Serendipitous Bits

Fall Musings

2011-11-13T18:30:00.000-08:00

Fall is probably my favorite season, although as time goes by I have realized that I like aspects of all of the seasons. I would sorely miss the distinctive seasons we have in Portland if I moved somewhere that didn't have them.

Fall has many draws for me. I love the cooler weather, not quite the cold of winter, refreshing after the heat of summer. I like the rain. I like the wind. I love the carpets and umbrellas of red, yellow, orange, and burgundy that the trees generate. The crunch of dry leaves underfoot is amazing. I like the coats and boots, and probably most of all the turtlenecks. Hot chocolate and spiced apple cider are simply delightful. Soups become regulars again.

Today I drove across town to pick up some compost to plant a couple of things that should improve spring, and it was a long slideshow of nice houses and lovely trees and leaves all over in the older neighborhoods near where I was going.

On the way back I picked up something to eat at an old favorite place, and swung through the neighborhood where I grew up rather than take the bland drive that was the main route back. It was lovely, and a reminder of just how much I miss the place. There has been some development, although not as much as there might have been. It's still hills with tons of trees around, at times almost a forest between the houses. Even though I live only a couple of miles away now, it seems like a different world on the flatter ground below the hills. I miss the trees all around and the huge forest park within walking distance. It's almost as quiet here on a sort of back street, but not quite.

In life those days seemed like spring, with hopes and plans and such. The way this country has gone since then makes it seem like the rug got pulled out from under all of that. While I don't mind those doing above average who have earned it, the unearned and unethical obscene fortunes that suck the opportunities and justice out of society are a different matter. It's good to see the wider public starting to wake up to what happened and how low that average has been driven and demand that something be done about it.

Tech support amusements

2011-02-25T17:11:00.000-08:00

As those who have read my profile know, I do tech support for a living. Over the years, I've done support via email on a couple of different contracts, and been quite amused by some of the submissions and responses. I was reminded of one of my favorites by some printer woes I noticed on Twitter.

For a little background, we were North American support officially. Since we were also the only email support group, if someone elsewhere in the world emailed us about a printer we supported, and did so in English, we would try to help them. We had a polite Australian customer who submitted a case for an old printer that was no longer supported. We replied to let him know that, along with some generic suggestions that might fix the problems he was seeing.

Here is his gem of a reply, edited only to remove the models and names:

Support Team,

Thanks for the suggestions re the printing problems with the old model printer.

Problem is solved. Third floor balcony. Gravity. Concrete landing area.
Sudden stop.

The bastard will self-park and stop printing jobs on me no more !

Yesterday afternoon, local store introduced me, via my credit card, to
a new model printer of yours. I intend for us to become good friends.
By way of introduction and incentive, we walked into the building past the
broken remains of the old printer.

The new one hasn't missed a beat since !

Naturally, we forwarded that one up the chain as a happy customer.

Red (2010)

2010-10-24T18:19:00.000-07:00

This is pretty much a popcorn action comedy with various strands of life swirled through it. It is a good one. There are a lot of very good and recognizable actors involved. Even with the limited screen time they each get, the script is written well enough and the characters are played well enough that we get the impression that these are people with a past and a future rather than just cardboard stock characters. The mix of comedy, action, and romance reminded me in a way of The Whole Nine Yards, which also had Bruce Willis in it.

As an added bonus, while the trailer had a lot of good lines in it, and gave a starting point of the plot, it did not give away where events went from there. I had a good idea of the sort of movie I was going to see, and I was not disappointed to find otherwise. Instead there was the entertaining pleasure of not knowing what was next or how exactly it would end.

Some Recent Movies

2010-10-22T10:08:00.000-07:00

I've been meaning to post reviews or comments on movies as I see them for a while now, and it has been slipping. So here are notes on a number of films that I have seen in the last couple of months.

The Girl Who Played With Fire

I like the character of Lisbeth Salander quite a lot, even though there are aspects I do not like. I like her intelligence and quiet determination, and endurance in the face of horrible trials. Not so much a fan of the goth look, but it doesn't override the rest. The guarded attitude she has towards others is not entirely foreign to me, but she takes it to a much deeper extent. I suspect if I had suffered through the same things I would probably react in a similar manner, although probably not with the same fashion.

The second movie is different from the first a bit, and has less of a slowly thawing mystery and more of a wrongly accused thriller feel. It is somewhat Hitchcockian in that way, but certainly not in the look of the movie or the characters, and he probably would not have been the best choice of director for it. I am enjoying the character and overall story enough to really want to see the last of the trilogy and read the books, and it will be interesting to see the English remake. I don't know Rooney Mara's work, so she will hopefully do the role justice. If she doesn't, I will probably not forgive Fincher for not casting Ellen Page, who would likely have knocked it out of the park.

Salt

Salt was a very well done thriller and spy chase movie that left me wanting to see a sequel. I liked the human touches that made Evelyn Salt more interesting, such as making sure her cat was taken care of in the middle of being hunted and chased. Angelina Jolie was great in the role, and made the most of those little moments to make the character more than just a plot participant and stunt achiever. It was also nice to see intelligence being displayed on several sides of the story, with less of the wooden cut outs for characters that come up so often in the genre.

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

I have mixed feelings on this one. Someone really needs to give Michael Cera a new role. The young slacker bit worked well in Juno and also in Nick and Nora's Infinite Playlist, but it is getting old, especially since I understand the same character has been played by him in other movies I have not seen. This movie is a decent ensemble piece with a heavy dose of video game sprinkled over it. It's probably pretty decent for the teen geek viewer, and it was visually interesting at that level. My older self was slightly amused by the references to older things they might not catch, and the overall romance was an interesting idea. It's definitely a niche movie though, and it will probably take an opportunistic second viewing before it makes it onto my movie shelves as anything other than a curiosity.

The American

Another "spy" thriller, but in a much more low-key European sense. It leaves out the chases for the most part in favor of a long slow simmer of character action. I liked the sense that we were watching a story about real people living their lives and happening to meet and interact and affect each other. George Clooney was very low-key in the movie, which makes the impact of his pounding the wheel much more significant. I liked the skilled craftsman he played, and the way he played it made it clear that he was not just an emotionless machine, but someone who was real and human underneath the mask he wore for his work, and wanted to remain so. I'll revisit this one again on video.

