Lawrence Mishel writes No, NYT, there’s been no expansion of government benefits, no ‘entitlement society’ "So, there’s no evidence to show we’re becoming an ‘entitlement society,’ just that we’re low on revenues and the economy remains depressed. The citation of the safety net going from 37 percent to 66 percent (of revenues) has nothing to do with permanently expanding program eligibility or higher benefits, but much to do with cyclical factors and revenue erosion."
Monday, February 13, 2012
Friday, February 10, 2012
Always Worth Checking Your Bills
I was about to pay my AT&T Wireless bill and I noticed it was a little high. I couldn't drill down into all the sections in the web site version of the bill but there was a "Paper Bill" link that brought up a full bill. I noticed this:
You can rest assured I have never ordered "Fun SMS Alerts" for anything. I called AT&T about it. I talked to Bonnie who I'm sorry to say had to recite all these long helpful sounding but useless sentences to me but I know it's not her fault and she was indeed helpful. She looked up those codes, 96953 which said "Entertainment" and 20176 which said it was 3 fun messages a month. I explained that doesn't really mean anything and that I didn't subscribe to these from my phone.
I checked my SMS messages and I have gotten some spam messages. I still forward them to 7726 as AT&T instructed me. I'm not sure it's done much. I also now occasionally reply "STOP" or "NO" as instructed. I've heard it's supposed to work and be legit now, but I haven't seen it have any real effect. I didn't see any sms conversations (I never delete them) that applied around Jan 22nd.
This is the first time I've been billed for such bullshit. Notice in the bill under "Content Provider" it says "Cobalt Capital Group LLC" and http://notapplicable.com/. Obviously the URL is useless. Google shows some similar named REIT and other investment companies, but then I found, this and this and I think I'm tired of tracking it down. I mentioned to Bonnie that it should be illegal for the listed Content Provider to be useless forgeries but she just skipped by that comment.
Supposedly in the next 4 hours my account will be credited for $9.99 and I have been unsubscribed from these Fun SMS Alerts.
So check your bills.
You can rest assured I have never ordered "Fun SMS Alerts" for anything. I called AT&T about it. I talked to Bonnie who I'm sorry to say had to recite all these long helpful sounding but useless sentences to me but I know it's not her fault and she was indeed helpful. She looked up those codes, 96953 which said "Entertainment" and 20176 which said it was 3 fun messages a month. I explained that doesn't really mean anything and that I didn't subscribe to these from my phone.
I checked my SMS messages and I have gotten some spam messages. I still forward them to 7726 as AT&T instructed me. I'm not sure it's done much. I also now occasionally reply "STOP" or "NO" as instructed. I've heard it's supposed to work and be legit now, but I haven't seen it have any real effect. I didn't see any sms conversations (I never delete them) that applied around Jan 22nd.
This is the first time I've been billed for such bullshit. Notice in the bill under "Content Provider" it says "Cobalt Capital Group LLC" and http://notapplicable.com/. Obviously the URL is useless. Google shows some similar named REIT and other investment companies, but then I found, this and this and I think I'm tired of tracking it down. I mentioned to Bonnie that it should be illegal for the listed Content Provider to be useless forgeries but she just skipped by that comment.
Supposedly in the next 4 hours my account will be credited for $9.99 and I have been unsubscribed from these Fun SMS Alerts.
So check your bills.
How Scalia Helped Obama Defend The Birth Control Rule
TPM explains How Scalia Helped Obama Defend The Birth Control Rule "‘One thing I think is crystal clear — there is no First Amendment violation by this law,’ Adam Winkler, a constitutional law professor at UCLA, told TPM. ‘The Supreme Court was very clear in a case called Employment Division v. Smith, written by none other than Antonin Scalia, that religious believers and institutions are not entitled to an exemption from generally applicable laws.’"
