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I, too, can be a wanker

2012-01-27T23:07:00.004-05:00

How Thick Is Your Bubble?

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Score » 9 out of 20 (45% )
Result

On a scale from 0 to 20 points, where 20 signifies full engagement with mainstream American culture and 0 signifies deep cultural isolation within the new upper class bubble, you scored between 9 and 12.

In other words, even if you're part of the new upper class, you've had a lot of exposure to the rest of America.

Quiz School

Take this quiz & get your score

How Thick Is Your Bubble? » Quiz Creator

But not that much...

From the same wanker who brought us The Bell Curve. It's all non-sense. Each of the questions on the quiz makes tons of assumptions. You should try it. And have a good laugh.

scandal shojo s

2012-01-27T09:07:00.000-05:00

Thank kami-sama it's Friday...

C.R.E.A.M.

2012-01-25T19:52:00.003-05:00

Take a look at this $5 bill. It's from 1963. That's almost fifty years old. Should I spend it or keep it? It's like those $2 bills you occasionally get. They're so strange that you have to hold onto it for a bit, and eventually, you don't know if you'll ever spend it. I've been holding onto this bill for a week. I may hold onto it longer. I like how it's red rather than the standard green. That's what made me notice that this bill is different.

Link of the Day [1.24.12]

2012-01-24T10:03:00.001-05:00

Sadly, I've only seen three of the nine Best Picture nominees, and I think it's also missing a couple films, such as Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and Harry Potter 7 part 2. What a weird year.

Discuss your choices in the comments.

http://www.oscars.org/awards/academyawards/84/nominees.html

The Iron Lady

2012-01-22T19:04:00.002-05:00

The Iron Lady isn't a sequel to Iron Man. I think I would've liked it better if it did feature Margaret Thatcher in an iron suit taking on the Argentinians in the Falkland War. That sounds more entertaining than what this movie ended up being.

Meryl Streep channels Maggie Thatcher. Except at times I was waiting for her to break character and channel Julia Child. It could've been a very good movie if I couldn't tell which character she was playing. The young actress, Alexandra Roach, had the thankless task of playing the young Maggie Thatcher. People will talk about Streep. They should talk a little more about Roach. She won't get any mention, but Streep will get a nomination. No idea why.

The problem with this film is that it didn't give an idea of why Thatcher became who she was. Her dad was conservative. Did she get it from her dad? Why? Which part? No idea why she decided things. She just became Maggie Thatcher. The film also doesn't touch on why she was the leader for that time. What did she do to make England better? The Falkland War? No idea. The film misses out on why she lost the backing of her party. Was she driven? Did she drive too hard? No idea.

At some point, we should understand who Margaret Thatcher was. It was Meryl Streep and that is all I got from the movie.

2 of 5 stars.

Link of the Day [1.21.12]

2012-01-21T09:53:00.000-05:00

In our younger days, we would've been doing this ourselves. What's stopping us?

Let's go. I've got a blaster right here.

http://www.starwarsuncut.com/

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

2012-01-18T21:44:00.004-05:00

I've never been so on edge during a movie that had barely any action than I was during Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. It's a straight up action flick with no action, and yet surprisingly it will have you on the edge of your seat. It reminds me of the 1970s action with no action flicks which is fitting considering its setting, London in the early 70s.

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy starts very opaque, fragmented, and hard to follow. The facts as they were: there's a mole in the British spy agency and it's up to Gary Oldman to find him. Oldman was retired from the agency because of his mentor's screw up in his first attempt to find the mole. As his investigation proceeds, it all starts to make sense and the mole gets flushed out. If you don't see it, you already know who it is.

I liked this movie. So far it's been nothing but good films this year. Of course this is only the second one.

4 of 5 stars

EDIT: Misspelling! Damn Lion autocorrect!

With A Side Of Honey

2012-01-18T12:14:00.001-05:00

With all the talk today of SOPA/PIPA, I'm craving for a sopapilla.

Playoff Mode

2012-01-15T12:32:00.000-05:00

Go Ravens!

Do you remember?

2012-01-11T09:15:00.001-05:00

You really have to dig down deep into your geek cred to get this one. In fact, you may have grown out of liking this, but you, in your inner little geek, have to admit that Macross was awesome. You've grown up and may have missed Macross F from which she was the "Minmei." Now that, you've got to admit is awesome.

Link of the Day [1.11.12]

2012-01-11T07:20:00.002-05:00

Now if I had a movie theatre, I would give these guys a call. Dayyumm! Look at those posters. If they don't make you want to catch at least one Ghibli film, then you must be a zombie. I would happily watch Kiki's Delivery Service, Spirited Away, or My Neighbor Totoro on the big screen. I would be giddy with pleasure.

http://www.gkids.tv/ghibli/

Link of the Day [1.10.12]

2012-01-10T22:29:00.002-05:00

If you live in LA or in CA or anywhere in the Pacific time zone, I would try to make some time to catch as much if not all of this Studio Ghibli slate of anime playing on a big screen.

http://www.americancinemathequecalendar.com/content/castles-in-the-sky-miyazaki-takahata-and-the-masters-of-studio-ghibli

YNRRF

2012-01-10T08:40:00.000-05:00

Up In Morning

2012-01-10T08:16:00.002-05:00

I debated about writing up this dumb dream when I arose from bed. I didn't want to write it up because I had to get up and shower. I thought I wasn't going to, but on the commute to work I decided to post it.

It starts out in a school room is all I can remember from the beginning half. I guess we were studying and S was in my class. I think I was getting cozy-friendly with her during studies.

Then we were in my Aunt's house. It must've been some kind of baby shower as there were nothing but women with little kids running through the house. S was around. I wanted to show her how cool I was around babies so I grabbed the nearest tyke. I was scolded because I had let her slip through my arms. Imagine my surprise as I stood around lots of mothers with a little toddler dangling from her blanket in my hand. Silly me.

I go outside to chat up S who was enjoying the kids. Cousin Bob comes out of the house on a skateboard wearing funky sandals. He passes the skateboard to me and I am cool now.

Craving Ramen

2012-01-05T12:00:00.001-05:00

As always, steamed vegetables for lunch isn't enough. It's not filling and it's not tasty. If it's either of those two, then I would rather get something else.

Sitting on my desk at work is a Korean cup noodle. I have stayed away from it for the last two months. It was given to me by a co-worker, but I stayed away because of my high blood pressure. The package says 1021 mg of sodium per serving which it suggests a serving size of 1/2 the bowl. So it really contains 2042 mg of sodium, as much as the recommended daily allowance is. That's not good news if I cooked it up.

I did. Today I ate it.

But I changed it up so as to minimize the cup noodle's sodium content. First, I cut the noodles in half. I thought most of the sodium came from the seasoning, but packaged ramen noodles are notorious for being high in sodium. Then, because of it came in a separate packet, I was able to use a miniscule amount of seasoning perhaps less than an 1/8 of a teaspoon. Finally, I threw my steamed vegetables into the bowl to add some more "flavor" and substance to the soup.

It turned out alright. It tasted mainly of the noodles, but there is a slight hint of the original flavor from the packet in the broth tastes. It was a nice meal. Unfortunately, I still feel like it had too much sodium.

Twelve Drummers Drumming

2012-01-05T08:48:00.002-05:00

I didn't want to end it this way, but twelve posts in a row is plenty so I'm gonna end it with a whimper. Hopefully, tomorrow's Epiphany will be better, but for today it's The Simpsons (Marge Be Not Proud)

Bart was caught shoplifting which disappoints his mom. She treats him more grown up. He buys a picture to replace his photo mess up on their family Christmas portrait. It was a Christmas present. It all takes place at Christmas time.

Kid berates his mother for Bonestorm. Calls her stupid. Tells her to shut up. "Buy me Bonestorm or go to hell!" Lee Carvallo's Putting Challenge seems like the better game.

