Garfield Ridge

Animals, They're All A Bunch Of Freakin' Animals!

Look! Up in the tree!



More photos from the National Zoo after the jump. And believe me, you don't have to ask if there will be monkeys. Just who do you think you're dealing with here?

Continue reading "Animals, They're All A Bunch Of Freakin' Animals!"

You Can't Beat A Good Weekend.

BSG on Friday night over at Mike's.

Saturday, the Nurse and I went to the zoo and threw warm droppings at the monkeys. Then we checked into the Hotel George in order to get the hell away from our own claustrophobic homes for a little while. Last night, we ate the best dinner I've ever had in this town over at Vidalia (three words: bacon-wrapped rabbit; sweet lord!), enjoyed a couple of drinks at the Lucky Bar, then danced at Play until I passed out. Literally-- I fell asleep mid-sentence in the cab ride back to the hotel. Yeah, I know, I'm terribly exciting, but the Nurse woke me up in time to pay the driver.

I haven't been dancing in forever, unless you count weddings and funerals, which I don't. My dancing method is definitely "Awkward White Guy"-style, also known as Dave's got St. Anthony's Fire. In practice, it means I stand there like a gyrating stripper pole for a lucky lady to dance around and grind against.

Hey, what can I say? I'm bringing sexy back.

Still, grand fun, a day and night that was quite good for the soul.

Today, movie and football, and now laundry. Lots of laundry and ironing and folding clothes and all the kinds of domestic activities that make me so effing hot.

Movie Review: Flags of our Fathers.

I won't call Flags of our Fathers a disappointment, mostly because I wasn't expecting a great film. From the early previews, it appeared to be fairly derivative of recent war movies. Take one part Saving Private Ryan, one part The Thin Red Line, one part Windtalkers, two parts Band of Brothers. . . blend.

That said, the formula produced a good movie, a satisfying wartime drama with a simple message: the real heroes in war are rarely the ones who survive.



Good performances across the board, excellent effects, and the steady hand of Clint Eastwood's direction make Flags of our Fathers a quality film. Especially noteworthy is Adam Beach as the American Indian Marine Ira Hayes-- Hayes is consumed with survivor's guilt, and Beach does an effective job capturing a proud-yet-broken man.

The combat sequences are well done, although again, nothing terribly original. Ryan's shadow is a long one, and it's difficult to make any war movie these days that doesn't feel like it owes something to Spielberg's revolutionary film. There are no "wow" moments in Fathers, but that's reflective of Eastwood's style: he's made a drama with effects, not an effects movie with dramatic moments.

The only fumble in the movie is its framing device-- employing a bracketing narration by the son of one of the flag-raisers (and author of the book in which the film is based on). It may be accurate, but it feels a little too pat and cloying. Keeping the movie in 1945 would probably have made for a more honest picture.

It's still worth your time.

"Sorry I Haven't Posted In A While. . . "

As yours truly well knows, blogging is a full-time job. Which means that sometimes, you just can't find the time or the motivation to post anything.

Which inevitably leads to that most pathetic of blog postings, the "Sorry I haven't posted in a while" posting.

Well, some smart-ass decided to capture a whole post's worth of "Sorry" postings from bloggers who just couldn't find the time to blog.

Ingenious, and vaguely humiliating (I'm just glad *I* wasn't linked there).

Battlestar Galactica Open Thread.

Friday night tradition here at Garfield Ridge, feel free to comment about tonight's episode.

FYI, by all accounts, this one's supposed to be outstanding. High hopes. . .

Update: Saw the ep, spoilers after the. . . "jump", heh:

Continue reading "Battlestar Galactica Open Thread."

Fight The War To Win It.

That's Ace's position.

Mine, too.

Let's stop dicking around-- either we win this thing and come home, or we just leave now.

In Case You Missed It Update: John Keegan writing on why Iraq is not Vietnam. Hint-- it's not just because there are no Vietnamese in Iraq.

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This posting was made on my personal computer.

Geekout: A Stargate Made Out Of Legos.

Impressive; I bet this guy gets laid by all the girl mathletes.

Still, nothing will ever beat Lego Cthulhu, praise be His name.

The Best Roller Coaster In The Universe.

Someone got a little creative playing Rollercoaster Tycoon, and the result is one of the funniest videos of the week.

See, this is how *I* play video games: ignore the rules, create mayhem, enjoy.

The Heavens Above.

The view outside my house of the most glorious day of the year. 61 degrees, 20 mph winds, puffy white clouds floating across beautiful blue skies.

Tonight, I'll be with my best friend enjoying beers and some good television. Tomorrow, I'll spend another glorious autumn day strolling my city with a pretty girl. Sunday, movies and football and all the rest that is good in life.

You know, it sometimes takes an awful lot to forget the trials and disappointments of a hard-fought life. Sometimes, however, all it takes is a ceiling of blue and white.

Who Here Wants Some Free Coca-Cola?

I do not advocate any illegal activities here at Garfield Ridge-- except for the really fun ones-- but I do feel I must offer this video as a public service.

It's for the children.