Plum Crazy

Booing Boone

Aaron Boone should become nonguaranteed. But either way, who will play third base for the Yankees during the 2004 season? If I get my way, the answer is in the last sentence of the linked article.

Keep an eye on the Dodgers trade rumors; they have Jose Hernandez, former Yankee Robin Ventura, and Adrian Beltre - who is entering the final year of his contract.

Yes, bring back Robin Ventura. He played well for the Yankees. And he's a left-handed hitter, just what you want in the Stadium. The fact that he's cute and looks good in pinstripes doesn't dissuade me either.

Mad Mel

Mel Gibson is starting to sound like his father. At least when it comes to the Holocaust. Both Tbogg and Atrios are absolutely right when they say Gibson has some explaining to do. And Jay is flat-out wrong. Let's look at the question Peggy Noonan asked Mel Gibson, and then his answer.

'You're going to have to go on record. The Holocaust happened, right?" Peggy Noonan asks of Mel Gibson in the Reader's Digest for March.

Gibson: "I have friends and parents of friends who have numbers on their arms. The guy who taught me Spanish was a Holocaust survivor. He worked in a concentration camp in France. Yes, of course. Atrocities happened. War is horrible. The Second World War killed tens of millions of people. Some of them were Jews in concentration camps. Many people lost their lives. In the Ukraine, several million starved to death between 1932 and 1933. During the last century, 20 million people died in the Soviet Union."

First note that Gibson never actually answered the question Noonan posed. Let's compare Gibson's answers to the stock answers of Holocaust deniers.

1. There were concentration camps, but they were work camps, not death camps. Gibson talks about how there are camp survivors and how his Spanish teacher worked in a concentration camp in France. Any camp in France was, in fact, a work camp. The death camps were primarily in Poland.

2. Some Jews were killed, but not 6 million (or even 4 or 5 million), and not as part of a systematic plan to eliminate all Jews. Gibson talks about how tens of millions of people were killed in World War II, some of whom were Jews. Most of the tens of millions people who were killed during World War II did not die in concentration camps and were not singled out for extermination as part of a Final Solution. Even most of the non-Jews (not all) who were killed in concentration camps died as a result of poor conditions, not from being executed. So when referencing tens of millions killed in World War II, he sure as hell isn't talking about death camps, and he even includes the Jews who were systematically executed as part of the overall casualties, as if there were no real difference between war casualties and people being systematically executed as a Final Solution to rid the world of them. Which kind of makes you wonder if he even believes they were systematically executed. Also that word "some" is very vague, and reads a lot like an attempt to downplay the reality.

Gibson didn't ever come out and answer the question that Noonan asked. I think it was perfectly clear that she was asking if there were death camps in which Jews were executed as part of the Final Solution. He dances his way around the question, offering an answer that sounds good on the surface, but doesn't have any substance to it.

Mel Gibson has, sadly, now joined the very short list of celebrities whose works I will not watch. He makes number three (the other two being Woody Allen and Arnold Schwarzenegger). And he'll stay on that list unless he very explicitly clarifies that he does, in fact, believe there was a Holocaust and comes up with a reasonable number to replace that very vague word "some". It's a shame. I've always enjoyed his work (well, mostly; I thought "Signs" was pretty bad). But there are just some things I cannot overlook while watching a film, to the point that they ruin my ability to enjoy the film.

Notes From the Underground

Sorry, late work dinner, but I had to post my "Notes From the Underground." At any rate, this is what a post of mine was referred to as today. Apparently believing that the wealthy and powerful will, by and large, act to protect their wealth and power, and that such actions will frequently tend to be to the detriment of those who are not wealthy or powerful is Underground these days. So in honor of my being an Underground member of senior management in the Technology department of a Fortune 200 company (an oxymoron, I would have thought), I am listening to the song Coup d'Etat by the Circle Jerks.

So what do you think? Is it time to go back to the flat top and yellow hair look I sported in college?

This Poll's in Jeopardy

Continuing with the musical theme of three days ago, today brings us another poll. This one about which song you like better - the original or the Weird Al parody. I don' t know about you, but there are definitely some Weird Al parodies that I like a lot better than the original song.

Today's original is Greg Kihn's "Our Love's in Jeopardy". So, which do you like better? Greg Kihn's "Our Love's in Jeopardy" or the Weird Al parody "I Lost on Jeopardy"?

I've Got a Crush

Michele posted an entry about Scott Baio, and how she had a crush on him as a teenager. While I never saw the big deal about Scott Baio (I neither loved Chachi nor wanted Charles in charge of anything), reading it made me think about my own teenage crushes.

