The First Decade of the 21st Century

I've been reading a lot of "Best of the Decade" lists as the 2000s come to a close and I figured I should make my own. So in order of cause-and-effect:

1. Travel! In the past 10 years I've been to England, Belgium, The Netherlands, France, Italy, Mexico, and Belize and New York (twice)!

2. Marge! We met on our trip to England, which is probably the best thing that's happened to me this decade...

3. Moved out! Getting out of my parents' house was pretty defining. Although it was tough at times (trying to make rent with very little money) it did allow me to grow up and become a tad more responsible.

4. Marge and I got our own place! Not that rooming with Louis wasn't fun, but getting our own place is more satisfying.

5. Marriage! After 5 years of dating I proposed and a year later we were married. Has been great since.

6. Librarian! After flopping around for a few years after getting my bachelors. I finally stumbled into my ideal career, so I got a Masters in Library and Information Science.

7. Got a new car! All my previous cars were clunkers held together with gum and string and would overheat the second I left Hialeah.... My library job allowed me to get a 2009 Toyota Matrix.

8. Pregnant! Found out Marge was pregnant, which was great and scary all at once.

9. It's a girl! The second our Schrödinger's Fetus became a girl the prospect of fatherhood became more real.

10. Alan got married! Who would've thought? Really happy for him though so it's going on my list.

Avatar was Awesome

Just saw Avatar and I loved the movie. Sure it may have the plot of FernGully... but it was incredibly fun.

James Cameron was never a brilliant writer. What he is is a brilliant fucking director who uses cutting-edge technology to make mind blowing action movies. We've all seen Avatar before... we've just never seen it like this!

It's Pocahontas and Last of the Mochicans for sure... but it's also Star Wars, and Tarzan, and Braveheart, and Jurassic Park and Battle Tech, and Thundercats!

James Cameron doesn't just borrow from all these stories... he steals them and makes them his own. That's why I loved Avatar because it was all the movies I've ever loved rolled up in one big beautiful package.

Also the science in this sci-fi flick is top notch... Cameron really did his homework.

Bald Eagle in Pembroke Pines

Bald Eagle
Originally uploaded by alexthoth

After months of stalking the nest and bad timing, I finally got a pic of one of the Pembroke Pines Bald Eagles. This is the female and she's about to lay eggs any day now.

Rendezvous with Rama Would Make a Great TV Series

I'm currently reading Rendezvous with Rama and I'm struck with how modern the writing style feels. It's funny, most of the time when I read a good book I think of it as a movie or wonder how a film adaptation would look, but this... this feels like Lost. Probably because it's about regular people thrown into a completely alien environment and having to adjust to survive.

I know the Wikipedia article says David Fincher was attached to a Rama movie that may or may not be made and I'm sure it would be great, but I would love to see what someone like J.J. Abrams or Ron Moore or Joss Whedon would do with a Rama TV show, where they would have time to slowly build on the characters and the mysteries week after week. If the Syfy Channel ever decides to cancle it's joyless and uninteresting Stargate: Universe I hope they try to produce a Rama series.

Sophie's Baby Shower

Alex & Mai
Originally uploaded by alexthoth

We had Sophie's baby shower at Perricone's Market Place and Cafe this Saturday and it went without a hitch, great location, great food and fun games. It was really nice to celebrate Sophie's arrival with family.