That seating information is just a suggestion...

I go to a lot of events. A LOT. I go to a lot of different venues. A LOT. From big to small, reserved seating to general admission, whatever. When my seating is reserved, I do something CRAZY and actually sit in my reserved seat. And I never have a problem finding my seat. NEVER. I'm sure there are others like me; rule followers on the straight and narrow, afraid to step out of the comfort zone of their actual seat. You know you are.

But then there are the rest of the people. You know the ones. The ones entitled to sit wherever they like no matter what their ticket says. If you're one of these, then you should just stop reading now because I'm going to get snippy. 

What is the DEAL???

You are driving me CRAZY!!!

I have found that those of you who don't sit in your actual seats fall into three groups:

Group One: I can't find my actual seat.

Really? Is it simply too difficult to read the section, row and seat number on the ticket? Is it even harder still to ask an usher or other employee of the venue to help you? I need your help here because I really don't understand. Maybe I'm blessed with a magical seat finding gene and just don't know it, but I doubt it. Just ask the question. It's not hard.

Group Two: But I want to sit with my friends!

You're the one who got a ticket after your friends did and so now, your seat is five sections away and you can't talk through the entire game/concert. So you try to squeeze in near your friends, which is interesting if seating is bench style, but when there are actual seats, it doesn't actually work. But you keep trying. And you sweet talk the folks near your friends to see if they mind squeezing in with you. Sometimes this works, or at least you think it does. Believe me, most of the time, those people just want to push you down the stairs. Deal with the fact that you were lame and couldn't make a decision when your friends did. Go sit in your real seat. Maybe one of them will switch with you between bands or periods of play. Just don't ask me to squeeze, okay?

Group Three: That seating information is just a suggestion - the most popular of our groups.

Do you feel that the section, row and seat number printed on the ticket are just suggestions? Helpful guides to give you a seating OPTION? Is that what you think? You seem to know where your actual seats are, but aren't really interested in sitting in them. You're the ones that know you're breaking the rules, but you don't care. So you move around from seat to seat, glancing over at your actual - empty! - seats every now and then to see if someone has moved into them in your absence. You really think you're entitled to sit wherever you want, and what I love MOST is when the people come to sit in their actual seats that you've occupied. When this happens, you give them a look as though they're in YOUR way. Wow. You are AWESOME and soooo much cooler and more important than the rest of us. 

I watch these things happen time and time again at Sharks games and concerts and am getting more and more annoyed with it. Why can't people just sit in their right seats? Life isn't perfect. Sometimes you get disappointed. Learn to deal with it. Maybe the man/woman of your dreams is in the seat next to your actual seat. Maybe it's someone you could do business with. Maybe it's a celebrity in disguise. Maybe, just maybe, it's me. Wouldn't you feel bad if you didn't get to sit next to me? Believe me. You would.

I'm not trying to tell you how to live your life, but if you could just do me this one little favor, I would be forever grateful.

Thanks.

Midnight Movie Line Madness

"Run it up Herman. Leave no doubt." (Coach Yoast to Coach Boone in Remember the Titans)

"Once a place touches you like this, the wind never blows so cold." (Doc Graham to Ray in Field of Dreams)

"Marry me my wonderful darling friend." (Mr. Knightley to Emma in Emma)

These are some of my favorite lines from movies. Yes, the Emma line isn't exactly in the book, but I don't care. When Jeremy Northam says it, it's the most perfect thing anyone could ever say. In fact, his whole speech is quite lovely so I've included it here for your enjoyment.

I could go on for days listing favorite lines, but am wondering what some of your favorites are. And just for fun, I'm listing three more below for you to guess...yes, this is what I do when I'm awake at 12:15am on a day when my alarm clock is going to ring at 4:21am. That's about 4 hours from now. Oh yeah. That will be SUPER fun. Anyway...tell me your favorites, and see if you know these...

"She's without."

"I love magic."

"Now I've got the gold and you, you've got nothing."

And no fair googling the quotes...not that I would know, but still...that's cheating people...

A bottle of red...

For those of you that know me, you know it's not that unusual for me to get free meals for one reason or another. Sometimes it's bad service. Sometimes it's a bad kitchen. Sometimes it's a combination of the two. Tonight the problem was the kitchen.

