Alexander

I'm almost embarrassed to admit it, but I saw the movie while I was home visiting my folks. As a matter of fact, the prodigal son and I saw it together. Neither of us liked it. I don't think there is a good thing to be said about the film.

The first and most obviously jarring thing about the film is the inexplicable, unidentifiable, possibly eastern European accent that Angelina Jolie uses while almost everyone else in the film speaks with either an obviously English accent or a vaguely Irish one.

The second and greatest failing of the film is its attempt to be serious without being honest. Whereas we are treated to a scene where a drunken Philip tries to rape Olympias and another scene where Alexander tries to rape Roxane but winds up being ridden by her like a pony in the Kentucky Derby, the only inkling the audience has that Alexander and Hephaistion are more than drinking buddies comes from maudlin, melodramatic dialogue clothed in long, pining looks which culminate in hugs. Puh-leese!

Of the few reviews of the film I've read since seeing it - I rarely read reviews before I go to a film - the one I've enjoyed the most is Roger Ebert's. On a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being the best, this film is a 0.

It's been a month . . .

. . . since I've taken any pictures of the cats so I dug out the camera and snapped away.

This is Heru being still. It's too bad I don't have a reference point so you can see the size of him. He's getting to be quite a big boy.





And here we have Rainbow snuggling with a sock. She's still doing that.







This is Mouse being blissfully oblivious to the world. She likes to nap in the dining room away from all the people.






And this blob of black fur is Goblin. She likes to nap on top of a box right next to the back door.

Brrr

I had to turn the heater on tonight. It was 67F inside the house just a couple of hours ago. It is now a very comfy 73F. I just checked and it is a very brisk 44F/7C outside. It looks like fall has finally arrived.

Last picture of Annie

This is the last picture of Annie I took before she disappeared. There is still no sign of her anywhere.

Happy Thanksgiving

Tomorrow morning the prodigal son and I are heading to my parents' house for Thanksgiving dinner. I'm bringing the turkey which I received today as a *bonus* at work. I will very likely not make it online any time tomorrow since I will be very busy stuffing myself until my seams pop so I'm going to wish everyone in the USA a very happy Thanksgiving. And I wish a safe journey to any of you who have to travel.

Strengthen The Good

I'm not a member of the Strengthen The Good network, but I did find the link on someone else's blog. I wish I could remember whose it was, but I read so many it would be really time consuming to hunt that information down. However, I did find this worthwhile so I decided to link to it here as well.

Strengthen The Good: Strengthening The Good: You, By Helping Build An English Library For Teenagers In Bratislava, Slovakia

I also intend to be a contributor by sending a small bundle of books to the school.

The web site for the C. S. Lewis Bilingual High School can be found here - http://www.bilgym.sk/.

State By State: The Bill For The Iraq War - Center for American Progress

This was an eye opener.

BBC NEWS | In Depth | Housing report slams US and Sudan

The Geneva-based Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions cites the US because of its high homelessness rates.

Scotsman.com News - Scotland - Eagle secret of Bronze Age burial

ARCHAEOLOGISTS in Scotland have made a "hugely significant" discovery by unearthing the best and most comprehensively-dated Bronze Age site in the UK.

The tightly clustered group of 29 cremation pits, one containing eagle talons, was uncovered at Skilmafilly when the gas maintenance company Transco was excavating and installing its £56 million gas pipeline from St Fergus to Aberdeen.

Tattoo

from Dictionary.com

tattoo \ta-TOO\, noun:
1. A rapid, rhythmic drumming or rapping.
2. A beat of a drum, or sound of a trumpet or bugle, giving notice to soldiers to go to their quarters at night.
3. A display of military exercises given as evening entertainment.

Tattoo is an alteration of earlier taptoo, from Dutch taptoe, "a tap(house)-shut," from tap, "faucet" + toe, "shut" -- meaning, essentially, that the tavern is about to shut.

Trivia: The more familiar tattoo, "an indelible mark or figure made by puncturing the skin and introducing some pigment into the punctures," derives from entirely different roots. That tattoo comes from Tahitian tatau.

