BillSaysThis

We went to a packed noon showing of the second film in the sequence, so my guess that most people would be home with family, playing or eating, that early in the day was a bust. Still, getting there 20 minutes ahead we had good seats and no hassle with tickets. I enjoyed the movie and so did Vivian. Fairly faithful to the book but some minor differences to account for the fact that the script was perhaps 160 pages and the novel more than four times as long.

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets was fun and the three main child actors have really nice performances, particularly Daniel Radcliffe as Harry, though I didn’t think as much of Tom Felton as Draco Malfoy or Jason Isaacs as Malfoy senior. The latter were too stilted, wooden, though some fault could be in their scripted lines. Alan Rickman is once again dark and brooding, his Snape a good example (for children) of an adult who doesn’t much care for kids but isn’t evil.

Chamber of Secrets is Chris Columbus’ second and apparently final turn as director in the series and possibly this is just as well. Though he’s had some success with child and child-like performers in the past (Home Alone, Mrs. Doubtfire, even the first HP film), I didn’t care as much for his touches here as well as a small over dependence on special effects. Scriptwriter Steve Kloves, who is staying with the series at least through the four known films, does better aside from Draco’s predictable lines. In the special effects department, kudos for Dobby and Aragog, less so for the flying car and Moaning Myrtle.

There are plenty of better reviews out there, so I’ll stop here.

Clearly a must-see

Ah, another minor Tivo pickup that was too tempting to just delete. Though I probably should have, there are other movies on the disc worth watching. Still, a movie about a rock band coming together from the mid-’90s can’t be too bad. And it was recorded off IFC, not the Family Channel, so it gets a few points for indie cred.

The actors are alright, though no names that would be recognized from other films or television. Maybe Kevin Corrigan, who plays the stoner lead guitarist Wynn (who fishes when under stress), and has been a regular on Grounded for Life. Doug MacMillan, who plays the zenmaster road manager Linus, is the lead singer in a band called The Connells in real life. Anyway, our story mainly revolves around Tony Ridge (moderately well-played by Lee Holmes) and Charlie Flagg (Matthew Hennessey, no other credits I could find).

Tony is a reclusive guitarist and songwriter who’s never let anyone hear his music until he gets fired and runs into drummer Charlie. Even as they add Wynn and a bass player, rehearsing in Charlie’s mom’s garage, Tony insists on playing in a closet so the others cannot actually see him. But everyone thinks his indie pop-rock tunes are great and they play a couple of gigs–with Tony faced away from the audience. Hooking up with Linus, the Circus Monkeys get a nasty old van and head out on the road. Leaving North Carolina, the group swings through the South and attract the attention of a stereotypical rip off the artist record company. Finally, before a last gig in Mississippi, the object of Tony’s affection and all his songs meets up with the band. Ann, of course, falls for Charlie and this leads to a fight and eventually a quick trip to a small town jail. When the boys get back home to play a showcase gig for the record company, integrity is kept intact and we fade out to the Monkeys playing anyway.

Written and directed by John Schultz (who also directed this year’s Lil Romeo showpiece Like Mike), Bandwagon never really creates enough tension to sustain 95 minutes of screen time. There are some interesting ideas, like a running conflict between the bass player and a hick pot dealer, but too many cliches (the record company execs, the zenmaster) and too much filler. Not enough done to create visual excitement, either, and the music is only good. This was Schultz’s first film, so no big deal, but he allegedly is directing a new Ripley film (though no Matt Damon) and that one will get much less slack from me.

Not recommended and, you know, I didn’t intend to write nearly this much on such a small movie.

Or rather that part of it I peruse. Sometimes.

Ev announces the winner of the Blogger website redesign contest, Kevin Conboy. The winning design, though, is kept secret and he doesn’t even provide a link to Conboy. Google didn’t turn up much, except perhaps he is the Kevin Conboy who just joined Creation Chamber as Design Director.

Jason unveils the redesign of Shellen.com, which is nice and makes me jealous because as much as he might badmouth his own design skills, they are still better than mine.

Still in the Pyra world, Steve, who loves any programming language he finds for at least 15 minutes, seriously needs a redesign but at least updated his blogroll. Jason doesn’t believe in blogrolls, apparently, since he’s never really had one on his site.

garret thinks a bum tooth and a big holiday make a good enough excuse to avoid the daily linkage! the nerve!

Adam is getting over his serious headcold with a marathon Metroid Prime session.

Wes is intermittently offline–I got a 404 just now. This has been happening for days now. Then again, he is always doing something odd, like moving or playing with his DNS.

Whump is just being geeky!

PhilR is gnawing. Given that tomorrow is what it is, seems like good practice to me. Though we are having Cornish Game Hens here.

