Endnotes (2/8/10)

In the Philippines, people are getting killed over Sinatra karaoke. Just a warning.

Watching The Mentalist always makes me want tea.

I have to say, my dual goals of watching lots of Oscar-nominated movies and clearing the TiVo in preparation for the Olympics aren't really going well together.

RIP John Murtha

Reasons to Go to the Movies Alone

I have decided to make 2010 the year of going to the movies as often as there are things I want to see. More often than not, this means going alone. And I've decided - contrary to popular opinion, I love this. Here's why:

See what you want, when you want. This is obvious, I guess, but it really can't be overstated. I can't tell you how many movies I missed in the theater during the past year because some friend or other said they wanted to see it with me, and then either our schedules didn't mesh or we just never got it together to make a plan. No more of that.

Get there when you want. I like to get to the movies early. (It's my father's fault.) I understand that some people do not. But it drives me crazy when my movie companions laugh at my suggested arrival time, and then when we actually do get there, the show is sold out or we have to sit in the front row or whatever. If you just got there early, this wouldn't happen. Gah.

No one thinks it's weird if you knit during the movie. Well, okay. People probably do think it's weird. But they're strangers.

Get popcorn, if you want. I usually don't, actually, but once in a while I'm in the mood. But it's always weird to be the one person in the group who wants popcorn. And don't even get me started on sharing popcorn. I can't stand it, for reasons I can't quite figure out.

Stay until the end of the credits. I almost always do. (I think this is my dad's fault, too.) Many people get up as soon as the credits roll, though, and I don't like making them stay if they don't want to.

Fewer distractions. I find it much easier to immerse myself in the world of the movie if I'm surrounded by strangers.

There is one benefit to going to the movies with others: my father is much, much better at shushing loud neighbors than I am.

The Truth about Sherlock

Sherlock Holmes may not have been the most faithful adaptation ever, but I'm not going to lie: Every time I've been to the movies since I saw it, I have for an instant been tempted to forget about whatever I had planned to see and just see that again.

10 Thoughts on the Super Bowl

1) I am not particularly a fan of either team, but I was rooting for the Saints because a) I like underdogs and b) that's who my father said we liked. (I tend to outsource these decisions to my father and/or brother.) So, that ended happily.

2) This is self-evident, I suppose, but football is so much more interesting now that I have some idea what's going on.

3) Of course, the problem with caring about both the football and the commercials is that it makes it hard to figure out when to get up to get a snack.

4) So. THAT was the Tebow ad? Well played, Focus on the Family, well played. You got us all excited about something that didn't even mention abortion. The message was in the pre-ad controversy, not in the ad itself.

4a) To all of you saying how bizarre it is for a college football player to tackle his mother, I ask: Have you spent much time with college football players recently? They do that all the time. In my experience, though, they're usually joking around and don't actually knock their mothers over.

5) The rest of the commercials, though! If they are a reasonable metric of society (and I certainly hope they are not), women are evil and/or worthless and men must assert their masculinity by buying cars. Or, um, pants. Seriously, though, I was shocked by the consistent level of misogyny, and if Twitter is anything to go by, I wasn't the only one.

6) Mark Sanchez's ad about women and heart disease, however, was a lovely exception to the ongoing assumption that only men were watching this broadcast.

7) And Google's ad was adorable. I choose to believe that the fact that they advertised does not mean that they are in any danger from Bing, but was instead done as a public service to give us a break from all the awful ads.

8) Oh! And the Harry Potter thing! I want to go!

9) So yes, The Who are past their prime, but I enjoyed their performance. But then, I like old British rockers. (I was disappointed that they did a weird medley thing instead of whole songs, though.)

10) Drew Brees's son is adorable. And who did the little ones in pigtails belong to? SO CUTE.

There should be another music Oscar.

I started thinking about this when watching Up in the Air, and decided for sure while watch An Education. There needs to be some sort of non-original score award. Best Compiled Soundtrack? Something. It's a totally different act from that of composition, but it takes real talent to find the perfect arrangements of the perfect songs to go along with what's happening in a movie. An Education, especially, was brilliant with this, with everything from the Ravel at the concert to the French music on Jenny's record player to "You've Got Me Wrapped Around Your Little Finger." I walked out of it thinking "Sure, actress, screenplay, whatever, but it should really get an award for that music."

