Chicago Bears, Machete, Weddings, Parades, Loneliness, and Flipping Off the Devil.

By: The Dude on the Right

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What a Labor Day weekend, and what better way to recap it than with a Stu & The Dude’s Weekend Wrap-Up! Podcast! Yup, my weekend was lonely, or rather spent many a time alone, while Stu was all over the place, and with people. Yup, my BFF had some things to take care of, so I tell Stu how I reverted to my old ways, catching a movie, by myself, namely this one being “Machete.” I let Stu know if it is any good (it was!), and how I was happy I went because it’s a movie my BFF would never watch.

Stu, meanwhile, loved “KickAss,” (as do I), but thought Cop Out sort of sucked. Also, the vacation destination that was set to rival the giant ball of twine, namely the teepee in Stu’s back yard, has come down following a summer of teepee-ness!

I’m looking forward to the Chicago Bears season opener for some reason, Stu liked a wedding with a brunch buffett, I forced my BFF to watch “The Fifth Element,” and Stu questions if it is okay for a preacher to flip the bird, if that bird flipping is aimed at the Devil.

All of that and more for this podcast, as we head into the fall, and wedding season!

Thanks for listening!

That’s it for this one!  I’m The Dude on the Right!!  L8R!!!

Allergies Abound, Sucked in at Sam’s Club, and a Smart, or maybe just big, Ass.

By: The Dude on the Right

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I got sucked into the sample folks at Sam’s Club, and during this podcast episode of our "Weekend Wrap-Up!", I tell Stu Gotz what me and the BFF came home with (it was yummy, and oversized)! Me, for the most part, had a non-eventful weekend, although I treated my BFF to a viewing of "Hot Tub Time Machine," and I let Stu know if he missed anything during last night’s Emmy Awards (How cool would it have been if they could have gotten Bruce Springsteen to show up?).

Stu, meanwhile, found out that he has a smart ass, or at least a big ass, and that story has nothing to do with the kicking shoes around at a Tae Kwon Do tournament. A lot of Stu’s weekend had to do with allergies, with his kicking his ass (I sense a theme), him wondering about the proliferation of allergies and kids, and him sounding a little disappointed in Mama Gotz who decided she wanted to bring nuts to a picnic where a lot of kids would be.

Stu is still stuck on Doctor Who and he saw "Casino Royale," I don’t think my BFF and I will be having a honeymoon under the sea, and I eagerly await Apple’s next media event on Wednesday where the rumors say they will announce a batch of new iPods and a new version of iLife, but we’ll find out later about that, and hey, I don’t really talk about it during the podcast, but I’m still always excited about an Apple event.

Thanks for listening!

That’s it for this one!  I’m The Dude on the Right!!  L8R!!!

A New iPhone App, SCUBA-ing, and Frontera Grill is Good.

By: The Dude on the Right

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As our latest episode of Stu & The Dude’s "Weekend Wrap-Up!" podcast starts, I give an explanation of time lords and doctors, and some other stuff about Doctor Who that Stu Gotz wondered, of which I have no clue what I’m talking about (Thanks Mystery Dude!). What I do know what I’m talking about, though, is that A) I made another iPhone app called the "Countdown Clockorrayter," and I’m getting marring in under two months!

So, I tell Stu how the wedding plans are coming along, about my BFF and I getting haircuts, and how Frontera Grill (a Rick Bayless restaurant in Chicago), is really good. Stu tried to film some stuff in 3-D while SCUBA-ing, took the little Gotz’s to "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World," and finally saw the ending of "Cool Hand Luke" and now understands how it relates to Cartman on South Park.

Stu likes the iPhone app "Plants vs Zombies," while I still like my "Clockorrayter," (and hey, since I’m shamelessly self-promoting, check out "Make Me Smile" as well), Stu’s camera survived because it has some special Bonica magic, and neither of us figure we will be seeing the movie "Takers."

Thanks for listening!

That’s it for this one!  I’m The Dude on the Right!!  L8R!!!

