The-Amazing-Race

Heck of a movie! (Picture by Yunus Emre KARTAL) January continues to go strong this year! Got in a fantastic movie this week along with plenty of good reading. Can’t complain about that at all. Movies American Hustle - I hadn’t heard a bad word about this movie and I will say that it did not disappoint. Just phenomenally done. It’s yet another super fun heist movie. I didn’t love the voiceovers that were peppered throughout, but otherwise I’d call it a mostly flawless and fun movie. Go see it before it’s out of theaters! ...

Brilliant game. (Photo by Eddie Shannon) Thanks to a snowstorm Katie, Min, Lee, and I got to play some Left 4 Dead. I’d forgotten how sharp that game’s design was! Movies Nein. TV The Amazing Race - I was spot on with my predictions last week. Super fun episode and, surprisingly, Tim and Marie ended up my favorite racers by the end. The Daily Show - Watched a few eps here and there, but the white/black Santa bit was…HILARIOUS. Definitely watch the opening 10 mins or so of the Evangeline Lilly episode. So hilarious. ...

Weird to see Benedict Cumberbatch with a Southern accent (Photo courtesy touchedmuch) It’s been a surprisingly movie-filled week! I don’t usually talk about the sporting events I watched here, but that was a hell of a Ravens game yesterday, wasn’t it! Movies 12 Years a Slave - What an intense movie. Extremely well-acted and a brilliant counterpoint to Django Unchained. Where Django took revenge for slavery, 12 Years a Slave makes it a hell of a lot more personal and is that much better for it. The flick is tough to watch sometimes, but it’s the best movie I’ve seen this year (so far). ...

Hashtag Stay Hungry Remember that charity thing a million years ago? Here’s the picture we took with Adam Jones. Pretty cool. Movies 30 for 30: The Band That Wouldn’t Die - I don’t remember if I classified the last 30 for 30 I watched as a movie or not, but for the sake of filling out this section, why not, right? As for the documentary itself, what a neat portrait of football in MD. I would never have realized the depths to which the city loved that old team and how heartbroken they were. Made me really excited to see the band at that Ravens/Jets game I went to. ...

Clever ad copy for one of the best shows this season. (Photo by Katya Yakubov) It’s been another awesome week! I got to meet Adam Jones at a tailgate and watch the Ravens win along with…all the stuff below! Movies None this week! TV The Amazing Race - Katie and I shotgunned the entire tenth season because it had a leg that passed through Madagascar. I think she’s really starting to get into the show, which is great because it’s loads of fun to watch. I’m also working on the fifth season on my own and watching the current season. I’m really liking Nicole and Travis to win the race… ...

Who doesn’t love novelty tweezers? I’ve gotten really bad at doing these in a timely fashion. Gotta get back up on that horse… Movies Under African Skies - Katie’s favorite album is Graceland and we happened upon a track on the 25th anniversary album where Paul Simon explained how the song was constructed. It really got us in the mood to look for some kind of documentary about the album and, lo and behold, this movie exists and it was on Hulu+. The documentary is fascinating, both politically and musically, and definitely well worth seeing. ...

I really dig the entire ensemble in this show. Lots of talent. (Photo courtesy michelarouca) A nice, relaxing weekend led to plenty of tv getting consumed and a great new show find. Movies Argo - Katie, Min, and I were looking for something action-y, but not too brainy and this is what we (brilliantly) settled on. The flick still holds up after a year, but I found the embassy storming less traumatic the second time (and also separated from Benghazi and watching the movie with people instead of solo) ...

Just adding to my ‘pictures in front of ballparks with Katie’ collection. Man have I been busy! So much has conspired to keep me from getting this out until now between going to Boston and the government shutdown and all kinds of craziness, but no excuses now! We should be back to our regularly scheduled programming from here on out. ...

The characters don’t actually look this good, but this game is super fun with multiple people. There was a point this weekend where I thought I was gonna clean to prepare for David and Kendra’s visit this weekend. Then I ended up playing Monaco with David and Min, Borderlands 2 with Yin and Lee, and Dead Space 3 with Dave, not to mention all the Poker Night and Bioshock Infinite I played on my own. Oh well…I’ll get a chance to clean later this week, right? ...

I don’t know about being the most beloved, but it was very nice. Took an overnight train to Boston to catch a game in Fenway and that was pretty awesome. Check another ballpark off my list! Movies Not this week. TV The Amazing Race - Almost done with the finale. I was pretty bummed to see Joey and Meghan go, but it’s still been a pretty fun season. ...