It's a bore. It's so lame. It's...Superman!

I went to go see Superman at the Cinemark IMAX theatre this evening. I was pysched to see this movie because I liked what Bryan Singer did with Xmen and portion of the film would be in 3D. Well, to be honest, the movie was a total let down.

You know a movie isn't so good when the lead actor, Brandon Routh, only has 10 lines. And when he wasn't talking, he was looking pensively in the distance. May major issue with the film is that you are not sure if this is suppose to be a continuation of the past films or a new film that starts off in the middle. I remember the original movies and I watch Smallville on the WB, so with that and my limited comic book knowledge of the superhero ... the movie just left me dizzy trying to put everything together. Even if I didn't know anything regarding the lore of Superman, the main plot was just not interesting.

Well, this is just my opinion and you may see the movie and love it. I just expected more. The only bright spot was Parker Posey. I just love her. She even made that crappy movie Adam and Steve bearable.

Wimbledon: Day Four


[photo source: Getty Images]

I was watching this match on computer at work on Thursday, and I am surprised that I didn't get fired for all of the noise I was making. I was talking to clients and not really paying attention to them and tried to get them off the phone as soon as possible. I so counted Venus out of the match in the second set but somehow she managed to hang in there and kick some butt by winning 11 of 13 games to win the match. She did the same thing last year in the final against Lindsay Davenport to win the title.

Tomorrow some of my friend are doing their version of Breakfast at Wimbledon. They are going to get together at 7am to have breakfast and watch Andre Aggasi/Rafael Nadal match. I will be sleeping, but I will met up with them around 10am or so.

Food better be provided.

Promotions

First, I would like to give a shout to Rich, the creator of the FourFour blog. I linked several of his posts from his blog in reference to my Janet Jackson post, and he somehow found my site and left a comment. Not only that, he ended up linking my site on his blog which was very cool of him. I am in the "I'm So Into You" section. Rich, "I don't know what I am going to do" ... but I will start by saying thanks!

So for those who are new to my site, I would like to say hello and welcome! The site doesn't have a point of view but it is primarily about my life, or lack thereof. Take some time to go through my archives and I hope you come to visit my humble blog. You are bound to find numerous spelling and grammatical in my post and I hope you can over look them because I am not a writer by any means.

Work

Yesterday my supervisor called me into his office in this authoritative way that made me question place in the company. I got into his office and he barked at me to close to the door before I took a seat. He handed me pen and told me to transcribe his dictations.

Forunately we were discussing my pay raising and he wanted me to know all of the figures. I ended up getting the amount that I wanted and also got some very good feedback regarding my performance of the last 11 months. It was good to hear that they consider me a valuable assett in the company.

Wimbledon: Day 3

While getting ready for work this morning, I was able to watch the Venus Williams/Bethanie Mattek match. Venus won 6-1, 6-0 ... but not let's not talk about Venus performance during the back. Let's about this:

Bandana + visible sport bra + tube top + 70's shorts + tube socks = FUGLY!

I think that she knew she didn't have a chance against Venus she threw together this travisty of an outfit to get her picture in the paper. I don't think she really needs the label "fashion victim" added to the fact she lost the match. But I guess bad press is press nonetheless.

Two more weeks until the start of the new season of Project Runway, and two weeks and 2 days until the always hilarious recaps from Rich on his site. I am counting down the days.

Rude Awakening

Happy Monday!

I hope your day has treated you well.Unfortunately my day started at 2:30am when a drunk neighbor decided to cause a ruckus in the parking lot. This prompted someone to call the local police department which lead to his arrest.

The whole ordeal went on for about 1.5 hours. Drunk guy saw the cops, hopped in his car and tried to make a break for it but a police person on foot got to the driver-side door before he could allude arrest. The cops ran his plates and saw that they were fraudulent which led to the drunk guy crying and begging to be let go because he is on probation. Appartently he will have to come up with $30K if he wants his freedom. I have met Drunk Guy while he was not drunk and he seemed like a nice guy. I finally ended up getting to sleep around 4:30am and got 2 hours more sleep before I had to get ready for work.

