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News Archive - 02/2004 Sunday, February 01, 2004
The show took place at the DuPont Hotel/Theatre at 2 PM, and was filled with the usual mix of high-class old folks and sleek yuppies. The production itself was quite good, especially considering its roots as a gargantuan epic. The orchestrations managed to survive with eleven musicians rather than forty-some, though the lead trumpeter occasionally sounded like he was doing Stamp warmups instead of playing musically. The cast was hit or miss, although Jennifer Hubilla as Kim, and Jon Jon Briones as the Engineer were perfect. Alan Gillespie as Chris was the least-whiny Chris I've heard to date, though he took a page out of Ewan "Belty" MacGregor's book whenever he had a solo. Mics were not necessary for him. John was good enough, though he could have wailed a little more in the gospel-y solos, and Thuy was Mexican, so I couldn't understand most of his dialogue (and when I could, it didn't have much emotion). The only true sore spot of the production was the actress playing Ellen, a dowdy "clenches fists and closes eyes for high notes" performer who sparked zero sympathy as Chris' wife. She should be noted for almost single-handedly destroying the emotional buildup of the story in her final solo, but luckily she only had two real songs, and the Engineer did such a great job in the following number that she was quickly forgotten. You'd think there'd be better performers out there capable of the role (especially since Kim and the Engineer were so good), or at least the actress would improve after a year on the road with the show... Yesterday's notable search terms: maverin, scratch built seige tower, "no genitalia" and "holding a sword", everflow baby seat car, laws on interfamily marriages, hurtntime, what is the ph level of the occoquan reservoir, rome founding by trojans, tim galyen, geoffrey hung  FSU has 'tight' dinners for recruits But not as 'tight' as Colorado 101 Dumbest Business Moments in 2003permalink
| 0 comments Monday, February 02, 2004 I think today is Groundhog Day. Happy Groundhog Day. Maybe we'll catch and eat one tonight. Surely there are groundhog recipes on allrecipes.com. I'm going to be working late tonight, but the upside is that I can probably take next Friday off to do home-y type things. Yesterday's notable search terms: michelle cao, haydn olio, nefarium, toll booth technician, a pedagogy presentation 3/19/02, erosion fun facts, free uri walkthrough, correct order recapitulation exposition development, do colored light bulbs have any effect on the growth of plants  The state's school superintendent has proposed striking the word evolution from Georgia's science curriculum and replacing it with the phrase "biological changes over time." The Moon Unit of the new milleniumTuesday, February 03, 2004 
The sellers have agreed to all the repairs listed in the sales addendum, so it looks like I'm on my way to becoming a happy homeowner. Next stop: Pottery Barn™. Yesterday's notable search terms: mussolini last words but ... but... colonel.., how to do drum major auditions, blackbeard the pirate burial place, "thesis the movie" Valid excuse for robbing banks Woman finds way to plug new movie, "Thirteen Going On Thirty" Husband killed 'for bringing girlfriend home'permalink
| 0 comments Wednesday, February 04, 2004
Ignoring, for a moment, the fact that NASA spends $86 billion dollars a year to launch broken things into space (or launch things into space and break them) and to take pictures of microscopic dirt
If I were an outgoing President, I'd rather be known as a President who started and ended a war, rather than a President who started a war and fled to Mars. Actually, if I were President, we wouldn't have gone to war. As an aside, it's interesting that the War on Iraq is now a War on Terrorism, despite continued affirmations that Iraq and al Qaeda were not linked. No doubt, this is one more of Bush's mispronunciations of the word "Iraq" -- his Texan twang doubled the number of syllables. I suppose though, that if Cheney's company is allowed to steal $27 million dollars for Hungry Man dinners with the excuse, "It's difficult to determine how many people will be at the dinner table in the middle of a war zone and the number must be based on estimates."
