Puntabulous

My Memorial Day Weekend

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So it was Memorial Day weekend here! I took friday off too, so it was a super long weekend for me. Since all my job drama seems to have settled down for a bit and I actually have a career path moving forward, I decided to treat myself to a new television and blu-ray player for my room to replace the 19″ I had. I went with a 32″ Sony Bravia and Panasonic blu-ray player with WiFi. Forgetting that my Mom puts the boy she babysits to sleep in my room, I was unable to set everything up as soon as I got home, and having to let them sit in the box was agonizing, made worse by the fact that I was seeing Sex and the City 2 that afternoon with Amanda and her friends, so I wouldn’t be able to set everything up until I got home that night. Agonizing!

So we went to see Sex and the City 2, while all my wonderful toys waited for me at home in their boxes. The movie was good, but not as good as the first one. The first one was an epic that made ma laugh and cry (shut up), while this one just seemed like an extended episode. Not that that’s a terribly bad thing. Just seeing the characters again is good enough for me. But there was just something lacking from this one. Overall it was enjoyable though.

Then I raced home and set up my wonderful television and blu-ray player. It was a cinch to set up and everything looked wonderful. I tested out the blu-ray with the latest Star Trek. I was only going to watch the first 5 minutes just to see how everything looked, but of course I got sucked in and watched the whole thing. It was gorgeous! Now I’m certainly not going to start replacing my DVDs with blu-rays, but I did pick up a few blu-rays that were on sale just to see how everything would look. I got Star Trek, X-Men 2, The Dark Knight, and Kingdom of Heaven: Directors Cut. I also watched several episodes of my Star Trek: The Next Generation DVDs and they look fantastic. I don’t know whether it’s just being played through the blu-ray player, or being on the HD television, or a combination of both, but they’ve never looked so good. I’m absolutely thrilled with my purchase!

The next day I had to leave my precious entertainment center behind to go out to my aunt’s beach house on the north fork of Long Island. It was a beautiful day of sun and relaxation, and I finished the Dark Phoenix graphic novel that Polt sent me, which was awesome.

Then sunday it was back home to my precious (read: preeecccciooouss), where I watched a boatload of Star Trek: TNG. I’m almost done with the third season. People said that the third season was where it started picking up, and they were certainly correct. Yesterday’s Enterprise was amazing! As much as I prefer shows with ongoing storylines, watching Star Trek really gives me new respect for shows that have to create new storylines each and every episode. They’re like mini movies! I really need to give these writers credit for being able to create such diverse and fresh storylines each week.

That night I made plans to go to the movies with a friend. Guess which one he wanted to see? That’s right: Sex and the City 2! He’s not a movie person, so it was a pretty big deal for him to actually want to go to the movies (Sex and the City is one of his favorite TV shows), plus I really wanted to hang out with him again, so I didn’t let on that I had seen it already (I’m pretty sure he doesn’t know about the blog). I actually enjoyed it more the second time since my expectations weren’t as high.

Oh, and somewhere in that day I helped Mom and Dad open the pool, which is always a shoot myself in the face joy.

Monday was spent running errands with Dad, and a bit of shopping with Mom. I picked up the Monster Squad blu-ray at Best Buy for $9.99. I remember seeing a movie on television when I was in high school that had all the classic movie monsters in it, and Frankenstein’s monster ended up teaming with the main character kid and helping save the day. I vividly remember a scene where someone died and was placed into a burning fireplace. I’ve been looking for that movie ever since. I thought Monster Squad would be it, but it wasn’t, but I still enjoyed it though. Maybe it was a made for TV movie? I don’t know. Any ideas?

And now it’s Tuesday and I’m back at work. Only two more episodes of the third season of TNG, which I will watch tonight (along with the first episode of the fourth season because I know all about it and you can’t expect me to wait till next season to see how it ends do you?).

RANDOM | Craig | June 1, 2010 7:52 am

24 Comments

By Polt, June 1, 2010 @ 8:02 am

“Shoot myself in the face joy” – my new favorite expression ever!

Glad you enjoyed Dark Phoenix saga, it’s the Claremont/Byrne X-Men at their best. In fact, it’s damn near the best storyline of the X-Men EVER!

Yesterday’s Enterprise is one of my top three And the finale of season three….best clifhanger EVAH! Oh myGod! I was watching it with a friend when it aired (in 1990, GASP!) and at the end, we both screamed NOOOOOOOOOO at the top of our lungs, cause we knew we’d have to wait like four or five months for the resolution! But still, incredible ending!

Enjoy!

