I'm Busy June 24th

I don't know if it's me moving into old age, or maybe I'm just losing my edge, but I'm being seduced lately by movies that two, three years ago I would have spat on. I am actually excited about going to see Angels & Demons. I've laughed at the new Night At The Museum trailer. But the most flagrant of fouls came last night. Our friends Matt & Nicole came over for some drinks. Besides making the world's worst Red Bull and Vodka, I wound up watching a movie that, while it grossed a shade over $700 million worldwide, was just never on my radar--Transformers.

Now, as you can see from the above evidence, Megan Fox is reason enough to check Transformers out. I would go as far as to say she is the hottest actress in Hollywood right now. But here's the weird thing:

I thought Transformers was fucking awesome.

It may have been the fact that I was drinking. It may have been the fact that it was late and I was tired. But I was into it. Like, really into it. The cars, the action, the battle sequences--everything. Even the jokes were funny.

I don't know what this says about me and where I'm at in life, but I know one thing--I'm busy June 24th. Now let's Sunday Review like Monday will never come.

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-via The New York Times: As I write this, I'm watching Game 1 of the Red Wings/Blackhawks series. There's already been a crossbar hit and a couple of good opportunities for both squads, and the series isn't even five minutes old. Jeff Klein's article asks the question: can the playoffs keep being this good? I say yes. And I've got proof. By the time I finished this paragraph, Chicago scored.

-via The New York Times: This is a review by David Gates of Janet Frame's Towards Another Summer. David is smart as hell and a great writer and I love reading his reviews because I can always hear his voice in them--the mark of a true writer.

-via The New York Times: A video conversation with Jeffrey Eugenides where he discusses The Virgin Suicides, Middlesex, and the decline of Detroit. Really interesting stuff.

-via The New York Times: What I love about writing is the fact that you can take a topic that has been written about a million times before, switch the lens through which you tell the story, and produce something completely new and original. All New Yorkers my age have heard the stories of 70's-era New York, usually from our parents and various non-fiction (and fiction too--see Taxidriver) accounts. We've heard about it through the lens of the Son of Sam, the Bronx Zoo Yankees, the Blackout, the sanitation strike, and Studio 54, among others. In this article, Anthony DeCurtis ponders the future of New York in these bleak economic times through the lens of John Lennon and his time in the city that never sleeps.

-via The New York Times: Fascinating piece by Bruce Weber on Sid Laverents, described as an auteur of homemade films, who died on May 6th after living for a century.

-via The New York Daily News: As I'm sure many of you have heard, Notre Dame is under fire (if you can count 100 protesters as "under fire") for their decision to award President Obama an honorary degree and have him deliver the commencement address. I don't really get what right people think they have (Catholic or not) to tell Notre Dame what to do here. It's a private institution. It's the President of the United States. Get over it. Oh, and a big 'fuck you' to Arizona State University for not giving the President an honorary degree on the grounds that he "hasn't achieved enough yet." Way to take a stand. At least you got it right in 2005, when you awarded an honorary degree to Blake Edwards, director of such iconic films as The Pink Panther, The Return of the Pink Panther, The Pink Panther Strikes Again, Revenge of the Pink Panther, Trail of the Pink Panther, Curse of the Pink Panther, and Son of the Pink Panther. Lube up for your audit.

-via ESPN's Outside The Lines: Can't give you the best link ever here, but I saw this story on Sportscenter this morning and you've got to watch. It's in the "Video" section on the right, the third story on the list, called "OTL Raven Run." I'm already thinking of a way to turn this into a short story, so I beg my writer friends who read this to just let it be.

-via Gizmodo: I hate to be an iPhone rumor monger, but this is just too good to pass up. Project Charlie? AT&T? Secret Best Buy entries? It MUST be an iPhone!

-via Lifehacker: Ever wish you had a definitive list for how to keep your fruits and vegetables from going rotten? As usual, Lifehacker comes through with the goods. I'm somewhat surprised the lettuce entry doesn't include my patented "wrap-it-in-paper-towel" trick.

-Speaking of food, it's been a while since I put up the food equivalent of a good ass and titties shot. Here's a beautiful dish Danielle put together this past week:

That's salmon with lemon and capers, roasted asparagus, and a side salad with some of my pickled onions. Delicious.

-Took this screenshot on Friday:

When I get home from work, I always turn my iPhone's Wi-Fi on. As I did this on Friday, a plane just happened to be roaring overhead. I'm willing to bet it was a US Airways flight. Pretty freakin' cool, right?

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Top 9 in the Yankee game. A-Rod's got another big homer, Tex has a huge play in the field, and Burnett looked awesome. Now we just need a win to top it all off. Still got three more games to watch today too.

I love Sunday.

Hope you do too.

JS