Work was good, but I enjoy going to work. I get paid a lot to do fairly nothing so it all works out. Don't get me wrong, I am busy while at work with my responsibilities. But comparted to other jobs I have had this one is pretty much a walk in the park.

After work I met with some people from tennis group for dinner at Tin Star before heading to see Kathy Griffin at the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center Concert Hall at 8pm. I can't tell you how much I love Kathy Griffin. I have been a fan of her's since her first comedy special on HBO and I am loving my Life on the D-List on Bravo. Eventhough I was in the last row up in the third tier ...



..I had a ball. It would have been better if I were closer to stage but I laughed my butt from the seat I had. The two hours just flew by and before I knew it, it was time to leave. Kathy forgot about the time limit until she looked at her watch and realised she had to wrap things up. If she comes back next year I am getting a front row seat.

Wimbledon: Day One

All the matches were canceled due to the rain. I wasn't looking forward to any of the matches but I wanted to see if Roger Federer would break Bjorn Borg's string of grass court wins. His match versus Richard Gasquet of France was postponed in the second set with Roger taking the first set.

I think I am going to subscribe to Wimbledon Live so that I can watch all of the matches from work. It is only $19.99 and I think it is a great deal with all of the coverage they are offering. I will think about it and decide in the morning. I really want to see the Venus Williams first round match live and not have to stay up until the break of dawn to see on the outcome on my TiVo.

It has been a long day and I am beat so I am off to bed.

Process of Deduction

There are two more months until my housemate leaves and I am in the process of streamling my budget. I have been going over my bills and I have pin-pointed were I can make some cuts.

Cell phone: My bill has been around $67.00 per month but since my contract expires in July, I called up the retentions department I explained to them that I wanted a better deal. I pointed out I wanted something comparable to the Sprint SERO discount they have but I was told that they could do something better for me. I ended up getting $50.00 credit for renewing my contract, a bunch of discounts and 500 free text messages. My current bill is $2.30 (because of the $50.00 credit). Next month my bill will be around $36.00. Pretty sweet, huh?

Cable: I have decided to get rid of Digital, HD, and DVR services from Charter Cable. I don't even watch that much TV anymore so I feel like I am wasting my money. My current bill is about $71.00. If I cut out all of the fat my bill will be around $40. I can get all of the HD channels, except for ABC because I am out of range, with a $10 antenna I got from Radio Shack when I first moved to Dallas.

A small difference, but nothing major. Besided, I download all my favorite shows in HD so I can watch them on my Xbox the day after.

The major feature I was going to miss was the dual tuner recorder on the cable companies DVR. But I think I got this problem solve because I just purchased a new 80-hour TiVo Series 2 Dual Tuner DVR.

I got the DVR for $30, and 1 year committment for $19.95. Since I already have a TiVo subscription, with both boxes the price will only be $26. I am paying $15 for Charter's DVR, but with the Tivo I am able to download them to my computer and archive if I needed to. I can't do that with Charter. So in the long run the TiVo will pay for itself.

Loans: I am in repayment hell with my student loans so I am thinking about consolidating to see if I can some some money. I will have to contact my someone so they can crunch the numbers to see if I will be able to save some money.

Home: I was thinking about buying a condo here in Dallas because with my rent and utilites I will be paying about $1100/month. That is a lot of money to be pissing away with owning something so I have to give buying a condo serious thought. I am not sure if I am staying the Dallas area for the long term. I like it here but I am not sure if I want to buy a home here. I could go back to Syracuse or Buffalo, and making the same amount of money I do now I could get a 2200 sq. ft. home in a nice area for about $80,000 and my mortgage will be about $600/month. Real estate is crazy here. They are building condos everywhere but the prices remain high. I will give myself a year and then decided if I should buy something.

So with my impending raise next month I will be doing okay. I will be able to live comfortably and still be able to put some money into the bank. If I get a $4000 raise, I will be living well. But the acutal amount will be more around $2000, which is still good. I need to have some children just for the federal deductions then I can be livin' large. Does anyone still use the phrase "livin' large" any more? Anyway ...

