Somewhere Over The Rainbow

This has been kind of a weird day. I feel like I didn't do much but wound up accomplishing quite a bit. And I'm still not sleepy yet, so I'll see the day through to the end.

Wrote a couple of drabbles for open_on_sunday. Did the dishes, called the folks, watched a few minutes of the Dallas-Washington game. Listened to tonight's Hawks game, applied for a temporary forebearance on my student loans, took a walk (and a trip to 7-11), journaled for an hour, called one of my former co-workers, organized my Word files, continued editing my G/X Octoberfest stories, and here I am. Weird.

( hockey stuff )

Tomorrow, back to the routine. Job hunt. Grocery shopping for the week. Bit of writing, then off to dance class. I may try to get out while I still have a couple days left on the bus pass. I'm going to try to go without for October and just pay as I go - see if I save any money that way. Everything is manageable.

ETA - I'm thrilled that Milwaukee made the playoffs. Now we just need to get rid of Boston in the first round. BTW, I remember when Milwaukee was last in the playoffs (1982) because the Cardinals won the World Series against them. Good times.

Bears - I'm a little disappointed in you. Thankfully, I didn't have to watch any of it.

Rams - Well, you scored a TD. Nice job. And the way the deficit between you and your opponets is decreasing, I fully expect a win by game seven.

Cubs - So far not bad, but talk to me when you're up by 5 runs in the 9th inning with 2 outs (& 2 strikes) on your opponent in the playoffs (any and all rounds). Then I'll have hope.

The hated Red Wings - Pavel Datsyuk, you fascinate me and that's really unnerving.

My beloved Blackhawks - Sad to see Lang go, but it was probably a necessary move. Try not to do anything too drastic.

FIVE DAYS 'TIL TRAINING CAMP!!!

The Chicago Cubs are currently the best team in baseball.

The best team.

In baseball.

I realize it's June 1, but I just wanted to say that out loud.

That is all.

Saw "Juno" today. It was quite enjoyable. J.K. Simmons did wonderful work (as usual) in the role of Juno's father.

The last movie I saw (that I didn't mention yet) was "I'm Not There" - Todd Haynes' Bob Dylan film. It was as strange as can be imagined when six different actors are playing seven different aspects of the singer's personality and phases of his life. It was very well done though.

Have a fairly busy weekend ahead - I need to go get my hair chopped off tomorrow (it's starting to look a little too shaggy for my liking) and then out to do a bit more Christmas shopping. I also have to find time to finish up my Oz Magi story (it's going well, but there's still more to write - and I may wind up editing a bit when all is said and done, but it's all got to be finished and e-mailed before I leave on Friday morning.) I've also decided to write a little Christmas story for my firefly fandom, so that needs to be done as well. And I may sneak out to see another movie along the way - I really want to find a theater that's showing "Starting Out in the Evening". I love Frank Langella. Either that or "The Savages". I have a feeling that my sister is going to drag me to "Atonement" (okay, I told her she could drag me to "Atonement") and that'll be the second McAvoy movie we've seen this year ("Becoming Jane" was the first - YAWN!) But "Sweeney Todd" may be on the agenda and my dad's probably wanting to go see "Charlie Wilson's War".

I really haven't analyzed the Golden Globe announcements too much. I was a little disappointed that "Life" didn't get a nom (and even more so that the Writers' Guild of America didn't nominate it for Best New Series, Best Drama, or anything in an Episodic Drama category). I also thought that Ben Foster and 3:10 to Yuma should have been noticed more, but Westerns are pretty much American stories, and not necessarily going to be paid much attention to on the international stage. I will say that both Holly Hunter and Glenn Close being nominated in the same category (Lead Actress in a TV Series - Drama) makes me hope for a tie. And yay! for those couple of nominations that "Eastern Promises" received - it probably won't win, but that's one movie that I wish I'd seen a second time in the theaters.

My Hawks hit a bit of a downslide, but managed to right themselves, and hopefully now will start to move up to their rightful (2nd) place in the standings again (They're currently in 4th - I don't like to think about it).

