I get a bit annoyed when I have to fly now. Not that I've had to in a long while, but still. The idea of spending an extra half hour at the airport to hang out in a line while my stuff gets checked out does not make my "fun" list of things-to-do.
Schneier on Security has a good post on this for something "funny" to do. Not that I would actually do this in fear of wasting a day in bureaucratic hell, but still.
A popular phrase on the comments seems to be "These are not the droids you are looking for".
Forcing me to throw out my toothpaste, or bottle of water, or eyeball solution, does not make me safer. If it did, I could do that at home on my own.
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
This Film Would Be So Awesome If Only . . . .
WWII conspiracy film? Way too exciting for words. . . .
Except . . .it's a Tom Cruise film. Eeeew.
Friday, September 26, 2008
Something To Think About
Money As Debt Video
I don't know what to think about this. It'd be better to have a simpler currency system. But how to get from what we currently have to something better? I don't know how to go about doing that.
I don't know what to think about this. It'd be better to have a simpler currency system. But how to get from what we currently have to something better? I don't know how to go about doing that.
This Is Really Beautiful
The last days of David Foster Wallace
I have a lot of sympathy for those who choose suicide. There is no tougher decision to make than that final one.
People who are not sympathetic, who think it's a selfish act, just don't "get it".
This tribute article is poignant. Read it.
I have a lot of sympathy for those who choose suicide. There is no tougher decision to make than that final one.
People who are not sympathetic, who think it's a selfish act, just don't "get it".
This tribute article is poignant. Read it.
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Pain in the Butt
My leg started bothering me a couple weeks ago so I took a week off from running. Now I'm seriously behind in my training regimen and I think I'm going to have to walk the Long Beach Half Marathon.
I was putting some serious thought into it this morning and after some googling online I think I found what ails me: Piriformis Syndrome. The back of my leg doesn't bother me, it's the outside of the lower leg where the calf muscle "ends". Basically, it feels tight and when I start to run it starts to feel really tight and stiff. I get foot drop and then have to walk.
But last night I noticed that there's a spot on my butt on that side that's sore. Hopefully if I do a lot of stretching and sitting on a tennis ball I'll be able to run at least part of the Half Marathon.
I've decided to forget about trying to fight traffic to park for the event, and will be taking the Metro. I'll save money, hassle, and probably time as well.
I was putting some serious thought into it this morning and after some googling online I think I found what ails me: Piriformis Syndrome. The back of my leg doesn't bother me, it's the outside of the lower leg where the calf muscle "ends". Basically, it feels tight and when I start to run it starts to feel really tight and stiff. I get foot drop and then have to walk.
But last night I noticed that there's a spot on my butt on that side that's sore. Hopefully if I do a lot of stretching and sitting on a tennis ball I'll be able to run at least part of the Half Marathon.
I've decided to forget about trying to fight traffic to park for the event, and will be taking the Metro. I'll save money, hassle, and probably time as well.
Remember Pop-Tarts?
It Was So Damned Good It Was Scary
I remember having Pop-Tarts as a kid. The strawberry kind without icing. I remember them being really delicious.
It's rare that I buy any overly processed food anymore. But I found a home version of Pop-Tarts I think I'm going to try.
I remember having Pop-Tarts as a kid. The strawberry kind without icing. I remember them being really delicious.
It's rare that I buy any overly processed food anymore. But I found a home version of Pop-Tarts I think I'm going to try.
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Eastwood/Jolie Period Piece Coming Soon
I think I'm going to see this when it releases. I love films with strong female characters, and films with noir aspects to them.
I'm also discovering that I really like films set in L.A., especially period pieces like this one.
The Boy Who Vanished - and His Impostor
I've tried googling "Christine Collins" to find out more about what happened to her after the events in the movie. Unfortunately, all I've really been able to glean is that she was able to sue one of the public officials (I think the police chief) for money that she never received. I learned from this LA Times article that she lived on 217 N Avenue 23 in Los Angeles.
You can access the LA Public Library for photos. Go to "Photo Collection", then search for "Christine Collins" or "Northcott".
