Category: Personal

Sadly, the great singer/songwriter has brain cancer (as announced back in September) and it’s not in remission or miraculously cured. I’ve already written my tribute to him (Getting ready to say goodbye to Warren Z) but most of the major rock writers are taking their turns too. After watching the sad results of the game today, and waiting for Alias, I scanned the NY Times and found this touching paen to Zevon by Jon Pareles: In His Time of Dying. Of course plenty of biography but lots of good passages about what Zevon’s doing in his final days; one can only hope he makes it a little while longer, at least, to finish this last recording.

Go with it, because I’ll be back

With the twins! We got a little lost–

Oh come on!–get out of the crease.

We’re gonna have to put you back in.

You are on your own. Complete this mission.

Drop your weapons…hold your fire.

Maybe we’ll have better luck next year…

One stifling defense!

Is it gold? Go for the gold

I’m running out of time

When we try cases it gets ugly, are they miracles?

Experience.

Chasing through backyards and over hedges

Won’t make it any better. Thundering hooves, running, rumbling

Craggy mountains, rocks strewn about

Transcend the ordinary. Baby we’ll never go back.

You keep up the good work, No Doubt

I know one thing for sure, you wouldn’t like me when I’m angry

Make it! Hit it! We are soldiers

Believe it!

Hey Oh My Oh My

I am proud to be an American

One wet one dry

Can I get just one?

Yo!

They slit my throat–it’s the money–

Two is too many

Another reason!

Last year, I blogged my opinion on the Super Bowl commercials so this year I thought I’d try something a little different. The poem above is composed of one line, one word, or maybe a bit more, from just about all of the commercials shown in the first quarter of the game. Some of the commercials made even taking one word difficult. An experiment but came out interesting, I think.

From 2001, Kill Me Later stars Selma Blair as a morose, suicidal banker. Finally fed up with the total absence of love or pleasure, she heads to the roof of her office building to jump off. Instead, Max Beesley races up to the roof ahead of the cop whose chasing him after he and a couple of pals robbed Blair’s bank. She still wants to jump but he holds her hostage to fend off the cop; he promises to kill her later. They escape (where would the movie be otherwise?), keep running from the cops, but never really find a way to get clear. Amazing, again, but the two fall in love.

Not recommended

Same year: Original Sin is Angelina Jolie and Antonio Banderas in 19th century Cuba, a triffling film about passion and, I suppose, truth. The biggest surprise to me was that Jolie did her own nude and topless scenes. There should be more surprises but writer/director Michael Cristofer seems incapable of keeping his powder in his pants. Not even much of the beautiful ‘Cuban’ countryside.

Not recommended

This site has been fairly quiet this week because I was preparing for a job interview yesterday. Quite exciting because the company is a world class operation and because this position will put me, for the first time, in a sales role. For now let’s leave the hiring company name out of this but I will say the position would not require relocation as the (headquarters) office is less than 15 miles from Casa Lazar in Mountain View.

The whole process began when I found out about the opening and contacted a friend who works in this division in a different location. He made some inquiries and sent my resume and a positive cover message directly to the hiring manager. Networking really is key in this miserable economy, all three of my recent opportunities have come due to some variant of it. The hiring manager called me Monday afternoon and we had a very good 30-35 minute chat; at the end he said I would hear shortly from his staff recruiter to slot me in for a visit and further interviews.

Turns out that this company has made a decision to significantly increase the number of individuals doing this particular job. This isn’t pure sales but instead has a significant technical overlay and specializes in a product category in which I have very solid experience. All, or most, of the people filling the newly created positions will be new hires, very cool in this (as I already said but bears repeating) miserable economy. The recruiter did call the following afternoon and explained that they were holding an open house for candidates Friday morning at 8 a.m. Each of the 10 candidates invited would have two one on one interviews and then make a presentation to a third person.

