So. Tuesday evenings, DAPGF teaches. That is my night to do things that don't require (and are frankly better without) the presence of DAPGF. These things involve mainly the gym after work, and various computer activities (blogging, poker, finding crazy/amusing old videos on You Tube and such). I knew I owed posts to you fine folks and the few freaks who still stop by Teh Randomness, as well as wanting to get my poker jones on, so I was looking forward to Tuesday and the expected frivolity.
So Monday evening (3/12) I put the computer into sleep mode before I put myself into sleep mode. Because of the internet nazis at work, I try to check my personal email at home before going into work, so I figured a quick boot was preferable. Tuesday morning, I woke up and hit the power switch, waiting for the standby blinks to go solid and my noisy little box to spring to life. Well that didn't happen. The fan made some noise, but that was it...no solid lights, no signal to the monitor, no power/signal to my wireless keyboard and mouse. After powering it off, powering back on a couple of times, I gave up and went to work. By the time I got home, it was completely dead...no power lights, no fan, nothing. So I hopped onto my new favorite website, Tech Support Forum (nerd alert!!! These guys rock! Super helpful on any number of different tech/computer related issues!) and dropped a couple of posts. Several people chimed in, all leaning hopefully towards the Power Supply Unit being dead, but expecting my motherboard to be completely fried. Wednesday I bought a new PSU and installed it...nothing. Yep, the board is fried. So I really had minimal computer access this week. I'm only able to blog now because I've got my work laptop tied into my home network. Any port in a storm. I'm missing my many gigs of mp3s, but at least I'm able to hop online.
Tuesday was also DAPGF's birthday, so I spent most of last weekend and Monday getting things ready for that. We went out to dinner on Saturday, and I got her gifts on Tuesday. I won't divulge the details, but it was all good.
Weight has been the yoyo syndrome, at the high end of where I've been...283-285. Although this morning (3/17), I'd managed to drop a pound and a half from Friday morning. And my boss bought us all pizza on Friday. Yummy stuff, and I didn't really hold back. Long dog walks must have done the trick. Who knows? Hopefully I can keep it going. I did find out from my parents that my dear brother in law (where's your blog, dude?) has managed to drop a bunch of weight since Christmas. I don't know what he weighed at Christmas, but I'd guess he's dropped 30 to 40 pounds. ALL BECAUSE OF PORTION CONTROL AND WILL POWER!!! Are you kidding me?!? Who uses will power? Now I feel even worse for having PF Chang's at lunch today with said parents, who took DAPGF out for her birthday. Will power...guess I'll have to try it.
Anyway, tech issues are an impediment, but I'm still going. Stay tuned for further updates...
Saturday, March 17, 2007
Monday, March 12, 2007
And another week oozes to an end...
Well, the weight has gone down a bit from the high point, but as I expected it was higher than my weekend late weigh-in low points. Meh. A couple of changes that I’ve noticed this week.
1. The dog has been taking longer morning walks. While this isn’t a bad thing in and of itself, walking her isn’t a “high-impact” cardio event. When she does a shorty walk, I usually have an opportunity to do a 15 or 20 minute Exercise TV cardio routine. That gets the blood flowing and sets up a metabolism boost going into breakfast. It seems to me that 15 min walk + 15 min of Exercise TV is better than 30-45 minutes of just dog walk.
2. DAPGF started her new quarter of teaching this week. Last quarter she taught 3 nights out of the week (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday), and I was able to hit the gym each of those nights after work. This quarter she is only teaching two nights out of the week, so I lose one gym night. I still get to the gym on the weekends, but I’m trying to find out where I can sneak in some additional exercise. I’m trying to get out and walk for 15-30 minutes at lunch, but recently I discovered this…
3. There’s a driving range about a mile from my office (and around the corner from our future location!). When I was working for Heritage Pacific, there was a driving range near the office, and I went there every day I could. Of course it helped that when I bought my $40 range card, they apparently screwed up and programmed it for $400 dollars worth of credit! I never noticed it until I thought I’d come close to burning through $40, and I actually looked at the display on the ball vending machine. Imagine my surprise to see that I was sitting on more than $360 in credit! You might not think so, but driving golf balls for 45 minutes is a pretty decent workout. Since it’s extremely unlikely that I’ll wind up with another screaming deal like the one I had (the range card was only good at that one range, and since I was laid off from the job and lived 26 miles away from the range, it made sense to sell the range card on Craigslist), I’ll have to limit my play to a couple of times per week. Still, every little bit helps.