Inception

A brilliant film that was very carefully made. I loved the scene where Ariadne and Cobb were going over what being a dream architect involved, and watching the city fold back on itself. The movie sets up its own rules, and then follows them to weave a complex and intelligent puzzle. The movie is not perfect, it is almost too slick in a way, but it is very good. The most human and spontaneous moment comes in the middle when a kiss is stolen. I saw it a second time with friends about two months after the first viewing, and it remained impressive. There have been a number of clues to the central mystery posted online by people involved in the movie, and I have been content to avoid them and leave it a mystery.

The Town

I have to admire Ben Affleck, even if he has not always made the best choices of projects. I feel he's underrated as an actor, he is a good writer, and with my first observation of him as a director I have to consider him good at that as well. All three skills are on display here, and the movie benefits from it. It is a good crime caper movie, with a swirl of weird romance. Affleck and Rebecca Hall play the romance and the characters well enough that it would be interesting to have seen them meet under less unusual circumstances. I love the arc of both characters, and it makes the movie much more enjoyable than a simple crime caper, however well done. I would enjoy seeing a sequel with those characters, which would necessarily be a quite different movie.

Never Let Me Go

I intended to read the book by Kazuo Ishiguro first, but I barely got into it before it overwhelmed me with sadness because I could see where it was likely going and I just wasn't in the mood for it. I saw the movie when it finally made it to Portland and it did not disappoint. It is very well done, very thought-provoking, and very sad and very human, and it does not pull any punches. Having said that, it does not use overwhelming visuals to deliver them, and covers certain scenes in a very subdued manner that still delivers emotionally. The story is interesting, and I will have to go back and finish the book to see how that expands on certain details. The movie will make it onto my shelves at some point.

Let Me In

I have not seen the Swedish original yet (Let the Right One In), although the friends I saw this with had. For those who have, the word was that the American version had considerably more violence in it, which probably surprises no one. (They literally leaned over as the credits started and reassured me on that point, and repeated their recommendation for the Swedish movie.) It was a scary vampire movie, and yet it was also more thoughtful about the subject than something like the Twilight series. One could make the argument that it is one of the most "realistic" vampire movies. Not just in how it portrayed the violence, but more so in the characters and what they do and why they do it. I'm not a big fan of scary movies, but it was worth dealing with it for the rest of the movie. Like Never Let Me Go, it takes a situation that is upsetting and sad and looks at how real people would deal with it.

Haiku archive 2

2010-08-11T19:52:00.000-07:00

More haiku and such posted over on Twitter since the last archive.

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05/27/2010:
Roads less traveled
Lost in another time and place
Slipping through the cracks

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05/27/2010:
Bears keep many secrets
Reflections of quiet truths
No one else listens

======================
05/27/2010:
Black and white falling
Rhythms twinkling in a row
Solo without any strings

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05/27/2010:
Waves rolling in time
Endless heartbeat of the sea
Soothing melody

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5/29/2010:
Notes swirling in time
Rhythm on the crowded floor
Dancing in her dreams

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5/30/2010:
Bright webs span the world
Chance makes strangers into friends
The world grows smaller

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7/23/2010:
Memory swirls time
The past fills with smoke and mists
The future is blind

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7/05/2010:
A hidden rose lies
Caught in a thorny thicket
Dreams of waking up

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7/23/2010:
Onward through the dark
Rain drips off reddened cheeks
Wrinkle in the world.

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8/01/2010:
Walking behind a mirror
Sunlight through a prism
Up is down and left is right
But everything looks fine

======================

Complex Mix for a Rainy Day (1)

2010-06-06T18:53:00.000-07:00

Black Sky - Sam Philips (Martinis & Bikinis)
Everybody Wants To Rule The World - Tears for Fears (Peter's Friends Soundtrack)
Symphony No. 5 in C Minor - Beethoven (Immortal Beloved soundtrack)
Bad Romance - Lady Gaga (The Fame Monster (Deluxe Version))
La Isla Bonita - Madonna (The Immaculate Collection)
Like A Prayer - Madonna (The Immaculate Collection)
Girls Just Want To Have Fun - Cyndi Lauper (Peter's Friends Soundtrack)
22 - Lily Allen (It's Not Me, It's You)
F**k You - Lily Allen (It's Not Me, It's You)
Teeth - Lady Gaga (The Fame Monster (Deluxe Version))
Don't Get Me Wrong - The Pretenders (Peter's Friends Soundtrack)
Summer Rain - Belinda Carlisle (Greatest Hits)
Mad About You - Belinda Carlisle (Greatest Hits)
April In Paris - Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong (Forget Paris soundtrack)
Poker Face - Lady Gaga (The Fame Monster (Deluxe Version))
Just A Girl - No Doubt (Tragic Kingdom)
Nobody Knows Me At All - The Weepies (Say I Am You)
If I Didn't Care - Amy Adams & Lee Pace (Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day soundtrack)
Fur Elise - Beethoven (Immortal Beloved soundtrack)

Too zig-zaggy for some, no doubt. The indie music experts will probably have other songs they feel fit in or smooth out the flow. Suggestions are fine, but figure out where and why first. It only seems thrown together on the surface.

Haiku archive 1

2010-05-26T05:19:00.000-07:00

Here are some haiku I've been posting over on Twitter in a convenient catchup archive.

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09/28/2009:
To sleep early
Escape from many trials
To wake in a dream

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01/17/2010:
Dreams of another world
Delicate cherry blossoms
Float away in rain

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02/26/2010:
All are avatars
Playing roles set down for us
but who is inside?

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02/26/2010:
Rain falling on sand
Vanishing without a trace
Mirage in the desert

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02/28/2010:
Curves subtly twisted
In silence no one can hear
Rose lost in the rain

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03/13/2010:
Looking through the window
The window in a locked door
Wishing it was open

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05/22/2010:
Neither white nor black
Twisted coils running off rails
Time outside of time

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05/22/2010:
Visible but not
Shadows of what might have been
Chances lost in mists

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05/22/2010:
The young self sees hope
The future self dreams what will be
The now self walks on

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05/25/2010:
Talking in the dark
Deeper truths can be clearer
Hidden by plain sight

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05/25/2010:
Rolling waves crashing
Grinding rock into wet sand
Salt filled hourglass

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05/25/2010:
Quiet babble sings
Swirling scents float on the wind
Rainbows of petals

The Perfections of Love Affair

2010-03-13T21:52:00.000-08:00

I don't know that I would go so far to say that Love Affair (1994) is a perfect movie, as I'm pretty sure such a thing does not exist. There are a lot of perfect touches in it though, or at least bits and aspects of it that touch pieces of me. I like the other versions of the story, especially An Affair to Remember with Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr who are two favorite actors for me, but this version is my favorite.

