Sorry I've been away from the blog for a while; life's been pretty hectic. A few updates:
1. Closing on our house is tomorrow.
2. I head out for 10 days on Monday
3. Steph flies out on Saturday
4. We move on the 13 Feb
5. I get back on 14 Feb.
See what I mean? Sheesh.
You've heard of the Vagina Monologues, no doubt. Not to be outdone, meet Phallic Baldwin and Peter Fondle, the flaccid performers in The Penis Dialogues. Sure to win a Tony, no doubt. Or maybe a Dick.
Mechanical TV?
Most people know about electronic television. If you're reading this, then you're familiar with the concept. What most people don't know about is mechanical television. Yep, mechanical! Invented by a Scotsman in the early 20th century, John Logie Baird devised a method of mechanical television transmission that didn't rely on the then-superior cathode ray tube. Due to opressive corporate entities (i.e., The Man), Baird's mTV didn't live past the 1930's as the BBC enacted an agreement with the newly-formed EMI, which developed their own version of the technology.Baird didn't stop there - he later went on to prototype 600-line TVs in the 40s, urged government types to consider HDTV of 1000+ lines of resolution for post-war development, developed the basis for television recording and did the first color cinema showing. Read more about John Logie Baird.
Wait for Another Day
Well, I finally got around to seeing the latest installment of what M calls the "dinosaur of the Cold War". Yes, it's the next serial in Ian Fleming's mildly popular among the gadget-having/wanna-be womanizing/imaginary-gambling/fast-car-driving set. And as usual, it's loaded with cool effects, bizarre plots of world domination and Bond seducing any number of sexyhot bad women in as few minutes as possible. Well, only two this time.
I gotta say it. As much of a Bond fan that I am, I haven't really gotten the vibe for Pierce Brosnan since Goldeneye. The last few flicks have been somewhat believable (well, it *IS* Bond of all things), but Die Another Day lacks a puncher plot. At least Tim Dalton had some interesting things going on in Eastern Europe. Now the baddie is a North Korean (interestingly enough given today's headlines) and he's hell-bent on exacting punishment on the Western World for all it's done to him (like giving him lots of money, fast cars, a confidential secretary, etc).
Die Another Day is the usual Bond fare for the last few flicks - fast paced, quick cuts and jagged editing. The effects are pretty good, the acting is up to Bondian par for all parties involved (although Halle Berry is kind of wooden through the whole thing. I don't think she watched enough vintage Bond to get the feel for the witty reparte).
And imagine this, I can't actually imagine that Q came up with some of the stuff he did. Granted, it's usually quite fictional, but on some level you have to believe that this stuff can be pulled off -- but an invisible car? Leave that to Linda Carter. I mean, a bad guy having the change to launch a space shuttle to a space base I can believe, but an invisible car? Puh-leeeze.
As I was saying, I walked out of the theatre exhausted because of the fast pace. Usually Bond gets around the world to a number of places, but the writing/editing puts you there for at least an amount of time that feels like he did some groundwork before waltzing in to beat the bad guy in some lofty endeavor like baccarat or fencing on his own turf. I guess what I'm getting at is that Bond used to have a more European flavor -- suave, sophisticated and ballsy enough to pull off stunts that would get normal 00 agents waxed, but with enough restraint to (usually) pick his battles. Now he's pushed to the edge, flying by the seat of his pants and generally moving like he had a breakfast of speed and sugar washed down with a sixer of Jolt.
But, given all of that, I still love it anyway. My favorite scenes from this pic: the Hong Kong hotel (classic Bond) and the fencing scene (makes you want to dabble in swordplay).
You know, regarding the SUV link, I take exception to the authors comment that most SUV drivers are assholes. I mean, I personally know 10 people that drive them. One is 45, balding, divorced, has two kids. He's not an asshole. I think maybe he's overcompensating for something. ;) No, actually he hauls his kids around in there, and since they don't live with him he carries the "house" around. He tried a truck, but the kids weren't comfortable. Some others I know are a few lesbians - not assholes. I doubt they really need SUVs, but they are huge ones either. Just 4runners. A good friend of mine drives an xTerra.
Anyway, the point is that before the author jumps onto her soapbox (which I agree with for the most part), we could do without the mudslinging in the first paragraph.
Finally! Mobile Pr0n! I don't know about you, but I've had a hard-- er, I've been waiting for this for a damn long while. No more boring meetings, waiting around in airports with nothing to do, no more just walking down the street flaccid and all.
I suspect a "deflationary" pill will be following, or maybe the image of Margret Thatcher, naked on a cold day when you sign off the mobile pr0n site...
