I just had an online argument with a chick about whether the Star Wars character is named Greedo or Guido. And it was settled beyond all doubt by a chick.

God, I love the Web.

This is kind of personal, but what the hell, I’ll share it.

I’ve been feeling a little down lately, even though it’s not normally in my nature to feel that way for more than fifteen minutes in a row. I’ve been thinking that maybe I don’t fit really well with some of my old friends any longer. I don’t play Dungeons and Dragons anymore, so maybe I’m not enough of a geek for my gamer friends. On the other hand, when I saw the Lord of the Rings trailer on Saturday, I had a hissy, much to the despair (and disapproval) of a girlie friend sitting next to me, which made me think I’m too much of a geek for the hairspray-and-heels crowd.

Yesterday afternoon, I was thinking about how things would be easier if I were just really completely interested in makeup, OR completely embraced my inner geek and threw myself into live-action role playing or my comic book collection. But of course, I can’t just make myself live into a stereotype, because I just don’t.

However, I used to think being an academic generalist (degrees in filmmaking, psychology and genetics) might eventually cause me professional grief, but it’s always been an advantage. You pull out the card you need when you need it. I want to believe that being a generalist in terms of personality (isn’t that called a schizo?) might be similarly valuable.

Last night, Bill (a girl) and I (also a girl) were drunkenly trying to explain to two poor guys in a diner the new “Greedo shoots first” scene in Star Wars. Paul did not run away screaming when we drew comparisons between him and a hobbit. This is why Bill and Paul rock.

Who knows. Maybe when you don’t live into a stereotype, it’s harder to find kindred spirits, but that much more rewarding when you do.

You know, regular blogging is a relatively new thing for me, and for a while I wasn’t really sure it would stick. There was something uncomfortable about having to get a little personal in order for it to be interesting, but on the other hand, not being able to get too personal, because of the public nature of the medium.

However, I’ve really been pleasantly surprised to come into contact with quite a few interesting people, both in Montreal and abroad, both online and in the flesh (if über-cool Bill is any indication, anyway). Last week, Paul was dubious about meeting people with whom one only has blogging in common. I have to agree, and admit that I wouldn’t really want to hold a conversation for more than five minutes with someone, if there was nothing else I had in common with them. For me, I realize that getting in touch with people definitely comes before any other reason for blogging (catharsis, keeping of where I’ve been, etc).

My point? Don’t really have one, except maybe that I think I’ll be doing this for a while yet, after all.

So what time are people showing up at Bily Kun tonight?

Anybody else notice that the title of that new b-movie, Eight Legged Freaks is misspelled?

Eight legged should be hyphenated. The way it’s written now, the movie isn’t about freaks with eight legs, but rather about eight freaks, each with one leg.

Could be interesting anyway…

(thanks Chuck)

Saw Reign of Fire (believe it) last night. I have to say the movie was definitely not as bad as expected; my friends and I had heard such diverse opinions that we decided to see it, but to make it more palatable by downing a few beers first. I might have needed a few more to truly enjoy this movie, but truth be told I was entertained.

The CG and creature design were impeccable; you really had a feeling of how powerful and terrifying a dragon could be. The dialogue wasn’t too stupid (except for one line by Matthew McConnaughey, which you’ll know when you hear it), for which I was incredibly thankful.

On the negative aspects, I’ll just say what bugged me the most. As always, the movie takes the audience for a bunch of idiots. The main character has to return to where his mother died, and it bugs him. He gets there, and he looks troubled. Ok, enough, WE GET IT. But no, just in case you don’t realize that this is what he’s thinking, they throw in a flashback of something we saw earlier… just to make sure. I hate it when they do that.

Second huge negative aspect: plot holes you could drive an aircraft carrier through. Example: the whole dragon species has only one male. Uh, WHAT? Usually, I’m the nit-picker about science in movies, but this bothered everyone. Even with our brains numbed by alcohol, we couldn’t help protesting against this idiocy.

Do I regret paying full price for this? No. We got to see the Lord of the Rings preview. And I’m still in the throes of ecstasy over that… but that’s a whole other blog.

No, it’s not the title of my personal ad.

The strangest thing just happened to me. I’m driving home from swing, and I’m coming down Laurier towards St-Denis. I see an animal in the middle of the street, so naturally I slow down. As I get closer, it starts looking like several animals, maybe a couple of dogs after a bitch in heat. But it doesn’t look like dogs… or cats.

I get closer still, and realize it’s four baby goats, crossing Laurier street right in front of me. All by their lonesome, nobody else is around.

Cute, but…

I really have to lay off the cough medication.

So our swing school now has moved to a spiffy new location. Bigger studio, hardwood floors, conveniently located right on the really happening part of St-Denis street.

Thing is, there are windows all around the dancing area, and the place is flanked on all sides by terrrasses. So it feels more than a bit weird having people sitting and sipping beer and sangria, looking right in, while I’m in there shaking my moneymaker.

Who knows… maybe this is the swing school’s way of making some extra cash…

In order of increasing hotness:

Office Hot
Restaurant Hot
Street Hot
Sitcom Hot
Sci-Fi TV Hot
Movie Hot
Sci-Fi Movie Hot

As in, you know, “she’s not bad… not restaurant hot, but you know, office hot”.

Where would Blog Hot fit in?

This week’s Friday Five questions are about home and travel. They ask, if you lived anywhere else but your hometown, where would it be? This caused me to ponder why I still live where I was born.

I grew up thinking that just because you were born somewhere, wasn’t a good enough reason to simply stay there. Doing so would be like dumbly accepting the blind luck of the draw, and admitting that you don’t really control your fate.

I finally did move to Sweden, my personal promised land, and stayed there a while. What made me return was the strangest thing.

One night, about two weeks before coming to Canada for the holidays, I was reading the online version of the Montreal Mirror. It was the issue with the results their Best of Montreal poll, and one of the categories was Best Montreal Freak. They listed the Vietnam veteran in Guy metro station, the Superman guy in NDG, the now white-haired guy in front of Ogilvy’s, and so on.

Of course, after months abroad, I hadn’t thought of those guys in ages. But I knew all of them, and nothing had ever made me feel more like a true Montrealer than that; only a Montrealer would.

When I came home for the holidays two weeks later, I had brought all my stuff. Having a cup of joe with Steph at the Second Cup on Ste-Catherine was bliss; watching Don Cherry bitch on the CBC bordered on rapture.

Home is where your personal freaks are.