Interesting weekend

So I had a fairly interesting weekend.  It starts off on Friday afternoon, when I'm out walking the dog.  I'm at the intersection by my house, and this SUV is making a turn right towards me....so I'm pulling the boys outta the road, making sure their safe.  And the lady is just sitting there.  I'm trying to figure out why she's not turning, when she begins to make a really slow turn and stops right next to me.  I'm thinking she must need directions or something.  She rolls the window down and says:

"Hey, do you work at the courthouse?"
I'm just getting ready to answer, and I notice who it is.  Suffice to say that it was someone who I had....ahem....dated once many a moon ago.  And then we suddenly recognize each other and after a brief discussion, we discover that she lives about 8 houses down from me...on the same damn street for the last 5 years!!  Isn't it nice to know your neighbors???  After she drove away, I found myself remembering a memorable evening oh so many years ago.

I had asked a friend of mine, the dreaded Colleen, to set me up with her sister Kelly.
Yep, the old former Mrs Me # 2...who at this point I hadn't even gone out with yet.  So a bunch of us decided to meet up at the old J.W.'s, yep the original 4am nightclub right there on University Drive next to Hooters.  Well, the week before, I had met up with a bunch of friends at the old Cadillac Jack's on Oakland Park Blvd (is anyone else having acid flashbacks remembering these clubs???).  So, since we had such a good time, I told my friends to join us at J.W.'s....figuring that they could hang out while I was putting my moves on Kelly.  So....we get there, and Colleen sorta shows up with her (first) husband and sister in tow, and we're having a nice time hanging out and talking....and I'm watching my friends from work dancing etc etc....and then my future neighbor shows up.....shitface drunk.  Now, in my life I've seen all kinds of drunks.....ya got yer rowdy drunks, yer happy drunks....and then ya got that kind that everyone forgets about.....the CRYING DRUNK.....ugh....what a huge pain in the ass this kind is.  So she comes up and starts interrupting me & Kelly.  And I'm trying to be nice, telling this girl that I'm talking to Kelly.  But she's just not taking no for an answer.  And Kelly is starting to get a little upset that this girl is being so obnoxious.  So I'm looking around for the person the girl came with (her best friend---allegedly) and she's disappeared into the crowd at the club....leaving me stuck with her drunken friend!!  So I'm trying (surprisingly) to be a gentlemen to both ladies....but its just not working.  Eventually, Kelly leaves with her sister--undoubtably less than impressed.  So now I've gotten the drunken loon on my hands and I'm doing everything I can to be nice.  I go buy her a cup of coffee to sober up.
I take her outside to get some fresh air....I try to walk her around....and all the while, she's making passes at me left and right.  Its that eternal dilema from the movie Animal House---remember?  Devil on one shoulder---angel on the other.  What's a guy to do?  Shockingly, I remained a gentleman and decide to help her find her friend so I can get out of there and try and figure out just what in the hell went wrong with my evening!  So as we're walking around the club, she suddenly pushes me up against the wall and starts sticking her tongue in my mouth (and oh boy---that mixture of Jack Daniels and coffee was a nice mix) and asking me why I wasn't....ahem.....taking advantage of the situation (hey, my parents might read this people!).....ya know, ya try to be a nice guy...and where does it get you???
So I finally locate her "friend" and hand her off and tell her that I'm now obsolved of all responsibility.  So on Monday, I'm wondering what happened to the crying drunk so I call her friend...give her a rash of shit for dumping her buddy on me and then ask her what happened to her friend.  She laughed, and told me that she called the girl the next day and was told that she couldn't understand why she woke up in the morning sleeping on the coffee table---with her panties on her head.  Ah yes, memories........

So Saturday was a big day for Kellie (that's my daughter---not the former Mrs Me # 2)....and I finally got the chance to meet the much talked about Matt!  Not a bad looking kid, and it was so much fun watching her get desperately uncomfortable with me watching her every move.  Parenting can be fun!!

We had a nice evening out with our friends Jimmy & Mary last night--nice dinner and good companionship.  Mary was trying to talk me into coming over so the four of us could play a board game.  Sorry toots!!  It was the opening game of the college football season!!  Unfortunately, USC beat Va Tech, which wasn't such a good thing...but it was a decent game.