Monday, September 22, 2008
I Saw Anonymous
This weekend when my sweetheart and I were on our way to dinner we saw some members of Anonymous protesting Scientology, wearing Guy Fawkes masks and carrying posters. Some of them broke off their main "group" and followed Scientologists down the sidewalk.
Cool.
Cool.
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Go Learn Something!
Stanford Engineering Everywhere
DeviceGuru - Stanford offers free CS, Robotics courses
Cool! Wanna see what Computer Science is all about? Take a free course from Stanford! It would be nearly identical to the course that's offered in-the-flesh on campus, plus you'll get to see if Computer Science is something you want to delve into further.
In the perfect world I envision in my head, learning would be free. This is a step towards that.
DeviceGuru - Stanford offers free CS, Robotics courses
Cool! Wanna see what Computer Science is all about? Take a free course from Stanford! It would be nearly identical to the course that's offered in-the-flesh on campus, plus you'll get to see if Computer Science is something you want to delve into further.
In the perfect world I envision in my head, learning would be free. This is a step towards that.
Monday, September 15, 2008
Movie Review - Burn After Reading
Let's talk about a wickedly funny film. No spoilers below, the plot summary can be gleaned mostly from the trailer or other plot summaries or film reviews online. An insightful to-the-point spoiler of the film can be found here. I was giggling all the way to the Metro from the Arclight after viewing this one.
"And what did we learn here? I guess we learned not to do it again," the CIA director (J.K. Simmons) says at the end of the film. Ironically, the CIA is minimally involved in the film, serving only as the catalyst for Osborne Cox (John Malkovich) to sit in his Georgetown townhome, drink, and dictate his memoirs (pronounced in the French style). His coldly British pediatrician wife (Tilda Swinton) is shacking up with Harry Pfarrer (George Clooney), who let's say is married with a roving eye. Pfarrer ends up meeting Linda Litzke (Frances McDormand) through an internet dating site, who is motivated to find a large pile of cash to surgically remodel her body, and has employed her coworker Chad Feldheimer (Brad Pitt) to help her score her windfall.
Got all that? Enter Mrs. Cox's divorce lawyer's assistant who misplaces a CD copy of Mr. Cox's memoirs and financial data at the gym where Litzke and Feldheimer work.
The plot thickens, and morbid silliness ensues. The movie strolls along until it gets very dark very fast, and then the CIA tidily takes care of all the messy loose ends.
Visually, Brad Pitt is the funniest on camera. If he wasn't such a huge name and/or image, he would melt into his role. His meeting with Osborne Cox is one of the funniest scenes in the film, solely because of the way he plays his lines. Brilliant acting.
Coming in at number 2 is a three-way tie between Malkovich, Clooney, and McDormand, although I would have to say Clooney's character is the best developed. His character's actions bring paranoia-in-action to a whole new level. I could probably discuss for hours bits of that character and his actions, not to mention his all-too-human quirks (penchant for running, interest in wood flooring, lying about food allergies).
There are no true heroes or villains in Life, just a bunch of people in a mess. For everyone uninvolved, that mess can be really, really funny. Sometimes we get what we want, but most of the time we don't. Sometimes we're in the wrong place at the wrong time. Most of the time, we blow a situation completely out of proportion by overestimating our own importance to the rest of the world.
"And what did we learn here? I guess we learned not to do it again," the CIA director (J.K. Simmons) says at the end of the film. Ironically, the CIA is minimally involved in the film, serving only as the catalyst for Osborne Cox (John Malkovich) to sit in his Georgetown townhome, drink, and dictate his memoirs (pronounced in the French style). His coldly British pediatrician wife (Tilda Swinton) is shacking up with Harry Pfarrer (George Clooney), who let's say is married with a roving eye. Pfarrer ends up meeting Linda Litzke (Frances McDormand) through an internet dating site, who is motivated to find a large pile of cash to surgically remodel her body, and has employed her coworker Chad Feldheimer (Brad Pitt) to help her score her windfall.
Got all that? Enter Mrs. Cox's divorce lawyer's assistant who misplaces a CD copy of Mr. Cox's memoirs and financial data at the gym where Litzke and Feldheimer work.
