markbernstein

This 'n that

Thu, 24 Dec 2009 15:17:16 GMT

I'm feeling chatty this morning, so here's a bunch of general catchup.

I only worked Monday and Tuesday this week, and will be doing the same next week. Sharon's last day for the year was yesterday. And on January 2nd, we take of for our long-planned two week trip to Hawaii. Yay vacation! We gave out Hanukkah gifts at Thanksgiving, as we always do, so we'll have quiet days at home. My plans include reading, watching DVDs (I'm going to rewatch some of the movies from this year - DVDs of Coraline, Star Trek, Up, and District 9 are queued up), planning activities in Hawaii, exercising, going to our usual two New Year's parties, and, eventually, doing laundry and packing. Oh, and I may work on a couple of songs, since Confusion is just a week after we get back.

My one responsibility this week is to get up at dark o'clock this Saturday morning, so I can drive my mother to the airport. She's joining my brother and sister-in-law in Florida for a cruise.

The bad news is that both Allen (my son) and my brother have been laid off. In both cases, it was purely financial. It hurts badly for Allen, who, after four months of being unemployed this year, found a job he loved and was excelling at. He was employed by Goodwill, working on a contract for the State of Michigan, teaching computer skills to the visually impaired. Thanks to budget cuts, the State canceled the contract.

Yesterday I went to the Secretary of State's office to renew my driver's license. They insisted I do it in person because they're now (this is new) asking people for their Social Security numbers. (I asked why, and the clerk said she thought it had something to do with tracking deadbeat dads. I don't like the privacy intrusion, but I do think that's a good goal.) I walked in to the office at 11:15, and took a number. The number was 51. In a bit of mirroring, they were serving 15 at the time. My time there consisted of fifty minutes of waiting, followed by five minutes of getting the license renewed. I was a good day to have a new smartphone and a working 3G connection, so I could spend all the waiting time surfing the web. (I had also gotten lots of sleep, and had a big late breakfast at Zingerman's Roadhouse, so I wasn't the least bit irritable about the wait, which also helped.)

For those who celebrate them, I hope you had/will have a happy Hanukkah, a joyous Solstice, and/or a merry Christmas.

Oddly, this reminds me of my friends

Tue, 22 Dec 2009 13:54:43 GMT

Avatar

Sat, 19 Dec 2009 19:00:15 GMT

James Cameron is, to all outside appearances, an egomaniac and an obsessive. While I don't know that I'd enjoy working for him, I appreciate the results he can get. Avatar, especially when seen in IMAX 3D, is the richest, most immersive science fictional world ever created for the movies. It's well worth seeing just for that. Avatar is guaranteed every award given next year for visual effects.

Egomania does, however, have a downside, the inability to recognize real limitations. Simply put, Cameron isn't a very good writer, and that makes Avatar less successful than it should be as a movie. He's generally an excellent storyteller (though there's at least one destruction-filled passage that seemed to move slowly), but I wish he'd brought in someone with a better sense of dialog and characterization. The cast does excellent work with what they're given (and I hope Zoe Saldana realizes that after Star Trek and this, if she ever shows up at a con she'll be mobbed), but what they're given lacks depth or subtlety. It's also riddled with cliches, ranging from the all-too-familiar construct of "One life ends, another begins" to the ever-popular "I trusted you!" It's not an awful script, but it's not a particularly good one either. "Competent" would be about right, I think.

Still, it's worth the price, and worth it even more to pay the extra for the big screen and the 3D glasses.

Anticipation

Fri, 18 Dec 2009 02:36:13 GMT

After two fairly intensive work days (including working until 7:40 last night), it's ever so nice to have good stuff ahead. I just bought tickets, so tomorrow, Sharon and I are heading to the Showcase for the 6:30 showing of Avatar in IMAX 3D. Saturday is for relaxing, and Sunday we'll be taking my mother into Detroit for a matinee of "Jersey Boys".

My final "So You Think You Can Dance", season 6 comment

Thu, 17 Dec 2009 03:15:53 GMT

I have no big disagreements with the rankings of any of the top four. (I do think Ryan is better than Ashleigh, but that's pretty minor.) Jakob and Ellenore have been favorites of mine for most of the season, but both Kathryn and Russell are wonderful dancers and performers. And Russell's outsized joy and shock were the kind of moment you only get on live TV, and then only rarely.

Yum

Fri, 11 Dec 2009 23:33:33 GMT

Our annual cookie exchange with friends is this Sunday, so I've been busy today. (I had a vacation day I needed to use before the end of the year.) I've made four different kinds of cookies, and I'm happy with how all of them came out. Plus, I'm a whole lot less frustrated and tired than I was last year. I can say with confidence that while spritz cookies don't have shapes that are as interesting as the ones you can make with cutter cookies, they're a whole lot easier to make, and they're more than pretty enough.

