That which matters, or not

11/10/2008 – 5:21 pm

My friend Scott, the director of such films as Secret Identity Crisis and Starship Exeter, thinks I should post the new Bond flick as the movie of the week over at PDXMOTW. Does anyone else have an opinion? Should I restart PDXMOTW, or should I just let it fade quietly into that good night?

By Paul | Posted in seeing | Comments (1)

Tour de Spaghetti

11/9/2008 – 8:39 am

Last night, Tim and I decided to walk over to The Old Spaghetti Factory from our home. It seemed like a simple enough task. It's by the river. We're by the river. We can see the blue lights that surround TOSF from the curb. It seemed simple enough.

I think it is only about 500 yards away.

Of course, we decided to walk on the path along the river. After dark.

Turns out, there's not a path any more. They're (go figure) building something, so they've uprooted the entire path along the river between our house and TOSF parking lot.

We didn't know until we were committed to the journey, though, so we kept trudging along. And in case you don't know what it's like next to a river where they're doing sky scraper construction in the rain after dark, let me tell you a bit about it.

I think it would have been easier to track Bigfoot thru the North Cascades in the winter. I only sank up to my shin in mud once, but I definitely learned a bit about how deep puddles can be in several different places.

It was a fun, if a little messy trek. In the end, amazingly enough, we got to TOSF parking lot but were trapped inside a construction fence. How we ended up inside the perimeter is a really good question, but none-the-less, we were on the wrong side of a 6 foot fence at the last possible minute. The fence is not the amazing part, though. The amazing part is that there was a gate, and it wasn't locked.

We opened it up, strode across the threshold and were dining at TOSF in mere minutes. It's an experience I'd recommend to anyone. I recommend the Spaghetti Vesuvius.

By Paul | Posted in knowing, laughing | Comments (0)

I know there's a comment here somewhere

11/8/2008 – 10:58 am

By Paul | Posted in laughing | Comments (3)

Up

11/8/2008 – 10:55 am


Right on the heels of sucky Dreamworks movies, I get an invite to watch this preview.

I'm glad Pixar exists. Even Pixar movies that don't live up to my Pixar-based expectations (Wall•e anyone?) are way better than most other moves.

By Paul | Posted in laughing, waiting | Comments (0)

Move it move it

11/7/2008 – 10:18 pm

I was completely under-impressed by Madagascar 2. Sad, slow, stupid, infantile, dumb, boring.

I keep hoping Dreamworks will bring a movie out that is as good as the stuff from Pixar. But it just hasn't happened yet. Maybe the next one will do the trick.

I did laugh out loud three or four times, and I did smile a few dozen more than that. If you add up all of the fun stuff, I think it would equal about 10 minutes.

Too bad, too. It looked cute. I just wasn't.

By Paul | Posted in seeing | Comments (1)

The DVD Collection

11/6/2008 – 3:25 pm

A few years ago (ok, like 15 years) I got rid of all my jewel cases for my CDs. I started keeping them in sleeves and drawers to save space, and I've never looked back. It was a major step, getting rid of all the plastic boxes and artwork and only hanging onto the music, but it was the right thing to do. Currently I have about 800 CDs and they only take up the space of about 1 drawer in a small file cabinet.

I haven't bought any CDs in a while, it's all iTunes now, but I still have the CDs around - and am getting ready to re-rip them at higher bit rates.

But my DVDs are a different story. I've amassed a few over the years. Nothing like 800, but I do have a bunch. The thing is that I've never been able to part with the jewel boxes and booklets. All that's about to change.

Last night, Tim and I picked up four binders that will hold all my DVDs in the space of 1/2 of a shelf in the bookcase where they've been living for years. In the jewel boxes, they take up 5 shelves in the same bookcase. Seems like a no brainer, I wonder why it took me so long to get here.

Of course, I haven't bought any DVDs in a while either, that's also all iTunes. So the storage thing gets more important until I get them all ripped and saved electronically and don't need the DVDs any more at all.

In the mean time, I've gone thru them all and sorted them. The resulting stacks in the photo are telling, I believe.

Here's how it stacks up: Front Row - "Documentaries", Classic Universal Horror Films (Frankenstein, The Wolf Man, etc); Middle Row - Horror Films, Action Flicks, Kids Movies, Music Videos, 60s and 70s Television, Godzilla; Back Row - Comedies, Gay Themed Movies, Dramas, TV Shows, Things made by Matt Groening (note, it's the tallest stack), & Nickelodeon Cartoons.

By Paul | Posted in laughing, seeing | Comments (2)

ten steps forward, nine steps back

11/5/2008 – 10:23 pm

Today, amid all the celebrating over the choice of America's new president, comes news of bigotry and evil doers working in the name of God once again.

In California, Prop 8 passed, removing the recently granted right to marry from Gay folk. Again, the "Christian" "right" has defended it's marriage rights by saying we can't get married.

Several things come up for me here.

  1. as always, how does their telling me I can't marry the one I love defend their marriage?
  2. if they keep quoting traditional marriage, then why does love enter the equation at all?
  3. why aren't they fighting against divorce if they really want to save marriage?
  4. civil rights issues never come thru the voting, they always come thru the courts
  5. why do these nut jobs who call themselves Christian practice so much hate?
  6. How much good could the "Christians" in California have done with the $35million they spent on ads to protect their marriages from us "evil" Gay people?
  7. How is it that I keep having to defend being Christian to my Gay friends?
  8. at least we've already had a Gay president, so that barrier's been covered

There are at least three legal challenges to the vote yesterday that have already been filed. It's likely that the legal challenges will proceed and the vote will be thrown out. So let's keep our fingers crossed and count our blessings that we don't actually live in California.

By Paul | Posted in waiting | Comments (4)

YES!

11/4/2008 – 8:01 pm

One minute after the polls on the west coast closed, it was decided.

By Paul | Posted in being, doing, dreaming, knowing, laughing, seeing | Comments (4)

Happy Obama Day

11/4/2008 – 8:48 am

I'm hoping that someone responsible wins the presidential election today.

I'm hoping that whoever wins will put an end to the war in Iraq.

I'm hoping that the new president will stop torturing people. Torture is wrong. I pray we will begin respecting the Geneva convention like we did in the past so that America can once again be a member of the world community instead of the bully in the west.

I'm hoping that the Constitution of the United States will be upheld again, and things like Habeas Corpus will be reinstated.

I'm hoping that the US Government will stop wire tapping its own citizens.

I'm hoping that my friends who are struggling to earn enough money to feed their kids will get health care.

I'm hoping that the climate change problem will be addressed from the highest level and the US will ratify the Kyoto Treaty - just like every other country in the world has already done.

I'm hoping that we'll get past the republican vs. the democrats and end up with someone in the White House who will actually rise above politics to do the right things.

I am hoping.

By Paul | Posted in waiting | Comments (2)

No Space Aliens for 100s of Light Years

11/3/2008 – 8:19 am

Stephen Hawking says there are probably not any space aliens for hundreds of lightyears in his TED talk. He says if they were out there, we'd be picking up radio frequency noise like their sit coms and stuff. It's fascinating. at around the 9 minute talk, you get a rare glimpse of how he has to type. Check it out here.

By Paul | Posted in waiting | Comments (0)