Harry Potter's Daniel Radcliffe grows up.

One feels a bit dirty old man looking at the 17 year-old in these press photos for his new play Equus. And while some of his fans, well, the parents of these fans really, seem a bit taken aback by these photo's, I think it's good for him.

First, of course, it's a role so opposite of Harry Potter. After playing the role for nearly 8 years and with at least four more to go, a role such as this can prove to be better for his career. While the play still remains as controversial as when it was first put on 35 years ago, in today's internet world -as soon as these press photo's were released, they zipped accross the web like a comet on crack - it opens the door for people not familiar with the story.

I believe this is a bold move for Radcliffe, and hopefully the role will be help his acting career, and not be popular because he'll be nude on stage for a time. But, it can only help. How many top female actors and singers have done nude spreads in Playboy?

Of course, once again, we have to note Radcliffe is 17 (and will turn 18 this July), but I think he has something to prove to people who only see him as Harry Potter -and will continue years after the final credits close on movie seven. He will show them that HP is only one role in what is bound to be a great career that should last decades.

And even this role in Equus, is just that, a role.

More power to him.

On a side note, I'm struck on how Radcliffe must've been forced to shave his chest (and that oh so sexy treasure trail) for the bath sequence on Goblet of Fire (though he kept his pit hair and some stragglers around his nipples). Seems while the actor can go through puberty, but you can't show that on screen.

2007 Oscar predictions

Personally, like the Golden Globes, Letters from Imo Jima, should've been nominated in the Best Foreign Film catagory. However, I'm unsure of the rules, considering this was a Janpanese/American production.

Still, that is why I think Dreamgirls failed to score a Best Picture nod on Tuesday. Still, it will walk away with a few Oscars on February 25.

Here's what I think will happen:

Best Picture:

Should Win: The Queen
Will Win: Babel

Best Actor:

Should win: Forest Whitaker
Will win: Forest Whitaker

Best Actress:

Should Win: Judi Dench
Will win: Helen Mirren

Best Supporting Actor:

Should win: Jackie Earle Haley
Will win: Eddie Murphy

Best Supporting Actress:

Should win: Jennifer Hudson
Will win: Jennifer Hudson

Directing:

Should win: Stephen Frears
Will win: Martin Scorsese (finally)

Foreign Language:

Should win: Pan's Labyrinth
Will win: Pan's Labyrinth

Adapted Screenplay:

Should win: Children of Men
Will win: Children of Men

Original screenplay:

Should win: The Queen
Will win: Babel

Animated Feature:

Should win: Monster House
Will win: Cars

While Cars is by far a better film -in the sense in the way it was made, as its fully CGI, while both Monster House and Happy Feet used the motion capture and then animated around it, I actually beileve Monster House has a better story. Cars storyline was far from original and one done many times over -even in Pixar's own library. Monster House's story was more original and much more funny -and scary. The young actors actually brought more scope to the characters than just their voices using motion capture.

As for Happy Feet, well, while bottom of the barrel CGI is coming left and right, the film was choosen based on how popular it became. Artistically, I feel the film is nothing more than a so-so idea that became a hit in spite of itself.

You Suck by Christopher Moore

I always thought that after Bloodsucking Fiends, author Christopher Moore owed a great deal to Buffy The Vampire Slayer. His hero Jody, turned into a vampire by a bored 800 plus year-old monster, is a sarcastic, tough talking blonde, er, wait, red-head who is not so keen on killing people to survive, despite that fact that Elijah (the old vampire) informs here that they only kill people who are near death. Still, even before that 1995 novel, Moore had been cutting his teeth -with what would become his trademark - crafting genre novels set in the real world -mostly in the city of San Francisco (where the author lives).

Lamb, for me, remains his best work to date.

Anyway, Jody -and now undead former minion Tommy, who Jody has sired - returns in You Suck. The novel follows most of Moore’s now patented formula of relationships between men and women that usually gets screwed up (by the guy), snappy dialogue and a lot of self-referential comments.