A Bachelor Party Weekend and Here Comes a Wedding!

By: The Dude on the Right

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So Stu Gotz is still tied up doing a crazy thing like work, which results in this “Weekend Wrap-Up!” podcast being a solo version, just me, telling some stories about my bachelor party weekend trip to Long Beach Island, New Jersey. Yup, that’s right, instead of the standard Las Vegas, I wanted to go to the Garden State, and a good time was had by all. Sure, I don’t tell any of the really good stories, because yes, what happens in New Jersey stays in New Jersey (okay, it doesn’t have the same ring as things staying in Vegas), but I did have an enjoyable weekend with some fraternity friends, they didn’t break me, and I met a lovely old couple who gave me some great advice for my upcoming wedding.

And yes, as I prepare for the wonderful event, some of this podcast is about how the wedding is coming together nicely, how I can’t wait, and how now that I’m a fiance that girls seem to want to talk to me, or are at least a lot more polite thinking your aren’t hitting on them.

The podcast has a small amount of talk about “The Other Guys” movie, no talk about “Eat Pray Love,” and I’m pretty sure I won’t be seeing “Pirahna 3D” this weekend unless The Dude on the Left, or should I call him “The Abyss,” wants to go with me to see it.

Thanks for listening!

That’s it for this one!  I’m The Dude on the Right!!  L8R!!!

I Don’t Have Too Many Eggs (I think), I Just Lost My Basket!

By: The Dude on the Right

As Stu Gotz couldn’t meet up with me today to do a podcast, rather than do a solo episode I decided to hold off the podcast for a day, especially since I know Stu is dying to find out how my bachelor party weekend went since he couldn’t make the trip to New Jersey.  So, that discussion will hit tomorrow. Instead I decided this might be a great time to do a blog – something I haven’t done for this site in quite some time.

Now I mention “this site,” because as I had some time away over the weekend, and have blogged on some other sites I have recently and neglecting this one, and as I’ve been pondering this for quite a while now, I started to look at all of the things I’ve got going, especially since I started developing iPhone apps, and I suppose getting married, and I guess having four Twitter accounts, and then there is my weight loss blog, and, okay…

So, yup, I’ve got a lot of things going on, and I tried to reflect on them.  I said to myself, “Self, why don’t you prioritize them and knock off a couple to free up some time/space in your mind?” I started to look at some of the projects I’ve got active (on life support in some cases), seeing if I really wanted to axe any of them, and I ended up with the following priority list, rating each thing individually on a scale of 1 to 10 in general importance to me/I love doing it/I miss doing it/I want to do more of it/and general 1 to 10-ness, with 1 being high and 10 being low.

  • My Wedding: Um, it’s a 1, duh.
  • My life with my BFF: 1
  • Other hobbies/things around the house/projects: 1

Yes, seriously, as I looked at my list, and there are a few things missing from the above list, there isn’t one of them that I don’t love doing, don’t get jazzed about when I do get around to working on, and yes, I agree, in actuality all of them should have a “2” next to them and “My life with my BFF” is actually the only “1,” but hey, I think even she understands.

The thing is, as I looked at this list, I pondered the idea of consolidating.  For example, do I really need four Twitter accounts? My contemplation on this is simply would my Twitter followers under whenismile actually care about the tweets that would be appropriate for drewdude, and would my general tweeting in dudeonright really be what those in myweightplan would want to read?  And then there is the fact that, right now, whenismile is a little more private, at least from some friends and family, so I can tweet things there without worrying about what they might say.  In fact, I’ve almost been confused about tweeting sometimes wondering which account to put it under, and if I posted the same tweet under all four accounts, thinking all of my followers would like to read it, and someone followed all four accounts, would they be pissed at getting the same tweet pretty much four times?

Then there are the blogs I have.  Yup, would Entertainment Ave!-land actually care that I have a blog about my attempt at losing weight?  When I Smile, which is geared towards things about my “Make Me Smile” app, really doesn’t seem to be the right place for Stu Gotz and our podcasts every now and then.  And I could go on an on.

