Labor Day weekend was just that: laborous!  So, when I wasn’t working, I was out trying to blow my paycheck!  Hey, what’s the point in working relelentlessly if I don’t take some time to go out and enjoy it?!  Friday I met up with Rebecca after work.  Yes, we are on speaking terms again and trying to somehow sort out our differences in some way whether it leads to us seeing each other again or not.  She brought me her latest dog rescuee being she is like the crazy cat lady only with a crapload of dogs instead of cats!  I think she knew I’d be interested in this one being the dog is a Boston terrier and border collie mix and I have always wanted a Boston terrier.  So she brought Molly (the name she gave her being she is fond of giving dogs people names - as for me, I still want a male Boston terrier and name him Vader!) to the apartment and we went to Target to pick up some stuff for the dog (leash, toys, bowls, etc.) and then went to Ruby Tuesday’s for dinner.

Saturday I did little more than do my on-air shift and the same could be said for most of Sunday.  My mom and Aunt Pat came over to see the new addition to the Twisted family and we walked her out to the small man-made lake out by my apartment complex.

Monday, when I wasn’t on the air (again!), Rebecca and I managed to take in a movie: the new comedy spoof Tropic Thunder starring Ben Stiller, Jack Black and Robert Downey, Jr.  Of the three lead characters, Downey clearly made his mark portraying “the dude playing the dude disguised as another dude”.  I mean his character stayed in character until the end of the movie!  “I stay in character until I finish the DVD commentary!” I believe he said….and he wasn’t kidding!

And let’s not forget the A-list supporting cast of Nick Nolte, Matthew McConaughey and, oh yes, Tom “Damn, my ass is crazy!” Cruise!  I really enjoyed the film as it was a breath of fresh air from other crappy spoof movies such as the ridiculous Scary Movie saga that has bled over into the even more preposterous Epic Movie, Disaster Movie and all the other ”Fill in the Flippin’ Blank” movies!

And it really pisses me off that everyone is all up in arms about their references to mentally handicapped people as ‘retards’.  I admit it’s in rather poor taste, but isn’t comedy supposed to be unapologetically irreverent?  I mean I just watched the new Harold & Kumar flick on DVD and it’s remorselessly racist!  Being a Christian, I constantly see shows like South Park or especially Moral Orel that make a mockery of my beliefs.  Yes, it offends me, but I simply choose not to watch it if it gets too offensive which I did stop watching the latter of the two shows because it honestly made me feel like a heathen….or worse!  LOL!!!

Tropic Thunder   \m/  \m/  \m/  \n

And here’s a few of the DVDs I’ve watched recently now that I have a steady supply of rentals with Blockbuster Total Access:

I just mentioned how racist Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay was, but don’t get me wrong, it was a riot!  If you liked their first adventure getting to White Castle, you’ll caertainly enjoy this!

Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay   \m/  \m/  \m/  \

I pretty much got what I expected out of Prom Night and maybe a little more since it was more bloody and violent than what I would expect from a PG-13 rated slasher flick.  Granted it is painfully obvious that it is not a remake of the Jamie Lee Curtis horror film of the same name.  The character names are different as well as the overall plot of the movie save for the fact that both films occur on (big surprise here!) high school prom nights.

Prom Night  \m/  \m/  \

When Grandma’s Boy first came out, I thought it would be a big piece of crap trying to capitalize on Adam Sandler’s success by throwing a comedy together using a cast full of his supporting cast regulars - but no Sandler.  It turned out being one of my favorite comedies in recent years so I had high hopes for Happy Madison’s latest DVD release Strange Wilderness.  I have to say I was somewhat disappointed.  Don’t get me wrong, it had some rather hilarious moments, but just didn’t deliver a comedy I’d really want to watch again.

Strange Wilderness   \m/  \m/  \n

That’s it!  I’m done and heading home to take care of Molly!

I went to see the midnight showing of The Dark Knight at Hollywood 20 last night - or should I say this morning?!  Rebecca had bought our tickets on Fandango as all the theaters sold out as I am sure this film set an amazing pre-sell record.  After getting off the air, I got a little work done in the office until Becca got to the station then we went over to Target so I could pick up some much needed groceries and to get my cousin a gift for his baby shower this Sunday.