The episode wasn't one of the more overt Christmas episodes for The Simpsons. In fact, it doesn't play as a very special Christmas episode. And this post doesn't play like one of my other ones as well. I guess the Christmas theme is that it can last too long. We can't wait for Christmas to get here, and it is trying once the season starts. Then it seems to go on, and on, and on, but now it's over. I just wish I ended this series better. I can't wait for next Christmas.

Surplus

2012-01-05T07:26:00.001-05:00

Picture courtesy Danny Choo.

I thought I had a lot of nendoroids!

I finally am getting my Sawako-sensei nendoroid.

The Artist

2012-01-04T19:46:00.000-05:00

The Artist has already picked up several Golden Globe nominations and will probably pick up more for the Oscars. You wouldn't think a silent, black and white movie, in 4:3 aspect would garner this much accolades. You would be wrong. Just watch and try to hate it. You can't. The packed house at The Charles the afternoon I saw it applauded in the end. It captivates. You won't have another experience like it in the theatres for ages.

So why did I not warm up to it during the early parts of it? Was it the conceit was very twee? Was it that it felt too cute by half? Was it that I was analyzing it too much for its cinematic references? For its technical feats? For its historic accuracy? For its reasoning for being? For why I wasn't smitten with it? No idea why I reacted funnily in its early going, but when they referenced Citizen Kane, I perked up and began to enjoy the movie. Then I was wholly charmed once I recognized Bernard Hermann's score for Vertigo that underscored the rush to love at the end. The music put a big, big smile on my face, and it may have pushed the movie to being the best I've seen this year (as short as it has been).

The Artist is about George Valentin, a suave actor in swashbuckling silent films. It is 1927 and talkies are on their way, but Valentin doesn't want to star in talkies. The audience came to see him rather than hear him. In promoting his latest film, he bumps into Peppy Miller. She gets captured in photos by the paparazzi. She enjoys it so much she auditions for a minor role in a movie. Her career is in bloom. She's on the way to becoming a star of the early talkies. He's on his way to becoming a forgotten, forlorn actor. His career fades and brings him to dispair. Only Peppy stands in his way of faded glory.

I'm a big fan of classic cinema, and The Artist was all about the old movies. I saw in the film many other classic movies. There was Singing in the Rain and Citizen Kane. There was L'Illusionniste (I know it's recent, but I had the same French feeling) and Vertigo. The dog was straight out of the Thin Man series. It doesn't necessarily harken back to silent movie's like Hugo did, but it recalls classic early cinema.

Being a silent film, the actors had to mug it. Whereas Jean Dujardin plays the main character as a ham, Bérénice Bejo is sweet and sincere as the woman who falls for The Artist. I can't express how smitten I was with her. She's absolutely enchanting to look at in this film. She enhances the watching experience.

I think I can watch this film again.

4 of 5 stars.

Link of the Day [1.04.12]

2012-01-04T12:11:00.001-05:00

The new year brought some terrible news on the US anime front. Bandai, a US anime and manga publisher, had halted production on new anime and manga for the US market. They would still sell out the last of their inventory, but they would not be bringing anything new to the US from Japan. This may mean the end to legal access to kami-sama, Haruhi, anime if and when Kyoto Animation decides to produce the next season. It most certainly means that season two of K-ON! won't be coming out from them, and means that the K-ON! movie may never reach the shores of America legally.

I am sad. After reading today's link, a review of the K-ON! movie, I so want to watch it. Maybe, some other US distributor would snap up the rights to this franchise and deliver for us Mugi-Mio-Yui-Azu-Ristsu fans a sweet Christmas present next year.

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/review/k-on/the-movie

Eleven Pipers Piping

2012-01-04T11:48:00.005-05:00

If you weren't scared by the Ghosts of Christmas, perhaps Gremlins can give you a scare.

Crap. I have nothing to say about this one. It's a better fright story than A Christmas Carol. Watch it.

Christmas theme? Mayhem! You know that feeling when you play Santa handing out the presents. It's just like a host of gremlins running through town. It's madness.

Christmas mayhem! Onward to madness! Like gremlins.

That's all I've got...

Ten Lords A-leaping

2012-01-03T15:03:00.002-05:00

News Radio (Xmas Story)

The guy in the Santa suit ho-ho-ho-ing and ringing his bell could be dangerous. If you don't believe me just ask Bill McNeal. The Santa harassed him making him wary of the harm that could be done to him. Except it turned out to be a stunt to get Bill McNeal to listen to the Santa's audition tape. It turns out the Santa was looking for advice on getting a job in radio. Or was it?

Mr. James gets a Yankees autographed jersey, and he gets the staff baseball caps. Except the staff isn't thrilled. To make up for it, Mr. James buys them all cars except Matthew who gets an old-timey radio comedy show. Is that enough for them?

Christmas theme is bad presents. Not getting what you had wished for. Admittedly, this ain't a theme, but something that occurs always during Christmas. If you wanted it so bad, you should've bought it yourself. On the flip side, cash is always good; don't buy lame presents.

The chance for something lame greatly increases with the amount of presents you get. I got very few presents this year. Thanks, Santa!

Back to work

2012-01-03T08:31:00.002-05:00

Grrrr.

And the coffee doesn't do much.

L'etoile

2012-01-02T22:03:00.004-05:00

Attribution: Georges Biard

I'm just a sucker for brown-eyed brunettes with freckles. J'adore Bérénice Bejo.

Nine Ladies Dancing

2012-01-02T14:37:00.004-05:00

The X-Files (How The Ghost Stole Christmas)

Christmas time finds Mulder and Scully investigating a haunted house in Maryland. The duo find two desiccated bodies under the floor boards. The corpses are wearing the duos outfits. The duo are on a wild ghost hunt. They meet up with the former occupants of the house who committed suicide on Christmas Eve in the past. The ghosts delve into the two FBI agents' complicated relationship.

One of the worst episodes of the X-Files. The concept was cute by a half.

Christmas theme: Need to be connected to someone. Sceptic with the believer. Both afraid of the loneliness. Sharing the holiday season with someone who understands you.

I miss the internet community that The X-Files spawned. And Scully in her short bob. Mmmm, Scully!

Eight Maids A-milking

2012-01-01T13:01:00.003-05:00

You! Yes you. What day is it? New Year's? Have I been asleep all this time since Christmas? No, don't answer that? I say though do you know the butcher on the next street over? Do you know if they've sold the goose hanging in the window? Still there! Good! Here's a farthing fetch me the butcher. Bring him back with the goose in 10 minutes, and you'll get another farthing!

Happy New Year!

I just substituted New Year with Christmas, but as we all know that scene is from A Christmas Carol. I'm finally getting you back to a familiar holiday treat. Yes, a week late, but we can go back in time to witness what Christmas means to a humbug of a man.

Usually, this is when I summarize the movies story, but if you don't know it by now. Get thee to a library.

The Christmas theme for today is Christmas Day! Happy New Year! Nothing like thinking about Christmas Day than to start 358 days away to getting there. Remember where your Christmas Spirit should be; in the here, in the now, in the next. Nothing better than to start being Christmas than to start on the first day of the year.

So remember, be Christmas year round lest the Ghosts of Chrismas Past, Present and Future come to visit you.

Link of the Day [1.01.12]

2012-01-01T09:31:00.001-05:00

I hate those people. What a way to start the be year! Filled with rage.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/stevedenning/2011/11/28/maximizing-shareholder-value-the-dumbest-idea-in-the-world/

Seven Swans A-swimming

2011-12-31T11:14:00.003-05:00

New Year's Eve. It's a new movie opening this weekend. I don't think I want to subject you, my readers, to something that painful so I'm gonna fall back to one of my favorite Coen movies, The Hudsucker Proxy.

Norville Barnes, a hick from Muncie, Indiana, peers perilously over the ledge as the clock strikes twelve on New Year's Eve. He wants to take his life because he was a failure at being the CEO of the Hudsucker Corporation, but he was just a stooge put in place by the board to drive the stock down. At the disastrously lowered price, the board members wanted purchase the stock on the cheap. Needless to say, Norville's idiocy guides the Hudsucker Corporation to new heights especially with the introduction of the hula-hoop, Norville's invention.

