Found this in my Notpad on Yahoo. I don't know if I've posted this before. Anyone want to check?
I need to learn to cook. I saw Racheal Ray do this barbecued succotash which I have a few of the ingredients already in my cupboard. She's one of my favorites. Thirty minute meals! She makes it look so easy that I can delude myself into thinking that I could make some of her recipes.
I also love watching Good Eats. Alton Brown is kind of a nerdy chef who treats cooking liking writing a program. He makes things so scientific that it makes me want to cook.
Actually, I rarely have the chance to cook. Keep stopping by mom's. I need to learn to cook, so that when I get a girlfriend, I can cook for her.
Selfish acts of self deception happen throughout The Wrestler. They are performed by Mickey Rourke in another come back role as the eponymous wrestler. These acts affect the woman he likes a lot and the daughter he doesn't know. Rourke after a near death experience tries to fade away into a ignominious retirement reconciling with his daughter and falling into the arms of an old stripper, but it's not him.
He can't be what is not him. A lover? A father? An employee? Not at all, for the siren song of the square ring calls. He wants to be good, because he's so lonely. Life outside the glorious and somewhat non-glamorous wrestling circuit beats him down. He was never meant to be anything but "The Ram" head-butting his way through his opponents. The ring makes him happy and any attempt to distance himself from it is just as fatal as returning to it. Lead a sad existence behind the deli counter or bask in adulation on the top turnbuckle? He must choose.
I liked this movie a lot for the wrestling. It reminded me of the days of the NWA and WWF when the wrestling federations were more regional and the stars battled with the nobodies. In the end, everyone is a nobody.
Rourke is good, but Marisa Tomei is fearless. She struts her stuff in a way that I don't think any actress has done in a long while. It helps that she has a kickin' body. These two ground a decent story and they're diverging paths make it a little sad. Love may conquer all, but a "ram jam" always wins out. 4 of 5 stars.
When we went to Iceland, it reminded me of Hawaii. Except there were no palm trees. Or trees. It also resembled the big island very much. Now with black sand beaches it's almost like paradise.
IPhoto 09 has a new feature called Faces that aims in putting some facial recognition into your photo organization software. It scans your photo library and makes a note of all faces within a picture. Then once it's done, you go through and start assigning names to faces. You can manually do the name entry one photo at a time. Some of the matches are hilarious
After you accumulate a few names and faces, then you can do it by individual faces in a batch mode. IPhoto will list out pictures which match the person. You accept or reject the set of photos. It learns faces and tries to match more and more of the unknown to the name. It's gets kind of fun.
You see some of the matching going on when it asks if the name matches the face. This gets interesting as people age. Will it recognize by major facial features the same person as he or she ages?
Once you get a bunch of faces in your Faces portion, then the fun begins as you can look at each persons set of pictures and see them age before your eyes. It's rather poignant.
I like this feature. One thing though, it needs access to AddressBook so that you don't have to type in all the names.
"Partisanship is about advocating for your own beliefs and discrediting the beliefs that you reject and believe are harmful... [P]olitics is and should be about defeating ideas -- and people -- that are discredited and destructive."
As you know, I'm a big fan of ghost stories. Stories set in decrepit mansions, dark castles, or creaky houses always manage to raise the goosebumps on my arms. It's a satisfying feeling especially alone in your darkened house snuggled up in a blanket underneath the glare of your reading lamp.
Yet, for me the spookiness of ghost stories was never translated well in movies. I like watching them but the fear or excitement isn't the same. Mainly, I can't look at them, but I can't look away unlike in reading where the haunting tale focuses me to the words unwilling to look around.
Today's link take you to a marathon of blog posts. Click through and read Arbogast on Film's January posts for some reviews and of ghostly movies. Makes me want to watch some to get spooked out. Then, it makes me want to read some in a cold, dark corner of my house. What's that coming up the stairs?
Defiance is about a group of Russian jews that hid out in the forest during WWII defying Hitler's extermination scheme.
I don't have too much to say on this movie.
Watch it because it tells some sort of historical tale of heroes doing things to make it through terrible times. Don't watch it because it is non-descript and will leave your memory once you leave the theatre.
"Because of the high volume of phone calls and correspondence received by my office since the Politico article ran, I wanted to take a moment to speak directly to grassroots conservatives. Let me assure you, I am one of you."
Why, we in the Chicago hinterlands eat this ish for breafast! It ain'twinter unless there's 12" on the ground!
This? This is spring!
In other news, I put a scratch on Itsuki-chan today trying to free her windshield nozzle. I just want to crawl back into bed to make this stuff go away.