The music is pretty much perfectly matched to the movie throughout, both the songs and the excellent Morricone score. The casting is superb, with everyone playing their parts big or small in such a way that the whole story meshes together and no one is a distraction. I can't think of a single shot that does not mesh into and serve the story and it is a pleasure to watch. There are so many little shots that show a little touch that enhances the story and moves it along efficiently.

Even though the whole is absorbing, it is also touching to think that Bening and Beatty were together when making this, and unlike some off-screen pairs who can't make it look like they're in love on-screen, they manage it quite nicely. It's an amusing parallel when they use old pictures of Warren to illustrate his character, and like his character, he was a playboy who settled down.

It is a joy to see Katharine Hepburn on screen again, physical imperfections and all. The scenes at her house and the superb acting there make the rest of the movie believable, especially in the aspect of making the audience believe Mike might actually be able to finally settle down. My other favorite scenes are when Terri and Mike are talking on the upper deck in the rain before the conga line interrupts, the party right before that, the conversation as they're flying into New York and in the terminal, and naturally the final scene.

Since I never was the social butterfly type like Mike, Terri's steadiness tends to be easier for me to identify with. I also love her intelligence and deft handling of Mike in the early parts of the movie. In any case, there are so many human moments in the film that it is quite amazing it holds them all. I've heard that Carrie Fisher did some uncredited work on the script to polish it, and it didn't surprise me when I heard it.

I love the ideas in this film. The idea that people can step out of the comfort of their routines and personas and take a chance on loving someone else who on the surface might not be a good idea. Ginny's observations that "The trick in life isn't getting what you want, my dear, it's wanting it after you get it" and "But I'm not sure Michael is a duck, although he does do a pretty good imitation of one...impostors are usually desperate to behave like what they know they're not." The idea that we can love people despite their imperfections. The idea that love can and will overcome tragedy, and we can keep going.

It's a carefully assembled brew of funny and sad, touching moments and amusing ones, and it just works.

The Last Ten Years

2010-01-01T10:39:00.000-08:00

A decade has come to an end, and as long as we keep consistent, I suppose that the popular idea that decades end with the nine becoming a zero is hardly worth arguing about. Psychologically speaking it is much more powerful than the 1-10 chronology.

This decade has ended on a sad chorus for me, first with the economy turning distinctly downhill and then with my dad passing the night before Thanksgiving and my grandmother on 12/29. I will miss them both, each for their own reasons. Reflecting on them, I think I managed to learn the best of their traits and avoid the less pleasant ones, although I have my own flaws and limitations.

Not being much in the mood to review a decade I would really rather have not endured, although I am glad for my friends in it, I will return to movies as a favorite subject and perhaps a mirror. I'm not going to try to list a 10 best of the decade, as I did not see many films that many people might put on such a list, and such a list is too short for the many excellent films that came out, and in any case I do not feel like judging such a list. I will instead list the films that touched me most deeply for one reason or another, and we'll see how long the list is. They will basically be in chronological order.

Cast Away

The story of a person isolated on an island, and how he survives and returns to civilization. More than anything it inspires one to never give up.

Amelie

This delightful tale of a young woman in Paris was a comfort and reminded me it was ok to just be oneself.

Possession

This was a delightful mix of romance, discovery of the past and parallel tales.

The Harry Potter films

A wonderfully done and involving set of tales set in a different world that is not so different in other ways, I have enjoyed these and the books in the series immensely.

My Big Fat Greek Wedding

I liked this illustration of the power of weddings to merge not just two people, but two families and different cultures.

Under the Tuscan Sun

Although I don't have the nest egg to do something like this, the idea of starting over some place else has a powerful appeal, as much as I love Portland and the people I know here.

Pride and Prejudice

I actually saw two versions of this classic tale in this decade, as well as reading the book for the first time. I prefer the 1995 miniseries when I have the time to watch it, although the 2005 movie is also interesting. The story is a favorite in written or visual form. I think part of the appeal is that I never had any sisters in my immediate family, but that is a minor portion of it.

The Holiday

This one I enjoyed because of the mixture of travel and discovering people in new places.

Music and Lyrics

This one was really just the perfect blend of music and the lyrics of a budding relationship. My favorite moment is actually during the first part of the credits where she sweeps her stuff off of the piano as he is reaching to remove it yet again.

Juno

This movie was a delightfully funny look at an often sad subject, and I loved it because it got its laughs by letting a girl be intelligent and interact with other intelligent people without resorting to stupid pratfalls.

Definitely, Maybe

This was an enjoyable look at the choices we make in our relationships and learning what we really want.

Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day

This one came out at about the same time as Definitely, Maybe, and it appealed for similar reasons, even though the story was rather different and set back on a day at the eve of World War II instead of being spread out over a decade or more.

An Education

This one was about smart people and the choices they make and what they will and will not overlook, with an icing of second chances and what to do with them.

And a few more out of order that should be in the list upon further reflection:

Panic Room
Flightplan
V for Vendetta

I liked these three because they were about ordinary people pushed into corners who found the inner strength to get out of them.

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

This was an extraordinary tale of long-ago China, and enjoyable on many levels, even with the ending.

Bladerunner

I will include this also, as we saw another cut released to theaters for the third decade in a row. I have always liked this movie for looking at what it means to be human.

The Bourne Trilogy
Casino Royale and Quantum of Silence

These films reinvented the spy action film genre and demonstrated that one could have characters driving the action instead of simply being cardboard cutouts. The also looked at how our memories shape who we are.

Stranger Than Fiction

This was a look at the characters we are and how we make choices, and a very intelligent film that gets to its ended based on the characters decisions rather than just a formula ending.

There were a number of other very good films over the last ten years. The ones I listed were movies that looked at what it is to be human and a person in society, and feel and care and make decisions based on that rather than just greed and selfishness. They showed that what we have inside is much more important than what we look like outside. They were movies that in at least a small but significant way managed to show me something about myself or something that I admired, in addition to being entertaining.

