London following Beijing

Watching the closing ceremonies last I was thinking how in the heck will London top these 2008 Beijing Games. I don't think they'll be able to. Certainly London's piece in the closing ceremonies was lame.
Here's what a London mayor Boris Johnson said in a Business Week article.
"We've been dazzled, impressed, and blown away by these Beijing Games," he says, adding, "but we've not been intimidated."
That's good to read.
One thing I did notice was the lack of full venues in the Beijing Games, and the article mentioned that too.
For instance, although Beijing's operations worked with clockwork precision, many events were surprisingly short on spectators (BusinessWeek.com, 8/15/08). London has already said it aims to avoid that by making more seats available to Londoners at discount prices.
Later ...
Formerly imperial Britain—now more laid-back than ambitious, upwardly mobile China—will be hosting its third Olympics and has less to prove to the world. As long as security is effective but not heavy-handed, London should manage to provide Olympians and guests a great time.

Hamlet 2 review

Hamlet 2 = C
Bad first half, but a stronger second. Either the jokes got better, or I just got use to the bad jokes. It's another movie I wanted to like, but was disappointed.
Roger Ebert seemed to like it better than James Berardinelli, who I agree with more regarding this movie.
Despite the richness of the premise for comic invention, however, Hamlet 2 remains a rather mediocre experience, offering sporadic laughs but never achieving the level of consistent humor necessary to make this memorable.
That pretty much wraps it up, though the number "Rock me sexy Jesus" is memorable, and the tune is very catchy.
The two best comedic turns belong to Amy Poehler and Catherine Keener, both of whom find the right groove for their characters and have the best lines. The most underused actress is Elisabeth Shue, playing a caricature of herself as a washed-up actress who, disillusioned with the business, has become a nurse. Shue gamely participates in an act of self-deprecation, but hilarious possibilities with this character aren't realized.
Steve Coogan and those three ladies are the main reason I wanted to see the movie, and Berardinelli is right on in the above quote.
Saw at Keystone Art Cinema Wednesday, August 27, 2008.

Two new upcoming movies maybe worth seeing ...
Towelhead
Religulous, a Bill Maher documentary.

I'm so done with

On Fox Sports Radio the Czabe, aka Steve Czaben, has a segment called "I'm So Done With."
Well I don't have time to phone or text the show. So instead I'll post what I'm done with here.
I'm so done with, already, all the NFL coverage. The way the media fawns over the league is sickening.

Sports bar criticism

One of the things I don't like about sports bars is the blaring music. It's my opinion I should be hearing a game or some other sporting event, instead of music. Most of the time when at a proclaimed sports bar, I can never hear the game. A perfect sports bar would be one where I can hear a game.
Damons had a system where there was a speaker on the table and patrons could hear a TV feed by turning the station on the speaker.
At ESPNZone some seats feature speakers in them and those can be adjusted to a TV feed.
Another idea is to have dedicated rooms, where that room is just a one feed.

Indiana Lincoln licence plates

In honor of Abraham Lincoln's 200th anniversary of his birth Indiana released a new free licence plate this year.

It's the one I chose. I don't like the standard one, and there's absolutely no way I'd chose the In God We Trust one.

American Teen review

American Teen = A-
Pretty good movie in my opinion.
Roger Ebert's and James Berardinelli's reviews are pretty close to the way I feel about it. Berardellini's criticisms were right but harsher than mine. I think more than anything I liked it because it was shot in Warsaw, Ind.
Saw at Keystone Art Cinema on Friday, Aug. 22, 2008.

Vicky Cristina Barcelona review

Vicky Cristina Barcelona = B
Not nearly as good as I wanted to be, fairly disappointing. It's not one I could readily recommend to fellow movie fans, but I definitely could to Woody Allen fans. The dialogue, as in most Allen movies, is superb. That's easily the best part of it. Well that and Scarlett Johansson, Rebecca Hall, Penelope Cruz and Patricia Clarkson, who I fell in love with in Miracle. She's a great actress.
James Beradinelli was a bit harsh in his review, 2.5 stars. I agree more with Roger Ebert's review. He gave it three stars. I think both of their rating systems top out at four stars.
Saw it Thursday, Aug. 21, 2008.

Other movies to see:
Hamlet 2
Burn After Reading
Elegy
What Just Happened?

Bottle Shock review

Bottle Shock = A
What a great movie. It's funny, poignant and informative.
Definitely worth seeing, especially if one is a wine connoisseur.
Roger Ebert gave it 3.5 stars, and I generally agree with his critique of it. I would rate it higher though.
Rachael Taylor and Eliza Dushku are easy on the eyes as well, so that helps.
It was fun seeing the movie at Keystone Art Cinema while drinking a Mondavi Cabernet, and eating chocolate covered raisins. A surprisingly good combination.
Saw it Thursday, Aug. 21, 2008.

