I went with the Coke flavor, originally uploaded by ChrisMundell.com.
No photoshop, people.
Get thee to your local Circle K to sample it for yourself.
I walked to work for the last 2 days!
Earth, you owe me, like, 5 bucks.
After a day at the beach there’s nothing better than dinner with
friends and cuddles from Malia. It almost makes up for my bad hair day.
Oh man! Malia had one of her bigger fits on the way home tonight.
I’m currently enjoying the quiet. I can’t seem to get up and
accomplish the stuff my kids prevent me from doing while they are
conscious.
Not only do I think the new iPhone rules right out of the box, but I
scored the coolest little application for it called PhoneSaber! It
was pulled from iTunes due to legal blah blah. It makes all the sweet
lightsaber sounds so I don’t have to. Now I’m freed up to say things
like “Luke, I am your father.” and “Suck it, Jeff! Yoda was way
better than Mace Windu!”
I had lunch with Daniel and Greg. The 3 of us had a great time. 2 of the 3 of us are some of the smartest guys I know.
Jeff challenged me to draw another lesser-known character from LOTR. I started drawing and my son asked if it was a wizard. I said “sure” and decided to make it Radagast, The Brown. Also called Aiwendil, Maia of Yavanna. But, of course, you know that already. In your face, Jeff!
I started to sketch and it turned into Thorin Oakenshield, son of Thrain, son of Thror. You’ll recall that he was the King of Durin’s Folk who led his people to reclaim Erebor from Smaug. He died in the Battle of Five Armies. Bilbo Baggins helped him out. You remember.
My buddy, Geordie, wanted to do a guys movie night to see Wanted and he wanted Greg, Dan and me to go. We wanted to. He wanted John to join us, but John just wanted to have dinner since he saw Wanted last week.
Director, Timur Bekmambetov got the cast he wanted for Wanted. You got yer Morgan Freeman who’s been excellent in everything since Electric Company. You got yer Angelina Jolie who I’m pretty sure could beat up anyone I know whenever she wanted even at her current fighting weight (what’s below featherweight?). And then you got Mr. Tumnus himself, James McAvoy. One the most wanted young actors out there.
The movie wanted to capture the angst of Fight Club with Edward Norton’s voice over explaining how he wanted more from his worthless life and then gracefully mesh it with the physics defying action of the Matrix. It wanted to. Unfortunately, I just felt like I was being jerked back and forth between 2 types of movies (and not how I wanted).
I really wanted to like Wanted. But no matter how much I wanted to like Wanted it just kept falling short of what I wanted. I wanted my money back. But Greg bought my ticket. That might explain why he’s spooning me in this photo. The movie did have some pretty sweet action scenes. I guess I didn’t hate it (the movie, I hated the spooning).
My only goal camping was to find a place to hang my hammock. Check and mate.
And we’re BACK! The Vanagon lives! Apparently I’m an idiot.
Note to self: How about next time you don’t over-fill the oil tank?
This is what it looks like when your Vanagon billows smoke on the freeway and you pull off and call AAA to have a tow truck come out. Sad. Oh yeah, I’m supposed to take this thing camping on Wednesday. Crud.
To avoid brainfreeze, I just have my kids stare directly at the sun.
Parent Of The Year committee, you can just ship my award to me now.
No need to wait for the big show in Vegas.
Well, he lives inside mostly. I thanked Todd for hosting my visit to the Big Apple. He crinkled his forehead and knodded kindly. San Francisco city folk are nice!
I could get used to this! I’m not a doctor, but I play one at work. I was minding my own business troubleshooting an Exchange shared folders issue when BAM! A nurse rushed in asking if I was the tech for the ortho cam. I boldly rose and responded, “I mostly clean spyware and stuff” She was not impressed. I said I would give it a try though. Into the phone booth and out in this getup.
I couldn’t fix the busted thing, but I did help them confirm which part needs replacing. Also, I got to shoot the breeze with a surgeon! Cool!
Look how much I love the Earth. I rented a PRIUS! The nice lady at Hertz bumped me to this gas camel for chump-change! It’s like a nerd dream inside! So many screens and such to distract me from the actual driving.
I didn’t go through med school over the weekend.
I just had to scrub in on a laptopectomy where I removed a 15″ laptop from an OR.
But if I was a doctor, what would be my specialty and why?
