Saturday, January 12, 2002

Silly stuff, but I love Alice ...

The March Hare


You're blunt and open, and have a reputation for being ruthless. Blood and gore don't bother you, and neither do the reactions of other people when you tell them exactly what you think of them. In fact, you say what you mean quite often, and nothing seems to affect you at all. You are comfortable with who you are, but you're also quite insane.

Via Puppet Press Journal, which was via clarablog
posted by lee on 01/12/02 at 07:10 PM
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Chasing Sleep

Watched Chasing Sleep (2000) with Jeff Daniels & a buncha unknowns. About an English professor who is losing his mind - you watch as his mind caves in. I thought it was excellent - it kind of reminded me of Memento - and I'm surprised it didn't seem to make it to theaters around here (I would've noticed a Jeff Daniels movie - for some reason, he's one of my favorite actors). Saxon is a guy whose wife goes missing - but it's not your usual "guy whose wife goes missing" movie. A lot of imagery here, people constantly popping pills, blood, water ... a claustrophobic house ...

We also watched Ginger Snaps, a 2000 Canadian movie about two goth adolescent girls coming of age. One gets infected by a werewolf. It starts out well, interesting study of sisters who are outcasts in the town because they're so morbid. Even the changes that start happening as a result of the infection/start of menopause are interesting and different. But it goes on way too long and begins to fall apart in the last third. It's definitely worth a look. Features Mimi Rogers in the role of the girls' mother - a dippy character that doesn't fit with Mimi's "I've seen plenty of rough times" face. Quite a lot of nasty digs to listen for.
posted by lee on 01/12/02 at 07:41 PM
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K-Force Guest Book

Check out the Guest Book on The K-Force. I've never seen one like this before. But then, I don't particularly look for guest books.
posted by lee on 01/12/02 at 07:50 PM
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Sunday, January 13, 2002

Not only is he stupid - he’s a liar

Check out Dubya's lies re: Enron via the Jan. 13 blog entry on Puppet Press Journal. THIS is a man Americans trust with the lives of their sons in the military? THIS is the man with the astronomical approval rating? Why would anyone be stupid enough to lie about something so easily checked unless, of course, he or she is a pathological liar. No, make that a stupid pathological liar.

Meanwhile, check out Civilian Victims of United States' Aerial Bombing of Afghanistan.

The whole War on Terrorism thing is such a travesty. The braindeadening of America.
posted by lee on 01/13/02 at 07:43 PM
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Center of the world - review

We watched Center of the World last night. What a snore.

This is how Center of the World is billed:
"... an erotic drama about a young computer wizard (Peter Sarsgaard) whose immersion in the digital world has left him unaccustomed to normal social interaction. When he persuades a beautiful stripper (Molly Parker) to spend three days with him in Las Vegas, their arrangement becomes a journey into the dark secrets of their sexuality."

The billing is bullshit. Directed by Wayne Wang, with weird camera techniques that I guess he used to distinguish flashbacks or fantasies from the right-now, it spent most of the time boring viewers with details in the lives of three people one couldn't give a rat's ass about. The rich computer geek was just that, a rich computer geek with nothing of substance to say, having some sort of existential crisis because his work, and therefore his life, is meaningless. Florence, the self-righteous stripper and erstwhile drummer in some band, was mysterious about who she really is becuase she really isn't anyone. And her friend Jerri, a hooker, is in the movie so Wang can entice geekboys with a shot of her cleavage. Carla Gugino's heaving cleavage was the only erotic part of the movie. Mostly it was shallow and slooooooowww. It was a geekboy dotcom millionaire living out his fantasy because he has the bucks to pay for it. After 96 minutes (more if you watch the two alternative endings, which are really just re-sequenced versions of the ending but with the unrealistic addition of Florence refunding Richard's money), all I really wanted to do was smack that annoying smirk off Florence's face and smack Richard a hard one and tell him to grow up.

I guess it wouldn't have annoyed me so much if it had actually been erotic. Or had some depth. But it was neither erotic nor thought-provoking. My recommendation: don't waste your time.
posted by lee on 01/13/02 at 08:23 PM
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my palm reading

Idle surfing, came upon Yahoo's palm reading thingie. The following is what mine said, though I have a sneaking suspicion they all say the same thing. A suspicion, but not the patience to click through several times to see if I'm right.

You are intelligent and practical, very likely to have a good memory and the ability to make and follow plans. Leadership skills are among your useful traits. Just be careful not to go to extremes and become a dictator.

You may have trouble concentrating or focusing your attention, especially under stress.

You are a warm hearted person, with much love to give. You probably like children, and exhibit many playful characteristics.

There may be times in your life when you give in to feelings of sadness or depression.

You are likely to make decisions based on intuition or feelings rather than intellect.

You may suffer from low energy, allergies, or some kind of chronic health problem.

No matter what other factors influence your personality, there is an under lying sense of practicality that you can draw on if you wish.
posted by lee on 01/13/02 at 10:24 PM
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I’m God



You know all and see all, but that doesn't prevent you from having a child-like innocence and a playful sense of humor. You obviously think very highly of yourself, but that's okay, everyone does. Told ya God was a woman!!

Take The "Which Kevin Smith Female Are You?" Quiz!!
posted by lee on 01/13/02 at 10:53 PM
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Monday, January 14, 2002

very weird

Via Mark Morford (Morning Fix) comes news of this Flash, um, movie? Irrational Exuberance.
posted by lee on 01/14/02 at 06:06 PM
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More Homeland Stupidity

Dearborn to adopt antiterror program. Right now, Dearborn, MI has two claims to fame. First, it's the birthplace of and headquarters of Ford Motor Company. Second, there is a huge Arab-American population in this city (where I was born - but only because that's where the hospital was). A third of Dearborn's 97,000 residents, and 58% of its students, are Arab Americans. It also has a long, sordid history of racism. The racist tendencies of the old-line, very blue collar, non-Arab population seem to be remerging as they plan to spend a quarter of a million dollars on homeland security.

For what? To protect Ford's Rouge plant from being bombed? Ford has quite effectively crippled itself. To protect Dearborn's Arab-Americans? You've gotta be kidding. To set up a spy network among the Arab-American community? That wouldn't surprise me. What would surprise me is if they actually did anything meaningful with their boondoggle. Especially since there is nothing meaningful to do. Maybe mount anti-aircraft guns along the banks of the Rouge.
posted by lee on 01/14/02 at 06:29 PM
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Tuesday, January 15, 2002

7-11 milk experiment

A 7-11 Milk Experiment is a usability study, sort of:

The idea is that if we gave you a person with a poured bowl of cereal and no milk and you went to that personӒs house, picked them up, drove them to a 7-Eleven, gave them enough money to buy milk, and sent them into the 7-Eleven, 100 percent of the time, that person would successfully buy milk, explained Jared M. Spool, UIEԒs founding principal. We tried something similar with Web sites.Ӕ

They gave users some money and some web sites to go to and a task to buy a specific item sold on those sites and found the success rate to be just 30%. What it means is even if your site loads fast and looks great, if the navigation sucks, it doesn't matter because you won't sell much because users won't be able to find it (or won't be able to figure out how to check out - or just won't bother). The article is Usability and organization are key to site-visitor satisfaction on Tech Republic. You may have to log in - it doesn't cost anything to register and the article is well worth reading.

Jared Spool's site is User Interface Engineering. You can buy the whole study there for about $25.
posted by lee on 01/15/02 at 07:37 PM
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