This is what's real...

2008-09-05T21:01:00.000-05:00

Please see my new movie blog...

2008-08-05T21:00:00.000-05:00

@ www.viirasview.blogspot.com

Thank you,

TGS

Busy times...

2007-11-13T23:21:00.000-06:00

Due to the excess class load I'm taking this semester I will have to (temporarily) stop blogging.

I will try to get back to the blogging arena as soon as possible...

TGS

Destination: Old No. 7 (a.k.a. the Jack Daniel’s distillery in Lynchburg, TN)

2007-10-28T20:59:00.000-05:00

Alternative headline: good times with good friends in good ol’ Tennessee

2nd alternative headline: The 19th Annual Jack Daniel’s Invitational Barbecue 2007

Truth be told, the real reason why I drove 550 miles all the way from Chicago to Shelbyville was the annual Jack Daniel’s Barbecue where our friends from Europe were competing. Shelbyville was merely the town (or village – whichever you prefer) where our hotel was, or shall we say, it was the closest vacant hotel I could find in a non-dry area as close as possible to Lynchburg, Tennessee…

The drive…

550 miles. Yes, quite a drive. We (my friend and I) left our NW suburban Chicago home Tuesday night around 7 PM. By 10PM (11PM local time) we had made it to Indianapolis, Indiana. Rumor says that back in the day Indianapolis was called “the nappy city” because of its rather quiet life. And quiet it was. At 10 PM we were pretty much the only passenger car speeding down I-65 through downtown Indy. It seemed as if the entire town was dead. No joke. About 30 miles south of Indy we stopped at the road side Waffle House for a quick bite and 20 minutes later we were back on the road. The food wasn’t all that great and the gal at the cash register had a difficult time operating the credit/debit card terminal, but hey, at Waffle House you can’t really ask for premium service. Bottom line – we were hungry, and they were open. By the time we got to Louisville, Kentucky it had started raining pretty hard.

Horse Cave, Kentucky

At approximately 2AM we pulled over at a small town called Horse Cave, Kentucky. A rather creepy guy at the reception lead us to our small double room. When we acquired about the (only) local restaurant that had the words "OPEN 24H" painted on the roof, he kindly explained that the place has not been open 24/7 for a few years now ever since their management had changed. I guess the “new” management conveniently “forgot” to remove that “OPEN 24H” form the roof. Oh well, at least we had HBO:)

When we woke up the next morning it was still raining. Breakfast at this local “24H” restaurant was far below the average Bob Evan’s quality standards and I think that the waitress (who reminded me of a character from a Tarantino movie) ripped us off ($19 + tip for a typical sausage & eggs breakfast for two people??), but what was I to do? She hand-wrote our check, and I don’t even recall seeing the prices on the menu, or a menu at all. On top of all that, the roof, which I already mentioned before, had leaks in it so there were a couple of empty pots on the tables next to us (keep in mind that we were the ONLY people there), and while I was taking care of the bill, another ceiling panel came tumbling down followed by waterfall of rainwater (a good gallon or so). WTF? The waitress told me to relax and said that this only happens when it rains. Go figure:) A word of advice for everyone: don’t EVER stop at Horse Cave, KY!!!

Tennessee

One word: BEAUTIFUL. Tennessee is truly beautiful, especially in the fall, and I will definitely add it to my top 3 of the most beautiful states ever visited (first being Colorado, second New York) list. Truthfully, I would not mind living there. Tennessee, despite from being a southern state is very well developed and the standard of living there is much higher than the rest of the South and even most of the Midwestern states like Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, even southern Illinois. After having lunch at the Longhorn Steakhouse in Murfreesboro (which by the way was excellent:)) and some grocery/booze shopping, we finally arrived at our destination: Celebration Inn in Shelbyville, Tennessee. To my surprise our room, which turned out to be a double room suite with a Jacuzzi was actually quite nice (on the contrary of all the negative and reviews on the internet). A friend of mine from Estonia called me about an hour after we had settled in. He said that they (8 of them) had just landed in Nashville and they were waiting for their luggage (2 BBQ ovens, and 8 suitcases to arrive). I told him to give me a buzz once they get to their hotel (located around 12 miles from Shelbyville in the neighboring Tullahoma).

Uncle Bud’s Catfish...and more…

We met with our friends (whom I had not seen in over a year) in a place called Uncle Bud’s Catfish, Chicken & such. Since that truly unique place (that served everything deep fried) did not serve any liquor we ended up going to the local Applebee’s where we stayed until the place closed. Good times:) Later on that evening we drove to their hotel (Jameson Inn) for a little after party and night- caps but ended up staying there until the early hours of the morning. The best time I’ve had since…a long long time:)

Jack Daniel’s Barbecue...

Bar-B-Q ovens

The Jack Daniel’s Invitational is one of the most prestigious barbecue competitions in the world. Teams from across the United States and around the world compete in the categories of pork ribs, pork shoulder, beef brisket, and chicken. The key word here is “invitational” which means that not everyone can compete. No, a team must be invited to compete at the Jack Daniel’s BBQ and only the most award winning teams from within the US and from around the world are invited.

The entire festival (which is a lot of fun) is sort of similar to a county fair. Lynchburg is known to be the one-stop-light-town with a population of 361, but this week there were over 25K visitors. That’s some major revenue for Moore County and the other surrounding counties. Moore County, contrary for being home for one of the world’s most known but certainly not the best whiskeys, is a dry county, which means they don’t serve or sell any booze. However drinking was permitted at the festival as well as at the Jack Daniel’s distillery and on the distillery grounds:) So it’s sort of a double standard that works to everyone’s benefit.

A few pictures from the festival and my friends…

Competing teams' national flags (main entrance)

International Village

A lonely shepherd from Sidney, Australia (The "A" Team - Australia)

All the guys of Trivento BBQ Symphony (Estonia)

Discussions over the ceramic grill

Men @ work (testing out the ceramic grill)

4 members of Trivento BBQ Symphony - Estonia (Ecko Unltd is one of their main sponsors)

The old gristmill…

Cortner Mill Restaurant

Since the local restaurants in both Tullahoma and Shelbyville are not all that great. I spent a couple of hours Friday morning browsing the web looking for a place where we could all go out to dinner. I came across a reservation-only Cortner Mill Restaurant located in an historic gristmill by the river in Normandy, Tennessee (about 20 minutes from Tullahoma). Truth be told – the place was really hard to find even when using a GPS navigation system (the actual restaurant is about ½ a mile down the road from the location Garmin leads you), but it’s well worth the time traveled.

The Cortner Mill Restaurant is sort of a private restaurant where one can only dine by reservation. The building (an old gristmill built in 1825) is 100% antique and therefore even has that “historic” scent to it. The dining experience was very pleasant (I tried the grilled rack of lamb) and the service was excellent. The wine list was also very good (the bottle you purchase is actually served out of a carafe:)) and the prices of the historic restaurant are very moderate (about $35 per person for an entire dinner service which includes lemon intermezzo served right before the main entrée to “cleans the palate”:)). The nightt at that restaurant was our final night in Tennessee. It was truly a good time with good friends, good food, and good wine, in the good ol’ Tennessee...

Browsing through the menu @ the Cortner Mill Restaurant

Leaving town…

Saturday, October 27th – as the festival went on, and our friends entered the actual BBQ competition, we left town, but the good times spent in Tennessee will always be remembered…

Later on that evening about 30 minutes from home I received a text message announcing that BBQ Symphony (our friends) made 5th place (out of 22 international teams) in one of the world’s most prestigious barbecue championships. Not bad…not bad at all, I thought:)

Total distance traveled: 1,359 miles (2,174 KM)

TGS

Jack Daniel’s logo courtesy of www.jackdaniels.com
Cortner Mill image courtesy of www.parishpatch.com/cortnermill.html

Destination: Shelbyville, Tennessee

2007-10-23T18:23:00.000-05:00

It's 6.26PM and I'm about to hit the road. My goal is to reach Indianapolis before midnight (all depends on how good/bad southbound Dan Ryan will be) and then take on the rest of the journey tomorrow morning...

TGS

The new Mac OS X Leopard...

2007-10-18T23:23:00.000-05:00

...will be released in 1 week (October 26th, 2007). You can preview this new and amazing GUI interface on www.apple.com

I've got my copy pre-ordered:)

TGS

Screenshot courtesy of www.apple.com

A shot at love...

2007-10-18T23:14:00.000-05:00

Alternative headline: the battle of the sexes on MTV

So by some random phenomenon I started watching and got hooked on this reasonably new reality show on MTV called A Shot at Love with Tila Tequila.

