Geography Lesson!

It has been brought to my attention that the city of Minneapolis lies WEST of the Mississippi River. (Technically, the river cuts through the city.)

Yesterday I stated that I had no contacts west of the Mississippi. I was wrong. I have contacts in the great northern city of Minneapolis.

Did you know the name Minneapolis came from a combination of the Dakota word for water (Mni) and the Greek word for city (polis).

Minneapolis is the 15th largest city in the country. The Bundt pan was invented in Minneapolis. And Minnesota has one recreational boat per every six people, more than any other state.

Also, Minneapolis is really freakin' cold. I mean really cold, man. Seriously, don't forget your gloves.

Gloomy Tuesday

It's a gloomy Tuesday, Everybody! My contacts throughout the country verify that it is also gloomy where they're located. So let's make a list (Yippee! Another list!) *Note: I have no contacts west of the Mississippi - I'm sure it's beautiful out there.

Good things:

1. French toast for dinner.
2. Fast elevators.
3. Driving in front of the bus rather than behind it.
4.
5. Ample counter space.
6. Photographs on people's desks.
7.
8.
9. Free fonts online (for my fellow Photoshop nerds)
10. Looking forward to Indiana Jones
11. Georgie James
12.
13. "Extra Chunky" peanut butter

Hollywood Fluff and a Girl Named Diablo

Good morning, fellow citizens. It's good to see you. You look good. Did you lose weight?

The Oscar's were on last night. Did you watch 'em? I did. I always do. I'm a sucker for the pomp and circumstance. I know it's nearly meaningless. I know it's mainly just the popular kids sitting around patting each other on the backs. Still, I can't not watch. (We all want to be one of the popular kids anyway.)

If it means anything, I have yet to view a single Oscar nominated movie this year. I almost saw Juno a couple weeks ago, but I think we went to Best Buy instead. That's not to say I'm not going see them. I would just rather see them in the comfort of my own living room where some douche isn't sitting three feet behind me eating butter-slathered popcorn like he's been locked in a cellar for five weeks. I also prefer not to have some ass-child (who shouldn't be watching an R rated movie anyway) kicking the back of my chair. (That actually happens to me a lot - it's not just a cliche.)

Diablo Cody won an Oscar for writing Juno. I have been hoping she'd win. She's one of my new favorite persons. Ex-stripper turned Oscar-winning writer seems like a good story to me. Plus, she's one of us. Meaning, she's from where I'm from, the Chicagoland area. And now she lives in Minneapolis (or at least used to, I think she still lives there). That's where my closest friend lives and after reading her blog it appears they hang out at the same places. She also spent some time in Cody, Wyoming, as have I. And she has a new column on the back page of Entertainment Weekly - she's funny and smart. And I like her tattoos and the fact that she didn't hide them for the Academy Awards Show.

While watching the show last night I realized something that alarmed me: The lack of American entries into such categories as animation and short films. I'm not saying the nominees aren't stellar because I'm sure they were, but it surprised me that our country didn't produce more Oscar-worthy material. I'm frequently looking for new animation online and I see a lot of great things people are creating. But somehow these creations are going unnoticed? Or maybe I'm being naive. I don't know. As a amateur artist/wannabe cartoonist, I have to imagine flocks of young Americans constantly producing wonderful films. *BTW, Ratatouille was a good movie, but Best Animated Movie of the year? I doubt it.

My favorite part of last night's presentation: The Academy's appreciation of periscopes and binoculars via short montage of film clips. It was a joke showing what happens when writers aren't available to put together an awards show. There were other little film montages throughout the night which made it painfully obvious that writers are kind of important.

To see a full listing of all the Oscar winners last night, CLICK HERE.

Mooner

Greetings, Humans.

Catch that lunar eclipse last night? I saw it while walking Leia. Neat stuff, I suppose, the alignments of planets and whatnot.

It was a big night in celestial news, with the apparent destruction of a renegade satellite by our government. Now that I would've like to have seen. I'm picturing a cool explosion in the night sky... right next to our eclipsing moon. Fortunately, all the debris from the blowed-up satellite will re-enter our atmosphere over Canada (don't worry, Canada, as soon as we run out of trees we'll be up there to check on ya).

Space Tidbit: The first Earthling in space was a dog.

Indiana Jones is back!

Music Appreciation

The Foo Fighters perform Stairway to Heaven on Craig Kilborn. Wait for the "guitar solo."

Trajan?

Great. Now there's something else to be annoyed about (that I didn't know annoyed me until l saw this...)

Yes We Can

Strange Wilderness

Ernest Borgnine! Seriously, Ernest Borgnine is in this movie! I am so going to see this movie. Watch this trailer and tell me the shark laugh at the end isn't infectious. (Thank you, Lynette, for drawing my attention to this soon-to-be insta-classic)