So, I’m still bummed about the rejections. I picked up a copy of the classifieds today and ugh….nothing in there of interest. Hopefully there’s something in the Sunday paper.

I’m a bit surprised about how close Halloween is already. I mean, I’ve seen more hullabalu for Christmas already then I have for Halloween, and it’s just a little over a week away. I haven’t even bought any candy yet either; for me or the trick or treaters!

I’ve decided to remedy this tonight though. I need to cheer myself up a bit and I have not celebrated my favorite holiday in the least. So tonight is movie night! I’ve got popcorn, corn chips, bean dip, salsa, and boneless buffalo wings already here at the house along with tons of hot chocolate, coffee, and tea. I’m gonna go out and buy some soda though cheese to make some cheese dip. And I’m going to make some brownies too. Sounds yummy already, yes? After this though I’ll probably be applying a ton of acne treatment cream to my face as a result of all the junk food I plan to consume. But seriously, I figure I deserve a little pick me up after the disappointments of this week. Right? Right.

As for what I’m gonna watch, well, here’s what’s I have lying at home to choose from:

• The Nightmare Before Christmas
• Hocus Pocus
• Halloweentown
• Halloweentown II
• Puppet Master
• Halloween
• Halloween 2
• Halloween 3
• Halloween 4
• Halloween H20
• Halloween (2007)
• My Bloody Valentine (2009)
• Maximum Overdrive
• Arachnophobia
• Pet Sematary
• Blade
• Blade II
• Blade Trinity
• Underworld
• Underworld Evolution
• Underworld: Rise of the Lycans
• The Craft
• John Carpenter’s Vampires
• Thirteen Ghosts
• Suicide Club
• The Faculty
• The Texas Chain Saw Massacre
• Texas Chain Saw Massacre: The Beginning
• Child’s Play
• Child’s Play II
• Scream
• Scream II
• A Nightmare on Elm Street

Not sure which ones I will end up watching, but I’ve definitely got enough monsters, thrills, blood and gore to keep me entertained tonight! Even got some light-hearted stuff and the ambiguous “why do they call these horror” movies *cough*Underworld*cough* to watch as well.

So….I’ll start the viewing around dinner time here. And just enjoy a smorgasbord of junk food for dinner. Any suggestions on which movies I should watch tonight?

To be honest, there isn’t much on regular t.v. anymore that gets me to tune in regularly. Pretty much the only show I watch regularly (but not religiously mind you) is Law & Order SVU. I’m sorry, but that show just rocks. And even though I do like the original Law & Order, I can’t really stand Criminal Intent.

But damn, after watching the latest episode of Law & Order: Los Angeles I’m gonna have to say that I just might be tuning in on Wednesdays very regularly. What made this week’s episode especially great was the battle between the Senior Deputy District Attorney Joe Dekker and the JAG over who got to prosecute the bad guys. Ooh boy, you could have choked on the testosterone on screen! Talk about a pissing contest. But what was even better was Dekker’s speeches (yes, plural) in the episode. He’s damn good.

If you haven’t seen L&O:L.A. NBC has the full episodes posted on their site and you can watch ‘em for free. I didn’t care much for the second episode, but all the rest are great.

Finally got a chance to look through the mail a little while ago and I saw a few notices for renewing some magazine subscriptions.

For the record, all of the magazines I’m getting right now I have never paid for. Never paid for Spin, Rolling Stone, US Weekly, People, Cosmopolitan, Maxim, or Marie Claire. Some of them I found deals to sign up for a free subscription, which I went ahead and did because hey, FREE, and plus getting nothing but junk mail and bills is depressing. Others I signed up for for free from places like InboxDollars and so I got a bit of money for it to boot! And then there are those I never signed up for and have no idea how I even got on their mailing list, but I’m getting new issues from them regularly anyway.

But I digress, I’ve got a couple of renewal notices in front of me for Marie Claire, US Weekly, and Cosmopolitan and I can’t help but ask myself: “why would I want to pay for a subscription for these magazines?” Seriously, sometimes they have interesting articles, but most of it is about stuff I have no interest in. And there’s nothing quite as depressing as seeing one advert or article after another talking about a new diet program all the celebrities are using or which are the most effective diet pills. Or, seeing pages and pages of hot items that one just must add to their wardrobe that are at prices that you wish you had that money just lying around to throw away.

