Author: Dan Dickinson

"I can't keep doing this on my own with these…people."

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Nellie and I went to see two movies in a row today:

I had incredibly high expectations for There Will Be Blood (imdb | rotten tomatoes), but it still paid off. I think as the film sinks in over the next few days I’ll get even more from it, but even at first glance it’s huge and chilling and epic and staggering. Daniel Day-Lewis, once again, proves himself a mad genius. At no time in any of his movies do I think of him in any of his other roles. Paul Dano and the other actors kept up, but Day-Lewis was on the screen for virtually every second of the film and swept it along. You may not like this movie, but if you can’t recognize it for the classic piece of filmmaking that it is, maybe you should stick to reality TV.

Cloverfield (imdb | rotten tomatoes) was a completely different animal: a beastie-thriller, but done with a little more flair than we’ve come to expect. The handicam viewpoint was a useful little device, and kept the film from lapsing into the usual cliches (hey look, a spunky scientist finds a way to save the day!), focusing instead on showing the mass confusion of such an event. A pretty decent escapist flick. Oh, and Jessica Lucas: girlfriend du jour.

.:.

Absurdity piled on absurdity: the FCC is going to fine ABC $1.4 million because they showed buttocks on the air. Five years ago.

[tags]there will be blood, cloverfield, jessica lucas, fcc, nypd blue[/tags]

Sure, that's a lot of silk, but…c'mon

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Incredulity, take 1: Shaquille O’Neal’s monthly spending. Granted, it’s probably no worse than any other NBA superstar’s spending, but I haven’t seen theirs broken down like this, so O’Neal’s the topic of discussion.

Among [the expenses]: $156,116 in mortgages on three homes (including his $20 million mansion on Star Island, Miami Beach), plus $31,299 in homeowners insurance; $3,345 in phone bills; $1,610 in lawn and pool maintenance; $12,775 in food; $1,495 in cable TV; $24,300 in gas; $6,730 in dry cleaning; $17,220 in clothing; $2,305 for pets, and $110,505 in vacations.

Believe it or not, the one that really threw me was the gas. I don’t get it. Let’s assume Shaq owns 6 Cadillac Escalades and drives them all every single day. Escalades get 13 mpg, and the highest gas price I can find in the Miami area is $3.39/gallon, which means that Shaq (or his family/whatever) would have to drive each of his six Escalades over 500 miles every single day. I think Shaq’s getting ripped off by either his driver or his accountant.

And don’t even get me started on his $220/day dry cleaner.

.:.

Incredulity, take 2: Paul Wolfowitz is back in the Bush administration, albeit as an advisor.

Paul D. Wolfowitz, who resigned as World Bank chief after serving as second-in-command at the Pentagon, has returned to the Bush administration, albeit in an advisory role.

That sound you just heard was every Iranian sphincter tightening simultaneously.

.:.

In 2007, for the first time ever, condos in downtown Toronto appreciated more than detached homes.

Condominiums in the central core appreciated by 12.2% in 2007 compared to 11.5% for single detached homes. West end condominiums appreciated by 7.3% compared to 6.6% for single detached homes. These stats generally capture activity in the resale market.

I’m actually kind of surprised it took this long, but I’m obviously biased toward condos.

By the way, if I see a sustained 12.2% appreciation, I’ll be pretty pleased with that.

[tags]shaquille o’neal, paul wolfowitz, toronto condos, toronto detached houses[/tags]

"I want no part of a world that refuses to congratulate itself."

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Exciting news: I’m going to go for a run tomorrow. It’s the first time since my killer cold last week that I’ve felt up to it (and didn’t have an early meeting to get to). Sad that the idea of a 3 mile run is attractive to me at this point.

.:.

While I’ve quite enjoyed the television writer’s strike — network is for shit anyway — I had to laugh at Conan O’Brien’s strike diary.

With little to sustain me, I am forced to subsist entirely on Reality Television. I gorge myself on marathons of The Real Housewives of Orange County and Flavor of Love, then collapse in a wretched heap. If this is living, I welcome death.

It’s short. Go read.

.:.