The Princess and the Frog

Fri, 11 Dec 2009 23:30:36 GMT

I'm going to steal a turn phrase that both almeda and ladymondegreen have said to me in reference to other creative works.

Ron Clements, John Musker, John Lasseter, and the rest of the creative crew at Disney made The Princess and the Frog just for me. But it's all right, you can watch it too. And you should, oh yes, you should.

Everything has off nights

Thu, 10 Dec 2009 13:14:17 GMT

Quick TV notes:

SYTYCD: I'm guessing Ryan's emotional plea for Ashleigh on Tuesday helped both of them get into the final. (And the appeal of seeing them dancing together didn't hurt.) I've never been a big Ashleigh fan, so I'm a little annoyed to lose Mollee, but so it goes. For me, the competition among Legacy, Ryan, and Russell has been very close, so no complaints there. At this point, I favor Jakob to win it all, but I'd be happy with a win for anyone except Ashleigh.

I watched my recording of Tuesday's season premiere of Better Off Ted, and hope it doesn't mark the start of a downward trend. The dialog was still uber-sharp, and even got me to laugh out loud a couple of times. But one of the main plot lines involved the sitcom cliche of "main character tells a stupid lie, then tells lots of even stupider lies to try to cover it up." Bad move. Let's hope they don't repeat it.

I also recorded Monday's premiere of Men of a Certain Age on TNT. Watched the first five minutes, stopped it, deleted it. Not my taste at all.

SYTYCD, 12/8

Wed, 09 Dec 2009 03:24:24 GMT

Having six dancers in the finale instead of four is new, and a surprise to me. Once again, there were a lot of great routines tonight. This is one gifted group.

I'm very sorry that Ashleigh was injured and didn't get the chance to compete tonight. But I still think she should have been the one to go home last week, and everyone else was wonderful, so she stays at the bottom of my list.

The competition among the women has become tighter than I expected. Ellenore still had a fantastic routine in the contemporary piece with Legacy, but the "alien" hip-hop was the weakest dance of the night, and her solo wasn't the best.

Kathryn, meanwhile, has become the most improved dancer on the show, and Mollee isn't that far behind. For me, Kathryn caught fire for the first time with last week's Broadway routine, and she maintained that higher level with both of her dances with Ryan tonight. Also, she did an amazing solo. Mollee, who's always had strong technique, continues to grow in maturity. I thought there were a couple of slightly awkward moments in her Broadway routine with Jakob, but the rest of it was wonderful, as was all of the Viennese waltz.

My assessment of the men hasn't changed. Jakob is a phenomenon who can dance anything spectacularly. Legacy and Russell, each in is own way, are wonderfully appealing personalities and skilled, athletic dancers, who've succeeded with just about everything that's been thrown at them. I love watching Ryan. He did great work in both routines tonight. But his competition is just too strong. I think he'll be out tomorrow.

Nice tribute

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 15:44:55 GMT

Today (12/8/09) is the 115th anniversary of the birth of Elzie Crisler Segar, the cartoonist who created Popeye. And this is the current logo on Google's home page:

Cool.

Too much stuff

Mon, 07 Dec 2009 21:01:36 GMT

I took advantage of a couple of sales and coupons over the past week to update my wardrobe. Some new shirts, some new pants. To make room, one of my projects this weekend was to go through my closet and weed out anything worn, or frayed, or stained, or just not to my taste any more. I also looked at my coats in the front hall closet.

The result? I've now set aside six coats of varying weights, eleven pair of casual pants (khakis and jeans), nine long sleeved shirts, and five short sleeved shirts to throw out or donate.

The ridiculous part? I've still got more clothes than I need. Yikes.

The most beautiful thing I've seen in a long time

Mon, 07 Dec 2009 20:54:02 GMT

I don't feel true awe all that often these days, but this did it. Today, Virgin Galactic is unveiling Space Ship Two. I watched the video on the Virgin Galactic home page, and found myself thinking "This. Isn't. Fiction."

Oh, for a spare quarter million.

First movie awards - some good stuff

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 15:40:23 GMT

The National Board of Review has announced their 2009 awards. The big winner is Up in the Air, which I do plan to see when it opens around here shortly. But that's not why I'm posting.

I'm pleased by several things. Star Trek, Up, and Where the Wild Things Are all made their list of the ten best films of the year. District 9 and Moon are on the list of ten best independent films. Duncan Jones, who directed Moon, received a Spotlight award for best directorial debut.

