Category: Personal

Meta Efficient is probably a good thing though as usual one must wonder if the American/Western European consumer base will take the hint; after reading through some of the site I know I won’t make much use of it.

Creed breaks up

Bruce Arena drops three Wizards players because the Rapids won’t release one for the Grenada matchup.

Nearly 40 years after he lost it, Rolling Stones bass player Bill Wyman has one of his guitars back, thanks to a New Zealand musician.

The NY Giants signed Kurt Warner one day after he was released by the Rams in a salary cap move.

Communications Breakdown, one of the extras on disk one of the recent Led Zeppelin DVD, is lip synched. Badly. (Okay, this is less obvious than it sounds.)

The annual Bilderberg meeting starts today

The 1/4k long thread about ads on MetaFilter, which I would contrast with this thread on non-military use of lasers.

What I liked were the Summer days

When I could wear a loose pair of shorts

With a short sleeve shirt pulled out

Sneakers or dock shoes, no socks

Now I wear two shirts every day

Because the office is ice cold

I have to tuck the shirts in to

Long pants because appearance counts

We got up early every morning

Either going to the gym or Vivian

Wanted to catch an earlier train

So then I could have coffee and surf

Now we get up early every morning

Still go to the gym and catch earlier trains

But I have to head to the office

Straight from the train station

I had time to walk to the corner

With Evan, chitchat about politics

Geeky stuff, a new fish tank or

Just think to myself about whatever

Now I’m lucky to get one morning walk

On the weekend, the talk is not as fresh,

People at the office are nice but not the same

Coffee at the office is nowhere near as good

Our National Security Advisor has an up close and personal view, so I have no doubt her assessment will prove correct: Bush will rank high, Rice says, referring to what she sees as history’s view of GWB. Or maybe I do because, as Dan Gilmor points out, We Don’t Need No Stinking Constitution. Gilmor quotes Jonathon Turley: Civil liberties are tolerated only to the extent that they will not interfere with the government’s actions. Who or what will inconvenience the Administration next? Or will we just not hear about them because action was taken carefully and quietly enough no to attract any attention?

One of my good friends, a very sweet woman named Betsy, got married this weekend to Steve Robinson, hence her new name and the cliched post title. I really wish we could have been there to help celebrate but the affair took place on the eastern coast of Florida. I have been assured by the bride that the entire day was amazing, truly memorable and the whole thing went by in a flash, and I can relate to that–I hardly believe more than a year has passed since my own wedding. She’s sending some photos soon but I know that Betsy was a most beautiful bride and I wish them all the love, health and happiness in the world.

We had thought to go see something new in the theaters this weekend but between the ever higher ticket prices and the ever lower quality (friends and reviewers have warned us away from such anticipated flicks as Troy, Van Helsing and even Shrek 2) that we just said screw it.

So I found myself watching Stalag 17, a 50 year old classic instead; like any true classic, one can watch this film time and again and find new bits to enjoy, and this was far from my first viewing. Written for the screen and directed by Billy Wilder, I would rank this as possibly the best comedy made about the Second World War and one of the Top 10 in both the WWII and war comedy categories overall. If you want to know where all the stereotype personas of that era come from, watch this film.

William Holden plays the lead, a scrounger of the first order, who no one likes (except his sidekick, of course) and who everyone suspects of collaborating with the Nazis. Otto Preminger, usually found in the director’s chair on a movie set, here plays the camp commandant. There is even a Sergeant Schultz, played well by Sig Ruman. Peter Graves, Harvey Lembeck, Robert Strauss and Richard Erdman played the other memorable POWs.

Wilder throws in nearly equal amounts of tension and whimsy, at times in the same scene, but the audience is never allowed to forget precisely where these men are and how serious the consequences of a bad decision can be. But if you’re wondering, yes, this has to be the direct inspiration for the ’60s sitcom Hogan’s Heroes.

definitely recommended

I have to admit, we watched What a Girl Wants at dinner time tonight. A pretty cute little movie, if more than a bit predictable. I was surprised to see Colin Firth in it but then came the scene where he dances in front of a mirror wearing black leather pants and a t-shirt, playing air guitar to Rock and Roll, Hoochie Koo I understood. Oddity: the movie was based on a play written in 1958 by William Douglas-Home whose brother was Britain’s Prime Minister back in the day and Firth’s character’s run for Parliament is the underlying external event driving the film’s main conflict.

mildly amusing

TS1 and I spent another few terrific hours at the Cantor Center at Stanford this holiday afternoon. Always good to see the Rodin works, especially Gates of Hell, and I am appreciating Richard Deibenkorn more each time I see his works. Added a couple of photos to the gallery: me with Visser 82 and Viv looking angelic.