HUGS….
By Tam, June 1, 2010 @ 8:34 am

Wow, busy weekend. I HATE setting up new electronics. Ugh. That’s such a boy job. Unfortunately I don’t have one so had to do my new TV myself. (which does not have blue ray or blue ray capability because I’m old school)

Glad you had fun at the beach house and the movie. I’ve never even seen an episode of SATC. I do love Enterprise though. Enjoy your short week.
By Nicole, June 1, 2010 @ 8:45 am

Sounds like a fantastic weekend! Congrats on the super-awesome purchase too.
By The Ryan with the Cupcake, June 1, 2010 @ 9:50 am

I went to the beach yesterday and read the new Christopher Rice novel. I was pleased to see that it wasn’t too busy (I guess most people don’t want to walk down from the top of 300 foot cliffs when they could go to the beach with a parking lot next to it). I’m even more pleased that I managed not to get burned.

I almost saw The Core in theaters because a friend I hadn’t hanged out with for a while was really excited about seeing it. Thankfully, we ended up watching a DVD of Waiting for Guffman instead.

I watched Primer on Thursday, and again on Saturday. I think I might now understand it, and that scares me a little.
By Kimi, June 1, 2010 @ 12:54 pm

Sorry, can’t help you out with that movie title. I still remember some TV movie I saw when I was 3 or 4 at the babysitter’s house that involved roaches or some kind of bug crawling up into car tailpipes and then the car would explode. At some point in the movie, The Beatles’ “If I Fell” played, so now everytime I hear that song I think of that bizzare bug movie and wonder what it was and if I could ever watch it again. Then I wonder why I would want to watch a roach movie again.
By Tam, June 1, 2010 @ 3:13 pm

Oh, I vaguely remember that movie Kimi. Roaches in the tail pipe. I wonder if it was The Next with Robert Lansing? I do remember that though.
By john, June 1, 2010 @ 5:17 pm

As I have said other places, my Dad turned 80 this past weekend and one of my brothers turned 46. It was a busy birthday weekend.
By Tam, June 1, 2010 @ 5:35 pm

Mmmm. Cake. My daughter turned 15 on the weekend. Not quite as momentous as 80 but freaks her mother out. 15!!!!!! Ack! How did that happen?

Was motivation to make this cake though.
By Coverthomo, June 1, 2010 @ 8:14 pm

Sounds like a fun weekend overall. I love setting up new toys when i get home. My roommate knows not to talk to me while I am in that mode.

My friend and I always seems to go to the movies when I am back in town. Except we see much more..hmmm..testosterone driven movies (e.g. Transformers some other caveman movie) but I shouldn’t expect less from him. That’s what straight guys are into and I was just happy to be spending time with him.

My weekend was less busy and more relaxing. Dad was cooking a feast for almost 12 hours on Sunday. That was excellent.

Congrats on the new toys. Enjoy!
By Michelle M., June 1, 2010 @ 8:44 pm

I’m so happy for the new addition to your family. We got a big screen tv in December and it has rocked my world.

And does this mean you won’t be blogging as often : ).
By john, June 1, 2010 @ 9:21 pm

Tam: You made that cake?!?! Um, my birthday is in October…..
By Chris D., June 1, 2010 @ 9:32 pm

Congratulations on the new TV. A well produced DVD played on a good player with good video scaling (presumably your integrated player offers this) can look very good on an HDTV. I seem to recall that in the early days of HDTV some people found that some DVDs actually looked better than some poorly produced BlueRay disks. I would like to hope that BlueRay video production quality has become more consistently good.

I am surprised that the Puntabuperves haven’t made more comment about shooting yourself in the face. Now that the pool is open does that mean we will be seeing more shirtless photos of you?

Quite some years ago when Usenet newsgroups were more of a hangout for reasonable and knowledgeable people than the troll fests they currently seem to be, I asked about some movies I only remembered parts of from my childhood. I was amazed that people were able to tell me the names of the movies! You may want to check out http://groups.google.com/group/rec.arts.movies.past-films/topics?lnk=srg , however it may not be as helpful as it once was. There are probably forums on the web where my have also have a good chance to tap into the collective knowledge of the right experts.

I am glad you had a nice weekend, and I hope that your new TV will serve you well. I am sure you will put it through its paces.

John: That would make for a busy weekend. I can’t imagine myself at 80.

Tam: Did you really make that cake?!?!? I am very impressed. Congratulations on your daughter’s birthday. Raising another person for 15 years is quite an accomplishment!
By vanston, June 2, 2010 @ 1:48 am

So, you have a job and you can afford expensive toys, but you can’t afford to move out of your parents house? I have a very nice 1080p flatscreen and a Blue Ray player myself, but wouldn’t dare waste any money on useless crap like that if I was still living at home with my parents. Sorry to be so blunt, but it sounds like you need a wake up call. Love the blog!!!
By Craig, June 2, 2010 @ 6:19 am

Mom, Dad, is that you?
By adam, June 2, 2010 @ 7:46 am

some little kid sleeps in your bed? ew — what if he pees or something?

