Well done insofar as standard chick-flicks go.
Watching people deal with the embarassingly painful consequences of mundane stupidities just doesn't work for me. In this case: on the verge of a wedding, we are to be entertained by the assorted clashing permutations of a failed engagement, a gigolo hired to make an ex-fiance jealous, who had what now-defunct relationships with whom, who finds out about those relationships when, who wants what relationship de-defunctified, etc. and somehow it all just works out into a happy ending.
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Saturday, May 3, 2008
Mead: a bubbly first batch
After the first bottle, I found I had overlooked what was really the first bottle! Made with common honey from Sam's Club, and fermented using Lalvin EC-1118 yeast, the result was shared with visitors in a progressive dinner. Rather bubbly, the cork needed almost no assistance in opening, and the result was more champagne-like than akin to a sweet white wine. Those partaking seemed to rather like it, being bold & peppy.
Today I opened another bottle made the same but fermented longer (6 months). Fortunately the opening had been wrapped, as when unwrapped the cork popped on its own (to the surprise of guests). Still a bit yeasty, samplers liked the bold bubbly taste. This was sampled alongside a professionally produced mead, very clear and likable and flat. Obviously the home brew requires considerably longer fermentation time, and filtration would be wise. Remaining bottles must be stored so they won't make a mess if the cork (or, moreso, glass) blows.
Today I opened another bottle made the same but fermented longer (6 months). Fortunately the opening had been wrapped, as when unwrapped the cork popped on its own (to the surprise of guests). Still a bit yeasty, samplers liked the bold bubbly taste. This was sampled alongside a professionally produced mead, very clear and likable and flat. Obviously the home brew requires considerably longer fermentation time, and filtration would be wise. Remaining bottles must be stored so they won't make a mess if the cork (or, moreso, glass) blows.
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Mead
My first bottle of aged mead finally got uncorked - and it was worth the work & wait.
Made from "Mountain Gold Wildflower Honey" purchased in Dahlonega, and fermented with "White Labs Sweet Mead Yeast WLP720", I mixed 1 part honey with 3 parts boiling water, cooled, then add yeast, pour in glass jug with airlock (gasses escape, nothing gets in), let sit at room temperature for a month, then rack to wine bottles (siphon off clear fluids from settled sediments), cork, and let sit. Total cost was somewhere around $2/bottle.
First bottle sat 6 months. Opened and served a the first meeting of the Grove Park Wine Club, it went over surprisingly well. The clear, slightly golden liquid had a pleasant, slightly sweet taste with a mild bite. Certainly worth the effort, which was wasn't much considering the very simple recipe - it was just a matter of spending a little time actually doing it.
Made from "Mountain Gold Wildflower Honey" purchased in Dahlonega, and fermented with "White Labs Sweet Mead Yeast WLP720", I mixed 1 part honey with 3 parts boiling water, cooled, then add yeast, pour in glass jug with airlock (gasses escape, nothing gets in), let sit at room temperature for a month, then rack to wine bottles (siphon off clear fluids from settled sediments), cork, and let sit. Total cost was somewhere around $2/bottle.
First bottle sat 6 months. Opened and served a the first meeting of the Grove Park Wine Club, it went over surprisingly well. The clear, slightly golden liquid had a pleasant, slightly sweet taste with a mild bite. Certainly worth the effort, which was wasn't much considering the very simple recipe - it was just a matter of spending a little time actually doing it.
Movie: Rambo III
By this point they've figured out that in the audiences' mind, the name of the series is "Rambo", not "First Blood".
Having made a pile of money off the first two movies, a third was created. The result was something halfway between its predecessors: less story and more action than the first, but without the extreme disparity in the second. Still, the point is to build on the enduring memory of the first movie: strong action hero takes on enemy forces, practically single-handedly, and wins. That the final enemy is what seems the whole Russian army is, indeed, going a bit far.
Here's hoping that the fourth installment, recently released, manages to get the high action and meaningful story due a big-budget movie descended from the first Rambo.
Having made a pile of money off the first two movies, a third was created. The result was something halfway between its predecessors: less story and more action than the first, but without the extreme disparity in the second. Still, the point is to build on the enduring memory of the first movie: strong action hero takes on enemy forces, practically single-handedly, and wins. That the final enemy is what seems the whole Russian army is, indeed, going a bit far.