Roy Moore: Gone but sadly not forgotten

Spot on Enterprise finale review: So bring on the space-Nazis. Let’s see what they got.

I laughed quite a bit at the 2003 remake of The In-Laws but I still am not quite sure why they bothered. Films like this just don’t do big box office–IMDB shows a final US gross of just over $20M–but then Michael Douglas, who stars as the CIA agent here, has a big name but little recent track record of delivering results and Albert Brooks, cartoons aside, never has.

Most people would probably prefer the 1979 original, with Peter Falk and Alan Arkin in the roles played by Douglas and Brooks here, and I can’t argue that too much. Today’s bigger budgets and better special effects technology are nice but in some ways they make things too easy, too smooth. And Falk just has a little bit more in the way of cranky idiosyncracies that draws one into his clutches than the slick as a used car salesman Douglas.

mildly amusing

All streaks end eventually (which Arsenal fans should remember when the EPL restarts) but tonight’s 1-0 loss in Columbus was really sad because the game should have been an easy 2-1 or 3-1 win instd of ending a few match unbeaten skein for the Earthquakes. No fault to backup goalkeeper Jon Conway but Jamil Walker was no substitute for Dwayne Derosario up front and the main reason we were shut out.

Walker had chance after chance but was hesitant or unable to fight through the defenders. In fact San Jose had most of the possession all night and held Columbus to a single serious offensive that, but that turned into the only score. Besides Walker’s miscues, no one else was particularly strong in the box either with Corrales, Donovan and Mullan launching rockets way over the net. Definitely a lost opportunity.

Derosario and regular GK Pat Onstadt are away for this and the next few games as Canada has some friendlies and a World Cup 2006 qualifying round. It won’t get better for us either, as the Quakes will lose Donovan Landon and Richard Mulrooney to US National Team duty. So get ready to see more of Walker, though perhaps coach Dominic Kinnear will go with teenager Arturo Alvarez up front with Brian Ching. Ronnie Ekelund was out again due to neck infection and I can’t find anything saying when he’s expected but when he does return Donovan can move back to the front. Fortunately we have two weeks until the next MLS match–home against MetroStars on June 12–for some healing and thinking.

On a related note, Fox Sports World announced new deals with both the Premiership and FA to broadcast more English soccer in America. Excellent! Or as Dave might say, Bing!

Another Storage blog

Not much news out of Liverpool since Gerard Houllier was deposed, just a few players departing and rumors of new signings or at least player interest. With Jose Mourinho all set to take over at Chelsea, even though Ranieri is still on the payroll, the main rumor I hear is for Valencia’s Benitez to be the new manager; the Spanish and UEFA Cup champions, however, are not keen on losing him and appear to be negotiating a new deal so he’ll stay.

Other possibilities spoken of are Charlton’s Alan Curbishley and Celtic’s Martin O’Neill; the latter particularly has long been the subject of speculation and Curbishly would be making an interesting move considering his current club only finished three places and seven points back of the Reds.

Player Changes:

Emile Heskey, a starter for both LFC and England, apparently couldn’t quite meet the standards with his slower, more physical style, especially with Cisse coming to Anfield this Summer, so he was sold to Middlesboro 10 days ago for £3.5M (which could rise to £6.25M if conditions are met). One of my fellow SpoFites/Liverpool supporters, a rough character himself who goes by StarFucker, was more than a litle happy at this subtraction.

Djimi Traore, a defender who never really broke though to a starting spot on the squad in five seasons, is moving to West Brom for a £1M fee. He showed some speed and opportunism when given some playing time this past year (the time came due to Carragher’s and Finnan’s injuries, mostly) but I guess not enough. His new team needs to bulk up as they earned promotion from the First Dvision into the Premiership and I have to think Traore is a good buy for the Baggies.

Markus Babbel, a defender who lost his starting spot a couple of seasons ago when he was injured and then couldn’t play his way back in, has returned after a season’s loan at Blackburn Rovers. Whether there is space for Babbel is an open question and he may head home to a German side.

