Brent
Swingers
Swingers has heart. It’s clear that its main strengths lie in its script and its actors. The rest of the film fades away in comparison. Much like, say, The Big Lebowski. The script contains more memorable lines and sequences than the vast majority of films, and it does so at the expense of a strong, driving story. This is not a complaint; Swingers is about a man caught in an awkward time in his life. It’s […]
The Big Adventures of Barry Ween
A recommendation from the three guys at iFanboy means a lot to me. They know how to review and recommend a comic book. So on a whim, and after a stratospherically high recommendation from Ron, I bought The Big Book of Barry Ween. It’s an independent comic about a boy genius and the adventures he goes on. Thankfully, hilarity really does ensue. Cliched set up; hilarious execution. Judd Winick’s writing is consistently funny and his […]
Fly Me to the Moon
I’m several weeks into my new job at NASA. I’m elated and frightened. I’m experiencing a new employee’s stress. Besides learning the location of the kitchen, and when the trash is collected, I’m incredibly scared of screwing up. Of missing some vital assignment or suggesting the wrong thing or telling the wrong joke. So much shared culture has built up here, and I’m afraid of suggesting the taboo topic, the subject that will forever […]
Taxi Driver is a Superhero Movie
Here’s the plot of a movie: A regular guy grows increasingly frustrated by the crime and evil that surrounds him on the streets of New York. So he gains the power to fight back, then sees a young girl in trouble and saves her from the men who’ve kidnapped and drugged her for money. That’s the plot of Taxi Driver. Three things intrigued me most while watching this film for the first time last week: 1) I thought […]
David Foster Wallace: Maddening Genius
I recently finished reading David Foster Wallace’s A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again, a collection of his magazine essays. Wallace himself is a recently-deceased literary darling, author of Infinite Jest and a number of short pieces. And now I have a problem. Wallace was a writer of rare genius, thoroughly engaging the reader with energetic prose that was often both familiar and bizarre, a conversational patter riddled with invented words. […]
Technological Manic Depression
Some days, I seek hyper-technology. I want to engage folks on Twitter, post on my blogs, and clean up every broken link on my websites. The online world feels so vibrant and interesting. On other days, I want to give up everything more advanced than a clock/radio. I want to sit down with a big stack of books and a hot mug of tea, or throw wide my kitchen cabinet doors and fire up the stove. The online world feels so shallow […]
Can’t Get Technoooo Satis-fack-shuuuuun
I’ve been dissatisfied with my blog for weeks now. During one of my long IM conversations (does anyone else have IM conversations any more?) with Saalon a couple weeks ago, I complained that blogs assume uniformity of content. That each entry will need to be formatted the same way. I also dislike the constant draw of a blog, the siren song that says, “You should be posting every day.” […]
New Job Update
I love my new job. I love love love my new job. I’m working with nice, friendly people, on interesting stuff. I review software that NASA’s developed to determine how it could be used by industry. How cool is that? And my quarterly allergy/asthma/something attack has mostly cleared up; now I just walk around with a throat full of phlegm. ‘Twas frustrating to spend my first few days at work sick. […]
Urp
I start a new job at the Goddard Space Flight Center tomorrow, working for NASA. I’m so nervous I’ve become physically ill. It began with lack of appetite and progressed to an upset stomach earlier this evening. Now my throat’s scratchy and I can’t sleep. If I didn’t know better, I’d say I have a bug. That’s the price I have to pay to move forward in my life, I guess. It’s rarely comfortable.
The Hyper-Local Challenge
Thought Experiment: Could I get to the point where 100% of the food I eat for myself is made from local ingredients? It’s an interesting thought. Let’s establish a few parameters: “Local” means within 100 miles. This doesn’t count social meals; going out with co-workers for drinks or taking friends or family out to a restaurant. I wouldn’t force this on my hosts if a guest at someone eles’s house, nor would I force it […]