Category Archives: Movies

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Reality TV IV Drip. STAT!

As I mentioned on The Book of Drivel, I did away with my Dish Network. Which doesn’t just mean I cancelled the dish and switched to something else. It means, I cancelled cable altogether. All I have now is DVD’s and Videos if I want to watch something.

So let’s first look at the process of getting rid of it and then we’ll discuss further the why and now what of the situation. I called Dish Network and told them I wanted to cancel my service when the month I had already paid for ended. They asked me assorted questions such as, “Why are canceling? Can we offer you a better package? If this is about money, can we give you a smaller package?” To which I responded with, “I want to save money, sure, but mostly I just don’t want TV anymore.” The woman on the phone didn’t seem to understand this concept.

    DW: “Well, I can offer you the smaller package which is only $29.95.”
    KT: “I don’t think you understand. I DON’T WANT TV. No matter what the cost. It’s rotting my brain.”
    After offering me a few more options to which I refused, she said,
    DN: “Well we can put a hold on your account so when you want to turn it back on, you won’t have to pay the install fee.”
    KT: “I won’t be turning it back on.”
    DN: “Well, see how it goes with it turned off and when you start to miss it, we’ll have this hold on it.”
    KT: “Yeah, you’re right. I might do something crazy like get stuff done, start reading, spend time with my friends and family. God that would be horrible.”
    DN: “I’ll put you through to the cancellation department.” Cue Hold Music.

Good. Done. That was a month ago. So Thursday was the big day. I have been really excited for this day to come. Dreaming about all the reading and blogging and socializing and cleaning I could get done if I just didn’t have TV. (Sidenote: a friend said, why don’t you just unplug it while you are waiting for it to go off. Whatever. I don’t have that kind of self-control and I want to get my money’s worth. Which subsequently sparked this marathon of TV watching on my part. Especially since I needed to get through all my TIVO’d stuff.)

So Thursday morning I get a phone call. Guess who. Dish Network.

    DN: “Is Mr. or Mrs. Toft there.”
    KT: “This is Ms. Toft.”
    DN: “This is Dish Network…I can offer you a smaller package…blah blah blah.”
    KT: “I don’t want any other package. Nothing.”
    DN: “May I ask which channels you watch when you do watch because some of the smaller packages have those channels.”
    KT: “It doesn’t matter. It’s an addiction. I have to quit cold turkey. You could give me one channel and I’ll watch it all night long.”
    DN: “Well, we do have our smallest package…”
    KT: “If I were an alcoholic would you offer me a drink?”
    DN: “Okay ma’am, I’ll put a note not to charge you if you decide to come back. Have a nice day.” Click.

Jesus Christ, people. Seriously. I told her it was an addiction and she kept pushing it. I was actually starting to get angry because I was thinking of America in general and the pressure she was putting on, a somewhat strong-minded, stick-to-my-guns kind of person. I do think TV is an addiction, just like porn or cutting yourself. Am I wrong?

So, here we are. My first weekend without TV. You wanna know what I’ve done this morning? I’ve been going through my DVD’s and finding all the Hidden Features. (Baby steps, people, baby steps). My good friend Dave taught me about Easter Eggs. You go to the Main Menu of a DVD and with a certain up or down or over of the arrow you can sometimes find extra treats. For example, on the move Saved! there is a hidden feature of Michael Stipe doing a interview where he offers a limited opportunity to get saved. Pretty cute.

So go check out the webpage linked above and it will tell you where there are Easter Eggs on your movies. How fun.

And so begins my life without Cable and perhaps more blogging.

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Broken laptop, Bad Movies, Help!

Wausau, WI

Wisconsin again. This is actually a beautiful state. Not much to say except that my laptop monitor crapped out on me so I can’t use my laptop. I borrowed my co-worker Steve’s tonight so I could do extensity, but every time I tried to work on my expense reports it would get stuck and mess things up because the connection is too slow. I’m going to have to plug into the library’s network tomorrow. Isn’t this the most exciting stuff you’ve ever read? I know, I know. Brenda is probably shaking her head at me. “Katie, this is so boring. You can do better.”

But I’m tired and I’m cranky from lack of working laptop. It really is an extension of me. Argh. That’s a bad sign. You can take my cell phone, my TV, my car, but leave me a computer with internet access and I can do anything.

“Sleeping with the Enemy” is on TV right now and I forgot how this movie brought the song “Brown Eye Girl” back into rotation. We all loved it. We also thought the movie was incredibly scary and whenever he would play that creepy music by Berlioz, oh man…the chills. But now I think it’s just an okay movie if not a little boring. Funny how time does that. Ruins movies. Hmmm….. I could ponder more on what happens to movies over time, but alas I’m still cranky and now I’m tired and Steve probably wants his laptop back. Damn.

