Random Rambling...

*I'm really beginning to question the integrity of the Pittsburgh Steelers football organization. Well, the players at least. First it was Jeff Reed peeing in public and resisting arrest last fall, then Ben Roethlisberger and his previous motorcycle accident (no helmet? no brains!), his first sexual assault troubles... now yet another "questionable encounter" and investigation, add to that Santonio Holmes' new problems and I'm starting to think we're turning into a certain NFL team in Ohio.
If you really want to continue, I could also mention the former Steelers issues - namely Plaxico Burress and his freakin' self-inflicted gunshot wound, and now Joey Porter arrested for DUI and belligerence.
WTF, people?
Hell, at least Michael Vick and Ray Lewis never played here.

*Ricky Martin is gay! Livin' la vida loca apparently means something else to him than it does to me. But hey, I'm okay with it. So why wasn't he for the last twenty years or so?

And what are he and his buddy doing over here at left...?

*What is up with this Heidi Montag chick? I mean, she is so completely pointless and talentless that it amazes me to no end that she (and her goofy husband) still get press. First of all, they aren't really actors in the true sense of the word. Secondly, she totally morphed into a whole different person with all this plastic surgery (Really, Faith Hill should consider suing her). And now she's writing a movie about 3D boobs? Say it ain't so. That story was filed not under 'Entertainment' on MSN, but under 'Weird News' - which to me, sounds about right.

*Jesse James.
Wow.
What the hell was he thinking?

*Sandra Bullock.
Wow.
What the hell was she thinking?

*My husband hates basketball on tv. I hate basketball on tv.
Hence, no March Madness for us. Yay!
All the television interruptions have only given us more time to get caught up on all the crap we've DVR'd in the last few months!
That being said, I was mortified when Kentucky lost. Boo.

*Speaking of Kentucky. Early KY Derby (5/1/10) predictions?
Eskendereya. Odysseus. Dublin. Rule. Awesome Act. Lookin at Lucky.
Or some other horse!
Ask me again in mid-April...

*I really wish people would stop seeing Jesus and/or other religious images in pieces of toast, oil deposits, clouds, and other random places. I don't believe for one iota that a dental X-ray shows the Pope's face in it or that that Cheeto is shaped like Jesus on the cross. Sorry. Get a grip people.

*California is seriously considering legalizing marijuana. You know what happens when they do?
People start seeing Jesus' face in their morning cinnamon bun.

*Is everyone out there watching "Justified" on Tuesday nights on FX? If not, you better jump on that bandwagon pronto! Not only is it a really good show, but Timothy Olyphant is to die for. Top notch show from a station that keeps putting increasingly good shows on the air. Nip/Tuck, Sons of Anarchy.... and shows I haven't seen but hear good things about -Damages, The Shield, and Rescue Me.

Justified follows a Kentucky-bred US Marshall under scrutiny for questionable use of force (that's putting it mildly - basically he likes to shoot people) in a recent case and has been reassigned from Florida to his hometown of Harlan, KY., and he brings his own gun-slinging kind of justice with him.

It's all kinds of awesome.
{And can I just make mention that a town very close here (Kittanning for you locals) has been a filming location. Hmm... western PA filling in for eastern Kentucky. Yep, seems about right.}

*Recently I saw two very good movies that I reviewed over on my other blog,Fascination with Fear. Neither are not the horrifying, gory films I watch so much of. "Lake Mungo" (reviewed here) is a fantastic mockumentary about a girl who drowned at a family outing, and "Moon" (reviewed here) is one of the best films I've seen in quite some time. An astronaut is reaching the end of a three year stint in space when something rather unusual occurs. It reminds most people of the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey, but it is so much more than that - and soooo not as boring. I highly recommend it, even if you aren't much for sci-fi. (I like science fiction considerably less than full-on horror, so you can trust me.)

Oh, and I made a few creative changes to that blog - a bit of a face lift if you will. It seems a bit more streamlined and neat now. Or maybe that's just me. Either way, it's staying that way, because it was a pain in the ass getting everything the way I wanted it.

