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Review: Casino Royale

So, I haven’t seen many movies in theaters recently… Before “Marie Antoinette,” the last movie I’d seen was “Pirates of the Caribbean 2,” and that was months ago… I guess I just hadn’t really been excited to see anything that has come out, until now that is…

“Casino Royale” is, as you know, the latest movie in the James Bond film franchise, and features a “back to the beginning” story along with a new Bond, Daniel Craig. The idea is that our hero is given “Double ‘O'” status for the first time and is investigating an organization that is funding terrorism, centering largely on Bond’s duel with the main baddie in a high-stakes game of Texas Hold ‘Em at the Casino Royale. There’s a lot of action involved and Craig seems to be involved in more “active stunts” when compared with Pierce Brosnan… At least, I believed this guy was very believable in the role, and isn’t a guy you’d want to be in a bar fight with…

Overall, I thought the movie was quite strong. It isn’t simply a “good Bond movie;” it’s a good movie, in general. Daniel Craig brings a very refreshing feel to the character, still being suave and sophisticated, yet a bit rougher around the edges. Personally, I think he makes the “James Bond” character more believable. He isn’t relying on gadgets nearly as much, limiting the video effects and props a great deal, in the process serving to get rid of distractions from earlier movies. We get to delve into the character, not all the shenanigans that come along with it.

The story was pretty strong, but got a bit confusing at the end. Granted, it’s a 2.5 hour long movie, and there wasn’t much “wasted time,” but there were still lots of elements kinda thrown together at the end, tying up the loose ends, etc. Don’t get me wrong, the story was still very good…I just think the ending could have been wrapped up a bit more “cleanly.”

So yeah, go see it. You won’t be disappointed. Daniel Craig is a bad-ass and, as in the tradition of “Batman Begins,” this re-invention of the franchise is well worth your time.

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Review: Marie Antoinette

Brooke was itching to see a movie at The Tivoli last night, and “Marie Antoinette” was showing, the new Sofia Coppola film starring Kirsten Dunst. It essentially recounts the rise (and fall) of Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI, from her marriage to him in her late-teens to their deaths during the French Revolution. Supposedly, the movie has some amount of historical accuracy, but I really have no idea what was true and what wasn’t. It’s actually kinda interesting to watch it in terms of the all-powerful “celebrity,” in that Marie Antoinette is made out as a sort of Paris Hilton of her time…partying all the time and oblivious to everything going on around her (or outside her palace, at least).

While I can appreciate the craftsmanship of the film, I can’t say I was a big fan. Sure, there were plenty of gorgeous landscapes actually filmed on the grounds of Versailles (prounounced in French, not in Missourian…), and unbelievable costumes and decorative detail… The music was more modern (a la “A Knight’s Tale“), which was pretty interesting and not terribly detracting… Unfortunately, it’s a 2+ hour movie with maybe 1 hour of dialogue. It really just felt like an extended music video…mostly with music I’ve never heard (I think I recognized one song out of, like, twenty…).

So yeah, this is one of those movies I can “appreciate,” and by that I mean that it’s a well-done movie that is very beautiful to watch…but so’s Niagra Falls…and who can really sit in a chair and watch Niagra Falls for 2+ hours?

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Heckuvajob, Rummy…

In honor of our fallen comrade:

“There are known knowns. There are things we know that we know. There are known unknowns. That is to say, there are things that we know we don’t know. But there are also unknown unknowns. There are things we don?t know that we don’t know.”
— Donald Rumsfeld, trying to clarify the war on terrorism

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I Voted

So yeah, I got up bright and early and hit the polls at 7:20 am… (bet you’re surprised, eh Mom? Happy Birthday, by the way… ;-)) Overall, the experience was rather positive… In years past, I’ve always just voted absentee rather than visit polls in Kirksville, so this is actually the first time I’ve ever voted on election day.