Big Brother All-Stars Update


You can see how my favorites are, can you help me out by voting for them at the Big Brother All-Stars website. When they first announced the voting I thought the audience would be voting for all 12 housemate. Wrong! Only the Top 3 men and women housemate will be in, and then the producers will be selecting other 6. My predictions:

Men - Kaysar (aka the person that doesn't know he's my boyfriend), Will, and Howie.
Women - Janelle (aka the person that doesn't know she's my girlfriend), Danielle (who should have won BB3), and Nakomis.

I guess they can't trust the audience to bring some drama into the house. The results will be announce on July 6th.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Call On Me

Happy Wednesday!

One of my favorite summer series is returning to television tonight. What series am I refering to? Big Brother on CBS, of course. I watched every season, but I have disavowed season 1 like most viewers because it was an absolutely horrible season. Big Brother is a television franchise that is broadcasted all over the world. To fill the void of of BBUS I have been watching BBUK Season 7, and it is way more interesting the an the US edition. The US edition is basically Survivor in a house. The other BB shows allow the viewing audience to vote for who stays and who goes.

Season 1 of BBUS was like this but America got rid of all of the interesting people, so that meant only boring remained. BB seasons 2-6 only the housemates voted which made for better television. The disadvantage of the US version compared its international counterparts is the censoring. No nudity, no swearing, no discusting behavior. After watching BBUK, the US show could really use this. Here is a clip of BBUK:

Good, right?

Tonight the new season of BB will be and All-Star edition. 20 previous housemates thatwe loved and loved to hate will be vying for 14 spots on the season that officially begins on July 6th. The best part ... audience will get to vote how goes in. If you are a fan, or just curious, tune in tonight at 8EST/7CST.

Okay now onto Janet ...
[source: janet-planet.net]

The new Janet single "Call On Me" was leaked on the Internet on Sunday before its officiall Monday debut. On first listen, I absolutely hated the song. It wasn't the best quality but I figured the new "anticipated" song would this up-tempo club bangers, but it was a slow-tempo duet with Nelly. Should the word duet and Nelly go in the same sentence? Anyway ... I ended up getting a new high quality verison and I liked a little bit more upon each listen. On my way home from work I happened to turn on the radio and the song was on then I fell in love with it. It sounded really good on the radio, I don't know why. Let me say this ...

...as you can see I like Janet just a bit, but I am not one of those types who thinks Janet is one of the best singers in the world. I know that Janet's voice is thin as rice paper, but she has Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis to creatively hide her vocals with pillow of vocal layering (vocal pillow example: "Love Will Never Do Without You" - Rhythm Nation 1814). Some of best vocal production in my opinion are: "Lonley" - Rhythm Nation 1814, and "I Want You - Damita Jo". But Your mileage may vary.

While I am enjoying this song for what it is, I am eagerly awaiting a second single, which should be more up-tempo, and the album to drop in September.

FourFour has a couple of post regarding Janet prowess here, and here.

Enjoy!

Ghetto Prom Pictures

My official post will start tomorrow. Today has been a crazy day and I didn't/don't have time for an official post. I will do it tomorrow. In the meantime, enjoy some ghetto prom pictures courtesy of Crunk and Disorderly ...



Ghetto Prom 1
Ghetto Prom 2

Enjoy!

I am alive. Really!

Yet another extended period of time away from my blog. It seems like whenever I am away I have a ton of ideas but when I finally get the chance to write ... nothing.

But don't fret. I will be back tomorrow with some new (hopefully interesting) stuff. I will break down the new janet single "Call On Me" featuring Nelly.

Journey to Mississippi: Part Two

Before my dad left Syracuse, he told me and my mom that he had left me a life insurance policy for [sum removed] dollars. I never really cared about it because I didn't want to think about it the prospect of my dad dying. So now that he has my mom reminded me of the policy. The thing is that there has never been any kind of documentation regarding said policy. Even though there is no proof, I got caught up in the prospect of there being a policy and what I would do with the money. I would be able to pay off all my student loans and other miscellaneous bills, but just thinking about the money for a split second made me feel bad. I am kind of relieved that this issue has passed because I wouldn't want the dilemma of figuring out what I should do with the money. But I wonder why my dad told me this without giving me any kind of documentation? My housemate suggested that I hire a private detective to search the insurance agencies to see if a policy actually existed for my dad. At this point it is not important, but maybe in the future.

