In the Waking Hours . . .
Mood:  d'oh
Now Playing: Iggy Pop's "Lust For Life"
to answer the question about my Birks:

i've been wearing Birks since . . . 1993 when i stole my mom's pair. since then, i've gone through three or four different pairs. the ones i'm wearing now i got in 2001, after i got back from Ireland. i promptly destroyed them by wearing them to camp and going creek-walking in them, but had them fixed and now they're still holding together!

note to Birky-buyers: Birks and water don't mix. the soul just peels right off.

alas, no pictures from the party (the Shindig). but i did get a nifty t-shirt, so maybe i'll take a picture of that and post it!

there are some mornings when it takes the better part of two hours for me wake up. ever have those? when the alarm startles you and you walk around in a haze that you know Frou Frou would compose the music for, should this moment be in a movie?

that's this morning. i took me fifteen minutes for my feet to find the floor, with oldies blaring on the radio.

why is is that sometimes six hours of sleep is more than you need and other times it's hardly enough? yesterday wasn't any more straining than any other day of my life . . . i don't get it. just hook me up to the caffeine drip and every little thing is gonna be alright.

ugh . . . Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Sweet Home Alabama" just came on. am i not in the mood.

hold on.

ah. skipped the track and now we're onto Mike Post's theme for "S.W.A.T." life is good again. Buh-uh-duh! Buh-uh-duh! Buh-uh-duh! Buh-uh-duh! Buh-nuh-nuh!

when that little title bar aks what's playing, i'm never sure what to put, so i usually put what song is playing when this blog begins. because by the time i'm done, it's usually two or three songs later.

see? now we're onto Rick James' "She's a Brickhouse."

anyway. i digress.

have a good one.

Shindig!
Mood:  hungry
Now Playing: Crazy Town's "Come My Lady"

shindig at Shawnessey's went well, though not as well as we had hoped. the rain kept most the people away, but we still had upwards of forty people show up (about eighty to a hundred were expected). for those of you who aren't Collegedalians, shindig is Shawnessey Cargile's (aka Jim Smithers) response to the secular parties of the area. it's a time to come together and not worry about people getting drunk. we grill up some burgers and hot dogs (all vegetarian, of course), sit around, talk and laugh. live music is provided by Foster, Shawnessey, and whatever local artists can be secured. last night it was (Jason) Foster, Shawnessey, and a couple of their friends. fun was had by all -- though i had to cut out early.

"you know what i like about you?" Foster asked me as we hung up a tarp.

"no, actually." i responded truthfully.

"you always wear those sandals," he said, pointing to my Birkenstocks.

Birks forever, baby. Birks forever.

the Chattanooga Theatre Center is holding a script writing contest. winner gets $1000 and the play will be produced next May. i'm gonna go through my computer and see what i can rustle up, polish over, and submit.

oops, time for lunch! tootles!

A Long Blog About Nothing (of Importance)
Mood:  flirty
Now Playing: The Isley Brothers' "Shout" (Music Matters Remix)
but at least i'm earnest, that's the important thing, right?

i took a personal day on Friday and it was exactly what the doctor called for (despite what those Dr Pepper commercials may lead you to believe). i enjoyed my personal three-day weekend. i recharged my batteries, wrote, watched movies, played video games, and had a little party at my place.

movies watched? "Wedding Crashers," "Red -vs- Blue: Season 3," "Million Dollar Baby," "Stander," "Wag the Dog," and "The Boys and Girl from County Clare."

QUICK REVIEWS OF ABOVE LISTED MOVIES:

Wedding Crashers is the most genuinely funny films in a very long time. yes, it's R-rated, so expect R-rated material, but there's no shock comedy, something recent R-rated comedies have relied a little too much on. Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson fit like a glove and a perfect comedy team. they're money and i hope they know it.

Red -vs- Blue: Season 3 was highly enjoyable. not as good as Season 1 but better and more consistent and Season 2. what can i say? i have a soft spot for time travel comedy.

Million Dollar Baby is the most engaging film to come out of Hollywood since . . . um . . . i'm not sure what. everyone in the room was cheering, booing, crying, cursing. finally, a "Best Picture" winner that deserved it!

