It’s understandable if you don’t know who Jeremy Clarkson is. But that’d be a shame.

That is Clarkson, one of the three hosts of Top Gear- one of BBC’s most popular (and my favorite) shows. It’s also one of the longest running shows having begun in 1977. It’s gone through some updates over the years but what’s kept it so popular is Clarkson’s quips and personality.

Before I show you why I’m even posting this entry, here’s a segment of Clarkson on Top Gear.

Now while the British are known for their sketch comedy like Monty Python, there’s a newer show on called ‘Harry and Paul’. They recently did a sketch about Clarkson called… CLARKSON ISLAND.

And just for fun… The Stig Intros from Series 10!

They say that Rickey Gervais is the funniest man on the planet. I agree with this claim since the original BBC The Office is far superior to the US remake. Newsweek offered Gervais an opportunity to write an article and naturally he wrote what we all would… the top 8 things that annoy him the most. It should be noted we both are put off by many of the same things… except he left wet socks off of his list. I hate wet socks.

• Unnecessary noise. Let’s say there’s a construction worker sanding down a door. OK, that’s a bit annoying, but fair enough, it’s his job. But why does he then add whistling to that? Don’t add whistling. It doesn’t cancel it out. It’s not like mixing an alkaline with an acid. It makes it twice as annoying. Sanding the door—you need to do that. An ambulance siren—you need that. But whistling? It’s not like you’re whistling Brahms. It’s like a cat walking on a piano.

• Gossip magazines. The worst is the “spotted” section. “Spotted! Johnny Depp on the set of his new movie.” Brilliant. What a surprise, him being there. “You’ll never guess what I read: someone spotted Johnny Depp!” “Oh, yeah? Where?” “Miles away, different country, doesn’t matter.”

• Lateness. Drives me mad. Can’t stand it. Because I’m always 20 minutes early. So if you’re 10 minutes late, well, in my mind, that’s half an hour late. Also, I don’t want to be alone, so if I’m meeting a friend at the pub, I won’t go inside. I’ll walk round and round the block because I don’t want to be seen sitting there by myself. And besides, how could anyone not want to rush to meet me? I’m famous—I should be the one who turns up late.

• People who use the line “I say what I think.” No, you’re rude, and you’re just trying to make it a virtue. People are always going on about how “I’m not two-faced.” No, but you are a nasty, fascist, racist piece of dirt. That outweighs two-faced. Next time, be two-faced.

• People who think they’re “eccentric.” What does that mean? You wear lots of different hats? You ride a funny-colored bike? That makes you eccentric? A friend of mine moved out to the country, and the woman next door came round; she was sort of hippie-ish, very long hair, back to nature, all that stuff. And she says, “I’ve made you a rice pudding, and I’ve made it with breast milk, because, you know, waste not, want not!” So my friend took it, threw it away, washed the dish and gave it back. He said to her, “Thanks, that was great!” I couldn’t believe it. I told him that he should’ve said, “No, there is no way I’m eating that. Definitely not. Do not bring me any other bodily-function puddings.”

• People trying too hard to be funny. Like clowns. They put on a big pair of trousers and a big red nose and they fall over. The only way that would be funny is if he was forced to dress up and he was watching his family being tortured, and then he fell over.Now that’s funny.

• Conspiracy theories. They were annoying enough when it was just people talking bollocks in pubs. But now with the Internet, there are forums. These people can find each other. There was one great conspiracy theory about the end of our HBO series, “Extras.” In the last episode we had a scene with my partner on the show, Stephen Merchant, and Robert De Niro—and the conspiracy theory was that De Niro was not actually in the room with Stephen. “You can see that it’s a split screen,” they claimed. Right. We got De Niro, but the hard bit was getting Stephen in the same room. That makes sense. It’s just people who think they’re clever. No, you don’t know anything. You live with your mum, you’re on the computer all day. You’ve got three friends, and you’ve never actually met any of them.

• Lazy journalism. I’ve actually had good luck with the media, because early on I established that I only talk about work. I don’t invite magazines around my home. So I’ve had a great ride. But one of the first times I went out to an award show, this journalist on the red carpet asked me, “What advice would you give to someone who wants to be famous like you?” Like that was my aim—getting famous. So I said, “I don’t know. Kill a prostitute?”

Here it is! The official itinerary by Joanna Giordano with notes and comments. I’ve also added some anecdotes in blue.

Taglit Birthright Israel, Israel Experience IE-18-339, August 4 - 18 2008

August 4, 2008 - Day 1

• Meet at JFK airport.
  
