This isn’t the first time we’ve had fun with moustaches around these parts. Easily, it is the most hilarious facial hair choice a man can make. Yes, even more than the Fu Manchu.

I think most people have someone in their circle of friends that can do the whole facial hair thing like it was a magic trick. Do you know what I’m talking about? You see one of your friends and then they kind of drop off your radar for a couple of days. Next time you see them, they look like the lost member of ZZ Top. What happened? "Oh, nothing. Just trying something out."

If I want to grow any facial hair, I have to set aside serious time. It’s less of an afterthought and more like a carefully orchestrated harvest. Are things coming in even over here? Do I need to thin this out a little? I tried to grow a beard around this time last year. It wasn’t pretty.

I don’t have anything particularly insightful to say about Borat or any of the other releases coming out this week. Both Cami and I are totally on the same page in our desire to see it. We’ve totally cleared our Saturday evenings of any other plans. We gotta pack in as many quality movies right now while we still can. When Li’l Baby Brazelton (we call him B.B. for short) arrives next February, it’s gonna throw a wrench into our theater visits. I hope our local multiplex doesn’t file a missing persons report! Maybe we should give them a head’s up?

I really haven’t talked about our baby since announcing that we were pregnant a few weeks ago. Many of you sent your well wishes and it was amazing. Obviously we thank you and B.B. thanks you. I’m saving all the e-mails sent on his behalf to show him someday how excited people were to meet him before they ever knew him. It’s a cool feeling.

Back on topic… I haven’t really talked about him because I don’t know if that’s something that interests you guys or not. I don’t want to be the internet equivellent of the guy who traps you in a corner showing you two dozen photos of his kids.

But at the same time, I feel like I’ve been talking about nothing but the "Theater Hopper: Year Two" book and I think I’ve probably alienated a few of you with it a little bit. I want to try and reconnect with you. I feel part of my reputation is that I’ve been willing to share parts of my life with you and that’s what makes these posts interesting beyond "I like this movie. I hate this movie. Buy my book!" I really want to talk about our pregnancy because… well… it’s going to change my life in a big way. I know that kids are born to parents around the world every day and it’s mundane in a way. But I’m anticipating that nothing is going to change me as much as the birth of my first child and I think I’m missing out on documenting some of the stuff I’ve come to anticipate.

Unless you guys completely object, I’m going to try and bring back a little of that personal touch to the blogs. Not all of it is going to be baby stuff, but that’s a lot of what’s on my mind lately. If you’re not interested in that kind of stuff, let me know. My e-door is always open. Otherwise, let’s see if we can’t inject a little more humanity into the procedings, shall we? This rampant commercialism has run dry.

In the meantime, I hope everyone has a great weekend. Go see Borat!

 Cami and I went to see Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan on Saturday and I’m still trying to figure it out. Part of me really enjoyed it. Both for it’s shock value and for it’s ability to reveal ugly truth about the prejudice buried deep in people’s hearts that they express only when they think no one is looking.

It’s very interesting to watch Borat interact with these people. In his own peticular way, he makes these individuals feel safe when exposing their uglier sides. "He’s a foreigner," I’m sure they think. "He probably only understands about half of what I’m telling him anyway!" I just keep thinking about that man at the rodeo in Virgina that tells Borat to shave his moustache so he looks less like a Muslim and I cringe, cringe, cringe.

That’s the problem with Borat. While you may respect Sacha Baron Cohen for what he’s brought to the surface, the film isn’t always entertaining. It’s shameful, in some respects, to have your country portrayed in such a way. I’m not talking from a patriotic standpoint. I don’t believe America is exempt from this kind of examination. But at the same time, it verifies the opinion of every university educated European who thinks that Americans are nothing but a gaggle of slack-jawed yokels – and I hate to give them the satisfaction.

That said, the interviews and the bits and pieces of guerrilla filmmaking on display here are truly brilliant. Several of the interviews show Baron Cohen’s exemplary improvisational skills as well as his complete committment to the character. To me, it’s the scripted material that falls flat.

Under the pretense that Borat is in America on behalf of his native Kazakhstan to learn from our citizens the ways in which this citizens of his country can improve themselves. This leads to the several interactions with comedy coaches, feminists and Southern dinner parties that makes the film so clever.

