X-Men Origins: Wolverine

I find this prequel to the X-Men series very, very difficult to review because, as a fan of the original series, I have quite a strong opinion.
One of the main story lines throughout X-Men was the mystery surrounding Wolverine's background.
Continuity between X-Men Origins: Wolverine and the trilogy is vital and I'm not entirely sure it was there. That's a massive negative for me.
We start off by learning about James Logan (Hugh Jackman) and his brother Victor Creed (Liev Schreiber) and how they are different from others and apparently they are immortal because we start in 1845 with them as children, they grow up then stay the same age for about 150 years.
Pretty good work there.
Aside from that glaring problem, Logan and Creed are discovered by Colonel Stryker (Danny Huston) and are made a part of his `government team' of people with special talents. This crew is particularly interesting.
Long story short, Logan chooses good over evil and leaves the clan when their actions and his beliefs collide.
For about half the film the best way I can describe it is `meh', it was all right but not particularly awesome. I will say that it did pick up, we met a horribly underused character called Gambit, and things came together reasonably. That's the big challenge they faced here, the dots had to be joined between this and the first X-Men movie.
I'm going to say that this movie didn't need to be made. I liked that Wolverine was mysterious and torn and knowing what happened to him doesn't make a lot of difference (largely because ultimately he doesn't know his own background come X-Men). So it's all a bit redundant.
Having said that, there was some good action and interesting characters. A 6.5 out of 10, pretty poor considering X-Men 3 got a 7.5 from me.

Pain in the neck

If you don't mind, I'd like to feel a bit sorry for myself at the moment.
Since I woke up this morning my neck has been very sore and it is really getting to me. I must have turned sharply during the night or something, because yesterday it was seemingly fine.
I have an appointment with the chiropractor for tomorrow afternoon and that will no doubt help out but I am just getting impatient - I want the problem fixed and gone.
It's like that with all my problems. A lot of the time I just want them to be gone instead of having deal with them.
Ever feel like that?
The neck thing has been building up over time, not helped by my poor posture (which is a lot tougher to correct than it sounds because habits are terribly hard to break), and general impatience.
I have to say it isn't as bad, I'm not getting serious headaches, but it's just the area where the neck and the top of the spine (if that makes sense) meets that is playing up. I have done a few stretches, should be doing them more.
It seems something comes up just when I'm on an even keel. I'm pretty much fine aside from that, I feel like I need to lose a few kilos (but that's another long and complicated problem). I',m getting a check up at the end of the week (have to have the blood test tomorrow as well) that should confirm that belief.
It's just a pain in the neck, literally, that's getting me this way.

A week on...

It's been seven days since the incident at work and, on the face of it, things seem back to normal.
Except for one thing.
I still don't really know how to act. Sometimes I just push on and others I get caught up in exactly how pi**ed off I am by what happened.
What makes it difficult sometimes is that I can't see evidence that anything has changed and that, to me, is really disappointing. I am enjoying having moved desks within the office, the 10m or so that I moved a couple of years back.
Maybe it is one of those things that time will heal.

Paying respects

I was told a short time ago that my uncle Barry, who is one of my mum's older brothers, died today.
It would be a good three years at least since I saw him but I have to say he was a very good man who for many years ran a boarding home for aboriginal children.
As far as I know he wasn't sick with anything we knew about so it's obviously been sudden. It looks like my mum won't be able to go to the funeral as she has been in hospital recovering from a hernia operation.
I hope she handles it reasonably well. I don't really know what to think about it, I know that sounds really bad. It's naturally very sad and I hope my aunt and cousins hold up.

I was there when....

...Takeover Target won the TJ Smith Stakes at Randwick on April 18, 2009.
Sometimes there are moments in racing that you will never forget, today was one of them.
Why? Takeover Target (I took the photo from on the fence in the mounting yard) is the ultimate fairytale in horse racing. He was bought at a tried horse sale for about $1250 and now he is closing in on $6 million, not bad for a horse who will be 10 years old in a few months time.
My big disappointment today was that I didn't tip or back him. There is an old saying, never write off a champion and we all saw why as the broke right away from a damn good field. It left me and many others with shaking heads, in awe of an unbelievable performance. It's one of those `I was there when' moments that are so rare and reserved for the remarkable.
Overall it was a very good day and thankfully I showed sense and didn't go out after a long day at the track. It actually took me about 80 minutes to get home due to the traffic.
On the work front, I stopped in there on the way to the races and moved desks back to where I was sitting a few years ago before changing jobs. Hopefully that will make things a bit better, and it will be interesting to see some reaction from one or two others. I still think it was the best thing I could do under the circumstances.

