April 30, 2012
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April 28, 2012
VIDEO: MOVIE: REVIEW: Limitless (2011)
WOW. This is the best of the 25 movies we’ve watched so far this year. 5/5 stars, 9/10 from both of us.
Native ratings: Netflix 4.0/5 stars (guessed 4.5 for us), IMDB 7.3/10.
Think of it as a trippy, drug-fueled Flowers For Algernan.
Just wow. This movie deserves a full-on review, but after writing hundreds of those I’m getting lazier about it.
Let’s just say… It warrants watching. The execution of the story is so awesome, both plot-wise and visually.
Yea, there are some improbable moments you could get hung up on, if you don’t know how to have a good time. But we do, and thought it was fucking awesome.
COMICS: The 8 Most Awkward Sexual Moments in Comic Book History | Cracked.com
Ha! I read about the Emma Frost / Cyclops / Jean Grey thing in wikipedia recently and was like “jesus fucking christ”.. but Batman/Superman crying after watching tentacle sex, Green Lantern sleeping with a 13 year old, Wolverine trying to sleep with a 15 year old Mary Jane, and Nightcrawler knowingly banging his sister despite being Catholic? Wowie…
Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.
April 28, 2012
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April 28, 2012
I used to think, as a kid, freckles were ugly & unattractive.
But then I grew to realize they make one’s natural sexy 3-D real–world (non-JPG) curvature much more appreciable — and also at a greater distance.
Thus, they literally physically emanate sexiness in all directions.
[I also think the curves explanation might explain fishnet stockings…. Though I think fishnets translate to photography/2-D better, because they are orderly enough {when compared to freckles} to infer 3-D information from more easily than the psuedo-random pattern of freckles.] (more…)
April 27, 2012
VIDEO: MOVIE: REVIEW: Limitless (2011)
WOW. This is the best of the 25 movies we’ve watched so far this year. 5/5 stars, 9/10 from both of us.
Native ratings: Netflix 4.0/5 stars (guessed 4.5 for us), IMDB 7.3/10.
Think of it as a trippy, drug-fueled Flowers For Algernan.
Just wow. This movie deserves a full-on review, but after writing hundreds of those I’m getting lazier about it.
Let’s just say… It warrants watching. The execution of the story is so awesome, both plot-wise and visually.
Yea, there are some improbable moments you could get hung up on, if you don’t know how to have a good time. But we do, and thought it was fucking awesome.
LINK URL: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1219289
April 27, 2012
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April 26, 2012
COMICS: The 8 Most Awkward Sexual Moments in Comic Book History | Cracked.com
Ha! I read about the Emma Frost / Cyclops / Jean Grey thing in wikipedia recently and was like “jesus fucking christ”.. but Batman/Superman crying after watching tentacle sex, Green Lantern sleeping with a 13 year old, Wolverine trying to sleep with a 15 year old Mary Jane, and Nightcrawler knowingly banging his sister despite being Catholic? Wowie…
LINK URL: http://www.cracked.com/article_18957_the-8-most-awkward-sexual-moments-in-comic-book-history.html
April 24, 2012
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April 23, 2012
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April 23, 2012
[IMDB link] [Netflix link] I was never intersted in this movie, but then I had an opportunity to borrow a bluray of it…
UNCOMFORTABLE PLOT SUMMARY (inspired by this): [highlight for spoilers]→ Subservient corporate whores whore it out for their jobs.
PEOPLE: From the director of Miss Congeniality and Grumpy Old Men.
Starring Kate Hudson (from 200 Cigarettes… Who, in this movie, I thought looked exactly like a combination of Drew Barrymore and Wynona Rider… But Carolyn didn’t agree, and thought she had a splash of Anna Faris in her as well) as the girl, Matthew McConaughey (Tropic Thunder, Dazed And Confused) as the guy.
With Kathryn Hahn (Step Brothers, Anchorman, Crossing Jordan, and she WOULD have been Edina in the new Absolutely Fabulous remake “Ab Fab”, if Fox hadn’t canceled its development. Stupid Fox), Adam Goldberg (A Beautiful Mind, Dazed And Confused, The Salton Sea), Thomas Lennon (The State, 17 Again, I Love You Man, Hancock), Bebe Neuwirth (Lillith from Cheers & Frasier).
QUIRKS: Chick flick.
Based on a book… like practically every movie, it seems.
Bonus points for making a Krull reference.
Basically, this is a movie where 2 people engage in a romantic relationship with each other for work-related reasons. She is trying to make him dump her within 10 days, and he is trying to keep her for 10 days. This basically makes the male the victim at first — because he has to put up with shit no normal male would. But ultimately, the female is set up to become the ultimate victim, as his actions make him appear tolerant and understanding, which make him lovable, while her actions make her appear psycho and clingy, which makes her not lovable.
