kein-engel's Diaryland Diary ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- the new year... Starting Anew... As in, a new year. The year 2007, the year of the Pig! Okay, maybe the pig isn’t the most noble animal to base your entire year around, but hey, I didn’t create the Chinese Zodiac, contrary to popular belief. Now, I’m sure that someone else may have already thought of this, but I have decided not to refer to this year as ‘07, but as ‘007, since James Bond is a friggin’ badass. I admit, not the most original idea, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to abandon it. Oh, and before I forget, there’s new content on the Music and the Movies pages! And you may have also noticed a slightly different look for the Daily Bailey overall… As far as the new things go, I tried something new on New Year’s Eve! I went with Jenny to a hookah bar called ‘Algiers’ in Fort Collins. Now before anyone freaks out, don’t. Smoking hookah is actually smoking what is called ’shisha’. Shisha is a tobacco product, but there is no niccotine in it, and there are no other carcinogens or additives or anything like that, so it’s very, very safe. I was still pretty nervous, even though there are like, no actual risks associated with smoking shisha, because it’s still the closest thing to doing drugs that I have ever done. Jenny and I went with Justin, Candace, Ben, and Chad to the hookah bar. We all sat down around a little table covered in oriental pillows and blankets. Some hippies played some kind of plinky-plunky music to help with the whole ‘chill out and smoke hookah’ atmosphere. It was really fun, and the social connection caused by the sharing of the pipe was really great, and it made me feel a lot closer to everyone there. The point is, I had a lot of fun, and I tried something new! On an entirely unrelated note, go see Blood Diamond. This movie accomplishes what very few are able to; it keeps you entertained and engaged while still delivering a poignant message. Other movies have tried, and failed. I’m looking at you, The Day After Tomorrow. This movie, however had none of the failings of a typical action movie with an important message. It had the action, it had the message, and everything in between. At times, the violence became almost too much to handle, because it was uncompromising in its representation of what actually takes place in Africa. The acting, wow, just, let me take a moment…Done. Ok, the acting in this movie was great all around. Leonardo DiCaprio continues his streak of impressing me that he started on in ‘The Departed’, especially when it comes to his amazing vocal diversity. He not only pulls off a British South African accent, but a truly impressive Africaans accent that simply blows the audience away. Personally, I feel that Djimon Hounsou is one of the best actors in contemporary American cinema. In this film, he is the emotional heart and soul. He plays a man from a small village in Africa whose family is taken from him in a rebel raid, while he is taken to the diamond fields to sift for the precious stones. The intensity and truthfullness in this man’s eyes alone are more than many of today’s most popular actors can muster in a film’s climax. Now, Jennifer Conneley is a great, great actress. In this movie, I feel that she did an amazing job, but I also feel that her character was restrictive to a woman of her talent. That having been said, she protrayed her photojournalist very, very well. And, thankfully, the love interest between her and DiCaprio never materializes to anything cliche or annoying. And, let’s be entirely honest, Jen ain’t hard to look at. In other news, it continues to suck to not have a car, but things at work are going well nonetheless! I’ve recently been given a raise, and starting next week, I start training to become a manager! Among other things, that would mean another raise! Life in general is great, Jenny is great beyond words, and I’m having fun as I continue into this unknown realm of adulthood…I don’t know how many people through the years have associated the word ‘adulthood’ with the words ‘Jesse Bailey’, but dammit, I’m ready to try to be a grown-up! 12:51 a.m. - Saturday, Jan. 06, 2007 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
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