(500) Days of Summer

Posted on July 30, 2009 by Shane

Alli and I caught our second screening of the week tonight — Zooey Deschanel and Joseph Gordon-Levitt in the independent romantic comedy (of sorts): (500) Days of Summer.

It’s an interesting movie, a little bit different take on the traditional romantic comedy. It opens up with a very comical letter from the writer, but I won’t spoil that. I’ll just say: don’t be late.

Zooey Deschanel is becoming somewhat of an indie flick darling and she’s really the star of the movie; she is, after all, Summer. And Joseph Gordon-Levitt…well, he’s come a long way since playing the annoying little kid on 3rd Rock from the Sun. He’s really grown into a good actor.

The chemistry between her and Gordon-Levitt is really charming, even if it’s doomed from the start. Or is it? That’s kind of the great thing about the movie. You root for them all along, even if you aren’t sure why or if they’re even right for each other. Plus, the soundtrack is really good. I don’t want to say anything more about it…I want people to discover it for themselves.

We both really enjoyed the movie. I probably liked Away We Go a little better, but it was definitely better than Tuesday’s movie.

Why I Love Dance

Posted on July 29, 2009 by Shane

When new associates start at Cerner, one of the first things that they do is introduce themselves and tell something fun about themselves. I very boldly said:

“I know more about dance than any man should.”

And it’s true. I know what an arabesque is. I know the difference between pop jazz and regular jazz. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

Here’s the context:

When Alli and I first started dating at Graceland, she was the captain of their dance team, the Gadets (which will celebrate their 50th anniversary at Homecoming this fall). After we graduated and got married, Alli spent a year dancing for the ABA’s Kansas City Knights (now defunct) dance team, the Rhythm of the Knights. Her coach was a former member of the Chicago Bulls dance team and it was a lot of fun and a lot of free basketball games.

After we’d been married for a few years, Alli started coaching the Gardner Edgerton High School dance team with her sister. Somewhere around that time, a show called So You Think You Can Dance (SYTYCD) started on Fox. Produced by 19 Entertainment (American Idol), SYTYCD put dance in front of the public in a way that was different (and significantly better) than Dancing with the Stars.

Tonight was the semi-finals of the fifth season of SYTYCD. Every week has been terrific and this was no different. The six dancers left performed as well as they could have, even beyond expectations at this point. But to me, it’s quite easy to see who should be going home at this point in the competition.

Melissa, the 29-year-old (!!!) ballerina, has performed several wonderful routines, culminating with last week’s breast cancer tribute that was choreographed by Tyce Diorio (that she would have gone home last week without). But in the final three dancers, the girls that I want to watch are Kayla and Jeanine, both contemporary dancers who have shown their versatility throughout the whole competition. Melissa has yet to even attempt a hip hop routine. She’s gotta go.

If America does not send Evan home this week, I’m going to start calling Taylor Hicks on them again. Seriously America. It’s time for the “cute Broadway guy” to go home. He is clearly not at the same level as Brandon and Ade. He is likable for sure. But if America has learned anything at all from the first five seasons of SYTYCD, it should know that it’s time for him to go back to awkwardly hugging his bald brother.

As far as who I want to win: Brandon is the best dancer. He should have made the show last year, but didn’t. Can’t figure out why, considering that I think he’s actually better than last season’s champion, Joshua. Of the girls, I prefer Jeanine.

I hope they get it right. But then again, they did vote for West Coast Swing dancer Benji Schwimmer over the completely brilliant Travis Wall in Season Two.

The thing about dance that I really love is that it is both an exercise of physical strength and artistic expression. You must be both creative and athletic to succeed as a dancer. I’ve come to appreciate it over the 12 years that Alli and I have been together and recognize the dedication and talent it takes. I’m really glad that there’s a show on TV like So You Think You Can Dance that puts these people out there and gives them opportunities.

Funny People

Posted on July 29, 2009 by Shane

Judd Apatow is pretty sneaky.