LOL... commenting on BJ'sSUV linkage: I think if more people knew what sybaritic meant, they'd reconsider:
\Syb`a*rit"ic\, Sybaritical \Syb`a*rit"ic*al\, a. [L. Sybariticus, Gr. ?.] Of or pertaining to the Sybarites; resembling the Sybarites; luxurious; wanton; effeminate. ``Sybaritic dinners.'' --Bp. Warburton. ``Sybaritical cloistres.'' --Bp. Hall.
Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
If you're a LOTR fan, and a Jack Black fan (who isn't), then this is for you.
Hmm. I only wanted an SUV for cargo room, and the occasional offroading. Personally, I think I'll opt for a '73 Series III Land Rover. :D
Gas passers anyone? Yes, you know who you are. Fear not, there is relief!!
Brian responded to my response about his response to Se7en (confusing?), and to that I'd just say... hey, it was *only* two hours. It could have been Titanic. :P
I read Brian's review of Se7en, and while he makes a lot of arguable points, I'd like to contend with just the biggest gripe. Why one character over another? Why did Pitt's wife instead of Freeman die? Why did any one of them die?
Rather than attribute this to bad writing, perhaps it's a direct result of the emotional tension Spacey's character has been going through. Yes, he was cold and calculating for over a year. Do I think he planned specifically for some manly copy with a pretty wife to come along? Probably not. In fact, he probably didn't realize he was going to be the vehicle for the completion of his "work" until he was close to being captured. To that end, I suspect he was flying by the seat of his pants during the last portion of the film.
Why did the hooker die when she wasn't guilty of lust? Why not the john? Yes he suffers and doesn't die, but imagine what pictures he has in head now and everytime he beds someone. I daresay he'll be suffering more and longer than the hooker did, so Spacey did his deed to satisfaction.
That's all.
I actually went to a movie last night - first one since seeing Two Towers. This particular flick was "Catch Me if You Can". Overall, B+. You wouldn't have figured the movie to be Spielberg (plus a John Williams soundtrack), but it holds it's own. It's kind of peculiar, actually. It's very sappy, and you feel as though you want the protagonist and antagonist to "win". You can almost smell the bubble-gum and malts in the theatre. Of course it has a good ol' It's-a-film-released-at-Christmas-so-make-them-feel-good-when-leaving-the-theatres kind of feel. But enough about that.
The film is actually very cool -- stylish even. You'll be amazed at some of the vintage clothing, housing, decor, etc - somebody did their homework. The cinematography is quite good, reminiscent of TV's golden eras (you know, 1950-1970 right?). Even the opening credits montage is something short of a piece of art film - very cool. The wife couldn't believe it was so cool.
As for the acting... the flick stars in no particular order:
Granted, there are plenty of other parts in the film, but it's not a character study on any figure except the protagonist, so there's that to consider.
One final note: after you see the movie (or read the book), make sure you check out the real-life-guy that the film is about, Mr. Frank W. Abagnale - yup, it's pretty much a true story, and yes the end and epilogue are correct, he works with the FBI and major corporations. And of course he's got the usual disclaimer in his personal website about the movie, since he's trying to be friend and mr. good guy to the Fortune 500. Above all, my favorite comment is right on the front page of his website, next to last bullet point. Check it out.
One more thing - if you use Blogger's BlogThis! toolbar extension for IE, this may be useful. I use BlogThis quite a bit, and it's somewhat of a pain since I want all of my URLs to open in new windows. So, just right-click your BlogThis! button and select properties (do whatever on Macs, I haven't a clue). Look in the URL textbox for portion of the URL that looks like this escape(location.href)+'&n='. Once you locate that, modify that portion by inserting the text show in red here: escape(location.href)+escape('" target="_new')+'&n='. Just like that!
Again, I'm on my soapbox, this time The Pres The Moron is going to cut capital gains taxes, specifically on stock dividends. Well, first off, who is going to issue dividends when the market has been performing like shit?
Buying a home must be the largest pain in the ass EVER. I'm completely disgusted by the process.
If you've ever seen Robert Tilton (or if you haven't) and you think that TV evangelism is complete lunacy (of if you don't), you need to see this!!
Yahoo! News - Mystery Man Revealed in Microsoft Xbox Hack Contest
So why should I care if Microsoft creates a game box that runs its software? Did Nintendo or Sony or Sega do anything different? Robertson's claim that "Xbox sets a dangerous precedent" is lame. What precedent it is setting? So... Sony develops it's own operating system (see many Vidcams and Digicams) and decides to run it on Vaio PCs... Will Robertson be singing the same tune? Doubtful. He's just vying for publicity...