Tam — that cake looks AWESOME! make me one! (vegan, of course)
By Tam, June 2, 2010 @ 7:55 am

Thanks guy. Ummm. Vegan? Not likely Adam. LOL It was vegetarian, no meat involved. That will have to do.
By Craig, June 2, 2010 @ 7:59 am

He sleeps on top of my bed, not under the sheets or anything. Plus he’s housebroken.
By adam, June 2, 2010 @ 5:23 pm

still eww! you share your bed with a little boy! creeeeeeeeeeeeeeepy! hehehehe
By Polt, June 3, 2010 @ 8:56 am

“plus he’s housebroken”…*snicker*…love it!

HUGS….
By jere, June 5, 2010 @ 11:25 am

Back when I lived at home, my bed was also the designated naptime area for my nieces and nephews when my sister was babysitting them and I was at work.
By Justin, June 5, 2010 @ 12:34 pm

Ugh I really have to start using an RSS reader again so I’m not so late posting.

Congratulations on your new purchases, Craig. I love setting up new technology, too, and I love buying myself new toys. LOVE it There’s nothing quite like that feeling of self-indulgence I don’t have Blu-ray yet and although I do have an HDTV, it’s a big-ass CRT as I’ve posted before.

I don’t understand why anybody liked the first SatC more than this one. I was highly disappointed in the first movie. It was nothing more than a recapitulation of the story arcs of the series. Big had already broken Carrie’s heart and redeemed himself. Steve and Miranda had already broken up and gotten together. And they ruined the “Samantha has finally grown up” story-line that the series ended with by having her dump Smith so she can go back to being a promiscuous gay man in a (surprisingly-well-preserved) middle-aged woman.

There were definitely flaws and cringe moments in the new film — did anybody else think that Carrie putting on makeup in the mirror looked *EXACTLY* like Gloria Swanson in Sunset Boulevard? It was kind of creepy. Sorry to sound catty, but SJP and Cynthia Nixon were looking way older than they actually are and Kim Kattrall must honestly have a Picture of Dorian Gray portrait somewhere in her house because she looks awesome.

I loved the new movie nonetheless and much more than the first. Yes, it was like an extended episode but that was better than a REPEAT episode. I laughed non-stop and then the audience got their biggest laugh at my expense when I let out a very sincere and very spontaneous “EWW” sound when Samantha went up under her skirt with one of her ointments to anoint her hoo-ha.

Polt — honestly — “damn near”? The Dark Phoenix saga is not only UNQUESTIONABLY the best story-line in X-Men history but is unquestionably one of the best story-lines in ALL of comic-book history. It raised the bar higher than it had ever been raised before, bar none. It changed what comic books can do. I’m glad you enjoyed it, Craig. It actually made me cry when I first read it. Honestly, though, Polt, what else compares?

Chris, Chris, Chris. Man, that puntabuperversity even passed even me by. Though when Tam said “boy job” I had a flicker of puntabuperversity of my own — the word “job” … you know.

Tam — I really am going to expect baked goods when I meet you. (Same to you, Ryan!!)

Adam — we actually have some pretty good vegan cookbooks in our house. Maybe when we meet I’ll surprise you with something. No, not that. Well, unless you want me to. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know: “ew u perv”. You don’t need to say it

Only dogs get to sleep on MY bed. Also “not under the sheets or anything”. And ALSO housebroken. What never ceases to amaze me is that no matter the size of the dog or the bed, they always manage to hog the whole damn thing somehow. They do it diagonally.
By Polt, June 7, 2010 @ 10:25 am

Justin: Well, since you asked, Days Of Future Passed, also from the X-Men is a pretty good storyline. The Darkseid Saga from the Legion Of Superheroes is rather good too. How about the whole Speedy-getting-addicted-to-heroin storyline from Green Lantern/Green Arrow of the early 70′s? Almost the entire series of The Sandman? Several stroyarcs from Preacher? Who Is Donna Troy, from Teen Titans around #50? I’d put all of these on par with The Dark Phoenix Saga to one degree or another.

And I didn’t even touch the graphic novels/miniseries (Watchmen, God Loves Man Kills, Dark Knight Returns, Kingdom Come, The Marvels, Batman: The Long Halloween, etc, etc, etc)

HUGS…
By Justin, June 7, 2010 @ 11:33 am

Days of Future Past and God Loves Man Kills are two of the greatest graphic novels ever written imho. As is the Dark Knight Returns (as goofy as it is that they have reagan as president into the 21st century on some sort of life-support system). Frank Miller’s Daredevil work with Elektra was also a phenomenal storyline. The Watchmen and The Sandman I think are overrated. I am not familiar with the others.
By Jomosexual, June 14, 2010 @ 2:44 am

Craig send me anything you remember about the movie and I’ll see if I can find it….I’m between trips so it’ll give me something to do.

P.S. I’m writingthis from my luxurious bath tub in Brussels…..wrap your head around that.