Presidents and Football!

I was noticing that it's the 44th Super Bowl and we have the 44th president, and I figured something could be made of that, but I couldn't quite get there. Luckily, someone else did. Via Andrew Sullivan: America Bowl.

Josh Malina's Haiti PSA

Josh Malina is one of my favorite actors from Sorkinland (Jeremy on Sports Night, Will on West Wing), and he wants you to donate:

Endnotes (2/5/10)

Richard Shelby may be my new least favorite senator.

SyFy is doing a new series of fairy tale inspired Saturday night movies. Will they be awesome or awesomely bad? I'm excited either way.

Speaking of fairy tales, here's a review of Red Riding: 1974. Can't wait for that one.

Neil Patrick Harris as P.T. Barnum? Yes, please.

Pluto is changing color. Maybe it's trying to get our attention so it can become a planet again.

Let's not discuss how many articles mentioning Winter's Bone at Sundance I read before I realized that it's based on a book I really liked. But now I'm a lot more interested in the movie!

Hey, fellow Olympics fans: the Times has a blog about the Games. Aw, the Jamaican bobsled team didn't qualify.

Make sure you read Alyssa Rosenberg on autism in movies.

Interesting search terms of the week

Some interesting that led people here this week:

foyle's peace news I have no new news. Do you?
A Happy Marriage by Rafael Yglesias Read it!
knitted kraken No idea, but now I want one desperately.
final end sizing machine for complete canning kat I have no idea what this means.
opinions about Cotton Stria I haven't used it in a few years, but I remember finding it a little annoying to work with. But I liked the results.
this is wrong It is? What is?
bradley whitford favourite books No idea, but now I'm curious.
sweatshirt with saying of "so many books, so little time" I'm pretty sure mine came from Signals, years ago, but they don't have it anymore. They have this one with the same phrase, though.

And to answer the most common questions people seem to be asking: No, I don't know why Bradley Whitford got divorced. And no, I won't do your Sarah Dessen-related homework for you.

Movie Weekend

I was supposed to be away all weekend, but unfortunately the baby shower I was going to in Pennsylvania has been canceled due to the impending snowpocalypse. I'm sad that I don't get to go, but it strikes me that this is the perfect weekend to devote to seeing as many Oscar-nominated movies as possible. I think I might go to the movies every day this weekend - after work tonight (The Blind Side), Saturday matinee (An Education), and Sunday matinee (Crazy Heart). Because why not, right? I didn't expect to have any of this time free, and it will still cost less than what I had budgeted for the weekend trip. I'm also getting The Hurt Locker from Netflix, and if I get really ambitious, Food, Inc., Paris 36, and Il Divo are on Netflix Watch Instantly.

Piano Update

I ordered a digital piano (and found exactly what I wanted on sale, even!) at the beginning of the week, and UPS says it will arrive today. I am beyond excited. I'll take a picture to properly introduce you as soon as I get it set up. And it will need a name, of course . . . hmmm . . .

Lunchtime Update: UPS still says it is scheduled to arrive today, but while the stand says it is "Out for Delivery," the keyboard itself (different tracking number) does not. Bah.

And here comes Pence.

(Note: This is the first of a new category of posts about the 2012 New Hampshire primaries. I know some of you really don't care about this, but, well, I do. :) For those who don't know - New Hampshire traditionally has the first primaries in the presidential race [after the Iowa caucuses], so we get lots of candidates coming through, and things start, well, now.)

We've already had Gingrich and Pawlenty visit, and . . . I feel like there was someone else I'm now forgetting. Romney supposedly lives here now, so maybe it was him. But next up: Mike Pence! He'll be at the Hillsborough County GOP Lincoln-Reagan Dinner. Want more information or tickets? Try here.

Your Friday Morning Kitten Picture

(Plus bonus shot of my nightgown sleeve and slipper!)

Endnotes (2/4/10)

Note: I wrote most of this earlier today, but I am actually posting it from my phone because I forgot to post before I shut down the computer. I feel accomplished.

The TV listings for the Olympics are up. I will admit that I am worrying a bit about figuring out the best way to TiVo as much as possible without interfering with other things too much. I love the Olympics!

