So, since we don’t have any good tv and I read too fast, I recovered some chairs I’ve been meaning to take care of since we moved in last summer today. Here’s what they look like, with the “before” on the left and the “after” on the right. Other than that, I have a job interview tomorrow for a job that I really want, so think good thoughts around nine tomorrow morning!
Review: An Inconvenient Truth
So, since Brooke and I are without cable, we decided to go see a movie…well, we wanted to see this one, anyway. We saw “An Inconvenient Truth,” Al Gore’s latest attempt to explain to the American public about the dangers of global warming, a battle that he’s been fighting since the 1970s.
You may wonder why all the reviewers love this documentary, and why it’s creating a stir in the news media, reigniting a decades-old argument about the validity of global warming and whether humanity causes it. I was rather curious how interesting this documentary could be, but I was pleasantly surprised. The movie generally recounted a “slide show” (i.e. beefed-up PowerPoint) that Gore has presented many times over the years, talking about the evidence supporting the idea that mankind has caused, if not accelerated, global warming on Earth. The show is interspersed with testamonials by Gore talking about how he became interested in the subject, and how events in his life (including the 2000 “election”) shaped his mission to educate the world about this problem.
It was certainly scary to see the statistics. He showed graphs and pictures depicting history and modern times…showing CO2 levels taken from ice core samples over 600,000 years…and how the current levels are unbelievably higher (as in, they never crossed 300 ppm [parts-per-million] over that time, but are now well above that and will cross 600 ppm by 2050 at current rates). He showed how the polar ice caps have noticeably decreased in size, and that ice melting in Greenland could stop the flow of the gulf stream, effectively shutting down the “engine” that prevents Europe from entering another ice age.
He informs the masses, he addresses the critics, and he calls for action, whether by switching to more energy-efficient light bulbs and hybrid cars, or by running for political office yourself to make a difference. He makes you see the evidence for yourself and understand it. And, on a side-note, it’s interesting to note how confident he seems in presenting this story, as opposed to some interviews and debates during the 2000 election. This is the voice of someone who believes in this cause and will do what it takes to get the job done.
You should go see it, if you can. And, believe you me, if you drive a large SUV, you’re getting a copy of it for Christmas…
And since I couldn’t say it better, in the words of another great reviewer:
“In 39 years, I have never written these words in a movie review, but here they are: You owe it to yourself to see this film. If you do not, and you have grandchildren, you should explain to them why you decided not to.”
— Roger Ebert; Chicago Sun-Times
The Battle Has Begun…
So, the story goes like this: A few months ago, we decide to switch from Charter Television to DISHnetwork, ’cause they’re cheaper and we get the DVR service…which rocks tremendously… Well, shortly after switching, our service goes out, and the hub where cable lines head from outside the building to inside the building was locked and protected (so you can’t steal cable from Charter, of course). Well, DISH sent a technician out, who subsequently broke through the barrier to reconnect our line from the dish to the coax cable that heads into the building. The DISH technician also makes note of the fact that Charter, in disconnecting the line, didn’t just unscrew the coax cable connection, but also cut the line off so I couldn’t reconnect it without having DISH fix it.
Fast forward to this past Friday, 6/16/06. Well, I call Brooke up to tell her I’m heading home from the lab around 4:15 and she says, “oh, the TV just went out.” So, I told her to look outside and see if anyone was standing around that hub again. No one was there. I get home and start investigating… The green barrier where the hub is was re-set back on its base like it hadn’t been before, so someone had been there… But, I couldn’t find the cable that came from our dish anywhere, that was supposed to be plugged in to the line heading into our building.
I notice some ground disturbed. I grab our trowel. I move the ground.
I find the line cut and re-buried. The line from the dish. Deliberately cut. DISH is charging $100 for them to come out and repair it.
So, I’ve put in an e-mail to the FCC to check on the laws, specifically, to see if the lines within the building are owned by Charter…or by my apartment complex… If the lines are owned by Charter (somehow…), then I’ll have DISHnetwork run a separate line. If it’s owned by our apartment complex, then what Charter is doing is illegal.
Believe you me, this isn’t over.
The Greatest Movie Ever
“Hmmm…Jesus is in this movie…Jesus and Jon Bon Jovi… It must be the best movie ever!”
— Brooke, watching the opening credits of “Pay It Forward“
Weird…
So yeah, we watched “The Sixth Sense” tonight (largely nothing on this weekend…)…and we were watching the opening credits…and we noticed that Mischa Barton is in it. You may know her from “The O.C.,” if you’re a fan of crappy teeny-bopper television… In the movie, she’s the little girl whom Cole helps out (killed by her step-mother). Kinda funky, eh?
That is all…
Review: A Prairie Home Companion
“A penguin was floating on a small iceberg when he floated by another penguin.? The first penguin says to the second penguin, ‘You look like you’re wearing a tuxedo.’? The second penguin replies: ‘What makes you so sure I’m not?'”
