The New Year Upon Me

I finally have my car back! Now the thing is, I'm not happy with the job they did. They missed a small spot on the lower back of the quarter panel. It's only about a half inch wide, but they didn't do the job right. I'm taking it back in on Monday to make them redo it. I don't know what will happen, but I'm not happy about it at all. I have waited nearly a month and a half to get my car back and now it's not even right. The place has consistently lied to me. It's absolutely ridiculous.

Enough complaining though, I'm at Steph's now. Her and I will be going to her friend Laura's for New Year's. Just a quaint gathering. Fine by me. I'm not the kind for huge crowds really. I'm sure I will have plenty pictures from the evening to post. I'll possibly make a holiday gallery on Cropreality.

I was going to pick up my iTrip for the iPod Nano at Best Buy, but the whole U.S. is sold out of them. You can't even order them from BestBuy.com right now. I find that to be incredibly wierd. Hopefully there will be some later this week. I will have a New Year's resolution list up tomorrow as well. I've also decided to start writing a a personal Constitution. I'm going to take a long time writing this. After reading Jimmy Carter's new book I've decided it's very important to understand what I stand for and what my own values are. This is something that should be evaluated each year. I should have my first draft ready somewhere around my birthday. (February 26).

Since this will be the first time I'm going to be taking resolutions seriously, I'm going to start with only 3 resolutions this year. I'll take the time today to really think of what they should be and to be careful not to make unreasonable ones. If it's one thing I've learned it's to never set my goals too high because I become demoralized when I don't attain them.

"Dangerously Pleasurable"

So I'm an idiot. Found my cd case with Photoshop today. Likely to say I can add photos once again. Here's a Christmas photo. This was one of my man Christmas presents. It's probably one of my favorites for one thing. The marketing gimmick on the packaging advertised this back massager as 'DANGEROUSLY PLEASURABLE.' Hence the rest of the day I ran around saying "Lookout, it's dangerous!" and would proceed to hold it up. Here's Lauren trying to destroy the massager so it won't hurt any of the children. Anyway, I'll blog about my light painting excursion in just a little bit.

Thursday Part 2 (a.k.a Friday)

So I'm a liar. Or a lush. I'm not sure which, but either way I didn't blog the second part of yesterdays last night because I ended up at Bingo after work and consequently went to the bar afterwards. Of course I didn't earn any money. (In fact all I did was spend it) Good times either way. But anyway, here's what's going on with my life for the past week. I went home for Christmas last week. I spent from Wednesday to Sunday. Stephanie and I got engaged on Friday. I mostly spent the break hanging out with my parents and Steph. After Sunday I went to Steph's until Tuesday morning. I helped her parents setup their wireless network in the house although Dana's computer was having a problem accepting the wireless card. I got back Tuesday and worked until 6:30 p.m. Kempen was back in town so him and I hit up Roc's for a beer or two. The rest of this week I've just been working around the house and working at Pizza Hut. I'm supposed to be getting my car back today, but World Class Collision are a bunch of liars so I doubt it will be done at 5:30 when they say it will.

Here's a recap of my Christmas gifts. Stephanie and her whole family got me the iPod Nano. My parents got me a camera bag, but I had to return it because it wasn't the right one. Of course Best Buy wouldn't give me the cash because it was on a credit card. I bought my arm band for the nano and now I have $75 to spend at Best Buy. My grandparents both gave me money. My dad's side got me an American Eagle shirt as well that I returned for a pretty sweet sweater instead. My cousin Jolene got me a hat that says U.S.S. All-Nighters. I was just excited that I get to advertise my alcoholism now. My mom got me these really neat wooden lamps that fold down like tripods. My sister bought me Jimmy Carter's new book Our Endangered American Values which I'm about half way through already. Should be finished by the end of the weekend. All in all it was a good Christmas.