Apparently, having candidates for sales positions make a presentation is a standard part of the interview process at this company. I’d never had to do so before but it does make good sense since success in the job is heavily dependant on presentation and communication skills. Many companies hiring programmers give them programming tests or at least pose technical questions as part of the interview, so why shouldn’t sales interviews force candidates to do some selling? The recruiter provided me with a basic presentation that included the hypothetical customer, their objective, and a three part outline.

I went right to work, doing some substantial research on the hiring company’s website. This company is a firm believer in using the web to make their operations as effective and efficient as possible, so I was able to read white papers, customer case studies, even watch some high level product briefings. All in all, this made understanding the necessary content very easy and accessible. Plus, my sister, a high level, very successful salesperson herself, reviewed my draft and gave some very useful feedback. I had hoped to practice the presentation in front of one or more of my technically literate friends but none could be scheduled on such short notice. But the Sweet One was more than willing to sit and listen, even though she knows nothing about these kind of products.

Friday was very strange, getting up, showering, shaving, dressing up, and heading to an office as if it was a normal workday but of course I haven’t had a normal workday in so long! Traffic was really light on 101 at 7:30, I suppose just confirming what I’ve been reading in the newspaper lately. No problem getting to my destination 10 minutes early where I found the other candidates already waiting and all feeling at least some of the same last minutes jitters as me. After waiting a few more minutes for another person (who never showed), we were escorted upstairs to a conference room.

The division’s regional vice president, a very comfortable, experience woman, welcomed us all and gave a twenty minute presentation on the company, the division, and the positions in question. I’ve never really been involved in this type of hiring situation before, not even when graduating from Rutgers with the MBA, so this was pretty cool. Nice to be catered to a little bit. The recruiter had set up a matrix for the interviewers, showing each of them who would be doing the interviews in each time slot.

I don’t think I will write much about the actual interviews. I feel I did very well with each of them, particularly the presentation, and hopefully each recommended me. In fact, someone experienced in sales suggested that I close each interview, when asked if I had any questions for the interviewer, by asking for the job. “Based on what you’ve heard in our conversation, do you think you can recommend me for this position?” And I did ask them. Of course none gave a straight answer, though they did generally give me pretty good feedback on our talk and what would factor in to the decisions.

I left a few minutes after 10:00, feeling drained and exhilarated. Driving home I tried to process the event but it was difficult. I called the Sweet One and a few others to fill them in on the morning but I am a naturally optimistic person. I was told that a follow up phone call will probably come in the early part of this week to give me the result but I am confident. Keep your fingers crossed, okay? I know I am well suited for this position, prepared for success, and ready to go.

Update, 1/25: Thanks Rob but as cool a company as Microsoft is, it isn’t the company I’m talking about here.

Make your own Mondrian with the Mondrian Machine at pTank.

And speaking of art, why don’t we get sunset’s like garrett’s?

I am fat. I have eaten many cookies and many bowls of cereal in my nearly 42 years on this planet. But I have never considered suing Nabisco or General Mills. Eating this food was, more or less, my choice. So I’m not surprised or disappointed that the judge in New York threw out the lawsuit filed by a few obese people against McDonalds. What an amazing lack of personal responsibility these people and their sleazy lawyer!

Of course I’m also finally taking my body seriously and have adopted an appropriate diet and exercise regime. I’ve lost about 35 pounds since Labor Day and workout at 24 Fitness four or five times a week. I won’t be suing anyone, much as I would love to have a lottery-like payoff. My body, my life, my choice.

A check for $53 its in front of me

Replacing the cash I laid out last week

Buying a lamp for a friend at Costco

Since I belong and she does not.

Do you belong? Would you be a better

Person if you did or is this irrelevant, just

Noise and not signal? Certainly I’m glad to

Help out and Do my friend this little favor.

I don’t belong to any political party, always registered

As an independent. Even in college I would not

Join a frat because I was GDI. The kind of people with whom

I prefer to spend time would not belong to frats.

