Wastin' time

I forgot that I wanted to post about a bunch of movie watching and book reading I did during my holiday break:

Books:

Fantasyland by Sam Walker - I know I mentioned this briefly but it's basically a non-fiction book about a guy who is a baseball writer (for the New York Times, I think) who decides to finally join a fantasy baseball league. He thinks his inside connections in baseball will help him get an edge over the other experts in the league he joins. It's an interesting look at someone who is just getting started in fantasy baseball. I think Walker does a good job of capturing why we fantasy players love the game although some of his ideas just seem a bit silly. The crazy thing is, he hires two guys and a psychic to help him build his team. Pretty bizarre but it adds to the fun.

Sacred Hoops by Phil Jackson - As a die hard Bulls fan, particularly during the Jordan era, this was a fun read just to get an inside look at what was happening with the team during the first part of their heyday. I would have loved to read a sequel after the Bulls won their second trio of championships. Jackson is an interesting blend of Christian and Eastern religion. It's also strange to hear his mindset after so many things have changed. For example, at the time of the book, he was married to June Jackson, who he divorced after the book. Additionally, he talks about Dennis Rodman, who would later become a key component to the Bulls squad. A fun and easy read. (PS Please don't ask me about this season's Bulls team, I might jump out the window).

Growing a Girl by some author I don't remember - the better half wanted me to read this book, which deals with "the glass mezzanine", which the author defines as the time where young girls go from spirited and fun loving to reserved and self-conscious, primarily due to gender typecasting by everyone she encounters. While I wanted to dismiss the book as feminist non-sense, the truth of the matter is that much of the content was very thought provoking. I'm glad I read it and my awareness has definitely been raised.

Low Limit No Limit Hold 'Em by Angel Largay - you didn't think I could read four books in a row without one of them being poker did you? An excellent read, too bad classes are starting up again and I won't have a chance to practice many of the strategies discussed for a while. I'll need to re-read this before my trip to Vegas in March.

Movies:

Talladega Nights - The Will Ferrell Nascar movie. I wanted to see this for a long time but had gotten a lot of mixed feedback from friends. I have to say that I loved this movie. This might even rival Old School as Ferrell's best in my eyes. The scene where the family is praying before eating is hilarious. And we particularly loved the Crystal Gayle tshirt and encounter with the puma or whatever it was. "I'm all jacked up on Mountain Dew" Classic!

V for Vendetta - Another movie I've been meaning to watch for a long time. Natalie Portman stars in this symbolic revolutionary tale of a fascist Britain government. While there were some cheesy moments, I really enjoyed this movie. I think I read somewhere this movie was meant as an anti-Bush film and I could see some of that as I watched but the plot was excellent. Ultimately, this was a revenge movie and I was rooting for V the whole way.

3:10 to Yuma - I was very interested in the original after having seen the remake starring Russell Crowe and Christian Bale. The original was excellent. In fact, I liked the original quite a bit more and thought it was a brilliant piece of film-making. The remake did a pretty good job of staying true to the story with a couple of pretty important exceptions. The theme song in the original really stuck in my head as well, I'll have to see if I can find it online somewhere.

Devil Bat - This was an old Bela Lugosi horror movie I recorded around Halloween. BTW, I love most of the Lugosi films, they are a lot of fun and extremely influential. This one was a lot of fun, I could totally see the SciFi channel doing a remake of this one. Bela is very believable in his role and the storyline was quite good. And the effects are always fun to laugh at.

That's most of what I remember watching, I also caught up on TV show Prison Break, which is pretty fun as well, although not one of the best ever. I'm also greatly looking forward to the return of Lost, which I think happens in a week or two. And 24, if the writer strike ever ends.

Wow, this turned into kind of a long post. Gotta run!

Until next time.

Ace