Pellet Review - Saved!

"If God wanted us to all be the same, why did He make us different?"

Certainly one of the many words of wisdom that struck home near the end of the movie. Sure, it might be on the lighter side of "wisdom", but there were a few truths there. For those who are not familiar with the movie, "Saved!" is about a group of young 'uns who attend a Christian school, with the focus on one girl who wants to "save" her boyfriend from being gay. Ah, there's the hook right there for yours truly.

There were a lot of funny moments too ("I am FILLED with Christ's love!!!" one character yells as she throws a bible at her friend). But you really have to be in an open frame of mind to watch this movie...if you are anything like the character I mentioned, then you might be throwing the DVD player. And that's not good. Really.

Suffice it to say it was a feel-good movie (for us anyway). As far as sound and vision is concerned, since it's not the kind of big-screen movie that demands good visuals and rockin' sound, then they were all right by us.

Plus, it's good to see that Macaulay Culkin is still alive.

Pellet Review - Corpse Bride

Did I forget to mention that we watched Corpse Bride last night? At home, natch. I still feel spoiled watching a movie at home eating home-made popcorn. Anyways.....

All in all, the movie is good, I felt it was somewhat slow in the beginning but definitely started to pick up once the Corpse Bride made her appearance. Wonderful voice performances all around, but as usual, Johnny Depp made the character come to life (pun intended). Of course it helps that the claymation guy looked and acted like him, but it still takes a certain skill to pull it off.

As always, the animation is good, considering the amount of work that must've gone in. Of course, it's probably not for everyone (some of us may feel that this style is somewhat dated) but it's a pretty good romp for those who do appreciate it.

Sound-wise....it could be my system, or the DVD, but I strained to hear some of the conversation. Couldn't quite make out what some of the lyrics were, but as I bumped the volume up later on, it wasn't so much of an issue. Other than the dialogue, the sound was good.

Overall, it was a little feel-good movie which had enough twisted humour that shouldn't scare away the wee ones. That is, if neon-green dancing skeletons are their thing. This one didn't win the Oscar for Best Animated flick, though - it went to Wallace and Gromit (guess which one I want to buy next!) I also want to watch Howl's Moving Castle (the other nominated flick)...it's by Miyazaki, so I guess I can't really go wrong with that one. I'll keep y'all posted!

Project woes (and whoa's)

2:38 p.m.

Got the word today that my close-to-a-million dollar project is being put on indefinite hiatus. Be careful what I wish for? I wanted the project to be done and over with, but (whoa!) this was somewhat unexpected. Of course the joys of being project manager now kick in full steam (risk mitigation! risk contingency execution!). Of course this impacts two other projects I'm looking after, but I think I need time to digest. My personality type says so. So there.

And today was my first day to "communicate" the news to other employees and its impact in a people-manager capacity. I suppose this skill will improve over time, but hopefully it won't be over not-so-good news like this one.

Well, I suppose it is good news. There was trouble in paradise in the beginning, I think, so better to stop this now than burn in production hell later. Sad thing was, our stream was going so well. But hey, that's life for you.

So that dinner at Le Petit D. tonight....methinks I will partake of some wonderful bubbly to help decompress. And maybe test out the karaoke set-up at home tonight? (Hard to believe me and the gang used to go out at least weekly for a karaoke-fest. Good times....)

Happy 4th (again!!)

4:40 p.m.

Well, last night didn't really go as planned. Le Petit Dejeuner was closed due to a power problem...making this the 4th or 5th time we've planned to have dinner there and it just wasn't meant to be (other times there was a private function, they closed early, they weren't open for dinner that night). Considering that the 15th is the 4th anniversary of our first date, then we will try again tomorrow night. The schedule says they're open until 10 p.m., so at least we won't feel rushed.

