Am I still alive?

The answer is yes. When will I post again? I have no idea. Facebook seems to meet the majority of my posting needs, if you can call the narcissistic mumblings of someone on the internet that. I used to create and post things here and just paste a link on Facebook. But there are shortcomings in the kind of feedback I can get here, opposed to the quick and easy 'Like' button.

So I guess it's fair to say almost everyone is a blogger these days. They just blog on Facebook.

PS. To hell with Farhad Manjoo and his anti-two space after a period screed. That's the way most people have been taught. And it is in no way less attractive than one space. For the weight of a space between sentences to be given the same weight as between words makes no sense to me. But does it really matter in the scheme of things? It does not.

Where'd Who Gooo?

Sorry I haven't been updating the site much. Between Facebook, class, crunch time at work, my daughter, and my lovely love.. I just haven't found much time to sit and and write about anything meaningful on here. So uh... how bout that snow this winter? Crazy huh?

Maybe a TV update or movie review of some kind would be a good addition. Keep checking this space...

Movie Review - Movies You Probably Won't See Anyway Edition - Jennifer's Body

Let me just say I didn't go out of my way to watch Jennifer's Body. I was mildly curious because, hey, it's got Megan Fox and it almost looked like it had something important to say about the dynamics of female friendships. So late last night after too much vodka and fast food, I decided to decompress and give this movie a chance.

So here's the good stuff: The production values show on screen. Everything is colorful, pretty and fun to watch. And most of the actors are pretty good too, which brings us to the bad... Giving Megan Fox dialogue written by Diablo Cody is like trying to teach a kitten to yodel. It might be cute, but ultimately you're just going to get poop and no one wants to hear yodeling anyway. Unless maybe they'd punctuated every "quirky" phrase with a distant inexplicable yodel. Either way, it wouldn't have taken me out of the movie any less.

It's bad enough that Diablo Cody's dialogue tries so hard to be original and before its time that it sounds like every internet forum member you've ever wanted to hunt down and punch in real life. But it's especially enraging to hear it erupt lifelessly from Megan Fox's beautiful-but-plastic mouth and flop to the ground with all the earnestness of a fake tit.

On top of that, every male character is written as if they would gladly walk into a room full of saws, angry clowns, winged blowtorches, and a naked Tracy Morgan just because a pretty girl takes them by the hand. I'll concede a majority of guys would do this, but not all.

All in all, I kept feeling like I'd seen this movie before. Then it dawned on me: This was Heathers with demonic possession tossed in and anything meaningful yanked out. Sure there's a tiny statement on predatory girls turning the table on boys, but it's so tacked on it feels about as earnest as the aforementioned fake tit. Joss Whedon's Buffy series tackled female empowerment in a high school setting *with* demons *and* quirky dialog much better. It's not that Jennifer's Body is horrible, it's just late to the party and all the good songs have been played.

On my rating scale, it gets a "meh."

Myrtle Beach

Just got back from our vacation to Myrtle Beach. The weather couldn't have been better... except for that one day when a storm decided to chase us down while we were out walking. Instead of it being sweltering in the middle of July, it was a nice summery 85 degrees most days with clear skies and warm water. Cindy, Helena and I had a great time swimming in the ocean, laying around the pool, dancing on chairs at Senor Frogs, walking the beach, and doing nothing resembling work at all.

We hit a few tourist destinations like Broadway at the Beach (which has something for just about everyone), Planet Hollywood (neat atmosphere but the food was meh), and Barefoot Landing (ugh, more shops - but at least they have a neat Ron Jon's.) Before we knew it, it was time to come back so here are some memories.

Myrtle Beach 2009

4th of July 2009

Just a quick post here. Went to Red, White and Kaboom Thursday night with Cindy and Helena. Saw the Rusty Griswolds play, which is always fun, then watched fireworks go off right above us. We were covered with tiny pieces of burnt cardboard when all was done. Then Saturday, the 4th, Cindy and I spent a soggy evening at my parents' house in Trenton watching fireworks go off all around.

July 4th Weekend 2009

Pictures from the Roebling Bridge

Also known as the singing bridge because of the metal mesh deck that causes cars' tires to "sing" as they drive over, the Roebling Suspension Bridge has been a part of the Cincinnati skyline since 1866. A few days ago I decided to test out my new camera by walking around downtown and taking random pictures. I ended up on the bridge and snapped a few shots and movies.

Roebling Bridge

Local review: Aglamesis Brothers Ice Cream Parlor

My daughter and I went to a great little old-fashioned ice cream parlor this weekend. Located in a row of streetfront shops in the Oakley neighborhood, Aglamesis Brothers is full of '50s charm. There were 3 friendly people working in the parlor and we were helped immediately. I had a chocolate malt and Helena had a scoop of mint chocolate chip ice cream. Both were excellent.

The furniture and fixtures are very old and reflective of art deco. The stools we sat in looked to be made of steel wire with upholstered cushions (which to be honest, felt like they were going to fall through with my butt on them.) The sodas are made the old-fashioned way: by pouring the syrup into a glass and mixing the soda water into it.

If you're looking for a nice quiet place to have some tasty ice cream you can't go wrong.