Superman has certainly RETURNED!!!!

I was front and center Wednesday afternoon to see 'Superman Returns', the sequel to one of my all time favourite films, 'Superman' staring Christopher Reeve. Let me tell you folks, he certainly has 'returned'!

I remember the first time I saw Superman, it was 1978 at the Gem Theater in Grand Forks, BC. The place was packed, in fact, there were people sitting in the center aisle on the floor! The only other time this happened was when 'Star Trek: The Motion Picture' came to town one year later. Now, I had loved Superman in Action Comics well before this film came out, and was wondering how they would make it happen on the big screen with real people! Well, as we all know they made it happen, and Christopher Reeve was probably the greatest Superman we will ever know.

But sitting in the theater Wednesday afternoon I again had the same thoughts, "How are they going to pull this one off?". I was worried about all these things I had seen in the papers, and on the internet. Lois Lane has a Kid? Why is Superman's 'S' shield so small? They are going to directly link this to the 1978 Superman? All of these things caused doubts to fester in my brain and all of these doubts were silenced the minute the classic John Williams Superman theme filled the theater accompanied by the classic swooshing credits.

I won't say much about the film (for fear of giving too much away) but Brandon Routh is a worthy Superman, who gives The Man of Steel a range of emotion that also makes him a man of flesh and blood. I do feel however it must be said that Routh is not quite as good as Christopher Reeve, but come on, who could be? Kevin Spacey makes the greatest Lex Luthor EVER, and I even preferred Kate Bosworth to Margot Kidders version of Lois Lane! I was actually giddy at certain parts and I wanted to stand up and cheer like my nephew Ben at a screening of 'Cars'. It's true to the comic, and it's true to it's film predecessor. In short, this is the best movie I've seen all year, DON'T miss it!

Wow, what to tell you....

Well, another week and another few posts to the ol' Blogitty Blog Blog. I'm not sure really what to tell you. What do you guys want to know? You can always email me and ask, or if you are feeling really adventurous you can always post a comment. Nothing makes my day more, than visiting the blog and seeing new comments from you guys. Well, to be honest an email from a really hot single babe wanting to date me, might make the day just a bit better. But I'll take what I can get, and comments will do just fine........ I guess.

I've been watching a lot of World Cup Soccer in the last few weeks and I must say every four years I get really excited and caught up in the whole thing. I even get up to watch England when they play at 6am (Yes I'm cheering for England... shocking huh?). But then I watch my first game and realise (as I do every four years) I'm just not that crazy about the sport. It's kind of slow, and features some of the biggest nancy boy cry babies I've ever seen! I should say I have seen premier division matches in England and they are pretty exciting to watch live. But on TV, sorry, I just don't get all the fuss. Despite all this, I continue to watch England and their march to world Soccer domination, and I even got quite excited today when Beckham scored to give Old Blighty the win. No doubt my tune will change when England makes it into the final, and I will be running up and down the street with my St. Georges Cross flag tied around my neck like a cape and singing "Here we Go"!

I am George Costanza....

Thought this conversation from the Seinfeld episode 'The Revenge' applied to my life of unemployment right now.....

GEORGE: I like sports. I could do something in sports.

JERRY: Uh-huh. Uh-huh. In what capacity?

GEORGE: You know, like the general manager of a baseball team or something.

JERRY: Yeah. Well, that - that could be tough to get.

GEORGE: Well, it doesn't even have to be the general manager. Maybe I could be like, an announcer. Like a color man. You know how I always make those interesting comments during the game.

JERRY: Yeah. Yeah. You make good comments.

GEORGE: What about that?

JERRY: Well, they tend to give those jobs to ex-ballplayers and people that are, you know, in broadcasting.

GEORGE: Well, that's really not fair.

JERRY: I know. Well, okay. Okay. What else do ya like?

GEORGE: Movies. I like to watch movies.

JERRY: Yeah. Yeah.

GEORGE: Do they pay people to watch movies?

JERRY: Projectionists.

GEORGE: That's true.

JERRY: But you gotta know how to work the projector.

GEORGE: Right.

JERRY: And it's probably a union thing.

GEORGE: (scoffs) Those unions. (sighs) Okay. Sports,...movies. What about a talk show host?

JERRY: Talk show host. That's good.