Starting with the one that embarrasses me most to this day - Leif Garrett. Leif was all over the teen magazines when I was reading them (Tiger Beat anyone?). So the only thing that makes me feel better about that whole Leif Garrett thing was that I was not alone in it.

There was also the Shaun Cassidy phase, but as I got older I began to realize that his Hardy Boys costar, Parker Stevenson, was actually the cuter of the two. I'm not really bothered by the Shaun Cassidy crush, although considering I never understood all the screaming fans of his half-brother David, I wonder why I ever thought to swoon over Shaun.

Then I grew older, and stopped fawning over pop stars. That's right, I moved on to rock stars. I loved Joey Ramone. And Geddy Lee, Mick Jagger, and David Bowie. Look, I know that they weren't traditonally attractive (except for Bowie who was and is absolutely gorgeous), but I didn't care. They were sexy.

In my 20s and early 30s, I went through a comedians' phase. Harry Anderson. Colin Quinn (I used to watch MTV's Remote Control religiously). Richard Belzer. Ryan Stiles. They were tall, thin, and made me laugh (well, Colin only made me laugh).

Nowadays, I don't really have celebrity crushes. There are celebrities I find attractive, like David Selby, but gone are the swooning and fawning feelings of the crush. Still, I look back with fondness at crushes of days gone by. Except for Leif Garrett. I just look back at that with a "What the hell was I thinking?".

Hostile Work Environments

I wonder if you could get in trouble with HR for listening to Tom Lehrer songs at work?

I Wanna Go Back to Dixie
The Vatican Rag
National Brotherhood Week

It's Official

Bill Gates really is the King of the Geeks.

Hat tip to Jim

Derek or Eric?

One of the things about me is that I tend to be rather off-beat in my entertainment tastes. Well, okay, I tend to be rather off-beat in general. But it occurs to me that I am something of a contrarian when it comes to generally accepted taste. Like that whole "Fun Boy Three vs. the Go-Gos" thing. But as I'm sitting here listening to Eric Clapton's Unplugged version of "Layla", I began to wonder. Which do people prefer? The original, faster Derek and the Dominoes version or the mellower, acoustic Clapton-by-himself Unplugged version? I vastly prefer the second. Contrarian or not?

TNT, I'm Dynamite

AC/DC, baby. I still love them. I cannot hear the opening riffs of one of their songs without starting to smile, and I simply cannot hear the lyrics without actually laughing. It's just funny stuff.

I actually once went to a Halloween party as AC/DC guitarist Angus Young. I had long hair and a perm at the time, so the long frizzy hair part was down. I wore black velvet Bermuda shorts, a t-shirt, a black blazer, and sneakers to complete the Angus look.

I can just picture myself at 80, cranking "Dirty Deeds" on the whatever the hell kind of music player we'll have then and rocking out. At least I hope I'll still do that.

I Feel So Manly

Gosh, my first (minor) plumbing repair. My toilet was running and running for the last 20 minutes, and jiggling the handle (my usual method of fixing the problem) just wasn't working. So I decided to see if I could fix the problem. I took the top off the tank and discovered there were a couple of loose screws on the thing connecting the big black ball to the other thing (the other thing is apparently what controls the flow of water into the tank). Whipping out my trusty screwdriver, I tightened those bad boys just a bit. No more running toilet. And yes, it still flushes.

How do you like my knowledge of technical plumbing terms too. Big black ball. The other thing. Yeah.

No Bloggers Bash

Okay, I'm throwing in the towel too. No Bloggers Bash for me tonight. Hope everyone who does go has fun.

The Three Things You Should Never Talk About in Polite Company

Sex, politics, and religion. Right? Not according to the founders of LoveInWar.com, a new online service which makes the political personals. It's a place where politically and socially active young singles can post personal ads, capitalizing on their shared interests in politics. I think this is a pretty cool idea and wish them well.

Our Lips Aren't Sealed

Jim and I decided to hold an "Our Lips Are Sealed" bakeoff in which you would help decide, in some small microcosm of the world, which group did the better version of the song - the Go-Gos or Fun Boy Three. Jim will be taking the Go-Gos side, and I will be standing valiantly for Fun Boy Three.

Jim on why the Go-Gos' version is better: When I first heard a new all girl band--they were a novelty then--doing Our Lips Are Sealed on the radio, I knew a new era in pop was being heralded. With their first big single the GoGo’s gave us a timeless little gem by blending a perfect mixture of wave-like quick tempo and popular melody that would be cloned later by others. By comparison the Fun Boy Three version is uninspired and soporific.