Also: Worst penis name ever.
MORALS: Don’t get into relationships for work-related reasons. Goddamn.
BAD STUFF: Well, it’s a chick flick. But it has plenty of sexism against both sexes, and I think it is pretty damning to the way both men and women stereotypically act.
The ending is pretty predictable. But how do you expect a romantic comedy chick flick to end? There’s no betrayal of expectations here :)
CONCLUSION: This is pretty good for a romantic comedy, due to the unique setup of relationship dynamics that don’t ever happen in real life. This was better than I expected. I’d been avoiding it based on “romantic comedy chick flick”. It wasn’t nearly as bad as I thought; I actually enjoyed it and laughed a lot.
RATINGS:
Clint: Netflix: 3/5 stars. IMDB: 7/10.
Carolyn: Netflix: 3/5 stars. IMDB: 7/10.
The native public rating for this movie is: IMDB: 6.2/10, Netflix: 3.7/5 stars (Netflix‘s predicted rating for us was 2.8/5 stars — quite lower than average).
RECOMMENDATION: Perhaps you shouldn’t avoid this after all?
SIMILAR MOVIES: This reminded me of The Proposal, where Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds both engage in a relationship with each other for work-related purposes.
And oh… There’s a sequel coming! How To Lose It All in 2010. [Well, by the time this review posts, 2010 will be long over, so go out and rent that or something. :)]
Don’t worry, it’s based on the book sequel. Not something that Hollywood pulled out of its ass. Of course, so was THIS movie, and a lot of people hate it :)
MOVIE QUOTE: Andie: True or False: All’s fair in love and war.
Ben: True.
Andie: Great answer.
Ben: Good question!
FRIENDS’ RATINGS: Tatiana loved it. Eric M really liked it. Christian liked it. Parthena & Rebekah didn’t like it. Benj wasn’t interested in it (too straight); nor was Susan. (more…)
April 22, 2012
SUMMARY:
Got up at 8:17AM, made it out driving by 8:30AM (Burger King breakfast break: 9:00-9:23AM) and went out until 11:40AM for a total of 2 hours, 47 minutes (we found out the clock in the car only runs while driving, so it turns out this was 1hr, 54min of driving, and about 53min out of our car at yard sales).
We spent a paltry $4.25 plus $9.61 gas for 36.1 miles of driving (14.5 mpg @ $3.86/G), for a total cost of $13.86. That SUCKS that 70% of the cost is just driving around looking for the yard sales! This week was particularly bad.
We obtained 26 items — 48 if you count each bar of soap and gift bag separately — for a total estimated value of $124.42, leading to a profit/savings of $110.56. Anyway, this works out to a *post-tax* “wage” of $39.72/hr as a couple or $19.86/hr per person. Despite the low amount of sales, a lot of the stuff we got this week was completely free.
COMMENTARY:
ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED: Drive-by megaphone-heckling of abortion clinic protesters!!!!!!! (All of whom looked like fucking relics about to die. Can’t wait ’til they do.)
WHERE ARE THE SALES? We changed our circuit a bit, and it took us everywhere without us seeing hardly any sales! We could have had 90% of our take in 30 minutes had we simply quit while we were ahead. But we ran our circuit, and it was possibly the longest driving with the least sales in a long, long, long time. Nothing on all of Rolling Rd from Jaxx Nightclub all the way to Braddock Rd? Don’t think I’ve EVER seen that.
And MORE RETARDED SIGNMAKERS — only about 10% of signs we saw even had a friggin’ arrow on them. Yes, we ripped down at least one this week again, trying to save other people from wasting gas on wild goose chases.
It becomes more and more apparant to us that bad sign = out of touch person = loser = shitty yard sale with shitty stuff.
Of course, bad sign also means less people will find it, so if there is anything good, it’s more likely to still be there by the time you arrive. But the tradeoff doesn’t seem worth it.
Stick to the upscale neighborhoods. If people can’t be bothered to put an arrow on a sign, for the most part they are not going to have good stuff worth buying.
THE BOOTY:
Click here for other Yard Sale-related postings.
2012 STATS SO FAR:
TOTAL EXPEDITIONS: 2
TOTAL HOURS: 6:20
TOTAL MILES DRIVEN: 69.4
TOTAL MONEY SPENT: $44.35
TOTAL ITEMS BOUGHT: 46-69
TOTAL ESTIMATED VALUE: $277.50
TOTAL SAVINGS/PROFIT: 233.15
AVG SAVINGS/PROFIT PER HR: $36.81
* EV stands for “Estimated Value”, which I estimate by looking things up in Google Shopping/Google/Amazon/Ebay. I don’t always deduct for an item being used, unless it’s actually in worse condition in a way that matters. For example, I estimate books at the cover value, unless they are free/bad condition in which case I may try to get a used price. But in terms of usability, I don’t think used books are worth much less than new books. You can still read them. I also try to only count shipping if it’s the type of thing that would need to be shipped, and only if the price isn’t “rigged” (i.e. 1 cent items that cost $10 to ship would not be $10 in person). (more…)
April 21, 2012
ABUSE OF AUTHORITY: Justice for Anastasio Hernandez Rojas
I remember when this happened.
