Category: Arts & Entertainment
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On the Air
About two months ago, I did the unthinkable and cancelled my satellite TV service. It was both an attempt to save money as well as a social re-engineering project on myself: I’d gotten so dependent on having live TV that it never even occurred to me I could go without it. It was an essential…
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Rags to Raja
Hang on, we may need a last-minute recount on the best movie of 2008, because I just got back from seeing Slumdog Millionaire. Considering it’s been getting near-universal praise from critics and audiences, I hadn’t heard that much about it. I would’ve passed it by if an internet pal hadn’t recommended I see it in…
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Two Thousand Eight
I realize that year-end “best of” posts only make sense for bloggers who get paid by the post (and just barely even then), but it’s a good way to acknowledge that the year wasn’t all bad, and give a call out out to the stuff that was excellent. Plus, it gives me one more opportunity…
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Literacy 2008: Book 9: More Information Than You Require
Book More Information Than You Require by John Hodgman Synopsis John Hodgman got famous from “The Daily Show” and those Apple ads and also he’s friends with Jonathan Coulton. (Actually: a continuation of his almanac of made-up facts, begun in The Areas of My Expertise). Dismaying Fact Discovered Hodgman is only 24 days older than…
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And Santa Can Be Our Regular Saturday Night Thing
I know it’s been done before, but what can I say, I’m a sucker for tradition. Here’s wishing everybody (including Mr. Swayze himself) the haziest, laziest, Swayziest Christmas of them all. Pain don’t hurt, everyone! Pain don’t hurt us one and all.
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Sack o’ Monkeys in My Pocket
I was wandering around the internet last night and ended up spending at least an hour looking at MST3K clips on YouTube. It really was the best television series ever. There’s the Idiot Control Now song from Pod People: (You can see the bit they’re making fun of as well). And the Fugitive Alien Medley.…
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Lepton of Disappointment
The worst thing about Quantum of Solace is that it has to follow Casino Royale. That’s the capsule review I’ve been hearing in the past few weeks: “It’s not as good as the first one, but still okay.” And that’s a shame, because it’s not a bad movie; in fact, it’s still in the top…
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Forty Years of Banging the Crap Out of Things
Another year means another post from me imploring people to see the San Francisco Taiko Dojo’s Concert in Berkeley in November. This year is the 40th Anniversary Show, so it should be a pretty big deal. I’m especially looking forward to it because I missed last year’s concert in Berkeley as well as the past…
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Literacy 2008: Book 8: The Graveyard Book
Book The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman Synopsis The Jungle Book for goth kids. No, the Real Synopsis After his family is killed, a toddler wanders into the neighboring graveyard. He’s taken in by the residents, raised as one of their own, and taught the ways of the dead. Pros Genius concept, interesting and endearing…
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Sequential Images
I wasn’t aware of The Criterion Contraption blog until the author started commenting on here, and I wish I’d found it years ago. It’s exactly the thing I’ve been looking for. The premise is that the aforementioned author, Matthew Dessem, is watching the movies of The Criterion Collection in order by spine number, and writing…
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And the preamble goes like this
Since I’ve been confronted with my age (thirty-seven) a lot lately, I’ve been wondering: 1) If you’re around my age (thirty-seven), can you recite the Preamble to the US Constitution? If so, can you do it without singing it? 2) If you’re significantly below my age, can you recite the Preamble to the US Constitution?…