Shocker!

In what can only be called a stunning upset, "Brokeback Mountain" won best film at a gay awards show. I really thought "Crash" was going to take home the top prize. Whodathunkit?

Lighthouse

This is the lighthouse at Point Reyes and let me tell you it was windier than a congressional filibuster. The site is made all the more dramatic by the 308 steps you have to descend to get down to the lighthouse itself, which is about 150 years old. It boggles the mind that they found people desperate enough to build the damn thing. Despite the beauty (beauty that is rugged, of course) of the area, life must have harsh for the soul tasked with tending the lighthouse. An informational board said one lighthouse keeper's wife tried starting a garden, but the seeds were lost to the wind in short order.

Point Reyes Beach

Here is a view of the entire stretch of Point Reyes Beach. This is taken from the southern end, on a hill a couple hundred feet above sea level. Apparently there is good whale watching from up here. You can see Pacific greys moving south in January and north in March, though we didn't spy any of the marine mammals that day.

North Beach

There were a couple interesting features of this beach. One was that the sand was some of the coarsest I've ever seen, more like extremely tiny pebbles than actual sand. We figures the finer stuff simply must get blown away by the fierce winds. Also, when the waves retreated, they would leave a black line on the sand. I figured it was the usual ocean detritus -- tiny bits of wood, seawood and unknown scum. In fact, it turned out to be tiny jellyfish, mostly no bigger than jellybeans. They were somewhat like the Portugese man-o-war in that they had tiny sails on top, but the similarity ended there. They didn't seem to have long tentacles and they certainly didn't sting when you handled them. As a kid, I used to catch jellyfish the size of half a grapefruit around Puget Sound, but I've never seen anything like these weird things.

Windy Day

We drove up to Point Reyes today. It's about an hour's drive north of San Francisco. This beach is considered one of the most dangerous in California. It used to be illegal to even go in the water until a few years ago, when surfers successfully sued for the right to commit suicide by wave. Seriously, I can't see how anyone could swim in these currents. The picture makes it look like an idyllic California spring day, but the wind was absolutely whipping across the beach. It made for some pretty dramatic pictures, which I'll post over the next few days.

"V For Very Interesting"

Wow. The Oriental Wife and I just got back from our first non-kid movie in at least five months. My parents are in town, so we enlisted them in babysiting duty and hit the cineplex for the first time since moving back Stateside.

Here's how the evening went down. Being the thoughtful, loving husband I am, I graciously allowed to choose which movie to see. She wanted to check out the new Spike Lee heist film, "Inside Man", but it ended up being sold out. So I subtly suggested my preferred choice, "V for Vendetta".

Having heard a lot of hullaballoo about the movie's political message, I was fully prepared to just deal with it as a pure action film, the latest Wachowski eye candy. What I was't prepared for was for the movie to actually be extremely well done. It was gripping in some parts, moving in others, and yes, even subtle in certain respects.

To be sure, it does have its eye-rolling moments. Examples include the constant references to "the former USA", the montage of the US, British and Nazi flags, and the gushing over the "poetry" and "imagery" of the Koran. These are about as subtle as a brick to the skull. But step back from these details and what you are left with is a pretty effective indictment of fascist methodology.

Oddly enough, the best empiracal evidence of this was the reaction of the Oriental Wife, who absolutely loved the movie. Here's a crucial bit of detail: my wife is a Chinese citizen. She doesn't have to imagine what it would be like to live under a dictatorship, she grew up under one. When the movie finished, she gushed, "Every Chinese needs to see this movie!"

Tom Wolfe said fascism is forever descending on the United States, but somehow it always lands in Europe. Well, in a similar vein, the people who made this movie may have had the United States in their sights, but they could end up hitting countries like China instead.

Consider: "V" is playing on thousands of screens in the United States. How many screens do you think it will play on in China? North Korea? Cuba? The movie will be a passing hit with Berkeley students who already buy the (unnecessary for the movie's purpose) background premise that the West is slipping towards fascism, but I suspect it may actually prove to be more enduring once it hits the black market in other parts of the world where people actually already *are* chafing for more freedom.