A: Well, maybe if I land on a Saturday night. Otherwise I am going to bring a book. (2MB, MP3)Yesterday's notable search terms: pictures of sir lancelot du lake, the theory of lengthwise rolling, suicide "punishable by death" england, radish plant growth chart for thirty days 30, saxophones sound like, "reflective circles", common goldfish new born - 5 years old The stupidest year of Super Bowl ads in recent history "Right Breast stole my thunder"permalink
| 9 comments Thursday, February 05, 2004 Yesterday's notable search terms: mozart ultimate refiner haydn, barney doom wad files, "figure out" "time signatures" Oil strikes woman Learn or log off The Debt No One Wants to Talk AboutFriday, February 06, 2004 The debacle that is politics continues this week, as Joe Lieberman drops out of the presidential race. His platform of "banning all video games I have never actually played, but heard were bad" probably wouldn't have gotten him far anyhow Clark's son leeches onto his dad's press machine for a few minutes with the epiphany that politics is all about media coverage
And to provide a fair and balanced party line, George Bush continues to defend his stellar military record
There's an interesting dialogue going on in the Comments section for the February 4th news post. Feel free to jump in with your thoughts. In local news, closing on the house is next Thursday, but if it doesn't work out, here are two other properties I'm interested in: Yesterday's notable search terms: persued whiffle, migrating robins in australia, how the sunlight effects radishes and green beans, hippo fun facts, wolf duck grain river boat puzzle, where do pepsi's profits come from, spiffy words, essays on the development of the symphony from stamitz to beethoven I would like to see us get this place right first before we have the arrogance to put significantly flawed civilizations out onto other planets The story of the most misused number of all time Surgeon closes wounds with paper clipspermalink
| 0 comments Saturday, February 07, 2004 Today has been a lazy, lazy day, punctuated by bouts of usefulness. Yesterday's notable search terms: liz benyo, note is which line of the staff, wbs inn weary, her wheelchair and lifted herself, greatest piece of music wagner, atlas of tongue coating, giraffe's tongue blue because German teaches dog Nazi salute Man lives with dead brother for eighteen months Van loaded with dogs and cats and byproductsSunday, February 08, 2004
Yesterday's notable search terms: http://www.urizone.net/olio/arthur.htm, toll plazas in virginia, passacaglia shostakovich macbeth, nate shafroth, complex larry sonny Courier banned for a worser font I'm a boy and I'm superior Blow your mind with a look at your beerpermalink
| 2 comments Monday, February 09, 2004 I'm applying for my Top Secret clearance at work now. If the g-men come knocking on your door, tell them that I was a pillar of the community and don't send them to this seemingly un-American link The next iteration of Mozilla Firebird has now been released, renamed as FireFox. You can download it here Yesterday's notable search terms: red car illegal shanghai, tita cooks for her sister, theory of lengthwise rolling, atlas of tongue coating, anorexia nervosa in bulgarian bees Chastity belt sets off airport security Child forced to feed dead grandpa Now shoot your enemies with the music of the BeeGees A reason to make a joyful noise unto the LordTuesday, February 10, 2004 At work, I'm transitioning over to two projects involving AmberPoint and SalCentral, which I know very little about, beyond their uses for web service management. This means that, at least for the short term, I can stop using the developmental accident that is Weblogic Workshop. The progam is a proprietary rewrite of the Java development wheel for web applications deployed in Weblogic. It boasts such features as an auto-checker that runs so fast that it might crash when you're deleting bad code, a button to click that frees up 80 or 90 megabytes of its 200 megabyte footprint but which crashes the program with an "OutOfMemoryError" if you click it too much, and an app deployer that apparently runs over a 2 baud modem. The project we completed with it, though, was well received, with the ad copy phrase "1000% better than what was there before" pinned on for good measure by the company in charge of integrating. No last minute issues have come up with the sellers or the mortgage, so everything is still on track for a closing two days from now. I'm taking Friday off from work to do some cleaning and some scrubbing. If you want to join in on the festivities, let me know. Intrepid biker guy was back on the road this morning. Yesterday's notable search terms: put more blood at cs command, paige poythress, odd llama pictures, using beadgcf, the mightiest tree Play a game of Kaba Kick A cow walks into a bank. Why Eagle Scouts need to be kept busy Rock'n rolling aboard Tokyo's infamous orgy bus (text not suitable for children)Wednesday, February 11, 2004