But there's also:
"The 1993 Religious Freedom Restoration Act said any law that burdens religious freedom must satisfy strict scrutiny. The Supreme Court later said it cannot apply to states (which is why the 28 states that already have the birth control rule the White House wants to take nationwide are in the clear), but held that those requirements shall apply to federal laws. First, the law may not be a “substantial burden” and can only be an “incidental burden” on religious practices; second, it must be justified by “compelling government interest”; third, it must be narrowly tailored to pursue that interest. And it’s an open question whether the birth control requirement passes that level of scrutiny, Winkler said, arguing that the Religious Freedom Restoration Act is opponents’ best hope to reverse the rule through the courts. “I could see arguments go both ways,” he said."
But there's also:
"The 1993 Religious Freedom Restoration Act said any law that burdens religious freedom must satisfy strict scrutiny. The Supreme Court later said it cannot apply to states (which is why the 28 states that already have the birth control rule the White House wants to take nationwide are in the clear), but held that those requirements shall apply to federal laws. First, the law may not be a “substantial burden” and can only be an “incidental burden” on religious practices; second, it must be justified by “compelling government interest”; third, it must be narrowly tailored to pursue that interest. And it’s an open question whether the birth control requirement passes that level of scrutiny, Winkler said, arguing that the Religious Freedom Restoration Act is opponents’ best hope to reverse the rule through the courts. “I could see arguments go both ways,” he said."
‘Modernist Cuisine’ Adapted to Home Entertaining
Melissa Clark wrote in the New York Times last month, ‘Modernist Cuisine’ Adapted to Home Entertaining "So I issued Mr. Myhrvold a challenge. Which of his modernist dishes could I whip up for a dinner party without having to buy any new equipment or bizarre ingredients (like low-acyl gellan and sodium tripolyphosphate, which are sprinkled throughout the book’s recipes like so much salt and pepper). Mr. Myhrvold would teach me the dishes, then I would recreate them for my guinea pigs — I mean, party guests."
Wednesday, February 08, 2012
The Only Chart You Need To Mix A Proper Cocktail
The Only Chart You Need To Mix A Proper Cocktail "Pop Chart Lab takes you behind the scenes of creating its newest infographic, A massive chart showing 200 cocktails--including what's in them and what the proportions should be. It wasn't easy."
I'm not sure I like the end result, but the process is pretty interesting.
I'm not sure I like the end result, but the process is pretty interesting.
The Euro Crisis Infographic
The Institute of International and European Affairs created The Euro Crisis Infographic "The IIEA is pleased to announce the publication of our latest infographic. The European Union's Response to the Euro Crisis details all of the EU's main policy responses to Europe's interlinked financial, economic and sovereign debt crisis and presents some further options that are under consideration. "
I find it doesn't have a good reading path and it didn't help me understand things much. Maybe someone will have a better experience.
I find it doesn't have a good reading path and it didn't help me understand things much. Maybe someone will have a better experience.
New iPad App Helps Clinicians Visualize Internal Body Parts
The Atlantic wrote New iPad App Helps Clinicians Visualize Internal Body Parts "The German Cancer Research Center in Heidelberg has developed an augmented reality iPad app, called 'MITK pille,' that helps clinicians visualize internal body parts of patients while working on them. See for yourself in this great little video:"
If only there was some way they could find so that someone didn't have to hold it. Maybe, I don't know, a stand of some kind?
If only there was some way they could find so that someone didn't have to hold it. Maybe, I don't know, a stand of some kind?
Schneier on Security: British Tourists Arrested in the U.S. for Tweeting
Schneier on Security: British Tourists Arrested in the U.S. for Tweeting "There just as to be more than this story. The DHS isn't monitoring the Tweets of random British tourists -- they just can't be."
He posted a bunch of updates, ending with, "EDITED TO ADD (1/30): New reports are saying that customs was tipped off about the two people, and their detention was not a result of data mining:"
He posted a bunch of updates, ending with, "EDITED TO ADD (1/30): New reports are saying that customs was tipped off about the two people, and their detention was not a result of data mining:"
With iPad, You No Longer Have To Learn Board Game Rules
With iPad, You No Longer Have To Learn Board Game Rules
"Ticket To Ride is a $50 board game that has sold 1.85 million copies — a huge blockbuster by board game standards. It’s a simple game, but the biggest hurdle faced by board game publishers is getting people to learn the rules.