This afternoon, I sat around and watched one of the alltime great "bad" movies.  These of course are not to be confused with either "great" movies.....or "bad" movies...these are great bad movies.  I speak of course of the alltime Swayze classic "Road House".  Swayze is looking buffed as can be as the "cooler", which is some sort of insider bar lingo apparently for a bouncer, of the roughest bar//dance club called the Double Deuce---which may or may not be somewhere near Kansas City.
Besides that, he practices some sort of weird Tai Chi shit...sorta like David Carradine with better hair.  He is ably assisted by a vertiable who's who of character actors....including Sam Elliot, as "Wade Garrett"--the older, wiser bouncer who's his guru (bouncers need guru's?).....Kevin Tighe (remember him from Emergency! ??)...
Ben Gazzara as the town boss who by God will do anything he damn well pleases, and finally by Terry Funk as the tough guy bouncer who gets fired because "he doesn't have the right temperment"---I'm not making that up).....the proverbial girl chasing after Swazye is Kelly Lynch, who plays a doctor in town who falls for big Pat (and what doctor doesn't fall for the local bouncer?).  She looks okay, although her eyebrows could use a pluck and the chest is looking sorta boney....but hey, that's just me...the real reason to see this is that its all a huge vanity project for Swayze....besides being a bouncer ("I heard he killed a guy in Memphis once"), he's also a philosphy major from NYU!!!  This isn't the best bad Swayze movie ever (nothing can ever top Next of Kin for shear awfulness), but is "not bad"---** 1/4

Fantasy Football time again, and I didn't do bad....managed to snag Daunte Culpepper on the first round, so I'm not complaining!!

Later,
Jeff

PS....I know, I know....I'll finish off the top 10 in a day or so...in the meantime...think about these two lists for me......what's the best "bad" movie you've ever seen?  And since it came up at work---what's the funniest movie of alltime???
I'll be discussing these topics in the days and weeks to come!!

8/26/04

So lately I've been trying to get through some of my DVD's before the new fall t.v. schedule starts and I get hooked on another season of 24 & NYPD Blue....so last night I remembered I had gotten a DVD with (what was billed as) the first entire Springsteen concert to be on DVD.  He was live in Barcelona from the fall of 2002 and I gotta tell ya....it was one hell of a rocking concert.  That being said....I just find myself getting totally annoyed by his wife.  I know she's not Yoko, but its not like she offering a lot of key musicianship either.  And she tries to work that whole "mystical" look---sort of a cross between a bad Stevie Nicks impression and the queen of the elves in Lord of the Rings.  Am I wrong?

So yesterday, it was Foxy1040's birthday at the office, and I decided to give her the perfect gift.  Inside her birthday card was a little...ahem....ya know...photo of myself that was taken on my honeymoon...in the bathtub....surrounded by bubbles of course (I do have SOME decorum).  Anyway, it was (needless to say) the absolute hit of the office, and I think I acquired quite a few new friends who were quite appreciative of what they saw.  I don't want to brag, but the former Mrs Me # 1 wanted to take a gander also....I said it was nothing she hadn't already seen already.

Well, it appears to be "official".  Kellie was asked by Matt, the kid who goes to school in the limo, to be "his girlfriend".  Its like I told her....if you have the choice between the poor kid and the kid who gets taken to school in a limo.....let your heart tell you the answer...and it better be the rich kid.

I got about halfway through a movie on DVD tonite (full review in one of the next issue or two) of the movie "From Hell".  Its about the Jack the Ripper murders in London circa 1888, and stars Johnny Depp & Heather Graham.  The movie is gory as all get out, but its a damn good movie.  I'll say this....that Johnny Depp is one hell of a good actor.  Speaking of movies (and we were).....