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Spinning Matrix

Lincoln, Nebraska

I can’t believe how many amazingly supportive comments I got from all of you about my running. I think it might be enough to convince me to do it again. Except Aaron’s comments about running with a beer in one hand sounds kind of fun and challenging. I can see myself concentrating, “Come on Katie…don’t spill…don’t spill…don’t spill. Okay, now take a big swig! Way to go!”

With this much input you might all be wondering if I went running again last night or if my prophecy of sitting on my bed with a bag chips came true. The answer is neither. I ended up going for dinner and drinks with Steve and Todd. Drank way too much and then stumbled my way with them over to the new Matrix movie. Let me just say, don’t ever try and watch an action packed, fast paced, people flying everywhere kind of movie when you are sloshed. I had to go to the bathroom twice in fear of losing it and eventually I moved away from the boys into a row all my own so I could stretch out and stop the spinning. They looked at me sort of funny. I think they thought I was repulsed by them. 🙂 I was just getting a bit claustrophobic in the middle of all the people. 🙂

I’m such a ninny. But regardless of the fact I was close to losing my amazing dinner we had eaten earlier, I stilled really enjoyed The Matrix.

WARNING: SLIGHT OPINIONATED MATRIX SPOILER TO FOLLOW (very slight)

My only observation and I’m not sure how I felt about this was that the Matrix was focused more on sex and love this time. Which was both sexually frustrating when you end up having to go back to your hotel room alone, and exciting because well let’s face it, there are a lot of attractive bodies in The Matrix. I have more to say about the movie, but I’ll wait until more people have seen it.

That’s all for now.

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Back from Europe

I’M BACK!!!!

I just spent all night catching up on reading Johnny’s blog from when I left for Europe until now. I don’t know that I’ll get to Kris’ or Joey’s or Aaron’s or…oh my god…I have so much to read. But Johnny always gets my first read. He’s my blog idol.

Coming soon on my blog will be the boring details of Europe, complete with pictures.

But for now I wanted to say I watched “Far From Heaven” and loved it. It was so eerie and well done. And tonight I watched “Hot Chick” and I hate to admit that I liked it. But of course, I’m a sucker for a bad movie in a hotel room.

Alas, for now, I must get back to reading the blogs and watching my HGTV Thursday night line-up.

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Movie Lists

First off, check out my MOVIE LISTS on the left. Click the links and browse the crappy movies I’ve watched this year. Then feel free to make fun of me and trash my choices. Just know that I haven’t seen any other movies except what’s listed so I may be missing some amazing ones.

Where am I these days? Oregon. Baker City. Nestled in the hills. Kind of cute. I can just see me with my kids in the future as an old mom during a road trip through here, boring them with the tales of my life. Anywho.

Getting amped to go to London and Paris next week. It hasn’t totally sunk in. I’m still thinking of it as just another trip. But here and there I have moments where I remember this is not for work and I’ll have total free time. Very cool. Would love tips on what to do or see.

I’m wacthing the Osbournes right now. In the words of Erin Hawk, I heart The Osbournes. I just have a soft spot in my heart for Ozzy and Sharon. Kelly is throwing little temper tamptrums on this episode and all I can think is how much she is going to hate these episodes when she gets older. They showed an old documentary on the family from about 8 years ago. It was really cute. The kids were still sweet and Ozzy was a bit more coherent. But the patterns he had then are still true. I loved it. I’m pathetic.

Had a great dinner in the room with Brenda and Erin after The State of the Union. Here we are eager to eat:
Room Service...life's little pleasures

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Movies and Commercials

Those Sprint PCS commercials go back and forth from being funny to just plain annoying. The monkey with a cold was cute, I admit, but a bunch of us couldn’t figure out why the guy got all the weiner dogs. What did he really ask for? It sounds like he asked for Dachsunds, but what he really said was Oxen. I finally figured it out.

These are the things that keep me up at night.

To rival Johnny’s Oscar list, I have compiled a list of all the eligible movies that I have seen this year. In doing this I discovered that I have a seen a great deal of crap. Mostly thanks to the hotel in-room movies. So I might have to separate the list into categories. We’ll see. Watch for it to come.

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“Death to Smoochy”

Finished watching “Death to Smoochy” and I think I lost interest along the way. Not sure what kind of review to give it. I think they needed a little David Lynch touch to make it extremely outrageous. It had potential to be that sort of creepy, cryptic, weird sort of movie, but it was too pulled together in the end. Hmmm…I may have to give it more attention and watch it again, but maybe not.

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Commercials piss me off

Boise, Idaho is not so bad a place. That’s where I am now, but I’m not supposed to be. Long story, but what a crazy day. Heading back to Baker City, Oregon on Sunday just in time to see the Superbowl with Brenda and Erin from work. For now though, I’m just looking forward to breakfast at this great little place in downtown Boise called Goldy’s. It’s the kind of place where you want to sit at the counter and chat with the wait staff while you eat grits and sweet potato hashbrowns. Mmmm…. Even that will top the amazing BBQ we had at Goodwood the other night. God I love food.

