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How will we eat it?
We have a problem. Due to many changes in plans during our honeymoon on the continental divide last summer, we have a generous supply of leftover backpacking food. Mountainous, even. Some of it is still palatable after surviving on it for four months, and some of it is hard to even look at. Much of…
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Farewell Colin Powell
I pay my respects to the parting Secretary of State. President Bush will now rely heavily on Condoleezza Rice, Powell’s replacement, in his campaign to bring peace and freedom to the Middle East. The assault on Fallujah quieted down today with only 20 deaths reported, while things heated up in Baquba where we dropped a…
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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…
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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.
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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.…
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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…
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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…