Who the hell is Tila Tequila you may ask? Well - after a few Google searches - it turns out that she’s some semi hot babe who got her “fame” through MySpace, her own space to be exact, and truthfully I give her props for that. Because if you can market yourself so well on your “space” that you will actually become a somebody, then more power to ya. It used to be that one had to go out to L.A. to get the fortune and fame, but Tila proves that it’s possible to get the same publicity on the world wide web.

Anyway, the reality show is about Tila (who happens to be bisexual) picking her new “mate” out of either 16 lesbians or 16 straight guys. Enough said:) Believe me, it’s a lot of fun. I recommend.

TGS

Screenshot courtesy of www.tila.mtv.com

What's new...

2007-10-15T23:21:00.000-05:00

Okay, so last week I mentioned that I was offered a different position (credit analyst) in a another department in our company. Obviously I took their offer. This was all three weeks ago and I have yet to move over there (from one end of our building complex all the way to the other). I hope that the move (at my current manager's discretion of course) will take place some time before Bush brings our troops home from Iraq, but the way things are looking right now it could be a close call:) I guess I'll have to stick around for another 4-6 weeks at least until we get my replacement properly trained and ready to rock, as well as a new person hired (and trained) to replace him (my replacement). In the midst of all this replacement mess I need to be brought up to date with all my future tasks and responsibilities. What can I say - office politics:)

Last Thursday I left work early to sign up for the fall 2007 semester classes at DeVry (BTW my boss thought that I was leaving early to go to a job interview. Paranoia due to the fact that recently there has been issues like that with some other employees). I spent around $6K on tuition but at least got all the classes and the schedule that I wanted.

Next Wednesday I will leave for my 4 day fall vacation in the hills of Tennessee. I will take my Mac along for the ride so I could blog while I'm on the road (yes, I will drive all the way there and back). Should be a lot of fun:)

So keep checking back...

TGS

BTW Tomorrow is the official Boss' day so I guess I should pick up some flowers for my (current) boss...

The streets r deathrow...

2007-10-09T22:33:00.000-05:00

Alternative headline: motorist shoots “slow” pedestrians in Moscow.

That’s right - some wacko in Moscow, Russia opened fire today at three pedestrians who supposedly were crossing the street to slow:) To make matters worse, it turns out that this is the second incident in two weeks where aggravated (and probably hung over) motorists have shot at pedestrians.

No wonder the upcoming GTA IV’s main character is an Eastern European street thug…

TGS

Back to the grind...

2007-10-08T23:46:00.000-05:00

I must apologize for the lack of posts over the past 2 weeks. Call it the “writer’s block” or just plain laziness, but truthfully quite a few rather peculiar things have occurred in that time frame and those proceedings have put my thoughts elsewhere. All this said, I’m now back in business and new posts will be added shortly...

In the past 2 weeks I’ve watched a few movies, some good (Brick), some bad (Death Proof); I was offered a new job (same company but different department) which I gladly accepted, I went to Michigan for the weekend (left my Mac @ home), and now 2 days ago I just found out that my current boss is leaving our company...

So hopefully, dear reader/fellow blogger, you will be able to read more on these topics soon...

TGS

BTW I will be signing up for the Fall 2007 semester @ DeVry this Thursday. That will officially wipe out my cash assets for quite some time...

1.00 USD = 0.992293 CAD

2007-10-01T19:42:00.000-05:00

Alternative headline: Should we be worried about the falling dollar?

As we all (should) know by now, our money (USD) has officially hit its junk status. The face value of one US dollar is less than one Canadian dollar. (Source: http://www.xe.com)

On a related note I found an article one MSNBC today that makes a sad attempt to explain the current economic situation. Emphasis on the word "sad" because MSNBC's Senior Producer John W. Schoen is nothing more than another financial demagogue = lot's of financial jargon (read: bullshit) but no rational answers...

Read for yourself at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21018869/

TGS

Photograph by Daniel Bersak for Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Who stole Eliot's kosher beef???

2007-09-24T19:45:00.001-05:00

Yep, that was the big question in the office today. After Friday’s BBQ (see post: Casual Friday...) four of Eliot’s kosher hot dogs had gone missing and now everyone in our building is a suspect.

So please, if anyone has any information on Eliot’s missing kosher dogs, please let the man know. And no, this is not a joke:)

TGS

Image courtesy of www.hebrewnational.com

Witness the birth of terrorism…the IRA.

2007-09-23T20:43:00.000-05:00

Alternative headline: The Wind That Shakes the Barley

Some critics have labeled this film as “anti-British” or even called it “IRA propaganda”. I think Ken Loach’s drama was neither. I think it delivers a pretty good overview of the Irish (rebels, patriots, terrorists, martyrs, guerillas, however one may want to call them) in 1920’s Ireland, and how they fought for their dream of a sovereign state.

Plot: Two brothers, Damien and Teddy, join the Irish Republican Army (IRA) to fight for Irish independence from Great Britain. After the apparent victory and signing of the peace treaty a civil war erupts in Ireland and Damien and Teddy, who once fought side by side, find themselves pitted against one another.

Acting: Cillian Murphy (Batman Begins) knows how to portray an anti-hero. Enough said:)

Overall: I watched this film without taking sides or judging anyone (after all, the main character is technically an IRA terrorist). So therefore I simply kept an open mind and sought to gain as much knowledge on the subject as possible. And learned a lot.

Normally I would also add a few words about the director (Ken Loach) but this time I had never heard of the guy. Supposedly he is some famous British moviemaker who only makes indie-films.

* * * * (four out of five) – recommended for anyone who enjoys indie-films and is interested in the history of Ireland.

TGS

Poster courtesy of http://www.movieweb.com

Casual Friday...

2007-09-22T13:16:00.000-05:00

Here's my colleague Dave firing up his portable grill just outside of our corporate office during his lunch break yesterday.

Talk about a casual Friday:)

Picture shot with my 8100 series Blackberry.

TGS

Jena Six

2007-09-20T22:51:00.000-05:00

If anyone is interested in a non-bias overview of what really happened and is currently happening please read the following link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jena_6

* * *

...and by the way how can an someone like Jesse Jackson, who is known for making numerous anti-Semitic remarks, preach about inequalities and racism?!?!

Comments are welcome but keep in mind that inappropriate and racial comments will be discarded! In other words - no vandalism, please!

Thank you,
TGS

The Lookout

2007-09-20T00:13:00.000-05:00

Alternative headline: Once upon a time I woke up…

Last weekend I saw an indie-film worth mentioning…

Plot: Chris Pratt (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), a once promising hotshot high school hockey player whose life is tragically altered after a devastating car wreck, gets caught up in a small town bank heist.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt who is known for his roles in teen flicks like 10 Things I Hate About You and TV comedy sitcom 3rd Rock proves that he is actually a really good actor (I was debating whether I should use the adjective “great” here, but decided not to). His role as Chris Pratt, a young man who is trying to cope with life while suffering from serious head injury, is so convincing and sad, that I would not be surprised if he earns some award nominations for it.

I rented The Lookout expecting a teen crime drama along the lines of Alpha Dog (which actually wasn't half bad), but to my surprise The Lookout turned out to be a very deep character driven drama. And truthfully it was probably one of the few films I’ve seen in many years that really (emotionally) moved me.

* * * * (four out of five) - definitely worth watching!!

TGS

Poster courtesy of http://www.impawards.com/

I finally got it…

2007-09-18T19:47:00.000-05:00

…the DVD that I had been waiting for the past 6 months.

I picked up a copy of “The Wind That Shakes the Barley” at Borders today while I was on my lunch break.

A review should be posted within the next 7 days or so.

TGS

My ex girlfriend...

2007-09-16T23:37:00.000-05:00

Alternative headline: Why I don’t let myself get attached...

Foreword: Around 5 years ago, when attending college in southern Indiana, I fell in love with a girl named Amanda. She was beautiful – super slim, sexy, dirty blonde hair, beautiful eyes. She was an all around great girl. And for the first time in my life I felt something for someone. I would say that I was in love. But then one day it was all gone, she was gone. Amanda left me for some other guy. Stripping me from everything humane that was left in me. Till this day I don’t know why she left me. And truthfully I don’t even care to find out why. Would it make a difference? Now? 5 years later? I really doubt that...

* * *

Amanda called me 3 days ago on my cell while I was on my lunch break at the office. I was pleasantly surprised. She told me she was wondering how I was doing. It had been 2+ years since our last conversation.

