macophile

The holiday season is officially over. Alarm clocks are set for the working hour. We get paid by those who learn from our mistakes. After suffering a few morning commutes 2010 reminded me of something. 2009. it's exactly the same as the last work week, and the month before, and one year ago. New year my ass.
 
And what's all this end-of-decade bullshit the media has foisted upon us. The decade ends AFTER the tenth year. We don't start counting with a zero, we end on a zero. 1-2-3-4-on and on until we reach ten. The media pulled the same scam at the end of the millennia. 2000 was not the first year of the new century, it was the last year of the 20th century. I hate this shit and I hate that people don't understand. Fucking media lemmings.
 
As much as I love the good tidings of 'Happy New Year' and the hope a new calendar brings, the truth is we're in the same boat we were sinking in 2009. The economy still sucks. People are losing jobs. The housing and mortgage mess festers. Peace on earth? I don't think so, not with two wars in progress. Obama has not done a helluva lot in his first year. Flipping a couple of digits on the year makes no difference. Healthcare? We'll see.

On positive note. It feels better at MT without the Bird, a.k.a. Tony the pizza man. Here I am lamenting joblessness at the same time I'm glad one guy is no longer with us. A source of stress was given his walking papers. That's all I have to say about that.

I'm glad college bowl season is coming to an end. With my sons home there was a college football game on every day. There are 34 bowl games. That's just stupid. Some very mediocre teams are getting rewarded for shitty seasons. Who cares about the Ernie's Tire & Lube Shop Grease Bowl between teams that finished in 7th place in their conferences? Apparently my sons do. Jeffrey's school won a bowl game. He attends every UCLA home game and some on the road. Penn State - LSU was not pretty.

It will all be thankfully over Thursday. With that said, I'm wondering about the Orange Bowl right now. I'll probably watch the Texas - Bama game.
 
The sameness of this first week of 2010 should be a reminder to us all that we're a silly culture with celebrations and traditions that mark nothing at all. These rituals are just another reason to drink. So maybe they're not so bad but it seems we're always looking for a reason to party. There's a drought between 1/1 and St Patrick's Day. After that there's a string of holidays to party. One for every ethnic group. In between we have Fridays, and Saturdays, and NFL Sunday. 

The Sherlock Holmes film is very good. I found it entertaining start to finish. Of course there are loose ends. Robert Downey Jr. is on top of his game right now with some well made popular movies and big sequels coming.

I checked it last night. It was just bugging me. I must credit Wikipedia for explaining the decade fiasco in a reasonable manner. They covered both sides of the issue. But I'm still a 1 through 10 believer.......... and that it really doesn't matter. The other people are just wrong.

Is that monkey drinking Schlitz? That was the first beer i ever drank. It was a king size can.

My football team did not make the playoffs. That's okay, they can't take away the six Lombardi Trophies. Wait until next year is so much easier when you have a few championships behind you. Ask a Cubs fan. 

This is the result of having five days of writing and throwing nothing away. There's some typical cynicism and a little positive energy. I need to find it every day things. My ex wife did not call today, A big plus. Positive energy. There's some simmering bullshit in the ex-marital-co-parental relationship of my life. There could be drama on the horizon. Stay tuned.

The last year of the first decade of this new century at the beginning of the third millennia feels a lot like the rest of the decade.  It's not going to chang unless we make it so.

Positive energy.

This will need a lot of tags.

Last night Cheryl and I took the boys to an NBA game as a Xmas gift. The Boston Celtics were in town to play the Phoenix Suns. Sporting events have always been a major entertainment choice for our family. Over the years I've taken my boys to ballgames from Boston to Los Angeles and many points between. James and Jeff love attending games. 

Before the game we grabbed a quick bite at Stoudemires, a restaurant owned by a PHX player. We had a great night out. Unfortunately for us Boston fans, the Celtics were missing their best offensive player and best defender. The Suns owned the undermanned men in green. It wasn't pretty.

We cheer for our favorite players and teams from the sidelines. We hope they do well. Some people pray their team reaches their goal of winning-it-all. But we have no power to affect the outcome of a play, the game or the long season. There are times when I feel this way about my life. When I have no control of an outcome I feel like a spectator, watching life from the edge.

For the record, this is not a blue post. My mood is contemplative with a matter-of-fact tone.

James is doing okay at home, but not great. I'm grateful he takes his meds. I'm happy his personality is close to the young man I knew prior to his illness. Thank you depakote. There are still issues with hygiene. He does not shower often or thoroughly enough. His room smells. He leaves messes around the house. Cheryl and take action to stay ahead of the mess. He eats like a bear having just awakened from hibernation. He's gained weight.