Wait. WAIT. The original "41-59 Majority" Brown headline was tongue-in-cheek, but I'm not convinced that this one from my local paper realizes it's supposed to be a joke.

You know when you start reading a new-to-you author and then find out that they're already dead, and it's all sad? Yeah, that just happened to me with Stieg Larsson.

Want cute? Hipster Puppies.

Sites That Should Improve Their Search Functionality

It's a beautiful day for a listicle:

Amazon
Google Groups
Jenn-Air
LiveJournal
Musician's Friend
Netflix
The New York Times
Twitter
Yahoo! Groups
YouTube

Palindrome, and My Photogenic Father

I finally gave my dad his completed Palindrome scarf last weekend. (On Ravelry) I'd given him half the scarf for Christmas, but you know how it goes. Here he is wearing his new scarf:

Now, this photo looks pretty normal, but take a look at the other pictures I had to take first to get the one decent one:

www.flickr.com Library Kat's Dad Making Faces photoset

Love you, Dad!

Put the kettle on.

Alexander McCall Smith has a lovely piece about the wonders of tea. I loved this line:

"How can you possibly put sugar in your tea?" is a wonderfully superior question to ask of others. That one did the same thing oneself for 20 years or so is beside the point.

And on the subject of switching over to loose tea:

It was not easy; families can be split on the subject of tea bags. My wife and I were adamant that we would not use them, even when we were staying in houses where tea bags were all that was available. We did not openly criticise our hostess's tea arrangements, but we began to travel with supplies of loose-leaf tea in our suitcases, along with a teapot. We also acquired a small heating element that could be put into the teapot to bring the water to the boil before the tea was added. Taking private supplies in this way is a big step, as it constitutes a judgment on your hostess – a judgment of inadequacy in a crucial department.
We always take this equipment to hotels, especially in the United States, where tea-making has never fully recovered from the trauma of the Boston Tea Party.

Oh, just read the whole thing.

Up in the Air

Warning: Spoilers ahead. I'll try to save them for the end of the post so you have time to avert your eyes.

I saw Up in the Air a few weeks ago, but just realized I never posted about it. I haven't seen any of the other Best Picture nominees yet (working on it!), but I certainly wouldn't be disappointed if this won. The script was witty but not overwritten - and made me want to read the book - and the movie was beautifully done, all around. I thought they did an extremely good job of showing how similar all the airports and cities seemed to Ryan without actually making it boring and repetitive to the viewers. I'm one of those people who loves airports and planes, so this movie actually left me with the overwhelming urge to travel, which I realize is not quite the point. But still.

Confession: Before this movie, I'm not sure I could have picked George Clooney out of a lineup. (Rosemary Clooney? Sure!) I know, I know. I just looked at IMDb and the other thing of his I've seen is his guest spot on Friends. Yes, this seems ridiculous to me, too, and I clearly have some catching up to do. But anyway, I thought he did a very good job, and it made me want to watch more of his movies. He made the character work in all his isolation and prickliness but seem likeable at the same time, which is quite something.

Vera Farmiga was fine as Alex, but among the women, I thought the standout was clearly Anna Kendrick as Natalie. I think her Jessica (with shades of Cordelia Chase, no?) is one of the highlights of the Twilight movies, and I'm excited that she seems to be taking her career in this classy, adult direction. And I had to repress a squee when I saw Chris Lowell's name in the opening credits. I've loved him since Veronica Mars and I think he does some really good work on Private Practice, even though that show as a whole tends to be something of a mess. He did a fine if small job here as Ryan's assistant, although I hope he gets to play a part that doesn't involve answering phones soon. (He's the receptionist/midwife on PP. Yes, I know. I told you it's a mess.)

And now, a few words about the ending. A few friends had warned me before I saw the movie that the ending was disappointing and/or would anger me. It didn't. At all. (Now that I think about it, I wonder if some of the people who said that know of my "happy endings only" rule for fan fiction. I guess I look for very different things in different forms of media. That might warrant its own post.) Anyway, I went into the movie expecting a drama, rather than a romantic comedy, so the ending didn't surprise me. And my dad had recommended the movie, and he's rather known for liking depressing things. (He says he was surprised by the ending, though.) I assumed from the beginning that Alex wasn't exactly what she appeared, and as soon as Ryan got on the plane for Chicago, I figured that either she was married or she had made up a fake identity/given him a fake address.

