At Two Ends of the Spectrum

A short blog tonight because I have other things on the cook.

Some Funny Videos:

I love Seinfeld.  It was the funniest show on TV and I watched it religiously.  TV has never been the same for me since it finished, honestly.  My kids and my significant other, at the time, could quote whole episodes.  (The kids also quoted Simpsons a lot also, but that is another story).  I really enjoyed the Soup Nazi episodes.  

For those of you who are Seinfeld fans this is worth seeing - a spoof on the Soup Nazi episode

You really must check out this Video.  ** Liquid Generation's 100 Best Movie Lines in 200 Seconds (video)  ** I found it when looking for DVD release dates.  Someone has selected the 100 best movie lines in all times and it plays in just 3 minutes.  All the best ones are there.  This will have you chuckling.

Now for a change in mood.

Dr. Randy Pausch - The Last Lecture

 

Carnegie Mellon hosts a number of You Tube Videos on their site.  There are University Lectures and Guest Lectures, and even a Panel Discussion which was chaired by Obama in July of 2008 - before he was elected, on Economic Competitiveness.  Some of these lectures are presented in a similar vein as the TED lectures  and are very interesting.  

I found the one titled "The Last Lecture" given by Dr. Randy Pausch to be a particularly inspiring video.   At the Carnegie Mellon University each year, a professor is asked to deliver "the last lecture".  Dr. Pausch was asked to deliver the last lecture in Sept 2007.    The Last Lecture Video has been seen by millions.  A DIGG article says it is one of the 100 most iconic videos of all time.  (It is a night for 100 ofs...)  

There is a few notable things about this man and his lecture.  After he gave this lecture he became a minor celebrity and was featured on Time Magazine, and (you can also see that on You Tube).  You see this University Professor knew that he had not much time to live when he gave this lecture as he had an incurable form of cancer.  Yet, the lecture is full of hope, optimism and happiness.  It is well worth sitting back and watching.  It reminds us that no matter how bad the cards we are dealt, the hand is what we make of it.  

 If you want to know more about Randy you can go here to see the April 2008 interview of Diane Sawyer with Randy Pausch.    -  Part 1    -   Part 2    -   Part 3

From all accounts he was an tremendously inspiring and well regarded computer science professor.  From this lecture and information presented about him through the interview wth Diane Sawyer, he had a lot more to offer us all.  It is sad that his life had to end so early.

 

Carnegie Mellon Professor Randy Pausch, who is dying from pancreatic cancer, gave his last lecture at the university Sept. 18, 2007, before a packed McConomy Auditorium. In his moving talk, "Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams," Pausch talked about his lessons learned and gave advice to students on how to achieve their own career and personal goals.

He died at the age of 47 on July 25, 2008.

Carnegie Mellon professors, alumni, students and friends regularly lecture on a variety of subjects. Check out some of the university lectures  (Or the Obama Lecture) here. For more information on Carnegie Mellon, visit www.cmu.edu.

Smorgasborg Sunday

SO annoying when your computer screws up and you find that somehow the blogger software didn't save your work like as it is supposed to do!  Before I try and rewrite the last 30 minutes of creativity let me blow some steam.  

I have this awful habit of being in a rush and hitting the wrong spot in the web browser tab and on more than a few occasions I hit the x rather than the tab and then of course I close the tab rather than go to the tabbed page.  Which would not be bad if it would warn me if I was going to lose data - but it doesn't!   To make matters worse, the blogger software is supposed to auto save your work and I know it does it every several minutes - except for some reason today, because when I went to reopen and continue to edit the blog, it said it had nothing saved since this morning when I started collecting ideas for today's blog.  

GRRRRRR

OK, so now I start again!  I had started the blog with a comment about how nice it was that it there was still some daylight at 7:15.  It is now 7:55 and there is still a wee bit of light - but not much.   I suppose that is nice, but somehow now the mood has been broken and I am not quite so thrilled.

(By the way, I notice it has now autosaved this draft twice in the last 5 minutes!   what in the hell happened to the last hour's work!!!!!!!!!   I want it back!!!)    