None of the clothes we bought him for Christmas fit. He was not happy about this and decided to start running. Most nights he takes the dog for a 5-10 minute jog. It's hardly enough exercise to combat the onslaught of calories from gluttony but I'm encouraged by his attempt. I hope he builds on this motivation.

In recent weeks James has gone out with friends from high school. He contacted them hoping to reconnect. They've all graduated college, found jobs, some moved away but are home for the holidays and one is married, Their lives are on chosen paths.These old friends have no clue what James has been through in the last two years. I wonder and worry about what he's telling them.

His 'old friend issue' is enough for a blog entry of it's own.

I talk to my son about his life situation but I have little chance of affecting the outcome. I'm a spectator shouting at the ball to go into the net. He listens to my questions. We discuss his issues but his point of view is skewed by schizophrenic thinking. I have no impact.

James is not the only contest in life I have no ability to affect. 

My housing-mortgage situation remains in limbo. I recently learned my home is worth less than half what it was appraised at when I refinanced for my divorce in 2006. I knew it was bad but it's worse than I thought. I cannot imagine being here one year from now. Numbers don't lie. After 24 years of home ownership, being a renter again does not sound as bad as it once did. 

My on-the-job stress lingers at years end with little chance of a turn around but there is small improvement. The new guy making life at work intolerable, a.k.a. Tony the pizza man, was let go yesterday. It was only a matter of time. If it weren't for the holidays he would have been fired weeks ago. We didn't have the heart to do the dirty deed before Christmas. It felt very strange to feel happy a man lost his job. I'm not that cold. This had to be done. 

It's not easy feeling we have no say in the outcome of life's events. Uncertainty is not comfortable. I'm a man of modest means. I can only do so much for my son. The rest is beyond my control. The real estate market is certainly not within my ability to affect nor can I convince a bank they need to make further adjustments for me to stay here. I may have some say in my employment situation, as I have in the past, but until the job market improves I'll have to stay where I am making the best of it. 

I love the HBO series Entourage. Ironically, Vinny Chase and the boys represent many of the excesses I question in our liberal western society. But the show is funny, well written and acted. Sure, the boys are shallow, materialistic, pretentious, but the writers make us care about the characters. Good writers can make us root for bad men. Being on the side of a few Hollywood airheads is no big deal.

I started watching the show in the middle of season two. I try to catch it every week when it's in-season but never have to worry because HBO replays series' all week. After season six ended I started Netflixing the older seasons, starting at the beginning, watching them in order. We're at the end of season three.

I cannot claim loyalty to any television shows but I have become attached to a few HBO series. There is a major bonus of no commercials and cable allows the reality of every day language and mature material. When you add the freedom of watching it when I want, HBO wins my patronage.

I even have a framed Entourage poster over the pool table. I'm a fan.

Even though we despise him sometimes, Jeremy Piven's portrayal of vulger hyper-agent Ari Gold is fabulous. I celebrate his political incorrectness. I also enjoy the cameos done by real celebrities. Apparently, there's no shortage of major Hollywood talent hoping for a spot in an episode.

I can't say watching a series is quality time with the kids, but the whole family watches Entourage. I can't think of another show we all enjoy. We're not very loyal TV viewers. 

I don't see myself buying the DVD sets, I've seen it all, but I will miss this show after season #7 wraps up in 2010. The end of Entourage is coming soon. 

This languished in my drafts folder for weeks.

A couple of months ago I felt badly for Tiger Woods, as bad as you can feel for a man with hundreds of millions of dollars. The media was crawling all over his neighborhood. He'd just crashed his Cadillac Escalade into a tree at the and of his driveway. He was injured. His wife ran down the driveway to extract him from his crumpled SUV. It was 2:25 in the morning. The paparazzi wanted a story and Tiger's bad driving was the big news of the day.

Where was he going at that late hour? Had he been drinking? Was there a fight between he and his wife? The questions swirled. A recent tabloid tale of infidelity was the center of much speculation. Mr. and Mrs. Tiger were sequestered in their 2.5 million dollar home. I felt bad because few men or women would be subjected to such public scrutiny had we crashed our car into a neighbor's tree. This is the price Tiger and other celebrities pay for their fame and fortune.

Several weeks, lots of new information and a half dozen mistresses later: I'm feeling no pity for Mr. Woods. As news of his serial (and surreal) cheating came out the world began to realize Tiger Woods was not a cut above other celebrity athletes. His image as a clean cut, no nonsense, professional has been destroyed. The man is no better than the cheating and lying thugs of the NFL, MLB and NBA. The womanizing of professional athletes is not new. Tiger's philandering is only the latest example. Fans thought, and hoped, he was better than the rest.

