i m N s h o

One new and one old, but I had a couple of thoughts to share. Donnie Darko I finally got around to watching this one over this past weekend. Dani's out of town and I figured I'd catch up on stuff she's not interested in or already seen. This one came up first on Netflix , so it was the winner. I've got to admit that my first reaction, when the credits rolled, was "Seriously? That's IT? I've been hearing about this movie, and how great it is, for years. And this is what I'm left with?" But the more I thought about it over the weekend, the more it's made sense to me. And I've come to the conclusion that it's really the anti- It's a Wonderful Life . I've long ago expressed my opinion about Wonderful Life, but the gist of that story (for the one or two of you out there that's never been subjected to it) is the story of how horrible George Bailey's world would have been had he left to follow his dreams. Donnie Darko is the a...

I've never been a big fan of serial killer stories. I understand the appeal, from a procedural level. There's a lot of good, juicy stuff for the storyteller, as you dive into the killer's madness and concoct the scenarios that fit his madness. The problem I have is that, from a classical sense, they're not good drama. There's all the buildup and suspense you could want, as your hero stalks the madman and tries to figure out not just what he's going to do next, but why he's doing it. But when you get to the resolution, far too often, the stories simply fall flat. There's no catharsis for the audience… no sense of "there but for the grace of god go I" (though, arguably, maybe there should be). Because ultimately, the reason "Why", the whole cathartic ending of the piece, is simply "Because". "Why did he do it?" "Because he's NUTS!" You can relate, on a visceral level, to the person that kills out of jea...

We're in the middle of a drought here in Southern California. Again. (I've read recently that, judging from geological records, we may not actually be in a drought… it's more like this is what the climate in this region is normally like, and we've just been experiencing wetter weather than is the norm for the past century or two.) Whatever the case, it's been pretty dry. The Metropolitan Water District has kicked into full "Conservation is key" mode and you can't escape their " be water wise " ads on the radio. This is all very familiar, as we experienced very similar conditions just a few years ago. We were living in LA at the time and I remember virtually identical commercials, urging everyone to take shorter showers, water less, etc., etc., etc. And, apparently, we all listened and the campaign was quite successful. I assume this because, about six months later, LADWP applied to the California PUC for a rate increase. (Man, you gotta lov...

I was at the airport today when someone walked past me with a shirt that said: May the F = m a be with you And all I could think was, "what… may the force be with you didn't seem geek enough?"  

This is one of those quotes that I always seem to WANT to throw at someone, and yet can never remember at the time. So now I'm posting it here 'for eternity'. Maybe I'll remember next time. A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds. A great person does not have to think consistently from one day to the next. This remark comes from the essay “ Self-Reliance ” by Ralph Waldo Emerson. Emerson does not explain the difference between foolish and wise consistency.

For the past few weeks, I've seen a billboard off the 105, featuring a rather plastic-looking blond, advertising the upcoming Eye Candy Expo , and each time I see it I can only think, "Seriously?". Are we (and I'm referring to my entire gender here) so desperate for a look at hot chicks in skimpy outfits that we need an entire weekend at the convention center dedicated to that idea? (The successful proliferation of adult web sites, men's magazines and gentleman's clubs should be enough to make that question rhetorical, I suppose.) After visiting the site, I begin to see the genius behind this idea. The organizers of this event have obviously seen the way the booth babes and swimsuit models at trade shows and conventions are mobbed each year by glassy-eyed convention attendees looking for a moment with the pretty girl, and figured out a way to capitalize on this concept. There's a $35 fee to attend all three days ($50 for VIP treatment), which gets you acc...

Ok, so it's not really " new " per se, but seriously… Toy Story Mania in 4D? X2 in 5D? Toy Story Mania Hurry! Hurry! You can step right up and compete in a new, interactive "Toy Story" adventure inspired by Disney•Pixar's "Toy Story" films! Come board a ride vehicle and zip off into a 4-D world of midway-style games hosted by Woody, Buzz, Jessie, Rex, Hamm and more! X2 : Now Open! We’ve taken extreme to the next level with X2. Completely redesigned trains and state-of-the-art visual, audio and sensory effects move X from the 4th dimension to the 5th as it transforms into X2! And, lest we forget… the 'grandfather of '4D' entertainment: Shrek 4-D Take adventure to the next dimension in Shrek 4-D™ — the attraction that puts you in the action with hair-raising, eye-popping, butt-busting effects so real, all your senses will be on ogre-time. As far as I'm concerned, until the marketing geniuses that came up with these pitches can MAP O...

