THE BEGINNING OF THE SUMMER "BLOCKBUSTERS"

So yesterday I went to see the new Spiderman movie - the third in what I am sure is many more movies about the spidery dude and the very first in the summer "blockbuster" series - as I write this S3 has already earned over $148 million dollars in its first 3 days of release.

And what was the film like....ehh. It was....okay. Not great - but okay. Tobey is much too old to be playing Pater Parker - let alone Spiderman. Kirsten looks awful - maybe that's because she's not with Jake Gyllenhall anymore and the screenplay stinks to high heaven. Topher does what he can with a shitty role (his "Venom" look is featured in this pic) and Rosemary Harris is wonderful as Peter's Aunt. I really liked Bryce Dallas Howard, but again her character was very poorly written - I give her and Topher props for doing a great job with shitty material. There were some laughs and some cheesy moments and computer action scenes up the wazoo but when the fifth graders behind you start to say "this movie is hella long man" you know your target audience has left the building. The movie was a bit over 2 hours and it was amazing how restless people can get when it comes to movies. I start to get restless after 2 1/2 hours but never at 2.

In other news:

I returned to Max's on Saturday night and it was a wonderful welcome back that I got - everyone seemed really genuinely happy to see me which was great. You don't appreciate the little things in life until you start to miss them. I am very lucky to have a great boss that allows me time off to pursue my professional career. I will be playin' the piano, singing a few ditties and accompanying some of the singing waiters on Saturday evenings from 6-10 PM.

On Thursday night I went to see Opera San Jose's Madama Butterfly which was great. It was a bit long in parts but I particularly loved the ending of the piece - and really appreciated Puccini not having her sing after she's stabbed herself - I can't stand operas that have the singers go on and on and on after they've killed themselves - you're dead - get on with it!! =+) You know she's going to kill herself but the power of Puccini's music takes over and the opera ends before you realize that is over - powerful stuff.

My friend Heather who was in the show (and who will be playing a principal role in next season's Magic Flute) and I went to Original Joe's for a late meal - get down there fast as they are closing for a few months to renovate. You can't get food like this anywhere else - go now!! It was a lovely evening of music, death, and good pasta.

Okay, it's the beginning of a new week and I am happy to report that since I have no school, I have nothing to do but lay about like a beached whale - jealous? Okay - it's after midnight and it's frickin' hot in here. Stick the apple in me mouth dearie, I'm done.

=+)

Martin