Me on why the Fun Boy Three version is better: The annoyingly upbeat Go-Gos song is the cheerleaders who would have been "talking about us." The moody Fun Boy Three song is the weird high school students being talked about and pretending it doesn't matter. It's just so fitting.

Now click below to extend the entry and vote for the candidate of your choice, but vote! UPDATE: Duh! I just added links so you could actually hear the songs before voting.

Unseal their lips and listen to the music

Mikey the Dietician

It's been a while since I've posted an entry to the Mikey Watch category, but Michele brings something to my attention which is just crying out for another Mikey bashing fest. Mikey apparently wishes he could have written Dr. Atkins' obituary:

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is apparently a conspiracy theorist when it comes to the circumstances of Dr. Robert Atkins's death last April. Bloomie, it seems, ain't buying the story that the anti-carb diet guru died as a result of injuries sustained during a fall on an icy Manhattan street. During a lunchtime photo op yesterday at a Brooklyn firehouse, Bloomberg announced, "I don't believe that bullshit that [Atkins] dropped dead slipping on the sidewalk." The 61-year-old billionaire added that Atkins was "fat" and served "inedible" food at his Hamptons home when Bloomberg visited. The mayor's inference, of course, was that Atkins was actually felled by his meat-heavy diet, that his arteries were clogged with beef drippings.

Ah, Mikey, always the soul of class and wit. But it gets better. After NY1 aired Mikey's little gaffe, his spokesman blamed the media:

"It was a joke told at an off-the-record photo op," said Bloomberg spokesman Jordan Barowitz. "We congratulate New York 1 for their willingness to dispense with journalistic ethics in order to run a cheap story."

Well, as a former New York City resident, I congratulate Mikey for his willingness to dispense with class in order to tell a cheap joke about someone's death. And his apparent belief that people will believe that a photo op is off-the-record. Isn't a photo op, by definition, on-the-record? What kind of opportunity is an off-the-record photo?

You go, Mikey!

About Margaret Cho Racism, Sexism, and Homophobia

By and large, people seem to be horrified about the response Margaret Cho received to her routine at the MoveOn.Org bash. But there are others (also read comment sections of people linked above) who seem to believe that being called a "slant eye", being told to "go back where you came from" (Cho was born in San Francisco), being told to "go back to China" (her parents are from Korea), and being called a "cunt" or "whore" are just honest responses to Margaret Cho, individual, the celebrity. Or the stunning response of "...the people who adore you have AIDS for a REASON." What an unmitigated load of bullshit to think that any of that is about Margaret Cho.

Sorry folks, but responding with racist slurs is not responding honestly to what Margaret Cho said. How is it an honest response to Margaret Cho? Calling someone a "slant eye", telling someone to "go back to China", calling someone "a gook" is a response about Chinese, Koreans, and Asians in general, not about Margaret Cho. I don't care how many people anyone has pissed off. You CAN and SHOULD get mad at people who respond to an individual's words by making derogatory comments about his/her entire ethnic group.

Or who call a woman a whore. Assuming Cho even is a whore, and, really, we all know she isn't, what does that have to do with her words? Nothing. It's just a derogatory comment about being a woman. It's also not about Margaret Cho the individual, the celebrity. The only words that merit a response of "whore" and apply to the individual are "Pay me $XXX, and I'll have sex with you." Just calling someone a whore because she's a woman who did something you don't like indicates a problem with women in general, not just with the individual. It's like when I ignore some guys who make lewd comments about me, and they retaliate with the cognitively dissonant comeback of "whore". Obviously if I were a whore, my response to their comments would be to tell them my price and suggest a place we could go. Their comeback isn't about me as an individual. It's about their overall view of women.

As for the "...the people who adore you have AIDS for a REASON" comment - See, that's a slur against gay people, not Margaret Cho. It isn't even insulting her directly. It's insulting gay people directly and Margaret Cho indirectly for having gay fans (well, presumably it's insulting her directly in so far as she is gay, although she doesn't have AIDS). Still not an honest response to Margaret Cho.

So sorry, but there is nothing that Margaret Cho could do or say that would make those kinds of responses something not to care about or things that she doesn't have every right to be upset about. Even publicly upset about. Because this is larger than Margaret Cho, the celebrity, the individual. And it was the people who responded to her with racist, sexist, and homophobic slurs who made it that way. Not Margaret Cho.

Technology for Morons

I have read two articles over the last day that were so obvious they didn't need to be written. To whit:

Cameras, Not Phones, Seen as Photography Mainstay. Wow. Regular digital cameras, with a far higher pixel count, are preferred for taking important pictures than crappy phone cams. Even Nostradamus couldn't have predicted that!