*I'm really not impressed with this season of American Idol. Matter of fact, I tend to think it's the worst season I've seen yet. If Crystal Bowersox (who is a cross between Alanis Morrisette and Janis Joplin) doesn't win I'll eat my hat. Besides her and one, maybe two other people - there is very little that stands out.
And while I'm bitching, please make someone END those rot-gut live group performances on Wednesday (results) night. Gah! Soooooo very awful. Thank heavens for the MUTE button.

And why the hell don't any of the contestants pick songs from the last twenty years....like, evah?

If I hear another crappy Motown redeux I will seriously choke on my chocolate Cherrios. And please, kids - no more of the following:

No Mariah Carey.

No Celine Dion.
No Christina Aguilera.

No Michael Jackson.

No Stevie Wonder.

No Queen.

No Whitney Houston.

And stop covering 'Unchained Melody' by The Righteous Brothers, 'Against All Odds' by Phil Collins, 'I Will Always Love You' by Whitney Houston, and 'I Don't Wanna Be' by Gavin DeGraw.

And for the love of God, please stop singing the songs of previous Idol winners. Especially in your less than stellar auditions. Bleck!

*Well that would appear to be all I have for this random post.

Till next time...

Oscar ranting and other tidbits.

And here is where I chatter and bitch about the Oscars, and throw in some other random junk at the end.



Belated congrats go out to Kathryn Bigelow, the Academy Award winning director of this year's winner of Best Picture - The Hurt Locker. Sunday night she became the first female director to win an Oscar. Can I hear a Woot Woot!!

By the way, I did see The Hurt Locker and it was, quite frankly, intensely terrific. It can't not affect you. Pardon the double negative but it's well worth the praise.

Oh, and another special shout out to Bigelow for one-upping her former husband and maker of all things blue and silly, James Cameron. His Avatar was up for Best Picture and he was in the running for director as well. Guess there's a "queen of the world" right about now.
And I have two words for Avatar. Popcorn film.
Two more: Sorry Jim.

Still in the Avatar vein... what the hell was she thinking??? I can't even begin to comment on that. I will say I enjoyed her performance in Star Trek.

And how nice for Sandra Bullock. Much as I like some of her movies I've never thought of her as an Oscar-worthy actress. But I guess she is. And you'd better recognize - or Jesse James will come kick your ever-lovin' ass.

And Jeff Bridges - Dude! He's deserved one of the gold statues for awhile. I haven't seen Crazy Heart yet, but I'm sure it's great. My favorite JB role is, of course, Seabiscuit.

While I'm still ranting about the Oscars (and here comes a big one folks), can I just say that while I appreciated the ode to horror movies I do have a few complaints. First off - the presenters of the clip were Kristen Stewart and Taylor Lautner of Twilight fame!! Okay, here's the thing. One last time. Twilight, New Moon, and all other forthcoming Stephenie Meyer adaptations are not horror. They are teen angst. Among other reasons, there are no fangs on the vamps and there is no blood. And waaaaaay too much brooding. Not horror. And yes, I feel I AM a horror expert, so you can trust me on that.

Second annoying little piss-off? The Academy forgot about Silence of the Lambs sweeping the Oscars back in 1992. The statement was made that it had been over thirty years since horror was recognized - back when The Exorcist had ten nominations and won two Oscars. Excuse me?
The Silence of the Lambs won five - taking the win in all the major categories including Best Picture. Obviously people like Eli Roth and Quentin Tarentino are not Academy members, or this glaring error would have been corrected. Come to mention it - why didn't those two start the horror clip off???

That being said, the clip wasn't bad but it showed way too much of the same thing. Too much Psycho, The Shining, and (for the love of all that is good and sacred) Texas Chainsaw 4!! While The Shining and Psycho are two of the most worthy additions to be sure, I can't see why we could have had one clip of each and moved on to some of the glaring omissions I noticed. For instance - NO VINCENT PRICE! Sacrilege! NO ITALIAN HORROR! No Argento, no Bava, no Fulci. NO ROGER CORMAN - who incidentally picked up an honorary Lifetime Achievement Academy Award AT THAT VERY CEREMONY not an hour beforehand! NO HAMMER HORROR! At least not that I saw. For God's sake, throw me a bone here.