Here's hoping that the fourth installment, recently released, manages to get the high action and meaningful story due a big-budget movie descended from the first Rambo.
Movie: Rambo - First Blood Part II
OK, so the first one was a hit for good reason. Decent story, acting, etc. Appealing to the visceral nature of men.
Given that success, they had to do a second one. They shouldn't have.
While the first Rambo movie had a sane, consistent emotional arc which made for a good story, this second one was just a bunch of action scenes stuck together - and not particularly well done ones at that. I'd suggest they fire the continuity director, except there obviously wasn't one.
Given that success, they had to do a second one. They shouldn't have.
While the first Rambo movie had a sane, consistent emotional arc which made for a good story, this second one was just a bunch of action scenes stuck together - and not particularly well done ones at that. I'd suggest they fire the continuity director, except there obviously wasn't one.
Movie: Rambo - First Blood
A pretty good guy movie from its time, capturing the visceral essence of men standing their ground - right or wrong.
Simple premise: walking north along the west coast, John Rambo is just passing thru town and wants a bite to eat ... but the local sheriff escorts the apparent drifter to beyond the city limits, not wanting "his kind" around, and subsequently applies strong-arm measures when our hero doesn't take the hint. The situation escalates into a mental & physical battle of the will.
FWIW: I watched the first 3 Rambo movies back-to-back. They shoulda stopped here.
Simple premise: walking north along the west coast, John Rambo is just passing thru town and wants a bite to eat ... but the local sheriff escorts the apparent drifter to beyond the city limits, not wanting "his kind" around, and subsequently applies strong-arm measures when our hero doesn't take the hint. The situation escalates into a mental & physical battle of the will.
FWIW: I watched the first 3 Rambo movies back-to-back. They shoulda stopped here.
Monday, February 11, 2008
Wine: Almaden Blush Chablis
It will do as a cheap table wine, but simply does not live up to the almost disturbingly drinkable Almaden Mountain Rose. A bit watery and slightly sour. Better options are available.
Movie: Bourne Ultimatum
Not necessarily following on the previous, and apparently unnecessary, installment of the Bourne series, this episode sees David go home to where "Jason Bourne" began. Frenetic filming & action drills home the skill, strength, and relentlessness of this super-agent while seeking what created him. Good solid pop action.
I just wish they'd stop with the sound of cocking guns every single time one gets pointed at someone - especially with the guns that cannot be cocked. Glocks just don't make that sound.
I just wish they'd stop with the sound of cocking guns every single time one gets pointed at someone - especially with the guns that cannot be cocked. Glocks just don't make that sound.
Movie: True Lies
Schwarzenegger as James Bond ... married ... working for the USA ... and she finds out ... while falling for a James Bond wannabe ... when terrorists kidnap both as part of a plot to nuke several US cities. Whee! Great date movie: she gets romantic intrigue, he gets a shoot-em-up. One of the few easy-watching movies worth seeing again.
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Movie: Beowulf
Finally, a fairly faithful cinematic take on the ancient English poem. ...yet even this version should have been titled "Beowulf: Wiglaf's Secret", for the scriptwriter & director could not restrain from adding to the classic tale a non-classic subplot, which with a few overt tweaks changes much. Fans of the old tale will be thrilled at the detailed depiction, and dismayed at the added twist - at least until the end, where the "Wiglaf's Secret" comment makes sense.
3D. You gotta see this in 3D. Oh ... you do realize that the classic story of Beowulf is mostly about three very graphically violent fights, right? Not for the squeamish.
3D. You gotta see this in 3D. Oh ... you do realize that the classic story of Beowulf is mostly about three very graphically violent fights, right? Not for the squeamish.
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Politics: The Farce of Demanding Free Health Care
Much is being made, and has been for years now, of demands for a government-run free health care system. You're familiar with it: among others, Hillary Clinton tried to get it enacted some years ago, and is trying for it again. News outlets and left-leaning politicians frequently offer up sob stories about the un- and under-insured not getting treatment they need.
It's a farce.
I mean, ignorance run amok, inmates running the asylum.
WE ALREADY HAVE IT.
Enter the ER doors of any hospital in this country, and you'll see a little plaque on the wall stating that nobody will be turned away for any reason, including inability to pay. Anyone who walks thru those doors will get the basic treatment they need, on demand. Payment, if a problem, will be worked out according to the individual's circumstances and ability. At any hospital, at anytime, anywhere.
