Talked to my sister. She’s in some sober house in Missouri. I’m not holding my breath or anything. You know me, expect the worst, then your not disappointed when it happens. She got her 30 day chip a week or so ago. It’s hard to get excited about these things when you’ve been beat down so many times by hope. Fuck hope!

Had the big family Thanksgiving Saturday. Ive been told the kids were good. I didn’t go. Not a fan. I sat home, got caught up on some shows, played a little 360. Just a little me time before the hellions returned home. Best part of Thanksgiving…cherry cheese cake. Oh and thanks for the piece of pumpkin pie Sally!

Haven’t read anything since I finished Salem’s Lot, which I enjoyed a lot. Might have to read some more Stephen King…shut up Allen! Gonna start something today. Not sure what yet. Since my last “what I’ve read” post, Ive only read a couple things. I read the first two books in Anne Rice’s Vampire Chronicles. I liked ‘Interview with a Vampire’ better than ‘The Vampire Lestat’, though I really enjoyed reading about Lestat’s past. The rock ‘n’ roll crap was kind of lame though. Also read Elric: The Stealer of Souls. Its like Conan the Barbarian, but Elric is albino, weak, and wields a mystical sword that feeds off the souls of it’s victims making Elric strong like bull. Good stuff. That’s really about it.

I’ve watched Scott Pilgrim vs the World about 10 times in the last couple weeks. So much fun. Easily my favorite movie of the year. Started watching the newest season of Dexter. Looks like its gonna be another good one. Though just two episodes in, it’s reminding me a lot of season two with Doakes. Season two spoiler, skip next two sentences…I hope it ends the same as well. I’ve never liked Quinn.

That’s about it. Oh ond a busy week for me. Gotta go to my friends play Thursday or Friday, Cousin’s college b-ball game Saturday, and Tre’s x-mas program Monday. On top of that, its fucking cold! Oh the joy of being me.

Everybody’s wondering, “whats up with Jamaal?” Well the same as the last 7 years or so. A few videogames, a few movies, lots of kids. Videogame wise, I’m playing NCAA Football which is alright. NBA2k10 which I fuckin’ love even with the broken passing. Then of course Rock Band 2 always and forever…well until Rock Band 3…which I won’t be getting on launch due to a miscalculation of funds. I’m bummed. Also went back to Mass Effect 2 and doing an Insanity difficulty run. Not much else on that front.

Movie wise, I’ve watched a fuckton since my last review post. I can maybe remember a third of it. I’ll do some quick reviews…

Oldboy - Fuckin’ awesome.
Zack and Miri Make a Porno – Not Kevin Smith’s best, but better than Dogma and miles better than Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back. Definitely worth watching.
Point Break – The only movie I can stomach to watch Keanu in besides the Bill & Ted movies.
Fright Night – Vampire movie, so I obviously liked it. It’s an 80s flick so there’s obviously some cheese, but it’s awesomely bad smelling cheese.
Kick-Ass – Loved every minute of it. Just a fun movie.
Zombieland - Bill Murray made this movie for me, but even without him it was good fun.
Ponyo - Another Miyazaki animated film and just like all of his movies, I loved it.
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs – Meh
Up - Slightly better than Meh
Kiki’s Delivery Service – Hayao Miyazaki again. One of his cuter movies, and I loved every bit of it.
Inglorious Bastards – Not as good as advertised but still fuckin’ great.
The Hangover – Funny, funny, and more funny. And the extras were nearly as funny as the movie itself.
Leon the Professional(Uncut version) – My favorite movie, so obviously highly recommended
Coraline - Complete shit if you read the book.
The Hebrew Hammer – God-awful fun. One of those movies that you know suck, but you can’t stop watching.
Afro Samurai Resurrection – Not as good as the first, but worth a watch…I guess
Anastasia – Tay says, “Meh”
Land Before Time – Loved it all over again
Ong Bak 2 – Fun ass-kickery but a shit stain of an ending
Let The Right One In – One of my favorite Vampire movies.
I think that’s plenty.

As for the kids. They’re good. Tre is a little mouthy to my mom sometimes. It has cost him about 3 weeks of games this month. Tay is either the sweetest thing in the world or hell on wheels. Oogie is too cute for his own good. Stubborn as all hell. And with that said, I am done. Even I was bored writing this post, so you the reader must be damn near comatose. Until next time…fuck you.

Oh yeah…Go Chiefs!