And honestly, if I see any more mention of Jennifer Aniston, Angelina Jolie, and Brad Pitt, I think I’ll go insane. Seriously, yes everyone knows that it was a pretty fucked up thing those two did to Aniston, but get over it. I don’t know why, but it seems like every issue of US Weekly makes mention of Aniston, or someone else who dated Pitt and what they thought about it all too. Really, get over it. That magazine also happens to be one of the ones I still haven’t figured out why I’m getting issues of it. That and Rolling Stone.

For the New Orleans Saints fans, Mardi Gras just got a nine day jump start because the Saints beat the Indianapolis Colts 31 to 17.

Ah man, I gotta say, at the beginning there during the first half I was screaming at the t.v. like a banshee. I was seriously thinking the Saints were throwing it away. Garrett Hartley, kicker for the Saints, kept them in there, but one man doesn’t make a team obviously. Seriously, it was looking like the Saints should get some quick life insurance quotes because they were dead meat out there. Then came the half time show – The Who – and they put on an awesome performance that got me up and dancing and raring to go for the next half.

And wouldn’t you know, the Saints got their game on and upset the Colts, who were the favorites to win, with a 14 point victory over the Colts. Truly spectacular. Awesome call on the challenge, and you gotta love that interception – savings grace for the Saints.

I was disappointed though that Brees was voted MVP and not Hartley. To me, Hartley was more deserving of it as he really kept them in it. But hey, Brees worked for it too.

Over all, definitely a better (and closer) game then I initially anticipated. Sure, my ‘Boys didn’t go. But hey, the Saints went and they won it, so I’m still happy regardless.

Who were you rooting for in Super Bowl XLIV? Were you surprised at the outcome or was it pretty much as expected?

I’m fixing to head out to the movies in a few minutes. My mother and I are going to go see Michael Jackson’s This Is It up at the Telshor 12. Initially we had planned to see it yesterday evening but our plans got derailed. I am so glad my mom actually wants to see this because I really wanted to as well but no one I know wanted to go with me. Most aren’t that big of fans of MJ and couldn’t see the appeal of watching this movie. Since I hate going to the theater by myself, if it wasn’t for her wanting to accompany me, I probably wouldn’t be going to see this.

I just finished eating a barbecue sandwich so hopefully I’m not hit with the munchies while at the theater and I’m not conned into paying outrageous amounts of money for snacks. Granted I love theater popcorn but shesh, it’s highway robbery.

Dinner was delicious by the way. I saved out some of the pork meat I used for the posole I made earlier and mixed it up with some barbecue sauce, toasted some buns, and then grated some Monterrey Jack cheese with Jalapenos on it and called it done.

Quick and easy and doesn’t make me feel guilty for eating something else when I have plenty of posole in the refrigerator. Hey, I can’t let the pork meat go to waste can I? Not to mention it’s not very greasy either, which really doesn’t matter since it’s winter now and I don’t have to worry about skin care products that have salicylic acid now. No, instead I have to worry about dry skin and keeping lotion handy. *sigh* Gotta love the change in seasons.

Anyway, I gotta get ready to leave now. I’ll be sure to post about the movie when I return!

I had a late night yesterday and didn’t go to bed until about 8 o’clock this morning. As a result, my day got started very late today. When I opened my main email account I was bombarded with the typical spam and adverts. “Store X has a sale on diamond engagement rings“, “buy viagra real cheap from us”, the usual.

Mixed in were news updates and one headline shocked me to the core: Singer Michael Jackson dead at 50. I’ve spent the past hour and a half reading over every single news article I can find and it’s still not sinking in. Michael Jackson is dead? It’s so surreal. He had an extensive physical to prepare for the tour, and it was reported that he was in perfect health. And yet today he is dead due to cardiac arrest.

