Noise

Summary of my life 24/7: Attempting to read a book (or some other activity which requires concentration) while simultaneously being hyper-aware of the the humming of the refrigerator, the ticking of the clocks, the movement of traffic outside, and the extremely faint sound of my neighbors television downstairs. All the while trying to also shut out the noise of my brain thinking about 10 other distinct things at the same time.

Issac Asimov

Quote by Isaac Asimov I've always liked:

“Anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that 'my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.'”

I kinda wish there was a penguin channel on TV.

The mere existence of Jose Cansaco is amusing to me.

This appeared on reddit recently and has been circulating social media. Click for larger view.

I'm pretty sure a choice of ignorance is what gets us into these kinds of messes to begin with. If something terrible happens, you aught to find out why. This includes understanding the motivations of criminals sometimes. All this person on reddit did was take a holier-than-thou / "won't somebody please think of the children" attitude in order to make him/herself seem noble. No, we don't need 24 hour news yammering on and on about irrelevant details about the person; but who they were and what might have led to this? I think we can sacrifice a few a synaptic connections for that. Sad as it is, remembering the names of the victims isn't going to help prevent something like this in the future. They have families, and people who knew and loved them personally for that. Let THEM do the personal grieving and spare me phony sentimentality.

2012 Movie List

 Movies seen for the first time in 2012.

1. The Debt (***1/2)

2. The Expendables (**)

3. Underworld: Rise of the Lycans (***)

4. The Ides of March (***)

5. Haywire (***)

6. Winter’s Bone (***)

7. IP Man (****)

8. Underworld: Awakening (***)

9. The Descendants (***1/2)

10. Ip Man 2 (***)

11. Heathers (***1/2)

12. Hugo (****)

13. The Adventures of Tintin (***1/2)

14. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (US) (***1/2)

15. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (****)

16. Casablanca (****)

17. Strangers with Candy (*)

18. Jaws (****)

19. Young Adult (***1/2)

20. The Hunger Games (***)

21. The Avengers (****)

22. The Secret World of Arrietty (****)

23. A Dog Eat Dog World (*)

24. Ghost Rider (**)

25. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (***)

26. 21 Jump Street (***)

27. Magic Mike (***1/2)

28. Moonrise Kingdom (****)

29. Larry Crowne (***)

30. Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter (**)

31. Safety Not Guaranteed (***1/2)

32. Jeff, Who Lives at Home (***)

33. Vanishing of the Bees (***)

34. Anatomy of a Murder (****) <--That might be my new favorite movie.

35. Your Sister’s Sister (***)

36. 12 Angry Men (****)

37. Le Circle Rouge (***)

38. Crazy, Stupid, Love (***)

39. Dark Knight Rises (****)

40. Cedar Rapids (***)

41. Bernie (***)

42. Lawless (***)

43. Woman in Black (***)

44. The Birds (****)

45. Indie Game: The Movie (***)

46. Looper (****)

47. The Amazing Spider-Man (***)

48. Skyfall (****)

49. Hellraiser (***)

50. Beavis and Butthead do America (***)

51. Carrie (**)
52. Premium Rush (***)

53. Ted (**)

For all of the people who complained ad nauseum in the 90's and 00's about this country becoming "Too politically correct", are you now happy that we seem to be returning at break-neck speeds to a state in which blatant, overt racism and sexism is applauded and encouraged? Political correctness can be overdone, I agree, but it has it's place. It forces us, and more importantly practices us not to be bigots until such a time we that we as a society do it not because we have to, but because we naturally understand that it's moral.

2011 Movies

Movies I saw for the first time in 2011

1. Exit Through the Gift Shop (****)
2. Toy Story 3 (****)
3. The Asphalt Jungle (***)
4. True Grit (2010) (****)
5. The Green Hornet (***)
6. Black Narcissus (****)
7. The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (****)
8. Just Go With It (**1/2)
9. The Apartment (****)
10. The Karate Kid 2010 (**1/2)
11. Me and Orson Wells (***1/2)
12. Lean on Me (**)
13. Easy A (***)
14. Get Low (***1/2)
15. Monsters (***)
16. The Adjustment Bureau (****)
17. Paul (***)
18. Tangled (****)
19. Black Swan (***)
20. Charade (****)
21. Source Code (****)
22. Suddenly (***)
23. Salt (***)
24. Hanna (****)
25. The King’s Speech (****)
26. Thor (***1/2)
27. The American (***)
28. The Tourist (***)
29. The Fighter (****)
30. X-Men: First Class (***1/2)
31. Anvil: The Story of Anvil (***)
32. Kung Fu Panda 2 (****)
33. Double Indemnity (***)
34. Somewhere (***)
35. The Lincoln Lawyer (***)
36. Unstoppable (****)
37. Captain America: The First Avenger (***)
38. Rise of the Planet of the Apes (****)
39. Hobo With a Shotgun (**)
40. The Hustler (****)
41. The Shining (****)
42. Underworld (***)
43. Friday the 13th (**1/2)
44. Contagion (***1/2)
45. Limitless (***)
46. Drive (***1/2)
47. Underworld Evolution: (***)
48. Splice (***)
49. Tron Legacy (***)
50. Moneyball (***1/2)
51. Winnebagoman (***)
52. Rum Diary (**)
53. The Muppets (****)
54. Curious George 2 (***)
55. Win Win (***1/2)
56. Morning Glory (**)
57. The Help (****)
58. Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol (****)
59. Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (***)
60. Another Earth (****)
61. Fast Five (**1/2)