1. The dog has been taking longer morning walks. While this isn’t a bad thing in and of itself, walking her isn’t a “high-impact” cardio event. When she does a shorty walk, I usually have an opportunity to do a 15 or 20 minute Exercise TV cardio routine. That gets the blood flowing and sets up a metabolism boost going into breakfast. It seems to me that 15 min walk + 15 min of Exercise TV is better than 30-45 minutes of just dog walk.
2. DAPGF started her new quarter of teaching this week. Last quarter she taught 3 nights out of the week (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday), and I was able to hit the gym each of those nights after work. This quarter she is only teaching two nights out of the week, so I lose one gym night. I still get to the gym on the weekends, but I’m trying to find out where I can sneak in some additional exercise. I’m trying to get out and walk for 15-30 minutes at lunch, but recently I discovered this…
3. There’s a driving range about a mile from my office (and around the corner from our future location!). When I was working for Heritage Pacific, there was a driving range near the office, and I went there every day I could. Of course it helped that when I bought my $40 range card, they apparently screwed up and programmed it for $400 dollars worth of credit! I never noticed it until I thought I’d come close to burning through $40, and I actually looked at the display on the ball vending machine. Imagine my surprise to see that I was sitting on more than $360 in credit! You might not think so, but driving golf balls for 45 minutes is a pretty decent workout. Since it’s extremely unlikely that I’ll wind up with another screaming deal like the one I had (the range card was only good at that one range, and since I was laid off from the job and lived 26 miles away from the range, it made sense to sell the range card on Craigslist), I’ll have to limit my play to a couple of times per week. Still, every little bit helps.
This weekend was bad, but for a good reason. DAPGF is having a birthday! Of course it falls on a night she teaches, so we partied it up this past weekend, particuarly with the food. Friday was pretty simple...ribs! Unfortuantely not Corky's in Memphis (ask River Driver about it), but certainly adequate. Saturday lunch was a sushi buffet, and despite the fact that sushi is fundamentally a healthy food, once you add the word "buffet" to it (see Souplantation), healthy is out the window. Still, I loves me some raw dead fish, so no complaints from yours truly. Then came dinner. Hoo boy! My favorite swanky seafood joint in San Diego (and that'
s saying a lot!), Oceanaire. DAPGF had the Baqueta (a member of the bass family, caught somewhere off of Baja's east coast). It was pan seared in a mushroom demi-glace, with garlic mashers. Yummy. Me, I had my favorite dish there, Ahi Tuna Steak that has barely kissed the pan. It was done to perfection, seared barely an eighth of an inch in (that's cooked fish, not fat, in case you couldn't tell), served with a wasabi-something sauce. I also had a cup of their clam chowder, which was very good, but came in behind Brophy Bros.' Santa Barbara location. And as a side to share, we had one of their signature dishes, Hash Browns a la Oceanaire. You might be thinking, "hash browns?" Oh sweet Lord you haven't had hash browns until you've had these. First, it's a huge order. Second, the potatoes are freshly grated on site. Third, they're fried in enough butter to kill. Fourth, they're intermingled with cheddar, carmelized onions, bacon, and tobasco sauce. Absolutely to die for, and I'm sure i will be dying soon from clogged arteries or something. Still, absolutely worth it. Can't wait to see what the weigh-in will be on Monday!
And now I need to file a complaint. I went to the gym over the weekend (yay for me!), unfortunately without my mp3 player. I’d taken it out of the bag to load up some new tunes (it’s old, and only 256 mb…give me a break), and didn’t get it done. So I figured I’d listen to the tunes they piped in (from some service like Music Choice or one of those). When I walked in, they were on a basic rock tip, and I listened to Bon Jovi (Livin’ on a Prayer) and AC/DC (Back in Black) while I was getting changed. As I entered the gym floor and headed to my ab cruncher bench, “Stop” by Jane’s Addiction started up. OK. All good tunes for pumping up a workout pace. And here’s where things went weird. About a minute into Jane’s Addiction, someone switched channels over to a pop channel. Not really happy, but I figured the pop tempo of the music would keep things moving. The first song kinda did ok…it was by Jessica Simpson (I think) and had that hook from “Jack and Diane” by John Cougar. I hate it when decent songs get corrupted like that, but at least the song had a reasonable tempo. The next one was some breathless-sounding girl doing a very mellow and slow cover of “Send Me An Angel,” which was originally done back in the 80s by (I think) Real Life, and sounded a lot like “Twilight Zone” by Golden Earring. The original version of “…Angel” had a good tempo, with its Eurotrash beat, but this sounded like somebody, whispering over a keyboard wash. And the one after that was an equally mellow-sounding version of Firehouse’s “Love of a Lifetime,” which itself was a far too mellow hair metal ballad. I didn’t think it could’ve gotten more mellow, but I guess if you take the electric guitars (even the ones without distortion) away, it puts you to sleep. At that point I just tuned it out and did my workout. I’m not sure what really happened, but as the timer counted down to zero on the elliptical trainer, “Root Down” by the Beastie Boys came on. I’m not sure when someone grew a pair and switched over from the sappy, sleepy crap that had been on, but I sure wish it had been sooner. As it is, I will be loading up the mp3s tonight…I’m thinking Stormtroopers of Death (Speak English or Die), Disturbed, Linkin Park, Dokken, Ratt, Iron Maiden, maybe some Beastie Boys and Ludacris, and maybe Pantera to round out a nicely energetic mix.
