kevin barnett

Tonight, Luke and I headed down to Piper’s Alley to see a movie. We left it up to fate since we didn’t know what the movie times were, but we knew that we would either be seeing The Pianist, The Hours, About Schmidt or The Quiet American. About Schmidt was starting in 10 minutes when we showed up…

During the winter season of critically acclaimed and Oscar buzzed films, I’ve been criticizing this year’s crop because they all seemed too depressing. About Schmidt is depressing in a lot of ways, but for me to explain further would ruin the film for anyone else. The film’s message, however, is quite inspiring: what has inspired you in your life and have you really made a difference?

Jack plays Warren Schmidt, a newly retired insurance executive in Omaha, Nebraska. His wife annoys the hell out of him and his only (child) daughter is about to marry a waterbed salesman, who is “about to” get rich off of the latest pyramid marketing scheme. And along the way, each character deals with grief and triumph much in the way we do. In fact, this is where the genius in the film really shines.

I kept feeling this film was about real people that I could easily relate to. Jack did an exceptional job in tricking me that I wasn’t watching Jack on screen, but Warren. He could have been as much my father or grandfather as yours. And you know people like the characters in this film. If it did the film any justice, I might mention that I would actually buy this film over any reality television show I’ve seen thus far. Any bitter old man or woman would benefit from watching this movie. I really enjoyed it.

Luke and I had an incredible discussion after the movie, trying to think about our parents’ intimacy and what really drives them in life: their children or their spouse? I know having children maybe one of the best ways you can make a difference in the world. But I think I may try a couple of different ways before I get to children…

Oh and I may need to make an update/amendment to my Oscar picks…Kathy Bates absolutely must get Best Supporting Actress. This is her role that you will NEVER forget! I’m afraid I am at a loss on the Best Actor since Jack and Bill The Butcher are competing…damn, they were both good.

I was just listening to Alpha Blondy - Jerusalem

Tomorrow is welshcrew.com/kevin’s one month anniversary! I am sincerely appreciative of everyone who has been so supportive of my blog project. In honor of the anniversary, I want to introduce a couple of new features. I am posting two more projects I did last semester as well as some writing that I did and happen to be somewhat proud of.

The other feature isn’t really a feature but an idea I admittedly stole from another blog I checked on the web (there are, actually, a lot of them out there). From now on, I will close each blog entry with the artist and song that I am listening to when I sign off. This should be a very interesting experiment because I tend to associate memories and periods of time in my life with the music I was listening to at the time.

For example, I associate the stop my family made in Memphis on our road trip in 1990 moving from Texas to Michigan, with Mark Cohn’s Walking in Memphis. I always think of Rage Against The Machine’s Fistfull of Steel when I remember the last day of school in the 9th grade. The Cure’s Pictures of You (remix) always reminds me of my friends from Texas A&M. And I can never forget the first time I was introduced to Michael Jackson - a McDonald’s hamburger had violated my 4 year old digestive system and the song I heard on the way home,Billie Jean, was stuck in my head while I was wretching in the front yard.

I consistently listen to music while I’m working on my computer. This is a reason why I am such an advocate for internet radio stations like Radio Paradise and somaFM/Groove Salad. Because internet radio playlists are so diverse, I expect that my song posts will be sometimes pretty random and obscure. Heck, most of the newer music I listen to is influenced by internet radio…what a great by-product of the information age!

So here it goes…

I was just listening to Supergrass - Brecon Beacons

For my first project on the new PowerMac, I created a website for everyone who came (and for everyone who wishes they came) out to the party last weekend. Check it out.

At the crack of noon on Saturday, I was woken by the FedEx dude dropping off my new PowerMac. After waiting very patiently over the years to throw down on a new computer, I finally took the plunge. So I wanted to document the experience the best way I could…on ye ol’ blog!

The 53lb box arrives all the way from Elk Grove, CA

It’s Christmas in February!

My preciousssssss!

Guts and glory.

There’s nothing like booting up a Mac….ahhhhhh.

A warm greeting from OS X Jaguar.

The superdrive. Reads and burns CDs and DVDs.

Several hours later…still having fun.

I’m still waiting on my valentine from Steve Jobs…FedEx tracking says it should be delivered today…

I am going to be sooo, like, pissed off if Steve doesn’t come through.

Well to those who are celebrating today with their loved ones and/or significant others, enjoy this day and everyday like it’s your last.

To those who are celebrating today by coming home from whatever they do during the day, drinking some beer and pondering if Daredevil is worth seeing, I say Daredevil is worth seeing.

To those who will be making sweet, sweet love to their soulmates, I say, “Hmmm, that’s some sweet…sweet shuga!”

To those who will be having dirty sex tonight, I say simply, “word.”

But to everyone, I want to wish you the best of St. Valentine’s Days.

http://www.oscar.com/nominees/nomineelist.html

Normally, I am very opinionated about this topic. However, this year is different because 1. I have yet to see a lot of the nominated films and 2. I do not think this has been a great year for films as compared to previous years. It reminds me of the weak year in 1995 when The English Patient had all of the hype.

I will say that I hope Bowling for Columbine gets Best Documentary and the late Conrad Hall wins for Best Cinematography. Isn’t it ironic that I recently watched both of those film’s Academy screener DVDs?

I hope Bill the Butcher wins, but I’m not counting on it. And I want Walken to win, if for no better reason than to hear his acceptance speech.