First of all, may I just say how much we lurve the PVR? LURVE IT!!!

Ahem.

We’ve watched three movies so far this weekend, and they’re three pretty wide-ranging choices. The only way the weekend could get more diverse is if I finally popped in the copy of Jules et Jim that’s been sitting by the TV for a month. But here’s what we have seen:

• Trees Lounge (imdb | rotten tomatoes), another one that I’ve meant to rent since university, got buried at the bottom of my zip list and sent to me pretty much at random. It’s Steve Buscemi from top to bottom…written, directed and starred. It didn’t have a movie plot so much as it recounted a story, like a collection of Raymond Carver stories about the same guy strung together into a screenplay. I found myself feeling actively indifferent about Buscemi’s character, which I suppose in itself is an accomplishment on his part.
• I went to see Doom (imdb | rotten tomatoes) in spite of the bad ratings because I used to play the game. My wife went to see it because she has a thing for The Rock. Really, it was just shit. I wish that, just once, they’d abandon any thoughts of crafting a terrible plot and giving characters shallow backgrounds and dreaming up some absurd scientific explanation for what’s gone wrong. Instead of all that, just show 90 minutes of non-stop mayhem. Seriously. Give the guys their chainsaws and BFGs and shotguns and send the baddies at them. Let the tension (which was completely non-existent here) rule the day, like it did in the game. Tension + large guns + gore = happy fans. But hey, they have my money, so what do they care? By the way, it was obvious that the majority of yesterday’s audience were hardcore gamers reliving their youth, as most lacked any social graces that would indicate daily exposure to humans.
• I thought Bubba Ho-Tep (imdb | rotten tomatoes) was hilarious. My wife…not so much. But c’mon, how could you not love the premise? Any movie featuring Elvis, old and in a nursing home, teaming up with an old black man who thinks he’s JFK to fight a re-animated Egyptian mummy dressed as a cowboy just has to be good. I thought it was hilarious, with just enough ridiculous over-the-topness to remind you that the cast is in on the joke. If you like satire & zombie movies, this one’s a pretty good bet. “But what do I care? I got a growth on my pecker.” Hee hee hee. I’m twelve.

Via Yes But No But Yes, I read this Ask MetaFilter thread that’s really quite remarkable. A guy who’s just trying to track down a 1938 Vienna phone book so that he can see where his grandfather lived ends up with 15 pages of official documents that researchers from the Holocaust Museum track down for him and his family. Kind of makes up for all the porn spam, huh?

Good old Asterix.

Habs win again, by the way.

We picked up some food at Cumbrae’s today. Now I’m wondering if they’ll just let me move in there. Not only was the food (some maple & sesame ribs) amazing, but the place is beautiful inside. And not crowded at all; I guess filet mignon for $20/pound keeps the riff-raff out…except that I am riff-raff.

We booked our xmas flights. Going to NB for a couple of days to visit my brother and his family, then back to the farm for xmas where Nellie and her mom will meet us, then on to Halifax for one more stab at Da Maurizio.

It’s getting chilly out there, kids. Remember to take a coat. [/nagging]

Another pre-season win for the Raptors. This time it was Joey Graham looking sharp. What the? Still, don’t get your hopes up. Loren Woods managed to blow two dunks.

Feeling a lot better now, much to my relief. Went to work yesterday, no problems there. Last night was the first time since Tuesday that I’ve had a sustained period of feeling ok, and I also had no trouble sleeping when I went to bed. Wednesday and Thursday nights I was really uncomfortable. Still not feeling 100%…maybe in the 80%-90% range.

It looks like there’s one of these moving in around the corner from me. That’s good; I’m trying to eat more healthy food now, and another substantial salad option can’t hurt. Mmmmm…speaking of that, I have a jerk chicken salad from Whole Foods sitting in my fridge right now, just waiting to be devoured. And if I can get excited about a salad, you know it’s good.

See, I thought you needed both a digital terminal and a PVR, but it turns out they’re all in one package. And so I have an extra one sitting on my floor at home which I need to return.

But, the PVR itself is frickin’ fun. My wife has been playing with the recording features and playback and PIP, all the while muttering “Mama like!!” to no one in particular.

There are five — count ’em, five — movies coming out tomorrow that I went to see:

• Doom
• North Country
• ScaredSacred
• Shopgirl
• The Squid and the Whale

My wife also wants to see Stay, mostly because of the two male leads, but it’s not fared well in the early going on Rotten Tomatoes. Then again, neither has Shopgirl, and I didn’t expect Doom to knock critical socks off. ScaredSacred is a limited Canadian release and as such probably won’t get any ratings. North Country and The Squid and the Whale have gotten some good reviews though.

Geez, the Raptors won a game. Against the Nets no less. Charlie V leading the game in scoring and Alvin Willianms getting on the floor are both good signs.

Been under the weather for a few days. Speaking of weather, it’s been pretty grey and cloudy, so if there’s a time to be stuck inside, this is probably it.

Last week my brother linked to the Hillman top 100 Wonders of the world. It was more than a little depressing to think that I’ve only seen a couple.

My Rogers PVR arrived just now. When I get around to picking up the digital receiver I think I’ll have quite a bit of fun with it.

No more VCR!!

Once again, the internet proves its worth.

I feel embiggened already.

Stanzi brought me some chocolate fudge. It was like slightly solid mousse. Two pieces almost killed me, and I like me some chocolate.

Some fuckwit was playing loud — REALLY loud — music outside our building this morning at 5 AM. Classic rock, to be exact. I don’t know if it was a car stereo or what, but it was loud enough that even with all the windows closed I could sing along with “Lager And Ale” word for word.