A couple of weeks ago, thanks to an article in Entertainment Weekly defending Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, I went back and watched the film again and realized that, no matter how much the article wanted to argue that Temple was a better film than most people give it credit for, I still thought it was a mediocre film in general, and a bad Indiana Jones film. The problems with Temple of Doom can be summed up simply enough: Short Round, and slapstick. (One must also point out that Kate Capshaw's one-note — i.e. a high pitched squeal — performance didn't help.) I've already ranted about why adding smart-ass kids to action adventure films are NOT the cinematic version of "you got chocolate in my peanut butter" (two great tastes that taste great together, if you somehow don't get the reference). So I won't belabor the point any further here. The other problem (the slapstick issue) became clear to me as I watched Temple of Doom and its painfully drawn ...

The other day I got an email, asking for money to help put this ad on TV. Before I say anything else, you'll need to check it out here. (Go ahead, I'll wait). California Yacht Party Well, did you watch it? If not, whatever I say next is going to make a hell of a lot more sense if you've actually watched the thing, so take a minute and check it out. OK, so I assume you've watched it now. Got any idea what the hell it's trying to say? I know, because I read the email that came with the link to the ad. But do you? 'Cause, after I watched it the first time, I really wondered if anyone watching this cold would have any idea what the message was. (Yachts are bad? Republicans are into potlatch? Pretty people like to bathe in champagne?) Knowing, as I did, the point of the video going in, you would think I wouldn't have had to watch it twice to see if I could find the message. After that second viewing, I realized that the extent of that message was in the title car...

Must be my hater week, I guess. Last year, when CompUSA was shutting down all its local stores (it's nearly 100% online only these days), they were selling stuff off at some pretty deep discounts. Current software was going for 40% or more off, so it made sense to pick up Windows Vista at that time. I wasn't in any great hurry to upgrade, but knew eventually we would and I wasn't going to see any discounts like that any time soon. (Hell, they're still selling full installs of XP for nearly $200. I got the Vista upgrade for less than that.) So when I was rebuilding my PC a few months ago, I figured 'what the hell' and installed Vista. (AND XP. I may be brave, but I'm not dumb.) Shouldn't be too surprising to find that I'm still using XP for the vast majority of what I do, but I do mess around in Vista occasionally. Besides, Vista's the only way to get DirectX 10 graphics, and Bioshock DOES look incredible in Vista. But DirectX 10 graphics are har...

Generally, I like living in (and around) LA… there's a ridiculous selection of movies available every week, theatre to be found any time I feel the inclination, the beach nearby, and great restaurants and entertainment options in every direction. (The fact that I may only take advantage of a very few of these things in any given month does not obviate the fact of their existence, or proximity.) And the smog, traffic, idiot/irate drivers and other annoyances that come with living in LA are simply part of the 'cost of doing business' here. I'm a city boy at heart. But sometimes… I hate LA. The last time I felt this was when we last visited Seattle, and I discovered the Elliot Bay Book Company . Here, in the heart of Seattle, was this massive, multi-level book store, filled with books. Old books. (And new books, as well.) But a bookstore dedicated to the idea that reading is cool and that, if you look hard enough, you're going to find something you like. There was a hu...

This could end up a VERY long list, as I find myself less and less tolerant of stupid things seemingly every day. But you've gotta start somewhere, right? (And yes, I'm well aware that 'ending a sentence in a preposition' could well be on other peoples "tired of" lists, but "Things of which I am Tired" simply wasn't going to do it for me. But that's a discussion for a whole 'nother post.) There's an annoying trend I've noticed lately in radio advertising, which I 'affectionately' refer to as "idiot advertising". It's the kind of ad campaign where the 'spokesperson' or main character or what have you is obviously an idiot, and the real reply to every question he (inevitably it's a male asking the moronic questions) should be "you're an idiot. Hang up now and stop wasting my time." A recent airline ad featured a guy calling up to ask about the 'extra leg room' the airline offer...

I've posted about this before ( more than once , actually). And I joke about it all the time. So you're probably tired of hearing about it by now. But, despite all rational thought and arguments about empirical thinking and such, I am continually impressed with the way the universe conspires to slow me down. Take this past weekend, for example. On the way to work, I have the usual slow-moving commuters to deal with, the 'can't make a left turn over 5 MPH' drivers to sit behind, and a bevy of other minor annoyances as I try to get us to the freeway. But, just before we get to the freeway, I have to pull into the nearby convenience store parking lot to get something out of the trunk that Dani needs. I pull out of the parking lot onto a little side street that leads back to the freeway, unfortunately right behind someone in a driver's education vehicle. Now, since this is a tiny little side street, instead of a major thoroughfare, chances are good that if you get...