Last year, his company released iPhone and iPad versions of Ticket To Ride. The iPad version takes care of the mechanics of the game — whose turn it is, score keeping, and following the rules.
To his surprise, the digital versions of the game drove sales of the physical board game. “People buy the board game because they know the rules,” he said. The company saw an uptick in sales after release of both the iPhone and iPad versions."
I learned Settlers of Catan only a couple of years ago, but I've been playing the iPad version a lot and this makes a lot of sense to me.
"Ticket To Ride is a $50 board game that has sold 1.85 million copies — a huge blockbuster by board game standards. It’s a simple game, but the biggest hurdle faced by board game publishers is getting people to learn the rules.
Last year, his company released iPhone and iPad versions of Ticket To Ride. The iPad version takes care of the mechanics of the game — whose turn it is, score keeping, and following the rules.
To his surprise, the digital versions of the game drove sales of the physical board game. “People buy the board game because they know the rules,” he said. The company saw an uptick in sales after release of both the iPhone and iPad versions."
I learned Settlers of Catan only a couple of years ago, but I've been playing the iPad version a lot and this makes a lot of sense to me.
What Massage Really Does to Your Muscles
The Wall Street Journal wrote What Massage Really Does to Your Muscles "Researchers analyzed the samples from the different legs to see what was going on after the massage. They found two major changes: reduced signs of inflammation, and an increase in production of mitochondria, the cell’s energy factories...The study didn’t turn up any signs that massage flushes out lactic acid from the muscle, he says."
How Romney Would Tax Us
David Cay Johnston explains How Romney would tax us "Romney would make the Bush tax cuts permanent. But that’s only a first step. He would also raise taxes on poor families with children at home and those going to college. Romney does this by reducing benefits from the child tax credit and the earned income tax credit and by ending the American Opportunity tax credit for college education."
There are more details in the article.
There are more details in the article.
Rick Santorum Tells Sick Kid Market Should Set Drug Prices
ABC reports Rick Santorum Tells Sick Kid Market Should Set Drug Prices.
"GOP contender Rick Santorum had a heated exchange with a mother and her sick young son Wednesday, arguing that drug companies were entitled to charge whatever the market demanded for life-saving therapies.
‘People have no problem paying $900 for an iPad,’ Santorum said, ‘but paying $900 for a drug they have a problem with — it keeps you alive. Why? Because you’ve been conditioned to think health care is something you can get without having to pay for it.’
The mother said the boy was on the drug Abilify, used to treat schizophrenia, and that, on paper, its costs would exceed $1 million each year."
It's a perfect example why healthcare isn't a free market economy. It's the same reason you don't comparative shop for an emergency room after a car accident.
"GOP contender Rick Santorum had a heated exchange with a mother and her sick young son Wednesday, arguing that drug companies were entitled to charge whatever the market demanded for life-saving therapies.
‘People have no problem paying $900 for an iPad,’ Santorum said, ‘but paying $900 for a drug they have a problem with — it keeps you alive. Why? Because you’ve been conditioned to think health care is something you can get without having to pay for it.’
The mother said the boy was on the drug Abilify, used to treat schizophrenia, and that, on paper, its costs would exceed $1 million each year."
It's a perfect example why healthcare isn't a free market economy. It's the same reason you don't comparative shop for an emergency room after a car accident.
Chinese Lantern Festival 2012
In Focus shows the Chinese Lantern Festival 2012 "The Chinese Lantern Festival takes place on the 15th day of the Lunar New Year. As they mark the end of the Spring Festival, celebrants create colorful lanterns, set off fireworks, and hold parades. In one village, residents hurl molten metal against a wall to create an impressive display of sparks in a 300-year-old tradition. Gathered below are some vibrant images from this year's Chinese Lantern Festival. [29 photos]"
You Will Never Kill Piracy, and Piracy Will Never Kill You
Forbes has an article, You Will Never Kill Piracy, and Piracy Will Never Kill You. "Right now, the industry is still stuck in the past, and is crawling oh-so-slowly into the future. They still believe people are going to want to buy DVDs or Blu-rays in five years, and that a movie ticket is well worth $15. Netflix is the closest thing they have to an advocate, but the studios are trying to drive them out of business as they see them as a threat, not a solution. It’s mind boggling."
Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal makes another point.
Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal makes another point.
Romney’s Even Bigger Problem
Romney’s Even Bigger Problem | Talking Points Memo "So let’s look at the numbers. For some time, President Obama has been running just a hair’s breadth ahead of Romney. But starting a little more than a week ago the two started separating and the current TPM Poll Average has President Obama with an almost 7 point lead over Romney, in other words a real lead."
It then shows some graphs. My view is it's still 9 months before the election so lots can happen but this is interesting. Romney's never been particularly liked so at some point he was bound to either gain a lot or lose a lot. The latter always seemed more likely but the other candidates still all seem worse.
It then shows some graphs. My view is it's still 9 months before the election so lots can happen but this is interesting. Romney's never been particularly liked so at some point he was bound to either gain a lot or lose a lot. The latter always seemed more likely but the other candidates still all seem worse.
Monday, February 06, 2012
Deep Freeze Spreads Across Europe
In Focus shows the Deep Freeze Spreads Across Europe "The frigid weather that plagued Eastern Europe much of last week spread westward over the weekend, grounding flights, snarling traffic, and causing hundreds of deaths. While the subzero temperatures and heavy snowfalls have brought hardship, residents of some areas were able to take advantage of the conditions for skating, sledding, kite surfing, and other winter pastimes. Meteorologists warn that more blizzards may be hitting the region, and state officials, shelters, and aid organizations are preparing to help even more people in need. Gathered here are images of frozen Europe from the past several days. [40 photos]"
Friday, February 03, 2012
Hypocrisy Demonstration
Normally the correspondent reports are my least favorite part of The Daily Show, but I think Aasif Mandvi nailed it last night with Florida State Representative Scott Plakon (R), particularly at about the 4 minute mark.
Movie Reviews
The Train - I stumbled on this 1964 action film from John Frankenheimer starring Burt Lancaster. I hadn't heard of it before and it's great. Apparently the last big action film made in black and white but it's great because it's real. The plot is about Germans in WWII trying to plunder French art. A German colonel (Paul Schofield) has arrange a train to bring it to Germany and the resistance (led by Lancaster) is trying to stop the train. While it's based on some reality, the resistance just used red tape and there was no train in real life. But for the film, Frankenheimer used real trains, crashed real trains and even arranged to blow up a real train depot. And Lancaster did his own stunts, sliding down ladders and running onto moving trains and falling down hills. Great stuff and some interesting overtones (how many lives is art worth?). Really liked this film.
Haywire - Steven Soderbergh saw real life MMA start Gina Carano and made an action film around her, and it's a good one. She's an agent on the run with various stars (Channing Tatum, Ewan McGregor, Michael Fassbender, Michael Douglas, Antonio Banderas) trying to kill her. The plot is a big convoluted but it works and given the way it's told you have to concentrate a bit. But the action sequences are down to earth and very good and since she's doing her own stunts, instead of hundreds of shaky cam quick cuts, there are long steady takes. Very nice.
A Better Life - Demián Bichir got a surprise Best Actor nomination for this film I'd never heard of. It's available on DVD from Netflix and is kind of a reimagining of The Bicycle Thief. Bichir is an illegal immigrant gardener in LA with a teenage son that's being tempted by gang life. It's very well done and while Fassbender and Shannon were more deserving of the nomination, Bichir was very good.
Albert Nobbs - Glenn Close is a woman in 19th century Ireland working as a male waiter in a small hotel. She dreams of opening a shop and her fear of being found out has left her very very repressed. Close was good but she's well known enough I still always thought I was watching Glenn Close and not the character. Fortunately the other characters are strong enough and enough happens to keep it interesting. It's not a feel good movie and it didn't quite come together for me. Maybe because the situation felt contrived enough that I found it less relatable than Shame or Take Shelter.