Amy Archer is a Pulitzer winning journalist who spies something funny about Norville Barnes as CEO, and she decides to investigate him. She poses as a fellow Muncian and becomes Norville's secretary. She finds out how much of an idiot he is, but also that there is some genius to his idiocy. She falls in love, yet, she exposes his idiocy and causes his downfall. "How could you a fellow Muncian?" Queue the climb to the ledge.

The Christmas theme today is the circular notion of "what comes around goes around." Christmas comes just once a year. It's gone, but it will be back again next year. Live for that and it will come around again. Give and you shall receive. Or as they said in the movie karma.

The big O! "You know, for kids!"

So as you celebrate New Year's Eve remember, you do get a second chance. It'll come around again in a year's time.

Twee Year's Eve

2011-12-31T10:40:00.001-05:00

I'm not doing anything. Just the same routine. Would you like to remedy that?

Best Pictures List 2011

2011-12-30T18:40:00.003-05:00

I've become really stingy when it comes to doling out stars in my reviews. I only gave one movie a plus positive rating of four stars or more from all the movies I've seen this year. My list is so meager that I'm adding in the best movie I saw this year which happened to be on DVD. Also, the other movie I added is considered the best picture from last year, but I saw it this calendar year. There's plenty of 3 star movies this year and there are also plenty of two stars or less. It's depressing. Movies haven't moved me in awhile. Perhaps I may see something on the last day which would.

L'Illusioniste on DVD (5 stars)
The King's Speech (5 stars)
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2 (4 stars)

Six Geese A-laying

2011-12-30T15:13:00.005-05:00

Most every anime featuring high school romance is going to have it's Christmas episode. Hatsukoi Limited is no different. It's title is "Before it Snows" (雪が降り出すその前に) I just wanted to copy and paste that. You see I needed an anime to tell us all about Christmas in Japan from the schoolboy's perspective. I would've chosen my favorite anime, but settled on Hatsukoi Limited because it sorta has a theme we could attach to it for today.

The set up for the anime is that these girls and these boys have crushes on each other and they either need to acknowledge the crush or be crushed by rejection. It's a short, simple, complicated manga turned by Kawashita-sensei that you should read about its plot at wikipedia. Anyhow, the Christmas episode has the gang planning a Christmas party. Three girls and three boys each crushing on someone are to attend and they'll exchange gifts. The day arrives and two girls and two boys have bailed out for various reasons leaving the more antagonist couple alone. They don't know if they like each other; they just know that the other is really, super annoying. They argue then get into a snowball fight which clears their heads enough to acknowledge that each has a good point to them; they're steadily falling in love. They exchange presents and each finds that they got what they had wanted.

The Christmas theme for today is koi. Love not familial or brotherly, but passion. We should feel it all year long, but it is more acute around this time because of the sharing and

The second Christmas theme for today is "tsudere goodness." Assertive, combative, confrontational at first given way to gentle, warm-hearted, loving that's a Christmas present I can't wait for.

The third Christmas theme is grade S zettai ryouiki. That's the star on the treetop and the ribbon on the gift. Waiting for it is worthwhile.

Mission Impossible 4: Ghost Protocol

2011-12-30T11:29:00.004-05:00

I did like Mission Impossible 4: Ghost Protocol, but I thought it lacked emotion. It was a very rote, by the numbers Misson, but no heft in outlying why we should care about IMF. They were gonna be disavowed, but "meh," why should I care. The previous installments in this film series forced Ethan Hunt to the brink emotionally. Whether through revenge and betrayal or love and passion, Ethan always was running fueled by his emotions for getting the job done. In this movie, it lacked the personal, emotional investment for Ethan to keep running.

That is not to say the plot was a mess, but the standard rogue agent with a nuclear bomb makes me think Lex Luthor, and Lex Luthor was a comic book villain. This could've been a plot for any other task force team -- someone look up what John McClane is up to.

I think Paula Patton is beautiful. I think Brad Bird did a fine job on his first live action film. I hope Brad Bird doesn't just do live action films anymore. I think Tom Cruise runs funny. Simon Pegg is overexposed. Anil Kapoor should be in more Hollywood productions bringing some Bollywood over. I thought when the twist came that Josh Hallowell would be under that mask. I wonder what the IMAX hype was all about.

3 of 5 stars.

Five Golden Rings

2011-12-29T12:51:00.009-05:00

If I didn't have the time to watch last post's film, I'm even more crunched for time for today's,Christmas In July. So, to save time, what we'll have here is the transcript as I live blog the film. I'll just have to figure out the Christmas theme on the fly as well.

Ready? Here we go...

Christmas in July is one of Preston Sturges' lesser films not as great as the Lady Eve or Sullivan's Travels, but one of the few he directed himself. No idea who Dick Powell and Ellen drew are, but still it's filled with his repertory cast such as William Demerest.

William Demerest locks the jury on the Maxford House Coffee slogan contest. Maxford House!

They don't announce the winner? Oops.

Dick Powell doubles down after every loss! Always bet on black!

"If you don't sleep at night, it's not the coffee it's the bunk."

It's a Viennese doctor's theory that coffee doesn't make you sleep.

Maybe the Christmas theme for today and this movie is Christmas should be 365-24-7, year round. Always be sharing all the time outside of Christmas. Maybe?

What would Sturges do with more accomplished actors? Wait until his next movie to find out.

He works for the competitor! There's a bell to start work? Like school! It is school! Rows and rows of desks where the workers ply there trade. And a secretarial pool as well.

Going to principal's office. Damn he's getting grilled.

"Cheese it!"

Co-workers have sent a fake telegram for winning the Maxford House slogan contest. He won the big prize. $25000! He's going on a spending spree, but he's been fired. No, he's gotten a promotion.

"It's bred in the bean."

I don't think this movie has anything to do with Christmas...

The contest winner is here? They hadn't even announced it.

"I just give money away." "I can't wait to give you my money."

They just waltz up and took the money.

Now they're buying some crazy contraption automatic pull out sofa bed. The future is now!

Here we go... they're buying everyone in the neighborhood presents. Truly it is Christmas in July.

They're walking out of the department store without paying again.

That's probably it for the Christmas mention. I wonder how they'll get out of this one.

They're still arguing about the slogan winner and the guy has already spent the money on gifts. Here's Sturges and his witty dialogue.

He's a loser... And the jokes on him.

His name has already been painted on the door so he keeps his job! And he did win. I think we saw that coming!

Wow what a short movie. Must've been a single reel.

Welp. It would've been better but I didn't know a movie with a title including Christmas wasn't about Christmas. I'll try and do better tomorrow.

Four Calling Birds

2011-12-28T11:21:00.003-05:00

Okay, now here we go. I"m gonna have to do the next installment cold. I don't have time to watch this one. I've slipped up. I do know that I should've already written a post or two on Tokyo Godfathers. If not, then tonight I'll make up for it.

The story takes place during Christmas and centers around three homeless people living on the streets of Tokyo. One is a runaway school girl who fled her home after an argument with her father over a cat. Another is a drag queen. The final hobo is an ex-keirin racer and bicycle shop owner acting as a bum because of a gambling problem. They find an abandoned baby who they vow to reunite with its mother. Adventures ensue. Hmm. I guess you have to watch it to understand.

Anyhow, you wouldn't expect a Japanese anime to have anything to do with Christmas, but they make an anime about everything and anything. You'll see later on as I hit up some anime in later posts.

Today's Christmas theme is how universal the tidings of joy and goodwill to all men are. Christmas shows up in a film in a most non-Christian of nations, and the film celebrates redemption through the birth of a child. Each of the three Tokyo godfathers experiences redemption in some form. Christmas brings some of that to us with the birth of our savior. It doesn't matter if you're some Japanese homeless person. Joy and peace are universal truths and it takes a Japanese anime to remind us.

I do miss Satoshi Kon. I wonder what more he would've brought to us. I hope you search out his films and realize he was a master storyteller. And I hope you add Tokyo Godfathers to your holiday movie list.

