There are some new pics of my nephew up on his website. One of them is of him grinning.
Movie Reviews
Movie Reviews
School of Rock
Jack Black is a good excuse to watch any bad movie, but this one is really pretty good. Jack Black says “ass” a lot, and one of the kids says “damn” once, but I think that was the only objectionable material…other than the whole philosophy of rebellion encased in Rock ‘n Roll, which the kids in the film never seem to get. One of coolest things about the movie, I thought, was that all but one of the main kids were musicians primarily, not actors. So when they play or sing, they’re really doing it. They apparently discovered the keyboardest off the radio show From the Top and taught him how to play rock music (well, I’m sure they just gave him sheet music). The DVD has commentary with Jack Black, of course, but we found that the commentary with just the kids was almost as funny as the movie itself. Good movie. You should watch it.
Shrek 2
It’s a keeper. It joins the ranks of The Empire Strikes Back and The Godfather Part II.
Trois Couleurs
This trilogy is some of my favorite film. Now that we’ve got the DVD player working in my computer, I’m making Berck watch them. My favorite is Bleu, the first one, but after my adulations, Berck didn’t seem impressed. So I told him that Blanc was screwed up, and he probably wouldn’t like it. So he liked it. We have Rouge left to watch, and I’ve been telling him that he won’t understand it at all. Maybe he’ll get it.
These are French movies by a Polish director, so anyone I can think of that reads this journal probably won’t like them. Sex plays an important role in all of them, so if you want to stay away from that…
I watched them for the first time many years ago, so it was fun to watch them again, remembering some of my favorite cinematographical moments and catch stuff I didn’t realize before.
The Job Search
I’ve got a huge list of things to do, but I can never remember them all when I have some time to do them. So I’ll post something.
The job search has got me down. Adecco (a staffing agency) called me last week right before we left for Richmond to say they had an opening I might be interested in. It pays about what I want, and it’s doing something that doesn’t sound hard. The only thing is that it’s for “a couple of months,” though the recruiter I talked to said the last time this particular company hired people to do this task, the project lasted two years. It’s temping, so there aren’t any benefits, but that’s okay.
But Adecco only processes and tests people Mon. thru Thurs. from 8 to 1. Which means I’d have to take off work to go jump through some hoops for a job that I may or may not get and which only may last for a couple of months. Berck doesn’t think I should ask for time off, though I wonder how much of his view comes from his experience with Adecco jerking him around when he worked for Verizon.
But will I ever get another job if I never take time off from the warehouse to interview and such? I don’t know.
I’m discouraged.
G-Mail invites
Anyone out there want g-mail invites? We have bunches between us now.
WTF??
This may be the weirdest thing I’ve happened upon in quite some time. The following is an excerpt from a recent Amazon.com spam that made it’s way into my inbox:
Dear Amazon.com Customer,
Is “Anna Karenina” one the best novels ever written? Decide for yourself by diving into Tolstoy’s classic tale of doomed love, newly anointed as the latest selection in Oprah’s Book Club. Set against the cultural landscape of 19th-century Russian high society, it’s the book Nabokov called “one of the greatest love stories in world literature.” You can order your copy of “Anna Karenina” at a savings of 40% by following the link below.
I’m not sure if Oprah just acquired taste, or what. What’s even even more baffling is the edition she’s chosen is the recent translation by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky who just might be the best translators of Russian Lit ever.