The back of my desk is about six inches away from the wall, which allows plenty of room for wires and plugs and miscellaneous heat fans. Despite sleeping atop the desk every day, this was not something Booty remembered. She slid from the ceiling to the floor with claws unfurled, and became caught in the web of power cords at ground level. After several minutes of shuffling and scratching, she managed to climb up the wires and reappeared through the monitor hole, unshaken. Since then, she likes to chase the lights on the window seat, where there are no treacherous Pits of Doom. I submitted all my paperwork for a security clearance yesterday, so in about six months I'll get the interview asking if I've ever worn red shirts or known any militant foreign nationals pursuing a revenge agenda (Alex). Yesterday's notable search terms: parno queens, prix boulanger web-can, furfurrate, how beatles affect teenagers, turn of the screw insane governess, what does roftlmao mean, who experimented on radish seeds with different types of water, villains of the bible, sealable lids, short stories-revenge, salamandastron cliff notes I get about ten searches a day now for one of: Theory of Lengthwise Rolling, Anorexia Nervosa in Bulgarian Bees, or Atlas of Tongue Coating. The pace has picked up for high school students searching for essays to plagiarise. I'm very tempted to replace one with the most ridiculous literary tripe possible, just to see if I get any irate letters from failed students. Why you should lose your temper instead of pressing 1 The campaign will use public billboards, including one showing a fish swimming inside a condom. $217,000 speeding fine NZ train driver on stress leave after running over garden gnomeThursday, February 12, 2004
I think it's about time for Family Circus and Dennis the Menace to finish off and get replaced by Classic versions of the same, like Peanuts. There should be a Classic Calvin and Hobbes too, while we're at it, and the Boondocks should not take up a whole third of a page just for a two shade gradient background and a throwaway joke about famous black people. And stop with the Garfield. How many ways can you kill a spider? Today is closing day. Tomorrow's update might be prepared in advance, like a famous dead guy's obit, with any house news held off until Saturday. Yesterday's notable search terms: pedro card game, prokofiev defected, leonardo dissecting bodies, joseph ehrenberger virginia tech, prokofiev the flaming angel, what time signature has 6 beats, who urged queen elizabeth to begin a colony in north america, scopophobia, president garfield dancing shot, toll plaza capacity and level of service, woody english trumpet Bush plans to back marriage amendment Rent-A-Coder doesn't understand the concept of secret info Snowball thrower forced to deliver pizza Swimmer drives with shark on his leg Bussey didn't have a telephone, so he made 45-year-old Roy Andrew Gendron mow the lawn with a push mower until he could think of a plan to alert authorities.permalink
| 3 comments Friday, February 13, 2004
The third chunk of this book teeters very close to the edge of melodramatic camp, but sets up the final chunk quite nicely (the final thousand pages is expected to be released at the beginning of next year). If you are a patient reader who enjoys the English language, and wants a book with no easy answers and no black and white heroes and villains, I would recommend this series over all others. Here is a sample of the prose, taken from Peril's Gate: Warned by a muffled, metallic ring, Arithon spun. He clamped the boy's wrist in a strangling grip that arrested the sword halfway pulled from the scabbard. "Nine hells of Sithaer, are you insane?" "I should kill you here!" Fionn Areth gasped through locked teeth. "There are widows across the five kingdoms who'd thank me." "They might," Arithon agreed, his annoyance turned acid. "But a blade in my back won't see you safe. The opposite in fact. My blood in the snow would act as a beacon for Koriani scryers. If you think you can manage to evade their spelled snares, Dakar still has the food and the horses. You aren't going to find him without my guidance. Better to salve your fool's craving for justice after we've scrambled to safety." Fionn Areth's murderous resistance failed to slacken under restraint. Darker truth eclipsed reason. He knew this creature who entreated in calm self-defense was unnatural, an unprincipled sorcerer whose guileful strategies had slaughtered three dedicated war hosts. Across the continent, men flocked to Lysaer's sunwheel standard and pledged to the Light to destroy him. For fun, here is a sample from Feist's bestselling horrible book, Rise of a Merchant Prince: "What are you thinking?" asked Erik of Roo, his best friend since childhood. Roo said, "Just how funny families can be." He pointed to the group on the dock, listening carefully to Nicholas. Erik said, "Notice our Captain." Roo nodded. He knew Erik meant Calis. The elflike man stood off to one side, with just enough distance between himself and the others to be apart, yet close enough to answer questions when asked. Yesterday's notable search terms: what jello does not have artificial flavoring, tarestesia, colon outburst, how complex or difficult is schoenberg's music I have a house now. I'm housed. Why not to lean against a chainsaw when it's cutting your bra off Women over 40 biggest online gamers Germans use sexism to promote Linux Handfield said last month that it was difficult to imagine veteran detectives and prosecutors being fooled by three young girls.permalink
