February 27, 2003
Mr. Rogers
It's you I like
It's not the things you wear
It's not the way you do your hair, but it's you I like
They way you are right now
The way deep down inside you
Not the things that hide you---not your diplomas, they're just beside you
But it's you that I like, every part of you.
- Mr. Rogers
February 25, 2003
Introversion
This article about introverts is interesting, if a little overstated. I always have been strongly on the Introvert end of the spectrum when I take those tests, although I probably have shifted somewhat over time.
February 24, 2003
Comic Review: Same Difference (Kim)
Derek Kirk Kim's Same Difference is a really well-done comic about two friends in Oakland that learn a little bit about each other and about how to treat other people. And it is all available online! How nice. The story is really well done - never overexplaining, relying on the art to tell parts of the story, and having a meaningful theme without being too obvious or preachy. It is reminicent of Optic Nerve or Ghost World, which is pretty good company to keep. I'll keep an eye out for more of his work - I probably missed my chance at APE, but I'll know to look for it next time.
And what is it with all these good bay area comics people? Especially in the east bay? Where's the local comics anthology?
Comic Review: Ironwolf - Fires of the Revolution
Someone in my circle of comic-reading friends got this because this has old-school (which, I guess, means pre-Hellboy) Mignola art. But I thought it was interesting because it was a Chaykin co-written 70s sci-fi sequel. And it turned out to be both - Mignola art, displaying indications of what would later become his very distinctive style, and a 70s sci-fi setting, complete with wooden flying ships and vampires and cat-people and a hint of socialism.
Well, ok, maybe that doesn't really mean anything.
I'm obviously not a great critic of artwork, but this seemed to have hints of Mignola's later fascination with shadow and odd-but-realistic anatomy of different kinds of monsters. The coloring wasn't fantastic (blue vampires?), but the story did seem to lend itself to some nice dramatic scenes that wouldn't have been too out of place in Hellboy except for the extra detail that gives it a late 80s - early 90s comic feel.
The story, though, seemed to be a reasonable but ultimately silly piece of 70s-style nostalgia. I like old-school sci-fi, but I have yet to find much from the 70s that really is interesting to me. Here we have a hero that we are supposed to be sympathetic for not because of his actions but because he renounced his place in an aristocratic society to help lead a democratic socialist revolution that ultimately got co-opted by his brother. The sci-fi elements of vampires, cat-people (both genetic experiments), and a crystal that can give immortality are not explored in much depth. The idea of the more advanced world purposefully witholding technology from another society is explored in a nicely anti-Star Trek way. But it leads to a silly final battle and a conclusion without any real surprise or sense of purpose.
I definitely felt like there was some backstory (from the earlier stories?) about the creation of the immortality, which went largely ignored in this story except for the narration. Perhaps that would have added a little more meaning for me?
February 23, 2003
Movie Review: Donnie Darko (Kelly)
This was a really good movie - first I have seen in quite a while that has lingered in my mind well after the movie ends. It starts off very strangely, but once things get going I knew it was going to be interesting to see where it was going to take me. At first it seems like it might be simply a well-done "is he crazy or isn't he" question, but it becomes clear that there is more going on, and it gets into themes of fate, free will, sacrifice, time travel, love - all sorts of interesting things. And they absolutely do a great job with the 1980's setting, making it even feel like it was made in the 80s even though you know the actors are all the wrong ages for that to be true. Once you've seen it, go check out the official web site for a few more clues, and don't be afraid to use the walkthrough at this unofficial website since things won't work unless you allow popups. And I don't really want to go into any more details because it would provide too many spoilers. I'm very interested in seeing the DVD, for extra scenes and some commentary on what the writer/director meant with all this.
February 22, 2003
Concert Report: Mates of State, Rainer Maria, Dear Nora
This was the first time I went to Bottom of the Hill since moving up to the city. It was nice! Got home with so much less hassle than before.
The show itself was good, too. The opening act, Dear Nora, didn't quite grab me, but didn't really annoy me, either. Guitar, bass, drums, with female vocals. Some songs were very sparse, some a little fuller, but they didn't really rock out. They made some jokes about only having practiced a little bit, and I really did wonder about that.
Next up was Rainer Maria. I hadn't heard them before, but had heard of them, which is always a dangerous thing. It turned out pretty well, though! The first three songs they played really sounded good. Loud, rocking, fun, consistent sound but not too repetitive. A few of the later songs drifted at the end into a little too much noise/wall of sound type thing for me, but at least I could watch the guitar player jumping around on stage. The singer/bass player also jumped around, although she had a weird kind of hop/leg kick thing going on. Maybe it just looked funny from my position way off to the side of the stage. But it was a really enjoyable set - energetic, enthusiastic, fun, and sounded good.
