Wedding season is upon us!  Dana's showers happened last and this weekend, and the Year of the Wedding "officially" commences next week with Justin and Maggie's wedding in Bellevue (warning: turn down your volume if you go there, no one taught Justin that web site music is annoying ;)).  3 weeks later, Dana and I head to PA for Tim and Bridget's wedding. then a month later we get hitched ourselves!  After a honeymoon in Tahiti (beaches!), New Zealand (adventure!), and the Cook Islands (beaches!), we cap of our journeys in the best destination yet -- New Jersey (...highways?)!  Luckily, it's for yet another wedding -- my brother Shawn and his fiancee Aly.  Then we get a "break" until August, when Dana's brother Eric and his fiancee Sarah tie the knot.  After that, we have a longer respite until the new year unless someone pulls an impromptu Vegas wedding and for some reason invites people.  And the best part is, despite buying a tux a couple of years ago for Lauren's wedding, I don't get to use it AT ALL this year, I need to rent a tux every time!  Justin, Tim, Shawn, Eric...let's make a deal here...we all choose the same groomsman tuxes, and it happens to be a version I can buy for $700 or less, instead of renting separately for each event ;).

And since I post quarterly...at best...no one will read this and my wish of an "expensive" tux for all weddings will not come to pass.

For anyone who has ever drafted him, you'll know the pain.

Michael Clayton is the new George Clooney lawyer "suspense" movie.  While it has some interesting dialogue, I thought it was boring and drawn out.  My main complaints were:

• Despite the smattering of interesting lines, even it gets a bit indulgent.  The film lingers on the various diatribes of its characters a bit too much, and they bypass clever on their way to being longwinded and repetitive.
• Where Bourne Ultimatum overused the gimmick of manic camera shakiness (much to Marc's chagrin), Michael Clayton latches on to a more sedate convention that made me roll my eyes at just about every scene.  At every scene change, you're subjected to at least 20 seconds of useless "scene setting."  I understand the need for this in general, but when you get stuff like a company investor video being repeated at least 5 times, or a phone ringing in the dark for 20 seconds, it just gets annoying.  This movie could have cut at least 15 minutes out and not lost a damn thing.
• Along with the above, there were too many scenes that weren't central to the story.  I guess the film is supposed to be about the title character, but honestly I'd rather it be about the case/coverup.  Michael Clayton's gambling and investment problems (and his amazingly boring loan shark) are not worth screen time.
• Most of the scenes suffered from "ending one line too early" disease.  This is where a scene ends right before it pays off (with a line, decision, etc.).  Again, this can be effective, but only when there's either uncertainty or real suspense.  In this movie, you know what happened and not showing it on multiple occasions just gets old, especially when there's not a lot of real built-up suspense

In addition, the final credits are just annoying.  I don't want to see a boring, 50 dollar cab ride to nowhere after a boring 10 dollar movie.

1.5 stars...for Clooney and a bit of the dialogue.

Dana has been on me for a while to get rid of my old Subaru.  Since she recently got a full time job at MS, this is much easier to do financially, so we started looking at a few cars more seriously.  It was a close race between the Lexus IS and the Ford Escape Hybrid.  The Lexus was fun and comfy (in the front anyway), and spoke to our desire for a "fun" car.  Plus, the turning radius made me dizzy (which was good, I guess :)).  The Escape was roomy, which was good for me coming from a wagon, and the ride was nice and quiet.  In the end, we went for the Escape due to it's utility (it can carry our new bikes), gas mileage (35 mpg right now!) and price (8K less than the Lexus, plus a tax credit this year).  The only annoying thing is that the hybrids are in such high demand right now that the dealerships won't do much negotiation (not even negotiating up for my trade in).  They offered $800 for my car, and currently we have a good amount of interest in the 3000-4000 price range, which is a large step up from their offer.

We'll post some pictures of the new car soon!  It's a deep blue with a leather interior, so use your imagination for now :)

While I'm in blogging mode...I finally installed Viata at home, along with some Live apps (including Windows Live Writer, which I'm using right now to write this entry...it's slightly better than posting in IE).  Overall Vista is treating me well.  I like the sidebar, app hangs are a little less crippling (or feel less so anyway).  I did add some new hardware to my comp, which is causing me to crash every 4 hours or so.  I suspect the video card (which is old, but may not be playing well with either the new motherboard or Vista).

I also set up a Windows Home Server.  It's basically a storage and automatic backup machine with really easy usability, so even intermediate computer people can use it.  We used Dana's old PC for it, with some cheap hardware upgrades, so it was a good value too.  Finally Dana and I will be able to merge our photos in one place!

At last I break my blogging slumber.  I was hibernating for summer (or so it seemed), but Arty called me yesterday with news that shook me to my very core.  I had a voicemail from him when I left work saying: "Josh, I was reading MSNBC today when I saw the news.  Who knows if they'll finish the series now."  What!?  What series could you mean?  I thought about TV series for a minute, and then it dawned on me that there is one old man holding the key to a series that is near and dear to my heart.  I searched frantically on my phone as I drove home for news, and finally happened upon the Wikipedia article for Robert Jordan.  "This article is about a recently deceased individual."

