No internet?!?

I find it amazing how dependent society is on the internet. Maybe its just me? Granted, I'm an electronicphile, but still. Yes, I made that word up. Add it to your vocabulary. I moved in approximately 2 weeks ago and I don't get internet until June 2. Not only has this move been very trying on my blogging, but having no internet has been absolutely horrible. I can't surf at work as much, I depend on my iphone in order to check on Fantasy baseball and the latest celebrity blogs. Gchat to stay in touch with people from time to time. It makes me think back to the days of when I used AOL dialup, when I used to download MP3s from FTP websites.

I look at my nephew and wonder what his life is going to be like growing up with all this technology. At less than 3, he was using my brother's iPhone to play games. Sadly, he probably knows how to use more features for the iPhone than I do.

Anyways, for the handful of readers I have, I wanted to add a quick post while I'm sitting in Robby's parents basement, choosing not to sleep before my trip out to the West Coast.

Urban Species

So I came across this song recently. I don't know what it is about it, but I think its got such a good sound to it. There aren't too many songs out there that are the slow rhythmic sound with a mix of hip hop flow mixed in. I've always been a sucker for female vocalists and I've been a fan of Imogen Heap for years. I haven't heard anything with her in it for quite some time, but I recognized her voice immediately.

Give it a try and maybe it can make an appearance on the infamous 'ur humble narrator' blog.

Without further ado: Urban Species feat. Imogen Heap - Blanket

State of Play

What is it about British TV shows and series that makes them so damn good. Don't get me wrong, we have our solid shows here in the States. Lost for example. But think about it, what good tv shows are there? The office? Oh yeah, that was British first. American Idol? Copied as well. One show that they haven't redone quite yet is called 'Hustle'. It was aired on AMC and my oh my, what a great f-ing show. If you haven't seen it, I HIGHLY recommend you giving it a whirl. Reminds me of the old school movie 'The Sting' starring Robert Redford. Classic movie about the long con. Long con's are the best. They are just fun to watch and you get so excited when it finally all comes together at the end. It's amazing how smoothly things go and its not to the extent where its unbelieveable. Well...sometimes it is, but mostly its not. If you look it up on wikipedia, it states, "A confidence trick or confidence game (also known as a bunko, con, flim flam, gaffle, grift, hustle, scam, scheme, or swindle) is an attempt to defraud a person or group by gaining their confidence." A more contemporary film you may have heard of is actually named 'Confidence' starring Edward Burns, Rachel Weisz and Dustin Hoffman. Long con at its best.

I tend to stray from the main focus of each post, but I think its often for a good thing. State of Play was a British mini-series that aired back in 2003. You may or may not have seen previews for the movie that recently came out starring Ben Affleck, Russell Crowe, Jason Batemen, Robin Wright Penn, Jeff Daniels and the list goes on. Here's a link to the trailer. So originally, it was supposed to be Ed Norton and Brad Pitt, but they were busy, so the recent trend of fat movie stars in starring roles came to fruition (see Russell Crowe lately?) I highly doubt the movie will be anywhere as good as the British mini-series. The series is spaced out over 6 episodes. I wanted to give it a go because of the movie and the likelihood that it would be better because its British. Man was I right. It keeps you on your seat, the story never wanes, its not high action, yet its still keeps you on your toes, wondering what will happen next. As the saying goes, how far does that rabbit hole go? Intriguing mystery/thriller that I 100% endorse. You won't regret it.

More than likely, my word isn't enough for you to check it out, so I can throw some names out of who is starring in it: Bill Nighy from the wonderful Underworld series (or Love Actually if you're a girl). The up and coming James McAvoy in an understated role he knocks out of the park. Kelly Macdonald from the previously reviewed 'Choke'. Polly Walker who also stars in my beloved 'Caprica' pilot. and lastly, Marc Warren who also stars in the previously mentioned 'Hustle' as Danny Blue.

I give the mini-series a 4.5 out of 5 Manatees.

Fanboys

There was a lot of press about this movie for a short period of time. What was the press about? This girl in this costume:
Don't get me wrong, this is the only reason I heard of this movie. But to be honest, my love for Veronica Mars aside, it turned out to have a lot of pretty funny cameos. Seth Rogan showed up as two separate character. Jay and Silent Bob. William Shatner even. The main characters were people you'd recognize from a handful of movies. It was most likely a very fun movie to make, but the movie itself was sort of more serious than I thought. The reason for the road trip was something that was a bit more serious than expected, but not in a bad way.

I wouldn't say that this type of humor would mesh with a lot of people, but there are definitely some solid laughs to be had. Without giving much of the plot away, there is a group of friends, road trip, friendships renewed, love found, happy ending. The movie wasn't too long and it didn't even really drag on too much. Not something I would say is worth making time for, but you most likely would not regret sitting back to it on a lazy day.

But while I'm on the subject mentioned above, Miss Kristin Bell is a gem in my eyes. Very cute, but not to the extent she's unattainable. I first came across her in her old UPN show, Veronica Mars, that was later transitioned over to the CW before being unjustly cancelled after three seasons. If you aren't too familiar with her, she was in fact Sarah Marshall, another great movie that gets better with each viewing. If you need a new show to pick up and like shows that you can just catch up on via DVD, I strongly recommend Veronica Mars. My brother, shocker, got me onto it and I was amazingly surprised by the quality of it. I bet if it was on another network, say...ABC, it would have had a stronger following. No Netflix? Use me. I am the proud owner of all seasons.

Baseball season '09

America's favorite pastime. What is a pastime? That's a damn good question. For those of you who enjoy baseball, you think of a pastime as an activity, a sport. For those of you who don't, you probably think it means boredom.

Your Washington Nationals will most likely be the worst team in the MLB once again, but luckily they have locked down Mr. Ryan Zimmerman (UVA class '05). He's been in the league for a few years now, always with so much 'potential' but his most recent 22-game hit streak is finally showing that he is in fact ready to be the franchise player that the team so desperately needs. Granted, the team won't start winning until they can really lock in some pitching, especially their bullpen, but glimpses of beauty appear every once and awhile. That's the beauty of baseball though, or any sport really. You can head out to the game one day and have the game of your life, and the worst of your career next. You never know what to expect. No rhyme, no reason, just falling into the 'zone'. The Nationals best pitching prospect is a Jordan Zimmermann. He's got some talent but needs to lose some of the wetness behind his ears before he can really start to make a difference. Looks like the key to the Nationals success is to keep drafting players with the last name Zimmerman(n).

Catching some dogs and beers in the thick of summer while catching up with people outdoors is what makes the game such a pastime. It's a reason to come together and enjoy a game. Luckily, there are over 160 games in a season, so most of the time, people don't even pay attention to what's going on but for maybe an hours worth of a 3 hour game. Having such a bad team is both a blessing and a curse. Obviously a winning team is incredible to watch, i.e. your Washington Capitals. But having a team that is still trying to build its legacy allows you to walk up to the game and grab a $5 ticket. Nothing can beat a nice afternoon for $5. A McDonald's extra value meal costs more than that.

I was never a crackerjacks fan, so throw me some peanuts and a few Bud Lights and take me out to the ballpark.