When I was holed up at my Mom's, and when MTV2 was just about to go lame, I caught this video. Loved the groove. Loved the song. Never remembered who it was. I asked the internets on the imd message board to identify the song by describing what I could recall of the video. They nailed it within a day: Stardust's Music Sounds Better With You. I'd like to share it with you.
I wrote about my gripes of Windows v OS X yesterday. It's great and all for the operating system to conform to your way of working and/or expectations, but what happens when applications start going their own way? Adobe seems to be the main culprit at making up new UI schemes, because of trying to bridge their applications to two OS platforms. In making their lives at porting easy, they've made some users unhappy. I've purposely avoid Microsoft applications on my OS X machines. After looking at the screen captures at today's link, I'll do the same with Adobe. Plus, it's another reason to hate Flash. Is that thing dead yet?
I must apologize as to how late this post on Gran Torino has been. It's not like I didn't know what to say, and it's not like I forgot. I've just not gotten around to writing up my thoughts on this film. Yet, I've seen another movie since then, and my queue of movie reviews must be serviced, so here comes the Gran Torino review as seen from a few weeks back.
Clint Eastwood takes his Dirty Harry character to its end: living in the run down neighborhood surrounded by dirty foreigners. He just hates everyone. How do you know? He says it constantly. "Get off my lawn!" His catchphrase in this movie. It's just like Grandpa Simpson.
Eastwood finally learns to like some of the dirty foreigners when he helps the Hmong family avoid a bunch of Hmong roughnecks. He watches out for the kid and the sister before he helps them finally be free of their problem.
They couldn't act. Neither could Eastwood. It wasn't a great movie. It was serviceable. I don't ever want to see it again though.
Bi-partisanship brought us the Iraq war which you yourself had voted against. Why do you need the loser's opinion on anything you do? Cut it out and just get things done the way you want. You did win didn't you?
This article about Windows taskbar and the OS X dock goes into some of the reasons I hate working on a PC. It has mainly to do with Multiple Document Interface (MDI).
I'm clumsy it expressing my hatred for Windows implementation, so read today's link and appreciate the Mac paradigm. It also goes along way into understanding why your mom who uses a Mac keeps leaving applications running instead of quitting out of them.
This is BrowserMetric's 2002nd post. I would of congratulated myself on the 2000th post, but forgot.
It's been a quick run up to this many number because of starting my lotd and qotd posts. They're hard to keep up and at times difficult to find something interesting for them. If you indulge me for a little while they'll keep on coming for a little more time coming. I know for sure that they'll be stopping though, but that time is coming in the future.
I had done this post to once again break up the monotony of seeing the lotd and qotd in my RSS readers. This makes it look almost human now.
The 2nd annual BrowserMetrics Oscar pool is going to be starting. I've upped the number of prizes. So look for the opening post soon.
A few weeks ago, I had linked to a site about manga trading. I lamented that I would rather get rid of my manga rather than accumulate more. I never did sign up for that service. I still might.
Out in Japan, they have manga rental places. These rental places are a good idea... I would happily rent manga at a place that specializes in manga, because I would get a big selection of the stuff, picking and choosing the ones I want to read and the ones I want to explore. I can try before buying, and I can try all different genres. And it's better than a bookstore because it does specialize in only manga.
I have no idea what today's link is saying, but I know that that figure is scheduled for pre-release today, and it's gotta be one to get. It'll probably be all sold out by the time I get to it, but we shall see.
"I used to think you were a swell guy. Well, to be honest, I thought you were an imbecile. But then I figured out you WERE a swell guy... A little slow, maybe, but a swell guy. Well, maybe you're not so slow, But you're not so swell either. And it looks like you're an imbecile after all!"
Amy Archer (Jennifer Jason Leigh), The Hudsucker Proxy
Don't the words, "former president," sound good on fucktard president, George Bush? It's like the sound of angels singing.
Here we are on this historic day of days. The first African-American president of this nation. Our hopes are with him and our dreams are that he'll restore the nation to its former glory -- not perfect, but civil and just. He'll sweep in and fix things so that the nation begins to function properly. If he can just get us back to 2000 then we'll be fine.
I was offered a ticket to today's party, but declined. I'm so lame. I'll let history sweep past me. I'll view it from afar as a unaffected, emotionelss observer. I wish some changes would come. If he can just get us back to 1997 then I'll be fine.
This is bigger than anything we've seen lately. It is like 9/11 but for the good. We are no longer frightened. We have beaten back evil, and we will be a force of good.
He was the defacto head of the government since the election. He showed more leadership in a time of crisis than fucktard president did in his entire 8 year run.