Disk Drives Move Beyond PCs, Servers. Now that might actually have been an interesting article. Two years ago. iPods and TiVos are not really new devices anymore. The end part of the article, where they discuss the future of disk drive technology, is interesting. It's cool that Toshiba has now made a hard drive that could fit into a cell phone. They could have just centered the article around the future, with only a nod to the past as a set-up. But to spend so much time on something that is old news?

Either there are a lot of morons in the media, or they think that we're morons.

Get Up Offa That Thing!

For Chanukah, my staff all chipped in and got me a $50 gift certificate to the iTunes music store. I was very happy with this gift. Today I finally used the remainder of it. Sometimes I find it hard to remember what songs I really want, so I saved it until I could figure that out. But today it came to me. Well, I couldn't actually find two of the songs I wanted - Lola (they have other songs by the Kinks, but not that one) and Secret Agent Man. However, I was able to buy James Brown's 20 Greatest Hits album (for $9.99) and the 20th Century Masters collection of Connie Francis (also just $9.99). I also bought two Dusty Springfield songs and "Sincerely" by the McGuire Sisters. Despite my punk rock tendencies, I must confess that I love James Brown and Connie Francis. And "Sincerely" has been one of my favorite songs since I saw the film Come Back to the Five & Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean. Incidentally, if you've never seen that film, I highly recommend it.

I also love ABBA. Be quiet. They're either a love 'em or hate 'em kind of band, and I love 'em. I have yet to meet a person who is indifferent to ABBA. Surely they must exist, but I haven't ever come in contact with one.

UPDATE: My mind goes strange places sometimes, and thinking of songs I love got me thinking how much better the Fun Boy Three version of Our Lips Are Sealed is than the Go-Gos' version. For those who don't know, the song was co-written by Jane Wiedlin of the Go-Gos and Terry Hall of Fun Boy Three. As part of the deal, both bands got to record versions. The Go-Gos was the popular one in this country, but IMO the Fun Boy Three (which did very well in the U.K.) is the superior one. It's a much more moody song, which I think fits it more than the annoyingly cheerful upbeat Go-Gos song.

Quirkytogether?

As my 40th birthday approaches (less than 5 weeks now), I have been reflecting on my life to date. Especially my marital status (or lack thereof). My career is fine. I like my job. I've done well at the company I work for. The workload is generally manageable. I am not a workaholic, so the non-long-hours culture of the company suits me. So not much to reflect on there. I'm also on good terms with my family. Like any family, sometimes they irk me (and I am sure I irk them too), but most of the time not. And I'm not one to hold a grudge anyway, so even when they do irk me, it passes quickly.

So this leaves my (non-)marital status. Back in September, I took a Meyers-Briggs test as part of a team-building exercise for work. No big shock, I came up as an INTP. I've taken the test before. What I didn't know from the prior times I took the test was how much of any of those characteristics I personified. As it turns out, I am highly introverted (again not surprising in the main, but seeing it quantified was somewhat so), scoring 51 out of 60 on that scale. Which got me thinking - What are the odds that someone as introverted as I am would have much luck meeting someone, especially in a culture as extroverted as this one (and, yes, Americans in general tend to be extroverts)?

So maybe, I figured, I wasn't really cut out for marriage anyway. Maybe I was one of those Quirkyalones. I definitely fit the quirky part, and my introversion certainly tends towards the alone part. Ah, but not quite it seems. At least if you can trust silly little online quizzes. Mostly you can't, but sometimes they do come up with accurate results. I took the Quirkyalone quiz, just for kicks, and below is my result.

That's actually fairly true. I do regularly find myself in a coupled situation, just not ones that ever actually work out. I think that ultimately I have to find someone who is more like me than the guys I usually date, which is to say someone more introverted than the guys I usually date. And there's the rub. How the hell do two extreme introverts find each other? It's not like we have lots of friends who can hook us up. It's not like we go out a lot. So what the hell? I don't actually want to be alone for the rest of my life. But I'm pretty much at the point where I'm ready to give up on the whole marriage thing, because it's just too much, constantly going through the ultimate failure of the relationship.

There was recently a study (hat tip to Jim) that indicated that women have a really hard time recovering from serial break-ups, and that unlike men, women's mental health progressively deteriorates the more break-ups they go through. I can vouch for that, having gotten to the point where I feel like I just can't cope with it again. And that feeling has gotten more and more pronounced over the years, with each break-up I've gone through. I rather feel as though I've gotten to a major crossroads now, where I can either decide to risk it again or protect my mental health by deciding that I'd be healthier if I didn't. I was always at that crossroads of course, but before I wasn't seriously considering the second choice. Now I am, and whatever choice I make will have a major impact on the rest of my live.

