You Owe It To Yourself

Ever since the middle of last year, when I first heard critics raving about Once, I've been really eager to see it. The film was made in Dublin on a shoestring budget by two songwriters, and it uses their music to tell a story of... well... two songwriters in Dublin. But it's so much more than that.

Once picks up with Glen busking for change, playing old well-known tunes during the day in hopes that the familiarity will inspire passersby to stop and toss some money in his guitar case. But at night, when the streets have emptied, he plays the songs that he wrote for an ex-girlfriend who ran off to London. Marketa, a young Czech woman who is also a songwriter, encounters him in this setting and they strike up a friendship. From there, the movie follows the track of their relationship as they make music together and each tries to find a peace with the influences that have burdened and inspired them.

This film is raw, unexpected, thoroughly honest, and absolutely beautiful. It is not as polished as most films, but this simplicity itself is one of the movie's strongest points. Where so many movies struggle under the weight of their own self-importance, Once is content to just tell a simple, heartfelt story. And the music that pervades the story is just magnificent. If you saw the Oscars, you likely caught the singers' beautiful performance and their well-deserved "Best Song" win for "Falling Slowly". As great as that song is, though, the soundtrack includes several others just as amazing.

In short, I think that Once might just be my favorite new movie since Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. You owe it to yourself to check it out.

Check Out My New Guestbook!

So I swiped it from my Close Personal Friend Carl's blog... but only because it was so cool!

Take a look at the bottom of the blog's front page and see if there are other readers in your neck of the woods. Or try to guess who might be reading from where. And when you're done, add your own location so that other folks can do the same.

The Oscars

I wanted to briefly chime in on this year's edition of the Oscars...

As much as I like Jon Stewart, I thought the show itself was a huge disappointment. The scripted stuff just wasn't funny at all and, while I have heard that Enchanted is actually a pretty good movie, I was completely underwhelmed by the three (really? Three?) tunes from that movie that were nominated for best song. I haven't yet seen Once, but was very happy that its song won that category and I'm now looking forward to watching it.

I was glad to see No Country for Old Men (and its writers, directors, and Javier Bardem) win Best Picture and those other awards. While I haven't seen as many movies this year as I normally watch, NCFOM was far and away the best I saw. Of course, I'm kind of a sucker for dark, introspective movies (I thought Children of Men and Pan's Labyrinth were last year's best films--deserving of far more attention than they received), but NCFOM was just haunting, tense, and philosophical through and through, in addition to being beautifully filmed and acted. It's a movie that I'll definitely own when it comes out on Blu-ray.

Did anyone else watch the show? How did your favorites do?

Calling Out for Prayers!

As I've mentioned previously, I'll be taking the Missouri Bar Exam. In two days. Starting Tuesday morning, I'll have the essay portion of the test, then on Wednesday I'll have the 200-question, multiple-choice Multistate Bar Exam.

I feel generally well prepared, and I've been calming myself with the knowledge that, statistically speaking, I only have to perform better than one in every five test-takers in order to pass--the pass rate is routinely above 80%, and in July 88% passed. But still, it's a very stressful event and I sure could use prayers that I will remain calm and have a ready recollection of all the things I've studied. C'mon prayer-warriors... help a brother out!

Colbert Takes Guest to Sunday School

I have always been a huge Stephen Colbert fan. So much so that, if the presidential nominations went just the wrong way, I really would've voted for the late-night, satirical talk show host rather than either of the major candidates. But the other night, he totally cemented his place in my admiration.

Colbert was interviewing Philip Zimbardo, a Stanford professor whose book, The Lucifer Effect, discusses the psychological reasons that "good" people can do absolutely horrific things when placed in positions of great power and no accountability. Toward the end of the interview, Zimbardo branched into theological matters, basically suggesting that God is not really interested in reconciliation with the sinful and that the world's evil is God's fault for "creating" hell instead of admitting that He should not have required the angels (of whom Lucifer was one) to treat humanity as having an exalted place in the creation. At that point, Colbert's Catholicism kicked into high gear and he eviscerated Zimbardo with a brief discourse on the nature of hell and its origin as the result of the free will that God gave both angels and humanity -- not God's design or desire.

When a beaten and visibly flustered Zimbardo mustered a weak, yet condescending, "Obviously, you learned well in Sunday School," Colbert busted out with my new favorite t-shirt-ready line ever:

"I teach Sunday School, mother#&*%er."

Yeah... I Could Do That

And Then There Are People Like This Guy...

As many of you know, I'm preparing for the Missouri Bar Exam. It's a pain in the butt for several reasons, not the least of which is the fact that when I passed the Tennessee Bar Exam a few years back I reveled in the idea that I'd never have to do anything like that again. But however distasteful, unnecessary, and frustrating it all is, it must be done.

