Since it’s the day before Thanksgiving, I thought I’d take a second to post a brief list (in no particular order) of the things I’m thankful for this year: Continue reading
Just Saying Thanks
26 NovThey Come from a Land Down Under
25 Nov
Baz Luhrmann’s Moulin Rouge! was such a brilliant mix of sight, sound, and story that I paid to see it three times in the theater.
(Really. I thought it was awesome and unlike anything I’d ever seen before.)
His latest film, Australia?
Not so much.
It’s a sweeping epic love story set during World War II, and it’s consistently a feast for the eyes, but the story just isn’t a compelling enough one to make it worth seeing. Continue reading
Don’t I Have Anything Better to Do?
25 Nov
A new study out Monday said that more people are watching TV than ever before. According to the study, by Nielsen Media Research, the average American watches 142 hours of TV in a month, five more than last year. Yes, I said one hundred and forty-two hours. That’s a lot of TV, and it got me thinking about how much TV I watch these days. Let’s see: On Mondays, an hour and a half (Gossip Girl and How I Met Your Mother); Tuesdays and Wednesdays, nothing regularly (no more 90210 for me , thanks); Thursdays, two hours (The Office, 30 Rock, and Grey’s Anatomy); Friday, nothing; Saturday, four and a half hours (Beverly Hills, 90210 reruns and Saturday Night Live); and Sunday, two hours (The Amazing Race and Brothers & Sisters). Throw in (at least) three hours of Countdown with Keith Olbermann each week, and maybe an hour total of the Today show, plus the nightly news, and that’s … about 15 hours a week. Figure there are four weeks in a month and that brings me to a total of, let’s say it’s about 55 hours of TV watching in a month — waaaaaay below the new average. Phew.
Of course, the study includes more than just time spent watching a television; it also includes time spent watching content on computers and on mobile phones. I watch my daily dose of YouTube and other clips, but please. There’s no way I watch 90 other hours each month. And it’s a good thing, because there’s this other study that came out recently showing that the more TV you watch, the unhappier you are. “Happy people spend more free hours socializing, reading and participating in religious activities, while unhappy people watch 30 percent more television…. On average, the down-and-out reported an extra 5.6 hours of tube time a week, compared with their happiest counterparts,” says a Washington Post article about the study. Thankfully, I consider myself a happy person, and don’t consider my TV watching to be excessive. (And no, that’s not denial.) After all, it’s not like I watch all of that TV in a week; the DVR allows me to watch it whenever I want, and to have a life outside of my living room.
Which brings me to another recent study you may have heard about, the one that said teens who watch more TV are more likely to have sex. Well … um … how about I not even comment on that one and let you assume what I’m going to say about it.
Point is: how much TV do you watch? Am I watching too much? Or maybe not enough?
Fowl Play
24 NovKeith Olbermann was on vacation last week enjoying some much deserved peace and quiet. There was just one problem: he missed one of the funniest Sarah Palin video clips of, like, ever. So on tonight’s show, he got all caught up. And if you, too, haven’t seen this one yet … enjoy.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22425001/vp/27897845#27897845
Whole Milk
24 Nov
If you want to see tour-de-force acting, look no further than Gus Van Sant’s Milk, which features Sean Penn playing the title role of Harvey Milk, the first openly gay elected official in the United States. The film couldn’t really be much more timely, what with barriers being broken in national elections and with Proposition 8 passing in California earlier this month. But modern-day parallels aside, Milk recounts how one man seeking to stop injustices rose up and made a difference, becoming an icon and an inspiration for people everywhere. The movie’s so good that Milk comes off as someone that gay and straight people alike can call a hero.
I don’t know how much more you need to know about the plot given that Milk is about a real person and it’s based on a true story. I’d rather tell you about the excellent cast, which besides Penn also includes James Franco as Milk’s lover, Scott; Emile Hirsch as Cleve Jones, Milk’s protege; and Josh Brolin as Dan White, Milk’s assassin. Franco especially gives a very moving and sympathetic performance, but all members of the cast are impressive. Van Sant tells the story in a tender and not heavy-handed way, making this a universal story and not a “gay” one or any other kind of marginalization. Milk is undoubtedly a sympathetic portrait of the man, and he comes off as one of us: someone who saw a wrong in his community and sought to make it right through sheer will and in the face of extreme prejudice. By the end of Milk, you’ll not only be cheering for Milk’s accomplishments (and Penn’s performance), you’ll be wondering why the gay community still has so far to go in terms of their quest for equal rights. I love this movie. It’s one of the best of the year, and one that I hope has an impact beyond the box office. I’m giving Milk an A–.