Today felt like a blah day. Interestingly enough, I had some pre-work to do for "Managers Making Connections", a course for (you guessed it) Managers. In there was a self-assessment checklist, asking what my motivations are. And unsurprisingly enough, I'm a "go-to-work-for-paycheck" kinda guy. Surprisingly, this is supposed to be indicative of stress. Hmm. And here I thought that having that kind of detached attitude is supposed to help diffuse stress.

Looking forward to a quiet night.

7:06 p.m.

How to make a happy song happier? Make it faster!! I got my CD-Single of "Seasons of Love" tonight and it has a few good mixes. I will listen to it on the way to work tomorrow, but for those who wonder what it sounds like, check out www.amazon.ca and look up the disc. There are track samples there.

Speaking of the song, do you know how happy I was to sing it at the concert? Also, I was doing my Gollum impression during the Bagatelle. Don't ask.

I'm so glad that someone actually heard it over the speakers. I'll definitely try and keep my ears open when we get our DVD. Can't wait. Precioussss DVD....yesssss......

Happy 4th!!!

2:00 p.m.

Today Marc and I are celebrating our 4th anniversary :D

Lives changed since then - no doubt Marc's and mine did (English majors feel free to correct this) - but I wonder if any other life was changed since then. Not to be ego-centric here, but I would like to think that maybe because of our meeting - and all the things that have happened since - we have changed some people's perspectives on live and love and all that wonderful jazz.

Just out of curiousity, I also looked up IMDB.com to see if anything of note popped up. Well, we share the date with Neil Sedaka's and William H. Macy's birthdays....

I also don't remember it raining this hard last year, too.

So, tonight we plan to have a quiet dinner at Le Petit Dejuener - one of our fave places to have brunch. They also served a wonderful dinner a while back, truly delicious. We've only done it once, since it was a bit on the expensive side, so what better reason to go back? Then, we were going to the Rainbow Cinema to catch a movie, but now that we have a home theatre, there's not much motivation to spend money on a non-blockbuster. So - movie night at home, with a bottle of bubbly, a nice blanket, fresh-made popcorn (did I forget to mention I got a popcorn maker from Marc for Christmas?) All is right with the world.

Divisible-by-3 day!!

12:17 p.m.

Ah...only geeks like myself would think about something like this. Today is March 9, 2006. Or 09/03/06. All divisible by 3. Or, if you prefer, zero day (since 09 minus 03 minus 06 is zero). Or whatever. Point is, I had to put a title on this post and this is the only thing I can think of.

So Rev. Dr. Brent Hawkes and his 25-year-long partner John Sproules finally tied the knot on March 7, 2006. There was media coverage by City TV, Global, CTV, CBC....but it was rarely a splash when Marc and I rushed home to see if anything had come up. Only a little ticker text on Pulse 24, and a segment from Global TV (yey, we could see the top of our heads!). But nothing else. Today, I did a google and sure enough, there was an article in the National Post.

I guess it was just as well. Perhaps equality had come far enough where this is really just one of the many weddings that happen now? Or maybe the media was hoping for something really out of the ordinary to happen...something newsworthy? Well, from where I was sitting, all I saw was two people who have loved each other all these years, and finally celebrated it with move love, laughter, and the support of the community which had almost filled the church that evening. There was wonderful music (hey, can you expect nothing less?) and words of wisdom that were both funny and yet so full of truth. It was wonderful to see Brent go through the same things a lot of us did, but mostly to see him hand over the wheels to someone else. We backseat drivers know how that feels.

Should it have been more newsworthy? Should Brokeback Mountain have won the Oscar? While we as rainbow people certainly think that it should be front and centre in a lot of cases, perhaps we should just appreciate the significance of how far we have come. After all, these were things that would've been swept under the carpet not so long ago. While we are not the centrepiece of the universe, we have certainly earned the right to have a seat at the table.

On another note entirely......

Today's news says that the Lord of the Rings musical is now ready for its worldwide premiere. Reviewers are now welcome to critique, praise, deconstruct, do what it is they do. Apparently the show has now been shortened and tightened up, and that triple-interlocking turntable in the centre has been working glitch-free.