The director of Knocked Up and The 40-Year-Old Virgin (and producer of lots of other movies with Seth Rogen and Jonah Hill) makes movies with a message. And then he covers up that message with dirty jokes and men behaving badly.

funny-people-poster

Last night, Alli and I got the chance to see his latest movie, Funny People, Apatow’s latest movie along those same lines, starring Adam Sandler and Judd’s regulars, Seth Rogen and [Mrs. Apatow] Leslie Mann.

Early on, the movie switches between following the glamorous life of Sandler’s George Simmons — a Hollywood funnyman who has enjoyed huge success from such stellar movie turns as a man/baby in Re-Do and a Merman in…um…Merman — and Rogen’s typical poor schlub Ira Wright, a struggling stand-up who lives with a terrible sitcom star (Jason Schwartzmann) and his funnier, more successful stand-up friend (Jonah Hill).

Simmons finds out he has a rare blood disease and decides to get back into stand-up where he got his start. There he crosses paths with Wright and he hires him to write some jokes for him. They strike up a friendship. And so it goes.

I have this theory that Judd Apatow is on a mission to turn all the fat, lazy schmucks of the world into decent human beings by luring them to his movies with the promise of lewd jokes and relatable characters and then hitting them in the face with [*GASP!*] a life lesson. The 40-year Old Virgin was about being OK with yourself. Knocked Up was about taking control of your life. And Funny People is about living life without regrets. It’s a thin line that Apatow walks between going completely over the line and too sentimental, but I think that’s the point because he might lose that whole generation of unaffected slackers if he didn’t push the limits of taste a little. OK, a lot.

Funny People is pretty ambitious. It deals with death, interpersonal relationships between friends, marriage, and happiness. But it’s also a love letter to stand-up comics, this group of tortured souls who have been so messed up in their lives that they can do nothing but try to make people laugh to try and get them to love them. To see the cameos of stand-up comics throughout is interesting — you realize that the community of comics is pretty tight. And they’ve all got issues.

Adam Sandler is really what makes this movie work though. He’s a pretty horrible guy who is completely believable, probably because he can relate to his George Simmons character so much. (Sidenote: the movie has sprinkles of Sandler and Apatow’s actual home movies from their early stand-up days, which is pretty genius.) You get a sense of the loneliness that Simmons feels and you almost feel bad for him, despite his reprehensible behavior.

In the end, I thought Funny People was a bit long (coming in at about 2 ½ hours). It needed to be tightened up and certainly could have lost the Rogen love interest storyline. It’s probably the least interesting subplot of the movie, but I’m fairly certain it stayed in the film because a studio exec wanted another female in the flick. It’s not a particularly bad subplot, it’s just unnecessary and could have been cut to keep the movie a little shorter.

This is not a movie I would recommend going to with your in-laws or youth group. The language is definitely Apatow-esque (it is about stand-up comics after all), but if you don’t mind it, I’d definitely recommend it. Especially if you’re on of those fat, lazy guys that Apatow’s trying to make into better men.

Genius gathers crazy

Posted on July 18, 2009 by Shane

Is anyone else sick of the Michael Jackson coverage?

Look, the guy was a musical genius. There’s no doubt about it. Sure, he was eccentric (to put it nicely) in his personal life, but let’s be honest: his crazy was just an elevation of the musical phenoms that came before him. Elvis. The Beatles. Kurt Cobain. All of these musicians are considered to some of the Greatest of All-Time. And every single one of them was at one point surrounded by an entourage that only fueled their madness.

Elvis had Colonel Tom Parker and Priscilla.
The Beatles had Yoko Ono and Maharishi Mahesh Yogi
Kurt Cobain had Courtney Love.

I’d say that these folks are lightweights compared to the crazies I’ve seen trotted out daily to comment on Michael Jackson’s estate. His lawyer. His other lawyer. His previous lawyer. His “close friend”. His spiritual advisor. His nanny. It’s an unending stream of people who have done nothing but suckle at the teat of his fame and exploit his insecurities to make themselves rich.