I’m doing great, I told her. And truthfully I am. I’ve got something good going for me. A relatively good career job at a publicly traded company (me being a "slave for the corporate America" as it states in my profile is merely an exaggeration:); I’m 30 credits (2 semesters) away from graduating with a B.A. in Business Information Systems, and I've got plans to go to grad-school; I’m single, and I’ve got all my life still ahead of me.

She asked me if I had a girlfriend. I replied: “kinda, sorta, not really”. What I didn’t tell her was that if I was to be quite honest – I hadn’t had a serious relationship type of girlfriend ever since...her. I’ll admit it - she broke my heart. It hurt. And I haven’t forgotten that. I had taken my “armor” off and let her get close to me. Too close perhaps. So I ended up getting hurt. By any means I’m not saying that I’ve become a monk. Not at all:) I enjoy women very much. However, I haven’t let myself get attached to anyone ever since. In other words – I’ve got my armor back on.

Amanda told me that she is pregnant with her 3rd child (all by that same guy who she left me for). Her third kid…wow! If this is what she wants, then good for her, I thought. I hope she’s happy. I really do.

She also said that she still has dreams about me, sensual ones. I smirked:) I dream of her also. Not too often, but every now and then. Sometimes I wake up from those dreams and wonder if things could have been different. I wonder what would it be like if we we’re still together. I will never know the answers. But I do know that she is out there having those same thoughts sometimes.

After our 10-minute conversation, I wished her well, and asked her to email me some pics of her and her kids. I doubt she will.

TGS

…always low prices. Always.™

2007-09-15T14:52:00.000-05:00

Alternative headline: the most idiotic documentary I’ve ever seen…

The other day (I think it was about a week ago) I was browsing through the Comcast ON DEMAND menu and came across an interesting title – Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price.

First and foremost I would like to say that I’m not an advocate for Wal-Mart. Truthfully, I hardly ever shop there.

Nonetheless the documentary – Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price is so poorly made that it’s almost sickening. I turned off the TV about ½ way through that crap…or whatever you call it.

Plot: Yes, it talks about how the world’s leading discount retailer bankrupts local (small) businesses, and how it generates new jobs yet pays its employees minimum wages, and how they (the underpaid employees) cannot even afford decent health insurance. Then it talks about the illegal immigrants that Wal-Mart hires as nighttime maintenance crew, and it also talks about their factories in China, and how poorly the factory workers are treated (no surprise there) and so on and so forth. And lastly it talks about all the different crimes including indecent exposure (actually happened in DeKalb, IL) that occur in Wal-Mart parking lots. Pretty awkward combination if you ask me:)

So all in all the documentary talks a little about several different issues yet lacks the key element – persuasiveness. It just does not seem convincing enough.

Unless you have less than 1/3 of brain cells left and cannot even construct a rational thought you would not like this film. And foremost it lacks the power to discourage people to shop at Wal-Mart. I seriously doubt that someone who watches this documentary would stop shopping at Wal-Mart…

* (one out of five) –don’t even waste your time!!

TGS

Note: On Wednesday, September 12th 2007 Wal-Mart announced that after 19 years they are finally changing their slogan from Always Low Prices. Always.™ to Save Money. Live Better.™

A small time venture capitalist...

2007-09-13T23:20:00.000-05:00

That I am:) Yesterday I finally opened up my first mutual funds account with Vanguard, and invested into the Vanguard Prime Money Market funds (ticker symbol: VMMXX).

Why did I choose money market funds over a traditional CD this time? Well, despite that CD’s are FDIC insured, their annual yields are lower (unless you’ve got 10K or more to lock in), and more importantly CD’s are not as liquid as mutual funds. CD's also have a fixed maturity date and withdrawals before that date are subject to a penalty. Money market funds are not FDIC insured. Risk? Yes, but relatively low. Rate of return? Reasonable:)

For more information on Vanguard you can visit www.vanguard.com

TGS

6 years later...

2007-09-11T17:18:00.000-05:00

In memory of those who lost their lives on 9/11/2001

I shot this picture with my old Sony Cybershot two summers ago on a cloudy day at Ground Zero, in New York City.

TGS

VMA's & diarrhea...

2007-09-10T21:56:00.000-05:00

Did anyone happen to hear Sarah Silverman’s comments on Britney Spears’ kids at the MTV VMA's last night? She sayd: “they are as cute as her (Britney’s) hairless vagina”?!

Not very many people (in the audience) laughed at that. Nor did I.

I’m not an advocate for Britney Spears or for her baby daddy Federline, but Sarah Silverman’s remarks on Britney’s kids were clearly out of line. Comedian or not, who is she to say that about someone’s kid?? It’s not the kids’ fault that their parents are both f***ed in the head. Go ahead, rip on Britney and Fed-ex but not on their kids. What wrong have the kids done to deserve that??

…and Silverman’s diarrhea jokes are getting old as well. Lame.

TGS

First in moaned; then it got on a plane...

2007-09-09T14:33:00.000-05:00

Alternative headline: Snakes on a Plane

Yep…another B movie. That’s all I can really say.

Samuel L. Jackson’s role was actually rather small and didn’t seem convincing at all, and most importantly it lacked the infamous Samuel L. Jackson’s cool elements. Not even comparable to his performance in Black Snake Moan.

Whoever gave this film a 6.6 (out of 10) on IMDB.com must have been on crack (just like the snakes on that plane):)

* * (2 out of 5) – only for of the snakes sake, otherwise I’d given it only one *. Don't waste your time (and money)!!

TGS

Who let all this riff-raff into the… mall?!?!

2007-09-06T19:46:00.000-05:00

First of all I would like to apologize for not updating my blog for nearly a week. Why - I was on vacation (my mom was visiting) and therefore I took a short break from the blogging world. No, we didn’t go anywhere. We stayed in town and went out to different restaurants, bistros, bars and coffee shops. In other words we enjoyed the urban life with everything it has got to offer. And let’s not forget the shopping...
First of all, my mom is a pretty hip 43 year old woman who enjoys shopping like no other and second of all the current US dollar value against the Euro is so low that it’s simply more economical for her to buy everything from clothing to home electronics (her new MacBook) from the States. And since everything is for personal use, there are no excises or tariffs on anything when she brings it all back to Europe.

We visited to several different shopping malls, boutiques, even outlet stores. And one of those places almost gave me a life altering experience. Which shopping mall was that, one would ask? Well, I took her to Gurnee Mills (a huge outlet mall in Gurnee, IL; not too far from the Wisconsin state border) because she wanted to go to Off 5th (Saks Fifth Avenue Outlet) and according to her the one in Schaumburg didn’t have anything that she liked. Whatever. So we jumped on the expressway and drove to Gurnee.

Gurnee Mills…was like a f***ing zoo. I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many people packed into one (1.8 million square feet) mall. First of all I almost stepped on a 6-year-old at the Nike Outlet. Literally stepped on him since he was laying on the ground in one of the aisles. It didn’t take me long to realize that I need to get the hell out of there. There was barely any (air conditioned) air to breathe, the men’s restroom stunk like 10 people had urinated on the floor rather than into the toilet. WTF?? And last but not least, the crowd – well, I’m not even going to say anything, all I can say is that I couldn’t deal with it. I felt dizzy and I had to leave before I was going to vomit.

Later on that evening I (we both) felt great relief at Phil Stefani’s Tuscany in Wheeling.

Gurnee Mills. Never again.

TGS

She's finally here...

2007-08-29T12:59:00.000-05:00

…my mom that is. She's here for an entire week so I took today, Thursday, and Friday off work. The first things she wanted to do was to visit the Apple store and Whole Foods Market. I find it rather amusing that one travels half way around the world, and the first thing she wants is a Mac and some organic produce:)

TGS

“It feels like…a bag of sand” :)

2007-08-29T12:36:00.000-05:00

Alternative headline: The 40 Year Old Virgin

For the past couple of weeks some of my friends (and colleagues) have been telling me to rent The 40 Year Old Virgin. And I finally did…

Let me explain something about my taste in movies for a minute – first off I don’t care for comedies all that much. Most of them I find rather dumb or just plain stupid. So overall I prefer “drama comedies” (though I think officially this genre doesn’t even exist) like Sideways, Little Miss Sunshine, As Good As It Gets, etc. to the typical Hollywood laugh-out-loud comedies.

The 40 Year Old Virgin was a comedy I really enjoyed. Probably one of the better comedies I’ve seen in years and Steve Carell has become one of my favorite comedy actors all of a sudden.

