Category - Movies/TV

When I started this blog, I wasn't too comfortable talking about politics. Consider my coverage of the 2004 presidential election (1 2 3 4). Pretty even-handed, it was, even though I had my opinions. But over the course of 991 posts, I've become more comfortable in my own skin. If you haven't been able to tell, I'm a lefty to the core. (I'm also a lefty to the hand, but that's neither here nor there.) Dennis Kucinich was my dream candidate, but I am left supporting Barack Obama.

It's hard to be 100% excited about a candidate you don't support 100%, but he's much better than the alternative. Yes, this dichotomous thinking isn't helpful for real democracy, but it is realistic. For what it's worth, I think it's a shame that Obama and McCain are still on the ballot in Texas. They both missed the filing deadline, so Libertarian candidate Bob Barr sued. The Texas Supreme Court decided without an explanation that Obama and McCain should remain on the ballot. This stuff makes my blood boil. It's bad enough that people think there are only two parties to choose from, but when the government gets in on the act, it threatens democracy.

Besides Obama and McCain, four candidates are on the ballots in enough states to win the presidency. So how come the news channels aren't going on and on about Bob Barr, Chuck Baldwin, Cynthia McKinney, and Ralph Nader? It's a vicious cycle, I guess. The newsmedia don't think people are interested in these candidates, so they don't tell people about them. The people aren't interested because they don't know. I think these candidates should be included in the presidential debates, but you know who organizes those debates? The Democrats and Republicans. The two-party system has been very good to them, so they will try to maintain it for as long as they can.

That said, I will be voting for Obama. I happen to agree with him on most issues, and I feel that he can undo the damage that Bush has done for us at home and abroad. While I can understand the frustration that supporters of third parties experience, I don't think it's appropriate for them to refer to Obama and McCain collectively as "McBama" or what have you. Barack Obama and John McCain would be very different presidents, and I am convinced that Obama is the best candidate out of those who are running.

Interestingly enough, I have a connection to Barack Obama. My mom's cousin's ex-boyfriend's friend (or something) went to school with him. My mom's cousin even hung out with "Barry" at least once. That's like five degrees of separation between me and him. I wonder if he knows Kevin Bacon.

Michael Moore is making his latest movie, Slacker Uprising, available on the Internet for free (in the US and Canada). The movie chronicles his campaign to encourage young people to vote (against George W. Bush) in the 2004 election. It's definitely worth watching.

Here are 10 Creatures People Didn’t Think Existed. Then people found out they existed after all.

See historic aerial photographs of (some parts of) the United States at Historic Aerials. The interface is kind of hard to navigate, but it was interesting to see part of my neighborhood as it looked in 1940 (i.e., it wasn't there). You can compare different photos of the same place too.

The fall semester is starting nicely... well, as nicely as school can go. The freshmen are getting advice, clubs are starting to meet, I've been practicing the closed-mouth yawn, and fraternities and sororities are recruiting. Well, you know, they were. They do it early, and then... it's this whole process.

A distinguished professor came to speak in the common room in my dorm the other day, but I was so not there. I remembered his name from last year's freshman orientation. I could have sworn I mentioned him in my original post, but I guess it didn't. At the orientation, he gave a talk to us where he said we would have a horrible college experience and fail all our classes. He was... acerbic. Not a fun guy at all. I can't imagine what "advice" he gave the people on my floor this time.

I don't really see the point of fraternities and sororities. They almost seem to exist for the purpose of making money. You're basically paying lots of money to have friends and do stuff. I can do that for free. I read The Ritual of Kappa Sigma on Wikileaks. The quasi-religious rituals were pretty ridiculous, the anti-atheist discrimination disgusting. Then there's the hazing and the dangerous partying. But probably the biggest problem I have with these groups is that they dominate campus politics. Whenever one of my friends joins a fraternity or sorority, a little piece of me dies. At least two of them have done so this fall. But I recognize that they probably have good reasons for joining, and it's their decision to make. I'm not just saying that because they both read this blog. (Okay, maybe I am, but it really is their business and not mine.)

