I'm In Like With Edward Cullen

Sunday I went to dinner at my in-laws'. Beeps' sister Leigh was in from Las Vegas and she asked if I had been reading the Stephenie Meyer Twilight series. As you may have read in my profile, JDizzle doesn't read. I takes too long and in most cases I get 100 or so pages in and put it down never to pick it up again. But I value Leigh's opinion and thought I'd pick up the first novel and see if I liked it. Even tho Leigh warned me that each novel was around 500 pages. "Crap. Even worse." I thought. "But what the hey, she said it was an easy read and the pages would fly by."

Well that was Sunday and today I have about 100 pages left in the first novel. I'm addicted to say the least!!!!

I know I'm probably late on the scene here. Apparently there's a HUGE Twilight following, Stephenie Meyer has reached JK Rowling-like status, and I'm just getting on the bus.

If you are also new on the scene, here's the scoop (and I'll try not to spoil anything):

Imagine you are a high school junior who leaves her Mother back in Arizona to go live with your father, a cop, in the dreary Pacific Northwest.

Now imagine you start your first day of school and everyone is new and mysterious, especially a group of kids who tend to be loners but who are stunningly angelic in their beauty.

Now imagine that the most beautiful of them, a boy named Edward Cullen, becomes strangely infatuated with you. His skin is a translucent marble, his eyes change color from deep onyx to gold, his hair is a disheveled golden-brown, and his gaze is penetrating.

You are also drawn to him; but you don't know why. You befriend him but he hides a dark secret and is battling with his own internal desires that could either bring you closer together or tear you apart.

Now imagine he looks like this:





I'm in total LIKE!

It's like Dawson's Creek meets The Dark Knight. And it's fabulous!

The first novel Twilight is being made into a motion picture that comes out in December and I guarantee that I will be one of the first in line. Here's a teaser trailer. Enjoy.

I'm in Like with Jayson Werth

Inside the park home run. Nuff said.

I'm in Like with Daniel Day-Lewis

On Sunday Beeps and I went to see "There Will Be Blood" starring Mr. Daniel Day-Lewis. I was never a big fan of his work. I thought he was probably a pretty good actor. He often looks crazy and disheveled at award shows and in public. I saw bits and pieces of "Gangs of NY" and his roll was kinda cheesy. I never saw "Last of the Mohicans" but I heard that it was good. Beeps likes him in "The Crucible." But that's all I know. However, after seeing his performance in "There Will Be Blood" I'm not sure I will ever see a finer actor.

If you don't know the story, it takes place in the southwest at the turn of the century. Day-Lewis plays oil tycoon Daniel Plainview, who is slowly taken over by greed and mental illness. There is also a parallel story about a young evangelist preacher and his own greedy path to righteousness. But the preacher story almost doesn't matter based on Day-Lewis' performance. This movie truly was a character study on Plainview and there may as well have been no other characters in the film. Plainview had probably 95% of the lines in the film and he delivered them with such realism and precision. And in the moments where he did not speak (There were no words spoken in probably the first 20 minutes of the film) you could read his body language like he was screaming it from a rooftop.

At moments in the story you care so deeply for Day-Lewis' character while knowing full well that you are unaware of his true intentions. You finally get your answers at the very end when everything is revealed in a fire storm of rage, drool, and blood.

Drool you ask? Yes, this is what actually convinced me that Day-Lewis is the finest actor EVER. Did you hear me? EVER! Once you see it you will know what I mean. I am 100% sure that he will win this year's Oscar based on his performance in this film.

Be sure to catch it before the Academy Awards show (assuming there is one). And you can thank me later.

I'm in Like with Bruce Lee

The other day I was home alone and therefor had complete control over what I wanted to watch on TV. Unfortunately for me there was nothing on. So I spent many minutes just surfing the channels and watching a few seconds of this or that. Until I came upon the Movie "Enter the Dragon" staring Mr. Bruce Lee.
It was on the IFC Channel so there were no commercials and it was uncut.