Or sororities, since I enjoy time with women as well as or

Even more than men. Though I spend much time these days with

Evan and he does not belong to Costco and did not join a frat

Even though he spent a decade at Uni.

Every time I typed belong in this poem I spelled it

Wrong, or incorrectly, except this last and so at least I

Belong to one useful club–humanity where no one is

Perfect, at least no the last time I looked.

Slashdot has a really good thread today: Top 10 New Sci-Fi/SF Authors?. Since it isn’t about Linux, Open Source, DRM, or Microsoft, there’s very little of the childish and tediously repetitive comments to spoil it. Those of you who want to find recommendations for some new SF authors will be happy. There is a moderate level of duplication and, given the length of the thread, Slashdot’s default interface will not make the reading easy but much meat to be had. Surprised me but with 875 comments posted no one has suggested Peter F. Hamilton and his Night’s Dawn Trilogy, which I would pick as one of the best of the ’90s.

Celebrity-focused humor: FameTracker.

Blogging tech-oriented bargains: More Stuff 4 Less Bargain Blog.

Where I would be on Friday if I happened to be in the Chicago area: TechVision 2003.

Make $82 million per year: Case Study – Get Rich Quick With Expired Domain Traffic.

The original version of Bedazzled, starring Dudley Moore as a poor slob and Peter Cook as the Devil came out in 1967 and was absolutely a product of its era. The recent sequel, with Brendan Fraser and Liz Hurley in 2000, was also a reflection of the current milieu. The difference is that the first version was original and funny while the later was derivative and mean-spirited. Then again, when are remakes ever better than the original?

Stanley Moon (Moore) is a short order cook and desperately in love with the greasy spoons’ waitress Margaret (Eleanor Bron) but completely unable to get past his shyness to speak to her. Deciding that enough’s enough, he throws a rope over a water pipe in his flat and attempts to end his life but even that he cannot do properly. Or perhaps this failure is the work of George Spiggot, aka Lucifer, who happens to appear in the apartment at just that moment. Spiggot offers Moon seven wishes, an seven wishes he chooses, in exchange for his soul. A useless leftover, much like the appendix, according to Spiggot. Moon of course signs the contract for he sees it as the way to get next to Margaret. Indeed, each of the wishes is a different attempt to connect with her but since this is a deal with the Devil not one works as expected.

Comparing the two versions points to several reasons why the original is superior. Most importantly, Cook’s Lucifer is much more human and sympathetic compared to Hurley’s slick and uncaring portrayal. Cook’s fallen angel simply wanted a little adoration of his own after spending so much time as God’s favorite angel. He has no choice about inducing evil, big or little, as God’s compelled him to such behavior. And over the course of the film he actually grows to like poor Stanley and at the end voluntarily returns his soul; Hurley’s is forced to return Fraser’s due to a contract technicality which neither Fraser nor the audience is aware of before the crucial act. And in terms of sex appeal, well, Liz Hurley is a hottie but cannot compare to Raquel Welch in her prime.

Cook also wrote the original, which probably accounts for him getting so many of the good lines, and the comedy duo were able to attract Stanley Donnen to direct. Donnen was one of the top directors of the middle century (Singin’ in the Rain, Damn Yankees, Charade) and a terrific choice. The new version has some quality names involved (Harold Ramis as director, Peter Tolan and Larry Gelbart as writers) but they seem to have taken the easy paycheck on this effort.

Definitely Recommended

2001’s Gosford Park is a Robert Altman film, which means that it will be long (137 minutes), filled with quality acting, and that there will be much dialog and little action. Altman can be hit or miss: Dr. T and the Women, his previous film, sucked while ’92’s The Player was great; M*A*S*H and Nashville, from the early ’70s were terrific, all time favorites, but sandwiched in between was Elliot Gould as Phillip Marlowe in The Long Goodbye and you can’t tell me that any film with Gould as Marlowe could be worth seeing.

