entourage, my wife and I love that, we have watched up to the second part of season 3 which hasnt come out on dvd yet. I think its the raddest show ever, besides lost. I think ari is the funniest guy on that show, i liked him in smokin aces too.
As for the Fountain. I liked it, kinda. I felt it had so much potential to be a weird good movie, but it was a weird ok movie. Like the different outcomes had no bearing on the plot. Like when he finally followed her out to the snow, instead of leaving to go to surgery, nothing changed. Just a lot of things were odd and didnt help anything. I felt that had they stuck to telling the movie through the book she wrote and only sometimes coming back to the real cancer situation, it would have been better.They didnt build up enough emotion to have you care when she died. There wasnt enough back story of them doing things and maybe even them doing things in the "book part" that she wrote to make a good attatchment to the characters. So when it ended all of us just looked at each other and were like weird ending. a yoga flying dude into a dead star.
As for the baby. Have fun with that. Our first week with levi (once he was out of the nicu) was great because you were so happy to have a child. then the awesome crying and pooping, and constant feeding was intense. Heres a tip. My wife is on a pregnancy board that women can get onto with other women that have their baby in the same month. So they all communicate and share tips about what they are going through, and it really helps because they all are dealing with the same questions at the same time (obviously because they had babies at the same time). But women like more than one opinion on things and when you are on one of the online boards, you get tons of opinions. my wife knows like 15 of these women pretty well and they all share pics and what not. The other tip that they all kinda agreed on, that alot of people dont do, is, let the baby sleep with you in your bed rather than a bassinet, you will both get more sleep and then wean him out of your bed when you think its time.we are at 6months and he still sleeps with us, and he gets plenty of sleep and so do we. which is important. we think in like 2 months we are gonna start getting him out of the bed.we have some friends that kept their kids in the bed for a year then he went into a crib fine, no hard transition, so if people tell you it doesnt work well, you dont have to listen if you dont want to. anyway, it will be fun, good luck.
Posted by: respetcmyauthorita at May 28, 2007 09:25 AMScheibster,
I thought that the ending of Lost was disappointing, only because Jack is my favorite character, and I didn't like seeing him like that. After all he's been through, he doesn't deserve it, and I'll admit that most of my disappointment was based on pure emotional attachment to his character. It was absolutely well done, and the flash-forward was brilliant (although caught completely by my wife and not me). And I agree, they will most likely drop the "future" stuff and return to the island/flashback format.
I also agree that Ari is the lynchpin of Entourage, and hilarious, but I love every character in their own way, so I can't pick a favorite. It is the finest show on TV, but Lost is up there.
Thanks for the baby tips, we will certainly talk about that. 'preciatcha.
Posted by: UJ at May 28, 2007 10:30 AM2 CM????? Man am I out of the loop....y'all be expecting a call from me sometime today. It's long overdue I know! I'm sorry I've been such a bad friend. I wish I could be up their for the birth but maybe I can arrange something not too long after.
Miss you guys!
Yah, i wasnt tryint to impose anything, nothing is worse than someone telling you how to be a parent. Thats just what made things easy for us. Not everything works the same for everyone as you know.
Posted by: respectmyauthorita at May 28, 2007 02:36 PMI agree that this wasn't the best year for LOST. The season finale may have been the best episode of the year. Any ideas as to who was in the coffin? I'm guessing it was Ben. Who else would they all not go to a funeral for? And Jack said he wasn't family or a friend....I don't know, but that's my guess. I kind of liked the flash forward thing too. It made you think. But then again, LOST almost always makes you think. I love that show.
We've got to go back and watch a lot of this season because we missed a lot of episodes. Maybe we'll figure a little more out.
Oh, and I was really bummed about Charlie, I liked him.
Co-sleeping with the baby is the best. You do end up getting much more sleep that way. It usually takes us about a week or so to wean them into their own beds but it is worth it.
Scrubs is one of the best shows on right now. But I'm a big fan of Office too.
No blogging on company time? What kind of a nazi regime do you work for?!?!
Posted by: Christin at May 29, 2007 09:15 PMYay, Josh is back!
"24 ended with a bit of a whimper..." My sentiments exactly. The appeal of that show is supposed to be its unpredictability, which I think it lost the third time Jack went rogue.
Posted by: emily at May 30, 2007 08:08 AMIt totally sucks Christin. They block everything at the school because the little punks won't keep off those sites!!
Posted by: Lacey at May 30, 2007 10:00 AM