Category: Personal

Reading this NY Times review of Insomnia, I’m not sure if the author liked the movie or not, is recommending it or not. We may see it this weekend either way, Pacino and Williams together are too much to pass up.

garret asks if anyone is still interested in enlisting after reading about Navy nerve gas tests in the ’50s and ’60s but he missed yesterday’s biggest sports story: Arizona Cardinals safety Pat Tillman turned down a five-year, $9 million offer last summer to enlist in the Army for a three year tour along with his younger brother Kevin, a minor league baseball player. The Tillmans expect to serve in the elite Ranger unit and Pat was looking at the age limit (he would have been passed it by the time his next contract was finished) so it was either now or never. He hopes to return to the NFL when his service is over.

This was one of three landmark films Sidney Poitier made in 1967, along with In the Heat of the Night and To Sir, With Love, which changed Hollywood in sort of the same way that Jackie Robinson changed baseball. Not that he was the first black actor but he was the first black film star. This was also the last time Spencer Tracy and Katherine Hepburn acted together, the last movie Tracy made before he passed away. Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner was a big box office hit and played straight into the changing attitudes of Americans at the time. No doubt about anybody’s character, though, with Hepburn and Tracy rich white San Francisco liberals, Poitier a world-famous philanthropist doctor, and Hepburn’s neice Katharine Houghton making her only major film appearance as the young, beautiful, willful daughter who brings him home.

The script does have some stilted dialog; the producers obviously had a message to deliver and weren’t worried about pushing it. The monsignor’s speeches and the scene were Hepburn fires her gallery manager are two good examples. One quibble: I know I was just a little kid and not too observant when this film was made but I know I don’t remember teenagers dancing around the suburban streets just because a radio was playing.

Stanley Kramer directed Guess with a strong touch, setting off the dramatics with comical scenes with Isabel Sanford (yes, she went on to move on up as Mrs. Jefferson), using strong, emotional colors to augment the tone. Every (major) character gets at least one significant monologue but Spencer Tracy’s speech, the film’s climax, is powerful yet understated, moving, and wonderful.

Recommended–duh!

I bet you never heard of this one either. But thanks to the magic of Tivo Suggests, I ended up with 1940’s The Earl of Chicago on my playlist and on a whim watched it. Robert Montgomery plays the title character, a Chicago mobster who becomes an English lord through an accident of birth, with a kind of Edward G. Robinson pseudo-impersonation and an odd little nervous laugh. Edward Arnold plays the lawyer who Montgomery framed and then befriends. Edmund Gwenn plays the perfect English butler. I thought this was a comedy, to be honest, until the ending.

Director Richard Thorpe, who started in mass-produced silent Westerns and went on to make some classics and some Elvis flicks, doesn’t do much in this movie at all but that’s not too surprising since Earl is one of three movies he directed in 1940. Lesser Samuels wrote the screenplay and he ought to get the blame, I suppose. Not recommended

Pootie Poot? We elected a man president of these United States and he goes around calling the president of Russia Pootie Poot?

Negative-interest bonds just sound weird, don’t they? But when Warren Buffett is doing the selling, institutions line up to buy.

When I first moved to California, I opened my checking account with First Nationwide Bank based on branch location, fees, and recommendation. Not longer after, the bank was acquired by Golden State Bancorp, which merged First Nationwide into it’s CalFed (California Federal Bank) operating subsidiary. I’ve been reasonably satisfied with CalFed over the last few years and use the online banking facility extensively; I guess my biggest complaint has been the user unfriendly nature of that application. My investments, such as they are, have been handled for a number of years at Salomon Smith Barney. Actually, the account was with Smith Barney originally and then that firm was acquired by Travelers and merged in with Salomon Brothers; Travelers later merged with Citicorp to form Citigroup.

The financial world keeps getting smaller. In a move that some analysts say presages a new round of consolidation in the industry, Citigroup has made a deal to acquire Golden State Bancorp. The seller in this situation, the largest shareholder of Golden State, is none other than Ron Perelman, who needs the dough to clean up some of his other financial shenanigans. Citigroup chairman Sandy Weill, on the other hand, is a major strategist and seems to live for the next deal.