The restaurant? Maggiano's in Santana Row.

Three friends and I ordered our dinner after appetizers had already arrived. I ordered the filet while they had pasta dishes. Their dishes came out before mine which wasn't a big deal. A person can only carry so many plates at one time, so I waited and they started eating. And then I waited some more. And then some more. And then our waiter (whose name was Ish by the way) came and told me he was checking on my steak. And then there was some more waiting while my friends continued to eat their pasta. Ish returned after almost 10 more minutes and let me know that the kitchen had overcooked the steak but didn't tell him, so he'd asked for another one to be cooked asap. So I waited some more. And then, yes, some more. When he came back and told me it would be another few minutes and asked if that was okay, I told him it was fine but to just go ahead and package it to go. I had no interest in eating it at that point. My friends were finished, and while they would have gladly waited for me to eat, I was over it. I was, in a word, done.

A few minutes later Rick Menard appeared. He was the manager on duty and sat my bag of food down in front of me while apologizing for the whole scenario. He let me know that he'd be taking care of the dinner and then handed me a nice bottle of wine that he told me to enjoy with my dinner. Our server certainly knew I wasn't happy, and he did exactly the right thing by letting the manager know. The manager did exactly the right thing by comping my meal and giving me the bonus bottle of wine. Of course, I don't drink wine so I gave the bottle to one of my friends, but it was a very nice gesture, and it definitely means I might try Maggiano's again.

So thank you Rick Menard. You rock.

Oh, and I ate the filet after I got home...complete joy. One of the best filets I've ever eaten. And I've eaten a lot. 

In case you missed the Oscars...

So here we are...the pre-show for the Oscars...and I suppose I'll do a little blogging...

So far, the dresses I've liked the most belong to Sandra Bullock and Cameron Diaz (saw them on E and online). I haven't seen a lot of the movies, but those I've seen I've loved. The rest will have to wait for DVD or be ignored (read: Avatar and Inglorious Basterds).

And I'm still a little bit in love with Zac Efron. **sigh** Why am I not younger?

The ABC hosts are bugging me. I'll rewind my E! recording of the 2-hour red carpet special later to see everyone.

Oooo...loving J Lo's dress too. She looks very glamorous.

Oh SJP...do not like your outfit or your hair.

Oh my, what was with that Whoopie Goldberg ad about Poise? That was painful.

Can the show just start? This pre-show is a snooze.

Oh yes Kate Winslet...I like the whole ensemble...more glamor. 

Okay, I might be a little in love with Taylor Lautner too, but I think that is actually illegal, right? Don't worry Zac, you're still #1.

Not many people can pull off white, but of course Meryl can. Meryl can do anything. ANYTHING.

Oh good, the pre-show lameness is over. Bring me the real thing!

Love Doogie!! Although I still maintain there is no need for any of this sort of hoopla.

Steve and Alec are bringing the funny, but really, could we just get on with it already? 

Penelope is another who is always perfectly glamorous. 

Best Actor in Supporting Role: Matt Damon/Invictus, Woody Harrelson/The Messenger, Christopher Plummer/The Last Station, Stanley Tucci/The Lovely Bones, Christoph Waltz/Inglorious Basterds ... I vote for Matt because I always vote for Matt, but I didn't see any of these movies, so I have no place to judge. And the winner is...not Matt. It's Christoph Waltz. Seems like no surprise since he won the Globe and the SAG, but I'm still not gonna see it.

Best Animated Feature Film: Coraline, Fantastic Mr. Fox, The Princess & The Frog, The Secret of Kells, UP ... toss up for me between Princess and UP, but I'm betting on UP...aaaaand, it's UP for the win!! I have no issue with that at all!!

Amanda looks rather sparkly, but Miley needs to pull her dress up or just get off my TV. Seriously.

Best Original Song: Almost There/The Princess and The Frog, Down in New Orleans/The Princess and The Frog, some French song I have no idea how to spell from some movie I never even heard of, Take it All/Nine, The Weary Kind/Crazy Heart ... I vote for the Princess and Frog songs...but of course, the Crazy Heart song wins. Meh.

Oh how I adore Robert Downey Jr. Could he BE any more awesome?