"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. Never again can we afford to live with the narrow, provincial 'outside agitator' idea. Anyone who lives inside the United States can never be considered an outsider anywhere within its bounds."
Today's Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday and most people are off of work. The president elect wants you to honor the honorable reverend's memory by doing some community service. Together the nation can build itself back into the great nation she was before fucktard president showed up. So for those off today, go out and do something for the nation.
"I think that a particle must have a separate reality independent of the measurements. That is an electron has spin, location and so forth even when it is not being measured. I like to think that the moon is there even if I am not looking at it."
Has January really gone this quickly? Time sure is flying as I am getting older. It was almost two weeks ago that the year changed. Where does that go?
I really need to get rid of some of my manga even the ones that I liked.
Perhaps, I should use the library more?
The problem with trading manga is that you still have manga at the end of the trade. Then you'll be wishing to trade it some more. Plus, the shipping costs add to an even less investment.
Why don't I feel the same way with my comic books? Is it because I know no one wants to read them again or is it because they're not worth it?
"I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will, to the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States."
And to protect and defend the Constitution, a president must do more than obey the Constitution himself; he must hold those who violate the Constitution accountable. So Mr. Obama should reconsider his apparent decision to let the previous administration get away with crime. Consequences aside, that’s not a decision he has the right to make.
If there is one thing wrong with Mr. Obama, it's that he's still beholden to the status quo as regards to being the leader of the US. Being PUSA means being in a small, select club. There have been only 45 of them come next Tuesday, so it's probably best to not mess with what the club deems a good thing. You have to protect your own kind, and all indications seem that Mr. Obama will do just that.
This re-establishes that the PUSA is above the law, and above the Constitution, a fact that the most heinous presidential administration believed. If the president elect does not endorse an inquiry into these past eight years, then he's embracing the most embarrassing presidential administration's beliefs and endorsing their criminality.
The PUSA isn't better than you or me, a regular citizen, when it comes to the laws of the US. We are all equal under the Constitution. By not acknowledging that his predecessor flaunted and broke those laws, Mr. Obama sends the message that the office of the President of the United States is above the law and is king in his own land.
Our founding fathers are rolling their graves right now.
Get your very own cup noodle vending machine! Raise your blood pressure while you're at it.
According to Danny Choo because I can't read Japanese, today's link is a chance to win a personal cup noodle vending machine. No word on if you get any cup noodle to fill it up. I bet they also give you a year's supply. I wonder how many cup noodle is a year's supply? The way my blood pressure is, for me, a year's supply is probably two with all the powdered mix (msg) dumped out.
That's as classic of an internet meme link that I can post, but sitting behind IniTech's corporate firewall I'm not sure what you'll be seeing. This link should've been the link of the day, if I wasn't posting things in advance, but I was, and now I am writing a post acknowledging the death of Ricardo Montalban. Rest in peace, Khan Noonien Singh, Kirk wishes you well.
"To the last, I will grapple with thee... from Hell's heart, I stab at thee! For hate's sake, I spit my last breath at thee!"
This is a post-it note type of link so that I won't forget about the links on this page.
Note to self: Get rid of some manga.
I'm piling them up really quickly, and I'm in desperate need to get rid of some. It's not that I don't enjoy them, but that there are some that I don't want to read again. I need to sell these volumes or trade them for ones I want.
"TOMSystem Received unexpected message of type Event Canceled TOMSystem Received unexpected message of type Event Canceled Animation session terminated."
Error message staring me in the face for the last two days
It seems that the hometown team has made it to some kind of championship game. The town is slathered in purple. I almost bought a jersey, but will wait until the super bowl week to join the bandwagon. As for showing home team pride, Itsuki-chan's mood lights are a calming purple.
If your geeky enough about football, then read today's links to help you get out by the numbers on who may end up playing in the big game and who will win it. I'm not up on statistical analysis of football teams. I'm like the retiring fucktard president: I rely on my gut feeling. I don't doubt that these dudes can analyze the game in a way to know who has the better chance of winning, but like they say, "the football isn't round."
Tilt shift photography is gaining a big following in the world. I think it's because of the digital camera revolution making it quite easy for anyone to take photos often. You can take many pictures and not worry about how good or bad they turn out because you can always take more again. Practice.
Anyhow, tilt shift photography makes your pictures look like miniatures. Nendoroids are miniatures, but not like that. Check out the site for more interesting photos.
I don't know why I am posting such an intriguing read on a Saturday. No one's going to read it, but you should. Wait. I do know why. It's because I can't find a link for the day for today.