Incidentally, the dumbest line from the movie is one that is already becoming one of it's most popular: "People should not be afraid of their governments, governments should be afraid of their people." This is dumb because tyranny, dictatorship and fascism is exactly what you get when a government is afraid of its people.

My favorite line? Well, I'd have to see the movie again and try to catch its various literary references, but this is a pretty good start: "Beneath this mask there is more than flesh. There is an idea ... and ideas are bulletproof."

Hmm. I could keep ranting but realize this is already pretty long. My remaining thoughts in a nutshell: Woah, the scenes of blowing stuff up and dispatching jackbooted thugs with knives were totally cool; hey, Natalie Portman can act, she's not just another of The Mayor's serving wenches (I teared up in the scene where she finally gets out of prison); Hugo Weaving rocks, even just using his voice; use of the mask was interesting because it made you focus on the dialogue; they also made creative use of lighting and camera angles to imbue the unchanging mask with hints of different expressions; I think I'm gonna get the original graphic novel.

UPDATE: I guess what I'm trying to say is that I disagree with the film's message that the U.S. or Britain is actually in danger of succumbing to creeping fascism. But that's okay, because it has successfully crafted a broader warning against fascism in general, and its message can be applied towards real live tyrannies that are oppressing real live people today.

Bucky Stays

Weak. America, you gave Chicken Little the axe, you heartless bastards. Bucky was clearly the inferior performer, but you let yourself be lulled by his tight jeans, enormous belt buckle, and Jessica Simpson-like hair. How could you? Anyway, as the Oriental Wife pointed out, neither Bucky nor Kevin were going to make it to even the top three, so it really doesn't matter in what order they get booted.

American Idol

Buh-bye, Bucky. I've been pulling for Bucky's Southern Comfort style of singing, but tonight he just phoned it in like it was karaoke night.

Best performance of the night? I would have to pick Pickler, by a long shot.

And as much as it pains me to say it, pretty boyAce knocked one out of the park. He was the top male performer for sure.

But what is it with everyone's obsession with Chris? Okay, the guy doesn't just straight-up karaoke the songs, he puts a rock spin on them, I'll give him that. But the result just doesn't sound good. I have hated nearly every song he's done. But I imagine he'll be in there until the final few.

Anyone else watch?

The Reinforced Mind

Here is a story about a video game therapy that helps severely injured people regain motor control.

This is not just giving someone a joystick and having them practice basic motor skills. It involves a feedback system that lets a player see when they are producing the proper type of brain wave associated with a certain movement. One of the more intriguing parts of the column comes near the end:

Last year, Margaret MacDonald, a San Jose, California doctor, focused her practice on neuro-feedback after her son's attention-deficit symptoms improved within three months of using CyberLearning's system.

She starts patients with 20- to 25-minute sessions at least two times per week and recommends that they work with a trained professional to ensure they are reinforcing the right brain wave activity to produce the desired result.

"This isn't something you can just play with .... You could train the wrong thing and cause someone to become more anxious and irritable," she said.

You can reinforce emotional states with this thing? How cool is that? You could also train soldiers to be more aggressive, impotent men to be more aroused. Why not train people to hit certain states of conciousness? Buddhist monks could attain enlightenment more easily, religious Christians could train for rapture. Artists could tap deeper levels of intuition and creativity. Instead of blowing $500 a week on a cocaine habit, just fire up your Xbox and hit the same kind of high.

Sometimes it seems like the futures depicted in books like John C. Wright's The Golden Age or David Zindell's The Broken God aren't that far off.

GR Likes "V"!

Dave at Garfield Ridge has what I imagine will be the most sensible review of "V for Vendetta". Short version: the movie is enjoyable fantasy because the type of fascist state depicted in the film stands no chance of ever becoming reality anywhere in the Western world, like, ever. Sounds about right to me.

New! Blogroll! Addition!

In the first blogroll change I've done since I started this thing, I finally added Retired Geezer's site. He proved too cool not to (scroll down to his comment on Jimmy Page).

Light Saber Duel!

Here is a video of two geeks having a light saber duel. It is actually pretty impressive. The ending is great.