The B Plot about Borat being mesmerized by Pamela Anderson and traveling cross-country to meet her are somewhat contrived. The scene at the very end where he finally meets the object of his longing felt somewhat staged and it immediately cast the rest of the movie into doubt. All of a sudden the scene where Borat hitchhikes with a group of University of South Carolina frat boys who lament the abolishment of slavery is cast in suspicion.

For the psycho-politcal statement Borat makes, I think it’s worth seeing. For the shock-value stuff… less so. All the same, try to see this movie with a large crowd. I think it’ll play better when the vibe in the room is consumed with discomfort rather than sitting in a theater with only a handful of people trying to figure out how seriously to take this.

SIDE NOTE: This is something interesting that happened when Cami and I when to see Borat. I was going to make a comic out of it, but I couldn’t figure out the best way to do it. So I’m just going to share the story with you instead.

Finding our seats a few minutes before the film started, we saw a handful of elderly people waiting for the film to start. We found this somewhat surprizing since the film was very vular and didn’t seem suitable to the sensabilities of the retirement crowd.

The situation was made more unexpected by the fact that Cami knew one of the elderly people in attendance. She was an associate of hers at a previous job.

For the sake of the story, I have to inform you that she is Jewish. Normally, that is not a detail worth sharing. But within the context of this story and the movie we were watching, it is. Borat is probably one of the most anit-Semetic characters ever to grace the silver screen this side of Mel Gibson. While Baron Cohen himself is Jewish and uses Borats racism to make social commentary, there is always a fine line when you work with this kind of material.

At any rate, Cami’s former associate and her friends were totally fine during an early scene where Borat reports on the annual tradition of "The Running of The Jew" in his native Kazakhstan. They didn’t make a fuss when Borat and his producer Azamat inadvertantly wind up in a bed and breakfast owned by a kindly Jewish couple and claimed the pair had "changed shape" when two cockroaches crawled into the room, frantically throwing money at them to escape.

No, the straw that broke the camel’s back came when Borat discovered Azamat… "taking advantage" of some printed material containing information about Borat’s beloved Pamela Anderson and a very prolonged and disturbing bout of nude wrestling took place that eventually spilled out into the hallway of the hotel they were staying at, into the elevator and eventually on stage at a rally that was held in the hotel conference room.

At this point, Cami’s former associate and several other people walked out, too offended to go on. Here we thought that the terrible racist material is what would scare them away. But in the end, it was two naked men grappling in a hotel elevator that was too much for them to bear.

I’m not trying to make any kind of comment on this. I just felt it was an interesting observation.

At any rate… this has been an interesting way to start the week.

I want to remind everyone that I will be at Wizard World Texas this Friday, Saturday and Sunday. You can find me at table 2140 B on Artist’s Alley alongside my friends Mitch Clem, Zach Miller, Dave Sherrill and Taki Soma. If you’d like to view a map of the Arlington Convention Center so you know where to find us, you can view it right here.

Cami will be traveling with me to Texas because she has family in the area and she’s planning on spending some time on the convention floor. Come on down and say "Hi!" to both of us! We’d love to see you there!

Today’s comic is a little late because I didn’t have time to set things up before Cami and I left for Wizard World Texas early Thursday morning. We left about 6:00 AM and didn’t pull into Arlington until 6:00 PM. It was a long day. At this point, all I can say is "Thank goodness for free internet in the hotel room!"

Today’s comic comes from Desmond Seah, the creator of Bigger Than Cheeses. It was actually something he came up with a while ago when I wrote the David story arc a while back. I was having trouble thinking of a way to end the storyline and Desmond chpped in with this. I thought it was too funny not to share. It still makes me laugh.

I met up with Zach and Taki last night and we caught up over drinks at the Bennigan’s next to the hotel. Cami was pretty much wiped out, so she headed back to the hotel after dinner to watch Grey’s Anatomy. We both got a good night’s sleep and plan on rocking it on the convention floor over the weekend.

If you’re in the greater Dallas area, be sure to come and visit us at the Arlington Convention Center Friday 12:00 to 6:00, Saturday 10:00 to 6:00 and Sunday 11:00 to 5:00. We’ll be at table 2140 B on Artist’s Alley. Here’s a map of the convetion floor to help you find us!