Movie Night - The Unbearable Lightness of Being

As promised a review of this 1988 movie.  It was definitely not a romance.  I would rate it quite highly, well done, thought provoking, but a somewhat tragic and it left me a bit melancholy  (but not as melancholy as losing an hours work does!).  Though, it was not without its lighter moments.   The characters were well acted, quite likeable despite their lack of remorse for their less than moral behaviour (hmm, I guess we are all mostly like that and can justify our way out of things)  and their complexities were well portrayed.   Some great (and real) footage of the Soviet takeover of the Czech Republic in 68 and excellent scenes which conveyed the hopelessness of their situation at the time.  (eh, but what goes around comes around, huh - look at the Soviets now)..  Sorry, just can't get into putting the same mindset for this review the 2nd time around.  I suspect I am a tad more snippy this time.

OBAMA News:

From the White House News: 

The Obamas welcome Bo, a six-month old Portuguese water dog and a gift from 
Senator and Mrs. Kennedy to Sasha and Malia.

Glad to hear that the White House is getting its "First Dog".  I wonder how long it will take before Sasha and Malia are delegating the dog walks.  LOL  (speaking as a Mom who has not only animal duties but also paper route duties delegated)

I found this funny bit of Obama news when skimming the blog sites which I subscribe too.  P

From TIME GOES BY 

Mazel Tov to President Obama. On Thursday evening, he hosted the first-ever Seder for Passover in the White House. A rabbiwho was not scheduled to attend said, “"I'm only sorry that I won't be there to see the president and his chief of staff Rahm Emanuel say at the same time, 'Once we were all slaves. Now we are all free.'" More here.

Arr, me hearty, keelhaul dem Buccanneers!!

I have been watching the Pirate Episodes unfold with great interest wondering how long it would take the Americans to get pissed off enough to get out their sharp shooters and take out those nasty guys.  Obama, ever the diplomat, authorized lethal force only if the captain's life was endangered.  (Bush would have had them shoot first and ask questions later.)  Of course it just took time before it got to that because there was no win/win in this scenario.  I was glad to see they got the captain out without harm and not sorry that the scallywags got it good.  Really pissed me off that they would pirate a ship carrying food aid to Africa.  Food Aid To Africa, for God's Sake!!  Like the Mafia shaking down old ladies for their food stamps!   

I say it is high time the world governments got together and took the same attitude towards these African pirates as they have done to other terrorists and rogue nations.

From the Funny Files:

Boss Gets Into Groove After 3rd Round Of Layoffs http://www.theonion.com/content/new... INDIANAPOLIS—Hank Strauss quickly established a natural firing rhythm on Friday afternoon, smoothly easing his employees into unemployment without stumbling once.

Happy Easter Everyone!

The long weekend continues with self indulgence... :)

I am doing all sorts of neat stuff this weekend. Getting organized about a couple of writing projects (more about that maybe tomorrow) and I have rented a movie on my "wanna see" list for some time.

The Unbearable Lightness of Being is the movie  and I think it will be a good one.  It is X rated and really about a womanizing surgeon who lived in Prague at the time of the Soviet takeover.

 The doctor is very good looking and seems to have an ongoing relationship with more than a couple of women.  I think the movie has a lot going for it for both men and women, covering erotica, social commentary, female angst and even a historical account of Czechoslovakia in the mid-late 1960s and  philosophical meaning.  

At one level, the movie details the circumstances of the lives of artists and intellectuals in Communist Czechoslovakia in the wake of the Prague Spring, and the subsequent invasion by the USSR.   At another level it is actually a fairly sensual and  "artsy" moving exploring existentialist philosophy.  So there is something in this movie for everyone.

It is an adaptation of a modernist  novel of the same title by Milan Kundera.  As I  understand, in the novel, (which I must read next), the author focuses on Nietzsche's idea of eternal return - that is, the idea that the universe and all the events therein have all happened before, and will continue to recur ad infinitum. Kundera explores this idea, offering an alternate interpretation: each of us has only one life to live, and what happens once will never occur again. He calls this idea "lightness", and refers to the concept of eternal return as "heaviness"" or "weight". 