What is it about the ridiculously talented that keeps them from finding stable and normal people to help them with their careers? Is there a service where famous people can send out for their “advisers”? 1-888-NUT4HIRE?

I just don’t get it.

The Emmy Nominations

Posted on July 16, 2009 by Shane

The Emmy nominations came out today. Award shows are fun to watch, but oftentimes the Emmys get old because they are predictable. The same old people win year after year (Kelsey Grammer, Tony Shalhoub, 30 Rock, Sopranos…you know what I mean).

This year, the field has some of the same usual suspects, but there are some surprises as well — some welcome surprises.

Here’s what made me happy:

Kristin Wiig’s nomination for Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for Saturday Night Live. She’s easily the funniest woman (if not overall performer) on the show.
The nomination of Jim Parsons as Dr. Sheldon Cooper on The Big Bang Theory. He’s the best part of one of the funniest shows on television and his character is a modern-day Cosmo Kramer. I’ve talked about The Big Bang Theory plenty of times before. It’s genius. (Get it?)
The Supporting Comedic Actor category. Barney. Dwight. Drama. Kenneth. Where was Ari, though?
Big Love. I’m almost embarrassed to say that, but I freaking love that show.
Justin Timberlake’s nomination for Guest Actor on Saturday Night Live. He’s a terrific, versatile host. Bring it on down to Justinville!
Neil Patrick Harris as host. BARNEY. WIN.

What did you think of the nominations?

Missed Tweets from Wyoming

Posted on July 12, 2009 by Shane

On July 2nd at 3:12 p.m., I twittered the following:

There were a couple of reasons for that:

To unplug. It’s healthy. I spend a lot of time on the internet. But not on vacation.
I was in Wyoming. Out of cell coverage. Twittering would have been pretty difficult.
To prove to myself that I could.

I know that the internet missed me. But alas, I powered through six days without Twitter or internet or even cell service.

So in the spirit of my lack of twittering, I thought that I would share the updates that I would have twittered had I been connected:

Last minute packing. Trying to get it all into one bag since we’re all driving together. 8 adults and a baby in a 12-passenger van. 6:07 PM Jul 2nd from ÜberTwitter

And we’re off. A little cramped in here. 11 hours to Wyoming. Pretty pumped. 8:00 PM Jul 2nd from ÜberTwitter

We’re only one hour in and I’ve already had at least six of the cookies my mom baked for the trip. Okay TWELVE. 9:07 PM Jul 2nd from ÜberTwitter

Nebraska City. Time for me to drive. Good thing I brought good music. Carolina Liar. PLAY. 10:37 PM Jul 2nd from ÜberTwitter

The van we rented has a massive fuel tank. If my contacts weren’t drying out my eyes, I could make all the way to Wyoming. 2:30 AM Jul 3rd from ÜberTwitter

Huge wind farm between Cheyenne and the ranch. I wonder how much energy each one of these things generates? 5:12 AM Jul 3rd from ÜberTwitter

I need a nap. This ranch is so gorgeous. I have so many good memories from this place. http://www.bitowyoranch.com 6:20 AM Jul 3rd from ÜberTwitter

The horses: Cody, Sundance, Shoshoni, Chugwater, Dakota, Cheyenne, Comanche, Cherokee, Bridger, Colter, Red Cloud, Red Rocks, & Washakie. 4:16 PM Jul 3rd from ÜberTwitter

Shooting a bow and arrow not very well. 5:12PM Jul 3rd from ÜberTwitter

RT @whitneymathews @shaneadams On America’s birthday, I’d like to tell you that your interview is the 6th most-viewed page ever on our site. 8:16 AM Jul 4th from ÜberTwitter

Up and ready to go hiking at Vedauwoo. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vedauwoo 9:30 AM Jul 4th from ÜberTwitter

Holy crap. I almost just died. Slipped and almost fell off a 30-foot drop. Pretty scary. SERIOUSLY. Legs are a bit shaky now. 12:28 PM Jul 4th from ÜberTwitter

