December 6, 2009
We spent our late-afternoon filming the first wave of promos for the Improvised Star Trek. Chris Rathjen has a legit green screen.

We spent our late-afternoon filming the first wave of promos for the Improvised Star Trek. Chris Rathjen has a legit green screen.

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Griffen and I went to see Bad Lieutenant Port of Call New Orleans last night. Now, I am a big fan of Abel Ferrara’s Bad Lieutenant and I do enjoy Herzog but I was unsure about this remake. It’s the funniest movie I’ve seen in ages and maybe one of my favorites of 2009. I’m not being facetious. I took it as an ironic interpretation of the original movie because let’s face it, Ferrara’s is awfully bleak and serious and some of those moments are so uncomfortable you wish you could laugh at them. This movie is so fun and over the top - Nicolas Cage even does the old Klaus Kinsky roll in to the frame move!!! THIS MOVIE MADE ME SO HAPPY!!

Griffen and I went to see Bad Lieutenant Port of Call New Orleans last night. Now, I am a big fan of Abel Ferrara’s Bad Lieutenant and I do enjoy Herzog but I was unsure about this remake.

It’s the funniest movie I’ve seen in ages and maybe one of my favorites of 2009. I’m not being facetious. I took it as an ironic interpretation of the original movie because let’s face it, Ferrara’s is awfully bleak and serious and some of those moments are so uncomfortable you wish you could laugh at them.

This movie is so fun and over the top - Nicolas Cage even does the old Klaus Kinsky roll in to the frame move!!! THIS MOVIE MADE ME SO HAPPY!!

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I got a pack of Pago Strawberry juice from the ChristmasKindle market in Lincoln Square today. Get yourself to a Julius Meinel or some other chichi-Euro mart and buy some of this stuff. IT’S SO GOOD. I want to try all the flavors.

I got a pack of Pago Strawberry juice from the ChristmasKindle market in Lincoln Square today. Get yourself to a Julius Meinel or some other chichi-Euro mart and buy some of this stuff. IT’S SO GOOD.

I want to try all the flavors.

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December 5, 2009

bigbones:

philibuster:

Here’s an idea: make a wonderfully shot documentary about the first year of four babies’ lives around the world. We saw this preview before Where the Wild Things Are, and the theater cheered like they just saw a new Batman teaser.

Are you sitting down? Because you’re about to get the shit kicked out of you by cuteness.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The appropriate character to describe how I feel after watching this does not exist on computer keyboards. So: !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! <3&stuff

OH MY GOODNESS.

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Improvised Star Trek tonight at midnight at iO with special guests Danny Mora and Bill Arnett! Check out our feature in Time Out Chicago:http://chicago.timeout.com/articles/museums-culture/81048/chicago-geek-events And if you&#8217;d like to catch up on our exploits, here&#8217;s the blog that chronicles our episodes:http://improvisedstartrek.blogspot.com/

Improvised Star Trek tonight at midnight at iO with special guests Danny Mora and Bill Arnett!

Check out our feature in Time Out Chicago:
http://chicago.timeout.com/articles/museums-culture/81048/chicago-geek-events

And if you’d like to catch up on our exploits, here’s the blog that chronicles our episodes:
http://improvisedstartrek.blogspot.com/

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This thing freaks me out with his weird cuteness.

This thing freaks me out with his weird cuteness.

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Because I am always the best person to have around for cheerful, uplifting conversation, as we were packing up game night on Thanksgiving weekend I brought up the cat parasite Toxoplasma gondii and how it works its way into humans and changes our brains and behavior. Well, now it&#8217;s 10:30am on Saturday morning and I don&#8217;t have a single Falcon&#8217;s Perch in my system (vodka, OJ, seltzer, splash of cran-grape - YOU&#8217;RE WELCOME) This is how the parasite is supposed to work: The parasite&#8217;s eggs are shed in a cat&#8217;s feces. A rat comes along, eats the feces, and becomes infected. The behavior of the rat undergoes a dramatic change, making the rat more adventuresome and more likely to hang out around cats. Rat dies, cat eats, the parasite is back where it wants to be! In humans it&#8217;s different. 1 in 8 humans are affected by the parasite, and there&#8217;s research suggesting that they affect our fear receptors as well. Infected people are 6x more likely to be in traffic accidents. Since 1953 doctors and scientists have found a link between the parasite and schizophrenia. There was a radio lab episode about parasites that I listened to on my flight to Vegas. If you like getting scared about what could possibly be inside you or maybe should be inside you (hookworm!?) give it a listen.