One of the aforementioned friends, Adam, recently reminded me that I should write for the Independent Florida Alligator, the most popular student newspaper at UF. Today, they were having an open house, so I went off campus to stop by. The place looked pretty familiar, which means I've probably passed by and looked in the window before. They work out of a pretty small space with issues from throughout their 100-year history hanging up all over the place.

I was directed to the sports editor, who I guess is also in charge of editorial columns (or "eddies"). Having no little experience writing for a newspaper (I remember in mid-sentence that I submitted an article or two to the online-only, now defunct Pompano Pulse), I received some advice on what it takes to write an editorial column. Basically, I would just have to write about things that everyone can react to. On this blog, I basically write about two things: things I do and things I think. A column would be all about the things I think based on the things I have done. Can I write like that? Can I reach out to lots of college students? Can I do it on a weekly basis? Can I keep to 600 words? Can I write extremely short paragraphs?

Maybe.

I'm supposed to send the guy some samples, but I'm not sure if I have any blog posts that would fit the bill (my last post notwithstanding). I'm not used to writing where money is at stake. The Alligator is a business. They need writers that the students can connect with because then they get a greater circulation and sell more ads. Could I have fun writing in an environment that's all about the deadline and the bottom line? I'm not sure.

In a world where movie trailer voice-overs were boring... one man redefined an industry. Now, Don LaFontaine, the man who lent his deep, gravelly voice to thousands of movie trailers, has died at 68. Here's an interview with him. (From the archives: I linked to a video featuring LaFontaine and other prominent voice-over artists on August 28, 2005.)

This month marks the 25th birthday of GNU, a free operating system that has achieved relatively widespread popularity bundled with the Linux kernel. Now, the Free Software Foundation, which sponsors GNU, has released a short video of British comedian Stephen Fry explaining GNU to you. (The video is in Ogg Theora format.)

I'm home for Labor Day weekend. In fact, I'm about to go to my friend Nick's house for a barbecue. Will the weather cooperate? Let's hope. It looks like Hurricane Gustav, which is heading for the Gulf Coast, is bringing some clouds our way. And then there's Hanna out there too. Oh yes, it is a good time of year for hurricanes. I believe September 12 is the statistical peak of the Atlantic hurricane season (that is, the day of the year that has seen the most hurricanes since recordkeeping began).

In the spring, I got an Esperanto club started at school. I filed the application at the end of the spring semester, and they were supposed to get back to me when it was approved. They didn't. I asked our faculty advisor, Holly, if she knew what was up. She contacted them, and apparently we were approved. We just need to re-register for the '08-'09 year as all student organizations do.

Holly was by far the best choice for faculty advisor. She's a language teacher (Czech, specifically), and she was very impressed by our initiative in starting an Esperanto club. She was also willing to work to promote our club, and that she has done. She told me she had landed a gig for us at a language fair coming up in a week or two. They're going to have a flyer with some basic phrases in each of the languages that are represented. Apparently, Holly got her to drop Spanish from the flyer in favor of Esperanto.

The phrases in English:

1. Hi, how are you?
2. My name is ____.
3. I speak English.
4. What are you doing tonight?
5. Goodbye.
6. Go Gators!

In Esperanto, with phonetic transcriptions added just for you:

1. Saluton, kiel vi fartas? (sah-LOO-tohn, KEE-el vee FAR-tahs?)
2. Mi nomiĝas ____. (mee noh-MEE-jahs ____.)
3. Mi parolas la anglan. (mee pah-RO-lahs lah AHN-glahn)
4. Kion vi faros ĉi-nokte? (KEE-ohn vee FAR-ohs chee-NOHK-tay?)
5. Ĝis! (jeese!)
6. Ek, Gatoroj! (eck, gah-TOR-oy!)

I'm not sure if I could justifiably shorten "aligatoroj" to "gatoroj," but I wouldn't say it's justifiable in English either. Nicknames are off-limits from logic.

Here's why you should never use an online translator.

From The Consumerist, it's false advertising. This water slide thing looks way bigger on the box than it actually is. See the sad children for comparison.

At 1:00 A.M. on Sunday, September 10, 1995, WTVJ-TV, Miami's NBC affiliate broadcasting on channel 4, and WCIX-TV, the CBS affiliate broadcasting on channel 6, traded channels. At the same time, WCIX changed its call sign to WFOR. Here are videos of the changeover as seen on channel 4 and channel 6.

