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Lots of stuff going on over here. So I’ll start with last week, Friday. Karen and I arranged for my moms to come down from Vegas and do a little Jaden watching while we were able to get some stuff done and do a little us time. Anyway, I picked her up a LAX and everything went okay except for the two cops who asked what I was doing parked out front of the terminal. I must fit the profile for terrorist or something. White Guy in a green Toyota waiting in front of the airport for less than 3 minutes with engine idling. Man, do I wish I had a copy of “My Pet Goat” (some might find humor in that statement). Anyway, props to the cops for doing their jobs and making sure I was in arrivals and not departures. Needless to say, Moms and I got home safely.

Saturday was spent mostly getting last minute things done for the 8-5 for its new owner. You know smog check, paperwork, etc. and then it was getting ready for works 30th anniversary party at the St. Regis Hotel in Century City. What a ritzy joint! I got all decked out in my new, very 70s looking, Ben Sherman shirt and groovy silvery green tie and Karen was all dressed up in her new dress and pink shall. They rented the Grand Ballroom and it was huge. There was a ton of gambling tables set up, open bar and live band. I have never worked for a company that threw this kind of party before and it was a blast… until later that bight, after having the beef entrée, I got violently ill and spent over 5 hours in the bathroom at home. Oh well, food poisoning aside, I had a really good time and it was fun seeing work friends in a different light. Thanks Learning Tree for a very James Bond-like party!

Sunday was recovery day and even with me not feeling well I decided not to miss the opportunity to get out a see a movie while we still had my mom in town. So it was Karen’s turn to pick the movie this time and I kinda figured it was going to be a smaller, independent film, I was hoping to see Napoleon Dynamite, but it was still playing in limited theaters so we went with another movie I was hoping to see and that was Garden State. This was an excellent choice on Karen’s part and an excellent movie too. The movie is written and directed by Zach Braff of Scrubs fame and is partially an autobiography of his life while struggling to be an actor. Great acting by everyone, Zach, Natalie Portman, Ian Holm and some just wonderful camera shots that really show off the New Jersey suburbs. Overall, I totally recommend this movie to anyone who can watch indie movies and get what they are trying to say and do. If you are looking for some shallow action, explosions, and killing this is not the movie you want to see, but if you are into to decent character development, great dialogue, and a well-rounded script then check it out! Karen and I split to go hang out and play with Jaden for sometime and then we decided to hit another flick and was completely thrilled that we saw “Collateral.” Michael Mann can do no wrong in my eyes. Every movie this guy has made has entertained me and maybe that’s not saying a lot but this movie was just plain fun. Mann has a unique way of making settings and objects characters alongside big names like Cruise and Foxx and in this case Foxx’s taxi and the city of LA come alive in this movie and really show a grittier and often unseen side of the city and taxis. Foxx and Cruise are great and really show how to powerhouse actors can really take hold of well-written dialogue and make it their own and never make you feel like “oh that’s just Tom Cruise or Jamie Foxx acting on screen.” There’s a sense of them becoming these characters and it really shines through in the performances. Clive Owen and Jada Pinkett-Smith having some interesting smaller roles so watch out for them. Overall, just a really solid movie showing that Jamie Foxx is someone on the rise and that Tom Cruise can do some pretty serious stuff. If you like this movie then I recommend Heat, Manhunter, and Thief, some of Mann’s other crime/drama movies and if you want to see some good performances by Tom and Jamie then I suggest Magnolia for Tom Cruise and Ali for Jamie Foxx.

Karen’s doing an incredible job transforming our little pad into a groove palace. She has done so much research on this Panton era style that it really feels like the 60s/70s have been born again in our place. I can’t wait for the afros and bellbottoms to take over again. The mod style she has gone for is a very minimalist angle and furniture has a super groovalicious feel to it. Karen’s waiting for a few more pieces and then it should be complete. It definitely opens the place up and gives it a much brighter feel. I’ll be posting some pictures soon. So swing by and check it out, kool kats.