I guess my pondering really centers about “To consolidate, or not to consolidate – That is the question!”  And if so, what is the best way to go about it?  Sure, I could leave everything under my Webventure Avenue company moniker, but that doesn’t seem to be right.  I’ve had Entertainment Ave! for over 15 years and hate to put that by the wayside.  I suppose Mostly Entertainment could get wrapped into the Entertainment Ave! site, but should it be separate?  Ugh!

I guess I need to let these thoughts bounce around in my head a little more, since, in coming to a final conclusion, if the answer is to “consolidate” then that creates another issue – total site-redesigns of everything I have to get them under one umbrella, or at least in one basket.  And even if I don’t consolidate, maybe I should actually use some of my organization skills/software/thoughts, to put things into little blocks, workable blocks, so that each project is it’s own little world, yet gets some attention every day, with the most, of course, being my BFF.

At least my wedding will be able to be taken off this list in two months – when the “I do”’s have been said, but I’m sure when that egg has been hatched I’m going to just lay another one – I just hope I can get that one to land in the basket I haven’t found yet.

And sure, if you’ve got any answers for the question “To consolidate or not to consolidate!”, I would love to hear them!

That’s it for this one!  I’m The Dude on the Right!! L8R!!!

2012

MPAA Rated – PG-13
It’s Too Long
A Review by:
The Dude on the Right

2012
Movie Stats & Links
Starring: John Cusack, Amanda Peet, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Oliver Platt, Woody Harrelson
MPAA Rated: PG-13
Released By: Columbia Pictures
Distributed By: www.whowillsurvive2012.com
Kiddie Movie: Only if you want them to be paranoid their house will fall into the Earth.
Date Movie: She might get snuggly, or hate you for taking her to this film.
Gratuitous Sex: Amanda Peet getting naked would have helped.
Gratuitous Violence: Lots of people die. It is about the end of the Earth after all.
Action: There’s a lot of trying to outrun geological catastrophes.
Laughs: Most of the movie.
Memorable Scene: Too many “Oh, come on.” scenes to list.
Memorable Quote: “No we’re not, we’re going to die.” and “That’s great. Open the God damn door!”
Directed By: Roland Emmerich
Produced By: Harald Kloser, Mark Gordon, Larry Franco

I will say this, after watching “2012” I will no longer be in the market for an SUV – Nope, I’m buying a limo!

Well, the world is on the verge of disaster again, and who better than Roland Emmerich to destroy it, only this time the evil villains are neutrinos, sub-atomic particles that, following some Sun activity, decide to heat up the Earth’s core like it were in a microwave oven.  Sadly this will cause the Earth’s crust to, well, I’m not really sure, but tectonic plates will shift, the Earth will shake, tsunamis will swallow the world, and humanity will die, that is unless the Chinese can build some arks for a batch of human to hang out in until the trouble is over.  Sounds simple enough, doesn’t it?  Well it is, unless you are a writer named Jackson (John Cusack), you want to get your family on that ark, and you don’t have a ticket.

Yup, Jackson is a writer.  He was married to Kate (Amanda Peet) and has a couple of kids. But Jackson and Kate are split up now and Kate is hitched with a boob doctor, Gordon (Tom McCarthy). So it’s dad’s weekend with the kids, and he shuttles them to Yellowstone National Park (who knew it was just a hop, skip, and a jump from the California coast?), only to discover a missing lake and wacky radio dude, Charlie (Woody Harrelson).  It is there that Jackson realizes there might be problems with the Earth, especially after running into scientist Adrian (Chiwetel Eliofor).  Well, wouldn’t you know it, when all hell breaks loose it turns out that Jackson is a swell dude and lets Gordon along for the ride as they make the getaway from the west coast sliding into the ocean, and it’s a good thing, too, because it turns out Gordon is one hell of a pilot.

