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.
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Before the Rains
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.
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.
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.
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.
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Vacation!
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.
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.
Friday, February 22, 2008
Definitely, Maybe - They Rarely Make Them Like This Anymore
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.
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.
Saturday, December 22, 2007
The Ten Best Films I Saw In 2007
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
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
Sunday, November 18, 2007
Autumn Musings
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.
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.
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