Suspended Disbelief

I'm on break from school (which is more than nice) and I have had more than enough time to watch more movies than anyone should in a short period of time. I've come to notice that there is a point in many movies where I sort of say, "well, that's just not possible/reasonable," no matter how ridiculous anything in the movie was before that. For instance, there could be a movie where dogs talk, cook, and a house floats on balloons, but I only don't believe any of it when dogs fly planes. You know, little things.

That said, a few of the points that caused me to shake my head:

1) Up: See above. The talking dogs and house lifted by balloons was totally Ok with me. Only when the dogs were flying planes did I shake my head in disbelief.

2) Eagle Eye: While I somehow got over Shia LeBouf with a mustache (I really don't care if I spelled his name wrong), and I was OK with a supercomputer being able to access/control any piece of media or information, the point when an un-manned drone flew in to a tunnel to chase down the protagonist was my point of disbelief.

3) Harry Potter: Just kidding! All of it is totally believable.

4) Live Free or Die Hard: Many moments here, but the one that got me was crashing the car in to the helicopter. 'nuff said.

5) Spiderman 3: Emo spidey scene. This isn't where I stopped believing in the premise; it's where I stopped believing that this movie had any redeeming value. it's close enough, and I needed a fifth.

Which movies did you lose your belief in, and at what point? Comment below.

Thanks for reading,

Dis

The Black Friday Rule

Having listened to the Dropkick Murphy's in my punk phase, I thought for a very long time that Black Friday was some obscure Irish thing I just knew nothing about. Then I figured out the Thanksgiving weekend version, where a lot of crazies skip lots of sleeping in an attempt to go save money by spending lots of money. The logic behind it seemed absolutely contrary to anything rational. And then I tried it.

My first Black Friday experience was last year, at Toys R Us. I wanted to get Guitar Hero for cheap, and I did. The whole ordeal was relatively painless- no huge crowds, just an orderly line with people who were friendly enough to one another. No mad rush for any one item, no one getting trampled, and no fist fights. In short, it was a disappointment. Kidding.

This year, I had a more desirable item in mind- the very computer with which I am sharing this story with you. The original target was a $200 Best Buy promotion. I decided to be one of the crazies, and got to Best Buy around 3:30 for its 5:00 opening. Failure. A full parking lot, and a line around the building. No way in hell I was sticking around for that, so I went to option 2- the Office Depot by my place, which about 23 total people know exists.

This was a much better scene. Two cars in the parking lot, including mine. After a nice little nap in my car, I got in line around 4:15. The beauty of this line is that it was 6 people long; the British would have been ashamed in the lack of a queue. It was so short that I was able to drag my dad out of bed to come get a computer for himself as well, at a remarkably good price.

The best part of the whole experience- the Office Depot manager came out around 4:30 with coffee for everyone. So, it can pay to be a crazy. You get cheap goods, and free coffee. And is that worth a lack of sleep? It wasn't then. It is, now that I've slept again.

Happy post-Thanksgiving, and thanks for reading.

Dis

I hope I wasn't this dumb....

A snippet from a real conversation on the shuttle this morning:

The scene: Guy 1 is holding a copy of Bridget Jones Diary (the book). It has a picture of Renee Zellweger's face on it. Guy 2 is oblivious to anything, ever. Guy 2 is asking Guy 1 about his morning classes.

Guy 1: ...yeah, I have British literature at 11:15. I have to go read the book, though.

Guy 2: What book?

Guy 1 (gesturing with his book): Bridget Jones' Diary. I've read all the books in the class so far, except this one. I couldn't do it.

Guy 2 (not joking): Yeah. Is that Victorian?

This just had to be shared.

Per usual, TFR.

Dis

Cheerios

Perhaps the most recognizable cereal of all, the Cheerio has long been the staple of "a well balanced breakfast." The supermarket cereal aisle staple knows many forms; the classic yellow box, the whimsical frosted cheerio, the much-loved honey nut, and even the long-forgotten team cheerio, a mix of classic, frosted, and some honey something-or-other. 

But while these heralded cheerios hold down the fort, the long forgotten, yet still classically delicious Apple Cinnamon Cheerio toils away, working hard to provide that magical mix of apple and cinnamon to the waiting taste buds of the early riser and midnight snacker alike.

 The quiet, yet much loved Apple Cinnamon Cheerio

So let's hear it for the underdog of the cheerio world, rising above the popular honey nut variety to triumph on our taste buds, and in our hearts.

Per usual, TFR.

Dis

The great debate

Today I was eating a lovely tuna sandwich, as one should eat a sandwich. It was uncut, and on oblong bread (i.e. not the typical square sandwich bread). My friend, who was eating her sandwich, held hers the opposite way of mine. One of us held it by the short side, with the longer side facing the mouth, with the other holding it vice-versa. A great debate ensued.