Anyway, in the meantime, the good scientist, who helped figure out the Earth was going to destroy itself, is working with the President (Danny Glover) and Scientific Advisor (Oliver Platt), and the world leaders, to analyze exactly when the world is going to die, but sadly he failed to understand the heating properties of Earth’s core, or some crap like that, so, of course, he’s wrong and it happens sooner than everyone thinks.

So, now, with the Earth falling apart, it is a mad dash for the ark inhabitants to make their way to said arks, and somehow Jackson is able to get his family from the west coast, back to Yellowstone to secure a map, down to Vegas, and off to China to save his family.

The problem is, I didn’t care.

Yup, that is the biggest problem I had with “2012,” the simple fact that I didn’t really care who lived and who died, and I think that was simply because there were too many players involved.  I mean sure, there was Jackson and his family, but then they became intertwined with this Russian millionaire on the dash to China.  There was also the story of Carl the Scientific Advisor, who was a prick, and the President who is a good dude, and international intrigue as people aware the Earth was going to destroy itself were mysteriously killed. Sure, Charlie was a hoot, and I am quickly remembering how great an actor Woody Harrelson is (he’s also great in “Zombieland,”), but for the most part, all of them could have bought it, Jackson should have, and I wouldn’t have cared.

Yes, there is unbelievable action as the world disintegrates, but I have to say that asteroids and aliens make for much cooler destruction, especially when “2012” takes things to truly unbelievable levels as the six-engine plane rises from the depths of Vegas, and the limo is able to nearly leap tall buildings in a single, well, jump, but for a movie with a human element, this movie just lost it all in two and a half hours of “We are all going to die!”

I wanted to like “2012,” but just couldn’t so I have to only give the movie 1/2 star out of 5.  Yes, it is much more impressive on the big screen, but if you are going to spend your hard-earned money, at least wait for a matinee.  All the movie did for me, really, was miss the “Quick Takes” dude, Zay “tap-dancing militant Islamic fundamentalists” Smith, from the Chicago Sun Times, who got axed a while ago, as he kept a watchful eye on the Yellowstone Caldera, which supposedly will cover Chicago in six feet of ash if it blows again, as it did in the movie “2012,” but hopefully won’t really blow again until about 2112, because, well, I’ll most likely be dead and people would then say that the band Rush somehow prophesied it. Okay, enough rambling.

That’s it for this one!  I’m The Dude on the Right!!  L8R!!!

A Teepee, Crappy Movies, Broccoli, iPads, and Sushi.

By: The Dude on the Right

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I was worried that Stu Gotz was kicked out of the Gotz household, but during this edition of our “Weekend Wrap-Up!” podcast, I find out that Stu just wanted to build a teepee! Yup, Stu is getting in touch with his American Indian heritage, even though he has none, and he put up a big ol’ wigwam in the Gotz yard. The kids love it, but I worry he doesn’t see the future picture of Mama Gotz saying “You’re sleeping in the teepee tonight!”, especially with Stu not being that great at negotiating skills with his kids involving a piece of broccoli and an iPad.

Neither of us saw a movie in the theater, but that didn’t stop us from catching up on DVD stuff with Stu and Mama Gotz watching “2012” and “Heartbreak Kid,” while I watched “My Life in Ruins” with my BFF, and both of us thought it was all over the place, and kind of stupid, although in her world it still wasn’t that bad because it was under two hours with a happy ending.

I ate Sushi, a Little Gotz ate broccoli, Stu didn’t watch TV, and I’m recommending “The Real Housewives of Washington D.C.” What has happened to me?

And, yes, I realize “Deep Impact” was an asteroid movie. The movie I was thinking about was “Dante’s Peak.”

Thanks for listening!

That’s it for this one!  I’m The Dude on the Right!!  L8R!!!

Dinner for Schmucks, Cats and Dogs, Apple Camp, and Cold as a Witches…

By: The Dude on the Right

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Our “Weekend Wrap-Up!” podcast brings to light that both Stu Gotz and I saw movies this weekend, albeit different movies, and Stu is sitting on a movie (The Invention of Lying) that Mama Gotz isn’t sure who the lead dude is! Me, I saw “Dinner For Schmucks” and sort of liked it, liked the food at the Hollywood Palms Theater in Naperville, IL, but didn’t like the fact that it was colder than a witches tit in the theater and the theater is not set up for snuggling so my BFF froze her ass off. Stu, meanwhile, was with his kiddies catching “Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kittie Galore,” but not in 3-D.

