The End of an Era

In the past few days I had the chance to see the final Harry Potter movie... in 3D, no less.

The word bittersweet comes to mind when I think of the end in a series which I really enjoyed watching.

I hated Snape, wished I'd had a leader like Dumbledore, wanted Ron to be good at Quidditch, understood Hermione, and knew that no matter what, Harry would do the right thing for the right reasons.

Being a wizard (or witch in my case) would have been sooo convenient. There have been times in my life where I wish I could use the "Reparo" spell. Of course "Accio TV Remote" would have been cool, or there are so many times I could have used the "Point Spell" which would make a wand into a compass. These spells even worked their way into my everyday conversation. I remember once telling a friend to stop being mean or I would "... get all Avada Kedavra on their ass".

Not bad for a franchise that in the beginning I had poo poo'd.

When I first heard about Harry Potter it was the as "The Philosopher's Stone" came out. I worked in morning radio at an "adult contemporary" station (read women/moms 25-45). It was our job to know the pulse of our listener, and these ladies were talking about a movie their kids had been begging to see. A British flick about some teenager who goes to a school to learn magic.

OK, so how do we "own this" as the jock used to say? Well, we could have a look-alike contest on the opening night. Sure. Who's going to judge it? Um... none of us, we had NO idea what it was even about, let alone what the kid looked like. So we coupled with a local movie theater to give us a party room before the film, found a mom who seemed to know what she was talking about to judge the thing, got the theater to provide a prize package which we sweetened with some other stuff we had lying around. Alright, that's settled... now who should go? Crickets.

Let's send Snooker! Yes ladies and gentlemen, our high-priced talent would not be caught dead darkening such a scene... so they sent the producer who had actually put all the other stuff together, so surely she would be the best choice, right? Yeah, my job was pretty glamorous, haha.

The night of the movie premiere the place was swarming with kids. Out of all of them, there were about 20 who had been creative enough to enter the contest. Some had recycled Halloween vampire costumes and wore a scarf in what I later learned to be Gryffindor-colored stripes. Others had gone all out and found round glasses.

One kid - the winner it turned out - had actually used makeup to make a lightning-shaped scar on this forehead. It didn't matter that he was blond, the judge-mom said that was the best idea, so he was the winner. (I really wish that I still had the pictures I took at these events) The rest of the kids ended up getting tickets and a free popcorn from the theater, they all received radio station bumper stickers... 'cause EVERY kid NEEDS a bumper sticker, you know.

No, sadly I didn't watch the movie that night. I headed home after a super long day of work (morning radio starts before people wake up... ahem... dark thirty, so to speak). I came to regret that decision.

When the second movie came out, I allowed my curiosity to get the best of me and did a Dollar Theater visit. This was the Chamber of Secrets, and not a bad movie at all. OK, I said, I will catch up on the first one, and watch the others as they come out, which I did faithfully.

Once I made it to Germany in 2005 I found myself with lots of time on my hands which lead me to perusing my new wife's book shelf. She had purchased the first Harry Potter and gotten partway through it before coming to the conclusion that she doesn't really enjoy fantasy, and it had been gathering dust on the shelf ever since. I poured through it and hungered for more (like so many others before me). Not having much extra money, and seeing the waiting list after doing some research at the only English library in town, I realized that my options were limited.

I downloaded the 2nd book, yes illegally... no, I don't think JK Rowling will be hurt by it. Pre-Kindle days, books could be read on an Palm device, and I had a nice one. I had been reading Gutenberg-downloaded classics for a while, so it made sense to try. Google search brought me to a few places where I could download all HP books to date as .pdf and view them on my Palm, so that is what I did. One after the other, I read them. Carrying around my Palm and pulling it out whenever I had an extra three minutes... waiting for a train, standing in line, waiting for a movie to start, anywhere, anytime. I even read in bed, the backlight feature allowing me to read all night long if I wanted to, if my nose was cold I read under the covers... just like Harry. Well, I didn't have the cool wand and the "Lumos" spell, but it was a close second.

Of course these .pdf's were usually simply re-typed by some person with more time on their hands than typing talent, so there were errors, but that didn't matter to me. Then there was the time I started reading "The Order of the Phoenix" and quickly realized that the writing quality was nothing like the magic of J.K. Rowling. It turned out to be a work of fan fiction, written by someone with a love of Harry coupled with a creative mind. I eventually read it all because it was rather interesting. Harry developed a love of jogging, really got back at Dudley Dursley in an evil way, and eventually got into Hermine's pants. Whew... that was a wild ride, let me tell you!

Waiting for the last book was the hardest. A friend and I queued at the bookstore for the midnight release. I read the entire book in one weekend, laughed, cried, yelled in frustration, and generally had a lovely time. Poor Sweet No just kind of drifted in and out of my life that weekend, making fun of me as she passed the vacuum cleaner under my feet.

Not to introduce any spoilers, let's just say that the movies were great but the books were still better. Character development was fantastic and the stories felt so believable. J.K. Rowling is rolling in money, and I am happy for her.


I really WANT to find out that there REALLY IS a Hogwart's or something like it, even if I wasn't invited. Am I alone? What about visiting the Harry Potter Theme Park in Orlando? Would you spend your hard-earned money to visit the studio where much of the film series was made?

And what of JK Rowling? There is a 19 year gap to fill, as well as the possibility to write about what happens to the kids of the magical trio. Would she, could she, SHOULD she write more about the adventures of Harry Potter?

Bittersweet indeed. But our ride on the Hogwart's Express has been enjoyable.

I Got It!! I Got It...

Yup, another ride on the Random Tuesday Trolly. Keely the Un Mom has inspired me, maybe she can do the same to you. Oh, and her site got a redesign and even moved. Hmmm. That reminds me, I'm a bit tired of this blog's look and feel. Maybe I should give it a re-work... ... hmm... sounds like work. Maybe I won't worry about that right now and get down to the bullets.

• I have a nagging fear that everyone is out to make me paranoid.
• Over the weekend I watched 28 Days Later and 28 Weeks Later back to back directly before going to bed... the zombies chased me all through my dreams. Oh, and let me just say... if the blood FROM the zombie is going to turn YOU into a zombie... then maybe the killing method should not be a knife. I'm thinking that is WAY too close contact. Perhaps a gun... or machine gun.
• It's getting just a bit nippy to be riding to work on Mimi the scooter. Come on! It's just late August! I'm not ready for summer to be over yet!

Movies, movies... what to see? Some friends and I were planning to go see the new Angelina Jolie flick tonight, Salt. But we keep hearing that it is crap. Now we're considering Stallone's "The Expendables", about which reviewers have also thrown around the crap word. Something tells me that it will be a choice between bad action flick with vagina or bad action flick with testosterone.

Heck, Cats & Dogs and the A Team are playing tooo... maybe we'll be so drunk by the time the movie starts, we just won't care what we're watching.

(Imagine Snooker dancing around the office on Monday morning... singing to the tune of "You Did It" from My Fair Lady) Monday morning I got it! I got it! I got it! I asked Sweet No to get it! She said that she would do it, and indeed she did. I thought that it would be top heavy, but it isn't, and now I must admit, that it's really cool. WHAT IS IT you might ask? A coffee mug that looks very much like a Nikon camera lens. It's the little things.