Gosford Park is the story of a shooting weekend in 1932 at the country estate (castle, that is) of Sir William McCordle (Michael Gambon). He’s invited an assortment of relatives and friends and they bring along a servant or two each who only add to the castle’s huge staff. The film explicitly parallels the servants and the nobility, cutting between the two, showing the nearly unconscious interactions, and the striking similarities of hierarchy and snobbery. Altman even uses one character, played by Ryan Phillippe, as a sort of joke: He arrives as the valet of a visiting American film producer, seduces one of the noble women and one of the servants, then is revealed to be an actor playing a part and crosses back to his ‘proper’ place. None of the English characters approves of this, of course.

This is one of those films where nothing much really happens to create real emotional peaks–even the murder that creates the only significant plot twist isn’t really shown–but instead tries to create an atmosphere (England just before the Empire crumbled, when one simply knew his proper place) and an interesting assortment of characters to bring out the difference between there and then and here and now. A movie length, movie budgeted version of Upstairs, Downstairs. In the end, the viewing experience was enjoyable but never created the type of excitement the best films, or evenly moderatley good ones like Bedazzled, do. Julian Fellowes, a veteran British actor, did win the 2002 Oscar for Best Original Screenplay although the competition wasn’t that strong.

Mildly recommended

NY Times: Court Rules Against Network Associates’ Software Review Policy. One of the most common, longest running provisions in software licenses used by almost every commercial vendor for every product has been a clause that says the licensee cannot publish a review of the product without the company’s permission.

Now, you say, I read reviews of software in every issue of every computer-oriented magazine. But what you rarely read are performance numbers. For example, show me a magazine article or analyst report that provides and compares specific performance numbers from database or J2EE application servers. Those are pretty few and far between and it’s due to this clause. The ones you do see are managed very carefully and almost always have employees of the vendor working with the publisher’s lab techs to get the most favorable configurations used. and if the numbers aren’t good enough, the software company will simply retract permission. I’ve been there, seen it happen.

Now NY State Attorney General Elliot Spitzer has won a major court decision that says these clauses are unconstitutional because they violate freedom of speech protections. Network Associates, the company involved, claims that they only want to ensure that reviews are based on the latest version of the product and are not “misleading.” Um yeah. You know, after the way Spitzer was the only government official who really went after the crooks on Wall St., I think he’s my new hero!

Soccernet said it best, so I’ll just steal their headline. After 11 Premiership matches with no wins, only three short of the 50 year old record, the Reds finally took all three points from a match. Emile Heskey, whose demotion many LFC fans have been screaming for, was the man with the only goal scored. The FSN schedule called for the game to be shown live but the network switched at the last minute to Man United-Chelsea and it was only luck that a couple of hours later I turned back and found I’d only missed the first few minutes of a tape-delayed showing. Not lucky enough to see Heskey’s handiwork but just afterwards. Cool. One can only hope they’ll keep the form in a midweek Worthington Cup match against Sheffield United and then the big replay when the host league leading Arsenal on the 29th.

Following up on the news reports that President Bush’s popularity is finally waning according to current polling, NY Times columnist Frank Rich takes the open shot and scores. In Joe Millionaire for President Rich notes many of the ways in which Bush and his cohort have the bait-and-switch down to a routine. Reminds me greatly of this week’s episode of Law and Order, in which the defense attorney attempts to slip the question of guilt right past the jury by waving a blue and white flag in front of their eyes. Almost, but not quite, too late the prosecutors realize what’s happening and explain to the jury why they should not fall for this magician’s trick. Rich does the same with his essay and one can only hope it opens a few more eyes.

Most obvious: San Francisco 49ers head coach. Mariucci got the boot but Holmgren cannot get out of his Seatlle deal. I’m a lifelong football fan, and have subjected the Niners’ efforts to rigorous analysis for the last six seasons.

William J. McDonough, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, today announced his retirement. I have an MBA in finance, real world experience in lending, insurance, investments, and technology plus I used to work across Maiden Lane from their office building so I know how to get there in the morning. Word to the hiring team: I believe that a little inflation is a good thing as is a lot of operational transparency.

