Bologna has a first name, it's O-S-C-A-R

I'm very disappointed that Mel Gibson's film The Passion of the Christ didn't win any of the awards for which it was nominated. It was the most artistically daring and spiritually beautiful film of 2004. It's not on my list of best movies of 2004, because I couldn't bear to see it again, but it's a great movie.

I'm very disappointed that Martin Scorsese was snubbed by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences again. Although the Aviator was not on my list either, it was better than Million Dollar Baby, a pile of sentimental horse manure.

They did the right thing by giving Jamie Foxx his award for Ray, and giving Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind the original screenplay award.

I don't know why they think Clint Eastwood is such a great director. All his movies are about the same thing: getting away with murder, which is what he does, every time he makes a movie.

I would have chosen Ray as the best picture of 2004, if I had to choose from the nominees.

Here's my 2004 Top Ten list:

Ray
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Incredibles, The
Twilight Samurai
Touching the Void
Hotel Rwanda
Shaun of the Dead
Napoleon Dynamite
Mean Creek
Spiderman 2

The Baby Name Wizard's NameVoyager

This is fun.

Track the popularity of given names across time, either by typing in a name, for a graphic depiction of its decade-by-decade use, or by moving your arrow down the screen through an alphabetical listing that notes each name's peak year.

It's fun to plug in names to see when they were popular.

Intellectual Property Humor

You may be skeptical that you can find humor in intellectual property law, that is, copyrights, trademarks and patents, but only 5% of all issued patents are commercially successful.
See the losers at IP Funny

What's a Numbers station?

Wil Wheaton tipped me off to the existence of Numbers stations, because he blogged about listening to shortwave radio one evening.

Oscar's shorts online today only!!

GreenCine Daily: Online viewing tip. Salon is hosting the Oscar-nominated shorts today only. One-day registration is free.

How to Sell Your Book, CD, or DVD on Amazon

Kevin Kelly at Cool Tools has a great article on how he got into the self-publishing business using Amazon. A caution: he says "This is not a way to make money; this is a way to distribute your message."

Security Awareness for Ma, Pa and the Corporate Clueless

Security Awareness is winner of the 2005 Business Blog awards "Best Overall" and "Best Tech" blog.

Need invite to Filangy, please

If you have a Filangy invite, please invite me. Thank you very much.

2005 AWN Oscar Showcase

Animation World Network presents clips from the nominees in the animated Feature Film and Short Film Academy Award categories, for assisting in making your Oscar predictions. You can also vote for your favorites.

Fun for the film addict

There are lots of opportunities to watch independent or locally made films this Spring in North Carolina. I attended the Indie Film Night at The Green Bean in Greensboro last Thursday. They do it the third Thursday of every month.
Stalker update: I plan to attend the Carolina Film & Video Festival at UNCG this week. I also plan to attend the RiverRun festival in Winston-Salem and Full Frame in Durham in April.

Alaska, Land of the Lost

Yahoo! News/LA Times

There are so many ways in Alaska to get lost, and so many reasons the lost may not be found.

Which Website are you?

Which Website are You?

Thank God for Bacon

A hymn, of sorts.

How to get better service at a restaurant

From Stained Apron says:

There are little signals you can give your server to help him give you better service. Unfortunately, most restaurant patrons don’t know them.

*CLOSE your menu when you are ready to order. Most servers don’t like to butt in and rush you if it appears you are still browsing.

*Catch your server’s eye when you need something. Add this to an expectant look, and your server should come right over. No need to snap your fingers, wave furiously, whistle, yell, or tug on his apron when he is talking to another guest. All of the latter actions will probably guarantee that you will be ignored a bit longer. I can do a great impression of not noticing your rude display.

*If you are ready to pay after the bill has been placed on the table, place the check holder to the edge of the table. You can even let the money or the credit card stick out a little. No good server grabs the check holder to see if you’ve put the money in it yet. He or she waits for a signal so as not to rush you.

*If you want the server to keep the change, tell him. Just saying “Thank you” or nothing is not enough, and he will probably stand in line at the cashier or fumble around for the right coins and bill combination unnecessarily. Now, this won’t affect you in particular, but it will affect the customers after you.

*If you have dietary needs of other food preferences, just TELL us when you order, not when we bring out the food. Again, this affects everybody--negatively.

*Place your fork and knife tines down and beside each other on the plate if you have finished with your food. That way the server need not butt in to see if she can take your plate.

Animated guide to tying knots

We modern folks don't have much use for a lot of knot-tying, unless we engage in outdoor work or sports, but the scouts are still learning it. It's amazing the stuff you can do with a well-tied knot. Here's a Web page which provides simple animations to show you how to tie several basic knots, provided by the42nd Brighton (Saltdean) Scout Group, UK

Gotta try to go this year

The full frame documentary film festival is in Durham, NC from April 7-10, 2005.

