Poor Steve Martin...

I made the mistake of seeing "The Pink Panther" last night. I honestly didn't think that a movie could be so terrible. For the first time in over a decade, I walked out halfway through a movie. It was that bad.

But, you're probably wondering what would lead me to slander such a movie. How could a Steve Martin movie, based on a classic Peter Sellers movie be so poor?

First off, Steve Martin is the worst casting decision for Inspector Clouseau. He simply doesn't fit the bill. Being a funny guy doesn't automatically make you perfect for any comedic role. I actually feel sorry for Steve. It wasn't his fault that his French accent was laughable, or that the script asked him to perform the same witless joke over... and over... and over...

Wait a minute... It is! He co-authored the screenplay. In light of this new evidence, I have only one thing to say to Mr. Martin: "What the heck were you thinking?!"

What happened to Steve's old comedic roles? Movies like "Planes, Trains, and Automobiles" and "Father of the Bride"? He was genuinely funny in those. The common denominator was that he put himself in a serious role, surrounded by comedy. He was a regular guy trying to make it in a crazy world. It just doesn't work when everyone in the movie is acting like a total goof.

Ah well... Take heart if you do plan on seeing the movie anyway. The opening credits feature an entertaining animated short featuring the cartoon Pink Panther, which gave me a few chuckles. It's just too bad that the opening credits were the best part of the movie.

Still Alive. I Think.

Yes, I'm still here. No, I haven't forgotten about this blog. Just been busy lately. The good news is that I've been extremely productive. The bad news is that the amount of free time I have per day has gone down the toilet. The good news is that since I have less free time, my ability to entertain myself has improved. The bad news is that I have zero time to do any writing, so I've resorted to editing one of the stories I've already written. Hopefully once April rolls around, I'll be set to rewrite it.

I still plan on slapping together a quick review for my new laptop/tablet PC. Hopefully I'll get around to doing that sometime this week. But, considering how things have been going, that target may be a bit inaccurate.

I ran across a cool piece of music the other day on Pandora. It's called "Two Magicians" and was part of a collaboration performance involving In Gowan Ring and Blood Axis. It's this weird sort of Celtic-sounding tune with some guy singing (more like chanting) about two magicians involved in a magic duel. Almost reminds me of Disney's The Sword in the Stone when Merlin takes on Madam Mim in the wizards duel. The performance was called "Witch Hunt" and was limited to only 100 albums, so finding it is a pain in the neck.

However, I can find any song I want, no matter how obscure. What can I say? It's a talent. I once spent seven years hunting down a particular version of "Route 66" performed by Mark Lennon. It was never released to the public and I had to contact Mark's manager in order to get a special copy of the tune. Cost me $10, but I now own it! hah!

If you're on the lookout for new music that fits your tastes, you should definitely check out Pandora. I've managed to find a few new artists that I really enjoy, including the highly-awesome Blackmore's Night, which specializes in a combination of rock and renaissance music. Good stuff.

Now that I've convinced you that I'm not dead, I'm off to continue being busy. More blog entries are coming soon. I promise.

Holy Handwriting, Batman!

Decided to have a little fun with this entry today. If you want to read a tiny update as to what's been going on lately, go ahead and click on the thumbnail below...

Life Is Good

Life cereal, that is. Not my life-life. That's not to say that my life-life is bad. That's fine too. But, the topic of this post is Life cereal.

And the funny thing is that not all Life is good either. I like regular Life. Cinnamon Life is my absolute favorite. But, I tried Honey Graham Life for the first time last night. I have to say that it isn't as good as I expected. Must be the lack of sugar or something of that nature, because the honey graham flavor is nearly non-existent. I feel like I'm eating a bowl of milk and air.

What is it with those kids on the front of the boxes? They always look wickedly excited over... what? Cereal? Give me a break. When I was five years old, the last thing I got excited about was my morning bowl of cereal. Usually, I was more interested in the fruity Flintstones chewable vitamins I used to take before breakfast. At least the Trix rabbit has an excuse. He's a cartoon rabbit. Maybe cartoon rabbits get excited about cereal. Same goes for Lucky the leprechaun, Tony the tiger, Snap, Crackle, Pop, and the honeybee that flys around on the box of Honey Nut Cheerios.

Speaking of Honey Nut Cheerios, I hear that it's a honey of an oh.

Accounting Made Easy

It's Saturday morning and I'm sitting in an accounting office answering phones. It doesn't get much more exciting than this, let me tell you. Since I've been here, the phone has only rung twice and only one person has come in to drop off documents. Meanwhile, I've been sitting here drinking tea and working on Su Doku puzzles.

This accounting firm is my Dad's. He opened it in early 1981 and has been rolling ever since. If you ever need quality tax assistance, financial planning, business planning, or investment advice, just come here: Pratt & Associates.

Now that I have the gratuitous advertisement out of the way, has anyone who reads this tried fiddling around with Su Doku? I was at Barnes & Noble last night and picked up "Su Doku for Dummies" and it seems to be--

(Ooh. Just had two phonecalls in two minutes. That was exciting.)

--pretty fun. I've heard of the whole Su Doku thing before. All I knew was that it was a bunch of numbers that couldn't repeat in their respective rows, numbers, and boxes. Other than that, I had no idea what kinds of strategies were used, how much skill was required, or how long a puzzle actually took to complete. I'm proud to say that I now have two puzzles under my belt and I think I might actually have the hang of this. It's also a great way to pass time. I flew through an hour in no time. I guess that's what happens when you keep the mind active.

Interested in Su Doku, but never played? Give this website a shot.