Up was, of course, an easy choice for best animated feature. And Wes Anderson received a special achievement award for The Fantastic Mr. Fox.

In those last two paragraphs I've listed seven different movies, all of which I would happily recommend, and all of which have a shot at ending up on my Hugo nominating ballot next year. Cool.

SYTYCD, 12/1

Wed, 02 Dec 2009 03:58:21 GMT

I'm loving this season more and more. There were a bunch of great routines tonight, and some amazingly fruitful new partnerships. I was thinking of Ellenore and Jakob as "The Dream Team" even before Adam used the term, and Russell and Mollee were amazingly good together.

Noelle and Ryan: Their hip-hop routine was the first time I've really seen Noelle as sexy. Both did well in both dances. Ryan continues to impress me - too bad he's competing against Jakob, Legacy, and Russell.

Legacy and Asheigh: The weakest couple of the night, but still good. It's time for Ashleigh to go.

Nathan and Kathryn: Kathryn looked like she'd been dancing on Broadway for years. Nathan did OK, but he should still be the one to leave.

Ellenore and Jakob: Wow. Wow, wow, wow, wow, wow. If either of them is voted out, it'll be a tragedy.

Mollee and Russell: A big surprise. Now I'm wondering if Nathan was holding Mollee back.

Thank you, Randy Newman

Mon, 30 Nov 2009 20:24:13 GMT

Friends, I'm sittin' here with a big ol' smile on my face. Why? Because I just listened to all the songs (the instrumentals will follow the next time I'm in the car) from the soundtrack album to Disney's upcoming The Princess and the Frog. Easily the best Disney score since we lost Howard Ashman. Randy Newman gets New Orleans music. (Jazz, zydeco, and gospel all feature prominently, and getting Terence Blanchard to play trumpet was inspired.) I already wanted to see the movie, but the "Shiny!" level just ratcheted up at least three notches.

Fantastic

Sat, 28 Nov 2009 00:18:16 GMT

I liked the trailers, so I bought my ticket for "The Fantastic Mr. Fox" expecting a good movie. It was better than that. It's not just the outstanding craft of the stop-motion (not computer-generated) animation. It's not just the outstanding voice work of the cast, headed by George Clooney and Meryl Streep. Author Roald Dahl, screenwriter Noah Baumbach, and screenwriter/directory Wes Anderson have created a world in which animals seamlessly mix human and animal characteristics, and a story that holds together beautifully and never stops moving, while still making time for character moments.

When it ended, I had no idea how long it had been (about 90 minutes), because there was never a moment that it lost my attention enough for me to become aware of the time. Highly recommended.

My new favorite group, maybe

Fri, 27 Nov 2009 02:42:02 GMT

I love this kind of thing. A Muppet classic (it becomes recognizable about a minute and a half in) as a frame for great scat singing and general silliness. I know these folks have been at the Ark before, and I'm going to make a point of catching their next concert.

Ladies and gentlemen, the Asylum Street Spankers:

This week's TV notes

Thu, 26 Nov 2009 23:41:31 GMT

SYTYCD: I agree with the cuts. And I have to remember to vote next week - I wasn't happy about Ellenore and Ryan ending up in the bottom three.

Glee drives me a little crazy. So much of it is stuff I find either uninvolving (both pregnancy storylines) or actively annoying (the backstabbing, anything involving Sue) that I start to wonder why I'm watching. Then they do something as utterly magical as the "Imagine" number. How can I give up on a show that's capable of that?

Winding down

Thu, 26 Nov 2009 23:37:24 GMT

It's been a good day. The food (mostly from Zingerman's) was (and will be) great, quality time was spent with family, everyone loved their gifts (we do Hanukkah gifts at Thanksgiving), and we all have good things to be thankful for. Tonight and tomorrow are for relaxing. Ahhhh.

An anniversary (or is it a dual birthday?) worth celebrating

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 14:50:28 GMT

Happy 50th, Rocky and Bullwinkle!

Bad web site! Bad! No cookie!

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 18:18:17 GMT

Every summer, Sharon, my mother, and I travel to Stratford, Ontario for their theater festival. My mother pays to be a Stratford member so that we can order tickets before most people. In the past, that's meant that she calls them at 8 AM on the appointed day, usually having to try several times (lots of busy signals), to place the order with someone who works in the box office.

This year, for the first time, they're offering online ordering, and making it available to each tier of membership at noon on the day before they start taking phone orders. So it became my job to go to the Stratford web site at noon today.

