pop culture

first on a poker note, congrats to evy on her 20k score (5th place) at the borgata in event #1. so awesome!!

occasionally i spend time doing things other than playing poker (shocking, i know). i've been trying to catch up on pop culture in time for the new tv season, and it's been fun.

people have been recommending the kite runner to me for ages, but i didn't know what it was about, and what little i knew did not sound appealing. a friend gave it to me for my bday, and i finally picked it up. i read it almost non stop for a couple days, with the exception of subway rides, b/c tears started streaming down my face and i felt like an idiot. anyway, it's good. check it out. it's a really rich story about boys growing up in afghanistan and weaves together themes of family and honor and love and other good stuff.

i'm about halfway through eat pray love, another best seller that i put off reading. i love (LOVE!) the author's style. this woman went through a nasty divorce and an intense rebound, then set off for a year, spending four months in italy, four in india and four in indonesia. she writes in the first person about her semi-spiritual journey through the places and it's def not as self-helpy as i first thought it would be from the book jacket.

i watched a weird horror movie the other night, then watched it again last night during the 1r and it really grew on me. it's called turistas, i have no idea what kind of theater release it got, but it's got olivia wilde in it, from the oc and house. she plays one of a group of americans stranded in brazil after their bus breaks down. cheesy (obv) but good stuff.

also watched the invasion, the nicole kidman/body snatchers movie, and it was a fine distraction but nothing special.

i re-joined netflix so i could finish the wire season 5, finally, and it was worth it. i think seasons 3 and 4 are still my faves, but it was good, and i liked the way they ended it. i won't write more b/c i cling to the hope that all you non-watchers out there will rise up and rent the wire, and i don't want to spoil anything.

next on my queue is cache, a french suspense movie that i've been wanting to see for ages, and the closet, also french, about a guy who works in a condom factory and is worried about losing his job, so he pretends to be gay. i haven't seen it in a few years, and hope it's as good as i remember.

i've been playing madden, mostly with my franchise team, which won it's first game easily. :-) this w/e will be more of a test probably. i also got mario kart, and have played that a bit. i have to limit my time on the wii due to tendinitis, but still finding time for wii fit. those balance games are so much fun!

and how bout those giants??? booooooooooooooooooooooom. spent my night watching the game and acting as a wingman for a friend -- not sure how good a wingman i was, though, since i left her in the hands of a republican. :-)

i'm super psyched for new tv, even though the good shit like lost and bsg isn't gonna be on for ages. something fucked up w/ my tivo while i was away for the weekend and the season premiere of gossip girl didn't record. :-( i also missed the new bev hills 90210, but i figure if it's worth checking out i can start late (how bad can any show w/ jessica walter be though, really). i missed a few eps of 30 rock from last year, so hoping i get a chance to watch the rest before the new season starts. that show is so great it's hard for me to believe it's back for a 3rd season.

i'll prob give chuck another shot this season, since i thought it was decent and i'm gonna check out the new hbo show true blood, which starts this week. i've also been catching up on californication. i watched the first three eps when they first aired but then got busy w/ other stuff but now i'm going through them on demand, and always find myself excited to watch more. and yay for dexter!!!

ok, i'm rambling, time for bed.