Meanwhile, I will (a) probably need to get new checks and get used to a new online banking system and (b) wonder if there will be any worthwhile synergistic changes from having investment and retail banking with the same company. Some banks, for example, count investment accounts towards minimums required for certain levels of service. Which might be nice. Or will I find the new fee and minimums structure unreasonable and switch my retail banking? Since this merger probably won’t close for the better part of a year, I have plenty of time to find out.

She wants to hold my hand, Daddy!

What do you want son?

What should I do, she wants to hold my hand!

What does your heart say, son?

She watches me across from the playground!

What does she see, son?

She passes me notes in class.

What does she write, son?

She whispers in my ear as we pass in the hall!

What does she tell you, son?

She giggles at me every morning on the bus.

What makes her laugh, son?

I KISSED HER DAD!

Sure they have Hamlet, the Book of Job, and The Old Man and the Sea on the list but no Heinlein, Clancy, or Grisham?

Those who forget history…

When is About Schmidt going to be released?

RSN, of course, is a TLA that means Real Soon Now. An old standby in the software business. Customer question: When will that bug be fixed? Vendor answer: Real soon now. Sun announced today that RSN they will include a free application server with Solaris 9. Well, not until next year, actually. And now customers will have to pay for Solaris on multi-processor computers even though they don’t pay now. (Did I mention that about 99% of the servers Sun sells have two or more CPUs?)

The only price information I can find is “$50 and up.” But the app server, and directory server too, will be included. Since we used to list the price of the application server, when I worked there, at as much as $35,000 per CPU (including a directory server license), this is probably a price break for customers. New level of competition for BEA too, eh? Further, Sun will also include file system and volume management improvements in Solaris 9 that eliminate the need for customers to purchase corresponding Veritas products that run up to $40,000 plus support. A Veritas spokesman says this is only a minor inconvenience for his company.

Vegas Trip pictures are now online

On the other hand, who the hell decided to call this pop trash Rockin’ for the USA when there isn’t one legitimate rock and roll act on the bill?

Sometimes shows go too soon, sometimes too late, sometimes who cares, and sometimes just right. As this TV season ends (you all know summer doesn’t count, right?), we said goodbye to Titus, X-Files, Spin City/Dharma and Greg, and Ally McBeal.

Titus is leaving way too soon. Darkly humorous, unafraid to go past conventional limits, and deathly funny, Christopher Titus’s look at the people in his real life was cancelled after only two seasons. “That which does not kill us, makes us funny.” That quote, from Christopher Titus’ Philosophies of Life, is an excellent summary of why the show is so funny. This guy is good, really good, and so this cancellation will be just a bump in the road; we’ll see more of him very soon.

The X-Files finale was, I thought, satisfying and imaginative but should have aired two years ago. Carter, Manners, and the rest of the X creative crew made nice use of dead or long gone characters, got Duchovny back to give the focus to Mulder and Scully as it should be, and summed up the alien conspiracies for longtime viewers. Mitch Pileggi, the always underused AD Skinner, played a major role. William B. Davis gives us a wild, long-haired surprise as the Cigarette Smoking Man and finally unveils his reason for protecting Mulder all these years: he wanted to see the look on Mulder’s face when he finally learned the truth and the truth did not set him free but broke him. Ah but the truth didn’t break him, it bonded Mulder and Scully closer than ever, and set us up for the next big screen adventure coming in 2004. But the last two seasons were just, well, superfluous. Robert Patrick and Annabeth Gish, both okay actors, didn’t have the chemistry, the just right match for the materials that Duchovny and Gillian Anderson have.

Some viewers might put Spin City in the too late category because the show should have quit gracefully when Michael J. Fox had to leave due to illness two years ago. I would disagree though because Charlie Sheen and the producers were able to reinvent the deputy mayor character rather than just try and slip Sheen in as repackaged Fox. This worked for all of, say, half a season. Maybe it was ratings or network pressure, maybe it was writer laziness, but in any case the show just became repetitive and boring. Dharma and Greg fell into the same rut after going strong for several seasons. The show page to which I linked in the previous sentence, the network’s description for the last two episodes, is precisely reflective of this show’s rut: setting the parents off against each other once again. And again. And again. You see my point: who cares.