Delirium review

Delirium = A
It's hard to go wrong with a Cirque du Soleil production. According to the Wikipedia entry it's a remix and an amalgamation of previous Cirque productions.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars review

Star Wars: The Clone Wars = B-
If this wasn't a Star Wars movie it probably wouldn't be rated that high. The new female character is annoying, but not near as annoying as Jar Jar. In any case this rates higher than Episodes I and II, but it's still disappointing.
As a fan I still want to see Darth Vader kick ass. That's what I've wanted to see since 1983. I wanted to see how Anakin Skywalker became Vader, then destroy the Jedi. It still hasn't been shown. I read a book, but it was convoluted too.
The first two Episodes easily could've been condensed into one movie. The series would've been better for it. Keep Revenge of the Sith intact as Episode II. Then have Episode III as what I stated above. That's a better plan than what fans got.
Oh well.
Ebert and Berardinelli were merciless in their reviews of this movie. Good for them.

Movie posters I saw tonight:
The Women, yes the remake of the 1939 George Cukor moive.
Federal Prison
My Best Friend's Girl, starring Kate Hudson.

Savage Grace review

Savage Grace = B-
Well acted, but depressing and somewhat pointless. Now I think I should've just stayed home and watched the Olympics. However Julianne Moore, Elena Anaya and Mapi Galán were the eye candy in the movie. So they were nice.

Other movies to see maybe:
American Teen
Vicki Cristina Barcelona, saw Thursday, Aug. 12, 2008
My Last Mistress
Burn After Reading
Hamlet 2
Bottle Shock, saw saw Thursday, Aug. 12, 2008
Tell No One
Choke
The previews of each all look pretty good to me.

Olympic coverage on ESPN

So Monday night I'm at my favorite bar, and all three TVs were on an ESPN channel. So much for my latest boycott of the four-letter network. One show I was watching, not listening theTVs were muted, posed the question,  "Will you watch the Olympics?"

I highly doubt if the Olympics were on a Disney-owned network a question a question like this would be asked. This is a network on that chooses to hype its own talking heads or its supported sports than offer an objective view.

Microsoft-free desktops

Microsoft-free desktops is a good concept to me, and that's what ITWire is reporting.

IBM, three major Linux distributors and their hardware partners are teaming up to deliver "Microsoft-free" desktop PCs to the one billion unit worldwide market. The cost could be as little as half that of systems using Microsoft equivalents.
The move puts even more pressure on Microsoft, already under siege from competitors such as Apple, Google and Mozilla, which continue to erode its market share in strategic areas.

Less Microsoft in my life = good. I've said and written that before, but it bears repeating.

In 2006 I got a friend of mine to switch to Ubuntu. He's loved it ever since then. About a month ago a co-worker was complaining about his computer and how he'd need to re-install Windows. I told him about Ubuntu too. He installed it on his home desktop and has loved it too. He also installed Ubuntu on his grandmother's computer. She loves it too. What's that line about old dogs?

I turned other people on to Apple computers. A buddy of mine who's back in Iraq, still loves his MacBook, which he bought when we came home in 2006. I also influenced my sister's ex-boyfriend to buy a MacBook. My cousin has a MacBook Pro, and he loves that. Especially since I set up his Mighty Mouse to right click.
At work I still am forced to use Windows-based PCs, but that might be changing from what I'm hearing.

Also about a year ago was a report the U.S. Army would be adopting Macs to combat the inherent security flaws of Windows-based PCs - U.S. Army seeks to integrate Macs.

Following Internet attacks on the likes of the Pentagon -- and other members of the military-industrial complex, such as Boeing, Raytheon and Northrop Grumman -- the Army has been working to increase its defenses against hackers, and Macs are forming a portion of this because there are said to be far fewer exploits for Mac OS X than there are for Windows. Of the Army's approximately 700,000 desktops and servers, 20,000 are made by Apple.

I haven't seen more of that, but I hope it's true. It's hard for a big organization to change its course. So that might be another reason.

It's also hard for people to get out of the rut they're in. Generally people fear change.
There are many viable and better alternatives to a Windows-based machines - Just Say No to Microsoft. Or if readers prefer books over web sites.

Wackness review

Wackness = B
Saw it last night at Landmark. It's a good movie, well done, but it didn't really captivate me. The acting was good as was the story, even laughed out loud at times. It also depressed me at times, but that wouldn't have lowered my grade of the movie. When Luke's relationship starts to sour and then finally ends depressed me. Might have hit a bit too close to home.
Oliva Thirlby, a definite hottie, played his girlfriend Stephanie. She was also in Juno, which I must get around to seeing sometime.
Roger Ebert's and James Berardinelli's reviews.

Brideshead Revisited review

Brideshead Revisited = A

Very good and well acted movie. Having never read the book I didn't miss anything many critics did.

I saw the movie at the Keystone Art Cinema. It has some of the best popcorn in town. I couldn't resist even though I really should have regarding calories and cents. I don't know what it is, but it's like a compulsion to buy popcorn and a pop when seeing a movie at a theater.

Indianapolis

Indianapolis just might be the finest city in which I lived.
I love it here.

You had me

Just so you know, you had me.
I was ready for more, but your attitude and demeanor disgusted me.
So I left, when I could've stayed longer.