Michael Jackson was one of my mother’s favorite artists. Growing up, I remember listening to and loving his music as well. “Thriller” was a wonderful song, but to be honest, I really loved the performance in the music video. “Billie Jean” remained my favorite Michael Jackson song of all time. To this day I honestly don’t know what to think about the molestation charges. What I do know is that Michael Jackson was a talented artist whose music I’ve loved since I was a child. The world has definitely lost a very talented artist and performer today and already the world seems a little duller.

I never did end up seeing Twilight in theaters; somehow something always interfered and any plans to see it got smashed to bits. While I was up at Wal-Mart last night I saw a display of Twilight dvds. Since I did enjoy the series and, in my opinion, the first book was definitely the best out of the series, I thought the movie would be worth picking up. Now granted, I heard some rather disparaging comments on the movie, but I’d also heard a lot of good too. I expected the movie would be pretty decent but with some flaws.

I really couldn’t have been more wrong.

The beginning started off dull and had me going “come on, get to the good stuff” for the most part. When Bella finally got to her new school I started cringing almost non-stop. Bella Swan’s (Kristen Stewart) performance was just bad, that’s all there is to it. It was embarrassing to watch such a performance! Robert Pattinson, who played Edward Cullen, wasn’t much better. I came to dread the scenes between Edward and Bella. They were just badly done, unbelievable, and stiff. Stewart had a particularly hard time conveying emotion in her performances. For example, when she sees Edward’s skin in the sunlight she was supposed to be amazed and impressed. I mean the guy’s skin is shinning like precious jewels after all! Instead her voice sounded so bland as she said “it looks like diamonds” almost like she was commenting on the weather. This was completely at odds with the expression on her face, which looked like a cross between surprise and bewilderment. Ironically though, Stewart’s performance did get better towards the end of the movie, almost as if it took the entire movie for her to get warmed up to it.

The performances by the supporting actors, however, was awesome. Rosalie, Alice, and Jasper were just how I pictured them and their actors did a fantastic job of giving them life. I was glad to see that some of my favorite scenes weren’t badly mangled. Bella and Edward’s first meeting was completely destroyed by the bad performances and poor attempt at humor. The baseball scene, and subsequently the meeting between the Cullens and the wandering vamps, however was nicely done though.

There was one other thing that irked the hell out of me – Edward’s pale skin. Somehow, it looked alright on the other vamps, including James and Victoria. But Edward, along with Carlise and Emmet just looked like a couple of guys dressed for trick or treating. Not to mention the fact that Edward’s skin color wasn’t exactly consistent throughout the movie. There were times where it was blended nicely and he looked only a tad paler then Bella, there was the cakey-white look, then there were scenes where it looked like they forgot to apply his vampire-makeup period. Very poor makeup job there.

Considering the way the movie ended, I suspect that they’re going to make a sequel. I really hope they don’t. Frankly I feel as though they killed the story enough as it is. Despite some good moments in the film I definitely won’t be recommending this movie to anyone; let alone seeing the sequel [if they make one].

I have to wonder how this movie got such a huge following and why there was always a big crowd going to see it. I mean honestly, after watching the movie I noticed a quote on the dvd box from Hollywood.com that states: “The most epic romance since Titanic“, and the first thought in my mind was that comparing Twilight to Titanic is like comparing MD 20/20 to a $500 bottle of Chardonnay. That endorsement just totally boggled my mind.

I’m sure there will be some happy folks on Swap A DVD though, as I plan to swap this dvd out for something enjoyable.

Once upon a time I had a very nice LP collection going, it had some pop in it, but was mostly comprised of classic rock. We’re talking singles, albums, and even a few demos. It was definately drool-worthy. Then someone broke into our house and jacked them along with the stereo and televisions. This was over a decade ago, but the memory of it still smarts.

I found a site recently called 991.com where you can go to buy and sell your LP, vinyl, and other collectibles online. Recently 991.com acquired Weston Taylor’s collection of nearly 7000 vinyl LPs and singles which had been carefully and lovingly preserved for roughly fifty years.

Weston Taylor was a highly respected entertainment critic who set the standards and paved the way for today’s entertainment critics and columns. He was a journalist with the News of the World from 1957 until his demise 1975 while he was visiting the set of Return of the Pink Panther.