Ally McBeal is leaving while the leaving is good. Callista Flockhart, never to heavy to not look anorexic, has the father figure/action hero/lover she apparently always wanted in Harrison Ford. David Kelley has The Practice, Boston Public, and a new show about young, sexy female lawyers who not only work together but live together (girls club) taking Ally’s schedule slot on the Fall schedule. How many different guys can she fall in love with anyway without at least one sticking around? Let’s be glad that Kelley didn’t cheap shot Ally and Richard into a last second double wedding. The final episode was good, paid tribute to some of the best bits (Ally’s men, especially Gil Bellows’ Billy), the dancing baby, Ally’s tendency to get lost in the ether, singing at the club, and best of all, the whackiness of love.

Ate some fine meals, had some fine company (happy birthday again, Ellie), very light on the gambling, and the flights were more or less normal. We stayed at the Stardust, my second visit there in 16 months and almost certainly my last. Our party had three rooms, all booked together well in advance. Sure, they assigned us three rooms near each other–but all on a smoking floor. Since none of us smoke we were peeved and ended up with rooms on three separate floors. Next, the Stardust does not supply hair dryers, they must be the only name hotel on the Strip that doesn’t. Anyway, enough complaining; I did enjoy the gambling and food at the Stardust, although I lost a few dollars at craps and blackjack but had a good time explaining the details of craps to Viv. Let’s just say Viv is a very quick study, very smart lady.

After arriving and freshening up, we met up with Ellie, Diane, and Andrea (yes I was in Vegas with four wonderful women!) for a walk down to Treasure Island to see the ship battle. Very convincing and realistic–not! But fun and entertaining. Then we walked down and across to the Venetian to see the gondolas in action. Viv and I left the ladies to their shopping and dancing and returned to our hotel for a romantic dinner William B’s, fresh, very flavorful Australian Lobster Tails for Viv and Steak Diane for me.

Sunday late morning was group brunch and then an excursion down to the other end of the strip. We started at New York, New York, which has a really touching memorial to the FDNY outside where the fire boats ride. Then across to the positively huge MGM Grand to see the lion habitat. As usual the creatures were languid if not outright sleepy mid-afternoon. The ladies stepped over to M&M World and the Coke store while I played a few hands of 21.

The Venetian is a gorgeous hotel, this trip I finally went in for a look. Which reminds me that next trip to Sin City has got to be a day or two longer and include visits to the two museums at the Venetian and a stop at the new Wynn Collection gallery. Sunday night we celebrated Ellie’s birthday with dinner at the Venetian at the WB Stage 16 Restaurant; the ladies had some especially tasty alcoholic openers though I stuck with beer. This restaurant is a little pricy (the special martinis are $10 a glass) but a nicer setting than expected and tasty food (the salmon and BBQ chicken pizza were particularly recommended).

Monday was just a comfortable, romantic Bill and Viv travel day. No rush getting out, then over to the airport were we faced a potentially lengthy weather (wind) delay but fortunately it was cleared and we lifted off only a few minutes late. I love flights that are low hassle, don’t you? We even lucked out driving back from SFO and didn’t hit a single jam on 101 even though we were in afternoon rush hour. And then safe and sound back here at home.

Pictures should be posted tomorrow.

Documentary Brings Actresses Together – Where’s Debra Winger?

An interesting essay by Jonathan V. Last on why, contrary to common perception, the Empire is good and the Rebellion bad. The author even accounts for the destruction of Alderaan! (Note: the essay does not review or spoil the new movie in this article.)

Dad says: Many comparisons may be made with the Bush administration, in terms of “just wanting order” and a return to fundamental Christian values.

FridayFive is not all that interesting but I will try and put in a humorous entry:

1. Waterless soap (not soap without water but the kind they have in hospitals that requires no water)
   

2. On this hair? Do you think I need it?
   

3. Do knives count?
   

4. Hey, I’m the bomb, baby!
   

5. Every morning when I wake up

<via garret>

A lawyer’s perspective on the software development lifecycle – brief but to the point.