Its time to get to my continuing top 10 list.  Here's what we got so far:
10) The Shawshank Redemption
  9) Rear Window
  8) Outlaw Josey Wales
  7) Godfather 1&2
  6) Lord of the Rings trilogy
  5) Unforgiven
  4) Jaws
and now...my choice...as my number 3 film of alltime is....
  3) The Deerhunter.....it came out in 1978, the same year as Coming Home, which starred Jon Voight & Jane Fonda...and Apocalpyse Now, which starred Martin Sheen & Marlon Brando.  But it was Michael Cimino's movie that won the Academy Award that year for Best Picture in what was known as the year of the Vietnam movie, as all three of the above mentioned films dealt with the Vietnam War.  Coming Home dealt with the effects of returning home to the war veteran and Apocalpyse Now dealt with the insanity of war....but The Deerhunter, despite the war being the central theme and the catalyst of the film and the events that result from it, isn't necessarily a "war movie".  It really more a film about friendship, and the ties that bond that friendship together and what can occur to rip it apart.  Receiving nominations for their outstanding work in the film were Robert DeNiro, Meryl Streep & Christopher Walken (who won)....the late John Cazale probably should have been nominated for his role as the smalltown loudmouth who isn't as brave as he'd like everyone to believe his is.  But this movie really belongs to DeNiro and Walken, as smalltown best friends Michael & Nick, who's friendship is put to the ultimate test as the become prisoners of war in a Vietnamese camp.  The two scenes in the film where the two men play Russian Roulette are among the most gripping in film history.  Many have criticized the scene, saying that such things didn't really happen during the war, which director Michael Cimino admited, saying the scene was merely a metaphor for the struggles that the United States was going through at home during the war.  Whatever the reason for the scenes, they are absolutely captivating, and perhaps no movie has better captured the terrible things that are seen during war.  In Apocalpyse Now, Marlon Brando is best remembered for his classic line....."the horror", in describing the things he has seen.  In The Deerhunter, Christopher Walken doesn't need to say anything about the horror...its written all over his face in every contortion and twitch he makes.   *****

Later,
jeff

8/23/04---I'm baaaaack

Hey...so I took a couple of friggin days off....sue me.  And I'm starting late because I had to sit around and sweat out another Cubs game.  Is it any wonder my hair is starting to thin?  Geez, I'm a Cubs fan....a Vikings fan....an Irish fan....I can't believe I'm not a total cueball by now.  In other words....its not easy being me.
So lately, I've been following up on some of the stuff that I saw in Washington DC.  I taped a show on the History Channel the other night on the last days of WW II and by God if it wasn't interesting as all hell.  I went to the library and checked out a couple of books on the subject also.  You know what they say....those who don't know and understand history are doomed to repeat it (ah hell, its something like that).  And as I watched this show....and have read some of the books....here's what amazes me.  The whole country!!  Old crazy 'dolf got the WHOLE COUNTRY to basically lose their minds for like 12 years.  Geez, if I'm a German and I'm like in my 70's or 80's and I was either a member of the army or whatever....I gotta be spending my life thinking:  "what in the world were we thinking?"  I mean, you read this stuff...you watch the films....and again....THE WHOLE COUNTRY just totally bought into the incredible amount of bullshit that this guy was spewing.  I mean, its one thing to get a small minority to think that way.....but an entire country?  What....did the entire population of Germany have self-esteem issues or something?
Unbelieveable.
Well, today was the kids first day of school....sounds like they had pretty good day.
I hope Andy makes some new friends and gets a little boost in his confidence.  Kellie won't have any problems in that department.  So I get home today, and after they tell me about all the days events, Kim calls me and tells me that she's on her way home.  Then she tells me that someone called her cellphone......ELEVEN TIMES.  So I mosey on back to the kids rooms...and ask them oh-so-politely who might have used the phone to call mom.  And Kellie says that she did.  I ask her if the house had been on fire, or if her brother was choking....or if there was a particular reason that she saw fit to phone her mother--at work--eleven times.  She said that she wanted to tell her that she was going to need a notebook for school tomorrow.  So ah......you remember that new phone that Kellie got the other day?
Well, let's just say that she's currently in the midst of a "phone suspension".  Ahem.

SPORTS ALERT---SPORTS ALERT---WOMEN MAY BYPASS THIS PART
So my Cubbies have won 3 out of 4 and have now tied the Giants for the wild card lead...starting pitching needs to pick em up and shut em down....looks like K Wood will get suspended (AGAIN) for his role in the little beanball war in Houston on Sunday....tonight I sat and watched the beginning of the new Chris Benoit DVD, and I must say that its really good....really nice footage of Chris as a kid and they talk with his parents and childhood friends, as well as some moving interviews with Eddy Guerraro & Dean Malenko and fond remembrances of Owen Hart.  Can't wait to finish this one---its really good stuff.

