So, I Changed My Mind
7 years ago
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Pornographic Watergate Movie?
After watching Frost/Nixon earlier this month, I went on Netflix to look for other Watergate/Nixon related movies that would be interesting to watch after seeing the current one. I found several, including one that has actual clips of the Frost/Nixon interviews, another one about Nixon's re-election, and several others, many of which I put into my cue. Today the first one arrived, which I thought was about the recently revealed former FBI official who was the secret informant, Deep Throat. The name of the movie was logically "Inside Deep Throat" but when I put it in I wondered about the NC-17 rating at the beginning until I realized that this was a documentary about the 1970s porn movie of the same name. Ooops. Ironically, Nixon had a significant role in this movie too.
Sunday, January 18, 2009
2009 Oscar Picks
In anticipation of the announcement of the Oscar nominees this Thursday, I have listed the movies that I would pick. These are not predictions, but rather the five movies this year that I think are deserving of the nominations.
1. Milk. This 70's docu-drama was both informative and compelling. I later watched a documentary on the same subject (which won the Oscar for best documentary back in the '80s) which was not nearly as good. Currently this has my vote for the best movie of the year.
2. Frost-Nixon. This 70s docu-drama (see the common theme here?) was based on a play. This is a close runner up. Although the Nixon character does not look like Nixon, by the end of the movie it is hard to think of him as not being Nixon.
3. Doubt. The 1960s story of a priest who faced unfounded allegations from a crazy nun (Merly Streep) was very well acted, well written, and had a number of funny moments.
4. Gran Torino. Although I am not a huge Clint Eastwood fan, and hated that movie with the girl boxer who got paralyzed a few years ago, this movie is great. It is about a racist old man who lives in current day Detroit in the house he has lived in all his life, but in a neighborhood that has been taken over by Asians. He unexpectedly becomes friends with a neighbor family who has become victim to gang violence, and they come to replace his own family, who has rejected him.
5. This was the toughest one. There were so many Oscar hyped movies released in the last part of the year that I thought I was going to have a hard time deciding between them. Benjamin Button was the very long movie based on a short story (ironically, the short story, which can be found on the internet, gives a more complete and logical picture of the man's life) about a man who is born old, in some ways, and gets younger, in some ways (yet older in others) during the movie, but the inconsistencies and holes in the plot made this movie sub par. Revolutionary Road was a well acted movie set in the '50s that had the feel of a great movie, but seemed to drag on and was not pleasant to watch, especially towards the end. Slumdog Millionaire, about an uneducated kid from the slums of Bombay India who gets on India's version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire and, when he does well, is brutally tortured by the game show people who thought he was cheating, only to show how the events of his life resulted in the knowledge for the questions asked. Interesting concept, but very brutal violence and hard to follow in parts. Therefore, my fifth choice in the category of best movies goes to probably the most entertaining and creative movie of the year: Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanimo Bay. This is a sequel to the great Harold and Kumar go to White Castle. It makes fun of the post-911 homeland security policy of the government, and the scene with George Bush smoking pot with people who fell out of an airplane into the living room in his Texas ranch is priceless.
1. Milk. This 70's docu-drama was both informative and compelling. I later watched a documentary on the same subject (which won the Oscar for best documentary back in the '80s) which was not nearly as good. Currently this has my vote for the best movie of the year.
2. Frost-Nixon. This 70s docu-drama (see the common theme here?) was based on a play. This is a close runner up. Although the Nixon character does not look like Nixon, by the end of the movie it is hard to think of him as not being Nixon.
3. Doubt. The 1960s story of a priest who faced unfounded allegations from a crazy nun (Merly Streep) was very well acted, well written, and had a number of funny moments.
4. Gran Torino. Although I am not a huge Clint Eastwood fan, and hated that movie with the girl boxer who got paralyzed a few years ago, this movie is great. It is about a racist old man who lives in current day Detroit in the house he has lived in all his life, but in a neighborhood that has been taken over by Asians. He unexpectedly becomes friends with a neighbor family who has become victim to gang violence, and they come to replace his own family, who has rejected him.