Once again, Moore brings back previous characters from Fiends, like the cops Rivera and Cavuto and homeless crazy man The Emperor. And while this is more natural than his previous works, I did find one thing distracting. Its been 12 years since Fiends, yet this novel basically begins the next day. Those self-referential comments about emo boy Jared was not even around when Moore penned the first book in the early 1990's.

There was also a special guest appearance of Charlie Asher, from last years superior Dirty Job. The encounter between Charlie and Jody in You Suck, is the same that appeared in Job (plus, Tommy’s minion, the great Abby Normal, is friends with Lily, who works at Asher’s antique store).

The plot is thin, but that’s not important to the story. The real treasure lies in Moore’s characters, who find being a vampire not what all those stories thought they would be. Jody and Tommy are really just folks -or undead folks - trying to get by. Not so much like the living.

And, perhaps there is Abby, who handles the bulk of the later aspects of the book through her diary. And while at times this expressive style, it does, OMFG, get a little wearisome.

I’ve enjoyed all of Moore’s work, but will always site Lamb as his best, so sometimes my opinion is colored about his later works. But all of tomes are million times better than most humorous genre fiction.

Is there others?

NBC picks-up Heroes; Sci Fi gun-shy on Galactica

In what amounts to a big "wow, that's not a surprise," NBC gave an early pick-up for a second season of Heroes. The only real breakout hit of the 2006-07 TV season, Heroes will return this Monday after a six-week break, with 6 all new episodes. Usually, the networks wait until the spring to announce their pick-ups, but with the show a huge hit in the ratings, plus critic praise, the peacock network felt an early pick-up was right thing to do.

Meanwhile, Sci Fi Channel's David Howe, executive vice president of the cable network, which produces and airs the 1970s series remake, told iFMagazine that the reason why the fate of Battlestar Galactica hasn't been announced yet is because the network is on a time schedule for such decisions, and they usually wait until the deadline to announce it. But either way, he would be "shocked" if the show as not picked up for a fourth season.

While I'm sure the show will return, also, I find the Howe's statement about the network's time schedule amusing. NBC's early renewal of Heroes this month, versus' April or May, confirms that they believe in the show (on the other hand, the network loves Friday Night Lights, but will wait to renew the show; they're holding off until they see the ratings when the show moves to Wednesday). And while Sci Fi may believe in Galactica, it seems rather gun shy to not commit to a new season, cause the show has the critics going bananas. But those ratings seem to still bother them. Which means they are taking a wait-and-see attitude with the shows move to Sunday.

T.R. Knight on Ellen: Washington did call him a faggot

Watched The Ellen DeGeneres Show today, where she had Grey's Anatomy star T.R. Knight as a guest. This is his first one-on-one interview since an early-October incident on the set of his series forced him publically to anounce that he was gay.

Recalling Isaiah Washington's original verbal clash with Patrick Dempsey, Knight says the former "referred to me as a faggot," and loud enough for everyone to overhear. "I could've just let it slide and not said anything," Knight tells DeGeneres during the sit-down, "but it became important," as word spread and the press latched on.

But Washington, on Monday's Golden Globe Award show told Access Hollywood, apparently does not remember that way, telling the entertaimnet show that "There is no way I could do anything so vile" thing as call someone a faggot.

His statement appears to have enraged another co-star, Katherine Heigl, who told AH that Washington's revisting of the incident -and saying the faggot word again- continues to hurt Knight, who was in the same press room at the time. "I'm going to be really honest right now. [Isaiah] needs to just not speak in public. Period," the actress said in an interview that aired Tuesday. "That did not need to be said, I’m not OK with it. Drawing attention to it and saying the word again is just unnecessary."

"Yeah, he denied that he said it," Knight marvels to Ellen. "I don’t know what to say, really, about that."

What shocks me more -beyond Washington's white-washing of the incident -is how ABC and Grey's creator, Shonda Rhimes, have kept quiet about it. As Ellen pointed out today, the word faggot is a hate full word and is used way to often by people who then backpedal by saying it was "in the heat of the moment."