One tranfer that didn’t happen is goalkeeper Jerzy Dudek to PSV Eindhoven. The Polish National Team player knows he is likely second choice to Chris Kirkland and has had the bulk of playing time over the last two seasons only due to injuries, but apparently wants to wait and see who will take over before making a decision on a change of scenery.

Meanwhile, England and Bayern Munich midfielder Owen Hargreaves has come out and essentially asked the Reds to buy his contract. Hargreaves is only 23 but has spent his career with the German giants and would probably figure better into the national squad if he made a move to the EPL. I think he would certainly be an improvement over Diouf and Cheyrou on the right side if a deal can be arranged.

Djibril Cisse will sign, for a £14M fee, on the first of July to move over from Auxerre and presumably battle Milan Baros to partner with Michael Owen. Cisse, by the way, lead the French league in scoring with 26 goals, ten more than Owen managed. One might wonder where this leaves the player who showed some flash last season, the not yet 20 year old Florent Sinama-Pongolle, but seasons are very long and injuries put shoes on the turf all the time.

All this will be settled soon, I suppose, since the Reds will regroup for training in mid-July after the European nations settle the trophy in Portugal. The team will head to America for two matches (July 28 and August 3) as part of the Champions World event but sadly both will be held on the East Coast and I will miss the first opportunity since I became an ‘active’ fan to see them play live.

After the original release in the year of my birth, Robert Heinlein’s Stranger in a Strange Land was a key element in the blast that threw science fiction from the dregs of the Golden Age storytelling into the literature of the New Wave. One might, if one were daring enough, connect the book’s popularity among college students and message that freeing one’s attitudes towards sexuality from the mores of the post-War period as the key to personal redemption as a seminal factor in the sexual revolution that began only a few years later.

In 1990, two years after Heinlein’s death, his wife authorized the release of the “original uncut” version of the novel. Her forward to this edition justified it with a claim that he was never happy with the massive cuts (from over 200,000 words down to 150,000) imposed by his ublishing house, that the deleted material contained much of value. For historical reasons major fans of the author’s probably ought to read this version but for anyone else I recommend the classic version.

What is gained in all these extra pages? Little in the way of additional plot or character development and much in the way of Heinlein opinion and attitude. In ways that came to flower fully in Time Enough For Love, he explicates in annoying depths on religion, politics, relationships and sexuality. Even editing that was done to strengthen the language and impact has been removed and that is also a bad thing.

Sadly: not recommended

The third collaboration between Joel and Ethan Coen, 1990’s Miller’s Crossing is perhaps the most realist, the least fantastic, of any film they’ve made. Gabriel Byrne stars as the “bright young boy”/right hand to political/crime boss Albert Finney (who sports an odd reddish blonde ‘do for his part). Getting in between them are Marcia Gay Harden as a grifter with her eye on the prize and Jon Polito (Homicide: Life on the Streets) as a rival fed up with the situation.

When I saw this on the program grid I figured the time had finally come to grab the chance and see it; after all, I’ve been hearing great things about for years and usuallyoften enjoy the Coen Brothers’ work. But while Byrne and Gay Harden were pretty good, the visual were very moody and well-suited, the movie as a whole didn’t really strike me as highest level.

Good, mind you, just not great. My biggest issue, as it so often is, concerns the dramatic tension and the lack thereof. There are plot twists and clever transitions but the last act doesn’t ratchet up tight enough to really kick things over the top.

recommended

CNet had an interview with BEA’s Alfred Chuang today and linked back to their story when BEA’s acquisition of WebLogic was announced. That article in turn links to the article about Sun’s acquisition weeks before of NetDynamics.

One of the funny memories of that time was the morning in July I came back from vacation. I asked the guy in the next cube if anything had happened while I was away and he said, casual as could be, that Sun had bought us. Since our CEO Zack Rinat had always told the staff that his goal was to build a billion dollar company, I had expected any acquisition news to feature us as the buyer. My boss wasn’t in that early so I went over to his boss and asked for the details and Russ confirmed it. Quite a bit of news to digest before coffee!

HGTTG scripter interviews himself

No such thing as too much Simpsons!

Avoiding Web Bugs in Microsoft Word: explanation and solution [via FtT]

Early season Aussie Rules action and Geelong is really bringing it on tonight against Essendon in the first period. Geelong rulez!

Keeblers has put out some tasty low carb chocolate chocolate chip cookies and, as LordB predicted, now that the big food companies are getting into the sport, quality’s going up and prices down.