Beer-To-Beer Networking

I'm taking a Computer Networking class online. It's one of the pre-reqs I have to take if I want to go to grad school for computer science.

I tried taking this course when I was earning my undergrad but I got intimidated easily and withdrew from the class. I didn't understand the book at all, and even though I respected and like the professor immensely I knew the class would be hard and I didn't know if I had the intellectual 'manna' to make it through the class with sanity intact.

I was really intimidated about taking this course, even though the concepts covered would be really useful at work.

But it turns out that I'm understanding what's going on in class and the professor doesn't seem to be an evil demon. He's actually pretty funny. He speaks with an accent and makes a lot of little jokes based on wordplay and how he knows his voice comes across to an audience.

"There is no 'sweet' in this class. Only 'suite'."

"I said 'peer-to-peer'. There is no 'beer-to-beer' networking in this class."

Not that I was ever good at beer-to-beer networking, but I know several people who could get an 'A' in a course focused on that!

Crazy

I made the receptionist at my chiropractor's office laugh today when I said that if I didn't get enough exercise I "go a little crazy."

Maybe he wasn't used to women admitting that they're a little nutty.

At any rate, I highly believe that people without healthy coping mechanisms for stress go a little batty.

Price of Gas

Yesterday when I was driving to work I noticed the Chevron station near my apartment bumped the price of gas up to $4.05.

Booooo.

I guess if I don't wait until my gas tank is bone dry I can avoid paying $40.00 for a tank. Maybe I'm complaining too much, but when I bought the car I was so stoked that it was only around $30.00 for a tank.

I remember when I started driving 9 years ago I could fill up my Jeep for less than $20.00.

Sadly, a lot of economists have predicted that the best way to improve and develop new energy sources is for the price of gas to go way up.

Maybe the price of insurance will go down to compensate. . . .

Check Out This Idiot

Teen Alex Phillips puts girlfriend's nude shots on MySpace: Child Porn?

I definitely believe the charges on the guy should stand. Hopefully he spends his sixteen years productively doing something positive to turn his life around. We know his English skills need improvement.

The article questions if the girl should also be charged as well. I don't know. If you take a nude photo of yourself, and you're under 18, then distribute it to someone who is also under 18, should you be charged with child pornography? Even if that person would be considered your legal lover?

I'm wondering if the courts should consider a new branch of law to cover adolescents, since what they consider a "child" and what they consider an "adult" seem to be a grey area depending on the crime.

Relieving Rejection

I was supposed to go on a date last night, but a couple hours before we were supposed to go out he called me and canceled. A couple years ago something similar happened.

Last night, he said something that I guess some would call a reasonable excuse. He rescheduled for Wednesday. He even called it a date, which he's never admitted to me before.

This wasn't even a date that I begged for, he's been bugging me for over six weeks that he wanted to take me out and we finally scheduled it "tentatively". He even bugged me about it that day over IM and wanted to know if we were still on.

Whatever. If it was just this alone I don't think I'd be so bothered. But it sits on top of all the other feelings of rejection and loneliness. Not only am I not cool enough to take out on a Friday night, but I'm also not cool enough to actually go out with on a Monday night.

My ex who dumped me left pasta dishes and plastic wine goblets at my place because he thought it would be a sign of him being "a nice guy" after he dumped me over the phone and couldn't tell me why. The real reason being he's a giant coward and couldn't tell me that the whole relationship was a lie.

I came home from work tonight, put the dishes in a plastic bag and smashed them with a hammer.

I don't feel better, but I feel relieved.

Movie Review - The Good German

This is my 500th post.

I rented The Good German this weekend. I was expecting it to be kind of a letdown, because I read the book when the film was in theaters and the film is nothing like the book. You can just look at the trailer and tell a lot of the story is altered. Some of the same themes are there but the title character is different and the plot is all jumbled up.

Even if you haven't read the book the plot is still somewhat muddied, and you feel like the pacing is a bit too fast for the film. I suspect key scenes have ended up on the cutting room floor, because by the time everything unravels at the end you kind of wonder what just happened and why. Maybe I need to watch the film again.

I was really disappointed with Tobey Maguire's acting in this. It really seemed to me he was playing a version of Peter Parker in some black & white version of Spiderman 3. The character isn't the same, but the acting is. It's just such a blot on this noir homage.

I really loved Cate Blanchett's character in this film. She just plays the sort of tough, sensitive survivor that I think all women can really identify with. She steals every scene she's in.