I liked the ending better this way than I would have if it had been a typical You've Got Mail style sudden revelation and ecstatic declaration of love. (Not that I don't love You've Got Mail, but I don't want everything to be like that.) Ryan developed a lot internally over the course of the movie, but that doesn't magically change anything. He made a small step in writing the recommendation for Anna. But I found it refreshingly honest that he couldn't actually change his life that much, at least not all at once. Even if you have revelations, change your own priorities, decide you want to be someone else, it doesn't mean that the past is erased or that you no longer have to live with the consequences of all of the previous decisions you've made. This ending made Up in the Air both truer and more poignant. (And I wouldn't be surprised if the less-happy ending helped it get its Oscar nominations.)

Demon Sheep!

This may be the weirdest political ad I've ever seen:

Would any of my conservative Californian readers like to weigh in?

Endnotes (2/3/10)

Bradley Whitford on a stripper pole.

Zachary Quinto as George Gershwin? Yes, please!

Beach House on tour. Anyone want to go to the CT or MA show with me?

Whoo! Chris Lehmann has a book deal!

A feminist case for Taylor Swift. (h/t Matt Yglesias)

A Case for the iPad

First, two caveats: 1) I have not seen an iPad in person and have no inside information. The following is all based off the Apple site and news reports. 2) I work for a company that sells Apple products and may sell the iPad. But I'm not in sales. And while I want people to buy things from us in a theoretical sense, so we stay in business and I keep my job, I get nothing out of people buying this product as opposed to the hundreds of thousands of others we sell. So. Proceed at your own risk!

Farhad Manjoo, Slate's great tech writer, says the iPad is the computer he's always wanted. He says:

For more than a year, I've been looking for the perfect second computer. I wanted a flat, portable, easy-to-use machine that I could use for e-mail and reading the Web. The iPad is that device. Jobs described it as the perfect hybrid of a laptop and a phone, and I agree. Everything about it - its size, shape, weight, and fantastically intuitive user interface - feels just right.

That's pretty much how I'm feeling too. I actually bought a second computer last year - a netbook - and I like it but tend to get frustrated when I'm trying to do anything but word processing or maybe checking e-mail. It's basically just not fast enough, and the iPad looks like it will take care of this issue.

I think I mentioned this in a previous post, but the one single aspect of the iPad that most makes me want to get one is the $30/month unlimited data plan. I've been wanting something like that for my laptop for years, but those plans all seem to be at least $60/month. I'm not willing to pay $60, but I'm willing to pay $30 - a dollar a day - for virtually constant Internet access.

A question from the comments: A friend tweeted that you can't browse the web and listen to music at the same time - this is true? Is it a priority for you? What about no Flash or video (or still) camera capabilities?

I haven't found anything that specifically states that you can't browse the web and listen to music. (If anyone has a citation, please let me know.) I'm assuming that this is an extrapolation from the fact that the iPad does not multitask, in general. But it uses the same operating system as the iPod Touch (which I have), and on the Touch, you can listen to music while running any other one application. (Except maybe applications that include their own sound. I'm not sure I've tried that.) Until Apple states otherwise, I'm operating under the impression that the iPad works the same way. If it didn't - hmm. That would be something to think about, but I'm not sure whether it would be a dealbreaker, for me personally.

I don't really care that there's no camera. It seems like it would be really large and awkward to use as a camera anyway. The Flash issue is more problematic, but I'm assuming/hoping that most video providers will come up with their own apps so it won't matter that there's no Flash. See below for more on what particular apps I want.

Rachel asks: But, ok, what is this thing good for, anyway? Is it like a laptop? Is it a Kindle? Does it work as a phone? A camera? I am curious and out of the loop. Please provide examples of what a person would do with this thingamabob. ;)

Short answer: Not a phone or a camera, but it could be anything else you listed.

Long answer: Here are some examples of situations in which I feel it would be useful. I am trying to restrict this to things that are actually applicable to my own life.