Plot description: a few weeks ago I asked my friends what this film was about and I was told, “it’s about a 40-year-old virgin”. “What do you mean?” I asked. And I was told that it was really about a 40-year-old virgin. Rather vague I thought, but now (having seen the film) I understand the vague description completely, because The 40 Year Old Virgin was really about a 40-year-old virgin. Plain, simple, and very funny:) Kudos to my friends who recommended it!

* * * * (four out of five) – a must see comedy for everyone who appreciates explicit real life humor!!

TGS

…on people, our differences, and our opinions.

2007-08-25T14:32:00.000-05:00

First and foremost I must say that I’m a rather stubborn man. I was born under the astrological sign known as Aries (go figure!), and I strongly believe that the "Aries" in me has a lot to do with my rather stubborn personality.

What I actually wanted to say was that I’m really trying to be more tolerant toward people (friends, colleagues, etc.) that may have different opinions than I, or are different altogether. Like I said, I’m a stubborn man, and tend to judge people quite often. And even more so often I get frustrated with all sorts of people (even with my good friends) and their opinions because I tend to think that they are wrong merely because I don’t agree with them. And even if I’m ever wrong, I always think I’m right. And that’s rather ignorant of me, right? Well, it’s easier said than done. I’ll tell you that for sure:) Nonetheless, I’m working hard on myself and I’m really really trying to better myself and by trying to better myself I mean I’m really trying to keep an open mind about people, our differences, and our opinions. Our differences make us all unique in one way or another, and perhaps that’s a good thing. We may not agree with everyone’s opinions but we certainly should respect them.

There. I just said it. Now all I need is to follow my own words:)

TGS

Submerged...

2007-08-23T23:19:00.001-05:00

Rain...I’m getting seriously fed up with this f***ing rain. It took me around 2.5 hrs to get home (from work) tonight. That’s roughly 13 miles in roughly 250 minutes = 5.2 miles an hour…

I found the following picture on the Chicago Tribune’s website. Submerged luxury should be the title:)

TGS

Commuters' cars are partially submerged in the Barrington Metra parking lot after heavy storms moved through the area on Thursday. (Photo for the Tribune by Ryan Rayburn / August 23, 2007)

It's happening...

2007-08-22T20:17:00.000-05:00

Alternative headline: I hate when my predictions come true!

I came across a very interesting and somewhat frightening article on MSNBC tonight. Go ahead, read for yourself...
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20396081/

BTW I strongly recommend reading my post "8.25" (listed under Blog Categories: Business) before reading this MSNBC news article.

TGS

Wasted...

2007-08-21T23:02:00.000-05:00

No, this post is not about me getting hammered:)

So my mom is coming to for her routine semiannual visit in less than a week and I figured I’d clean out and wipe down my fridge because we all know how mothers are when they come to visit.

And to my surprise, I found that nearly 1/3 of all the stuff (produce, dairy, condiments, snacks, etc.) that I had in there were already expired or about to expire within days.

So I had to throw out: 3 tomatoes, some green onion, salmon cream cheese spread, some provolone cheese, about 2 lbs of grapes, a handful of potatoes (I think they were not rotten, but merely a little mushy:)), 2 different kinds of ranch dressing, some honey-teriyaki sauce, Béarnaise sauce, gelled mint sauce, a mushy tangerine, 2 granola bars, 3 Slim Fast bars, a half empty (or half full – all depends on how you look at it) bottle of Schweppes tonic water (the carbonation had gone out), another half empty bottle of cultured low fat buttermilk, a nearly empty bottle of half & half creamer, and a smoked chicken drumstick.

Seriously, what a waste…

I think if you look close enough, everyone has stuff that’s past the “use before date” in their fridge. Especially Bachelors such as myself:)

TGS

Fracture

2007-08-21T19:24:00.000-05:00

Alternative headline: a different kind of killer…

Last Friday (after a stressful workweek) I picked up Fracture from my neighborhood Blockbuster store – in case if anyone has not noticed yet, my "drug of choice" is movies; although I sometimes mix that with a couple of T&T's:). And I must say that once again, Sir Anthony Hopkins pulls off another strong performance. A very different kind of role than his infamous Dr Lecter, yet they both share a few rather similar characteristics, which in my opinion make Fracture even more enjoyable.

Brief Plot Description: a structural engineer Ted Crawford (Hopkins) shoots his wife (point blank range) after discovering about her affair. He then calmly waits for the police to arrest him. At the initial hearing Crawford waives his rights to counsel and asks the judge to move the case straight to trial.
A young (hotshot) deputy DA (Gosling) on his way to his new career at a high end law firm accepts the case, and believes the conviction is a slam dunk (murder weapon and signed confession in hand) until everything (including his new career) starts slowly falling apart for him…

(WARNING: the next paragraph my contain spoilers!!!)

Initially I was a bit skeptical of Hopkins’ performance, I was afraid that he will do another one of his signature Lecter roles. No, Ted Crawford in Fracture is a different kind of killer. It is said (toward the end of the film) that, “it takes a certain kind of individual to shoot someone”. Sir Anthony Hopkins as Ted Crawford certainly is that individual:)

Overall * * * * (four out of five) – I definitely recommend!!

TGS

Poster courtesy of http://www.impawards.com/

Disturbia

2007-08-16T21:53:00.000-05:00

A relatively decent (teen)movie…

I watched Disturbia a couple of days ago….and…I actually liked it. It wasn’t a great movie, but it was enjoyable.

Brief plot description: after being sentenced to three months of house arrest, a teenage boy (Shia LaBeouf) starts (out of complete boredom) spying and peeping on his suburbia (read: Disturbia) neighbors. Soon he starts suspecting that one of his neighbors is a serial killer (from Texas by the way; I guess all the recent movie psychopaths come from either Texas or Europe:)).

Supposedly Disturbia is loose spin off of Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window. I have not seen Rear Window (probably because it was released in 1954) and I doubt I will ever see the Rear Window (once again probably because it is a movie from 1954). Not that I have anything against older classics (I have seen Citizen Kane, but then again, who hasn’t:)) but I’d much rather watch newer, more up to date films. Either way, I could care less if it’s either loosely based off some classic or is a complete remake of it. Bottom line – I enjoyed it. It was pure entertainment, with a decent and rather interesting plot. And for a PG-13 rated thriller, it was quite suspense.

* * * (three out of five) - go ahead and watch it; and if you don't expect much from it, you won't be disappointed.

TGS

Poster courtesy of http://www.impawards.com/

Thursday...

2007-08-16T21:43:00.000-05:00

It's Thursday night and so far...it has been a rough week at work. I've been rather frustrated every night so I haven't even been in the "blogging mood".

What's new? Nothing really. The weather has been crappy (I think it has rained pretty much every day of this week).

Tuesday...

2007-08-14T21:55:00.001-05:00

I know I’ve been lazy by not keeping this blog up to date, but it has been a pretty shitty week from the get-go (mostly frustrations @ work). Tomorrow’s Wednesday and I really, really hope it will be a better day…

TGS

room•mate [ˈrumˌmeɪtˈ] - noun

2007-08-11T12:55:00.000-05:00

a person who is assigned to share or shares a room or apartment with another or others. – Dictionary.com

This past Friday at work, when I was outside having a smoke break, we (my fellow smoker colleagues and I) somehow got on the topic of our college days and our college roommates. And it got me thinking – I had quite a few different roommates during my Freshman year in college…

1st one – a 26-year-old computer nerd (cannot remember his name), but at least he bought us booze:). Unfortunately I had to move out in less than 2 months because he was rather filthy and stunk up our room. From what I know he later dropped out.

2nd one – Randall “Memphis” Mintze – 18-year-old short fat black kid (he had B cup bits) from Indianapolis who dealt “ganja” out of our dorm room (not an advocate myself, but who was I to judge him). His ordinary clientele aside, Memphis also had “dem hot boyz” (that's what he called his crew) come over all the time, and it wasn’t too soon when my personal stuff started “disappearing”. We called it quits after most of my CDs got stolen, and I didn’t hear from him ever again. Some people said that his financial aid didn't come through, and he ended up dropping out and moving back to Indianapolis.

3rd one – 22 year old mixed (Hawaiian/black) kid named Ryan Clark; also form Indianapolis. He too bought my friends and me booze, and the best thing was that he went home (which was a 3 hr drive) to see his Hawaiian fiancé (very pretty girl) every weekend. He was pretty cool guy, broadcasting major. Things went south for him after he got some local girl pregnant, and therefore had to break up his engagement. And then 9 months later it actually turned out that the kid wasn’t even his:) So Ryan got screwed big time, and after all this drama, he ended up moving back to Indy.

