MY BIRTHDAY!!!!!

Yay, I'm 19 now! I honestly don't know why I'm so excited. Oh well. I've had a pretty great day. I mean, from the stand point of, it was a normal day, it would be SUPER EXCELLENT GOOD. But this was my birthday, so that's sorta to be expected. But even as birthday's go, this was a good day.

We started off early, looking for directions to the mall. Fun stuff, right? I actually got to break out my mapping software and give it a try, even though we didn't use that map. But I DID find the place, so hah. We took our long drive out there, and I played PJ in tetris on the Game Boy. Of course, I beat him. Actually, we're mostly even in the game, though there is a slight difference. PJ is better playing the game from a clean slate, while I'm better at the kind where there is already some junk on the field to work around/with. But I realized that this leads to an even bigger distinction. Tetris, with its fast paced, mindless, live-for-the-moment style of brick dropping action is almost the polar opposite to the patient, strategic, thought provoking gameplay of RPG's like the Final Fantasy games I've recently taken up with. That's right, Final Fantasy is the Anti-Tetris. Note that I don't rate one style as being better or more fun than another. Both games are absolutely wonderful, just different. It's the old apples/oranges argument. I couldn't ever imagine playing a game of Final Fantasy X for any less than thirty minutes at a minimum, while the idea of Tetris for more than an hour makes my head spin. But if I'm on a stop and go car ride, or waiting in line for a bit, then out comes the Tetris. And if I'm at home, with no real plans for the next hour or two, I'm off trying to raise Yuna a few more Sphere Levels. Both are great games, just so very different that they can't really be compared.

So anyway, we get to the mall, and first, we check on the place where I should have dinner reservations: a Japanese Hibatchi (I'm sure I spelt that wrong) Grill. Well, apparently, not only were our reservations lost, but someone lied to my mom about them, because the Grill part of that particular restaurant is closed. The rest is okay, though, and we plan on coming back for burgers and steaks and whatever they serve there. Okay, dinner solved, now for lunch.

We meander over to the movie theatre of the mall and buy five tickets for the noon showing of The Last Samurai. Course, we still had twenty minutes. Plenty of time for some extra birthday fun, right? So, I paid the hooker and.... nah, I'm just messing with you. I did cut it a little close, though, by opting to explore the new mall. About 10 minutes before the movie was supposed to start (mind you that we still wanted to get food and such for the show), I end up as far from the theatre as you can be in that mall. I made myself a mad dash back, though, and, (after a quick stop in Kay-B-Toys to check to see if they had the new Alternators Sideswipe, which they DIDN'T u.u) we were on our way to see the movie.

Usually, one of my favorite things about movies is the coming attractions. Not much here, though. There was some oddness with the projector, first giving us a blank screen during the shot for Troy, along with a preview of Payback that was half silent. One odd thing to note, however, was the poster I saw, advertising a movie about Garfield, the cat. I don't quite know what to think of this, really. He has, as a comic character, grown somewhat old to me. He has long since been replaced by Dilbert as my favorite stop in the Sunday funnies, and isn't really anywhere near my top five, either. I do fondly remember his old cartoon show as being good, though. So, who knows. Maybe Garfield is just one of those characters who needs more time to get his jokes across. I'll probably wait till he appears on video, though, because his CGI incarnation looks, at this stage, scary.

Okay, the main feature itself. The Last Samurai. I had my doubts at first. I mean, Tom Cruise? As a samurai? I don't believe it. Luckily, he didn't really become a samurai in the movie, just fought alongside them. But believe me, this movie was GREAT. I don't want to tell you what happens really, to spoil it, but take my word for it. If you haven't seen it yet, go see it now. If you have seen it, go see it again. It's that good. My favorite part: the ninja assassins. As soon as they appeared on screen, I just thought "NINJASNINJASNINJASNINJASNINJAS" the whole time until Nathan (Cruise) killed the last one. That jerk. But yeah, I've decided that I could watch a full movie of ninjas. Like, a Jurassic Park style thriller thing, only with ninjas instead of dinosaurs. It would be awesome. Maybe I'll write that story as well.

Also, this movie had an odd revelation for me. Tom Cruise, apparently, is sexy. Or maybe I'm just going crazy. But there was one scene where Nathan was being undressed by some girl to be suited in armor, and I had this weird thought: "Are they going to show his penis?" I was a little freaked out, but also a little curious. I mean, it is a rated-R movie, so they can show that stuff, right? Oh well, they didn't, and I can't say I was disappointed. Knowing Cruises reputation, he would probably have demanded a penis double. Hrmm... That's an interesting job idea. I wonder if I could do that? Heh. By the way, ladies, don't take the above paragraph to mean that I'm gay, I still love the titties and pussy, don't you worry. And my butt is still a penetration-free zone, as a policy. Still though.... ummm... Perhaps I've said too much. Oh well, not like anyone reads this.

And another thing I noticed about Tom Cruise: He is a tiny wee man. I dunno why I'd always seen him as being taller, but he looks like he's maybe 5 foot nothing. Weird.

Okay, it's late. I was gonna rundown all my wondrous birthday presents and such, but I lacked the time. So I sleep now. G'night all. Merry Christmas and Ho-ho-ho!