A pair from Epilogue

paula dudzik : winter was too long

paula dudzik : north

BBC NEWS | Health | Obese women 'lose brain tissue'

Women who are obese throughout their life are more likely to lose brain tissue, researchers have found.

This loss is one of the first indications a person is going to develop dementia.

BBC NEWS | Middle East | Cameraman details Falluja killing

The freelance TV cameraman who filmed a US marine allegedly shooting dead an injured Iraqi fighter in Falluja has given his account of what he saw.

Kevin Sites' blog where he wrote the open letter referenced in the article is located here: http://www.kevinsites.net/.

Panjandrum

from Dictionary.com

panjandrum \pan-JAN-druhm\, noun:
An important personage or pretentious official.

Panjandrum was coined by Samuel Foote (1720-1777) in a piece of nonsense writing:

So she went into the garden to cut a cabbage-leaf to make an apple-pie; and at the same time a great she-bear, coming up the street, pops its head into the shop. "What! No soap?" So he died, and she very imprudently married the barber: and there were present the Picninnies, and the Joblillies, and the Garyulies, and the grand Panjandrum himself, with the little round button at top, and they all fell to playing the game of catch-as-catch-can till the gunpowder ran out at the heels of their boots.

It was composed on the spot to challenge actor Charles Macklin's claim that he could memorize anything. Macklin is said to have refused to repeat a word of it.

FoxTrot by Bill Amend

Information overload.

(If the title link has gone out of date, click here for the saved image.)

Use of a house

"What is the use of a house if you haven't got a tolerable planet to put it on?" -- Henry David Thoreau

To get us ready for Christmas

At Epilogue:

Jessey LaFontaine : Angelic Christmas

The Changeling Sea

by Patricia A. McKillip

I just cannot say enough good things about Patricia A. McKillip. Her fantasies are always different and unexpected and always so surprisingly simple. This one is about . . . hmmm . . . I was going to say change, but I think it is more about want.

Cat update

Well, Heru has joined the ranks of the un-reproductive. He came back from the vet yesterday morning and has been even more unconcerned by the fact he had surgery than Rainbow and Mouse were. He has been a particularly lovey cat since he's been back.

I think I have to accept the fact that Annie is gone. There has been no sign of her since the 4th when I got back from picking up my new car. I still have no idea how she could have gotten out or why or where she would go off to.

Goblin has spent a little more time in my lap since Annie's been gone than Goblin is usually wont to. She plops down while I absently pet her while she watches me read. Since Annie and Heru debated ownership rights of me, the other cats never really had much opportunity to be snuggle kitties. Since Annie is gone, half of me is up for ownership and I think Goblin might be trying to stake a small claim. Even the elusive Mouse has taken to very occasionally condescending to climb over me while she graciously allows me to pet her. I think if Rainbow were a more aggressive cat, she'd be the one debating ownership of me with Heru. She would really love to be a snuggle kitty and she does get to do it in drips and drabs here and there when Heru is busy being king of the pride in some other room of the house.

Assassin's Quest

by Robin Hobb

As much as I really enjoyed the first two books of the Farseer Trilogy, I really can't say the same for the concluding book of the trilogy. What I'm not sure about is why I didn't particularly like this book. I don't know if it is the fault of the book or because I've been anxious to start reading another book or if I simply got bored with Fitz since we are burdened with almost nothing but him for about two thirds of the volume. I strongly suspect the failing is on my part since my interest in the book perked up for about the last two hundred pages or so.

As a whole, I would definitely recommend the Farseer Trilogy.

Sorry Everybody

Apologies Accepted - the world's answer to sorryeverybody.com

I don't resemble the jest

From Epilogue:

Ossi Hiekkala : Taming of Women

Prink

from Dictionary.com:

prink \PRINGK\, transitive verb:
To dress up; to deck for show.

intransitive verb:
To dress or arrange oneself for show; to primp.

Prink is probably an alteration of prank, from Middle English pranken, "to show off," perhaps from Middle Dutch pronken, "to adorn oneself," and from Middle Low German prunken (from prank, "display").