Karl, in a more serious holiday vein, asks that we contemplate the true meaning behind the “What Wold Jesus Drive?” campaign. He’s certainly right to say that those who dismiss it by citing the recent priestly misadventures is a copout. And happy Big 3rd to him and his Sweet One!

Jason L. left the pediatric ward behind, for a few precious moments at least, to conjure up a cool search term highlighting function integrated into his Movable Type installation.

Pam, with a little help from your’s truly and my small bag of PHP tricks, posted a large gallery of classic high school marching band photos. Her marching band, that is, from back in the day.

John Lim responds to a reader’s questions on PHP in a very practical, pragmatic way. Just like PHP itself.

DaveW is, well, just being Dave. I would point out that I am still not in his blogroll.

Steven posted a clueful entry on Islam. Not everyone got the point.

The Sweet One had a tough commute this morning. But soon her commutes will be much shorter and she will have much more time to devote to me. Which is the point of everything anyway.

I am hungry now.

As we all get ready for the second installment of the trilogy to be released next month, I thought I’d start dropping in some linkage to wet your appetites:

To start with, a new trailer. Hint: no matter what your net conneciton speed, get the fullscreen high bandwidth version and wait out the time to download.

Second, an interesting Popular Science article on the software behind the digital effects used to bring the Battle of Helm’s Deep, a key confrontation in the film, to life.

As The Sweet One wrote in her blog, we watched the new and longer special edition of Fellowship of the Ring this past Saturday to get in the mood. While I wouldn’t recommend purchasing this DVD set, we had a Blockbuster gift card sitting on the dresser for half a year, just begging to be used to rent it. We’re waiting for the deluxe, 20 disk set that’s sure to be released in 2005, after The Return of the King is all done at the theaters.

One can never tell what may happen with technological discoveries and developments that threaten entrenched economic interests. Even more so when the interests are as politically powerful as the energy companies currently stand. Add in a stark ideological wall demonstrated by the way the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission dealt with the State of California during the energy crisis of 2000-2001. Any proposition that goes against these companies faces a hard, hard path.

No reason, then, to be surprised by last Friday’s announcement by the Environmental Protection Agency that the New Source Review program was being cancelled. New Source Review ensures that power generation plants do not use a very large loophole in the original (1972) Clean Air Act to increase the pollution produced by expanding these plants instead of building new ones. The power companies have been trying to get rid of it for years and now that the Republicans are safely ensconced in power, the companies got their wish. Paul Krugman provides an excellent analysis of these shenanigans in today’s Times.

However, a recent scientific discovery at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory may make this advantage, and the corresponding ecological damage, short-lived. A group of Materials Science researchers have found that indium nitride has slightly different electrical properties than previously thought and as a result likely makes possible extremely efficient, low cost solar power cells. That is, economically viable use of solar power on a very large scale. The very thought gives me shivers–consider the economic and environmental implications here, which are simply staggering!

A friend, though, raises the point that I mentioned in the opening of this entry. How will the very powerful, very rich, very entrenched companies clearly threatened by such a massive dislocation respond? Will they be able to use their money and connections to stiffle this change?

Another life memory, which came to mind this morning for some odd, unknown, neuron-firing down an old path reason. Just the phrase “Who loves ya, baby?” and the word lollipop. Which can only connect to ’70s TV icon Telly Savalas–Kojak.

I met him once at the Meadowlands Race Track when I was in high school. My parents used to have a thing for the trotters (that’s the kind of horse race where the jockey sits in a little cart behind the horse, also known as harness racing) and would go fairly often. Every few months they would take my sister and me on a Saturday night and we always sat in the nice restaurant part. My mom noticed Savalas sitting a few rows in front of us. He was there with another older bald man, not his brother, and two extremely hot young blondes. Of course my mom made us go over for an autograph.

My sister, although only 14 or so at the time, was a very attractive, tall blonde and easily looked more like 17 or 18 so Savalas gave most of his attention to her. Didn’t bother me because his female companions were more or less falling out of their dresses and I was 17, no way I was looking anywhere else. He signed our programs and we left him and his dates to each other’s pleasure.

Odd Hollywood connections: Savalas is the father of Nicolette Sheridan and godfather to Jennifer Aniston.

How did the Raiders lose four straight games earlier this season? I just saw Gannon put Al’s Boys up 35-14 on a beautiful spiral down the middle to Jerry Rice, his thrid TD pass of the game (the other two were to breakout youngster Jerry Porter), while both of the main running backs also have running TDs. Can the Raiders keep it up next Sunday against hot rookie QB Chad Pennington and the Jets?

