I wonder somedays at what point in ones life do they begin to learn from their mistakes? I thought by now there would be certain things that I would of simply picked up on, figured out not to do again, and again, and again...Perfect example, tequila. Really never a good idea at 2 AM but have I figured this out yet? Nope. Maybe once I crest the golden age of 30 that lesson will stick past 1:30 AM. Another life lesson that I seem to be groundhog daying? Men. There are certain habits, which I will not go into on this page for personal embarrassment reasons, that I continue to repeat over and over with nothing ever learned. To be honest, it's starting to get a bit old. Now, if I manage to learn the tequila lesson, then maybe these other bad habits will fade away, but until then I am doomed to continue repeating the same dumb mating/dating moves apparently regardless of geographic location. Next time. Next time I will figure this out.
On to happier news, though still on the "I will never learn" front. I managed to find myself another book fair this past weekend. The Newberry library has an annual sale that I found myself immersed in Saturday morning. $18.50 and 19 books later I was on my way home. And by the way, 20 books (I had one in my bag to begin with) is no light affair. I have now run out of room in the existing set up of my library with this purchase so am trying to find a way to rearrange the over 350 books that live with me. Which means that the floor of my living room is covered in piles and stacks of books. I'm hoping by Friday to have them reshelved...we'll have to wait and see on that one.
Monday, July 28, 2008
Friday, July 25, 2008
Shall we play a game?
25 years ago a brilliant movie was released. I watched this movie countless times as a kid - on TV, on beta max, on VHS. Yesterday that brought that movie back for one night to the big screen all over the country. That movie was War Games. If you are not familiar with this film than I highly recommend you go out and rent it - trust me, it's the best 114 minutes you will spend this weekend.
The basic idea of the movie is that a high school kid hacks into the back end of a military computer and starts a worldwide nuclear war, though he thinks he's just playing a game. This was before personal computers were common place in the American household. There were no laptops in every coffee shop, no such thing as the internet. It was the forefront of what was soon to be possible. It was also released at a time when the threat of an all out nuclear war was something that still hung in the minds of most individuals as one of the scariest things imaginable (not to say that this is not something that is still pretty freaking scary today).
My family loved this movie. So yesterday my mom drove to Harvard, IL and took a Metra into the city. My brother jumped on the Metro in DC and headed out to Virginia (he originally wanted to go to NY but by the time he got in touch with his friend, they were sold out). And even though we were separated by time zones and many miles we all settled into watch this long time favorite on the big screen together.
It aired at 7:30 p.m. regardless of where you were so my brother actually got a jump start on the viewing pleasure. Here in Chicago we got to the theater probably about the time he was starting (so basically ridiculously early) and settled into wait. The show began with nice never before seen interviews and history of the film, a really crappy preview for the sequel they are making and eventually the originally story began. The audience was pretty decent, some loud laughter at moments, especially during the old technology scenes, but overall not too chatty. Then two thirds of the way through it happened.
The scene is at night and the two kids have decided not to give up hope and are trying to find a way back to the mainland (watch the movie and this will all make sense), when the screen goes dark. Yup. Dark. Movie stopped, no idea what has happened. The whole audience audibly groans. People start to get fidgety and complain. Then we all burst out laughing. Because there in the corner of the screen, faint and almost ghost like is the image of a "start" button from a computer screen. That's right. A start menu button. In the middle of the movie about a computer who learns and takes over military nuclear warheads. It was great. Almost as good was when I pulled out my phone to see what time it was and saw I had a text message from my brother. It read - "Hope ur movie went ok. Ours crashed towards the end. Computer problem. The irony is great."
Halfway across the country the movie crashed in the same damn place. He was right, and the irony was just getting better. Our film eventually started back up and we got to go to the glorious end. Turns out they never got the east coast up and running again - guess being an hour behind isn't such a bad thing some days.
The basic idea of the movie is that a high school kid hacks into the back end of a military computer and starts a worldwide nuclear war, though he thinks he's just playing a game. This was before personal computers were common place in the American household. There were no laptops in every coffee shop, no such thing as the internet. It was the forefront of what was soon to be possible. It was also released at a time when the threat of an all out nuclear war was something that still hung in the minds of most individuals as one of the scariest things imaginable (not to say that this is not something that is still pretty freaking scary today).
My family loved this movie. So yesterday my mom drove to Harvard, IL and took a Metra into the city. My brother jumped on the Metro in DC and headed out to Virginia (he originally wanted to go to NY but by the time he got in touch with his friend, they were sold out). And even though we were separated by time zones and many miles we all settled into watch this long time favorite on the big screen together.
It aired at 7:30 p.m. regardless of where you were so my brother actually got a jump start on the viewing pleasure. Here in Chicago we got to the theater probably about the time he was starting (so basically ridiculously early) and settled into wait. The show began with nice never before seen interviews and history of the film, a really crappy preview for the sequel they are making and eventually the originally story began. The audience was pretty decent, some loud laughter at moments, especially during the old technology scenes, but overall not too chatty. Then two thirds of the way through it happened.