The Weston Taylor Collection consists of of vinyls and LPs from a variety of musical genres from the 60′s and 70′s. From pop and northern soul to prog, rock and jazz. There are demos and even review copies in the collection, and all are in pristine condition. It’s enough to make any collector start drooling. I know that, if my grandmother were still alive, she would have been snapping up every one of the Frank Sinatra LPs in the collection.

I am of the opinion that days off are wondrous things. As you may have guessed, I had today (Friday) off. I had the option to go in anyway and get some extra hours, but after some stuff that pissed me off last night, I thought it best to just take advantage of the day off and relax. This of course meant I got to get all of the stuff that I usually have to put off until Sunday (office is closed Sunday) done today. Sure, I could do some of the stuff during the week as well, but driving a round trip 40+ miles in one direction and then 80+ miles round trip in the opposite direction in the evening just eats the gas.

So yes, I went in and got my car insurance paid today. Stopped off at the post office and got some items mailed out that I’ve been forgetting to mail for a while now. Came back home, popped the hood of my car, and did some needed up keeping. Checked the oil, power steering, brake fluid, and the engine coolant. Even got a chance to clean the battery too.

Then I headed up to Las Cruces, stopped off at the bank to deposit my check from Epinions.com, that even arrived about a week and half before scheduled! Then of course I took advantage of the fact that there is money in my checking account again and did a little bit of shopping. I bought another sweater, this time gray, and a pair of black slacks for the office. As well as two long-sleeved blouses and a new pair of jeans. I had already bought one of the blouses, in black, and I loved it, so I decided to get a couple others in different colors. The same for the sweater in fact. I had the same style in navy blue and now have one in gray. Sadly the pretty fuschia ones were only available in extra small.

I confess to splurging though. I was good and stayed around from the big and small (but pricey!) electronics, damn but those flatscreen tvs and mp3 players tempted me with their prettiness. I resisted beautifully though, didn’t even buy any laptop accessories either. Like the battery charger for the car. My splurge was in the form of two dvds: Doomsday and 30 Days of Night.

I also got some of my laundry done today too, instead of doing that all once late Saturday night at the 24-hr laundromat. I never got around to cleaning my car though. The interior is in desperate need of a good vacuuming and I really need to wipe off and treat the dashboard with some Murphy’s Oil as well. I guess that’ll wait until Sunday.

Since Friday night is pretty much out for me, on account that I will be getting up early Saturday to go to work, I’m planning on enjoying a night filled with horror movies on Saturday night. No work Sunday!

Here’s what is in my personal dvd collection right now that I plan on watching in no particular order:

• The Faculty
• Cloverfield
• Maximum Overdrive
• 13 Ghosts
• Underworld
• Underworld Evolution
• John Carpenter’s Vampires
• Jaws ll
• Jaws: The Revenge
• Scream
• Scream 2

I have more on VHS of course, but since my VCR is funny, I won’t be able to watch those. I still haven’t converted the entire movie collection to dvd on account of the fact that I’ve become more obsessed with collecting my favorite anime and television series first.

I don’t care much for Cloverfield but since my mom has never seen it and she’s got a weak stomach when it comes to horror movies, I figure she can stomach it. I’m actually swapping it out on Swap a DVD because, in my opinion, the movie is just lame. The Underworld movies are so not scary, but again, parental has a weak stomach for horror, so we’ll go with movies she can handle first.

Here are some movies I’m thinking about renting tomorrow, either before I get off work or before I go in:

• The Mist
• Secret Window
• Saw
• Saw ll
• Saw lll
• Halloween
• Nightmare on Elm Street
• Puppet Master

Any other suggestions? I just hope the video store isn’t wiped out by the time I get there. Hence why I am making a very long list, here’s hoping something is there!

I’m sorry, but are all of the Dallas Cowboys away on Vegas vacations and they’ve left very convincing doubles behind to fill in for them?