The guy had meth in his blood, therefore it’s okay for a group of taxpayer-funded thugs to murder him in cold blood while he screams for help, right?
The audio was released before. PBS just released the video. Unlike Rodney King, this guy died. Unlike Rodney King, there were twice as many officers surrounding this guy.
And here it is – watch your tax dollars being used to murder a man. Now on video. (Of course they tried to confiscate said video.)
SIGN THE PETITION AT http://presente.org
THIN BLUE LINE: No Good Cops Go Unpunished When They Stop a Beatdown
Bad cops are “just a few bad apples”? Kinda like how just a few of the Germans were bad during WW2, eh? Pointed out in the comments is that the phrase “a few bad apples” comes from the origin whereby a few bad apples sealed in a barrel full of good apples will ruin all the other apples. The whole figure of speech of “A few bad apples”, as commonly used, is incorrect. A few bad apples after the fact means your whole barrel went rotten.
I did not realize this.
So anyway… Here’s what happens when you’re a good apple. If you literally stop police from beating up an innocent person, as a cop, your job will be put on the line. Her department is calling her “psychologically unfit for duty” and trying to fire her.
She’s also the first lesbian cop there.
video appearance at: http://www.chicagotribune.com/videogallery/69454161/News/Officer-Regina-Tasca-On-Being-Suspended-For-Not-Lying-About-Fellow-Cops-apos-Actions
So if you wonder why people think cops are assholes — look no further than stories like this compared and contrasted to the neverending constant barrage of abuse of power performed by those with badges.
Funny how they are bringing up old bad things she supposedly did as reasons to get rid of her – reasons only brought up after this. I’ve seen such tactics used before, both in the news and in real life. :/
VIDEO: TV: SHOWS: REVIEW: Dirk Gently (2012) (UK)
5/5 stars from both of us. Clint: 9/10, Carolyn: 8/10. [7.7/10 on IMDB]
… The only Douglas Adams book I ever actually read was a Dirk Gently novel I read in 1987ish, not that I remember books I read in the 80s the way I remember movies watched in the 80s.
Anyway, it was nice to be reminded just what the hell that was all about.
I wish the British didn’t have such tiny series. Waiting 2 yrs after a series pilot to get just three more episodes is a bum rap. Do 26 of these, please! And that’s the problem I have with British TV. You can barely spend as much time on a series you love as a series you hate, because by the time you’ve watched enough episodes to really know the difference, it’s over anyway.
But yeah…. Complaints aside, this was awesome. Dirk Gently is kind of an asshole anti-hero, and the relationship between him and his reluctant partner has a really good on-screen [non-sexual] chemistry.
[Carolyn netflix/imdb ratings for each ep: #1:4.6/8, #2:4/8, #3:4.2/8]
MUSIC: little kids cover “Sonne” by Rammstein
…And apparently a lot of other Rammstein songs too. That little drummer girl looks too young to comprehend rhythm, but then she switches to a harp at the end of Sonne? And the singer-guitarist also plays the violin? This is the best child music performance since that Metallica cover band with the 8 year old lead guitarist girl!
Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.
April 21, 2012
ABUSE OF AUTHORITY: Justice for Anastasio Hernandez Rojas
I remember when this happened.
The guy had meth in his blood, therefore it’s okay for a group of taxpayer-funded thugs to murder him in cold blood while he screams for help, right?
The audio was released before. PBS just released the video. Unlike Rodney King, this guy died. Unlike Rodney King, there were twice as many officers surrounding this guy.
And here it is – watch your tax dollars being used to murder a man. Now on video. (Of course they tried to confiscate said video.)
SIGN THE PETITION AT http://presente.org
LINK URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nSjVQY0ifls
April 19, 2012
THIN BLUE LINE: No Good Cops Go Unpunished When They Stop a Beatdown
Bad cops are “just a few bad apples”? Kinda like how just a few of the Germans were bad during WW2, eh? Pointed out in the comments is that the phrase “a few bad apples” comes from the origin whereby a few bad apples sealed in a barrel full of good apples will ruin all the other apples. The whole figure of speech of “A few bad apples”, as commonly used, is incorrect. A few bad apples after the fact means your whole barrel went rotten.
I did not realize this.
