March 2002 Archives

Ugh, what a week. I managed to catch a cold and was down for a few days. I think I either got it from my plane trip to San Jose a few weeks ago or being in Las Vegas. I started to feel bad on Monday, and still am trying to get it out of my system. I am just thankful for the wonders of Ny-Quil.

After much procrastinating, I finally launched the Club House. This new section of Club Josh is an area that puts all of the party pictures, All About Josh, and other info about the site in one directory structure. I know I am going to take a massive traffic hit as people who hit the pages from search engines will find nothing. However, if you normally get to them from the Charo page, those links have all been updated. Eventually, I will get rid of the Charo Party Pics Page.

Big changes are in store for the month of April. Looks like I will be moving and possibly getting a new (to me) car, all in an effort to cut costs and save some money. Updates will be coming as information develops.

Well I guess I did OK on my Oscar predictions. I managed to get 6 out of 11 right. A bit worse than last year, but then again, if you look at my wishy-washy pics I pretty much mentioned a few more winners. The Academy did indeed go highbrow, but even that could not save this year's ceremonies. I thought the Kodak Theater looked marvelous, but the show was not nearly as good as last year's show. I think there was just one too many tributes to certain aspects of filmmaking.

I love Syndey Potier, and I am glad he got an honorary Oscar, but I thought that he was never going to get off the stage. At least he was a bit more bearable than Robert Redford, who also deserved the honorary Oscar. By the time he got up on the stage, I was praying that he would just say, "Thanks a bunch" and get going. It was hard to believe that this show was even longer than the one a few year's back where they dragged out all the award winners for the previous 70 years. At least we were at a BBQ at Jeff and Brian's house so it made it more palatable.

A lot has been written about the fact that Denzel and Halle finally broke down the door for African-American actors. Personally, I think it will take more than one win. Let's hope that not only African-Americans, but Asian, Hispanic, and every other race/creed/national origin/sexual orientation out there win on a regular basis.

And, um, what happened to J-Lo's hair?

Roger and Alex were able to walk the red carpet on Saturday night when they went to the shopping complex at Hollywood and Highland. Next year, I'll be sure to go down there with the Gorn and get some good shots. Also, I want to put in the application to be a bleacher watcher.

The Spring Break crush has begun at Disneyland. If you are planning to go in the next two weeks, bring lots of patience. If you are thinking about it - forget it and come a few weeks later. It will be a bit less crowded and all of the rides will still be open (save Splash and the Carrousel).

It is the end of March which means it is Oscar time! Every year for the past six or so, I have put out my own predictions for who will take home the gold, and I usually end up with a pretty good track record. Last year, I did the top nine, and I will add the Animation categories this year since they added Best Animated Feature.

Actor in a Supporting Role: Sir Ian McKellan should have enough power in his hat to take home the trophy. As many sites have reported, some Academy members might also be rewarding him for his performance in "Gods and Monsters" a few years back.

Actress in a Supporting Role: Jennifer Connely should benefit from the Mirren/Smith split, which is unfortunate because I would have voted for Mirren.

Animated Feature Film: I really want Monsters, Inc. to win. I thought it was a far superior film to Shrek in every way. However, I think that DreamWorks has been doing a great campaign for Shrek, and along with the anti-Disney sentiment around Hollywood, look for the big green guy to get the award.

Short Film (Animated): For the Birds should win as a way to reward the hard working folks at Pixar. This was the short in front of Monsters, Inc. that was just as good.

Foreign Language Film: The PR machine is in high gear, add to that the fact it is a great film puts Amelie over the top.

Adapted Screenplay: Anyone who can make Lord of the Rings make sense to me deserves an Oscar, and I hated Ghost World (not that it matters, but I thought I'd throw that out there).

Original Screenplay: As much as I loved Amelie, it is a visual feast rather than a written feast. I think Memento deserves it, but the Academy voters might feel pity and give it to Gosford Park (though I though this movie was booooring as well).