I never really liked Kung Fu movies even though growing up that was the only thing on Sunday afternoons. And I never watched a Bruce Lee movie, so I thought "what the hey, I'll check it out."

I have to say that I loved this movie.

It was nothing like I expected. It was chocked full of 70s campiness: Afros, polyester, drug use, and bad acting. If you haven't seen it, it's about a martial arts expert (Lee) who is recruited to infiltrate a drug operation under the guise of taking part in an invitational martial arts competition sponsored by Han, the one handed crime boss. And when I say one handed, I mean it, the guy literally has different claw hands that he takes off and on. Anyway, this movie is like a cross between "Dr. No", "Mortal Kombat" (the movie, not the game), and "Shaft". It's good fun, lots of fighting, espionage, and jive talkin'.

Anyway, I recommend it. Plus Bruce Lee is H-O-T hot! There's something about Bruce Lee that I like. I think it's the fact that he's in great shape, knows not to take himself too seriously, and can kick your ass in a millisecond. The guy is just fun to watch. During the movie he makes these mime-like facial expressions that are just hilarious. He's kinda like a vaudevillian ninja.

Apparently the Chinese are massive fans of Lee and "Enter the Dragon" was the only film he made in the US that really turned Americans on to his talents. Unfortunately he died just before its release.

What's funny is that up until about 10 minutes ago, I always had these misconceptions about Bruce Lee. About who he was an how he died. So I'll share some facts that I found interesting.

JDizzle's Fact: Bruce Lee was born in China.
Truth: Bruce Lee was born in Jackson Street Hospital in San Francisco, CA.

JDizzle's Fact: Bruce Lee didn't speak English, thus his movies were dubbed and JDizzle doesn't like dubbed movies.
Truth: Bruce Lee was born here and thus speaks perfect English dumb ass, as well as Cantonese.

JDizzle's Fact: Bruce Lee died of a gun shot wound in a street fight.
Truth: Bruce Lee died of an accidental pain pill overdose under suspicious circumstances. A friend gave him one prescription pain pill for a headache, he went to bed, and never woke up. He died in Hong Kong of an apparent cerebral edema (swelling of the brain). After much confusion and debate, doctors declared the death of Bruce Lee as "death by misadventure."

"Death by misadventure" sounds like something that would apply to the demise of the Scooby Doo gang.

So there you go. Now go out spread the word and rent this movie.

I'm "In Like" with Jayson Werth

I'm not a big Phillies Phan. Beeps is. He hearts them big time. Every once in a while I'll humor Beeps and sit through a game on TV. But I prefer seeing the games in person. There's something about being at the stadium that I like. And I'm pretty sure it's the ice cold beer, dollar hot dogs, and pretty colors. Oh yeah, and the game is fun too.

But baseball is a slow game. When nothing happens for innings on end, I get really, really bored. But when something DOES happen, it can be very fun to watch. Anyway, last night was one of those times. Marc and Krista stopped over to watch the game. An important one for the Phillies. They're battling the Mets for a wild card spot in the playoffs. The Phillies were consistent in their hitting and beat the Mets 9 to 2. Even Chase Utley, who just returned from having a broken hand, smashed a home run in the fifth inning to cheers of "M-V-P" from the crowd.

But the star last night, in my opinion, was Jayson Werth. He was on the disabled list all of last year and hasn't been doing that great this year either. But as of today, he has 9 consecutive hits in a row, reaching base in all five of his plate appearances last night. With hits in nine straight at-bats, Werth is one away from tying the NL mark -- held by 10 players -- and three away from tying the Major League mark of 12, held by Detroit's Walt Dropo and Boston's Pinky Higgins.

Apparently this hasn't been done in the Phillies organization since like 1954 or something. Pretty impressive. I was on the edge of my seat at his every at bat, hoping he could keep the streak going. And he did. Good for him. I expect to see good things from him for the remainder of the season and in 2008. Plus he is H-O-T hot! This picture doesn't do him justice. You'll have to tune in to see what I mean. Move over Pent House Pat, there's a new hottie in town.

LEARNING! ZZzzZZZzZZZ