The web site "rotten tomatoes" rates this movie highly and says "THE UNBEARABLE LIGHTNESS OF BEING is a sensual and sensitive adaptation of Milan Kundera's tragicomic existentialist novel ..."  

Will let you know if it is worth watching.  Going to finish this brief blog before I put it on.

Today was the 2nd regular season game for the TFC.   I snapped a pic from my balcony - with my binoculars I can see them run up and down centre field.  I can also hear the crowd roar with every good play!

Also wanted to tell you about my visit to the Art Gallery of Ontario  (AGO) this week.  The AGO is free on Wed


nights from 6:00 to closing at 8:30.  It is the first time I have been since it re-opened after the renovation which was completed last fall.  I was very impressed with the architecture.   I enjoyed the art, even if some of it wasn't to my taste.  Browsed through the first 2 floors.  I guess the rest will wait until my next visit.

So now, my movie!

A Scattered and Fragmented Mind

What to write in my blog tonight?  A dilemma – can I manage a short, pert piece and get on with the other things I need to do before bed?  I check my clock – 9:15! 

Later than I would have liked but for sure enough time if I make haste.  

Today was a gorgeous day weather wise – but this did not help me stay focused on my studying.  I moved myself out onto my balcony and sat there on my lounge chair memorizing stuff for a few hours.   Other things kept wandering into my area of focus.  

The look of the lake – it was extraordinary, with a milky white haze hovering over the water further out onto the lake. 

The white lake blended into a white coloured sky in the distance.  Here on the shore there were no clouds, but I suppose out on the lake perhaps it was cloudy and the heat of the day may have been causing mist to rise in middle of the lake providing the white background.  

My construction “hole” on the street opposite – a concrete and steel monolith is rising out of the hole and the west side is now approaching street level.  I can see the progress made in the last month. 

The park below – folks have broken through the fence and have claimed it ready for use – dogs frolicking folks sitting on benches chatting.  Idly I wonder when things will start to green up… (ha nice joke, eh – try next month) 

The movie I watched last night – The Watchmen – which I enjoyed a lot and would highly recommend.  My date from last night, which I would not. 

My mind wandered further afield – spring is in the air and poetry is begging to be written.  My mind is calling to me to unload this poem which is crying to get out – to be written – to be acknowledged.  Spent an hour heeding the call to the poet in me. 

Laura arrives – I am her hairdresser now and she is in need of a shampoo.  We chat – she eats – and I drive her home. 

Back to work.  Focus – keep at it.  Finally I finish the practice exam I had started writing hours ago.  Joy of joys!  74%  - not as good as I would like, but certainly acceptable.   I decide that I can get away with only 1 more day off work to study.  When Friday rolls around I will do my last review and ready my mind for the exam the next day. 

Blog done – I can now sit back and relax with what remains of my weekend!

He is Just Not that Into You

Had a nice evening tonight with my daughters Tegan and Laura and my almost daughter, Amanda, We had a girlie movie night and went to see “He is just not that into you”. It was an adaptation of the book by the same name by the Sex in the City Authors Greg Behrendt and Liz Tucillo.

The theme of the movie is that dating and romance is a minefield filled with misunderstood clues from the interacting characters. It is one of those movies with small interconnected stories with parallel themes and 20 something characters many of which evolve from their shallow selves to ones which are more in keeping with what we women would like to see in real life. Yes it is a full throttle chick flick.

It has a star studded cast – Ben Affleck, Scarlett Johansson and Jennifer Aniston and Drew Barrymore to name just a few. Lots of other famous folk in cameos and more.
It is a humourous look at how we can obsess about the opposite sex when in a romantic situation. We all have gone through the hell of waiting for his phone call, trying and incorrectly interpreting “clues” and wanting the one who is “just not that into us”. There are lots of situations that we women can relate too. I think that there are also just as many similar situations that the men in the crowd would appreciate as well. Only if any would venture in to see it.