GEORGE: I think I'd be good at that. I talk to people all the time. Someone even told me once they thought I'd be a good talk show host.

JERRY: Really?

GEORGE: Yeah. A couple of people. I don't get that, though. Where do you start?

JERRY: Well, that's where it gets tricky.

GEORGE: You can't just walk into a building and say " I wanna be a talk show host."

JERRY: I wouldn't think so.

GEORGE: It's all politics.

JERRY: All right. Okay. Sports, movies, talk show host. What else?

GEORGE: This could have been a huge mistake......

These are a few of my favourite things.....

Last night I was Booooored. So boooored, I went through my backlog of unwatched DVD's and pulled out a Gem, the 1979 Buck Rogers in the 25th Century pilot movie (As brought back to my attention thanks to Clive Lovetts blog)!! Wow did this thing stink!! BUT, it did remind me of a great action figure that I had long forgotten about..... "TIGER MAN". Tiger Man is on screen for about three minutes then gets kicked in the nuts by Buck Rogers, but what an Action Figure he made!!!!
I know that I LOVED my Buck Rogers action figures, but I haven't thought of them for YEARS! Thinking back, I remember ALMOST liking them more than the Star Wars Action figures because they had better articulation and weren't so cartoony! I can guarantee back then I didn't use the word Articulation. Woo Hooo TIGER MAN!!!! By the way I dare anyone to watch the Buck Rogers movie and not have their ears bleed due to the theme song! "Far Beyond the woooorld I knooowww......."

Job Search continues! I haven't heard back from anything yet but I am feeling more confident, for whatever reason, that I will be working shortly. I will continue to hammer the Library by dropping a resume off again next week. I've got nothing to lose right? As always if anyone knows of any type of work that I would be suited for please email me today. Hell, even if you don't have anything just email me and say Hi today!

Whatever did I do without my Mp3 player......

A week ago I was taking a Loooong bus ride out to White Rock to visit the Doctor and it was PACKED. I stood (Yes I stood, it was that busy) and listened to two drug addicts compare Crystal Meth stories, and one really, really, large lady hork up phlegm like she had the disease 'Captain Tripps' from the Stephen King novel The Stand. Well I was dreading the 50 minute bus ride listening to all this 'ambiance' when I remembered I had my trusty Mp3 player with me. I slipped it on and went into the music goodness of Billy Bragg, The Beatles, and Chris Isaak all of whom helped drown out the horrible sounds of The Greater Vancouver Transit system.

So this all leads me to the point of this blog entry. What is Gregg listening to on his Mp3 player? Many of you have emailed and asked me what I've been listening to lately* so here goes .....

Out of the 1300 plus tunes I have currently on my Creative Zen Micro here's what tops my chart!

5. Gnarls Barkley - 'Crazy'
This song grows on you. At first I didn't like it, but now I LOVE it, go figure!

4. Embrace - 'The World at Your Feet'
One of the 16 official songs for England at the World Cup. Unlike the other 15 this one is really good!

3. The Kooks - 'Naive'
Good ol' pop song with a great hook. Downloa.... eerrrrrrr I mean 'Buy' this one today!

2. Red Hot Chili Peppers - 'Dani California'
This band just gets better and better with age.

And Number one on my personal top 5...........

1. Keane - 'Is it Any Wonder?'
Keane is simply my favourite band going right now that could be considered "hip" by the kids of today. They have such a nice sound that I think many reading this blog would like them almost as much as I do. The bands has a new album coming out this week and I'm really looking forward to it! That is big praise indeed as I don't even remember the last time I looked forward to a new albums release.

Honourable mention goes to the entire radio catalog of "The Mighty Boosh" and Snow Patrol - "You're all that I have".

What are you listening to? Let us know in the comments section!

*Okay, Okay, NO ONE has emailed and asked me this....

My weird British obsession #3

Okay we've established I have a fascination with most things British, and most recently I've gone on about Hollyoaks (More specifically cast member and British landmark Elize Du Toit). And I've also blogged about my all time favourite British show Doctor Who. Which, by the way, seems to get better with every episode, although I could do with less girly giggling and hugging with The Doctor and Rose.