Oh, it might not be free. Few people are truly destitute. Most people can pay something, even if it's just, say, $5 per month for life for, say, emergency quadruple-bypass surgery. If the patient will just take a little time to talk with the billing department, something can be worked out which is fair and favorable to both.
Oh, it's not widely known - at least to those who do have some ability to pay. The welfare class does seem to know about this, as emergency personnel are inundated with requests for what is really routine medical care ... and thing is, the treatment is given at little or no cost.
Free health care? Government health care? Universal health insurance? Calls demanding it are a farce, as we already have it.
It's a farce.
I mean, ignorance run amok, inmates running the asylum.
WE ALREADY HAVE IT.
Enter the ER doors of any hospital in this country, and you'll see a little plaque on the wall stating that nobody will be turned away for any reason, including inability to pay. Anyone who walks thru those doors will get the basic treatment they need, on demand. Payment, if a problem, will be worked out according to the individual's circumstances and ability. At any hospital, at anytime, anywhere.
Oh, it might not be free. Few people are truly destitute. Most people can pay something, even if it's just, say, $5 per month for life for, say, emergency quadruple-bypass surgery. If the patient will just take a little time to talk with the billing department, something can be worked out which is fair and favorable to both.
Oh, it's not widely known - at least to those who do have some ability to pay. The welfare class does seem to know about this, as emergency personnel are inundated with requests for what is really routine medical care ... and thing is, the treatment is given at little or no cost.
Free health care? Government health care? Universal health insurance? Calls demanding it are a farce, as we already have it.
Saturday, November 17, 2007
Movie: Miami Vice
Perfect.
I'd like to stop there, but that's not particularly helpful to you.
Grand sweeping vistas. Powerful, subliminally elegant vehicles. A story that cuts deep, with just enough anesthesia to know what's happening. A game played well, won at great price.
This isn't the TV series, it's the distilled liqueur thereof.
I'd like to stop there, but that's not particularly helpful to you.
Grand sweeping vistas. Powerful, subliminally elegant vehicles. A story that cuts deep, with just enough anesthesia to know what's happening. A game played well, won at great price.
This isn't the TV series, it's the distilled liqueur thereof.
Movie: The Christmas Shoes
One of the biggest tear-jerkers I've seen in a while. Based on the recent Christmas song that you'll be hearing again a lot more often than you'll like.
Surprising that a whole movie could be created, and that with a good well-timed plot, out of what amounts to two minutes of song lyrics.
Surprising that a whole movie could be created, and that with a good well-timed plot, out of what amounts to two minutes of song lyrics.
Thursday, October 4, 2007
Legal: Heller's Response to DC's Petition to SCOTUS
Washington DC has petitioned the Supreme Court to take the DC vs. Heller case; today, Heller et al has responded to that petition. Upshot is that they agree that the Supreme Court should take the case, but that DC's petition is grossly flawed.
Here's a quick shot at the Cliff's Notes version (quotations from the brief italicized):
Here's a quick shot at the Cliff's Notes version (quotations from the brief italicized):
QUESTION PRESENTED
Whether the Second Amendment guarantees lawabiding, adult individuals a right to keep ordinary, functional firearms, including handguns, in their homes.
Mr. Heller officially responds to DC's petition (re-joined by the other 5 original Parker petitioners on the grounds that they were a party to the case in lower courts), stating "The Court should grant certiorari on the question as presented by Respondents." ('Certiorari' = 'take the case')
Summary of Argument: "the people" means "individuals in our country". High courts are divided on the issue, and SCOTUS must resolve the split. The case, properly presented, will be very simple: does the 2ndA protect an individual right, and do the two DC laws in question absolutely negate that right? (Expected answer: yes.) BTW: DC is way outta line in how they presented the issue, so the question they presented should be replaced with Heller's (above).
I. The Court Should Provide Essential Guidance to Courts That Misconstrue the Second Amendment: it's an individual right, not collective. The people are all individuals, not a select government-chosen body. The militia is members of the public capable of bearing arms in defense of the government if called upon to do so. Miller was very simple and clear on this - but somehow courts have twisted that into the opposite. The whole issue has gotten scrambled, and SCOTUS should explain how the 2nd Amendment should be interpreted.
