I don't know if to give it a bad review or a good review. It seems to be a movie of middles. Gorgeous scenery, mediocre acting, and beautiful plot lead to a picture that will make you wonder if it 7 years or 27 years. You get to watch as Brad Pitt's character (Heinrich) developes from an uncaring, self centered man, into a compassionate, human that is full of life and wisdom. The emotions of them film seem to run at odds with itself through many parts. I guess, it might be because I just finished reading "A Long Walk" which details the journey of 8 individuals away from the prison camps of Siberia all the way to India. It is one of those stories that you cannot put down.
Seven Years in Tibet is another rich and wonderful story, but I felt that it fell short in when it all came together. Of course this movie may have lost me as I am on cold meds.
Morale of the Review: Skip Seven Years, and go buy or borrow A Long Walk.
Monday, January 31, 2005
Sick
Fraggin' muggin' grumble grumble.
I am sick. So that is part of my no post. It is has been all of my nothing accomplished this weekend. Lots of horrible sleep. You know the kind, sleep two hours, lay awake for an hour. Repeat. Seems like a combo hit of the flu and a sinus infection. We'll see what the doc says. My guess: Take some antibiotics, get lots of fluids and get lots of rest.
Aaron out.
I am sick. So that is part of my no post. It is has been all of my nothing accomplished this weekend. Lots of horrible sleep. You know the kind, sleep two hours, lay awake for an hour. Repeat. Seems like a combo hit of the flu and a sinus infection. We'll see what the doc says. My guess: Take some antibiotics, get lots of fluids and get lots of rest.
Aaron out.
Tuesday, January 18, 2005
Farscape
Ok. I wasn't fortune enough to have cable when the original airing of farscape was on. That being said, I had heard lots of good things about it. Now I was and still am to some degree a trek focus'd individual (however I would like to some heinlein like series out there, with some although they seem to be heading towards that with each new series). So I rented the first two episodes on DVD. One word: hooked. It is an amazing series with great characters, wonderful sets, and some excellent shows. Now mind you I am not saying that all are good, but there is an epic feeling of the undertaking of the crew that I have not seen in Trek and to some degree Bab5. As to firefly, that is on my to watch list post Farscape.
I am currenlty working on season 3 and have enjoyed the vast majority of it. For a while I was getting let down on certain shows, until I realized that it was the ones after major story arcs. Let's call them filler episodes that start the setup of another arc or are sitting ot in space. Once I saw them for what they are, I regained an appreciation for them as well.
As for the characters, Cricton as played by Ben Browder is just an awesome character. Rich, random, and dynamic with color that is needed in more shows. On a side note, before I go to the next, I am always amazed at the ability for a woman on a scifi show to be transformed into the ultimate geekboy fantasy postergirl. Just a side note. Claudia Black plays Aeryn Sun whose character shows much more stability but a also shows a steady growth path that is just a blast to watch grow. Virginia Hey plays Zhaan and adds a steady character with a rumbling volcano inside that helps play against the others so that when they are sane she is out there and vice versa. Anthony Simcoe as D'Argo is another great character who in the first season seems as though a teenager trying to impress and domineer, but in the later episodes, he becomes more of a pillar to the crew. Rygel's character is your classic thief that believes in the his own greatness as a leader and individual. Very wise, yet rarely puts that wisdom to use and is often seen to others as a nuisance, which is played well even though the characters are completely justified from history, but fail to move passed (to date). Later on they add moreo characters and there are other changes, but there is just an amazing chemistry for the characters and that brings life to what could have been a dead show (ala enterprise which does not seem to have any chemistry).
I guess the telling fact of the power of this show is the fact that my wife loves it and laughs out loud. Not a common feat. So watch it and welcome to the Federation Starship SS Buttcrack.
I am currenlty working on season 3 and have enjoyed the vast majority of it. For a while I was getting let down on certain shows, until I realized that it was the ones after major story arcs. Let's call them filler episodes that start the setup of another arc or are sitting ot in space. Once I saw them for what they are, I regained an appreciation for them as well.