Scientific American: Fossil Find Sheds Light on Great Ape Ancestry

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, RUTHIE!

Build a better Bush

Blogthings - What Happened in 1955

In 1955 (the year you were born)

Dwight Eisenhower is president of the US Hurricane "Diane" claims 184 lives form North Carolina to New England Rosa Parks refuses to give up her bus seat, which leads to bus segregation being declared unconstitutional The AFL merges with the CIO, creating the nation's largest labor union Dr. Jonas Salk discovers a vaccine for polio The Scrabble board game debuts Disneyland opens in Anaheim, California Kevin Costner, John Grisham, Arsenio Hall, Steve Jobs, and Billy Bob Thornton are born Charlie Parker, Albert Einstein, and James Dean die Brooklyn Dodgers win the World Series Cleveland Browns win the NFL champion ship Detroit Red Wings win the Stanley Cup Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov is published

What Happened the Year You Were Born?

More cool things for your blog at
Blogthings

I know, I know

I've fallen off the face of the planet again. I don't know why you're surprised. I did tell you I had a cold. And a beaut it was, too. I missed two days of work and spent all my time either asleep on the sofa in the living room or asleep in my bed. I actually think I got more rest at work today than I did the two days I was drugged up and spacey. The phone in my office doesn't ring nearly as often as the phone at home does.

Anyway, I still have the lingering after effects of the cold but I'm at least a mostly functional human being again.

It's raining . . .

. . . and I hab a code in my nodez.

How Scorpio Are You?

You are 53% Scorpio

How much do you match your zodiac sign?

The White House will be adorned by a downright moron

Urban Legends Reference Pages: Politics (H. L. Mencken):

"The larger the mob, the harder the test. In small areas, before small electorates, a first-rate man occasionally fights his way through, carrying even the mob with him by force of his personality. But when the field is nationwide, and the fight must be waged chiefly at second and third hand, and the force of personality cannot so readily make itself felt, then all the odds are on the man who is, intrinsically, the most devious and mediocre the man who can most easily adeptly disperse the notion that his mind is a virtual vacuum.

The Presidency tends, year by year, to go to such men. As democracy is perfected, the office represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. We move toward a lofty ideal. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart's desire at last, and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron."

~ No Comment ~

"I have opinions of my own -- strong opinions -- but I don't always agree with them." -- George Bush

Royal Assassin

by Robin Hobb

I finished the second book of the Farseer Trilogy last night. I was up until about 3 a.m. reading it. I had no idea it was that late until I finished and looked at the clock. I haven't gotten lost in a book like that in ages.

I am happy to say the second book held up as well as the first. Aside from the quality of the writing, I'm not sure why I like these books so much. Could be consistent characterization. The only thing I have trouble with is remembering how young the Fitz is. I'm reminded of that occasionally when he does something, or more correctly, fails to realize something that is glaringly obvious. Despite his grasp of the hazards of politics, he has led a very sheltered life that precludes things being obvious when they should be.

Two thumbs up for this book!

The Home Front

This is a web site listing the companies who go beyond what is legally required of them to support employees who have been called up for active duty service in the military. For this, I think they deserve praise.

Addendum to silly thought

What would constitute 'fantasy' in a Tolkienesque universe?

Silly thought

Sometimes when I'm not thinking of anything, when my mind is busily occupied with nothing, the strangest things pop into my brain. For example, what would constitute 'science fiction' in the Star Trek universe?

Being lazy

We've had a cold front come through and it's dropped the temperature down significantly. The coolness has dropped me into hibernation mode so I've spent quite a bit of time curled up on the sofa with my blanket, the cats, and my book. I am quietly contented. As soon as I put a pot of coffee on to perk, life will be perfection.

BBC NEWS | Entertainment | US TV fails to save Private Ryan

Oscar-winning war film Saving Private Ryan was dropped by a number of US TV stations on Thursday because of fears they could be fined for indecency. -- read the rest.

This is too funny. I wonder it it was meant to be a deliberate slap in the face to all this decency bovine excrement being dropped in piles everywhere or if it was just accidental.