We ran the groceries back to my place then grabbed a bite to eat at T.G.I.Fridays and then on to the theater.  We got there about 10:30 and they were already seating so we got some reasonably good seats.  Despite the fact the projector broke down on us twice, I thoroughly enjoyed the movie.

I wasn’t too thrilled with Batman Begins being I actually prefer the surrealistic feel of the Tim Burton films.  However, the gritty realistic realm of Christopher Nolan’s Gotham City actually translated really well in this film.  The atmosphere really added to the twisted, sadistic nature of the Joker whose character was wonderfully portrayed by Heath Ledger who will, regrettably, not be able to reprise the role in any future Batman films.  Aaron Eckhart also did an amazing job portraying Harvey Dent and then the inevitable villain Two-Face.

The story was quite possibly THE greatest superhero screenplay I have ever experienced on the silver screen.  The complex twists, turns and moral obscurities were just extremely clever and well-executed.  And the film leaves you wanting more as you’re wondering what’s next and how long you’re gonna have to bite your nails until the next installment of the Caped Crusader.

The Dark Knight  \m/ \m/ \m/ \m/ \m

Oh no, it’s Monday!  4th of July weekend is over!  Oh well, time to saddle up!  At least I have a few things to talk about - and yes, that includes movie reviews!  First up, I went to go see the new Angelina Jolie flick Wanted which was amazing even though I’m normally not into assassin movies.  From start to finish the film was damn near flawless with a great storyline with some clever twists and phenomenal special effects.  I had heard great things about the movie but wasn’t expecting to have that much delivered.  I’ve actually been debating over whether to give the film four and a half or five rockers.  So I compromised and gave it four and three-quarters.

Wanted  \m/ \m/ \m/ \m/ \m

Friday, the 4th, when I wasn’t on the air, I was in my uncle’s pool and eating hot dogs off the grill!  That night I went out to Ground Zero to see KITTIE, DOPE and some great local bands throw down on Independence Day!  Screw fireworks!  I got there as A VACANT SOUL was on the stage and, I gotta say, those guys keep getting better every time I see them!  Can’t wait to see them open for SHINEDOWN tonight!  Expect another blog tomorrow!

After AVS, DEAD 7 hit the downstairs stage for which I was up front virtually the whole time considering they hit their first notes as I was walking out of the john!  They put on a helluva great set throwing in Johnny Cash’s classic “Folsom Prison Blues” as well as some new material.  Back upstairs A NEW REVOLUTION hit the stage.  I wasn’t too familiar with them but they put on a good set.  BOOLOW hit the downstairs stage next and they have really stepped up their game which is really a feat considering bassist/vocalist Jason Scoggins was running the upstairs bar the whole night when he wasn’t onstage!  Hats off to ya, bro!

DOPE was next upstairs followed by HEADSNAP downstairs.  Our Spartanburg boys never disappoint when they take the stage!  And, of course, KITTIE wrapped up the night on the main stage and I was pooped by the time they finished!  Yeah, I know I’m a pansy!

I went straight home, took a harlot’s shower and went to bed.  A couple of hours later I woke up starving so I went to Waffle House at about five in the morning.  Chopped steak, scrambled eggs, hashbrowns and toast never tasted so good!  I sat up for a while to let my late night feeding frenzy digest and then passed back out after seeing the sun come up and slept until time to go back on the air.  And that, ladies and gentlemen, was my Saturday.

Sunday (yesterday) I met my family at Golden Corral to have an early birthday dinner for my brother Anthony.  We then went to Hollywood 20 to catch the new Will Smith flick Hancock.  I really enjoyed the movie until the main character’s background was revealed and I was rather disappointed.  It wasn’t bad, but I thought they could have done better.  Nevertheless, the film was quite entertaining overall and definitely worth checking out on the big screen.

Hancock  \m/ \m/ \m/ \n

Last week I got a copy of the new horror DVD The Ruins which hits stores tomorrow (I love my job!) and I will be giving away copies of it all week long only on my show being I am the resident horror movie nut.  I finally got around to watching the film last night and got what I expected which wasn’t much.  I was surprised to see Shawn “Iceman” Ashmore from the X-Men films sporting the bearded nappy-headed look.  As a matter of fact I wasn’t sure it was him until the credits rolled.