The plot thickens, and morbid silliness ensues. The movie strolls along until it gets very dark very fast, and then the CIA tidily takes care of all the messy loose ends.
Visually, Brad Pitt is the funniest on camera. If he wasn't such a huge name and/or image, he would melt into his role. His meeting with Osborne Cox is one of the funniest scenes in the film, solely because of the way he plays his lines. Brilliant acting.
Coming in at number 2 is a three-way tie between Malkovich, Clooney, and McDormand, although I would have to say Clooney's character is the best developed. His character's actions bring paranoia-in-action to a whole new level. I could probably discuss for hours bits of that character and his actions, not to mention his all-too-human quirks (penchant for running, interest in wood flooring, lying about food allergies).
There are no true heroes or villains in Life, just a bunch of people in a mess. For everyone uninvolved, that mess can be really, really funny. Sometimes we get what we want, but most of the time we don't. Sometimes we're in the wrong place at the wrong time. Most of the time, we blow a situation completely out of proportion by overestimating our own importance to the rest of the world.
Friday, September 12, 2008
The Movie To See This Weekend
I've been looking forward to this film for a few weeks now. Judging from the trailer alone, it looks like it's going to be a hilarious satire.
I enjoy black comedy, probably for the fact it lies just outside polite society norms. The Coen brothers have served up fantastic examples in the past (Fargo, The Big Lebowski). I suspect Burn After Reading is going to be wickedly funny to those who have some personal knowledge of Washington D.C. much like The Big Lebowski is relevant to the L.A. experience.
I've been reading some reviews, and it seems a big complaint is that the characters are all caricatures. Well, yeah. I think that's the point. Satire is supposed to be a reflection of society taken to the extreme, poking fun at the realities that hurt most. "Real" people don't fit in a world viewed through the warped lens of irony, wit, and satire. I don't think they're supposed to.
I'll report back after I've seen the film and, uh, when things make sense. ;)
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
This Made My Jaw Drop
Sarah Palin and the victims-pay-for-rape-kits story
What?! I'm shocked and angered by this. If a rape victim has insurance that will cover the cost of a rape kit, then OK. If she has the financial means to pay for the kit herself, that's OK too. But if a women has no way to pay for the kit, that's just too bad? Wow. That really just blows my mind.
If a woman can't pay for a rape kit, having the community foot the bill for her just seems like the right thing to do in terms of justice and being a "good community".
According to the Salon article, Wasilla police chief Charlie Fannon said the rape kits would cost the city's police department between $5,000 and $14,000 a year. For a city the size of Wasilla (7,000? 10,000?), and depending on the cost of the kit and forensic medical exam (between $300 and $1,200, according to Salon, and $800 according to this Officer.com article), it sounds like Wasilla has bigger problems than funding a hockey rink and its legal woes.
Even more interesting, the Violence Against Women Act was pushed through by none other than Joe Biden.
The Strange Slience on Biden's Signature Accomplishment
While I personally like Obama more than McCain, I was willing to set that aside and consider McCain for president. I've definitely been on the fence when the vice presidential candidates were announced. But this really pushes me into Obama's camp.
What?! I'm shocked and angered by this. If a rape victim has insurance that will cover the cost of a rape kit, then OK. If she has the financial means to pay for the kit herself, that's OK too. But if a women has no way to pay for the kit, that's just too bad? Wow. That really just blows my mind.
If a woman can't pay for a rape kit, having the community foot the bill for her just seems like the right thing to do in terms of justice and being a "good community".
According to the Salon article, Wasilla police chief Charlie Fannon said the rape kits would cost the city's police department between $5,000 and $14,000 a year. For a city the size of Wasilla (7,000? 10,000?), and depending on the cost of the kit and forensic medical exam (between $300 and $1,200, according to Salon, and $800 according to this Officer.com article), it sounds like Wasilla has bigger problems than funding a hockey rink and its legal woes.
Even more interesting, the Violence Against Women Act was pushed through by none other than Joe Biden.