OKAY LADIES....YOU CAN COME BACK NOW
Alrighty, so its been awhile since I've mentioned any movies that I've watched.  Quite frankly I haven't had the time, okay?  I mean...gimme a break here people.
So here's what I got....and frankly it ain't much:

1) Waiting for Guffman--here's another one from the people who brought you This is Spinal Tap, Best in Show and last years A Mighty Wind.  I would place this movie maybe 3rd in that group, with Spinal Tap the best and Best in Show at # 2.  This movie was quite frankly a little bit of a disappointment, as the humor is so deadpanned and dry that some people won't appreciate it.  However, there is one absolutely hilarious scene in a Chinese restaurant with two couples that almost makes the movie worth renting just on that basis alone.  There's also some very funny sight gags in the movie that you might miss if your not paying attention---how about the "My Dinner with Andre" action figures?  And Fred Willard (who is hilarious in just about anything he's in) as the actor in community theatre who writes two pages of notes for his wife on her performances.  This movie will probably be better appreciated by fans of the "mockumentary"....i.e., Spinal Tap, Best in Show & Mighty Wind....those who haven't seen it probably won't like it much.  ** 1/4

2) Iron Eagle--believe it or not, I had never seen this staple of anything having to do with the decade of the 80's.  So I'm flipping channels and Kims says "I love this movie", and can't believe there is actually a movie that she's seen that I haven't.  Now I know why....what a huge pile of crap this thing was.  I was laughing at the movie...it was that bad.  Now mind you, there's movies that are bad, and you can appreciate them cuz there bad....and then there's movies like this...that take themselves juuuuussssttt a little too seriously.  Only good thing in the movie was a great song by Queen called "One Vision".  Did Louis Gossett Jr really go from the Academy Awards to this piece of junk?  Geez, talk about needing work.  ZERO stars!!

Also, I recently bought the new DVD releases of Kill Bill Vol 2 & the new special edition of Predator and hope to have reviews of them up soon.

Now, its time for out top 10 countdown to continue.  Here's where we stand:
10) The Shawshank Redemption
  9) Rear Window
  8) Outlaw Josey Wales
  7) Godfather 1 & 2
  6) Lord of the Rings trilogy
  5) Unforgiven

and now....at # 4 on my top 10....is Jaws.  If you were around in the mid 70's when this movie came out....you didn't want to go to the beach after you saw it.  This movie just became part of the american culture one summer and affected (literally) the entire tourism industry for years to come.  Its a great fish tale (and if you've never read the book, you really ought too--its a great read) about a small little town that has a small little problem.  Its a summer beach town, and well....there's seems to be a giant man-eating shark who's decided to camp out right about the spot where people like to swim.  You can see where this might present a slight problem for the locals.  Anyway, the whole movie is terrific fun, as well as being suspenseful as all hell in certain parts....but what really makes the movie # 4 in my view is the classic scene in the quiet of the boat at sea, when Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw & Richard Dreyfus sit around comparing scars---which leads to Shaw recounting his experience on the USS Indianapolis during WW II.  Its beyond gripping.  It may be one of the greatest single scenes in movie history.  *****

Later,
Jeff

8/20/04

Well, its the end of a relatively short week...at least workwise.  Yesterday was Kellie's 12th birthday, and short of the national holiday that she had hoped for, we had a nice day, including cake with our neighbors Jimmy & Mary and their kids.  Kellie is estatic that she now is the proud owner of her own phoneline, which was the gift that Kim and I gave her.  She also got a couple of CD's from her brother, so she was one happy camper to say the least. 
The other night Kim had one of those special "mother & daughter" moments with Kellie in that she took her in the bathroom and showed her how to shave her legs and under her arms.  I can't practically hear the drama coming in the distance.  Kellie was slightly embarassed that Kim had told me about it, but I told her that there wasn't much that her mother was going to keep from me.  She's really starting to become the young lady.  Sometimes she does something, or makes a facial expression....and I'll think to myself...'how is she not my natural child?'  She has somethings that she does that is just like me and then she has certain things that are so far removed from me its ridiculous.  Ah, the joys of parenting.

