Best Dressed...

Sorry, I've been slacking a little. Most of you know the Golden Globes were Sunday. They were pretty enjoyable on the whole. Nothing spectacular but since there was no show last year, it was a welcome scene. Maybe they should only do the show every other year to keep it fresh and exciting. Just a thought anyways. I'm pretty happy about all the recipients. I think they did a great job and there really wasn't a single award I didn't agree with which usually never happens. I haven't seen either of the Kate Winslet movies but I guess she was pretty good.

One thing I love about going to see movies is the grandeur of it all. Seeing things on a big screen makes it special and there are movies that are geared for that. Most of the movies that I see in the theater (which is most movies that come out) are action/adventure/original type movies that, when seen on a huge screen, are enhanced by the experience. Movies that I haven't seen that are supposedly great are The Reader and Doubt. I would like to see both of those movies, but not enough to warrant seeing Kate Winslet 10 feet tall. Those movies are safe to watch on netflix and whatnot.

The reason I bring this up is because this presents a problem that has happened to our culture. I love movies and watch any film I can get my hands on, but my taste doesn't translate into my theater experience. If you count the money I've spent on movies at the theater, the breakdown would be pretty gross with a big chunk going to superhero/action/michael bay/jason statham crap that I love to watch. This becomes a problem because it makes it hard for other movies like Doubt or The Reader or The Wrestler (which was awesome) to get financial backing, thus making it hard to make original movies. I love these movies just as much as any other movie but I don't feel the need to see them in theaters like I do with ridiculously terrible/awesome movies like Death Race (which was awesome). I mean I have already planned out my spring and summer schedule (which I will share with you soon) and most of those are going to be awful, but need to be seen on a huge screen with a million watts of speaker power shaking my brain loose. Too many movies don't get made because of this fact and it really sucks. I'm not sure what to do or say about it other than, too bad I can't have my cake and eat it too.

Without further ado, the best dressed of the Golden Globes 2009 edition. Keep in mind I have yet to see People or whoever does the best dressed list so these opinions are just from watching the show and if they coincide with what the fashionista say, then that's just a testament to me being awesome. Also keep in mind that this is an overall general hotness with face/hair/dress all taken into account.

#5: Freida Pinto (first non-Lucy Liu Asian to be on my list)




















#4: Rachel Dawes (oops I mean Maggie Gyllenhall)

















#3 Christina Applegate




















#2: Elizabeth Banks




















#1: Eva Mendes

















As always, go big or go home...

-M, p, z & shredder

oh ps -
tell em what to watch: American Idol: 8pm on FOX - kicked off last night in usual fashion (down slightly in the ratings from last year; only 31 million viewers) I love this part of the competition. Also if you have the Big Ten Network (which I know you don't because no one does) MSU @ PSU - they might have embarrassed us at home in football but hopefully we go over there and kick their ass.

Down on the Corner...

So the neighborhood I live in is awesome. Hardly anyone speaks english, everyone knows each other and I can get empanadas on pretty much every block. The cons are that it might be considered unsafe in some circles and it's hard to get quality produce. Every day and night there are a group of people that sort of lock down a few corners on my street. And by lock down I mean they stand there all day long come rain, snow, sleet, hail or 100 degree weather. They're crazy. It's not that uncommon. Everyone here stays outside all day long. Kids, teens, adults, it doesn't really matter. There's nothing to do in the neighborhood but stand outside all day. I've always wondered what these guys did. At first I assumed drugs but then thought they just enjoyed standing on the corner talking.

I walk by them every night and occasionally they are spread out. They stand dispersed down the block looking at each other and on occasion I am almost 100% sure I'm gonna get jumped. Sometimes it sounds like they are talking to each other over their nextels (I didn't know people still used those). The other day it all kind of came together. I was walking down the street toward the grocery store around 930 at night when they were lined up down the street in their usual formation. I usually look at the ground to avoid eye contact and while I was walking I noticed something out of the corner of my eye and looked halfway up. Standing between two cars was a guy selling a small white bag to some other dude, both of whom looked at me and caught my eye as I was walking by. For a split second I thought they were gonna jump/kill/stab me but I decided I was just gonna keep singing along to my ipod and hope for the best. It worked. I'm still alive.