Two Worlds

2009-07-03T12:06:00.000-07:00

One of the characters in fiction that has always fascinated me is Spock. Apart from the obvious intelligence, the main fascination is seeing someone living in the intersection of two worlds that are similar yet very different, and the challenges that presents. There is also the matter of the "conflict" between logic and emotion, which in a sense makes the character representative of all of us. We face daily choices between logic and emotion, what we want to do set against what we "should" do.

As Spock has said, "logic is the beginning of wisdom, not the end". Logic is a tool for thought, but it can be misused, and using impersonal logic to make decisions without regard to how we feel about the choices is rarely the best course of action. We all have emotions, and the key is to be aware of them and master them rather than ignoring them completely. Spock's middle path between the human emotional response and the Vulcan way of logic has always seemed a careful dance.

For many people, life is also a dance of appearances. Like Spock, they are careful to keep an outward appearance of conformity to the roles they are expected to play, despite having other feelings to deal with inside. Most people have public worlds and private worlds that may be very different. Some are simply minor conflicts of personality, like someone managing others who is expected to be harsh with mistakes when they would consider it better to take the opportunity to teach and coach instead. Some are more distinct, like those whose desires do not meet society's expectations and they may not wish to make that clear to everyone else.

Others are simply different inside than their outward appearance would indicate, in a world where that sort of conflict is not accepted by others ignorant of the reality. They don't wish to have to think about how to relate to others, they just want to drop them into generic slots that they can have knee-jerk reactions to. Like Spock's mixed genetic heritage, people are not simply A or B in one aspect, or X or Y in another. There are broad spectrums of ability and talent, similarity of appearance, and even the hidden structures of the brain.

Add in variations of development, and the spectrum gets even larger. There are definitely clusters of results, but it is rather telling to observe the reactions of people to those who are outside of the main "normal" sections. Perhaps even more telling is each individual's expectations of what "normal" is. Spock appears to be Vulcan, but that does not mean that there is not a human part of his being hidden away under the skin. Appearances can be deceiving, and someone who looks perfectly normal may be trapped in an appearance that feels alien to them because their bodies did not develop with complete congruency.

Similarly, when people see someone that does not look normal, they often react badly to it and make incorrect assumptions about the person. Some times the differences are obvious, such as an incorrectly formed face or someone suffering from a disease. Sometimes the differences are "obvious" to some and not to others, such as those who care about skin colors and those who simply know it is just skin.

The important thing is to remember to treat others how you would like to be treated, and accept their differences from you or from what you expect as just that, differences. To paraphrase McCoy, "he's not a human or a Vulcan, he's a Spock".

The Irony of Being Physically Stuck Allowing the Mind to Unstick

2008-12-27T13:02:00.000-08:00

The last three weeks have been a vacation away from my paying job, although the first two held quite a bit of laborious work packing up things for relatives and driving down to L.A. and back after the packing of the trailer. This last week I've been stuck at home due to the vast fields of snow and ice around me that prevented me from driving around or making it to work.

While I was in L.A., I was able to take time out to go see the exhibit of Vanity Fair portraits at LACMA. There were quite a variety of portraits and subjects on display, and a mix of photos I had seen before and ones I had not. The net result was to stir the imagination up a bit.

While being stuck here, I've gone through various stages of shortening the stack of unread books, watching movies, browsing the net, looking through the collections of photos I've gathered over the years, both ones I've taken myself and ones that I have seen on the web, and finally simple bored pacing around my prison, contemplating the walls of both it and life.

It's quite amazing what can come out of the recesses of the mind when one gets bored enough and the tangled cobwebs of ordinary concerns fade into the darkness. While thinking through a lot of things, I actually had an idea penetrate the wall of creativity block that has been frustrating me for quite a while now.

When contemplating a larger project such as a novel or a collection of photos, it helps to have a core idea to work around. That bit has been what has been missing and making me feel very constrained in these areas of writing and photography that I love. I had been expecting such inspiration to fly out in terms of a story, but I surprised myself by coming up with something else.

I finally came up with a pair of related and interacting themes that have been interesting to me for a while photographically, both in my own photos and others, although I had not put them together previously. What I'm aiming to do is put together a set of photos exploring those interactions and juxtapositions.

As an added bonus, I'll have to come out of my shell a bit and get others involved, because many of the photos I have in my head will require people to be in them and pose, as well as plenty of setup. Some of the images in the set may end up being spur of the moment shots, since I'm normally looking out for such things anyway, but it has become obvious that I want to move past that and make more complicated images.

To get the print quality I want I'll need to get a better camera system, not as nice as I'd like probably, but better than what I have now is a definite must. It will take some time to think through what I want to include and do the prep work for it anyway. I'm aiming for a gallery or a coffee book sort of thing, although in a sense it does not matter. This is for me.

Life in a surreal world

2008-11-25T21:30:00.000-08:00

Life is full of twists and turns, and I've been rather delinquent in updating this. Yes, I have put a lot of effort into things at work, but still.

In the meantime, we find ourselves in a twisted world where Obama is elected but not actually in office yet, and despite that slight handicap, still probably has more of an effect on the world than his predecessor. A pale shadow of what is to come most likely, but still. I could go on about the insanity of the incompetent corporate gamblers getting bailed out instead of the rest of the vast population, but I'm too tired of it all.

Fall is probably my favorite season, with the all too brief brilliance of the changing leaves, the crisp noise they make when stepped on while dry, the way they swirl in the wind. The cooler temperatures are a welcome relief from the summer heat, and allow one to drag out fall clothes again. I might even try to add a comfortable tweed coat to the mix, as I'm finally getting the urge to start dressing a bit more up, although I'm nowhere near the collecting of designer suits stage. One of the nice things about getting older is that I recognize more of what I want, as opposed to looking at what everyone else is wearing. I'm also finding myself more willing to experiment and try new things.

At the same time, I find myself missing my favorite fashions that I thought I would try some day, which have been swept away in the tidal waves following the youthful whims. I never cared much for the endless silly tweaks of fashion seasons, ever changing - don't get me wrong, some change is good - and the trends these days towards more and more unkempt attire, deliberately ill-fitting, and even worn out before it is sold in the first place. I don't advocate spending a couple of hours a day arranging every hair and button just so, but at the same time, when the standard is to look like you didn't even try, we're loosing something in the process.