Fast & Furious

When is a sequel not a sequel? In the case of Fast & Furious it is when the sequel is set between the second and third films in the series. Follow?
Well, the fourth film in the franchise starting with The Fast And The Furious is set before the Tokyo Drift film and reunites the four main stars of the first movie.
Brian O'Connor (Paul Walker) has been given a second chance with the FBI in LA and he happens upon Dom Toretto (Vin Diesel) while searching for a drug importer, who just happens to have been involved in the death of Dom's gal Letty (Michelle Rodriguez).
For some reason I really got into this series from the first film, I thought the second was awesome while Tokyo Drift was good but not great. There are the spectacular and impossibly unrealistic car chase and race sequences but where I think this suffers against the first two is that they tried to cram too much storyline into the movie.
I know that's a weird criticism to make but this series is all about the cars, the chases, the crashes and the conflict. The story is secondary.
Having said that it is hard not to enjoy what is there, and basically if you liked the original then this sequel, call it The Fast And The Furious 2.5, is worth a watch.
A 7 out of 10.

Cooling off

Things were certainly strange today after the spray I received yesterday.
The couple of people I told about it said how inappropriate the action was, especially as a problem solving exercise. `If you don't like it, then leave' isn't very diplomatic.
Anyway, the boss talked to me today like the previous day didn't happen. It was hard to know how to take it.
I came up with somewhat of a solution to one of the issues and thankfully it looks like happening. So, now that Friday's here (TGIF) I'm going to a movie.

Would you like a crushed soul with that?

Ever see The Simpsons episode where Bart sells his soul?
Automatic doors still open for me and no dogs and cats are growling, so it is still there.
But, well, that's how I feel today.
I haven't sold my soul, so don't worry there, but I really feel like it has been crushed. I won't go into it in detail but I got a massive dressing down when I got to work and almost an ultimatum.
In some part I contributed to it yesterday but some out of character behaviour but I don't feel like I deserved to have my hopes and dreams (work wise) virtually destroyed.
I felt like I have been working towards something and now that's not going to happen.
The view of a colleague whose opinion I value is that what happened was uncalled for and a massive over reaction. I will get past it, I guess, but it just feels like I'll be going to work without a purpose, sort of.
True there are bigger and more important things going on in the world, and in this country, but I really feel like this is a massive setback.

Deflated

I don't know whether I am doing this to myself but the situation at work has me feeling quite deflated.
On the one hand I should be happy and grateful that I have a job, given the current conditions, and one that I enjoy. But I'm starting to believe I'm being told one thing by the boss while he does the opposite.
I was told recently that I'm relied upon because of my knowledge of the field we work in, knowledge that no-one else in the team has. Yet I'm not allowed proper input into the content and direction of things.
I was told a while back that I would be able to take on a higher role one day. Yet whenever I try to take steps towards that I'm knocked back.
It's hard to know whether I can trust what I'm being told anymore. There's a chance I could get asked to go back to my previous job in he near future but that's something I'm not entirely sure I'm ready for yet.

Save Chuck week

Word has been floating around the net that the axe could be hanging over the awesome action-comedy series Chuck.

So I thought I'd add my support to Save Chuck week being staged on another web page.

I personally am sick of networks ditching shows that are popular but don't meet their unrealistic numbers (particularly in Australia) and Chuck has already been a victim of that here.

It was picked up by Fox8 after channel 9, in their wisdom, passed on it. They also passed on the weird but wonderful Pushing Daises.

I've seen all of season one and half of season two to date and I think it deserves one more year. I'm not a fan of shows going longer than they need (Prison Break is a good example) and I can't imagine Chuck running around with the Intersect in his head for another five years. NBC, give Chuck a third season and let it go out with a bang.

So if you're in the States, watch Chuck for the rest of the season - it's a great show, a good laugh and a lot of fun. You can't ask for much more for free.

Susan Boyle, take a bow

In one of the most surprising, and inspirational, videos I've come across the performance of I Dreamed A Dream, from Les Miserables. by Susan Boyle on Britain's Got Talent has to be seen to be believed.
If ever there was a classic `don't judge a book by its cover' case then this is it. The judges, including the notoriously picky Simon Cowley, are left close to speechless and rightly admit to this 48 year old Brit that they pre-judged her and wrongly. And they don't have any trouble in fessing up.
If you haven't seen it head here and you won't be disappointed.