The Strange Slience on Biden's Signature Accomplishment
While I personally like Obama more than McCain, I was willing to set that aside and consider McCain for president. I've definitely been on the fence when the vice presidential candidates were announced. But this really pushes me into Obama's camp.
Monday, September 08, 2008
Movie Review: Mamma Mia!
I saw this film a few weeks ago but I feel I should review it anyway.
While I'm not surprised at the staying power of this film in theaters, I also felt it relies heavily on star power and the nostalgia of the musical, with very little merit on its own. There were several scenes that were very painful to watch.
Meryl Streep steals every single scene she's in, and it's obvious she had a blast making the film. On the other hand, Pierce Brosnan looks uncomfortable in every scene he's in, and I feel he was most certainly miscast.
Visually, filming in Greece was a fantastic idea. There is something about films set in the Mediterranean that requires them to be filmed on-location. There's no other way to replicate the sun, sand and water.
The big dance numbers are great. The cast dressing up in full 70's disco attire is not.
While I'm not surprised at the staying power of this film in theaters, I also felt it relies heavily on star power and the nostalgia of the musical, with very little merit on its own. There were several scenes that were very painful to watch.
Meryl Streep steals every single scene she's in, and it's obvious she had a blast making the film. On the other hand, Pierce Brosnan looks uncomfortable in every scene he's in, and I feel he was most certainly miscast.
Visually, filming in Greece was a fantastic idea. There is something about films set in the Mediterranean that requires them to be filmed on-location. There's no other way to replicate the sun, sand and water.
The big dance numbers are great. The cast dressing up in full 70's disco attire is not.
Movie Review: Hellboy II: The Golden Army
The more I see Guillermo del Toro's work, the more I really, really, like it. He has a very distinctive visual style that makes him reminiscent to Tim Burton, whose work I also admire. The film is steeped in pseudo-mythology as only Guillermo del Toro can inspire. I'm very excited to see how the Hobbit films turn out, and I believe del Toro can envision an even more incredible Middle Earth than Peter Jackson.
As in the first, my favorite character on the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense team is Abe Sapien, the cerebral merman. There's a very tender, beautiful romance between him and the elven princess in the film.
One of the things I love about del Toro's recent work is that he understands character archetypes very well and he doesn't fiddle with them to make them "more realistic", yet the stories he tells with these character archetypes are never boring. There's a princess character who is the epitome of what a princess is supposed to be whose destiny is tied to her brother who is the epitome of the brash, ambitious prince. Really rich, great stuff for a comic book film.
I also really like the steampunk elements in Hellboy II. Visually, the film is just spectacular.
I have to admit that I was a bit bored with the first film, but that the second film is definitely worth seeing.
As in the first, my favorite character on the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense team is Abe Sapien, the cerebral merman. There's a very tender, beautiful romance between him and the elven princess in the film.
One of the things I love about del Toro's recent work is that he understands character archetypes very well and he doesn't fiddle with them to make them "more realistic", yet the stories he tells with these character archetypes are never boring. There's a princess character who is the epitome of what a princess is supposed to be whose destiny is tied to her brother who is the epitome of the brash, ambitious prince. Really rich, great stuff for a comic book film.
I also really like the steampunk elements in Hellboy II. Visually, the film is just spectacular.
I have to admit that I was a bit bored with the first film, but that the second film is definitely worth seeing.
Friday, September 05, 2008
Wednesday, September 03, 2008
Torrance Memorial ER Rocks!
I woke up early this morning in a lot of pain, and debated whether or not I should just go to the ER or wait for when the urgent care centers started to open.
I opted for the ER so that I could get treated and get to work on time, even though I didn't have a life-threatening emergency.
Let me tell you, those guys at Torrance Memorial are *awesome*. I was in-and-out in less than an hour, and all of the staff were not only polite (and some of them were even funny!), but also referred to me by name. The doctor I saw was nice with great bedside manner. Wow. Most definitely the shortest ER visit I've ever had. Maybe they weren't that busy, or maybe they're just that efficient.
I'm fine, by the way. :)
I opted for the ER so that I could get treated and get to work on time, even though I didn't have a life-threatening emergency.