At Work: I currently listen to podcasts and music from my iPod all day at work, so the iPad would take over this function, and also allow for streaming music or radio stations. It would also be convenient for checking personal Web stuff during breaks.

Conferences: (Subset of Work.) I feel like this will be perfect for conferences, making it easy to take notes or look things up during sessions and to check e-mail and whatever else during breaks without worrying about power outlets and wireless access. The GPS and maps features would also help with finding food near the convention center, etc.

At Home: I sit in front of a computer all day at work, and when I get home, even if I'm primarily reading or knitting or watching TV, I end up basically sitting in front of a computer again, so I can keep up with Twitter, approve blog comments, look things up, etc. I realize that this is a lifestyle choice I've made, and I'm not complaining, but it would be a lot more comfortable to curl up on the couch with the iPad next to me or on the coffee table. And, counterintuitively, the fact that the iPad doesn't have start up or shut down times means I might actually spend less time online in the evenings than I do currently. My laptop takes a while to get going, so I just turn it on when I get home and turn it off when I go to bed, and since it's there and on, I can get sucked into spending more time on it than I'd like. Perhaps the iPad would help avoid this.

Some specific home applications: I'm thinking this will be great to prop up in the kitchen while cooking from an online recipe, to avoid having to lug the laptop into the kitchen (and cut down on crumbs in the keyboard!). Similarly: prop it up on the coffee table while knitting from an online pattern. Bring it upstairs if you want to read some online articles in bed (or be able to check the news if you wake up in the middle of the night. Not that I ever do that.).

Outside: I take my laptop outside occasionally, but both the long battery run time and the unlimited data plan will make this sort of thing work much better with the iPad.

Travel: The iPad seems perfect for traveling, and if I travelled more (I wish!) I wouldn't hesitate at all before buying one. There's a GPS. It's perfect for killing time while waiting around and much more comfortable than a laptop to use on a plane or train. The long battery life helps too. The data plan means you can easily look things up from the road. And no more worries about finding hotels that offer wireless access.

Social Situations: Yes, I'm one of those people who often wishes she could pull out her laptop to look something up at a party. I know, I know, I'm causing the downfall of civilization. It's not like I would whip the thing out at a funeral, but you know those times when you're sitting with your lunch buddies or your knitting group and you're all trying to figure out what the name of that actor in that movie was, or arguing over the official languages of Switzerland? The iPad would solve those issues nicely. Last summer, I was at a family picnic and people wanted to know how the baseball game was going. They were extremely impressed by the play-by-play I could get on my phone. Imagine how much more they'd like the MLB.com app!

Now, a word on ebooks: The ebook reader is one thing being hyped about the iPad, but I'm not entirely convinced about ebooks in general. I'm certainly not ready to switch over. But I do think it could be useful to have a few books on the iPad as a "just in case I get stuck somewhere with nothing to read" measure. (I do this with my iPod, but that screen is teeny.) I think I'm willing to start integrating ebooks into my reading routine.

Some people have said that the iPad is too large for them to carry around as a matter of course. I'm not worried about this. I very rarely carry purses so small that it wouldn't fit, and it would replace four things I usually carry: iPod, paper planner, paper notebook, and "emergency" paperback. The screen size is a lot larger than that of my phone or iPod, which is good - there are plenty of things that my phone can do, but I often don't have the patience to scroll for 500 years to get to the part of a Web site I need to use, for example. The bigger size of the iPad will make browsing much more convenient.

As you can probably tell, I'm leaning toward getting one. But I'll want to verify that it supports at least most of the following sites/services before I commit:

Gmail (check!)
GChat
YouTube (check!)
Google Docs
Google Reader
Hulu
Netflix Instant Watching
Brizzly or another Twitter client I like

Basically, I want the Internet to be in my brain (Anderson's Feed notwithstanding), and the iPad takes us a big step closer to that point.

Colbert vs. Harold Ford

Classic.

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Harold Ford Jr.
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor Economy

Aside from all the obvious issues that have already been discussed with this candidacy...

