Eagle vs. Shark (Part II)

So, I saw Eagle vs. Shark last night... This was a great coming-of-age comedy directed by Taika Waititi that I already talked about in the blog just prior to this. This starred Loren Horsley and Jemaine Clement as a pair of not-so-lovable social misfits, Lily and Jarrod. Lily works the counter at a local fast-food restaurant and Jarrod works at a video game store. Not exactly the glamorous life to begin with... Well, it gets better as their personalities seem as dull as their jobs, yet there's passion behind these apparent personality woes. Well, Lily likes Jarrod and pursues him and therein develops a relationship as they go through the relationship problems that we all suffer yet never see on the big screen. Horsley and Clement really play their roles well and you can really feel their awkwardness at each turn.

This movie had a few moments when the pace started to slow (which seems weird, considering the pace of the movie) and the animated bits felt somewhat unnecessary, but all in all, I'd say it's a very watchable hilarious romantic comedy! I've already recommended it to friends, but the humor can feel a little subdued, so I thought about who I was recommending it to. David Fane has a great small role in the movie and really delivers in it. I like how this movie doesn't try to "cash in" on the beauty and environment of NZ, rather focusing mostly on drab scenes and smaller towns that aren't so aesthetically appealing. I think Taika Waititi really delivered in this film and you may have to search to see if it's playing in your town, as it was only playing in one theatre in Seattle, but it's worth the hunt!

Eagle vs. Shark

One more post that has a relation to Jemaine Clement... Eagle vs. Shark is a new movie directed by Taika Waititi. He is a New Zealand native and as a real piece of random trivia, he was actually in the movie Tongan Ninja, playing one of the dancers in the kitchen dance scene as one of the chefs with the big pot. Weird, aye? Well, Eagle vs. Shark is a comedy about a couple of social misfits (Jemaine Clement and Loren Horsley) who awkwardly move towards love while dealing with all of the same problems facing everybody in love, such as its interference in plotting revenge on old high school bullies. This film has already been nominated for and won some number of awards including Best Comedy at the Newport Beach Film Festival and has been compared to Napoleon Dynamite in comedy style. It is currently playing in the states in select locations and is supposed to open in NZ sometime in August. I'll be trying to view this in Seattle later this week and give my own review of it, but I'm excited to see it!

Just one more clip to illustrate the great comedic value of the Flight of the Conchords!

Flight of the Conchords

Although I didn't get a chance to see these two when they were in Seattle last weekend (tickets were sold out when I even first heard of the show), I am a big fan of the Flight of the Conchords. Flight of the Conchords is Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie, a comedic folk duo from New Zealand. I first heard of these guys because I knew of Jemaine Clement because he had the one of the leading roles in one of my favorite movies, Tongan Ninja. When I heard he was in a comedy folk band, I was already interested. When I heard a few of their songs, I was laughing like crazy and couldn't wait to play them for my friends, especially those who had enjoyed Tongan Ninja (for the instant recognition and similar humor styles). They are really on the move up becoming more recognized and have even gotten their own show on HBO now, just called The Flight of the Conchords, that just started about a month ago. They are definitely worth listening to and their show is good for some laughs.

A gorgeous start to Seattle's summer!

Wow, how about an amazing "start" to summer yesterday, with the 4th of July in Seattle seeing no clouds and temperatures in the mid-80's! What a beautiful day! I rode from Edmonds to Kirkland and encountered many others enthused about utilizing the trails on such a beautiful day! It was great to see so many people out enjoying the weather and great to see the weather finally giving in and allowing us a rain-free 4th of July for once! It looks like things are remaining the same for a while now, so summer seems to definitely have bloomed for us here! Usually on the 4th, I like to rationalize that the rain decreases the likelihood of fireworks-related fires, but no need this year! It looks like Seattle might be having one of the best summers right now, compared to a lot of the country. All over Southern Cal are high temperatures, Vegas at 116 degrees (!), Texas is still suffering from heavy rains and flooding, Montana and Colorado with bad heat waves... I think we've got things all right...

Fuel Savings Update!

I'm up to having saved 57.5 gallons of gasoline now! That's a serious savings now, if you think about just the volume of 57 gallons! I think I haven't been keeping track carefully enough, as I would have spent a lot more than that on gas by now, but it only takes into account the gas saved on my commute to and from work. Still, that's about 4 tanks of gas! Considering the amount of gas that is, the monetary cost (around $180ish, but I just kind of estimated from the time that gas was near $4 and now when it's back around $3 and used $3.15/gallon), and how much pollution would have been put out by my burning that much fuel, it really shows the difference that one person can make (which really negates my "...But I'm only one man!" argument). You won't step outside and smell cleaner air, but the difference is being made little by little. Considering all of the other people that I ride alongside on the trails, it all adds up and that little by little becomes more and more consequential.

Riding the bus...

I have to admit, I've been loving it! I've only ridden the bus a few times from my home to work now, preferring to ride my bike, but it's been fantastic! The first time, I felt like it was the biggest hassle in the world, transferring not once, not twice, but three times for a total of four bus rides! I couldn't believe it and I was worried about making my transitions and such. By now, it's only the 3rd or 4th time, but it's totally comfortable and while I still carry a paper documenting my travel plans that I scrawled down, I don't really need it now. Seriously, it's been good times! Yesterday, I spent $1.25 on the trip to and $1.50 on the trip from work. That's a grand total of $2.75!! Way less than a gallon of gas (and I found a $1 in my work parking lot technically bringing my spending down to $1.75, though I wouldn't expect this as a daily occurrance)!

As much as I do love to bike, now that I've gotten into the "whole biking scene", it has been such a joy to not have to on these occasions that I haven't felt like it or when my legs were feeling a little stiff because I didn't stretch when I got home. On top of that was the greatest thing yesterday! When I got onto the Community Transit #441, they had free Wi-Fi on the bus! Unfortunately, I couldn't get my Nintendo DS to link up to it properly, but I was able to find the bus' network and that means I can bring my laptop or Compaq Ipaq and surf the web and take care of email and such on the way home! That's a more reliable internet source than I have in my own home (I search around for unlocked wireless networks that I can get a signal from)! For the price of the bus ride, there's free internet, comfy seats and I still don't have to deal with the traffic, just like on the bike! I'm definitely going to be taking the bus at least once or twice a week now!