No matter what you're feelings are on about gay people, using such word and then lying you ever used the word, makes you look like an ass. The only thing Washington can do -if ABC will not do a thing -is to publically apologize. I’m not saying he needs to go down to West Hollywood and walk among the gays, but acknowledge that you said the word.

Lying is bad enough, covering it up with more lies makes you a fool and a idiot.

Accountability is all I ask.

The parks closed. The moose at the entrance should've told you.

So, it's been a few days.

Not that I've had anything to say, but today I locked myself out of the bathroom. Yep, really smart of me. I dropped off some kids at the pool, sprayed the room, hit the fan and closed the door. Just before 4, when I was finally going to get on the tred mill, I thought I would open the door, turn off the fan.

It was locked. And all the keys that Bill has, not one opened the door. It took a while, but I finally stuck a screw driver into the jamb. One thing my door knob has that made it open was that if you turn the handle sticks. So you can close it, but it does not click shut.

Well, the click shut thingy was not fully out, so with a screw driver, a little push in and to the right, and the door popped open.

I just had visions of the fan going until Bill got back from Vegas on late Saturday.

Anyway, the weather is suppose to turn nasty this weekend. While 53 degree high on Friday and Saturday is nothing for this Chicago boy, the people on the news are acting like a blizzard is coming. Granted, since they don't get snow -except in the hills and valleys above 3,500 feet, this is their way to make it sound important. It's suppose to snow near Vegas, so hopefully Bill will have no weather troubles coming home.

Continue to use the tred mill, today and yesterday -taking Tuesday off for some odd reason. Weighed myself yesterday morning, after I got up. 181 pounds. Not heavey, I realize, but not where I want to be. Last summer, before I stopped, I had dropped to 175. I'm unsure how much I can lose, before it becomes bad, but at least this year I'm adding vitimans to help with the stuff I sweat out of my body.

The right knee still bothers me, from time to time. I'm gearing up for the insurance in February, so I hope to find out what's up with it in the next few months, along with getting my teeth fixed -which is bound to get very expensive.

Andrew will be in for the HF shoot on 1/21. I'm looking forward to seeing him again. I like him, but I'm unsure what his feelings are, but I think -I think - he likes me. I'm not holding my breath, but I'm thinking Beo wants to play matchmaker.

Old Man fixer upper guy returned today and replaced the garage access door. It's actually nice and should keep the rain out of the garage. I think Bill will like it.

This and That 2

* One week to go before I begin helming The Center Cannot Hold.

* I hate doing laundry, along with washing the bathroom and keeping the kitchen floor clean.

* I'm unsure if Bill has any intention of losing weight and trying to live longer than his 50's.

* I'm making something for dinner; have no idea what it is.

* Did not go on the tred mill today, but will run tomorrow. I promise

* Bought a new matress cover. Cost me $40. I could've gone cheaper, but why do I have to do that all the time?

* Nothing more.

Here comes the rain

It's raining.

Of course, anytime it does rain in SoCal, it's a big event. Stormwatch and all. I laugh at how intense things get here when just a little rain -like tonights - gets everyone going. I realize, growing up in the midwest, a light, rainy night is usually shrugged off as no big deal. Here, it's like the world is coming to an end.

But I'll take all the weather maps, computers in motion and what not, because there is no snow and its warm.

Spent 30 minutes on the tred mill. Man, months ago when I was on the tred almost everyday, I could do an hour or more. I so sore and tired. But it does make me feel good.

So I got that going for me!

Pat Roberston's 2007 predictions. Miss Cleo would be jealous

Pat Robertson continues to be the new Miss Cleo of the 2000s. The Evangelical broadcaster shared his annual New Years Nostrodamas “God Talked to Me” broadcast on Tuesday by saying that the Good Lord has passed onto him some inside info about a terrorist attack on the United States that would cause a "mass killing" late in 2007.

Got to say, this is pretty nonspecific.

You would think God - who knows the future, the past and what really happened to Brittany Spears on New Years Eve -would give us a date. If “millions of people will be affected by the attack”, why all the cloak and dagger? If you have inside information, and you are going to give it to someone like Robertson, can’t you say when, instead of some vague “after September” time frame?

