My 2011 Best (And Worst) Pictures

I'm not watching the Oscars live. I'm recording it and plan to zoom through it, skipping over a lot of the stuff that I know won't hold my interest. If it weren't for Billy Crystal being the host I probably wouldn't watch at all. I only saw one of the Best Picture nominees, "Moneyball," and there are like 27 movies I saw that were better. At this link you'll find all the grades for the films I saw in 2011. I saw a lot fewer movies last year -- just 54 in all. A big reason for this is my schedule, with going back to work in mid-October cutting back on my free time. That, and a natural tendency for procrastination, is why this particular post is being done at the end of February.

If I should happen to see any more 2011 movies that are still in theaters, I'll update the list as needed. Until then, here are my rankings for my own personal 10 best and 5 worst movies. (Remember, if I didn't actually see it I can't include it no matter how good or bad it might be.)

My Top 10

MixBlog 2-26-11: Such A Mess

Let's see...where to begin...

Two of the last three nights I've fallen asleep in front of my TV for at least two hours, thus affecting my sleep patterns. Happened Thursday night, and somehow when I went to bed and slept, I didn't set the alarm properly and didn't even wake up until 8:30 am, which is when I have to arrive at work. Last night, and I ended up staying up really late and then stayed in bed until a little after 5.

5 pm.

I have to be up for work tomorrow morning, so I've got the choice of trying to drug myself to sleep (with cold medicine or Tylenol PM) or stay up between now and at least 6 pm tomorrow (when I get home from work). As I have no leave time to use, skipping work is not an option (and as I already was late for work Friday I don't want to do that again).

Then there's the credit card I've been using regularly.

Paczki And Other Pics 'N Stuff

Once again I find I'm falling behind in blogging. I know I need the money and all but I can't wait until I'm put in nonpay status sometime this spring. Then I'll have the time to devote to this, not to mention searching for another job so I don't have to go back to this one in the fall -- ideally it would be a part-time job of some kind, whether it's two or three 8-hour days per week or 4 hours a day/five days per week. Anyway, pictures...

On Monday I was downtown and, since I was nearby, got a pic of Independence Hall without all that nasty scaffolding. Two days earlier there was a ceremony and the bell in the tower was rung for the first time since the renovations.

This evening, I stopped at my nearby supermarket and saw this...

...I'm guessing a truck ran into it to cause that much damage. As soon as I got in the door, I saw a table full of...

Having seen a few mentions of this on Twitter today, I read the message on the side of the box. I don't think you can see what this says, but basically it's a Polish tradition to bake these right before the start of Lent. Seeing as how I can hardly resist sweets and snacks these days, I bought some. They're quite tasty.

But going back to the subject of my blogging, I saw a couple of movies over the three-day weekend! One was kind of a slog and the other was a mess. I will write about them this week. And I still have that one long post, which is now a full year in the making. Sheesh.

Kevin Bacon's Dad

Outside of Philadelphia you probably don't know about Edmund Bacon, but besides being the father of the actor mentioned in the title of this post, he has quite a legacy of his own, as the historical marker suggests...



Read more here.

Photos And Such

After work I went into center city and decided to visit Five Guys. I got there shortly after 5 and it was virtually empty. Just one customer at a table eating. Possibly because it was a slow day and they had lots of potatoes to get rid of, possibly because I put a dollar in the tip jar, possibly both, I got a huge amount of fries thrown into the bag on top of the cup inside. Such joy.

Then I took a look at their bulletin board, where you can have a card tacked up exclaiming your feelings for Five Guys.

Ummm...excuse me?

Not sure whether a child wrote this or a smartass teen or adult, but... (On the odd chance that it was a kid, I covered up the name written in the lower right corner, even though I can't really tell what the name is.)

After I left Five Guys I walked west on Walnut St. to 15th, on my way to the El, and I passed a UPS Store, with a front door that is still anticipating a Christmas rush.

Or maybe they're planning early for Christmas 2012?

Meanwhile, let's talk about cramps. No, not those cramps. Leg cramps. I've occasionally gotten them in the mornings when I wake up, although it hasn't happened much in recent years. But I got one. Last night, while sitting on my recliner. I just moved my leg some way and it hit. Just awful. And then this morning I didn't wake up until 6:50 am. That's the latest I've awakened on a work day since I started the job in October. I won't go into the details of how little and how quickly I washed up before getting dressed. I still managed to get to work on time, though.