Sweet No suffered all weekend with a bad bout of lumbago. I'd heard the word before, but had no idea what it was other than the lum- prefix which I think means back or lower back or something. She leaned over a desk at work for a few minutes and suddenly stood up
causing a nasty back pull. The German doctor mentioned the feared word, "Hexenschuss". It sounds a little sinister even if you don't know the translation. But literally it means "shot by a witch". Fun, eh? Love those Germans and their descriptive terms. She's doing OK now... Who am I fooling? She's as fit as a fiddle to begin with... 25 sit ups every morning, 25 push ups every evening, jogging 2-3 times a week. She's already back to 75%. I, however, would STILL be lying down at the doctor's office begging for a pain shot.

OK, that's enough of my babbling.

> Update... we went to see "The Expendables"... um, OK... but I could have lived without it. One of the girls said that she felt she was watching a video game that she wasn't allowed to join in and play. 

Random Tuesday Thoughts - Uninspired Edition

Due to lack of interest, I'm thinking about canceling this blog post. The lack of interest is mine, or maybe the lack of initiative is a better choice of words.

This is one of those days where I feel like doing nothing. Oh maybe I would be happy curled up in bed with a good book, (I'm reading one now - "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" by Stieg Larsson) but reading is the extent of my desire today.

OK, I will make a decidedly half-hearted attempt at a RTT.

Because of rain in the forecast I chose against riding Mimi (baby blue scooter and my summer joy) to work today. The really bad aspect of this is that the morning was beautiful, and now as of lunch, the day is still quite lovely with nary a cloud in sight. Geeze.

We are boxing up everything and packing it away. How on earth am I to decide which DVD's I am comfortable not having close to me for as much as two months? Books are easier, I just keep out the ones I haven't read yet.

On my desk under one of the monitors is a cute little Berliner Bear Sweet No painted for me. He puts a smile on my face every time. I'm not sure if it is the bear or the thought of No painting it, but the smile feels lovely.

I think I will take the last half of my lunch today to get out of this office. Maybe a nice walk with the camera will inspire me.

OH OH... and thinking about the camera. No and I have been agonizing over the idea of purchasing a super cool new digital single lens reflex camera (Nikon D90 for my camera geek friends). It is not TOO HORRIBLY priced (€800/$1,145) but with moving and a long October vacation in Tahiti/New Zealand as well as going to Texas for Christmas, we've decided to curtail unnecessary spending. Today No emailed me that a local electronics store is going to celebrate an anniversary and that "if they offer a good deal on your camera, maybe we should just take the opportunity to buy it". AHEM! I almost dropped the mouse.

Been surfing:
The Women’s Crusade - This article has really got me thinking about how good I have it. when compared with so many other women in the world. I'm going to look into the Microfinancing that Adam has spoken about in the past. It is about time to start giving back to my fellow woman. "In many poor countries, the greatest unexploited resource isn’t oil fields or veins of gold; it is the women and girls who aren’t educated and never become a major presence in the formal economy." The article is long and involved, but it has really started me thinking about how simple things can help to change the world.

That's about it for me. Head on over to Keely to see what she's up to. She's the one who started me on this whole Random Tuesday Thoughts thing.

Oh, and before I leave, I must shamelessly steal something from a friend/blogger Cliff from Regensblog.
For everyone out there who deals with computers and asks help from those of us "geeks".
For all of you geeks who are tired of being the king of the computers.

I offer to you the Tech Support Cheat Sheet!
(click the pic to embiggen)

Random Tuesday - Slightly Chauvinistic version

Yes lads and ladies, it's time for another round on the random wheel. It seems as though my life is all random these days, it's been a busy few weeks. But let's give this a go and see if the stuff rattling 'round in my head can make it out through my fingers without sounding toooooo crazy.

This year's holiday spot for the Snooker and No will be both Tahiti and New Zealand. We will meet a friend on Tahiti and spend a good bit of our time there underwater taking in the incredible sea life. This morning I had a COOL video link in my mail to give me an idea of what awaits us in the ultra-blue waters around the atoll Rangiroa... ahem, sharks... lots of sharks... and LARGE WAVES (yes, I know it is a bit silly of me to be a diver and yet get seasick in big waves, but that's JUST the way it is - stop laughing), and bottle nose dolphins, did I mention the sharks?

Oh, and other things that made my heart skip in the past week. I dragged took Sweet No to Beelitz-Heilstätten Sanatorium (official German website) which in the early 1900's was the largest hospital complex in Europe. The fun part... it has been abandoned for 19 years! You guessed it, creepy! Photos from a Flickr group.

How do you get into a boarded up and abandoned building? Well, you hope that some enterprising punks have been there before you and have "paved" the way. Usually a window or a door has been broken or pried away from the building allowing access. In the case of this building we managed to get into a cellar window.

May I just tell you that falling into who knows what in the dark, with little or no ambient light, and having forgotten an important urban exploration tool (flashlight), we were treated with quite a heart pounder. Sweet No and I were walking blindly around the huge basement of a rotting corpse of a building trying to find a safe set of stairs leading upward with nothing but our cameras as a light source. (note, if you are ever in a similar dark situation, press your camera's "take picture" button down halfway - this throws out a quite bright light which is supposed to check for focus. COOL and in this case, a life saver)

The rotating gif is me not so gracefully climbing out of one such window. And no, my jeans were not green... by this time of the day however they were quite dusty and still very blue. Gifs just suck that way.

We spent over two hours investigating just ONE BUILDING out of 60! Yes, it was illegal, yes it was like something out of a horror movie, yes we got dirty and dusty, (and the Monk side of No came out BIG TIME!) yes I filled up a 2GB memory card with photos which by and large remain unedited, yes I will post more of them Flickr, yes I will blog more about the entire experience, and YES it was FUN! I'm digging this urban exploration thing and will do it again.

I'm reading a book by R.J. Ellory named "A Simple Act of Violence" which is a crime-thriller wrapped around a secret program of the C.I.A. where trained killers are sent out to eradicate enemies, heads of state, up & coming people of power, and whoever else they deem necessary. The story itself goes back to Nicaragua and the Manuel Norriega scandal - Contras, drugs and Oliver North. How fracking interesting to see this crap popping into the news cycle all revolving around Puppetmaster Dick Cheney and his secret group of trained C.I.A. killers and how it was all kept on the lowdown by Tricky Dick II.

Sidenote... This book is excellent. I think I'm in love with this R.J. Ellory guy. The first book I read was "A Quiet Belief in Angels" which I think I sailed through in about 3 days - all of that while working and having a life.... I'm not sure I slept during that time.

Speaking of books that I inhaled... Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is coming out at the theaters this week!!! Whoo Hooo! Yes, I'm a total spaz. (see how easily I revert back to the 80's?) Yes, I already have my tickets. And YES I plan to see it more than once. Duh!