Rob broke his toe on a buried rock in the sand while playing Frisbee at the beach. He suffers much for his leisure choices, everybody.
Ladies, Rob also happens to be single. So, for the next 4 weeks he will be an excellent listener. If you happen to like sunsets and very short walks on the beach (sans rocks) and have any experience in podiatry, let me know. Rob said he would even clip his toenails for the occasion. That demonstrates his willingness to meet you halfway.
Silly Face, originally uploaded by ChrisMundell.com.
Look! My big girl turns 5 today! Let’s celebrate my Malia before Obama is president and HIS daughter gets all the attention.
I can just hear the strangers we meet… “You’re Malia? Oh that must make your daddy president!” And then Malia will reply, “No, a number of electors, collectively known as the United States Electoral College, make you the president. Did you hear my dad say ‘I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States?’ Yeah, me neither. Besides, Presidents are black.”
That is the day I will have done my duty as a father and as an American.
I just said duty.
I’m out seeing Wanted with Geordie, Greg and Dan!
Wiffle Ball for Matty, originally uploaded by ChrisMundell.com.
I got out to the park to play Wiffle Ball in memory of my bestest pal, Matt Steele. I miss him. He would have made fun of me big time at today’s game.
I hold this truth to be self evident: I’m at the beach to celebrate the birth of this great nation (but a 16th of me is really pissed about the white man acting like they own the place).
Man, I am about sick of this raging wildfire business.
All seemed quiet in Gotham last week when my Bat Phone rang. It was my partner in crime-fighting, David Malloy! I said, “What is it, David? Do I get to wear my crime fighting tights and unitard?” He replied, “I suppose, but I called because I can bring a buddy to see The Dark Knight on Friday.” SWEET! The new Batman flick a couple weeks before it’s released (July 18th)! After braving some traffic in my Batmo-mini-van, I hooked up with David. We found the theater with David’s trusty, GPS and his having been there before.
I think the Christopher Nolan directed Batman Begins was cooler than a jet pack and I was looking forward to his sequel. If this film was Batman’s utility belt it would be full of cool gadgets! Let’s start with the Nolan Bros. script. Like any good sequel (as it turns out, it’s not an oxymoron) the story starts off with a bang and MOVES! There is conflict-a-plenty both internal and external. Plus, the characters all have a chance to shine.
Secondly, the cast. We get introduced to Heath Ledger’s Joker right away and I must say that Mr. Ledger brings it BIG TIME in this flick. It sounds weird to say that in the present tense as he tragically passed away in January. I heard rumblings that this was going to be an Oscar worthy performance, but I wasn’t sure if that was just sentiment. I think the guy was so lost in that character that he deserves a nomination at least. Heath Ledger did it. A new take on the Joker. He was a dangerous freak show! The perfect counter to Batman’s tightrope walk between justice and vengeance. Aaron Eckhart was awesome as Harvey Dent. Great casting! I really like that guy’s work. Gary Oldman had an expanded role as James Gordon, thankfully. Any time you have Oldman in yer movie, it’s best to find him as much screen time as possible. He rules! Maggie Gyllenhaal was very good in the role of Rachel Dawes which she took over from Katie Holmes. She brought some melancholy to the role that I don’t remember seeing from Holmes. I liked the change. Michael Caine turned in another charmer as Alfred Pennyworth (yes, I know Alfred’s last name). Christian Bale was terrific as Bruce Wayne\Batman again, but this film belongs to the ensemble with Ledger shining bright.
In the word’s of Nicholson’s Joker, “Where does he get those wonderful toys?” Batman has the coolest stuff! I totally want a Batmobile/BatPod motorcycle thingy! I also want the cape that turns into glider wings! If I had that cape, I would hold all of my meetings on tall rooftops and whenever the conversation got uncomfortable I would hop up and say, “No way! 
That totally reminds me of that one thing I saw down over at that place…” and jump. Then I’d glide over to a 7-11 for a Slurpee or something!
There was a nice little Q&A afterward with Nolan, Oldman, Gyllenhaal and Eckhart. We did, however, have our Bat-Patience tried in that the theater didn’t permit food or drink of any kind. Also, we had to leave our cell phones in the car so we had no camera on hand to capture our experience. You’ll have to settle for a re-creation of David and I enjoying our time. We did NOT hate it!
