First of all, I got a new cell number so to find out, e-me or IM-me to get it. Now to some rants.

On Christmas Day, we wanted to go see something light and festive at the movie theatre and there were plenty to choose from including Cheaper by the Dozen 2 and Rumor Has It. So with so many to choose from, we settled on Munich, the account of the assassinations carried out after the hostage situation at the 1972 Munich Olympics.

We went to the new Eastridge theatres, but a few things irked me. The lines were loooong. The theatre is very poorly designed. You walk in and the concession stand is right there but the nearest screen is quite literally a mile away. And if you're at screen 15, well, you've got another mile to walk. All around, there are collages of memorable movie scenes. But honestly, how memorable could Twins, Nine Months, and the new Charlie's Angels be?

Two reasons why you should not get exercise equipment as a gift for a loved one. One, the loved one might interpret it as though she were fat. Second, you get some stooge to spend his whole afternoon assembling the damn thing. So my dad got my mom an air walker. In fairness, my mom asked for one, but I don't think she was that serious. So it was up to me to assemble it. With nine stick figure diagrams and screws too big for the holes they've drilled, I managed to assemble the thing in less than 6 hours. There's a number included in the package urging you to pay $120 for a professional to assemble it for you. Hey, I'll only charge $60 and do a half-ass job too. At least it works, I think I think.

Went to the Sharks game tonite. They played a solid 40 minutes until they realized it was a 60-minute game. The Sharks gave up 4 goals in 3 minutes. The trade for Joe Thornton is quickly losing its luster as the holes on defense begin materializing once again.

Thanks to all who came to my birthday dinner. Even got Akshay, Jeanette, and Steves to join. Sid crashed too. Fun was had by all...at least I hope so. When I got home, my brother was waiting with the third of three Harry Potter cakes he bought his GF. They were cakes made to look like the first three books of the Harry Potter series.

Ok, hope your haul this holiday season was plentiful.

http://www.youtube.com/watch.php?v=zLElfJ9YCh0

Funniest thing I've seen this week. It's the Chronic-what?-cles of Narnia as rapped on SNL.

You know who had the same birthday as me? John Spencer. A melancholy farewell to the great actor that he was. He was on L.A. Law and various movies, but lately, he made his mark on The West Wing as Chief of Staff to the President and a vice presidential candidate. On Friday, he died of a heart attack, which is eerie since his character also had a heart attack, which forced him to resign as chief of staff. How the producers will move on without him is beyond me. They backed themselves into a corner by showing him in a scene set 3 years into the future. If it wasn't for that, I would say to write the death into the show, but it seems re-casting is the way to go, which is a shame.

I'm having a lot go on for my birthday. At work, all they seem to know is food. So, we went out, I got bagels and donuts in the morning, and a certain someone gave me more baked goods (if you don't know the baked goods story, lemme tell you sometime ;) People are leaving for break so I'm lucky I got as many people as I did. On the other hand, there was the cost control meeting right afterwards so they were falling asleep left and right. Speaking of break, I'm off from December 23-January 2 if anyone is interested. Haha. My department manager asked me if I would run reports next week and all I could do is give him a blank stare. Honestly, only workaholics and those without vacation days will be there for a 2-day workweek.

King Kong was good, but not great.

If I don't make another post, lemme wish you and yours a very happy Christmas and a merry new year.

It's the most wonderful time of the year
With the kids jingle-belling (I don't think too many kids jingle bells anymore, but hey, it happens.)
And everyone telling you
Be of good cheer (Yep, I go around telling everyone to be of good cheer)
It's the most wonderful time of the year

It's the hap-happiest season of all
With those holiday greetings
And great happy meetings
When friends come to call (Hey, Merry Christmas...so what am I getting this year?)
It's the hap-happiest season of all

There'll be parties for hosting (It's at your place this year, right?)
Marshmallows for roasting (Oh, that's why it's not at your place this year.)
And caroling out in the snow (Yeah, good thing the snow was there.)
There'll be scary ghost stories
And tales of the glories Of Christmases long, long ago (Yeah, remember when your house burned down last year but we put it out with the snow on the ground?)

It's the most wonderful time of the year
There'll be much mistletoe-ing
And hearts will be glowing (You should really have that checked.)
When loved ones are near
It's the most wonderful time of the year (Umm, really it's when I get my bonus check, not when I have to spend money.)

Trying times this holiday season. Work is a total mess with the new company we bought. Apparently, nobody knows what the hell is going on and that leaves everyone in my department asking questions to accounting but coming up empty as usual. Sucks for me, who has to report SOMETHING to management.

"Oh yeah, they haven't bought any material 6 weeks into the new fiscal year. But they do have new orders 8 times the fiscal plan." Just awful.

I passed my traffic school test but I'm miffed I missed 2. I demand a recount! No? Oh okay, then give me my damn certificate so I can get out of here.

Christmas shopping's almost done, or if you prefer, holiday shopping's almost done. The parents are all that's left. My brothers and I got them a new fridge for their anniversary (31!) but for some odd reason, some shelves showed up broken. Don't know why. Hopefully, we didn't get a used one. That would suck. Anyway, Best Buy said they'd gladly replace it. But I had to go through the same long talk with them about extended warranties (reference my fun iPod Nano experience).

Posts are few and far between these days so plenty of birthdays to pass along in December. Here it goes. Chris and Jon just passed. Alex, Di, Shari, and my dad are in the future. And, of course, there's me.

Stumbled upon this on Amazon doing the Christmas shopping. The perfect gift for that weird Trekker you know would probably be this: The Ultimate Star Trek Collection. At an unheard of 212 discs, you can have every episode and movie made about Star Trek minus the animated series. At $2,000+ though, it'll be tough to find that under the tree this Christmas.