Notice that release date? Yeah, guess what? I’ve already seen it. Today! May 15th. We were the first people in the WORLD to see the complete movie! I signed an NDA and submitted to handing over all electronics and being body scanned before seeing it…so, suffice it to say, I can’t tell y’all anything about the movie EXCEPT that it was OMGWTFBBQAWESOME!!!!!111!1!!!!!

This was part of a charity fundraiser for the Comer Children’s Hospital. (I know, I know…I violated my donation rule, but it was *toy story 3*…a month in advance!! And you haven’t heard it all yet!!)

And, as if simply seeing the movie early wasn’t enough, we also got to enjoy a VIP brunch with:

• Lee Unkrich – director of TS3 as well as Finding Nemo and others I never got to talk to him, but my friend did, and he signed her Finding Nemo DVD and drew a Nemo fish on it
• Darla Anderson – producer of TS3, as well as Cars and others
• Joan Cusack – didn’t really talk to her, though I got a few distant pictures…she generally had a crowd around her
• Jeff Garlin – who was incredibly nice and funny, smelled good, hugged me nicely (politely) and could have had me for a song
• Bonnie Hunt – who totally cut in front of us in line and then bogarded Jeff Garlin for like twenty photos in various arrangements with her friends and family. I swear, I’ve been to weddings with less configurations of family and guests.

We got a goodie bag full of TS3 gear as well as a few items from other sponsors, plus VIP comfy seating for the movie and free movie snacks. And, we each got an ID badge made for us on site in minutes, and it’s one of those thingies that has two pictures merged so that it’s kind of animated. So cool! See below!

Afterward, we went to the Disney store on the Michigan Mile and totally became the envy of the cast members there. It was awesome because the merch for TS3 is already there, and we were like the only people in the store (besides the cast) that actually knew who everyone was! Bwah ha ha! All your TS3 are belong to ME!

Best TV shows of the decade:

• Buffy the Vampire Slayer – It was an amazing show. The last season suffered, in my opinion, but the show itself was just so enjoyable in almost every episode.
• Rome – I’ve never mourned the limited run of a show as much I mourned this one. It was compelling and entertaining, with a complex cast and great historic context.
• Survivor – It shocks me that this isn’t on more lists. Survivor defined the past decade of television, like it or not. It introduced the reality genre as being viable for prime-time network viewing.
• West Wing – It helped us survive the Dubya years. Honestly, I think Obama could thank Sorkin for his presidency, as this show set up a tight base of people who believed strongly that Washington could change things for the better.
• Lost – This is another game-changer, like Survivor. We’re awash with compelling sci-fi on network TV, and we have Lost to thank for it.
• The Daily Show – Another one that helped us survive the Dubya years. It remains my primary source of news.
• Freaks and Geeks – It was short-lived, and that may have saved it. It might have sucked given time. It was a rich re-telling of growing up as an outsider that resonated on a basic level, and, thanks to it, we have Jason Segel. I saw this on DVD, and I mourned the end of the series, much as I did with Rome.
• Arrested Development – Another short-lived but awesome show that had so many fast-paced and off-kilter jokes that you could barely keep up without a DVR to pause and replay.
• Mad Men – It’s simply stunning visually, and I truly care about each character. Even the “bad guys” are lovable in some odd way.
• The Amazing Race – It’s travel porn. My “I want to go to there” list gets longer every time I watch.