Hey, I didn't forget about my top 10 list....just to refresh your memory, I'm examing my top 10 movies of alltime--one at a time---here's the list so far:
10) The Shawshank Redemption
  9) Rear Window
  8) Outlaw Josey Wales
  7) The Godfather 1 & 2
  6) Lord of the Rings trilogy
and now...returning to the list.....we find my next choice:
  5) Unforgiven....John Wayne made more great westerns than you can shake a stick at.  Movies like Red River, The Searchers, Rio Bravo, True Grit, Stagecoach and others are part of the american filmgoers lexicon.  But none of these great movies is my favorite western of alltime.  Clint Eastwood had helped popularize the "spaghetti western" in the late 60's & early 70's with director Sergio Leone when he made such films as The Good, The Bad & The Ugly, For a Few Dollars More, High Plains Drifter, Hang Em High & Fist Full of Dollars when he decided to move on and take on the more modern role of the iconic police detective Harry Callahan in the Dirty Harry series.  Oh, he returned occasionally to the western genre, and on a few occasions (Outlaw Josey Wales) he would hit the ball right out of the park, but Eastwood felt he had one final statement to make on the western movie & the old west in general.  This one wasn't just a home run, it was a grandslam in the bottom of the ninth with two outs in game 7 of the world series (is that symbolic enough for ya?)  Unforgiven is a movie about revenge, about friendship, about the way that power can corrupt, about a man attempting to redeem himself for a past that he's ashamed of (in that way its similar to my # 10 selection--The Shawshank Redemption), about misconceptions about they mythlogy of the old west....its all those things and so many more.  Just as a minor aside, it presents a portrayal of what a prostitute's life was like in probably more of an accurate way than any western that you'll ever see.  There are no drop dead gorgeous whores here.  These are women eeking out an existence as best they can and suffering with the consequences of a mistake on the job.  Clint Eastwood plays William Muny, a notorious former killer who is hired by a group of prostitutes to take revenge for a vicious attack on one of their own.  Gene Hackman plays the sheriff of the town, trying to meet out his own brand of justice and keep the town under his iron fist.  The two characters are drawn closer & closer as a series of events unfold until the gripping conclusion.  Eastwood, looking worn out, weatherbeaten is perfect as the old killer who finds that returning to the ways of his past aren't quite as easy as he thought.  He is joined by Morgan Freeman as Ned, who rode with Eastwood's character in the past and is drawn away from his farm for the chance at one last opportunity to make money quickly.
The movie has several other outstanding performances, including Frances Farmer, Richard Harris, Saul Rubinchek & others.  Like a lot of Eastwood movies, there are tons of great lines that are thrown out, and no doubt you'll find yourself repeating them in the weeks after you see the film.  There is also tons of symbolism for you to watch for....I won't ruin it all for you, but pay particular attention to the role that alcohol has on one of the main characters and what finally causes them to take a drink.  Its a great scene and you'll know what I'm talking about when you see it.
An absolute must see and my choice as the greatest western ever made.  *****

 

Day # 7

I am officially ready to go home.  But before we do that, we head out in the morning for a visit to Arlington National Cemetary.  I'm always overwhelmed just at the sheer number of headstones.  Its just row after row after row.  Really puts things into perspective.  We walked up just as they were doing the changing of the guard at the tomb of the unknown soldier.  We then walked over and observed the eternal flame in front of the grave of President Kennedy...didn't realize that he & Jackie had two other children besides Caroline & John-John.  After that we still had some time left so we went downtown to check out an exhibit at the National Geographic Museum on dogs!!  It made me realize how much I missed my fellas and was looking forward to seeing them again.  Back at the hotel, in keeping with Kim's time beliefs, we arrived at the airport 2 hours before we were due to leave.  UGH.  But, I love her so I did it--of course, I managed to give her some crap about it---I wouldn't be me if I didn't.
We are finally home.  Its great to see the dogs.  The cats?  Who cares?  But the boys are my other two children and I had missed them a lot.

Tomorrow, back to my usual ramblings...and I'll pick up on my top 10 list.  I know you're waiting with baited breath.

Later,
Jeff

Day # 6 of the vacation

So I get up today, and go downstairs to attempt to find something to eat at the hotel breakfast area, which truthfully hasn't been that wonderful.  So I decide that I'm going to have an English muffin.  I never have the things for breakfast, so how bad can it be in comparison to poorly prepared eggs or soggy bacon...right?  So they have one of those toasters where you put the toast on the tray and it slowly rotates the bread under the heating element and eventually it pops it out, all toasted and all.  Except for one thing.....I'm standing there and Kim walks over and looks at one of my muffins pops out.  She looks at me sorta funny and I tell her that one of my muffins still hasn't come out yet.
"Um, didn't you know that you were supposed to slice the muffin in half?"

Hey.....who knew?  Meanwhile I'm trying to avoid everyone in the breakfast room noticing that my english muffin appears to be on fire.  What a way to start a day.

So we decided to go to the bureau of engraving or, as Kim calls it:  "where they make the money".  This is actually one of the places that Kim is really looking forward to seeing and we're walking down the street towards it and right in front of us we get to experience a lovely early morning car accident.  One car totally T-boned  the other...glass and metal strewn everywhere.  Geez, I had barely been up an hour and I had almost started one fire and had witnessed an accident.  So as we get to the engraving place, we're told that the building is closed until like 2006.  Why?  Its those Al Qaida bastards life difficult for tourism!!  So as we're walking along trying to find a place to go too, we pass in front of the National Holocaust Museum.  We decided to go into there.

