My review of Ted

I've been looking forward to this one. For a long time. Since the rumored Family Guy movie, I've been hoping MacFarlane would be successful in his film endeavors. I went to the first possible showing: 12:35 Friday afternoon at the west Warren Theater. A good sized crowd got to see the movie; it was a very good sized crowd for the early afternoon. We were in store for a profane but touching comedy.

I'll start out by saying I'll try not to spoil the party too much by giving anything away. I can tell you that Seth MacFarlane's comic genius in Family Guy, American Dad, and The Cleveland Show surges through to his movie writing/directing. A lot of profane and drug related humor made me laugh, and the rest of the audience laughed too.

So, the jokes are there, and the movie is downright hilarious, but it goes beyond that too. Mila Kunis and Mark Wahlberg are great. Mark Wahlberg's role could have easily destroyed the movie had someone lesser taken the character. I could see someone overacting in some of the humorous parts, but Wahlberg does great. The "Thunder Buddy" song as shown in the red movie trailer is an example of something that could have been ruined by overacting. But no. And MacFarlane was enjoyable too. His voice sounded a bit like Peter Griffin's at times, but that's to be expected.

The plot is simple, but it works for this kind of a movie. Wahlberg has been wasting time, smoking weed and shooting the shit with his Teddy bear while Mila Kunis tries to get him to move forward in various places in life. The job, the romance; they suffer.

I  won't say any more than that because many of you haven't had the chance to see it yet. I will say that this film is not for children and definitely deserves it's R rating. And I will also say that Seth MacFarlane is a comic genius.

New house, New life

Things have been swarming in love and life. I bought a house. Yes. I bought a house. How about that? And I love the house too. I built a theater in the basement complete with an HD projector and a 7.1 surround sound system. That's my real pride of the house.

And of course August will be huge for me. I'm getting married. Also, I'm going to be teaching five classes at Cowley. That's a butt-load. So new house, a soon-to-be wife, and a job. Right now I have nothing to complain about.

The thing that has eluded me this summer has been updating this blog. I've decided I will update things at least a few times a week. I haven't been able to update due to my constant moving. From parents house to crummy apartment to parents house to new house. I'm finally settled, and I hope to add some followers soon.

Yes, while I am an angry liberal, I promise not to turn this into a political blog. There are enough of those out there, and many of them are full of...well...shit. I'm not going to sink that far down. Although...this will be used to discuss current events, film, literature, sports and the like.

I just got back from the movies. Ted was fun. There are hints of Family Guy throughout, and Mila Kunis is as beautiful as always. This is the story of a foul mouthed Teddy bear and his friend. I'm not going to go into depth about it much, but it is definitely worth seeing.

Other films I've seen recently that are worth seeing:

The Raven
Prometheus 3D
Avengers
21 Jump Street
Men in Black 3
Tucker and Dale vs. Evil
Fido


I may end up watching Real Steel tonight.

Again, I am currently in search of followers. Feel free to comment, and I will continue to update.

Go Jayhawks

Bird feeding your child

To get this blog entry, you gotta read this: http://marquee.blogs.cnn.com/2012/03/29/alicia-silverstones-feeding-technique-raises-questions-2/

Now I am not a parent, and I don't plan to be anytime in the future. So, maybe I'm wrong on this. And I must also say I'm an open minded person.

But this is pretty gross. I can argue that there are probably toxins in baby food, just as there are with all foods we eat, but seriously, get a food processor. They're fifty dollars at Target. We are not birds. We are humans, and SUPPOSEDLY, superior to animals; at least that's what people say, although sometimes I don't necessarily believe it.

Any thoughts on this? Am I wrong in calling this gross?

Announcing a new short story

Not sure how many people are reading this, but I've been in the works over the spring break on a new short story. I don't have a title yet, although I have a draft complete. I'm rewriting it, making some pretty big changes, and at first, I wasn't that excited about the story, but now I am. So I just have to throw this out there. I am in the hopes of getting some work published. I need to get in the habit of throwing my work around the mill again, but it is so discouraging to get rejection after rejection.

So, I figure I need new material. And here it is. I've gone back to my roots, the roots that got me into the MFA program. Quick, witty, profane filled stories. I have no reason why I shouldn't be writing again, and hopefully I can get a few things published.

Any encouraging words would be nice...wink wink. Anyone out there? It seems like these journals don't even read my stories. I'm wondering if they even read my cover letters. And I wonder if agents even read my queries.

Anyhow, on a completely different note, I've been kicking major ass at the casinos. I won $500 in Newkirk. I've won a combined $4,000 at the Kansas Star in Mulvane ($2,000 jackpot, $1,000 jackpot, and combined small amounts). I just can't lose! They even put my photo in the paper (The Eagle) for an advertisement, as well as put me in a commercial and a billboard.

Well, I'm going to put on some vinyls and kick back and work on this story. Tomorrow will be set aside for getting ready for next week.

Peace out all...and again...any writers out there who can offer some encouraging words or advice? It would be appreciated.

-db

Currently reading Pulp by Bukowski. Great so far. Read Post Office a while back. It fascinated me. His style is quick and witty without bogging down the pace with a whole lot of description.

George Clooney arrested

I have more respect for this man than ever.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/george-clooney-arrested-in-washington-at-sudan-protest/2012/03/16/gIQAWnuxGS_story.html

Spring Break, Basketball, Santorum, and Marriage

It's time to get away from my students for just a bit. It will be nice. I'm writing a short story as well as sending out letters to agents and publishers. Learning guitar and bass guitar at the same time. Monday I'm going down to Newkirk, Oklahoma for some gambling.

But honestly no one gives a damn about that stuff. Here's what's got me thinking:
Shockers lose in first round of the tournament to VCU. What the hell? Really? All that hype building from the end of the regular season and this is what turns out? Stutz missing a 3 pointer to end the game, a guy who sat out most of the game in foul trouble. In my ignorant opinion, Stutz is overrated.

Oh, and I'm still stuck on this birth control business. Please Mr. Santorum, do not tell women to cross their legs...Just because you haven't been laid in decades doesn't mean the rest of us have to suffer. It sounds more like a personal problem than a social issue. "Doesn't it strike you as mildly ironic that most of the people who are against abortion are people you wouldn't want to fuck in the first place?" - George Carlin

Oh, and we found a church to get married in. I, unlike most men, am actually excited at getting married. I believe that if you've found the right person, you should be enthused about the idea. Is it naive of me to say that I can't wait to live with the person whom I dub to be the most awesome person in the world?

-db

Visitors, Visitors, Please!

It's been a while since I've updated this, and that's my fault. I need to keep in closer touch with civilization. Right now I am teaching English Comp I and II at Cowley Community College. Fall I will begin teaching Intro to Literature as well. They think highly of me there.

My mission for this blog in the foreseeable future is to update my status on getting For My Mother Tells Me So published. I may throw some thoughts in about current events as well.

Today I'm spending some time looking at publishers rather than agents. We'll see how that works out. My goal is to update this blog 3-5 times a week, and maybe, just maybe get a few more followers.

Twitter me: DougABrowning