There are times and places for such looks, but they have spread through so much of life it is hard to tell anymore. Instead of growing out of such phases, they seem to be trying to extend their reach. Anyway, enough of a minor rant, I'm going to be me, let them be them, and hope that their apparent lack of clothing care and sense doesn't indicate a lack of care and sense in other things. I suppose helping to elect Obama was a good sign, let's hope it keeps going in that direction.

Checking the spam folder gets amusing

2008-07-27T08:33:00.000-07:00

I like the gmail spam filters a lot. They very rarely let anything junk mail wise through to my inbox, and rarely mark anything useful as spam. Since the latter does happen, I tend to take a quick glance through the junk mail folder before deleting them to make sure nothing showed up there that I actually want to read.

Generally speaking, most of the junk in there references gambling, male performance enhancers, porn videos, fake designer goods and the like, none of which actually interests me.

Recently however, some of the spammers have gotten more creative in their social engineering attempts, and have started using fake headlines that do not involve obviously delinquent celebrities as lures for their no doubt poisonous links. Here are a few examples:

McCain drops out of running
Tiger Woods retires from golf, cites lack of competition
British PM to quit
Beijing air pollution index rises, olympics cancelled
WalMart declares bankruptcy
Pfizer admits to unapproved drugs found in Viagra and withdraws millions of products

Now for someone who tries to keep up with the news to some extent, these might be interesting stories if they came up on a real news site on some other day than April First. As bits attached to obvious spam, they're not tempting at all.

They do however, provide a good chuckle, and make the dreary task of filtering the good apples out of the mass of bad ones a touch more enjoyable.

Before the Rains

2008-05-25T15:08:00.001-07:00

This was a beautifully photographed and well-done movie that was a bit hard to find. I saw it recently when I was in L.A. on vacation, and at the time it had not been announced for Portland, although it is now mentioned in the Coming Soon list on the website.

The movie is set in 1937 India, and the drama of the plot unwinds carefully. It is an interesting period story that is told with care without getting overly judgemental, as it lets the viewer handle that portion of the experience. Without giving the plot away, the story is not a happy one, so if you are looking for the bouncy happy ending or a Bollywood musical, this has neither.

All of the main actors did an excellent job. I was hoping for more to Jennifer Ehle's role, since her involvement was how I found the movie, but she did well with what she had to work with. I hope one of these days someone persuades her to do a main character on film again, so often her roles are small, and things like her excellent scene getting cut from Michael Clayton don't help either. Thankfully that one showed up in the DVD extras.

Overall, if you like occasionally watching odd little movies that don't fit the Hollywood mold, this is a good one. It's not one I'll rush out to see again because the story is not the sort I enjoy seeing repeatedly, but I don't regret in the slightest the time spent on watching it.

Further thoughts on L.A.

2008-05-25T14:47:00.000-07:00

After spending a number of days in the City of Angels, I could see spending more time in the area. Not sure where I'd want to reside, as I was in mostly in the Garden Grove and downtown areas, and attended the USC graduation since that was the main point in going there in the first place. San Bernardino was a hot afternoon, but closer to the coast seemed ok. The evening cooling effect was quite nice there compared to the full desert heat further east.

There do seem to be quite a few things in the area I'd enjoy, and I barely scratched the surface. Art museums, restaurants, cafes, movies that didn't seem to be heading for Portland any time soon and so forth. I'd want to be living close to whatever job I picked up, but other than traffic I could handle living in the area. I didn't see much in the form of bookstores, although I didn't really get the chance to look, but at least Powells is available via the web if need be.

Huntington Gardens was a wonderful place, between the actual gardens and the art collections. I definitely didn't get to spend enough time there or at LACMA, and there were a number of others that looked interesting but I didn't get a chance to go to.

Overall I liked L.A. more than Chicago, less than Portland. Not sure where NYC fits into that list, I need to spend more time there one of these days to figure that out, but so far I've liked it also.

Vacation!

2008-05-13T12:22:00.000-07:00

I'm on vacation for two whole weeks and a couple of days. Spent the first couple driving from Portland to L.A. I'd rather forgotten just how big L.A. is, and sprawled, and busy. Friends and relatives to see here, going to be a busy few days. Next week should be more relaxing, get to go up to Napa Valleyish portion of CA.

Made the comment that it would take quite a bit of inducement to live down here with all of the traffic and pretty much having to drive to EVERYTHING, and the reply from my mom and stepdad was that all it would really take is the right woman. Probably quite true, the right company makes most things in life bearable and quite a bit of it even becomes enjoyable.

Anyway, back to enjoying the bits in between the driving episodes.

Update after about 24 hours of dealing with L. A. traffic:

Still annoying, although it's not quite so overwhelming. Part of my annoyance is that even where I live in the Portland area, I have to drive to everything, and L.A. is that experience multiplied significantly. I'd consider it, but New York is more appealing because there is a lot more walking ability and the subway and from what I understand a lot easier to get things delivered. I'm plain old sick and tired of driving everywhere all the time, even without current gas prices.

Anyway, back to that vacation thing.

Oh, and I so miss my Mac, this Windows machine is annoying as hell. Definitely need to get a Mac laptop for my next computer I think, even though I want the higher-resolution screens on the iMac, the portability will trump it I think.

Definitely, Maybe - They Rarely Make Them Like This Anymore

2008-02-22T01:25:00.000-08:00

I meant to see this a week ago when it came out, but a trip on short notice to spend our mutual birthday with my grandmother intervened. That weekend was a good one, and this movie is good too and well worth the wait. It is smart, funny and sweet with just enough reality in it to work very well. A thank you to everyone who helped make it, you did well. It was also refreshing to have a movie where the trailer set the stage nicely and had me looking forward to this without actually giving the game away before it started.

I know it's early in the year to be talking about awards, especially with the Oscars for last year being handed out this coming weekend, but this one is worthy, starting with the screenplay and moving on from there. I'll have to see it another time or two to be certain, but so far I'm thinking this one will make the desert island list for me. If you like movies like this, it's highly recommended. If well done romantic comedies are not your thing, there are plenty of other movies out there.

The Ten Best Films I Saw In 2007

2007-12-22T15:51:00.000-08:00

This was a tougher list than usual because I managed to see more films this year after a drought the last couple of years. There are other ones that are supposed to be good that I have not seen, although most of them simply do not appeal to me at this time. Some of them might swap places around after further reflection, although the top one is in no danger of moving down. Yes I know, I'm doing this a week or so early, but I am not aware of any films that will be out by the end of the year that look like they might crack this list. If it turns out otherwise, I'll update it.