Prepare... I'm going to mention the King of Pop. For those wanting out, just skip to the next paragraph. OK, for those two still reading... We all know that Michael Jackson spent the last part of his life trying to keep the faces and lives of his children out of the media. Has anybody given it a second thought that over his dead body the kids were trotted out onto the stage at his memorial service... by his loving family? Isn't it interesting to find out that Prince (who names their kid that, come ON) and Paris are not biologically his?

On to other things which are happening this week which excite me yet probably don't do anything for anyone else... Berlin is getting its first HOOTERS! Yes, I know it is basically a shitty American restaurant known for its mega-breasted waitresses in orange spandex and required to wear hose no matter how hot it is. Yes, I know that it is a step backward on the evolutionary scale for womankind as a whole. But do you know that they have the best wings in this world?

OK, now it is official... I can stay in Berlin the rest of my life. No longer do I have to fill the refrigerators of my family with delectable hot wings every time I go back to visit the States... No longer do I have to explain my strange love of ranch dressing (not available in Germany) to my family. Now I can have my (10 hot and 10 three mile island, thank you) wings in the privacy of my own home! Whoo hooo! Don't hate me because of my love of GOOD WINGS!

In slightly related news: brothels (totally legal) in Germany are being hard hit by the crappy world-wide economy. As a promotion stunt, a Berlin brothel owner is offering a discount to anyone arriving by bicycle. What a riot!

Is anyone else worried that the U.S. Budget gap has now topped $1 trillion?

Speaking of lots of money going into the air... The Pyromusikale kept the skies close to my home quite bright and LOUD this past weekend. I live very close to the Airport Tempelhof which was the staging point for the HUGE fireworks competition.

Really it kind of snuck up on us. We had forgotten that it was even going to happen... that is until around 10.00 pm on Thursday night when two of the largest explosions I've ever heard rattled our windows and caused things to move about in our living room prompting the following stimulating conversation: Snooker to No, "Whoa, what was that?" No to Snooker, "I have no idea but it was LOUD!". These booms were followed shortly by the telltale signs of further fireworks, thus bringing us to the conclusion that there were no buildings being bombed (Berliners are a little skittish that way) and we were going to be treated to some lovely noises for a few minutes. HA! That night it went on 40 minutes. Not bad if you are outside enjoying them, (can't see them from our balcony or windows on the other side, too many trees and our building is facing the wrong way) but if you are trying to sleep on a work night, um... not so nice.

The next night was even longer, I think it lasted over an hour, but this competitor wasn't using the BIG boomers, just the normal ones. Finally on Saturday night I managed to be at home and have some time, so my FIL and I walked to the nearest vantage point (of course I got pictures, just no really nice ones) and enjoyed an hour of world-class fireworks. Next year, I will pay the 25 Euro entrance fee and be on the field for this festival of fireworks and music!

OK, so there ya have it. Head on over to the UnMom for her take on the Random Tuesday Madness and see how she manages time travel... No Doubt.

The New Star Trek Movie

People are beginning to ask more and more frequently what I thought of the new Star Trek movie I saw at the premiere in London almost three weeks ago. I suppose it is reasonable to put it down here.

You are hereby warned that I will do my best to not give away the whole thing, and I will not give away major story points. But little quirks which I found pleasing are possibly going to make it into the next paragraphs. If you wish to enter the movie with no preconceptions, read no further until you've seen the movie.

I will start my comments by saying that in my eyes this is the best prequel ever, bar none. As a concept the movie itself is genius. The entire setting is an alternate, parallel universe in which the screenwriters and director are now free to do what they want and play around at will without upsetting the fanboys too terribly. Kirk and Spock meet each other in a completely different way than we learned about years ago while watching the episodes (historical documents - Galaxy Quest reference, thank you). Spock can even have a steamy affair with ... well, I won't give that away... but let's just say it's about time.

The cool thing is that this works. The characters are forging friendships and camaraderie under fire as people we know and love and have been becoming reacquainted with along the way are facing a Romulan threat. The bad guy wants to destroy Federation planets one by one, and he has technology from the future to do it.

The editing, cinematography, and special effects work are state-of-the-art, as you'd expect. The screenplay was obviously written by Trek lovers paying homage to so many of the things we loved about the original Trek.

Yes, we get to see extra, unimportant characters added into an "away" mission only to have them bite it to show that the situation is serious. Yes, we get to hear the "Ah'm givin' it all she's goot, Cap'n," and "Dammit, man, I'm a doctor, not a physicist". Yes, we get references to story lines of the past, the Kobiyashi Maru and Kirk's creative way of passing the test comes out with a different perspective and gives us a chance to see some interesting character development between Kirk and Spock.

The characters we know and love are all here. There are plenty of fantastic performances in this movie. Chris Pine fits very well into my estimation of a young Kirk, Zachery Quinto is a sullen and kind of sad Spock, but Karl Urban is the REAL McCoy! He's taken the performance and vocal quality of DeForest Kelley and made it his own. For me, his scenes were some of the best parts of the movie. I hope that we will see more of him in the future.

One thing I must say simply and clearly... I am... very happy... that Chris Pine decides... NOT... to try to replicate... William Shatner's stupid way of delivering lines. BUT, he does make out with a sexy green alien (would we expect any less?), and he does sling himself into the Captain's chair with the same macho "I'm the king of the world" attitude.

Two events hit me on an emotional basis. The first one was two-thirds of the way through. The camera pans back on the bridge and I suddenly realized with a start that all of the major players are here: a young energized Kirk is here, emotionally stunted Spock, Uhura (played wonderfully by Zoe Saldana - a young lady I first saw in "The Terminal" and hoped she would go on to bigger and better things), Sulu, Bones, Checkov and of course a funnier and much cooler Scotty. All the old favorites are standing up there, fresh and reborn... and I sighed deeply. The next event was the appearance of an older, wiser, and certainly more frail Spock played by (of course) Leonard Nimoy. Ahh... All is right with the world. The continuity is explained and the family reunion with my favorite ST character is complete. Strangely the moment was more emotional for me than I would have thought.

As it was for me in other ST movies, the bad guy and the "threat" are almost insignificant. I am here to visit with old friends, characters I've grown up with, and no matter how scary the situation may look for my old buddies, I know that they will make it through alright... they have to. Paramount most certainly has plans for another movie down the road.

Is the movie perfect? No. The final battle seems like it was cut from a Star Wars movie... a later Star Wars movie. Character, not plot is the strong suit here (but then I and thousands of other Trekkies would have it no other way) and I assume that for it to stand 100% on its own for non Trek lovers, it needs to have a slightly stronger plot. What it did do perfectly was play on the emotions of fans, giving us a family reunion of sorts, a reunion that spans across decades, even generations. Forty years of popular culture come to play in this hard reboot of a franchise... and unlike most other such refurbishments, this one reminds us what we loved about these people in the first place.

Do you have to be a Trekkie to enjoy the movie? Not at all. This is a perfectly good stand-alone movie for all action movie lovers, and especially the sci-fi freaks like me.

Now I want to know when J.J. Abrams and crew will do the same for Next Generation?!