Instead, they gave us one too many clips of the worst chapter in the Texas Chainsaw Massacre film history just because Renee Zellweger and Matthew McConaughey starred in it (which I'm sure they were super-glad to acknowledge!) and a clip of Jennifer Aniston (pre-nose job) in the stellar film, Leprechaun! I know it's nearly St. Patrick's Day and all, but pleeaaase!

Anyway, here's the clip if you missed it, starting out with a cute Paranormal Activity spoof by hosts Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin. And it completely cut out the bad intro by the New Moon stars, so mega-kudos there.



Now...perhaps on to other, less histrionic complaints.

Anyone else slightly disturbed by the influx of natural disasters lately? I'm beginning to think the Mayans may be correct and things are getting geared up. When's the last time you can remember this many killer earthquakes happening so close together? Haiti? Chile? Another one yesterday in Turkey and one hit this morning off the coast of Hawaii. And of course then we have the heinous tsunamis that follow. And all this after the biggie in Sumatra in late 2004. Seems like since that event, things have went downhill. If you factor in all the horrific hurricanes we've had in the last several years (esp. Katrina) you have to wonder if someone is trying to tell us something. So far, this year has been awful. I'm so not looking forward to hurricane season.
As I write this, I notice a massive tornado has hit in Oklahoma. I don't even want to talk twisters. Greensburg, Kansas anyone?

So, Ben Roethlisberger has gotten himself all lawyered up for his most recent legal woes. Who does he hire? None other than the same attorney that defended Ray Lewis back in 2000 for his murder trial. Oh wow, talk about making yourself look guilty, dude. Sounds like it's all "make this go away" to me.
Guess we'll see.

Betty White is going to do Saturday Night Live! Yay! After a viral internet campaign she was apparently asked and has agreed to go on SNL. I'm making a prediction that it will be one of the most-watched-ever episodes! She's hil-arious!





A question has arisen in my mind and I just have to ask. Why do so many women carry such immensely HUGE purses? This has baffled me for some time and I figured I might as well ask.
For example: I have a co-worker that carries a handbag the size of Rhode Island. When I ask her what the hell is in there, she says "stuff". No kidding. But what stuff?
This reminds me of a great segment from The Breakfast Club which I must share.




So, after that - I still ask. What the HELL do you women carry? I mean, as for me, I simply have my wallet, a pen, a pack of gum, some Excedrin, sunglasses, chapstick, and a tampon! And there's still room for my keys. If I had a cell phone, it'd fit as well. Small purse. Not shoulder-crushing heavy or the least bit hernia inducing.

I mean, what the f*** else do you need to have with you? The menu for the House of Hunan? No! Toss it! A bag of 100 calorie mini-oreos? No! Get rid of it. (Well, unless you're diabetic in which case I'll give you a pass.) Mini calendar? Why? Are you really that likely to need to know when Aunt Eunice's birthday is while you're at your kid's soccer practice? If you're that forgetful you mustn't care too much for Auntie in the first place. Speaking of kids - if you've got a diaper (clean or dirty) in there then you are just beyond the scope of my gross-out factor. How about that umbrella you've got shoved in there? How much of you is it going to cover anyway? Wear a hood. Those dog treats in the outside pocket? Unless you're a postal carrier I say ditch 'em. And if your purse is big enough that you're shoving a change of clothes in there? Get a freakin' duffle bag and carry it when you need it. Are you accident prone or something?
I'm just sayin'.

Okay, I'm done ranting.

Just one more thing. Welcome home (well, to their home in Alaska!) to my cousin Jackie's hubby, Aaron - who just got home from another tour in Afghanistan. Thank you, and we're glad you're home safe!!!