O Tannenbaum

2011-12-27T18:04:00.001-05:00

Three French Hens

2011-12-27T12:54:00.001-05:00

The Northern Exposure episode Seoul Mates is what made me embark on this foolish blog journey in the first place. If I didn't read about it on the AV Club, I wouldn't have tried this out.

This episode of one of my favorite television shows occurs in its third season, the peak of its story telling prowess. The main story involves Maurice finding out about his son born of the hostess he had a fling with during the Korean war. The second story is about Joel, the Jewish doctor, embracing his inner Christian. The third story has Maggie all clumsy because of her imminent homecoming with her parents. The fourth is about Holling freaking out about Shelley missing out on her Catholic Mass. All this in the middle of Christmas as the Raven comes along.

Ravens are what decorates the trees in the town of Cicely for Christmas. They are the Native American spirit of the holiday times. The Raven brought the light to the darkness. "A long time ago the Raven looked down from the sky and saw that the people of the world were living in darkness."

The Christmas theme is community. Northern Exposure was always about community a place where you belong and where your quirks don't bother anyone. You'll always find community in Christmastime. Everyone sharing the same good cheer and good will towards all. It's what brings us together.

I still haven't taken up the task to watch the whole Northern Exposure run. I can't wait to do that one.

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows

2011-12-26T15:16:00.002-05:00

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows is verbose. Lots of deductive reasoning going on. Turns out, it's not bad, but it got to be annoying. It is what it is.

3 of 5 stars.

Two Turtle Doves

2011-12-26T13:52:00.005-05:00

If it wasn't for Fox Movie Channel, I would be writing this entry cold. As it were, FMC is trying to compete with TBS in a "movie marathon on Christmas Day." Whereas TBS showcases the beloved, A Christmas Story, FMC comes at you with a more recent entry into the Holiday movie canon, Home Alone.

Yup. That's today's treat. Home Alone. The movie that gave us Macaulay Culkin. The movie that reminded us that John Hughes was still alive. The movie that gave us Chris Columbus.

Okay. Since it was a while that I had seen Home Alone, let's recap. Kevin McCallister gets into a spat with his family on the eve of their holiday trip to France. His mother sends him to his bed, but not before he wishes that he had no family. In the morning in a rush, the rest of the family runs to the airport for their trip leaving Kevin behind. He wakes up finds himself home alone, rejoices, and proceeds to do the things he always wanted to do. Eventually, the Water Bandits come a calling, and Kevin must defend his home from these thieves. Meanwhile, his mom realizing the error is trying to make her way back. Hitching a ride with Gus Polinksi she makes it home in time to find that Kevin has reformed his ways and misses his family.

Today's Christmas them: home. The place you live. The place where your family is. A place where you gather together and celebrate Christmas. But it doesn't have to be the old family home. Home could be the place where your friends or with your buddies. Home is where you find yourself surrounded with love. It's here. It's there. It's down the street. It's physical. It's metal. It's the atmosphere of the place. Home is where you are.

I like that FMC has decided that Home Alone is the holiday movie that it wants to make a holiday classic. I doubt that they could make it as such, but they'll keep trying. I will keep up with it because damn if it ain't stupid when Jennifer Connelly miscounts children, or when Catherine O'Hara tries to haggle for an airplane seat, or when John Candy (!) shows up as the Polka King of the Midwest. It's a stupid movie, but there are just as many stupid other holiday films.

A Partridge In A Pear Tree

2011-12-25T15:30:00.010-05:00

So I had this brilliantly stupid idea which I cribbed from the AV Club. I will blog about some movie or television show that can relate to Yule time, and I will post an entry once each day for the Twelve Days of Christmas. I was hoping you would join me, if not writing a post, reading my posts and celebrating Christmas time with me.

I shall start with It's A Wonderful Life, the beloved Frank Capra classic. It's corny, but I love it. It's one of my all time favorite movies not just at Christmas time. So bear with me as I lavish once more praises on this most clichéd of films.

The story if you've never seen it: George Bailey is on the verge of suicide on Christmas Eve, because he's worth more dead than alive. His family and the town of Bedford Falls prays for him that night, and their prayers are answered in the form of Clarence, ASC. He shows George that life was worth living because he was beloved and cherished by all the people who came to know him. "Remember, George: no man is a failure who has friends."

That's the Christmas theme: camaraderie and friendship. No matter how sad you believe your life to be, the fact that you have friends makes all the difference in the world. It becomes apparent at Christmastime. As you visit with friends and family, you see as much. What a joy it is to be with everyone! You realize life is good because of all the people you know. Christmastime brings us together.

Anywhoo, this is my start of the twelve days of Christmas Blogathon. It' an inauspicious start hopefully it gets better. Your turn.

Quote of the Day [12.25.11]

2011-12-25T09:27:00.002-05:00

"God bless us, every one!"

Tiny Tim, A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

Link of the Day [12.24.11]

2011-12-24T15:45:00.003-05:00

Gogo Yubari as a housewife, ex-spy, private investigator? Yes.

Sure. I'll watch that.

http://www.crunchyroll.com/secret-agent-erika

Grievances

2011-12-24T09:38:00.003-05:00

Hoy! I missed the airing of grievances last night. On my couch at 10; fast asleep by five after... zzz... zzz...

Hunh?

Festivus is over!?

Not yet!

Apple, Microsoft, Google, Samsung, et al. ... for the crap that is the patent wars in the mobile devices arena

Android... for being so lame

Android handset phone makers... for not doing software updates

Windows... for being Windows

Flash... for not dead yet

Senior leadership... for their ignorance

Program leadership... for their smoke up the ass blowing

Self... for sticking around for this shit

Hunh?

2011-12-24T09:07:00.002-05:00

A little Megane-chan for you this morning. "Shinagawa-kun! Shinagawa-kun!" (Hee hee hee... she has me laughing even now.)

Hope you've got all your shopping done. Now time for the wrapping and the cooking. We'll be having a wonderful time soon.

Festivus!

2011-12-23T17:08:00.002-05:00

Let's start with the Airing of Grievances.

Later will come the Feats Of Strength!

Hamden Left

2011-12-22T19:09:00.001-05:00

It's that time of year again.

Mistletoe

2011-12-22T08:28:00.002-05:00

What is mistletoe? I have no idea except that it is a plant that we use as an excuse to kiss a girl during Yule. I haven't had the excuse to use it. Yet. There should be plenty time for that.

Baldur was having troubling dreams. He dreamt of his death. It worried him so that he consulted his mom about it. His mom had the same dream. Baldur's mom, the goddess Frigg, was disturbed by them for it was said that with the death of Baldur, Ragnarok, the end of the gods, would soon come. She vowed to do something to prevent it.

So Frigg visit all nine realms under the tree Yggdrasill. She went to extract promises from all the creatures, plants, and living things to do no harm to Baldur. She scoured the realms from high to low and received the promises from all things.

In Midgard, in the deepest forests of the north she came upon the mistletoe. As she looked upon the small plant, whose small leaves she figured it was too innocent and benign to harm anyone. Its immaturity garnered pity from Frigg. She figured that she can't subject such a young and innocent plant to the burden of the promise, so she did not extract a promise from it.

Thus with oaths from creatures and plants big and small did the gods of Asgard believe that Baldur was safe from harm. Most of them tested this theory by attempting to hurt Baldur. They would hurl spears at him or swing at him with swords, but nothing would touch him. They believed Baldur to be safe and Ragnarok far from coming.

Loki heard about the dreams that troubled Baldur. He talked to Baldur about it. He talked with Frigg about it. He learned of the mistletoe, the plant so small and harmless but without the oath of harm to Baldur. Loki went in search of it and found in the deep northern forests of Midgard the sprig of mistletoe. He hastened back to Asgard with it.

Loki returned as the gods played at sport with the untouchable Baldur. They were arrayed around Baldur taking turns throwing things at the god trying to harm him. On the outskirts sat the blind Hodir. Loki crept up to him.

