First on the list is the documentary Man on Wire. This is a bit of cheating really, as I saw this two weeks back but I haven’t got around to sharing it – and I really want to. There has been quite a bit of buzz about Man on Wire and it was on the same “The 19 Best Movies That You Didn’t See in 2008? list I mentioned in a previous post. So, I had to check it out, and you should too! What a great movie! It is probably one of the best told stories I have seen in a while and it captivated me from the very beginning, especially the cooky and endearing narrator (and subject) of the film. Add this to your must-watch list soon, you won’t regret it. I hope it doesn’t give too much away, but here is the trailer for the movie…

Click here to view the embedded video.

Now, to this week’s viewings. I have been trying to catch up on some Oscar-ish movies as they are coming up on Sunday and I have had a couple of the much talked about movies queuing up. The first on the list was The Wrestler with Mickey Rourke. It was a pretty good movie and Rourke is terrific in it – which would explain his nomination for best actor. I get the feeling Pitt is going to win for Benjamin Button, but Rourke really should I think. For most people I wouldn’t say to seek out this movie, but if you want to watch someone get lost in a role and bring it to the screen then give The Wrestler a shot.

Next on the list was Frost/Nixon directed by Ron Howard – an excellent movie, as Ron Howard always seems to be able to do. His movies may not be groundbreaking but they are always entertaining, and it is easy to see why Frost/Nixon is up for best picture. The film gives the sense of a real battle between Frost and Nixon rather than an interview – a concept long gone in our 24 hour news world I suppose.

Still to watch this week I hope – Doubt, The Reader and Vicky Christina Barcelona. I have been wanting to see Woody Allen’s Vicky Christina for quite some time now but have been waiting to watch it with the little lady. Well, she watched it this week while she was on the road and so I think I will sit down with it this afternoon.

Not immediately, as it isn’t coming out until the summer, but when it does I will be seeing Quentin Tarantino’s Inglorious Basterds. It looks like “Kill Bill meets WWII” and I can’t wait! I am a fan of his older stuff (Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, Jackie Brown, Kill Bill) but skipped his recent Grindhouse as it just didn’t interest me. This trailer has me on the bandwagon again though…

Click here to view the embedded video.

On a more comedic spin, I haven’t heard anything about the movie Bart Got a Room but, judging by this trailer, I think it will be comedy gold. It may actually end up being a flop, but I am going to give it a chance – even if it is to just see William H. Macy with that hair some more!

Click here to view the embedded video.

And I am done! I have some movie watching to do! Oh, but on the TV front – Survivor and The Amazing Race are back, woohoo! For those of you that enjoy anything military (you know who you are!) see if you can catch HBO’s Generation Kill. It is a new show about a recon marine unit in Iraq and it is really good and not dumbed down at all. The show is by the creator of The Wire, which was probably the best drama ever on TV, and Generation Kill appears to be another hit. After seeing the first two episodes it has been added to the repeat recording list on the PVR.

And I am out….

Who knew planning a wedding would be so much work? Add to it that we are planning it long distance and I thought it would have been a breeze. I kid, I kid. Wedding plans are going pretty well actually. The location is booked, photographer is booked, the missus’ dress has been ordered, I have found my tux and just need to order, wedding website has been set up (we still need to fill it with info), invitations have been created to match the website – the list goes on. I am sure we have done more stuff that I just can’t remember. Next on the “high priority” list is finding someone to do our cake(s). With that out of the way I think all the major to-dos will be complete. That is until something else magically appears on the list.

So with the wedding coming together nicely, we have started honeymoon planning. We decided that we didn’t want to go crazy on it as there is lots of traveling we want to do while here in the UK. The next trick was finding someplace with decent weather at the end of October. We decided on Spain. Olé! The Brits love Spain and so getting there is easy and cheap and it is going to be a blast! Not only Spain, but we get a little treat before we head to the sunny climes – the New England Patriots, the best team on the planet, are in London and so we will be catching the game the night before flying to the Iberian peninsula (aka Spain, just a little fancier). Do I have the bestest gal or what? Holy crap, that sounded like I am from the 50s! All I need is a sweater with a big school letter patch on it and I can be in Grease.

Now, add to all this planning the purchase of a new Canon 400D DSLR camera and you can see why I haven’t been around this part of the interweb in a while. I took the plunge in the DSLR (digital single lens reflex – the biguns where you can change lenses) world because I have been frustrated with not being able to take the pictures that I want with the point and shoot. Being able to take great photos isn’t going to happen overnight, nor cheaply, but I have to start somewhere and so this is it. I realize that it is going to take some practice, but I would like to take it up as a hobby and so I am willing to put the time in. I need something other than computers and TV/movies for hobbies, but this isn’t too far from those. I picked up the camera used on Ebay and it is in great condition, and I am really pleased with it. It came with a 18-55mm f/4-5.6 lens, and I have since picked up a 55-200mm f/4-5.6 telephoto lens and a 50mm f/1.8 prime lens, as well as some other accessories. In addition to the gear, I have also picked up a few books to help the learning curve and get started on the right foot. As you can tell, there is a price to pay to have the control you want, but I have enough to get me started and to experiment some. I just hope that I can capture the photos as I see them in my head during our travels, as that is my main goal – landscape/architecture and portrait photography being the areas I can see myself getting drawn to. Here are some photos from the last couple of days of experimenting.

All of this just to get to my sugar lumps, the title of this post. If you haven’t had the pleasure of seeing season one of The Flight of the Conchords, turn off your monitor, get your shoes on and go get it. Or, download it like everyone else in the world does these days. Either way, check it out. Now, you could skip season one and start with season two that started airing on HBO a little over 2 weeks back, but then you are missing out on the 12 episodes of comic genius that was season one. Here is a scene from Sunday’s episode that had me laughing so hard. Oh my, my sugar lumps were almost sore from it. Enjoy…

Click here to view the embedded video.