i took the bike this morning down to fresh pond to meet manny for the 10:15 showing of the village. it was already getting hot and humid, and the fact that i was wearing jeans didn't help matters much. manny pulled up into the nearly empty parking lot just as soon i was dismounting from the bike. we walked into the theatre - where it was heavily air conditioned - and were told they wouldn't be opened for another 10 minutes, even though all the employees were just standing there. we waited outside in the heat along with a few other early theatre goers. once they were officially opened, we went in and got our tickets, as well as a bag of popcorn and a drink for myself (breakfast).

the village is m. night shyamalan's latest movie, about a small pre-industrial new england town surrounded by woods purported to be inhabited by monsters. as long as neither party breaches the other party's territory, there exists an uneasy truce, until one day, when dead skinned animals start appearing in the village. in terms of the shyamalan cinematic spectrum, his best work in my opinion was sixth sense, followed by unbreakable. this movie sits below unbreakable, and is definitely better than signs (which i didn't care for very much). shyamalan's movies are starting to become gimmicky now, you always know there's going to be a surprised ending, the use of the color red is his one of his signature techniques, and he always has a cameo in his movies. how long can he keep this up? when i was watching the movie, i kept on looking for clues, trying to figure out what the surprise ending would be. originally i thought maybe the "creatures" were native americans dressed up in some sort of ceremonial garb, but early in the movie you actually see one of the creatures, so that ruled out that theory. overall it was a nice little movie, worth watching if you like surprises.

afterwards we met back at my place, where we then drove out to fenway park for the free open house. parking in boston was free this weekend so finding a place to stash the car was no problem. the stadium was crowded with people, the concession stands were open (stocked with overpriced food, you're paying for the memories people, not the for the taste), as well as a few souvenir stands (wow, look at all those nomar jerseys!).

after the self-guided stadium tour, we went out for a late lunch at bertucci, where manny had a voucher for a $5 discount. along the way, we saw some kerry-edwards swag littering the bottom of a dirty stairwell, aftermath of this past week's DNC extravaganza. the restaurant was all nice and air-conditioned, we had some tuscan chicken wings (to die for) followed by the ultimate bertucci, a large pizza with various types of meat. by the time the pizza came out, i was already pretty full from the bread and the wings. whatever we didn't finish eating came home with me for dinner.

next we went to the fleet pavilion, where manny had to pick up a pair of free tickets for the martin sexton/finn brothers concert later tonight. we had no idea who they were, and neither one of us wanted to go, so many entrusted me to try and get rid of these tickets. after he drove me back home, i went on craig's list to try and give away the tickets for free. 3 hours later, with the concert already starting, there were still no takers. come on, the finn brothers! you haven't rocked until you've experienced the musical finntasy!