small world: Tel Aviv gay center shootings

I saw the news about the shootings at Tel Aviv gay center on Saturday from the various gay news RSS I subscribe to. I have to admit that I was not as shocked to hear about violence against a gay community center in the Middle East as I would be if the attack had taken place in North America or Europe. However, I only learned recently that Tel Aviv has significant LGBT community and the city is considered a much more secular, Western urban city. Last month, a former tenant who moved to Israel years ago called and mailed photos he took of Tel Aviv's gay pride parade to our office. Judging from the racy pictures, Tel Aviv's gay pride is probably as big and outrageous as any other large city's gay pride, so I assume many LGBT folks probably feel relatively safe in Tel Aviv.

Anyways, I was a little surprised to hear from this tenant yesterday. He would probably agree that he and I don't see eye-to-eye on many issues and are probably as unalike as two people could be. When he lived in Portland, he was a notoriously loud, outspoken activist that opposed anti-war demonstrations. Even now, he forwards anti-Obama news articles to our e-mail -- just to remind us that Obama is not loved in Israel. So it took me a moment to realize what he was referring to yesterday when he called the office to express to me how shocked and saddened he was about the shootings. He said he was familiar with the area where the shootings took place.

He wanted to know if the news of the shooting had reached Portland. I told him that I don't usually watch local news, but I did hear of the shooting from websites. I was surprised to suddenly discuss such a far-off news event. I suppose if a tragic event happened in my region, I would also wonder if the folks on the other side of the world had heard it too.

Our favorite scene from The Office

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Up: B

up, originally uploaded by cybermelli.

up, originally uploaded by cybermelli.

Scott and I saw Up the weekend before last. It was great! Cute story.

stuck in my head: The Killers' Romeo And Juliet

Here's the latest song stuck in my head The Killers:

Apparently, it's a cover of Dire Straits' original:

The Killers are playing the Memorial Coliseum (which has some how been spared from being demolished) in September.

Star Trek opening

Here's the bold, bombastic, title to the new and improved Star Trek movie which gives me little geeky Trek chills:

classic supervision

Scott and I saw these two guys while driving to the hardware store. The guy in the chair was smoking a cigar.

Terminator Salvation: C

Terminator Salvation, originally uploaded by gogomp4picture.

We saw Terminator Salvation on Memorial Day. It wasn't a bad movie, but I'm not quite sure what its point was.

Star Trek: A

Bridge Crew, originally uploaded by Fortyseven.

Scott, Greg, Jay, Grant, and I saw the first Star Trek (IMDB.com) showing on Thursday at 7.

Wow! J. J. Abrams' new take on Star Trek is terrific. The biggest challenge had to have been casting, but they got it right. Chris Pine's Kirk is cocky with a little swagger, but also a little goofy. Zachary Quinto's Spock was just as perfect as Leonard Nimoy's.

McCoy was always my favorite original series character and Karl Urban's portrayal was terrific. Of all the portrayals, Urban's was the closest to nearly mimicking DeForrest Kelley's McCoy, but it still seemed natural and authentic.

Greg mentioned that the movie reminded him of Starship Troopers. I'll reluctantly admit that there are some similarities. Both movies have similar quick pacing and are about young crews leaving boot camp/academy on their first mission. However, Trek is its own movie and style and not quite as cartoonish.

Like any movie, there are some unexplained plot holes. How can two people just happen to separately crash land within walking distance of each other on a planet? Why is the Enterprise the only ship available? Why is everyone on Earth, Vulcan, and other planets completely helpless and Kirk & crew are the only heroes around? But who cares? The movie was fun.

The movie's overall tone and pace has changed the Trek franchise. The movie is so faced paced and flashy that I do want to go see again -- and I haven't wanted to re-watch a movie in years.

Monsters vs Aliens: B

President Hathaway, originally uploaded by wintan29.

I forgot to blog about Monsters vs Aliens which we saw last month. The kid's movie was cute. I really liked Stephen Colbert's "President Hathaway". However, weeks later, I can't say anything else stands out in my mind.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine: C

HQ Wolverine Promo #1, originally uploaded by X-Men Origins : Wolverine.

We saw the first big summer movie, Wolverine, on Saturday. It wasn't a bad movie, but like any prequel, the story felt like it was being steered to complete certain tasks to establish Wolverine. The story ended abrubtly with obvious loose ends for future storylines. Overall, good comic book movie.