Not a lot of news beyond that. So I’ll close here! Talk to you soon!

 If you didn’t see Casino Royale this weekend, today’s comic isn’t going to make much sense to you. But the fact of the matter is that this was a conversation I had in real-life with Cami literally minutes after we finished watching the film and I thought it was simply too cute NOT to use in a strip.

If you didn’t see Casino Royale this weekend (and it’s shocking second place finish against Happy Feet) indicates there were a few of you with cold feet – I strongly suggest you make time to check it out. It is – without question – the best Bond movie of the modern era. Easily in the top 5 Bond movies of all time. Maybe even the top 3. I loved this film and I can’t stress that enough.

I’ve always been a sucker for the James Bond franchise, so take my praise with a grain of salt. I’ve been watching these films since I was in my early teens and was always facinated by them. Not just for all the macho trappings – the girls, the gadgets, and whatnot. But I also appreciate it from a historical perspective. One could argue that before Bond, there really wasn’t an action genre in film. I also think it’s cool that the character can be handed down from actor to actor.

To that end, anyone with reservations about the casting of Daniel Craig should get over themselves. Craig knocks it out of the part and he is the perfect choice for this rebooting of the franchise. Craig’s Bond is very rough around the edges. Compitent and lethal, but still making mistakes. What the filmmakers do is strip Bond down to his essense. There’s no Miss Moneypenny to flirt with or Q to show off the handy gadgets.  As for romantic interests, we’re not stuck being asked to believe in Denise Richards as a nuclear physicist but treated to a very plausable Eva Green as a representative of the British treasury. Everything is far less complicated and that leaves room for three fabulous action sequences to breathe on their own.

Most of what has plauged Bond in his most recent adventures is cartoonish characters and over-the-top scenarios. While Casino Royale skirts the line with the villianous Le Chiffre who cries blood when he gets a good hand in poker, the pursuit of a bomb-maker in Madagascar seems very plausible. The high stakes poker game the film concludes with also feels exotic and daring but still somewhat tethered to reality.

If you’re a fan of the Bond mythos on any level. I strongly suggest you check out Casino Royale. You won’t be dissapointed.

In addition to seein Casino Royale this weekend, Cami and I also saw The Queen with Helen Mirren. An amazing performance as HRH Queen Elizabeth II. The film is a very economical retelling of the events in the week surrounding Princess Diana’s death in Paris in 1997. It focuses on The Royal Family and their botched handling of Diana’s sad demise by refusing to return to London while on holiday or making and public statements to aid the British people in their grief.

I’m not a big Royal-watcher so it was very interesting to get a glimpse inside the mechanics of a monarchy. I recall thinking that The Royal Family had totally gone about things the wrong way when it took Queen Elizabeth almost a week to say anything about what had happened. Certainly, for the first two-thirds of the movie, that rings true. But near the end, before she gives her speech, there is a very profound moment that leaves you feeling somewhat sad for the monarchy and what it has come to represent in modern Britian. Queen Elizabeth is cut as a somewhat tragic figure. A ruler who has sat on the throne for over 50 years and is not equipped emotionally to see through the transition between the role she believes has been ordained by God and the role her subjects expect her to play as a media figure that they somehow "own."

I watched the film and was very curious how people in the UK might have reacted to it. I also left thinking about what will become of the monarchy once Prince William becomes King. Facinating stuff.

In site news, I was hoping to have "Spoiler II" done over the weekend. But, truthfully, my day job has been keeping me away from the site somewhat and I spent the weekend playing catch up on e-mails. It’s probably for the best. With Thanksgiving this Thursday, I’m not thinking people will have that kind of thing on their mind.

Just a head’s up: Cami gave me a great suggestion to have a special holiday sale very soon. We’re calling it The $10 Sale and everything will be on sale for $10  for one day only. That’s books, t-shirts, everything. A great opportunity to maybe buy a copy of our books for a family member who loves films. Just a thought.

At any rate, The $10 Sale will probably take place sometime next week. So get your pocketbooks ready.

Talk to you guys soon!