I saw a commercial that was narrated by Donald Sutherland and it completely made me pause to watch. I really think I could listen to anything that man narrated and I would find it utterly compelling. I mentioned this to Kelley and she said, "he could also creep the mess outta you." I agree with her. He has a beautiful voice for reading and narrating. Check this video out and think of all the times you've heard his voice. It's gentle and soothing and terrifying all at once.

I also love Alec Baldwin's narration of The Royal Tenenbaums. This video only captures the slightest essence of his narration. There are times when his words carry the movie.

Of course Billy Crudup has been solid -- or should I say he's been "priceless?" -- in his years-long string of MasterCard commercial narrations.

Lately I've been listening to a reading of Kerouac's On The Road narrated by Matt Dillon. It's gritty and real, and I love it.

I always liked Daniel Stern's narration of The Wonder Years.

William Hurt has a great voice for narration, too. I can't think of anything he's narrated, but if he did narrate something, I would likely love his narration. By the way, if you haven't seen Mr. Brooks, you're missing out.

Anyway, Donald Sutherland has the greatest voice in Hollywood. Dispute that.

This is what's so brilliant about Europe and so messed up about the United States. Look at this picture. It shows a group of early-1920s Irish Republican Army soldiers posing before a battle. Look closer, though... you'll notice that many of the guys in the photo are wearing neckties. Neckties!

Nothing says war like fashion.

I saw the film "Juno" tonight. It was fantastic. The dialog was consistently witty and dry and refreshing and wonderful. A great film. Please go see it forthwith.

Today, even tonight, right now, I'm logging on to my favorite Latter-day Saint online distribution center web site to participate in a ritual I've missed so very much since my college days: I'm buying new garments! (Note: If you're reading this and you're not a Mormon, this post won't make any sense, so kindly log off and wait for my next non-Mormon-related post) Yes, I used to regularly refresh my garment collection. Every semester, on the last day of finals, I'd go to distribution and buy a few new sets, and when I'd get home that evening I'd retire a few sets from the undies drawer.

Now it's been too long. Almost two years, even, since I last felt the soothing fabric tone of that fresh, crisp cotton/poly blend on my skin. So here I go! I'm off to order them! Through a web site, even!

In my strangeness (I won't call it an illness... it's just that I feel "strange," so I'll say I have a strangeness), I've been sleeping odd hours. Last night I fell asleep at 7 and woke up this morning at 5. Kindof annoying. It was like this yesterday morning too. So as as result I've been watching TV at hours I don't usually watch TV, namely early in the morning. I get MHD, which is MTV in HD, and I was just watching some videos. There was a video from a country-singing woman with a stud in her lower lip. What the freak is that? I'm no country fan, but what kind of self-respecting country musician wears a stud in their lower lip?

Oh, she's an Australian. It makes sense now.

I admit that I'm a mite under the weather at the moment, and I'm caged in and restless here, so I'm cutting the boredom by posting my resolutions for 2008. In 2008, I will do the following:

- Only pronounce the name "Mario" with a hard "a." (Mary-o? Merry-oh?)
- Not eat Indian food.
- Drive on the left side of the road, paying homage to my British forebears.
- Play touch/flag football without tackling people (still sorry about that, Sam).
- Learn to fiddle.
- Not grow another beard like that nasty one I just had.
- Cut toenails more regularly.

The serious list:

- Trust more and fear less.
- Try to travel a little less and be more comfortable being home for more than a few weeks at a time.
- Finish reading the Book of Mormon this go-round.
- Pray with more meaning.
- Cut down on the arrogance a bit.
- Work my butt off, even more than I did this year, but knowing that work is secondary to finding love.