Driving with Boys

Trying to get back into the regular blogging habit. So lets start with some recently seen movies:

Kill Bill. Quentin Tarantino serves up a tasty dish of Uma Thurman and lots of blood.

Before Sunrise One of my favorite films. It had been a while since I had seen it. The perfect post-modern romance. I think that the couple in the film discuss more topics in depth in thier one evening together, than many people do in a lifetime.

Riding in Cars with Boys Drew Barrymore does an impressive job of portaying a woman who gets pregnant at 15 up to some time in her late 30's.

Fog of War

Plenty of work at the Nickel this Saturday. Setup and configure those G5's.

Helped out at the Soup Kitchen briefly.

Had Jana and Eric and Kyra, David Miller, Toby Farley over for dinner.

Went to see the movie Fog of War. It is a documentary that is made up of one interview with Robert MacNamara about his life up to his leaving the Johnson administration.

The movie transported me back to 1992, and my decision not to work in Washington, D.C. because I did not want to become a MacNamara.

Smart people, behaving in rational ways, who think deeply about matters from every angle, who struggle to come up with the best solution, using the best data they have, and who constantly reevaluate their options, will still make massive mistakes. And when smart people make mistakes, they make BIG mistakes.

Nowhere in Africa

This month's Cinema at the Avalon film was the German movie Nowhere in Africa. This story of a families relationships set on the back drop of German Jews escaping to British colonial Africa to avoid the Holocaust and the friendships they build with the Africans.

Bob Hope

I have read that President Bush has order that

flags be flow at half staff in honor of Bob Hope. I have searched the internet for information about the etiquette

half staff displays to see if it is appropriate for the a private citizen to recieve this honor.

While I like Bob Hope quite a bit, I am a little skeptical that he deserves this honor. Or if he does, maybe the flag should be flown at half staff for a wider range of times of mourning. Do you recall other people similar to Bob Hope who were given this honor?

Bob Hope

So Bob Hope has died shortly after turning 100. I remember fondly watching his NBC Specials as a child. I also find additional evidence in his varioius films, especially the Road Pictures, that the discovery of Sex pre-dated the Baby Boomers.

It is interesting to read the New York Times Obiturary. As you may know, journalistic organizations keep pre-prepared obits for famous people. Reading the NYT story, I get the feeling that this story was on file for at least 30 years.

Talk to Her

This month's Avalon Movie was Talk to Her. Seldom have I been so surprized by a film. I sat down only knowing the title. I was surprised when it turned out to be a foreign language film and not english. I was surprised when it was a Spanish film and not an Italian. I was constantly surprised by the simple twists and turns and nonlinear story line that while simplicity to follow, I could never guess at the next direction.

Talk to Her is a very sexy, enduring, and morally ambiguous film.

Lord of the Rings

I watched the Lord of the Rings Extended DVD tonight. I was once again very impressed with the movie as a whole, and by the significant new footage that was added.