The scene is at night and the two kids have decided not to give up hope and are trying to find a way back to the mainland (watch the movie and this will all make sense), when the screen goes dark. Yup. Dark. Movie stopped, no idea what has happened. The whole audience audibly groans. People start to get fidgety and complain. Then we all burst out laughing. Because there in the corner of the screen, faint and almost ghost like is the image of a "start" button from a computer screen. That's right. A start menu button. In the middle of the movie about a computer who learns and takes over military nuclear warheads. It was great. Almost as good was when I pulled out my phone to see what time it was and saw I had a text message from my brother. It read - "Hope ur movie went ok. Ours crashed towards the end. Computer problem. The irony is great."
Halfway across the country the movie crashed in the same damn place. He was right, and the irony was just getting better. Our film eventually started back up and we got to go to the glorious end. Turns out they never got the east coast up and running again - guess being an hour behind isn't such a bad thing some days.
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
3...2....1....
This week (and last) are really really busy so I don't have much time for a full fledged update or rant. So far this summer I've seen Feist at Ravinia, Public Enemy at Pitchfork, Hulk and Hancock. I'm going to War Games tomorrow and hopefully will get to see the newest Batman sometime soon. Also coming up is a trip to a horse race track (first time for me!), my birthday with possible festivities, and a visit from my brother as he swings his way around the country before jettisoning off to a tropical island to live and play.
But today I saw something I just had to share. The newest gadgetry found at Staples. DVD's that will self destruct in 48 hours. Okay, so maybe they don't actually blow up (my coworker wouldn't let me use the company credit card to find out) - but how else would this work? I could read the webpage, but that's no fun. Instead I like to believe that after two days of activation they have a James Bondian demise.
But today I saw something I just had to share. The newest gadgetry found at Staples. DVD's that will self destruct in 48 hours. Okay, so maybe they don't actually blow up (my coworker wouldn't let me use the company credit card to find out) - but how else would this work? I could read the webpage, but that's no fun. Instead I like to believe that after two days of activation they have a James Bondian demise.
Friday, July 18, 2008
Oh Doogie, you've come so far
Everyone needs to go to this website and watch this amazing 3 act web show. The final act comes out tomorrow and I think is only free till the 20th. Trust me, your life will be better for it.
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Monday, July 7, 2008
All it takes is 30 seconds
Sorry for the delay in posting - I have been off the grid on vacation, which while wonderful was a bit exhausting and I'm glad to be back. This is another one of those "something's bugging me" posts, but I promise it will not be nearly as gross as the milk post.
Lately I have seen this ad on TV for some random Pizza Hut special. The premise is that they have some $5 deal all the time, no "blackout" dates, no restrictions. Fine. I have no problem with this. However on closer inspection of the actors hired to play out their 30 second drama I begin to get more and more annoyed each time it airs.
It is set in an office boardroom. The "geek" guy is at the whiteboard showing off his year long calendar that he has created with all the nearby pizza specials and their availability marked off. Those with blacked out boxes (and there are quite a few) indicate a day with no special. Then "hot/young" guy stands up, rips off the painstakingly created cover sheet with the blacked out boxes to reveal a clear calendar and says something about how they could just order the great and wonderful Pizza Hut special and never have to deal with restrictions. Moral of the story? Geek guy gets shut down and hot/young guy saves the day.
As someone who more often than not finds herself in the geek category, and to be honest is pretty damn okay with that, especially when I know how to format my own excel sheets, I'm getting pretty tired of television showing me that I am not in the "winner" category. It's not blatant (usually), and it's not all the time, but it's these little 30 second spots along with all the dishwashing and laundry ads that continually reinforce the male ineptitude for washing anything, that sometimes makes me look long and hard in the mirror at who I am. Nine times out of ten, I'm happy with what looks back, but I worry about the other girls out there who may be looking in their own mirrors late at night and aren't hitting as high a percent of satisfaction.
Lately I have seen this ad on TV for some random Pizza Hut special. The premise is that they have some $5 deal all the time, no "blackout" dates, no restrictions. Fine. I have no problem with this. However on closer inspection of the actors hired to play out their 30 second drama I begin to get more and more annoyed each time it airs.
It is set in an office boardroom. The "geek" guy is at the whiteboard showing off his year long calendar that he has created with all the nearby pizza specials and their availability marked off. Those with blacked out boxes (and there are quite a few) indicate a day with no special. Then "hot/young" guy stands up, rips off the painstakingly created cover sheet with the blacked out boxes to reveal a clear calendar and says something about how they could just order the great and wonderful Pizza Hut special and never have to deal with restrictions. Moral of the story? Geek guy gets shut down and hot/young guy saves the day.
As someone who more often than not finds herself in the geek category, and to be honest is pretty damn okay with that, especially when I know how to format my own excel sheets, I'm getting pretty tired of television showing me that I am not in the "winner" category. It's not blatant (usually), and it's not all the time, but it's these little 30 second spots along with all the dishwashing and laundry ads that continually reinforce the male ineptitude for washing anything, that sometimes makes me look long and hard in the mirror at who I am. Nine times out of ten, I'm happy with what looks back, but I worry about the other girls out there who may be looking in their own mirrors late at night and aren't hitting as high a percent of satisfaction.
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