Stander is the true story of a cop that goes crooked in South Africa in the early 80's. well-put together film but never fully engaged me. it became background noise as i picked up my laptop and got some work done. but if you liked Tom Jane in The Punisher, come check out his acting chops!

Wag the Dog is the perfect movie for those who are politically cynical. 5/5 stars.

The Boys and Girl from County Clare is a delightful Irish film about music, family, and first love. this is the Ireland i remember: completely innocent people who swear like sailors.

and that's the movie review!

i finished reading CS Lewis' The Magician's Nephew, which is Book 1 of the Chronicles of Narnia. technically, it's not. it was written after all the others to help introduce Narnia and explain a few things (relationships and what-not), but it takes place before all the others. like The Hobbit. there's good argument for and against reading it first. i decided to read it first. i've read the Narnia books before (well, at least three of them) and i'm getting back into them to refresh my memory and imagination before the movie opens this December.

Shindig tonight!

It's Good to Be Alive (and a Bon Jovi Fan)!
Mood:  vegas lucky
Now Playing: Bon Jovi's "Right Side of Wrong"
today is excellent. super. awesome. spectacular. amazing. astonishing. exciting. great. groovy. uncanny. splendiferous.

i was perusing the web and decided to visit the website of a little band called BON JOVI. and what was there waiting for me? why, the announcement that September 20th is going to be a very good day. why? because Bon Jovi is releasing a new album! their last completely new album was back in 2002, so it's about dang time! since 2002, i will admit, they've kept me satisfied and salivating over such album releases as "This Left Feels Right" and "1,000,000,000 Bon Jovi Fans Can't Be Wrong," but TLFR was a greatest hits album (with a twist) and 1BJFCBW was a four-disc set of previously unreleased and hard-to-find material.

BRING IT ON!!

ooh, i hope they tour with this one (as i'm sure they will). last time they came through Atlanta, Kelly (my darling fiance') got us tickets for Valentine's day (okay, they were for me, but she seemed to enjoy it too). that was for the "Bounce" tour.

in closing, here's a little glimpse at what is to come:

(woo-hoo! blog #37! sorry, ViewAskew injoke)

The Girl I'm Gonna Marry
Mood:  chatty
Now Playing: Robbie Williams' "Strong"
found this picture and knew i had to share it with the world. this is the girl i'm gonna marry.

(eighteen years ago)

geez, i'm not that creepy.

A Girl Interrupted a Requiem for a Trainspotting Prozac Nation
Mood:  incredulous
Now Playing: REM's "Everybody Hurts"

i watched "Prozac Nation" last night, but that's hardly worth mentioning. i know it was based on a best-selling book, but the movie . . . i'm not sure how to describe it. i never cared for the characters and i think there's a couple of casting decisions were made on name status alone, not actual acting ability or believability (Jessica Lange playing a woman who gave birth to a college-aged Christina Ricci when she was a teenager, for example). the script needed another draft or two before it could get to the level of tragedy i think it was trying to ascertain. if you're looking for an effective, affecting movie about someone and their drug addiction, go watch "Trainspotting," which is excellent and has nothing to do with actually spotting trains. or, if you feel like you have energy to spare and don't mind having the life drained out of you by the most heart-breaking, gut-wrenching, nightmare-inducing film ever produced, go cuddle up to "Requiem for a Dream" with a big bowl of popcorn. or if it's about a girl battling her inner demons and depression, go watch "Girl, Interrupted."

and that above paragraph is what scares me the most about trying to break into the film industry. every time you think you have a decent idea, there's at least three or four other films that have already done it and done it better. it's that fear that me to be better with every script that i write.