• Spot Lowell and Shanna in their BRIGHT tees.
  
• Wait forever. Joanna G and Pauli get their luggage detained for undisclosed reasons.
  
• We’re not flying El Al? Has anybody ever heard of Israir? We can’t take off yet, they ran out of blue LEGO’s while building the plane. They have yellow but that would look silly.
• 10+ hours of plane ride/social mixer. Never seen an open bar on a flight quite like that.
• The flight attendant dude had an amazing suit, though he was a pain by the end.
• D.W. and I had hand signals representing every flight attendant. Why? We were bored since neither of our TV screens worked and the seats were WAY too small for two men with giant biceps to be sitting next to each other.
• The one flight attendant going around asking if we wanted drinks by merely yelling “FANTA!” at us. Stephan does a perfect impersonation of her if you can get him to do it.
• Sarah and I sat in their “reserved seats” and watched Iron Man for 20 minutes before they rudely asked us what the holy hell we were doing there.

August 5, 2008 - Day 2

• Off the plane at Ben-Gurion airport. ~ 2 pm local time. It’s HOT!
• Everybody gets in line for the ATM at the airport. I wanted to get 150 ILS but the ATM only had 25, 50, 100 and 200 and “other”. So I clicked “other” and instead of giving me more options it took out 600 ILS automatically. 
• Hello Gidi, Shai, Benji. Hello rental phone!
• Get on a bus to sit some more. “Be quiet. Mreow!”
• One word. Youssef.
• Qaesarea/Caesaria - on the way to our first accommodations for an opening ceremony of sorts with challah and wine. Challah!
• Some people get their first hint of sunburn, we are tired and a bit cranky. We have a sit on the beach, see the aqueduct.
• I  don’t remember who noticed it with me but we saw a couple leave the beach with most of their stuff still on the roof of their car. We tried waving but from inside the safe sealed tinted tour bus there was not much we could do.
• Onward straight across the country to Haspin
• Pass the Kinneret, Ein Gev (to stay at later)
• Haspin/Chispin - arrived late and wiped out. Whoa. Israel has a different definition for Youth Hostel. (ie Very nice!)
• Scarfed dinner, skipped evening activity and went to bed. Layla tov.

August 6, 2008 - Day 3

• Water Hike - Mapal Gilbon/Gilabun - Boker Tov! It is early. And hot. Now we know it only gets hotter so that’s why we do that early. Drink lots of water!
• Hike past bunkers, eucalyptus trees, etc. See that weird cactus fruit, sabris. (We eat some at the market later on and Mason gets the invisible spines in his hand. Sweet!)
• The water path goes through a stream and on slippery rocks past thorny vines and pointy sticks. Shalom Israelim - Leor (for a just that day), Shai, Shlomi, Vered, Einat, Lital, Ortal, Matan and Slikha for any spelling badness.
• Har Bental/ Mt. Bental - Overlooking some of the Golan and beyond to Syria. Walk through underground bunker. Gidi & other boys worry me by standing on an absurd precipice
• Mall lunch - Why didn’t you tell me to hit the supermarket next door? Way more interesting.
• It was Rachel’s  birthday and I split some Crispy something sandwich at the mediocre food court. It took us 20 out of the 25 minutes we had just to get the food!
• Onward to rafting - 1 minute safety class: Do not be pregnant. Wear this vest. We limp along in a lazy current and some old dudes talk to us from the bank. “Medaber anglit?” Cuz if you don’t, Lehit ra’ot!
• Some young Israelis in another raft speak to us in amazing English. “Are you happy? Do you like this country?” Miraculous.
• Mason, Josh, Josh and I were on a raft and were the first ones to go. We ended up dealing with the annoying kids, the splash-attack grandma with her annoying splashing little grandkids, the cute girl that looked 15 that Mason kept trying to chat up. Luckily she turned out to be 18 but don’t ask how we got the conversation to that point to find out. We also ran into the weight lifting angry Canadians that Mason provoked. Apparently saying “eh” after everything a hundred times isn’t so funny to them.
•  Wiped out after sun and fun. Let’s talk about M&Ms, Lowell. And Garbage juice, Dupree!

August 7, 2008 - Day 4

• Tsfat/Safed/Zefat - seat of Kabalah and mysticism. And candles. This town is vertical and made of stairs.
  
