This Is Rice.

But you already knew that. Still. Pick a grain and look at it.

Just one.

Got it? Now, imagine this: That grain of rice is the same size as the baby currently residing in my wife's tummy.

Did I forget to mention we were pregnant? It's a surprise, to be sure, but it's still awesome.

Anyway, the Rice (as we call it, for now) has tiny appendages and a heartbeat at this point. Crazy, crazy stuff.

Suddenly, I'm hungry for some side dishes.

Blah, Blah, Blah Oscars...

I guess I have to write something about the Academy Award Nominations, seeing as how I'm big on those crazy movin' pictures they show down there at the cinema house. Although this year, I'm not really too interested in how the Oscars shake out, if only because I'm finding, as I get older, that my tastes and Oscar's are starting to diverge.

Take, for example, United 93, which, in my opinion, was the best film of the year. Nominated for directing and editing, the picture was shut out of the Best Picture nominees, while the "quirky(tm)" picture "Little Miss Sunshine" got in. (Full disclosure: I haven't seen the picture, but the trailer was enough to turn me off of it. Remember how, like, ten years ago, indie films actually felt independent and not like they were going down some Indie Cred Checklist?) I don't know.

I do know this: I'm not one of those people that says, "How come [such-and-such] wasn't nominated? Or [this guy] and [that guy] and [that other guy] and [you know, that guy with the thing]? Explain that, Academy!" I never understand this type of rant, wherein the author lists a good two hundred thousand other names and wonders why those people weren't nominated. Um... perhaps because they only take five nominees per category (mostly)? Just a thought.

Anyway, if you're itching to see an Oscar-nominated picture, my suggestion is to go catch Children of Men while it's still in theatres. It's easily one of the best pictures of the year, and, out of what I've seen, it's the most thought-provoking picture still playing in theatres.

Oh, my other best film of the year, tied with United 93? The Fountain. Just see it, okay? Then we'll talk about it.

"Super" Bowl

First, let me say this: I am neither a fan nor an anti-fan of the Indianapolis Colts or the Chicago Bears. I'm sorta "meh" about both teams--they both have quality guys on their teams, but I never really root for either of them.

So, when these two teams made it into the Big Game, I found myself, for the first time since the Bucs/Raiders matchup of '02, not really caring about the Super Bowl and completely unsure as to whether I would watch it.

Still, it'd be cool for Tony Dungy to win, both for how much of a class act he is, and with how much personal hell he's gone through over the past year. So I guess that means a half-hearted, unenthusiastic "Go Colts" goes out to them from me. There you go.

Mandatory Reading

Picked up this little nugget last week, and it has not disappointed me yet:



For those of you who may be uninitiated, Susanna Clarke wrote Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, which, along with Michael Chabon's The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, is quite possibly the best book I've read in the past ten years or so. This little collection of short stories is a good entrance into the world and writing style of the 600-plus page world of Strangeites and Norrellites. Highly recommended.