Actress in a Leading Role: It is between Halle, Nicole, and Sissy. Award voters might award Kidman for her performance in the Others, but when push comes to shove and I have to go on record, I'll give it to Sissy Spacek. (If Halle Berry wins, will she become the first best actress to appear in a Bond flick??)

Actor in a Leading Role: It is between Russell Crowe and Denzel Washington. Again, I think Denzel will win, not necessarily because his performance in Training Day was that good, but because the Academy might want to reward his career. However, Crowe could win because of the massive PR campaign I hear on the radio for his performance. So I give Washington the narrow nod.

Director: I'll take the safe bet and give it to Ron Howard. He won the DGA award which makes him the front runner. Peter Jackson did a fantabulous job with Lord of the Rings, and if the early categories start leaning heavily in LOTR's favor, then he might just nab it.

Best Picture: I think Lord of the Rings really was the best movie of the year in a myriad of ways. It was accessible to a great many people and was a vastly superior production. However if the Academy gets all highbrow than look for Richie's A Beautiful Mind to gather the gold.

Well there you have it. Happy Oscar watching. Check back on Monday to see how I did.

Good news in the mail yesterday, I have finally made CR-25 status at Disneyland which allows me to get some benefits and other good things. We are gearing up at the park in anticipation of next week's crush. Most of the rides will reopen tomorrow (save Splash Mtn and the Carrousel). According to the higher ups, the nice quiet days are gone until September.

Sadly other job news is elusive in coming. I am still waiting on an interview I had almost two weeks ago. I just keep thinking happy positive thoughts, and hopefully something will come up soon.

Cafe Press which operates the Club Josh Galleria, has sent out an e-mail that Men's Golf shirts are coming in April. Check back in April to see what they look like.

Jason had a link to Singlefile, which looks really cool for book collections. Is there something out there like that for video collections? It would be a great successor to the old Movie Guide I used to have on the site a few years back.

Back from Las Vegas, but sadly with no pictures. The Venetian has specified that there be no cameras or smoking in the showroom, so I respected that and didn't take any. Now, if I had known that before I got the tickets, I would have asked for different seats in the back. When I got the tickets, I specified front row-center where it is pretty hard to sneak pictures. Charo did mention that she hoped people got some good pictures of her new dress. Maybe someone should let her know that they don't allow cameras.

All was not lost as the show was great. It is pretty much her standard show filled with singing, dancing, some jokes, and a lot of cuchi-cuchi. She has added three acts before her main show that seem to rotate. She had a magician guy, some acrobats, and some jugglers from Mexico. All of them were good and I even participated in the magician's act.

The highlight was of course, Charo. She mentioned my Charo t-shirt from the stage and even managed to bounce my head against her breasts on two different occasions. I think the big VIP guy behind me was a bit jealous. I don't know who he was, but apparently he was a producer of shows in Vegas. After the show, I managed to talk with the guy selling Charo CD's and he mentioned that Charo is recording a new album and her now defunct web site should be coming back soon.

The rest of the weekend was a blast too, sadly due to my hectic schedule on Friday, I was wiped and didn't feel like drinking or getting crazy. I did manage to peek into the new Aladdin Casino which seemed to be very nice. We stayed at the Luxor, which is beginning to show its age, at least as far as the rooms are concerned. I was disappointed we didn't get to stay in the pyramid, but as late as we arrived, the only rooms left were right near the nightclub.

We managed to get out on Saturday after the show, and lo and behold, most of the Charo dancers and the Mexican jugglers showed up at the same club. I should have chatted with them, but I was exhausted. Some random person did come up to me and ask my name and where I was from. I wonder if he recognized me from here or Disneyland. Another crazy person thought I wasn't having a good time and told me to smile. In reality, I was just trying to look like I was full of attitude (a trick I learned in SF back in the days), and it worked like a charm. I am a bit Vegas-ed out, but I am sure I'll be back.