Last up was Mates of State. I'm always suprised when the people I saw hanging out in the crowd turn out to be in one of the bands. I'm a little surprised but happy that they actually go and see the other bands play even if they are on tour together. I was also surprised because they opened with the one song of theirs that I really knew from a tape a friend made me a while back. Was it all going to be downhill after that? Turns out, no. I was impressed with the volume of sound they were getting out of two people. And I was surprised by how, well, rock-like the songs were. They seemed to want to get the crowd moving, and the crowd did, as much as indie rock kids do.
February 20, 2003
Favorite Girl
Don't tell her, but I sent her more stuff this morning. She is very important to me! I can't wait for her to visit again. She visited while this site wasn't working, and we had a really good time together. I think we will again! But I need to make her try the Peasant Pies this time.
February 19, 2003
Comic Review: Daredevil: Out (Bendis, Maleev)
I am a Daredevil fan. I enjoy superheroes that aren't powerful enough that nothing seems to be a threat to them. The Frank Miller Daredevil stories did a great job of showing how superpowers (and physical force) can't solve every problem. I liked their focus on the characters that didn't wear silly costumes.
This set of stories is definitely reminiscent of those Miller stories. Again we see Matt Murdock (do I still need to give the background synopsis if it has been used in a mainstream movie?), the blind lawyer alter-ego of Daredevil, attacked where he is most vulnerable. The remnants of the Kingpin's organized crime family cause a series of events that expose Daredevil's true identity to the public. And then the story gets interesting, because Bendis doesn't take it the way you'd expect. Instead of violent confrontations we get legal challenges. Instead of getting drawn back in to crime fighting Matt gets drawn into a court battle defending another superhero. We get to have all of the themes examined through a less-expected perspective.
As should be expected from Bendis comics we get some really nice character interaction scenes. The Black Widow's reappearance is enjoyable in a number of ways, and leads to the best line in the book. Foggy Nelson's rant goes ona bit too long but seems emotionally heartfelt. The court case, while done realistically, didn't seem well-paced, and I didn't really buy the defense tactics used, especially Reed Richards' appearance.
The artwork in the first half, by Maleev, is fine, a little thick-lined for my tastes, but does a good job establishing the tone of the story. The abrupt change in the middle to a more typical Marvel style is a little jarring, but still works fine. The final chapter, though, which goes to a more cartoony style, seems inappropriate for conveying the emotional conflicts at the climax. After being used to seeing the emotions in the characters' faces for the rest of the story, not having the detail lessened the story's impact.
Overall, though, it was thoroughly enjoyable. It makes me want to go back to the start of Bendis's run and see how he set all these pieces in place. And it makes me want to see Bendis expand his scope a little more, continuing the story beyond something so evocative of Miller's Daredevil stories, so I don't even think to make those comparisons in the review.
Frontline
12 Episodes of Frontline available in streaming video. Because I always forget to tell tivo to record the ones I am interested in.
War and Freedom
"War is the enemy of freedom. Peace is a prerequisite for freedom. Peace and freedom go together, as surely as war and tyranny. If you want a free and open society, first work for peace. If you value freedom and privacy, you must pursue peace."
February 18, 2003
Book Review: "Surely you're joking, Mr. Feynman!" (Feynman)
This was one of those books I had always wanted to read, but never could find in the used bookstores. That can be a sign that a book is very enjoyable and very loved, and that is obviously true with this one.
The book consists of anecdotes and speeches about Feynman's life. It begins with his childhood, continues to his college and grad school experiences, gives some views into his contribution to the war effort in WW2, and his life as a professor. Of course, few of the stories are really about the science and most focus on the way he lived his life. And he certainly does come across as "a curious character" as the subtitle says. He is obviously a brilliant person, but he is still plagued by insecurities and doubts, which didn't strike me as all that unusual. What was unusual to me is the way he overcomes those doubts and forces himself to try new things, to appear confident, and to make things happen that he wants to have happen. He always seems willing to wait for the opportunity for an adventure to appear and then to follow it once it does.
The book is really enjoyable, though, because he is a good storyteller. I doubt anyone could make some of these stories completely uninteresting, but he does a good job giving insights into different parts of his character. The most questionable part of which, and really the only negative things I have read or heard about him, is his treatment of women. One story in particular in the book, where he learns how to pick up "bar women" can seem pretty offensive. But I think this is part of his outward confidence that he couldn't quite break through in most of these stories. He obviously really loved his first wife, although there aren't as many stories in this volume about that.
Overall, though, I really enjoyed it. It almost seems to be a challenge - why aren't you doing what you want to do with your life? The opportunities are out there if you look for them. Granted, being brilliant and a professor and a Nobel Prize winner help those opportunities come along, but being inquisitive and not looking down on people and being confident in yourself are also pretty important.