II. The Question Presented by Petitioners Misrepresents the Court of Appeals’ Holding and the Central Issue in This Case: DC says X may be banned because Y is allowed - but fails to explain that, for all practical purposes, Y is not allowed either. SCOTUS needs to clarify what the question actually is, and what the answer to it means. (While well done, the wording of this section makes me nervous, as SCOTUS could say "fine...DC, try again" or worse "crappy question, next case" - ctd.)
III. Whether the Second Amendment Forbids Handgun Prohibition Is a Discrete Constitutional Question That Must Be Answered on Its Own Terms: Miller addressed the question of whether Z was "militia suitable"; handguns are plainly "militia suitable", and DC's notion that they are not is flatly unsupportable, social commentary notwithstanding. The two bans together form such a comprehensive total prohibition that bickering over the division between the bans is pointless until both bans have been firmly overturned.
IV. The City’s Policy and Social Science Arguments Are Irrelevant and Factually Baseless: DC claimed the ban is effective, when facts easily and plainly show it is not - and that is, nonetheless, irrelevant because this is a court of LAW, not of policy or sociology.
V. Citizens Under Criminal Attack Are Not Required to Stand By and Die Awaiting Police Protection: In claiming the city is not required " to stand by while its citizens die", the city perversely requires its citizens to do so despite numerous court cases where the city fought for the right " to stand by while its citizens die" (to wit: DC is not obligated to protect citizens, both by the laws of this land and the laws of physics).
-----
Overall the brief is good, systematically demolishing everything DC presented to justify its side.
My one concern is whether it is too good: SCOTUS could say "this is a mess, we'll let the lower court ruling stand until someone else presents a better challenge."
I think SCOTUS will take the case, precisely because there is a legal mess that only they can clear up, SCOTUS justices rarely get a case this profound & fundamental & wideranging (i.e.: they can't pass up a case this good), and it really can be resolved with a simple, narrow, yet profoundly impacting verdict.
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Movie: Pan's Labyrinth
Marketing can really make or break a movie.
Pan's Labyrinth is a well-done tragedy of a little girl trying to save her sanity, in a horrible situation, by indulging an active & creative imagination. A great deal is made of the horrible situation, with a few powerful moments depicting the saving fantasy.
Unfortunately, the viewer is probably watching this because the marketing of it depicts little more than the fantasy world, which one comes to expect a great deal of. While marvelous, there is little of it - in fact, most of it is seen in the previews and the box cover, and the indicated few minutes is spaced with long periods of dark, dreary, tragic warfare and nasty interpersonal conflict.
For what it is, Pan's Labyrinth is quite well done. It's just not what you were looking for when you hit "play".
Pan's Labyrinth is a well-done tragedy of a little girl trying to save her sanity, in a horrible situation, by indulging an active & creative imagination. A great deal is made of the horrible situation, with a few powerful moments depicting the saving fantasy.
Unfortunately, the viewer is probably watching this because the marketing of it depicts little more than the fantasy world, which one comes to expect a great deal of. While marvelous, there is little of it - in fact, most of it is seen in the previews and the box cover, and the indicated few minutes is spaced with long periods of dark, dreary, tragic warfare and nasty interpersonal conflict.
For what it is, Pan's Labyrinth is quite well done. It's just not what you were looking for when you hit "play".
Book: An Inconvenient Truth
OK, so I finally succumbed and read the book version of Al Gore's infamous movie.
OK, so I skimmed it. There really wasn't that much meat to it, so that didn't take long.
OK, so there was so little to it I got thru the whole thing while standing at a table at a bookstore.
For all the pretty pictures, emotional declarations, and bluster about climate change, this book really can be distilled down to just 3 graphs:
- average planetary temperature
- population
- species extinction rates
and those are simplistic and open to discussion.
Most of the book really is just hype-generating fluff. Seriously. I don't mean that from any particular sociopolitical viewpoint, I mean that from an analytical view: there is so little actual data in here that it's hard to take any of it seriously.
The main point is the temperature graph. Showing apparently mild fluctuations for centuries, right near the end is a rapid fluctuation ending in a high point. That alone is disingenuous precisely because most of the data was clearly derived from long-term samples spanning decades, while the data at the end was measured in far more rapid succession - giving an illusion of sudden chaos. Average the last data out to the same sample rate, and the fear-inducing spikes go away, just as they have been smoothed out the rest of the data. I suggest the reader go peruse the marvelous book "How To Lie With Statistics" before taking Gore's book seriously, as the latter seems a prime example for the former.