Man, turning 40 sucks.

Scraping the Bottom

Oh what the hell. Now for IMDB's bottom 100 movies.

1 'Manos' the Hands of Fate
2 From Justin to Kelly (2003)
3 Future War (1997)
4 Space Mutiny (1988)
5 Troll 2 (1990)
6 Eegah (1962)
7 Hobgoblins (1987)
8 Backyard Dogs (2000)
9 Gigli (2003)
10 Santa with Muscles (1996)
11 Going Overboard
12 Werewolf (1996)
13 Giant Spider Invasion, The
14 Glitter (2001)
15 Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie (1997)
16 Police Academy: Mission to Moscow
17 Santa Claus Conquers the Martians
18 Kazaam (1996)
19 Leonard Part 6 (1987)
20 Battlefield Earth: A Saga of the Year 3000 (2000)
21 Hercules in New York (1970)
22 Lawnmower Man 2: Beyond Cyberspace (1996)
23 It's Pat (1994)
24 Baby Geniuses (1999)
25 2001: A Space Travesty (2000)
26 Jaws: The Revenge (1987)
27 Cool as Ice (1991)
28 Bolero (1984)
29 Return of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The (I don't know. I thought Matthew McConaughey, Renee Zellwegger, could it be all that bad? It was. And worse.)
30 Mitchell (1975)
31 Smokey and the Bandit III (1983)
32 Teen Wolf Too (1987)
33 Police Academy 6: City Under Siege (1989)
34 House of the Dead (2003)
35 Vercingétorix (2001)
36 Captain America (1991)
37 Steel (1997)
38 Police Academy 5: Assignment: Miami Beach
39 Cat in the Hat, The (2003)
40 Mannequin: On the Move (1991)
41 Rollerball (2002) (I refuse categorically to ever watch this movie. The fact it was made is an offense against G_d and man. The original was really good.)
42 Tarzan, the Ape Man (1981)
43 Ringmaster (1998)
44 Master of Disguise, The (2002)
45 Problem Child 2 (1991)
46 Spice World (1997)
47 Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie
48 Cop & 1/2 (1993)
49 Mr. Nanny (1993)
50 Mortal Kombat: Annihilation
51 Street Fighter (1994)
52 Jaws 3-D (1983)
53 Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot (1992) (I plead temporary insanity)
54 Double Dragon (1994)
55 Crossroads (2002)
56 Barb Wire (1996) (This movie was so bad it made my teeth itch)
57 Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn, An
58 Bats (1999/I)
59 FeardotCom (2002) (I discussed how horrid this was elsewhere. Don't.Ever.See.It.)
60 Universal Soldier: The Return (1999)
61 Mangler, The (1995)
62 RoboCop 3 (1993)
63 Superman IV: The Quest for Peace
64 Best Defense (1984)
65 Mac and Me (1988)
66 Iron Eagle II (1988)
67 Mr. Magoo (1997)
68 Grease 2 (1982)
69 Speed 2: Cruise Control (1997) (Why does Jason Patric have a career?)
70 Ticker (2001)
71 Glen or Glenda (1953)
72 Mr. Wrong (1996)
73 Police Academy 4: Citizens on Patrol (1987)
74 Highlander II: The Quickening (1991) (Even Sean Connery couldn't make this film good.)
75 Pokémon the First Movie: Mewtwo Strikes Back (1999)
76 Avengers, The (1998) (I just realized this is yet another film that even Sean Connery couldn't make good. I like Ralph Fiennes, but he's no John Steed. And Uma Thurman is absolutely not Mrs. Peel.)
77 Jury Duty (1995)
78 Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977)
79 Plan 9 from Outer Space (1959) (I'm sorry, but this does not belong on the bottom 100. This film was so bad that it was good.)
80 Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd
81 Friday the 13th: A New Beginning (1985)
82 Derailed (2002)
83 Freddy Got Fingered (2001)
84 Caddyshack II (1988)
85 Weekend at Bernie's II (1993) (Sigh. What was I thinking?)
86 Omega Code, The (1999)
87 Super Mario Bros. (1993) (Yes, I did see this too. It had Bob Hoskins and John Leguizamo.)
88 Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever (2002) (I actually didn't hate this all that much.)
89 Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1978) (Ahh! I'm having scary Peter Frampton flashbacks! Make them go away!)
90 Endless Love (1981)
91 Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan (1989)
92 Nothing But Trouble (1991)
93 McHale's Navy (1997)
94 On Deadly Ground (1994)
95 Kangaroo Jack (2003)
96 Batman & Robin (1997) (Well, at least George Clooney wasn't as annoying as Val Kilmer, and he looks a lot better.)
97 Stupids, The (1996)
98 Pet Sematary II (1992)
99 Leprechaun (1993)
100 Bio-Dome (1996) (Wow. Yeah, this was a really dumb movie. At least Son-In-Law had something redeeming. A small something, but something.)