First, I had to figure out how to log in. I tried establishing an online ID. And was told that an account had already been established for my mother's email address. Didn't remember doing that, but OK. So I clicked the "forgot login info" link, entered my mother's membership number, opened a new tab, logged in to the web interface for her email account (luckily, I knew the password), got the info, returned to the Stratford tab, and logged in.

Then I could order the tickets. The interface itself isn't too bad - it was easy to see which seats were taken, and click on the ones I wanted. The problems were that 1) it was incredibly slow (did anyone do a capacity vs. traffic evaluation?) and 2) once I ordered the tickets for one show, I had to go through three additional screens to get to the point where I could specify the next show I wanted.

I finally picked out the seats for all five shows, and went to check out. Entered my mother's AmEx information and clicked the button. Waited a loooong time. Was told they couldn't process it, and would I please check the info and try again? Checked the info. Tried again. No luck. Called my mother, had her read me the credit card number again. It was right. Changed it to my Visa. It went through. Guess they're having a problem processing Amex.

All in all, it took over an hour. I'm happy we got good seats (we're seeing Kiss Me, Kate, Jacques Brel, As You Like It, The Tempest, and For The Pleasure of Seeing Her Again), but I'm feeling decidedly cranky. Time to go get lunch.

SYTYCD top 14

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 15:00:45 GMT

The best and worst thing about this week's So You Think You Can Dance is that there weren't any bad performances. Which makes for a great show, but makes it hard to pick someone to send home. Even Kevin and Karen, the only couple who were seriously criticized by the judges, did well technically and were fun to watch.

It was, though, easy to pick a "best of the night". I don't always vote, but I did last night, for Ellenore and Ryan. I'm with Adam - that was the most moving routine of the season so far.

My overall rankings, many of which are ridiculously close:

Ellenore and Ryan
Kathryn and Legacy
Ashleigh and Jakob
Noelle and Russell
Mollee and Nathan
Channing and Victor
Karen and Kevin

I'm guessing that my bottom two will end up in the bottom three, Karen and Kevin because of all the criticism, Channing and Victor because the routine was hard to connect to emotionally. (Adam is right on this one, too, in that the music contributed to the disconnect.)

If Karen and Kevin are in the bottom three, Kevin is probably gone, though they might choose Nathan instead, given the chance. Not sure which woman will go - maybe Channing.

ETA: Wow, nailed all three of the bottom three couples, and the two dancers who were dropped. That </i>never</i> happens. Victor and Karen are a potentially strong couple, if he can challenge her to raise her technique, and she can help his performance.

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 14:49:42 GMT

OK, Not Invented Here just cemented its place on my must-read list of webcomics. Start with the November 16th strip, and read the two that follow.

TV stuff

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 15:06:27 GMT

Last night's Big Bang Theory was one of the funniest I've seen. All five cast regulars were given material suited to their characters, and ran with it. Kaley Cuoco, in particular, showed some amazing comic chops. And Kunal Nayar's mocking of the American accent was beautiful. (Yes, I had to look up both names.)

Last night's Castle, on the other hand, was weak. Castle's characterization was way off, both in his ineptitude with his daughter and his stupidity in missing the obvious. (For some reason, this past week has been a bad one for mysteries. Both Bones and Monk had reeeeally obvious solutions, though the rest of the Monk episode was good, and it's always a pleasure to see Stephen Fry again.)

I've been thinking about last week's Glee. Overall, it was a great episode. It was About Something (disability), but was relatively non-preachy, and showed that some things about the issue are big and obvious, but others are subtler. The one weak point, as it usually is for me, was Sue. I have trouble believing that anyone can compartmentalize empathy like that, showing true feeling for one small group while otherwise being such a greedy, self-serving, heartless monster. (Part of this, I think, comes from Jane Lynch's limitations as an actress. I've never seen anything to convince me she can show a softer side.) Looking forward, I hope they resolve the two "pregnancy lie" plotlines quickly and set them aside. Both were bad ideas from the start.

Right now, So You Think You Can Dance belongs to the guys. None of the women has broken out as a star yet. My current rankings are Legacy, Jakob, Russell, Kevin, Ryan, Nathan, Victor for the men, and Karen, Ellenore, Noelle, Ashleigh, Kathryn, Mollee, and Channing for the women. We'll see how that changes tonight.

Movies, upcoming

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 22:28:18 GMT

Two quick notes:

The trailer for Avatar is reeeal pretty, especially in HD. Even though the story only looks OK, I want to see it in IMAX.

I had absolutely no interest in seeing 2012, aka "Roland Emmerich destroys a whole lot of stuff - again". But now that I've read this review, I'm thinkin' MSTy party.