1. If you're going to use NC-17 movies as part of your argument for parental notification for abortion, you might want to actually learn the term "NC-17" and not call them "NR-17."
2. Oh, this is where the hubbub about Ford referring to Gillibrand as a "young lady" came from. (Well, unless he did it somewhere else too.) That did just come across as ridiculous, and I checked and she is in fact older than he is.
3. He walked right into Colbert's bit about not liking the President. I guess that could go well or poorly for him, depending.
4. He hasn't voted in New York? Really? That just seems dumb. He had to know he'd get that question, probably many times. Find some election and vote in it! Is he registered in NYC? Didn't they just have a mayoral election? Does anyone know whether he took a public stand for or against Bloomberg?

Cowboys! Aliens! Coming to a theater near you!

I somehow either had entirely missed the fact that Cowboys & Aliens is going to be a movie, or not realized that it's THAT Cowboys & Aliens - the one for which my college friend Alana Joli Abbott was writing. (She's mentioned at the very end of the first article I linked there.) It's the sort of thing I would probably see anyway - sci-fi plus nineteenth century America? Sign me up! But now that I realize the connection, I'm very excited.

But February made me shiver

It's the anniversary of The Day the Music Died. Take a listen:

And those who were lost:

Endnotes (2/2/10)

Unlike everyone else on Twitter, I am not watching Lost. Just for the record.

The nerdiest Superbowl bet ever?

I've never read Louis Auchincloss, but this obituary makes me want to.

Jenny Sanford says Mark took the "fidelity clause" out of their marriage vows. Um. Big red flag, no?

Via Alyssa, an interesting set of rare photos of famous people.

Why isn't Avatar considered an animated film?

Poor Kermit!

I heard the Lady and the Tramp song on a commercial, so I glanced up at the TV and saw Taye Diggs. And then Miss Piggy. By that point I was thoroughly confused. I eventually figured out it was this:

It's cute, and I certainly can't blame Miss Piggy for finding Taye Diggs dreamy. Don't we all? But what about poor Kermit? Aww.

Oscar Nominations

The nominations are here. I'll have more on my thoughts for particular categories later, but first, I want to try to see as many as I can. I'm not sure what's still in the theaters... okay, let's see. (In the lists below, except for the first one, the movies are in approximate priority order, based on the number of nominations, category of nominations, and how interesting the specific movie sounds.)

I have seen these:

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Julie and Julia
Sherlock Holmes
Star Trek
Up in the Air

These are already out on DVD or Netflix Instant Watching, or will be out before the ceremony:

The Hurt Locker
Bright Star
Coraline
In the Loop
Up
A Matter of Loaf and Death
Inglourious Basterds
District 9
Food, Inc.
A Serious Man
Paris 36
Il Divo
Coco Before Chanel
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
The Cove

These are either scheduled to be released after March 7 or don't have DVD release dates on Netflix. Some might still be in theaters. (Okay, this list got crazy long so I'm only including the ones that seem to have a chance of appearing somewhere nearby.)

An Education
The Last Station
A Single Man
Invictus
The Most Dangerous Man in America
The Princess and the Frog
Nine
Crazy Heart
The Secret of Kells
The White Ribbon
El Secreto de Sus Ojos
Fantastic Mr. Fox
Which Way Home
Un Prophete
The Messenger
The Milk of Sorrow
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus

Definitely in theaters:

The Young Victoria
The Blind Side
Precious
Avatar
The Lovely Bones

I don't get Groundhog Day.

So. The groundhog saw his shadow, six more weeks of winter, blah blah blah. But the whole thing seems pretty problematic, and yes, I realize I am completely overthinking this, but IT BOTHERS ME. Okay. Here are my questions:

1. How do you know what a groundhog sees or doesn't see in the first place?
2. Are there ever NOT six more weeks of winter? Winter doesn't end in February. That's just ridiculous.
3. For that matter, are there ever ONLY six more weeks of winter? Up here, at least, it's more like three more months of winter.
4. So maybe it's just supposed to be a local thing. But does winter ever end in February in Pennsylvania? Really?
5. Good Morning America just said something about other groundhogs in other places. So their results are local to their places? Otherwise, wouldn't they conflict sometimes?

I know this is just a ridiculous tradition, but apparently it's so ridiculous that it's bothering me.

Happy Primary Season!

Today is the day of the Illinois primaries, so the 2010 election season has officially begun. Wondering when your state's primary is? Check here.