s saying a lot!), Oceanaire. DAPGF had the Baqueta (a member of the bass family, caught somewhere off of Baja's east coast). It was pan seared in a mushroom demi-glace, with garlic mashers. Yummy. Me, I had my favorite dish there, Ahi Tuna Steak that has barely kissed the pan. It was done to perfection, seared barely an eighth of an inch in (that's cooked fish, not fat, in case you couldn't tell), served with a wasabi-something sauce. I also had a cup of their clam chowder, which was very good, but came in behind Brophy Bros.' Santa Barbara location. And as a side to share, we had one of their signature dishes, Hash Browns a la Oceanaire. You might be thinking, "hash browns?" Oh sweet Lord you haven't had hash browns until you've had these. First, it's a huge order. Second, the potatoes are freshly grated on site. Third, they're fried in enough butter to kill. Fourth, they're intermingled with cheddar, carmelized onions, bacon, and tobasco sauce. Absolutely to die for, and I'm sure i will be dying soon from clogged arteries or something. Still, absolutely worth it. Can't wait to see what the weigh-in will be on Monday!And now I need to file a complaint. I went to the gym over the weekend (yay for me!), unfortunately without my mp3 player. I’d taken it out of the bag to load up some new tunes (it’s old, and only 256 mb…give me a break), and didn’t get it done. So I figured I’d listen to the tunes they piped in (from some service like Music Choice or one of those). When I walked in, they were on a basic rock tip, and I listened to Bon Jovi (Livin’ on a Prayer) and AC/DC (Back in Black) while I was getting changed. As I entered the gym floor and headed to my ab cruncher bench, “Stop” by Jane’s Addiction started up. OK. All good tunes for pumping up a workout pace. And here’s where things went weird. About a minute into Jane’s Addiction, someone switched channels over to a pop channel. Not really happy, but I figured the pop tempo of the music would keep things moving. The first song kinda did ok…it was by Jessica Simpson (I think) and had that hook from “Jack and Diane” by John Cougar. I hate it when decent songs get corrupted like that, but at least the song had a reasonable tempo. The next one was some breathless-sounding girl doing a very mellow and slow cover of “Send Me An Angel,” which was originally done back in the 80s by (I think) Real Life, and sounded a lot like “Twilight Zone” by Golden Earring. The original version of “…Angel” had a good tempo, with its Eurotrash beat, but this sounded like somebody, whispering over a keyboard wash. And the one after that was an equally mellow-sounding version of Firehouse’s “Love of a Lifetime,” which itself was a far too mellow hair metal ballad. I didn’t think it could’ve gotten more mellow, but I guess if you take the electric guitars (even the ones without distortion) away, it puts you to sleep. At that point I just tuned it out and did my workout. I’m not sure what really happened, but as the timer counted down to zero on the elliptical trainer, “Root Down” by the Beastie Boys came on. I’m not sure when someone grew a pair and switched over from the sappy, sleepy crap that had been on, but I sure wish it had been sooner. As it is, I will be loading up the mp3s tonight…I’m thinking Stormtroopers of Death (Speak English or Die), Disturbed, Linkin Park, Dokken, Ratt, Iron Maiden, maybe some Beastie Boys and Ludacris, and maybe Pantera to round out a nicely energetic mix.