The Iron Lady - Here's a great idea, let's make a bio pic about Britain's first female and one of the longest serving and most controversial prime ministers. And lets get Meryl Streep to play her! Oh and here's a great idea, lets spend 80% of the film on her Alzheimer stage. And the other 20%, lets do montages of political events and make as many of them dream sequences as possible! Let's refer to every other character by their first name only, if even that much! Let's even throw in an ironic line of her complaining about how people today care only about feelings and not actual thoughts. This film could have been about any senile woman who merely thought she was prime minister. I thought about walking out and figured it had to get better and it didn't. Streep was good, she always is, even given the material, but it's not worth it.
Arthur - I caught this Russell Brand remake on cable. Helen Mirren is good but Brand is just ok. He ends up not being likable enough, so it's just kind of annoying.
Haywire - Steven Soderbergh saw real life MMA start Gina Carano and made an action film around her, and it's a good one. She's an agent on the run with various stars (Channing Tatum, Ewan McGregor, Michael Fassbender, Michael Douglas, Antonio Banderas) trying to kill her. The plot is a big convoluted but it works and given the way it's told you have to concentrate a bit. But the action sequences are down to earth and very good and since she's doing her own stunts, instead of hundreds of shaky cam quick cuts, there are long steady takes. Very nice.
A Better Life - Demián Bichir got a surprise Best Actor nomination for this film I'd never heard of. It's available on DVD from Netflix and is kind of a reimagining of The Bicycle Thief. Bichir is an illegal immigrant gardener in LA with a teenage son that's being tempted by gang life. It's very well done and while Fassbender and Shannon were more deserving of the nomination, Bichir was very good.
Albert Nobbs - Glenn Close is a woman in 19th century Ireland working as a male waiter in a small hotel. She dreams of opening a shop and her fear of being found out has left her very very repressed. Close was good but she's well known enough I still always thought I was watching Glenn Close and not the character. Fortunately the other characters are strong enough and enough happens to keep it interesting. It's not a feel good movie and it didn't quite come together for me. Maybe because the situation felt contrived enough that I found it less relatable than Shame or Take Shelter.
The Iron Lady - Here's a great idea, let's make a bio pic about Britain's first female and one of the longest serving and most controversial prime ministers. And lets get Meryl Streep to play her! Oh and here's a great idea, lets spend 80% of the film on her Alzheimer stage. And the other 20%, lets do montages of political events and make as many of them dream sequences as possible! Let's refer to every other character by their first name only, if even that much! Let's even throw in an ironic line of her complaining about how people today care only about feelings and not actual thoughts. This film could have been about any senile woman who merely thought she was prime minister. I thought about walking out and figured it had to get better and it didn't. Streep was good, she always is, even given the material, but it's not worth it.
Arthur - I caught this Russell Brand remake on cable. Helen Mirren is good but Brand is just ok. He ends up not being likable enough, so it's just kind of annoying.
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Real Time Footage of Aurora
Bad Astronomy wrote Real time footage of aurora shows them dancing and shimmering "Aurorae video is generally done with time lapse to show the movement, which is usually slow. I’ve often wondered just how fast the movement really is; I always figured fluctuations in the solar particle density, speed, and magnetic fields would produce real-time changes in the lights, but I’d never seen anything like this! "
Movie Openings
Remember this video, What If Microsoft Re-Designed the iPod Packaging?
Sitting through some really long beginning to movies made me think of this. The start of movies is just not created for the audience at all. After sitting through commercials and then trailers, the movie starts 10 or 15 minutes after the theater time said it would. But then it begins with video logos of various production companies. Since movies are now routinely financed and distributed by multiple production houses we get several of them. Then the we see the names of those production companies usually on still frames and then you get to the opening credits where you'll see these companies repeated again with "Presented by" or a "A such-and-such film".
Newsflash, no one picks a movie based on the production company and no one cares what the name of the company is. They care about the film, probably the stars and maybe, just possibly maybe the director or even more rarely the writer. If anyone in the audience does care about anyone else involved in the film, they already know everything about it anyway so there's no need to waste time telling them about it.
