As usual, I'm behind again on updating the site. It seems that all my energy is spent on movie reviews, and even those are behind. I have three movies in the queue to review; perhaps I should stop seeing movies. I'm hoping after February, things will be a little more structured. My current schedule at work is really throwing me for a loop. I spend 37 hours at work (not counting the commute) every week teaching and then another 4-6 at home prepping for class. Tack on the 6 hours or so I spend with my online classes and I'm looking at nearly 50 hours a week working. Hard to find time for my personal life let alone my hobbies.

However, I have managed to put together a Best & Worst of 2005 for movies. Everybody else does it, so why not me? Visit Now Playing and see if you agree.

It has been made painfully clear to me over the past month that Birmingham, Alabama (to put it bluntly) sucks. Maybe I'm spoiled for living in Cleveland and Memphis, but there is so much that isn't here. Let's start with the obvious; there are no professional sports teams here. This isn't a shock but it sucks to have to drive to Atlanta or Nashville to see professional sports. I'm sorry but a AA baseball team doesn't cut it, nor does a minor league basketball team. Even WWE only comes here once in a blue moon.

Also, there's nothing to do around Birmingham. Thankfully, there is a comedy club and occasionally a good theatrical production rolls through town, but after that it's shopping or bars. Concerts are almost non-existent. The past year's amphitheater schedule was lucky to have one show a month and most of that was giant country jamborees.

But, let's get to what has really ticked me off over the past month. First of all, there are no reptile stores. I would think if any city in Alabama had a reptile store it would be Birmingham. After all, Jefferson county is the largest county in the state. The choices are a place that is known to sell sick animals and chain pet stores who have employees that barely know the difference between a hamster and a guinea pig.

It also ticked me off that Birmingham has no fondue restaurants. At one time they had a franchise Melting Pot restaurant that sounded as if it was always packed. But, sadly it has closed. So, my plans for Valentine's Day had to change. I'm sure I can find more to complain about, but that's enough for now.

Our attempts at expanding our family this past weekend were unsuccessful. We tried for almost two hours Friday night, but were not successful. I have to say I was a little disappointed as I had been looking forward for several weeks for this moment. Alas, we have to wait until March before we try again due to financial considerations. I have been talking with experts in the area to maximize our chances, so hopefully, the result next time will be positive.

If you are still reading, don't think that we've flipped our lid and want a human child. We still aren't ready for the pooping, puking beast. However, we are ready for an iguana. We searched the Internet for two hours on Friday night for a reptile store. Six months ago, there were a couple of reptile stores listed in the Birmingham yellow pages. Apparently they are no longer in business. The best we could find was a place called Ed's Pet World. When contacted Saturday morning, all they could offer was one young iguana and several 2-5 year old iguanas. We decided to wait until after my birthday before looking again. I contacted the head of the Birmingham Herp Society to try and find decent pet stores that sell iguanas. Unfortunately, Ed's Pet World seems to be our only option.

Speaking of animals, I've posted a review for King Kong in Now Playing. If you haven't seen it, I recommend trying to find it before it completely leaves theaters.

A middle school in Birmingham is structuring same sex classes. I can understand why this might be a benefit to girls. Girls are inherently secretive. They won't talk in class about the secret crush they have on a boy or any female problems they may have. From a male perspective, I don't see the benefit. Sometimes being in class with girls was the best part of the class.

One student said that he liked the classes because he got to sit with his friends and talk to them. How is this different from a regular class? When I was in school, I always sat with my friends and talked. We didn't care who sat nearby. We talked as if we were the only people in the room (and probably scared the girls away in the process). We acted like boys. That was just our nature.

Is it now a bad thing to act like a boy? Who are the boys that are afraid to be themselves in a mixed sex classroom? Has our politically correct society corrupted boys?

I hate to write off Alabama already, but it certainly isn't looking good for the basketball team this season. They were already having a sub-par season compared to the stats on paper, but now, one of their star players (Chuck Davis) is out for the season presumably with an ACL tear. Can this season end quick enough? It's doubtful the team will make it to the SEC tournament, let alone the NIT or NCAA tournament. However, no one wants to step up and take the blame. Coach Gottfried blames their lack of success on the schedule. Apparently, the schedule was created based on two team members who are no longer on the team. WHAT??? Who in their right mind creates a schedule based on two players? How about you point the finger at yourself Coach? How many times have you kept the team in a 2-3 zone defense only to have the other team shred it and take a double digit lead? Let's blame the players for not making shots. Where are the 3-point shooters? Jean Felix is shooting .241 from behind the arc compared to .453 last year.

The bright side to Saturday's game was my seat. With most of the students still on break, I was able to sit courtside for the game. I had a great view of the game and was able to heckle with the rest of the students. To top it off, I was right behind the cheerleaders and right beside the dance team. As fun as that sounds, it's a little annoying when the guy cheerleaders hold up their megaphones. It's like trying to peep through signs at a wrestling event, but it's a small price to pay. If the team keeps its losing ways, I may be able to snag one of these seats again.

To start your week off, I have a review of The Chronicles of Narnia: the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe in Now Playing. Give it a read to help plan your weekend.

Happy New Year to everyone (even if it is a little belated). Although the National Championship was decided last night, the immortal question of football was answered on Monday. It has long been said that defense wins games, so at the Cotton Bowl this year, the #1 scoring defense (Alabama) and the #1 passing offense (Texas Tech) had a little party. As expected, Alabama's defense stuffed Texas Tech's highly rated offense holding them 20 points below their scoring average. As usual, Alabama didn't have it on offense, but managed to run a two-minute drill at the end of the game allowing Jamie Christensen to kick a wobbly 45-yard field goal as the clock expired to win 13-10. With the win, Alabama extended it's record of bowl wins to 30 and by ending the season at 10-2, extended their record of 10-win seasons to 28.