I haven't actually seen every Pauly Shore movie. Only three (Bio-Dome, Son-In-Law, and Encino Man, which I prefer to think of as a Brendan Fraser movie). I did laugh at the first two Police Academy movies. Not at the third, and I stopped there.

100 Movies

I managed to survive the week with most of my sanity intact. Well, whatever sanity I had to begin with is mostly intact. But I'm way too tired to think of anything original. So instead I'll play along with the cool kids and list those of the IMDB Top 100 Movies I've seen (bold) and/or own (underlined).

1. Godfather, The (1972) (Shut up. I was too young to see it in the theatre when it was first released, and haven't ever gotten around to seeing it.)
2. Shawshank Redemption, The (1994)
3. Godfather: Part II, The (1974) (See above comment to The Godfather)
4. Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, The (2003)
5. Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, The (2002)
6. Casablanca (1942)
7. Schindler's List (1993)
8. Shichinin no samurai (1954) [Seven Samurai]
9. Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, The (2001)
10. Citizen Kane (1941)
11. Star Wars (1977)
12. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)
13. Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)
14. Rear Window (1954)
15. Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
16. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
17. Memento (2000)
18. Usual Suspects, The (1995)
19. Pulp Fiction (1994)
20. North by Northwest (1959)
21. Fabuleux destin d'Amelie Poulain, Le (2001) [Amelie]
22. Psycho (1960)
23. 12 Angry Men (1957)
24. Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
25. Silence of the Lambs, The (1991)
26. Buono, il brutto, il cattivo, Il (1966) [The Good, the Bad and the Ugly]
27. It's a Wonderful Life (1946)
28. Goodfellas (1990)
29. American Beauty (1999)
30. Vertigo (1958)
31. Sunset Blvd. (1950)
32. Pianist, The (2002)
33. Matrix, The (1999)
34. Apocalypse Now (1979)
35. To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
36. Some Like It Hot (1959)
37. Taxi Driver (1976)
38. Paths of Glory (1957)
39. Third Man, The (1949)
40. C'era una volta il West (1968)[Once Upon a Time in the West]
41. Fight Club (1999)
42. Boot, Das (1981)
43. Sen to Chihiro no kamikakushi (2001) (Spirited Away)
44. Double Indemnity (1944)
45. L.A. Confidential (1997)
46. Chinatown (1974)
47. Singin' in the Rain (1952)
48. Requiem for a Dream (2000)
49. Maltese Falcon, The (1941)
50. M (1931)
51. All About Eve (1950)
52. Bridge on the River Kwai, The (1957)
53. Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)
54. Se7en (1995)
55. Saving Private Ryan (1998)
56. Cidade de Deus (2002) [City of God]
57. Raging Bull (1980)
58. Wizard of Oz, The (1939)
59. Rashomon (1950)
60. Sting, The (1973)
61. American History X (1998)
62. Alien (1979)
63. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
64. Leon (The Professional) (1994)
65. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
66. Vita bella, La (1997) (Life Is Beautiful)
67. Touch of Evil (1958)
68. Manchurian Candidate, The (1962) (I know, I know, I keep meaning to watch it)
69. Wo hu cang long (2000) (Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon)
70. Treasure of the Sierra Madre, The (1948)
71. Great Escape, The (1963)
72. Clockwork Orange, A (1971)
73. Reservoir Dogs (1992)
74. Annie Hall (1977)
75. Amadeus (1984)
76. Jaws (1975)
77. Ran (1985)
78. On the Waterfront (1954)
79. Modern Times (1936)
80. High Noon (1952)
81. Braveheart (1995) (I know, Mel Gibson in a skirt, and I still haven't seen it. Go figure.)
82. Apartment, The (1960)
83. Sixth Sense, The (1999)
84. Fargo (1996)
85. Aliens (1986)
86. Shining, The (1980)
87. Blade Runner (1982)
88. Strangers on a Train (1951)
89. Duck Soup (1933)
90. Metropolis (1927)
91. Finding Nemo (2003)
92. Donnie Darko (2001)
93. Toy Story 2 (1999)
94. Princess Bride, The (1987)
95. General, The (1927)
96. City Lights (1931)
97. Lola rennt (1998) (Run Lola Run)
98. Full Metal Jacket (1987)
99. Notorious (1946)
100. Sjunde inseglet, Det (1957) [The Seventh Seal]

