Jul

28

Hal Sirowitz.

Filed Under Humor | 2 Comments

“Don’t stick your [body part] in the [location], mother said.” Felix sent me a collection of amusing poetry read aloud by the poet in question, Hal Sirowitz. The structure for a sizable portion of those included begin with the above line. Like “Don’t stick your finger in the ketchup bottle, mother said.” Or “Don’t stick your arm out of the window, mother said.” Not laugh-out-loud funny, but maybe it isn’t supposed to be. Worth a listen, though. Here’s “Dangerous Kiss.”

Jul

28

Wild Waves.

Filed Under Personal | 1 Comment

As a tentative roller coaster enthusiast, I’m only marginally excited about today’s planned jaunt to Wild Waves. The damper on my glee? Apparently Wild Waves’s roller coasters suck.

Jul

21

Wasting power.

Filed Under Science & Technology | 3 Comments

I keep reading about various appliances that continue to use considerable quantities of electricity when “off” (e.g. televisions with remote controls) as a cause of global warming. The primary solution I’ve heard for this problem, however, is incredibly low tech and absurdly impractical: unplug the appliance in question. Every time you’re not using it. Which to me undermines the whole point of a remote control. Better solution? Actually stop draining power when the appliance is off. But how, you ask, is the appliance supposed to do whatever it is that makes it continually drain power when “off” in the first place? Easy: combination motion sensor and rechargeable battery. See, the battery charges only when the appliance is on. And it is hooked up to a crude motion sensor, so that when no one is in the room, when everyone in the household is at work or asleep, the appliance is in sleep mode. Only power necessary is drained from the battery, only so much as is needed to operate the motion sensor. Not much power is needed for the motion sensor, because it only checks for movement for a second or two every minute or so.

Get on this, appliance makers.

Jul

21

Wedding update.

Filed Under Wedding | 2 Comments

D and I procured a space for the reception on Sunday, May 25th, 2008. Day before Memorial Day. Official save-the-date cards will be sent soon. Official wedding information clearinghouse will be, but is not yet, located at taymont.net.

Jul

18

Harry Potter and Tony Blair.

Filed Under Film, Print Media | 6 Comments

With the impending release of the final book in the Harry Potter book series, and recent release of the fifth film, I feel impelled to make a suggestion: Tony Blair should play the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom in the sixth film. For those of you who may have forgotten, Half-Blood Princeopens with said Prime Minister being notified by then-Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge that all is not well in Britain. Now that Mr. Blair has retired from the actual post, and given the absurdly large stage on which anything Harry Potter sits, it is an obvious choice that Mr. Blair essentially play himself in the next movie.

Jul

17

Terabithia, Jackass, and emotional response.

Filed Under Film | Leave a Comment

Call me crass, but I enjoyed both Bridge to Terabithia and Jackass: The Movie for actually provoking a response in me. While Terabithia may have cloaked itself in the maudlin in order to elicit that response, and amid Gabor Csupo-helmed child-friendliness to boot, at least it managed to jerk a few tears in the process. So what if it was essentially E.T., complete with both a Drew Barrymore look-alike (Bailee Madison) and a Dee Wallace dead-ringer (Kate Butler)? Bawling your eyes out never had it so good. And although Jackass is no doubt a stupid series of disjointed stunts, at least it managed to bust my gut on more than a couple of occasions.

After struggling through the pretentious and tiresome Dog Day Afternoon and The Leopard recently, I’m pleased at the relief that a couple of lowbrow effective films can provide.

Jul

16

Samuel Williston.

Filed Under Law, Personal | 1 Comment

One thing I may have learned while outing with my distant cousins last week is that contrary to what I had heretofore believed, I have lawyer relatives. And not just any lawyer relatives. The illustrious Harvard Law professor Samuel Williston is distantly related on my father’s side. He of “Williston on Contracts” fame. Groovy, no?

Jul

15

Rabbits, testicles, and Jessica Alba.

Filed Under Humor | 2 Comments

Enjoy the following odd video, complete with hairy chest visuals, euphemisms for the male genitalia, and a couple of bunnies chatting about Jessica Alba’s adult magazine preferences.

Jul

14

Film and associated anecdotes.

Filed Under Film, Personal | 1 Comment

Finished day one of the “An Introduction to The Guerrilla Warfare School of Film Making” class taught by filmmaker Ferde Grofe. Who has a lot of interesting stories about old school Hollywood, working with certain people, being in certain places, and generally making films. For the most part, Ferde avoided working within the studio system throughout his career. And although he’s done several low budget features, some of which are quite good, he seems to have made his fortune, such that it is, by early adopting home video (Betamax, then VHS).

There are only five people in the class, including myself. Two are Seattle-based documentary filmmakers who co-directed last year’s Mom’s Apple Pie. One is a manager of Batdorf and Bronson. The other is involved in theater in a professional capacity of some sort.

Most of what the course has involved so far is listening to Ferde talk and watching several of his short films, including a James Stewart-starring ode to the DC-3 called Sentimental Journey, a couple of pieces revolving around Burt Rutan’s VariEze and Defiant, a narrative poetry piece tied together by a Colombian town’s churches, and a documentary about Douglas MacArthur.

More tomorrow.

Jul

14

Hungover.

Filed Under Personal | 3 Comments

Finally happened: boss got me drunk last night. Started at a Tacoma Rainiers game, which we left at the top of the eleventh. Ended at a bar called the “Alehouse,” which served, in addition to beer, tequila, and whiskey, a somewhat disgusting, yet somehow enticing food product called a “Mac ‘N Cheese Wedge,” which involved breading and deep frying wedges of off-label blue box macaroni and cheese.

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