Personally, I felt like I was watching the whole movie trilogy on the stage (yes, there were three acts and two intermissions...although we had an unscheduled third intermission when said turntable got stuck). The songs were kinda few and far between; there was music where it made sense, but there didn't seem to be any catchy ones. Hopefully by tightening up the pace it would make it seem more of a musical. The elf queen song is the one to watch out for, though. That, and the big-ass dragon that pops out at the end of Act One.

And on another note again (if I don't watch it, I will wind up going up a whole scale):

Another highlight in our European tour was our visit to the Pantheon. We were fortunate enough to be there when a German mass was being celebrated, and there was a choir. I tell you, the acoustics of the place was so incredible...closing my eyes while listening to the choir transported me to another place and time. I have no words to describe the feeling. Naturally, I thought about the MCC Choir and wondered how we'd sound like in there. Of course, I haven't seen pigs flying past my window yet, so.....

This memory came about when we had dinner with Mike last night, where he talked about his trip with Jean to San Fo and other places with other people. Invariably our conversation turned toward life and death and what it all really means. It is said that coming into life and leaving it are certainly hard, but it's the transition in between that is the hardest. But what is it we fear when we are close to the end? Do we fear loneliness? Certainly, for folks like us, we will only have our partners and friends to care for us and remember us in the end. True, some people say that there will be relatives to help out....personally, though, as much as I would like them to visit me on my birthday and such, I cannot imagine asking the next generation to care for me. They will have their own lives, and of course they will have their own parents to worry about. Certainly I cannot expect them to tend for me since I have not been there for their whole lives to do the same for them. So treasure your partners, and never call your friends "just friends", because really all we will have is each other as time goes by.

What do I fear? Is it the unknown? I think back to the time when I came close to thinking about my own mortality when I was facing down someone at knifepoint. Granted, my mind then had taken over my emotions, trying to see how I can get out of the situation. But I do remember more defiance than fear - I did not want anything to get in the way of living my life. There were things that I still needed to do, things that need to be said....and I was not willing to take it lying down.

What if I was faced with a similar situation today? Granted, I will still face the unknown, and it scares me a little. But I take comfort in the fact that people I loved have gone ahead - friends and family - and I have hope that they will be there to give me the guided tour once I cross over. But what scares me the most is the loss of opportunity - I simply am not ready to go. I still have things to do, things to say, people to love. And I am afraid of leaving without people knowing what all these things are. Perhaps that is why I yearn to be bigger than what I am - I fear being forgotten, of people not knowing who I am, of them knowing why I am the way I am. I yearn to be understood even after I am gone, so that people will not ask questions and fill in the blanks with wrong answers. I am afraid of being remembered the wrong way.

What does it matter if I'm gone, you may ask? I guess it matters to the people I will leave behind, and they matter to me a lot. Always have. Just think, if there is truly nothing after death, if death is truly final, then all we have are the stories that we leave behind for other people to tell. We fear the loss of our immortality...and perhaps that is why a lot of us choose to belive in life after death.

I'm sure there is. I'm just not sure how.


2:50 p.m.

Now that the choir has sung "Seasons of Love", here's another song that I wish we would sing. I heard this twice on the radio already, and it's very uplifting. I might actually buy the album :)
http://www.lyricstop.com/albums/natashabedingfield/unwritten.html

Hello 2006 (in March?!?)

3:29 p.m.

Yep, that's right. I said "Hello 2006". As you can see, quite a bit of time has passed by since my last post. Let's see if I can recap all the important stuff that's happened since then.....