Regardless, I had the option of using the electronic, touch-screen device, or I could have used the more traditional “scan tron” paper ballots… There were more people using the touch-screens, but still a good number using paper ballots. The touch-screen machines were quite easy to use and also included a roll of paper to print your votes, as well as store them within the machine. I’ve been reading through various articles about how easy it is to have an election stolen (great article, but a long read…) with these electronic voting machines, since many of them (the Diebold AccuVote TSX in particular…) have no sort of secondary printer to, in effect, “back up your vote.” In case of a recount, my vote can still be compared between the electronic copy and the paper copy that was printed and stored within the machine… So yeah, I felt much more comfortable about the whole experience after using that machine…

Note: If you want to watch the HBO documentary “Hacking Democracy,” regarding Diebold’s shenanigans, you can watch it on Google Video (for free)…it’s about 1.5 hrs long, but worth it if you don’t want to watch election coverage tonight…

…however, I did have one complaint, and that was with the actual voting using the machine. In years past, when I’ve done my absentee, I could always not vote on a particular issue or judge I knew nothing about… Unfortunately, each circuit judge on the ballot (and there were many…) had a “yes” or “no” option, not an “abstain”… Perhaps you could have just hit “Next” and skip over them that way…I dunno…and I didn’t try… I figure all those judges are doing alright, so whatever… 😛

For those that voted, what “methods” of voting did you have? Were there voting machines with rolls of paper included, or were the completely electronic with no paper “backup?” Were there lots of people still using paper ballots?

Regardless, I participated in the process of government today…

Tonight’s returns should be pretty interesting….

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An AUDIO ADRENALINE Concert

(not a Mercy Me Concert)

So, last night, we had tickets to Mercy Me, Audio Adrenaline, and Phil Wickham. The concert started at 7:00, so we thought if we got there a little after it was supposed to start, we wouldn’t have to hear a bad opener or wait for a whole bunch of stage changes. However, we got there at about 7:15 and only caught the end of the last Phil Wickham song, then Audio Adrenaline was ready to go on in about 5 minutes. We went to the concert because it was Audio Adrenaline’s last tour stop in St. Louis ever, since their lead singer’s voice is shot. They were pretty good, but the set was only about 35 minutes long and it’s pretty obvious that the singer’s voice is not doing so well. After the reason we went the the concert, we decided to stay to hear Mercy Me do “I Can Only Imagine.” Of course, they sang about a bazillion other songs first and talked and preached and talked. Their show was so polished and timed and had synced videos and way too much preaching. Andy and I were both bored and ready to go, but were waiting for “I Can Only Imagine” and stuck it out, then got out of there before the masses. So, the moral of the story is Audio Adrenaline=Good, Mercy Me=not-much-better-than-average.

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Coolest ever!!!

Slashdot ran a blurb about an article in Science magazine titled “Viral Fossil Brought Back to Life.” So yeah, I just had to read it…

So, in the blurb (very easy to read…don’t be put off by science-i-ness…), the researchers in France essentially took DNA common to humans that they knew to be viral in origin. For those that don’t know, some viruses act by “implanting” themselves in our genome so they can get their proteins produced by our own cells. So, it stands to reason that over the years, we’ve picked up a few fragments in our own genome from a variety of viruses.

Well, this group found a viral section of our genome, “repaired” it by comparing the same sequence amongst many people to compare them and see which parts are most common, and then generated the genome. How cool is that!??! Not only are there ancient viruses in our DNA, but we can re-activate them!!!

For anyone that still had doubts on evolution…I trust they are dashed aside… 😛

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Top 11 signs Dubya thinks he’s president of a college fraternity

From Too Stupid To Be President.com

11. Encourages minions to run three miles in 100 degree heat then taunts them as he rides his bicycle.

10. Greets interns by letting one rip.

9. Refers to everyone only by the nickname he has bestowed.

8. Should have been gone after four years, but he just won’t leave.

7. Amasses enormous institutional debt throwing private parties for his friends.

6. Cheats to secure a second term.

5. Resorts to belligerence rather than admit a mistake.

4. Has summers off.

3. Encourages others to perform community service, but only shows up for the cameras.

2. Smart kid provides him answers using a hidden audio transmitter.

1. May be kicked out of his house before the end of term.

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Top 11 signs Dubya thinks he's president of a college fraternity