Tuesday, March 06, 2007
Playing catch up
I apologize for not posting for a while, but with the internet Nazis around my company, it is difficult to find time to even email in a post (not that I’ve figured out how to do that or anything). That and it’s been kinda busy around Casa de Hoff. Combine working late with trying to hit the gym after work, helping DAPGF with computer issues, and just doing the odd spring cleaning crap that needs to be done, and I’ve barely been on the computer at all. So I apologize for the scattered and cluttered nature of this post. Lots to say, so here we go.
This past weekend notwithstanding, I’ve been pretty good about what I’ve been putting down my neck. My weekend was a food world tour of evil. Italian (4 cheese angel hair pasta!), Mexican (carne asada plate with a cheese enchilada), and Thai (Pad Thai with shrimp and Panang Curry with chicken), how’s that for a world tour? During the day is a whole other issue. Trying to find a food that can satisfy the munchie cravings, keep me feeling filled up, while not having too much in the way of fat, calories, and other evil stuff, has been difficult. Hard boiled ggs are great from the protein perspective, but they are high in fat and cholesterol. I know, if I avoid the yoke, I can avoid a lot of that. I just feel like I’m wasting it, though, and it is a pain in the butt to hard boil them, cool them down, open them up, then take the yoke out before eating them. Plus, I’ll probably need to have a couple of eggs to fill me up, if I remove the yoke. Still, as a mid morning snack or to supplement my oatmeal in the morning, they’re not a bad bet. I’m not a huge fan of nuts, except peanuts. I love peanuts, and they are another food that is high in protein, has the sodium fix that I’m looking for (too much, I know), and fills me up. Unfortunately, they are so high in fat that I’m afraid to eat too many. And it’s hard for me to just eat a “single serving” of approximately 15 individual nuts. That’s not even a handful! Jerky, be it beef, turkey, or whatever seems to be a pretty good compromise. A 1 oz serving (a couple of decent sized hunks) typically has only 80 calories, and just a single gram of fat. Because I have to work at chewing it for a while, it really helps satisfy the need to munch. Like everything, it does have its downsides, though. First, it is really high in sodium. I just make sure I chug another 24 oz of water when I’m gnawing on some, and I think I’ll be ok. The other problem with jerky is, compared to the others, it is pretty expensive. If I’m lucky, I can find a 4 oz bag (which if I’m lucky I can get 4 snacks out of, but usually somewhere between 2 and 3) for less than $6. So if I go thru a bag in a day and a half, that’s more than $20 per week. I can get a dozen eggs for around $3, and a jar of peanuts that will last about a week goes for around $4. Any thoughts on what you party people out there munch on to satisfy those evil mid-morning and mid-afternoon cravings?
So, weight. I failed to weigh myself on the morning of 3/1 (we had a minor ant invasion in the shower…I guess they wanted to be clean, or they wanted to see me nekkid, with my junk hanging out), but on 3/2 I weighed 284.6 lbs. Despite everything that I ate, on 3/3 and 3/4, I weighed 282.6 lbs and 293.2 lbs. I was running late this morning, and didn’t take the time to jump on the scale (actually, I don’t want to jump on it…it would probably break!), but here’s what I’m wondering. I did go to the gym on Saturday and Sunday, but the thing that I think will have the greater impact is the fact that I didn’t weigh myself until almost 10:30 a.m. on both mornings (after showering after coming home from the gym). My fear is that because I weighed myself several hours later than normal (normal time is approx. 7:45 a.m.), any actual weight loss was over-exaggerated. I guess Tuesday morning will clarify things.
Last Tuesday, I had to go out to the Imperial Valley (desert area east of San Diego and directly north of Mexico, where the sand dune scenes on Tatooine in Empire Strikes Back were filmed) with 3 of my coworkers to work on several projects we have going out there. Now, my company may have an internet nazi thing going on, but they still take really good care of the employees. At my old job, I had to drive my own vehicle from the office to job sites. I received an auto allowance that actually did cover my car payment, but I was still putting almost 36,000 miles per year on my truck. At my new company, I can choose to drive my own car and file an expense report for mileage reimbursement. But if I so choose, the company will rent me a car. So because there were four of us going, and we had all of our laptops, plan rolls, boxes of PR trinkets, etc., we wound up with a 2007 Ford Edge crossover SUV. I drive a 2006 Jeep Grand Cherokee, and I’m perfectly happy with it. I must say, though, I was extremely impressed with the Edge. It’s not too big, but still has a 265 horsepower V6, and even with all of us on board we could still spin the tires on pavement. It handled the rain and wind very steadily, with no real problem from cross-gusts (and Weather.com had the winds at a steady 30 mph with gusts up to 60 mph) or loss of traction. More importantly, the thing was super comfortable. The seats were very supportive, and the rear seat actually reclined to about a 45 degree angle. And I’m 6’3” and I even had room to cross my legs while in the back seat! There were lots of little places to store things, and the stereo was great, with Sirius satellite radio, MP3 capable 6 disc CD changer, and the all-important iPod jack. The only issue I noted was that when you folded down the rear armrest and opened up the integrated cupholders, it didn’t leave a comfortable surface to use as an actual armrest. Beyond that, the thing had great power and still managed to average almost 19 mpg, with a full load of people and crap over mixed driving ranging from 90 mph to bouncing along over farm roads and desert trails. If you don’t need a 7 passenger vehicle, it’s a great choice, starting in the high $20s and going up to the mid $30s for the loaded model. And if a Ford isn’t luxurious enough for you, Lincoln sells a version called the MKX. Same basic body, same engine and transmission, uber-pimped interior. Definitely worth a look.