All this sort of makes Pat Robertson look like a snake oil salesman. And the scary part is, people believe him.

Of course, this isn’t the first time Robertson played the fabled Miss Cleo. A year ago, the guy claimed God “punished then-Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon with a stroke for ceding Israeli-controlled land to the Palestinians.”

Of course there’s no proof of that, but if Robertson said, it must be true.

In January of 2005, Robertson said that George Bush would have victory after victory in his second term, would elect many conservative judges and have his Social Security plan approved.
Well, Bush is a conservative President, and its not a big stretch to assume he would elect conservative judges to the Supreme Court. So, that was a pretty safe bet when made that one, you think?

And I think the Social Security thing is “stalled” and it obvious Robertson missed the huge defeat Bush got in November. Of course that was 2006 and not 2005. Natch.

Robertson claims he has a pretty good track record, even though the tsunami he claimed would hit the US in 2006 did not happen, but he says all the heavy rains and flooding in up the North East was “partly fulfilling” of his predictions.

Again, all of this is so very nonspecific.

But when you make things up, this is what you get.

This and that

Another day at Borders. Ho hum. One good thing, though, due to the raise in minimum wage that started yesterday, Jeff gave me a bumo up in my hourly wage. Apparently, however, Patricia asked him why. I mean, I already make a more than the supervisors, and probably close to what managers make (and way below GM's), so I can see her questioning it. But, I think in the short time Jeff has been at the store, he knows I am worth the money.

Plus, I was employee of the month, got that recognition award of $25 gift card and lunch, eventually, with Jeff. So that is nice. I also realized I have 80 hours of vacation time coming to me and 42 hours of personal/sick time. I don't think I'll earn any more vac. time until I take some, so long weekends are probably in the works.

So, once I get our monthly $30 gift card, I can buy things. The question is what? If I buy any more books, well, I only read 16 1/2 in 2006 and I have more than 3 dozen I have yet to read. Buying DVD's at work is silly, considering that I can get them cheaper elsewhere.

Maybe some music. I'm way behind in that, but that's not so bad. But still have yet to Marc's Best of 2006. I'll give it until the end of the week, 'cause of the hoilday and President Ford's death have screwed up shipping.

I went jogging today, for about 1/2 hour. After 4 months, it was not so bad. But, I'm not going to over do it. I hope to drop a few pounds by April, and maybe lose enough around the waist to get back into 32" pants size.

On days Bill is home, I'll drag my ass across the street to the parks track. When he is working, I'll use the tread mill.

I need to keep this up.

Rose Parade before the parade

So, Beo called about 6:30 last night, and asked if I doing anything for New Years. I had no plans, as I pointed out on yesterdays blog. He said come on over, Adam and JT were there, we have some drinks, maybe a movie and then go to downtown Pasadena and see the floats for big parade on Monday morning.

Well, I knew I could not miss this. So, I got there around 7:30, talked to Adam about Voyager again, was told cutie pie Tim was coming later. Anyways, we had some drinks, talked about HF -can't seem NOT to talk about it - called Andrew and wished him a happy New Year.

After Tim arrived, we jumped in JT's car, though Rob drove. We found parking and walked to the place where the floats were being staged. We walked around, welcomed in the new year, and saw all thouse lovely floats. It was cool, though not unpleasant. I still wore my flip flops, as they are the only things I wear when I'm not working.

I just love this weather.

Left a message for Marc, but seeing it was after two in Chicago and was unsure he was still up -he was last year when he called after midnight here. Poor Brad was drunk then.

Anyways, it was a great night, and I almost wished Mom was here, as she would've loved to see all those floats up close.

Got home at 2:10, in bed three-minutes later and was awake at 6:30. So I'm tired and was planning to start jogging today, but I'll put that off until tomorrow.

But it WILL happen. I just look at the guy above and know if I want anything close to that, well, I'm going to have to do (as there is no try, according to Yoda).

Happy New Year.