A great many things...

It's Sunday morning and I've had perhaps a little too much coffee - so why not update the old blog?

Nothing too crazy to report lately. Other than the recent Dresden trip, we haven't traveled anywhere exciting. The weather here is slowly but spasmodically improving toward Spring - it'll be warm in the 50's for a few days and then lurch back to sub-freezing temperatures for the next week, but at least it's trying. We had snow one day last week despite really not having any significant snow to speak of through the bulk of Winter.

The Oscars came and went recently, which is significant only because it reminds me of how many movies I don't watch anymore. Just a few years back, it seemed, I didn't miss many of the "big" movies that came out, but this year I really haven't seen much of anything. Gwen and I have been trying to rectify this lately, but as always we are stuck at the mercy of the local theater. We caught "Juno" last weekend which I thought was good not great. I was worried it was going to try and be too clever with itself after the first 20 minutes but thankfully it settled down and turned into a decent little movie. I thought Jennifer Garner, whom I've actually never seen in anything before, was pretty solid.

Last night Gwen and I went to see "No Country for Old Men", which thanks to its recent best picture win just opened up at the old Kino. I'm not sure why this movie won best picture. I enjoyed it - don't get me wrong - it just doesn't seem like the kind of film that wins a best picture award. It was more like a niche film, typical of the Cohen brothers, whom I usually enjoy ("O' Brother Where Art Thou?" not withstanding - shudder). I never read the book, which obviously would explain more of the nuances, but I was amused at the Woody Harrelson character, who seemingly was only there to inform the hunted about the guy who was chasing him. (He might as well have strolled up and said, "Hi I'm Woody Harrelson, I'll be your exposition for the evening...")

Gwen bought "Michael Clayton" which we tried to watch on Friday night at Man Room but the DVD was a bad copy so we had to turn it off and settle for something else. 'Something else' turned out to be "Band of Brothers", which I had seen before back in residency and I had really enjoyed. Gwen bought it for me for my birthday, and I've been looking forward to watching it again, mostly because I understand the Army a hell of a lot more now than back when I viewed it the first time. I was also anxious for Gwen to see it given her experiences.

We watched the first two episodes and I can reaffirm that it is indeed a really, really fine piece of work. It's probably THE most accurate depiction of Army life of anything that I've ever seen, and again given my recent experiences with the Army, a deployment, a war, etc., I'm finding it even better than I did the first time. Now I understand the subtle but critical differences between the enlisted ranks, the structure of a line unit company, and all the rest. It's also quite powerful - I think both Gwen and I were pretty moved by the of the first episode and rolling into the second episode. Watching those old vets remember and discuss things, laugh and then quickly break down in the same sentence, is pretty powerful stuff. My hat's off to Spielberg and the rest of that production team.

(So far the only military inaccuracy I can spot in "Band" is the fact that too many people salute inside. Nobody EVER salutes inside - and I'm told that unless you're reporting for duty or making introductions this never happens - and even then it doesn't happen now. At least, for the love of God, nobody has headgear on inside at any time in "Band", like they do in every other Hollywood military piece. Nobody ever, ever, ever wears headgear on inside in the real military, unless they're armed, so if you see that on TV or in the movies it immediately ruins credibility, and they show this sort of thing all the time. It's ridiculous and seems like it would be such a simple fix.)

Anyway, I look forward to watching the rest of the Band. I remember some really moving stuff from that series, and I eagerly anticipate viewing it again. (I'm also going to put the over/under on Gwen tearing up at about 12 times for the series. Any takers?)

We've also recently watched the entire Jason Bourne trilogy over at Man Room. I had seen the first two in the theater, but not the third. I really liked all of them; they are pretty much the perfect action movies in my opinion. Suspension of disbelief is kept to a minimum, and Matt Damon (to be pronounced "Maattt DAYMON" a la Team America) is a likable, smart and solid actor - he makes for a guy I really ended up rooting for. A rock solid trilogy in my opinion, which is rare these days. (My only qualm is the fact that he unrealistically survives brutal car crash after brutal car crash with minimal injury, no concussion, or that even half the time his mangled car would be utterly undrivable. Oh well, can't have everything in an action movie I guess.)

Speaking of cars I just had to have the clutch replaced in my machine. Unfortunately this was not a cheap endeavor, despite the fact that we've found an honest mechanic who is also one hell of a nice guy. My car is a 1995 BMW 740i, which has a V8 in it - basically it's a beast. Unfortunately the V8 causes problems with repairs because it's vast and monstrous and expensive and creates extra labor to work around. Between the new clutch and valve caps (which needed replacing), I had to drop 750 Euro on the thing, which translates - at the current rate of exchange - to about 77,000 dollars. It's ridiculous. But what is one to do? At least the car has regained it's monster power again. The clutch had been degrading over time, and the power of the car had been going steadily down as the ability to engage the driveshaft deteriorated with the aging clutch. Now, it grabs smartly and the car jumps off the line. The difference is staggering - I'd almost forgot what I was missing. Time to dust off the Transformers soundtrack again, fire up 'Dare', and drive like a maniac, which is sanctioned on the Autobahn of course.

On the TV front the only show Gwen and I consistently watch is Lost. We're pretty hooked on this one, and though we can't watch it live, we can download it on iTunes the day after it airs and stay more or less caught up. Lost is good stuff - I fear it may slip out of control and beyond feasibility at any moment but so far it's been riding that edge with remarkable precision. Let's hope that keeps up. Other than that, we don't really watch any TV. We have all three seasons of Arrested Development on DVD, and we're going through those for the second time - phenomenal series. Other shows on the list to view in DVD form are The Wire, Rome season 2, and Freaks and Geeks.

OK, coffee's wearing off. I think that'll do for now.

I leave you with this - which was number 3 on the German rankings recently and which we saw incessantly on the German MTV when we were in our hotel room in Dresden a few weeks back. The Germans are a strange folk....