I've uploaded some of my pics from the trip to London.

Do Re Mi!!!!!!!

I absolutely LOVE IT!!!
Shamelessly stolen from Christina at AmiExpat.
More than 200 dancers were performing their version of "Do Re Mi", in the Central Station of Antwerp." All they needed was Julie!
Maybe you should go see it larger, visit YouTube.

Trekkie Heaven!

For those that either haven’t heard or aren’t paying attention, (or simply aren't geeks) the newest installment in the Star Trek movie franchise, directed by mindfuck-expert JJ Abrams is set to premiere in theaters in early May of 2009.

The movie, simply titled Star Trek, is taking things back to the very beginning and will be a chronicle of the early days of Captain Kirk, Mr. Spock, and the rest of the crew of the Enterprise. Nothing like going back in time, eh?

I will admit it here... Watching the trailers gives me goosebumps. Yes, I am THAT much of a geek.

Just days ago That Queer Expatriate, Adam let me know that he will join me and Cliff and Sarah better known on the Interwebs as The Regensbloggers in a pilgrimage in May to see the movie in original version and on the best screen with the best sound system we can find.

Imagine my excitement today when this SKYPE message from a colleague of mine pops up on my screen.

Bitterman says: would you describe or categorize yourself as a trekkie or sort of?

Heh, heh, heh... he had me at "describe".

Snooker says: of course!!!
Bitterman says: well, ...
Bitterman says: how should I put it, I just purchased two tickets for the Royal Charity Premiere for the new Trek Movie in London Leicester Square for April 20th... WEEKS before the global release May 6-8
Snooker says: OMG!
Bitterman says: and I don't really know who would accompany me
Bitterman says: interested?

Is he kidding? At this point I'm happier than a tornado in a trailer park!
We talked about money, and transport, and about how My Sweet No will be in Egypt anyway, and how it was really looking like I could actually DO this. But wait, these things are usually black tie affairs. What on Earth am I going to wear? It seems that he already has his suit:

Bitterman says: two things to keep in mind:
I'll wear my uniform (for the uninitiated, he is talking about a crew uniform - yes, from the shows... I don't know if I should be jealous or freaked out) and don't take any luggage with me and I want to take a flight back on Tue 21st so we would have to spend the night at the bars.

Heh, heh... all night... in bars in London... drinking and well, you know... drinking some more... with my buddy in a Star Trek Next Generation uniform. This will be something to tell my ... hm, ok... so no grandchildren... This will be something to blog about!

Whar's Snooker been?

Hey world...
Yeah, it's me. My last post was 5 Feb, and it was really just a video... not exactly a true blog entry, eh?
Rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated... (shameless Twaining)

Well shoot, I've been busy. Starting at most recent events ... I've had a nasty cold now for close to a week. Tonight we checked out a Dirk Bleyer presentation on his travels to New Zealand. Quite wonderful! Last weekend we went to Warnemünde on the Baltic Sea for a traditional "German Wellness Weekend" (don't get me started on that "wellness" thing). We saw TINA and Annette Louisan in concert... no, not the same night, and let me tell you, not even on the same level. But both were enjoyable. My dear Sweet No was dragged out for the winter edition of the Lange Nacht der Museen, and she even lived through it.

It was my pleasure to enjoy six movies during this year's Berlinale (the largest publicly-attended film festival in the world) held right here in Berlin. My favorite, "The Yes Men Fix the World" ... and the winner for 80 minutes of wasted time in my life that I'll never get back goes to "Absolute Evil". Outside of the festival, it was my pleasure to also catch the movie "Doubt" with Merryl Streep and Seymour Hoffman. Although it wasn't the best movie I've ever seen, I did find myself thinking about it over and over in the week following. To me, this is a sign of a great movie.

Oh my! Having a cold has given me enough time to watch the entire 5th season of The L-Word. There is nothing like watching a group of hot, well-dressed straight women playing rich L.A. lesbians to put a short term smile on my face... even if it is just for the irony factor.

Within the past week I had the chance to meet up with Adam, That Queer Expatriate for an enjoyable few hours. It must be said that neither one of us was up to par, but we did have a nice conversation. Poor Adam was rather jetlagged and sleep deprived, and I was nursing a crappy cold. We met up in an area of Berlin which is often described as a "gay neighborhood". Funny thing that... I rarely get to Schöneberg, even though I really enjoy the vibe of the area.

Ugh, there is nothing so miserable as a cold that just won't go away. I've been sleeping on the couch the last week. The reason is about 50/50... half that I know I snore horribly when I have a cold and wish to spare Sweet No the irritation. The other half is that when I lay down I feel the overwhelming sensation that I will drown in my own fluids. It is even worse when I realize that most of my colds actually stem out of an allergy problem. So each night I fall asleep in an upward sitting position... it is not something I suggest for people wanting a good night's sleep or those without a healthy dose of Nyquil or a good equivalent.

Speaking of allergies... man, another reason I love the German medical system. Sweet No took a paper from my doctor outlining the fact that I have allergies to dust and the mites that live in beds and bedding and sent it to our insurance company. She asked if they would pay the cost for special casings for the mattresses, pillows and blankets. We immediately got a letter back with the news that they would actually pay the great majority of the cost and even included samples and information packets so we could pick which ones we want. Whoa! They're on the bed now... let's hope that they help me in the future... it is hard to judge when one has a cold already.

This is my first time playing with our new Geek Toy... we bought an ASUS Eee PC which is a NetBook... um, a little itty bitty laptop. The keyboard is 80% of regular size, but the shift keys are badly placed making capital letters a pain. Otherwise it is an interesting experience. We bought it to take places we wouldn't want to take a full laptop, yet we still want e-mail access. Does this make us geeks or what?

Thinking about things which are geek-like, I see that the moist boys J and Cliff have been busy thinking about the Whiney Expat Bloggers Meet-Up... or WE-BUM as Ian has coined it... Sign up here to vote on a location (cough BERLIN) and get your calendars out for a good time figuring out when to have the famously moist get-together.

In another not so interesting fact, I took over a thousand pictures since the first week in January, and managed to find and edit about ten quality images and upload them to Flickr. Here are a few from last weekend.

OK, enough of that mindless whiny babbling.
Back to your regular surfing...

The Final Frontier returns

Is ANYBODY else as excited about this as I am?

"Space is disease and danger, utter darkness and silence... buckle up."

Check out the trailer here.

Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down

Wow, I'm finally seeing an end to this stupid health problem. A simple cold morphs into a sinus infection which then morphs into an eye infection. This is something I would rather not repeat.

I've learned some things while being sequestered in the apartment:

• The new neighbors with three kids (about 6-10 years old) have a discipline problem. One of them really enjoys screaming at her parents for about four minutes then running into her room and slamming her door. Lovely. It wouldn't be so bad if she didn't do this about six times a day. Once she even performed her little drama at 3am!
• I have enough DVD movies that if I wanted to stay at home for 4 weeks with a movie running during all waking hours, I wouldn't have to watch any of them twice.
  