Now I'm hooked on a very obscure (Well obscure to me at least) show called The Mighty Boosh! I started watching it on BBCK and thought it was just weird and didn't give it a second look. Then I saw it again and then once more and I started to laugh a little more with each viewing. Now each episode cracks me up to the point I am crying during the show! I've recently found out it was on BBC radio before it was ever on TV, and I managed to get a hold of these broadcasts and found them even funnier than the TV show! It's about two guys, Howard Moon and Vince Noir, who work in a Zoo and have a boss named Bob Fossil "WELCOME TO FOSSIL'S FUN WORLD WHERE FUN IS ALL AROUND YOU.... LIKE STINK ON POOP".... and that's really all you need to know. Check it out on BBCK at 6:30pm Sundays and 9:30pm Wednesday (All times pacific!)


The Job search continues, as I've taken the search to a much broader place now and may have to take a bit less money than I was making before as I just can't seem to catch a break. Applied for various things in the last couple of days including the Surrey Public Library (Would love that job), various fabrication shops for inside sales, and a few call centers for Help desk type stuff. I've also been told I'm 90% cleared (whatever that means) for getting EI but since I didn't work in 2005 they can only go back to June of 2004 for my record of employment and I'm wondering if that will reduce the amount of money I will receive. We will see I guess!

Elvis LIVES!

Hey, how are you? Welcome to the Blog! Bet you are visiting this Monday to see what Gregg did this weekend? Well, anyone who has visited my link section (Located in the right hand column) knows I'm a big Elvis fan because of the link to the Official BC Elvis Fanclub. Well, several of my friends dress up as Elvis and put on one hell of a show called "Ultimate Elvis". They had a gig at the White Rock Royal Canadian Legion branch #008 on Saturday and I went to wallow in the sounds of the King!

When I got there they needed an Emcee, so they asked me and I was more than happy to help out and be part of the show. It's quite funny to see how people react to the Ultimate Elvis show. Some sit, smile, and tap their feet, but some women allow themselves to get TOTALLY into it and try and get a piece of some of the Elvi on stage! It was quite funny to see some 55 year old woman slip headliner Brian Simpson the tongue when all he is trying to do is give them a quick peck!

Well on Saturday night a good time was had by all EXCEPT the 5'2" 90 year old Scottish guy who took exception to me saying Anderson was a Swedish name, and wanted to fight me. I had thought about military pressing him into the Keno machine, but instead I just patted him on the head (Benny Hill style) and sent him on his way. After all I was part of the Ultimate Elvis crew for the night!


The guys who put on the show, Sandor, Adam, Brian, (all pictured above) and Terry (Sadly not pictured above... I owe you Terry!) are all great and do this show out of love for "The King", because the money isn't really anything you can make a living on, and that makes me like the whole show even more. If you want to see where "Ultimate Elvis" is performing next click the official British Columbia Elvis Presley Fan Club link on the right.

What a horrible, miserable day.....

The rain just won't stop... It's an unending sheet of wetness and gray. Okay, it's not that bad it's just that today I had to go out into it and do bunch of errands. To make the wetness of the day even more annoying my MP3 player, for some reason, chose to only play songs like "Candy Man" by Sammy Davis Jr. or "Sunshine Day" by The Brady Bunch.... yes I admit it I have The Brady Bunch on my Mp3 player.

My various activities took me to the unemployment office where I stood in line for a long, long, long, long, long time. It never fails while everyone is waiting in a line that snakes forever and a day around the office some moron thinks that the line isn't for him. So while myself, and seventy other saps who can't find a job, wait in line like nice people this Danny Bonaduce lookin' dude comes in (Well since it WAS the unemployment office it could have very well actually been Danny Bonaduce. Danny looks at the line, walks all the way to the front past all 70 of us, and up to a wicket that someone is already using. He waits IMPATIENTLY as the person finishes up with the Unemployment teller type person (We'll call her a teller from here on in) and then tries to get her to take his papers. "BUT I ONLY NEED TO GET THIS SIGNED" Mr. Bonaduce yells as he is thankfully sent to the back of the line. He's all upset and starts to mutter to some older East Indian gentleman who instead of sympathizing with him just says "Hey we're all here for the same thing, that's why there is a line". CLASSIC!!!!!!!

I then made it out of the EI office some hours later (Ahead of Danny Bonaduce I'd like to add) and went to get my hair cut. Well I know I was in trouble when I got to my regular place and the three guys who know how to cut my hair are busy. I could have said NO I'll wait for one of the guys I like, but I don't want to hurt the ladies feelings who is free to cut my hair so in I go.

