My '16 Candles' moment

If you've ever seen the classic 80s film 16 Candles, you'll recall that Molly Ringwald's character Sam's 16th birthday is overlooked by her family.
This leads her to exclaim - 'I don't believe it, they f***ing forgot my birthday!'.
Well it was my birthday earlier this week and my housemate forgot. He was tipped off around the 8.30pm mark by another friend but I couldn't help but recall the 16 Candles moment.
Granted, my milestone was far less significant than a teenage girl's 16th. Still, it was a shade on the disappointing side that someone you've lived with for more than half a decade could be unaware of your birthday.
On one hand, though, it wasn't surprising and a shade amusing in a way.

The 3D rip-off

Being cheap Tuesday I thought I'd head off for a movie after work.
I'd decided on Alice In Wonderland in 3D and when I went to get the ticket I was confronted with 'that's 20 dollars''.
20 bucks! Movies are supposed to be half that price on a Tuesday.
Upon registering my disgust at the ticket price I was told that 3D movies don't come under the cheap Tuesday banner.
Now that might be fair enough if they didn't already charge you extra for seeing a 3D film.
So instead of 10 bucks for the movie and 2 bucks for the 3D glasses (or so I thought) the cost was going to be the usual 17 for the movie, 2 for 3D plus and extra dollar for the glasses.
The only 3D films I've seen have not charged the 3D surcharge and just 2 bucks for glasses.
I decided in protest I wouldn't go today because it's ridiculous that they are already charging extra for the 3D movie so why can't the ticket price come down for cheap Tuesday?

The last ten years

I'm not going to attempt to sum up the entirety of the last decade here but I've been thinking a bit about what has happened since 2000.
In chronological order (to the best of my memory) this is a rundown of some events that are notable for various reasons.

I bought my current car
I watched a number of events at the Sydney Olympic Games
I started working at my current place of employment
I appeared on a TV game show
I went on a holiday I won to Moreton Island
I watched in horror on TV as the World Trade Centre came down
I held my nephew on the day he was born
I went to my 10 year high school reunion
I had a job on radio
I moved in with my current housemate
I had my car stolen
I met Andrew Johns
I was diagnosed with a chronic illness
I changed jobs within the company
I made several trips to Melbourne for the races
I met a heap of awesome people, some of whom have had a significant impact on me

It's amazing when you think of ten years as around 3650-odd days. A lot happens in that time - a lot happens in one day sometimes. Friends have come and gone, some are still around, I'm not sure how much closer to understanding myself compared to 2000.
It's safe to say I have learned a lot, had some highs and some pretty major lows.
In some ways I haven't changed much, in others I'm not the same person.

We Belong

Yesterday when I woke up I had this song in my head and it stuck with me most of the day. I'm not complaining, though.
A classic from the 80s, it's Pat Benatar's We Belong .
Always liked the song.
It popped up in a recent episode of One Tree Hill where the character Haley (Bethany Joy Galeotti) performs it as part of her concert, intertwined as the show does with other scenes. See that one here .
Funnily enough I didn't recognise it until it hit the chorus. She can sing and I thought it was a pretty good version.

Lights, camera, imagination!

I'm annoyed at the lack of imagination shown by film makers these days.
In reading through the latest Empire magazine I noted rumoured or confirmed reports that there could be a remake of Jaws, Fast and the Furious 5 (I do own all four so far but, come on), a Bourne prequel, Avatar 2, Mission Impossible 4. I could go on.
Seriously, where is the originality?
Now I know the reason we are getting so many sequels and remakes. It's because they are almost guaranteed to make money. And that is really all that matters to the studios.
But how many inane comedies, alleged romantic comedies and send-ups can we stand? How many more times must we watch the same predictable films?
Thankfully, if you look hard enough, there are some gems out there with an actual story to tell.
Over the last few years my top films each year have been the likes of Lars And The Real Girl, Reign Over Me, Brokeback Mountain, Into The Wild and Up In The Air is the front runner in 2010.
Personally, I'd rather be challenged by a well acted drama or laugh along with a deftly scripted comedy than all the trash we're getting.
Sure, I'll eat up the Hollywood blockbusters and I'm into the Twilight series (I'll be there when Eclipse opens in a few months). I am aware of some hypocrisy on my part but at least I'm aware of it. That doesn't mean I can't decry it.
Over the coming weeks I'd like to see movies such as Brothers, A Single Man and The Blind Side and hopefully I will get around to it.

The Men Who Stare At Goats

If you've got a proven cast and a good story then you're more than half way to making a good film. The Men Who Stare At Goats has an excellent cast with the likes of George Clooney, Ewan McGregor, Jeff Bridges and Kevin Spacey and it has a story that's quite out there.

Thankfully the script gives the strong cast plenty to work with.

McGregor plays journalist Bob Wilton, a small town reporter who decides to ship himself off to Iraq when he is heartbroken by his wife leaving him for his editor.

When he arrives in the Middle East he is stranded in Kuwait until he meets Lyn Cassady (Clooney). The mention of a name from Lyn's past uncovers the story of a lifetime for Wilton.

Lyn is a member of a rather odd section of the army involved in psychic warfare. He believes he can manipulate people, animals and situations with his mind.

This leads to a number of hilarious situations as Lyn and Bob travel to Iraq. They are kidnapped, saved by a security service at war with another security service and other odd occurrences.

Along the way Lyn tells the story of how he came to be recruited into the New Age Army, led by a very hippy Bill Django (Bridges), and learned the power of the mind. Among the things he learned was how to kill a goat by staring at it and willing it to happen.