Stu is confused with his TV watching, what with “Doctor Who” being done for the season, but lucky for him he still has “Burn Notice” and “Psych,” because Stu is all about cable. Meanwhile, I’m really sucked into “Big Brother something or other,” even though I don’t really know any of the people’s names, I’m still liking Howie Mandell on “America’s Got Talent,” and both Stu and I wonder what will happen to “American Idol” now that Ellen is gone, Kara is supposedly gone, and J. Lo will be taking a seat in the judge’s chair.

Stu sent his kid to Apple Camp, I did a lot of work, Stu has a visitor in town, and my high school reunion isn’t on the same day as a Bon Jovi concert this time, although I still probably can’t go and it’s not my BFF’s fault, as Stu tries to imply.

The weekends go by so fast, and we talk about them… Thanks for listening!

That’s it for this one!  I’m The Dude on the Right!!  L8R!!!

An S&M Sunday, Port-O-Potties, Dr. Who is Who, and Being Super Macho

By: The Dude on the Right

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Although a lot of Chicago ended up flooded, happily myself and Stu Gotz detail, during our “Weekend Wrap-Up!” podcast, our survival tips, or rather our “We were just lucky” tips, of the Chicago flood of 2010. Stu fought the flooding by braving the elements during a camping trip, while I fought them with being oblivious, and although no worse for wear, Stu does have some issues with his air conditioning which hopefully are getting repaired as we speak.

Rain didn’t seem to dampen either of our weekends as Stu continued his investigative reporting of how to have fun with your kids at a demolition derby, and in tonight’s episode we find out about taking your Little Gotz into a port-a-potty, and how it might be the woman’s fault for the mess. Me, as the big day draws closer, a lot of me is about getting married, and finding wedding bands took precedence this weekend, and chatting with our priest for the wedding.

Stu went diving, I did mopping; Stu thinks Dr. Who is Doctress Who, and I think some dude in this summer’s Big Brother is a genius. And, well, neither of us has still seen “Inception,” and neither of us will being trying “Super Macho,” with all of its bull semen supposed goodness.

Thanks for listening!

That’s it for this one!  I’m The Dude on the Right!!  L8R!!!

Bad Days for Tiger and Nicolas, Passing a Test, Summer TV, and Who Are Ramona and Beezus?

By: The Dude on the Right

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During this edition of our “Weekend Wrap-Up!” podcast, I let Stu Gotz know that my BFF and I passed our marriage test yet he seems more concerned about a weekend drinking excursion rather than my future happiness. I would expect no less from my buddy! As weekends go for me it was pretty simple, with some marriage planning, including renting a tuxedo and realizing that it’s one of the biggest rackets in the clothing industry, and learning to hang some drywall. Stu, on the other hand, seemed to have a good time with said drinking excursion with Mama Gotz, Stinky, The Dude on the Left, and Trash, and somehow he also fit in a trip to the movies with the Little Gotz’s, going to see “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice,” and a snuggly trip with Mama Gotz to see “Twilight: Eclipse.”

Stu is sad the current season of Doctor Who is almost over, he thinks he won’t like “Burn Notice” in ten years if he tries to watch a rerun, and he makes fun of me for watching “Bethany Getting Married,” or whatever the name of the show is with that Bethany chick who used to be a New York housewife, or something like that.

Neither of us seem committed to seeing “Salt” next weekend, nor “Ramona & Beezus,” but I do know some more marriage preparation should be taking place, and Stu is planning on some canoeing, but I don’t see multiple cases of beer as used to be the case many, many moons ago.

Thanks for listening!

That’s it for this one!  I’m The Dude on the Right!!  L8R!!!