I mentioned this briefly in the comments to my previous "Haters" post, but found it interesting enough to want to comment further. In this post from the Strongly Worded Letter blog, the blog's author (one of the DJs from KROQ radio here in LA) quotes a number of people and their reactions to the poor performance of George Clooney's new movie, Leatherheads . The reason he quotes them, and the reason I'm interested in this, is the vehemence expressed in these opinions… the fervor with which they condemn Clooney as, among other things "uneducated," "arrogant," "talentless" and, rather mind-bogglingly, "misogynistic." (I'm not terribly familiar with the man's education, but listening to him speak, I can argue that uneducated is the last word I'd ever use to describe him, that he's arrogant only in that he knows what he believes and isn't afraid to state it, talentless is laughable, and I'm completely no...

Recently, on KROQ , they interviewed the guys from Flobots about their song "Handlebars" . Turns out, this is one of those songs that's got everyone lining up to either love it or hate it, without a lot of middle ground. And a lot of those that don't like it, don't like it because of the politics and a perceived 'attack' on the president. (The guys from Flobots acknowledge they assumed people would think that, but that their real intent with the lyrics, especially the last verse, was a far more general 'this is the way of politics' sort of statement, and not an indictment of any one man or administration.) In an article in Entertainment Weekly last week on the director of the upcoming film " Stop-Loss ," the article refers to a recent screening of the trailer which was greeted with "reflexive hisses." Apparently the mere notion of a Hollywood film about Iraq is enough to generate hate within an audience. So when did we become a...

Blogger added an autosave feature a while back. It does as the name suggests, and saves your posts automatically every few minutes, so that you're less likely to lose the thing if your browser crashes. It also allows you to stop mid-post with the intention of coming back later and finishing the post. This is where the problem arises… Turns out, I LIKE autosave. A lot. A recent browse thorough my 'draft' posts revealed several that I'd finished, or nearly finished, then left off without posting because they'd already been saved as drafts. In more than one case, the posts were done, I just never hit publish. In the interest of not letting these go buried, and not willing to move the dates up to something more recent, here's a few posts that almost never saw the light of day. Who knows… maybe that was a good thing. Cloverfield's excellent conceit David Chase is full of crap Niggardly

I know I've been avoiding commenting on the Pres. for a while. What's the point, I figure? He's done the majority of the damage he can, we've got less than a year left of his bullshit, and it just makes me angry to listen to the prevaricating asshole. So why should I pay attention and stress myself out, right? Sadly, sometimes I can't avoid it. Like last week, when the moron-in-chief was asked about recession and replied with the equivalent of "Recession? What recession?" Then followed that up with a reply to a question about $4 a gallon gas prices with something along the lines of "I haven't heard anything about $4 a gallon gas prices." Yeah, George, like we're looking to you for an informative grasp on the issues. But, while I can embrace the notion of blissful ignorance (hence my refusal to listen to the bastard for the past few months), even THIS moron shouldn't get a free ride on this stuff. Gas prices have gone up 45 cents IN A ...

I know I've written dismissively about Pinkberry before , but this really puts a fine point on it for me… "When a person buys Pinkberry, of course they're paying for the yogurt. But they're also paying for the experience of waiting in line— I'm trendy! —and for a seat in a Philippe Starck chair— I'm so sophisticated! " This quote, from a Fast Company article from earlier this year just epitomizes a 'substance over style' mentality that makes me want to run screaming from the room. Need more? How about this… But Pinkberry isn't about the yogurt… The story of Pinkberry's success is really about the chain's image as a design brand. "In my stores, I serve you a $5 dessert, and I let you sit in $500 chairs," says Lee of the Philippe Starck Victoria Ghost chairs in every Pinkberry outlet. "People can tell the difference." I want to stand in line because it makes me feel trendy, and sitting in designer chairs makes me soph...

Strange, and more than a little surreal. But kind of amusing, at the same time. garfield minus garfield

Jesus, Nader's at it again: Nader Enters Presidential Race Swinging What an arrogant ass. But at least we've got these comforting thoughts from Mr. Nader: …he said there's no chance that his entry into the race will tip the election to John McCain. He said Americans won't vote for a "pro-war" McCain. And he told NBC that if the Democrats can't win in a landslide this year, they should "wrap up, close down, emerge in a different form." I'm so relieved now to know that there's no way the country's going to lose it's collective mind again (or the Republicans find another way to steal an election, depending on your level of mistrust/paranoia). Ralph's just come along to be the voice of reason for the common man. Frankly, while I might agree with some of the notions he puts forth (corporate lobbyists have too much power in Washington, for instance), I'm not at all convinced that this pain in the ass is the guy to do anything ab...