Now I don't have much hair left, so I like to at least try to make what I have look good. WELL, I like a tapered back. Not a straight line of hair ending at my neck but something that is faded. I go through great detail to explain this to her.... I even said "FADE THE BACK IN, DON'T LEAVE A STRAIGHT LINE, YOU KNOW A TAPER?" she smiled and said "Of course". I knew I was in trouble when she spent what seemed like hours on my back..... she changed so many clippers and scissors I thought she was carving a statue out of Marble. She then proceeds to cut the rest of my hair, And not very well either. But to be honest, I'm really not concerned as there is only so much you can do wrong with my hair (Not counting the back of course). Then the moment of truth....... the mirror comes out and it's time to check out the back.

STRAIGHT AS A FREAKING ARROW!!!! You could use the back of my hair as a straight edge for drafting. I could be a level if you wanted to build a house. It was the exact opposite of what I asked for. It was as if she was from Bizzaro World, it was that opposite.

Oh well, in the end it really doesn't matter because when I get my hair cut, in my mind I think I'm going to come out looking like this.......but I always come out looking like this......
Oh, if anyone is wondering I'm still broke and unemployed... I'll keep you posted if anything changes.

OH LAME SAINT INDEED!

Now I really don’t want to be one of those guys who rags on the film version of ‘The Da Vinci Code’ just because I want to seem smart for not liking something very popular. I’ve actually seen people who haven’t even read the thing turn their nose up at the mention of the book (Poseurs all of them). Those same people do the same thing with the movie version of ‘The Da Vinci Code’ and that kind of bugs me. But sadly, in the case of this movie, they may have something because it’s just not very good.

I’ll be honest here… It’s boring. The book was a fine little mystery with some great historical facts thrown in, but nothing spectacular by any stretch. The problem the film faces is it can’t delve too deeply with the historical stuff, for fear of making the film a pseudo-documentary. So sadly, it had to discard the most entertaining aspects of the book, and rely only on the pot boiler mystery which as I‘ve already said, is no great shakes.

Well ‘The Da Vinci code’ has just given more truth to the statement that the movie is NEVER as good as the book. BUT, this got me to thinking...... what book is not as good as the movie? It HAS happened you know! So here we go….. a list of films I thought were better than the book!

1. The Godfather (The only one on this list where the book isn’t even CLOSE!)
2. Jaws (The book is more pulp and Soap Opera than this Spielberg classic)
3. Blade Runner (The book is called “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?” and I found it very dull … mind you I was 12 when I read it.
4. Shawshank Redemption (Probably the only Stephen King I’d put in this category)
5. Silence of the Lambs (Much scarier on the Big screen… I’ll never forget when I saw this in England how cousin Giles jumped like a woman four separate times!)
6. Excalibur (The original book is 'Le Morte D'Arthur' and was published in the 1500’s. I own the damn thing but it’s about as dry as the Sahara desert in August.)

So feel free to add some that I may have missed … there are others that are supposed to be better than the books, Die Hard, Princess Bride, but I never read the printed version to have a say.

Oh yeah one other thing… I’m still looking for a Job and getting a little worried, so if you’d like, you can click here to download my resume and HIRE ME!!!!!

Remembering Jock.....

Jock Wilkinson
March 26, 1920 - May 22, 2006

The World is missing one of the good ones. My old neighbour from Grand Forks, Jock Wilkinson passed away May 22 at the age of 86. When I was a kid, I always thought Jock was just another old guy who lived across the street. But as I got older, I found out there was a whole lot more to the man than I had ever thought.

He was a World War II vet who saw action for 5 years as a signal man, starting in Italy and ending in Germany. He was there when Grand Forks opened it's first airport, and told me last summer how amazed he was by the Ford Tri-Motor that had flown in for the day. And if that wasn't enough we had this conversation in front of the Grand Forks Museum where there is a picture of a Ford Tri-Motor and a kid named Jock.

It may seem trivial to many of you, but the most impressive thing Jock ever did was have the ability to always know the difference between myself and my brother Jim. Aside from family members and close friends who see us everyday, many people have a tendencey to get Jim and I confused with each other. Not Jock, not ever. Being a younger brother and wanting to be known as his own person, well, that always meant a lot to me... Thanks Jock.