As for the characters, Cricton as played by Ben Browder is just an awesome character. Rich, random, and dynamic with color that is needed in more shows. On a side note, before I go to the next, I am always amazed at the ability for a woman on a scifi show to be transformed into the ultimate geekboy fantasy postergirl. Just a side note. Claudia Black plays Aeryn Sun whose character shows much more stability but a also shows a steady growth path that is just a blast to watch grow. Virginia Hey plays Zhaan and adds a steady character with a rumbling volcano inside that helps play against the others so that when they are sane she is out there and vice versa. Anthony Simcoe as D'Argo is another great character who in the first season seems as though a teenager trying to impress and domineer, but in the later episodes, he becomes more of a pillar to the crew. Rygel's character is your classic thief that believes in the his own greatness as a leader and individual. Very wise, yet rarely puts that wisdom to use and is often seen to others as a nuisance, which is played well even though the characters are completely justified from history, but fail to move passed (to date). Later on they add moreo characters and there are other changes, but there is just an amazing chemistry for the characters and that brings life to what could have been a dead show (ala enterprise which does not seem to have any chemistry).
I guess the telling fact of the power of this show is the fact that my wife loves it and laughs out loud. Not a common feat. So watch it and welcome to the Federation Starship SS Buttcrack.
Saturday, January 15, 2005
I have babies
Sorry Princess, but not of the human kind. My Sunshine Peacocks (Aulonocara baenschi) have spawned. Of course that are about 8 mm in length but there is about 20 of them hanging out in their momma's mouth. I would have never seen them except that I was moving the fish to my redone 55 gallon upstairs. I didn't like having them with the mbuna's in the basement so wanted to get them their own tank to induce spawning. In fact I think they may have spawened before but it was unsuccessful (other fish ate the fry I think). So cool. Maybe I will get lucky and catch some on the digital camera.
** Update: I have some pictures.
** Update: I have some pictures.
Thursday, January 13, 2005
Another lovely day in Michigan
Ok. Like all good things, our brief dance with good weather has ended. Although to me it just means a nasty 3 mile drive to work...
Well more on that Weather SOAP thing. I was able to connect to it using Java versus .Net. So that leads me to believe there is some incompatibility with the date objects. Cause everthing else seems pretty darn straight forward. So now that I am able to connect to the SOAP service, I need ot unbind the NOAA DWML. Don't ask. I don't even know what it all stands for. However, this does not get me to where I wanted which was a client on my pc to give me the weather without the stupid ads and sit in the systray.
Oh well. I suppose this evening I can work on the media player 10 plugin that will post to a url, whatever is currently playing, along with some of the vital statistics like time remaining, etc. But I really don't feel like coding tonight. But I should. For the children.
Well more on that Weather SOAP thing. I was able to connect to it using Java versus .Net. So that leads me to believe there is some incompatibility with the date objects. Cause everthing else seems pretty darn straight forward. So now that I am able to connect to the SOAP service, I need ot unbind the NOAA DWML. Don't ask. I don't even know what it all stands for. However, this does not get me to where I wanted which was a client on my pc to give me the weather without the stupid ads and sit in the systray.
Oh well. I suppose this evening I can work on the media player 10 plugin that will post to a url, whatever is currently playing, along with some of the vital statistics like time remaining, etc. But I really don't feel like coding tonight. But I should. For the children.
Wednesday, January 12, 2005
Bowling night
Again another bowling night is upon me. I haven't accomplished much in the recent time. I took down the tree. Last weekend Jim came into town and we jammed out. Also watched the playoffs. Plus it was kinda a birthday celebration.
But we did not record when we jammed although much is already available, there was an adlib portion that bust me up.
But we did not record when we jammed although much is already available, there was an adlib portion that bust me up.