I hear a lot of complaints about Starbucks & music…exclusive sales agreements and such. This week, as I walked by the Starbucks every day on my walk to work (actually I walk by three, but there’s one I pay particular attention to) I heard Sia, James Brown and Radiohead. I don’t recall Monday, so either I wasn’t paying attention or it was bad/generic enough not to grab me. In any case, if a Starbucks wants to push decent music to coffee junkies, I’m not going to criticize them. Maybe it’ll counter the Wal-Mart influence.

Speaking of music…what in the sweaty hell happened to Bob Mould? I have no problem if someone mellows out in their old age, I don’t. That’s not my problem. My problem is that the music is (to steal a line from High Fidelity) generic pappy crap, and the man’s used more voice modulation  on his last few albums than Cher. This morning “Jesus Cradle” from the Sugar album Beaster came up on my Zen, and I was momentarily stunned by how good it was. Compared to what I’m listening to right now — a leaked copy of Mould’s latest, District Line — it’s just tragic. Genre differences or not, they’re still worlds apart.

.:.

My brother sent me this link yesterday in an email titled “There goes your day.” He wasn’t lying.

[tags]conan o’brien, starbucks, bob mould, cher, tony-b[/tags]

Banality, thy name is blog

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I have absolutely nothing interesting to say. Haven’t looked up from work long enough to do anything, let alone read anything. Last night I did work while I watched the hockey game, and stopped long enough to watch the latest episode of The Wire (which, by the way, holy crapmonkey!) and then go to sleep. Gonna be the same tomorrow.

Heeeeeeeere Friday Friday Friday…C’mere boy.

[tags]the wire[/tags]

Is there anyone "old, grey-haired, hard-drinking Scottish geezers" can't inspire?

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No time for fancy bloggin’ tonight, kids. Too much work to do. It’s link-dump time:

It could be like this all week, so have some other reading material on hand with which to occupy yourselves.

[tags]triumph, toronto, road tolls, gentrification, wall street journal[/tags]

"Immigrants, liberals, weirdos, atheists"

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It occurred to me this morning that I’ve completely forgotten the whole fatblogging thing. Just as well; not much has happened since it slipped my mind back in November. Stayed pretty much the same, went up around Christmas came back down to about 224 where I’ve been sitting for weeks. The cold this past week hasn’t helped anything. I’m hoping to start running again on Tuesday, maybe.

.:.

Watched the remake of 3:10 To Yuma (imdb | rotten tomatoes) today. It was pretty good indeed. I don’t normally care much for Russell Crowe, but I think he was well-suited to this role and Christian Bale was great as always. Funny how a Brit and an Aussie would play two cowboys, no? Anyway, it was a solid film, especially if you like westerns.

.:.

This article in the New York Times [via Richard Florida] contains some interesting insights on the threats to science in the U.S.:

Many Americans remain ignorant about much of science, the board said; for example, many are unable to answer correctly when asked if the Earth moves around the Sun (it does). But they are not noticeably more ignorant than people in other developed countries except on two subjects: evolution and the Big Bang. Although these ideas are organizing principles underlying modern biology and physics, many Americans do not accept them.

“These differences probably indicate that many Americans hold religious beliefs that cause them to be skeptical of established scientific ideas,” the report said, “even when they have some basic familiarity with those ideas.”

Florida takes issue with this explanation:

This is not just a question of religion, many Americans are more than skeptical, they dislike, are fearful of and are angered by the institutions which develop science and help provide the broad eco-system of innovation. They view leading universities as places filled with “immigrants, liberals, weirdos, atheists” and so on, who’s views are antithetical to “family values.”

I’m not sure I agree with Dr. Florida’s theory, though I admit I have no data either way. It simply seems easier to accept the religious influence suggested in the article, as I know the that schism exists in the U.S. I cannot, on the other hand, figure out how the opinion described by Dr. Florida could have taken hold. I’m not saying it didn’t; I would just be stunned if it had. Stunned, and even more fearful of what’s happening south of the border.

[tags]fatblogging, 3:10 to yuma, richard florida, new york times, science, evolution, big bang[/tags]

"Not your God. Mine."

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The sun actually came out today. The wind still made it bitterly cold, but it was nice to at least see some sunshine for the first time in weeks, even if it didn’t help warm things up.

.:.

