Tomorrow is another big Steve Job’s Keynote speech. He may introduce a new ipod phone or when Leopard will be released. Use this bingo card to play along. You know the rules. Fill in whatever Steve Jobs has said. The winner is the Apple users!
Update:Here’s the definitive Keynote Bingo Card from the originator himself.
The EMS store in Cockeysville is closing down. All stuff in the store is 30% off including sale items. They really are trying to unload their winter clothing but they have some other stuff as well. I picked up the National Geographic Back Roads Explorer topological mapping software. I figure for $35 it’s a good price.
I’m going to use to map my cycling routes.
The map you see here is the route I call “Around Mom’s Block.” As you can see it’s relatively short at just over five miles. It’s a fun little ride with a quick downhill section followed by a nice steady climb. Do it a couple times for maxmimum benefit.
Of 2007.
Well, it’s been quiet. After the burst of activity for the 31 days of December, I took a break. No posting, because I couldn’t think of anything. Should I have put down my haul from Christmas? Should I wish you a happy new year? Should I list my resolutions?
Maybe. Perhaps. I don’t know.
So I planned to lightly post for a while.
Things are the same. The calendar may say a new year, but the days go by all the same.
Well, another year has come to a close. As well as the 31 days of December daily blogging. I hope you enjoyed this year. We’ll see you around next year.
I saw the best picture so far this year just two days shy of the end. While it certainly doesn’t make up for the fact the year in movies sucked, it definitely made watching film a nice experience again.
The Queen deals with the death of Lady Diana and how the royal family dealt with it the week leading to her funeral. The Queen decided to show the famous British stiff upper lip which didn’t play too well with the English mood at the time. They wanted to see remorse and mourning, but got no show of emotion. It left the royalty in a bad situation. Compounding it was the newly elected Prime Minister, Tony Blair, who had summed up the value of the dead Diana as the People’s Princess. The film focuses upon his craft at getting the royals to open up.
What struck me most about this film is the parallels with the US. Or more particularly George Bush. As the death of Lady Diana plays out, the Queen stoically does nothing to show that her death is important. She spends days ill prepared on what to do. She seemed like W in his infamous minutes after the 9-11 attacks. Quietly thinking should I be doing something. Another thing is the aspect of paying respects for someone not quite royalty. Think about former President Ford’s week of mourning ritual being carried out right now. We have elevated the post of President into something of a royal position. Which leads to the contrast of the Prime Minister. I thought he lived in a hovel (10 Downing St.) in the movie and I was amazed how common his home was. A leader of a quasi-democratic government being of the people. Fucked up thing about the US is that only millionaires can be President. We have become the British.
Anyway the movie was well acted. The story line was suspenseful. I laughed a few times. It was a good show. The best this year. Why did it take 363 days for it to happen? And why the Brits?
5 of 5 stars.
Geeking out on Tolkien brings me back to his most popular work, The Lord of the Rings. I got so geeked up I did a search for my favorite character of the novel, Eowyn. Here’s a rendition of the great scene from the Battle of Pelennor fields. She fulfills her destiny. There’s more I’ll have to say about her later.
They had shown the entire on Lord of the Rings trilogy on TBS. I also own the first set of DVDs of the movies. I can’t wait for the latest book from the Tolkien estate, The Children of Hurin. It is supposedly one of the three Great Tales that Tolkien had planned on writing about the First Age of Middle Earth. (That sentence will go over the heads of the you out there.) The three are The Children of Hurin, The Fall of Gondolin, and Beren & Luthien. All are supposed tales passed down from the Numenoreans about the great men of the First Age. Surprisingly enough none concern the First Children, the elves. They are somewhat connected (Luthien being the most beautiful of all Illuvatar’s children as an elf maiden), but the central character revolves around men.
They are epic stories to tell. If you haven’t read the Silmarillion, you’re missing out. It contains condensed versions of these tales. They’re all great to read as is knowing the history of the First Age of Middle Earth.
My favorite has always been Beren & Luthien. It’s actually written as a poem and it’s real title is the Lay of Leithan. It tells the tale of Beren of the house of Beor, the first house of man, and his quest to wrench a Silmaril from the crown of Morgoth as the price for the marriage to Luthien. He succeeds.
The Children of Hurin is also a favorite since reading it in the form of the Narn i Hin Hurin in Unfinished Tales. This one more sadder. Turin a great warrior who happiness eludes him. Hurin, his father, witness to Turin’s fate from the eves of Thangorodrim watches as the curse of Morgoth robs his family of peace and happiness. Morwen, his mother, has felt a loss unbearable. Turin suffering the greatest curse with his sister. He also kills Glaurung. Great tale. Yet sad.
The Fall of Gondolin is hard to assemble, because it comes in pieces. The tale is of Tuor, kinsman to Turin, who escapes the fate of man. He secures himself a place in the last elven kingdom of Gondolin in the twilight of the First Age. Through him the savior of the Children of Illuvatar in Beleriand is born. Yet, it is an incomplete tale.
Now all three should be a movie. I would like to see it as an animated one. I haven’t geeked out enough on Tolkien hoping that you’ll read these other works of his.
I’ve posted about the problems with my car in the past month. The problem has been diagnosed and a solution had been implemented, but I hesitate to drive it. I have a feeling at any moment it’s going to experience the same issues. It’s not that she has become unreliable, but that the trust between us has broken. So in order to regain that trust again, I have to learn how to drive all once more.
Before my driving style was slightly aggressive: 80 mph on the highway, living in the left lane, shooting the gaps when needed, taking her to the redline on occasion. This was just the trust I felt with my car. She can do it, and I won’t let anything bad happen to her.
Well, she can’t always do it. She’s showing her age and probably needed to be treated a little bit more gently.
So I’ve slowed down, and it is strange. I keep up with the traffic, but I don’t like hanging out in the left lane anymore. The RPMS barely make it past 3750. No quick starts off the line. No boost. It’s all caution from here on out.
Being slower makes it some what safer, but I am still not confident about her. She’ll do. I wonder what this will do for my gas mileage?
I’ve seen several of the films that have come out during this holiday season. They reinforce the fact that movies suck. I need a hiatus. You may also want to take a hiatus.
The Holiday. I am waiting for Nancy Myers to direct a Nora Ephron screenplay. Then I am waiting for Nora Ephron to direct a Nancy Myers screenplay. Then I will die.
2 of 5 stars.
Blood Diamond. Diamonds are forever. And so is the grief it causes to the African nations which mine them. At least there was action in this film. Something missing in these that I had seen.
3 of 5 stars.
The Good Shepherd. Long and involved. I have nothing bad to say about it, because they’re listening. (All hail the mighty CIA. Thanks for protecting America!) I have nothing good either.
3 of 5 stars.
The Pursuit of Happyness. Will Smith wants an Oscar badly.
3 of 5 stars.