5. This was the toughest one. There were so many Oscar hyped movies released in the last part of the year that I thought I was going to have a hard time deciding between them. Benjamin Button was the very long movie based on a short story (ironically, the short story, which can be found on the internet, gives a more complete and logical picture of the man's life) about a man who is born old, in some ways, and gets younger, in some ways (yet older in others) during the movie, but the inconsistencies and holes in the plot made this movie sub par. Revolutionary Road was a well acted movie set in the '50s that had the feel of a great movie, but seemed to drag on and was not pleasant to watch, especially towards the end. Slumdog Millionaire, about an uneducated kid from the slums of Bombay India who gets on India's version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire and, when he does well, is brutally tortured by the game show people who thought he was cheating, only to show how the events of his life resulted in the knowledge for the questions asked. Interesting concept, but very brutal violence and hard to follow in parts. Therefore, my fifth choice in the category of best movies goes to probably the most entertaining and creative movie of the year: Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanimo Bay. This is a sequel to the great Harold and Kumar go to White Castle. It makes fun of the post-911 homeland security policy of the government, and the scene with George Bush smoking pot with people who fell out of an airplane into the living room in his Texas ranch is priceless.
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Merry Christmas from Rusty
This year, Rusty volunteered to do his first annual Christmas letter on the internet:
Merry Christmas to family, friends, and strangers:
This is my first Christmas newsletter that I am publishing on the internet.
This was a blessed and wonderful year that began on January 1 with Chilly Dog being released from his ten day in-house quarantine for biting the mailman. The people came to our house on New Year's Day to see if he was alive, because if he had rabies, he would be dead.
Chilly's arthritis got worse over the year, and he continued on his thyroid medication, but his skin cancer from 2005 and eye cancer from 2007 both stayed in remission. He did start taking glucosamine pills for his joint pain, and also takes pain pills. He gets mad at me sometimes when I do bad things like watch him eat, try to eat his food before he is done, or being around him when he doesn't want me to. Most of the time I don't bother him too much.
I gave everyone a scare when, in early June, I hid under Mark's bed for two days without coming out. Everyone thought that my days were numbered, but it turned out that the hair on my butt was too long so when I got diarrhea my runny poop stuck to the hair and then it dried and pulled down on it making me miserable. The vet cut my hair, and that took care of the problem. I later got a full haircut so I could see.
I also had a very loose tooth so I had to get a teeth cleaning, but my tooth had already falled out by the time I went.
In August, Mark left us for a week and we had to stay home alone. We had lots of fun.
Andy was healthy all year, and he was especially happy to see his choice of Mr. Obama win the primaries and then the election.
The rest of us all wish Mr. Obama well, but we were all rooting for someone eles at first. We are very proud of Andy for his role in the election. He does get in trouble every once in a while for chewing on pens, electric cords, and razor blades. He spends most of his time on the couch.
He probably needs to back to the vet in the next few weeks to get shots.
We ended the year by getting in Mark's Jeep and visiting Santa Claws.
That was fun, but he was in the cat section of the store so we had to be around cats the whole time we waited in line.
Tomorrow (Christmas Day) is Andy's second anniversary living with Mark and Chilly.
I hope everyone's year was as wonderful as ours, and Happy New Year!
Rusty
Merry Christmas to family, friends, and strangers:
This is my first Christmas newsletter that I am publishing on the internet.
This was a blessed and wonderful year that began on January 1 with Chilly Dog being released from his ten day in-house quarantine for biting the mailman. The people came to our house on New Year's Day to see if he was alive, because if he had rabies, he would be dead.
Chilly's arthritis got worse over the year, and he continued on his thyroid medication, but his skin cancer from 2005 and eye cancer from 2007 both stayed in remission. He did start taking glucosamine pills for his joint pain, and also takes pain pills. He gets mad at me sometimes when I do bad things like watch him eat, try to eat his food before he is done, or being around him when he doesn't want me to. Most of the time I don't bother him too much.
I gave everyone a scare when, in early June, I hid under Mark's bed for two days without coming out. Everyone thought that my days were numbered, but it turned out that the hair on my butt was too long so when I got diarrhea my runny poop stuck to the hair and then it dried and pulled down on it making me miserable. The vet cut my hair, and that took care of the problem. I later got a full haircut so I could see.
I also had a very loose tooth so I had to get a teeth cleaning, but my tooth had already falled out by the time I went.
In August, Mark left us for a week and we had to stay home alone. We had lots of fun.
Andy was healthy all year, and he was especially happy to see his choice of Mr. Obama win the primaries and then the election.
The rest of us all wish Mr. Obama well, but we were all rooting for someone eles at first. We are very proud of Andy for his role in the election. He does get in trouble every once in a while for chewing on pens, electric cords, and razor blades. He spends most of his time on the couch.