| 3 comments Saturday, February 14, 2004 I did house stuff all day today. My parents even came out to lend a hand. Tomorrow will probably be more of the same, followed by a new episode of Alias. If I haven't already sent you the guided tour, you can see pictures in a new part of the Photos section, labelled "House" for good reason. There's also a blown up version with some movies here Yesterday's notable search terms: nitrosomonas supplier, listen to movement for rosa by camphouse, montana nudist colonies, improvising chord, carl halmo, greenland teenage smoking, chris fraker Happy Valentine's Day to all my hoochies
Woman opens fire on intruder Teen accused of BMW scam Cops still don't understand the concept of recording devicesSunday, February 15, 2004 I finished cleaning out the basement today. Have a stock update in celebration. I plan on going to work tomorrow despite the federal holiday. Yesterday's notable search terms: picture of a knight knight riding on a horse sir lancelot, picture your dog in needlework, prositutes new york, antique incinerator, growing green beans with 25 watts Amazon glitch reveals self-promoters Les Mis to use electronic orchestra Celestial Bling Spongebob reflects bad stereotypeMonday, February 16, 2004
Jim Barry says I should start a residency in my basement for starving composers. I was listening to Maynard Ferguson's Chameleon album last night. The music would sound incredibly good if they would just remove one musician from the band -- Maynard, himself. He brings his band down. Yesterday's notable search terms: japanese olio minstrels, hindemith trumpet sonata nazi, fake treasure maps, zeke's newsletter, muomi, single roleplayers, are camels colorblind, chipmunk fun facts How not to keep your new license Coffee breaks sabotage employee abilities David Walker kept winning a contest to predict which side condom wrappers would land on, when his friend allegedly pulled out a gun, saying he had had enough.Tuesday, February 17, 2004 A social phenomenon that I've always found interesting is the day-after conversation that follows when two people cross paths. If a person happens to spot someone with whom he or she is reasonably familiar, but doesn't get close enough to say hello (driving in cars is a common example), that person will feel compelled to mention the sighting the next day at school or work. The viewer cannot just cite the viewing though -- he must first ask if the viewee was there at the given time, to ensure that it was no mistake. If the viewee says yes, the viewer will then mention the sighting. At this point, the viewee is never satisfied with just a blanket sighting statement -- he will ask the viewer to pinpoint the exact location, like which aisle of the supermarket or which exit on the freeway. (Possibly, the viewee can't take his own word for knowing where he was at that time -- he needs reassurance that someone saw him there). Once it has been established that the viewee was actually somewhere and the viewer saw him, there is a general air of satisfaction, as if a hard math puzzle was just solved. Backing up, if the viewee had said no, the viewer would still mention the sighting, but would say that he saw someone "just like" the viewee. Then, the viewee will pose the same questions about the exact location, just in case he was really there and forgot about it (again, as if asking the questions will change his response). The viewee will then tell the viewer where he was at that specific time, and the conversation will end on a note of satisfaction. I've noticed this phenomenon as far back as elementary school, and I'm sure you have seen it at least once. Florida-Mike almost got hit by a pimp yesterday Yesterday's notable search terms: "lead me away. i have been rash and foolish. i have killed my son and my wife. i look for comfort; my comfort lies here dead. whatever my hands have touched has come to nothing. fate has brought all my pride to a thought of dust.", popcorn microwave bibliography science, maverin, roscoe conkling's stalwart republican machine, why do composers use sonata form, marry a goat india, farthest sharp to the right Student sucks at concealing evidence Cell jammers declare war on signal "To be very blunt about it, we have more important issues to be focusing on." The reason for spam law loopholes comes outpermalink