Prediction: The title of this post will make people mad. Relax, amigos, it's all in good fun.

My last post might have been a snoozer for many of you, but hopefully not. I try to make things interesting around here. But as evidenced by the break from my usual form, I have a lot of things to write about right now. In fact, I have a long list of topics to get to, which is a good thing. If you look back at the archives, you can see that I posted more during the first few years than I have during the past few years. Recently, the occasional brief lull has crept in. I'm not proud of that; I've always striven to post regularly. I can't say that when I started blogging, I did it for the lulls.

Readers, I am outraged. My friend Luke informed me that Sunday's South Florida Sun-Sentinel stole the title of my blog post from Saturday. Just look at that headline. Like mine, there isn't even a comma to set off the subject of address!

Okay, so a quick Google search reveals that I wasn't the only person to think of this clever headline, but is it even appropriate for a newspaper? The Sun-Sentinel seems to be more style than substance these days. Case in point: see the headline at the top? "A Bold New Sun Sentinel." They've apparently redesigned the paper to look less newspapery and more short-attention-span-y. Now, the title of the newspaper can intuitively be found in tiny letters under the giant "S" on the side of the front page.

In any case, this weather has put a damper on some of my plans. I might be leaving for college on Thursday rather than Wednesday. And I was going to play baseball with my friends Nick and TJ today, but that's not going to happen because we're starting to get hit by the tropical storm right now. It's not too bad right now, and maybe it won't get too much worse.

Fortunately, I did get to hang out with Nick and TJ on Saturday night. We went to South Beach, looking for some fun. Because we were checking out the nightlife, I naturally brought my new sunglasses. But once again, we didn't plan far enough ahead. Apparently there's nothing to do there if you're under the drinking age, which is a puritanical 21. We learned an important lesson: being over 18 isn't a big deal if you're under 21.

Yet another Jeopardy!-related link: a contestant describes his recent experience on the show.

You may be a bad speller, but be glad you're not as bad as this newspaper that misspelled its name on the front page.

Getting around on a bicycle in the United States seems to be a real inconvenience. A reluctant Walmart customer describes her experience having to take her bike into the store because there was no place to keep it safe outside.

Over the summer, I've discovered the wonders of BitTorrent by downloading all sorts of things. But pretty soon I'll go back to living on the campus of a university that is hostile to sharing. Before Wednesday, I'd like to get my upload/download ratio up to 1 on these torrents. They have to go, go, go! (Well, I could still seed them whenever I'm home for the weekend, but who knows when that will be?) They're all released under Creative Commons licenses, so you can share them without getting into trouble!

• WhiteRoom by WhiteRoom. Nice, kind of quiet music with exotic influences. Ogg Vorbis audio, 96.4 MB, BY-SA.
• Alternative Freedom: a documentary about the growing free culture movement, featuring Richard Stallman, Lawrence Lessig, and others. In English, subtitled in Danish. AVI video, 600.0 MB, BY-NC-SA.
• Originals: 1976 to 1981 by Harbinger, an obscure Canadian band. They started out sounding like the old alternative music that my parents like to listen to, but their later stuff sounds like ELO or something. My favorite track is "Let Yourself Go." Ogg Vorbis, 99.4 MB, BY-NC-ND.
• Lawrence Lessig Keynote. A lecture given by the creator of Creative Commons in his distinctive style on June 10, 2006. Ogg Theora video, 238.7 MB, BY-NC-SA.
• Your Reality by STEEP. Reviewed previously. Ogg Vorbis, 40.4 MB, BY-SA.
• The Great Pharaos by The Pharaos. Reviewed previously. Ogg Vorbis, 15.3 MB, BY-NC-SA.
• The Puppet String's Too Tight by Marauders. Power pop/rock from France. It's in English, though. Ogg Vorbis, 38.7 MB, BY-NC-ND.

I haven't downloaded any Hollywood films, but that doesn't mean that they're all bad. I went to see Tropic Thunder with my friends Nick and TJ on Wednesday night, the day it came out. Without giving too much away, let me just say that it was crazy and full of surprises. Very funny too. Lots of laffs.

