Cowboys Suck; Life Goes On

At least we lost in the last game in the season instead of the first game of the playoffs. I don't know, but I prefer that. And I prefer a blowout than a nailbiter, I was able to enjoy my afternoon of entertaining friends without being obsessive of the television.

I have Guitar Hero on PC. Yay, me!

Dear CEO of Chrysler: Resign Already!

Found this on blogmaverick. Chrysler took a full page add out in the Wall Street Journal thanking America. That add cost $100K. That's at least 2 jobs at Chrysler. Jobs lost. Come on!

Slumdog Millionaire

I love this movie. My favorite was the Bollywood style dancing at the end. I just found this gif:

Merry Christmas Everyone! Glad to Report only One Near Miss and One Safety Incident During the Days!

I had a great Christmas. I schooled my nephew in Guitar Hero, had a great steak meal that actually caught on fire it was so good, and spent good time with family. The photos are the little I could do to payback: Rudy's Barbeque for day after Christmas lunch.

Seriously we had what we call a "safety near miss" with the steaks that literally caught fire along with the grill, but no harm done and they were perfectly crisp on the outside and medium on the inside. Maybe they should invest in a fire extinguisher just in case...

And another family member had an actual safety incident, she was mauled by a world class bred long hair dachshund and had to get 14 stitches in her hand. And a splint that will take some time to heal. They say ER visits spike during the holidays....now we know why. Here is a sketch of the culprit:


Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to everyone! Love you! (Send me pictures, mauled hand, I want to post! And no pics of the fired due to the, you know, action of rescuing the steaks and making sure the porch wouldn't burn down)

Arrested Development Movie: Come On!

Arrested Development movie talks are still happening....Merry Christmas!

Track Santa!

Google and NORAD have teamed up to track Santa! Click here for more!

Close to End

Tomorrow is my last day of work for the year! Yippee! I promised you some year end lists and I will do a couple with this post. You will see more posts after the holiday.

Doom and Gloom portended for next year. Do you think we can see riots in the U.S? Do you think the "depression" will be as bad as 1930? Have you bailed from the stock market yet?

Spin best songs / videos / albums of 2008. They cheated because they had M.I.A. Paper Planes as number 1, and everyone knows it came out in 2007. Come On!

EW Best of everything, including Best Cast How I Met your Mother!. I heard they may shut down their magazine and only be online...one less magazine for me. I already dropped SI, why when everything is online everywhere the week before the issue comes out?

There will be more.....

Helen's Movie Reviews

i have been lucky to see a lot of movies this holiday season. Well, not lucky, but I found a website that plays movies still in the theaters. Wow, really? Yes. Really.

First, seen in theaters:

Slumdog Millionaire: Awesome, feel good movie of year. Like Billy Elliot, this just makes you smile. See it see it see it!

Milk: I went reluctantly, I am not a fan of biopics, like Ray, or whatever other name movie is made to showcase the actor. This movie is great. I caught myself crying like 3 times before the movie even ended. Fantastic. Yes, guys kiss, get over it. In 1978 a city councilman shot dead Harvey Milk and the San Francisco Mayor. He got 5 years manslaughter, the infamous "twinkie defense". Wow. go see it now.

Rachel Getting Married: A showpiece for the actress Anne Hathoway. No other reason to see it. Don't go. Uncomfortable. Like watching a home movie of people you don't know or care about. boo.

Movies I have seen via magic:

Frost/Nixon: Great. worth seeing.

7 Pounds: Worst movie ever made. And I am not the only one who says so.

That's two different links there to click if you don't trust me.

Gran Torino: Fun flick. Eastwood may win the pity Oscar for this one. But Sean Penn deserves it.

Hoping to see Benjamin Button soon. It looks great.

PS, Cowboys and Texans suck.

Can I come to Austin for Christmas day? I'll bring a roast or something. I wanna play more Guitar Hero.

ETA: If the Cowboys beat Philly next week they are in the playoffs. Wow.

Beyonce: Single Ladies

I am enthralled with this song and video. So is EW, who just named it one of the great performances of the year. I had no idea it was based on the following video, known as "Walk it out Fosse":



And the AMA performance:



hot!

Helen's Been Posting for a Year! Coinstar Post

Or almost. Not bad.

Have I told you about Coinstar? You know, that machine in the grocery stores that take 8.9 cents per dollar for every coin you put in (Also called 8.9%, aka price gouging, and it takes dollar bills! Give it a dollar and it will give you 89 cents back!).

Anyway, it also has ecertificates at selective stores. When you pick this option you get 100% of your money back in a code / giftcard you can spend. That is turning your change into real, tangible money on something you would buy anyway (Starbucks, JCPenney, Lowe's, Amazon).

So tonight I drove to the Foodarama with a sock full of change, I was hoping for around $30. I got $47 - it is always more than you think especially with not many pennies. So I bought what I was going to buy from Amazon, with change to spare for a gift next year!

Bad Brakewater

I am sorry I haven't posted in a while. I went to LA for a quick 4 day weekend and am burning off the rest of the work days until Christmas, then I have the week off. I have been furiously catching up on my favorite time of year, the Best Of lists.

EW comes out next week. Pitchfork and Saidthegramaphone ( and here) already has their song/album choices up. And really, I don't know that many (I discovered Pitchfork when they had Since You Been Gone in the top 10, now I don't recognize any in the top 10). I am sticking with the posts throughout the year of my best songs. I have a couple that I will add, they are growing on me:

Keep Yourself Warm - Frightened Rabbit

I saw these guys on Letterman and they all played drums but one guy on guitar. Catchy chorus

Skinny Love - Bon Iver

I can't remember if I posted this:

Stay Away - The Honorary Title

I will link the best of's this weekend.......GM and Ford are shutting down for a month. Good for them!

Ribbet: Frog Post of The Night

My Mom decided I collect frogs.

New Cat Toy

Thanks Grandma and Grandpa - Xena

It took some coaxing but she is into it. It will be great for her when I'm gone. I just have to remember not to leave it in my bedroom when I'm sleeping - she will keep me up all night!

Seriously she is stepping in all the holes and chasing the balls! I threw a ponytail holder inthere because that's her favorite, and that's what got her going!

It's Snowing in Houston

Wheee! Seriously, 76 degrees yesterday and 35 today on the drive home and snowing???? I should have taken pictures before dark, but the snow won't stick until dark! It's not going to stick anywhere but the table and stuff, no worries about driving.

I'm going on vacation tomorrow for a few days to my usual hotspot, LA. Will hit Burbank, Santa Monica, Hollywood, and who knows where else. I hope to see a few movies that aren't open here yet.

Funny or Die: Prop 8 the Musical

See more Jack Black videos at Funny or Die

You can be on whatever side you want for Prop 8, but this is a pretty funny video featuring lots of famous faces from Funny or Die website. And with a touch of Neal Patrick Harris at the end.....(safe for work)