I feel somewhat betrayed that Kurt Vonnegut wrote another book, even one so slight as this. He knows that he is past it, unable or unwilling to do the work to put together something worthwhile. I loved his honesty about this. He knows that his public will snarfle up whatever he writes. Publishing anyway seems a kind of, what? False advertising? Exploitation? I don't begrudge him his writing, but I'd have more respect for him if he left it for the inevitable posthumous collection. Ah well. Enough irrationality. If any of you read it, let me know how it goes, and what tempted him out. I hope it was money, and not something as tawdry as politics. Just don't give it to me for Christmas.
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(5)
03:08:52 PM,
Monday 5 December 2005
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17 more wheels, and I'll have me a truck.
Rick Moranis novelty country tunes. They're good. Go listen.
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(8)
12:24:33 PM,
Sunday 4 December 2005
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After dragging poor Erika around Linens and Things, Bed Bath and Beyond, Crate and Barrel, Williams and Sonoma, and Sears I found this kettle at Macy's. It has a good level view, seems well made, and, best of all, emits a lovely ding when the water is done. I feel much safer now. A world without a kettle is a cold and hostile world.
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09:33:34 PM,
Friday 2 December 2005
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Ah, I haven't talked about the new Pride & Prejudice yet, have I? It's a spectacularly expensive film. None of the casting is terrible, except for one flaw: There isn't anyone funny involved. They have no idea it's a comedy. The camera-work is distractingly ambitious without contributing anything. Slow motion chickens? Also, it's a wigglebottomed camera. It can't sit still to save it's life. Terribly noisy film, sonically and visually. The dialog is almost all straight from the book. The fill-in dialog isn't nearly as bad as the Emma from a few years ago. But, Jane Austen dialog doesn't work in films, especially from the first 2 books. There's too much of it. It isn't a play: For the cast: I like Jane. She looked like Jane should. She wasn't nearly reserved enough. Mr Bingley was about the only decent gag in the movie, and as such, felt out of place. Lydia was fine; Lydia is easy. Mary and Kitty should have been left out. I liked Darcy. Which is to say, I didn't, but he got a couple important things right despite the script. I don't know whether to blame Donald Sutherland or the writers for Mr. Bennett. He was too sweet, somehow. His nastiness was too smiley. Also, they cut his best line, the line that brings that gives the whole Bennett family relationship it's pathos. Kept the speech, but no mention of his mistke in making an unequal marriage. By the end I was thinking of Ms. Knightley as the female equivalent of whathisname. Keanu Reeves. This is probably unfair, she has 2 facial expressions rather than 0. but similarly, I never saw the character, only the actor. This is the second movie to cast stunning space-aliens as Lizzie. (Rai in Bride & Prejudice) I don't understand this. There are plenty of warm-blooded actresses in the world, why cast reptiles? The characters were all incoherent. Mrs. Bennett wasn't funny at all, and Mr. Collins... missed, somehow. There was no attempt to bring out the juxtaposition between Mr. Darcy and Mr. Collins, so why include him at all? Much of it was like that: They left things in, without going through the effort to make them work. No understanding at all. Perhaps better than Mansfield Park and Emma; it's sins are more forgivable. I can imagine it would be a diverting piece of fluff for people who read romance novels. The letter nearly worked, despite their best efforts to sabotage it. However, the movie contributed so little.
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(1)
12:53:15 PM,
Friday 2 December 2005
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This keyboard is precisely what is distasteful about geeks. The fact that I want them is neither here nor there.
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(1)
10:51:34 AM,
Friday 2 December 2005
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I'd be vaguely unsettled if Stanley Williams is granted clemency. Taken in the best light, the reason he has been able to redeem himself to some degree is his influence and celebrity, which gave him ability to act on his remorse. Influence and celebrity should have no weight in matters of this kind.
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(2)
07:37:57 PM,
Thursday 1 December 2005
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I'm not entirely sure I need more stress in my life. I want a stressometer, so I could quantify it, estimate change in income / change in stress.
In other news, I still react irrationally when requested to produce a word document on a deadline.
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05:34:41 PM,
Thursday 1 December 2005
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Russian squirrels kill and devour dog. What would I do without the BBC?
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03:08:01 PM,
Thursday 1 December 2005
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Our Braun Electric Kettle has died. I'm not quite sure how old it is. Somewhere between 3 and 5 years old. It's developed a slow leak. It costs $50 dollars or so. There are lots of others: Bodum, Cuisinart (though theirs are stainless, which makes no sense to me; I don't want it conducting heat! though I am tempted by the one that looks like a kettle...) T-Fal, Toastess... Right. So, options. Get the same one again, I liked it, it's mid-range, price-wise. But it leaked. And it didn't click loudly enough. But how am I to find out which ones click loudly? I mean, I don't want a whistling electric kettle, that's daft. But I feel silly heating up the water for the 5th time. Some have a stay-warm feature, but I'd leave it on all night. The 'cordless' ones, with a base they plug into make sense, which eliminates the pretty Bodum one. The cheap Bodum one is practical enough, I suppose. Does anyone have it? How is the click? How is the handle? I want a click I can hear across the house.
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06:26:46 PM,
Wednesday 30 November 2005
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Yay razor pens! The current supply of pens has been upgraded to include these.
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01:25:17 PM,
Wednesday 30 November 2005
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This is Lucy, a standard poodle. She's 15 weeks old, and in dire need of her first haircut.
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(1)
09:08:43 PM,
Monday 28 November 2005
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09:07:06 PM,
Monday 28 November 2005
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site & script courtesy of Moss