A job that would have been suitable, but is apparently already filled, is Chairman of AOL Time Warner. Seriously, I have a great blend of experience in online technology and the written word. I’ve been a customer of HBO since they first began mass marketing it in the early ’70s and am a huge Sopranos fan. I’ve even worked closely with AOL previously, during the whole iPlanet not-quite-a-joint-venture Sun/Netscape Alliance thing. Hard to understand that the board could move so quickly to give Richard Parsons a second job when I have none.

Reality check: Uggh! I’ve been looking for work for too long if I’m starting to have these fantasies. I am pursuing some leads at Oracle, Google, Ariba, and Sun (as a contractor), to name a few, so perhaps something good will come along soon. Keep your fingers crossed and drop a line if you can help.

No sooner do I put up a summary than Jacksonville, probably hoping to avoid any press headaches over Mariucci speculation, names Jack Del Rio as their new head coach. The team is also expected to finalize Baltimore Ravens scouting director Phil Savage as the new GM. Del Rio was an outstanding middle linebacker in college at USC and in the pros with the Saints and Vikings and, in his first year as a defensive coordinator anywhere, took the Carolina Panthers defense from last to second best in the league.

On the Mooch watch, latest rumor is that he will take his SF severance of $2.25M for the coming year and relax, spend time with his kids, and perhaps do some television commentary. All the NFL openings this year, less his last perch, are closed now unless the Saints or Lions make a move. Although the Mercury News sports section was filled with talk of Mike Holmgren wriggling out of his contract in Seattle to reunite with his old boss Bill Walsh and take the Niners job. Mooch could head north to Paul Allen’s team, kind of a swap. Some Green Bay fans are posting to message boards that the team should dump Mike Sherman and grab Mariucci given Sherman’s playoff record but you know that ain’t gonna happen.

Team	Old Coach	New Coach
Dallas	Dave Campo	Bill Parcells
Jacksonville (coach)	Tom Coughlin	Jack Del Rio
Cincinnati	Dick Lebeau	Marvin Lewis
Detroit	Marty Mornhinweg	Marty Mornhinweg (by the skin of his teeth)
San Francisco	Steve Mariucci	TBD
Jacksonville (GM)	Tom Coughlin	TBD
Seattle (GM)	Mike Holmgren	TBD
Arizona (GM)	Bob Ferguson	Rod Graves
New Orleans	Jim Hazlett	Jim Hazlett (so far…)

Detroit was a hotbed of speculation and you have to wonder if owner William Ford is just to cost conscious to pull the trigger while still owing so much money to Millen and Mornhinweg; next year should be a very different story if the can’t get the Lions up to seven or eight wins. New Orleans, I think, is still a possibility for a change depending on how the playoffs, Jacksonville, and SF shake out. Hazlett for sure has to make the playoffs next season to keep his job.

Updated 1/16: Jacksonville named Del Rio as coach. Speculation is Baltimore Ravens scouting director Phil Savage will be named the new GM this weekend.

I knew it, I fucking knew it! Mariucci was fighting a winless battle and he was shown the door today by the 49ers! Regardless of his record the past two seasons, the disloyalty Steve Mariucci showed the organization last year combined with the ridiculous job he did against Tampa Bay Sunday was too much for ruling triad John York, Terry Donohue, and Bill Walsh swallowed the $2.25 million owed for the last year of his contract.

At the conference announcing the news, Donohue claimed the break point was Mariucci’s demand to be named vice president of football operations–in other words, more control over the team–and this was not something the triad was willing to give. After hearing about this from reporters, the ex-coach said he was stunned and had never made such a request. In any case, he’s free to head on down to Jacksonville for the only other current vacancy, no compensation owed to the 49ers. He might face some stiff competition for the job from Panthers defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio (an outstanding linebacker in his day at USC!) and Pittsburgh offensive coordinator Mike Mularky, both of whom would command less pay and ask for less control from an owner who wants to bring in a strong general manager after eight years of allowing Tom Coughlin to run everything.