May the Force be with GeekPress, from whom I stole the link.

Soccer Fight!

Who doesn't enjoy a good soccer fight now and again?

Watching this clip, the things that strike me are:

1. Soccer players can't throw a punch for jack. I've seen Barbie dolls hit better than these guys.

2. The number of dirty hits is incredible. There's a whole segment where guys get sucker-punched in the solar plexus. The very last shot is jaw-droppingly unfair. The funniest, though, is when one guy reaches around a group and yanks the mullet of an opposing player. Gee, maybe he'll pass him a note in social studies class saying to watch out on the playground at recess.

3. It doesn't take much to drop a soccer player. Since trying to get the refs to draw fouls on the other team is a big part of the game, a lot of these guys hit the turf as soon as they get tapped on the jaw. Check out the one where one dude gets lightly headbutted. He looks pissed for a split second, then immediately changes his expression to one of extreme anguish, throws his hands up to his face and drops like a sack of potatoes.

4. I would not, repeat not want to get a set of cleats to the face. That's gotta sting.

Cover Story

Newsweek has a great cover story about Richard Jadick.

Who is Richard Jadick? He's a military surgeon who is credited with saving 30 lives during the Battle of Fallujah.

[T]here were some remarkable survivors. A Marine walked over to Jadick and said, "Doc, I've got a headache." Jadick saw with a start that there was a hole in the guy's helmet. Gingerly, Jadick removed the helmet—and saw that a bullet had, in effect, scalped the young Marine, separating a flap of skin at the hairline, but not penetrating his skull. "You're pretty lucky," Jadick said. As both men laughed, Jadick stitched him up. "You don't need to be here anymore today," he told the man, and sent him to the rear.

Jadick saw worse, much worse, but he performed his job in extraordinary fashion. He was awarded a Bronze Star with Combat V for valor for his actions, the only doctor to have been so decorated.

Of course, Jadick is just one of thousands of men and women with incredible stories. Americans need to hear their tales, not just read about the latest suicide bomber. It's refreshing to see a mainstream publication realize that, too.

Protests? Where?

Instapundit reports on thinly attended anti-war protests.

I drove up to the edge of U Cal Berkeley today for a late lunch. It was the first warm and sunny day we'd had in weeks, perfect weather for a good venting against the Bush administration. In fact, the streets were crowded and it was impossible to find parking. But wait. It appeared to all be due to some unrelated musical event. There was nary a "Bu$hitler" banner to be seen.

The only protesters I saw were about two dozen elderly folk on University St. a good half mile from campus. There were about a dozen on either side of the street holding signs. That was it.

Being the Bay Area, of course there were protests. But it was telling that there was no noticeable activity in the place that practically invented the anti-war protest.

I still fail to grasp the logic of those who are calling for the U.S. to immediately pull out of Iraq. Whatever the merits of going into Iraq in the first place, once that action was taken, this country had the additional responsibility of trying its utmost to set things right in Iraq.

The main argument from those opposed to the war in the first place is that it's the presence of U.S. troops that is driving the violence. But the vast majority of terrorist acts and mass violence in Iraq are not directed at U.S. troops, but at other Iraqis.

So far a civil war hasn't erupted, and it's clear that the easiest way to start one would be to get the U.S. to pull out in rapid fashion.

It's Finally Here!

Well, I know what I'm doing this weekend.

I'm willing to pay $10 because of the promise of these six simple words:The Battle of the Great Wall.

Yes, the new expansion pack has a map to fight on the Great Wall of China. The screenshots I've seen look pretty authentic. Since I've been to Great Wall at least a dozen times, I'm interested to see if the architecture and topography in the game are correct.

But to be truly accurate, they would have to have included the scores of kitsch vendors -- people who sell everything from $1 T-shirts to $100 "antiques" -- who prowl the Wall in hopes of suckering a naive foreign devil. There are times I wouldn't have minded unloading an M249 on some of those folks...

Good Violence/Bad Violence

It seems there's a lot of controversy about "V for Vendetta", the new movie from the Wachowski brothers, who created "The Matrix". It is apparently some kind of not-so-subtle commentary on the post-9/11 domestic and foreign policies of the United States.