Derby Day

And I thought there was a recession on!
Some 30,000 people, and I was among them, packed into Randwick racecourse yesterday for Derby Day, one of the bigger race meetings in Sydney.
It was a long day.
I had a new mate come up from Canberra on Friday and we were on the road early to the city.
One of the benefits of going early is you tend to get a decent run with traffic and that was the case (I even had a good run out of the course at the end of the day which was weird given the numbers).
You don't realise how hard a day on your feet is until you sit down at the end. And I was watching the Storm vs Penrith game as I dozed off, not making it to half time.
Back to the races though. As far as the actual racing went it was a bit of a ho-hum day and next Saturday promises to be much more exciting.
However, the great trainer Bart Cummings (pictured, I managed to get a great angle) scored his first Group One win for 10 years in Sydney and is the oldest, at 81, to train a Derby winner.
I hope I'm that successful at 81! He certainly has a way with words.
I actually had a chat to him earlier in the week and he's quite a character, a legend of the sport, and it is a privilege to have access.
I also caught up with a couple of other mates at the races which was great, including one who really intrigues me with his seemingly controlled recklessness, if that's possible.
Anyway, unfortunately I didn't win so let's hope next week is a much better one.

Philadelphia

Earlier this week I was flicking channels and came across the movie

Philadelphia and decided to have a watch.

It's amazing that this film made in 1993 can still have the same impact.

Of course, Tom Hanks plays a lawyer fired because he has AIDS and Denzel Washington is the young lawyer hired to take on his case.

I am a sucker for drama. I love watching interesting, emotional, real, stories with excellent acting performances and this is right up there.

Hanks very much deserved an Oscar for his role.

For me Philadelphia is one of those movies that you can't help but get emotionally tied up in and I admit the eyes got a bit watery towards the end.

It's the soundtrack that really brings it out, I reckon. The music is so poignant.

Back in 1993 when this came out the world was a very different place and someone with AIDS was looked upon as a dirty, usually gay, person who deserved it.

Thankfully we have moved on a bit from there, though that doesn't make right what a lot of innocent people would have had to endure. I thought this came across well in the film.

If you haven't watched it in a while it's worth a look. Certainly made me think.

The Nick D'Arcy situation

When will swimmer Nick D'Arcy have been punished enough for his assault last year on Simon Cowley?
I in no way condone what he did but the matter has been dealt with by the law and he has received his sentence. I don't know what to make of him as a person, whether he's a 21 year old guy with a chip on his shoulder or someone who severely overreacted and has been miscast.
What he did was wrong, possibly either provoked or a knee-jerk reaction to something, and he is paying a heavy penalty. He's probably lucky he's not a rugby league player - they can't seem to stay out of trouble.
(Cowley has also paid a heavy penalty for being seemingly the innocent victim - but I don't know the intimate details obviously I wasn't there at the time of the assault).

Consider that D'Arcy has already been penalised effectively four years as far as the Olympics go.
He's been convicted by the court and now has a record and the warning that if he offends again he goes to jail.
Any chance he had to earn a living through endorsements for being what was potentially an Olympic champion and gold medal winner is gone. It doesn't matter what he does in the pool if he in fact continues swimming, very few companies would risk their reputation by being associated with him.
He's now been thrown off the world championship team.
There has been talk that Cowley may have a civil case against D'Arcy pending.
He could also be suspended or fined by Swimming Australia.

To my mind that's a lot of penalties, you'd think he robbed a bank or held hostages or something.
D'Arcy can take all this two ways. One, he can give up swimming.
Or two, he can cop it and continue training in the hope he can go to the Commonwealth Games in 2010 and the Olympics in 2012.
I hope he realises he has a chance at redemption and to be a role model for troubled youth.
He must really feel like the world is against him at the moment and I just hope he can rise above it all, genuinely, and be a better person.
Above all, I hope he has learned his lesson here because he has too much talent in the pool to step away.

Love The Beast

I'm not into cars much at all but what was so great about Love The Beast is that while it is about Eric Bana's lifelong love of his car I don't really think it is about the car itself.

If you get what I mean.

Sure, there was a fair bit of shop talk that those who work with or are passionate about cars will understand that I didn't. But it doesn't change the experience.

What we have here is a documentary telling the story of Bana's love of `the beast' and what you learn is quite remarkable and I think is very genuine.

Despite being a Hollywood star now that wasn't always the case. At one stage he was a struggling stand-up comic who was booed off a stage in Albury.

He used to work on his car with a few mates and 25 years later they still get together to tinker, talk about and drive cars.

The focus is Bana's participation in the Targa Tasmania rally in 2007.

What I took away from this film, which features segments of talks between Bana and the likes of Jay Leno, Dr Phil and Jeremy Clarkson, is that Bana is a real person.

What I mean by that is when you see a Hollywood star it is almost always in a contrived setting whereas this is raw, real and genuine. And if it isn't then Bana is a much better actor than anyone could ever think. He comes across as very grounded, attached to his car and this is illustrated when he crashes it during the rally.