After Rob and I helped get the Red Cross online in the wee hours last night, we visited our favorite late night haunt. I got a Slurpee! I think Rob got a milk type drink. Hmmm.
I had a great time at the Death Cab for Cutie concert with the Lawlers and Stephanie Steele. Steph was equally thrilled to be there with me.
UPDATE:
Scott made it to Round 2! Follow this link and vote for Scott Anderson! Go Scott!!
Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to go to wizarduniverse.com, scroll to find Heat 6, Image E.
Choose “E. Scott Anderson” from the voting drop down menu to vote for my pal Scott Anderson, Official Portrait Artist of ChrisMundell.com!
This surge will work!
With the Boston Celtics in town to claim the NBA championship, guess who had SWEET seats at Staples Center this weekend?? Yours truly, along with Jeff and Frank was right there for the big game!
Jealous?? You should be because we were RIGHT there when the home team defeated those chump visitors thanks in large part to Tyler Fredrickson’s sweet foot! That’s right, Tyler Fredrickson and the LA Avengers put the hurt on on Kansas City big time!
Wait, you didn’t think I was talking about the Lakers/Celtics game did you? Do you think I’m made of a very valuable substance that I could somehow use to buy Lakers finals tickets? That’s crazy! I’m just a friend of Tyler and got to see him play. It was my first Arena Football game. The way Tyler was playing it won’t be my last! You haven’t lived until you’ve witnessed Arena Football.
Here’s Tyler in action. Photo from my lame Treo Cell Phone Camera (someone buy me that new iPhone!)…
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO RORY!
My baby is 3 now. Unbelievable.
Rory shares a birthday with our friend, Kendall Ruth!
photo by Greg Lawler
I’m headed to the LA Galaxy game. Hey Beckham, I’m the fat guy in the striped shirt and big forehead! Woooohooo!
UPDATE: Oh man! What an awesome game! Beckham must have bent it like a dozen times (what’s a dozen in the UK?)! Here’s a shot of him TOTALLY bending it like himself. Beckham is like the Oprah of soccer. Seriously, I think he just charmed the win from the Colorado Rapids. What can they do? He’s David Robert Joseph Beckham!!!!!!
He’s so gracious too. He just kept passing the ball to all the not-beckhams on his team and letting them score. And score they did! And FAST! Beckham got the assist on the first goal within the first minute of play! It was like hockey fast!
I kept on commenting to Kevin Grose on how Beckham was so awesome and I think Kevin would have been annoyed if he cared about soccer at all or if he had lost all his senses and ability to reason. It’s Beckham!! I think Kevin was a bit jealous of me since he had to check in his really bitchin’ camera as the lens was “too big” and I was popping sweet shots all night on my 2nd hand Palm Treo Phone Cam (thanks, Greg Lawler and David Beckham!).
My other work pals, Jim and Paul, actually play the soccer so they were way more X’s and O’s about the game. I tried to play it as cool as possible with them and made sure I said a lot of things about the game in general like, “Oh man he was totally not off-sides.” when in reality I was thinking “OMG! What are Beckham’s shin guards made of?? Oh right! They’re made of Mithril and LOVE!”
At one point, another fan, who was really getting how incredible David Beckham is, ran out onto the field to simply touch the hem of his garment (and hug it. SO jealous). He must have had some sort of ailment that needed healing or something. Well he got healed alright (and then promptly dropped and kicked by midfielder Chris “Fan Relations” Klein). After the slowest security team in all of sports history finally had the guy pinned down David Beckham glided over and helped the former cripple (or whatever he used to have) rise up from the ground.
It was JUST like when Peter cut that guards ear off in the garden of Gethsemane and then Jesus healed it (it’s called a bible, people. It wouldn’t be the worst thing if you read it.) The comparisons to Jesus aren’t that unfounded. Consider this…
David Beckham says he’s half Jewish. His mom is half Jewish so that just means that Beckham is using some crazy Bible Code math that our planet doesn’t even know yet!
Jesus is half Jewish (mom) and half God-of -the-Jews-ish or something. Six one, half dozen the other.
I’ll close by saying a big thank you for the game to Paul and Anchor Point IT Solutions, where I work and don’t update my blog from during business hours except on an approved break.
In His* Name,
Chris Mundell
*David Beckham
your bla bla