2010 Movies

1. The Princess and the Frog (***)
2. Sherlock Holmes (***)
3. Sunshine Cleaning (**)
4. Inglourious Basterds (****)
5. I Love You, Man (***)
6. Dirty Harry (***)
7. A Serious Man (****)
8. Shutter Island (***1/2)
9. Let the Right One In (***)
10. The Searchers (***)
11. Zombieland (****)
12. The Surrogates (***)
13. Up in the Air (***1/2)
14. How to Train Your Dragon (****)
15. No Impact man (***)
16. Julie and Julia (***)
17. Moon (***)
18. Fantastic Mr. Fox (****)
19. Iron Man 2 (***)
20. Sunset BLVD (***1/2)
21. The Tooth Fairy (*)
22. The Lost Weekend (***)
23. The Hurt Locker (****)
24. Bronco Billy (**)
25. His Girl Friday (****)
26. This Is It (***1/2)
27. Get Him to the Greek (****)
28. Alice in Wonderland (***)
29. Hot Tub Time Machine (***)
30. Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince (****)
31. Inception (****)
32. Invictus (***1/2)
33. Parenthood (***)
34. The Losers (**)
35. District 9 (****)
36. Kick-Ass (****)
37. Gentlemen Broncos (***1/2)
38. The Kids Are Alright (****)
39. Duplicity (***)
40. Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans (****)
41. The Town (***1/2)
42. Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992) (***)
43. Daybreakers (**)
44. Secretariat (**)
45. Scott Pilgrim vs. The World (****)
46. Avatar (****)
47. Red (***)
48. Megamind (***)
49. The Sasquatch Gang (**1/2)
50. A Prophet (***1/2)
51. The Red Shoes (***)
52. A Dennis the Menace Christmas (**)
53. Murder by Numbers (***)
54. I’m Still Here (**)

Movies 2009

Movies I saw for the first time in 2009:

1. Eagle Eye (***)
2. The Spiderwick Chronicles (**)
3. The Game Plan (**)
4. Religulous (***1/2)
5. Hancock (**)
6. City of Ember (**)
7. Pee-Wee's Big Adventure (****)
8. Slumdog Millionaire (****)
9. Lakeview Terrace (****)
10. Zach and Miri Make a Porno (***)
11. Watchmen (****)
12. Wanted (***)
13. Pineapple Express (***)
14. Monsters Vs Aliens (***1/2)
15. Madagascar (***)
16. Milk (****)
17. Officer and a Gentleman (***)
18. Rear Window (***)
19. Up (***1/2)
20. Man on Wire (****)
21. Primer (***)
22. Hang em' High (****)
23. Gran Torino (****)
24. Revolutionary Road (**)
25. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (***)
26. The Big Lebowski (***1/2)
27. Knowing (***)
28. Chinatown (****)
29. Public Enemies (***1/2)
30. The Wrestler (****)
31. Chaplin (***)
32. Valkyrie (***1/2)
33. Taken (***)
34. Step Brothers (***)
35. Ponyo (****)
36. The World's Fastest Indian (***1/2)
37. Happy Go Lucky (***)
38. The End of America (**1/2)
39. Adventureland (***1/2)
40. Where the Wild Things Are (***)
41. Drag Me to Hell (***)
42. The Commitments (****)
43. Paranormal Activity (***)
44. Star Trek (****)
45. Get Smart (***)
46. A Clockwork Orange (***)
47. Interview with a Vampire (**)
48. X-Men Origins: Wolverine (***)
49. The Brothers Bloom (***)
50. Food, Inc (***)
51. The Hangover (***1/2)
52. (500) Days of Summer (****)