My favorite Roman Polanski films

For someone with a long and prolific career, Polanski has certainly pulled off the difficult feat of consistently creating great movies in many genres. While I have my favorites I can’t think of any Polanski film I didn’t like. My favorite is an easy pick and requires no thought on my part: Tess. It’s a [...]

Read Full Post »

Gigantic Rabbit Feet

Is it just me or does Danton have the largest feet you’ve ever seen on a cat? He kind of reminds me of Bugs Bunny with his white belly and white paws.

Read Full Post »

Camping this weekend

You would think that 2 weeks in France would leave me relaxed and ready for at least 6 months of continued labor. Well it wasn’t. I ended up coming back to work at probably the most busy time in my whole career, and if that weren’t enough everyone on my team took vacations after I [...]

Read Full Post »

Our Loire River Cycle Trip Google Map

In case you’re interested, this is roughly the route we took on our 2 week trip along the Loire river. A very rough estimate is 410 miles all in over a 10 day period.

Read Full Post »

Headline of the day

As long as we’re using a deadly pandemic disease to describe prostitutes, it might behoove us to acknowledge that the headline could also very well be “Aurora ‘plagued with johns’” or “Aurora ‘plagued’ with men wanting to pay for sex.” These women wouldn’t be there without paying customers. As an aside, I think Seattlepi.com has [...]

Read Full Post »

Police question Azerbaijanis about their Eurovision song contest voting

Truly bizarre. Last month, an Azerbaijani man told the BBC he had been accused of being unpatriotic and a “potential security threat”, after he sent a text backing Armenia’s song, Jan Jan. The country’s authorities said people had merely been invited to explain why they voted for Armenia. The two states fought over the disputed [...]

Read Full Post »

The best band name ever

That would be We were promised jet packs. We saw them last night as the opening band for Frightened Rabbit at Neumo’s. They were fun.

Read Full Post »

Founder Visas

Here’s another interesting article on Slate talking about a proposal to create an immigration classification for entrepreneurs. He wants the government to create a new immigration class for founders of new firms. Every year, Graham’s “Founder Visa” program would let in 10,000 immigrants who’ve shown a plan for starting a new company. These people would [...]

Read Full Post »

The globalization of censorship

Here’s an article on Slate to completely depress you. I’m so glad we have our freedoms.

Read Full Post »

The worst school ever

I saw If… for the second time. It’s fantastic and has a far better performance from Malcolm MacDowell than A Clockwork Orange. I kept thinking while watching this that the Columbine murderers certainly had nothing to complain about.

Read Full Post »

Favorite Remaining pics from France

Here are some odd leftovers. To see the whole gallery, click here to go to my flickr set. 1. I’m not sure what this funnel building was in the back or even what town this was, but I thought it looked cool and weird. 2. A gargoyle in Tours. 3. Bicycle and wheat. 4. Goat [...]

Read Full Post »

Drama at the US Open

Here’s the video of the S. Williams Clijsters match. Article here.

Read Full Post »

Anti-abortion protester killed

For a small part of the population, pro-life and pro-choice aren’t merely political and social issues. They are excuses to engage in a violent crusade against those who don’t agree with you. I would never wish violence on anyone, but I hope this episode leads both sides to have increased empathy for the other side. [...]

Read Full Post »

“You lie”

It’s amazing how low the stakes are with the Republicans. Outrage over illegal immigrants getting health care? I might add that the President said it wasn’t true. I would have paid good money — campaign contribution money — to hear anyone — ANYONE — say “you lie” during one of the George W. Bush speeches [...]

Read Full Post »

Sancerre

This is a great little wine town in France. Look out for it on your next wine list. For some reason the photos of Sancerre turned out great. We climbed the town tower and were able to get the views you see below. I can’t believe we cycled up those hills. I was dog-tired when [...]

Read Full Post »

Foie Gras Burger

On our recent trip to France, foie gras was ubiquitous. I doubt there was one menu where it didn’t make an appearance. Asking the French to give up foie gras is like asking Americans to stop driving. While it may be the right thing to do, it’s not going to happen. Jake ordered this foie [...]

Read Full Post »

In the Loop

I saw In the Loop last night and I can’t recommend it enough. The film is an offshoot of the British television series “The Thick of It” which I have only seen a couple of episodes of. The series and film have a sort of docu-drama feel although the actors don’t confront the camera at [...]

Read Full Post »

It’s so easy being black

One of the things that really pissed me off during the election was the widely stated belief that Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton had it so easy, because he was black and she was a woman. The same was said about Justice Sotomayor. This belief is generally spoken by older white males. Quite honestly, how [...]

Read Full Post »

Meaty thighs are apparently good

I’m still reeling over the New York Times article that says don’t bother exercising because nothing will make you lose weight. This article makes me feel a bit better. That’s the word from Danish researchers who studied more than 2,800 middle-aged people for up to a dozen years, only to find that those with the [...]

Read Full Post »

Random thoughts on pedestrian and cyclist safety

I tend to pay attention to the news stories about pedestrians and cyclists getting killed by cars. I do this because I am a bicycle commuter and a frequent walker. Quite frankly, cars scare the shit out of me. While cycling home yesterday and encountering yet another close call with a car situation, I thought [...]

Read Full Post »

Spinal Tap at Wembley

Last night we watched the DVD commentary on one of my favorite movies: This Is Spinal Tap. No matter what Christopher Guest has done since, This is Spinal Tap will always be my favorite.

Read Full Post »

Random thoughts about returning home

Jake is having some withdrawal symptoms from not having his daily pan aux raisin. I, on the other hand, am having difficulty reading anything to do with politics. All of it makes me angry right now and I don’t feel like getting into the details. On a local level though, I was pleased to see [...]

Read Full Post »

The Mighty Loire River

Yesterday we returned from our Loire River cycling holiday in France. To even begin to tackle all of the photos I took and decide which ones to post is overwhelming, so I decided for my first post to focus on the Loire River itself. I hope you enjoy them. 1. One of the many Loire [...]

Read Full Post »