February 17, 2003
Never-ending List
I am obviously way behind in posting things. But the site is starting to take shape. I still need to work more on the categories, and think about pictures, and the about page, finish the last parts of the layout, then actually start writing about all those things I haven't put up here. Oh yeah, I also need to apply that latest security patch...
I like playing with web technology, though. I am not sure why. Now that I am back on track with my technology (not to mention a technology that actually supports plug-ins), maybe I can start working on some of that. First up might be the alphabetical archive list... ooooh...
Space
When I turned nine, the best gift I opened was the Aerobots transformers. A bunch of robots that turned into airplanes, they could all combine to form one even bigger robot. I got the whole set, and was really excited about it - I had never gotten a whole set of the transformers that could combine into one. I opened them up right away, only to find out that the central robot in the giant robot form was broken, so I couldn't assemble them in that form. We went to the store to try to exchange them, but they were sold out. I never wound up getting a replacement set.
That wasn't the worst thing that happened that day, though. In the middle of gym class that morning the principal came on the intercom and said that the space shuttle had been destroyed during take off. I don't think any of us really knew what to think of that at that age, but it seemed terrible. All my friends and I had thought about how cool it would be to become an astronaut, to see the earth from space, to feel what weightlessness was like. We had even had one of the astronauts who grew up nearby come and talk to us and tell us how interesting it would be.
As I got older I gave up on the astronaut idea - I wasn't really interested in the science and training required and had found other things. But the astronaut quotes about how different a perspective it is to see the earth from space - no borders of countries, everything down here looking like one piece in a much larger universe, wishing that everyone could see things from there so we might stop some of the unnecessary conflict down here - always resonated with me.
By now, though, I have been reading What's New long enough to have a little more skepticism about manned space travel and space stations and the like. Now, I think that needs to be a medium range view (see the JMS quote below) because one day it will make sense, but maybe not today - at least not for scientific reasons. But maybe the human factor is what is important. It is amazing that we have been able to go to the moon, to send objects out of our solar system, to take pictures from orbit around other planets and send them to earth. Humans can do incredible things when they work together.
I think it is important for us to continue to try to do these once-thought-impossible things. It gives us better goals to work towards than taking over oil fields or blowing up people that think differently than you. But we need to make sure to do things right, take our time if necessary, and make sure our priorities are correct and clear.
"There's one thing every scientist on the planet agrees on: whether it happens
in a hundred years, or a thousand years, or a million years, eventually our
sun will grow cold, and go out. When that happens, it won't just take us,
it'll take Marilyn Monroe, and Lao-tsu, Einstein, Maruputo, Buddy Holly,
Aristophanes - all of this. All of this was for nothing, unless we go to the
stars." - J. Michael Straczynski
"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman
Book Review: How to be Good (Hornby)
This book was a little disappointing to me. I guess having such a lofty title makes it easy to end up in such a state, although having to compare it to High Fidelity didn't help either.
This time the narrator is a woman, whose obsession seems to be fighting with her husband, who she tries to describe as a mean, uncaring, unloving person who writes an angry column for the local paper. It is all ok in her mind, though, since she is a doctor, and is therefore a Good Person. And that is the start of the book's trouble - not only does it have an unsympathetic main character, her central character flaw is not shown with enough subtlety to make it believable. I can sympathize with the idea of an arrogant doctor, but she comes across as absurdly ignorant of her situation in life.
It is also difficult to read a book with an unsympathetic main character. She has had an affair, and may or may not want a divorce, and may or may not love her kids, and may or may not actually be a good doctor. None of which makes it easy to understand why we should be interested in her story.
Things do get a little more interesting, though, when her husband goes to visit a spiritual healer and actually undergoes a spiritual transformation of his own. The book uses this to try to get us to think about Big Issues, like homelessness and kindness and how to make the world a better place. Again, though, the discussion in the book seems too blunt - crazy idealists on one side, selfish but somehow still caring people on the other. Neither side really presents stimulating arguments, either, and no one seems to have heard of the possibility of compromise.
The book also seems to sidestep the spiritual healing ideas that for a while seem like they might be a central metaphor for the book. And, in the end, that may actually work out to be part of the central question, some variant on "is there anything meaningful out there?" or some other meaning-of-life question.
The book also ends by running into one of my pet peeves, where writers exaggerate the importance of writing. I can completely believe the idea of ordinary, everyday things giving meaning to life (a point wonderfully shown in Amelie) but the explanation of the joy of reading and books seemed a little overdone. The ending also seemed to be rushed, and not in a "I wish there was more" way but more of a "I spent how much time reading this to get to *that*" way.
February 16, 2003
Hah!
You think you had me beat technology, but I am back!
The new software seems to be working (how nice to have a real database to be able to manipulate all my entries with!) but it is ironic that in moving things over I seem to have fixed the old software. Oh well. I still need to make this place look more like I want, and then actually start writing all that stuff I haven't put up here. Oh, and work out some of those category things. Whooo...