He probably needs to back to the vet in the next few weeks to get shots.
We ended the year by getting in Mark's Jeep and visiting Santa Claws.
That was fun, but he was in the cat section of the store so we had to be around cats the whole time we waited in line.
Tomorrow (Christmas Day) is Andy's second anniversary living with Mark and Chilly.
I hope everyone's year was as wonderful as ours, and Happy New Year!
Rusty
Saturday, December 20, 2008
Happy Birthday, Chilly Dog
HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHILLY,
When you were born in Memphis on December 14, 1995, and given away to your first owners from the trunk of a car in a Wal-Mart parking lot a few weeks later, you were probably a very cute Jack Russell/Chow mix puppy, but I never got to see that. Your owners gave you the name Chili, after a character in Get Shorty, and moved to St. Louis shortly afterwards. When they wanted to move to Florida in 2002, you objected and demanded to come back. On August 16, 2002, you officially moved in with me, and your soon to be best friend, Snikk, and changed your name to Chilly Dog. I was afraid that you would not get along with us because you had a reputation for being aggressive, and even sometimes mean (by people that didn't know you, of course), but you fit in right away. Before long, you and Snikk were inseparable, playing, wrestling, going for walks together, and just lying next to each other.
When we lost poor Snikk two years ago, I know that you were as sad as anyone. Seeing you stare at Snikk's empty cage,
and pace the floors in the middle of the night made me realize how close you were to him. Now that you are entering your teenage years, your arthritis keeps you from jumping off of my deck chasing rabbits, and you don't like to go for long walks, or jump up on furniture,
but you still follow me around whereever I go (sitting under me as I write this), sleep next to my head, and never let me leave the house without licking my face. And of course you successfully protect our house from invasion from the mailman's attempt to break in every day.
I hope you like your new brother Andy
and Rusty.
Sorry for the late birthday card, Chilly, but on your birthday we were too busy visiting Santa Claus.
After knowing you, I can see why they call dogs like you "Man's Best Friend." Happy birthday!
When you were born in Memphis on December 14, 1995, and given away to your first owners from the trunk of a car in a Wal-Mart parking lot a few weeks later, you were probably a very cute Jack Russell/Chow mix puppy, but I never got to see that. Your owners gave you the name Chili, after a character in Get Shorty, and moved to St. Louis shortly afterwards. When they wanted to move to Florida in 2002, you objected and demanded to come back. On August 16, 2002, you officially moved in with me, and your soon to be best friend, Snikk, and changed your name to Chilly Dog. I was afraid that you would not get along with us because you had a reputation for being aggressive, and even sometimes mean (by people that didn't know you, of course), but you fit in right away. Before long, you and Snikk were inseparable, playing, wrestling, going for walks together, and just lying next to each other.
When we lost poor Snikk two years ago, I know that you were as sad as anyone. Seeing you stare at Snikk's empty cage,
and pace the floors in the middle of the night made me realize how close you were to him. Now that you are entering your teenage years, your arthritis keeps you from jumping off of my deck chasing rabbits, and you don't like to go for long walks, or jump up on furniture,
but you still follow me around whereever I go (sitting under me as I write this), sleep next to my head, and never let me leave the house without licking my face. And of course you successfully protect our house from invasion from the mailman's attempt to break in every day. I hope you like your new brother Andy
and Rusty.
Sorry for the late birthday card, Chilly, but on your birthday we were too busy visiting Santa Claus.
After knowing you, I can see why they call dogs like you "Man's Best Friend." Happy birthday!
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Review of Election Predictions
Before the election, I made my predictions; unlike the people on TV, I will compare them to what really happened:
Obama wins with 355 electoral votes.
He won, but it looks like he will get 364 (although I did leave open the possibility of a North Carolina win, which put him over my guess).
Obama will get at least 53% of the vote, and will have the most votes of anyone in history.
According to the NY Times, he got 53.1%, and his 63 million votes is more than a million more than the prior record holder.
There will be record voter turnout.
The 231 million voters was the most ever by over 10 million, and the percentage of both registered and eligible voters was the highest in recent years, although I have heard that it was higher in 1908 by one computation.
Democrats will have 60 senators.
I missed this one. I did not account for the fact that Alaskans would return an 84 year old convicted felon to the Senate. But they did. How I overestimated the voters who elected Sarah Palin, I don't know.
The Snikk Blog will have called the race by 8:15 CT, if not earlier.
It was about 8:45.
