One More Day

Just when we thought the long national nightmare was almost over... Rex Grossman is back at the helm of the Chicago Bears! Nooooo... But more on that later, yes, after almost two years of near constant attention the presidential election is tomorrow. Listening to some of the people who decided to try and early vote over the weekend, it sounds like the sites were slammed. One said that he got in like at 6:45 Saturday morning (early voting opened at 7) and the line was already a few hundred people deep.

Election Season Finale!

The most important thing is to please vote. It doesn't matter who or what you vote for, just do it. Everyone likes to complain about the special interests, but they have no power against an involved and well-informed electorate. Here's some quick things (that'll be the theme of today's post... quick things that I ramble on way too long, thus not making them quick).

• In a Florida State Senate race in the Orlando area, it's kind of hard to make a total scumbag like Gary Siplin look less scumbaggy, but his opponent Belinda Ortiz found a way. Apparently taking a cue from this year's Bill & Ted show at HHN where a drunken Hillary Clinton comes on stage accusing Barack Obama of "BEATING A WOMAN! (...in a presidential primary election)" a recent commercial for Belinda Ortiz closes with the line of something like Gary Siplin wants to beat this woman with a picture of Ortiz in the background. It'd be funny if it was on SNL, but in real life it's disgustingly pathetic.
• I was reading an article over the weekend about people afraid they're going to suffer from election withdrawl on Wednesday (which, hopefully, the election'll be decided by then). At first, I thought how ludicrous that sounded but after thinking about it I can kinda see it. Being someone who monitors the election closely isn't any different than someone who follows their sports teams closely. You can have a side (Republican or Democrat), they spend the day doing campaign events and debates, and then at the end of the day you have a score (the poll numbers). Probably overdoing it, but I can see it.
• MSNBC's getting called out a lot as the Liberal Fox News, and as a proud employee of the NBC Universal empire I feel duty-bound to defend them. Yes, with Keith Olbermann and Rachael Maddow, the evening lineup is decidedly left leaning. But people forget who hosts the morning show... Joe Scarborough. This is the guy who said that Jimmy Carter should have his Nobel Peace Prize given to George W. Bush instead (an idea so bizarre I thought he was joking). Personally, I prefer my news sans-skew, but at least MSNBC has commentators on both sides (and don't bring up Hannity and Colmes, which is hardly equal time).
• Can I get a round of applause for the fact that, in just over 24 short hours, we will not have to deal with campaign commercials for two years. Watching last night's Football Night In America (NBC, whoo!) there was literally a commercial break of all campaign commercials with one commercial being aired twice. It's nauseating!
• What's worse than the commercials??? The f'in signs everywhere! Ugh... Another eyesore I'm ready to see get the ol' heave-ho.
• And what's dumber than the commercials or the signs... F'in banner ads on every website. I'm looking at you Barack Obama. In the last few weeks you couldn't go to any news site (or really, a lot of websites as my Windows Live page and stuff had it too) without seeing his face reminding you that early voting was open. I wish there was something so you could be like "Hey, I already voted so ENOUGH!"
• One thumbs-up to the group of people I saw on 436 near Altamonte Mall on Saturday supporting John McCain. At first I was conflicted as they were out there with their signs of support for McCain with their kids. But, after reflecting on it, other than them having their kids in the median of a major road, I think it's a good thing to get kids involved in the political process. Reminds me of when I was a kid back in 1984 and my mom taught me about the electoral process and took me in the booth with her. Considering that's a moment in my life I remember vividly (the dingy Daytona rec center where she voted, how I told everyone that she was voting for Walter Mondale, the old school voting machines which apparently are still used in some places) may indicate why I'm still so politically involved today.

I'll probably have more to say on the election later this week, so stayed tuned.

Movie Review: Zack and Miri Make a Porno (3 1/2 out of 5 Owls)

Well, as anyone who knows me knows that I'm a huge Kevin Smith buff. Clerks is the first movie I saw at an "arthouse" theater, and just the random pop culture references is totally how I talk to my friends. Zack and Miri pretty much is a combination of the early Kevin Smith movies (mainly Clerks and Chasing Amy) and combining them with the current roster of Judd Apatow movies. Pretty much, Zack and Miri is a romantic comedy about two friends from Pittsburgh who decide to film themselves in a porno to raise money to pay off their bills. As a "romantic comedy", you can see where this is heading. But the trip to that point is pretty funny, even though afterwards it's pretty meh.