A Typical Morning for T Scott Fogg
Mood:  caffeinated
Now Playing: Colin Hay's "Waiting For My Real Life to Begin"

every night before i go to bed, i set my alarm. since i don't have an alarm clock, i use an old cell phone. depending on how courageous i'm feeling, i set it for 6:50 or 7:00 AM. this week i'm feeling courageous.

i stumble into the shower and pray that the water wakes me up. sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn't. depends on how long it takes for the hot water to kick in.

by 7:15 i'm almost completely dressed (or just in my boxers) and i'm in the kitchen deciding whether or i should eat breakfast. if i eat breakfast, i can't stand to eat in silence, so i'll put something on. i don't have cable, so it's usually an episode of The Simpsons, but sometimes it's a movie. a couple of weeks ago, i was working my way through "The Pink Panther" movies and i'd take them in in 15-minute installments. this morning i opted out of breakfast as i realized the milk i've been drinking is eight days past its expiration date.

i get dressed, grab the ol' laptop, and head off to work. on days i don't eat breakfast, i make a pit stop at BP, a gas station i pass every morning. Krispy Kreme delivers doughnuts there and i'll pick two up (original glazed and raspberry filled).

at work by 8am. if i'm carrying doughnuts, i make a quick stop in the kitchen, where Rachel Davis (our on-staff massage therapist) has a fresh pot of coffee brewing. i like my coffee black and sip it as i ascend the tower to my office, where i sit back, check my e-mail, and devour my doughnuts as i caffeinate myself -- as i pray i won't have to talk to anyone before 10am, as the coffee takes its dear sweet time to kick in.

though today, i have to admit, it's only 8:33 and i'm feelin' as fine and frisky as Thumper twitterpated.

Kelly came over last night and i let her listen to the music i'm picking out for the wedding. to my relief and excitement, she really liked it all -- including the string quartet version of Bon Jovi's "Always."

oh yes. the Jove will be represented at our wedding.

No Noose is Good Noose
Mood:  suave
Now Playing: Howard Shore's "The Riders of Rohan," from his score for "The Two Towers"

okay, "The Fantastic Four" is simply a fun movie. don't concern yourself with the critics, just go and have a good time. i did. i went in with some fears but found they were ungrounded. it's not the best superhero movie, nor is it perfect, but damn if it isn't one of the most fun. good laughs, good thrills, good action.

in other movie news, "Vanity Fair" has no redeeming qualities. okay, it's well acted, the costumes are amazing, the locations are breath-taking, and the cinematography is top-notch. but the film just meanders from one boring scene to another. the all-star cast is wasted on a senseless script that makes me despise Thackeray. it's seldom i have such a vehement reaction to a film, but the world must be warned. "Vanity Fair" is an unjust test of your sanity.

i attended Hollie Cook's wedding yesterday (Sunday). that makes three weddings in four weeks. counting my taking in of "Four Weddings and a Funeral," that's seven weddings and a funeral in four weeks. wow. sorry, random tangent. it was a nice wedding and it was cool seeing old friends from Jersey whom i haven't seen since 7th grade.

an interesting point was brought up in concern of one of my last blogs. i mentioned many of us worship the same god, whether ye be Islamic, Muslim, Jewish, or Christian and Amanda disagreed. and i just want to comment on that because it's something i've wondered about and thought on many times:

we Christians all believe in the same Father, Son and Holy Ghost, but the Catholic view of God, someone who needs to be convinced by the saints to help us, is not the same God we Protestants worship, a God who is eager to help. and that's just within Christianity. do we worship the same God, and what does He do when i pray to Him and a Catholic prays to a dead guy (St Peter, we'll say), hoping that dead guy will talk to God on their behalf? technically, we're worshiping the same God. spiritually and characteristically, not at all. i dunno. it kind of saddens me that so many of us can trace our beliefs back to the Bible, but everyone has gone separate directions since then.

pray for me. i may have a career change looming in front of me. pray that i go where i need to and it is my belief that only God knows where i need to be.

