Wednesday, February 20, 2008

An improved movie-going experience

Tonight I attended a screening of "Be Kind Rewind," the new movie about two New Jersey guys (Jack Black and Mos Def) who film cheap remakes of classic movies. See, I say "new" because it's not actually out for the general public to see until Friday.

This was a press screening, meaning only select members of the media (and a guest) were invited - at no charge, of course. However, there's not a lot of press in the greater Palm Springs area so we were the only two in the theater. And let me tell you, partaking of a private screening is a vast improvement over the alternative - when the unwashed masses are there to act like jackasses.

It pays to sleep with a film critic.

• Posted by Brian at 12:12 AM
• Comments (5)
• Category: Music/Movies/TV

Monday, February 11, 2008

My true colors are shining through

Everyone at work has to take this personality test called True Colors within three months of being hired.

I managed to make it almost a year and a half before taking it last week. I thought that might be a record, but in my session alone there were two guys who had banked about three years each before getting the call. We sat in the back and made smart-ass remarks and got yelled at once. We were the three seniors who had one last chance to pass Freshman English or face flunking out. And along the way we found tenderness and yes, even love.

Anyway, there are four colors that can be your dominant: blue, orange, green and gold (as with the original M&Ms, red gets the shaft). I am a green, which means I am analytical, logical, laid-back and cool under pressure. It also means other people may view me as indifferent, aloof, boring and least likely to get laid.

In case you want to take the test yourself (and do not fall into the green category), I'm sure you can find it online somewhere. But here's the quick and dirty version:

• Are you a hippie flower child who writes poems about rainbows and is in touch with your feelings and has one of those Japanese Zen gardens? Like Deborah, you are a blue.

• Golds are the people who organize their CD case by genre, then alphabetically, then by ISBN number. Or have outfits for each day of the week and do not deviate from this rigid pattern, even when Monday is a holiday. Morgan is a gold.

• Or are you an impulsive loudmouth who blows lots of money on spur-of-the-moment trips to Vegas that end either in drunken fisticuffs or impromptu matrimony? Orange is your color, and I'm looking at you, Gleason.

And that, my friends, is a four-hour training, boiled down to 90 seconds. You can thank my green-based efficiency.

• Posted by Brian at 11:45 PM
• Comments (5)
• Category: Random