It was quite a weekend. My mom's Lexus was hit in the parking lot on Friday. I was getting conflicting reports on the severity of the damage. My sister claimed it was just a small bump. My mom said it was more like a foot wide. The picture's up so see for yourself. Looking at it, I'm just not sure how it happened because the eyewitness said the car in question, a large SUV, was parked in the stall next to the Lexus and did the damage as she was leaving. I would understand if the car backed into the bumper but not if the car was next to my mom's. I'd know, I've done it.

Just to balance out the bad news, I've posted Kelli from Christmas with her new dog from babystyle. Poor Hello Kitty in the background. I didn't get to see her this weekend since I was with friends on Saturday. With Datman and Paul, we were to meet Hai and Claire in Alameda for sushi. Things didn't go exactly as planned. We made it but they didn't. Westbound 80 was closed due to a multicar accident. A car eastbound went out of control and jumped the center divider. This had to be tough because the westbound lanes are elevated above the westbound lanes. In any case, the endgame was a trip to Cache Creek where I managed to get a free drink. I paid for my $6.25 drink with a $10 bill. The waitress gave me back $13. Realizing her mistake, she puts down the original $10 bill, took back the two fives she gave me and left, leaving me with my $10 bill.

Those who went can answer me this: there were 2 trays of ribs left, right? When I opened my trunk, all that was left was the potato salad.

More random questions: Why is UPS using a song by the Postal Service. And where did McDonald's dig up Ben Seaver to do a commercial?

Since last I wrote, I've seen 3 great films that are worthy of Oscar nominations (announced tomorrow at 5:30 am). Children of Men imagines the world where no one is under the age of 18 and women can't give birth. When a pregnant woman suddenly appears, it's up to Clive Owen to transport her safely to an independent group that will (hopefully) raise the child and give civilization another chance. Otherwise, she'll fall in the hands of the government (too busy with controlling society) or to activists who will use the baby to lead a rebellion. It's a simple movie filled with thought-provoking questions and reflections on where our own society may one day lead. The handheld scenes following the two out of the internment camp is just edge-of-your seat stuff.

Little Children is a character film that works on so many levels. Admittedly, some of the material may shock and awe, but the multitude of stories are very interesting and engrossing from an unhappy Kate Winslet having an affair with a fellow unhappy father (seriously, who cheats on Jennifer Connelly?), to Jackie Earle Haley's creepy sex offender role and the actual little children themselves. Then there was Letters from Iwo Jima, a technically well-done piece of filmmaking from Clint Eastwood. He supremely portrays the honor of the Japanese as they fought a losing battle to hold the island of Iwo Jima based on a few letters found in the caves where they held out for 5 days under American fire. Through a proud General who had lived among Americans to a simple baker who wanted to be home, these stories, along with Flags of Our Fathers, show us the humanizing qualities of both sides, a departure from American war films of the same period.