Whatever.

It will most likely confirm the beliefs of those who are already convinced that the U.S. is really, truly, on the verge of collapsing into fascism, like, any day now. For those who don't necessarily think that giving the government the authority to listen to phone conversations between someone in the U.S. and known terrorists abroad represents the dawn of the Fourth Reich, the movie will hopefully simply deliver an entertainingly dystopian vision backed by copious amounts of wire-fu.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer movie critic William Arnold contemplates the psychological premise of the movie, which is essentially to get us to root for a terrorist. He proclaims the result "fun" and "cheeky". He doesn't go as far as to endorse the political message of the film or the tactics of its protagonist. In fact his remarks could be interpreted going in the other direction. But in the end that argument is disingenuous, akin to saying, "Of course terrorism is totally wrong, but it's still fun to imagine what it would be like to be in Al Qaeda".

Interestingly, Mr. Arnold is also the critic who excoriated "Sin City" for wallowing in violence. "Sin City" was violent, yes, even horribly so. But one can't deny that its message was that evil is, well, evil, and will be punished, even if it takes a flawed and somewhat evil man to deliver that justice. But that lesson was lost on Mr. Arnold, who, in grasping for a suitable analogy to convey his disgust, tied the movie to the mentality of those involved in the Abu Ghraib scandal.

So violent movies he doesn't like get compared to rogue U.S. troops. But violent movies he does like get compared, approvingly wink wink, to Al Qaeda.

What Every Young Man Needs

I could have really used one of these as a hormone-addled youth. It's a shelf with a secret compartment for stashing porn mags. Unfortunately, it's at least 5 years too late. Who buys hard copies of porn anymore? Maybe you could hide the DVD of all your porn files or something, but actual magazines? That's so last century.

Mitchieville In Uproar As Mayor Quits!

The Mayor claims to be giving up blogging. Says his hits are going down. Wah wah, cry me a river. You know how many hits LMNOP got when I started more than a year ago? About 10 a day. you know how many hits I get now? About 15. C'mon, Mayor, quit being such a drama queen.

New Album

Ben Harper has a new album coming out. This is fantastic news as it's been three years since his last outing with the Innocent Criminals, "Diamonds on the Inside". "Diamonds" was actually somewhat of a disappointment, but his four previous albums were of such stratospherically high quality that I am quivering in anticipation for the new release. Quivering, I tell you. Seeing Harper in concert is something that everyone should experience before they die. The man is a phenomenal performer, a modern-day Hendrix who will rip it up on electric guitar before taking it down to an incredible acoustic mellow. A real treat.

What A Shame

Milosevic died in his cell.

It's really too bad.

I mean, it's too bad Gideon got kicked off "American Idol". That kid had some serious pipes, and definitely deserved to go to the next round.

And So It Begins

So I'm sitting here this morning catching up on the day's news and blog commentary.

Number One Son is sitting next to me witha portable edition of "Connect Four" (the vertical strategy game!) urging me to play with him.

Finally, his frustruation gets the better of him and he blurts out, "Play with me old man!"

Well, I'm Adorable and Reliable Anyway

Here is a very not safe for work music video by a band called The Wet Spots.

"You're beautiful and curvy but unless you're kind of pervy there's no way we're going to last."

Bridge Jumpers

San Francisco is wondering how to stop so many people from flinging themselves off the Golden Gate Bridge.

My idea is to electrify the existing railing. If you pump it with enough juice it would seem like a win-win situation.

Jesus Loves Red China

It's true, at least according to that font of theological wisdom, the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association.

Something might be wrong with my eyes, because I have to keep reading these lines over and over:

Liu argued that socialism and Christianity were compatible.

"China's socialist system comes from God. We should all protect it and obey it. This is what the Bible tells us to do," he said.

Huh. I had nine years of Catholic school growing up and I can't quite remember exactly where the Bible tells us to protect and obey Marxist-Leninst-Mao Zedong Thought.

I must have slept through the bit where we reviewed the psalm praising "socialism with Chinese characteristics". And now that I think of it, wasn't "to get rich is glorious" part of the Sermon on the Mount? I guess the Holy Trinity really refers to Jiang Zemin's "Three Represents"?