The Bengals just scored a touchdown on the boys, bringing the score to 13 to 17, Cowboys. Sure, the ‘boys are still in the lead, but come on, this should never have become such a close-scoring game. It’s the third quarter already! I know the Bengals are desperate, but what the hell is up with the Cowboys? They haven’t been taking this game seriously at all.

Bad enough to loose to the Redskins, long rivalry there. But to loose to the Bengals who are 0 and 4? That would be utterly humiliating!

ETA: Thank You! Cowboys won it, 31 to 22. For a few minutes there I truly scared. The defense is what saved the day today. Awesome job, they held it together while the offense was scrambling about.

I’ve been tagged by Sanjo-chan (Cen.Taku.Me) with this meme to see what my favorite, or “must see”, television shows are. As ya’all know, I don’t watch television very much, and certainly not regularly anymore. However there are a few shows this season that have caught my eye, and thus far, have ensured that I tune in regularly.

Title: The Biggest Looser: Families
Network: NBC

We’ll start off with the show that surprised me. I tuned in for a football game and I kept seeing the commercials for this show and it caught my interest, but not for the reason you’ll think. Back in middle school I started watching soap operas, the only soap that actually got me hooked for a while was Days of Our Lives and my favorite character was none other than Sami Brady. I thought the actress was awesome and the character just amused the hell out of me. There was definately never a dull moment with Sami around. So when I saw a quick glimpse of the host of this series my mind automatically screamed “That’s Sami!”. I tuned in, and sure enough, it was Alison Sweeny hosting the series. After the first episode I got drawn in.

Title: Law and Order: Special Victims Unit
Network: NBC

Anyone who knows me probably isn’t surprised to see this on my list. I was a big fan of the original Law and Order, but when SVU first premiered my love for this splinter series quickly overlapped the original. I’ve got most of the series on dvd to boot. Thus far I am really loving this season, I do miss Novak though. I was so disheartened when she was disbarred because she is definately my favorite District Attorney from all of the L&O series. I’m not really sure what to make of “The Crusader” Kim Grayleck though, the new district attorney. She’s just a little too damn gung-ho and meddlesome for me to take too much of a liking to her right now.

Title: My Own Worst Enemy
Network: NBC

This series hasn’t aired yet sadly, but after watching the commercials for it for weeks now I am very eager to see the premier. Christian Slater stars as a man leading one hell of a double-life. He’s Henry Spivey, you’re average middle-class husband with a wife, a dog, two kids, and a minivan. However, he’s also a government operative by the name of Edward Albright. At the end of a mission, a trigger in his mind is flipped and he forgets he’s an operative and reverts to his other persona. Ultimate secret agent, yes?

And of course, since it’s football season, you can bet I’m tuning in regularly for all the games, particularly my team – the Dallas Cowboys!

There is a video up on the MSN.com main page right now that one might find interesting. In it Marilyn Manson is talking to a group of fans and reporters. One reporter in general is quite boisterous and eventually is allowed to come up to Manson, despite the protests of his guards. After shaking Manson’s hand and embracing him, the man proceeds to knock of his hat to reveal what looks like a bald Marilyn Manson!

Now the question is, is Marilyn Manson really bald?

If you watch the video in its entirety there are some things that jump out at you.

• The man that knocks off his hat and wig is the most vociferous one there. Clear trouble maker in the works.
• Marilyn Manson seems to be acting very detached from everything and not really himself.

To me it seemed like the man was looking to cause trouble, and the embrace and “accidental” knocking of the hat doesn’t look accidental in the least. I have to wonder if perhaps this wasn’t an impersonator standing in for Manson at the time.

What do ya’all think, is it Manson?

I am the sole witness to a heinous crime, as such, I have decided [read: forced] to join the witness protection program. I have been given a whole new identity. I have a new job, live in a new city, and even have my own place! I guess you could say that I don’t find being in the witness protection program too troublesome.

Want to know where they relocated me, what my new job is, or why I don’t really mind anymore? Well I can’t tell you that. But if you watch this video I made below, you might get a hint:

So where am I? I gave you a little background about one of the places I visit daily, as well as a few other clues. If you know me, than guessing where they’ve stashed me should be pretty damn easy. Yes? If not, well, listen again to the tidbits and especially the background noise. Giving you actual images would be a total giveaway.

