The Memorial Day Weekend Grab-Bag

Well it's been a busy (as predicted) weekend here in Justin-land. From Thursday night on, I have been pretty much on the go on the go on the go (and yes I meant to type that three times). So, you received a preview of my weekend on my last real post, but here is my review of all that transpired over the past four or five days (they all start running together anyway). Enjoy the (as always) nonchronological goodness. . .

- I'll just come right out and say it: X-MEN - THE LAST STAND is, by far, the worst of the three X-MEN movies. That's right. Even though it very nearly destroyed box office records and set a couple of new ones (biggest Memorial Day weekend ever - it bested THE LOST WORLD and SHREK 2) it certainly did not deserve to do so. I still blame The Ratner, that is, Brett Ratner. He is the director and is only other experience is from such films like the RUSH HOURs and RED DRAGON and, well, that is pretty much it (he did AFTER THE SUNSET, with Pierce Brosnan though). They signed him on after series-inspirerer Bryan Singer left X3 to do SUPERMAN RETURNS. I still don't know why. They should have paid Singer more or whatever they had to do to keep him on, but they didn't, and the result is an action-packed, mutant-overwhelming, mishmash of crap. Does it entertain? Yeah, at times. However, when the first two are such good MOVIES, you kinda expect the third to follow suit. Wolverine is awesome (but the character is just plain awesome, so it would be hard for him to not be) as are Beast and Angel. However, because of the plethora (did you say it right Cy?) of new mutants needing screen time, there just isn't enough of it to showcase the really cool ones. It was a big disappointment for me, and I had low expectations. . . Bummer. (Grade: C)

- Ok, so I've gone to sleep past 0200 each of the last four nights (Thursday-Sunday). Yeah. Thursday night was the movie (0300 was bedtime that night). Friday, the super cool day (more later) ended in a bedtime around 0330. Saturday was another eight-hour extravaganza at JOHNNY CARINO'S and put me home around midnight. I had had a rough night at work, so I felt the need to veg, which led to the beginning of a season on NFL BLITZ. I ended my night somewhere in the middle of the season and went to bed around 0230. Sunday night I worked again til after 2300 and then puttered around at home until I finally fell asleep around 0200. So I'm a night owl - - isn't that what a college student has to be???

- The one thing that didn't happen the way I had planned was Saturday. Because of a (one-day) wind storm, the Hot-Air Ballooning did not happen. Heather and I were just somewhat bummed because of our late night on Friday. We will struggle to find a weekend that we can do it though, because she is so busy this summer with work and school. We'll see. Also, she had a lot on her plate anyway for Saturday morning, so I did not actually see her but for two minutes when she came into JC while I was there. You see, in a very bittersweet offering, her grandpa and grandma (both are presently fighting some form of cancer) offered Heather, Chels, and their three cousins (all their ageish) brand new cars! A limit was set and whatever car they presently drive had to be used as a trade-in. As a well-to-do business owner, her grandpa definitely was able to do this wonderful thing for his five granddaughters. Since Heather could only come home this weekend, he wanted to do her and Chels' cars this weekend. Thus, Heather had to do the whole car lot experience on Saturday (she also had a lengthy - and important - massage appointment in there somewhere). Chels and her decided to, for convenience's sake, get a car from the same company. Chels' dream vehicle was a Toyota Tacoma, so Heather picked out the sporty Toyota Rav 4, an SUV. They get to pick them up this week (which means I get to see Heather on Wed. night!). So Saturday was a bit different than I had planned, however the busy work night was there as always.

- I slept in on Sunday, finished my season of BLITZ (I won the Super Bowl with the Cowboys on the last play! I went 19-0, but needed to pull several games out in the waning seconds), ate lunch with my family (minus the hard-working father), and then readied for work. It was slow last night, but the night somehow zoomed by. I only have two more days at the Palmdale store before I head down to Downey. An information meeting tomorrow morning will precede the journey down there this coming weekend. So begins my two weeks of non-stop work and mucho dinero. O, about that, I will have minimal computer access, so my posts will be few and far between. I will when I can, but don't expect daily or bidaily (that's not a word - - I think) posts. It's just not doable. . .

