Steer clear!

A belated congrats to R & N on successfully completing the arduous process of adopting a little girl from Russia, which happened around Christmas time. I can't wait to meet her!

The Great Fever of '09 has hit our house in full effect. It started with #1, who missed a whole week of school. 3 days later #2 & #3 got it, along with the better half. Thankfully this week is spring break for the kids from school so we've been ok on that front. Hopefully I won't manage to catch it, so far I've steered clear. I think my bout with something similar about a month ago immunized me!

Things are heating up class-wise. Fortunately, one of my instructors decided to ditch one of our assignments, leaving me with really just one short paper to write in the next couple weeks until the end of the semester, when there are a couple of things due. But that frees up time and space for me to work on my term paper, which I expect is going to be quite an effort. That's due in 3 1/2 weeks. I've written some but really need to dig in and get my research done. Where will I find the time?

One fun thing coming up this weekend, taking #1 & #2 to see the Chicago Bulls. We watch a lot of the games and they especially love the animated opener the Bulls do. It should be fun although I'm not expecting that we'll stay all that long. We'll see how it goes, I'm getting the cheapest possible tickets since I know we won't be watching the game much.

Song lyric of the day "Get down with the sickness" Disturbed

Until next time.

Ace

Cinema

I'm sad to say that spring break has come to an all-too-hasty close, capped off with a very fun St. Patrick's Day party this weekend. Time flies when everyone gets together and heckles a drummer who can't drum on Rock Band. Also managed a trip to Wrigleyville during the weekend where it was teeming with partyers all decked out in ridiculous green regalia. Good times!

One of the ways I wasted a lot of time during spring break was to watch some movies. The better half and I managed to head to the local multiplex and check out the buzz-y Slumdog Millionaire. With a movie that won so many Oscars, I expected it would be quite good. And I wasn't disappointed, this movie delivered. It may have gotten a little too triumphant in the end but it was a feel good movie, well-acted and it was extremely well-written, particularly the way that the story was told via flashback. Very cool.

Another excellent film I've wanted to see was Eagle Eye. This one was quite good also, extreme amounts of action and pretty smart. Billy Bob Thornton was really good in it (kinda reminded me of Tommy Lee Jones in The Fugitive remake) and Spielberg managed to avoid spoiling it in the end with an unnecessary love story, although he got very close. I think this was the first time I've seen Shia LeBouef or however you spell his name, he was okay. But I love how the trailer did not spoil this movie - too many do these days. This kept everything quite suspenseful for a good portion of the movie. I would highly recommend it if you're looking for action and suspense.

Finally, I got around to checking out Appaloosa, a western written and starred in by Ed Harris. Other actors in it were Viggo Mortenson, Jeremy Irons and the ever annoying Renee Zellweger. This one was okay although it was pretty predictable. There were definitely some cool moments in the movie, particularly a couple of shoot out scenes, but there was a little too much nonsense in it for my likings. Another cool thing was a song during the credits performed by Mr. Harris himself. The lyrics get a little silly at the end but actually a pretty cool song and he's got a nice singing voice. Who knew? This flic is probably best reserved for big western fans as it's really only kinda meh.

OK, enough of my Ebert routine.

Song lyric of the day "You can't pick the apple til the seed becomes the tree" You'll Never Leave My Heart, Ed Harris

Until next time.

Ace

Got jokes?

Here's an exchange that took place yesterday in House of Ace.

Kid #2: Mommy, want to hear a joke?

Mom: Sure.

Kid #2: Knock knock

Mom: Who's there?

Kid #2: Banana

Mom: Banana who

Kid #2: I played baseball with a strawberry.

The end.

Song lyric of the day "Everybody know / Strawberry strawberry is the neighborhood ho" NWA Dope Man

Until next time.

Ace

Book time!

“Let me introduce myself,” the figure spoke. His voice was soft, almost effeminate, but carried such an edge to it that it left no mistake as to who was in charge and what was about to happen. “I am your doom.”

The above is a brief excerpt from the new novel Dying Moon by Shawn Oetzel, who describes the book as "a crime drama/fantasy tale I like to describe as Terry Brooks meets CSI". Check it out peeps, this is good stuff. You can order your copy here.

In the meantime, I've been busying myself with a re-reading of the Hobbit, good material while I'm hitting the treadmill. I really think this will be an excellent movie. Unfortunately, it looks like it won't be out until 2012. I guess I'll have to wait but if Peter Jackson gives it the same treatment as the Lord of The Rings trilogy, we should be in for a spectacle.

Song lyric of the day "So I'm packing my bags for the Misty Mountains" Led Zeppelin

Until next time.

Ace

Spring Break!

Well, at around 8:40 tonight I will embark on spring break. I thought about celebrating by heading to a tropical locale and filming a Girls Gone Wild extravaganza (Snoop Dog still isn't taking my calls to host it!). Then I thought I might do what I did last year, head to glitzy Las Vegas to donate to the ailing Nevada economy. Finally, I thought, maybe I'll just drown myself in the bottom of a bottle somewhere (this one might actually still happen). But then I decided to go full rock-star and just hang out at home, working, chilling with the kids, taking the better half out to see some movie about a canine that lives in the slums and wins a bunch of money or something, and maybe just work on a couple of projects I've lined up for myself. Yep folks, that's how I roll.

Actually, I will likely spend a good amount of time working on my term paper. It's due in April and I got my prospectus back last night. Sickening how little thought I put into it, and to prove my point from my last post, I still got an A on it. No one in the class got below a B. Sigh, keep that bar high educators!

I may try to sneak off and actually see a rock show this week, we'll see. It's been way too long since I've done so and I'm anxious to hear some live music.

Song lyric of the day "Mom and Dad went to the show / dropped me off with Grampa Joe" Nirvana, Sliver

Until next time.

Ace

Boom goes the dynamite

As a former sportscaster, I feel this dude's pain. Most of you have probably seen this before but this is so uncomfortable it is freaking hilarious. I love his response at the very end when the anchor guy thanks him!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gitT-GN2Y2I

Song lyric of the day: "Da bedde dabis deyes" Alfalfa, Saturday Night Live

Until next time.

Ace