So anyway… Here’s what happens when you’re a good apple. If you literally stop police from beating up an innocent person, as a cop, your job will be put on the line. Her department is calling her “psychologically unfit for duty” and trying to fire her.
She’s also the first lesbian cop there.
video appearance at: http://www.chicagotribune.com/videogallery/69454161/News/Officer-Regina-Tasca-On-Being-Suspended-For-Not-Lying-About-Fellow-Cops-apos-Actions
So if you wonder why people think cops are assholes — look no further than stories like this compared and contrasted to the neverending constant barrage of abuse of power performed by those with badges.
Funny how they are bringing up old bad things she supposedly did as reasons to get rid of her – reasons only brought up after this. I’ve seen such tactics used before, both in the news and in real life. :/
LINK URL: http://www.northjersey.com/news/147698015_Bogota_officer_s_hearing_to_begin.html?page=all
April 19, 2012
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April 18, 2012
A lucid dream within a dream! That’s a first!
Dreamed that our house was a townhouse, though the width was about the same (totally unrealstic). All the way upstairs, in our bedroom, we had a 2 doors to hallways and closets, but I had just noticed a very small door — only about 18 inches wide, but still a normal door with a door handle.
It turned out that this door went into an attic that was our neighbor Jenny’s (the 72yo woman next door who only looks like she’s in her 50s or so), and you could simply walk into her house via that door.
Chaos ensued — I would infiltrate her house without her knowledge. She would come out into our room when I was naked and I’d have to cover myself up.
I commented to Carolyn about “How the hell could we live here for 11 years without noticing that?”
I’d mess with the kids by being in their house. I told Jenny that maybe we would need to start locking that door, and she seemed upset, as if we were cutting her off from her own part of the house.
A lot of weirdness along these lines ensued for quite a long time — many days. Eventually, something more dramatic happened, and I stopped, and said, “Wait! This is a dream!”
Of course the first thing I do when I start lucid dreaming is always, always, always to fly. Flying kicks ass, and I know what it’s like to fly with wings (Angel–the most tiring), telekinesis (Phoenix–the one that requires a LOT of concentration because I don’t have her training), or pure will (Superman/Rogue–this is the easiest flying). With lucid dreams it’s always the “pure will” method.
I went out the window. I think I may have even crashed through building after building, having a great time pulverizing reality.
As usual, being lucid always wakes me up within 1 minute of subjective time. The excitement is too great — the adrenaline rush wakes me up. [I can never bed those laides in time. How fucking annoying!]
So I woke up from the lucid dream. At this point, I thought I was awake and done dreaming.
So I hung out in my townhouse complex, and went to the “town square” part of the complex. There were some people meeting there. Possibly a support group. I spent some time talking to them about the lucid dream I just had — not realizing I was basically in the same dream.
Eventually I got sick of them, maybe threw in an insult, and left.
Then I woke up and realized that THAT TOO WAS A DREAM. I suppose that my problem of always waking up when I have a lucid dream is actually improving, if I only THINK I wake up but didn’t REALLY! Yay! I guess that’s progress!
Meanwhile, Carolyn dreamt our basil died.
“Dreams… They’re the hurricanes that wash the soulfilth from the superdome of our nightminds.”
– Xavier:Renegade Angel (more…)
April 17, 2012
VIDEO: TV: SHOWS: REVIEW: Dirk Gently (2012) (UK)
5/5 stars from both of us. Clint: 9/10, Carolyn: 8/10. [7.7/10 on IMDB]
… The only Douglas Adams book I ever actually read was a Dirk Gently novel I read in 1987ish, not that I remember books I read in the 80s the way I remember movies watched in the 80s.
Anyway, it was nice to be reminded just what the hell that was all about.
I wish the British didn’t have such tiny series. Waiting 2 yrs after a series pilot to get just three more episodes is a bum rap. Do 26 of these, please! And that’s the problem I have with British TV. You can barely spend as much time on a series you love as a series you hate, because by the time you’ve watched enough episodes to really know the difference, it’s over anyway.
But yeah…. Complaints aside, this was awesome. Dirk Gently is kind of an asshole anti-hero, and the relationship between him and his reluctant partner has a really good on-screen [non-sexual] chemistry.
[Carolyn netflix/imdb ratings for each ep: #1:4.6/8, #2:4/8, #3:4.2/8]
LINK URL: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2303367
April 17, 2012
MUSIC: little kids cover “Sonne” by Rammstein
…And apparently a lot of other Rammstein songs too. That little drummer girl looks too young to comprehend rhythm, but then she switches to a harp at the end of Sonne? And the singer-guitarist also plays the violin? This is the best child music performance since that Metallica cover band with the 8 year old lead guitarist girl!
April 17, 2012
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April 16, 2012
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Claire's blog 