There is a pretty funny web site set up to support this film. In particular, there is a really funny video in which 3 of the guy stars explain that it is not a typical chick flick and why guys should go see this movie.

Go to the following url and choose Videos and then choose Top Ten Cliches http://www.hesjustnotthatintoyoumovie.com/
There is quite a few funny things on this website, for instance, it has a “date decoder” to allow you to interpret what a date really means. You choose the comment and the decoder generates the intended meaning – often far from what you might expect, which was one of the themes of the movie.

Anyway, I had a fun night with the girls and now have entirely run out of steam.
Good Night!

Back at the Coal Mine...

Well, not exactly the coal mine - my job is pretty cool. And I am experienced enough (and old enough) to be confident in what I am doing and not to stress out. I do my best and that is usually good enough. However, no matter how much I like what I do it would still be preferable to not have to work to pay the bills. But that will come in time - it is called retirement. Sadly, given the state of the stock market probably not until after I am 60 though. :(

So, started back today after 5 weeks off. I couldn't believe how 5 weeks could go so fast. But working sure drains the hours from the day and the cycles from the brain. Here it is nearly 8 p.m. and I am just starting my blog. Multitasking as it were - watching House on TV and writing the blog. I don't watch a lot of TV and resent the time spent watching mindless TV... but sometimes mindless TV provides a good background.

Today (for those of you not tuning into tonight's news) is officially the most depressing day of the year. Wow - someone actually tallys these things and makes the official prognastication that there will be not be any more depressing day worse than this one for a whole year. If that is true it is great news! Those of us who make it through the day can happily look to the rest of the year for better spirits than we felt today. Actually one would think their logic is not flawed - a good couple of months of winter left, short and dark days, Christmas bills coming in and New Year's resolutions falling by the way side left, right and centre. But not to dispute with experts, it is my understanding that the spring time is the peak time for suicide attempts - something about the hopeless being despondent because, othey don't start to feel happy when flowers start to bllom. But no matter, it makes interesting news and might perk up a few foks to realize that they are not alone feeling a bit blue.

I went out to my Documentary Film Group last night and we saw a film about the life of Barack Obama - "The Man and His Journey" and a few of his speeches in the DVD "The Power of Change". Wow what Disney movie did they pull this man out of? I knew he was special but did not appreciate what everyone was so excited about.

Aside from the historical significance, as the first black President of the US, which in itself should not be understated, the man is almost unbelievable. His life to date is remarkable in the true sense of the word. I haven't time to go on about the things in his life which has shaped him and makes me believe that he is pretty special but instead will suggest that you rent the movie (surely they must be carrying it at Block Busters) because you will be amazed.

The message he conveys and his goals for his achievement as President of our southerly nation, were delivered in the speeches I have seen with both humility and confidence. His message for a need for reform and improvement indicate that the man has integrity and compassion. The man is truely an inspiring visionary. Adjectives such as authentic, driven, idealistic and tremendously intelligent are not out of line, IMO.

It is also hard to believe that he has found time to write two books - one of them an autobiography he wrote when he was 26! Most politicians write their memoirs after they finish in politics - not Obama. To find out more about the two books he has written go to: http://lifestyle.sympatico.msn.ca/Special+Guides/Book+Guide/ContentPostingBOOKGUIDE?newsitemid=d68d6dfc-7c50-41a6-ba98-4d9ddd881b10&feedname=RandomHouse&show=True&number=3&showbyline=True&subtitle=&detect=&abc=abc&date=False=&detect=&abc=abc&date=False

Regardless of what Obama is able to achieve once he is in power, one cannot discount how he is bringing out the best parts of the American people simply by providing them hope and inspiration. If he is half the man he seems to be he is probably better equipped to make a difference and to improve the circumstance of the American people more than any other President in recent history.

This momentus historical event brings us a message that all dreams come true with hard work, dedication (and I would add: righteousness of purpose). He is the man of 2009, no doubt. The world is gripped in Obama-mania and I am right there with everyone else.