From their Web site: "We invite you to share in this unique cultural event by supporting the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival, a not-for-profit event produced by Doc Arts, Inc. With the popularity of documentaries at an all-time-high, there is no better time to support us. Full Frame is considered by The New York Times and IndieWIRE as the premier documentary film festival in the U.S. We have significant impact regionally, nationally and internationally."

The schedule will be posted sometime this month (February) and you can save money by buying your passes before April 4.

Free Spirit Spheres

Free Spirit Spheres are "durable spheres [which] can be hung from the trees ...making a treehouse. They could also be hung from any other solid objects or placed in cradles on the ground. There are four attachment points on the top of each sphere and another four anchor points on the bottom. Each of the attachment points is strong enough to carry the weight of the entire sphere and contents."

They contain shelves, cabinets, a bed, and windows. If I had a tree, I would want one.

Be who you are

Nothing to fill the Star Trek vacuum

People who know me will be asking if I'm upset over the cancellation of the latest incarnation of Star Trek. Sorry, no. I haven't looked at an episode of Enterprise since the first season, and then, only for sentimental reasons. After that season, I quit Star Trek cold turkey, because I was feeling exploited by Paramount, like I was some no-taste loser hardcore geek who would buy a pile of steaming dog vomit if it was labelled "Star Trek".

Signs you are a good tipper

Signs you are a good tipper from Stained Apron blog. Please tip at least 15% for adequate service, minimum $1.00 if all you ordered was a drink or dessert. Christians have a reputation for being the worst tippers. Please, let's try to reverse that. A gospel tract is not a substitute for helping to pay someone's rent.

 You actually look at me when I am telling you the specials; you might even smile.
 You don’t answer a hello from your server by yelling, “Two coffees!”
 You say please and thank you.
 You don’t make faces as you are being told the specials, even if you hear a dish you don’t like.
 You don’t order water with lemon.
 Your free-refill soda lasts more than 2 seconds.
 You check to see if your dining partner is ready before you belt out your order.
 You don’t slap your kids in public.
 You don't immediately demand to see the cheapest thing on the menu.
 You answer questions with actual words rather than grunts.
 You start your requests with “May I please have...” rather than “Get me” or “I need.”

Canadian's reaction on visit to Florida

On her AOL journal, What the Helen of Troy is that, this Canadian mom tells of her vacation to the Gulf Coast area of America:

There is such an energy in the US. It's hard to put my finger on how different the US and Canada are. We are neighbours, share alot of the same technology and comforts afforded to Western nations. But the difference in mindset is really there. It seemed like as soon as we got here there was an "I can do anything I want to!" feeling. One that isn't felt in Canada. We're definately more reserved, laid back and socialist in thinking. Not that I prefer one over the other, in fact, I can definitely see that I am a true Canadian and follow most of the stereotypical Canuck views. It's just interesting, sociologically speaking. I do love the US mindset though. A cure for the January blahs like no other!

We have been enjoying our vacation very much. This house is just amazing. A true home away from home, but the kitchen here is bigger than mine and it makes me want to stay forever!
...

We've eaten so much fast food I can't bear to think of eating any more. I wish I could say the same for Krispy Kremes. I have eaten quite a few and did you know that you can get TWO DOZEN FOR TEN DOLLARS?!!! Bliss for TEN BUCKS.

We've experienced Super Wal-Mart. Holy [bleep]. It was a sensory overload of commerce. I had a headache by the end and had to put my head between my knees in the van.

Now she knows what I enjoy every day.

Walmart nursery rhyme

Via Always Low Prices, the best unofficial Walmart blog.


To Wal-Mart, to Wal-Mart,

my town's only store.

I swear that there used to be others before.

Wal-Mart selling iPod Minis?!

via CNET News.com "The discount chain is selling Minis in a "limited number of stores," a Wal-Mart representative said Monday. The representative declined to elaborate on how many of the company's nearly 5,000 stores are carrying the device."

Darth Tater: Mr Vader Potatohead

Have you seen this?

John Hargrove's Credit Card Prank

You've gotta read this. High-larious.

El Gato EyeTV 200 Firewire Digital Video Recorder from Small Dog Electronics

El Gato EyeTV 200 Firewire Digital Video Recorder from Small Dog Electronics turns your Mac into a Tivo-like machine.

All Consuming

"All Consuming is a website that watches weblogs for books that they're talking about, and displays the most popular ones on an hourly basis. You can also use this site to add a list of books to your own weblog (and you don't need to know HTML)." Learn more.

Poor man has nice house, car

According to the Sacramento Bee, kindergarten teacher Russell Christoff has a house "in an upper middle-class tract", wears a "crisply pressed suit", talks into a cell phone, and drives a Mercedes sedan to "his talent agent's office in San Francisco."

Still, he thinks he's poor. Shortly after being awarded a $15 million settlement in a lawsuit against Taster's Choice over the use of his image for the last 17 years, Christoff told a reporter: "'I'm still just as poor as I was before." He hasn't received his settlement yet. It's under appeal. Poor guy.

They also say he hasn't quit his job yet, although he hasn't been to work in three weeks.

God bless America.