Maybe we need to change "The East Is Red" to "Easter Is Red".

It's My... Precious!

I just thought you all might like to know that Eddie Van Halen's transformation into Gollum is nearly complete. Jesus, this guy looks worse than all of The Rolling Stones combined.

Black

I have found a diversion, albeit a temporary one, from "Battlefield 2": "Black".

This is basically just a balls-out shooter for the original Xbox and PlayStation 2 that the developers describe as "gun porn". It's made by Critereon, the team that does the outstanding "Burnout" racing series. If you've ever played those games, you know their specialty is spectacular scenes of destruction.

"Black" doesn't disappoint in that regard. In fact, that's the whole point of the game. Basically, you are handed an arsenal of weapons and the object is to expend as much ammo as possible shooting everything that moves and a great deal of what doesn't. You shoot until something either dies or blows up, and there ain't much that doesn't blow up. Wooden planks blow up in this game, for crying out loud.

The gun models are highly detailed. Supposedly the head of Critereon (a British guy) decided to make the game after spending time at a Las Vegas gun range. The scenery graphics are decent, but from what I've seen of the first couple levels it's a bit dark. The trick is to find the fuel cans and boxes of explosives littered around the maps, and blast those to light up the area with serious fireworks.

Let me talk about the sound. Oh, the glorious sound! This game probably has the best sound of any title I've played. Each gun is distinct, and the suckers are loud. Since I can only enjoy the smell of virtual napalm and cordite after Number One Son goes to bed, I have to keep things quiet. But this game is so outrageously loud I have to turn the sound system down to a setting that, if I was watching a DVD or TV, would be nearly inaudible. At a normal setting, the sound effects rumble and boom like a thunderstorm in your living. Seriously, this is a huge component of the game's enjoyability for me, and I find it puzzling that more developers don't get this right.

I said "Black" will only be a temporary diversion from "BF2". That's because it's apparently really short. Seasonsed FPS types can blow through it in 6 hours or so. I expect it will take me more like 10 or more. Plus, there's no multiplayer whatever and very little replay value beyond unlocking silver weapons with unlimited ammo and finally an M16.

But what a ride in the meantime.

Best Picture

Wow. I was totally surprised when that movie I didn't see beat that other movie I didn't see. That was amazing, but that's the kind of magic Oscar night is made of.

Oscars

Had to TiVo the Oscars to let Number One Son play the Spongebob Xbox game I bought him today. I inadvertently saw that "Crash" won best picture. What a great upset. I am sure that not a single person in the office pool picked that. As for my picks, I was 3 of 4 by the time I had to switch them off.

Anyway, the most unintentionally hilarious moment for me came when the Academy was showing clips from all the edgy social commentary films produced over the years. There were some great films in there, "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington", "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner", "All the President's Men", "Schindler's List", etc. But then they show a clip from freakin' "The Day After Tomorrow", as if a cheesy popcorn movie that distorted climate science beyond recognition should share the moment with films that were truly remarkable. Whoever made the call to put that clip in needs to be send to monitor the Ross Ice Shelf first hand for the next decade or so.

Three Reviews

When I moved back to the States four months ago, I was eager for the release of three major video games, next-generation entertainment products that would let me exploit the New World on behalf of a colonial power, lead my people from the Stone Age to the Space Age, or pick up an M16 to fight for God and country in the Middle East or China. Here are my thumbnail reviews:

"Age of Empires III" was the title I was most looking forward to, yet it turned out to be the most disappointing. Jaw-dropping graphics and detailed animations couldn't make up for core gameplay mechanics that have been basically the same since the original game. The addition of the "home city" was a nice twist, but doesn't really change the underlying fact that you still send out your little villagers to mine gold, chop down trees, gather food, and build lots of structures. Also, the single player game is incredibly hard, and I repeatedly found myself wiped off the map before I could even master the basic game skills. C+.