Still read this article and ponder how we got ourselves in this mess. And if these suggestions are going to help us get out of it.
Don't let Marge @ the FishTank see this or else she'll go on a ramen craving but find disappointment (and high blood pressure) in cup noodle.
Today's link takes you to Anime News Network where you can get all your latest news about anime, manga and the like. You don't need that news? My bad. I thought you were as geeky as me. Today's link also takes you to where you can watch the episodes free of charge. This type of streaming may be better than downloading a torrent of the anime you want to watch. At the very least, it's legit.
I liked Valkyrie better than I thought I would. It was suspenseful for a story that you knew the ending of. Do they successfully kill Hitler? Nope. Yet, I was still wondering when the gestapo would kill them all.
Good flick. Makes me want to find out about the actual plot, and its reality. How well does Singer stick to the script of the truth and how much was made up? Did Tom Cruise's character really act that way?
The Spirit is a boring movie, because it does most of the storytelling via dialogue. That's amazing considering the stylistics that Frank Miller, the director, infused on the screen. He's trying to recapture his Sin City with a dash of 300. Of course The Spirit isn't his comic, but the eponymous Eisner award nominee, Will Eisnter. Did Miller do well in doing the story in his style? No.
It is a fascinating movie in the worst way. How did they blow this one?
First, I could care less about The Spirit. The 30s isn't a time that is intriguing at the moment especially in these dull economic times, but a superhero ain't even better. Second, once again with the stilted dialogue. I read it on the page, it sounds much better in my head, and it's not as lame as it is being said on screen. Third, who the hell is The Spirit? Gabriel Macht? I don't even know how to spell his name. For all I know he could be the dude who played the rocketeer. Finally, too much CG green screen. Sadly, it don't look cool anymore.
One thing about the movie though, it's got an all star cast (the spirit aside). ScarJo, bad mofo, that latin girl, all couldn't spark anything with their star power. ScarJo in glasses though and as a Nazi.
I'm not really sure how to react to Doubt. Should I think that Meryl Streep's Sister Aloysious is infallible or inflexible? Is Philip Seymour Hoffman's Father Flynn guilty or innocent? Is Amy Adam's Sister James ridiculously cute or hilariously naive? What was the point of all that?
I watched the movie and wondered is there a moral to this tale? Beyond the standard fare of pedophilia in the Catholic church, what was the intent of the movie? Sure Sister Aloysious could've been less of a stick in the mud, but is Father Flynn really guilty? It described the changes going on in the national character, and that in the face of it, you stick to your morals if you can stomach it. The story took place in the 60s, after the death of Kennedy, as civil rights took to the fore. It makes for a compelling milieu, if only I could care about it.
Sister Aloysious reminds me of the sisters at my Catholic grade school: stern and frightening in their anger. She made me laugh recognizing her character from my past.
There's plenty of nits to pick in this list of special effects shots, but I'm not the guy to do it. They're subtle in their technical artistry that escapes my grasp of movie magic. You can agree or disagree, but they're all fun visual effects to watch.
"O sleep, O gentle sleep, nature's soft nurse, how have I frightened thee, that thou no more wilt weigh my eye-lids down and steep my senses in forgetfulness?”
I had joined this site last summer. It's to catalog all my anime watching, manga reading, and favorite characters from those mediums. I forgot my password and user name. Can you help me remember them?
Each of these links could've been a link of the day, but as it is I am kind of excited about watching some new anime so I had to post this so that you too can be excited about new anime.
White Album has Aya Hirano as one of the voice actresses so this anime will have some singing.
Mariaholic looks to have some ecchi-ness, but with a trap. Looks to be fun.
It's 4 AM and I just finished up the anime, Welcome to the N.H.K. I strolled through the door about a quarter to one and decided to finish up the third disc of the series, but it got so good I kept going to the fourth. Then the final two episodes hit, and I was really moved. I mean really moved. What Misaki and Sato went through! That second contract was one of the saddest things I ever heard, but Sato didn't sign it even though it was a cry for help. Sheesh!
This is a real good anime. Today's link will be a semi-review of the penultimate episode of the series. It's not mine, but one of the first search results when looking for the anime.
When I first started reading manga, I stayed on the male side with reading shonen manga. I avoided shojo because the girls with the big eyes just creeped me out. As I read more and more, it became apparent that I had to read some shojo because there's a lot out there. Also, shonen manga is too much filled with ninjas and pirates, at least the ones that were sold in the US. I needed to see some more school comedy romances. Shojo is filled with these type of stories. I may be turning into a shojo reader. It's weird where things lead you.
