A better-than-expected movie, shmoozing with small-c celebrities, and yelling at people...

So I've been a little slack in posting here. Not that there hasn't really been nothing to say, there has and this post will kind of show it...

It's just been, well, between work, sleeping, relaxing and sheer sloth...

Eh, in any case, here we go. Bah. One week. No probs. It's a lot more prolific than other people I know (looking at you, Marauder. And Nova. And, well, everyone other than Dev, Dan and Dave...

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Last Wednesday, I was asked to participate in a choir event, singing at the opening of the new Churchill Square.

It was cold for the girls, not so bad for the guys (especially when you're like me, and have something like four layers on when wearing a tux).

A decent time, other than seeing Mayor Bill Smith pimp for the camera like his job was on the line. (Oh, wait. It is...) My old coworker Mike Jenkinson was there in Edmonton Sun capacity (EDIT: He says he wasn't there that night. Odd. Someone in the city looks eerily similar. Granted, he could be mistaken, although not usually when he looks like his Sun pic...), and my old GMCC Video News Writing teacher, Steve Hogle, was the MC.

Afterwards, the choir was invited to join in on the finger food and wine at City Hall. Very good wine, yummy snacks, and I was able to shmooze with Steve for a bit. Talked about what I've been doing since Grant Mac. And I've got an in for publicity for Kow's Christmas show. Not that I'm worried about publicity for it, since we were No Harm's media darlings, but it's always nice to be able to think ahead for a change.

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Last Saturday was Marauder's birthday, and D!, Canton and I went to celebrate along with a crapload of theatre people. Highlight was the video Lee made featuring Marauder's best Edmonton Sketch Conspiracy moments, which must have been every sketch Lee taped that featured Marauder.

Including the infamous Bubba Bomb that D! sold like a madman two years ago.

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Yesterday, Dev and I picked up The Girl Next Door, since we both wanted to see it, and didn't think it would be too appropriate if either of us watched it alone. We just imagined it being too much of a "sitting in the dark, lusting after Elisha Cuthbert" kind of way.

The ads all show the film to be a typical teen movie, in the style of Road Trip or American Pie.

But when Dev and I first heard the opening song (Queen's "Under Pressure"), we knew this wouldn't be what the ads promised.

The best way I could describe it is as the sort of "coming of age" film that Risky Business and Something Wild are: A high school senior realizes he's spent all of his school life studying for college, and when Elisha, a former porn starlet, moves in next door, his studious little world is blown apart.

Some great acting from Elisha, who Dev and I are used to as the dumbest girl on the planet, Kim Bauer.

Tim Oliphant, as a porn producer, was probably my favourite character, but everyone in this movie with a better-than-average part was pretty well-written and characterized.

If you're looking for a good "coming of age" film, you can do a lot worse than The Girl Next Door.