In the spirit of Johnny Peel, I have some random thoughts I figured I’d just throw in here.

While here I’ve noticed a new commercial on TV that is driving me crazy. Aladdin Bail Bonds. They try to make it look all classy and caring. A presentable wife getting a phone call from her husband in jail, she goes to Aladdin Bail Bonds in the middle of the night, where she is greeted by a beautiful business woman who tells her, “take a deep breath, we’re here to help you.” And the silly woman does take a deep breath, on cue. Now I don’t know about the rest of you, but I watch TLC fairly religiously and I’ve seen the special about the guys who chase down people who owe on bail bonds and that whole world is anything but businesslike and classy. Who are they fooling? This is now right up there with my other favorite “bad” commercial back in college where the girl opens her freezer and the narrator says “Are you having financial problems?” I never understood why they directed it that way. It’s not like her freezer was empty and she was poor. It was an average freezer with and average amount of food. But after that commercial, my roommate and I used to say that quote every time we opened the freezer at home. Was that my old roommate Joey or was that Dawnelle? I can never remember anymore. I know Joey was the one who ate baby food and Dawnelle ate Bologna, but the rest is a blur. Oh god, that Bologna.

I’m in the middle of watching “Death to Smoochy” and so far I feel it’s been overlooked. I’m a huge Edward Norton fan, I think Catherine Keener is deadly, and Robin Williams has all my respect, so why didn’t I think to watch this sooner. We’ll see if I still like it when I finish watching it. There is a point where Edward Norton compares Captain Kangaroo to Jesus Christ which of course reminds me of my early childhood obsession with the man. Not Jesus, but the Captain. I wore that record out.

Speaking of Edward Norton, I watched “25th Hour” and really dug most of it. But he didn’t wear any eyeliner in that one. Just in “Death to Smoochy,” so if you’re looking for some fun crazy Norton, go with Smoochy. If you looking for serious, hardcore, sexy Norton, go with “25th Hour.”

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Amateur Director

Whew! What a week. The video went extremely well considering how frustrated I was with it and how much I wanted to keep fixing it. At about 5:30am I finally just curled up in Kris’ bed and surrendered to the video as is (Kris was on the couch, zonked out by 11pm due to a hard day of travel that started at 3am). I must say, Kris has one of the most comfortable beds around, and I’m pretty in love with my own bed, so that says a lot. Still, his bed was not comfortable enough to make my few hours of sleep feel like more. Therefore, I ran on adrenaline for the presentation (during which Kris had to troubleshoot technical difficulties with four laptops and the projector, thank god for him) and got through it fairly well. But now, as we all remember from college, the day after is always harder. Hits you like a brick and you start to see tracers every time something moves in front of you. Who needs drugs? Sleep deprivation is cheaper.

My reward for all my hard work is this very Blog Kris designed for me. Since I wouldn’t let him touch the video and only used him for consulting on my ideas, he kept himself busy with this. You should have seen some of the cool designs he tried out. The night went sort of like this: “Hey Kris, come tell me if you think I should edit this part of the video…” “Hey Katie, come look at this template I’ve created for your blog…” “Hey Kris, do you think this song sounds okay for the video?” “Hey Katie, I’ve completely changed your template now, check this out!” “Hey Kris, I’m going to blow my brains out if I can’t get this to sync up…” “Hey Katie, let me tell you all the wonders of PHP, it’s way cool…” “Hey Kris, everything you are saying to me right now is coming out ‘blah blah blah’ so let’s focus on me, me, me and my video…okay?”

Well, something like that anyway. What a guy. The blow my brains out part comes to you care of Gary, who managed to work that phrase into my repertoire.

But what I’ve realized through the 30 odd hours of editing, is that I truly enjoy the whole process and regret that I ever strayed from the hobby. I remember in college I tried to get a job right away in the video productions department (not sure what they were really called, but that’s the side of it I wanted to work in) and the guy said he would love to have me since I had editing experience from high school, but due to the fact I was NOT on work-study, he couldn’t hire me. So we all know what job that sent me to. A sweet little local video store. And now look where I am. Well, okay. I guess the video store didn’t have any effect on my life in a negative way, but just think what path I may have followed, had I only been given the opportunity to fuel my interests and build some skills. Hell, I could be a female David Lynch by now. Or at least doing wedding videos on the side (ick.)

So this is my first real blog and I hope it was interesting for you. I’m off to pick up my friend and former co-worker Aaron Smith at the airport. He’s flying in from Maine because he desperately missed Seattle, as well he should. And as odds would have it, my sister Maddy is flying in on the same connection flight through Atlanta, so I get to do two favors in one easy shot. I love it.