Category: General

I saw Dirty Pretty Things today. Oddly enough, I just saw Ameile last night. While Audrey Tautou is given top billing and is on the poster, she’s not really the focus of the film. Nonetheless, she’s great.

If you’ve seen Amelie, you might have a hard time envisioning her as anything other than Amelie (which is a testiment to how well she nailed that role). Dirty Pretty Things is in english and she’s plays a Turkish character. There is no hint of a French accent. She’s not Amelie, but there is still an intrinsic cuteness about her. Think Audrey Hepburn with an edge.

There are some overseas stars who have been able to make it big in Hollywood (Jackie Chan, Jean Reno, Jet Li) and I think she has big bucks written all over her.

The lead in the movie is Chiwetel Ejiofor, who plays a Nigeran doctor living illegally in London. He does a great job of playing a good man in not so good circumstances.

Overall, the movie is very very good.

I also saw SWAT on Friday. It was very so-so.

In sum: go see Dirty Pretty Things now. Wait for SWAT to appear on cable.

The Minnesota State Fair is one of the highlights of the year for me. I love the fair. I like looking at farm equipment, cows, and all the various booths hawking their products, politics and various cheap crap. At the fair, you can find fried twinkies, alligator on a stick, ostrich, elk burgers, corn on the cob, pickel dogs, and most every manner of ethnic food you can think of.

If you want diversity, then go to the fair. The State Fair has real diversity, not the warmed over facade they call diversity in college. At the fair, you will see Democrats and Republicans, farmers and city folk, union members, entrapreneuers and big businesses. Mensa has a booth, as do the boy scouts. You can talk to the Green Party and various church groups. You can hear pitchmen hawking knives, mops, rags, and of course, the Vita-Mix. There is a building for art and one for technology. You can hear live music everywhere.

When people talk about diversity, most people talk about “celebrating” and “valuing” it. However, if you look at the diversity that is walking around the fairgrounds, you can see the underside of it all. It appears that diversity has a big gut, lots of tatoos, and smells really bad when walking around in the sun for several hours.

There is no celebration of the diversity at the fair, because its just taken as a given. I suppose that’s the great part about it. If your not dwelling on it, your not shooting each other. I think most people aren’t really too interestsed in dwelling on the differences of those around them. They’re far too interested in riding on the midway rides, eating fried food on sticks, and watching bands that we’re past their prime 20 years ago.

For better and for worse, the fair is uniquely American.

Here are a handful of photos I took in Paris a few years ago. I got more I’ll put up later. I’m off to the Minnsota State Fair today.

I hope you like the way the site looks. Movable Type uses style sheets which are a real bitch to modify. I used one of their many premade style sheets and plugged it in. It’s nothing unique, but is an upgrade.

Items:

• I’ve started extemp practice already. Got a website up and running for the team. I think we are going to rock this year.
• I’m currently reading Nanocosm: Nanotechnology and the Big Changes Coming from the Inconceivably Small and just finished Prime Obsession: Bernhard Riemann & the Greatest Unsolved Problem. I wrote a big post on my thoughts on higher mathematics and math education, but lost it. I don’t feel like rewriting it all now.
• Hopefully, in the next few months we’ll have some big news at PVP. I’m being vague on purpose, but stay tuned.
• Something you probably haven’t heard about, but the FCC is considering adopting BPL (Broadband over power lines) in such a way that it would totally screw most HF radio bands. An excellent summary of what’s happening is here. BPL is a fine idea, but the way they want to implement will cause tons of headaches. (Disclosure: I have an amature radio license; KC0PED)
• Updated the DVD list. Added Adaptation, Amadeus: Directors Cut, and Old School.

That is all. Continue as you were.

Here are photos from when I went to Game 5 of the 2000 World Series at Shea Stadium where the Yankees won the series. I’m still playing with the photo capabilities of this, so I will be monkeying around with it a bit. I have a ton of photos to upload. Once I figure this out, I’ll upload a ton more.