Still reading, though it’s been slow going since finishing the greatness that is the Harry Potter series. The last two books was pure awesome. Deathly Hallows actually had me crying like the sensitive man that I am. I actually had to stop reading for a minute to compose myself. After I finished the series I meandered through a couple books. I started 3 different books before settling on Interview With a Vampire by Anne Rice. I can’t even remember which 3 books they were. The only one I remember is “Stuff White People Like” by Christian Lander. Pretty funny stuff from what I read, though I’m not sure if it was the white side of me laughing with me, or the black side laughing at me lol. What were the other 2 books?….hmmm. After a quick look at my Kindle the other 2 books were Stephen King’s “The Dark Tower” and The Collected Stories of H. P. Lovecraft: Volume One. Neither grabbed me right away. So I ended up going with what I know, and that’s vampire’s.

Anybody that knows me knows I’m a vampire freak. Love the mythology behind them. With that said, I think I’ve only read one vampire book. That being the incredible I Am Legend by Richard Matheson. Awesome fuckin’ book. Anyway, so I decided on Interview With a Vampire as I had some familiarity with it having seen the movie. It was slow going. Not really a fan of Anne Rice’s writing style. Took about half the book before I could really get into it. After the rough start I really enjoyed it. Even better I didn’t see Tom Cruise as Louis, nor did I see Brad Pitt as Lestat as I read it. I give it a hearty thumbs up. Not sure what I’ll read next.

I’m thinking either the next book in the Vampire Chronicles series or try to read the Dark Tower Series again. Not sure.

In other news, Beatles: Rock Band is pretty glorious and I’m not really a fan. The 3 part harmonies are a stroke of genius as far as plastic instrument games. Also moderately enjoying Guitar Hero 5. Great setlist and the vocals don’t completely suck. My main plastic instrument playing partner is not a fan of GH5 however. Kinda harshes my mellow man.

In other, other news. Still not watching much. Started watching the second season of Chuck finally. Still a fun ass show. Nothing great, but just fun. Also can’t wait for the season finale of True Blood. Shit gonna get craaaazy. Watched the Weeds finale and meh. Still better than the trainwreck that was Season 2.

And finally in other, other, other news. Keanu Reeves is a horrible fuckin’ actor. Not horrible like, “man he’s not very good”. But horrible like, “What the fuck is he doing!? And, “What fuckin’ emotion is he trying to do there?” And, “Is he trying to hold in a fart?” I’m just saying…he sucks.

That is all.

*Obscure reference from the movie Fear of a Black Hat.

Bought a spiffy case for it from Paul Champagne. He makes custom DVD cases for movies, TV series, anime, and other stuff. For example, he made me a custom case for all my urban drama DVD’s. It holds Menace II Society, Boyz N the Hood, Juice, New Jack City, South Central, & Fresh. I also bought his Terminator, and Kurosawa case’s awhile back. The Kurosawa one holds Seven Samurai, Yojimbo, Sanjuro, and Hidden Fortress. I’m trying to get him to make one for the Zatoichi films now.

Continuing with my purchases of nerdocity, I also bought 4 graphic novels. Bought Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman: Endless Nights, Death: The High Cost of Living, and Death: The Time of Your Life. The fourth GN is a pre-order of The Killing Joke(hard cover) by Alan Moore.

To round out and finish off my purchases, I got Zatoichi the Blind Swordsman, Vol. 11 – Zatoichi and the
Doomed Man, and Lost: Season 3 on DVD…Allen already hijacked it.

Here’s pics of my Fulmetal Alchemist and Kurosawa cases.

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Kansas basketball still kicks ass. Now ranked number 2 behind Memphis who is number 1 for the 1st time in school history. Big HA! at North Carolina and it’s crying ass fans. TO called and he wants his spotlight back.

Unlike the aforementioned Kendall Grove, Escaflowne continues to bring the awesome. 2 more discs to go. Hope it doesn’t lose it’s steam.

I shaved off my ‘stache and it is not a pretty site. It’s downright frightening. Never happening again.

That is all.

Be always at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let each new year find you a better person. – Ben Franklin

We spend January 1 walking through our lives, room by room, drawing up a list of work to be done, cracks to be patched. Maybe this year, to balance the list, we ought to walk through the rooms of our lives… not looking for flaws, but for potential. ~Ellen Goodman

Youth is when you’re allowed to stay up late on New Year’s Eve. Middle age is when you’re forced to. ~Bill Vaughn

An optimist stays up until midnight to see the new year in. A pessimist stays up to make sure the old year leaves. ~Bill Vaughan

We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year’s Day. ~Edith Lovejoy Pierce

One resolution I have made, and try always to keep, is this: To rise above the little things. ~John Burroughs