1. Juno

This was a delightful film, carried by Ellen Page's great performance (Best Actress in my book, as well as making the longer term list of great performances), a wonderful script, and good work all around. It avoided a lot of stereotypes, and didn't rely on cliches for its humor. I won't go into details, as I do not want to spoil any part of this gem. Let's just say that while there are good lines in the trailer, there are many more that are not revealed, which is not the case for some movies trying to sneak money out of our wallets.

I went opening night here in Portland, aiming for a 10:00 PM showing to avoid the crowds at the earlier showings around 7:00 PM or so. It was playing on three screens at our arthouse complex, and I ended up having to wait until the 10:30 PM showing because the 10:00 was sold out like all of the earlier showings had been. The one I went to sold out also, to the extent that there were people sitting in the empty floor "seats" normally available for wheelchair users. Laughter burst out over and over during the film from the whole theater. After the movie, there was applause from the audience, which I haven't heard in years. It was well deserved praise.

2. Dan in Real Life

This was a fun movie, with relationships, family, kids and real life flowing through it. A lot of perfectly meshed performances that fed the story, and it was very well done.

3. Enchanted

An amusing twist on the usual Disney story, mixing animation and live action, as well as some nice twists on fairy tale conventions. Amy Adams simply makes this movie work, and would have been the Best Actress favorite for me if Juno hadn't come along as well this year.

4. Charlie Wilson's War

This was a enjoyable mix of drama and comedy about a true story. Good performances from Tom Hanks, Amy Adams, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Julia Roberts simply make the movie work. The senator was a twist on Hanks' usual characters, and as well-played as usual, and the performances meshed together well, with none of them needing to steal scenes from each other. While there were some outdated attitudes displayed by the imperfect characters, they did seem to be in character, and some of the minor characters could have been stereotypes to fit that attitude, but they were not.

5. Waitress

This was an original pie of a movie, and I am sad that Adrienne Shelly is no longer around to make more good films like this. Keri Russell gave a very good performance at the core of the movie, and it all worked well.

6. Michael Clayton

Good work by George Clooney and others in this time-twisting drama kept me on the proverbial edge of my seat through the entire movie, with nary a glance at the time.

7. Atonement

This was a very well done movie, with excellent performances and a virtuoso tracking shot that seemed seamless to the point that I didn't notice it until it was done and there was another cut. Despite reading that there was an unexpected ending before seeing the film, the form of the twist was both logical and caught me by surprise.

8. Eastern Promises

Another well done drama, with good work all around, particularly from Naomi Watts and Viggo Mortensen.

9. The Brave One

A brave film, both in terms of a brave performance by Jodie Foster and a brave script. I am still trying to decide if the ending was a bow to Hollywood convention, or just the natural extension of the brave choices by the characters. I'm leaning towards the latter at this point.

10. Music and Lyrics

This movie was fun. A bit corny perhaps in parts, but still fun. Hugh Grant and Drew Barrymore were wonderful, and the movie simply worked well. They even saved some amusing moments for the credits. My favorite moment is actually there, and it works because the actors played the main section so well and earned it.

Honorable Mentions that I either enjoyed or thought were well done, or both:
Catch and Release
Black Book (Zwartboek)
Avenue Montaigne (Fauteuils d'orchestre)
The Bourne Ultimatum
2 Days in Paris
Lust, Caution
No Reservations
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Autumn Musings

2007-11-18T16:17:00.000-08:00

It's November already, and the last few months have been busy. Figured I'd post a bit on my own blog instead of just commenting on others. Got a promotion at work, with the net effect being that I'm now coordinating two teams instead of one and I'm busier than ever. When I get the week after Thanksgiving off, it will take three people to cover what I normally do. I'm sure they will all be glad to see me when I get back, but it's been too long since I took a good vacation.

The other thing that has been on my mind is my dad. He's been dealing with the after effects of a minor stroke, maybe two, and still has a way to go. I visited him for a couple of hours the other day, and we managed to have a coherent conversation the whole time, although he was sometimes struggling to find the words he wanted to say and the course of it was bumpy to say the least. Considering he's 88 now, these sort of twists are not unexpected. He's frustrated by having to learn things over again, and laughed when I pointed out that he doesn't have the boundless energy that a kid does when learning such things the first time.

I hope when I get to have kids of my own that I do better than he did while they are young. He never really was the father I wanted when I was young, and while he kept food on the table and clothes in the closet, emotional needs were a totally different matter. I've gotten along with him much better the last decade or so, a few years after my parents divorced he finally started growing up himself. My mom finally remarried recently, and her new husband is much more mature. With my dad being 26 years older than her, I've always known he would likely be the first one to go and it would probably happen sooner rather than later, so it hasn't hit me that hard that he's probably close to it. It may also be because I distanced myself from him quite a bit when I started college and he wasn't as helpful as he should have been, and I'm still dealing with the effects of that. To a large extent he's been forgiven, and it certainly seemed that he finally realized that if he'd helped more then he wouldn't have needed to help later when he did with some things that came up as part of life.

I think it's safe to say I've grown wiser and more mature myself over those years as well, although I have to wonder where I'd be now if things had happened differently, and others hadn't broken promises which caused the whole mess that was life back then. I think about the inflation and other economic nonsense being imposed on the world over my lifetime, and realize that there have been many factors involved, but I still have to think that the storms would not have been as bad if the early path had gone the way I wanted it to, or even how it should have been. The short-sighted vision of those afflicted with greed is mind-boggling. Having that lesson first taught by the administration of a so-called Christian school contributed greatly to my general distrust of religions. There are so many that talk up a storm and it turns out to be nothing but lip service and a social club. Down the road I realized much later that much of the root of the problem is that none of them know the whole truth, and the egos that get attached to one flavor of belief or another can't accept that fact, so they go overboard trying to defend it and we get to deal with the results.

Taking a turn off those bits, I sometimes wonder how the world would change if we could introduce a web system of teleporting gates for public transportation. We'd get the polluting motor vehicles off the road for the most part, everyone could walk to work in a few minutes, and one could have dinner in a different city every evening. The system would have to be able to detect and exclude weapons and diseases, although that wouldn't help with excuses for not visiting relatives that you don't really want to see. The sticky point would be crossing national borders of course, plus the effects of crossing time zones. Wishful thinking to be sure, but I wonder if it could be done some day.