Who will the Niners turn to? They claim to have no short list and will launch a thorough search but speculation is already focusing on Denny Green, who’s probably had enough fishing by now, and current defensive coordinator Jim Mora Jr., who learned from one of the best, his dad. Wonder if he would bring Sr. in as DC if he gets the gig. Or maybe we’ll see the third coming of Bill Walsh? Nah.

In a semi-related note, the Bengals announced Marvin Lewis as their new head coach. Lewis is the third African-American HC and the first Bengals coach not promoted from within in 23 years. He’s long wanted, and deserved, a shot at running a team. But seriously, the Bengals? Are they actually an NFL team or just football’s version of the Washington Generals? Lewis will have to be a real wizard to reach even the six win plateau in Cincinnati. Given Lewis’ defensive pedigree, could his hiring be a godsend for previously rumored to be a lock number one pick USC QB Carson Palmer? Will Lewis push for a potential defensive superstar instead? We’ll find out April 26. The Washington Redskins, losing their DC for a fourth straight year, promoted linebacker coach George Edwards to replace Lewis.

And on this day 36 years ago, the Green Bay Packers beat the Kansas City Chiefs in the first Super Bowl.

Aaron Swartz has posted his tips for book authors. Aaron is an awesomely intelligent teenager but sometimes he gets out ahead of himself. I sent the following to him as an email after reading his tips. Remember, I’m a real published author, have worked for a publisher as well, and know the darkness that is this industry. Still, Aaron is pretty far off the mark. His original material here is emphasized.

Once you’ve recouped the cost of creating the book (and potentially the cost of writing your next one) please donate it to the public domain (i.e. give up your copyright).

I don’t quite get your point here. For starters, we live in a capitalist society and so just recouping cost is not the way things work here. What about profit? Is an author or composer entitled to that? I do hope you do at least include living expenses in your concept of cost so that authors don’t have to wander aimlessly from friendly blogger loft to loft each night seeking a place to sleep and jack in to upload their latest creation. Looking at creative work from a different angle, I doubt your friends Lessig and Doctorow live hand to mouth and turn down money from their publishers (though I’m sure they are both generous and give of their time as well, not knocking them).

The copyright system was created only to increase the size of the public domain; please don’t cheat the public by taking more of it than you need.

Really? I thought the system was created to ensure creators would make their works available to other people and structured so that there is compensation rather than just what the RIAA would call piracy. Not that I’m a fan of the RIAA but authors (and painters and musicians, etc.) do need a mechanism to reward and encourage their efforts. I don’t think Lessig and Doctorow believe they are cheating the public.

And don’t tips 3 and 4 sort of conflict with each other? Steven King tried the read and donate model recently but couldn’t make it work and stopped releasing chapters of that book; if one of the bestselling authors is unable to be successful what makes you think anyone can? Similarly, how many bloggers who’ve posted donate/Amazon Honor System on their websites have actually received a single dollar?

Okay, let’s just mark this down to the enthusiasm of youth. Overall, the tips do reflect idealism rather than an understanding of the way the (technical) publishing market really works.

Though not power so much as ability to cause gales (or at least a single gale) of laughter. Some anonymous doof posted to Google Question a request for sleazy information on Princeton economics professor/NY Times columnist Paul Krugman. So, in Your Questions Answered, Krugman decided to pick up the $100 offered himself.

More seriously, Google is facing a lawsuit from a sleazy company called SearchKing over changes to SearchKing’s PageRank. Which is what SearchKing sells, so bad for them. LawMeme analyzes as Google replies to SearchKing’s filings.

After a few years as a young wizard directing episodes of TV shows and one acclaimed TV movie (Duel), Steven Spielberg made his break for the big time in 1974 with this based on a true story movie, The Sugarland Express. Goldie Hawn has the featured role; her participation was key to getting the picture greenlighted by the studio (who wanted a big name) but she wanted in to show that her acting chops were not limited to romantic and other comedies. Because one thing’s for sure: this ain’t no comedy.