Best Original Screenplay: The Hurt Locker, Inglorious Basterds, The Messenger, A Serious Man, UP ... no idea who should win...but, it's The Hurt Locker which I think is what all the buzz was about, right? Anyone know for sure? You go Mark Boal!

John Hughes tribute...hate that we lost him so young...love so many of his movies...nice to see so many of the stars of his movies there to pay tribute to him. I feel sad now.

Best Animated Short: I'll just tell you the winner because I know I didn't see any of them. I gotta say though, the three prior winners who spoke about what the win did for them was quite interesting. And the Oscar goes to...Logorama. Sure. You go Nicholas Schmerkin. Get yours! That actually looked kinda cool.

Best Documentary Short: Once again, just the winner...these all seem like they'd make me cry...Music by Prudence is the winner. To be fair, it did seem like it might be more uplifting than the others.

And who is that woman that joined the winner on stage? Is it Kanye in disguise? Weeeeird.

Best Live Action Short: Who's taking that statue home? Why, it's The New Tenants! Okay, I'm being silly. Some of those actually looked interesting. I'm thinking I could watch a lot more movies if I just watched the shorts.

And my first annoyance with Avatar arrives courtesy of Ben Stiller. I know it's the best movie ever made according to most of you, but I just don't care. I can't get there. Please make it stop.

Best Makeup: Il Divo, Star Trek, The Young Victoria ... yeah, I think Star Trek should win since it had actual creatures and things...and yay, it does!

Best Adapted Screenplay: Up in the Air, Precious, In the Loop, An Education, District 9 ... and the winner is...Precious. Nice. And the winner seems genuinely excited. I like that.

They should show ALL of the awards on TV and get rid of the jokes and skits and singing and such...just saying.

Lauren Bacall...true Hollywood glamour.

Best Actress in Supporting Role: Penelope Cruz/Nine, Vera Farmiga/Up in the Air, Maggie Gyllenhaal/Crazy Heart, Anna Kendrick/Up in the Air, Mo'nique/Precious ... she should win I'm told, has already won the Globe and the SAG. Aaaaand, she gets it. I'll have to check it out on DVD. It definitely looks like a powerful performance.

Mo'nique loves her husband so much. It's really quite endearing. Her speech brought some tears to my eyes.

Oh I love Mr. Darcy...er, Colin Firth.

Really cervical cancer commercial? Really???

Best Art Direction: Avatar, The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus, Nine, Sherlock Holmes, The Young Victoria ... and gee, shock, Avatar wins. That's one.

Uh, Tom Ford, what's with the squinting?

Best Costume Design:Bright Star, Coco before Chanel, The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus, Nine, The Young Victoria ... don't really care who wins, but it's The Young Victoria in case you do.

Oh my. What sort of costume is that winner wearing? Oy.

No no no Charlize Theron. Just no. Who thought THAT was a good idea?

Oh yes. I need the iPad. It's official.

Okay. That hotel skit was absolutely not funny. Not funny and not needed. Stop. Please stop.

Yawn. A horror movie tribute. Why? 

Is it weird that I've never seen the original Jaws but I've seen Jaws III? I have actually seen a lot of these horror movies though and Jack is still uber scary with that ax coming through the door. The screaming, oh the screaming. Make it stop please. And some of these are not horror films. Edward Scissorhands? Really???

Oh look, another Zac sighting. Excellent. Yes, I'm 15.

Gotta love Morgan Freeman. He really does make just about anything sound more interesting than it really is. The only one who does it better is James Earl Jones. And now I just want to watch The Dark Knight.

Best Sound Editing: Avatar, The Hurt Locker, Inglorious Basterds, Star Trek, UP ... And yay, Avatar doesn't win! It's The Hurt Locker. You go sound people!

Best Sound Mixing: Avatar, The Hurt Locker, Inglorious Basterds, Star Trek, Transformers ... Let's see...it's not Avatar again! The Hurt Locker must sound reaaallllyyyy good!

And they're playing the ET music why exactly? I thought for sure Steven Spielberg was coming to the stage. And I would like to reiterate that ALL the awards should be shown on TV. ALL OF THEM!!!

OMG, if there's one movie I'm more sick of hearing about than Avatar it's Inglorious Basterds. Yawn.