There have been a lot of good movies out recently, movies I went to, movies that I don't want to go to, movies I thought I wanted to see and then when they actually came out I wasn't in the mood. There were even a couple that I missed when I was sick for a week or so and didn't go do anything I didn't have to. I think at this point I'm looking forward to Juno, Enchanted, Charlie Wilson's War and the Golden Compass, and probably some others down the road. The trailer for Jumper reminded me of the transit system idea I mentioned above, although I don't remember what the original inspiration was.

Anyway, life goes on. There are times when I wish I could wake up and find things had jumped ahead a year or two, but it wouldn't be worth the lost memories.

Raving

2007-08-11T19:15:00.000-07:00

I watched the short film Raving, written and directed by Julia Stiles. It's well done, interesting and amusing. Sometimes a small story concentrating on a couple of people can work really well, and this is one of those stories. Watching it in flash from the website isn't the best quality, but it will have to do unless it comes out on disk at some point. Not only is she a really good actress, but it appears she's going to be really talented behind the camera also. Hopefully this small start will turn into bigger projects down the road.

The Bourne Ultimatum

2007-08-05T09:42:00.000-07:00

This was a very good movie, like the previous chapters in the series. I was particularly impressed with how they wove the ending of the previous movie into the story of this one. It was done so well I couldn't tell if they reused the footage interwoven with new footage or shot it again. The acting across the board is superb. The story fits in nicely with the previous movies, and the whole production sets a new level for spy movies.

I've liked the Bond movies for pretty much forever, despite misgivings about the character, but Bourne is a step above in the way that the movie is about the characters rather than about a formula that works well. It's not that Pierce Brosnan didn't try to make Bond so, and Daniel Craig seems to be doing so also, but it ultimately comes down to the writing allowing the actors to do it. The Bourne movies have resoundingly proved that you can take an action thriller like this and have it be about people rather than a collection of gadgets and stunts and one-liners. As satisfying as those can be, this is more so and also more lasting.

There are bits of movie music, specific themes that get the blood racing because you know that something familiar is coming and you know that it will likely be very enjoyable. The Bond theme has that ring, bits of the Star Wars music and so forth, and Friday night when the studio logo came on screen and the Bourne music started playing behind it I felt that same rush of anticipation coming to fulfillment.

It doesn't seem that another Bourne movie will be made, although it is certainly possible. Matt Damon has made the role his own, and I can't imagine anyone else playing it at this point, so it probably boils down to a simple question of him being willing to play the part again. Julia Stiles and Joan Allen would need to be on board also, as their characters are very much woven in and owned by them as well. It was very nice to see Julia get more to do in this one. Apart from the actors and hopefully Paul Greengrass being willing to direct, they would have to come up with a story to tell. I don't see Bourne working directly or regularly for the CIA, but I can see Bourne trusting Landy enough to listen to a request for an urgent job requiring his talents and not write it off to being just another bill of goods.

Even if they don't make another one, I'll be looking for movies involving any of those four.

Becoming Jane

2007-08-05T01:26:00.000-07:00

The movie was well done, with a bittersweet flavor that was not unexpected, since it was based on Jane Austen's life, and we know she did not have a happy ending romantically like she gave her characters. The last bit of the film reminds me of Possession and in a way of The Age of Innocence as well, in that we don't have a totally Hollywood ending.

I don't mind endings where everything works out well, and would hardly like Jane's stories to begin with if I did. At the same time, it's nice to have some stories where things are not perfect, but there is not total heartbreak either. Given that I'm currently on course to mimic Jane's fate rather than Elizabeth's, small comforts are nice.

I read somewhere or another recently that Anne Hathaway almost did not do the film because of the pressure involved in the subject, and I'm glad she did. I'm rather beginning to like her performances, and hopefully she can continue the excellent work she has been doing recently. The rest of the cast was good also, and I was reminded that I want to watch the House of Cards trilogy with Ian Richardson again.

Upon further reflection, I'll toss in a warning to those who are intimately familiar with the history of Jane herself. It's a Hollywood film. If you can't suspend disbelief on it and forget about such things, you may want to pass, but then again, if you were paying attention to what they said they were doing while making the film, you'd already know that the film was a riff based on certain convenient bits while totally ignoring certain other bits. Jane has been big in movies recently, and something like this was pretty much inevitable. It's done now, there won't be a sequel, and we can move on and hope they come up with something based on her works again.

Three Colors: Red

2007-07-22T23:02:00.000-07:00

I first saw the Three Colors trilogy about 10 years ago, when Red was released in Portland. They had Blue and White playing again to allow people to catch up, and I took advantage of it to see them in order. Blue is interesting, loss leading to freedom and discovery. White I haven't watched as often, somehow it didn't seem to interest me as much as the other two, but that may be a dim memory that I should refresh. It wasn't that it was not well done, it was simply different and didn't keep my attention the way Blue and Red have.

They are complex, full of thoughts and questions and coincidences. Red is the almost romance, full of near misses. A few feet here, a moment there. What might have been if two people were born closer together. Thirty or forty years apart seems like a huge gulf, but when it is compared to the centuries it seems so close. Perhaps I am influenced by my parents and their 26 year gap. It seems too much, and in practical terms I think that had much to do with the end of it, but I suppose it did not have to be that way. I have seen others where it worked anyway.

Maybe I am influenced by not having my interest returned so many times for so long. Somehow I have no doubt that when I see another opportunity, age differences will be the last thing on my mind. Well, on the other hand, the sort of difference in the more recent Venus with Peter O'Toole was too far, but I don't have to worry about that for a while yet.

Given how few people actually connect to us in that way, I suppose that letting trivial matters get in the way seems silly. Age, wealth, criticism, social class - what are they to that rare blessing? I suppose age is a more practical concern because of likely maturity differences, and the different sorts of social issues it raises. I wish it wasn't so. We wander through life, meeting people or not meeting people in a fairly random fashion, and to find a kindred soul in the vast variance of the masses seems so unlikely, yet it happens anyway. Hope springs eternal from disaster, spring follows winter, and life goes on.

It's been a long day, and hopefully sleep will come soon.