Anyways, the movie had the whole Cabin Fever vibe to it where something organic yet sinister ‘eats’ its way through its victims and there is virtually no hope for its college-aged characters.  It was very predictable in places but had its redeeming moments of gore to appease horror fans’ bloodlust.  Not a must-have or even a must-see, but if you manage to win a copy off of me this week, it’s a fun run for a ‘got nothing better to do’ movie night.

The Ruins  \m/ \m/ \n

Friday after getting off the air, Rebecca, Mikey and I all went to go see the new Pixar flick WALL-E.  During the previews, there was a trailer for a new Disney animated feature called Bolt which, I later find out, a college friend of mine named Chris Doehling worked on some of the animation in the film.

WALL-E surprised me in that it was very bleak in the beginning and made a very serious statement about the current course of man (didn’t Shyamalan already make a big environmentalist statement this summer?!).  However, the situation is reversed by our lovable main character and his newly found ‘lady’ friend in an adventure true to the nature of Pixar.  I didn’t find this one to be Pixar’s best, but I’d have to say that WALL-E is easily the most lovable character created by the computer animation masters.

WALL-E  \m/ \m/ \m/ \m/

The next night Rebecca had a party at her house and, of course, I was recruited to help her set up for the party (didn’t I give up this duty when we broke up?!).  So, being the newly created Jell-O fiend I’ve become (thank you St. Patty’s Day on River St. in Savannah!), I went by Party City and found those little Solo dipping cups which are nice and shallow so the Jell-O shooters are much more accessible to the tongue (another trick we discovered in Savannah).  I also grabbed ten packages of generic brand gelatin at CVS which were on clearance for 25 cents a box!  Those were in addition to the couple of boxes of name brand Jell-O we already had for a grand total of four cherry, four orange and four strawberry.

We ran to Green’s to nab various liquors and, of course, got some Everclear for the Jell-O (oh yeah, we weren’t messin’ around)!  So, for each box of Jell-O, you’re supposed to use a cup of boiling water and a cup of cold water.  Originally, we were going to substitute ALL the cold water with alcohol but since we were using Everclear we just used a half-cup of alcohol and half-cup of cold water.  Needless to say even that was extremely potent!  And we had no idea how many Jell-O shots each would yield.  We did all four boxes of cherry then decided only to go with two boxes of orange and ended up with damn near 60 Jell-O shots and eight Jell-O injector syringes!

By the end of the night we had just a little over a dozen Jell-O shots remaining as well as three syringes (granted there were other liquors and some beer involved).  And I am happy to report that in nearly 32 years I have still yet to get sick from drinking!  I think I know what I’m serving at my birthday party in a month!  There’s ALWAYS room for J-E-L-L-O!

I took a little time out of the office Friday to go see the new Mike Myers flick The Love Guru.  I was expecting another stupid comedy from another SNL veteran like that of Adam Sandler’s You Don’t Mess with the Zohan and even that was an overestimation!  The film was full of unrefined dick and fart jokes, which I usually enjoy but these were totally lame and unoriginal.  I admit I chuckled a few times at the blatant absurdity of it all, but not enough to have remotely enjoyed a whole hour and a half of it.  Hard to believe this came from the mastermind that created one of my all-time favorite comedies (and frequently quoted both on and off the air), Wayne’s World.  I’m not going to tell you not to ever see this movie.  I will tell you to consider it if you’re on vacation and you and your significant other want to stay in and catch a movie in your hotel room and take advantage of free HBO!  Just don’t pay to see it!  Thankfully I didn’t!

The Love Guru  \m/ \m/

After work, Mikey and I went to catch a much better film, the film adaptation of the 60s’ hit TV series Get Smart starring Steve Carell, Anne Hathaway and Dwayne (will still always be “The Rock”) Johnson.  This was everything I expected, so I thoroughly enjoyed it.  Comedy, action, gadgets and a surprising number of appearances from cast members of the remake of The Longest Yard.  Nothing more to say except that this was the film to see this weekend.  Screw the guru!