"Why don't you take part in such sport, Hodir?"

"My blindness keeps me from joining in."

"Then let me help you. Use this bow and arrow to try and hit Baldur."

Loki points Hodir in the direction of Baldur, places the bow in his hands, and guides Hodir's aim with the mistletoe arrow. Hodir releases the bow.

Gasps arise as the mistletoe arrow hits Baldur who succumbs to the injury. So came to pass the truth in his dreams. And soon Ragnarok.

What have I got in my pocket?

2011-12-21T13:08:00.002-05:00

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey - on iTunes Movie Trailers

Did you see this movie trailer on apple.com? The film stars Ian McKellen and Martin Freeman. It's in theaters on December 14, 2012. Watch it and tell me what you think.

And be sure not to miss hundreds of other trailers at iTunes Movie Trailers http://trailers.apple.com/ or download the App http://trailers.apple.com/app/

Come on seed your slow the punch today!

Sent from my iPhone

Resolution

2011-12-21T09:45:00.001-05:00

We are done. The album ends on my favorite tune. You should hear the remix. Thievery did release a remix of some of the songs on this album. Get it as well. Or maybe that will be the next album for a fusillade of music.

2B Jolly

2011-12-20T22:34:00.002-05:00

Though I have lost my religion I am thinking about celebrating the twelve days of Christmas and/or the Epiphany. I'm thinking about a twelve day blogathon starting on Christmas day and ending on the fifth of January, Twelfth Night. Then having some fun on the following day to celebrate, as the Irish call, Little Christmas.

We'll have fun. We'll have a blogathon. We'll write up a post a day about some movie or television show that relates to Christmas or has a holiday theme to it. I'm not sure what to focus on, but I want to write about how the holiday is found in the media. And perhaps a few things about how it affected me.

So join me, if at least for a day or a post, to celebrate the Twelve Days of Christmas Multimedia Blogathon.

Link of the Day [12.20.11]

2011-12-20T12:43:00.001-05:00

Apple says, "Check and mate."

I hate that I don't have one.

And I hate that I am not writing applications for one.

http://www.cultofmac.com/135844/why-the-ipad-is-the-most-hated-gadget-ever/

Until The Morning Comes

2011-12-20T10:07:00.000-05:00

One thing about digital delivery of music: no liner notes. There's nothing to read to figure out who the singer was, who wrote the song, or where they sampled the loop. Nothing. Like for this song, who's singing? Is it the same girl from the opening tune? Or is it a whole different person? I would like to know and I am too lazy to check it out on the CD or duckduckgo it.

Link of the Day [12.19.11]

2011-12-19T16:42:00.002-05:00

A day later and my ramen tasted better. I don't know if it was because it had a chance to sit overnight or if it was because it wasn't straight out hot from the stove, but it tasted better. More balance to the broth even though it still tasted of mostly of seaweed.

Anyhow, I went and looked up some recipes for ramen broth and found an interesting one that was meat based. This is a most interesting concept. I don't have to stick to dashi as the main source of my broth. Perhaps, a mixture? A little bit of dashi, then a little bit of beef stock. Maybe, that is the way to the true ramen broth. I guess I'm gonna have to think about my ramen some more.

http://www.mendoukusai.com/2009/06/adventures-in-cooking-tonkotsu-ramen.html

The State of the Union

2011-12-19T09:34:00.000-05:00

We're almost done. I hope you've been enjoying the morning music break. I like that you've shared in my favorite album. Thanks for listening. We just have a couple of songs to good. Stay tuned. We're just getting to the good stuff.

Cooking up Ramen

2011-12-18T16:04:00.005-05:00

On my ongoing quest to eat some decent ramen, I just had to go synthesize my own ramen recipe.

As the previous post showed, I made some dashi for the soup broth. It was quick and easy. I'm not sure if it turned out alright. Perhaps I should've used a smaller piece of the kombu because it tasted more like the seaweed and on occasion the fish that is the bonito flakes. Overall it was stronger than I expected. What can I do to cut this down?

Next up came the poached egg. I poached the recipe from the Momofuku book. Basically, you poach the eggs in shell by stewing them in a 145 degree water bath for 45 minutes. Easy-peasy.

Usually, in the restaurants around here, they serve chicken katsu with your bowl of ramen. I wanted originally to have tofu, but I changed my mind once I went grocery shopping this afternoon. I picked up some chicken cutlets, flour, and panko. My cupboards are now filled with junk. Need to cook more. With the chicken, it's your usual frying. First, I flatted out three pieces of chicken. I don't have a mallet, so I mashed it down with the heel of my hand. Next the chicken went into the pan. I need to put more oil in because after the second piece went in, there was hardly any oil for the last piece which didn't get the beautiful golden brown fried color. Once done with the chicken, I set it aside and concentrated on the soup.

I took the dashi I had made in the morning and boiled it. Before the noodles go in I added a teaspoon of light soy sauce -- I'm calling this shoyu ramen. I added the noodles, cheap store bought package noodles, into the boiling broth. I let it boil for a bit, but then took it off the flame and let sit for a couple minutes.

Sounds just like I was doing package ramen!

Of course, I then put it all together. The ramen soup gets scooped into a bowl. I crack a poached egg into it. Then to finish it off, a dash of more soy sauce, some wakame seaweed, and some pepper.

How'd it turn out? Okay. I guess I need to figure out the dashi. Next I have to find some good ramen noodles.

Dashi

2011-12-18T09:39:00.001-05:00

Sunday morning finds me making dashi following this recipe. It's nice that I don't have to boil vegetables for hours. Just soaked the kombu and then boiled with some bonito flakes. I was done in half an hour.

I have about 4 cups cooling in the fridge ready and waiting for the ramen noodle that I will be having for dinner tonight. I will add a poached egg and maybe some wakame seaweed, plus a touch of soy sauce. We'll see how it goes.

Young Adult

2011-12-18T09:31:00.000-05:00

I find my reaction to Young Adult similar to how I felt about Bad Teacher, but without the extreme revulsion. I was puzzled by the main character. I couldn't like her. She was a nasty person, yet I still don't know if I liked the movie or not.

Young Adult stars Charlize Theron at her most ugliest. Her character was described as a "psycho, prom queen bitch," which is an appropriate appellation for her. It succinctly describes her personality. She's believes her life to be stuck in neutral -- divorced, work life as an author coming to a sad end. She needs to live, and she chooses to try and relive her past by going back home to small town Minnesota and steal her old boyfriend back. He has a new baby, but that doesn't stop her. While in town, she bumps into an old classmate played by Patton Oswalt, who was horribly scarred in a bad beating during high school. They make a pair as she finds a person who is as damaged as she is. Eventually, the week at home unravels in a big embarrassing scene. She confronts her ex, and he pities her. She runs to her friend for comfort and finds that she should embrace her bitchiness.

I'm not sure if I should be happy or not that she goes back to being big city girl. She broke the grip of nostalgia, but embraced being bad. She is a psycho prom queen bitch.

Theron makes for the perfect psycho, prom queen, bitch. She can do haughty, that look in her eyes and her ice queen beauty, equates to crazy. Oswalt is his usual alternative, hipster, cool guy, geek guy self. Patrick Wilson as the former boyfriend makes due as a slightly clueless, hickish dude, who loves his wife, but doesn't know what he got himself into with his former flame.

The film was a Jason Reitman film from a Cody Diablo script. I couldn't tell. It missed the glib hiptserism of their previous collaboration, Juno.

I can't say I liked the movie, but I can say I didn't hate it.

3 of 5 stars

No Sugar Tonight

2011-12-17T11:06:00.003-05:00

I have nothing to blog about. Blogging about not having a subject to blog about seems to be blogging about a subject: no subject to blog about.

Aww, who am I kidding. This post is going nowhere. Sorry about that. Here's a picture from a decade ago: your humble host in Iceland.

That's the Gullfoss falls just behind me. This ain't the US; there's barely any barrier to keeping me from jumping in!

