1 September 2002
September! I went golfing and drove well but scored as bad as I have in three years. My aunt, uncle and cousin [plus dog] are here until Monday. I played Monopoly and lost.
2 September 2002
Today marks a return to Blogspot hosting, at least for a while. I will get everything sorted out once I return to Northfield with my beloved ethernet connection. Today also marked me finishing Letters to a Young Contrarian and starting Michael Moore's Stupid White Men. The introduction, at least, is loud and obnoxious, but I hope the book is decent anyway. I liked Letters but I wouldn't recommend it to everyone.
The Princess Bride
1987
Cary Elwes. Robyn Wright.
1 September 2002
DVD [TV]
I got this DVD 20 months ago as a Christmas present. I've seen it a few times. This time I noticed the music and how it was used in conjunction with the characters and the plotline. It was very interesting.
Alphaville
1965
Jean-Luc Godard
2 September 2002
DVD [PC]
Commentary on conformity and progress, as well as love and intelligence. The conclusion was a little, well, sixties, but it was very thought-provoking all the same.
Brazil
1985
Terry Gilliam. Michael Palin. Robert Deniro.
2 September 2002
DVD [TV]
Bureaucracy as monolithic evil. Hackneyed love story, somewhat awkward, but admirable.
3 September 2002
I made some nice HTML today, dominated at TriBond [1vs2vs2 I might add]. I listened to Joe Jackson's Look Sharp! which is outstanding as well as Pink Floyd's Piper At The Gates Of Dawn which is an acid trip all by itself. I watched Brazil which was only okay. I also took a nap from 7:30-10 pm which really screwed me up because I dreamed about waking up at night in some other strange place, probably a dorm room, I dream about them all the time.
4 September 2002
I bought a lot of cheap food and other things today. I spent some time at the library and had a Matt Swanson sighting at the mall. I also watched Road to Perdition. I melted my York peppermint patties so now they are in the freezer. I also bought and listened to Sonic Youth's Murray Street, which I found used, even though it just came out. I think the store was illegally selling their demo CD from the record label, as that is what the sticker on the front said, but I don't mind.
Crooklyn
1994
Spike Lee
3 September 2002
DVD [TV]
A rather sad story leavened by a good sense of humor. A family goes through some hard times living on an interesting block in Brooklyn.
Road To Perdition
2002
Tom Hanks. Paul Newman. Jude Law.
4 September 2002
Coral Ridge 10
The story of a mobster's loss and revenge. Dark, beautiful and thought-provoking without overtly bringing up the topic of violence or crime.
5 September 2002
I golfed twenty-seven holes today for only $20 and I used a cart. I got a 131 with an average of 44 per nine holes. I was disappointed by my putting but pleased with nearly everything else. And Clyde is back.
The Last Waltz
1978
Absolutely Everybody
5 September 2002
DVD [TV]
And by everybody I mean the Band, Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Eric Clapton, Joni Mitchell, Van Morrison, Ringo Starr, Muddy Waters, Neil Diamond, Emmylou Harris, etc. This would have been an amazing concert to be at, but watching the DVD was good also. Some of Martin Scorsese's dialogue with the Band seems a little awkward, but the music is superb, and that is what it's really all about.
6 September 2002
I got up nice and late today. I didn't do very much. I have so far listened to The Band's Moondog Matinee, Cake's Comfort Eagle, and Morphine's Yes. I also watched Rebel Without A Cause to which I had mixed reactions. I also played Classic Concentration from 1988. I won 15 times in a row.
Rebel Without A Cause
1955
James Dean
6 September 2002
DVD [TV]
This was definitely a quality movie but it was also one in which I could hardly abide the stupidity of the characters, who seem to not understand at all that they don't have to constantly do idiotic things to endanger themselves. That said, it was a worthy movie and deserving of
8 September 2002
I managed to get 3 games from 5.25" disks onto my computer, in addition to Concentration. Jill of the Jungle and Card Sharks work, but as of yet Cosmo does not. I watched Doctor Zhivago which I didn't like. Tomorrow may include my first visit to Finkbine Golf Course in Iowa City.