• Did some community service with Livnot. Some cleaned a park, painted a street, unearthed some stairs (Joanna). Some did physical labor like digging and hauling rocks/rubble.
• The French Guy for those who were digging:
  • Frenchie: What are you guys doing?
  • DW: Digging!
  • Frenchie: WHY?
  • DW: We’re volunteering, we’re on birthright.
  • Frenchie: Let me see your camera, I will take a picture of you all!
  • <DW gives the man his camera and fumbles around with it for 5 minutes. He finally takes the picture>
  • Frenchie: (Quote of the day) I will put it where all the kids go!
  • All of us: Huh?
  • Frenchie: Eh um face um face…
  • All of us: FACEBOOK!
  • Frenchie: YES! Facebook! Where all the kids go!
      
• Lunch - I (Joanna) tricked you all and ran away to the farthest Sharwarma with no line. You followed me. Slowly.
• I learned that when you are really hungry, that’s when you get laffa instead of pita. Giant shawarma burrito!
  
• This was the first time had Shawarma. And as most of you know it was a life changing moment for me.
• Galil Winery - Yiron (?) near the Lebanon border. Really near. We taste lots of wine and they give us a souvenir glass. When did you break yours? Watched a really cheesy movie… SHHHH CAN YOU HEAR IT? Hear what, high school ballet students dancing in the metal drums of wine?
• Hello Ein Gev! The hostels just get nicer. Night out in Tiberias across the Kinneret. Just about Brooke’s birthday! Who likes to dance? Pretty much everyone. Everyone except Mason…

August 8, 2008 - Day 5

• Water Hike - Senir Hatzbani Stream Nature Reserve - we get off the bus and step immediately into a chilly wading pool with frosty waterfall. Refreshing.
• There is an actual path for hiking - nay, strolling. “Seriously guys, you have got to drink s***loads of water!”
• Kibbutz Misgav-Am - Super North on the Lebanon border. Some mines are being “removed” nearby. “Removed” means exploded! Thanks for telling us.
• Free time back at Ein Gev - that means beach time. Fresh water waves.
• Shabbat time - “The Jews have kept Shabbat, Shabbat has kept the Jews”
• Lowell spins a yarn about Grandma’s soup. Shabbat buddies.
• After dinner junk food and guided group discussion. Bamba!

August 9, 2008 - Day 6 - Shabbat

• Did anyone else accidentally sleep until the maid came at 11:30 am?
• Lowell did an optional morning service, there was additional group discussion.
• Relaxing beach time.
• Havdalah. “Shavoua Tov!”
• Tisha B’Av/free love discussion.

August 10, 2008 - Day 7

• MAD early departure. Rosh Hanikra - the Sea and the Rock. Cable car, grotto, impressive sensory-enhanced video presentation. Just like Disney!
• Akko/Acco/Acre - Prison/fort/city museum. More sneaky sunburn. You would think we would know by now to just always be ready for burning.
• Carmel/Karmiel - shawarma ‘n shoppin’.
• Haifa - peeked at the Bahai Gardens. Were you modest?
• Tel Aviv - Farewell to our Israelim. Come back to us.
• NaLaga’at (Please Touch) Center - Not by Bread Alone - performance by deaf and blind theater company. We were pretty sleepy beforehand, but the consensus was this was AMAZING. Plus fresh bread baked onstage!
• I sat between Shanna and Gidi… felt like I was in middle school and was in trouble sitting next to the teachers. It was well worth it just for the end:
  • Narrator: “We now invite you to sign with us for this last song.”
  • Gidi (leans over to Shanna and I): “How the f*** are we supposed to do that?!”
• Hostel Ruth Daniel - nice elevator and windy staircase, but better food, please. Also, please kick out british hooligans.

August 11, 2008 - Day 8

• Jaffa - Port area pre-dating Tel Aviv. We passed through that one square like 4 times.
• Flea Market - Nothing like being claustrophobic and accosted in a crowded alley. Hamsa anyone?
• Hopefully you saw the Pokemon crane game filled with cigarettes. “Baby Party” it was called, there’s a photo on my website.
• Passed some buildings - like 2 identical houses built for brothers, the first movie theater in Israel, historical graffiti.
• Independence Hall - Those who made it through the snoozy video laughed at everyone who was sleeping. Great dynamic guide.
• Rabin Square/ Kikar Rabin - short activity where we talked to some passing Israelis about their views. 
• Free evening - Ice cream and wine back at that square with orange trees where everyone kept falling down in those deadly water ditches.
• Roof yoga. Ommm.
• OK - this roof makes up for food at this hostel. But not those soap-throwing brats.