Liberation Front

2011-12-16T10:14:00.000-05:00

I came up with this game that I used to play with Margaux (Or maybe I didn't play this game with her, but I did come up with a game). It was centered around bands, their discography, and your own knowledge of. You were to think of a band and focus on their songs. Once you focused on a band, you would say, "You know {insert band name here}. No, their other song." That should conjure up which song you're talking about amongst the players. Most of the time you know which song is being thought about, but other times, depending on the band, it becomes difficult.

I came up with this game because of Cold Play. "You know Cold Play. No, their other song." I bet you now know which song I am talking about.

The Richest Man In Babylon

2011-12-15T09:59:00.001-05:00

We turn the corner and get to the home stretch of the album, several songs that are some of Thievery Corporations best. It starts with the title track, The Richest Man in Babylon. Once here, the album moves to its great conclusion. Stick around, it'll only get better.

Link of the Day [12.14.11]

2011-12-14T11:05:00.001-05:00

I don't think of myself as a reader of Science Fiction. I consider myself a reader of stories first and foremost. If the book happens to be Science Fiction, then I am reading Science Fiction. I read Science Fiction. I read Science Fiction.

You should, too. Get thee to the Science Fiction Encyclopedia and pick out something; an author, a book, a theme, something to read and read it.

http://sf-encyclopedia.com/

From Creation

2011-12-14T09:57:00.001-05:00

I'm left to wonder how close these songs ripped an posted to YouTube are to the one on the original CD. This version sounds slightly sped up. A check on iTunes finds it 6 seconds shorter. Now I wonder if all the other tunes from this album have been altered from the original. That's okay. As long as it moves your soul I'll take it. Good music is good music.

Link of the Day [12.13.11]

2011-12-13T16:09:00.001-05:00

Not on FaceBook and it doesn't even matter.

Yeah, I miss lots of things. And probably even miss meeting that girl or some other girl from the past, but does it matter?

Anti-social much? Maybe. It's most likely because I maintain this blog that I don't do FaceBook. I like writing here and don't want my blog to die if I spend tons of time writing over there. But I do wish to connect with old friends...

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/14/technology/shunning-facebook-and-living-to-tell-about-it.html

Exilio (Exile)

2011-12-13T09:51:00.003-05:00

We're onto the part of the album which I call the fly by states. Sometimes I listen to the songs. Sometimes I don't. When I let the iPod play, when they come on, I won't skip ahead. Yet, they all sound the same. Like I said previous, there's a lot of latin rhythms on this album.

Make This

2011-12-12T10:30:00.001-05:00

Network storage will become a bigger and important part of the home-consumer market with the adoption of tablet computers. Currently, iPad 2 maxes out its SSD drive with 64 GB worth of disk space. The Kindle and the Nook tablets are on the low end of storage, but Amazon wants you to use their cloud and perhaps Barnes and Noble does, too. Yet, as consumers go digital with their books, magazines, movies, television, and photos, there is going be a need for local storage.

There are Network Attached Storage (NAS) devices already being sold, but it's not a category that the average consumer will know about. This area is ripe for someone with an Apple-like bent to come in and remake the market.

Here's how I would make my own NAS appliance:

First, wireless and wired. Allow it to be connected by a physical connection.

Second, web browser interface. Configuration should be straightforward for the least tech savvy of users, but allow for as much customization under the hood for those techies.

Third, hot swappable. Drop in a drive and it should be ready in a click of the mouse. Plus, the chassis for this thing should contain 1-10 drives slots, but are adapted by price point: cheap is 1 drive, expensive is 10 drives.

Fourth, BYOD. The user can use any drive they want. Old 5200 RPM spinning platters? Go for it. SSD? Go for it. Mix and match. Do it.

I know about Apple's own NAS, Time Capsule, but that is for Apple's backup use case. I'm talking about something for everyone. I'm sure that you'll be buying something of this type in the next year or so.

Meu Destino

2011-12-12T09:55:00.001-05:00

Liking Thievery Corporation means you have to like world music. You'll be hearing lots of Brazilian rhythms. You'll be hearing it a lot.

Eggplant Lasagna

2011-12-11T16:16:00.002-05:00

Here's that individual eggplant lasagna. These are in mini-loaf pans.

Individual Portion (Mini) Eggplant Lasagna

2011-12-11T14:38:00.003-05:00

I read about these small portion lasagnas the cooking for two issue of the Cooks Illustrated magazine. They baked the lasagna in a small loaf pan rather than a traditional pan. Since, I only cook for myself, that recipe looked interesting. I wanted to make a mini lasagna. The recipe was for a spinach white lasagna, and it had some béchamel as a sauce. That's starting to get complicated. My recipe is going to be an eggplant lasagna.

I started with the sauce. I diced up some green, peppers, onions, and carrots which I sautéed in olive oil with some garlic. Once that was nice and tender, I added some chopped whole tomatoes and some tomato sauce. I let this simmer down. Adding some salt for taste.

I had some ricotta which I mixed with an egg, dried basil, and oregano. This is the cheese layer. Maybe I should've mixed some parmesan in here.

Once all this was done. I started to build my mini loaf pans with a lasagna. Easy bake lasagna noodles, the ricotta mixture, eggplant, then the tomato sauce. I was able to only put 2 of these layers in one mini loaf pan. I topped it off with some more tomato sauce; perhaps I should've put some cheese here, too.

I bake it in my oven pre-heated to 350 degrees for 25 minutes. Actually, it's baking right now so I'll let you know how it goes.

NabeYaki

2011-12-10T16:57:00.002-05:00

NabeYaki
Originally uploaded by browsermetrics.

Because the Seed hasn't posted it yet

2011-12-10T06:24:00.002-05:00

I give you Changmas!

Puts you in the holiday mood, doesn't it? Now my browser window is slow as all get out.

Un Simple Histoire (A Simple History)

2011-12-09T10:04:00.001-05:00

The death of Flash can't happen soon enough, but you're still stuck with it. In fact, if you're viewing this page, Flash is probably killing your browser.

For that, I apologize.

It's because of me not you. I'm not writing enough posts to fill the gaps between the morning music break. I know that I wanted to write more at least a post a day in December. Except the posts all relate to that Thievery Corporation release from 2002. (Whoa! I thought it was 2003 release.) I was gonna put some filler in between, but I don't want filler. I want well written posts on subjects that are worth writing about. Plus, link or quotes of the day. Yet, all I got are static YouTube videos of the cover to The Richest Man in Babylon.

What should I write?

Link of the Day [12.08.11]

2011-12-08T19:55:00.003-05:00

It's rather late in the day for a Link of the Day, but here's one for you.

If your late to the latest internet meme, you can always check out "Know Your Meme" to catch up. Read up. Catch up. Forget about it. Get ready for the next one.

http://knowyourmeme.com/

All That We Perceive

2011-12-08T09:36:00.002-05:00

If I ever expected you to have heard any songs on this album, I would expect it to be this tune, "All That We Perceive." I think they had it on heavy rotation in any Apple Store back in the mid aughts. Back when the iTunes was first released. You could've found Thievery Corporation all over that iTunes version. They were the iTunes darling back then.

Now let me admit right here, for the longest time I couldn't stand to hear this tune. It being popular (in my mind) rubbed me the wrong way. This is my band. Why should you listen to them if you've never heard of them before? Defensive much? Yeah, I was a while ago, but not anymore.

You've got to listen to this tune. Listen to this album. Listen to this band. They freaking rock!

Of course you'll be hearing this band for another week. I'm short of half way through the album. And after hearing that, maybe you'll feel apprehensive to hear another Thievery Corporation song. We still haven't gotten to my favorite song.

Omid (Hope)

2011-12-07T09:47:00.002-05:00

Continuing on from yesterday's music break, here's the second part of the tune. It's not the second part but they both flow very well together. Every time I hear this song, I hear the first verse as asking, "Whose bagel's offer hope?" Now why are they singing about bagels? Is this some kind of hidden message, but said aloud? I bet you that ain't the real lyrics. Someone, anyone, get on this and tell me what that lyric was.