Best Movies of the Decade:

• Gladiator
• Little Miss Sunshine
• Kill Bill
• Wall-E
• Up
• O Brother Where Art Thou?
• Lord of the Rings
• Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
• Brokeback Mountain

Favorite products:

• Kindle
• Diet Coke with Lime
• Emerald Cocoa Roast Almonds
• Kapoosh Knife Holder, Woodgrain Finish
• KitchenArt Pro Series Salt/Pepper Dispenser/Shaker, Champagne Satin Finish
• Copco Cold Beverage Mug
• Nautica Bed Gear Sets

Awesome things that have happened to me in the past decade:

• Graduated from Tulane (thanks, Mommylady, for the reminder!)
• Paid off my student loans well ahead of schedule
• Moved to IL, got my first apartment
• Started this blog
• Mourned for the loss of several people, but most notably amanojaku, and both my grandpas
• Met and married my dear husband
• Met and became friends with B*, the Moos, and the Twos and a host of others after moving to IL
• Started working for my current employer and celebrated ten years of doing so
• Became a gamer
• Bought my first car, and bought my second without any financing
• Love(d) and was/am loved by two cats
• Donated often to charities and causes I believe in

Anything I missed?

• The USGS rep cautioning against putting the town on alert…well, of course, he dies later, because that’s what happens to wrong people in movies. But the whole idea that two people die in a hot spring and the town isn’t *already* on alert due to the news and media talking it up? ::eyeroll:: I mean, two people dying in a lake that suddenly became acid would surely warrant a blip or two on CNN, much less the state and Seattle (nearest urban area) news. And I’d credit a lack of news coverage in “ye olden days”, but the scene at the end of the rescue from the mine shaft is lit with at least twenty flash bulbs….so the two deaths in acidic hot springs didn’t warrant a blip, but the rescue of a USGS worker and a family that was idiotic enough to be still on the mountain does?
• Pierce Brosnan is so stoically British as they’re evacuating from Grandma Ruth’s house. “Rachel, Ruth, we really must go,” he says calmly as a fire erupts over one wall.
• The idiot kid who goes up the mountain for Grandma…has he not heard of a phone? And I can’t imagine that his mom had the town pull out and review evacuation plans but didn’t actually tell her kids a plan just in case…and the plan surely doesn’t involve driving up the mountain. Then again, this is a parent who simply tells her kids that the mine shaft “isn’t safe”, not grounding the kid for going in there and not telling him the reason why it’s not a good idea.
• Grandma Ruth wades through an acid lake to pull the family to safety…but the sad part is that if the adults were doing what Pierce Brosnan’s character did, wrapping their arms in fabric and rowing together, Grandma’s sacrifice wouldn’t have been necessary.
• Ridiculous dog rescue scene…but of course, we had to save the family dog. Grandma can be left to die on the mountain, but we have to risk the truck to save the family dog.
• Speaking of Grandma’s death, the special effects guys couldn’t manage to make her wounds look real in any sense of the word. The kids’ scrapes later on look far worse than Ruth’s legs from the wading through acid, and yet we get this super-dramatized scene where she just can’t go on.
• Pierce’s arm is supposedly visibly broken…we have a scene where he points a flashlight at a bone protrusion…but he still uses that arm to push himself up a half scene later, without even a mild moan of pain. Maybe shock has set in?
• We’ve got a really crappy national guard that a) crosses the town bridge when there’s clearly a giant mass of logs coming right at it and b) doesn’t tether the clearly ill-equipped minivan to one of the Hummers? Hell, I can’t imagine a National Guard that wouldn’t simply tell the USGS crew to abandon the minivan and get in the damn Hummer.

Nurse Jackie = Dr. Cox:

• Both are cranky but caring medical practitioners working in an ostensibly Catholic teaching hospital.
• Both work too much, to the chagrin of the hospital’s chief of medicine.
• Both are accompanied by an overly cheery and perky sidekick underling.
• Both are addicted to depressants (pain meds vs. alcohol).
• Both feel too much responsibility/guilt for their jobs.
• Both are vigilantes when it comes to providing the best care.