With model Jamie Jungers providing sordid details of her 18 month tryst, complete with a timeline, his flying her around the country and her 'visiting the family home' several times..... I could not imagine Mrs. Tiger would remain married to the most recognizable face in extra marital affair history. My question to Tiger Woods and the hundreds of other cheating celebrities is ....... why get married if you want the playboy lifestyle?

The opportunity to cheat is ever present for the celebs of sports and entertainment. They're loved by fans. They have money. Their careers require travel and long periods away from home. There's no shortage of women (or men) seeking their attention. I understand the situation but I don't understand how they expect to get away with it. Everyone knows your face Tiger! You are the most recognizable athlete on the planet. Are you that drunk on your own fame?

Wilt Chamberlain claimed to have bedded 10,000 women during his NBA career. He's a proud man. Maybe Tiger was trying to break Wilt the Stilt's record. We can only speculate.

Corporations are jumping off the Tiger bandwagon. Gatoraid dropped him as a spokeperson claiming the decision was made long ago. Yeah. What. Ever. Accenture, Gillette and watch maker Tag Heuer have cut ties with the most famous philanderer. Having him as pitchman is not good for their public image and we all know how corporate America values image. He still has Buick and Nike in his corner but I suspect there's discussion in those board rooms.

Don't worry about TW. He won't be on food stamps.

There is one record Woods may break, the amount of money lost through infidelity and divorce. Half of what he has is a boatload of money and real estate. His estimated worth is ONE BILLION DOLLARS. I hope Mrs. Tiger gets every penny possible under the law. I trust the needs of her children will be met.

Jeff bought me the Inglourious Basterds DVD for Xmas. I loved the film in the cinema on opening weekend and blogged about it. http://dadadadio.livejournal.com/81007.html  Jeff also saw the movie opening weekend. James watched it for the first time on DVD. I knew he would love the film. He did.

I often read member reviews on Netflix after I see a movie. I find most of the negative reviews to be pointless bashings written by people who most likely made a bad movie choice given their taste. If you click on the 'other reviews' link for these members you'll find they mostly review films they hate. I think this says more about the reviewer than the film they're panning.

Movies are like music. We run them through the filter of our personal taste, sensitivity, and the mood we're in at the moment we experience the art form. Our preferences are unique to us and while critique is often helpful I think we must be aware of our biases before we put pen to paper.

I would never watch a violent action movie based in martial arts and then write a scathing review because I know I'm not a big action movie fan and the over-the-top martial arts variety are not my favorite within that genre. But some people love that stuff. Why do movie fans who don't appreciate Quentin Tarantino films bother to watch them ...... then waste time beating on the work in a nasty review?

I'm usually moved to write about filmmaking and music I love. When an artist moves me in a negative way I tend to move past the experience with a ..... "Well, that sucked for me."..... and forget about it. There's plenty of film and music out there for everyone but not all of it is for everyone. Sometimes we pick a lemon.

A couple of weeks ago I happened across a Robin Williams movie I had never heard of, 'The House of D'. I find accidental art discoveries to be wonderful. In a supporting role, Williams plays a mentally handicapped man who becomes jealous as the people around him move on in life while he cannot. He clings to the past. The movie is not about him but he's great in the film. I much rather recommend a fine piece of feel good filmmaking than prattle on about a movie I was bored with.  

I wish the Netflix amateur movie experts would consider their own taste before they drag a movie's rating down with their negativity. Give the film your one-crappy-star-rating and find another movie to watch. Sometimes it's best to dismiss art as simply not-being-for-us than to critically destroy it as if we have some special insight into the art form.

Inglourious Basterds will be a long and tedious film for movie goers who don't like lengthy suspense filled scenes used to develop characters. The film will offend those who are sensitive to violent images, revenge, war atrocities, or the relationship between Jews and Nazis. If you don't like war movies you might want to skip this film. If you don't like Quentin Tarantino, don't even think about it.

I promise to not listen to country western music and waste my time writing about how much I hate it.

This is the best day of the holiday season. The endless errands are done. Gifts are wrapped, stockings are stuffed, and the hassle of the holidays are behind us. All the reasons for Sroogieness have passed. A fine dinner and relaxing evening await.

Since my divorce I've attempted to start new traditions. I love having the Eve at my place with the few people closest to me. Seafood and stockings, a few cocktails and watching a movie late in the evening. Tomorrow we pay visits for breakfast and dinner, modest gift giving with no high expectations.

If I pay less attention to Santa and sales I find the season more enjoyable. This year I worked on doing just that.  The constant reminders make it impossible to avoid but I can measure my participation. Each season I will try to lesson issues that bring people angst during this season until I lose the Scrooge.

I was thinking about the good people of Paz de Christo. The souls who volunteer this season understand the true meaning of Christmas. If there is hope in mankind it lies in the hearts of these givers of goodwill.

Merry Christmas to all. I hope you have a safe and peaceful holiday.