The stock market will finish the week substantially higher on news of the Obama win (or, if I am wrong on the results, it will be substantially lower on the news of the McCain win).
Check back at the end of the week.
First state to be called by the networks: Vermont.
Vermont tied with Kentucky.
Closest state: Missouri.
Missouri still isn't done, but it looks like the difference will be less than 5,000 votes, well less than 1%, by far the closest.
Most lopsided (other than DC): Idaho.
Way off here. The McCain state that was the most lopsided was Oklahoma where he got 66%, but Obama got 72% in Hawaii (including the vote of his grandmother, who died before election day, something that I have been hearing about from the McCain supporters around me (see posting of 11/3 "McCain: Why?") who can't accept the fact that their guy lost fairly). McCain only got 61% in Idaho. (The predictably greatest total difference was DC, where Obama received over 93%).
Unlike nearly all losing VP candidates, we have not heard the last of Sarah Palin.
We'll see.
Obama wins with 355 electoral votes.
He won, but it looks like he will get 364 (although I did leave open the possibility of a North Carolina win, which put him over my guess).
Obama will get at least 53% of the vote, and will have the most votes of anyone in history.
According to the NY Times, he got 53.1%, and his 63 million votes is more than a million more than the prior record holder.
There will be record voter turnout.
The 231 million voters was the most ever by over 10 million, and the percentage of both registered and eligible voters was the highest in recent years, although I have heard that it was higher in 1908 by one computation.
Democrats will have 60 senators.
I missed this one. I did not account for the fact that Alaskans would return an 84 year old convicted felon to the Senate. But they did. How I overestimated the voters who elected Sarah Palin, I don't know.
The Snikk Blog will have called the race by 8:15 CT, if not earlier.
It was about 8:45.
The stock market will finish the week substantially higher on news of the Obama win (or, if I am wrong on the results, it will be substantially lower on the news of the McCain win).
Check back at the end of the week.
First state to be called by the networks: Vermont.
Vermont tied with Kentucky.
Closest state: Missouri.
Missouri still isn't done, but it looks like the difference will be less than 5,000 votes, well less than 1%, by far the closest.
Most lopsided (other than DC): Idaho.
Way off here. The McCain state that was the most lopsided was Oklahoma where he got 66%, but Obama got 72% in Hawaii (including the vote of his grandmother, who died before election day, something that I have been hearing about from the McCain supporters around me (see posting of 11/3 "McCain: Why?") who can't accept the fact that their guy lost fairly). McCain only got 61% in Idaho. (The predictably greatest total difference was DC, where Obama received over 93%).
Unlike nearly all losing VP candidates, we have not heard the last of Sarah Palin.
We'll see.
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
OBAMA DEFEATS MCCAIN
None of the networks are calling it yet, but it is now clear. With the 200 votes that the networks have projected, another 59 for the guaranteed Obama states of California and Hawaii, and another 18 for Washington and Oregon, he is well about the 270 he needs to win. The election is over! The networks should realize this soon.
Monday, November 3, 2008
Election Predictions
This is my prediction of what the map will look like tomorrow night. If I did this a day earlier I would have had Obama winning 370, giving him either North Carolina or Georgia, and maybe another 11 for Indiana, but I got a little conservative on election eve. I wouldn't be too surprised if the total was 370 to 390, but I am sticking with 355 for now.
Other predictions:
Obama will get at least 53% of the vote, and will have the most votes of anyone in history.
There will be record voter turnout.
Democrats will have 60 senators.
The Snikk Blog will have called the race by 8:15 CT, if not earlier.
The stock market will finish the week substantially higher on news of the Obama win (or, if I am wrong on the results, it will be substantially lower on the news of the McCain win).
First state to be called by the networks: Vermont.
Closest state: Missouri.
Most lopsided (other than DC): Idaho.
And finally....
Unlike nearly all losing VP candidates, we have not heard the last of Sarah Palin.
Other predictions:
Obama will get at least 53% of the vote, and will have the most votes of anyone in history.
There will be record voter turnout.
Democrats will have 60 senators.
The Snikk Blog will have called the race by 8:15 CT, if not earlier.
The stock market will finish the week substantially higher on news of the Obama win (or, if I am wrong on the results, it will be substantially lower on the news of the McCain win).
First state to be called by the networks: Vermont.
Closest state: Missouri.
Most lopsided (other than DC): Idaho.
And finally....
Unlike nearly all losing VP candidates, we have not heard the last of Sarah Palin.
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