Thursday, September 5, 2013

Amour (2012)

IMDB
Amour (2012): Elderly man cares for his invalid wife. What do you do when nothing can be done? Heartbreaking. Oscar-worthy performances. B+













The Master (2012)

IMDB
The Master (2012): Acting A+. Depiction of mentality behind cults B+. Overall, empty and depressing. Characters, scenes don't connect. C+












Wednesday, September 4, 2013

The Butler (2013)

IMDB
The Butler (2013): Civil rights movement seen through prism of White House black butler's family. Works as both history & drama. Moving. A+












OTBR: Gun Emplacements of Wollongong

Latitude: S 34° 29.184
Longitude: E 150° 55.044

A child on a road trip with his family asks, "Where are we?" and the father answers, "Let's check the map. We're off the blue roads [the Interstate Highways marked in blue on the road atlas]. We're off the red roads [the US and state highways]. We're off the black roads [the county highways]. I think we're off the map altogether." It was always my dream to be off the map altogether.

After the jump, a few of the random places (and I mean random literally) that I visited vicariously last month that are "off the blue roads".

Tuesday, September 3, 2013

The Whole World is Watching. Not Any More.

Reminder to self: in 2015, ask Richardson City Council candidates if they pledge to video record all city council meetings. What's that you say? Council meetings are already recorded? That's what I thought. Then, I learned about the three meetings the current city council held (with one more scheduled for September 3) to review and discuss council goals for 2013-2015. No video recording for any of them.

After the jump, why we even have to ask for something everyone thinks we already have.

Monday, September 2, 2013

Repeat Tweets: More than you want to know of Dominican culture

Repeat tweets from August, 2013:

  • 1 Aug 2013: The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, by Junot Díaz: Brief not wondrous. Maybe more than you want to know of Dominican culture. Still... B-
  • 1 Aug 2013: RT @SenTedCruz: "Anti-Assad priest kidnapped by al Qaida jihadis in #Syria. Prayers for Father Paolo." Prayers for the 100,000 killed.
  • 3 Aug 2013: Overheard: "FREE 'No Spanish Village Walmart' yard signs. Use butcher paper to cover them and make a school/Girl Scouts/lemonade sign."
  • 3 Aug 2013: MT @SenTedCruz: "al Qaida still a threat. The more reason to find out what happened at #Benghazi." Why not shut down CIA like IRS? #wacko
  • 4 Aug 2013: Detropia (2012): Scenes from the hollowing out of a great American city, Detroit. No politics, no preaching, no prescriptions, no hope. C+
  • 4 Aug 2013: RT @TomPauken: "Republican candidate yesterday claimed to be a Reaganite." Pauken moves from '60s to '80s. No longer fighting Vietnam War.
  • 4 Aug 2013: MT @SenTedCruz: "Obama told us al Qaida was on the run. Today many US embassies are closed in face of new terror threats." He sounds giddy.

After the jump, more repeat tweets.

Sunday, September 1, 2013

"I'm Out"

Walter White
Source: Breaking Bad.
It's a completely different context, sure, but like Breaking Bad's Walter White, "I'm out." My exit is not as dramatic, but still, there are similarities, except for the crystal meth part and the lying and killing and megalomania, but except for those, it's exactly like Walter White. I'm not going into it. Like I said, "I'm out."