Link of the Day [12.06.11]

2011-12-06T21:58:00.001-05:00

HTC Bionic Plus E XT Prime. Acer Devour Neo. Samsung Liquid Plus V Plus 3D.

Are these real? They could be, and they could be coming out in 2012!

http://androidphonenamegenerator.com/

Interlude

2011-12-06T09:41:00.001-05:00

Short but sweet. I always thought that this song and its successor on the album were one tune. Perhaps I should just put both of them in this post.

The Outernationalist

2011-12-05T10:19:00.004-05:00

Thus I skipped on to track 3 and found some dub. It just can't be beat.

Link of the Day [12.04.11]

2011-12-04T18:31:00.004-05:00

I've always wanted to do try a series of posts related to holiday themed television shows. The AVClub has beat me to it. I seem to link to the AVClub every so often especially to their series of posts centered around a topic. This one is called the AVClub Advent Calendar highlighting holiday episodes of television shows. I had to post about this because the latest one features Northern Exposure, a beloved favorite of mine. If NewsRadio is my all time favorite comedy, Norther Exposure is my all time favorite dramady. The X-Files? It's my all time favorite paranoia show.

If I was to do a series of holiday shows, I know I would be diving into Northern Exposure's list of episodes. I want a girl who can appreciate the melancholia in this show.

http://www.avclub.com/features/tv-club-advent-calendar/

Hugo

2011-12-04T09:14:00.001-05:00

As I came home from watching Hugo, I had come up with a nice way of getting into the review. But now, in the light of day, I can't remember the hook. That's unfortunate as I think it was gonna be a good intro that would've made me set up this review well and forced me to write with a better, even tone.

Hugo is about a young orphan living in one of the train stations of Paris, spending the day dodging Jean Girard, and winding the multitude of clocks of the station. He's the son of a tinkerer who had found a windup doll in the museum which he planned to fix before his death. Hugo takes it upon himself to finish his father's work by attempting to fix the mechanical doll. The tasks leads him to steal gears and springs from the toy shop in the station the proprietor of which carries the biggest surprise of the movie.

For the early part of the film, I was slightly bored. Hugo's story was slow in unravelling and slightly uninteresting. It was another story about poor orphan looking for a sign his father loved him. Why am I watching this?

Hugo does finish the mechanical doll. He winds it up and lets it write the message he thought his father had left him, but instead of the trite fatherly pablum, the mechanical doll draws something whimsical, a scene by George Melies signed by Melies. This changes the movie to being about something more magical, movies.

And here's where I remember what I was gonna write for the intro. In my former life, I had studied film and with it an introduction to then history of film. We got to see Melies, Lloyd, and Buster Keaton. Their films are as important to the history of film as they were integral to this movie especially Melies. His Voyage to the Moon is amazing and that said it made Hugo slightly worth it.

Melies makes this film for me. As he tells his tale of his life, the movie broadens up to being a tribute to a master storyteller. The tale of Hugo is the tale of finding something to fix. Hugo didn't have to fix the mechanical doll. He had to fix history so that it remembers Melies. He had to fix Melies so that he remembers the magic. Movies are magic.

3 of 5 stars

Notes on the film: I miss the sound of the projector. Ben Kingsley in a good movie? Who would've thought?! Sacha Baron Cohen throwing out another one of his insane characters. I thought he should've been Inspector Clouseau. I was reminded of Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book. For French people, they speak with a British accent.

Mushroom Barley Soup

2011-12-03T10:41:00.003-05:00

It's like the Spinache Mushroom Barley Soup except without the spinach.

Used different mushrooms, rather than the plain white buttons: Porcini mushrooms to flavor the stock and some darker mushrooms. Don't remember their names, but they taste just as good.

I followed the same recipe, but changed up the stock. I had to buy each ingredient for the stock individually rather than rely on the "soup stock" vegetable package I get the grocers. The stock is the Porcini mushroom soak, carrots, onions, celery, bell peppers, thyme, and pepper corns.

It's very weird to spend my time cooking variations of mushroom soup. I don't really dig mushrooms but I dig barley and the two go together. So with all this barley in my house, its only one package!, but I have to use it up. There's still a few cups left over. Maybe sometime soon, I have to make that barely risotto I keep thinking about.

Link of the Day [12.02.11]

2011-12-02T10:04:00.001-05:00

Looking at that title of this post and am amazed that we're fast approaching the end of the year!

This one's for the 99% and the 1%. For #OWS and the TeaTard Party. For Republicans and Democrats. For libertarians. Especially for those tards.

The US needs more revenue. The rich have the majority of the money. It makes perfect sense. Especially, if it broadens the middle class, who are the ones that make the economy work. Consumers pump money into the economy that make the producers produce more and hire more workers who get more wages who purchase more products. It's not the producers producing more that will make consumers buy products. If the consumer has no money, they aren't buying too much and producer's production is meaningless.

I may be ignorant about economics, but I know if you give people money, the majority will spend it. Cash in. Jobs out.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-12-01/raise-taxes-on-the-rich-to-reward-job-creators-commentary-by-nick-hanauer.html

Facing East

2011-12-02T10:03:00.001-05:00

Not really too fond of the second song from the Thievery Corporation's Richest Man in Babylon album, but since it's the second on the disc, it'll have to do for now. This cut is somewhat reminiscent of their big hit, Lebanese Blonde, from the previous album. Mid-eastern inflections. Sitar. Wailing woman. It's in there.

I usually skip this track and go on to the next one. I won't blame you if you don't play it. It'll break your streak, if you do, but its your bandwidth.

A plodding turtle is faster than me

2011-12-02T00:07:00.000-05:00

Always looking for advice on blogging. These 10 steps to better blogging are just as good as any. I guess I'll apply it to my blog. We'll see how it goes.

As you know, I don't Facebook. I tweet. I love to blog though -- seven years and counting. It's been a slow but steady set of posts week after week, month after month. Mostly about things I am interested in. They are long form tweets. The link of the day is just laziness as is the quote of the day, but there's a blog post after each one has been posted. And that's what makes it worthwhile.

I mainly looking to establish some kind of voice, but it gets lost in some of the other chatter I throw up on here. I let my fingers do the rambling and I end up with posts about nendoroids, cute asians, or Sakaragaoka High School Light Music Club which most people don't care to read about. I post them because it's something that I am fond of. I don't think I am embarrassed by these posts, but I know that they bore my three readers.

I think I'm more successful with my cooking posts. I believe they read very well. I guess I can write about a subject if I need to explain how things are working out.

Yet, I know that my writing is still weak. I'm trying to get better. I better follow that advice.

Heaven's Gonna Burn Your Eyes

2011-12-01T10:07:00.001-05:00

I just love this album. I remembering picking this up at Borders, quickly unpacking it out of its plastic wrap, and sliding it into the CD player of the Jetta for the drive home. I remember taking York Road south to the 695 on ramp as the opening of this song was playing and then it kicks in...

Dude!

Yeah. One of my favorite albums. I'm thinking about playing it at my funeral its that good.

This track was once one of the most played on my iTunes before I started ripping CDs and purchasing songs from the store. One things that always bothered me though is the circle has been turned into an oval with the album art downloaded from the iTunes music store. O, well, at least the remix album its a perfect circle.

Sun Glare

2011-12-01T08:02:00.002-05:00

Nothing to really write about lately, but I have to try.

This morning driving into work traffic went from 80 MPH to a standstill because of sun glare. People, don't you know how to drive? I'm guessing that 75% (conservative number) on 695 this morning are commuters driving the same dreary route to work, but we still hit a slowdown because of sun glare.

Come on, people, you should know by now the quirks of your drive to work. You should know that sun glare's just around the corner. You should know to have your visor down. You should know to wear your sunglasses. You should know not to look directly into the sun. You should know to look at the lines on the road. You should know to look at the backlit car in front of you.

Follow the lines on the road and be wary of the cars in front of you and we can all still drive 80 MPH into the sun!

