Planning for the Unknown

Good Afternoon Ladies & Gentlemen,

Yesterday was a pretty good day at work. Bubbles stopped by for lunch and she, the Mad Scientist, & I went to Granato's Deli for lunch. They're pretty good...but take a long time to fix a sam'ich. It's all good though because I got to hang with the homeys for a while. Other than that, nothing too eventful except everybody asking me if I heard from Vegas yet. Oh...and the Mad Scientist got a fortune that he says was for me, reading "You will find a good paying job." We decided to split it down the middle...so our fortunes read "You will good" and "Find a paying job." Awesome.

Last night after work, JJ stopped by to say hi and we caught up on stuff like her going to the Cure concert the other day, her move (and subsequent drama) to Denver, my possible move to Vegas, all the usual stuff...and she's borrowing my Season 2 of "Big Love" because she has some kind of obsession with polygamists. She was telling me that she was glued to CNN for a few weeks over that whole Texas compound thing last month. We all have to have a hobby, I guess. I have movies and basketball, she has polygamy and designer shoes. After she left to pick up some friends from the airport, I was insanely bored until I decided to go to sleep. How bored was I? I watched most of "Sleepless in Seattle" on TV before deciding to get my rest for what's hopefully a busy week ahead of me. The movie is cheesy...but has a great soundtrack at least. Still haven't heard from Bubbles...but hopefully she's doing okay today & just had too good of a time to answer her phone. We've all been there...a few times.

This morning, I woke up, did some laundry, and have basically been looking over my apartment cataloguing what's going to Vegas with me...and what's probably staying or parting with at a yard sale in the near future. I'll keep you posted...and cut you a great deal. Know anybody who needs a surprisingly comfortable sofabed? Cream leather love seat? (Leather and Vegas summers don't seem like a good idea) A crapload of engineering and marketing school books? Let me know. Tonight, I have a tentatively scheduled blind date...and since I'm in the area, I might just hang out with my brother & his family for Memorial day. We'll see I guess. In the meantime, since I have little else to say, here's another Movie List.

Vegas Movies - Since I've been talking about this damn place for almost a year solid in one way or another…I figured it was about time that I did a list for movie set in Sin City (though oddly enough, not "Sin City"). This is of course not inclusive of all Vegas movies (or colorful backdrops) but just some of my favorites…and I purposely left out all the Nicolas Cage movies…because half the movies that he's in revolve around this place ("Honeymoon in Vegas", "Leaving Las Vegas", "Con Air", "Snake Eyes", "Next", etc.)

Medal Winners

Gold - Ocean's Trilogy (2001-07) - If you haven't, check out the original film from the 60's starring the Rat Pack & Angie Dickinson…but I'm guessing that most of you have seen the remakes this past decade and loved them as much as I did. Basically, it's gotten to the point where the casting call is "Get every cool actor in Hollywood, add a few hotties, dress them all in the best outfits possible, oh…and see if you can have them steal something big too." I really like them because they're quirky, glitsy, and just plain cool…and a man can dream to be that one day. Maybe I should get into the thievery business. We'll see how that goes when I'm in Vegas. Still think that drinking beers & playing pool with George Clooney, Brad Pitt, and Matt Damon (only edged out Pacino because Al seems like a mean drunk) would be the coolest…but then again, that may never happen. Again, a guy can dream. Besides, they're those movies that you can enjoy watching multiple times because you catch something extra each time. That's a great element to have in a flick.

Silver - Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas (1998) - Based on the Hunter S. Thompson novel and starring Benecio Del Toro with a moustache and Johnny Depp with a comb-over, this movie is just great debaucherous, drugged-out fun. Basically it's Thompson's ode to the turning point in hippie culture and all this other stuff (haven't actually read the book but I'm sure the Mad Scientist or JL Clyde can fill you in with a better understanding of the actual literature) but yeah, it's just a lot of wild & crazy stuff with a lot of inner monologue and rants and basically the stuff that you read on this blog…but more psychedelic & insightful.

Bronze - Bugsy (1991) - The story of Ben "Bugsy" Siegel and his interesting transition from mob boss to founder of the glitsy Las Vegas style is a movie that I seriously enjoy…and I'm not really sure why. Warren Beatty is Bugsy, Harvey Kietel is his right-hand man, Annette Bening is his mistress, even Sir Ben Kingsley makes an appearance as a mob boss, there's a few great scenes…but it's really the story about a man who has a vision…and then basically tries to BS his way out of a mafia debt…which usually ends badly. I think it was nominated for Best Picture or something when it came out. Check it out. I'm sure that I've mentioned it before in my Gangster Movie List. This just barely beat out the Martin Scorsese classic "Casino" (1995) starring Robert DeNiro, Joe Pesci, Sharon Stone, and a bunch of other Scorsese standards. Lots of great one-liners in that movie…and I still use "Settle out of court" whenever I can…and it comes up a surprising amount. There's a lot of holes in that desert...

Suggestion - Viva Las Vegas (1964) - Why do I suggest it? Because it's Elvis and Ann Margaret (greatest costar with Elvis ever & who's still hot though well into her sixties) in the story of race car driver Lucky Jackson who while getting his car fixed meets the lovely Rusty Martin (Margaret) and then the usual bad guy comes in and tries to win the race & steal his girl…but he's Elvis…and this is Vegas, baby. Also, feel free to check out "Fools Rush In" (1997) with Matthew Perry & Salma Hayek for a romantic-comedy that's actually kind of funny or "Swingers" (1996) if you're into the whole vintage Vince Vaughn thing. There's also the iconic "National Lampoon's Vegas Vacation" (1997) with Chevy Chase, Beverly D'Angelo, and Randy Quaid…oh, and Wayne Newton. Check them all out if you haven't already.

Flush It - Lucky You (2007) - Okay, so I was bored as hell on that cruise that I took last November…and it was bad weather on our day at sea…so I set in the room for a few hours and watched this show about a professional poker player (Eric Bana), who meets a waitress (Drew Barrymore), falls for her, and apparently keeps losing his & her money…yet still keeps at it. Basically, he has an addiction…but it's his job…so he keeps at it…and there's the love interest involved…and a rival that tries to spit some life lessons at him (Robert Duvall) and it's really just a movie that's hard to watch really. That's why it beat out "Showgirls" (1995) because at least in that movie I get to see Elizabeth Berkley & Gina Gershon…a LOT of Elizabeth Berkley & Gina Gershon.

Future Watch - What Happens In Vegas… (2008) - Okay, so I'm not really going to see this movie probably…because it has Ashton Kutcher (who punk'd me in a dream) and Cameron Diaz (what happened?) and it just seems pretty lame. Who knows? I may rent it. What I'm really looking forward to is when I move down there and meet the filmmakers making "Ocean's 14" (2010?) and they write in a part for me…as the 14th member of the crew. I'd be the tall cousin of the twins from Utah (Casey Affleck & Scott Caan) that has to come in for some reason. I don't write the scripts. I'm just an actor. Probably to bring in some young, hot blood into the mix since most of the stars are in their forties…but I'll admit, still dashing & charming individuals. I'd fit in nicely with the crew. Also, I look forward to starring in my own romantic comedy (2009?) while I'm down there…so we'll see how that goes. I'll let you know when I start casting for costars.

Have a great weekend everybody...or probably more accurately, hope you all had a great weekend!!! Play safe & have fun!!! I'll let you know how the date went...or if it went. What the heck is it with me and dating? It just never seems to work. Oh well, maybe this will end the streak. You never know unless you try, right? Wish me luck.