BLOOD AND BLOODY ASHES!  My demeanor is calm, my face practically carved from stone, but inside I struggle with anger as if it's the tainted male half of the Source.  I'm sure somewhere there's a woman folding her arms beneath her breasts, and tugging her braid (if she has one).

<following in true Jordan fashion, I would insert an amusing but pointless anecdote about Arty's shenanigans at his latest wedding reception>

People have been taunting me about this eventuality for a while, and I was really hoping the man would plan for his own mortality.  He wasn't too old (58), but he was no spring chicken and Wheel of Time was just *begging* for some closure.  Hopefully he kept detailed notes.  I will accept a finale written by others, if it resolves the story the way Robert Jordan envisioned it.  How will I know it's authentic?  I'm not going to venture further down into that nest of doubt.

I'm almost more sad that I won't get an Age of Legends prequel series either (at least not an authentic one).  Those teaser bits from Rhuidean and the like just kill me now!

I'll end the post on a good note, though.  Despite the rueful tone of this post, Robert (James), you spun a tale that I find intriguing and captivating.  You wrote the only series to date that I have read twice (8 books worth anyway).  Thank you, and may Bela carry you home.

• One of my wins came against Dana, when I hit two runners for a full house.  She was not happy:
• Josh: K,Q
• Dana: 2,2
• Board: K, 2, J, K, Q
• Jamin and I both made strong cases for ourselves as the Greatest Dealer in the World.  Just ask us ;)!
• I need to keep an even temper in order to succeed.  My biggest mistakes occur when I get frustrated, bored, or start winning too early.
• A set of 9s does not beat two flopped 9-Q straights, even if 3 people go in on the SECOND HAND.  Thanks Shawn...
• Bob and Jamin once again coin a genius phrase: "Akbar is all over that hand."  Don't get it?  Here's a hint: "It's a trap!"

Anyway, the experience at home seemed to help me (at least in keeping an even head throughout).  I've won two out of two poker games since returning to WA.  Either that or I am just getting lucky :).

• Responsibility and influence in the team increases
• You are directly responsible for overseeing others' work.  This is important because I can now tell people to do/fix/change things with direct authority, instead of as a strong suggestion.
• For people like me who are smart but not uber-technical, it is a quicker and more effective way to expand your scope of influence than technical leadership
• You learn things earlier and are generally less "in the dark."

• Your schedule gets packed with meetings.  More planning meetings, more 1:1 meetings...it's really quite a lot.  My mouth gets very dry on Wednesday especially due to all of the talking!
• You have a lot more on your mind.  As an individual contributor, you can sometimes bury yourself in a single project if that's required (even if you generally need to watch out for other stuff).  As a lead, you can't afford to do that.  Thanks you Outlook and OneNote for helping me stay sane!
• Recruiting.  I haven't yet gotten the hang of having other peoples' future employment on my conscience.
• Review time is very busy.  So much to read and write!

Overall it's been a good and definitely informative experience so far!

• Chevy Cobalt: This was our car (in yellow), a little compact thing with a surprisingly big trunk ("big butt car" as Dana called it).  Sometimes comes with a spoiler (we had one...zoom zoom...oh wait, Mazda).  Malibus and Impalas also made a showing, but Cobalt's dominted.
• Dodge Caliber: I had never seen this car before.  It's another small car, but shaped like an SUV kind of.  Reminded me of an SUV's premature baby (it would fit nicely in the 3 bears Hummer commercial, if it were a little boxier, maybe the newborn bear could have this one)
• Chrysler Sebring: 90% of these were convertibles too, so if you can't find one on the mainland it's because Hawaii has them all (and this was just Maui).
• Ford Mustang (the new one): And I heard there was a shortage of these things on the mainland last year.  Again, Hawaii must have taken them all.  And they were all the new model, in convertible form.  This would be a really cool car to get on an expensive vacation there.  You really wouldn't believe how many there were, my words can't do it justice.

• Dana got a new job (yay!) and has Monday-Wednesday off
• Dana's grandparents own a condo down there that is unoccupied right now, so we don't need to get a hotel room
• Flights are cheap right now: 300 per person
• Seattle is cold and Hawaii is warm

We're really excited, I will definitely take lots of pictures and post them when I get back.  Please contain your jealousy ;).

• Stale humor: There was little humor that was interestingly different from the first movie.  Yes, Jack talks funny.  Yes, pirates like rum and gold.  Yes, that guy has a glass eye.  The new characters didn't provide much help either.  Yes, those guys are made of sea creatures, let's make jokes about ink and stuff.
• Cliche action scenes that seem tacked on: Haven't we seen this Kraken maw before?  Sand worms in Dune (thanks Brandon), the Sarlaac in Star Wars?  And if you're going to give a beastie the power to destroy a ship instantly, don't give it away early (first ship) and then make the Kraken an idiot that plays around with its prey while getting maimed by cannons and gunpowder *twice* before using it's full power.  And the guys in the cage falling to their deaths because of a snake?  Please.  I could go on but I'd probably use up my post size allotment.

Gotta head to work now, I may continue this rant later.  The one shining beacon of hope: Geoffrey Rush eating fruit from his delicious bushel of apples!