Saw the movie, Black Snake Moan, over the weekend. Of course the stupid radio movie reviewer guy starts off his review with, “the only things that Black Snake Moan has in common with Snakes on a Plane is the word “snake” in the title and Samuel L. Jackson.” Har har har. That being said, it was actually a really good movie. SLJ shows once again what incredible range he has, starting off being publicly dumped by his wife, for his brother in a diner. From there he ranges from tender and scared to forceful and full of tough love for Christina Ricci’s character. Going from being forceful with her to prevent her from hurting herself more, to being embarrassed at having to ask a lady who likes him about getting women’s clothes and medical supplies, to being a wailing bluesman who tears it up in a deep south juke joint, such incredible range. And Christina, yes it was strangely sexy, watching her chained up in SLJs house, wearing just a t-shirt and some panties, but she really put on a performance of her own. Her character ranges from a loving girlfriend, to a sex-addict who is more than willing to take the abuse to satisfy her craving, to a beaten victim who is trying to still show that she’s tough while trying to accept the care that SLJ is giving to her. And even Justin Timberlake’s performance was decent. I’ll admit, as a non-fan of boy bands, it was fun watching Justin Timberlake play a wuss. Probably the most ironic part of the movie, there are many people who sing (and Samuel L. Jackson can freaking wail!), but Timberlake isn’t one of them. All in all, very edgy and rough, and definitely worth a watch.
This past weekend notwithstanding, I’ve been pretty good about what I’ve been putting down my neck. My weekend was a food world tour of evil. Italian (4 cheese angel hair pasta!), Mexican (carne asada plate with a cheese enchilada), and Thai (Pad Thai with shrimp and Panang Curry with chicken), how’s that for a world tour? During the day is a whole other issue. Trying to find a food that can satisfy the munchie cravings, keep me feeling filled up, while not having too much in the way of fat, calories, and other evil stuff, has been difficult. Hard boiled ggs are great from the protein perspective, but they are high in fat and cholesterol. I know, if I avoid the yoke, I can avoid a lot of that. I just feel like I’m wasting it, though, and it is a pain in the butt to hard boil them, cool them down, open them up, then take the yoke out before eating them. Plus, I’ll probably need to have a couple of eggs to fill me up, if I remove the yoke. Still, as a mid morning snack or to supplement my oatmeal in the morning, they’re not a bad bet. I’m not a huge fan of nuts, except peanuts. I love peanuts, and they are another food that is high in protein, has the sodium fix that I’m looking for (too much, I know), and fills me up. Unfortunately, they are so high in fat that I’m afraid to eat too many. And it’s hard for me to just eat a “single serving” of approximately 15 individual nuts. That’s not even a handful! Jerky, be it beef, turkey, or whatever seems to be a pretty good compromise. A 1 oz serving (a couple of decent sized hunks) typically has only 80 calories, and just a single gram of fat. Because I have to work at chewing it for a while, it really helps satisfy the need to munch. Like everything, it does have its downsides, though. First, it is really high in sodium. I just make sure I chug another 24 oz of water when I’m gnawing on some, and I think I’ll be ok. The other problem with jerky is, compared to the others, it is pretty expensive. If I’m lucky, I can find a 4 oz bag (which if I’m lucky I can get 4 snacks out of, but usually somewhere between 2 and 3) for less than $6. So if I go thru a bag in a day and a half, that’s more than $20 per week. I can get a dozen eggs for around $3, and a jar of peanuts that will last about a week goes for around $4. Any thoughts on what you party people out there munch on to satisfy those evil mid-morning and mid-afternoon cravings?