The Year End Close Blues

Post the restatement
The numbers don't net out
You posted the entry twice
There's a double count

Yes, I'm in Finance
F-I-N-A-N-C-E
Take pity on me

Yes, I'm in Finance
F-I-N-A-N-C-E
Take pity on me

Where's the bonus accrual?
We didn't accrue
HR said the check was cut
But the expense didn't come through

Yes, I'm in Finance
F-I-N-A-N-C-E
Take pity on me

Yes, I'm in Finance
F-I-N-A-N-C-E
Take pity on me

Vendor said they can't recognize
Their revenue
Cause an invoice wasn't paid
Bullshit, they don't book cash, they accrue

Yes, I'm in Finance
F-I-N-A-N-C-E
Take pity on me

Yes, I'm in Finance
F-I-N-A-N-C-E
Take pity on me

Yes it's those financial end of year close blues.

Thank you. Thank you. I appreciate my legions 3-4 fans coming out. I'll be somewhere all week.

Screenprints From the Edge

A quick check-in from Uru. Fun, but frustrating. I've captured a screenprint for your viewing pleasure. From the Age of Gahreesen.

Big Apple Bloggers Bash!

Well all right!

January 23rd. I'm there.

Uru

Your regular blogging program has been interrupted, while I am engrossed in Uru. We shall return you to your regular blogging program once I either finish the game or get so frustrated that I pack it in for a bit.

I Can See Clearly Now...

...the 128MB ATI Radeon 9200SE graphics card's installed.

Wow. What a huge difference. Who knew? The RAM upgrade yesterday definitely sped things up, but the new graphics card has sped them up even more. I tested Uru with it, and the motion controls work absolutely fine. They were slightly better with the additional RAM, but still not there. The new graphics card has really improved them.

Making the (up)Grade

Houston, Houston, we have 512MB RAM! Yes, that's right. I opted for the upgrade route, rather than the new PC route. So today I went out and bought another 256MB RAM and a 128MB ATI Radeon 9200SE video card. After a bit of a hiccup, wherein I did not firmly insert the RAM into the sockets, the PC is up and running faster than ever. Unfortunately I can't locate my screwdriver, so the video card update will have to wait until tomorrow.

All this got me thinking. Why buy a new PC? Especially from those non-standard-motherboard-using no-goodniks at Dell? Why not build my own? I found a great Enermax case with a 350 watt power supply for $83. It has 7 expansion slots, 4 external 5.25" bays, 2 external 3.5" bays, and 4 internal 3.5" bays. It also front side slots for 2 USB 2.0 connectors, 1 firewire connector, and an audio in/out. Add to that an Intel P4 3.0 GHz processor with 800 MHz bus speed, an ASUS P4C800 Deluxe motherboard, and 1,024MB DDR SDRAM. I would cannibalize my existing 12X DVD-ROM drive, my CD-RW, my 40GB hard drive, and the new video card I just bought. My mom promised me that when I give her my old case with the processor, motherboard, and Turtle Beach Voyetra sound card, she'd give me her Audigy 2 Soundblaster sound card. Eventually I'd put a DVD burner on it and add a second, larger hard drive, but for now the system would cost me around $550. Although this isn't something I'd do until a few months from now. But still, yee ha!

Aloe Aloe

Aloe vera gel is a wonderful thing. I started using the pure aloe vera gel (no color added) after my moisturizer a few weeks ago. The cold weather was drying out my skin even with the moisturizer, and there's few things I hate more than the feel of dry skin. I don't know how people live without moisturizing daily. If I even skip a day, I feel all itchy. And my skin isn't really dry; not compared to some. It just feels that way to me.

So I was reading the back of the bottle, and came across a section where it suggested other uses you might make of the aloe vera gel. As a blemish gel. As a hair styling gel. I was somewhat skeptical. Aloe vera would help with blemishes? And it wouldn't make your hair greasy? But lo and behold, the few breakouts I would get on my back cleared up after regular use of the gel. It was fantastic.

I figured that if the blemish gel part were true, maybe it would be beneficial as a hair gel. Well, it doesn't have any style hold value, but it does help to condition the hair without making it greasy.

I wonder what other uses it might have?

To Upgrade or Not to Upgrade

That is the question. Whether tis nobler in the CPU to suffer the slowness and frustration of outdated technology, or to put dollars towards a sea of upgrades, and by spending mend them.