I am intentionally ambiguous here, because I want unbiased results from the general public. In the scenario above, which side of the sandwich would you take the first bite out of? I don't care if your answer is the corner- in that case, which side is the second bite out of? I also do not care about you sandwich elitists who only eat cut sandwiches. Get over it.

Long story short, leave your responses in the comments section below.

Per Usual, TFR.

Dis

Biggest Loser Ironies

Biggest Loser provides me with many of the ironies in my life. Many of them are my fault- for instance, eating stuffing while watching it. Including stuffing in my omlette tonight while watching it. Eating breakfast foods combined with dinner foods, while I watch it. (Note: yeah, I eat weird things. but it was delicious.)

But most of all, it was that the challenge involved how bad fast food is for you, particularly a pizza with lots of meat on it- like 490 calories and 27 g of fat per slice. Next commercial on: Round Table Meatball Pizza. I couldn't make this up.

I won't even begin to rail against a pizza with meatballs on it, despite its obvious place on a worst ideas over list. It speaks for itself, and is better suited for a David Miller rant- check out his sandwich rant, over at DMBulliten (linked on the side). But you get the picture.

Per usual, TFR.

Dis

Routine

Here at Self Portraits, the one thing we have in our lives is routine. Class, the occasional visit to the gym, and lots of reading. Then, Thursday mornings off due to a brilliant stretch of luck from the scheduling office.

There have been three classes cancelled this week. That means three classes (well, two, really) that will be rescheduled, and have been, at inconvenient time when we have a ton due. 

It's not that I'm mad we have more class. It's that it breaks my routine, which I only now realize I'm so used to.

On the bright side, spring training games started today.

Per Usual, TFR,

Dis

Hope Springs Eternal

The headline will read across newspapers in the morning: A pun about spring, and a new season. After months of nothing and hot stove, Major League Baseball spring training starts tomorrow. Here's why it's great, and it has nothing to do with baseball. Except that it's about baseball.

No matter what happened last season, spring training marks the beginning of something great. as Tampa Bay showed us last season, anyone has a shot at running from worst to first. Cubs fans everywhere get hope that next year is now. Padres fans have faith we might not lose 100 games. It might not be much, but it's something.

Spring training means the start of times getting warmer, summer approaching, and the enjoyment that is the love of a game. Spring training means breaking out the leather and throwing around the pill, and the start of intramural and little leagues everywhere. It's the change in the sports pages, and the focus of fans everywhere, who no longer have to put up without statistics. 

It is, in a word, perfect. The best it can possibly be... until opening day.

Per usual, thanks for reading.

Dis

Happiest day of the year

This post was going to be about the sadness of having Yahoo! tell me that I don't currently have any sports teams, and about how spring training starts this week, and so does fantasy baseball registration. 

Then, an email came in to my inbox, literally as I got to the page to post. 

"You are invited..." to join a fantasy baseball league.

God I love spring.

PUTFR,

Dis

Spelling

I'm not the best of spellers, and while I think I've been pretty good so far on this blog, I have issues within my class notes. This just in: the word 'sovereign' is very difficult to spell. It took me four tries to just get it close enough to have spellcheck know what I was talking about.

Just another day in Constitutional Law... at least it's warm out.

PUTFR,

Dis

Feeling Accomplished

Moved back home today from the housesitting, and it's really awful nice to be back. Went grocery shopping to re-stock the kitchen, did laundry, cleaned the house a bit, and ran the dishwasher, all of which lead me to the point:

I feel really good today. I feel like I cleaned up a lot of things, and made good food choices at the supermarket. I bought a ton of veggies, then made what I think was a healthy dinner (who really knows anymore). Then I watched the biggest loser, which made me like my choices even better.

It's just been one of those days where everything feels good, and I wanted to share. 

PUTFR, 

Dis

The underappreciated

Just a quick shout out to something I'd noticed before, but never thought about: the shubbery in the highway median. It makes the highway prettier, blocks the headlights from the other side, and does a damn good job dividing the highway. I also would like to know who cuts it, how often, and with what machine. Can they just drive with blades on the side that cut? If you have answers, I want them.

Per Usual, Thanks for reading. (from now on, perhaps an acronym? PUTFR? we'll see.)

Dis

Time

I went and hung out with a few friends last night, marking the first time I actually went somewhere in a while. Law school takes a lot of time, and most social events are geared towards drinking. While that's all well and good, I'm really not much of a drinker. Law school drinks a lot more than I do.

Point being, as law students, we run very short on time. Consider this a rally cry for doing things that don't involve over-crowded bars, loud music, and lots of booze. Call me old fashioned (and super competitive), but I would prefer a nice little board game night. And yes, I realize how lame this makes me.

Some quick hitters:

- 15 year olds really enjoy just being loud. This is what I have learned form house sitting.

- 70 degree weather is significanty better than the cold.

- I'm sort of surprised at how good my friends from college have been about keeping up. Good work.

Thanks for reading, per usual.

Dis