I can't think of a good title

Apparently the election of Mr. Obama has in fact caused Hell to freeze over, or at least East Tennessee. Alixa has begun to put a towel on her windshield to avoid the awful chore of scraping ice off in the morning. For that little trick we owe a thanks to the Ericksons, and we also recommend it to anyone who doesn’t like cold mornings. But I suppose winter has to arrive everywhere, even here. The good news is that along with cold weather comes trips to Cleveland for Thanksgiving (next week), a trip to Memphis for a long awaited wedding (the next week), and a trip back to Delaware for Christmas/another wedding (more weeks later). For now Jarom is busy wrapping up school and Lix is busy trying to not throw up.



One of the cool things about being a sport management major here at UT is that Jarom gets to see some world-class facilities. This week he had the chance to tour the football stadium and basketball arena, both of which are top tier according to just about any rating system. He was able to see how the media was set up for TV production, got to see some of the areas beneath the stadium that are used for recruiting, and toured the skyboxes.




There is a new book for my book club this week: Blink, by Malcolm Gladwell. Jarom has already read it and Lix is working on it now, although I am not sure she is enjoying it that much. It is sort of a thinking person’s book, not a novel, and she needs a story to keep her interest. Speaking of books, one that did catch her interest was the Twilight series, which is now in movie form. I read an amusing review of it today, and thought I would include a few tidbits. The whole thing is here-

Look, I know the drill. If any element of the Twilight movie varies even slightly from the way you pictured it in your head, then it is the worst film ever made and you hate it and Catherine Hardwicke has ruined your childhood. Or, alternatively, you've built up so much anticipation for the movie that you're going to love love LOVE it no matter what, even if it's bad, you don't care, you refuse to listen to any criticisms LA LA LA I CAN'T HEAR YOU. I know how it goes.
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This is not a vampire movie. This is a somber teen romance that happens to have some vampires in it. Little attempt is made to establish the mythology of the bloodsuckers, and the supernatural elements are downplayed. All of which is in keeping with the tone of Stephenie Meyer's book, which is eight parts romance and two parts action/fantasy. That's why it's been such a phenomenal success with women, and why the male-dominated geek industry -- the Nerderati, if you will -- has been so skeptical of that success. "What?" they scoff. "A super-popular vampire book that we, as men, AREN'T interested in? Inconceivable! It must be terrible, and its popularity is probably being over-reported!"
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One of the reasons I only liked Meyer's novel rather than loving it was that it felt bogged down by endless descriptions of how beautiful Edward was. Don't get me wrong -- I love hearing about hot 17-year-old boys as much as the next person. But the continual mooning and swooning made me impatient.
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In the film, of course, this is mostly eliminated. There is no need to tell us about Edward's beauty when he's right here in front of us and we can see for ourselves (assuming we are not distracted by his tall, disorderly hair, that is). There are other problems, too, mostly with the Cullens, who always appear to be practicing their Zoolander Blue Steel faces. The vampires' pale skin is represented by too much powdery face makeup, which makes Dr. Cullen in particular look like a mime. The crucial baseball scene, with the Cullens whacking one homer after another out in a forest clearing, is underwhelming. (In a game of vampire baseball, do they use vampire bats? Get it? Vampire bats? I got a million of 'em!)



Unfortunately, Lix will have to wait until it comes to Redbox, but she is OK with that. I think she knows that she won’t like it that much, as is usually the case with a book that she likes turned into a movie (see-Harry Potter, The Devil Wears Prada). However, that isn’t all bad news because when she watches it on DVD she will be watching it on her very own 42” plasma TV!!! That’s right ladies and gentlemen, the Winns have finally befriended someone who just happened to be giving away a big ol’ flatscreen TV. It is a few years old, but in good condition. It was replaced by a newer model because of a problem with the VGA connection (used for computers) which doesn’t matter to us. To add to their good fortune, Jarom got paid this week for his work with Adidas during the past few months. That means $1000 at shopadidas.com! I make no promises, but if you ask nicely and quickly you might be able to get a Christmas present from him. Soon there will be lots of very nice exercise apparel sitting in the closets not being used. I can’t wait.

This is not the actual TV, but is the same model.  I'll put up a picture of the new living room setup as soon as Jarom takes one.