I could talk some about the Mitchell report, but who's really going to be shocked to learn that a man over 40, who can consistently throw pitches up to 90mph, is on steroids. That's a news flash. I think with all the shock over Clemens, everybody seems to have forgotten about Bonds. I have a feeling that eventually the fit's going to hit the shan in the football world as well, and it ain't going to be pretty.

I really can't believe that in a week, I'll be back in St. Louis again. I'm looking forward to it.

Yes, the Cubs lost. Were eliminated. 99 years without a World Series win. Let's move on, shall we? I'll root for the Yanks and if they go, then I'm out for the rest of the post-season. I really have no interest in any of those teams (including, should they actually stave of elimination, the Anaheim Angels - I don't buy into the other name)

On the positive side, I saw my first hockey game of the season. It was very nice. Kings played well for about a period (not enough to win) and the Blues managed to dominate play the rest of the time. The only thing was that I really couldn't be hyper-critical of the Kings play because I didn't mind so much when the Blues got the puck. (This will all change next week Sunday against Detroit, when the Kings had better increase their level of play, or else I will be quite unhappy with them.)

Speaking of the Wings (hee!), apparently, and this is only according to the scoreboard, they seemed to dominate the Hawks in two periods of hockey.

It was not enough

When I settled into my seat at the Staples Center, the first thing I did was check the out-of-town scoreboard. 2nd period, Hawks down 3-1. The next time I checked, it was with 11 or so minutes to go in the 3rd. Hawks down 3-2. So I'm begging them (because I'm on a wavelength that can carry all the way from L.A. to Chicago) to score one or two more goals and keep Detroit from scoring. Chicago tied it up got all the way to the shootout (and little 18-year-old Patrick Kane sealed the deal). 4-3 Hawks. Good points - they did it without the services of Martin Havlat (shoulder problems), they won on home ice (home ice has not been an advantage for my Hawks in recent years) and they came from behind to beat Detroit (they had a 1-7 record against the Wings last year). All in all, I'm very pleased. (They still could get a few more shots on goal though, but as long as they top 25 a night, I won't complain too loudly).

I'm really trying not to pay too much attention to the Cubs score. It makes me sad. There was an excellent article on ESPN.com's Page 2 that explained the benefits of the Cubs not winning the World Series. It made a lot of sense. But still... I'm a horribly selfish person and want my team to win NOW.

Hawks started tonight. I forgot how exciting it was when they were actually broadcasting "real" games - the exhibition broadcasts were comparably subdued. (Brief aside, the Coyotes just scored against the Blues). The game ended in a 1-0 loss, but there were a lot of good things - Nik played very well in goal, the team got over 25 shots and had a lot of good scoring chances, stupid penalties seemed to have been kept to a minimum. One scary thing - Havlat may be hurt again. That would suck. And Toews still isn't back yet.

Wednesday night television just got better. I managed to catch an early 30 seconds of "Pushing Daisies" that turned into a full 45 minutes of watching the remainder of the show. I think I've developed a bit of affection for voice-over narration. "Bionic Woman" was okay, but there was too much Jaime and I kept expecting Will to be shown in his secret hiding place during some point of the episode.

Yes, I do know that Jaime Sommers is the heroine of the show, but Sarah Corvus *points to icon* is my girl. Next week promises to have more Sarah, so I'm happy.

And I am still crazy about "Life". Can anybody tell me if the gal who played Olivia is the same gal who played Saffron on "Firefly"? I kept having a feeling that she was going to hurt Ted, but my television gets somewhat imperfect reception on NBC, so I wasn't sure it was the same actress.

Cubs update - still 4-2. Yuck.

"Michael Clayton" opens tomorrow. Not sure if I'll see that or if I'll see "Eastern Promises" again. Or if I'll stay home and work on some fanfic.

