sweet home alabama

Just got back from watching Sweet Home Alabama — really cute movie. Reese Witherspoon was adorable. [possible spoiler alert] The plot wasn’t original or anything and the ending is totally predictable but the journey to the end was really funny. My favorite part, just like Sam’s was the proposal scene in Tiffany’s. Woooowww. *drools* And geesh, I had no idea Patrick Dempsey still looked that good! hee. [/end spoiler alert]

The Late Friday Five

What are your favorite ways to relax and unwind? I like to watch a lot of TV — my newest addiction is the Food Network.
What do you do the moment you get home from work/school/errands? I’ll usually check my email, get dinner started, or watch Friends reruns.
What are your favorite aromatherapeutic smells? I’m not really big on aromatherapy but I do find mint and eucalyptus to be very relaxing after a stressful day.
Do you feel more relaxed with a group of friends or hanging out by yourself? By myself. I dunno why — I’ve always been an introvert.
What is something that you feel is relaxing but most people don’t? I guess working on my site — and maybe making an occasional wallpaper. Most of my friends don’t find that at all relaxing.

Yay Alias tomorrow!

a walk to remember

So I finally saw A Walk to Remember — it’s such a cute movie — Mandy Moore and Shane West really make an adorable couple. Gah, I’m such a sucker for sappy love stories. Case in point: I saw Titanic about 8 times in the movie theatre. :P Heh. And can Shane West *be* any cuter? (*wink* at Mickie)

Oooh! My Hawaii tickets came in the mail today! Yippee! 23 more days!

movies, movies, movies

So I had a pretty fun weekend — I was out and about for most of it. :) On Friday night after work, Rob and I ate at this really great barbecue place in Oakland called Everett and Jones — sooo good. Then we decided to have a Blockbuster night so we rented Don’t Say A Word. You know, the one with Brittany Murphy and her now-famous I’ll never te-ell” line. It was… okay. Nothing special — just your basic thriller. Jennifer Esposito played this really annoying detective — grrr. Plus, she was a completely useless character.

Then on Saturday, we woke up early to go to the city (San Francisco). Through my occasional work at KGO Radio, I get lots of tickets to amusement parks, museums, etc. Anyway, I had free passes for the Bay Cruise and the Aquarium of the Bay so Rob and I decided to spend the day in the city and do the “tourist” thing. We took the BART (it’s like a subway/commuter train) to downtown SF and then rode a cable car down to Fisherman’s Wharf. The cable car ride was really cool — it’s just like in the movies where you can stand on the side and feel the breeze. ::sigh::

After we had gotten our fill of calamari and clam chowder (yum!), we went to the SONY Metreon and saw Men in Black II. I thought it was really funny — Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones have this weird chemistry going. But I really loved Frank the Pug. Waahh — I miss having a dog! *sniff*

And finally, on Sunday, Rob and I went to see Road to Perdition — that was one of the most amazing movies I’ve ever seen — seeing powerful men of the mob bow to the pressure of relationships, loyalty, business and profit — wow. There was one thing that distracted a bit from the movie — and that was knowing that this was Sam Mendes’s follow-up to American Beauty. So of course, I kept noticing things that were similar in both movies, even down to the music. But it was really refreshing to see Tom Hanks in a role where he’s not the typical “good guy” — I think people needed to see him portray someone who’s not a “hero.” Plus, I was really grateful that the violence wasn’t gratuitous because I have a hard time with violence on screen — it disturbs me. ::shivers:: But I definitely recommend the movie — it’s well worth the time and money.

Countdown to Hawaii: 1 month :D

scooby doo, where are you?

I went to see Scooby Doo earlier today — I wasn’t expecting much especially after reading so many bad reviews about it but I thought it was entertaining. Matthew Lillard was really good as Shaggy — he really has the voice down pat. The one really bad thing was Freddie Prinze Jr.’s hair — it freaked me out. It just does not look natural.

Going to do the Friday Five

When was the last time you…
…sent a handwritten letter? Oh man! It’s been a long time — um, maybe my sophomore year in college, which was 3 years ago. I used to keep in touch with an elementary school friend via letters but I’m just terrible at keeping in touch so that kind of fizzled out. :(
…baked something from scratch or made something by hand? Well, last summer, I got one of those latch hook kits (it was of Winnie the Pooh) — you know, just to have something to do while sitting at home pondering what I should do with my life. :P I guess I wasn’t that dedicated or I was really lazy (probably the latter) cause it took me a few months to finish it. lol.
…camped in a tent? Looong ago — maybe when I was like 10? My dad loved camping so when I was younger, we would go a few times a year. It was okay — not something I really enjoy. The worst part of the whole experience would be using the coin-operated showers. Ugh. I once had shampoo still in my hair and I ran out of quarters. No joke. Luckily, my mom was also in the restroom and ran back to the campsite to get me more. Gah.
…volunteered your time to church, school, or community? It’s so sad that I can’t remember… Well, I don’t know if this counts but when I was in college, I volunteered as a mentor for incoming freshman. I helped them get accustomed to their new surroundings and I acted as a resource for them throughout the year.
…helped a stranger? Maybe about 2 weeks ago, a lady asked for directions in downtown San Francisco. I gave her directions but a couple seconds later, I realized that I had directed her in the complete opposite direction so I ran to catch up with her (which in SF is no small feat what with all the people milling about during the lunch hour) and told her I was sorry and gave her the correct information. :)

black hawk down

I feel so drained. I just finished watching Black Hawk Down (thanks again Rob!) and wow… there really are no words. It’s just such a powerful and emotional tribute. But Amy’s right — I could not keep the characters straight for the life of me. I kept getting everyone all confused.