| 2 comments Wednesday, February 18, 2004
A year ago today, I posted the top fifteen funniest comments on RateMyProfessor.com Yesterday's notable search terms: most villains bible red hair, quickest way to germinate a bean, most popular shoplifted items, how much eighth notes equal a quarter note, lost temple tricks, insane governess, snakes head flew off, band director wave arms, aeneas trip to underworld -.com, christy kull, ddt poisonous death Soldier's Husband Accused of Death Hoax How to Name a Street A Fulton County jury delivered its blow to the little kicker this week. Rumsfield Fighting TechniquesThursday, February 19, 2004 I'm quickly reaching a backlog of interesting news posts, so I thought I'd take today to catch it all up. This also allows me to post a bare minimum of witty original material, since I can rely on stupid people in the news for my updating fodder. Yesterday's notable search terms: hounds on an island, rachmaninoff "sounds like", nuclear launch detected, jennifer ada holland, what is the meaning of "the best way to cheer yourself up is to try to cheer somebody else up", chart of flat flat and sharp sharp scales From the stupid people department: Oven reaches breaking point; opens fire on couple Damage control is not a resumé requirement for coaches High school teacher sold guns in his drive-thru beer shack Pepsi's iTunes Giveaway has one minor flaw Vick charged for being dimmer than his brother Hard heads a key to survivalFrom the crime and law department: Teen finds his picture on missing children's Web site RIAA sued under gang laws Hawaiians could eat with their dogs Maximum Exposure means just thatFrom the Interestyng Spyke department Alpacas to the rescue Space station falling apart. $12 billion needed soon. Music students learn the art of the scratch Patient doesn't trust banks or digestable currency How to sabotage your opponents' tan lines The audience cheered loudly whenever she pronounced a particularly daunting technical term properly.Friday, February 20, 2004 It's time to play a game of "Design Brian's Living Room"! Print out the picture at this link In the image, all the furniture is oriented towards the bottom of the image to begin, except for the end tables which point right. The couch and the chair need a little space in front to recline. The windows are 34" off the ground, so the stereo, TV, and taller bookshelf should probably not go directly in front of one. The stairs and the area directly below it should be unimpeded. Think you can be on Trading Spaces? Put your skills to the test! Yesterday's notable search terms: what are four hazardous gases that can easily be captured in a jar, mike's apartment full download On the job training at its best FBI fights piracy by putting stickers on the CDs that no one is buying Piranhas reach Englandpermalink
| 0 comments Saturday, February 21, 2004 If you ever have the opportunity, take advantage of Amazon's Super Saving Shipping option, which removes all shipping charges in exchange for a week longer delivery time. I order some Java books on Wednesday afternoon with this option and they were shipped out Thursday night. I just received them by slow USPS today. There's talk of renaming T.C. Williams High School in Alexandria because T.C. Williams was a segregationalist in the 60s. OH NO. I hear some of the early Presidents owned slaves. We've got a lot of renaming to get done. Yesterday's notable search terms: one hundred year old inventions in north carolina, chips nitrogen doritos Woman Fined for Registering Cows As Voters Unlucky souvenirs returned to Uluru Use trees, not trains William Hung gets record dealSunday, February 22, 2004
Japanese toymaker Yonezawa Corp. recalled a card game called Bacteria Panic (the loser is the person left holding a card marked AIDS) after complaints from disease-pride groups, the Japanese Patients Council and the Tokyo Friends of Hemophiliacs. "We never meant to hurt the feelings of patients and their families," said Yonezawa spokesperson, Yokuji Okuma, pointing out that the instructions clearly warn, "Never play this game with the real victim of diseases". Another success in Japan in 1991 was Human Trash. Players gamble with cards representing different kinds of women, who are the "trash". A pregnancy card loses a turn, a virgin card is extremely valuable, and unwanted females can be sold to Hong Kong. - Countdown to the Millenium Yesterday's notable search terms: what pitches are common on both the treble and bass clef staffs, chips ahoy cookies, ground unit not trained grunt Monday, February 23, 2004
It's that time of the year again. Look for my Oscar picks starting tomorrow and running up to the ceremony on the 29th. You can read my older picks on March 24, 2002 Yesterday's notable search terms: pay toll booth, mash theme chords, spasms of being intellectual, how to float a high templar tricks Man accused of stealing patrol car with a crane It's time you primates quit making a monkey out of me Student suspended for SI Swimsuit edition Arnold wants dirty foreigners like me to get to run for PresidentTuesday, February 24, 2004