August 12 - Day 9

• Weizman Inst./ Clore Science Garden in Rehovot - Like a physics petting zoo. Moonbounce, moonswing, gyroscope, singing bowl, rainbow machine. Fun times.
• Ayalon Inst./ Machon Ayalon - Kibbutz that had a secret underground ammunition factory. Giraffe!
• Artists’ Market/ Nachalat Binyamin - Best market for unique gifts. (skipped the beach in Tel Aviv - *tear*)
• Tel Aviv Harbor area - Night out. Dinner to make up for the food at the hostel. Bars/beers/clubs. Some (all?) of our Israeli friends make an appearance. Extra tricky considering we never distributed everyone’s cell numbers. We are S-M-R-T.

August 13, 2008 - Day 10

• Jerusalem - Kotel/Western Wall - enragingly slow security on the women’s side. Gidi advises us to be less American and push to the front instead of waiting patiently. But we are nice girls, Gidi.
• City of David - Excavations in progress, King Hezekiah’s tunnel water hike. A little spooky. Good thing we had those teeny lights.
• Market/ Shouk(?) - Amazing spreads of all foods, spices, stuffs in piles and bags. Did you get some Turkish delight/Lokum or Halvah? Figs? Dates?
• Ben Yehuda Street - Can we shop more? Fueled by iced mochas. Rachel has a priceless international moment based on the English quirk oftoo vs. two.
• Arrive late as usual to Kibbutz Ma’aleh Hachamisha - anyone else see the bride in the lobby?
• Quick dinner, then Michael Levin film edited by IE-339’s own, Brian C.

August 14, 2008 - Day 11

• Yad Vashem - Holocaust Museum - our nice guide, Mordechai, took us through the Sculpture garden, Children’s Memorial of reflected candles. We were lucky enough to get to listen to a survivor tell her story. A sharp little old lady. We got cool ear mic things. The museum appears compact from the outside, but is very windy inside with tons of exhibits.
• Mt. Herzl/Har Herzl - military cemetary. Visit graves of Yonatan Netanyahu, Michael Levin, Shai’s friend.
• Running late again. 
• “SHH!! Shut up or I will kick your head out of your face.” (not sure when this really happened)
• Gidi softened the blow of skipping camels and Bedouin hospitality by first plying the bus with beers from a roadside junkie. “1 sheckel discount!”
• “This might be a little illegal” Does Israel have open container laws?
• Masada Youth Hostel - niceynice. Pool and b-ball court.

August 15, 2008 - Day 12

• 4 am wake up. Hike. See sunrise. Hebrew naming in Masada’s temple ruins. You better believe we took the cable car down. Whee!
• Ein Gedi - Nature reserve, rock hyrax (cute rodent-like elephant cousin. Wiki it!) hot dusty hike. Waterfall. Mason provokes Gidi. Man down.
• Dead Sea - Fresh water eye-wash floating right in the water. Ouch. It’s salty!
• Mud time. Watch out for the salty shower that’s pumped straight from the sea.
• Start off Shabbat with some quality chill time in that grassy area.

August 16, 2008 - Day 13 - Shabbat

• Sleep in. Who needs bfast?
• Bar/Bat Mitzvahs. Pelt with much candy.
• Optional additional discussions.
• Lounge by the cooled pool.
• Havdalah. Shavoua Tov!
• Left Masada to go back to Jerusalem.
• Rabin Youth Hostel - dropped our stuff and went out to Ben Yehuda Street again. This time at night. 
• Beers come with shots of mystery liquor and the hookah is complimentary. Woot. Spotted prettiest waiter ever. Double woot. He was a terrible waiter. Expected.
• A simple Jack Daniels and Coke were about $12 each, though that didn’t stop me. Outside of trying the Israeli beers that’s all I drank. I’m worth it.
   

August 17, 2008 - Day 14

• Squeezed in a tour of the Jewish Quarter, Kardo main street.
• Yad Lakashish - Lifeline for the old - tour of the workshops, some spanish and russian chatting, lovely giftshop.
• Back at the hostel - Neil Lazarus lecture, trip evaluation discussion.
• Group dinner at Grill Bar back at Ben Yehuda again! Yummy skewers tho. 
• Bit of time before we could enter Club Triple. Giant beers and more free hookahs.
• Club Triple - 3 floors. We just liked the top floor really. I enjoyed the awesome (some might say awesomely bad) DJ. Don’t order Patron in Israel.

