Cooking for Brevitt

Goodbye My Friend...

Dear 2007,

Thanks so much for the memories - both good and bad I guess. Overall it's been a positive year, with some crazy turns and twists. Even with a slow blogging month in December, I think there have been a few really good points to key in on as I remember the year of 2007.

• Stop and Start - starting over is always hard and after a really long period of doubt, I'm very excited to see what 2008 brings me
• Pain and Art - the beginning  of the tattoo work I've always dreamed about has begun
• Moving - I miss home and my friends/family, but my extended business trip in the Durty is going better than expected
• Entertainment is Still King - too many books, games, movies and comics that I've gone through in 2007, but in their own way I've loved every single one
• Friendship - old friends who never let me forget what it means to care and new friends who help me heal and become a better person

It's a quick recap, but hits on most of the major points for me. 2008 should be a great year I think. Things in both my personal and professional life are full of hope, happiness and growth and it's hard to ignore that.

To all my friends and those fun random people who read my blog and comment - I hope you had a wonderful 2007 and learned what you needed to in order to make 2008 that much better for yourself and those around you.

Respect.

--Brevitt!

GI Joe Casting Continues

If knowing is half the battle, then figuring out the actors slated to join GI Joe the movie is the other half!

Thanks to the folks over at AICN, we are starting to get more details of who is playing who and there are some interesting choices. Be sure to check out the whole article at AICN, but here is the quick recap so far for GI Joe:

• Baroness - Sienna Miller
• Snake Eyes - Ray Park
• Storm Shadow - Byun-Hun Lee
• Scarlett - Rachel Nichols
• Breaker - Said Taghmaoui
• Heavy Duty - Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje

Good start and still so many characters to find actors for!

Now if only we could get the details on the movie versions of He-Man and Thundercats!

Herbert from Family Guy

Who doesn't love Family Guy, right?

A friend of mine sent me this today and I just had to post it up for everyone to watch...enjoy the Herbert show kids!

Movie Review: I Am Legend

Releasing a suspense/horror/thriller type of movie in December is always a tough decision. Most studios push out the standard holiday fare, but every once and awhile we get something different like 'I Am Legend' to hit the screens. Although I'm a big fan of the movie, I'm curious if the strong opening weekend was due to fans or people who just wanted something else besides another Santa movie!

Before we get to the movie, let me state that I think the book/novella/short story by Richard Matheson is an amazing piece of work. You do not need to be a fan of this genre to become attached to the story of survival and the lead character. It is a gripping tale that I believe has to be read.

With that in mind, adapting solid books to solid movies has always been a mixed bag. With I Am Legend though, I think the film takes the core of the story and creates a pretty impressive piece of work. Of course there are some changes from the book and for the most part, I like them. If anything continues to bother me, it's the ending. The last 5 minutes are simply ridiculous. The movie would have been stronger without it I believe. Beyond that here are some highlights I enjoyed:

• Hunting sequence - besides being a moving commercial, I enjoyed how it was laid out
• NYC - damn did it look good! Think about what your city would look like after 3-4 years of neglect
• Will Smith - he did a really good job on a fairly complicated character
• Flashbacks - these worked to fill in the blanks of the present. Perfectly done

There are some mixed reviews out there, but check them out to see what others are saying. My suggestion though is to see the movie first and then come back to read the reviews.

• Wesley Morris at Boston.com gives I Am Legend 3 out of 4 stars
• Moriarty sees I Am Legend in IMAX
• Meh says Quint

So go check it out this holiday season. It's an interesting look at survival and humanity.

Back Home

It's that time of year again and I'm happy to be back home in Boston. Although my 'extended business trip' has been going great, there really is nothing like coming home and taking it all in. As much as I'm loving being back here though, I can't say the same about the trip up!

Let me give a quick recap.

• Arrive at JFK around 12:30 after two days of meetings in NYC
• 2:30 flight keeps getting pushed back and is finally canceled
• 4:30 flight gets canceled
• 7:15 flight is a go!
• Oh wait.....we don't take off until 7:45
• Land in Boston around 9
• Sit on the plane
• Sit on the plane so more
• Get off plane at 11:30
• Rental car back home
• Arrive home around 1am

Total time from NYC to Boston - 13 hours.

Although the trip took forever, the area was blasted with a snowstorm and I'm just glad I made it back safely.

A little nervous with another storm coming on Saturday, but looks like it will be mostly rain. Thank you Jeebus! My first color appointment is on Sunday afternoon and I'm be pretty bummed out if I missed it after waiting so long!

Back to Rock Band everyone!

Halo 3 New Maps: Red vs. Blue Version

Halo 3 continues to eat away at my soul, mostly in the form of 12-year old children screaming at me....but when I can cut through the bullshit - it's still a great game to play. Few more levels and I'll wrap up Legendary campaign and then back to multiplayer madness!

Bungie is releasing the first Halo 3 map pack in a few days and they released a sneak peek with the guys over at Red vs. Blue. Kotaku was kind enough to post up the video with comments - so go check out the Halo 3 map pack preview!

Philly Flyers Make it 5!

Dear NHL and Colin Campbell,

When is enough just enough?

After waking up this morning, I turned on ESPN to catch some of the highlights and surprise, surprise - what did I see? Well besides a lack of hockey coverage, I also got to see yet another Philadelphia Flyer deliver a cheap blow in their game against Dallas. This time it was the lowly skilled Riley Cote who felt a flying elbow to Matt Niskanen with time running out was a grand thing to do. Luckily Niskanen was able to avoid serious injury, but that's not the point is it Colin?

My question is this: This is now the 5th Flyer to commit a totally fucked up dirty cheap ass hit this year and it's ONLY early-December! So when is the NHL and your office going to step up and make a decision against the entire Philadelphia organization? It's obvious that the players are being allowed to play like this, so isn't it the responsibility of the league to ensure this type of play isn't encouraged?

The whole situation is fucked up!

We are promoting a fast, quick and powerful game - yet you let goons like this continue to go unpunished. I'm not talking about 5-games here and there. It's time for the league to send notice that this type of shit is no longer tolerated.

Wake up Colin.

--Brevitt!