Potomac, 20854

• What I'm Watching/Listening To/Reading:
• Watched the Grindhouse double feature (available on Starz On Demand) tonight. Both of the movies are good examples of the director's work, with the first one, Planet Terror from Rodriguez, being a shoot-'em-up horror film along the lines of From Dusk 'Til Dawn, with a similar-ish ending. I think the zombie thing is a little played out though, and while it tries to channel Romero, I prefer Peter Jackson's Dead Alive or the best, Raimi's Evil Dead and Evil Dead 2. Man, do I love Evil Dead 2. The second movie, Death Proof, is fantastic. It's Tarantino's homage to stuntmen, specifically stunt driving. Great dialogue, a few choice Pulp Fiction references, and a scene shot like the opening of Reservoir Dogs, but with a creepy twist to it. I'm a bigger Tarantino fan than a Rodriguez one (I think most people are), so take that into account when I say I would recommend Death Proof and I could take or leave Planet Terror, if you have to split up the two.
• Most of the day was spent down at Congressional, watching live golf. It was hot and it was a lot of walking, but golf gives you the best value for your sporting event dollar. You can watch as much as nine or ten hours of action, you're not confined to one seat, and you can get up right next to the athletes. Of course DC humidity for nine or ten hours isn't too much fun, but it's well worth it.
• Random Thoughts/Links:
• At one point, one of the golfers three-putted and it made me feel great, because I could have three-putted from where he was in my sleep. Heck, I could have probably got it down in two without too much trouble. On the next hole, the same golfer proceeded to chip out of a bunker that was deeper than he was tall and get it to within five feet of the pin. I'll never be able to do that on the luckiest day of my lifetime. So much for feeling good about my inconsistent and very, very average golf game.
• Walking around the course, we happened to catch a glimpse of some of Potomac's hidden mansions through the trees. They were big. How big were they? They were so big that they didn't have floor plans, only maps. They were so big that I heard an echo coming from the inside of one of them of a golf shot from last year. They were so big that one of them was dating Elizabeth Perkins and dancing on a piano mat.
• Daily Rant:
• I've decided that most or all of my strong pet peeves boil down to not caring for people who take themselves too seriously. Who can put up with that type of person, acting like they're better than everyone else, that they don't want to stoop to the level of the common person? I think it comes from deep insecurities, where they want to project an air of perfection so that they cover up their self-perceived faults and I don't much care to hang out with anyone who is so deeply insecure that they can't function warmly in a social setting. No fun.