Little is made of the fact that the much-feared "recent warming" amounts to about one degree over a century. Things change, people. That includes the sun's temperature, which has risen a bit lately, obviously has an effect, and is unceremoniously ignored where it is most relevant.
The other graphs?
Yes, the world's population of humans has increased dramatically; you handing it ok? the planet seems to be as well.
The extinction rate gets a brief mention, with one scary-looking graph. Considering how new species are being found at a surprising rate today - despite decades & centuries of seeking them - I have to wonder about the alleged means of finding which ones vanished millennia ago.
The rest is plain fear-mongering, interspersed with warm fuzzy irrelevancies about himself, his wife, and his sister.
Oddly, those heralding the onset of "global climate change" seem to think there shouldn't be any.
And if Al Gore believes anything he wrote therein, he would not have a house that uses 20x the national average in energy, and certainly would not be flying around in a private jet. If Al Gore doesn't believe his own book, I'm not sure we should either.
OK, so I skimmed it. There really wasn't that much meat to it, so that didn't take long.
OK, so there was so little to it I got thru the whole thing while standing at a table at a bookstore.
For all the pretty pictures, emotional declarations, and bluster about climate change, this book really can be distilled down to just 3 graphs:
- average planetary temperature
- population
- species extinction rates
and those are simplistic and open to discussion.
Most of the book really is just hype-generating fluff. Seriously. I don't mean that from any particular sociopolitical viewpoint, I mean that from an analytical view: there is so little actual data in here that it's hard to take any of it seriously.
The main point is the temperature graph. Showing apparently mild fluctuations for centuries, right near the end is a rapid fluctuation ending in a high point. That alone is disingenuous precisely because most of the data was clearly derived from long-term samples spanning decades, while the data at the end was measured in far more rapid succession - giving an illusion of sudden chaos. Average the last data out to the same sample rate, and the fear-inducing spikes go away, just as they have been smoothed out the rest of the data. I suggest the reader go peruse the marvelous book "How To Lie With Statistics" before taking Gore's book seriously, as the latter seems a prime example for the former.
Little is made of the fact that the much-feared "recent warming" amounts to about one degree over a century. Things change, people. That includes the sun's temperature, which has risen a bit lately, obviously has an effect, and is unceremoniously ignored where it is most relevant.
The other graphs?
Yes, the world's population of humans has increased dramatically; you handing it ok? the planet seems to be as well.
The extinction rate gets a brief mention, with one scary-looking graph. Considering how new species are being found at a surprising rate today - despite decades & centuries of seeking them - I have to wonder about the alleged means of finding which ones vanished millennia ago.
The rest is plain fear-mongering, interspersed with warm fuzzy irrelevancies about himself, his wife, and his sister.
Oddly, those heralding the onset of "global climate change" seem to think there shouldn't be any.
And if Al Gore believes anything he wrote therein, he would not have a house that uses 20x the national average in energy, and certainly would not be flying around in a private jet. If Al Gore doesn't believe his own book, I'm not sure we should either.
Sunday, August 26, 2007
Movie: Spider-Man 2.1
I can see why it was widely considered the best "comic book" movie ever.
I just don't quite share the conclusion.
Yes, well done in all ways. ...yet, the long periods of eliciting sympathy for poor ol' Peter Parker, loser extraordinare, coupled with the over-the-top bad guy's invention, just made for an enjoyable couple hours I'd rather have spent watching something else.
I just don't quite share the conclusion.
Yes, well done in all ways. ...yet, the long periods of eliciting sympathy for poor ol' Peter Parker, loser extraordinare, coupled with the over-the-top bad guy's invention, just made for an enjoyable couple hours I'd rather have spent watching something else.
Movie: Lord of War
Serious guy movie: weapons & business. Lots of weapons, business at all costs.
Sociopolitically, it's both pro- and anti-gun, depending on what the eye of the beholder chooses to see. I saw a lot of bad guys being armed, and will become armed regardless of laws, versus a lot of good people who need arms as their last chance to stop the progression of evil.
Sociopolitically, it's both pro- and anti-gun, depending on what the eye of the beholder chooses to see. I saw a lot of bad guys being armed, and will become armed regardless of laws, versus a lot of good people who need arms as their last chance to stop the progression of evil.
Movie: Speak
Heavy teen drama about rape and openness. Pretty well done and viscerally satisfying, but probably not what you're looking for when picking a movie. Unless that's your thing.
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