Best Cinematography: Avatar, Harry Potter and The Half Blood Prince, The Hurt Locker, Inglorious Basterds, The White Ribbon ... And it's win number two for the blue people. That would be Avatar for the uneducated.

In Memoriam...always makes me a bit weepy...and James Taylor's beautiful singing definitely made it more heartwrenching...too many good people gone...some far too young. Nicely done Academy Awards. Nicely done.

If people are about to dance, I'm going to go get another Coke. 

Oh right, Sam Worthington's not American...please keep talking. Please.

Wait, are we now watching America's Best Dance Crew? Wow. I'll never get that 5 minutes back.

Best Score: Sherlock Holmes, The Hurt Locker, Fantastic Mr. Fox, UP, Avatar ... after the lameness of all the dancing I honestly couldn't care who wins this, but I'll vote for UP since it's one of the two I saw and the music was actually rather moving in my opinion. Let's see who gets the little gold man...Wow! Something I actually liked won? Seriously? You go UP!

Best Visual Effects: Avatar, District 9, Star Trek ... please, please, please let Star Trek win. Please? Just for me? Oh well. Win number three for the blue movie.

Oh man, this commercial for something just makes me want to watch The Sound of Music. Oh. It's a Hyundai ad? Really? I still want to put my DVD in.

I am enjoying hear the Train song Soul Sister on the Samsung TV commercial tonight. 

I want to eat all that Italian food they just showed. Yum. Why can't someone deliver THAT to me?

Oh Jason Bourne Identity. Thank you Matt Damon. That is all.

Best Documentary Feature: I'll just tell you who won because as with the shorts, I saw none of these and never heard of them either. I'm just not much of a documentary fan. I watch movies to escape from reality. Documentaries are real and I can tell these would all make me sad or cranky. The Cove is the winner. It appeared to be something sad about dolphins. I love dolphins. I wouldn't want to watch something about them that made me cry. Wait, Fisher Stevens? Really? Wow.

Wait, is this Tyler Perry's The 82nd Academy Awards? Heh. He's actually kinda funny, but I still don't get why he has to have his name in the titles of all of his movies.

Best Film Editing: Avatar, District 9, The Hurt Locker, Inglorious Basterds, Precious ... Let's see...is it more blue people? NO! It's The Hurt Locker! Maybe I need to see that.

Film editing winners are kinda nerdy and funny. Nice.

Oh Keanu. Please stop trying to be serious. You were at your best in Bill & Ted. Party on.

Wait, was that Martin Sheen's voice I just heard on the Hyundai commercial? Oh President Bartlett. You need a better agent.

What's with the backdrop of weird lamp shades? I don't get it.

And I just don't like Quentin Tarantino. Sorry.

Best Foreign Language Film: And the winner is...a movie I will never see...it's from Argentina...and it's called The Secret in their Eyes. Okay. Sure. Congratulations.

Ha. Winner is funny. Thanking academy for not considering Navi (Avatar blue people language) as a foreign language.

And yeah, I still don't want to see Avatar. Nothing about it appeals, but I have no doubt the effects are amazing.

I'm so happy that because I've had a Coke in the last 20 years that I've helped give college scholarships to deserving people. Man. I think a LOT of people owe me for their college education because in the last 20 years I've probably had an average of 1 Coke a day. That's a lot of freaking Coke people. You're welcome college educated people. I wonder why I didn't get one of those scholarships myself? Hmmmm...curious.

Oh please no. V is having an Oscar themed ad? Really? Luh-ame.

Um, what? Former/Current co-stars are introducing the best actor nominees? More time wasting. But it's nice to see Michelle Pfeiffer. She looks good. But omg, just get on with it. Goodness. Seriously. Get on with the award giving.

Ooo, I loved Shawshank Redemption. I should rent that and watch it again.

Oh good grief, and now someone else is going to come out to read the names again and give the award? I love Kate Winslet. Why didn't they just let her introduce the whole thing like normal? Was the goal of the Oscars to just get as many people on stage as possible? Again I say, luh-ame.

Best Actor in a Leading Role: Jeff Bridges/Crazy Heart, George Clooney/Up in the Air, Colin Firth/A Single Man, Morgan Freeman/Invictus, Jeremy Renner/The Hurt Locker ... I'm certain Jeff Bridges is going to win based on his Globe and SAG wins, but I would love it if Mr. Darcy pulled the upset. And there it is. Jeff Bridges. 