So take a guess! Post your best guess in your comment and let’s see who can figure it out.

Yeah, this post was completely inspired by USA Network’s new original series In Plain Sight, which premiers on June 1st, 2008. I would really love to watch it because it looks like it’s going to be action packed and thrilling. The series will revolve around Mary Shannon, a U.S. Deputy Marshal who works with the federal witness protection program. Trying to find the balance between protecting the people in the program and her own dysfunctional family, now that has got to be good.

UGH! I had a really lengthy and witty response to this week’s Booking Through Thursday question, and then my computer decided to crash on me. Naturally, despite a draft being saved of it, most of it’s gone regardless.

I’m partially at fault though, I know this computer has a sucky amount of ram, 512MB to be exact, so I should have known better than to have two browsers up with multiple tabs in them, iTunes, Photoshop CS2, and a spreadsheet going all at once. Something was bound to happen.

But anyway, here’s this week’s question:

Books and films both tell stories, but what we want from a book can be different from what we want from a movie. Is this true for you? If so, what’s the difference between a book and a movie?

It’s very much true for me. When it comes to books I expect depth, I want to be completely drawn into the story and not resurface for days. I expect a moving story, good characterization and growth, finely researched, and attention given to the minor and major details of the story. In short, I expect to fall into a whole new world.

Now, while some of that remains true for movies, flat characters kills all after all, in movies I expect some flashy effects. I want to see the pizazz that I won’t be able to see in the book. Also, I expect a killer soundtrack. The music should suit the mood and make the moment. I shouldn’t be o immersed in the music though that everything falls away, nor should the music be so obnoxious and different that it stands apart from the scene. It should make it, not break it.

And if it’s a horror movie, I was the suspense to be there as well as the blood and the guts. Don’t hold back at all!

I never did get around to posting a Remember Wednesday post last week, my bad. Anyway, I remembered this week, but Jade hasn’t made the new post for this week yet so instead of linking to this week’s post I’m just linking to the category for now. I’ll edit the link later when she posts. Her post is up now! Be sure to check it out to see other folks’ posts for this week.

Back in the day, when only the anime fangirls and Japanese-culture fans knew what DDR was (gosh, I still remember when people looked at me funny after explaining what DDR was and how they said it would never catch on) a certain song made it’s way onto the internet. It was used in the very first version of DDR and has been used in countless AMV’s since then, of course I’m talking about Smile.dk’s “Butterfly”.

Butterfly
by Smile.dk

I’ve been searching for a man
All across Japan
Just to find, to find my samurai

Someone who is strong
But still a little shy
Yes I need, I need my samurai

Ay, Ay, Ay, I’m your little butterfly
Green, black and blue, make the colours in the sky
Ay, Ay, Ay, I’m your little butterfly
Green, black and blue, make the colours in the sky

I’ve been searching in the woods
And high upon the hills
Just to find, to find my samurai

Someone who won’t regret
To keep me in his net
Yes I need, I need my samurai

The lyrics aren’t profound, the music isn’t revolutionary either. And yet, whenever I hear this song I can’t help but to smile and want to dance. This song puts me back in mind to when I was in middle school/high school – totally carefree. No bills, no real responsibilities, just a kid. Somehow that feeling always returns when I hear this song and it’s never failed to pick me up when I’m down.

Two other songs that also always do the trick are “Caramelldansen Speedycake Remix” by Speedycake and Lou Bega’s “Mambo No.5″.

Okay, you all know I am a complete music nut right? I absolutely adore music and always have to have a stereo or radio on, even if it’s just faint and in the background. Of course, buying every single album that has a song on it that I like would kill me so I generally buy singles or just the songs I want, or download it for free.

Well, I just found about out this site called MPFree.com that lets you download songs, for free, and it’s completely legal. There are no costs or credit cards required either. According to their site, all you have to do is complete the offers on the site and for each offer you complete you get free music. Offers can include entering giveaways, requesting product information and/or trying new products, and taking surveys. There are a bunch of sites on the net that will pay you pennies, or fractions of in some cases, for completing surveys and “payouts” take forever to achieve. Wouldn’t it be cool to, instead, get some music?