It's time for the Third Annual Uri! Picks for Oscar Night! I saw even fewer movies this year than in the past two years, but I'm luckily saved by the fact that the same four movies appear in every category. Before you run off to your bookie, you should know that I got 4 of 24 correct last year and 9 of 24 the year before that. My scores should improve this year, because I'm not letting Booty have any say in the picks. With that said, let's start with the categories that no one cares about and build up a false sense of suspense through Sunday's update where I'll make my picks for the four most important categories that no one cares about. Any movie I've seen is marked with a dot. As you can tell, I haven't seen any of today's movies. Best documentary feature
My Architect: Film maker studies the life of his father, architect Louis Kahn, and traces his secret lives and wives The Weather Underground: Looks at the evolution of the radical group, Weathermen, through the 60s and 70s in America Balseros: A film maker tracks Cuban refugees from detainee camp to their new lives in America through good times and bad Capturing the Friedmans: A film maker observes a family torn apart by accusations of child molestation through good times and bad The Fog of War: A film maker looks at the life of Robert McNamara who "shows regret and pride in equal measure for his mistakes and accomplishments" (he had good times and bad) What will happen? Voters will not remember which movies they watched and ultimately decide that McNamara is a child-molesting Cuban who had good times and bad. Since this is not a particularly pleasant scenario, The Weather Underground will win for resembling a Bruckheimer action movie.
Asylum Chernobyl Heart Ferry Tales What will happen? There are currently five movies with the title Asylum on Blockbuster's site. Depending on which you take home, you could get anything from a horror flick to a romance movie involving Ian McKellen. Chernobyl Heart is about heart conditions following nuclear accidents, and I don't know what Ferry Tales is about since there is no synopsis. Since the purpose of a documentary is to educate, Ferry Tales will win, because by the end of the movie I would learn what it was about.
Boundin' Destino Gone Nutty Harvie Krumpet Nibbles What will happen? An animated short always has to have an offbeat title that suggests its light-hearted and/or whimsical tone. Destino loses. Of the remaining titles, Boundin' will win because it suggests the carefree image of an animated puppy "boundin'" (GET IT?) through a field of dandelions with the theme from Super Mario Brothers 2 playing in the background. Harvie Krumpet will be unmemorable, because the title is a mishmash of Harvey Keitel, Harry Potter, and Wallace & Gromit (characters who would have an unlikely progeny, were they to do a little dance and make a little love). Nibbles will lose because it's too close to last year's ChubbChubbs! and the previous year's Stubble Trubble. I still think Mt. Head should have won last year. You could have so much fun with the press releases.
Die Rote Jacke (The Red Jacket) Most (The Bridge) Squash (A) Torzija ([A] Torsion) Two Soldiers What will happen? This fight is solely between Squash and Two Soldiers. A live action short film should not require a subtitle or translation, because the movie is over by the time you've finished the title. The length rule is also why the 1994 Indian movie, Shree Shree Rajadhiraja Shree Shree Madana Kamaraja Shree Shree Vilasa Raja Shree Shree Mahdubana Raja Shree Shree Krishnadeva Donda Raja, and the 1967 British movie, The Persecution and Assassination of Jean-Paul Marat as Performed by the Inmates of the Asylum of Charenton Under the Direction of the Marquis de Sade would both fail as live action short films. Your movie title should also not look like an advanced mathematics problem, so (A) Torzija ([A] Torsion) is out of the running. Squash will ultimately win because Hollywood is the land of stupid diets and squash is a healthy side dish when not sauteed with peas, carrots, and pig fat. Yesterday's notable search terms: number of toll booths, melody shifted a beat, romatic era of european music Court rules that child's name would expose him to mean haikus More on the T.C. Williams name-changing issuepermalink
| 0 comments Wednesday, February 25, 2004 The Oscars, Part II of VI Achievement in art direction
Girl with a Pearl Earring The Last Samurai
Girl with a Pearl Earring The Last Samurai
Yesterday's notable search terms: how does candy affect math test scores, pessimistic poem, augmented fourth brian uri hints Barbie-wielding man stalks neighbourhood Proposals gone bad Eminem's publisher sues Apple But let me let you in on a little secret: I am not as dumb as I look Bull gores groinpermalink