Brooke and I went and saw “A Prairie Home Companion” today, based on the popular radio show frequently played on NPR that’s been on-air for the last 30 years.? The radio show hearkens back to variety shows of yesteryear, where musical acts, skits and subtle humor serve as entertainment to listeners (you know…like it was before there was television?).
The movie tries (effectively) to simulate the radio broadcast, taking place during the last show of a similar program.? The theater where the show is produced was bought and is being torn down to make room for a new parking lot, so the movie centers around the show’s untimely end.? The acting and music are all top-notch, which is expected when you have Meryl Streep, Tommy Lee Jones, Woody Harrelson, Kevin Kline, Lily Tomlin…and even Lindsay Lohan…in a movie together.? The music was catchy, complete with humorous lyrics, and the fact that these actors sang their stuff themselves was especially impressive.
Overall, the movie was well-done and fun to watch, giving the viewer a strong sense of nostalgia for days of old.? It should be noted, however, that Brooke and I were by far the youngest individuals in the theater…bringing the average age in the room down from 75 to 55…? So yeah, people much younger than us probably won’t enjoy the movie as much…but hopefully it’ll bring back fond memories for the adults, and introduce young people to entertainment that doesn’t involve sex, drugs and “Grand Theft Auto”…
Carlin
A little wisdom from my man, George Carlin:
“So I worship the sun. But I don’t pray to the sun. You know why? Because I wouldn’t presume on our friendship. It’s not polite. I’ve often thought people treat God rather rudely. Trillions and trillions of prayers every day, asking and pleading and begging for favors. ‘Do this; give me that; I need this; I want that.’ And most of this praying takes place on Sunday, his day off! It’s not nice, and it’s no way to treat a friend.”
“I wanted to be a Boy Scout, but I had all the wrong traits. Apparently, they were looking for kids who were trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean and reverent. Unfortunately, at that time, I was devious, fickle, obstructive, hostile, rude, mean, defiant, glum, extravagant, cowardly, dirty, and sacrilegious. So I waited a few years and joined the army.”
Hey!
I just set up a calendar with gmail, so if any of you want a minute-by-minute update of what I’m doing and you have a gmail address (and I care about you), let me know and I’ll let you in on it. Plus, you should all use it too so I can see what you’re up to! Oh, and I told Dana that my email address would be here and it’s not and putting it here is easier than making it fit somewhere else, so: jbrooke23@gmail.com. Other than that, heading to Hannibal for a couple of days to quench my boredom with some Rachel time!
Review: CSA – The Confederate States of America
So, Brooke and I wanted to see a movie this past weekend, but there wasn’t much out that we wanted to see (or hadn’t already seen), so Brooke looked through the movies playing at the Tivoli, which is a theater in town that plays independent or limited-release films. Anyway, one such movie caught our collective eye: “CSA – The Confederate States of America.”
The movie is told through the vantage point of a British documentary, recounting the alternate “history” of America where the Confederates won at Gettysburg, causing France and Britain to enter the war on their side and defeat the Union Army. The South burns the North and reconstructs it in their image, solidifying slavery’s grasp on the country. The “history” is recounted from that time up to present day, discussing how slavery continued here and how they took over South America, sided with the Nazis in WWII (i.e. they didn’t fight with them, but they also didn’t intervene against plans for “world purity”), and became the sworn enemies of Canada.
The neat thing about the movie was the “commercials” interwoven with the movie, taking place about every 15 or 20 minutes, coinciding with what you’d see if you were watching TV. These commercials included a high-tech shackle that contained a GPS unit so you could track your slave if they escaped…
Anyway, it was a pretty good movie. Since it was released in 2004, it’s unlikely that you’ll find it many places, but you may run across it in some video rental places “off the beaten path”… Either way, it’s worth looking for if you get a chance.? Certainly an interesting take on roads not taken…
…thankfully…
Hilarious…
Remember all that National Spelling Bee hullabaloo from last week? Well, Dr. Macarthur pointed me to a little blurb about some of the people who lost…
For example, one ten-year-old named Katie got words like “anastomosis” and “zedoary” correct, neither of which I’ve ever heard before… But what word does she get wrong? “Friend.” Now, the real kicker here is what Katie’s Mom said, in defense of her daughter’s stupidity:
We thought we had all of the words covered, but then they pull one out of the blue like that.? The real challenge for the kids is when they come across a word that they just don’t ever use in their daily life.
Apparently being home-schooled means you don’t have very many “friends”…
Oh, and another good one… This kid, Kevin, is a fifth grader and got words like “consecrated” and “intracutaneous” correct, but then misspelled “sapphic,” which apparently means ‘of or pertaining to homosexuality among women.’ Well, when asked about it, his mother said the following:
I just couldn’t believe it when they announced his word.? The whole reason we pulled him out of the public schools in the first place is so he wouldn’t have to be exposed to a filthy word like that.
Mom, thanks for not home-schooling me…