MPFree boasts more 750,000 free songs. And unlike dicey file sharing programs, you don’t have to worry about downloading viruses or misnamed and fake songs either because all songs are by the original artists! MPFree pays the royalties to the artists, advertisers pay them to advertise on MPFree, and members help keep the site running by participating. No cost to the members and everyone comes out a winner.

I’ve been counting down the days and anxiously awaiting the arrival of May 20th and 21st and now the long wait is almost over. Allow me clarify for the non-rabid fans, the live-action movie for DeathNote will be playing in select U.S. theaters at 7:30pm! You can get advance tickets now by visiting the Fathomevents.com website – they’re the guys bringing the movie to the US – if you haven’t already gotten them.

Normally when a movie is only going to be shown in “select” theaters I’m out of luck. That’s not the case this time though! The Cinemark at the Cielo Vista Mall in El Paso is showing it. Big relief there since the only other location “close” to me is the theater in the Cottonwood Mall in Albuquerque. If you’re in El Paso and going on the 21st keep your eyes peeled for a gal in dressed all in black with a Naruto t-shirt (it’ll have Hinata, Kankuro, Temari, and Neji on it), long wallet chains, and an FMA Flamel necklace. Yes I know, total mix-and-match from various series there.

In case you don’t know what the fuss is all about, here’s a quick break down for you. The movie playing in theaters is the English dub version of the live-action movie that aired in Japan a little while back. The movie is a live-action (performed by real people instead of being down in anime-style) adaptation of Ohba Tsugumi’s manga and anime series DeathNote. DN revolves around two main characters, Light Yagami and L Lawliet (“L”). One day by pure luck Light finds the notebook of Ryuk, a shinigami. As you might have guessed, this notebook is no ordinary notebook. Whose ever name is written in the notebook dies. When Light learns of this he vows to rid the world of evil and begins writing the names of criminals into the notebook. However, when the police realize that criminals are dropping dead they call in a young man who is already considered the world’s greatest detective – “L”.

I must confess, there are some days when I desperately wish I could get my hands on a notebook like that. Truth be told though, I’ve always considered the ability to change shape and appearance like a certain blue X-Men villain to be the best ability.

Are you going to be seeing the movie? If you’re a fan of anime and manga, not just DeathNote, or live-action, I really recommend you go and see this if you can. It wasn’t so long ago that the only way one would have a chance to see a movie like this would be to pay outrageous prices on an imported copy!

Time for what, you ask? Why it’s almost time for the Wimbledon Championships, that’s what. Now I’m not going to tell you that I am a dedicated tennis fan, or that Wimbledon is the equivalent of the Superbowl or the World Series to me. That would be lying on my part, for me, tennis is an entertaining sport to watch. Definitely more interesting to me than baseball or golf.

In our house there is only one tennis fan, only one person who religiously marks down the starting days and the match schedules. Only one person will set the vcr to record the day’s matches in our house, and if I’d had the money I would have gifted this person with an airplane ticket, hotel accommodations, and Wimbledon tickets for Mother’s Day. Yes, my mother is the tennis fan, and let me tell you, it’s a darn good thing I do enjoy watching tennis. She would have disowned me otherwise. My mother has always wanted to attend Wimbledon at least once in her lifetime, and honestly, I think I would like to go at least once as well, if only to see if anyone can put Tarango’s infamous…temper tantrum…to shame. There have been several little (and not so little) temper tantrums thrown during the matches, but Jeff Tarango’s will always live in infamy in my mind. Who is ever going to forget this guy stomping off and his wife slapping an umpire?

My favorite matches to watch are definately the gentlemen and ladies’ singles. My mom prefers the doubles and the men’s singles. I’m not sure what her logic is for preferring those matches, but the reason I prefer the singles is because they always have a more intense and exciting air about them. Nothing can compare with an athlete who knows it’s all about them and the skill and mindset they bring to the game. There’s no teammate to cover for them or help them out – it’s all them and it’s make or break. Are you getting ready for Wimbledon?