And then shortly after that I moved into my frat house…and got a room of my own.

TGS

…323232323232323232323232…

2007-08-10T20:29:00.000-05:00

Alternative headline: Joel Schumacher’s The Number 23
2nd alternative headline: 2÷3= .666

I watched The Number 23 a couple of nights ago (I think it was Monday night) and I figured I’d give it a couple of days until I write a review for it. Well… it has been 3 days since I saw the film and unfortunately I have pretty much forgotten that I even watched it. Well, that fact alone doesn’t really say much about the film, but let me try to remember something…

Brief plot description: Animal control officer (read: dog catcher) Walter Sparrow (Jim Carrey) is given a mysterious book “The Number 23” for his birthday by his wife (Virginia Madsen). As Walter starts reading the novel, he slowly becomes obsessed with it, since it resembles him his own life from his youth to his adulthood. To make matters worse – the protagonist in this enigmatic novel kills his girlfriend so the paranoid Walter begins to think that some really horrible things are about to occur, and it’s all somehow because of a number – 23. In order to change the inevitable he will try to track down the author who is nowhere to be found…

(WARNING: a few spoilers ahead!!!)

I was actually pleasantly surprised with Carrey’s performance. I think he performed phenomenally well since he plays a dual role in this film. As did Virginia Madsen who was also quite good as Walter’s (Carrey) wife, and straight up sexy as Fingerling’s (also Carrey) love interest Fabrizia.

So what made me forget this movie so fast? I don’t really know how to explain this, but I think it was an average “popcorn flick” rather than an intense psychological thriller as it was advertised. The ending was rather…weird, almost as if the twist (that’s usually at the end of good psychological thrillers) wasn’t a twist at all. I enjoyed watching it, but toward the second half of the movie I was expecting a little more. Almost as if the screenwriter had lost his creativity half way through the script. The story resembled me a videogame (an adventure type video game with Max Payne like characters). And quite frankly it would have probably been a much better game rather than a movie:)

Overall * * * (three out of five) – enjoyable, but nothing special.

TGS

Poster courtesy of http://www.impawards.com/

Unlike any other

2007-08-09T20:57:00.000-05:00

Alternative headline: It’s finally arrived – the 3rd generation C Class...

Indeed. The long awaited 3rd generation C class finally went on-sale (in the US) 2 days ago – August 7, 2008. I was already checking it out at my preferred MB dealer (Autohaus on Edens) last week. And what can I say – it looks sharp!! AMG sharp. Both the C300 & C350 sport sedans are using the more aggressive AMG body styling whereas the C300 luxury sedan has more of a traditional Mercedes Benz look.

I like Mercedes Benz automobiles – for me Mercedes represents the perfect combination of beauty, comfort, safety, performance, and prestige – the 5 factors that matter to me the most when it comes to buying cars. Now I do realize that there are some better and some worse automobiles out there, but Mercedes just happens to be my personal favorite. You get what you pay for – it’s that simple:)

I think my second pick would be the BMW 5 series with X-drive. That’s another great driving machine:)

TGS

Sources:
The 2008 C300 Sports Sedan - Mercedes Benz USA
Photo courtesy of Mercedes Benz USA

This past weekend...

2007-08-06T21:47:00.000-05:00

Alternative headline: Deliver us Jesus!! (continued)

I spent this past weekend in Logansport, Indiana – a small northern Indiana farm town about 150 miles south east of Chicago (i.e. in the middle of effin’ nowhere).

The drive

The drive from Chicago to Logansport is quite nice actually. Especially if you’re fed up with Chicago traffic. The drive down I-65 toward Indianapolis goes rather fast due to the great road conditions, barely any traffic (compared to the southbound Dan Ryan) and 65MPH speed limits. Meadows, fields, and farmlands surround the highway. Soon enough we approach our exit - 201 Remington/Wolcott. A friend of mine spots a KFC at the exit and so we decide to have dinner – bad choice by the way since the place is terribly filthy and the gal (in her late 20’s) at the counter is missing four of her front teeth. Despite that she probably does not need all 32 or perhaps not even 28 of her teeth to ring up the orders, her smile killed our appetites!! Back to the car…

US 24

US 24 is a 50 mile long scenic route (2 way traffic) that will take you from exit 201 on I-65 to the Ramada in Logansport. You will see cows and horses on meadows, cornfields, and soy fields; on occasion you will smell manure (pretty exotic if you ask me). US 24 will take your through a couple of "1-stop-light towns" like Wolcott, Idaville, and Burnettsville where you don’t see anyone. And by anyone I mean not a single person, almost as if a nuclear war had passed. No bars, no restaurants, just a few churches. A lonely BP gas station is about the only place that’s lit. "Logansport 12" miles shows the green sign as we drive down the lonely road. Meanwhile the sun has set…

Logan (as the locals call it)

We get to Logansport around 10 PM local time (that’s 9 o’clock Chicago time). The town (population around 20K) seems just as dead as the ghost-towns we just passed. A quick stop at a local 24-hour grocery store Marsh to pick up some snacks and off to Ramada we are. There are 2 receptionists on duty (both are senile) so it takes us a while to check in. But neither of us is complaining since we got a two-bedroom suite for the same price, as you’d pay here (in Chicago) for a 1-bedroom hotel room. Besides we’ve got a bottle of Tanqueray already chilled in the cooler in the trunk of my car. I call my friends (who live in Logan) and they say they’ll be right over. I light a cigarette…

The next day

Breakfast the following morning is at my favorite place (besides Gibson’s) – Bob Evans. I order my usual – the Farmer’s Choice Breakfast.

After breakfast we drive around town and look at different buildings. There’s a drive in Logan called the Banker’s Row which is a street that runs along the Wabash river where all the bankers used to live back in the day – at the beginning of the 1900’s when the town’s economy was on the rise; but then on one Thursday morning the inevitable happened and now all these mansions are on sale, probably have been since that infamous day.

Overall the town is quiet, not too many cars are around. My friend and I drive around town for a few hours. And truthfully cruising this small country town in my car is what I enjoy the most. This is what helps me unwind. We see a lot of different houses, some very nice, some in very bad shape, some on sale, some even abandoned. We see a lot of locals walking down the streets. They’re of no importance – just people. Everyone’s slowly getting on with their daily lives. No one is in a hurry or at least it doesn’t seem that way. The sight of this helps me unwind from the fast paced Chicago atmosphere. This makes me relax and recharge my own “personal battery”.

In some of my previous posts I have called Logansport a very special place. Why? - One would ask. The truth is that these little country towns like Logansport just have something about them, something that will make me forget about my problems. It’s almost as if I’m here, I’m carefree. And every time I leave that town I will take a fraction of that happiness with me. Perhaps that’s why it’s a special place for me.

"Delivering Jesus"

We cruise down Market Street (US 24) and I see a big tractor-trailer on an empty parking lot by a local hardware store. The trailer is painted black and has big bold red lettering on it that reads – JESUS
I wonder what’s in it. I wonder who owns it. I wonder if they do deliver Jesus in it. Kind of like they did back in the day during the crusades? Or like in the present day when we deliver FREEDOM and DEMOCRACY around the globe. I wonder if the trucks we use in Iraq also carry the labels FREEDOM and DEMOCRACY just like this one here says JESUS??

Later on that evening we go to our friends’ newly purchased 2-bedroom house on the upper eastside of Logan for dinner and drinks. After dinner we’re off to another one our friend’s 25th birthday, which is about 10 miles outside of Logansport out in the country. We drink T&T’s and sit around the bonfire – and suddenly I realize that all of my troubles are finally vanished. I feel that now I’m ready to return to Chicago…

Leaving town

The next morning (noon to be exact) we hit the road again, this time it’s the reverse direction – from Logansport, IN to the NW suburbs of Chicago, IL. I put on some Chris Rea while a friend of mine peels my Mercedes coupe out of the Ramada parking lot…

Track #1 – “The Road to Hell” by Chris Rea begins…

TGS

Destination: Anywhere...

2007-08-03T15:38:00.000-05:00

It's Friday afternoon and I'm about to hit the road...

Destination: Logansport, IN - a very special place...

TGS

What’s new??

2007-08-01T21:52:00.000-05:00

Nothing really. Just work. End of month, beginning of month type of thing. Pretty busy at the office.