Get Smart  \m/ \m/ \m/ \n

Before leaving the office to kill 90 minutes of my life Friday morning, I grabbed a copy of the new SHINEDOWN cd we had just received.  As I was hoping, the album goes more in the vein of “Devour” as that song opens the cd with the title track “The Sound of Madness” following and keeping the momentum.  Granted there are a handful of trademark ballads from the band such as “Second Chance” and my favorite of the slower tempoed tunes, “If You Only Knew”.  Overall, a really good record from a band I, admittedly, am not a big fan of being this is the first album by the band I’ve owned.

SHINEDOWN  The Sound of Madness  \m/ \m/ \m/ \n

I went to go see the new M. Night Shyamalan film Friday night because Rebecca was dying to go see it.  I, on the other hand, was a bit apprehensive due to several negative remarks I had already caught wind of.  Plus, let’s face it, Shyamalan is a quirky director with a hit-and-miss record.  I, and most of the free world, loved 1999’s The Sixth Sense.  2000’s Unbreakable was entertaining, I thoroughly enjoyed 2002’s Signs but was not at all impressed with 2004’s The Village - I thought that one would have been better as a half-hour episode of The Twilight Zone.  As for 2006’s Lady in the Water, I’m still not sure how I feel about that one as it was so-so.

But I have to say I actually enjoyed the new Shayamalan film despite the obvious statement the director is making with the movie.  I, of course, loved the rather gruesome death scenes as Shyamalan has apparently developed a little taste for gore in this one!  As is par for the course with a Shyamalan film, I can’t really say much more without spoiling the movie, so I’ll just have to be as vague and ambiguous as his themes tend to be.

The Happening  \m/ \m/ \m/

Now this is what I have been waiting for since the disappointment of 2003’s Hulk!  Yeah, I did the midnight showing not just because I’m a geek, but also because I have so much work to do today I can’t justify taking time out of the office!

Edward Norton, unsurprisingly, does an excellent job portraying Dr. Bruce Banner, a scientist with HUGE anger management issues.  If you liked that pun, well the film is full of even more clever ones that aren’t afraid to embrace the cheese!  Some of the film’s momentum is a bit slow yet necessary, but the payoff is…..well, INCREDIBLE!

The action in the film is great and Hulk fans will be pleased to get a dose of the eagerly awaited HULK SMASH!!!  And I am proud to inform you that there is no need to stay through the credits for the big bonus is at the end BEFORE the credits roll!

THE INCREDIBLE HULK  \m/ \m/ \m/ \m/ \n

Friday night after getting off the air I found myself really bored and wanting to catch a movie.  I checked online to see what had come out this weekend and the new Sandler flick caught my eye.  So I called around to see who might want to join me spur of the moment so I didn’t look like a TOTAL loser going to the movies by myself on a Friday night.  Rebecca was pooped and Mikey was hanging with a new lady friend until she went to work later that night, so I put the ants in my pants on ice for a few until Mikey was freed up so we could make the 10:45 showing at Hollywood 20.

I really don’t know how to critique this film except to say that it is every bit as stupid as it looks in the trailers…..maybe even more so.  Now, having said that, I still really enjoyed the movie because, again, it was pretty much what I was expecting going into the theater.  The only other thing I can say is that, again, Sandler has cast virtually every co-star, supporting cast member and celebrity cameo from all his other films.  Dave Matthews, who briefly appeared as a gay sales clerk in I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry, got a slightly larger role as a redneck bigot hired by some big corporate nemesis named Walbridge (played by the one and only Michael Buffer) to take out Zohan.  Then there was Mariah Carey as herself and, the one that shocked the crap out of me, Charlotte Rae (Mrs. Garrett in “The Facts of Life” and “Diff’rent Strokes”) as one of the Zohan’s ‘clients’.  I thought she was dead!

So, if you’re looking for a great senseless comedy, Sandler delivers the cheese - um, wait, make that the hummus!  Go see the movie and you’ll see what I mean!  I loved the hacky sack game with the cat!

You Don’t Mess with the Zohan  \m/ \m/ \m/

Wow!  What a weekend THIS has been!