Spacey emerges as Lyn's nemesis, Larry Hooper, who has his own hilarious story involving his experiment with another officer using LSD.

Look, overall this is a really fun movie. It's well acted, as you would expect, and the references to the New Age Army as Jedi Warriors are marvellous when you consider McGregor's casting (in case I have to point it out, McGregor played jedi master Obe Wan Kenobi in the Star Wars prequels).

A very clever comedy. A 7.5 out of 10.

A week after the storm

Last weekend I went to Melbourne for what is known as 'Super Saturday' at the races but as it turned out it was memorable for completely different reasons.

What is strange though is that when I arrived back in Sydney on Sunday how little some people knew about what happened in Melbourne the day before.

Despite the predictions of showers all weekend I didn't take an umbrella with me. Some may call that a rookie mistake when you're planning to go to Melbourne.

I arrived the Friday and it was very humid but no real signs of rain. I met up with a couple of friends for a drink (after overshooting my tram stop by one) and then headed for Crown Casino. That was mainly because I hadn't been there before and I thought I might as well check it out. I chatted to a guy called Bobby on the tram on the way (initiated by the need for some direction on my part) who was off to watch the AFL game on that evening.

Crown Casino is something else. It makes Star City look like a backroom poker lounge. It's also quite mesmerising and it's very easy to get disorientated. I suppose that's one of the tricks of casinos.

Anyway, the next day I headed off to Flemington for the races.

It was an awesome day weather wise and I arrived there on the train. If anything it was a shade on the hot side. I met up with Luke, a guy I work with (sort of), for a bit and settled in to watch the Newmarket Handicap.

You could see a storm coming. It came up a lot faster than anyone expected and five minutes after the race it started to rain. No more than five more minutes later it started to hail and we're talking golf ball size at least.

Flemington was virtually covered in darkness as the sheer volume of hail that was falling turned the setting from lush green grass to appearing to be covered in snow.

As a result of the freak storm the racecourse was flooded, the trains were knocked out and the races called off. I had to line up for a bus for about 40 minutes and ended up at Footscray train station to catch a train into the city.

Flinders St Station looked like a tidal wave had run through it, sections of road were covered in water and debris littered around town.

Quite an experience. Of course I was sheltered from the storm in more ways than one - I was under cover when the storm hit and of course had nothing valuable unprotected, unlike some whose cars were either covered in water or damaged by hail or both.

I have to say I've seen some big storms over the years but never anything like this. Lightning strikes that seemed to cut the sky in half, thunder that would put God's tenpin bowling team to shame and hail that left piles of ice everywhere.

Won't be forgetting that weekend.

It Is What It Is

I made reference to the fact in my previous post that I felt the new Lifehouse CD was a grower.
Well, I totally missed what is now clearly the best song on Smoke & Mirrors.
It Is What It Is contains all the emotional aspects, regarding sound and voice and lyrics, that set Lifehouse apart from most bands I've been a fan of.
Worth checking out, if you like your songs with lyrics you can understand and relate to and music that is played on real instruments.
Clearly this is a song about relationships hitting a hurdle and not knowing where to go.

I was only looking for a shortcut home
But it's complicated, so complicated
Somewhere in this city is a road I know
Where we could make it
But maybe there's no making it now

Too long we've been denying
Now we're both tired of trying
We've hit a wall and we can't get over it
Nothing to relive
It's water under the bridge
You said it. I get it.
I guess it is what it is

I was only trying to bury the pain
But I made you cry and now I can't stop the crying
Was only trying to save me but I lost you again
Now there's only lying
Wish I could say it's only me

Chorus

Here it comes ready or not
We both found out it's not how we thought
That it would be, how it would be
If the time could turn us around
What once was lost may be found
For you and me, for you and me

Chorus

I was only looking for a shortcut home
But it's complicated, so complicated

As I said I reckon Jason Wade is an awesome songwriter and he always seems to strike a chord with me, whether he is writing about love, loss or life.
I just keep coming back to it when I listen to Smoke & Mirrors, despite how much I love the album as a whole. From past experience this means it has really resonated.
Thanks for another classic, Jason!

Smoke & Mirrors

It's been a long time coming but the new Lifehouse CD Smoke & Mirrors was worth the wait.

The fifth album by the under-rated Americans, best known for their debut hit Hanging By A Moment, is another testament to Jason Wade's ability as a songwriter.

(As most people will be aware, I recently wrote about how crap music is these days so this is a welcome change from the trend).

Just like the previous album Who We Are this one takes a couple of songs to really hit its straps with Had Enough, the Chris Daughtry collaboration the first highlight.

The single release Halfway Gone isn't the greatest Lifehouse song out there but it has had this knack of sticking in my head lately.

The supreme moment on the album comes in the special song From Where You Are, released in the US as part of a safe driving campaign. It's a touching song about the time 'erased' when you lose someone through a road accident.

It deserved to be a massive hit.

The title track Smoke & Mirrors is a real grower. I like the analogy about a relationship once all the illusions are gone (the 'smoke and mirrors').

There's one song that is on the deluxe version of the album but because that wasn't available I downloaded it. The song is called Crash And Burn and it shouldn't be confused with the Savage Garden classic.

The Savage Garden song was an ode to friendship, Wade's song covers the topic from a different perspective. He sings about the comfort of knowing he has support.

Lifehouse don't disappoint despite the fact they rarely trouble the charts. And this is the fifth time they have released a listenable album and importantly one that grows with you.

It's at least as good as their fourth and better than their second album and the fact I added 10 songs from this one onto my ipod shows how much it appealed on first listen.