I traded in my old electric guitar and amp for an acoustic Washburn the other day. I fairly pleased with it. I really need to get a guitar tuner though. It's not out of tune that bad, but just enough to annoy you when playing and I'm not very good tuning by ear. Hopefully I can get a hold of one when up at Steph's tomorrow. Speaking of which, I'm headed back up there tonight after work. I just drove from there the other day and I'm already headed back. It's going to be such a long drive. Luckily I'll have my favorite podcasts and music to listen to on the way up. I'm going to be adding a button to my blog as soon as I can figure it out for the Tips From the Top Floor show. As soon as I get my cds back from Steph's I'll be able to add Photoshop here and post some of my own pictures. I have taken a lot since I was at home and want to share, but just haven't had the editing tools or time. Well, I'm off to the coffee shop to prepare for a full day at Pizza Hut.

Thursday Part 1

So it's time to blog about something worthwhile first. I'm going to split today's blog into two seperate ones. My first blog will be about photography and what's going on with me, and my second one will be about what I've been up to and my life.

First of all, I'm in the middle of listening to a podcast called Tips From the Top Floor. The show is hosted by a German photographer named Chris Marquardt. (pictured to the left). I've always found Europeans to be very odd people and Marquardt is no different. His show mostly consists of segments ranging in 6 minute shows to 30-odd minute interviews with other photographers. I started listening to his shows the other day and have blown through about 7 shows so far. By the end of today I should be caught up with his most recent one. (Although there are about 60 others I have not listened to.) It's hard to say whether his shows are always that worthwhile. There are some where I'm inspired to try whatever he is talking about immediately and others I have to keep myself from falling asleep. The one on lightpainting that I listened to was amazing. Of course I tried it later at night and will have to show you what I got later. Matt doesn't have Photoshop on his computer right now and I think I left my cd case of the programs at Steph's this weekend. After I get through the other ones and get caught up I will blog about them.

Secondly, the Chicago Tribune released their best of 2005 photos in the Sunday section of the Chicago Tribune Magazine. I can't say I'm incredibly impressed with all of them, but there are few that I really enjoyed. My absolute favorite of the picks was Kuni Takahashi's picture of an Afghan man smoking heroin in a shotup cargo hold. The way the bullet holes looked like stars was amazing. My favorite portrait was Vince Vaughn on the Loop by Alex Garcia. I never knew Vaughn was from Buffalo Grove let alone Illinois. The picture up above is probably my favorite feature photo I've seen in awhile. It shows the lightheartedness of soldiers in Mosul, Iraq. A definite needed photo for a change of pace from the hard hitting news photos we see everyday.

I'm going to be looking at the MSNBC photos that Stephen posted about last week. I've been so busy and when I was at home I was unable to view anything decent on the internet because of our connection that I haven't even looked at them. Hopefully I'll get to see them tonight. I always find the best way to become a better photographer is to look at better photographer's photographs.

Briefly Speaking

Just a quick one to let you know I'm still alive. I'm back in good ole Chucktown. My car is STILL not finished. He said it should be Friday now. I'm back at Pizza Hut. Kempen and I hit up Roc's last night. First time I've been there in a couple of months. I'm working the rest of the week at the Hut and then going back to Stephanie's for New Year's Eve. I wish there was some sort of frequent driver miles I could accumulate. Anyway, a quick recap on X-mas gifts I got. I got an iPod nano from Steph, I got a camera bag from my parents, both my grandparents gave me money and my mom found me these lamps that fold down like tri-pods. They're actually pretty neat. Just wish I had somewhere to put them, so I left them home for now. I'll post a few holiday pics later on, but I really need to go read because I haven't done that in awhile. Til later.

I'm Engaged

So it's official. Stephanie finally got me to propose to her. (Okay so I really wanted to do it, but we won't let on to that ;) I finally got a chance to blog after being home for a few days. I'm obviously not happy having dialup. I'm actually getting ready to watch Citizen Kain for the first time with my dad. We just finished up Cindarella Man which is quite possibly my 2nd favorite boxing movie behind Raging Bull. Anyway, I'm going to Steph's tomorrow for Christmas Day. I'll be up there until Tuesday morning. We have to have her ring resized as it was way to big for her hand. Hopefully there actually is a Kay Jewelers by her. Well I don't want to take up too much time of this movie. I just have to say that I'm exuberant about being engaged. It feels a little wierd, but I think it will come with time. The hardest part is saying "This is my fiance Stephanie," instead of "This is my girlfriend," when introducing her to people. I only slipped once last night at the bar with it though. Likely to say she was really excited and started crying, but eventually said "yes!" She only had to make about 100 phone calls afterwards, but the funny part was nearly everyone already knew.