The Four Incredible Fantastics
Mood:  hungry
Now Playing: Everything's "Hooch"

the reviews are rolling in and it looks like "The Fantastic Four" may be the biggest superhero dud since "Batman & Robin." i'm going to see it this afternoon, after lunch with Mom and Dad. part of me has to wonder how much the critics are being swayed by "The Incredibles" or if this is just going to be a bad film.

i really dug "The Incredibles," as it worked on a plethora of levels: it was commentary on the modern family, it was about a man and his mid-life crisis, it was a beautiful homage to almost every other superhero, it was funny, it was a great action flick, the list could go on and on. but i do have a gripe. and it's a big one:

if you're going to make an original movie about superheroes, shouldn't you create your own superheroes?

even the newest of newbies to comicdom notice the more than coincidental likeness to the Fantastic Four: strong guy, check. stretchy person, check. girl who can turn herself invisible and also create force fields to protect herself and those she wishes to save, check. person who can turn themself on fire, check.

i know, i know. what super power hasn't been used? is it at all possible to even create a new superhero? as i sit here and try to figure out how i would tell a superhero family story, the only thing i can come up with is: whatever i do, it can't be the F4.

because those of us who read the comics know that the Fantastic Four has always been about family. it's always been about team work. it's always been about being genetic freaks who, depending on the day, are loved or hated by the populace -- which is why Stan Lee, the creator of all things Marvel, watched the Incredibles and said, "I liked it. But then again, I've never created a superhero I didn't like. And it was like watching something I wrote."

couldn't the Incredibles come up with some different powers? couldn't the creators have, at least, created a team with different powers than the Fantastic Four? i know, the powers of the Incredibles mirror their personality, but even still, this is too close for comfort. even the name is similar! who's the leader of the Incredibles? Mister Incredible. the leader of the Fantastic Four? Mister Fantastic.

it's enough to make Mister Hyperbole* sick.

but in other news, i have no life. i watched "Singles" and "The Talented Mister Ripley" last night. i enjoyed them. i'd give them each 4/5 stars. Cameron Crowe wrote and directed "Singles," and i love his work. this isn't his best ("Almost Famous") but far from his worst ("Vanilla Sky") -- though if you're worst film is "Vanilla Sky," which is actually a really interesting film, i think you're doing alright for yourself. better than alright. i didn't know if i was going to like "The Talented Mister Ripley." it was directed by Anthony Minghella, who's other big films "The English Patient" and "Cold Mountain" either bored or offended me. but it was actually really good. Matt Damon creates a sociopath that you never root for, but you feel sorry for -- in a very slight, subtle way, his performance reminded me of Anthony Hopkins' in "The Silence of the Lambs."

one hour and fifty-six minutes till freedom. see ya' on Monday!

* not a real superhero, but he might as well be. i think i'll create a superhero family called "The Hyperboles," and they'll fight their arch nemesis, "Raging Adjective."

Horror in the World
Mood:  hug me
Now Playing: Lazlo Bane & Colin Hay's "Overkill"
you've heard the news. four blasts have rocked London this morning. as i write this, two people have already been killed and dozens others have been wounded. pray for the wounded. pray for the families who have already lost loved ones. pray that horror of this world does not rob people of their hope or faith and that the Lord returns soon and puts an end to this sadness.

UPDATE

it's 11:50 am and CNN is reporting that at least thirty-three people are dead, with estimates being made that probably something closer to forty were slain "and scores wounded" in the attacks this morning.

a group calling themselves the "Secret Organization of al Qaeda Organization in Europe*" is claiming responsibility for the attack.

if i may be so blunt, what kind of f&cked-up deity do you serve that demands the slaying of innocent men, women, and children? i've read a lot about the Judeo-Christian god (which, incidentally, is the same god Muslims believe in) and He strikes me as someone who's interested in saving people from themselves, not killing them because they aren't following his guidelines. whatever happened to compassion, kindness, good-will, grace, forgiveness, and the ability to reach out to people and help them? while bombing someone might (supposedly) secure you a place in heaven, what about the people you're killing? doesn't your god want them there too? you're gonna be in for quite a shock come Judgment Day.

just, you know, FYI.

* Don't laugh. That's actually their name. But a quick tip for you's out there thinking about creating a fanatical religious cult with world domination (or destruction) on the to-do list, don't use the word "Secret" in your title and if you can't avoid using the artistically inept and uninspiring word "Organization," use it only once. Another tip would be smaller is usually better. I know for guys this is counter-intuitive, but let's say "The Angry Armadillos" attacked London today. That name would be on the tip of everyone's tongue instead of "um . . . some group that's linked with al Qaeda -- no, sorry, they're an organization. I remember that much." Just, you know, FYI.