It's gotten a little slow at work (deadly slow) so this gives me time to update this thing. Usually it's not slow. The last couple of weeks has been hectic. It's just this week. Man, I finished all my crap by Tuesday so that today and presumably the rest of the week will be devoid of all work. But hey, if I keep up the act I still get paid. Payday tomorrow!

Did my taxes. Big refund, but that's only because I claimed a lot of exemptions. This year will be a different story unless I actually fill out the forms to change them.

It was a little while ago, but Hai's b-day party was a couple of weeks ago and the fortune in my fortune cookie went like this: "Go ahead and be as sexy as you can." Fortune cookie writers really need to get back to basics.

The cute girl on Amazing Race was eliminated last night. I don't know how I'm gonna go on.

I must recommend V for Vendetta (I'll go watch it again if you haven't.) You can't take your eyes off the screen and it doesn't hurt that Natalie Portman is the star.

Among the other movies: 16 Blocks is a decent thriller to check out. Two movies with a bunch of lies in the title (Separate Lies and Where the Truth Lies) have some good performances but the stories are lacking. Good Night, and Good Luck. is great if you like all that stuff concerning Joseph McCarthy and his hunt for communists. Proof is great but Gwyneth Paltrow and Jake Gyllenhaal are all wrong for their respective roles. Jarhead is boring. Junebug is boring. North Country will open your eyes as sexual harrassment gets its day in court. Flightplan is an above-average thriller. Nice to see Jodie Foster in an action role. Rent suffers from a story that doesn't make any sense. Who can't pay the rent? These folks. And when they get rent-free apartments, they insist on paying??? Who are these people? Dark Water underwhelmed. I don't think there was a point to the film. Elizabethtown is an okay flick but Kirsten Dunst is annoying. Lord of War is great as we see Nicolas Cage try to balance his personal life with his work of arms dealing. Just Like Heaven is Reese Witherspoon being herself again...so nothing new there. Oh, Mark Ruffalo plays the leading man? See, nothing new. Bill Murray playing the old man in other movies like Lost in Translation is great. Here in Broken Flowers? Not so great.

Cal lost in the NCAA tourney. What a surprise...

Channel-surfing earlier today when I noticed AMC (the TV channel) was blurring the line between classics and downright bad movies again. See, AMC stood for American Movie Classics. Nowadays though, they've augmented their film library to include newer movies, but the selection seems to be quite slim. Speed is suddenly a classic. Keanu's followup Chain Reaction is also featured. Slapshot 2? Didn't even know they made a sequel. There's also an endless supply of Charles Bronson movies. Plus Volcano. But today...wow. In my opinion, the best Jean Claude Van Damme movie was being shown, but even that isn't saying much. Yes, Bloodsport was on, with Van Damme's trademark smugness and all.

SNL has really hit its mark with its digital shorts. Damn shame the rest of the show is just awful. Two highlights at NBC's site (since they won't allow any other site to show the clips)

Natalie Portman raps:
http://www.nbc.com/Video/videos/snl_1439_natalieraps.shtml

Doppelganger:
http://www.nbc.com/Video/videos/snl_1440_doppleganger.shtml

The Oscar Scorecard:

I was 17 for 24. Considering my history, 17 seems right.

In the past:
2002: 14 correct
2003: 15
2004: 16
2005: 18

(I really hate this music they're playing during their speeches. What happened to silence is golden?)

Picture: Crash (!!!!!) Brokeback Mountain
Director: Ang Lee, Brokeback Mountain
Actor: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Capote
Actress: Reese Witherspoon, Walk the Line
Supporting Actor: George Clooney, Syriana
Supporting Actress: Rachel Weisz, The Constant Gardener
Adapted Screenplay: Brokeback Mountain
Original Screenplay: Crash
Foreign Film: Tsotsi Paradise Now
Animated Feature: Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit
Documentary Feature: March of the Penguins
Documentary Short Subject: A Note of Triumph: The Golden Age of Norman Corwin The Mushroom Club
Live Action Short Film: Six Shooter Our Time is Up
Animated Short Film: The Moon and the Son: An Imagined Conversation 9
Cinematography: Memoirs of a Geisha
Editing: Crash
Art Direction: Memoirs of a Geisha
Costume Design: Memoirs of a Geisha
Make-up: The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe
Visual Effects: King Kong
Sound Editing: King Kong
Sound Mixing: King Kong Walk the Line
Song: "It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp", Hustle & Flow
Score: Brokeback Mountain Memoirs of a Geisha