So I hate dial up with a passion. This is the only photo I can get to load from the other night right now. If this damn internet will start working better here I'll add some more photos.

Good news though, the House has only approved the Patriot Act for another 5 weeks rather than 6 months. Unfortunately I don't think any of these politicians will ever get it through their thick skulls that this is America where we are founded upon the principles of freedom. Allowing government agencies to review and wiretap phone conversations without prior approval by some sort of a panel is Constitutionally wrong morally apprehensive. Thanks a lot GOP.

Pizza Hut+Cowboys=Blackmail

I'm home. After 3 hours in a car going in and out of thick fog I made it home around 1:15 a.m. Not bad considering it usually takes me 3.5 hours to get home. The fog was the worse part of it. Parts of the road I couldn't even see more than 10 feet in front of me. Thought a cop was going to pull me over twice. I came up on his stakeout spot doing about 80 mph, but he didn't even flinch. I listened to "The Long Road Home: The Ultimate John Fogerty-Creedence Collection" on my way home for the most part. The cd is amazing. Everything you'd expect from Fogert and Creedence. Thank god someone else owns Fantasy Records now allowing him to publish his material once again.

Anyway, I got to do a little camera tossing, but that's not the greatest picture I have. (Although I was very pleased with them.) Pizza Hut has been ran over by cowboys. My assistant manager Robert came into work with my manager Marvin sporting fake guns and cowboy hats in celebration The Paws weekly Country and Western night. Here's Robert trying to hold up Dennis at the cash register. Dennis must obviously know they're fake guns otherwise he would have pulled out a "Magic" card and summoned The Goblin Tinker to vanquish Robert and the other cowboys. I'll have to add a few more pictures at a later date because I'm on dial up. The camera tossing photos will be up later today so check back soon.

Lou loves the Hut

While delivering at Pizza Hut tonight I had the oppurtunity to deliver to Eastern Illinois President Lou Hencken. This is the third time in two weeks I have either delivered to Lou or seen him at the restaurant. I delivered to a party in honor President Hencken last week, I saw him in the store two days later, and then I delivered to him last night. Work was pretty slow again. I imagine it will be the same tonight. With barely any college students here I only take about 6 or 7 deliveries in a night compared to around 20. I have so much time to get all my stuff done and then sit and read. I've been reading this series in the Tribune for the past couple of days about a guy named Alexei Sultanov, a European pianist who suffered multiple strokes paralyzing most of his body. Even though he couldn't communicate he still taught himself to learn to play the piano again with his right hand while his wife Dace would accompany him. Quite an entertaining article. It was a three part series appearing Sunday, Monday and Tuesday.

I'm almost finished with my book that Nora got me for graduation. It should have been finished about 2 weeks ago, but if you know me you know I'll start a book and now finish it for a month. I think I'm going to be doing a little camera tossing tonight at work. As soon as I'm done with work I'm heading home tonight. Trying to get back as soon as I can because I'm not going to have too many days to spend there. I'm really only going to be there tomorrow, Friday and Saturday and Sunday. Steph really wants to know what her X-mas present is, but I won't even give her a clue. It drives her nuts because I don't even ask questions about my present. You'd think after 3 previous Christmases (Is that grammatically correct?) together she'd figure out I won't even give her clues, but it's still fun to torment her I guess. I'll probably blog tonight once I get home. Should be about 1 or 2 in the morning.