No, this is a serious film about two young people who get caught up in a chain of events from which there is no turning back. Hawn plays Lou-Jean and William Atherton her husband Clovis. Lou-Jean is just released from a few months in prison and Clovis, who she’s come to visit, has four months of his year left to serve. Their baby Langston, though, has been taken away by Child Welfare, permanently, and this Lou-Jean cannot accept. So she’s come not to visit Clovis, but to bust him out. Escape successful, they hitch a ride with another inmate’s parents, steal the car when their elderly driver is stopped by a highway patrolman (Michael Sacks), and then take the patrolman hostage and drive off in his patrol car to get their son.

Clovis and Lou-Jean’s journey is the stuff of tragic legend, doomed from the start. Only two small town 25 year olds who’d never been to the big city could even begin to believe that the authorities (as embodied by Texas Department of Public Safety Captain Harlin Tanner, played by the old cowboy Ben Johnson himself) would allow them to end up taking a little baby to Mexico. (Sugarland is a little town south of Houston not far from the Mexican border.) So they drive on and on to where they think the boy is, followed by an endless caravan of police cars and news reporters, holding Patrolman Maxwell Slide at gun point. The ending sort of foreshadows, say, Thelma and Louise, with its dirt and water and mass of chasers.

Like any good drama, there are light moments that cut through the tension, bringing temporary release. Momentarily disengaged from the chase, hiding for the night in an RV, the two lovers watch a Roadrunner cartoon at the drive-in next door through the window; a TV crew pulling up next to the truants for an on the move interview has its tires shot out by frustrated cops; denizens of the next to last town on the route hold a parade down Main Street with them as the central float, passing in toys and good wishes.

Spielberg shows the natural touch with relationships, image framing, and pacing here that everyone finds out about in his next movies: Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and Raiders of the Lost Arc. He doesn’t need explosions (well, one small one when some wanna-be cops try to shoot up our protagonists) or drag racing-type challenges (okay, again, just one at the beginning of everything), just simple movement used as a framework for drilling deeper and deeper into the psyche of our two lost souls. The relationship of the three youngsters (the patrolman is only nine months on the job, more or less the same age) evolves as the time and intensity of emotions moves on; several times Slide says things that show he too is young and naive, willing to give his life if necessary to stop anything worse from happening, but wise enough to try time and again to talk his captors into surrendering.

Recommended

Rumors have been floating here in the Bay Area for weeks that 49ers coach Steve Mariucci needed to go deep in the playoffs to get the kind of contract extension he wants out of upper management. The coming season will be Mooch’s last on his current contract, leaving him in a nasty lame duck limbo, and pays him a below average $2.2 million to boot. The papers are reporting that he wants in the $3.5-4M neighborhood for four or five years that seems so fashionable this year.

But of course the Niners did not go deep in the playoffs and instead showed a lack of depth in losing yesterday. A lack of coaching creativity for sure, which confirms for me that Mariucci doesn’t have what it takes to bring another Vince Lombardi Trophy to Candlestick Park. In last week’s comeback against the Giants, the key to victory was loosening up on both sides of the ball, no huddle with lots of motion on offense and blitzes and last minute movement on D. Yet even after the team fell behind early yesterday, the coaching staff stayed in a shell and the result was predictable. The wasted drive at the end of the first half was emblematic of Mariucci’s coaching and why he should leave.

Team owner and his (current) coach are expected to meet tomorrow to talk about the negotiations for a new deal. Might it also be the meeting at which York informs Mariucci that the most he can hope for is an extension for $2.5M for two years? How would Steve react to that?

On the other hand, rumors also say that the possibility of Mooch coming available is why Jacksonville has not yet hired a coach and oppositely why Denny Green, who is salivating over the Niner job, withdrew from consideration there.