Mom started crying when I told her about almost falling off the mountain. 1:09 PM Jul 4th from ÜberTwitter

Rain has kept us from riding horses. We had hoped to ride after we got back and had lunch, but it is pouring. 2:49 PM Jul 4th from ÜberTwitter

Annoyed. 6:17 PM Jul 4th from ÜberTwitter

My oldest friend in the world is here now. Gabe is one of the funniest, best people I know. 11:30 AM Jul 5th from ÜberTwitter

What the heck is going on? Yesterday, I almost fell off a mountain. Today, I get thrown from a horse. Probably shouldn’t shoot any guns. 12:30 PM Jul 5th from ÜberTwitter

Hearing about The Infinity Principle, a new book by one of my Wyoming friends, Chad. http://infinityprinciple.com 4:00 PM Jul 5th from ÜberTwitter

Wyoming cowboys are a lot different than Kansas cowboys or Texas cowboys for that matter. Wyoming cowboys are FOR REALZ. 7:57 PM Jul 5th from ÜberTwitter

The Steeles wrote a song for my niece Ireland. @TasmanRay is going to teach me and @TheDudeAbides05 how to play it. 9:10 PM Jul 5th from ÜberTwitter

Going for a hike with Gabe, Chris and @startbeingfit. And all the dogs. I hope I can keep up. 11:14 AM Jul 6th from ÜberTwitter

Every week, they put on a cowboy dinner theater show here at the ranch. The Steeles are the non-Mormon cowboy version of the Osmonds. 8:43 PM Jul 6th from ÜberTwitter

An incredible trail ride today on Red Cloud. I still like Shoshoni, but Red Cloud didn’t buck me off. 2:22 PM Jul 7th from ÜberTwitter

On our last day in Wyoming, we had perfect weather, an incredible sunset and a campfire at Inspiration Point. 8:10 PM Jul 7th from ÜberTwitter

Tonight, we watched the horses being let out of the stable up into the field where they graze. Gorgeous animals. 9:33 PM Jul 7th from ÜberTwitter

A perfect end to the vacation: sitting on the deck under the stars around the fire pit listening to Dennis tell cowboy stories. 11:35 PM Jul 7th from ÜberTwitter

It’s official. Nine years of marriage and it keeps getting better. I love you, Alli. 12:01 AM Jul 8th from ÜberTwitter

My third near-death experience of the week: eating at McDonalds. When you don’t eat there for several years, you realize its disgustingness. 8:41 AM Jul 8th from ÜberTwitter

My turn to drive on the way back. Surprised that we’re already in Nebraska. 11:11 AM Jul 8th from ÜberTwitter

As fun as this has been, I am ready to be home. 7:44 PM Jul 8th from ÜberTwitter

Home. 9:50 PM Jul 8th from ÜberTwitter

It was an amazing trip — such a fun trip with the family. Getting to see Alli with the horses was so great, considering how much she loves them. I would seriously consider retiring in Wyoming. There is so much space and it is so peaceful. I can’t wait to go back.

Social Media Life at Cerner

Posted on July 1, 2009 by Shane

I got interviewed on Monday by Whitney at Spiral16 about some of the exciting projects I’ve been working on in the four months since I joined Cerner. It’s the start of a series that S16 is doing on their blog about people who work with social media every day, but don’t work for strategy or analysis agencies. It was exciting and nerve-racking to represent my employer this way, but I’m really pleased with how it all came out.

The interview is 16 minutes, but it’s all great stuff. [Spiral16 is] trying out a program that records Skype phone conversations, which explains the ugly watermark on the video.

If you interested in learning what I’ve been up to since I joined the Kansas City-based healthcare company, give it a watch. I talk about our exciting new social network uCern, our efforts in Second Life and getting involved in social media at a large corporation. If you’re not interested, well…

Shane Life

Terrible at poker and golf.

Monthly Archives: July 2009