"Civilization IV", on the other hand, is a fantastic example of how to take an existing concept and refresh it so it seems entirely new. You can play as one of more than a dozen civilizations, each with different attributes that incline you to progress down a certain path of development. The graphics are very good, but not near the caliber of "Age of Empires III". That doesn't matter, though, as the presentation is just top-notch. One totally cool touch is the ability to zoom out until you can view the entire planet, a la Google Earth, rotating slowly on its axis. It's a small thing but very rewarding. I played "Civ IV" every night for a couple hours -- no small committment when you've just moved into a new home from overseas with a wife and 4-year-old kid. It took 12 hours to go through a campaign that was conducted on a "small" world with only four other civilizations. I am eager to try it out on a "large" world. It gets an A. But one thing has gotten in the way:

"Battlefield 2". This game simply excels in every way and has been one of the most addicting games I've ever played. Since getting it about two months ago I really haven't played anything else, not even "Civ IV" or "Halo 2". The graphics are simply stunning. With my new Kick-Ass Computer I've been able to play with almost all the settings on "high", with extraordinary results. Several times I've just had to stop and admire the scenery, such as when as a sniper I climbed a hill and had a view of a shrub-covered valley lit by a setting sun. But such visual feasts are just one part of a visceral experience that is frentic, exhilarating and at times terrifying.

The first time you spawn in a game online, you will be pretty convinced that you are in an actual warzone. Bullets nick the walls around you, artillery explodes around the corner, and armored vehicles rumble past kicking up dust. And then you die. And die. And die again. Dying becomes a very familiar routine in "BF2". There are single-player missions, but the real fun is against other humans online. Most of these humans are much better than you. They will kill you frequently and in embarrassing ways, such as with defibrilator shock paddles.

But eventually you get better. You learn the maps -- about half a dozen in urban Middle Eastern settings and half a dozen in more open-spaced Chinese surroundings. You learn to run for cover when the helicopters come. You learn that tank battles are determined by who gets the first shot off. You learn how to play for kills and how to play for points (you can play different kinds of specialists and you get points for doing what they are supposed to do, i.e., heal people if you're a medic, deliver ammo if you're support, fix vehicles if you're an engineer).

I suppose I have two minor quibbles with the game. First, the online setup makes no differentiation between veteran and novice players. This was probably done to more closely mimic actual battlefield conditions where you have seasoned vets mixed in with green recruits. Still, it is frustruating to get mowed down so frequently in the early going by some guy who's already logged 100 hours of playtime. It would be nice to at least have the option of playing with folks of a similar level, like the matchmaking system in "Halo 2". Secondly, it is too hard to score unlocks. You can unlock one weapon each time you win a promotion, starting with your second promotion. This means that in two months, I have unlocked exactly two weapons. And those unlockable weapons do provide a distinct advantage over the default kit, so it further widens the gap between vets and newcomers. Regardless, the game is a solid A.

I can't recommoned "Battlefield 2" enough to those who like war games or first-person shooters. And if you're in to real-time strategy, "Civilization IV" is an amazing pick. I still suspect that "Age of Empires III" holds some promise, but with two other incredible timewasters already in hand, I just can't be bothered to keep trying.

Justice

Okay boys and girls, compare and contrast:

This:

SAN DIEGO - Former Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham, who collected $2.4 million in homes, yachts, antique furnishings and other bribes on a scale unparalleled in the history of Congress, was sentenced Friday to eight years and four months in prison, the longest term meted out to a congressman in decades.

And this:

ALEXANDRIA, Va. - After tearfully apologizing to the bank tellers she robbed, the young woman dubbed the "cell phone bandit" was sentenced Friday to 12 years in prison.

Candice R. Martinez, 20, gained notoriety when a surveillance camera video showed her calmly chatting on her cell phone while a nervous teller complied with a typed note demanding cash.

...

That Oct. 12 heist — the first of four — netted about $14,000, and was followed by robberies in Springfield, Manassas and Ashburn. In the final robbery, a teller reported that Martinez flashed a gun.

A man who corrupts the fabric of American democracy and fattens his bank account to the tune of at least $2.4 million gets significantly less time than a woman who robbed four banks, mostly with pieces of paper.

Smart Guy

Thanks to Collision Detection for the link.