Thursday, January 06, 2005
Ok I am not going crazy
Ok. I thought that I just couldn't grasp such a simple thing as Web Services in C#. I tried all sorts of stuff, so I was just about to give up when I decided to see if anyone else had tried this feet, specifically with the NOAA SOAP service. Turns out someone at Microsoft has tried with the exact same results as me. I still feel like an idiot, but that is just back to a normal level. However, I may grab the PHP version which evidentally works and maybe do a cached rss feed from it. So where is my visual PHP IDE?
Got a new bed and have a dead appliance
For Christmas / Birthdays, my parents got my wife and me a new bed. Queen size. I, of course, think they spent too much but I really appreciate the thought. So tonight was the delivery night. Which also meant that the last 3 nights we have been cleaning up various areas of the house in preparation. Basically moved some couches around in the basement attempting to make room for a twin bed (failure) and then we moved the full bed to the back bedroom. Then lots and lots of cleaning. But it is in.
Now the bad part is our Washer isn't working. I would mention the brand but it doesn't really matter (technically I work for the company that makes it). So I do expect these things. So I started tracking back the date of appliance. We bought it 3 years ago and it was 4 years old at the time. Hmmm 7 years. Seems slightly short.
The main problem comes that would like to purchase a new washer, but that is a significant cost. Of course if the repairs turn out to be too much, then I will forego the repairs, chuck it, and buy the one that my wife wants. Let me tell you, with normal Christmas costs, this additional costs really makes me wish for a nice big raise. Stupid washer.
On a lighter note, I will continue on tonight with my relearning of Visual C# and web services. Specifically I am trying to create a client that will periodically get the forecast for the national weather service and display that information. Maybe automatically post to a site. If I feel like it. I don't know. Just playing. Next I think I will tackle a "light" weight bayes network. Sounds like a mini-party.
Now the bad part is our Washer isn't working. I would mention the brand but it doesn't really matter (technically I work for the company that makes it). So I do expect these things. So I started tracking back the date of appliance. We bought it 3 years ago and it was 4 years old at the time. Hmmm 7 years. Seems slightly short.
The main problem comes that would like to purchase a new washer, but that is a significant cost. Of course if the repairs turn out to be too much, then I will forego the repairs, chuck it, and buy the one that my wife wants. Let me tell you, with normal Christmas costs, this additional costs really makes me wish for a nice big raise. Stupid washer.
On a lighter note, I will continue on tonight with my relearning of Visual C# and web services. Specifically I am trying to create a client that will periodically get the forecast for the national weather service and display that information. Maybe automatically post to a site. If I feel like it. I don't know. Just playing. Next I think I will tackle a "light" weight bayes network. Sounds like a mini-party.
Monday, January 03, 2005
Back from the U.P.
Well we are back from our trip to the U.P. Got to see some family. Got to eat some good food. And got to spend our 5th Christmas with some family. So it was good. So we were up there from the 29th to Jan 2nd.
When the roads are 22 degrees and air is 34 degrees and raining, you can imagine the fun driving that entails. Now I really wasn't in Houghton for very long. Spent most of it out in Bootjack.
Did a little bit of Halo 2 tonight. I really should have been moving stuff, but I wanted to play. Bad me. So now I have to work double time tomorrow night as the new bed will be coming on Thursday night. So lots of large items to move around.
On a more corrective note. The TeamTalk item from Datel doesn't suck as bad. I got it to work from reading other reviews. You reall have to jam the headphone plugs in to get it to work. So it works. Good deal.
When the roads are 22 degrees and air is 34 degrees and raining, you can imagine the fun driving that entails. Now I really wasn't in Houghton for very long. Spent most of it out in Bootjack.
Did a little bit of Halo 2 tonight. I really should have been moving stuff, but I wanted to play. Bad me. So now I have to work double time tomorrow night as the new bed will be coming on Thursday night. So lots of large items to move around.
On a more corrective note. The TeamTalk item from Datel doesn't suck as bad. I got it to work from reading other reviews. You reall have to jam the headphone plugs in to get it to work. So it works. Good deal.
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