Just as I'm leaving South Florida, hurricane season is starting to heat up. I thought I'd be safe from them because they usually don't hit in June or July. But, as Tropical Storm Fay reminds us, it is neither June nor July. Just look at this forecast cone.

See the point where the storm is most likely to be at 2 P.M. on Wednesday? That's where I will be at 2 P.M. on Wednesday. Even worse, the storm could strike South(east) Florida and then work its way up to North Central Florida at the same time I do. Yes, this storm might stalk me. But what's certain is that it will dump a lot of rain all over the place. Whether I will be at "the place" remains to be seen.

The New York Times has an Olympic medal map (Flash) with each country's size proportional to the number of medals they've won at this (and previous) Summer Olympics.

This sounds pretty crazy, but it might just work. It did for someone. With a Bit of Creative Savings, $5 Can Get You at Least $12,000.

In 1992, a ship's cargo of bath toys was washed overboard. The Friendly Floatees have turned up all over the world since then, giving scientists clues about the workings of ocean currents.

Although I've had several friends write guest posts for this blog, I've only written one guest post for another blog. I had won a contest over at Nothing Important and had this entry posted on March 6, 2006. Since it's not available there anymore, and because I don't have anything to say today, here it is for your enjoyment.

There's something I don't quite get: cable channels.

I'm pretty young (16), so I've grown up watching cable TV. It's always seemed that there was a channel for everything: the Discovery Channel, the History Channel, Arts & Entertainment (A&E), Animal Planet, the Learning Channel (TLC), Food Network, Game Show Network (GSN), the Travel Channel, Home & Garden Television (HGTV), ad nauseam. (These channels and many more are staples of satellite TV as well.)

There's only one way I can explain the multiplicity of very specific channels. It must have had its roots in the days before cable, when everyone watched the big three networks (CBS, NBC, and ABC) and had to put up with -- ugh -- variety in programming. Then new technology came along. "Honey, guess what? We're getting the Underwater Basket Weaving Channel!"

Fast forward to the present. Apparently the cable networks' business models are failing, or maybe they just want to spice things up. Why else would they seem to be exchanging programs and losing their narrow focus? The other day I was watching an episode about food on the History Channel's show "Modern Marvels," in which they usually look at technology and stuff. What the heck, everybody?

Take Game Show Network as another example. I think they finally realized that not everyone wants to watch game shows, so they shortened their name to GSN and adopted the tagline, "The network for games." Now anything vaguely game-related can find its way into the programming block. They have a new show called "Anything to Win," which actually is about (in)famous people who will do anything to get ahead. Games? Not in the case of Johnnie Cochran and the other folks featured.

By the way, what's the Discovery Channel supposed to be about, anyway? Discovering things? I always thought it was about science. I guess not, since they've spun off the Science Channel. Now all they show on the Discovery Channel (and TLC, and HGTV) are shows about remodeling houses. And probably makeover shows; I don't really know.

I expect all of the aforementioned cable networks to merge into the Everything Channel next spring. Till then, here's a fun game to try: Cover up the corner of your screen and try to guess what channel you're watching. I'm sure if you played it years ago, you'd find it harder now than it was then.

I could probably think of a few more examples of cable channels losing their focuses, but I really don't watch that much TV. So, while you're watching a show about the history of the food eaten by traveling hairstylists and interior designers on the Underwater Basket Weaving Channel, I'll be checking my e-mail.

Have a song stuck in your head? Use The Song Tapper to tap out the melody with your spacebar, and see if you get a match with their database of songs.

If you're like me, there are a lot of things you need to do, and you need to be nagged about them before you do them. That's where www.hassleme.co.uk comes in. Just tell the site what to hassle you about, and they'll send you an e-mail reminding you at specified intervals.

I'd like to thank Jeff/Danny for letting me write on his blog. If you enjoyed this post (that is, if it didn't make you jump out a window), you may be interested in reading my own site, www.theworldofstuff.com, where I chatter on and on like this all the time, except it's usually about my own life.

Last week, I played something resembling baseball with some of my friends. We didn't have enough people for a game, so we had a home run derby instead. We had such a good time with that that we decided to play some more baseball yesterday. We were going to play at a park that had baseball fields, but people were using them, so we went to another baseball field instead.