And hmm… I also downloaded the 2 minute Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets trailer from The Leaky Cauldron. Wow — it definitely looks like a much more mature movie what with all the Dan action. :P

CoS teasers

I finally saw the teaser trailer for Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets — I love that I get to see lots of Dan everywhere again. :P One thing I noticed after viewing the 34-second trailer numerous times (lol) is that Rupert Grint (the boy who plays Ron) looks much older than he did in the first movie. I wonder how many of the movies the original cast is signed for — 3? Cause at this rate, the actors are all going to look so much older than the character they play. There are also some very cool CoS preview pics at The Leaky Cauldron — I don’t think that they’re spoilery but proceed with caution. ;)

slow saturday

Wow, what a slow Saturday — it just felt like it was going on and on and on… geesh.

Let’s see, I woke up this morning (or *cough*this afternoon*cough*) and I was immediately bored. So I dragged my lazy self over to Borders, which is across the street — cause I really wanted to buy The Strokes CD. I’ve been listening to Last Nite non-stop for the past week. Can you say addicted? hee. I found out that they’re going to be performing at the KROQ Weenie Roast in LA next weekend — the very same weekend that I’m going home to Southern CA to visit my dad for Father’s Day. Just knowing that I’ll be close to them makes me happy. :P Anyway, the entire CD is great — I especially love Hard To Explain, Someday, When It Started and SOMA. whee!

Hmmm… I also caught the MTV Movie Awards again. It wasn’t all that great — I liked last year’s awards much better, but maybe I’m biased cause I adore Jimmy Fallon. ;) My favorite parts were the Spiderman and LOTR parodies, when Freddie gets jealous of Jack Black and SMG, and Ewan (::swoons::) and Natalie presenting Nicole with the Best Female Performance award. I now have the biggest crush on Ewan. :P

episode II ROCKS

Grr — I hate my stupid old computer. I wrote this really really long blog entry and of course, just as I as about to post it, my computer freaks out and erases the entire thing. I hate this thing with a passion.

So I got to see Episode II (the midnight showing) and I thought it was great fun! It was much better than Episode I but I liked that one as well. :P I loved the lightsaber duel between Yoda/Dooku, Mace Windu’s dialogue (I don’t think so!), the R2D2/C3PO banter, and of course, all the Obi-Wan action — especially the one where he’s having a drink at the Coruscant bar and then — bam! He’s doing some major ass-kicking. Surprisingly, I wasn’t too taken with the Ani/Ami romance, although I thought I would be. I’m normally a total sucker when it comes to romances. I just didn’t get *why* she started to love him — I didn’t really see a development or natural progression to their story but that’s just me. Natalie and Hayden were great though and I did enjoy their picnic scenes.

Rob (my boyfriend) has developed a SW obsession — he bought the action figures for Mace Windu, Jango Fett, and Padme. AND he ordered Yoda, R2D2, Anakin with the duel lightsaber, and another Mace from Amazon. lol. He even bought me the Obi-Wan toy cause he knows how much I love him. ::giggly smile::

Gah. I have to be at work tomorrow at 5:30 am! AM! It’s terribly insane to be up that early on a Sunday morning, I know. I’m going to be working at this huge event in San Francisco called Bay to Breakers. It’s the world’s largest footrace (or so they say) and it starts at the edge of the San Francisco Bay, crosses the city and ends at the breakers of the Pacific Ocean. I think I’m going to be helping out with registration and check-in for the runners and participants. Should be lots of fun, but tiring as well.

ocean’s eleven

So I bought the Ocean’s Eleven DVD last night — gawd, I *love* that movie. It totally rocks. Good pace, great dialogue and story and lots of drool-worthy guys (Josh Jackson, Shane West, Brad Pitt, George Clooney, and Matt Damon – yum!) :P I watched it last night around 11pm and then after that, I even watched about half of it with the actor commentary. lol. I’m such a nerd. It was funny though! I swear. Matt Damon, Brad Pitt and Andy Garcia were doing the commenting and they had some really funny moments. Like, in the beginning, either Matt or Brad (can’t remember which one) said “I think maybe 5 people are gonna watch this portion of the DVD.” heh. And they kept making fun of how Brad Pitt’s character Rusty was always eating. It’s true! Watch it again and see.

spidey-man

So I went to see Spider-Man this weekend. :D SO AWESOME! I really enjoyed the movie. I mean, I don’t follow the comic books or anything so I went into the movie with a fresh perspective and was just looking to be entertained. I really admire the filmmakers’ choice of Tobey Maguire in the lead role — he was perfect at portraying the conflicting emotions that Peter faced as he came to terms with his power. My favorite part of the entire movie was at the very end when Spider-Man is flying through the air and he sweeps right by an American flag — I love that image. Cause I guess when I think of Spider-Man, out of all the comic superheroes, he’s like the every-man. He’s not a rich billionaire like Batman nor is he a man from another planet like Superman — he’s just your average guy — your “friendly neighborhood superhero.”

The funniest part of my movie-going experience is that I went to go see it on Saturday morning — 10:30am! lol. I don’t think I’ve been to a movie that early since like elementary school. Hee. We just wanted to avoid the huge crowds of people during the afternoon and evening showings but it was just as packed. AND there were a ton of little kids — all of whom were super loud. Gah. I’m not the most patient person when it comes to kids. ::blush::