Yesterday was my first day back at work, and I was still kind of in the dumps. I just dreaded people coming up to me and telling me how sorry they are to hear about my dad. I had about three people come up to me, and it wasn't that bad. What would be the normal responds for this situation? You sort of have to put on a brave smile and tell them "thank you" but in my case it is just making the situation more real. I have been sort of in a disbelief but the more I am reminded that my dad is gone the more it hurts because the reality of it all is setting in. It is hard to refer to my dad in the past tense ... but I guess I will have to get used to it.

At some point thing will begin to feel like normal, but I am not sure how long that will take.

Journey to Mississippi: Part One

I was debating on whether I should make a post today. It is 06.06.06 (read 666) which has some very ominous origins, but it is also my dad's birthday. The day has significance so I have decided to post.

About a week ago I had to make the trek to Columbus, Mississippi to see me dad for the last time. My dad's is originally from Columbus but lived in Syracuse, NY for about 35 years, so I assumed that my dad would be buried in Syracuse. But my dad's sister had other plans. She basically made the decision that he was going to be buried in Columbus without consulting anyone, and when I my family (my mom, brother, and sister) called her on the this she did haven't any compassion for us. As a middle ground I came up with an idea to have services in Syracuse and in Columbus, thenhave my dad cremated so that the ashes could be buried in both cities. Upon tell her this, she dropped a bombshell ... his "WIFE" had the right to make the arrangements, not the children.

The fact that my Dad was still married, was not a total shock because he told me a while back. But the fact my dad's sister would now bring this up pissed me off. It turned out that she was friends with the "wife" that has been absent for over 30 years, but she now wanted to assert her legal rights over my dad. There was a rumor that my dad and the "wife" got a divorce but there was no paperwork. My sister and I scoured public records to find some proof of this only to come up empty. After this ordeal, I was fed up with my dad's family and I didn't want to see them. But I fully intended to see my dad for the last time.

I drove from Dallas, TX to Memphis, TN where I stayed the night. From Memphis, I drove about 3 hours to Columbus, MS for my dad's wake. It was set to start at 5pm, so I decided to get there around 3pm so I wouldn't have to deal with my dad's family. The closer I got to Columbus the sicker I felt because I wasn't quite sure how I was going to react when I saw my dad in a coffin. After a few wrong turns, I finally made it to funeral home that prepared my dad. I told the director who I was and who I want to see and I was lead to a room in the back of the building. I walked into the room and I prepared myself for the worst. I saw my dad ... and nothing.

I didn't cry and I was sort of relieved. The last time I saw my dad before he left for Columbus I was physically shocked on how he looked because he didn't look well at all. Now, he finally looked healthy. I know that sounds odd considering the circumstance, but I was just happy that he looked good. I was there just looking at my dad, cleaning off his suit, and straightening his tie. While doing this my mom called me on my cell phone. Since I was there only person there I decided to take the call. I ended up describing everything to my mom and to let her know that I was okay. My brother was suppose to come with me, but he back out the day before the trip and decided to hold a memorial in Syracuse. So there I was ... alone with my dad for the last time. Before I left I put a few things in his suit pocket: one of my baby pictures, and my score sheet from my first professional bowling tournament that he attended.

On my way out I asked to see the program for the funeral service. It was laying on a desk and underneath there was this picture:


That's my dad holding me on the day I was born. My mom called me a couple of days prior asking if I knew where this picture was located. I thought I had a copy in my baby book, but she was unable to find it. It turns out my dad still has the original 8"x10". But it was interesting to find that on the back of the photo there was a different name for me. My dad and I have similar names, but there are two differences: there is an "on" on his first name, and he doesn't have middle name. On the picture I was a "Jr.". I don't know ... I just found that interesting. Just like my dad told me that he should have a different last name because he ended getting the last name of his mother and not his father. I never delved deep into this ... but maybe I should have.