• Laptops are lovely, but they suck to edit pictures.
• My cat really enjoys it when I pull out the sofabed and live on it. He then does his best to live on top of me.
• We live quite close to Tempelhof Airport. The final days before it closed there were many OLD planes offering rides. Let's just say that it was pretty noisy. BUT, the silence we hear now is almost bothersome. Really I didn't care either way ... keep it open, or close it... but it still is a shame to see such a part of history just disapear.
  
• My local Kaiser's grocery store was closed for remodeling when I got sick. It SUCKS to have a cold yet need to take a bus to go get "sicky food". So I had to make due with what was already in the cabinets or what I could have delivered... at least until N. could make it to a grocery store for me.
  
• When looking for serious spicy/hot foods (to aid icky nasal stuff movement) in Germany, most people are SOL. I however, found out that the local pizza place delivers hot wings which are actually fairly hot! Yea! They just needed some Tabasco and off we went!
• German doctors are more than happy to keep you away from work if they believe that you need rest and relaxation time.
  
• German friends keep telling me that when I get a little more healthy I must take a three day weekend and go visit a "wellness hotel" for true recuperation.
• Pharmacies in Germany really are a racket. They charge at least twice as much than American pharmacies for prescription only goods, and three to four times as much for simple over the counter items. You'll have trouble finding a bottle of Ibuprofen with more than 100 tablets. IF you do, it will cost four times what it would in the States. Most drugs are actually behind the counter. The customer must describe and discuss their symptoms with the pharmacist. When asking directly for an item, odds are you will be asked for your symptoms anyway.
• Election coverage on CNN International and BBC International gets boring after about 30 minutes. I'm just hoping that the election comes out as predicted.
  

Speaking of the election...
For your viewing pleasure:
SNL with John McCain and Tina Fey as Palin on QVC hawking campaign-related goods while getting their message out.
I particularly like the part where Palin says, "Available now, we got a bunch of these 'Palin in 2012' T-shirts. Just try and wait until after Tuesday to wear 'em, OK? Because I'm not goin' anywhere. And I'm certainly not goin' back to Alaska. If I'm not goin' to the White House, I'm either runnin' in four years or I'm gonna be a white Oprah so, you know, I'm good either way."

Ramblings for a Friday

So I'm pulling some stuff out of the trash can. Yup, I've been meaning to write about it, and dammit, I just need to do it.

In the words of Diane from Martinis for Two, "What I didn't blog about this week" although mine is going to be more like two or three weeks.

Waaaay back in the 2nd week of October I was lucky enough to meet Christina G. of Amiexpat along with a few Berlin Expats, most of them bloggers.

I managed to meet a Berlin blogger I didn't even know existed (sorry Ben, but hey, I've been enjoying back issues of your blog quite a bit). Yelli of 50% of my DNA and G. in Berlin showed up and another Berliner friend of Christine braved the group as well.

Christine was one of the few bloggers I've met face to face who is exactly what I had imagined. I suppose that it says a lot about her openness on her blog.

About the same time this was happening, I was experiencing a nasty situation with my neck. It suddenly got very tight and hard to move. Sometimes I could even hear it grinding as I moved. Yoga didn't seem to help it, concentrating on stretching and relaxing periodically throughout the day had no effect, after five days it was time to do something about it.

I bit down hard and went to my chiropractor, Anne Rampacher. Anyone looking for an English-speaking chiropractor in Berlin... I heartily recommend Dr. Rampacher. Nope, I get no discount for this review.

What I also don't get is the German resistance to the chiropractic arts. Not long after my arrival in Germany I had some nasty back problems (I bet it was the rock-hard German standard bed... I know you're feeling me on this Yelli). My general practitioner gave me a prescription for six sessions with a physical therapist for red light therapy and massages. SIX 1/2 hour SESSIONS.

Upon my suggestion that I would find a chiropractor and see what they would think, my doctor laughed. She said that I would have trouble FINDING a chiropractor in Germany, and that besides, they couldn't help me anyway. When pushed, she explained that my problems were muscular, not skeletal. OK, so no chiro.

Twelve red light therapy/massage treatments later it still was not gone. The next step up, water treatment... OH HONEY! Immersed in a bath of WARM water, nice lady using a hose to hit my pressure points... then drying me off and wrapping me up in a sheet and wool blanket to lie down relaxing for ten minutes. OK BABY, this works! And it did!

OK, so I'm rambling... sue me.

Two years later I am perusing my latest ExBerliner mag and I come across a real, live chiropractor begging for English-speaking patients. She's German but went off to England to train. Eventually she's come back to try to make a living and instruct her countrymen in the joys of chiropractic care. Love her, go see her!

It took two sessions and two weeks, but my neck is back to rights. It seems that sitting at my desk all day long is simply not good for my body. Can you believe it?

In this time period N. and I did a little entertaining and I made a friend who might just turn into a real movie buddy. We are both movie freaks, we both enjoy the same types of flicks, we are both in a relationship with no kids or other things to tie up our possible meeting times, it is like a match made in heaven... except... She has trouble understanding movies in English , and I have trouble understanding movies in German. Hmmm. Dammit! Well, we're going to try it anyway. I'm sure that it will help my German skills.

I've been to see two movies recently: "Wanted" and "Burn After Reading". They were both OK for a mindless movie if you know what I mean. Wanted had this weird story premise which blew the whole thing for me, I just couldn't go there, so it lost some of its original interest for me. Burn was a cute film with interesting actors doing one dumb-shit thing after another. I agree with Cliff, it just wasn't as funny as Fargo. Maybe for me it is the Shrek phenomenon. A movie comes out with an interesting premise, does a good job of making it fun and engaging, and I like it. Then the sequel comes out. The premise is still cute and it is still a bit excititing because it still has the feel of the original. Then Shrek the Third comes out and eh, who cares.

A while ago I bought WAY TOO MANY DVD'S, just because they were on sale, and slowly I've been going through them. "Breakfast at Tiffany's" is just one of those movies I've heard about all my life, but had never seen. At 4.59, it was too good to pass up. The movie itself was very nice. I just love Hepburn and could watch her all day long without tiring of her airy way of talking. Next up was "The Children's Hour". I've known about this movie most of my life, but from a different group of people. The interesting thing... they both star Hepburn.

"The Children's Hour" was one of those (insert whisper here) lesbian (ok, back to regular tones) movies. This version was made in the 60's (b&w ladies and gentlemen), extremely controversial, and was WAY ahead of its time. Two ladies running a bording school are accused of being lesbians by one of the idiotic little brats. The sad thing is that one of them actually did have these feelings, so there was an ounce of truth in the lie. BUT, they had never acted on it... so they lost EVERYTHING for NOTHING.

It also had to end like all lesbian stories at the time... either the lesbian had to die, or she had to end up with a guy. The original stage play, written by Lillian Hellman, and this movie both took the former way out although by different methods. This rather good movie had Hepburn, Shirley MacLaine, and James Garner showing their fabulous stuff. Like most movies of its time I felt that the emotion was WAY over-acted, but hey, the transition from stage to screen really was hard at that time.

Last weekend, the Heidelbergerin and her American buddies, Michael and Jason came storming into town. G. in Berlin (yup, the same G. from above... she's at all of these things, have you noticed? :) made it a five some (well, N. joined later... is that a six some?) and we enjoyed touring Berlin a bit, she blogged about it, so I'll take the easy way out and say go over there for more info, but so far, the Heidelbergerin is strangely AWOL. I suppose that she is still recovering.

Oh the poor ladybugs. I can't help but feel sorry for them at this time of year. They are crawling all over my apartment, especially around the open windows. Of course I understand that they are simply looking for somewhere warm as the weather turns cool. But could my apartment really be the most reasonable place in the world for a lady bug to hide from inclement weather? I never know what to do with them. Do I put them back outside to what might be their death? Do I leave them alone to walk all over my bathroom walls, leaving little lady bug foot paths when I've steamed up the room? Do I put them in one of my houseplants and hope that they are able to fend for themselves? Someone please help me.

OK, just one more thing... and then I'm outta here.
WTF is it with the Christmas Party invitations already?
PEOPLE?!!? How organized can you be?
It isn't even Halloween yet! How CAN you be thinking of Christmas?

Been reading:

• Space Tourist, Station Cosmonauts Land Safely - DAMN, I'm so jealous!
• Greenspan Concedes Error on Regulation - Really? You're kidding? The markets didn't just regulate themselves? I can't believe it!
• Dare We Stand Up for Muslim Women? - This absolutely sickens me.
• We Must Pass the Constitutional Amendment to Ban Gay Marriage - I just love Elayne Boosler
  

Been watching:
Will Ferrell is back to play Bush alongside Fey's Palin.
"I like to think that I'm one part practice folksy, one part sassy, and a little dash of high school bitchy".

Let's do the Time Warp AGAIN... LIVE!

OK, OK! So I heartily admit that through my senior year in high school and years afterward I was one of the screaming minions in the weekly habit of standing in front of a movie screen chanting "Lips, lips, we want lips".

Rocky Horror Picture Show was an eye-opening experience for this young dyke... and I loved it! All around were people very much like me who didn't really fit into society's idea of normal... and they didn't care, just like me! We had a great band of players and costumers who dedicated hours to "getting it right" and just having fun doing it.

There were pre-movie toasts to the uninitiated "VIRGINS", and in our theatre we had a guy who would do "Spiderman on Acid" before the show. (Basically he would run from one side of the theatre to the other as fast as he could and try to jump on the opposite wall... always landing with a splat and then falling to the floor while scraping his fingernails.) Oh well, we were a diverse group.

The "Rocky Horror Picture show," starring Tim Curry, Susan Sarandon, Barry Bostwick and Meatloaf, has grossed $140 million in domestic box office over the years, mostly from the pockets of youthful audience members who have shown up for midnight screenings over the past three decades.

When I first started attending the audience "par-tis-i-pation" experience, the theatre allowed us to throw toast, rice, toilet paper and newspapers at will as long as we cleaned it up before leaving. Unfortunately a management change caused some problems in my senior year. They didn't like the idea of the show and almost canceled it. After much negotiation they continued to play it but with the proviso that we wouldn't do things like throw stuff or use water guns. Dammit.

On the weekend of my senior prom I had rented a tux complete with purple cummerbund and bow tie of course... so why not use it the second night to go to Rocky! After my graduation a group of my "outside of school" friends gave me a party to celebrate, complete with cap and gown, right before the showing of Rocky. One of my favorite things to do after the show was to fill the back end of my truck with friends and go skinny-dipping at a lake in Towanda, Kansas of all places. My gosh, I wonder why we never got caught.

When I made a new friend, I took them to Rocky to try to figure out if they were "cool" or not. One co-worker actually freaked out and never really talked with me again... ok, she was uncool. I didn't care if they preferred not to memorize long lists of script and sub-text script... I just wanted to see if they were open-minded enough to not freak when seeing a man in heels, corset, and torn up fishnets singing about giving yourself over to absolute pleasure.

Not long after moving to Berlin in 2005 I began to see posters advertising the LIVE Rocky Horror Show. OMG! I HAD to be there! I told N. and her parents that I would like to see it and soon it was a family affair. M&FIL bought us tickets (thanks folks) and the day approached when we would get to see Frank n Furter and crew.

When we arrived at the venue I was a bit disappointed, no one had dressed up. Oh well. I had brought some toilet paper and a water gun just in case my fellow audience members decided to par-tis-i-pate as others have done around the world for decades. Much to my delight, as each person walked into the seating area they received a special "packet"! It had TP, a water gun (whoops, no water... what?) a few pages of Bild, and a firecracker "popper" thing which would explode with bits of paper at the appropriate party moment. All of this came with an information sheet which explained when to use the items... COOL!

I was completely blown away when I discovered that our seats were in the BACK ROW! Um... OK, so being far away from the action is one thing, but in Rocky Horror Picture Show there is a call-back shout during the song "Science Fiction Double Feature". ("Where's the best place to fuck?" "In the back row..." "FUCK THE BACK ROW!!") In over 200 viewings of RH, I NEVER sat in the back row... it just wasn't done!

Although my Parents in Law are pretty cool, I'm afraid they might not have passed my high school coolness qualification. They remained quiet and reserved throughout the show, something I've since learned is very much a German trait. They only joined in the clapping with the music when the rest of the crowd was in hysterics. When I handed him the toilet paper to throw, FIL threw the entire roll instead of holding onto the trailing end... and of course it hit an unsuspecting guy in the back of the head. Well, at least there was no trail leading back to FIL.

But then it was within months of their only daughter not only coming out as gay, but also marrying that crazy American. Long story, they didn't know ANYTHING until about five days before our wedding date. This was after six years of "friendship". They were treating me very nicely by buying us tickets to this wild show, and they even managed to have large smiles on their face at the pause. Maybe they had already passed the "cool test" eh?

My Sweet N. has let me know that she is simply not excited about seeing Rocky live on stage again... but of course I'm ready to go buy tickets today. Would anyone else like to go with me?

Don't dream it, be it.

The Neo-maxie-zoom-dweebies at MTV have decided to remake the Rocky Horror Picture Show. It simply seems like an act of stupidity. The first one sucked as far as the movie experience goes... why on earth would you try to remake it?... Money I suppose.

Movie Time - Iron Man

I keep forgetting to talk about this great movie. Iron Man (website).
(possible spoilers)

This Movie Rocks.

Not only is it wonderful to see Robert Downey Jr. back on screen and working, it is great to have a superhero movie made with CGI that doesn't LOOK like CGI. The last few Spidey movies have been just a bit too much for me. I'm not alone believing that this sci-fi flick was even better because the actor actually upstages the magnificent special effects.

Downey was a great choice to act this character, he has the devil may care attitude needed to portray rich guy turned super hero with a conscience. I guess I've had a thing for Robert since "Chances Are" with Cybill Shepherd.

Jeff Bridges bald... who would have thought it... but it works... really works. Unfortunately I knew that his character would end up being Iron Man's nemesis from the first time I saw him... but the playing out of the events was worth it.

May I add that Gwyneth Paltrow gave a fine performance as the assistant with all of the answers. Truthfully I could have done without the romance arc for her character. She would have remained more powerful to me without succumbing to Downey's charms. Gwyneth has been on my "list of those to watch" since she was in forgettable but visually stunning "Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow".



My big disappointment... the title song. The trailers were full of what can possibly be one of the most famous heavy metal guitar riffs of all time... Black Sabbath's "Iron Man". Where was it in the movie? Come on! I wanted the hero to be flying through the night sky with "I am Iron Man" playing in the background. I know that Ozzy's lyrics didn't quite melt with the theme of the movie, but something could have been done. OK, I know that it got a bit of treatment at the end... actually the credits if I remember right, but come on!!!

OH, and hey!! I liked the usage of AC/DC's "Back in Black"! Good job boys!

See this one... It is two hours of lovely fun!

The Red Baron

This past weekend we popped out to the movies and caught the latest German flick, The Red Baron (Der Rote Baron). It is the story Manfred von Richthofen who is credited with shooting down 80 British, Canadian and Australian pilots during World War I.

It's a bit strange to see a German "war hero" on the screen. Usually German soldiers are portrayed as heel-clicking fanatics or disillusioned soldiers under the Nazi system. The Germans don't seem to be taking to it either. The Red Baron is much more famous OUTSIDE of Germany than within. When the show opened on the Red Carpet in Berlin there were hardly any onlookers to witness the event.

I suppose that most of Germany was rather shell-shocked after the wars and embraced pacifism to the point of turning away from everything military, even the few heroes they had. Or perhaps they realized that von Richthofen was just another spoke in the propaganda wheel and turned away from him for that reason.

Either way to me it seems the Germans aren't interested in the movie so much. When I told several people that we were going to see the movie one of them remarked about how one of the streets in Berlin is named after him "or something", and the other said that she really doesn't like military movies. We went to the movie at a multiplex and viewed it in a theater which could have seated at least 150 people... there were about 25 watching... and this was on opening weekend.

For the sake of the private investors I hope it does better in other parts of the world. It seems they were considering this when the decision was made to have the movie filmed in English. Of course this opens it up for a wider audience, and my suspicion is that they understood the draw from a German audience wouldn't be very good.

Although the movie was filmed in English it was a fact I didn't know until about two hours before we saw the movie. N. and I have amassed quite a supply of movie house gift certificates, and some of those are for a theater which only shows movies in German. She let me know that we needed to use these tickets soon so I should buck up and see some movies in German finally. Well, my thought is that I would like to see movies in their ORIGINAL language, this way you get the full performance of the actors, no matter the language. As I thought this movie was in German (hey, made with German money, put together in a German studio, mostly German actors, shot in Czechoslovakia - makes me think it would be in German, eh?) it seemed like a good idea to see this one. The story had fond memories for me (story below) and I wanted to see the film.

So imagine my surprise when I'm doing my "pre-German language-movie research" (watching the trailer and any video found on the internet along with a few critic's views and hopefully a synopsis) for better chances of understanding the movie and I see that the thing is dubbed! Dubbed from English INTO German! Think about it... German actors, speaking English, dubbed BACK into German! :) Oh the irony of it all.

The movie itself was OK. I kept feeling a bit cheated from not being able to see ALL of the dogfights which were hinted at... even a little bit of each one would have helped with the feel of continuity. There were at least two times in which we were sent from a normal "on the ground" scene to one which was explaining how he had shot someone down, and he was taking his "trophy". Um... did we miss the actual EVENT? Did the film crew run out of money?

Evidently The "Bloody" Red Baron himself was in the whole thing for the kill... of the plane. He says several times that they are not in it to kill the men... only to bring down the plane. In fact the movie goes so far as to show von Richthofen forcing his nemesis Captain Rob Brown (played very well by Joseph Fiennes - just love the guy but I only see him in period pieces!) down to the ground so they can have a lovely little philosophical chat, then they end up walking their separate directions afterward. How civilized is that?

Ah, the love story. His love interest in this film was a nurse he kept encountering along the way. I have no way of knowing if this part of the story is true, perhaps it is. In the script she is responsible for showing him that he is a propaganda puppet. Eventually he begins to act in an insubordinate way to his superiors and before his death was obviously having trouble dealing with the dead bodies he was stacking up.

All in all the movie was OK. I didn't end up caring one way or the other about the characters, perhaps it is because I knew the eventual outcome... he died very young, most certainly he had a dangerous job. His disillusionment with the whole "cause" became a major thread at the end of the movie, showing that he wasn't really such a bad guy after all... no matter what Snoopy thought of him!

I'll be aging myself here, but the Snoopy reference is something from the late Sixties and early Seventies. When I was just a toddler I remember my older brothers and sisters listening OVER AND OVER to a record (a 78 record mind you) sung by the Royal Guardsmen and named "Snoopy Vs. The Red Baron". - Lyrics WAY below.

Here is a video of the group doin' their stuff.


As if that weren't enough, here is something which was put together with Snoopy footage using the same song.


And here is where Charles Schulz (yup, a German name by the way) actually put his ideas on the matter to celluloid.


Here's one with some real footage from the time mixed in with the Snoopy saga.


Royal Guardsmen - "Snoopy Vs. The Red Baron"
After the turn of the century
In the clear blue skies over Germany
Came a roar and a thunder men had never heard
Like the scream and the sound of a big war bird

Up in the sky, a man in a plane
Baron von Richthofen was his name
Eighty men tried, and eighty men died
Now they're buried together on the countryside

Ten, twenty, thirty, forty, fifty or more
The Bloody Red Baron was rollin' up the score
Eighty men died tryin' to end that spree
of the Bloody Red Baron of Germany

In the nick of time, a hero arose
A funny-looking dog with a big black nose
He flew into the sky to seek revenge
But the Baron shot him down - "Curses, foiled again!"

Ten, twenty, thirty, forty, fifty or more
The Bloody Red Baron was rollin' up the score
Eighty men died tryin' to end that spree
of the Bloody Red Baron of Germany

Now, Snoopy had sworn that he'd get that man
So he asked the Great Pumpkin for a new battle plan
He challenged the German to a real dogfight
While the Baron was laughing, he got him in his sight

That Bloody Red Baron was in a fix
He'd tried everything, but he'd run out of tricks
Snoopy fired once, and he fired twice
And that Bloody Red Baron went spinning out of sight

Ten, twenty, thirty, forty, fifty or more
The Bloody Red Baron was rollin' up the score
Eighty men died tryin' to end that spree
of the Bloody Red Baron of Germany

Ten, twenty, thirty, forty, fifty or more
The Bloody Red Baron was rollin' up the score
Eighty men died tryin' to end that spree
of the Bloody Red Baron of Germany

An Enjoyable Weekend

Well it was another lovely weekend in Berlin. This time with no travel or major events, it was a nice change of pace.

Saturday morning we got up fairly early and had a nice jog/bike ride... she jogs, I ride along beside her for about five kilometers for company, then she goes home and I spin around for about an hour. Although it is a bit cold at this time of the year, I really have to say that I enjoy the sound of leaves crunching under bicycle tires.

That evening I had a lovely visit with Adam (aka "That Queer Expatriate") who came up to Berlin for part of the weekend. We had some decent sushi and nice conversation at Papa No's near SO36, then found a quiet (and unbelievably not smoky - probably because no one else was there) hole in the wall for a drink before saying a quick goodbye on the bus as I headed home and he to his hotel. Nice to meet you Adam, come on by anytime!

Sunday was a fun day... we stayed in as the weather took a turn for the cold. Sometimes there is nothing more enjoyable than sitting around the house all wrapped up and warm either reading a good book or watching a good movie. This Sunday our DVD player was showing a new purchase, "The Pianist" which is simply a well-put-together film about a sad and horrible story. On the flip side my other option was "Mommie Dearest", which is pretty much a horrible film about another sad story... but the campiness is too fun to ignore, and I really wanted to have it for the collection. Of course "Mommie" is famous for spawning the all too famous, "NO MORE WIRE HANGERS" rant.

I suppose that fall really has really arrived. All the signs are there... the air coming up from the U-Bahn is warmer than the air on the street... the leaves are covering the sidewalks, camouflaging the dog bombs... and the morning commute is extended three minutes due to the added necessity of scraping the car windows.

Even though the daylight grows shorter, I like the placement of the sun much better throughout the day. When it lies deeper in the southern sky it manages to peek into the office windows much more frequently giving me a chance to enjoy its warmth for a few moments before the clouds overtake it yet again.

Ratatouille

Last night N. and I took in the new Pixar movie, Ratatouille.

May I just say that Pixar has come a long way from Toy Story? In that movie most of what you saw was large images with lots of detail. In Ratatouille there were MANY small things with LOTS of detail. The rats (yes, I know… they kind of make my skin crawl, but in this movie they came off as almost cute) all had so many minuscule facial and body movements to tell the story. Of course they made the eyes more expressive which gave them more of a human and thus more relatable quality. But what was interesting was the fur and what looked like each hair was drawn with a life of its own.

Without giving away too much of the story there are several points at which hundreds of rats are all in one place working together. The action is quite dazzling even by Pixar’s standards. With movies like Toy Story the characters' faces were plastic, mostly not moving, but in this film the line between computer animation and the feeling of humanness (is that even a word?) seems to dissolve. The Frenchmen I know all have this magic shrug language. Between the movements of their shoulders and the looks on their faces, they can demonstrate the whole range of emotions. In this movie these movements are perfect; an Oscar-winning performance CAN be brought across through pixels.

There are dizzying, stunning chase scenes which demonstrate a mastery of detail which can in my opinion only be viewed at its best when able to stop the action like one could with a DVD… love that pause feature! Everything around our characters has a life of its own. The textures, colors and reflections are all perfect; it is almost as though you are in the image.

For me this level of wizardry also made it a little hard to watch, the rats are so… rat-like. No matter how cute they made them, they also stayed true to how a rat moves, and this made it hard for me to get over the fact that there were rats in a kitchen, and that’s just not right!

By the way, the short animated film at the beginning of this movie was an absolute delight. It is simply one of the funniest shorts I’ve seen in years.

My question is… does this movie really know who its audience is? I realize that they are trying to keep adults AND children happy the way Nemo captured both audiences. Unfortunately I think that they lost the children on this one. I imagine that the DVD sales won’t be as spectacular as they have been for blockbusters like Toy Story and Nemo, probably something closer to the money seen in Bug’s Life where the storyline was more adult-oriented as well.

But then the adult-oriented animated film can also be a well-loved classic for children. Bambi, The Jungle Book, and Fantasia come to mind for me as geared toward kids but enjoyed by adults, I like them better now that I am older than I did when I was a child.

What I call the “Princess theme” movies are of course instant classics as well, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Little Mermaid, Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast are all solid stories that inspire the imagination of both children and adults. This theme even transcends into science fiction, it has always been my thought that Star Wars was just another princess theme… this time with light sabers! Titanic is also a princess themed movie, that time it included LOTS of CGI and a whole boat sinks!!

All in all I liked Ratatouille. Thanks Pixar, for another great movie. Hopefully Disney and the mouse will leave well enough alone and let these fine people continue their great work without screwing it all up as corporate life is known to do.

Capote vs. Infamous

I've recently had the privilege of watching both Capote and Infamous back to back. Both movies were lovely in their own right, with each having outstanding points. I found that what Capote lacked, Infamous made up for… and vice versa.

Hopefully I can assume that the reader has seen either or both movies, or at least has an idea about the Clutter family killings in rural Kansas in the late 50's.

In Capote, Phillip Seymour Hoffman was channeling Capote or something, he had the mannerisms, the feeling and most importantly the voice down pat. After seeing this performance I was left wanting when I saw Toby Jones in the same role… it seemed like he just wanted to act like a stereotypical gay man… but Capote was much more. Jones had a funny, squeaky voice, but it fell short for me.

Perhaps I should say in advance that I really like Sandra Bullock before the next part… Sandra's portrayal of Nelle Harper Lee in Infamous was lovely and believable. I love hearing her slip into a southern accent… mmph.

Daniel Craig… yes, the new James Bond, played a deliciously dark Perry Smith in Infamous. To me this character was probably closer to reality than the one portrayed in Capote. Infamous was not afraid to discuss the fact that Capote and Perry had a very intense relationship, even extending into love. It also brought out a part I can vaguely remember from the book about Perry's explanation of why he killed the first person… it was in a homophobic moment in which he was trying to divert his accomplice Dick Hickock's attention away from raping the daughter and Dick suggested that Perry liked boys better and would prefer to rape the son. After this Perry slit the throat of the father in a rage.

Infamous also went a step further with some assumptions about why Truman was never able to write anything else… mainly that he was quite distraught for many reasons as the men were eventually hanged for the crime. Truman slipped into an alcoholic phase which he never came out of, and was never able to accomplish another work of any significance.

Infamous made another assertion which I've heard somewhere in the past, that the reason Nelle Harper Lee was never able to really publish anything after "To Kill a Mockingbird" is because Truman was a ghost writer for her. When he wasn't able to write, then she was similarly stricken. In Infamous, Harper's character hints at the intense pressure of the expectations an author feels after production of a book of such huge proportions. In the movie it was her answer to Truman's subsequent problems, but you could tell that the meaning was double.

Personally I wish that Philip Seymour Hoffman could have been in Infamous instead of Capote. The vehicle was better, and it would have made the whole thing more believable for me. When he won the Oscar for best actor I felt that Heath Ledger was robbed for Brokeback… but now that I've seen Hoffman's performance… I can completely understand the nomination and the award. Truthfully I've never enjoyed him in any other movie in which I've seen him. He was in "The Talented Mr. Ripley", and "Magnolia", "Patch Adams", and I think I remember him in "Cold Mountain" as well. He seems to always play the officious little prick… and I guess in a way he did the same with Capote… but in this case, it worked fantastically. I wonder if the man himself is as arrogant as he ends up playing in these movies.