So anyway, here's the thing. My Dell PC is now 3 years old. At the time I bought it, it was smoking. It's a P4 1.40 GHz processor with a 40GB hard drive, 256MB RAM, 250 watt PSU, CD-RW and DVD-ROM drives, 4 USB 1.1 ports, a 32MB ATI Radeon DDR video card, a Santa Cruz Turtle Beach Voyetra sound card, 10/100 MBPs ethernet on-board, and a 17" flat panel monitor. I later added a 3-port firewire PCI card, so I could buy an iPod.

For nearly everything I do, this system is absolutely powerful enough. But (isn't there always a but) I recently purchased the new Cyan game Uru: Ages Beyond Myst. I'm not really a gamer. I don't like shooting things, even virtually. But I have always enjoyed the Myst games, in large part because they have no violence. It's all about puzzles. I like puzzles. I have also recently discovered that there is a genre of games for people like me. Games like Syberia and Rhem. Games I would be interested in playing. Games where you don't got to kill nothing.

My current set-up does meet at least the minimum requirements to play Uru, and in some cases (okay one case) meets the recommended. The minimum requirements are for an 800 MHz processor, 256MB RAM, 32MB video card, and the sound card I have. The recommended calls for a 1.40 GHz processor (yay me), 512MB RAM, a 64MB video card, and a Creative Audigy 2 Soundblaster card. The sound works well enough for me, so I'm not all that hepped about buying a new sound card. However I have been experiencing difficulty with the motion controls in Uru. I have all the latest hardware drivers (with the possible exception of the mouse; it's a pretty new "Dell" Logitech OEM USB optical wheelmouse, and I'll be damned if I can locate drivers specifically for it on the Internet) and the most recent BIOS version. Oh yeah, I'm running XP Home Edition.

I figure the motion control issues boil down to a problem with either the RAM, the video card, or the mouse driver (or any combination thereof). I could upgrade the RAM for about $130 ($110 if I order it over the Internet). It's RDRAM, so it's a lot more expensive than DDR. I could upgrade the video card to a 128MB ATI Radeon 9200 for $100. However I'm quite sure that if I upgrade the video card, I will also need to upgrade the power supply, as I doubt the 250 watts will be enough. I could get a 400 watt FMI ATX power supply for $59.99 or an Antec 400 watt ATX for $79.99 ($61 on the Internet). I've heard really good things about the Antec PSUs, although one guy gave raves to the FMI also. So for about $315-337 (including sales tax), I could upgrade the thing, forgetting about the sound card.

The thing is, when you start talking about spending $300 or more on upgrading a 3-year-old PC, the mind quickly turns to thoughts of whether it's worth it, or whether it's better to go for a new PC altogether. Especially since at some point I will probably want to add USB 2.0. I priced out a new Dell, which would be a P4 2.60 GHz (800 MHz front/side bus with hyperthreading), 512MB DDR RAM, DVD+RW, DVD-ROM, 80GB hard drive, 128MB DDR NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200 video card, and Audigy 2 Soundblaster card. It comes with 8 USB 2.0 ports (2 front/6 rear). I'd swap the firewire PCI card out of my old unit into this one and keep my 17" flat panel monitor. The whole thing comes to $1070 with tax and shipping.

So, is it worth $700 more now to upgrade the whole thing (sans monitor) or not? I'd appreciate any thoughts.

Left Out

Oh joy. The Yankees now have no left-handed starters, as David Wells has signed a contract with the Padres.

So Here We Are

Another year has past and a new one started. I'm not a big New Years' person. I don't see the point in staying up to watch the ball drop. The start of the new year is purely arbitrary anyway. Once upon a time, as the names of our last four months indicate, the start of the new year was in March. This makes more sense to me. March is the month when winter turns to spring, at least in the northern hemisphere, and spring is the season of renewal. That ties into actual human experience. But what is January 1st? A day, like any other.

I don't make New Years' resolutions. If there's something about my life I want to change badly enough, I don't wait until a special, "magical" day to start to change it. No one really does. I think that New Years serves a purpose for many people, in that it gives them pause to stop and reflect on their lives; perhaps that is why resolutions are most popular on New Years.

Do I expect that 2004 will be a better year than 2003? No, but neither do I expect that it will be a worse year. Dickens sums it up best:

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way--in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.

Or perhaps T.S. Eliot:

For I have known them already, known them all-
Have known the evenings, mornings, afternoons,
I have measured out my life with coffee spoons

Well, perhaps I'm a wee bit melancholy.