Link of the Day [11.30.11]

2011-11-30T09:13:00.002-05:00

As the nights start getting colder (the days stay very warm) and the dark settles in earlier, the winter Oscar season heats up. I haven't watched to many of the contenders: I still haven't seen The Tree of Life. Yet, I been following the Oscar race on Grantland.

Grantland is a website writing about sports, but they also have other writers writing about pop culture. I've been reading the Oscarmetrics column with devotion trying to figure out what to watch and to handicap for the Oscar Pool.

It also helps me to figure out what to watch. Let's checkout what's playing at the Charles.

http://www.grantland.com/search/_/query/mark-harris

Release The Awesome

2011-11-29T20:33:00.002-05:00

If this don't make you want Popeye's chicken I don't know if you're alive.

Quote of the Day [11.28.11]

2011-11-28T20:57:00.001-05:00

Just made mean comments at gov brownback and told him he sucked, in person #heblowsalot

@emmakate988

Link of the Day [11.27.11]

2011-11-27T10:47:00.004-05:00

Followed a link from Kottke this morning to Susan Kare's website. She was the original designer of many of the visual interface icons on the original Macintosh. Now I want a few prints of her classic icons. The Happy Mac. The Sad Mac. The Bomb. The Dogcow. What should I choose? Or should I let you choose for Secret Santa.

http://www.kareprints.com/?cat=3

Feast

2011-11-26T09:22:00.002-05:00

All I wanted was the dressing. And the oysters. But there was also some barley and some clams that jumped onto my plate. This was the fourth one. I liked this better.

Twin Tails Running Away

2011-11-24T09:04:00.002-05:00

Happy Thanksgiving 2011

2011-11-24T09:03:00.002-05:00

What should we be thankful for?

Most everything! Life is mostly beautiful even if it stinks at this time.

Everyone and everybody, have a safe and joyous thanksgiving!

Quote of the Day [11.17.11]

2011-11-17T07:35:00.001-05:00

"This is what happens when you meet a stranger in the Alps!"

Walter Sobchack (John Goodman), The Big Lebowski

J. Edgar

2011-11-16T22:25:00.003-05:00

As I watched J. Edgar, I wondered what hack directed this film. The tone seemed all wrong -- it felt campy. Leonardo was bombastic. The makeup looked horrendous. What hack would do this on a biopic?

Clint Eastwood. Wow. I couldn't believe it.

It's another strange effort by Eastwood.

He makes the old people look like Charles Foster Kane. He let Leonardo chew some scenery.

2 of 5 stars.

Link of the Day [11.16.11]

2011-11-16T16:34:00.002-05:00

Saving up. I would get it right this moment, but it hasn't been released yet. And I would've gotten it on release, but I'm still deciding on Christmas presents and season tickets. Still. This is on the want list. Beyond wishes. I want one. Like yesterday.

http://panasonic.net/avc/lumix/systemcamera/gms/gx1/index.html

A New Hat, A New Season, A New Hope, Renew

2011-11-16T13:38:00.001-05:00

I'm definitely getting a new Orioles cap. I make it a ritual almost every spring before the season starts to buy a new cap. I've lost a few out the window, and I changed the size that I wear from 7 1/2 to 7 5/8. I really wear a 60cm hat, but that is in between the two English measurements. The 7 1/2 size is tight and gets tighter as the years go by. The 7 5/8 size makes me look like Robert Andino. The Legend of Bobby Andy lives!

So next year I'll be sporting the cartoon bird. Again. I've got a replica of the 83 Orioles cap which people say I wear just because it was the last Orioles World Series winner. I'll always cheer for these fools knowing how frustrating an organization it is. Baseball is baseball and it beats sitting around the house.

I also checked out the season ticket prices. They haven't changed, but the seating arrangement has. They moved the price range for my section inward. It's now cheaper to get closer to the dugout. The couple of sections to my left now have the same season ticket price as my section. I bought my tickets in this section because it was as close to the field as I could get without getting gouged. Now they've changed the price for the other sections. Perhaps I should switch up and see if the tickets behind the ball girls are open. The team must need fans.

Link of the Day [11.15.11]

2011-11-15T06:49:00.003-05:00

One thing about the internet, it brings you closer to strangers while still being a stranger. I often like looking at creative people's blogs. It makes for interesting reads at how they do what they do. When do they find the time to blog?

For respect of Community and to acknowledge that being put on the back may mean cancellation, here's Dan Harmon's tumblr. Maybe sometime this week he'll tell us how he feels about that.

http://danharmon.tumblr.com/

Captain with the capital C

2011-11-14T20:34:00.001-05:00

Shades of People

2011-11-14T08:53:00.002-05:00

Dreamt this morning. I wouldn't call it a dream though as I was half awake. Perhaps we'll call it subconscious thinking in a slumbered state. Nah, that don't sound right. I'll just call it a dream.

Like every dream I write about here, it involves a girl. That's not to say my dreams are always about girls. It's just that I only write up the ones with a girl in it.

What's complicating this dream write up is that I don't know which of the usual girls I dream about was the star. In fact, I wondered if I was able to identify any of the others in this dream. Could it be people from IniTech? Or were grade school classmates in it? Perhaps, one or two were family members or Shore Studio friends. I couldn't remember after getting up out of bed. And if I couldn't immediately afterwards, then I can't really say right now. Maybe all my dreams have been a lie. Maybe no one was in them, but me...

Here's some of the details I remember. Most of it is fuzzy...

We're staying at some hotel for business. There was a cross walk to an overpass. We took it to the overpass. It was me, the girl, and some other people. We had to have been drinking. Someone looked over the side of the overpass and wondered if they could get down from there using this light pole. Everyone wanted to try. Up and over to the light pole and we all slid down to the sidewalk. We had left our shoes in the hotel room. I made the comment that we're all in socks. It didn't matter. We wanted to cross the street in our socks. When we got inside, we waited for the elevator up to take us back to our rooms. I bumped into someone as he was getting off and I was getting on. He asked about some work stuff, and I told the people I was with that I'll see them in a few minutes. I pulled this guy aside and was joined by the girl. She was by my side and she put her arm in my arm. This is when I usually get the funny feeling in the pit of my stomach that signals that I like this. We discussed IniTech work. It was boring that I wanted a drink. Let's hit up the lobby bar. She said yeah and we strode into the bar arm in arm. Then I woke up.

It was delicious to remember what it is like to be side by side with a girl. The warm body. The smell of her hair. The solid feel of her shoulder. Of her arm in my arm. Her hand in my hand. Yet, I couldn't place her face. It could be any of the girls I've been infatuated with. Same can be said to the other shades in my dream. I couldn't place their faces. Who were they? They only coalesced into someone recognizable once I started trying to place the faces. She could be I or S or the latest infatuation. The co-workers could've been IniTech or Shore Studios or Ruby's. Definitely not Ruby's, but it could almost be them. Once I thought about it awake, they all took on faces that I thought was there, but really, were they there in my dreams.

Link of the Day [11.11.11]

2011-11-11T06:14:00.003-05:00

Binaries! Get your binaries here!

I think better in octal. Happy 3F day!

And for all you regular humans, it's 63!

http://www.ascii.cl/conversion.htm

Link of the Day [11.09.11]

2011-11-09T09:44:00.002-05:00

Yeah! It still lingers on the Desktop, but maybe, just maybe we'll see the end of it.

Good bye, don't let the doorknob hit you on the way out!

http://iphonedevelopment.blogspot.com/2011/11/flash-is-dead-no-really-this-time.html

Ham Stir Fry

2011-11-07T20:24:00.004-05:00

Just throwing left over ham into a frying pan with some vegetables doesn't mean it is really a stir fry. Especially, if you don't even bother to have rice as well. It's just fried ham with vegetables. Don't do this again.

I just took some ham and chopped it up into little pieces. Heated up the frying pan with some oil and the rest of my roasted garlic spread. Threw in some frozen vegetables. And that's all I am calling my ham stir fry.

Once again don't do this again.