I still have no desire to see that movie. It's not that I don't like him. I do. But it just doesn't appeal. I gotta say he does seem genuinely excited to have won. Oh, it's about country music. That's why it doesn't appeal. Now I get it.

It doesn't seem fair that they're letting him talk forever but played off all the winners of the "lesser" categories. I protest. Who can I call?

And Richard Dreyfuss is also pitching for Hyundai? What gives?

And again with the group of people chatting about the nominees. I'm just not a fan of this even though I love seeing the actors talk about their colleagues. 

Okay, I think Gabourey is loving that Oprah is introducing her. I'd probably be loving that too. And Oprah looks great.

I do love Stanley Tucci. Funny. Very funny.

Um, what's up Sean Penn? Are you lost? Do you know what you're doing up there?

Best Actress in a Leading Role: Sandra Bullock/The Blind Side, Helen Mirren/The Last Station, Carey Mulligan/An Education, Gabourey Sidibe/Precious, Meryl Streep/Julie & Julia ... I'm so torn. I want Sandra and Meryl both to win. They were both great. Tie please? No? Okay. You go Sandra Bullock! This pleases me.

And she's funny. This is why we love Sandra Bullock. She's a great actress and a great human. And her husband is so clearly in love with her. That was really nice.

Really Barbra? You couldn't walk down three steps? Really???

Blah blah blah most successful movie ever made. Blah blah blah.

Best Director: James Cameron/Avatar, Kathryn Bigelow/The Hurt Locker, Quentin Tarantino/Inglorious Basterds, Lee Daniels/Precious, Jason Reitman/Up in the Air. Please let Kathryn upset her ex-husband for the win. Please please please!! And she does it!! Wow!! You go girl!!

Nice to see the writer with tears. Very moving. I definitely need to see this movie even though the topic doesn't appeal. Nice dedication to the military too. Happy for her! Even the ex looked happy for her.

There's an academy governor? And it's Tom Hanks? Maybe he could just be the next governor of California. Being governor somewhere seems to give him more qualification than our current governor had before he was elected.

Best Picture: I seriously can't believe 10 films were nominated for this...stupid, but here they are (and thank you for not restating them all Tom!): Avatar, The Blind Side, District 9, An Education, The Hurt Locker, Inglorious Basterds, Precious, A Serious Man, UP, Up in the Air ... whew! Just typing all of those wore me out! Pretty sure Avatar is going to win based on what everyone's been saying, but with The Hurt Locker winning Best Director, it's now really interesting. Aaaand...Suck it blue people!!! The Hurt Locker wins the big prize!!!

Well, that was what, 4 hours? 5? At least it's only 9 here. Time to wrap this up. Overall, lots of things I didn't see won things, but a few I saw were at least nominate, and I did see Sandra's winning role. I liked that there were some surprises, but really want all the dancing, singing and hoopla to go away. Does anyone at all think that's interesting? Anyone? Bueller? Yeah. That's what I thought.

So, until next year...happy movie watching!!

Is it seriously March already?

I'm not kidding. How did we get here so fast? Wasn't it just Christmas? I can't believe we're starting the third month of 2010 today. I feel as though I've accomplished nothing, yet I've been extremely busy. I suppose 12 hockey games, 3 concerts and a basketball game will do that to a person. Not to mention digging back into LOST and paying semi-attention to the Olympics. I guess it's possible two full months have passed.

I've only got 8 hockey games this month, 1 concert and 1 out-of-town trip. I'm sure that won't wear me out at all. Oh, and I have a huge go-live at work in the middle of it all. Color me AWESOME! I've also got new books to read, more TV to watch, oh, and a little tournament I like to call March Madness. I'm pretty sure I'll wake up tomorrow and it will be April!

I never believed the grown people when I was younger...you know the ones...that told us to enjoy life while we were young, time moves faster once you're older, blah blah blah...I thought they were all crazy, didn't you? It's highly unfortunate to learn how wrong I was...more annoying to find out they were all right. But that's a separate issue...

Life really does move pretty fast...I guess I should have listened to Ferris...