Why?

Personally, I find this inconceivable!

Happy New Year!

...ah c'mon. It's just a figure of speech. There's no need to get your knickers in a bunch. What do I care if you don't want to have a happy new year? It's no skin off my nose.

Hmmm... You learn something every day: The Guinness Diet.

We saw Return of The King today. (A sold-out 10:15am showing!) It's simply an outstanding movie.

It is as true to the original story as is possible for a film to be. The original was never intended to serve as a screenplay; Tolkien himself doubted that it could be adapted. But Peter Jackson and his crew did the impossible. They took a great story and put into a filmable form without losing the charm of the original work.

Testing... Testing... 1,2,3...

OK... Whatever bug there was seems to have been stomped.

Can you tell yet that I'm looking forward to seeing Return of The King?

I was reading an account on the NY Times site of last night's early showing of the movie. The Times has an entire page dedicated to the Lord of The Rings. A review of the new movie is there as well as of the two preious movies. But I scrolled down the page and found that they have re-posted their book reviews for the novels starting with Anne T. Eaton's 1938 review of The Hobbit.

The Motley Fool has a less than kind take on the Microsoft re-org:Microsoft Circles the Wagons.

Here is another review of Return of The King by Jeffrey Overstreet. And like the "Disembodied Brain" site I mentioned the other day, this is also someone who obviously enjoys, or at least appeciates the genre. In fact, part of his review addresses other critics who obviously dislike the genre and, perhaps, have no business offering reviews...

After the press screening, I overheard several critics complaining about “the Neverending Movie” and “the Movie with Seven Endings.” (They’ll probably hate this “neverending review” as well.) There seems to be an inexplicable disconnect between some people and Tolkien’s style of tale-weaving. (One woman complained that she still couldn’t tell the difference between “Merry and Trippy.” Go figure.) I have no explanation, just sadness that their skepticism stands between them and so many rewarding metaphors and characters. Did they at some point outgrow fairy tales, deciding that they are valuable only as charming flights of fancy for the naïve?

Off on a tangent, I suppose that what makes blogs so interesting is that they generally are written about subjects that the bloggers appreciate. No blogger feels as though he or she was dragged off to a "neverending story".

Overstreet gives ROTK an A+.  He too laments the loss of such story elements as The Scouring of The Shire, but he also points out that much of the Lord of The Rings doesn't translate well to film. In addition, Overstreet notes that Tolkien had his doubts about the success of a screenplay adaptation of LOTR.

...and if they were smoking while having sex, it would be obscene!!

OK... So I was just now looking at the latest posts page on FreeRepublic. You know some spin is going on when these two threads have replies on the list back-to-back...

Bush Says He Could Support Ban On Gay Marriage
			Posted by 11th Earl of Mar to Akira On 12/16/2003 5:26:11 PM PST #10 of 10
Bush Appears to Open Door to Same - Sex Unions
			Posted by KantianBurke to goldstategop On 12/16/2003 5:26:08 PM PST #5 of 5

Is there more than one George W. Bush?

Window dressing?

Jay Wrolstad at Newsfactor.com writes that Microsoft is reorganizing key Windows groups. Specifically, various engineering groups are being united under a single VP to advance the next version of Windows, codenamed "Longhorn". Longhorn is scheduled for release in late '05 or early '06. Analyst Laura DiDio of the Yankee Group is quoted as saying "The message from Microsoft is, 'We will do what we have to do to blunt the spread of Linux' ". However, one cannot help but wonder if MSFT will actually try to engineer a solution to the Linux problem (i.e. build a better product), or if they'll simply try to engineer better FUD.

There's a reason why I wouldn't want a car with OnStar. Not that I'm paranoid or anything... But just because you're paranoid, that doesn't mean that they're not out to get you!

Some people are getting pretty testy about Rush Limbaugh.

Here's a blog worth mentioning: Disembodied Brain.

This blog by Jeff Dillon is on the San Diego Tribune's website and it cover sci-fi topics. Dillon is obviously a sci-fi fan, not just a reporter assigned to the subject. And unlike a lot of reviewers I've seen in the past, Dillon enjoys what he sees. His reviews and other blog entries aren't the usual non-stop carping one can see elsewhere. His review of Return of The King contains what look like valid criticisms, but overall avoids the kind of tone you can find from other writers. No off-topic rants about how much money the films have made, for example. There is criticism of Jackson for cutting the "Scouring of The Shire" that is quite legitimate. It's also tempered with the admission that there are parts of Tolkien's novels that don't lend themselves to a movie script.

If you're a fan of sci-fi, I recommend a visit to this blog.

Great... Just what the world needs: More flies.

Ann Coulter strikes again...

Vegan Computer Geeks for Dean

No, I haven't forgotten about this page... I've been busy.

"Self defence", UK-style

Briton Tony Martin, who was convicted in a UK court of defending himself against a criminal, has been given a new self defense tool: An air raid siren.

I'm not making this up.

OK... I can tell from that look on your face that you don't believe me; but it's true... all of it. Yes, a man was convicted for what would be a perfectly lawful activity in the US. He defended himself against two teenage burglars who broke into his home. One goblin got his ticket punched, while the other was merely wounded. In the US, this is called a "good shoot". A 16-year old and a 29-year old constitute a grave threat to a 54-year old man. But not only was Tony Martin arrested, he was tried, convicted, and sentenced to 5 years in prison. And on top of that, the wounded burglar is suing him!

Tony Martin is finally getting out of prison, after previously being denied parole. (Friends mocked the parole board saying that Martin was being kept behind bars because he poses a threat to Britain's burglars.) He's been threatened by local thugs and a wealthy neighbor purchased the siren as some sort of self defense device. I'm sure that the man meant well. After years of being told that defending your own life or property is somehow anti-social behavior, he probably didn't see how silly the gesture really is.

Of course, the siren will merely signal to all within earshot that Mr. Martin has been killed.

The Biased Broadcasting Company

Brian Carnell dissects a highly biased, anti-gun story from the BBC.