- So I bet you wanna hear about Friday huh? What a day! Running on four hours of sleep, we headed out (we being Chels, Heather, Cy, and myself) around 0930 or so (I can't remember). We arrived at UNIVERSAL STUDIOS HOLLYWOOD around 1030, which was just a little after they had opened. We went in, and the fun times began. Not only did we have free admission tickets (thanks a million Melissa!) but we also had these "Gate A" passes, which got us to the front of every line at every attraction (rides and shows). We did everything possible in the park save for the Shrek 2 in 4-d thing. No time. The Backlot Tour was awesome (that alone makes it my favorite park I think - - ) and the new MUMMY ride was really really cool (and extremely unexpected - if you've ridden it, you know what I mean). The highlight of our park experience, however, was the Special Effects show (it's over by BACKDRAFT and JURASSIC PARK). They asked for volunteers and Cy and I looked at each other and grinned. We both raised our hands, wanting to do it pretty badly. They said they only took one guy and one girl (sorry, but Cy's hair isn't that long - - o wait, he got a haircuit - - Cy, if only you'd waited a week ha ha). So Cy suggested I do it (thanks for letting me get embarassed bud. . ) and then another girl volunteered (her name was Susie - she was cool). We got to go and do things with the presenters! The best one was this thing they do for THE MUMMY. They put these robes on us and put us on a second story bridge thingy that was supposed to be a prison cell I think. I was put in a position of a prisoner with my hands tied above my head. Susie had to move bricks (they weren't real ones of course). At one moment, since I was clipped to the wall via a belt, they spun the wall around, leaving me in the back and placing a skeleton in the spot I had just been in. Funny stuff, especially for me when I heard the crowd scream :D . . . We did a few other things, but that was the pinnacle for me. Good stuff all around. . . We left the park around 1700 I think and headed down CITY WALK to Buca di Beppo, an Italian restaurant where dinner would be served. It was really good (really good!) and I was also really surprised when my friend Emily walked in! Apparently the whole day had been a "birthday" thing for me set up by my pal Cy (what a guy, huh?). Melissa and Joe (friends of Chels') came too and enjoyed dinner with us. After dinner, we walked City Walk some more, and got some dessert (some got STARBUCKS, others BEN & JERRY'S). We then got a call from Justin and he said he was off work early! So he agreed to meet us at the LAUGH FACTORY, which we arrived at around 2030. Our show was supposed to start at 2200 and we were first in line! However, we weren't let in til 2230 as the past show had run late - it was worth it! Ok, but first, a star sighting from outside! As we stand there, none other than John Mayer walks up and stand directly behind Joe, about five feet from yours truly. Really cool to be close to someone so famous! Well, when we finally headed in, they started the comedy. Bob Saget (yes that Bob Saget) was the featured performer that night, but paused about five minutes into his time and said he wanted to introduce a special guest: John Mayer! So he did comedy, not music, although music would have been better (keep your day job Johnny). Saget returned and did his performance (funny at times, but hard to keep up with - he rambles a lot). My favorite line (for some unknown reason) was "Ew to the third power". Funny in context, believe me. Next up was Johnny Sanchez, who was probably the funniest of the night at times. His impersonation of a 90-year-old black man alone made Heather almost cry! "Skat skat bedat!" Dov Davidoff, an odd-looking comic, did his thing and only made me laugh occasionally. Jo Koy (www.jokoy.com) came on, and he had the best all-around performance. He was hilarious! I'd seen him on the TONIGHT SHOW before, but he did all new material and that was cool. Well he was supposed to be the last one, but then the host (Mike Marino, also very funny) said another special guest had arrived and introduced. . . DANE COOK! The comedy world's number one comic right now was doing comedy in a room of less than 100 and I was there! It was surreal. I would compare it to seeing Larry Bird and Magic Johnson in a pick-up game at the park during their peaks! It was awesome. Not only did he do all new material, he was on for over a half hour! It was awesome!!! They ran our show into the midnight show, giving us a free ride at the two comics who went on next - we got jipped. They weren't very good, but both had their occasional funny joke. How could you follow up to Dane Cook, though? After all of that, we left, and Jo Koy was outside greeting all of us. He's a really cool guy who is on the verge of breaking into the entertainment biz. Good luck man! The drive home was rough, but we made it ok, and then it was sweet bedtime! That day is going into the Hall of Fame of Days - - And that is a fact!

- Whew!

- So today is Memorial Day and I have had a blast with my fam. We were out back for a couple hours playing A-I-M-E-E (our version of H-O-R-S-E; Aimee wanted to play it ha ha) and whatnot. Good stuff all around. I'm not sure what's in store for tonight, but tomorrow morning I have to be at JC at 0900 for that meeting. Here we go . . .

Thanks for reading this far - -

I hope all of you have enjoyed your Monday off and that you have a good week.

Later for nows,

JUSTIN