29 January 2008 – 12:19 pm +0800
I lamented last week that Heath Ledger was one of the really, really talented ones.
Turns out, according to director Chris Nolan, that he was also one of the truly decent ones:
One time, he and another actor were shooting a complex scene. We had two days to shoot it, and at the end of the first [...]
27 January 2008 – 4:26 pm +0800
I truly am happy with Xubuntu, but having only 160 MB of RAM does sometimes put a crimp in my computing. Running Firefox and Celtx at the same time, for example, slows things down enormously. 1 Starting the system up and just letting it run eats up about half of available memory.
So, while [...]
23 January 2008 – 9:25 am +0800
What I need is for a Bud truck to break down in the driveway, and a week off.
— The Fat Guy, 22 January 2008
22 January 2008 – 3:25 pm +0800
Heath Ledger, dead at 28.
22 January 2008 – 12:08 pm +0800
Want to know why 1939 was the best year in movie history? Want to know why the studio system rocked? Want to know why nobody gets excited about the vast bulk of dreck produced by Hollywood today? Try this on for size:
[In 1939] Thomas Mitchell (with his second and last career nomination [...]
21 January 2008 – 12:18 pm +0800
If you want to blog, haven’t started yet, and want to use a free service, WordPress.com just upped its free filespace to three gigabytes, more than anywhere else. Plus, you get to use WordPress. The only caveats are that you can’t upload sound or video files (for now), you have to pay to [...]
21 January 2008 – 12:02 pm +0800
I have finally, finally gotten my writing machine, the old Gateway Solo1, to connect via wireless. 2 I dumped ZenWalk Linux quite some time ago, and opted for Xubuntu.
I toyed with several other options (including Geubuntu OpenGEU), but ultimately the decision was made on two factors: First, I wanted the XFCE desktop/windowing environment, [...]
17 January 2008 – 10:25 am +0800
“I’m a private detective.”
“Oh?” said Kate in surprise, and then looked puzzled.
“Does that bother you?”
“It’s just that I have a friend who plays the double bass.”
“I see,” said Dirk.
“Whenever people meet him and he’s struggling around with it, they all say the same thing, and it drives him crazy. They all say, ‘I bet [...]
14 January 2008 – 12:51 pm +0800
“What were you trained in, Chester?”
“Well,” said Chester, considering, “I… ah… majored in liberal arts.”
“You mean you paint pictures?”
“No, nothing like that. Business administration.”
“I don’t think I’ve heard of that. Is it a game of skill or chance?”
“Both.” Chester smiled patiently. “No, in biz ad we’re taught how to manage large [...]
9 January 2008 – 9:34 am +0800
Isn’t this the third sign of the apocalypse?
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0LtUX_6IXY&rel=1]
8 January 2008 – 7:59 pm +0800
All right, I’m as sympathetic as the next working woman to the problems that women face in trying to make it to the top . . . but if New Hampshire votes for Hillary Clinton because the Poor Widdle Girl Feels so Bad About Losing, I’ll vomit, I really will.
— Megan McArdle, who, the way [...]
7 January 2008 – 10:16 am +0800
Boy, Barack Obama sure knows how to stir the blood with his Churchillian rhetoric:
It was interesting in the debate, Sen. Clinton saying ‘don’t feed the American people false hopes. Get a reality check, you know?’ I mean, you can picture JFK saying, ‘we can’t go to the moon, it’s a false hope. Let’s get a [...]
6 January 2008 – 9:00 am +0800
A favorite old saying applies here:
Lord, spare me the fools. I’ll deal with the wicked myself.
5 January 2008 – 8:52 pm +0800
Writing in the National Review, Michael Novak looks at “Christmas Atheists” (þRandex):
Over the last two weeks, leading American atheists have registered complaints about all the attention given to Christmas in the United States. These atheists have issued three challenges. First, they insist that being atheist does not mean being immoral. Second, they want other people [...]
4 January 2008 – 5:15 pm +0800
Writers write.
Writers finish what they write.
Writers don’t rewrite, except to editorial order.
Writers put their story on the market.
Writers keep it on the market until it has sold.