I was somewhat unhappy with the ending because I felt George Clooney's character should have done something else. He doesn't because it conflicts with his moral compass, but you really have to question that.

In the sort of extreme situation that was Germany in WWII, anything you did that was not in line with the 3rd Reich would have you shot. So I think people chose to survive. When you choose between survival and getting shot or worse, sent to a concentration camp, what would you choose? Seriously?

Call me a bad person, but I think I would choose to survive. Not that I would be the first to jump on the "let's do evil" bandwagon, and not that I wouldn't have my ghosts that haunt me (because I would), but that I value life.

Or maybe I'm just not a person of integrity.

They Need To Do This In Every State

Missouri Lawmakers Pass Bill Against Cyberharrassment

As someone who has been a target of cyber stalking and cyber harrassment, I think this is fantastic news.

It's so stupid that our legal system hasn't caught up with technology yet. At this point, the law won't do anything for people until they're physically being stalked, or dealing with a physical threat. I think that's wrong.

People have a right to privacy, and a right to feeling safe in their own homes. For people who have been harrassed, stalked, and bullied over the internet, this law is a great first step.

The Getty

I went up to the Getty today.

It was absolutely gorgeous today and I could see from downtown to the ocean, and all the way to Palos Verdes!

There is a good California video exhibit going on. . . .there's some interesting stuff but the best is by William Wegman. Stuff so odd you just have to laugh. One of my favorite clips is when he does the coin flip. I don't want to give it away. You'll just have to look for it and see.

I also went to the photography exhibit. I didn't see a "normal" photography gallery so I just wandered around the special exhibition. There was one room with some random stuff in it - the "Ten Years In Focus" exhibit. I saw a couple landscape tin types by Joseph-Philibert Girault de Prangey. I thought that was really cool, because I thought people only made portrait tin types. I really liked The Probatic Pool in Jerusalem, the Temple of Vesta in Rome and the Lotus Columns at Gournah. The old guy who was watching over this exhibit asked me to smile. He apparently was watching me, because he said I hadn't smiled the entire time I was in that gallery.

I wandered around the gardens, which are lovely. They have a lot of exotic succulents and several different roses. I saw a couple who were having a picnic on the grass and I was jealous. Not of them per say but of the idea to have someone to go to a nice lawn and share some bread, cheese and wine with. I didn't see any other lone wolves there.

I didn't want to push myself so I stopped after the photography, although I did find a small exhibit on Italian home furnishings that was very interesting to view. I saw a fantastic set of sculptures, called Three Goddesses. The idea is that each of these three goddesses (Minerva/Athena, Juno/Hera, and Venus/Aphrodite) is in a state of removing an article of clothing. Athena pulls off her helmet, Hera is unwinding her robes, and Aphrodite is removing her sandal. The three sculptures accompanied a sculpture of Paris, who judged which goddess was most beautiful.

I'll probably go back to the Getty a few more times - it's impossible to see the entire thing in a day. It makes for a great day trip!

Friday Night

I feel like such a loser because every Friday night, not only do I not have any plans whatsoever to do anything with anyone. . . .

the only thing I want to do is go home and sleep.

Taste the Smug

I saw a Lexus SUV on the road today on my commute to work. Not just any Lexus SUV, this was a hybrid. And the owner wasn't subtle about it. There were two tacky bumper stickers on the cargo door: "Yes, it's a hybrid!" and something similar on the other bumper sticker. Something along the lines of being better than everyone because their car was a hybrid.

You could taste the smug. Seriously. (Full episode here) (By the way, if you're not familiar with South Park, you should be warned these links could be quite offensive)

I'm generally in favor of hybrid cars and alternative fuel technology, but I really have several problems with this.

Firstly, just because I don't drive a hybrid doesn't mean I don't care about the environment or about what my mpg is. I bought the most fuel economic car in my budget, even though it runs completely on gas. There was no way I could afford a hybrid.

Secondly, driving a luxury hybrid with those particular bumper stickers sends the message that, because the driver can afford (or pretend to afford) a car *that* expensive makes them better than everyone who cannot afford such an extravagance.

Thirdly, the above is just rude. It just sends the wrong message, one the driver probably did not intend. Instead of saying, "I drive a hybrid and I think the rest of the world should jump on the bandwagon", it says, "I'm so conceited and insecure that, not only do I have to drive a luxury vehicle to feel better than everyone else, I have to rub it in everyone's face by defacing my new hybrid's styling by putting up these tacky bumper stickers."

