Catch Up or Catsup?

Now that the soap opera stuff is outta the way, I can actually get back into what my life is doing these days.  As I mentioned last time out, I am actually working again.  Since April Fools Day, I’ve been an employee of the Sears store in Rivergate Mall.  I work in Receiving and Merchandise Pick Up (MPU).  In other words, I work in the stockroom.  It definitely isn’t glamorous, it definitely isn’t up to par with what I’m capable of, and it definitely isn’t making me much money (at $7.00/hr)…but it’s work.  It was the first work I was able to find.  I spent two months going after bigger things, but when those didn’t pan out, it was time to start looking for the first available option.  I applied to all kinds of places, with the exception of restaurants and fast food joints, and Sears was the best one to come through (read:  first one).  It’s been pretty hard on my body.  I wasn’t exactly used to having to lift lawn tractors, stacked boxes of push mowers, dishwashers, tool chests, water heaters, etc.  Took a little time to be able to be much use, but I’m getting there now.  I’m still the weakest guy back there, but the gap is narrowing.

Two weeks ago, I had an interview with PAX TV in Mount Juliet that was set up by Will’s dad.  The general manager of the station is his best friend, so he was able to convince him to see me (of course, the job was intented to be Will’s, but he passed on it).  I kept hearing it would be a slam dunk, that I’d get the job.  Yet, two weeks later, and I’ve heard nothing.  Oh well.  Just gotta keep trudging along.

Now Playing in Dave’s Mental Jukebox:  “Jia Ren Qu” by Zhang Ziyi (from House of Flying Daggers), “Hollaback Girl” by Gwen Stefani (this song makes me want to poke my brains out with a pencil eraser), and “Do You Call My Name” by Ra

I’ve actually started going back to the movies recently.  It’s been so damn long, but, really, there just hadn’t been anything I wanted to see.  I was really astounded by ticket prices, too.  $8.25?  Why not just rob me at knifepoint?  And why make me sit through fucking commercials when I’ve paid to be there?  Talk about a total pisser…  But I already knew that was going to happen.  Anywho…

A few weeks ago, I saw The Upside of Anger, starring Joan Allen and Kevin Costner.  Yes, I paid to see a Kevin Costner movie.  What intrigued me was the cast of females.  Joan Allen, Keri Russell, Erika Christensen, Alicia Witt, and Evan Rachel Wood…all fantastic actresses.  That was pretty much the one thing that got me in the theater (and, might I add, I was the only person in there watching it…nothing like having the theater to yourself).  The movie itself was pretty good.  Joan Allen was remarkable as a mother on the brink of insanity.  The four girls were good as her daughters.  Kevin Coster was…well…he was there.  Biggest problem with the movie was unanswered questions and clunky plot points.  Kevin Coster plays a retired baseball player who refuses to talk baseball on his radio show…they never really tell you what baseball did to him to make him hate it.  It’s presented as a semi-major plot point, and it’s just left hanging there by the end.  Overall, a decent movie, but not great.  It’s goodness mostly rests on the shoulders of Joan Allen, perhaps the best actress out there.

This past Tuesday night, I went to see Gong Fu, otherwise known as Kung Fu Hustle.  Once again, I got to have the theater completely to myself for this (you should really go see stuff late on a Tuesday night…it works), which was nice.  The movie puts Steven Chow as a bumbling, wannabe criminal who leads the vicious Axe Gang to a slum where, it just so happens, 5 kung-fu masters reside (unbeknownst to even each other).  Most of the movie is the fighting between the Axe Gang and various masters.  As always with Steven Chow, there is some hilarious over the top comedy thrown in, which works really well in some places, not as much in others.  The fighting sequences are fairly well done, thanks to choreographer Yuen Wo Ping.  The use of CGI in the fights and other parts of the movie is not very well blended.  In some parts, this is obviously the intent, in others, it was meant to be seamless.  As a whole, the movie just kind of disappointed me.  I liken the script to a weak stoner comedy in terms of American movies (as in, really shallow and poorly developed), except much, much funnier.  It’s certainly different from the rest of the garbage out there right now, though.

Finally, I would like to direct your attention to The Pioneer.  At that exact link, you will find an editorial written by none other than my little brother.  Yes, C.J. is now in print.  What I really enjoy about that particular article is that I can see so much of myself in what he’s saying…well…more like in the way he’s saying it.  I’ve created a cynic.  And trust me, this isn’t just me trying to toot my own horn here.  He admits my influence, and my mom really noticed it.  But it’s really just damn cool that he’s now officially published (he brought home like, eleventeen copies of the magazine to prove it).

And with that, I shall end the charade this entry has become.

Sayonara.