Just realized that, with the comic book post I did last night, I have only one overdue story to blog about. Of course, it's now been simmering for just about a year. I actually started on it a couple of months ago and then put it aside. Seriously. The 17th of the month is the one-year anniversary of the tweets that started this particular idea percolating in my head. I may try to finally puzzle out my thoughts by then. It has to do with a singer, a former U.S. Postmaster General, politics and...a board game.

My Recent Comics 2-8-12

With my procrastinating and lack of rest time and such, I actually went to the store(s) on three different days for these. I can't remember exactly when, but I've had them a while. They've been sitting on a table waiting to get their day in the blog spotlight. So, for the sake of getting this out of the way once and for all, I'm only going to touch on a few of these.

Simpsons Comics 183, 184, 185
Simpsons Winter Wingding 6
Simpsons Super Spectacular 14 -- The story of the musical "Radioactive Man: Turn Up The Silence." Sound familiar?
Futurama Comics 58
Veronica 209 a.k.a Veronica Presents: Kevin Keller 3 (of 4) -- As with the first two issues, I actually found this at a bookstore -- Barnes and Noble, now that Borders is gone. I never picked up issue 4, however, which is too bad because it actually had a bit of a cliffhanger. Plus they actually mention Snooki and plug her book, "A Shore Thing." Wait -- did I just plug it too? And that Barnes and Noble is also where I bought...

Prop. 8 Mania!

Just a quick comment in a desperate attempt to keep at least some content flowing here...sigh...

When the ruling came down today declaring California's Proposition 8 -- the ban on same-sex marriages in the state -- unconstitutional, there was, as you might expect, great joy on my Twitter timeline. Some flat-out declared Prop 8 to be dead. Well, it's not. It's not dead until the U.S. Supreme Court kills it, and there's no real guarantee of that. The court's ideologically split. People can guess all they want and read the tea leaves and so on, but until the court rules there's no real way to know how it will go. It'll be a 5-4 vote either way.

Or will it? Check out this bit from the linked article:

But the appeals court did not address whether marriage was a fundamental right available to same-sex couples as well as heterosexuals, focusing instead specifically on Prop 8.
Some lawyers predicted that the narrow ruling would lead the Supreme Court to limit itself to deciding on the California measure or to refusing the case altogether.

So, in theory, the court could get rid of California's law but other states would still be free to enact or enforce similar laws, at least for a while? Hmmph.

Thus, I found some of the reaction today to be just a little over the top. Sure, it's good news, but let's not get carried away. After all, there are still lots of people eager to vote for Despicable Dick Santorum. (Speaking of whom, here are more links, just because we shouldn't forget this...)

The Trail Of Hair

Oddly enough, this is the second time I've seen a scene like this, and in the same place: Frankford Terminal. My assumption is two teenage girls got into a fight and began pulling at each other's hair/weaves. For once I'd like to get there as the fight begins, rather than see the sorry aftermath:



LOVE the Dunkin Donuts worker who has to clean up the mess outside their store.

By the way, like my musical embellishment? I edited it myself!

My iTunes Shuffle Baker's Dozen 1-30-12

The date is correct. These are the first songs played by my iPod in shuffle mode after I got to work on Monday morning. I sent the list to my home email and promptly neglected to post it. Yikes.

Lovers Rock - Sade

Dancing Machine - Jackson 5

U Sure Do - Strike

A Long Walk - Jill Scott

Shame (Dance Mix) - Eurythmics

Take Me Out - Franz Ferdinand

Real Men - Joe Jackson

Cupid Boy - Kylie Minogue

Get On Up - Jodeci (Excerpt - from DJ Jazzy Jeff and Mick Boogie's "Summertime: The Mixtape")

Only Love Can Break Your Heart (A Mix in Two Halves) - St. Etienne

Don't Talk About Me - Tony Toni Tone

My Phone's On Vibrate For You - Rufus Wainwright

I Know What Boys Like - The Waitresses

And speaking of work, I missed the last two days, yesterday and today. It's the first time I haven't made it in since I began this job. (My perfect attendance is ruined. Ruined!) I've been struggling with a sinus infection and that, combined with a lack of sleep, compelled me to call in sick Wednesday. I was informed that I needed a doctor's note when I returned. I couldn't get a doctor's appointment until today as the office closed early yesterday, so I didn't get any prescriptions until today. I'm assuming I'll go back tomorrow.