From Too Stupid To Be President.com

11. Encourages minions to run three miles in 100 degree heat then taunts them as he rides his bicycle.

10. Greets interns by letting one rip.

9. Refers to everyone only by the nickname he has bestowed.

8. Should have been gone after four years, but he just won’t leave.

7. Amasses enormous institutional debt throwing private parties for his friends.

6. Cheats to secure a second term.

5. Resorts to belligerence rather than admit a mistake.

4. Has summers off.

3. Encourages others to perform community service, but only shows up for the cameras.

2. Smart kid provides him answers using a hidden audio transmitter.

1. May be kicked out of his house before the end of term.

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Still Here

Yes, I’m still here, I just haven’t had much to say that Andy hasn’t already! Of course, this is from the PHC website:

“John the farmer was in the fertilized egg business. He had several hundred young layers (hens), called “pullets”, and ten roosters, whose job it was to fertilize the eggs (for you city folks). The farmer kept records and any rooster that didn’t perform went into the soup pot and was replaced. That took an awful lot of his time, so he bought a set of tiny bells and attached them to his roosters. Each bell had a different tone so John could tell from a distance, which rooster was performing. Now he could sit on the porch and fill out an efficiency report simply by listening to the bells.

The farmer’s favorite rooster was old Butch, and a very fine specimen he was, too. But on this particular morning John noticed old Butch’s bell hadn’t rung at all! John went to investigate. The other roosters were chasing pullets, bells-a-ringing. The pullets, hearing the roosters coming, would run for cover. But to Farmer John’s amazement, old Butch had his bell in his beak, so it couldn’t ring. He’d sneak up on a pullet, do his job and walk on to the next one. John was so proud of old Butch, he entered him in the Renfrew County Fair and he became an overnight sensation among the judges.

The result… The judges not only awarded old Butch the No Bell Piece Prize but they also awarded him the Pulletsurprise as well. Clearly old Butch was a politician in the making: who else but a politician could figure out how to win two of the most highly coveted awards on our planet by being the best at sneaking up on the populace and screwing them when they weren’t paying attention.”

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Happenings…

Brooke and I went and visited Kristen down in Springfield over the weekend… We hadn’t seen her apartment yet, nor had we really seen much of her since the summer, so it was a good opportunity to get out of town and see how she’s doing. We went out to dinner at her local hangout and then went to a piano bar (while the Cards won the World Series), both of which were quite fun. The piano bar largely involved dueling pianos (and a drummer) playing music mostly off of my parents Adult Contemporary radio station in Columbia, but it was still a good time… Thanks for hosting us, Little Sister!

Otherwise, we got back to St. Louis and had a message waiting on the machine from Lou Fusz Toyota… Our Scion xA arrive late-Friday night, so we can go pick it up on Monday. So, finally, I won’t have to drive Brooke’s Altima anymore and I can have my Elantra back… 😉 Now we just have to figure out how/when to get the Altima back up to Hannibal…

On another note, I had a doctor’s appointment on Friday, which was mostly uneventful…but he did notice my blood pressure is a bit high (145/82). The sad thing is that we’ve been learning about anti-hypertensive drugs in school (and I have a test over it tomorrow…that, and kidney function, which is quite related to blood pressure), so I generally have a good idea what high blood pressure means over the long-term. So yeah, I’ve made yet another resolution to try and work out more… I don’t think my eating habits are particularly terrible, especially compared with the national average, and I come in at or below 2000 calories per day… I just don’t exercise…ever… Therefore, I’m going to try and jog 3-4 times a week and bring that blood pressure down. That, and I’m gonna get some blood work done to check out my cholesterol levels, which I probably ought to do at this age anyway… Regardless, I jogged 20 min straight today, which was better than I thought I’d do after not really exercising much since summer. A good start, mehopes…

Time to get back to studying for tomorrow’s exam. Hopefully it doesn’t raise my blood pressure much more…