Be Not Nobody

Today, I listened to Vanessa Carlton's album, Be Not Nobody. It's a wonderful album! The sound is so luscious and sweeping. I kept hearing her song "A Thousand Miles" on the radio during my twice-daily thirty-minute commute, and I enjoy the rumbling piano, and the uplifting orchestration. The rest of the songs on the CD are just as splendid. I'll probably listen to it for the rest of the week in my car.

Annika Sorenstam

As I write this, Annika Sorenstam, the number one female golfer in the world, birdied the fourth hole at the Bank of America Colonial, a men's PGA Tour event. She is the first woman in 58 years to be playing in a men's field. The course is a par 70, measuring 7080 yards, and it will be longest course she has ever played in competition. I'll be watching her over the next few days, and hopefully, into the weekend.

Last year's winner (Nick Price) finished 13-under par. In earlier interviews, she has acknowledged that making the cut and shooting just plain par would be excellent. Good luck, Annika!

The Matrix: Reloaded

I saw The Matrix: Reloaded last night. What a mind-bender!

I didn't see the first Matrix movie in the theater. I borrowed someone's video tape. I remember how blown away I was at the universe concocted by the writer/director brothers, Andy and Larry Wachowski. Basically, they propose that the "real world" is not really "real" at all. We're all in a Matrix, living an imagined life while evil machines suck our dreaming bodies of energy. The "man in the machine."

This movie opens by introducing us to a whole civilization of people who have avoided becoming part of the Matrix. Instead, they wage a desperate war against the machines, with Neo, Morpheus, and Trinity diving into the Matrix to unlock secrets. The end of the movie is so frought with hard questions that it definitely demands a reviewing. I won't have to wait long for the DVD, I imagine. The third part of the Matrix trilogy will be released by the end of this year!

Tweet

I want to say for the record that I am very much on the Mighty Ducks bandwagon.

Planting Grass

The grass has been growing in our lawn! I wish I had done a time-lapse video, or at least taken some decent before and after shots.

Joe Jaena

Last October, I wrote about throwing out my old hockey equipment. Today, I received an e-mail from Joan Broadway, who found that piece of writing while searching for Joe Jaena on the Internet. She gave me some terrible news: Joe passed away, in December 2000.

Joe was the captain of the hockey team I played for. Her e-mail put me in a sad spell for a few minutes. I guess I always thought that Joe would find that web page himself, and drop me a line. Now I know that won't ever happen.

Confidence

I watched Confidence in the movie theaters last night.

The director of Confidence, James Foley, also directed Glengarry Glen Ross. Once I learned that, I knew I had to see this. GGR is one amazing movie! When I scanned the cast listing, and saw Robert Forster, that sealed the deal. I really enjoyed Robert's portrayal of Max Cherry in Jackie Brown; his role in Confidence is substantially smaller. (The cast was studded with super stars, including Dustin Hoffman and Andy Garcia).

The movie was about a con, a crime, a heist. And like an old book from high school, it felt very familiar. The lead character (Jake Vig, played by Edward Burns with his trademark scowl) even says that a good con is like a play: everyone knows their lines.

I was intrigued by some reviews that said you'll know what to expect, you just won't know when. The movie was like comfort food. You like it. Just enjoy it! And I did.