Because I am always the best person to have around for cheerful, uplifting conversation, as we were packing up game night on Thanksgiving weekend I brought up the cat parasite Toxoplasma gondii and how it works its way into humans and changes our brains and behavior. Well, now it’s 10:30am on Saturday morning and I don’t have a single Falcon’s Perch in my system (vodka, OJ, seltzer, splash of cran-grape - YOU’RE WELCOME)

This is how the parasite is supposed to work: The parasite’s eggs are shed in a cat’s feces. A rat comes along, eats the feces, and becomes infected. The behavior of the rat undergoes a dramatic change, making the rat more adventuresome and more likely to hang out around cats. Rat dies, cat eats, the parasite is back where it wants to be!

In humans it’s different. 1 in 8 humans are affected by the parasite, and there’s research suggesting that they affect our fear receptors as well. Infected people are 6x more likely to be in traffic accidents. Since 1953 doctors and scientists have found a link between the parasite and schizophrenia.

There was a radio lab episode about parasites that I listened to on my flight to Vegas. If you like getting scared about what could possibly be inside you or maybe should be inside you (hookworm!?) give it a listen.

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December 4, 2009
Amanda Knox gets 26 years. They compare her to Amelie in the article and according to one of her storires that&#8217;s what she was watching the night of the murder - it seems like an apt comparison. One could make a case that they are both emotionally disturbed innocents completely out of touch with the world around them. (Don&#8217;t get me wrong, I love Amelie! Changed my life.) This Vanity Fair article about the murder and Amanda Knox&#8217;s erratic behavior is worth reading. The whole story is tragic. And similar to the book Lush Life (which I have not read)?

Amanda Knox gets 26 years.

They compare her to Amelie in the article and according to one of her storires that’s what she was watching the night of the murder - it seems like an apt comparison. One could make a case that they are both emotionally disturbed innocents completely out of touch with the world around them. (Don’t get me wrong, I love Amelie! Changed my life.)

This Vanity Fair article about the murder and Amanda Knox’s erratic behavior is worth reading. The whole story is tragic.

And similar to the book Lush Life (which I have not read)?

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Every once in a while I relisten to this song and am surprised by how good it is. Did it ever get its due as a significant artistic achievement? I mean, the guy went from “wake me up before you go-go” to “All we have to do now, Is take these lies and make them true somehow” and then he had half naked supermodels singing for him. FREEDOM!! He’s so free he didn’t even show up! I LOVE IT. It never gets old to me.

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The boy I nanny said my name for the first time today. I walked in, he was covered in banana pointed at me and said ‘Rene!’. Yay.

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December 3, 2009
Chicago Geek events - Time Out Chicago

Improvised Star Trek is featured in Time Out Chicago this week!!

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First snowfall of the season!!!! Right now is the only socially acceptable time to love the winter.

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Judd Turner!

Judd Turner!

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We&#8217;re HOME!! I slept in my bed last night, cooked dinner in my kitchen and was snoring by 9:30. I feel great. Before I left for Vegas I cleaned our entire apartment, washed all the rugs and towels, scrubbed the stove, did the dishes etc. What is better than walking into a clean apartment after a week away? Few things.

We’re HOME!! I slept in my bed last night, cooked dinner in my kitchen and was snoring by 9:30. I feel great. Before I left for Vegas I cleaned our entire apartment, washed all the rugs and towels, scrubbed the stove, did the dishes etc. What is better than walking into a clean apartment after a week away? Few things.

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