| 0 comments Thursday, February 26, 2004 The Oscars, Part III of VI Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original score)
Big Fish Cold Mountain
"Belleville Rendez-vous" in The Triplets of Belleville
The Last Samurai
Yesterday's notable search terms: pictures of nickelpedes, the texture and hardness of radium, pictures of the brain working your short-term memory, shumps, how do i get fox jumped over the lazy fog, chicken stand Happy Birthday Dad and Jim Barry! Police said it appears Jinah took a running start to try to spit further than his two friends when he unintentionally vaulted himself over the balcony railing. Moron takes it to a whole new level Origin of the Quiznos Sub commercials (flash movie with sound)Friday, February 27, 2004 The Oscars, Part IV of VI Best animated feature film of the year
Brother Bear
The Barbarian Invasions Evil The Twilight Samurai Twin Sisters Želary What will happen? None of these films even looks foreign, and the last just looks like a French person in ESL trying to say "celery". You can't fool me with a tilde. The ad copy for Barbarian Invasions says that it's about sex and friendship and other things that invade our lives. DUCK! It's a FRIENDSHIP INVASION. Evil wins, since the remaining competitors look too much alike.
American Splendor City of God
The Barbarian Invasions Dirty Pretty Things We're only two days away from the Oscar ceremony, which I probably won't be watching. Tomorrow I'll cover all the actor categories, and the final day will be devoted to the directorial categories and Best Picture. Who will win? Only I know. Yesterday's notable search terms: michelle cao, fork tailed bush katydid, weenie wagon, if all the girls who attended the yale prom were laid end to end, i wouldn't be a bit surprised Happy Birthday Paige! It's like the ring from The Lord of the Rings and we're kind of like Frodo, trying to get it over with. Father spanks daughter in school 60 year old kung fuist catches robber Boys are stupid, throw rocks at them Man to cat, "Stop monkying around!"permalink
| 0 comments Saturday, February 28, 2004 The Oscars, Part V of VI Best performance by an actor in a leading role
Alec Baldwin in The Cooler Benicio Del Toro in 21 Grams Djimon Hounsou in In America Tim Robbins in Mystic River Ken Watanabe in The Last Samurai What will happen? Ken Watanabe sounds like a leftover from one of the Star Wars movies. Benicio del Toro's face always looks like it was mangled in a freak lawn-mowing accident (in fact, his name translates roughly as "Benicio was hit by a Toro"). Tim Robbins and Alec Baldwin kind of run together, so Djimon Hounsou will get the Oscar, because he appeared on an episode of Alias as Kazari Bomani.
Keisha Castle-Hughes in Whale Rider Diane Keaton in Something's Gotta Give Samantha Morton in In America Charlize Theron in Monster Naomi Watts in 21 Grams What will happen? Charlize Theron will pick up her first Oscar because she is hot underneath all the prosthetics. Keisha will lose for being too young, Diane will lose for being too old, Samantha will lose for looking too much like Princess Leia in her IMDB profile, and Naomi will lose for no good reason (and then start a publicly traded company named after herself so stock analysts can say "NAOMI WATTS UP" and chuckle).
Shohreh Aghdashloo in House of Sand and Fog Patricia Clarkson in Pieces of April Marcia Gay Harden in Mystic River Holly Hunter in Thirteen Renée Zellweger in Cold Mountain What will happen? Many voters will choose Shohreh simply to hear her name butchered by a well-meaning presenter, especially since Marcia's name is far too easy to make into an off-colour joke. However, Renée Zellweger will squeak ahead by a nose and take home the Oscar. Yesterday's notable search terms: listen to a movement for rosa by mark camphouse, i like beech, guiteau's gun, coca-cola questionnaire sample, caligula fun facts Cat saliva cleaner than dog saliva Man steals 25 cents of power Don't buy the house with body parts in it Push To Walk doesn't actually workpermalink
| 0 comments Sunday, February 29, 2004 The Oscars, Part VI of VI Achievement in cinematography
City of God Cold Mountain Girl with a Pearl Earring Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World Seabiscuit What will happen? This year has some of the corniest titles ever, and they all sound like they're first cousins of each other. Since I haven't seen any of the movies in this category, I will presume that they all employed cutting edge techniques like following the action with a handheld camera, transitioning with blur, and FADE TO BLACK. You can take your camera to a mountain, but you can't make the mountain do anything for the camera. As such, Cold Mountain will win, because they must have used some damn crazy effects to make a mountain (albeit a cold one) interesting enough for nomination.
