I just want to briefly mention my deep, undying thanks to Jasmine for giving me with what might be the kindest, most thoughtful gift anyone has ever made for me. I am not worthy. Now I just gotta figure out where to hang it.
And the buckets of Always Sunny DVDs were very cool too.
But nothing could prepare you for the overwhelming power of Jared's ability to talk about himself without actually saying anything for a solid three hours. He'd hooked himself up with a shiny pink mohawk, and occasionally left the stage to "sing" in the center of a thousand thronging 19-year-old girls, letting them get a few hundred dozens gropes in while crowdsurfing back to the stage.
For everyone thinking I'm just a hater: yes. Damn right.
If you ever get the chance to go to a Lux Level theater, do it. Watching Dark Knight today in Randolph with Madore and they bring frickin' martinis and chicken satay to your seat. THIS is the experience that home theaters will never duplicate.
Caught a New Year's Day showing of Children of Men downtown at the Boston Common this evening after having heard just the interesting premise: 
an ordinary British office worker in 2027 (Clive Owen) finds himself protecting the first pregnant woman on Earth in 18 years from... well, the rest of what the world has become.
Easily the best movie I've seen in the theater in years, the thing just kept moving with such a wonderful unpredictability yet without ever betraying its characters. Michael Caine was great as always in a large cameo, Julianne Moore also did well with what she was handed, but Clive Owen's character developments just made the picture.
Sat there in the theater just blown away every minute by the latest plot swing or action sequence. Look out one scene in particular toward the end which involved some rather serious pyrotechnics, yet where the camera didn't cut out for at least five minutes or more.
Can't wait to see what Mexican director Alfonso Cuaron does next -- I'm still enjoying finding the parrellels between his vision of the future and what's happening today in ours. Download youharvest_full.m4v
Lev Grossman: The Magicians: A Novel
After buying this last summer on a friend's rec, I ended up blowing through it in two days on the most recent trip down to Barcelona. A bizarre mix of Narnia, Harry Potter, and an alcoholic Holden Caulfield, it ended up being just weird enough to be absolutely gripping. Can't wait for the sequels. (****)
George R. R. Martin: A Dance With Dragons
Only finished the second chapter, but yeah, back in A Song of Ice And Fire. No idea how good this new fifth installment out of the alleged seven-book series will be, but hoping "really damn good" seeing as how the thing's 1,016 pages long and easily the largest hardcover book I've ever owned. This one may not make it back on the plane.
Suzanne Collins: The Hunger Games
Went with some light reading for the first few weeks of summer after ordering a dozen or so books off Amazon.co.uk. This one turned out to be great -- the story of a girl in a far-future version of the US, where the regime requires 24 contestants between the ages of 12 and 18 to battle to the death every year until there's a lone survivor. The story's told through the viewpoint of "girl on fire" heroine, Katniss Everdeen, a skilled huntress from having to hunt to feed her family, and determined to survive. Not the deepest reading but you can burn through it in a day or two. Entertaining as hell. (****)
George R. R. Martin: A Feast For Crows (A Song Of Ice And Fire, Book 4)
Long and full of mud and sorrow. Still a great read full of great characters, but due to Martin's decision to split the stories of "Feast" and "Dance" into two separate books -- by character -- this one gets delegated to featuring all the less-loved folk, meaning there's no Jon, Dany, or especially Tyrion. Here's hoping the just-arrived #5 gets the momentum of the story established by #3 back on track. (***)
George R. R. Martin: A Storm of Swords (A Song of Ice and Fire, Book 3)
And on to the third one. Which despite the smaller form factor weighs in pretty hefty at almost 1,100 pages. Everything's burning, main characters are developing in new directions, the Kingslayer's on the move, the world's in turmoil, John Snow's in the thick of it, and Danny's on her way over with a few friends to wreck some shop.
So glad it's winter break and there's a fireplace handy. (*****)
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