There were only five of us playing, so we took turns hitting. I was relegated to the outfield most of the time, where I had to throw and catch right-handed because nobody had a left-handed baseball glove. Since there were only as many as two of us out there at any given time, we didn't try very hard to catch any fly balls. We had 10 of them, anyway. But I did manage to make a pretty nice catch while I was running to my right and stretching my left arm over to my right side. (A right-handed player throws with his right hand and catches with his left, so this makes sense. Right-handed baseball gloves go on the left hand.)

We were out there for a few hours, after which I was sunburned like whoa. I didn't really notice it at the time, but my farmer's tan has gotten a lot worse, and it hurts. I wonder how people manage not to have farmer's tans. To mitigate this situation, I think I would either have to spend all my time tanning or stop going outside. Guess which one I would prefer. But wikiHow makes it sound so easy.

After that, we went to my house to cool down. Some of us swam in the pool. After that, we visited Kim on the job; she's a hostess at Bonefish Mac's. There was hardly anyone there, which I guess would be expected for a Sunday night, but I don't go to restaurants on Sunday nights very often, so I'm not sure. Apparently, no one else goes either. But the food was good. After that, we tried to decide whose house we should go to, and it turned out that my house was the only option. We rented Waiting... and Hot Fuzz and watched them at my house. It was about 12:45 in the morning when we were done, which was fortunate for me because I could just fall into bed when the others left.

My friend Nick wants us to play baseball again on Thursday. I'm looking forward to it. I was going to include a cheesy baseball-themed metaphor to go here, but I can't think of one. Imagine your favorite here!

Take this brief quiz to find out your News IQ. How much do you know about current events? I scored in the 83rd percentile.

Some people have had their cars for a long time. Matteo Ferrari re-creates old photographs of folks posing with their well-loved cars.

How much do you know about Benjamin Franklin? Here are 9 Things You Didn't Know About Benjamin Franklin.

I feel like writing stream-of-consciousness today. It Is That Kind Of Day.

I did get to see The Dark Knight at midnight on opening day. I had been concerned because I was going with a group of people who had tickets to a different showing than I did. They were at the same time, but at different screens. I couldn't find anyone to trade tickets with, so I resigned myself to seeing the movie without the company of most of them. I was with this guy Tyler, who went to my high school for a semester. I had a class with him. Some of my other friends apparently did too because he has now reappeared in the group of friends.

Anyway, while we were in line, he encountered this girl who he apparently knew well. They ribbed each other mercilessly, and he kept asking me why he was putting up with it. I wondered too; he's not the kind of guy who just takes that sort of thing. It was later made known to me by other people that they had dated and that all sorts of drama had recently unfolded. Maybe that's why, when I was sitting between them before the movie started and they were trying to challenge each other to name the last time the other had lied to them, Tyler insisted that I switch seats with him and allow him to whisper something in her ear.

So, he puts up with her verbal abuse because he still has feelings for her? That would be my guess, but I don't know. I do know that she took a liking to me; she said so. I was pleased by that. But whatever.

Anyway, the movie was really good. This was only the second time I had seen a movie premiere (well, not premiere, but opening) at midnight. The first time was last year when I saw Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. The Dark Knight was really epic. But unlike my previous midnight film experience, I was pretty tired by the end of it. I even managed to miss part of a pivotal scene somehow. But I was still impressed by Heath Ledger's performance as the Joker. Posthumous Oscar? I would recommend it. Get on that, Academy.

I should be leaving for my second year of college in about a month. I'm looking forward to it in a way. I'm going to have a cool roommate. Plus, I'll be able to get to an ATM and eat at Taco Bell whenever I want. As for the classes, eh. Oh, and also, I may have a chance with Number 6 (this one). I remember her hinting that she might want to hang out in the fall. I hope she remembers that too.

Current Music: Kaiser Chiefs - Employment. My dad caught an interview with them on NPR a few years ago and got the album. I like it too. Before this, I was listening to "A Whiter Shade of Pale," which seems to be my stream-of-consciousness-writing-enducer.

Well, it looks like it's time to return to being bored. Here are some links.