Will we hear calls this week from the Midwest yammering for Marc Bulger to get the starting QB job back? After all, Kurt Warner lost for the fifth time in five starts this year and he blew a chance to tie the game at the end by losing a fumble in the red zone on the Rams’ last offensive play of the day. Coahc Mike Martz said he called a very safe pass play, that should leave them easily set up for a field goal on an incomplete, but LaVar Arrington gave Steve Spurrier a huge pre-Thanksgiving present.

Is Marty Mornhinweg setting himself up to be fired? Sure, he’s a QB guru and is doing a pretty decent job with rookie Joey Harrington, but decisions like the one he made today, to kick off after winning the coin toss to start overtime, could easily prove to the voluble Matt Millen that he needs more seasoning as an offensive coordinator.

In the college scene, how about a shoutout to Pete Carroll and the bruising team at USC? After absolutely demolishing crosstown rivals (F)UCLA yesterday 52-7, the Trojans moved up to #6 in both the AP and Coaches polls. Washington State, the only team ahead of them in the Rose Bowl race, lost their big local rivalry game yesterday and now UCLA can (shudder) do us a huge favor–give us the Pac-10 title–by beating WSU in two weeks. Even without a UCLA win, we can almost guarantee a top-level bowl appearance by knocking off the Whimpering Irish at home. Major kudos to QB Carson Palmer–he’s passed for 2,251 yards and 23 TDs with five INTs in USC’s last seven games and has thrown at least two TD passes in eight straight games.

Being able to express one’s self with words is very important to me. The Sweet One is very shy so the first few months we were together she didn’t really let me see this ability in her conversations. As time passed she warmed up, relaxed (hell, she even passed the road test for her driver’s license!), let me know her true heart, and started writing a blog. I don’t think she was very comfortable writing at first. Now, though, she is really doing a nice job. I love my Sweet One!

Everyone knows about the ludicrous version of Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds recorded by William “Capt. Kirk” Shatner back in the late ’60s. Bad enough that my beloved Trek was tarnished by Shatner’s vocalization. But this morning I heard something even worse. Something that shook me to the core. I’m almost scared to write about it in case I might hear it again in my mind.

Spock Sings. Yes, Leonard Nimoy, who was never content to play second fiddle even though that was to be his lot in life, also recorded an album in those late, lamented psychedelic days. This being the web, there are even parts available for current day viewing displeasure, such as this QuickTime movie of his song about Bilbo Baggins. On KFOX-FM this morning, Greg Kihn played a bit of the Baggins song, some of Twinkle, Twinkle Little Earth (think of Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star with the lyrics reversed), and far too much of Nimoy’s take on Proud Mary. I swear I will never be able to listen to the Creedence or Turner versions of that song again without cringing!

Amazon even offers an imported CD featuring “the best” of Shatner and Nimoy together: Spaced Out: The Best of Leonard Nimoy and William Shatner. For the masochists out there.

Is this another sign that Humanity has just gone too far and should retreat to the caves and trees?

Rolling Stone named Little Steven, Miami Steve Van Zandt–Silvio Dante to his Northern New Jersey pals–a Person of the Year. He’s rocking all over the world on tour with Bruce, getting gruff and resentful on the tub with Tony, and leading a rock revival on the radio with his own Underground Garage.

Some months ago, probably late march or early April, road crews came in and ripped the asphalt off a stretch of road covering an overpass. Specifically, where Whisman Road goes over Central Expressway and the CalTrain tracks. No big deal, probably routine maintenance work, I figured. A few weeks go by and no crew cmes back to repave; okay, this is probably the busy time of year for them. A few months go by and I start to wonder. November hits and I start getting annoyed.

I actually go over this stretch of road on average once in each direction every day so the sequences of holes and rough concrete does matter. I emailed the Public Works Department at the City of Mountain View. An engineer there responded but said the project was under county control. After a week more, he wrote back with the name and contact information for the person managing the work.

I called there just now and got a load of hooey that adds up to one word: bureaucracy. At its finest, I’m sure. The engineer said that the project was supposed to be routine maintenance on the joints supporting the roadway but when the crew opened things opened, substantial damage was found and requires more work than was budgeted for to correct. Of course there are spending limits, $100,000 in this situation, and the work would cost more than that to complete. The best answer the county department can think of is to leave their mess behind and wait until early next year to write a proposal for another project to fnd the rest of the work. Meanwhile drivers can go spit.

He actually admitted that his department has not even written the proposal for the remaining work yet. What the heck if eight months go by and the thousands of drivers that use this road every day get annoyed and annoyed without so much as a sign to explain things. Yeah, that’s the way we like our government.

My site seems to average about 175 hits a day. Which is fine, though not in the garret or Steve range, but almost all of the hits come from search engines rather than links from other sites. (I do certainly appreciate the links from friends.) Lately, an amusingly large percentage of the hits have come from terms similar to ‘2003 movies’.