So, weight. I failed to weigh myself on the morning of 3/1 (we had a minor ant invasion in the shower…I guess they wanted to be clean, or they wanted to see me nekkid, with my junk hanging out), but on 3/2 I weighed 284.6 lbs. Despite everything that I ate, on 3/3 and 3/4, I weighed 282.6 lbs and 293.2 lbs. I was running late this morning, and didn’t take the time to jump on the scale (actually, I don’t want to jump on it…it would probably break!), but here’s what I’m wondering. I did go to the gym on Saturday and Sunday, but the thing that I think will have the greater impact is the fact that I didn’t weigh myself until almost 10:30 a.m. on both mornings (after showering after coming home from the gym). My fear is that because I weighed myself several hours later than normal (normal time is approx. 7:45 a.m.), any actual weight loss was over-exaggerated. I guess Tuesday morning will clarify things.
Last Tuesday, I had to go out to the Imperial Valley (desert area east of San Diego and directly north of Mexico, where the sand dune scenes on Tatooine in Empire Strikes Back were filmed) with 3 of my coworkers to work on several projects we have going out there. Now, my company may have an internet nazi thing going on, but they still take really good care of the employees. At my old job, I had to drive my own vehicle from the office to job sites. I received an auto allowance that actually did cover my car payment, but I was still putting almost 36,000 miles per year on my truck. At my new company, I can choose to drive my own car and file an expense report for mileage reimbursement. But if I so choose, the company will rent me a car. So because there were four of us going, and we had all of our laptops, plan rolls, boxes of PR trinkets, etc., we wound up with a 2007 Ford Edge crossover SUV. I drive a 2006 Jeep Grand Cherokee, and I’m perfectly happy with it. I must say, though, I was extremely impressed with the Edge. It’s not too big, but still has a 265 horsepower V6, and even with all of us on board we could still spin the tires on pavement. It handled the rain and wind very steadily, with no real problem from cross-gusts (and Weather.com had the winds at a steady 30 mph with gusts up to 60 mph) or loss of traction. More importantly, the thing was super comfortable. The seats were very supportive, and the rear seat actually reclined to about a 45 degree angle. And I’m 6’3” and I even had room to cross my legs while in the back seat! There were lots of little places to store things, and the stereo was great, with Sirius satellite radio, MP3 capable 6 disc CD changer, and the all-important iPod jack. The only issue I noted was that when you folded down the rear armrest and opened up the integrated cupholders, it didn’t leave a comfortable surface to use as an actual armrest. Beyond that, the thing had great power and still managed to average almost 19 mpg, with a full load of people and crap over mixed driving ranging from 90 mph to bouncing along over farm roads and desert trails. If you don’t need a 7 passenger vehicle, it’s a great choice, starting in the high $20s and going up to the mid $30s for the loaded model. And if a Ford isn’t luxurious enough for you, Lincoln sells a version called the MKX. Same basic body, same engine and transmission, uber-pimped interior. Definitely worth a look.
Saw the movie, Black Snake Moan, over the weekend. Of course the stupid radio movie reviewer guy starts off his review with, “the only things that Black Snake Moan has in common with Snakes on a Plane is the word “snake” in the title and Samuel L. Jackson.” Har har har. That being said, it was actually a really good movie. SLJ shows once again what incredible range he has, starting off being publicly dumped by his wife, for his brother in a diner. From there he ranges from tender and scared to forceful and full of tough love for Christina Ricci’s character. Going from being forceful with her to prevent her from hurting herself more, to being embarrassed at having to ask a lady who likes him about getting women’s clothes and medical supplies, to being a wailing bluesman who tears it up in a deep south juke joint, such incredible range. And Christina, yes it was strangely sexy, watching her chained up in SLJs house, wearing just a t-shirt and some panties, but she really put on a performance of her own. Her character ranges from a loving girlfriend, to a sex-addict who is more than willing to take the abuse to satisfy her craving, to a beaten victim who is trying to still show that she’s tough while trying to accept the care that SLJ is giving to her. And even Justin Timberlake’s performance was decent. I’ll admit, as a non-fan of boy bands, it was fun watching Justin Timberlake play a wuss. Probably the most ironic part of the movie, there are many people who sing (and Samuel L. Jackson can freaking wail!), but Timberlake isn’t one of them. All in all, very edgy and rough, and definitely worth a watch.
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