August 18, 2008 - Day 15

• Up early, on the road to Ben Gurion Airport.
• Goodbyes, some extend their stay.
• Somehow, the plane ride back is an absurd 12 hours.
• Here is where I really appreciate the maturity of our group in contrast with the 18 yr old bebeh seated next to me. Glad he wasn’t on our trip.
• More goodbyes at the luggage carousel. A little awk.

***Update: 9/9/08: Sake bombs on the Upper East Side NYC. Where were you?

After 14 days in Israel and 13 days back in the United States, I can safely say I’m ready to go back! Was it the amazing group leaders? The most intense military tour guide a guy could want? The gorgeous sites? The beaches and Israeli women? Learning about my Jewish heritage? The food? (see title)

It’s probably a little bit of each in addition to what I found the most enjoyable- the 39 strangers I left with and the 39 close friends I returned with. There were two direct reasons for why we all bonded so amazingly. The first is that our age group was 22-26, making all of us either grad students or young professionals. We all knew the hardships of supporting ourselves and having to be responsible. The second (and more important) reason was the diversity.

The question we all heard most often but could never master the answer for was “Where is your group from?”. Our response was always:

1. Murmuring and mumbling.
2. Variations of “All over the place”, “Around the United States” and “Many different areas”
3. Then everybody pausing and each saying at once: ‘New York’, ‘Philadelphia’, ‘California’, ‘Texas’, ‘San Francisco’, ‘East Coast’, ‘West Coast’, ‘Bronx’, ‘Brooklyn’, ‘Upstate New York’, ‘Pittsburgh’…
4. Then Mason would say “Yes there are Jews in Texas!” because somebody always couldn’t believe that there were.

You also may notice the Josh Album in the photos section. On the first night in Israel we were all congregating outside our rooms about, hmm I don’t know, giant spiders and bats and bugs and anything else we were being attacked by. I had my camera and tried to take a picture of something (no clue what) and the photo that I ended up with was only of Mr. Josh Kamowitz looking up and away. For no real reason we found it really amusing and decided that for the rest of the trip we’d take a picture with the same motif anywhere we went:

In the end I took 945 photos over the 14 day trip and every one is priceless. I don’t have to type up everything we did to remember it because I have photo-documentation of the entire trip. It’s been almost 3 weeks since I’ve been back and I still haven’t been able to wrap my head around it all yet. Eventually I’ll post on each day but for now I’ll leave you with the famous line (one of many to be precise) from Gidi, our tour guide:

“Shut up or I’m going to kick your head out of your face”

Stay Frosty…

Believe it or not, that’s how many hits I’ve garnered since February 2004 when I began keeping track of stats. Keep in mind hits are not how many visitors but how many web pages have been viewed. The explanation for the high number are the Penn State Nittany Lion videos and more specifically the Ohio State game of the 2005 season. After I put the highlights of that game online I received 65,000 hits the first day and about 975,000 total that month. I had never thought to total up the website’s hits but when I redesigned the template I saw a plugin to keep track on the frontpage.

Speaking of which, you may have noticed the new site is up and running. I redesigned it from scratch using Joomla which is a CMS (Content Management System) that allows me to keep track of content and updating exponentially better. It also allows me to change the entire layout and template with a single click whereas before I’d have to change the code by hand with Dreamweaver. I could list about four dozen other improvements the website now has but mostly they’re behind the scenes.

This past weekend was the fourth of July- and while rainy- was a great time. CT from the Brill days came to Philly to visit some friends and we all spent the fourth having a nice BBQ (photos will be up soon). The weekdays prior I ended up heading to the theaters day three days in a row for Get Smart, Hancock and Wall-E.

Get Smart - As I told a few people, this movie confirmed two things for me.

• The first is that Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson will soon be an A-list actor and is one of the funniest men out there. He can act and has fantastic charisma and presence. Yes he’ll probably keep making movies like Doom for a while (we all have to get paid) but eventually he’ll get that one right script that’ll catapult him straight to the top. Would you have ever though after watching Ace Ventura and The Mask that Jim Carrey could pull off something like Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind? If you do want to see a glimpse of what Dwayne Johnson can do, pick up ‘Southland Tales’.
• The second thing is it once again affirmed that Anne Hathaway is in fact my current #1. It wasn’t really in doubt before but seeing her up close on the big screen just leaves no room to question.