In hopes of assisting my preparation, I recently used eBay to order a large set of CDs with lectures on the Bar Exam's topics. Given that the exam is coming up at the end of this month, I was pretty eager to receive them and get to listening. So when I won my auction, on January 27th, I immediately paid the seller through PayPal and began watching the mail for the CDs' arrival. Six days later (February 2nd), nothing had arrived and I hadn't heard the first thing from the seller. I contacted him via email and asked when I might expect the CDs, to which he replied that he had mailed them out on January 30th. I was a little miffed that it took three days to get the stuff in the mail, but otherwise was just itching to have them so they could help me prepare. Yesterday, they arrived. They were postmarked February 2nd.

I wasn't happy that the seller mailed these CDs nearly a week after I paid for them, but that wasn't an especially big deal. I was really angry at the fact that he had lied to me about when they were sent. So when I went to leave feedback for the seller, I gave him "neutral" feedback, explaining concisely why I could not offer a positive recommendation for him. Apparently unhappy with my thoroughly honest evaluation, the wanker gave me "negative" feedback on the transaction, saying "Bad Bidder. Sellers beware."

You know, I am an optimist. I like to believe that almost everyone really wants to be a good person. But then there are people like this guy. And the guy who screwed my parents out of tens of thousands of dollars. And the guys who--for what they admit is no good reason--fired my dad just days before Christmas and refused to give him the money he was due for days he had already worked. And, I must admit, my faith in the basic goodness of humanity is challenged.

Surprised? [Caution: Subtitled Expletives]

Super Bowl XLII

If you didn't see it, you missed out. Tonight's game was one of the best Super Bowls ever!

I have to say, I was kind of pulling for the Patriots. Aside from the fact that I felt I owed it to Tom Brady, whose skills led my fantasy football team to more points scored than any other team in my league, I really respect the way the Patriots organization handles personnel decisions. I think that this year's New England team is probably the most talented, most dominant team I've ever seen. And I kind of would've liked to see that set in concrete by a victory tonight.

But dadgum if those Giants didn't put together a fantastic gameplan. New York's defensive line was spectacular, dominating a Patriots offensive line that had kept Brady virtually untouched all season. And the Giants offense proved to be clutch when it had to be, with Eli Manning calmly orchestrating two fourth quarter touchdown drives when the pressure was on. Even though Manning played well when the chips were down, I was disappointed that the MVP award went to him instead of Justin Tuck, the defensive lineman who had six tackles, two sacks, a forced fumble, and repeatedly forced Brady to pull himself up off the turf, even when he'd managed to get a pass away. If Tuck didn't get the award, I thought it should have gone to David Tyree, who caught the game's first touchdown and whose unbelievable reception on the Giant's game-winning drive is the only reason the team was in position to win.

I gotta say, though, the game tonight is the way that Super Bowls should be. Hard-fought, well-played, and in doubt down to the last seconds. Like I said... if you didn't see it, you missed out.

Wow.

Fox Sports just led into the Super Bowl with a remarkably moving montage of NFL personalities reciting the Declaration of Independence. It was beautiful. Especially the sections featuring Marie Tillman, the widow of former Arizona Cardinal Pat Tillman, who quit football after 9/11 to become an Army Ranger and was killed by friendly fire in Afghanistan.

As soon as this is up on YouTube, I'll post the video. And I think I'll send a thank-you note to Fox, as well.

Just in Time for the Super Bowl

I will reveal the recipe for the greatest guacamole ever.

@$$-Whuppin' Guacamole

1/2 small white onion
2 jalapeno peppers
1/2 cup cilantro leaves
1 tsp. salt
5 ripe Haas Avacados
8 cherry tomatoes
1/2 lime

Chop up the onion and divide in half.
Chop up the cilantro and divide in half.
Cut of the stems of the jalapenos, remove the seeds, and chop up.
Halve the tomatoes and remove seeds, then chop up.

Combine half the onion, half the cilantro, the jalapenos, the salt, and tomatoes in a blender.
Blend only long enough to combine the ingredients thoroughly.
Put the blended ingredients in a mixing bowl.
Halve, pit, and peel the avacados and add them to the mixing bowl.
Using a fork or a wooden spoon, mash the avacados to desired consistency and mix well with the blended ingredients.
Mix in the remaining onion and cilantro.
Squeeze the juice of the 1/2 lime into the mixture and stir well.
Add salt and black pepper to taste.

Serve with corn tortilla chips (I recommend Snyder's or Santitas, if you can find them).
Makes about 8 servings.

I've been experimenting with variations resembling this recipe for the last few months, but I think that what I've recorded here resulted in the ultimate in guacamole tastiness. Fix some up before the game on Sunday and wow your friends! And, of course, let me know what you think.