There's a great moment with Jeremy Clarkson (of Top Gear for those not familiar) where he says, in his blunt manner, something like `you've travelled half way around the world to ask me whether you should fix the car, just go fix the car'.

It is a very personal movie and I think you come away with a lot of respect for Eric Bana, because few people (let along movie stars) give you such an intimate look into their life and into their heart. He should be applauded. An 8 out of 10.

Here Comes Goodbye

If you like good music, of any genre, you have to listen to Here Comes Goodbye by Rascal Flatts.
I was curious as to when a new CD will be out of theirs and I was pleased to discover it is pretty much any day now.
The song Here Comes Goodbye is an instant Rascal classic. Heartfelt, catchy and emotional, it is everything you expect a country ballad to be.
Bring on the new album, it's great that the Flatts are back!

Office politics

Last week the boss called me over for a chat and took me by surprise.
A colleague had complained to the boss that I was being rude to him and I really didn't know what to say. Can you imagine me being rude to anyone in a professional setting, or even in general?
It started with a question - ``do you have any issues at the moment?''
``Nothing major'', was my reply.
I was then told that the guy who sits next to me had complained that I'd been rude to him for a couple of weeks. Well, I said that I hadn't. Though I said at times I didn't want to talk to the guy or was reluctant to pass on information that I had that he could know if he bothered to put in a bit of effort. Basically on that front I didn't want him to benefit from the time I put in (now to be clear we are talking about horse tipping and form and it is a matter of doing your own work there).
I was then forced to tell the boss that the guy had been baiting me at work, trying to get me to say things so that he could complain about me. Childish, or what!
Anyway, as much as I didn't want to bring that up just yet I had to and fortunately the boss said that he had noticed. So that appears to have stopped for the time being.
It left me pretty royally peeved about the situation and I didn't say an awful lot to the guy for a while and really only talk to him if I have to.
I realise in a work situation you can't give people the silent treatment for long and am going to have to push past it. It's hard though, I reckon I could go to the passive-aggressive Olympics if there was one.
This behaviour is not foreign to this guy, who seems to think he can control our workforce for his own gain and has pushed people out of their jobs in the past. I ain't moving and I think he realises that fact. What he doesn't realise I'd suggest is that I want his job/role and the boss knows it (I said as much about nine months ago).
The thing is, this guy expects people to respect him but he doesn't realise that respect is something that is earned, it doesn't come as a given.

Keep Lucas or end One Tree now

As far as big risks go, dropping the lead character of a series is pretty huge. For One Tree Hill the likelihood that Chad Michael Murray (Lucas) is not going to be a part of season seven is not only a huge risk it is a stupid one.

The show's premise is about two half-brothers and from day one Lucas (pictured) has been the central character. I don't see the logic in ruining what has been an excellent series by extending the show's run without its lead and one of its other major leads in Hilarie Burton (Peyton).

Why? This is a really dumb move.

What any fan of a TV series wants is for their show to go out with dignity if it can't go out with a bang. They got it right with Friends, continuity through 10 seasons with cast and they came up with an ending that makes everyone happy.

One Tree Hill has had five central characters - Lucas, Nathan, Peyton, Brooke and Haley - since the start and the show can not lose any of them and hope to keep people interested. Imagine Friends if Ross and Rachel weren't in it. That's what we are talking about here.

I can't believe Mark Schwahn would even consider letting Lucas go.

In every snippet I've seen of him talking about the show on the DVDs it's obvious that he loves it, it's his baby so to speak, and I fail to see why he could consider this. If Chad wants to come back for season 7 then let him.

Otherwise, end the show at six seasons and let it be remembered as a great show that was smart, funny, dramatic and always interesting.

Brief report

It's been an interesting week to say the least.
I will elaborate more later.
Highlights (term used loosely) include my neck being rather painful - kinda feel like it is a steel rod most of the time and the headaches are very distracting.
Fortunately I'm seeing a chiropractor and it is getting worked on with other parts of the spine.
Tomorrow I am having my new bed delivered and hopefully it won't take too long to construct it. I will have to rearrange my bedroom but I am definitely looking forward to the added comfort of a bed that isn't too small for me.

Greatest TV catchphrases

TV Guide in the US has released a list of the Greatest TV catchphrases and it is an eclectic list.
No Homer Simpson but that's largely because they omitted one-word catchphrases, such as `D'oh!'. If you don't want to follow the link the top five were:
5. Holy ......, Batman
4. What'choo talkin' 'bout, Willis?
3. Yada, yada, yada
2. Dyn-o-mite (from Good Times)
1. How You Doin'?

I was kinda rapt that Friends has the `greatest' catchphrase on TV and Joey does it so well.