Have movies been getting longer recently? I can't remember the last time I went to see a movie that was just the standard 90 minutes in length. A survey of IMDb's top movies by decade suggests that movies have been getting longer over the course of decades, but I'd be interesting in analyzing all major feature films from the past, say, 20 years for a more thorough analysis.

The BBC reports that the oldest recording of computer-generated music has been discovered. It dates back to 1951. Read and listen.

Dumpster diving sounds like a good idea to save some money. Too bad there's such a stigma associated with it. We should just get people to throw away less stuff.

Yesterday my friend Nick asked if I wanted to join him and some of our other friends for lunch. I went along, knowing full well how plans can grow and change. After lunch, we played airsoft at a park in my neighborhood. Then we went to Mark's local park, where there was enough room to play baseball. Actually, since we didn't have enough people for that, we had a home run derby. I think it was my first time playing baseball of any kind. I swung at every pitch, so I didn't last very long. I didn't hit any either. After taking a break at Mark's house, we had played football and then had pizza. Then we played poker. (Texas hold 'em, of course. That variant is so popular that it's annoying. What happened to old five card draw?) So yeah, it was a pretty busy day yesterday. What started as lunch outing became a fun day out.

Tonight's plans: going to see The Dark Knight at midnight. Of course, advance tickets will be necessary. But I just found out: everybody has them except me, and their tickets are for a screen that's now sold out! Awesome! I just got a ticket for the other showing, which I hope to exchange with another moviegoer who's willing to help me out. Surely there'll be measures in place to prevent theater-hopping.

I'm a college student, and the purpose of college is to prepare one for a job. Therefore, I'm being prepared for a job. I've decided that working on software would be pretty cool, so that's what I'm studying. Whenever I mention this, the Bill Gates comparisons fly. I don't want to be the next Bill Gates. I believe in free software, which gives users essential freedoms, while Microsoft believes that they should have total control over the users of their software. Microsoft and most other software companies write non-free software. I find this practice to be unethical. So I need to know: where can I get a job developing free software? I know they exist. The Free Software Foundation even lists a few. But are they more widespread than that (perhaps under the name "open source")? Are there other free software jobs that I'm not thinking of? I don't want to be a sysadmin.

Here are 10 bizarre species names. They're pretty bizarre.

Another list: the Top Tourist Spots Americans Can't Visit. I haven't visited any of them because I can't.

This seems pretty simple, and it would make an awesome project. How to Build Hover Shoes. Caveat: there's soldering involved.

I'm 19 years old today. This is my last year as a nominal teenager. Next year, I'll be "in my twenties." That's frightening. But for now, I am still someone with "teen" in his age.

You know how, whenever it's your birthday, you remark that you don't look or feel any older? I sometimes do. But yesterday, I looked in the mirror and saw that I did look a year older. It occurred to me that Brendan Leonard and his friends were 19 when they produced and starred in The Brendan Leonard Show, which I watched avidly when I was 13 and 14. Now I look almost as old as they did then.

I had dinner with some friends last night. I chose Smokey Bones, which is a barbecue place, but a nice one. I don't even like ribs or anything, but they have good burgers and steaks and things of that nature. Unlike last year, more people were able to come than I expected, so it was nice to see everybody. After that, I stopped over at Gerri's luau-themed party for a little while, but then I decided to go home.

My birthday has been pretty much like a typical Sunday except that my grandparents are here. After brunch, we went to a bookstore, which was convenient for me because I got a Barnes and Noble gift card for my birthday. I bought a book about the history of Fermat's Last Theorem. It should be interesting, but I wish I could understand the proof.

Plans for tonight: dinner at home with the fam. They really are the best gift of all. That and money.

Similar to the Doomsday Clock maintained by the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, the ACLU has its own Surveillance Society Clock going. Both are currently at five minutes to midnight.

What would you do if you had 1,500 Xbox hard drives? The correct answer is to stack them and play hard drive dominoes. It's absolutely mesmerizing. I bet they'd all be broken after that, though. Those things are fragile.

You know those t-shirts that say "I'm big in Japan"? Mark Rowswell of Toronto is big in China. Millions of people there know and love him because he can speak Chinese more skillfully than many of them. Yet at home, he's just an ordinary guy.