I looked at the clock and got excited! "Monday is only 10 minutes away! Sweet," I though! 

Then it occurred to me that this is a bit odd. After all, Garfield hates Mondays. How is it that I don't just like Monday, but I'm actually excited it's about to BE Monday?  Yes, these silly little self contemplations are what run though my mind during the middle of the night.

I think it's due to a few factors:

1. I love my job, so a "Monday" isn't something to dread.
2. I also work a rotating, ever shifting week - so my Monday isn't always everyone else's Monday.
3. It's the day the new Penny Arcade, Gunnerkrigg Court, XKCD, Looking For Group, and PvP Online come out after the weekend!

Of those, #3 may be the best. :) Only 4 minutes to go!  Oh, Happy moment! Nerdgasm!

So often new movies come out and everyone complains about the "new" movie being a remake, reboot, copy, rip-off, and the like of an older movie.  Then starts the discussion that Hollywood has no new ideas, that all they can do is recycle older movies.  I get that, I'm one of the people that's constantly complaining about things like that. However, what I would like to propose is that remakes and reboots aren't always a bad thing. Yes, sometimes they suck terribly; but sometimes the new movie is worth being made.

Here are some movies that I really enjoyed - maybe not as much as the original, but they are still good movies that are worth watching.

Scarface (1983 - Pacino)  from Scarface (1932 - about Al Capone). An amazing modern (at the time of release) retelling/adaptation of the original. 

The Thing (1982 - Kurt Russel, John Carpenter) from The Thing from Another World (1951).  Both based on a book.  The Thing '82 is an amazing movie about paranoia, and for the time has amazing special effects for the time.

A Fistful of Dollars (1964 - Clint Eastwood) & Last Man Standing (1996 - Bruce Willis) from Yojimbo (1961 - Akira Kurosawa).  All three amazing movies. If you haven't seen the original by Kurosawa I strongly recommend it.  He was very influential and even George Lucas used several of his techniques in Star Wars (which has elements of Kurosawa's The Hidden Fortress)

Those are my three favorites, but there's also The Fly ('86), Dawn of the Dead ('04), Let Me In ('10),  The Magnificent 7 (another Kurosawa remake), The Departed, Casino Royale, True Grit.

The point is, not every remake is horrible.  Sometimes the remake, reboot, re-imagining, etc will have a new or novel approach to a classic that makes it interesting in it's own right. Sometimes it's just well put together with acting, pacing, and special effects.   And yes, I realize that most remakes are probably crap, and the good ones are the exception - but that really isn't different than "original" movies.

I frequently leave OKcupid up on my laptop. I may leave in the middle of checking out different people's profiles. Maybe it's because a friend called or dropped by. Sometimes I get up and walk away (to shower, go to the gym, etc.), and leave it open. What I just found amusing is I come back, sit down, and I see I left a profile open of someone I was last looking at, so I start reading where I left off. "Wow", I say to myself, "this person thinks a lot like I do! Hot! Similar sense of humor. They can write complete sentences with interesting thoughts. Cool."

So, I scroll up to see the name and pictures.... Only to realize it was my own profile that I left open.

Wow.  I haven't seen the stadium that packed since 2003.  It was such a nice change from how it's been the past few years! Seeing the stadium mostly full, everyone wearing yellow for Felix and cheering was great.  Then having us also win? Priceless!

It really looks like we have a young team with a lot of potential surrounding Felix. Hopefully they can all really make some good strides forward for the rest of the year and come out strong next season.  Ackley, Smoak, Jesus, Seager, Thames, Saunders, Jaso, some good potential there.

It's been a while since I played one (or had a steady group due to my job); and a few friends have convinced me to try running a Vampire: the Requiem (as I guess it's called now) story.  I'd forgotten just how much work comes in creating a world!  Oh sure I guess it's possible to just grab an old city resource book; but I always like mine to be unique.  Then in addition to that is trying to get a good time for everyone to be able to play together.  Should be worth it though.

I'm thankful that I can cook a mean pot of chili. To express my thankfulness I'm going to cook up a nice big pot of spicy turkey chili for myself and a few friends!  Beans, Tomatoes, Corn, Garlic, Onions, lot's of ground turkey, Jalapenos, Fresno, habaneros, Serrano, ghost peppers.  Oh.. and lots of cheese.   So warm and yummy for a nice drizzly Seattle day.