I'm a tosser, but not in the British sense

So I'm officially a tosser. A camera tosser that is. I decided to go out directly after work and bust my tossing cherry by going to Old Main. For those of you who have no idea what the heck I'm talking about, camera tossing is when you set your camera to a long shutter, toss the camera in the air and try to get something cool like this photo. Haas turned me on to this because had apparently found a blog site dedicated to it. I'm glad I went out to try it even though it's most likely in the single digits tonight. I'll keep doing this and add them to my website under a seperate section as soon as I get around to it. Speaking of, I updated a little bit on the essay section today. I added the Slideshow Pro. Learning it really wasn't that bad, it just took me a little time. Of course I messed up the coding by not inserting one slash and Stephen had to come bail my ass out again. Him and I were supposed to do some camera tossing together tonight, but he has a X-mas party with Mal and I didn't want him to leave early just because I wanted to fling a couple thousand dollars worth of equipment in the air at 11 p.m. on a Monday night. These were quite possibly my two favorites of the night. I saw some on the blog site that looked really neat that I might try. One in particular was just throwing it in the air with it pointing at myself and twirling to make it look like a photoshop trick. The guy that did it on the blog was Vincent Pants. Strange guy I take it by his flickr photos, but every once in awhile he has something neat. Anyway, the only section I've updated so far on the essay section. I'm still tweaking the program a bit and getting the settings exactly how I want them. Eventually i'll add some audio to them as well. I'm in love with this program. It's quite easy once you get used to it. I'll add the other essays I did this semester either later tonight or tomorrow. I should be doing some major overhaul on my site soon. I really not happy with it right now. I'm not sure what will make me happy, but it's not as neat and clean as I would like it to be. I'll be heading home this Wednesday night after work. Steph will be down the next night for my sister's birthday party and then on Friday I'm taking her to Biaggi's. Should be a good time.

Back in the Blog

I'm back boys and girls. I know it's been a long time, but I finally finished up everything with school. I have no more assignments, no more tests, and no more classes. I'm excited, nervous and scared all in one. I'm mostly putting all my hours in at Pizza Hut right now which is a drag, but I need the money really bad. I finished my last photo essay today and turned it into Poulter. I was somewhat impressed with my tow truck driving one. Here's an example of an image from the other day. The guys name is Brian Wilkerson. I have the others listed on my Cropreality site under the essay section. I'm tweaking it a bit in order to get things formatted correctly. I'm going to post the marching band one tomorrow and the Halloween one possibly tomorrow or the next day. I'm going to teach myself how to use Slideshow Pro because Simpleviewer isn't letting me put in long cutlines. So for now my photos are up but the captions are not. Hope everyone enjoys them. Feel free to comment on them. That's what this site is for. Be positive or negative, my only rule, be constructive. I'm not looking for people to tell me I did a good job when they think it's crap. It's not going to hurt my feelings I just really like user feedback. Tell me which one's your favorite and which one's your least favorite. I know Haas will give me honest feedback for sure. Speaking of Haas, I wonder how he's feeling today. He looked like he was feeling good last night after his third bottle of Arbor Mist. Last night was good times. I'm just waiting for Haas to post the pictures. We need to scan all the photos people had from last night and post them. If I get any of them I'll post here. We're looking at a possible Buffett party tonight. At least that's what Paulie and I discussed.

Oh by the way, I got my internship. I find out later today how many hours a week I'm going to be working. (20 or 40) I'm excited. I hope I get to shoot some Big 10 basketball for the Illini. Looking to make a few connections here and there too. Just found out Haas will be going to the Superbowl as well to be a Sports Illustrated assistant. Hey Haas, do you think the assistants get assistants because I could totally do it. Anyway, I'm about to head off to work again so no more for now. If I get anything else updated I will let you know asap. God it feels good to be back in the blog.

Been Busy

So I haven't updated in about a week, so I just thought it was finally time to update what I've been up to. First of all, I went to Biggs bachelor party in Tinley Park Saturday night. The drive up there was absolutely horrible. A snow storm came in as we were driving up which started out as freezing rain. A 2.5 hour drive turned into 4 hours. All in all, once we got up there it was a good time, minus Matt being thrown out of the club at the end of the night for fighting with the bouncers about his coat. (Which Shilney actually had).

Other than that I've been working on my projects for class. I've been involved with building the Sigma Nu website for my online class and also reviewing the Guardian Unlimited website for the same class. I haven't had a chance to really use my camera except last week I took some photos at a party at my house. I'm trying to bust the camera out more often at parties. As soon as I get some edited I'll post a few. I'm still waiting to hear from Champaign. I'm supposed to hear a decision today as to whether I'll get my internship. As soon as I hear I'll update.