Plans for the weekend: road trip to Logansport, Indiana, a very special place. I will be posting my travel blog later on this weekend:)

TGS

Bird shit on the Three-Pointed Star…

2007-07-30T21:29:00.000-05:00

If there were a competition amongst cars with the most bird shit on them, today my car would probably be in the top 3 or perhaps beat them all…

So this morning I wake up, shower, get dressed, eat breakfast, and leave for work to find out that my car (hood and front windshield) is literally covered with bird shit so bad that it looks as if someone had taken a paintball gun and emptied more than 20 rounds into it. That’s right!! I counted more than 25 spots on the hood and the windshield combined. I was angry, I was mad; I was pissed off to the extremes... what a great way to start off the week:)

I guess there is a reasonably big maple tree kind of leaning over my driveway, and the birds (don’t know if there’s nest in that tree or what) just chill and shit there… and the shit lands on my car parked 20 feet below.

Thank God I get free car washes at Mercedes:)

TGS

Little Miss Sunshine...

2007-07-29T14:39:00.000-05:00

Alternative headline: “Again with the f***ing chicken" :)

I must confess – another decent movie to come out of Hollywood, although technically it’s an indie-film. Either way, another great movie experience.

Brief plot description: a dysfunctional family on a cross country road trip from New Mexico to California in an old VW van determined to enter their seven-year-old daughter into a beauty pageant.

Comments: For those who haven’t seen it – watch it! Trust me, you’ll enjoy it. I sure did. I t was probably one of the funnier movies (yet it’s not a comedy) I’ve seen in years. All the performances are great, especially Alan Arkin as the foul-mouthed, heroin addicted grandpa.
And for those who have seen it – you’ll probably understand the headline of this post:)

* * * * (four out of five)

TGS

Four beers and a Polish man…

2007-07-25T13:31:00.000-05:00

So yesterday after work I stopped at a local (Polish) grocery store to pick up some groceries. And as I approached the check out, I noticed an elderly fella in front of me in the line. The guy (between 55-60) was dressed like a painter – white tee, white denim shorts (paint stained), and initially yellow but almost white looking (perhaps due excess paint spills) Caterpillar work boots. The man was carrying 4 beers (2 in each hand). From the label it looked like Polish beer, but then again I can’t be 100% sure. Either way it was bottled in a 0.5 L glass bottle so it was most definitely European.
His bill came to $6 and something. He paid in cash (gave the clerk what looked like an old $10 bill) and said something in to him in Polish, which confirmed that he was indeed Polish. He grabbed the beers, turned, looked at me for a brief moment, and left.

What amused me about this brief moment was the thirsty and exhausted look in the man’s elderly eyes. It was the look that I first saw when I was a kid (when I lived in a small town in Europe where all the local blue collar guys instead of going to the bar, went to the tiny local grocery store to pick up some beer every day). It was the look that belonged to an old man tired from work who (before going home to his nagging, and quite possibly not so pretty wife) sits and drinks those 4 beers with his comrades right on a wooden bench outside the store while discussing all the world’s problems.

"An old school guy," I thought to myself and smirked…

Smoking...

2007-07-23T22:20:00.000-05:00

Alternative headline: An American tradition...(I guess not anymore)

So today the Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich signed the Smoke-Free Illinois Act which means that starting from January 1st 2008 smoking will be banned pretty much everywhere in this state including bars, restaurants, nightclubs, lounges, even casinos. “Under the law, people will still be allowed to smoke in their homes, cars, outdoors (15’ from public buildings – yeah right:)), at retail tobacco shops and in certain hotel or motel rooms.”

Wow… I mean am I "glad" I can still smoke in my own home. Had they taken that away from we all might as well move to communist China.

So in order to express my displeasure with this inane anti-smoking act I tried to come up with some cool movie characters that were also smokers:

I thought the following are some of the coolest characters ever to light up on the big screen…

James Dean as Jim Stark (Rebel Without a Cause)
Brad Pitt as Tyler Durden (Fight Flub)
John McClane (Die Hard, Die Hard 2)
Mel Gibson as Martin Riggs (Lethal Weapon 1 & 2)
James Gandolfini as Tony Soprano
Robert DeNiro as Jimmy Conway (Goodfellas)
Al Pacino as Don Michael Corleone
John Travolta as Vincent Vega (Pulp Fiction)
Al Pacino as Tony Montana
Jack Nicholson as Frank Costello (The Departed)

Can anyone name a few others? Leave a comment, please!!

...and I think I will go and have a smoke now...:)

TGS

And yes, this is me on this picture…

Source: Chicago Tribune

Case of the Mondays…

2007-07-23T19:56:00.000-05:00

Yes, that’s right, it seemed that today everyone (@ the office) had that going on for them. Don’t know, and truthfully don’t care to know exactly why, but the reasons may possibly vary from being still hung over/tired from a rough weekend, having to work a dead end job for a crappy paycheck, PMS, recent breakup with one’s significant other, the fact that our company’s stock hit it’s 52 week low (ouch!), having to deal with a lot of family problems, chronic fatigue syndrome, dealing with obnoxiously loud neighbors, too much caffeine, not enough sex, substantial credit card debt, no credit, bad credit, the fact that someone (who was driving a much nicer car and quite possibly makes much more than you) cut you off in traffic this morning, busted AC in your car, heavy traffic on I-94, etc. – countless possibilities, right?

But please people, don’t take all of this shit out on me!!

TGS

Luc Besson’s Le Transporteur II

2007-07-22T12:44:00.000-05:00

Alternative headline: Transporter 2

It was decent. Nothing brilliant but it had some decent fights, gunfights, and chases. Plot wasn’t much but I never expected it to be. Overall a decent action flick with some good elements such as…

Audi A8L W12 – 6.0 L, 450hp

Kate Nauta as Lola, the femme fatale hit man

Two Glock 18C's with extended 33-round magazines, suppressors, and laser designators.

Panerai “Luminor Daylight” Chronograph watch

Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder

…and last but not least the original French poster (redesigned for the US market due to its…you’ll see:))

Overall * * * (three out of five)

TGS

Poster courtesy of http://www.moviecentre.net/

On the menu tonight…

2007-07-20T17:56:00.000-05:00

1 Tanqueray & tonic aka. T&T
1 more T&T
Appetizer: oysters on a half shell
1 more T&T
Dinner: W.R.’s Chicago Cut (cooked medium), double baked potato and steamed broccoli w/ garlic butter on the side.
1 T&T
Dessert: Macadamia Pecan Pie (you’ve got to try it!!)
…a few more T&T’s :)

Location: Gibson’s on Rush Street, Chicago, IL

TGS

The society and I

2007-07-19T19:25:00.000-05:00

The other day, a friend of mine (female, but not my “female friend”) told me that I was a “genuine gentleman, not like every other testosterone driven guy.”

(I laughed:))

Truthfully, I didn’t know whether I should have taken this (me being a genuine gentleman) as a compliment or not. One thing for sure – seems that the 21st century modern women do not seem to be attracted to the “genuine gentlemen” as much as they are attracted to the testosterone driven guys. Right? So I asked her, and she told me that it was the society that had changed. “Meaning what?” I asked her. And the she gave me a some of her views on things: “Once upon a time, when the world was more conservative, it was in a woman’s best interest to be courted by a true gentleman who essentially would secure her future in life. In today’s “hit it & quit it” world such is not the case. Everyone is in it for instant gratification and not necessarily for a greater and more “longitudinal” happiness.”

Could she be right? And if she is, what should I do? How should I continue behaving? Or should I invent a time machine and “teleport” myself back to the “Roaring Twenties” – the era of art, music, cultural dynamism, Art Deco, and genuine gentlemen…:)

I might be a gentleman but I’m definitely no inventor so I guess I'll have to just tough it out in the 21st century:)

TGS

Bernanke blames the housing slump

2007-07-18T22:02:00.000-05:00

Alternative headline: The beginning of the end…

Okay people, this is exactly what I was talking about in my recent post “8.25”…

While delivering Fed’s midyear economic report to the Congress today, Fed’s chairman Ben Bernanke stated that the economic growth will be even weaker in the second half of the year due to the sluggish housing market…
Mr. Bernanke perhaps forgot to mention that the housing market is sluggish mainly because of the high interest rates as well as new tighter lending standards. Let’s not forget that the Fed has raised interest rates for the past 2 years to deflect inflations, which I don’t think is working very well since last Tuesday (7/17/07) the U.S. dollar hit its “new” all time low against the euro (€), and a 26-year-bottom against the British pound (£).

Lots of happy talk and no real solutions. Sort of makes you wish Greenspan had never retired…

TGS

Sources:
MSNBC - Bernanke: Economic growth will be slower
Photo courtesy of Susan Walsh / AP

Nothing but another B-movie with a trailer that is...tiptop:)

2007-07-17T20:16:00.000-05:00

Alternative headline: Juice me!!