A Winner
23 Nov
Not since Once have I enjoyed a movie as much as I did Slumdog Millionaire.
A story of hope and love, Millionaire is a rare must-see in a crowded movie marketplace. It’s definitely one of my favorites of the year.
The plot of the movie is rather simple: When Jamal, a former street child from Mumbai, appears on the Hindi version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? and gets every question right, he is accused of cheating. After all, there’s no way an uneducated young man who grew up poor and without parents could get questions right that scholars and other brainy people couldn’t, right?
Well, as it turns out, every question Jamal is asked has some kind of tie to something in his life. The film jumps back and forth from the quiz show to those events, but not until the end do you really know whether it was luck, money, cheating, or destiny that lead to Jamal’s success. Continue reading
I’m Sporting a Yule Log
21 NovHo ho ho … the Christmas season officially begins this Sunday when Stephen Colbert‘s holiday special A Colbert Christmas: The Greatest Gift of All airs on Comedy Central at 10 p.m. Check out these previews (or read this one), and then watch the whole thing this weekend. (Brothers & Sisters isn’t on, so there shouldn’t be any conflicts for you loyal Walker watchers out there.)
http://www.comedycentral.com/sitewide/video_player/view/default/swf.jhtml
http://www.comedycentral.com/sitewide/video_player/view/default/swf.jhtml
And if you want even more, check out Colbert’s very own yule log. Merry Christmas, everybody!
Passed Over Again and Again and Again
20 Nov
Great. Another year and another shun. For the umpteenth year in a row (yes, it has been about umpteen years), People magazine has passed me over for the title of Sexiest Man Alive. Last year I could take solace in the fact that I had been named Time‘s Person of the Year just a few months earlier. This year, no such luck. Why? Well, today I found out that not only was I not sexy enough for People but that I also was not stylish enough to be called one of the 25 Most Stylish Bostonians by the Boston Globe. And even worse, I also found out that I didn’t even rate a slot in the 2009 calendar of Nice Jewish Guys. Jeeeeeeez. That one hurts most of all. I mean, not only am I nice and Jewish, but I’m also a guy! What do I have to do to get some love around here?
Cure Pantlessteria!
20 Nov
Dear readers — and specifically, dear male readers — today I bring you the belated news that we are right in the middle of Pants Awareness Month.
This important month is brought to you by a San Francisco–based company called Cordarounds.com, which — yes — sells pants.
But not just pants. All kinds of pants: corduroy pants, seersucker pants, bike to work pants, smoking jackets, and much more.
So shocker of shockers, they have a real investment in this campaign.
In a press release sent out to announce the month, they say “Every autumn, millions of American men tragically go pantless while their fellow citizens turn a blind eye. This is the terrible affliction known as ‘Pantlessteria’ — more commonly referred to as ‘Sansapant Syndrome,’ ‘Trousernot,’ or ‘Nay Slacks disease.'” Continue reading
Changes
19 Nov
The more things change … I returned to my old second home, Star Market/Shaw’s on Comm Ave., last week and was shocked to learn that the whole place had been remodeled! It was only in April that I moved, and while I now do my weekly grocery shopping in other Star Market locations, I find it hard to believe that I haven’t been back to this one in a long enough time that it gave the store a chance to totally change and look completely different. And don’t get me wrong: It looks great! I really enjoyed walking up and down the aisles discovering where all the foods had moved to. Yes, I know it’s totally lame to be excited about a supermarket’s new look, but I spent a lot of time here during the first 11 years of my Boston residency, so I considered this a big deal.
The more they stay the same … Alright, I finally have to post something about this: My new next-door neighbor plays an instrument. A guitar. Or at least I think it’s a guitar. It sort of sounds more like a banjo. But it’s an instrument nevertheless. And he plays it a lot. Like, every night. However, things are different now. For one thing, a guitar (even one that sounds sort of like a banjo) is not nearly as bad as a violin. Or a flute, for that matter. Secondly, it’s not like it’s soooo loud that it interferes with my TV-watching like the playing did in my old place. And finally — also most importantly — I’ve met my neighbor and he’s a nice guy. So if I was ever that annoyed by his playing, I’m sure he’d stop, even though I know he doesn’t have somewhere else to go. So I’m going to keep a positive, tolerant, flexible attitude about this. Still, it’s totally amusing to me that I’ve moved next to another instrument player. What luck I have.
Ah well. As the saying goes, the more things change, the more they stay the same.
Martin's Musings 