The Amazing Race is back and better than ever. I had a hunch they would be heading for South America, especially since they didn't go there at all in the first episode. I think everyone is routing for the "Gutsy Grannies", though I wish they would spend a bit more time on some of the other teams. It is kind of tough when you have so many teams still in the field to get a lot of detail on them, and hopefully as the show progresses, we will learn and grow to love the teams. I still think Chaos and I should have tried out for it.

I wanted to find a WAV file of the theme song for AR, but all I have found so far is the one from the first season which has Phil's narration over it. Hopefully, someone will come up with one soon.

I also managed to catch Survivor. Now, I loved Survivor when it was first on, but this version (actually Australia was the last one I actually got into for the whole time) just hasn't done it for me.

It's Kris' birthday today. I have known him since the glory days of the 8th grade, and both of us are still amazed that we have kept in contact over the years. I owe a lot to him, and I count some of our adventures together as some of the best times in my life. I am thankful that I have had the opportunity to call him my friend, and I hope we will be in touch for years and years to come.

I managed to get out of the house and see The Time Machine. I had high hopes for the flick since the trailer was well done, and I am a fan of Guy Pearce. Sadly, the movie didn't really live up to it. It seemed like they filmed the first 80 minutes of a movie and then just spent 10 minutes ending it. Jeremy Irons was completely wasted as the villain, and really, I didn't care much about anyone in the film. The original Time Machine is a much, much better film.

It is almost time for Vegas! Next weekend, Club Josh travels to Las Vegas to see Charo perform at the Venetian. I haven't seen Charo perform since I saw her in Reno back in 1998. Hopefully, the new show will be better than ever, and I will get the chance to get some good pictures. Of course, the Gorn will be along for the trip and maybe I can update the celebrity photo of Charo with the Gorn.

Tomorrow, my favorite TV show returns to the air: The Amazing Race! I fell in love with the show last fall and can't wait for the new episodes. I have been watching Survivor: Marquesas and already like this version better than the Africa group. I missed last week's episode due to the ineptitude of Adelphia cable. Apparently, there was a massive outage in my part of LA causing the cable to be mostly out for over two days. Repeated calls to the 800 number were rewarded with Call Center personnel who had no clue. Thankfully, it is back on the air in time for the Amazing Race.

Spent most of the weekend trying to recover from Friday night. I had only four hours of sleep and had to be at the Mouse House by 7:30am. I survived and arrived on-time, but spent most of the rest of the week napping. Saturday was a complete loss, but Sunday I managed to go see the relatives and have dinner at Chevy's.

I did manage to do some work on the Club House. I am still afraid that when it finally launches, there will still be tons left to do. If I tried to get it all done at once, it would never be done.

Palm has introduced two new color handhelds. Sorry Chaos, I guess we should have waited a few weeks before you went out and bought that Visor Prism. I especially like the fact that they released a super-cheap color model, and that they have improved on the m505. I'd go color - if I actually used my Palm for more than an address book.

Only six entries for February??? Man, am I slacking! I blame it on a short month. I intend to get back to doing more regular updates sometime soon. I know, I know, I keep saying that, but these update entries can't be forced. I have to nurture them.

Today I finally began the great purge. I have not filled all the bags of crud up yet, but let's just say that the mound on the floor is rather large. I am glad that I do not have any small children - they might get buried. I'm glad my friend Cooper is not bringing his new son Noah over anytime this weekend. Spring time must be around the corner - I can't explain what has come over me lately. I have mentioned it in the past that I wanted to do it, but something about the weather and lack of interesting web surfing finally gave me the chance to get to it.

Tomorrow I have a bizarre shift - 7:30am-12:45pm. Nothing like getting up early in the morning to make magic. One of the fringe benefits is that because I have Sunday off, it will seem like I had the whole weekend off because I rarely venture out of the house on weekends before 1pm. Not something necessarily to be proud of, but hey, I enjoy my sleep.