Honeymoon in Europe - a wonderful experience! Would certainly do that again, but I think I'll skip over that part where gypsies tried to rob me. It's a complicated story that requires visual cues to explain how they wanted to pull it off, but needless to say I kinda saw it coming and I hip-chucked the "pregnant" girl who tried to push me into her accomplice's waiting hands. Really gay moment right there - my thanks to all the people who tried to teach me how to dance.
(Then again, maybe I won't skip that part.) Anyway, it was magical to say the least. My personal favourite moments are:
- watching the Eiffel tower light show at night, crepe and espresso in hand, sitting with the hubby in the plaza.
- being serenaded by an opera tenor on a gondola, full moon and clear skies, going in and around Venice, sitting with the hubby in a boat.
- having an orchestra and soloist in the Piazza de San Marco (St. Mark's square) play "Happy Birthday" for me, champagne in hand, sitting with the hubby.
- eating truffle ice cream (THE BEST IN THE WORLD BAR NONE - worth the 10 euros per bowl) at night sitting by the beach on the French Riviera, the sound of waves lapping on the shore, hubby sitting by my....well, you're starting to get it, don't you?

There's tons more wonderful moments, but perhaps I'll share them over time.

As soon as we got back, we got to the business of packing up. Boxes upon boxes upon boxes....our social lives took a little hit then because we really had too much stuff and too little time to do it in. But finally, November 26 came and we hauled our stuff over....twice!! One trip from Public Storage, and two more from our old place. The biggest challenge? Getting the sectional down to the basement. After a few short-tempered moments, we were able to get the thing down there with a bit of McGyver-ism (otherwise known as let's-unscrew-the-stair-rail-so-we-can-have-the-half-inch-we-need).

Think that's it? Well, Marc had to leave the next day for Australia for 3 weeks. Which meant I had to unpack. I gotta tell you, after I put all our clothes up, I never ever wanted to buy another piece of clothing again. I looked at all my clothes and said to myself, "What the &^*& was I thinking?" Suffice it to say I still have no idea to this day how we managed to fill up a 2000-square-foot house coming from a 765-square-foot condo. And we were living comfortably in that condo to boot!

Christmas and New Year's came and went - I've been telling Marc that this was my favourite time of the year, but for some reason, this year I did not "feel" it. Somehow the magic wasn't there...I think the child in me went to sleep to rest after the big move. But in the midst of all the chaos and the unsettledness, I still found time to thank God for all the blessings that were given to us this year. That's what's important.

Finally, the latest big event was the choir concert. We rehearsed for a good two-and-a-half months to put on a concert and live CD recording over 3 nights in March. Yours truly was the ticket guy. Well, really, at first I was doing it to help out Mark (a dear friend of mine from the choir), but somehow it evolved. He was the original ticket guy, but somehow his role also evolved to Associate Producer (oooh). He sold close to a hundred tickets though, so in my mind, he's still ticket guy extraordinaire! I have to say that his enthusiasm and good spirits has been an inspiration to me through the whole process, as it always is any other time.

I gotta tell you, I'm still feeling the energy from that concert days after it was done. Truly it was a labour of love, but I think I appreciate it more this time around since I was part of the "Thursday Club" and I saw the amount of hard work and patience that it took to pull this all off. Up there on the choir loft, though, it wasn't any work during the performance. I was truly enjoying myself through the whole show, and actually got a couple of compliments on how animated and happy I was through it all. I hope I done Jeannie proud......

The wrap party was a blast! We got rid of a lot of the excess energy after that. I was so glad that Marc came and got to know some of the people I "work" with. They are really a lovely bunch.

So here we are, back in the good old grind. When I think back at everything that happened in the past few months, I have to say that it does feel strange having some down time (finally). Again, thoughts about life in general come creeping up as they normally do in quiet times like this. You know, the usual "is this all I am" stuff.

Sometimes I wonder if I am destined for something else other than what I am doing now. Of course, it is normal for all of us to aspire for greatness, but sometimes I wonder if that aspiration gets confused with sensing your destiny. Are we supposed to be something greater than what we are, or do we just feel like we should?

Then I remember some lyrics to a song (Oh *why* can't life be a musical where we can all just burst spontaneously into song? Why don't people jump up in the cafeteria singing "La Vie Boheme" on the tables?) It goes....."Forget regret, or life is yours to miss. No other road, no other way, no day but today."

And so I do.