In the course of spelunking tonight, I hit stevenberlinjohnson.com. Steven is the author of the very hot, very now book Emergence: The Connected Lives of Ants, Brains, Cities, and Software. He wrote about a concept, which was quickly given the name Googleshare, which uses the Google web services API to calculate the percentage of hits a second search term has within a bigger set. For example, Johnson gives the following numbers:

Emergence: 1,450,000 hits

Emergence with SBJ: 5190

Mindshare: .3%

So a couple of bright fellows quickly whipped up implementations of the idea. One of them, by edward george, is publicly available (that is, you don’t need to supply your own Google API key) so I took a shot to see what my Googleshare was with “2003 movies” and the result was quite surprising: ‘billsaysthis’ has a 10.6% googleshare of ‘”2003 movies”.’ And that goes a long way to explaining the volume of hits.

In our ongoing look at the changing world of NFL head coaches, I notice that my most recent prediction has come true. Far from being the Redskins’ starting quarterback for the rest of the season, Shane Matthews was demoted for second time to third on the depth chart. Coach Spurrier has yet to decide between Danny Wuerffel and Patrick Ramsey for his next victim/starter but both seem likely to get significant playing time.

Good for a laugh: Spurrier said “The offense has struggled. We’ve struggled in pass protection. So it’s not all on Shane. But we want to see what the other guys can do.” As if they haven’t all had the chance to be screwups in his Not Ready for the NFL Offense.

In an Associated Press story on the wires today, we get some very positive Atkins Diet news:

At least three formal studies of the Atkins diet have been presented at medical conferences over the past year, and all have reached similar results. The latest, conducted by Dr. Eric Westman of Duke University, was presented Monday at the annual scientific meeting of the American Heart Association, long a stronghold of support for the traditional low-fat approach.

Of course, with the Sweet One and I well over the 50 pound (combined) loss level in less than three months, we had no doubt on this but to see some Establishment types begin to show positive studies is very nice.

Have the guy who wrote the screenplay for Sum of All Fears rewrite the classic Frankenheimer/Sinatra Manchurian Candidate, with Denzel Washington in the Sinatra role. No director yet attached. Man o’ Manischewitz, as we used to say. And since when is Tina Sinatra a movie producer? According to IMDB, she’s still looking for a follow-up to her classic (he-he) miniseries biography of dear departed Daddy.

More precisely, Dylan’s own website. A very nice example of how to be fan friendly without going overboard. In contrast to, say, Springsteen, Dylan posts complete streaming versions of songs that he’s performing in concert; he did Something as a tribute to George Harrison the other night and it’s up on the site already, as well as current tour versions of Zevon’s Mutineer and Henley’s The End of the Innocence.

Bruce has clips of each of the songs on his current album but that’s it. To judge by his website, you’d almost think The Rising is his first release–there’s absolutely zero mention of any of his prior albums. Hell, Dylan’s site has a page that allows one to search for songs based on lyrics! Both sites have links labelled “Discussion”, presumably message boards, but neither page would open for me in Crazy Browser, had to slip back to IE to view. Didn’t really check Dylan’s but for Bruce I think the main Usenet newsgroup, rec.music.artists.springsteen is better.

Color samples. Or color samples. I like Van Gogh.

and…

Welcome to Contractors State License Board, including Home Improvement Contracts: Putting the Pieces Together – Writing Contracts

Seeing a trend?

Something, say, from MetaFilter? Not the kind of thing I like to wear but YMMV.

Me too, not trying to pull that particular piece of wool over anyone’s eyes. Shows up in different ways with different people. John Allen Muhammed, Osama Bin Laden, Admiral John Poindexter, Ken Lay, Dusty Baker, those are some easy and obvious ones currently in the public view. A friend passed along a link to ExtremeIroning.com last night.

Extreme Ironing is, in their own words, “the latest danger sport that combines the thrills of an extreme outdoor activity with the satisfaction of a well pressed shirt.” These goofballs even held a World Championship in September! And let’s not forget about the German Extreme Ironing Section and the Austrian Ironing Team. There are many pictures of the absurdity on these websites (and others as well, I’m sure) but here is one photo that should give you some idea of the depths of this brand:

Furthermore, today is the day for all you hand fiends: the 2002 International Rock Paper Scissors Championships are going down tonight in Toronto.

I leave the answer as to my own form of insanity, in the tradition of K&R, as an exercise for the reader.

Thanks to Nelson Weiderman, a fellow curmudgeon, a minor annoyance in the PHP class that I posted to the PHP Classes Repository has been resolved. The class didn’t really handle the last day before an event very well and now it does. Get the new version and rejoice! (Actually you only need one file.)