It is the one place on a visit to Washington D.C. that everyone should go too.

Absolutely devastating.  If you go, whether you are Jewish or not, and are not moved emotionally by what you see, you're either devoid of human feelings or just incapable of grasping history....or maybe both.  You walk in and are handed "identification papers" of someone who was alive during WW II and lived during the time.  It gave you a brief biography of the person, and told you of their experiences during the time.  So here I am, walking along the tour and I'm reading some brief facts about Marcus Fass of Ulanow, Poland.  And then I get to the last page....Marcus Fass was captured in 1943 and never seen or heard from again.
Dead.  It sort of made the experience a little more personal.  I walked through looking at some of the relics of the time....the shoes of the people taken to the concentration camps....the bricks from the Warsaw ghetto....the video showing the results of some of the "experiments" of the Nazi doctors.  It was absolutely horrible, and yet I was fascinated from a historical point of view.  It is a place that must be visited.
After a brief lunch at a downtown Subway's, we went across the street to a place the kids had really been looking forward to visiting--the international spy museum.
I must say, its really good stuff.  Again, lots of really informative stuff and they try and personalize it by having you assume an identity that you have to try and remember at the end of the tour.  Top notch stuff, and one of the things that I remember is that there are belived to be at least 1,000 people operating in what is said to be "covert operations" within a one block radius of the building.  Yikes!

End of day # 6

Day # 5 of vacation--Day with the Wiley's!!

So its Sunday of the vacation, and we have planned to spend the day with my old friend Dennis Wiley & his wife & son.  We arrange to meet about 11am near the Museum of Natural History.  Right before we get there, we get a call from Dennis saying that they are just leaving their trainstop and will be a little late.  So we're hanging out around the terminal exit when we subjected too---"The Attack of the Killer Bees".  Well, actually Kellie was subjected to the attack, and technically it was really only ONE bee that really was just sort of following her around.  That was what really happened....if you want Kellie's version, it would be something like:

"...and then this bee, who was about the size of my hand, moved in and tried to attack me, and I looked right into his eyes....and I saw that he was laughing at me, mocking me and was saying 'I'm going to sting you and it's going to get infected and then you'll have to have surgery' and I was more scared than I've ever been by anything in my entire life."

Like I said....it was a lot of drama.
Finally the Wiley's showed up (30 minutes late--ahem) and after exchanging greetings with everyone (I didn't realize that Kim & Lori had never actually met) we headed over to the museum.  The rest of the brood check out all the sites, while Dennis and I were busy rehashing the past, catching up on old friends and laughing about our exploits in the past that we hope our wives never hear about.  (cough)
So then Dennis suggests a place for lunch and we head to a place called "Pizza Paradiso".  Here's where you know you're in trouble when you walk into a pizza joint.....no one who looks remotely "Italian" works there.  Ya know, sorta like going to a Chinese place in the mall and you notice that not one Chinese person---not even an Oriental--works there.  I became concerned and then they brought the pizza.  No sauce.  By that, I don't mean there was just a "touch" of sauce.  I mean NO SAUCE.  Dennis started laughing and said---"I didn't know it was 'gourmet pizza'.
Actually the dough wasn't that bad and hey, Dennis paid for lunch.  So then we headed over to the Museum of American History, which was actually a pretty cool place and was in the middle of a Beatles in America exhibit.  About that time, the pizza began to try and make a re-appearence, if ya know what I mean and I think ya do....WHOA.  Nothing like bad pizza.  So we were going to head back to our hotel when we asked the Wiley's to join us for dinner.  Lori and Kim quickly huddled (women!) and decided that we would go to the Cheesecake Factory, which is another place that Kim is never going to decline a visit too.  Only problem?  The restaurant is like 4 or 5 stops up the Metroline.  So we get off and begin walking in the greater Maryland area....and we ain't finding no Cheesecake Factory.  So we then walked BACK to the Metro and went back a couple of exits and then discovered the Cheesecake Factory which "only" had a wait of 30 minutes.  Please not the sarcasm, because by this point its like 7:30 at night.  We finally take a seat and I got some fried shrimp, which wasn't bad while we all watched Devin try and sleep in as uncomfortable a position as is humanly possible.  We finally went our seperate ways after a good day.  By the way, fair is fair---we picked up the check for dinner--the only "good " mean of the day.  Not that I want to remind Dennis or anything.....ya know...that wouldn't be polite. (cough)