cyberhobo

Month: November 2004

  • Movie: The Station Agent

    A dwarf inherits a small, remote station house and loses his job when his boss dies. With nowhere else to go, he moves into it. That’s about all there is to the story, but somehow this movie manages to find charm and depth in otherwise ordinary people and situations. It’s like spending an afternoon in…

  • Illusive Reality Experiment

    Now and then I post particularly good illusions or perception experiments. This Illusive Reality Experiment is pretty amazing, worth tolerating the ads. You’ll need a broadband connection, and you have to follow the instructions.

  • Movie: 12 Angry Men

    I’ve been wanting to watch this for a long time. Peter Fonda plays the lone dissenter in a jury who convinces everyone else of his position. It’s far-fetched as a story, but a very good setup for examining the ways people judge others. All the characters are played really well, making a movie that takes…

  • A Prediction and a Response

    This is not a political web log, but it is personal. I’ve usually avoided political topics here because they haven’t been a big enough part of my life to be worth alienating my friends and family who disagree with me. This election was important and troublesome enough for me, though, that I discarded my usual…

  • Movie: Children of Heaven

    What a relief, we finally got a movie nearly free of violence. It’s the story of a coverup opertion conducted my a 9-year-old Iranian boy – to keep his parents from finding out that he lost his sister’s shoes. It may go a little overboard trying to be heartwarming here and there, but right now…

  • Horsetooth Reservoir

    I peer over at the fun roof I just climbed on toprope, during which Ann was too busy waiting to catch me when I flew off to snap a picture. But I managed to keep myself scrunched up in there with my hands working quickly into the smooth crack long enough to get over it.…

  • Movie: The Pianist

    A holocaust movie that chronicles the survival of a concert pianist. It’s another one of those movies that makes you appreciate how good we have it. I think watching too many of this kind of movie too close together puts one at risk of depression instead of appreciation, though. This was a little soon after…

  • Movie: Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow

    This movie pays homage to a long list of Sci-Fi predecessors, but I think I would put Fritz Lang’s 1927 classic Metropolis at the top. Live-action actors play in a computer-generated set that is stylized to the hilt. The story is very comic book-esque – a fantasy that is pretty campy but entertaining. I think…

  • Bummer

    I took the morning off yesterday – my second day at my new job – to drive to Denver to vote. It was another hour in line, this time in an elementary school. Kids went by in lines, some whispering ‘Kerry Kerry Kerry’ quietly as they went by. I had to cast a provisional ballot,…