So as I just mentioned, Anne Hathaway is my new #1 and I’ll show you why very soon. But before her was Denise Richards. I know, I know. But I’m not talking current Denise Richards, I’m talking 1997 Denise Richards. Starship Troopers and Wild Things Denise Richards. Then she married Charlie Sheen and went insane. And now I’m sad. Below is a timeline for you:

1997 Denise Richards

2008 Denise Richards

Now you can understand what I’ve had to go through. It was a sad descent but there was nothing I could do (or so I keep telling myself). Instead I did what any guy would do… find a new girl! Rather than go looking I just waited for a pretty brunette to pop off the screen as Denise did back in Starship Troopers. And so that’s what Anne did… and luckily she’s only been getting prettier as time goes on. Hopefully she won’t marry Charlie Sheen and go absolutely bonkers. Actually as I’m sure you’ve read, she recently broke up with her boyfriend who was arrested for laundering money of some sort. There’s even rumors going around that she turned him in. Not helping was the fact she was coincidentally out of the country when he was arrested. Those stories really made my week… plus the underlying fact that she’s single again!

Anne Hathaway

Given the recent real life Law & Order episode of her real life, it seems like she’s commited to staying on the right track. Hopefully she’ll stay this way as long as she can! She’s already outlasted Lindsay Lohan 6x over…

Sorry, guess I got a little sidetracked there…

Hancock - I really don’t know what all the critics were on about. It wasn’t nearly as bad as I was expecting it to be. Sure there were huge plot holes and a boring villain but it doesn’t take an expect to see movie studio interference during the second half. Gee a sharp and edgy first half and then a mindless second half? They don’t call them Hollywood endings for nothing. By the end I found myself having a good time and having laughed many times. While it wasn’t as clever as most of Will Smith’s July 4th films, it was by no means a bad summer film. By normal standards it was pretty good- even though it clocked in at barely 90 minutes- but for a Will Smith blockbuster it definitely was lacking something.

Wall-E - As with all Pixar movies it was simply brilliant. The short film beforehand was hysterical and all I really need to say is this: Fred Willard rocks!

Next weekend is Arts Fest 2008 and as usual will be quite an adventure…

Stay Frosty…

The new website is coming along faster than planned thankfully.

The films section including the Comm345 and Comm440 are completed even having to re-encode every video I have. The photo section will be fun (though tedious) and last but not least the Penn State section. I’m still unsure of the new design for that page but once I get started it’ll be done in little time.

Work’s been busy lately leaving me little time to relax or do website updates. Last weekend I spent most of my time in the office and this weekend I have a shoot along with my mom flying in from Boston. Sunday evening should leave me with plenty of time to code once everything settles.

I’d much prefer to be outside playing football but it’s just too hot lately. My car’s been telling me 99 or 100 since Sunday though I believe it’s going to cool off after this week. The first few days of these temperatures are always the same when getting in the car. Very reminiscent of Raiders of the Lost Ark when the German guy who’s face melts off at the end grabs the medallion in the fire. A little bit of sizzle and then a run outside to cool off his hand in the snow. Except I don’t run out of my car screaming. And there’s no snow.

I did see the latest Indiana Jones film a few weeks ago. I have to say I enjoyed seeing Harrison Ford with the fedora on the big screen but it didn’t feel like the others. Why? Because of George Lucas naturally. I’m not going to go into heavy detail for those who haven’t seen it but all I really need to say is this: Refrigerator. It did have some wonderful moments and I actually enjoyed Shia LeBouf. I was afraid he’d turn into the next Short Round or Jar Jar Binks but he stayed in the green the whole movie for me. It was neat seeing Karen Allen back as Marion too, she’s still quite feisty. Harrison Ford did well, never backing off or showing his age even though they made a few pokes at him throughout.

According to Lucasfilm they kept the ratio of 70/30 for actual stunts to CGI just like the original movies. I can’t say I believe them with the ridiculous action sets on edges of cliffs but there WAS less than I personally thought there would be.

Overall I had a good time with it- not a classic but it made for a good summer movie. Luckily the pinnacles of this summer are spread out beginning with Iron Man and ending with The Dark Knight. Had we waited all these years and revolved our entire summer around Indiana Jones I’m sure we’d be up in arms. But then again, what do you expect from a movie with George Lucas’s name on it but not Lawrence Kasdan’s…

And just for good laugh, here’s what Jim texted me earlier tonight:

LET’S GO STATE!

Stay Frosty… (especially with this weather)

Site construction is currently underway for BrianChalfin.com V3.

Until it is complete only the blog section of the site will remain operational.