I'd love to read a bit of McManus/Murphy Oz!fic. That would make me really happy. Been in a bit of a funk lately (most of it work-related). The three-day-weekend and the bosses' vacation ought to help ease that a bit (I hope).

The Cubs have made the playoffs. They sort of backed in because it happened with a Milwaukee loss, but whatever works.

I am a little skeptical about their chances, but last year a National League Central Division team got in and won the Series (You didn't read that, really you didn't, because I'd be foolish to say anything that could possibly jinx it at this point, right?)

Hockey season starts tomorrow. Actually it starts in less than twelve hours. It'll be weird listening to a game at 9AM. And that's just the Kings & Ducks - everybody else will still be in the midst of pre-season games.

I have an idea for a "Bionic Woman" fic that I want to write. It's just devoting the time to work on it (and the other five or six ideas that are floating around my brain). So this might just turn out to be a fanfic weekend. Postings forthcoming - you have been warned.

This weekend has felt fairly non-existent. I had to go into work yesterday (got called for jury duty tomorrow, so I needed to make the time up - it's not like anyone's going to be doing my work when I'm gone). I'd initially planned on staying 4 hours, but wound up staying 9. Then I went over to the ArcLight with every intention of seeing "Eastern Promises" but the showing I wanted to see was sold out - I didn't want to go later, because walking around Hollywood late at night after seeing the Russian mob pic would be a little unnerving. I did manage to pick up a copy of "Searching for Debra Winger" at the DVD store. I've been looking for it for a while.

Who is this Fox gal doing the Emmy pre-show? She's wearing one of the ugliest dresses I've ever seen. I got a bit of a giggle when the other interviewer asked Ellen & Portia what was the last thing they did before they left home. My mind went to the place that would have been censored by the time it got to the L.A. rebroadcast. I'm tempted to peek and see what's won already.

I wrapped up the script last night. I'll sit and gel until I'm done with the next one, then I may revisit it. I don't hold a lot of illusions about it. It's okay, more of a way to get my feet wet than anything.

Quite a few things to get done before tomorrow. Ah, the great fun of sitting in a room all day. I hope to make some headway on the fanfic projects I've been working on.

I don't remember when it was hot today. Why are all these people complaining about it being hot out on the red carpet? I'm not really rooting for anything - it's more interesting to sit back and critique the fashions and the speeches.

The Cardinals are officially out of the running for the playoffs. Which means I'll be rooting for the Cubs. I love the Cubs, don't get me wrong, but I'm not sure I'm ready for them to be in the playoffs again. The last time just about did me in. I was in the airport in Las Vegas watching the game on the television and saw Moises Alou go to catch the foul ball and then the whole thing just imploded from there. And all that kept going through my brain was that they were five outs away from going to the Series. Beyond sad.

Who was the genius that did the Hawks pre-season schedule? During the regular season, teams only play 2 games in a row, then get a break, but the Hawks are playing Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. It's insane.

I am sitting in my apartment listening to the first pre-season game for the Kings. My Blackhawks just started training camp today. I'm really excited about the upcoming season. Still haven't gotten my tickets yet - I'll give them one more week before I start to panic.

It's nice to be able to listen to a game. In Chicago (the only drawback), they would never broadcast the pre-season until the last two games (if that). Of course you could go see a game (back in the day - I feel so old for less than $10) so it didn't matter. The Kings were selling pre-season tix at regular season prices (there is something very wrong with that). Interesting too that a lot of the regular guys are playing tonight (I expected more prospects).

Tonight, I need to write 3 script pages. I'm in the home stretch now, so close to the end, but there's a few more scenes that have to be written. This was a nice exercise and I've managed to keep my commitments to page count throughout. I'm actually looking forward to jumping into my next project (not a new project, but something that I'm attacking from a new angle). It's so nice to have that sense of possibility once again.

Note to the St. Louis Cardinals - September is not the best time of year to have a 7-game losing streak. I've got another Cards-Cubs weekend coming up. I hate being so divided in my loyalties. Maybe I should just root against Milwaukee and let the other two just wind up where they wind up.