Movie Review - The Namesake

I have to admit, this film is fantastic.

I felt a little misguided by the trailer, because it leads the viewer to believe the protagonist, Gogol Ganguli, takes a conscious, physical journey to realize his roots and where he fits in the world. The film is subtler than that.

The Namesake is a coming-of-age story, as well as a bridging cultural divides story. There is also some reference to class divisions as well. The allusions to Nikolai Gogol's "The Overcoat" are quite subtle, and I had to read a synopsis as well as think about it for a while.

The music in the film is great and well-integrated. My favorite piece is "The Same Song", by Susheela Raman, played during the credits.

I think this film is a chameleon, with each viewing being slightly different than the viewing before it. Its timeless story is definitely worth watching.

Movie Review - 27 Dresses

I think I expect way too much from my romantic comedies.

27 Dresses is very formulaic, and despite witty one-liners and a gorgeous leading couple, left me with an unsatisfying ending.

The plot of the film follows Jane Nichols, who is a pretty, caring, warm woman. She remarks that her life's calling is to help women have a perfect "best day of her life". With the help of a newspaper journalist played by James Marsden, she overcomes her character flaw, realizes the guy she's pining after isn't for her, and then ends up with the newspaper journalist.

The film was interesting and believable until the 3rd act, where all the loose ends were tidied up a little too nicely for my taste. I think I would have preferred something closer to how "Under the Tuscan Sun" ended, with the protagonist happy but without her life being exactly the way she wanted.

While my favorite line in the trailer is Katherine Heigl's "hot hate sex" quip, it's out of character. My favorite line in the film is Malin Akerman's "Bridezilla" soliloquy, which I'm sure will be copied (in some form or another) by brides everywhere.

Ladies should rent this for "Girl's Night In", guys will probably not enjoy this film (or not admit it if they do). The love interest plays a helpless romantic in jaded form, and I don't think that would resonate well with most men. Jaded guys just don't send gigantic bouquets of flowers to girls they just met, sorry.

Movie Review - Eastern Promises

This Viggo Mortensen Russian mafia film is fantastic. There are scenes not quite for the faint-of-heart (it's rated R for a reason!) but as a whole it's deliciously complex and satisfying.

The plot twist is predictable (or maybe I read one-too-many film reviews), but knowing beforehand doesn't take away from the film. This one is definitely re-watchable.

The violent scene where Viggo fights bad guys in the nude was harder to watch because of the brute violence, not for the nudity as I expected. But then again, I'm not a guy so there's no way I could have that perspective. I could probably go into the psychology of that scene (the idea of fighting naked as opposed to fighting clothed, who we are when we're clothed as opposed to exposed, etc.), but I'll pass.

Viggo's Russian accent is sexy, and he uses his charisma to fantastic effect in the film (and on the audience). His character's soft spot for women is especially touching.

Movie Review - Atonement

I've read reviews of Atonement (both the film and the book), and did a lot of other research before sitting down to watch the film.

When this was in theaters I was so excited to go see it, since it was touted "the best love story since The English Patient". After I read reviews and realized that no, this really isn't about a love story, I was disappointed and didn't go to the theater to watch the film, even though I love beautifully shot films (which this is definitely an example of).

What finally encouraged me to rent the movie was when a friend watched it and said that it was good enough to have a discussion about. So I did that.

Hmm. Atonement is two stories intertwined into one, and while the "main story" deals with possible redemption and atonement through writing, the protagonist is unlikeable and flawed. It's difficult to sympathize with her and in the end you really just don't care. The "side story" is the love story, and while both characters aren't perfect, they are more likable and it's very easy to relate to the lovers torn apart.

What is somewhat troubling is that, through the protagonist's actions, the real "villain" gets away with his actions and the film (I suspect the book as well) doesn't handle that very well. What are the consequences of just allowing someone guilty of truly evil deeds to go about their merry way?

The first act of the film is worth watching most, and most of the memorable shots are in the first act. Everyone talks about Keira Knightley's green dress, but I was much more impressed with the pretty halter-style sundress she wears when she greets her brother for the first time.

The long, almost 5 minute shot in Dunkirk is fantastic, and illustrates Joe Wright's use of long takes splendidly.

I would say this is worth renting, but don't expect to walk away feeling like you've learned something.