Just as I’ve pretty much gotten rid of my cold, Nellie’s gotten sick with one of her own. It’s a different cold than what I had — all in the throat, this one — but she’s no less miserable. Last night she had just enough in her to enjoy a couple of drinks and some dinner at beerbistro, but this morning she was worse. Scrapping our original ambitious plans, we ran out just long enough to pick up some food, a book at Nicholas Hoare (Cormac McCarthy’s The Road…I got one without an Oprah sticker, thank Gutenberg!) and some movies.

.:.

Two of those movies we watched this afternoon:

I thought Sunshine (imdb | rotten tomatoes) was quite good. I’ve liked pretty much everything director Danny Boyle’s done, and while this wasn’t exactly new cinematic ground, Boyle made it interesting without being too “sci-fi” at all. Definitely recommended.

28 Weeks Later (imdb | rotten tomatoes) was Nellie’s pick…she wanted something a little dumb and action-y. It wasn’t terrible, but just couldn’t live up to 28 Days Later (also directed by Boyle, and starring Cillian Murphy who also starred in Sunshine…come to think of it, Rose Byrne was in both Sunshine and 28 Weeks Later…I guess Danny Boyle likes continuity) and fell back a little too much on cliche. Not bad, but you’re better off just watching 28 Days Later again.

[tags]toronto sunshine, nicholas hoare, cormac mccarthy, oprah, sunshine, 28 weeks later, 28 days later, danny boyle[/tags]

"Such a beer does not exist, sir."

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Links of the day:

  • One more reason to love Nicholas Hoare: this sign in their door. If you like books at all and live in Toronto (or Ottawa or Montreal), I suggest you visit. It’s like God’s living room.
  • Much like a special candy-covered doughnut that Homer Simpson asked for, Dunkin’ Donuts is introducing an M&M-covered doughnut. I anxiously await the arrival of Skittlebrau.

.:.

You know who I find annoying? Not specific people (’cause you wouldn’t know them), but types of people who exhibit like behaviour? Well, let me tell you:

  1. Smokers. No offense to any smokers who may be reading this, but you’re assholes. All of you.  You’re not assholes because you stink or because you slowly kill yourself or because you look ridiculous; that’s your choice. No, you’re assholes because you blow smoke in my face as you walk down the street in front of me, and because you throw thousands of butts on the ground every year as if the world is your personal fucking ashtray.
  2. The tragic and desperate souls who drive down Yonge Street (or any other busy street) with the windows down and the mondo-nuclear-subwoofer bass on 11. It fills my heart with sadness that your need for attention is so bottomless and unfulfilled that you’re forced to spend thousands of dollars on a stereo for no other purpose than to get strangers to turn their heads in your direction for maybe two seconds.
  3. People who play politics in the workplace. Office politics is the last refuge of the dull and incompetent. I don’t mind smart, capable people who understand politics, but when you make a career solely out of figuring out how to cover your ass next week, you’ll have to admit to yourself that you’ll never get another ounce of respect from anyone other than fellow political weasels. The rest of us see right through you, and know that you’ll get yours in the end.
  4. Pedestrians/shoppers/drivers who have no idea what’s going on around them. We’ve all seen them. The person who stands on the escalator in just the exact spot that makes it impossible to pass them. The friends ambling down the sidewalk side-by-side so that no one can pass in either direction. The driver who tries to turn on a red light, unaware that they’ve blocked pedestrians trying to cross. Sometimes I think this is rudeness, but more often than not I think it’s just that people are oblivious. They can’t process two thoughts at once. It doesn’t occur to them that at least one other of the 6.2 billion of us could be on the same escalator, the same sidewalk, the same street. How do these people not get eaten by wolves or accidentally drink PineSol?
  5. People who answer their phones during a movie. Phones ringing in a theatre don’t bug me; it doesn’t happen often and when it does it’s usually just forgetfulness, and the culprit is almost always apologetic. But occasionally you get some asshat who lets it ring a few times while he digs it out, lets it ring again while he checks the caller ID, and then answers the frigging thing. I once threw a handful of M&Ms at a kid who answered his phone, thinking he was a badass. Struck by candy, he turned around to find an audience whispering threats and plotting his death. He hung up.

Whew, that felt good. I’m not sure what possessed me to write that; I had a pretty good day. My cold is nearly gone, I got a lot done at work, I’m watchin’ hockey, I’m planning trips and visits…all is well, more or less. Maybe I just felt like making a list.

[tags]nicholas hoare, dunkin’ donuts, skittlebrau, smokers, office politics[/tags]