Friday night after work, Rebecca and I went to Hollywood 20 to catch the new horror/suspense/thriller The Strangers starring Liv Tyler.  The film was a wonderful exploration into old school psychological terror with the ’strangers’ playing some hardcore cat-and-mouse games with Liv Tyler’s character and her estranged lover.  And the games were just a precursor to the inevitably grim ending.  The film was effective enough to make me actually lock my bedroom door in my apartment and keep my Celtic war sword by my bedside as I turned in that night!

The Strangers  \m/ \m/ \m/ \m/

Before turning in, I tried to find out more about the films’ apparently falsified true events inspiration being I found nothing.  I did, however, discover that I had missed the release of one of my favorite band’s, KING’s X, new album which hit record stores back on May 20th.  Frustrated by my own negligence, I rushed to Best Buy first thing Saturday to purchase XV, their aptly-titled fifteenth album.  I have bought every record on its street date since the mid-90s!  The disc didn’t exactly floor me, but it IS KING’s X and is still better than a vast majority of modern music!

KING’s X  XV  \m/ \m/ \m/

From there, I headed towards Easley to hit 123 East Coast Ink to have Redneck do my long-awaited Darth Vader tattoo on my leg.  While en route, Becca called me to let me know she had found a Schecter Omen-4 left-handed bass on e-Bay for $350 with free shipping.  Having just received a nice paycheck the day before, I was left with a difficult yet obvious decision to go ahead and bite the bullet.  Hey, ramen noodles will do for a couple of weeks, right?!  So I gave her my card info so she could make the purchase only for the card to be declined.  For some reason, online purchases do NOT like my card!  So, she proceeded to make the purchase on her PayPal account and I agreed to reimburse her right after I got my new body art.

I got to 123 East Coast Ink and Redneck proceeded to turn my leg into a beautiful canvas any Star Wars geek would be immensely proud of!  Here’s the pic he took of it right after he finished:

You can also check it out and rate it on the Wall of Ink! 

On the way back to my neck of the woods, I stopped by an ATM to get Becca the cash I owed her for the bass only to find that it left me with much less in my account than I had accounted for.  As I gave her the cash, I informed her of the issue and she, in turn, checked out my online bank statement.  As it turned out, the declined card purchase posted - TWICE!!!  Considering I had just written a check for my rent that morning, I am in a considerable jam.  In all likelihood, the bank will drop the declined charges and all will be well and good, but, in the meantime, I am sweating the good possibility of a bounced check!

So, I headed home a bit concerned but ready to relax a bit nonetheless.  I threw on a load of laundry and rested until my musical comrade Mikey got off work and we headed out to The Real Gypsy to catch a former bandmate’s new band, THE DIRTY EIGHTIES.  Steve and Co. were joined by HEAD LANGUAGE and PREACHER’s GUN for a good live music outing followed by a tasty trip to the Huddle House!

Aside from having to work here and there, I had a mighty good Memorial Day Weekend.  Friday night Rebecca and I went over to Robbie and Vanessa’s place to play some Nintendo Gamecube.  On the way, I was desperately looking for a fourth controller so we could all simultaneously play Mario Kart and Mario Tennis.  I searched all over the place before finally realizing we were close to Darkside Games being in the Powdersville area.  We rode by only to find they had apparently just closed.

Not to be deterred, I rode back by first thing the next morning and, lo and behold, I nabbed a used controller for a mere 12 bucks!  So, after working my shift on Saturday, I rounded the gang up and had another Gamecube blowout at Ray and Erin’s!

Sunday I took it easy aside from getting some work done for the Planet’s premiere local rock show Upstate Unsigned so it was ready to overtake the Planet at 11!  Nice shameless plug, eh?

Monday morning Becca and I went and caught the new Narnia flick which was pretty good.  Granted it wasn’t as good as its predecessor, but a good sequel nonetheless.  I really can’t critique it much because it was simply what I expected: a continuation of the Narnia saga.

The Chronicles of Narnia:  Prince Caspian   \m/ \m/ \m/

Later that evening, I once again rounded up the gang for, you guessed it, ANOTHER Gamecube blowout!  Just between us, I am pretty burnt out on Mario Kart and will probably be so for a while!  Maybe now I can get everyone on board for some Mario Golf competition!