Roma
1972
Federico Fellini
7 September 2002
DVD [PC]
Too abstract and surreal for me, not having seen anything else by Fellini. A series of very loosely-related vignettes set in Rome between 1931-1972.
Doctor Zhivago
1965
Omar Sharif. Alec Guinness. Rod Steiger.
8 September 2002
DVD [PC]
No. No, no, no. Another movie with people acting like fools, except this time I am compelled to care about them even less. Sure it's an epic, the cinematography looked just fine and the music was good. The camera did tend to pan to the side randomly for reasons I couldn't understand. The acting was fine, but the story, which is what I supposed was the movie's greatest feature, fell flat for me. Even after 3 hours, the only character I was even remotely interested in was Alec Guinness's brother of Doctor Zhivago, and he didn't even do anything.
Die Hard with A Vengeance
1995
Bruce Willis. Samuel L Jackson.
28 August 2002
DVD [Mac]
Full of quotes and gunshots and action.
10 September 2002
I managed a 44-50 which, while not impressive, was solid and included some good putting. I also went to hear Robert Siegel, editor-in-chief of The Onion in Iowa City. He wasn't a great speaker, but he was interesting. Today I got my bicycle back after paying $1.00 for repairs. I also put my CD cases back into alphabetical order, as finding exact release dates for chronological order proved too difficult. I also finally watched High Fidelity, many weeks after purchasing it.
High Fidelity
2000
John Cusack
10 September 2002
DVD [TV]
I have to admit that the movie was just a little better the first time I saw it, but then again, what isn't? It took me until today to get the double entendre in the title. I understood everything a little bit better this time through and Todd Louiso was still awesome, especially when he tossed the AC unit onto Tim Robbins.
Artificial Intelligence
2001
Steven Spielberg. Haley Joel Osment. Jude Law.
11 September 2002
DVD [TV]
Even better than the first time. Initially I could see why some people thought the movie was too long, but I understand why it needs to be that long, or at least deserves to continue at such a pace after the movie seems basically over. It reminds me why I was so disappointed about Minority Report, because AI had set the bar so for new Spielberg scifi.
12 September 2002
I found some demos sitting around on a CD from Dell so I played some stupid little puzzle games, a soccer game, a motocross game and a pinball game. I also made my triumphant return to Kalona Golf Course where I managed a 45-46.
Today was bombarded by music as follows: Hard Candy by Counting Crows, De Stijl by the White Stripes, Is This It? by the Strokes, Weezer's first, Sgt Pepper's Lonely Heart's Club Band by you-know-who, Winners Never Quit by Pedro the Lion, This Desert Life by Counting Crows and finally Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits: Volume II. Hard Candy was a big disappointment, though not unexpected. I had to listen to the other Crows to make up for the bad one.
In other news, I packed a few more things tonight. Tomorrow I will wash all bedding and Saturday clothes. I will also pack up the computer and everything else, in anticipation of a mid-Sunday departure.
27 September 2002
It has certainly been a while but I am finally back on the Internet after a drought of nearly two weeks. That is all.
29 September 2002
So far this weekend I have finished CS and English and started on German. I have gone to the store and watched Fellowship of the Ring for the third and a half time. I am enjoying the second night of my single-occupancy weekend. I am still working to get Ermine Central back to its intended glory.
30 September 2002
I got up very late today, in attempt to catch up on sleep. I was foiled in an attempt to do laundry. I did German and submitted my first CS project. I also wore the same Goshen College shirt I wore yesterday. I watched football and discovered that my radio show will be from 7:30 - 9:00 am Tuesday mornings this term. That is early, but I am glad to have a radio show. I think it will be interesting to experiment with.
Classes were OK. I have 22 German classes left. That is both my least favorite and most burdensome class, but at least it isn't truly terrible. I have only German homework left tomorrow, along with my radio show, work and Singers.