Grinding Out Sausages

The Academy Awards are next Sunday. And like the past 15 years, I'll be watching them on TV. I've come close to attending twice before, but that's another story. For now, I'll continue to offer my thoughts from the peanut gallery:

2005 was a decent year for movies. I don't think any of this year's films will become classics, but on the other hand, there were a lot of very good movies. And all of this year's nominations are better than some past winners like The English Patient or American Beauty.

If I were voting, my order for Best Picture would be:
Munich
Good Night and Good Luck
Crash
Capote
Brokeback Mountain

I think the only film that doesn't belong in the list is Brokeback Mountain. I believe it was only nominated because that is the politically correct vote. I'd be thrilled if a gay-themed film really was the best picture of the year, but Brokeback is a small movie with solid performances that is actually a bit dull. A very good movie, just not one of the five best of the year.

Here are the films I wish had been nominated instead:
Walk the Line
Match Point
The Constant Gardener
A History of Violence
RENT
Syriana
In My Country

Below this tier, these were my favorite films of the year:
Memoirs of a Geisha
The Merchant of Venice
Me, You, and Everyone We Know
The 40 Year Old Virgin
Wedding Crashers
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
Oliver Twist
North Country
In Her Shoes
Bee Season
The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohia
March of the Penguins
Hustle & Flow
Chronicles of Narnia
Harry Potter 4
Kingdom of Heaven
Wallace & Gromit
Mr. & Mrs. Smith
Elizabethtown
Batman Begins
Charlie & the Chocolate Factory
Red Eye
Flightplan

And to be complete and fun, these were the films where I really wanted my time and money back:
Domino
Star Wars 3
King Kong
Lord of War
The Island
Pretty Pursuasion
Hitch
Be Cool
Hitchhikers' Guide to the Galaxy
Layer Cake
Zathura
Aeon Flux
The New World
War of the Worlds
The Bad News Bears
Fantastic 4
Waiting

Posted by Mark at 7:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

We finally did it. Last night, Scott, Aleem and I held our first game night. In the future, it'd be great to have twice as many people, but even with only three, a few hours of board games is a great way to spend an evening.

I've always loved how social board games are, but like many Americans, the best I've done in recent years has been the annual marathon game of Trivial Pursuit with my relatives on Thanksgiving or Christmas. While visiting New York last Halloween, however, I discovered that my friends Wylie and Molly host a weekly night of board games for three or four couples, which seemed like an inspired idea.

Last night we played Clue (which is a bit too easy for adult gamers) and a new Book Lovers' Edition of Trivial Pursuit, which was ridiculously hard and fun. I'm looking forward to playing Scrabble, Taboo, and Turbo Cranium at upcoming game nights, and if anyone has any recommendations I'd love to try them as well.

I think board games reveal a basic truth about people. We love nothing more than to chat and hangout, and if possible, maybe show-off a little. I think this is especially true as people get older. It's why people play golf or go lawn bowling - the structured excuse to walk around and chat.

When I was in my early 20s, I was drawn to exotic (and expensive) activities, like flying airplanes, skydiving, scuba diving, and skiing. All of those things are exciting and worth doing once in a while, but I used to do them every weekend. (Fortunately, I had a much higher income in those days.)

Perhaps I've mellowed or become more pedestrian, but now I'm just as excited about spending an afternoon sailing or doing yoga, or even better, having dinner and playing games with friends. Then again, maybe I'm just much poorer.

Posted by Mark at 1:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

I always say that I'll try anything once.

This is not strictly true since there are whole areas of activity that I have no interest in ever exploring, but I do like to dabble in new hobbies.

Like blogging. Last summer, I announced that I would try blogging "at least for the few weeks that my attention span will probably hold out."

The problem is there is no reason for me to blog, or for anyone to read this. I don't have a particular cultural rant or political spin or even a specific project to journal about. Nor do I have a huge network of friends and family that would have no idea what was going on in my life or what movies I liked without an online update. So I make no promise to post anything unless I find myself with too much free time. (After all, it does says occasional musings up at the top.)

As it happens, I happen to have some free time again. And so I've been chalking up new hobbies as quickly as my bank account will allow.

This week I added both beermaking and winemaking to my repertoire. I like wine and I like making things, so it seemed like a fun thing to try. (Then again, I like food too, yet I don't feel particularly inclined to cook. Go figure.)

Anyway, Tabitha bought me some books on winemaking for Christmas, and thanks to The Home Wine, Beer and Cheesemaking Shop, I now have six gallons of White Zinfandel fermenting as well as a gallon of spiced apple wine.

The problem is that wine takes six months to a year before it is ready to drink, often even longer. So while waiting, I decided to try making beer. I didn't bother reading any beer books--just bought some large pots and a recipe for five gallons of a London style ale. Beer is a little more initial work, requiring an afternoon of boiling various ingredients, but it's ready to drink in a month or two, which I'm looking forward to.

I have no idea whether these new hobbies will become something I stick with for years (like yoga) or just a few weeks (e.g. racquetball) or maybe something I pick back up every once in a while (such as tennis or blogging).

For now, the fermenting beer and wine smell great, and I'm hoping the bottles will make nifty little gifts.

In the meantime, I need to find a few more hobbies to try.

Posted by Mark at 1:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)