City of God
City of God Cold Mountain
Yesterday's notable search terms: origami five headed hydra, beidler ghosts Pet spider kills its owner Rachel Green does tech support Woman Reports Neighbor for Disturbingly Loud Sexpermalink
| 2 comments The newest news on the front page is always at the top. Archived news is in chronological order. You can always contact me at The entire URI! Zone is © 1996 - 2008 by Brian Uri!. Please see the About page for further information. |
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We left Northern Virginia yesterday around 9:30 to go see Miss Saigon.
After driving around the uselessly twisty portion of 495 above DC, and paying some of our booty on tolls through Maryland, we arrived in Wilmington, Delaware, a small pocket of urban blight that looks just like a real city, but only four blocks across. After six miles of suburb driving in search of a national chain for lunch, we finally stopped at Arby's (being the only choice besides Dunkin' Donuts and one McDonald's).
As most people probably know by now, Bush is interested in establishing a moon colony to facilitate the exploration of deep space
I watched Lost in Translation this afternoon, a quiet, steady-paced movie that's not intended for impatient people. I thought it was interesting and good enough, but not the masterpiece that everyone lauds it to be.
Last night, Booty was sitting in her usual spot on top of the desk shelf, watching the parking lot cars drive in and out. When a particularly bright headlight meandered across the line where the ceiling meets the wall, she made a particularly zealous jump to catch it.
I remember a time when the Family Circus used to be "aw shucks" cute, even if it was never hilarious. Nowadays, it's either hip Internet throwaway jokes or it has a personality crisis and wants to be a boxed strip rather than a single frame. Yesterday's comic is a prime example -- having a caption and also a balloon text just doesn't work if they're sequential. It just says that the cartoonist ran out of space and had no better place to jam the text in. A comic that tries this and succeeds is Close to Home, since either the balloon or the caption can be read out of order and the humour is preserved.
I reread some Janny Wurts these past few weeks, specifically the bulk of the third book in the Wars of Light and Shadows series. The third book is peculiar because it's being published in four hardback chunks (otherwise the bindings would break). I read the first three chunks, Fugitive Prince, Grand Conspiracy, and Peril's Gate in rapid succession, which comes to about two thousand pages of incredibly arranged prose. You really have to apply yourself to read this series but the end result is well worth the effort. Many people find the text tedious and overdramatic, but it's really just a completely different style of writing from what most authors (fantasy in particular) churn out. I guess it's to be expected in a genre where two well-known authors (Tolkien and Feist) create shallow characterizations to further the action rather than really exploring things like motivations and thoughts.
Tomorrow, I have a company coming out to give an estimate on windows for the new house. I'm going to have to shift my buying paradigm to go from $20 for a movie at Best Buy to $400 for a framed piece of glass that looks like it's not there when it's clean.
The new windows will be installed in four to six weeks. In the meantime, I'll be transporting all of my books and papers and non-daily gadgets to the house. It looks like I'll be moving around the end of March or so.
There's a few new cat pictures up on the Photos page.
Anna and Ben are engaged as of yesterday. It's about damn time. Congratulations!
"It was so sweet backstage. The Teamsters are helping Michael Moore into the trunk of his limo." - Steve Martin at the '03 Oscars
In the New Zealand travelogue, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King,
most of the documentary is spent runnning, riding, or hiking east, so I'm not sure why this song is called "Into the West". Voters will no doubt be equally confused and think the song tells about Will Smith fighting a giant spider on a railroad train. A Mighty Wind is not mainstream enough to get voters, and "Belleville Rendez-vous" comes from a cartoon composed of rejected art from The Curse of Monkey Island. The Oscar will go to "Scarlet Tide" because the other song from Cold Mountain can't decide whether it's in Ebonics or Olde English. Ain ain a word!
visitors since November 2003