OK, no foolin’: I actually just saw a guy in my building wearing a “Han Shot First” t-shirt.

According to the death-by-caffeine calculator I’d have to drink 417 cans of diet pepsi before the caffeine killed me.

Whew.

No matter how many times I hear “Faded” by Ben Harper turn into “Whole Lotta Love”, I get chills. I remember the night I saw him live and I had no idea it was coming. I almost cried.

Prozac Nation (imdb | rotten tomatoes) first screened at the Toronto Film Festival back in 2001, just days before the 9/11 attacks. The film, though it won all kinds of critical kudos for Christina Ricci and Jessica Lange, got repeatedly delayed and eventually buried in a can by Miramax. It finally crept out to cable in the spring and to DVD in the last few months.

It probably should have stayed in the can. As good as Ricci and Lange were, the movie was flat out boring, and Elizabeth Wurtzel was a spectacularly unsympathetic character. They did a great job of making us hate her, though unfortunately I think we were meant to feel sorry for her.

Blech.

Holy sweet mother of god penguins are cute. Cute, amazing, little clumsy too. That’s what makes it so worth it to go see March of the Penguins (imdb | rotten tomatoes), but be prepared to get upset. Nature’s as brutal as it is nurturing.

More compelling and emotional than anything Hollywood could produce.

Last night, before we saw the movie, we went over to CBGB’s place for some pie. Not just any pie: two pies from a certain store up north, which I’d been pleading for here. They very nicely brought back a steak & mushroom pie for dinner and an apple crumble pie for dessert, and shared both with us. The steak & mushroom pie wasn’t at all mushroom-ridden, so I liked it just fine. And the apple pie I’ve known and loved previously. Add to that a drink or two (including some really good dessert wine, which I seem to have developed a taste for), and the walk to the theatre was much needed.

Last night we saw The 40 Year-Old Virgin (imdb | rotten tomatoes | metacritic), a movie I’ve been looking forward to for a long time. It was a little more lowbrow than I’d expected, but still pretty goddamned funny. I laughed almost constantly, and during a few scenes I was actually in pain. Steve Carell’s gonna be big.

Be touched by his noodly appendage.

As I mentioned yesterday we had plans to attend a wedding that I wasn’t really looking forward to that much, since I knew that I wouldn’t really know anyone there. But it turned out to be quite an adventure, and a pretty good time.

The ceremony, at a church over in the beach, only lasted about 45 minutes. It had been raining for most of the day, including thunderstorms earlier that morning, so everyone was hoping that the massive thunder in the distance would stay away a few more hours. The ceremony finished around 3:45; around 3:50 the skies completely opened up. Everyone quickly jumped into their cars and began heading north toward the banquet hall where the reception was to be held.

As we drove north it became obvious that the storm had hit the northern part of the city much harder than the downtown, and bursts of it still hit us occasionally. Sheets of water were running down streets and sidewalks faster than storm drains could handle. Huge puddles had formed at major intersections. Traffic, already congested because of the normal volume heading north from the city on a Friday afternoon, was slow. It took us 45 minutes to reach a friend’s house in Markham near the reception site; as we approached the house the overturned signs, scattered branches and stalled cars showed how hard the storm had actually hit. In fact, the friend’s house was without power; another of her friends had stalled her car trying to drive through a deep puddle.

So here we were, sitting in a dark basement, not able to go outside because of the storm, relaxing for a bit before heading to the reception. We killed some time with a rousing game of “what’s your favourite colour and what’s the best thing you did this summer?” (no, seriously) before deciding to get on the road. If we’d known what traffic would be like we would have left sooner.

Traffic was at a dead crawl. The storm had closed many roads due to flooding, including the DVP, which meant that every other major route north was jammed as people escaped the city for the weekend. Add to that the intersection confusion due to the power outage killing traffic lights, and we were driving north at a pace slower than walking. We know this because several pedestrians passed us. What should have been a ten minute drive took us over an hour; thanks god we didn’t take a cab. Anyway, everyone was late, especially the bride & groom. But no harm done, everything still went off as planned: food, drink, dancing, traditional awful wedding music. On the plus side, there was a chocolate fountain and a great couple at our table with whom I could share my music snark. And they gave us a ride home!

This morning, of course, was an Eggstasy morning.

This story — and the blog in general — is one of the most interesting things I’ve read in weeks.