As a romantic comedy, it's definitely not a 27 Dresses kind of date movie. But, for Kevin Smith fans, don't go in thinking you're getting Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back or something. The movie goes far beyond anything shown in an Apatow movie (and even most of Kevin's), so I can see where the argument between NC-17 and R came from. I would recommend it, though, for just that Kevin Smith is a great director whose characters you can totally relate to and how a run-up of circumstances can lead you to make a supposedly unimaginable jump.

Round Up of Other Movies I've Seen Recently

While I was on vacation a couple of weeks ago, I took the time to check out a few movies. However I never had the opportunity to write up what I thought. So, here goes really quick.

• Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist (3 1/2 out of 5 Owls): Speaking of Apatow, Nick & Norah stars Michael Cera (from Superbad) as a high schooler trying to get over a breakup with a hot and slutty ex (makes you feel wrong watching her when her character's supposed to be 17) by playing a gig and trying to find a secret show being put on by the elusive band Fluffy. Obviously, along the way, he hooks up with Norah and an evening of mayhem around NYC ensues. This was a really good movie with some great music but was a tad too girly for my tastes, which made me glad I was the only person in the theater for the show I saw.
• Sex Drive (4 out of 5 Owls): What can I say? I love the road trip movie (Eurotrip is among my all-time faves). Sex Drive is the story of a group of teens who take a road trip from Chicago to Knoxville, Tennessee to busts the main character's cherry before heading to college. As in any road trip movie, the story is more than them driving down the interstate, occassionally pulling off to get gas and hit up the Waffle House. But the funniest characters in the movie are James Marsden (playing the douchy older brother of the main character) and Seth Green as an Amish farmer who enjoys the outside world. Both were great. And let me just say, the women in this movie were un-f'in-believably hot. Not to spoil the ending, but the over-sexed best friend decides to give up his life of decadence to settle down with an Amish girl, played by Alice Greczyn. If I met an Amish girl who looked like her, I think I'd make the jump too.
• Pineapple Express (3 out of 5 Owls): I never got the chance to see Pineapple Express when it first came out, so I went to see it recently at the nearby dollar theater. One weekend I had the option of seeing Pineapple Express or Tropic Thunder and I'm definitely glad with the choice that I made. Pineapple Express was OK, with some really great moments, but the time in between is just so dull... Seth Rogen and James Franco are two stoners trying to escape two mob hitmen and a rogue cop after Seth's character accidentally witnesses the murder of a mobster. Like in Sex Drive, the supporting characters make the movie (i.e., Danny McBride who was also hysterical in Tropic Thunder and Craig Robinson who was also great in Zack and Miri). All in all, it was OK, but I probably wasn't in the "right state of mind" before going to see it.

Random Thoughts

• I'm kinda concerned... Last night I had a dream where I had a seizure and had to be taken to the hospital and now, this morning, I feel like I had a seizure. Like all my muscles feel weak and tired. Probably not a good sign.
• It was announced last week that Universal Studios Hollywood's getting a new ride based on the Transformers movies (it's opening in 2010, so the second one should be either out or coming out by then). That sounds so cool... I know us getting Harry Potter's a bigger deal, but how often am I going to go on the Harry Potter ride versus how often would I go on a Transformers ride?
• Much love to Amy Poehler and Will Arnett who had their baby boy on Saturday. Two great comedians having a comedic superbaby. Now if we can only get Jimmy Kimmel and Sarah Silverman to have a baby girl, cross those genes, and in 40 years we will have a comedic goliath.
• OK, even though the game was close and ended on a fumble in the endzone, it has to be said... Why can Florida State not beat an option offense? How long has Mickey Andrews been the defensive coach and they've had that problem as far back as I remember? The only times I can remember are when they were playing a far inferior team (i.e., Duke tried to run it for a few years) or when we had a dominant offense that could outscore the other team (i.e., the Florida State/Nebraska championship game).