I guess they spread out down the street so they can get the best coverage. All the roads around me are one way streets and as cars pull up they can pretty much sell in all four directions. the people in the middle of the street just standing there looking around are obviously lookouts and the people on the corner I can only assume are just in case something goes wrong. I've never really felt unsafe and actually feel safer now knowing that they don't want to jump me, they just want to make a living. The funny thing is that one of the reasons I decided to move to where I live is because it's less than a block from the nearest police station.

Anyways, if anyone needs some drugs, let me know and I'll put in a good word I guess. As always, go big or go home...

-M, p, z & shredder

oh ps -
tell em what to watch: Pistons @ Portland. Can the Pistons keep the streak alive and win 8 in a row? With Brandon Roy out we have a pretty good shot.

Countdowns...

Or count-ups I should say. Three things I'm keeping track of right now and I figure that writing it down on here will let everyone be interactive with me, in fact I think I'll add a poll to see how long people think I will last. First there's this old stove on the landing in my stairwell. Fire hazard much? It's already a small landing to begin with but this old ass stove is taking up at least half of it. It's been here since I got back from Michigan on the 29th, so it's already just been sitting there for 9+ days. Brown Guy mentioned that it would still be here the next time he came back to NYC which probably won't be for a while.

The other count-up is my no more drinking pledge. I don't have an exact count of last years but it was somewhere around a month and a half. This year I'm hoping to make it to two, though that is kind of a reach, but hopefully I can do it. So far it's only been 4 days which isn't even quite a work week. But every streak has to start somewhere. The other one is my less-chicken diet I make every year. I am only going to allow myself to eat chicken 5 times a week. That means of the 21 meals in the week, only 5 of them will contain chicken. I'm not sure if this is a lot or a little, but for me it's definitely a little. So far I'm doing pretty good this week. I haven't had it in three days so I'm kind of ahead of schedule.

I'll keep us updated pretty regularly. As always, go big or go home....

-M, p, z & shredder

oh ps - since there are some quality shows on tv again (and by tv I usually mean the next day on the internet ( I didn't turn on my tv for 2 1/2 weeks in december)), I'm going to use this space to tell everyone what to watch for the night. PTI does it every night at the end of their shows so I'm going to as well.

Tell em what to watch: MSU vs OSU at 7pm on ESPN2. Michigan State tries to push their conference streak to 3-0 for the first time since 1999-2000 when we won our last national championship.

The Year of Me...

First of all, Happy New Year. I hope everyone had a great time over the holidays. I was back home in the wonderful state of Michigan and then back here in the city for new years eve. It was all a blast and this is literally the first time I've had a moment to myself to sit down and write a blog since over a week before christmas. One thing I love about the holidays is spending time with people I don't get to see a whole lot. Nothing beats it actually. That said, I'm going on my annual post-new years-detox period. I drank like a fish and as a result I need to let me body recover for at least a month. Last year I did the same thing and it was awesome. I'm hoping to make it to two months with no alcohol this year but we'll see how that goes.

I don't really make resolutions, I just like to keep renewing the old ones that I never accomplish. After working out for 7 months straight last year, I slowly fell off the wagon starting at the end of July until I stopped hitting the gym completely after I got really sick for a week or so in October. It's been a couple months since I've worked out or gone for a run and it needs to change now. I lost about 10 pounds of muscle and it has subsequently turned to fat. I'm not fat fat, just that all the muscle I had turned into fat. People used to say I looked big over the summer but now that has turned into me looking skinny. Anyways, that'll change soon.

Aside from that, it seems my life has sort of been stagnant for a long time, pretty much since I finished film school, which for all intents and purposes, was two years ago. Since then I have moved around a lot. I haven't had steady work and I'm feeling the ridiculous crush of this depression America has slipped into. I'm convinced that this year something positive will happen. I always say that and always think that so I guess it's bound to happen at some point. They say the reason the Indian (native americans, not real indians) Rain Dance used to work was because they would keep dancing until it finally rained. Well I suppose it is the same with positive thinking. I'm sure that this is the year though. I can feel it.

Anyways, I have a lot to blog about including my end of the year summaries and best of 2008 lists. I'll get on those asap. I just wanted to let everyone know I'm back and you can start checking back regularly again. As always, go big or go home...

-M, p, z & shredder

ps - my favorite show, Psych, is starting again this friday at 10 on USA. They air half the season in the summer and the other half in the winter. It's really an awesome show so do yourself a favor and watch it.