What democracy consists of

"Democracy consists of choosing your dictators, after they've told you what you think it is you want to hear." -- Alan Corenk

BBC NEWS | Middle East | Iraqi hostages found in Falluja

BBC NEWS | Middle East | Falluja troops under heavy fire

Alberto Gonzales: A Record of Injustice - Center for American Progress

Turbid

from Dictionary.com

turbid \TUR-bid\, adjective:
1. Muddy; thick with or as if with roiled sediment; not clear; -- used of liquids of any kind.
2. Thick; dense; dark; -- used of clouds, air, fog, smoke, etc.
3. Disturbed; confused; disordered.

Turbid comes from Latin turbidus, "confused, disordered," from turba, "disturbance, commotion."

Thick, dense, dark, distrubed, confused, disordered - who knew one word could encapsulate the state of the US in this place and time.

FoxTrot by Bill Amend

Boys!

(If the title link has gone out of date, click here for the saved image.)

BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Himalaya glaciers melt unnoticed

BBC NEWS | Business | US deficit pushes euro over $1.30

Urban Legends Reference Pages: Inboxer Rebellion (Rebekah Tauber)

Rebekah Tauber is a 15 year old from Houston who is presently undergoing cancer treatment. She is a fierce Christian who attends Memorial High School. Rebekah is wearing a "prayer pager" (1-800-250-6939) that is being sponsored by Second Baptist Church in Houston.

Please take a minute out of your busy day to say a quick prayer for Rebekah, her family and her doctors asking for God's guiding hand to be with them through this ordeal and then call the toll free number (1-800-250-6939). It will vibrate letting Rebekah know that someone has prayed on her behalf.

Feel free to pass this email on and thanks for your support and prayers.

Call.... it just takes a second or two!

Die Bundesregierung

This is the English version of the site.

Berlin Wall

BBC NEWS | Europe | Germans mark Berlin Wall's fall

Low-key ceremonies have been held in Germany to mark the 15th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.

Berlin's Mayor Klaus Wowereit laid a wreath at a preserved section of the wall and a special service was held at a rebuilt chapel on the former border.

Scientific American: Stem Cells Secrete Healing Chemicals

BBC NEWS | Technology | Firefox browser takes on Microsoft

Never having been a fan of Microsoft's Internet Explorer, I'm not a particular fan of Mozilla's Firefox which basically has the look and feel of a tabbed version of IE. I am, however, a fan of Netscape so I much prefer the 'unnamed' Mozilla suite.

In 1996 when I first got online, the modem in my computer was at a non-standard IRQ setting and a non-standard com port. Neither Windows nor IE could find and use my modem and I could not change either the IRQ or com port without popping my computer open and flipping a dip switch on the modem. I bought - yes, bought - a copy of Netscape and installed it. During the installation process, Netscape not only found my modem with all of its non-standard settings, but it also told me what make and model of modem I had. At that moment, I became a believer and faithful follower.

Today, thanks to the blogger upgrade a few months back, I'm a believer and faithful follower of Mozilla which does everything my beloved Netscape did.

Star Wars trailer

The Incredibles

I just got back from seeing the movie. Wow. I can't think when I've seen a more together movie than this one. Plot, character, action, romance, good fashion sense. What more could you want?

Gotta love the Brits

Karen posted the cover of the November 4th Daily Mirror on her blog. It is priceless. I wish I had a copy of that to save for posterity. I almost forgot I had a migraine I chuckled so.

The old homestead

Since I finally have a camera again, I took snaps of the old homestead (and the old homesteaders) while I was down buying the car.

This is the front door. No one ever uses the front door unless they are a stranger or the garage door is shut. People who belong go through the garage to the kitchen door and knock.



This is one of my dad's bougainvillea plants. He has several but this one is purple and is in the middle of the front yard. There is a second purple bougainvillea in the background. That one is tall while the one I snapped seems to have decided to be short.



And here's the mom (or die oma as the prodigal son calls her) chatting with her Tweety. Tweety has been around for years and I live in fear that I will inherit that noisy brute if something happened to my folks