2nd alternative headline: Crank (directed by…some unknown movie director wannabes)

Last Friday I watched Crank…and it has actually taken me quite awhile to come up with some sort of review for it.

I rented Crank for 2 reasons – first of all, I really like Jason Statham (Snatch, Transporter) and second – the trailer looked badass. Yes, the trailer was indeed pretty awesome. And truthfully it was much better, more action packed, had a better soundtrack (Fatboy Slim – Right Here, Right Now) and was shorter than the 87 minute feature itself.

Brief plot description: well…the plot is actually even weaker than it seems (based on the trailer), and what I mean by a weak plot is that it is poorly thought out. The story revolves around a guy by the name of Chev Chelios (Statham) who happens to be a contract killer for some L.A. based crime syndicate, and once one of his hits goes south, his employer poisons him with some sort of synthetic compound a.k.a. “the Chinese shit” which is supposed to slow down and eventually stop his heart from beating, unless he keeps his adrenaline flowing. So Chelios goes on a rampage to find and kill everyone responsible.

Okay, so why did I not enjoy this film? Well, the editing and camera work are a joke. But then again Crank is the first and hopefully the last film the directors (2 of them for crying out loud) will ever make. The shots and angles were really…not good…or shall we say boring and rather cheap, giving the entire film the typical B movie feel. The aerial shots that displayed the city of L.A. from above were done via Google Earth (that’s just lame), gunfights (as few as there were) were not intense, and the car chases (two of them) were also boring. Sound and sound editing: soundtrack was horrible. Sound editing was even worse. But most importantly – I found the movie lacking the advertised adrenaline packed action. I think both of the Transporter movies (which BTW get much worse reviews on IMDB were far better films both plot and action wise)

So what was good about it…well, the dialogue was actually pretty decent. Jason Statham (like Samuel L. Jackson) can really pull off some pervasive foul language and make it pleasant and rather amusing to listen to. What else…well…the trailer was really good. Unfortunately the movie itself was not.

Truthfully, I was surprised that this was even released on the big screen.

* * (two out of five) – meaning I don’t recommend this!

TGS

FYI Jason Statham's newest flick War comes out this August... (don't forget to check out the trailer on iTunes)

8.25

2007-07-12T21:25:00.000-05:00

Alternative headline: Could this mark the beginning of the end?

Prologue:
Some of us say that Alan Greenspan was a bad man; some say that he let the financial corporations gain control of the American people.

Some of say that he was a great man, a great leader who kept the (interest) rates low, which in turn, helped rebound the rather weak (post 9/11) U.S. economy.

I choose not to pass judgment on him. After all, the man is retired and no longer the Chairman of The Fed.

* * *

What we do know is that as of June 30th 2006 the prime rate according to the data published by the Federal Reserve Bank (informally The Fed) is 8.25%. That’s more than twice as high compared to what it used to be back in 2003. The 8.25% prime rate along with some other factors, have nearly suffocated our current housing market and folded numerous smaller financing/mortgage companies.

Home Depot Inc. (NYSE:HD), the largest U.S. home improvement chain, cut its 2007 earnings outlook, citing fallout from the housing slump, while D.R. Horton Inc. (NYSE:DHI), the largest U.S. home builder, forecast a third-quarter loss.

Some analysts say this is only the beginning; that Bernanke (the current Fed chairman) will keep raising the rates in order to (artificially) control the spending habits of the consumers in order to keep inflation low. However, what this means is that we, as consumers, will not be able to afford “things” we could afford 4 years back. Which in turn means that the companies, businesses, corporations will suffer substantial losses, which in turn will… yeah, I think you get the picture – a vicious cycle resulting in another economic recession.

TGS

Sources:
Reuters – Housing weakness woes drive stock indexes down
Photo courtesy of Reuters

(White) trash radio…

2007-07-12T12:13:00.000-05:00

Every now and then I tune into 103.5 KISS FM in the morning to ease up my morning commute with DreX In the Morning morning show. And this morning I did the same. Today’s topic was – “Too f***ing bad – I still shoplift” Well, I don’t know if this has become a regular thing now or what but one could tell that every girl who called in to the station was poor white trash. Yes, that’s right – po’ white trash. Every caller justified their habits of shoplifting by stating that they do it to feed their (multiple) children, and that food stamps don’t buy diapers. WTF!? Whatever happened to getting up and getting a job?? I thought that this was America, people…

Netflix - sorry, but not for my lifestyle...

2007-07-10T22:41:00.000-05:00

A lot of people ask me the same question over and over again – why haven’t I signed up for Netflix?

But honestly, why haven’t I? The truth is that I’m the type of guy that if I want something, I want it now. Plain and simple. For those who don’t know me all that well, I’m a pretty busy guy, I work 2 jobs (a slave for the corporate America during the week, and a head waiter @ a banquet hall on the weekends), on top of that I go to school (a senior @ DeVry University; BIS major) so all in all I have a rather hectic schedule and if I ever (happens maybe 2 or 3 times a month) have some free (movie) time, then I want to go and get the desired movie right then and there, not tomorrow, not in 3 business days, but right now. And that’s why I still go to Blockbuster. I know, I know with Netflix I could save a bunch of money and keep the DVD’s as long as I want and all that crap, but I don’t need to! If I want to watch a movie I will go and rent it or purchase it (Comcast’s HD Movies ON DEMAND feature is the shit!!) right away. Waiting three days to get a movie in the mail just isn’t my thing. By the time it finally arrives I’ve probably found something better and perhaps more useful to do with my time. And that’s that… that’s why I have not and will not sign up for an obligation like Netflix.

TGS

A glimpse of Tuesday afternoon (with a strange lonesome fella & “some” pigeons)

2007-07-10T21:07:00.000-05:00

Alternative headline: The modern day version of Robert Stroud.

2nd alternative headline: The Birdman of…..Chicago maybe??

Here’s a photo I actually shot last July (2006) on a random Tuesday afternoon in downtown by the river. I think the picture speaks for itself so no further explanation is needed:)
(click on the photo to see the full image)

Nikon D50 SLR
1/500 sec
F 5.6
Flash: off

TGS

Where’s the integrity in this…?!

2007-07-09T22:31:00.000-05:00

Alternative headline: I'm not a snitch I don't go to the cops to get rich -- Jay Z [excerpt from Guilty Until Proven Innocent]

The other day while I was driving (bumper to bumper on southbound I-294) home from work I heard a very different kind of ad on the radio. The advertisement (almost like a public service announcement) said something along the lines of “report underage drinking and be rewarded $100 cash!” In other words – become a snitch and make some money. From what I understood, the ad was directed toward other underage (under the age of 21) kids, who are lonely and bitter from being labeled as losers, nerds, etc. and therefore (to avenge) they should report on their classmates, if they don’t get invited to a party…

Pretty f***in’ pathetic, if you ask me. So in other words our society will not only tell our youth that snitching is okay and socially acceptable, but they encourage snitching and are even willing to compensate for that. Are we trying to raise an entire nation of snitches? So is ratting on your friends or classmates for the sole purpose to get even, considered a virtue??

In the 1992 film Scent of a Woman, Lt. Col. Frank Slade (Al Pacino, who won the Oscar for the role) says some meaningful words in defense of young Charlie (Chris O’Donnell) who is being accused of conduct unworthy of a Baird student because he has chosen not to rat on some fellow prep school kids, simply because he (O’Donnell) feels that ratting on others is not right. Col. Slade states that this young man (referring to young Charlie) has chosen to remain silent because he is not a snitch, and that is is because he is a man of integrity. “A path that is made of principle, which leads to character. Now that's the stuff leaders should be made of." Whoo-ah, to that!!

TGS

The snake moans…but not quite loud enough.

2007-07-05T21:01:00.000-05:00

Alternative headline: I’MMA SUFFA' YOU!!

2nd alternative headline: Craig Brewer’s Black Snake Moan

Instead of going to the movies to see Transformers I went to my local Blockbuster store and rented Black Snake Moan. Here are my thoughts...

Craig Brewer’s (Hustle & Flow) newest work Black Snake Moan is everything but it looks like. The title, the tagline (“Everything is hotter down south”), the poster (semi-nude white girl being chained up by a black man), even the website (www.moanmovie.com) have given this film a completely different rep. After all, everything I just mentioned clearly suggests some sort of wild and wacko sexual relationship between the two, and therefore the film attracts mostly the younger crowd (read: pervs) who expect some sort of soft core porn out of it. Well, the movie is everything but that. I mean it does have some (partial) nudity and some rather strong sexual content but no more than any other R rated drama.