Let me tell you, those guys at Torrance Memorial are *awesome*. I was in-and-out in less than an hour, and all of the staff were not only polite (and some of them were even funny!), but also referred to me by name. The doctor I saw was nice with great bedside manner. Wow. Most definitely the shortest ER visit I've ever had. Maybe they weren't that busy, or maybe they're just that efficient.
I'm fine, by the way. :)
Movie Review: Hamlet 2
This was an interesting film. Not sure if I would recommend it, but I definitely enjoyed it. It's not a film for everyone.
People who have been involved with school theater would probably appreciate this comedy, and definitely anyone who can sympathize with high school teachers (and art teachers in particular) would appreciate the challenges faced by Dana Marschz (portrayed by Steve Coogan).
The main side plot involving Marschz's personal life is fairly predictable and doesn't add much to the film.
One of the best sight gags was when Marschz and his wife go to the "Prickly Pear Fertility Clinic". No foreshadowing whatsoever going on there.
I saw this at the Arclight in Hollywood. Really cool theater, with reserved stadium seating for all their screens and excellent picture quality. They have props and costumes from current films on display in the lobby. I definitely will be coming back here to see movies.
People who have been involved with school theater would probably appreciate this comedy, and definitely anyone who can sympathize with high school teachers (and art teachers in particular) would appreciate the challenges faced by Dana Marschz (portrayed by Steve Coogan).
The main side plot involving Marschz's personal life is fairly predictable and doesn't add much to the film.
One of the best sight gags was when Marschz and his wife go to the "Prickly Pear Fertility Clinic". No foreshadowing whatsoever going on there.
I saw this at the Arclight in Hollywood. Really cool theater, with reserved stadium seating for all their screens and excellent picture quality. They have props and costumes from current films on display in the lobby. I definitely will be coming back here to see movies.
Movie Review: Tropic Thunder
I saw the trailer for this and thought it would be kind of funny, although I'm not surprised at the controversy that surrounds this film and the issues of Vietnam veterans, the mentally disabled, and race. However, I thought this was a great comedy. Or maybe I just don't get offended as easily.
The movie's fake trailers set the tone and introduce the characters in a clever way. My favorite is the trailer for "Satan's Alley", which introduces the method actor Kirk Lazarus (played by Robert Downey Jr.). Robert Downey Jr.'s character is definitely the most complex of the four leads and his little character study on racial anxiety in the United States is by itself worth seeing the film.
I know very, very little about how Hollywood "works", but I would venture to guess this is a fairly accurate satire on many aspects of the movie industry. Tom Cruise is hilarious as the profane movie producer Les Grossman (who, as the Slate review remarks, is both a literal and figurative dick). He pulls off triumphant victory dances to hip-hop music. Jerks just don't get this funnier.
My favorite side performance was that of Matthew McConaughey's agent for Ben Stiller's character. The running gag involving a TiVo set culminates in his character trekking through the Vietnamese jungle alone, while giving the audience hope for the human condition. Maybe Hollywood isn't full of self-absorbed, egotist freaks like Cruise's Les Grossman.
The movie's fake trailers set the tone and introduce the characters in a clever way. My favorite is the trailer for "Satan's Alley", which introduces the method actor Kirk Lazarus (played by Robert Downey Jr.). Robert Downey Jr.'s character is definitely the most complex of the four leads and his little character study on racial anxiety in the United States is by itself worth seeing the film.
I know very, very little about how Hollywood "works", but I would venture to guess this is a fairly accurate satire on many aspects of the movie industry. Tom Cruise is hilarious as the profane movie producer Les Grossman (who, as the Slate review remarks, is both a literal and figurative dick). He pulls off triumphant victory dances to hip-hop music. Jerks just don't get this funnier.
My favorite side performance was that of Matthew McConaughey's agent for Ben Stiller's character. The running gag involving a TiVo set culminates in his character trekking through the Vietnamese jungle alone, while giving the audience hope for the human condition. Maybe Hollywood isn't full of self-absorbed, egotist freaks like Cruise's Les Grossman.
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