Stay Frosty…

Another week complete, another episode of Lost and BSG in the books and a decent amount of rain. All things considered a pretty decent way to start the weekend. These will be two productive days for me unlike in exactly a week when I’ll be in Happy Valley for graduation weekend. It’s usually rainy during graduation but I’m hoping for a sunny weekend, though not much could ruin the fun anyway.

This week’s summer movie is Speed Racer which I find in no way interesting. I’ve seen preview after preview and it just looks like some gaudy slapstick video game rather than a cohesive movie. I have a little faith since the Wachowski’s directed it however there doesn’t seem to be many redeemable qualities. The only real reason I’d even consider would be to see Matthew Fox as Racer X. It’d be nice to see Fox outside of the Lost realm and it so happens Racer X is my favorite Speed Racer character.

Last week’s movie was Iron Man which was a fantastic way to begin the summer. It was precisely what Spiderman 3 should’ve been- a fun action film with memorable characters and some good laughs. Nothing too serious but nothing silly enough to make you shake your head. Robert Downey Jr has been on a ridiculous roll lately, racking up not just good films but solid and memorable films. From Zodiac to Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang he’s really found a perfectly suited strategy to picking roles. All of them have his subtle humor plus some good one liners (”Actually I’m retired, I invented dice when I was a kid”). As Tony Stark he’s really able to fit in to the role as if it was always him. Naturally the PG-13 summer blockbuster hinted at but directly dropped the alcoholism subplot from Stark’s personality, but quite simply that’s just Hollywood. It was also quite a treat to see Jeff Bridges back in action, this time as a villain with a shaved head and beard. Seemingly every guy who’s seen the movie kept thinking “I’m the DUDE, man” every time he was on screen, myself included. I’m still waiting on the youtube version called ‘Iron Dude’… you know, if you’re in the whole brevity thing.

Stay Frosty…

My honest answer would be “a few years ago” if you asked me when I had edited ‘A Hero in Heaven’. Turns out I only finished it about 14 months ago but that’s how the world of film is. You’re rewarded for your work months if not years after the fact. A perfect example is my new best friend, The Telly Award. ‘A Hero in Heaven’ was awarded one by the 29th Annual Telly Awards last month and he [they] will be arriving any day now. The statues are made by the same designer and manufacturer as the Oscars and Emmy’s as you’ll see below. Don’t expect poses on the red carpet but I’m sure a few facebook/myspace photos will make the rounds. Until I get my dirty mitts on mine, here’s a preview they sent us:

Also in television, by now I’m sure you’re award that 24 has been postponed indefinitely. Thanks to the strike the deadline to start 24 and have it play continuously without a week off had passed. Instead they decided to push it back an entire year! The seventh season of 24 won’t be now until January 2009. Thankfully Lost is back with new episodes along with Battlestar Galactica. I still am holding strong on the possibility of Lost being the best show ever created. It all hinges on the answers and explanations that will be coming in a year or two, but they’re really got something going. If they’re able to pull it off there wouldn’t be any arguing that the show is the king. Until they do, Battlestar Galactica might just be in the lead. BSG continues to amaze and just address so many themes. Only one cyclon remains hidden from us but who will it be? Both BSG and Lost have outlined their remaining seasons and the ending of the show. BSG is currently airing it’s fourth and final season while Lost will continue for two more seasons after the current one, ending in 2010.

I had planned on writing about my adventure in NYC for the Superbowl however it’s been just a bit too long to write about it now. The pictures and the video will do the trip justice…

Next up is Digitalism. I haven’t had much of a chance to talk about them but do yourself a favor and have a listen when you can. They came out with their first album ‘Idealism’ in 2007 and it’s been one of my obsessions since my first listen. I came across them during a Pontiac commercial back in November. I checked out the song, wanted more and here I am today. I’m incredibly surprised they haven’t become bigger but I suspect it won’t be long now. The best way to describe them is a German influenced version of the French Daft Punk. They don’t sound exactly like Daft Punk but their songs are just as extravagant. Digitalism’s Idealism couldn’t be any better, and if it was it’d be Daft Punk’s Discovery- an album that will occupy the top spot for the rest of time.

The two to check out first are ‘Pogo’ and ‘Idealistic’.

In two weeks I’ll be heading to Penn State for one hell of a weekend I’m sure. Originally split across two weekends, now the weekend of the 17th will be another meeting of the PSU crew along with my brother’s graduation. Cue the parental units, the best friends and the good times!