So, do you think the pitch for Nurse Jackie was something like, “Think of Scrubs told from Dr. Cox’s perspective…but make Dr. Cox EDGIER…and FEMALE…and MORE REAL…”

• I liked Hugh Jackman, to a point. Every now and then, he became cloying rather than adorable. For example, when he was like, “There’s [namedrop]…how ya doin?” like some kind of Vegas lounge act, that annoyed me.
• The tribute-style award presentations were okay. I’d like it better if it was always someone who felt a special connection with the honoree instead of (especially in the case of whoever it was that honored Kate Winslet) a clearly memorized and recited speech. I’d like to know if the people doing the honoring got to choose who they would talk about and if they had any input into their speech. Cuba Gooding, Jr.’s was okay. Halle Berry’s was great. But, some of them just felt forced.
• I liked it being in the order of the movie production.
• I loved the big musical dance numbers, particularly Baz Luhrmann’s montage with Beyonce and Hugh Jackman. I’m a Baz fan, so I may be biased. And, the opening dance number ending with “I’m Wolverine!” was priceless.
• As always, Anne Hathaway could wear a brown sack and be the most gorgeous thing on any stage or screen.
• I think the dresses with the f-ed up asymmetrical “straps” that look like someone just threw a wad of fabric over the gal’s shoulder and tied it off are stupid. That style can die any time now.

I haven’t seen a single one of the big Oscar movies. I had seen Wall-E, but we just saw it this past weekend. I was disappointed that Wall-E didn’t get at least one sound or music award, considering that 90% of the damn movie is told musically to great effect. But, having no knowledge of the eventual winner, I’m in no position to criticize the selections.

I want Coach Maestro gone ASAP. Can I get a hell yeah?

Lost is back on! Desmond’s baby named Charlie, the others speak Latin, woohoo! B* made me a cake with a Dharma logo. It was delicious…disappeared very quickly, did Ben turn the wheel, shift cake through time? Obama officially president, yay! Didn’t care about inauguration until the day it was on, then was sad I couldn’t watch live and had to work instead. Re-org’d at work into new group but otherwise similar. Got one estimate for the pipe burst repairs from the guy(s) who did our basement, liked their work, but the painting estimate alone was higher than was to paint whole basement. Something smells funny in Denmark, yo. Business name is of the form, [name] the [job]er…which led to Joe-the-plumber, bob-the-builder joking between DH and I. DH has been working odd hours at his second job. Very stressful. Ran Survivor at Mensa AGOG. Had to scramble to get to the minimum ten to play, but once we got there, it was AWESOME. Everyone had bonzer good time. Yay. Knee has been hurting alot lately. Also, period has been irregular. (Not related.) WTF is up with me? Wish knee would stop hurting. But yet, I will be going skiing on Saturday, yay! And knee can just suck on that, thank you very much. Pancake continues to be adorable kitteh. Races me up the stairs. I almost won last night, but only because he let me have a 5 step head start. Thought L4D was an evil time suck, but then Mr. Moo introduced me to Braid, which now is on my bedroom xbox (not mytsukata gamertag). Damn you, Mr. Moo! Got special L4D achievement last night for blowing the witch’s head off, Cr0wnd! Sweet. So cold outside. But weather Saturday promises to be ski-awesome. Found giant and strange fruit at the store, called Pomelo, is huge and we could kill a small child with it, but we won’t. Instead, will eat. Also got some honey tangerines. Enjoying finding and trying out new fruits. Finished second term of class, am 12.5% done with MBA. Group project ended much better than it started. Next term, taking two classes: Effective Leadership *coughbullshitcough* and Negotiations & Conflict Management (win win win). Hoping negotiations will make me awesome at negotiation such that I can help Mensa with hotel negotiation stuff. Will speak quietly so they have to lean in, then will change meeting location suddenly without notice…then will threaten to kill their daughter. Oh and how did Frogurt’s shirt fit Sawyer? Nonsense.

First Lostie to catch the embedded (very subtle) clue in the style of Lost gets something nifty, though I’m not sure what. Adoration? That’s nifty, right?

(PS – Moo, don’t worry about it. I got one for you already. )

Last night’s Season 2 opener featured a magical bee reanimation scene as part of the B-plot, not to be confused with the murder plot involving bees, which was part of the A-plot.

(originally Twittered, but posted again here because the meaning got a bit lost in Twitter translation)