This is MARCH!

I've never quite understood, personally, the whole college circuit of sports in the United States. It's just such a big thing there, in all forms, and I've never quite understood it. It's definitely a different type of game, a lot less ego than in a normal one, but there's also a lot less maturity when it comes to loses and wins and calls on plays.

Been keeping an eye on the latest of the Final Four countdown. I really don't know much on the rivalries, but I'm really enjoying a lot of the matches just because of how hard these kids play. It's fiercely competitive, and undeniably intense for a lot of different reasons.

Point is, I'm starting to get now why it's such a big thing. My mind is melting.

This is SPARTA!

I saw 300 on the opening day. I was invited to go to a Midnight show on the Thursday, but I really couldn't bring myself to get 4 hours of sleep for a movie that I already knew the ending, beginning and middle of.

Overall, I have to give major credit. The film delivers. It is exactly what it is advertised as, and exactly what I was expecting. Strong, visually compelling and intense story based on the Frank Miller comic based on the movie from earlier in the 20th century.

It is a designed film, though. It is designed to basically appeal to the animal senses. Has all the necessary components for it. Small army v. Large one. Evil backstabbers and snappy comebacks. Overwhelming villains that become more and more frustrated. You just get that "Root for the underdog!" sense for everything. People eat it up.

So it doesn't surprise me when it's being defended on most sites as the best movie in a long, long time. People get fierce over it. Personally, it carried a lot of the weight that Snyder carried with Dawn of the Dead. The time in between the action scenes were so trivial and odd, and the dialogue was delivered so awkwardly in some spots that I just shook my head.

It wasn't really an epic movie, either. Not enough happened, not a lot of development. We get the characters right from the get-go, and we get no real surprises. We even have the evil villain who ends up more like Green Goblin. "Join me and we will rule the world!" "I'll get you for this gaaaadgeeeeeet!"

It's not a bad film. By no means. It was so well put together that calling it such would be stupid. But, that said, I wasn't completely blown away. It was a good sophomore directing effort, probably one of the better I've seen of big-budget movies, and well executed in the vision of Miller. If I had to rate it, I'd put it near the 7/10 or so. It did as much as it could with the material, so it should get a lot of credit for good delivery on its promises.

This is ENDLESS!

I've been minding the place I live in because everyone who lives there is gone on vacation. That means feeding all the various animals and making sure that nothing catches fire. As such, my dog has been keeping me up all night. He howls. Non-stop. He gets "lonely" and when it gets dark and I go to sleep, he gets loud. But, he refuses to come into my room for more than five minutes. Goes back to the window and starts again. I haven't slept a full night in over 5 days. People don't come back until Sunday.

I won't last.

Lent is almost up. I gave up Chicken wings and coca-cola, both have become a regular part of my consumption regimine. Both are killing me. Easter will be a good time. I am trying to convince `imperfect to come up a bit before then (it is her birthday early April) but we'll see. She's busy applying to jobs and whatnot, and my job keeps me pretty occupied, so nothing is definite. Doesn't mean I can't bug her about it.

Oh, and the first to point out that I am writing this journal at work will disappear mysteriously in the night.

This is VICTORY!

Contests are almost all sorted. Still need to take care of a couple, but I'll soon be done that. LGU is coming soon, so if you have any projects that you're running, planning on running, or ARE EVEN JUST AWARE OF please let me know and I'll do my best to have them included.

I've been approached about running a little contest out of the lit forums, so I might take care of that soon. I'm getting more and more DD suggestions, too, which is great. Sorry if I don't reply right away, but I do read them all. Usually a couple of times before I make any decisions. Keep them coming.