The last trip to Penn State took place Easter weekend. Jim wasn’t able to make it but Deirdre, Crystal, Sara, Alli, Lauren and I did go. We all went to dinner at Chili’s like last time, made a pit stop at the hotel for the girls and then made our way to Cafe 210. From there we went to Indigo (Ex-Players) and finally to The Den. The night was more relaxed than usual but so was State College in general. We didn’t play the Text Game too much nor did we take as many pictures as usual. Most of the students had left to go home for Easter, leaving just a skeleton crew around. On the upside, it was easy to get into the bars and the lines weren’t too bad. It was a little chilly that night but not too bad. The next morning I woke up to find incredibly cold temperatures and two inches of snow on the ground. It didn’t slow any of us down though; as planned we all went for breakfast at the Waffle Shop where I had the tastiest breakfast of 2008 so far. Afterwards we did some PSU shopping and oddly enough all the #14 Nittany Lion jerseys were on sale…

The girls left to see their families for Easter while I went “home” so to speak. Where you may ask? To Sheetz! Before departing State College I always stop at Sheetz for fuel and sustenance. I don’t remember what I had, I think some sort of breakfast sandwich, but it was absolutely delightful. In two weeks I’ll be having another one…

And at long last comes the end of the AJ Anniversary project. Today is May 4th 2008 and I personally began working on that project April 7th, 2008. Between those two dates I’ve only had 3 days off from work with two of them being for Passover in which I spent every waking minute before and after the seder editing for a different work related project. That only leaves one real non-work related day off- and that day was yesterday. By this Friday that will have been 32 days of work and only 1 real day off not editing. That’s an entire month of work. While I’m incredibly proud of the product it did ruin my two favorite weekends of the entire year. Not only did I miss Blue/White Weekend (also due to Passover) but I missed the entire 2008 NFL Draft. All I really have left to look forward to is Arts Fest in July and there’s no way I’ll be missing that due to work. I think from now on I’ll be putting in my PSU weekends off a year in advance. Might as well since you need to do the same to reserve hotel rooms!

Stay Frosty!

I’ll begin with the most recent (and important) event… last night. I went to North Star Bar last night with Megan to see quite possibly my all-time favorite band, Ambulance LTD. And it was amazing.

While it looked like a dive from the outside, North Star is actually a pretty cool place. Megan and I got there at 7:30 pm and had ourselves a few pints. Michael and Liz joined us a little later for more drinks and discussion. We learned a few things- the most important being that while Judge Dredd is a silly loud mess of an action movie, if it’s muted on a plasma while there’s music being played from elsewhere the movie is quite enjoyable. Not only that, every patron in the bar will be memorized by Stallone and Schneider.

Now while the show was supposed to start at 9, the opening act didn’t begin until 10:00 pm. The first band was Bear Hands and they were pretty darn good. I ponied up some cash and bought their EP as I met Dylan, the lead singer. Next up was Wild Light and while they were alright, it was almost midnight and we were all anxious for Ambulance. There was another bar by where the stage was so some more lager kept us busy. Wild Light was followed by a long equipment change that lasted maybe 20 minutes. And then Marcus took the stage.

They began with Heavy Lifting which I figured they would. It’s also ironic because that was the first song I ever heard by them, catching just the last 90 seconds when they performed on Leno one night. Following Heavy Lifting, about half was new material and half was split between LP and the New English EP. Hearing Ophelia live was definitely a treat for me. The words between songs were kept to a minimum and the jamming was also turned down overall. I loved that aspect because they were able to play that many more songs. Each was about 3 minutes on average during over an hour of music. The encore began with Primitive and ended with Young Urban, the last song on the LP. The music sounded fantastic and hearing everything live just added to their already unbearable appeal. Now all I can do is patiently wait for their next album.

Baumer also released their new album a few weeks ago, “Were It Not For You”. I couldn’t be any happier with it either. They don’t waste a single track the entire album, gracefully flowing from one tune to the next. Every song is incredibly different although they all maintain the sound of Baumer. Without a doubt they’re the next band on the top of my list to see live.

The Oscars were also something I haven’t had a chance to cover. I think Jon Stewart did a good job hosting, keeping the political humor minimal while slipping in some great improvising. I can’t say there were too many surprises, No Country for Old Men won the major award as Daniel Day Lewis won for There Will Be Blood. Personally I was pulling for Viggo (and his beard) but it’ll have to wait for next time. The next morning I tuned into WMMR, part of my commute to work routine, and heard a hysterical segment almost causing me to crash as always: