Weekend Update
Friday was Day 25 in the non-deconstruction saga of the building next door.
The two forlorn palm trees on the roof of the building are still green. I wonder who waters them. The roof of the building had an open deck and the palm trees were part of the decorations. These are not large palm trees by any measure. I think they are no more than three or four feet / one meter tall.
I guess they will eventually die from lack of water unless our rainy season starts early.
The Big Guy called me to tell me his reactions to SYMPATHY FOR MR. VENGEANCE. He sort of liked the film and sort did not like the film. It is a very violent, at times, Korean film with subtitles. I had thought about seeing it and BROKEN FLOWERS over the weekend. I had even figured out that I could see the first showing of SYMPATHY and still get to class on time Saturday afternoon.
The Big Guy described this film as being like DEATH WISH only directed by Bergman. He said there was a great deal of sorrow and blood in the film. He recommended that I save on the gasoline and watch a Kurosawa classic HIGH AND LOW on DVD which has similar subject matter and stars Toshiro Mifune.
I’ll be taking him up on his recommendations and will catch HIGH AND LOW after The Immortal Yi Soon Shin tonight. That is an interesting viewing combination.
The only film that I will see in the cinema this weekend is BROKEN FLOWERS, the Big Guy’s current best film of the year.
Friday was a really boring day for me. I worked hard but reading legal documents all morning long is just not excitement. Watching paint dry would be more exciting because there is always a chance that some flying insect will get caught in the drying paint. Then, you have to get up and get the insect out of the paint if only to avoid an ugly blemish.
I did feel good when I found two errors in what our attorney said were perfect documents. That was my morning high.
I had some chocolate on Friday while I was watching StarGate-SG1. I had the chocolate in the house for maybe a year or so. It tasted good when I bit into it. I thought I would want to quickly consume the chocolate and then consume the two other pieces that were here.
Strangely, I did neither. I had the chocolate slowly and savored each bite. It did taste most excellent. The other two pieces are in the refrigerator where I left them last night. Maybe I will have one in the next day or so or maybe I will save it for a while longer.
I got my cell phone voice mail functions working Saturday morning. It seems the carrier is changing or modifying the voice mail servers and my numbers were caught in Ethernet limbo until I spoke up.
The clerk at the cell phone carrier store tried to tell me the big story/explanation of why the phone voice mail wasn’t working. I stopped him in mid-sentence and said that I did not care why the voice mail did not work and I really only cared about when it would work. I said if he could not fix the voice mail function then, I would cancel the contract since they failed to perform their end of our contract. He had both phones fixed in 10 minutes.
I suppose you are wondering why I have three cell phone numbers plus a land line phone at home. It is a long story that really doesn’t make any sense. I have one phone that I use to talk to the Princess. We share the same cell phone carrier so our calls do not count against our monthly usage plans. The call volume between us has increased measurably over the last month.
I have one phone that has four 8s in the number. I only keep it because it is a lucky phone number and I may have a need for it in the future.
The last phone is the one the Big Guy and I use to talk on all of the time. We share the same carrier so our calls are free. We have been known to call each other to talk when we are standing in line or are bored. The Big Guy called me on Friday when he was in line at the cinema and was bored.
I did watch HIGH AND LOW on Saturday late morning and early afternoon. I really enjoyed it and think the Big Guy made a wise recommendation. There was no violence to speak of on screen or on-screen adjacent. It did reflect the class struggle between the wealthy and the poor and each one’s ambition. In the end, there was honor and the Mifune character made the morally correct, right decision.
Saturday’s episode of The Immortal Yi Soon Shin was not very exciting. He was agonizing over whether to use some rice that was supposed to be offerings for the King to buy medicine for his sick and dying sailors. In the end, he did not have to make the decision. One of his officers took it upon himself to convert the bags of rice into medicine.
I think this was the proper decision as a commander. The commander must always see to the health and safety of his men first. I think this was especially true with Yi Soon Shin since the central government, the King and the court, have not provided him with any supplies to support the prosecution of the war.
How can you fight a war without supplies?
Poorly, if at all.
Spock would quote Sarek and say that the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.
I suspect on Sunday I will see a return to active engagement with the enemy. I would believe the Japanese have been affected by the same outbreak since it is in the same area. Their forces should be suffering as much as the Koreans so the status of forces should remain unchanged.
Sunday, calling sales support for my ISP, was not my idea of fun. I was calling to make sure the Big Guy’s experience and information made sense and could be made to work. It was somewhat worrisome that I knew more than the sales person on the other end of the line. Maybe the sales person was new to the game and needed help.
I spent too much time on hold listening to really cheesy music. Besides being classical music, it had way too much static in it.
Anyway, the sales person came back on the phone and said that I had only two choices, wireless [no way, evil] or running Category 5 cable all over the place [very messy]. I found this as interesting since the Big Guy was told he had three choices; the same as I was told plus he would be able to use the existing copper wire in his house.
I thanked the young lady for her time and said goodbye. I think she may have been expecting me to say that I would take one of the two choices she offered me.
Wireless makes no sense because you can not control the extent of the wireless field or who might access. Yes, I know you can place firewalls and other security features on the wireless system but it is not as secure as hard wire.
Hard wire is not a good option when you have a small, older dog as the Bug Guy does wandering around. Plus, you have the less than fun task of running the cable along the base boards and around door ways. That would increase the cable run length.
I will give the Big Guy a call later on today after I see BROKEN FLOWERS and we will try to figure out how to set this up so his mother gets off of his back. I also don’t want to be blamed for causing unreasonable delays with this Internet expansion either.
[Shrugs and yawns.]
BROKEN FLOWERS is the Bug Guy’s best film of the year so far. He said the same about THE ISLAND a couple of weeks ago. I think he is closer to the best film so far with his latest pick.
I saw BROKEN FLOWERS this afternoon and liked it very much. When we talked about it, he said that I didn’t like the ending and I agreed with him. I would have preferred a more traditional Hollywood style ending with closure for the main character and resolution of the plot points. Maybe there will be a satisfactory resolution if there is a sequel. I would say there will be no sequel so I am left to be satisfied with the story as it was told on the screen.
We both agreed that Bill Murray turned in an excellent performance in this film. I felt he was playing the same character from LOST IN TRANSLATION. The Big Guy felt he was playing the character on a much deeper level, probably because there was no Charlotte Johansen to compete with on the screen for the entire film. All of the actresses were on screen for varying lengths of time, all on the short side.
Still, it is a great film and well worth seeing at the local cinema.
The Immortal Yi Soon Shin was different tonight. The plotline jumped ahead two years to the point where the war has lapsed into a truce and peace negotiations are underway in Japan.
As usual, the negotiations become lost over ego and double dealing. War is now imminent. The Japanese have upped the ante in the war by sending an invasion force of new soldiers that is being escorted by a fleet of 300 warships.
The Koreans are outnumbered again and can not engage the superior forces without the risk of losing their fleet. If the Korean fleet is lost, then the war is lost for the Koreans. Yi Soon Shin refused the King’s order to engage the enemy fleet on the high seas because he recognized the risk of loss of the fleet.
The Korean King is not the sharpest tool in the shed and makes a really rash decision that he will probably regret in the next episode or two. He orders Yi’s friend and rival to replace him as commander in chief of the navy. The new commander is too headstrong and will engage the Japanese regardless of the odds or the likely outcome. I can see a naval disaster coming very soon.
That was my weekend. Not very exciting. But restful and restful is not all that bad.
Be well and stay happy.
The two forlorn palm trees on the roof of the building are still green. I wonder who waters them. The roof of the building had an open deck and the palm trees were part of the decorations. These are not large palm trees by any measure. I think they are no more than three or four feet / one meter tall.
I guess they will eventually die from lack of water unless our rainy season starts early.
The Big Guy called me to tell me his reactions to SYMPATHY FOR MR. VENGEANCE. He sort of liked the film and sort did not like the film. It is a very violent, at times, Korean film with subtitles. I had thought about seeing it and BROKEN FLOWERS over the weekend. I had even figured out that I could see the first showing of SYMPATHY and still get to class on time Saturday afternoon.
The Big Guy described this film as being like DEATH WISH only directed by Bergman. He said there was a great deal of sorrow and blood in the film. He recommended that I save on the gasoline and watch a Kurosawa classic HIGH AND LOW on DVD which has similar subject matter and stars Toshiro Mifune.
I’ll be taking him up on his recommendations and will catch HIGH AND LOW after The Immortal Yi Soon Shin tonight. That is an interesting viewing combination.
The only film that I will see in the cinema this weekend is BROKEN FLOWERS, the Big Guy’s current best film of the year.
Friday was a really boring day for me. I worked hard but reading legal documents all morning long is just not excitement. Watching paint dry would be more exciting because there is always a chance that some flying insect will get caught in the drying paint. Then, you have to get up and get the insect out of the paint if only to avoid an ugly blemish.
I did feel good when I found two errors in what our attorney said were perfect documents. That was my morning high.
I had some chocolate on Friday while I was watching StarGate-SG1. I had the chocolate in the house for maybe a year or so. It tasted good when I bit into it. I thought I would want to quickly consume the chocolate and then consume the two other pieces that were here.
Strangely, I did neither. I had the chocolate slowly and savored each bite. It did taste most excellent. The other two pieces are in the refrigerator where I left them last night. Maybe I will have one in the next day or so or maybe I will save it for a while longer.
I got my cell phone voice mail functions working Saturday morning. It seems the carrier is changing or modifying the voice mail servers and my numbers were caught in Ethernet limbo until I spoke up.
The clerk at the cell phone carrier store tried to tell me the big story/explanation of why the phone voice mail wasn’t working. I stopped him in mid-sentence and said that I did not care why the voice mail did not work and I really only cared about when it would work. I said if he could not fix the voice mail function then, I would cancel the contract since they failed to perform their end of our contract. He had both phones fixed in 10 minutes.
I suppose you are wondering why I have three cell phone numbers plus a land line phone at home. It is a long story that really doesn’t make any sense. I have one phone that I use to talk to the Princess. We share the same cell phone carrier so our calls do not count against our monthly usage plans. The call volume between us has increased measurably over the last month.
I have one phone that has four 8s in the number. I only keep it because it is a lucky phone number and I may have a need for it in the future.
The last phone is the one the Big Guy and I use to talk on all of the time. We share the same carrier so our calls are free. We have been known to call each other to talk when we are standing in line or are bored. The Big Guy called me on Friday when he was in line at the cinema and was bored.
I did watch HIGH AND LOW on Saturday late morning and early afternoon. I really enjoyed it and think the Big Guy made a wise recommendation. There was no violence to speak of on screen or on-screen adjacent. It did reflect the class struggle between the wealthy and the poor and each one’s ambition. In the end, there was honor and the Mifune character made the morally correct, right decision.
Saturday’s episode of The Immortal Yi Soon Shin was not very exciting. He was agonizing over whether to use some rice that was supposed to be offerings for the King to buy medicine for his sick and dying sailors. In the end, he did not have to make the decision. One of his officers took it upon himself to convert the bags of rice into medicine.
I think this was the proper decision as a commander. The commander must always see to the health and safety of his men first. I think this was especially true with Yi Soon Shin since the central government, the King and the court, have not provided him with any supplies to support the prosecution of the war.
How can you fight a war without supplies?
Poorly, if at all.
Spock would quote Sarek and say that the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.
I suspect on Sunday I will see a return to active engagement with the enemy. I would believe the Japanese have been affected by the same outbreak since it is in the same area. Their forces should be suffering as much as the Koreans so the status of forces should remain unchanged.
Sunday, calling sales support for my ISP, was not my idea of fun. I was calling to make sure the Big Guy’s experience and information made sense and could be made to work. It was somewhat worrisome that I knew more than the sales person on the other end of the line. Maybe the sales person was new to the game and needed help.
I spent too much time on hold listening to really cheesy music. Besides being classical music, it had way too much static in it.
Anyway, the sales person came back on the phone and said that I had only two choices, wireless [no way, evil] or running Category 5 cable all over the place [very messy]. I found this as interesting since the Big Guy was told he had three choices; the same as I was told plus he would be able to use the existing copper wire in his house.
I thanked the young lady for her time and said goodbye. I think she may have been expecting me to say that I would take one of the two choices she offered me.
Wireless makes no sense because you can not control the extent of the wireless field or who might access. Yes, I know you can place firewalls and other security features on the wireless system but it is not as secure as hard wire.
Hard wire is not a good option when you have a small, older dog as the Bug Guy does wandering around. Plus, you have the less than fun task of running the cable along the base boards and around door ways. That would increase the cable run length.
I will give the Big Guy a call later on today after I see BROKEN FLOWERS and we will try to figure out how to set this up so his mother gets off of his back. I also don’t want to be blamed for causing unreasonable delays with this Internet expansion either.
[Shrugs and yawns.]
BROKEN FLOWERS is the Bug Guy’s best film of the year so far. He said the same about THE ISLAND a couple of weeks ago. I think he is closer to the best film so far with his latest pick.
I saw BROKEN FLOWERS this afternoon and liked it very much. When we talked about it, he said that I didn’t like the ending and I agreed with him. I would have preferred a more traditional Hollywood style ending with closure for the main character and resolution of the plot points. Maybe there will be a satisfactory resolution if there is a sequel. I would say there will be no sequel so I am left to be satisfied with the story as it was told on the screen.
We both agreed that Bill Murray turned in an excellent performance in this film. I felt he was playing the same character from LOST IN TRANSLATION. The Big Guy felt he was playing the character on a much deeper level, probably because there was no Charlotte Johansen to compete with on the screen for the entire film. All of the actresses were on screen for varying lengths of time, all on the short side.
Still, it is a great film and well worth seeing at the local cinema.
The Immortal Yi Soon Shin was different tonight. The plotline jumped ahead two years to the point where the war has lapsed into a truce and peace negotiations are underway in Japan.
As usual, the negotiations become lost over ego and double dealing. War is now imminent. The Japanese have upped the ante in the war by sending an invasion force of new soldiers that is being escorted by a fleet of 300 warships.
The Koreans are outnumbered again and can not engage the superior forces without the risk of losing their fleet. If the Korean fleet is lost, then the war is lost for the Koreans. Yi Soon Shin refused the King’s order to engage the enemy fleet on the high seas because he recognized the risk of loss of the fleet.
The Korean King is not the sharpest tool in the shed and makes a really rash decision that he will probably regret in the next episode or two. He orders Yi’s friend and rival to replace him as commander in chief of the navy. The new commander is too headstrong and will engage the Japanese regardless of the odds or the likely outcome. I can see a naval disaster coming very soon.
That was my weekend. Not very exciting. But restful and restful is not all that bad.
Be well and stay happy.
posted by Chuck Reinhardt at 9:06 PM
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