Best Picture Nominee #4

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Directed by James Cameron

Starring: Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver

Pretty amazing. I don't even really know that I liked it, but i couldn't pull myself away from it. Seriously, it took me forever to come around to seeing because it looked kind of generic and boring. But really, it was kind of awesome. Blue people, really cool planet, and the story was unoriginal, but interesting. My money's on this one for best picture and I don't even think I'd be mad about it. Check it out in the theater in 3D, it's worth it.

Best Picture Nominee #3

An Education

Directed by Lone Scherfig

Starring: Carey Mulligan, Peter Sarsgaard, Alfred Molina Rosamund Pike, Dominic Cooper

Interesting story that is artfully told by all of the actors. Carey Mulligan plays a delightful, beautiful intelligent young woman who is seduced into a life more glamorous than her own. She's a school girl motivated largely by her father's dreams of her becoming an Oxford woman. Well made and well played. I was a bit surprised this made the cut for Best Picture, but I was glad to watch it.

Frosty the snowman...

You've met Frosty the Snowman.

With his corncob pipe and button nose,

and two eyes made out of coal.

Cute, huh?

Have you met Anthony (ant-uny) the Snowman?

He's Frosty's cousin.

He lives in South Philly.

No corncob pipe here, he's got a cigarette.

Rather than a silken top hat, he's wearing a ball cap.

And, there are no eyes made out of coal, rather a broken pair of sunglasses.

For buttons, empty bottles of Yeungling.

Best Picture Nominee #2

Inglorious Basterds

Directed by Quentin Tarantino

Starring: Brad Pitt, Christopher Waltz and many many more

A Nazi revenge fantasy fill that's positvely fantastic all the way around. True, it was a little bit on the bloody side, but it's Tarantino and that's kinda how he rolls. Christopher Waltz, the guy who plays Col. Han Landa, is really quite good. Great story. Great imagery. Poor spelling.

Seriously worth checking out. And, I'm pretty excited that it got nominated. Like him or not, Tarantino is a force as an American filmmaker and it's cool to see him sitting at the grown-up table.

Done lost her mind.

Ever have one of those days where you're just feeling completely out of sorts? Nothing works, nothing fits, nothing feels right , people seem dimmer than usual and EVERYTHING makes you feel all wonky?

Me too. Right now, I'm on day three of one of those days.

It started on Friday. I was supposed to get on a plane to go to Florida. I was supposed to take my man to meet may dad. Instead, we got a bunch of snow dumped on us and we got stranded in Philly for the weekend. To be precise, marooned my little island of a house with nothing but cookies and movies to keep us company. (Thank goodness I'm not the least bit dramatic!)

Normally, a snowed in weekend would sound fun, but I was SO disappointed that I couldn't even muster the will to enjoy it. I tried...oh, I tried.

I watched movies, baked cookies, made soup, went for a walk, walked to brunch with friends, watched movies, danced around the kitchen, listened to music, talked to people I loved, and cried intermitently for 3 days.

My darling 4 year old neice got wind of my predicament and she came up with a solution, "Aunt Carolyn, do you think you might feel better if we came and picked you up and drove you to Grandpa's house?" It was the best idea I have ever heard and yes, it would have made me feel better. Alas, they live in Michigan, I live in Philadelphia, and Grandpa's house is in Florida. No such luck sweet girl. She tried...oh, she tried.

Poor Cody was there to witness the whole nightmare. He was such a trooper. He made me laugh alot. As he put it, he 'danced around like a drunk monkey' trying to cheer me up. He tried...oh, he tried.

But to no avail. There were moments of sunshine, but mostly I felt like a dark stormy cloud was chasing me around my little house raining on my little head

It's cool though, I hear we're only suppsed to get 10-12 inches tomorrow...ugh. Maybe I should try something else?

Best Picture Nominee #1

The Hurt Locker

Directed by Kathryn Bigelow
Starring: Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie, Brian Geraghty

Long story short, I liked it. I had no idea what it was about before I saw it, except that it was an Iraq war story. As it so happens, it's about a special team of people who disable bombs in a war zone.

This isn't a best picture. It's a well made film with excellent character development, which is actually the entire story. The very subtle plot is merely tool a to help justify why we're still focusing on these people. Although I will say that it was very interesting to watch...even without a plot to pee in.

Kudos to Kathryn Bigelow for rockin' out in a genre that doesn't normally see many women.

An open letter to Jack Frost.

Dear Mr. Frost,

It is with great respect that I recognize the integral part you play in our universe. I neither begrudge nor belittle your work. But this business with dumping 2 feet of snow on my city everytime I want to fly somewhere is really going above and beyond. It seems almost as if you are going out of your way to "snow on my parade". Frankly, I think you kind of suck.

Sincerely,
Snowed in Philly

"Flying" out of Philly

Anyone who has ever attempted to take a flight out of the Philadelphia airport knows precisely why the title says "flying". It's a cute premise, but in Philly having an airline ticket and being at the airport in no way implies that you are going anywhere.

Now, I must say that i love my new city. It's unique. It's a little rough around the edges. It's big, but not too big. It's got the best cannoli imaginable. It's an awesome new place to call home.

Sadly, it's also home to the worst airport on the planet. Seriously, I imagine it would be easier to fly out of Philly if I glued feathers onto my sleaves and flapped my wings real fast.

If it's even remotely cloudy, they cancel flights. And if the sky even kinda looks like it might consider raining, they close the airport. If it's cloudy and the temperature happens to be anywhere near the 30's, they operate under martial law and draw straws to see who gets eaten first.

Last time I flew it was the week before Christmas and it snowed an inordinate amount for Philly. It almost never snows here, so any snow is inordinate, but the snow really was quite ridiculous. By a remarkable stroke of grace, I did not draw the short straw and I got on my plane. It was a few hours late, but it got off the ground. Most people weren't so lucky.

This Friday, I'm supposed to fly out of Philly on my way to sunny Florida. And guess what? They are predicting snowstorms to rival the storm we had in December. What are the odds that lightening will strike twice and that I might actually get on a plane that is actually leaving the airport to go to an actual destination? Yeah, my money's on the snow, too.

Happy Birthday, Cody!

Happy Birthday to you.

Happy Birthday to you.

Happy Birthday, dear Wyatt.

Happy Birthday to you!