No Reservations

2007-07-22T15:51:00.000-07:00

I saw a preview of No Reservations last night, and it was pretty good. There were quite a few people hungry by the end of the movie though, because there is a lot of food in the movie that looked quite good. There is enough variety to appeal to most, and from the reaction in the theater I'd guess most will see something less than appealing also.

It wasn't mind-bending or anything, but it was an enjoyable couple of hours if you like movies with a bit of drama, comedy and romance swirled around. I haven't seen Little Miss Sunshine yet, but after seeing this I'm not surprised Breslin got an Oscar nod for it. I didn't have any complaints about anyone else either, the cast worked well together.

It will be released on next Friday from what I've heard, so enjoy.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

2007-07-22T14:20:00.000-07:00

J.K. Rowling can write, and the length of it flies by very fast. Threads going back many books in the series get tied into the final knots, and it is very well done indeed. I'll skip the details at this point at least, but there is a lot to think about.

I don't know what she will do next, if anything, but I'm sure it will be worth the read if she does.

Hmm, time flies...

2007-07-17T19:44:00.000-07:00

Time flies when it is not watched. I just realized how long it's been since I put something here despite posts floating around in my head in the intervening months. Somehow they never made it here.

Time does not fly on the other hand, when insomnia strikes, or when it struck last night and you are awake enough to know that sleep is not going to come for a while yet, probably resulting in another night of the same.

Last week's heat was the cause then, not sure about now, sometimes I think it is just the lack of time outside of work when I never seem to have time to do everything I want to. Maybe if we had more hours in the day sleep would come easier. Maybe that's just wishful thinking and I would still try to sneak in an extra hour of reading or watching or talking or whatever.

Sometimes it just seems something is on my mind and even though I don't particularly want to think about it because there is nothing to be done in the wee hours of the morning, it still keeps the mind on alert. Other times the thought trains get going so fast that they will not slow down, despite knowing that the time to wake up is fast approaching.

Time flies in life too, somehow when I was younger I thought I'd be farther along by now, certainly thought I'd have been married already, but that hasn't come to pass either. Life takes twists and turns and unexpected loops, and plans get put on hold, yet somehow life moves on relentlessly anyway. The more years pile on the shorter each one seems. Perception of that presumably runs on percentages instead of absolutes.

Time to start trying to persuade the brain that sleep is a good thing.

Or maybe not. Maybe it's time to try to see if I can notice something new in a favorite movie, and let sleep sneak in the back door.

Unexpected can be good

2007-04-08T21:34:00.000-07:00

No, I didn't expect that last bit either, it just appeared in a flash of inspiration. Poetry can be a fun exercise in words, although I rarely bother with a specific rhythm, it tends to feel more like work at that point. Days rarely go according to plan, this morning was a clear sky and bright sunshine, and then the clouds rolled in and dropped the occasional drop.

It was still peaceful in the Japanese Garden, but the camera did have to hide it's electrical self a bit. Living in this rather wet corner of the world, I need to remember to make sure the next one I get is weather resistant or sealed if that's affordable. The Garden is a great place to relax and slow down from the bustle of life. Going there fairly often, the scenery changes with the seasons, seeming familiar yet different on every visit. The other visitors vary also quite a bit.

Sunny days bring out larger numbers of course, both photographers and observers as well as new visitors seeing it all for the first time. The kids are usually seeing it for the first time because they rarely have come to appreciate it yet and are being dragged along.

Some parts are full of silence, some are full of water. There is green and red and yellow and white and the grays of the rocks and sand. It all swirls together and somehow is very calming. Highly recommended if one visits Portland, and if you have access to a place like it elsewhere, they are good for the soul in this crazy world we live in.

Sunshine with a Twist

2007-04-08T21:28:00.000-07:00

Witty words sprawling across a bare page
Spreading light and sunshine to the mind's eye
Sassy words working without a real wage
Cheerfully provided with nary a lie

Opinions firm and directly aimed
Saying what must be realistically said
Sharper than dull words that merely flamed
Rebuking those that might have justly led

Racing out quickly from the safest lawn
Soaring freely and swiftly with new sight
Undervalued in the darkness of dawn
Becoming a new star in its own light

Sitting patiently in the dark black night
Waiting for the next burst of brilliant light

Opening Post

2007-04-08T08:27:00.000-07:00

Hmm, the thing about serendipitious thoughts is that sometimes by the time you get to writing them down they are quite lost in the complicated pathways of the mind. Running through a bunch of hoops before writing them down certainly does not help.

In any case, this is a beginning, and more will come later. Movie reviews, bits of life, and thoughts on the state of the world. Once I get my photos sorted out and up on the web someplace there will likely be links to those as well.

One of the problems with liking to see movies in the theater is that the same trailers come with more than one movie, and if you happen to like a movie enough to see it more than once it's a sure thing to see the EXACT same set of trailers every time. See the same trailer enough times and it is possible to lose interest in seeing a movie that probably would be enjoyable. Less likely to happen with something you can't wait to see, but if it's marginal at all it's a big risk that obviously the marketing department did not bother to consider.

I probably should say a bit about me, since this is the beginning and you, the reader obviously don't know me yet. Question is, which bit to cover. Hmm. I do tech support via phone and web, and deal with all sorts of reasonable and unreasonable people. I've been doing it rather longer than I anticipated when I started, and I am getting rather tired of the unreasonable side of it, both from those seeking help and those nitpicky people we're providing the support for. Good customer service is good customer service, and when you market your product to people who are less than skilled, it takes longer to help them, and you have a choice between spending the time to help them and getting a reputation of a place with poor support. Ok, rant over.

I like writing, and haven't done enough of it recently, mostly due to the above unreasonable aspects draining creative energy at a horrendous rate, but I've been slowly jumpstarting the desire again, and it's becoming fun again. I've also finally started to wade through the technical aspects of photography to figure out why my nicely composed images were not turning out ok, and that has been a lot of fun also. The digital camera helped a lot with that. Having the freedom to just snap away and have many of them turn out ok automatically was a big improvement, but learning how to adjust the settings and choose different effects was even better.

As a side note, if you are using a digital camera with RAW file capability, use it. I didn't when I first got the camera, and there are a number of personally important images I'd love to have had the ability to clean up in the ways that format allows. Even if you don't have Photoshop or one of the other programs that allow easy manipulation of the RAW format, if you get one down the road it is amazing how much easier it is to fix certain things or interpret images in more than one way.

Anyway, enough for now, things to do and so forth.