X-mas wishlist

Here is a short comprised list of things I would like for Christmas:

1. iPod Nano (2GB)
2. Grateful Dead Bean Bear (Lovelight, El Paso, Katie Mae, Shark Star, Shakedown)
3. Seinfeld Season 3
4. Tamrac Pro 12 Camera Bag
5. Jason Varitek Red Sox jersey
6. Any Jawbreaker CD
7. Grateful Dead's Working Man's Dead
8. Wireless XBox controller (off ebay)
9. Airsoft Pistol (Wal-Mart)
10. Boston Red Sox Hat (size 7 3/4)
11. Boston Red Sox 2005 World Series

If I find more I'll post another.

TGIF

The weekend is officially here. I got off work tonight around 11:15. Was expecting to come home to a nice quiet evening of either hanging out or just going to bed, but as is the usual course people were drinking at my house. Hopefully people leave somewhat early tonight. i.e. by 3 a.m. I was such a waste of space today. I stayed up drinking until 4 a.m. last night and didn't do anything productive until at least 3:30 p.m. today. I at least got a run in though before work.

I'm going to do a little research on what I want for Christmas this year. Stephanie needs some ideas and so does my mom. Of course I really want an iPod Nano, but I'm not sure I'll be able to get one or not. Maybe I could talk my parents into making it my x-mas/birthday present. It's only 2 months away and then it would already be done. I could also just buy half of it myself too.

I know I probably want to get a music dvd or two. I'll put my list up here later after I've compiled it fully. If anyone wants to they can go ahead and by me a 70-200mm f/2.8 Canon lens. It's only like $1699 brand new. I already know I'm getting a gift certificate from my grandmother this year and will get another one from my other grandparents.

We should be starting the weekend off with a party tomorrow night which is good because we need to build this pot up big time.

I finally picked up my camera after almost a week. It's been a long needed break. I find out tomorrow whether or not I got my internship. I'm nervous to be honest. I'll also be getting my car in the middle of next week. Well, time to do some research. Maybe I'll post when I get it done.

Free At Last

The past few days have been a lot more relaxing and less stressful than I can remember in a long time. I'm still working on my final project for my online class and trying to figure out my last photo essay, but other than that, I've had more time to do things I've really needed to do. Like working out, reading, and making some money at the Hut. I finished reading Hunter S. Thompson's "Better Than Sex" last night. I'm not sure whether I'm huge fan of Thompson. All I really got out of the book is that politics is a bitch, Richard Nixon was evil and George Bush Sr. is just as evil. A lot of this I really knew. It was hard to tell what was semi-fiction in the book and what was for the most part true. The saddest part of it all is that in Hunter's world, it was all true. Maybe I should try to read another one of his books like "Fear and Loathing" in Las Vegas. "Better than Sex" was actually part of his Gonzo Papers Collection. It's possible that's why the book had very little direction to it.

Today I started reading Nick Hornby's "A Long Way Down" which Nora bought me as a graduation gift. It's a book about four people who meet on a rooftop that is infamous for people committing suicide off of. I just realized that it's really wierd that I just finished reading a book about a guy who committed suicide and now I'm reading one about four people who try to committ suicide. That's actually just pure coincidence. (Somehow I feel like I'm going to get several calls from friends tonight asking if I'm alright.)

I also just finished watching Ken Burns' "Unforgivable Blackness." The life story of the first black heavyweight champion. I think this is the first time I really realized the ignorance of so many people in the first half of the century. I think it must have been Burns' way of portraying Johnson and white people, but it affected me a lot. I couldn't imagine living in a period where about 50 white people would line up on a bridge or near tree where they had just hung another human being and stand there with dead corpse and pose for a picture like they had just bagged a deer. Makes me sick to my stomach.

Stephen got a job at the Journal Gazette-Times Courier so congratulations to him. I wonder if this means there's no shot at an internship there now. I'm still waiting to hear back from the . I really hope I get that now. If not I'll still try to pressure the Times-Courier or I'll just hang out for the next few months and work at Pizza Hut or Roc's or find a factory job around here. Doing any of those couldn't be good for my mental health though. I need out of Charleston in a bad way.

Chucktown

Back in Chucktown after a nice week of relaxing. Unfortunately, the Panthers lost to Southern on Saturday. I tried to listen to the game, but it was a little difficult at Steph's. First I had to help her with some organizing stuff so I missed the first half, and then the computer was cutting in and out. Quicktime was not my friend that day. Oh well. Congratulations to the EIU Panthers for a spectacular season. They went undefeated in the conference with an overall record of 9-3. Today I'm trying to get some school work done and then I have to work at Pizza Hut again. I'm uploading the new prototype for the Sigma Nu website later today, so if it isn't up when you check it, check back later. I have a feeling I'm going to find myself in the newsroom more than I was when I actually worked here. I'm also finishing up an essay today as soon as Scott Kelley calls me back so I can interview him. I will load it to my site if I finish it tonight. I'm really sad I don't have a key to the newsroom anymore. Now I'll just have to call Eric and make him come let me in.

Sad News

Ryan Coder, an alumnus of the Lambda Gamma Chapter of Sigma Nu at Eastern Illinois passed away on Thursday November 24. I received both an email and a phone call concerning his death. Here is the email:

Brothers,

I was just informed of some terrible news. Ryan Coder passed away yesterday. We do not know much but the preliminary autopsy results show heart failure. Ryan was a great person and I am glad to have known him. I have attached what arrangements I am aware of below. Since not everyone checks into the website, please pass this along to everyone that you can think of. My thoughts and prayers go out to Ryan friends and family.


Tuesday, November 29th 3-9pm

Cumberland Funeral Chapels

8300 West Lawrence Avenue, Norridge, IL 60706

(708) 456-8300
For directions:
http://www.cumberlandchapels.com

Sadly I did not get to know Coder at all until this last alumni weekend when we spent a little time at Marty's together, but from what I did get out of my time with him, Coder was a lot of fun to be around and loved Sigma Nu a great deal. I should be going to his wake with the rest of our guys to support his family during this time of sadness. If there are any good stories posted on the alumni website I will update the blog or post a new one to link to it.

"I Walk The Line"

Went to see Walk the Line yesterday with my father. Walk the Line, the life story of Johnny Cash starts with his life as a poor Arkansas child growing up on a farm. James Mangold, the movies director chose to start with this to show the strong relationship Cash had with his older brother Jack. Johnny (Joaquin Phoenix) born with the name JR, was born in 1932. The story picks up in 1944 when JR goes fishing one day and his brother Jack has to cut boards for a saw mill. Jack is caught in the machine and mangled. JR's alcoholic father Ray Cash (Robert Patrick) comes looking for JR asking him "Where have you been?" in a demeaning manner. In the movie Mangold makes it seem as if Jack dies the same day he comes home from the hospital. In actuality, Jack suffers for a week and then dies. Their father, in a drunken stooper one night, blames JR for Jack's death and tells him the wrong son died. JR never forgives his father for this.

The movie jumps about 6 or 7 years into the future when JR is leaving for the army. When enlisting into the army, they refuse to accept initials as a name so he is dubbed John. I was actually disappointed because Mangold failed to mention anything about Johnny's high school career or how he learned how to play guitar. It was almost like, hey, this guy just picked it up one day and knew how. While in the army, Johnny writes his first song "Folsum Prison Blues" after seeing the movie "Inside the Walls of Folsum Prison." We then learn of Johnny's high school sweetheart Vivian whose father disapproves of their relationship. Johnny returns from Germany and marries Vivian. Cash sells appliances until one day he has the guts to approach Sun Records and try to produce a record. In a dramatic scene, Johnny returns home late one night after recording and tells Vivian he finally made a record. Mangold portrays Vivian as a hard working wife, but very unsupportive of his career as a musician. They're both ecstatic with the production of a record though.

Cash begins to tour shortly after the song "Cry Cry Cry" begins to gain prestige. His next album "Folsum Prison Blues" makes the country top 5 and the song "I Walk the Line" is Johnny's first #1 song on the country billboard. While touring there is the inevitable fall into drugs and alcohol that so many singers and entertainers fall into. Mangold chose to portray this as a sort of peer pressure venture that Cash got wrapped up into because Elvis and Jerry Lee Lewis and the other guys all did it. Cash quickly became dependant on the amphetamines he was taking and later moved onto barbituates as well.

It was also on tour that Cash met June Carter. Cash's marriage life had taken a sour turn even though he and his wife Vivian had recently had a child named Rosanne. Cash would have 3 other daughters. Cash and Carter have a one night affair in the movie and later he and his wife split. Johnny buys a place near Hendersonville, Tenn. Johnny finally confronts his father on Thanksgiving day while jacked up on pills about the blame he placed on Johnny for his brother's death. Ray only says "I quit drinking a long time ago."

June stays that day to help Johnny at the request of her own parents and she helps him to kick his drug addiction. Cash credited her up to his death with helping him get straight. 1968, Johnny proposes to June one last time on stage and she finally says yes after rejecting him several times before. They were married a week later and remained married for 35 years when June passed away due to complications with surgery.

The film altogether was a pretty nice film. Unfortunately, "Ray" last year's big box office hit holds a very similar plot line and this film will most likely go underrated. Reese Witherspoon plays an excellent and sassy June Carter. Probably nobody better for the role. Phoenix could have been a more convincing Cash though. There were just times when I didn't believe him. I also wish Mangold would have explained the significance of Johnny's brother Jack. He shows us the horror of his brother's death but fails to relate it later in the movie. Johnny was very close to his brother and spoke of his anticipation of meeting with him in heaven. We also never learn how he learned to play guitar either or how music affected his early life. There were just small bits and pieces of Cash's life that were left out that could have made the movie much more interesting. I dislike the lack of any real footage as well. Good directors can incorporate live footage in an artistic fashion to add flare and originality to a movie. Overall, I would give this movie a 3.5 out of 5. It's a good movie to take a date too even if you're not a country music fan.

Finally Home

I finally got home last night around 8 p.m. I was hoping to leave for home Sunday night after work at Pizza Hut, but I wasn't able to get my rental car until Monday. I called the Unitrin insurance company Monday and strong-armed them into a rental car. It had been nearly a week since my accident. I worked out with Nick Irle yesterday morning and then fixed the window on the side of my house. I got all the rest of my luggage ready while I was waiting to hear from Unitrin. Unitrin worked it out with Enterprise and approved me for a car. World Class Collision had them meet me in Charleston, drive me to the place, and then get me the car. I was pretty impressed. They gave me a 2006 Chevy Impala LS. It had only 5000 miles on it. After getting home last night I visited with my parents. I went back to Galesburg at nine to help Justin setup his display in the Sandburg Mall for his drumshop. After the mall we went back to his place and visited with his girlfriend Anne. I got my camera back that I let her borrow awhile ago. Maybe now I can use the film that Stephen let me have last year. Justin had bought the movie "Fletch" at Wal-Mart earlier that day for $5. I decided I needed to buy it as well since it's an 80s classic. I also picked up Saturday Night Live: The Best of Phil Hartman. Made it home around midnight and passed out around 1 or 1:30.

Today I woke up and jumped in the shower. I called Stacie and took a tour of the Quad City Times newspaper. After that I went Christmas Shopping for Steph. I'd tell you what I got her, but she might be reading this. After the Quad Cities I came home, helped cleanup the house and then went for a run. I'm glad I'm keeping my running schedule up. We then sold the Stratus to Rodney and Colleen for Chelsea to drive. Thankgod we got rid of that.

Dad and I had talked about going to see Walk the Line tonight, but we'll see if that actually happens or not. The movie starts in less than an hour and Dad's not home yet. I'll probably stay in and work on homework if we don't go. I'll probably blog some more about the Redsox or the Panthers. If we do I'll review the movie afterwards.

EIU policy strikes again

Once again EIU has proven less intelligent than expected from a University. The policy for returning to campus this Thanksgiving break is that students may return to campus by 1:00 p.m. Sunday. In general circumstances who would want to return any earlier to this god forsaken town.

The problem here lies in the fact that Eastern Illinois will be hosting Southern Illinois for the first round of Division I-AA football playoffs on Saturday.

The school where faculty do nothing but complain about that lack of school spirit is the same school hosting a playoff football game where students aren't going to be able to attend.

I realize the playoffs come at a very untimely part of the school year and this is not Eastern's fault because policies have been set in place before football playoffs ever did, but Eastern should react and change their residence policy and send emails to all on-campus students.

I know if I lived in a dorm and wanted to watch the football game I would be livid. Guess it's a good thing that I don't live on campus anymore.