The plot is actually much deeper than it initially appears and therefore ends up disappointing a lot of movie goers who will find it a bit on the “heavy” side, yet the people who would really enjoy this movie would probably never watch it solely based on the piss poor marketing that makes the film look like smut. I blame the marketing part both on New Deal Productions and Paramount Vantage. No wonder the $15 million movie bombed in the theatres and has so far grossed only a little over $9 million.

Brief plot description: In a dirt poor Tennessee town a local town whore or shall we say the sex crazed town’s bicycle Rae (Christina Ricci) is beaten and left dead nearby a small farm house where lives a God-fearing middle-aged farmer/bluesman Lazarus (Samuel L. Jackson). After nursing her back to health Lazarus discovers that Rae is the local town tramp and somehow takes it upon himself to “cure her of her wickedness” using some rather extreme measures. Together they start a journey of self-realization, acceptance and oddly enough – friendship.

The acting, both by Samuel L. Jackson as Lazarus and Christina Ricci as Rae, is phenomenal. Definitely award-worthy performances. I think that Ricci is a late bloomer and her better roles are yet to come. Her role as Rae proves that. And Samuel L. Jackson once again proves that even a middle-aged broken hearted former bluesman can still be a bad motherf***er. Justin Timberlake’s performance as Ronnie (the only guy in town stupid enough to fall for Rae) seems a bit weak, but this could be perhaps because his character is weak. Overall, it didn’t bother me since I was overwhelmed by Ricci and Jackson’s performances.

I enjoyed the movie, yet didn’t care for the ending. And I don’t want to spoil this for anyone, so all I will say is that in my opinion the ending killed it. Simply put – I expected something more…dramatic maybe? Would I recommend this movie? Uhm…well…use your own best judgment, since this movie is definitely not for everyone. That’s all I can really say.

* * * (three out of five)

TGS

Who let all of this riff-raff into the room?

2007-07-04T14:01:00.000-05:00

Alternate headline: Why I choose not to attend movie theaters…

As our nation attends movie theatres to see Michael Bay’s Transformers I’m sitting at home…blogging:)

Over the course of many many years I have come to a sad realization that movie theatres just aren’t for me. Well, why not? – one would ask. I’m a movie buff, and I enjoy watching movies, but I have realized that I enjoy them the most in the peace of my own living room. I like the fact that I can rewind (to see an amazing CG effect all over again), pause, go to the bathroom, go an have a smoke, go and fix myself a drink (Tanqueray&tonic), get something to eat, make a phone call if I have to, etc. without missing anything. What can I say – it’s all about the convenience.

For some reason every time I go to the movies I end up getting frustrated. It’s either the lack of parking spots, or the price you have to pay for parking (AMC River East), or the overcrowded theaters, the excessive smell of buttery popcorn, the kids/teens yelling everywhere, a baby crying during the presentation (and I have asked people to leave the theater because of their crying baby or the obnoxiously loud 5 year old), and then on top of that one time my friend’s MB E320 got keyed after we had left it on the theater parking lot – a $7 movie ended up costing him a whole lot more. Both emotionally and monetarily. The last film I saw in a theater was 300 and then I was attending a 2PM show (during a weekday) at the AMC in Northbrook with my pops. Besides us 2 there were only 2 more people in a that theatre. That wasn’t too bad:) So all in all I have noticed that I can attend movies with my friends as more of a social thing, but I truly enjoy watching movies the most in the peace of my own home.

Oh yes, and by the way I’m running a 42’’ Samsung HD plasma with a 5.1 Bose Acoustimass 6 series III digital surround sound. Trust me, this is about as good as you can get for the nearly 3 G’s it all cost...and it's worth every penny:)!!

Carré d'Agneau

2007-07-04T00:45:00.000-05:00

Alternate headline: Grilled rack of lamb by The Good Son

2-3 servings

The Ingredients

• 2 racks of lamb, trimmed, frenched (about 2 lbs)
• 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1/3 cup Worcestershire sauce
• 2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar
• 2 large garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• 2 tablespoons of chopped fresh rosemary
• 2 tablespoons of finely chopped curly parsley
• 2 teaspoons of finely chopped fresh mint
• Sea salt (or Kosher salt) & coarsely ground fresh black pepper

The Marinade

Mix olive oil, Worcestershire sauce, balsamic vinegar, rosemary, garlic, parsley, fresh ground black pepper, and a little bit of salt (easy on the salt because salt tends to dry out the meat). Place the lamb into a plastic bag (I would recommend a large 1 gallon Zip Lock brand). Pour the marinade over the lamb and zip up the bag (try not to leave much air inside the bag) and lay it down flat so the lamb would be covered evenly with the marinade. Chill for at least 6-8 hours.

The Grill

Preheat the grill (I would recommend using a charcoal, gas/charcoal, or gas/lava rocks grill). Sprinkle some salt on the lamb and place them on the grill for about 30 seconds per each side (this procedure locks in the juices). Then let the racks sear on the grill for about 5-6 minutes per each side. Using a meat thermometer measure the temperature of the lamb until it reaches about 135°F-140°F for medium-rare. Give it a few minutes more for a well-done. Warning! Make sure the bones don’t catch fire!

To Serve

Carve the racks of lamb into 6-8 chops and arrange on a platter. Serve with gelled mint sauce, fresh lemon, and some vintage Chianti:)

Bon appétit!

TGS

P.S. This is my authentic recipe and cannot be found anywhere else. I guarantee that. And yes, the photo above was taken by me as well:)

Midweek weekend!!

2007-07-03T17:01:00.000-05:00

Yes, it's finally arrived -- the midweek weekend aka. 4th of July:)

Holiday movie buzz: Michael Bay's Transformers premiered today, but I think I'll wait till it's out on DVD.

* * *

Have a nice holiday, everyone!!:) Drink responsively and be safe!

Long sleeve – short sleeve?!

2007-07-02T22:07:00.000-05:00

Alternate headline: Edward Zwick’s Blood Diamond

Okay, I must confess that a few months ago (in February to be exact) I was the person who said that Hollywood’s been putting out junk; that there hasn’t been any truly memorable movies ever since the Gladiator. (Okay The Departed was something, but not even comparable to Scorsese’s Casino or GoodFellas, but that’s another story) So anyway, yes, that was me who said that Hollywood has gone from bad to worse and to be quite honest that’s what I still believe. However, I must confess that I was pleasantly surprised when I saw Blood Diamond last week.

Brief plot description: An ex-mercenary turned smuggler (Leonard DiCaprio). A Mende fisherman (Djimon Hounsou). Amid the explosive civil war overtaking 1999 Sierra Leone, these men join for two desperate missions: recovering a rare pink diamond of immense value and rescuing the fisherman's son, conscripted as a child soldier into the brutal rebel forces ripping a swath of torture and bloodshed across the alternately beautiful and ravaged countryside – [Warner Bros].

For those who have not seen the film it may seem like a typical action/adventure flick with a couple of Hollywood A-listers, beautiful scenery, and decent shooting. But actually this movie is about something else. It’s about “what is valuable”. For some it may be diamonds, for others it may be one’s own family. This is what this film is really about.

Initially (at the beginning of the movie) I was a bit skeptical about Leo, I wasn’t sure whether he could really pull off the white South African mercenary/smuggler Danny Archer (with the accent and everything), but to my surprise Leo not only pulled it off but was just spectacular at it(perhaps his best role ever).

Other notable roles: Djimon Hounsou (the tall black guy from the Gladiator) as Solomon Vandy is definitely Oscar worthy. Also Jennifer Connelly is great and let’s not forget Arnold Vosloo as Colonel Coetzee, I remember this guy from John Woo’s Hard Target where he cut some guys ear off. Yeah, not quite sadistic is he in Blood Diamond but rather intimidating still.

Overall I would give it * * * * * (five out of five); kudos to Edward Zwick for making a really great film!!

For those who haven’t seen it yet – go ahead and watch it. You won’t be disappointed, I’ll guarantee you that. Instead you will find yourself really contemplating over the concept of diamonds – how the Western World sees them as sparkling, beautiful and highly prized symbols of love, fidelity, affluence and glamour. Yet for the people of Sierra Leone, who actually mine them, diamonds have a much darker nuance.

Oh yeah and for those who have seen the film obviously understand the headline of this post:) – long sleeve – short sleeve?!

In the beginning...

2007-07-02T22:06:00.000-05:00

...and this is how it all began. Keep checking back for more!!