November 2005

It feels like I live in Alaska or something — it’s only quarter-past five and already full-on dark night outside. What’s up with that? It’s been pretty damn chilly lately. Well. Chilly for Los Angeles, at least. It’s mildly annoying because if I turn on the heater in my apartment I have to take my diploma off the wall in my bedroom and stick it behind one of my night tables. I have it hanging directly above the in-floor oil furnace that passes for a heating unit. The heater actually works amazingly well, and quickly. My apartment can go from freezing (okay, mid-40s) to broiling in about ten minutes from that thing. But I worry that I’m going to warp, spindle, or mutilate my diploma, so …

Anyway. I saw Prime last week. Forgot to mention that. It was pretty good. I’d give it four stars just on acting and direction, but the writing fell flat in places, and it didn’t really have a decent ending, so it’s just a three-star film in my book. Of course, I have no book. I also have no standard star-based ranking of anything, so take that with a grain of salt.

Last night I used LimeWire — wonderful tool — and Google to finally get around to finding the version of “Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!” that plays at the end of Die Hard. It’s by Vaughn Monroe, by the way.

Saw the new Johnny Cash biography, Walk the Line last night. Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon did a fine job of channelling Cash and June Carter. (I’m impressed that the actors did all their own singing, but I can’t understand why the soundtrack has the actors instead of the original songs.) The movie is a must-see if you are a Johnny Cash fan. If you’re not a fan, then you’re probably a commie-loving, Al-Qaeda operative and get the hell off my web site.

The unsung MVP of professional football? It’s IT. Analysis systems let teams archive stats and digital video from every game.

What system are people using to create web sites that have .do files? It seems that every site I visit that employs this coding is slow, slow, slow. Men’s Health and Capital One both have sites built with tons of .do files and redirects and both of them drive me nuts.

Just finished reading Peace Kills: America’s Fun New Imperialism, by P.J. O’Rourke. It was pretty good, a quick read. If you like P.J., it’s more of the same.

I also (finally) knocked off David Sedaris’ Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim, which was absolutely hysterical. Seriously funny stuff. Next up: How to Talk to a Liberal (If You Must): The World According to Ann Coulter. I’m also almost done with Alistair Horne’s fabulous Seven Ages of Paris, (which I actually picked up at The Louvre). Oh, and my dad just sent me Magical Thinking: True Stories by Augusten Burroughs. I’m only about 100 pages into it, but it’s great so far.

Despite a growing public revulsion and overwhelming bi-partisan political support, a few members of Congress — notably Texas Republican Congressman Henry Bonilla — have managed to stall federal legislation to outlaw horse slaughter.