Now I know that long ago, under the studio system, people probably did know the company that produced the film, but that's because they also owned the theater so you went to an MGM, Columbia or a Paramount theater. And they had stars under contract so if you wanted to see you're favorite star, you knew which theater would have them. But even then, look at the those old films (a lot of them are great), the opening credits were shorter than the logos at the beginning of films now, and there were no closing credits!
Imagine if movie credits were designed by movie fans...
Sitting through some really long beginning to movies made me think of this. The start of movies is just not created for the audience at all. After sitting through commercials and then trailers, the movie starts 10 or 15 minutes after the theater time said it would. But then it begins with video logos of various production companies. Since movies are now routinely financed and distributed by multiple production houses we get several of them. Then the we see the names of those production companies usually on still frames and then you get to the opening credits where you'll see these companies repeated again with "Presented by" or a "A such-and-such film".
Newsflash, no one picks a movie based on the production company and no one cares what the name of the company is. They care about the film, probably the stars and maybe, just possibly maybe the director or even more rarely the writer. If anyone in the audience does care about anyone else involved in the film, they already know everything about it anyway so there's no need to waste time telling them about it.
Now I know that long ago, under the studio system, people probably did know the company that produced the film, but that's because they also owned the theater so you went to an MGM, Columbia or a Paramount theater. And they had stars under contract so if you wanted to see you're favorite star, you knew which theater would have them. But even then, look at the those old films (a lot of them are great), the opening credits were shorter than the logos at the beginning of films now, and there were no closing credits!
Imagine if movie credits were designed by movie fans...
Saturday, January 28, 2012
Movie Reviews
Ok, this post should catch me up with reviews of the big films I saw since mid December. I'll try to keep up writing more individual reviews.
Pina - This was nominated as Best Documentary and I hadn't heard of it. All I knew was that it was about dance and it was directed by Wim Wenders (Wings of Desire). I know nothing about (particularly modern) dance and had no reference for the title. The film is structured around several big modern dance performances and a few small ones by one or two people. These are intercut with the dancers being interviewed about their mentor Pina and by interviewed I mean the camera shows their faces while a voice over (I assume was their own voice) says a few sentences (which I had to read as subtitles). Maybe I've been too influenced by Werner Herzog but I was wondering if Pina was real or fictional. Apparently it was acclaimed and recently German dancer and choreographer Pina Bausch and her management style was similar to Steve Jobs; just a few words of direction and a demand for excellence. The film is less a documentary about than a tribute to, it's really a performance film. Some of the dances are intense and mesmerizing, others I felt like I just didn't have the background to understand. What was evident was the skill of the dancers, many of who were with Pina for 20+ years. Some of the leaps and falls they did were frighteningly fearless. I saw it in 3D and it did a good job of using it to define the spaces for the performances.
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy - I have read the book nor have I seen the Alec Guiness BBC version. I knew to expect a more cerebral spy story rather than anything Bond-like and I was looking forward to that. I think the ads are pushing it as a spy thriller and it's really more of a mystery. It's set in the 70s and Gary Oldman plays George Smiley, a recently retired top spy in the British Secret Service. He's brought back in to hunt for a mole in the upper levels of the service. There are a lot of characters (suspects) and rather than action it's mostly people talking in rooms. I was engaged through all of it though I found it simple. Smiley goes from one person to the next getting the info he needs to get to the next person. And then there's a giant leap that seems completely unexplained. Someone I saw it with thought she fell asleep and missed something, though she hadn't. Apparently the book is the same way, given the things that Smiley observes, you're supposed to piece it together as he does. I think that's much easier to do in a book than in a film, particularly in a theater. I liked it, but it's very low key and I don't really understand all the extreme praise I've seen.
Sherlock Homes: A Game of Shadows - Very much like the first one; I liked this one a little better. It's a bit more action and less banter between Holmes (Robert Downey Jr.) and Watson (Jude Law) which is the opposite of what I'd want, but I thought the ending made up for it. This one introduces Moriarity as the villain and the inevitable confrontation was more thoughtful than I expected.
Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol - I really appreciate how Tom Cruise has run this series, finding a director he likes and giving them free reign. This time it's Pixar's Brad Bird's turn, in his first non-animated film. He definitely brings the excitement from The Incredibles to the IMF. My one complaint with the film series is it seems like every time they get disavowed, something else would be nice. This film like the others is a series of big set pieces. There's a lot of crazy equipment but it's all used in a way to make the scenes more exciting. The middle of the film is the Dubai sequence which is shown in the all the commercials. It's the most giddy fun I've had in the movies since Inception. The last sequence went a little to far on the suspension of disbelief scale for me but overall it's a lot of fun. It's a fine summer action and I have no idea why it came in December.
The Muppets - Jason Segel is a big muppet fan and wrote a screenplay and convinced Disney to revive this brand they bought and let lie fallow. Segel stars as Gary who's brother is a (new) muppet named Walter who is an enormous fan of the muppets. They take a trip to LA with Gary's girlfriend (Amy Adams) and one thing leads to another and their helping the muppets get back together and put on a big show in too little time to save their theatre. What else would the plot be? It works well as a muppet film, with lots of guest stars, and I laughed every time Beaker was on camera and a few times more. It's one of only two films up for Best Song.
The Adventures of Tintin - Spielberg's first animated film and first 3D film is based on classic Belgian comics by Hergé. I've only read one of the comics and it was a while ago so I wasn't a huge fan going into the film. I had a hard time engaging with this and I'm not sure why. I didn't relate to the characters very much. Tintin struck me as very naive, and the villain was rather generic. I know Captain Haddock is supposed to be a drunkard but I found so much of this revolved around getting him sober or drunk to remember things that happened in his past. He seemed far more annoying rather than charming. The Thompson twins were really stupid and Snowy the dog was by far the smartest character around. It's an adventure story involving some treasure and there are some big chase sequences where Spielberg really makes use of animation. The camera flies around doing things that would be impossible in real life and the 3D generally works well for this. I don't know why but rather than being enthralled I found myself waiting for the set pieces to end so that we could get back to the plot. Maybe it was because it was obvious no one would be hurt and how they would end, with whatever artifact being the possession of whichever character was needed to further the story.
Hugo - Scorcese's first family film and first 3D film is based on an illustrated story, The Invention of Hugo Cabret. Hugo is an orphan living in a train station in 1920s Paris. He lives with his drunk uncle who cares for the clocks and he longs to repair a mysterious mechanical man his father left him. The first half is the setup with a limping station inspector (Sacha Baron Cohen) chasing Hugo (Asa Butterfield) through the station and with Hugo making a friend of young Isabelle (Chloë Grace Moretz) who's the daughter of a shop keeper (Sir Ben Kingsley) in the station. The second half weaves in the story of Georges Méliès the real life pioneer of early cinema who created many special effects and is best known for his film A Trip to the Moon. I've seen a few reviews where people like either the first or second half better but there's no consensus. For me the second half is where the film came to life, being something more than just an obvious adventure story. The characters are a bit weak and people either love or hate Cohen's inspector. It's up for 11 Oscars which is a large number considering none of them are for acting awards (basically for everything other than song or makeup). It also seems fair.
A Dangerous Method - David Cronenberg's film about Carl Jung (Michael Fassbender) and Sigmund Freud (Viggo Mortensen) is based on a play based on a book. It centers around a real life patient Sabina Spielrein (Keira Knightly) who was treated by Jung using Freud's methods and eventually became an early psychoanalyst. She became close with Jung and it's not clear if this is historically accurate, but the film argues she had a sexual relationship with him and that contributed to Jung's falling out with Freud. Knightly's performance is filled with over-the-top physicality which contrasts with the constraint of both Fassbender and Mortensen. The film is talky but doesn't reveal too much of either man's theories. Without the credits I would not have known that Cronenberg directed this so perhaps this shallowness was purposeful and I just missed the point. But to me it emphasized the lurid details of Spielrein's story and Jung and Freud's split and assumes knowledge of the parts of consequence.
Young Adult - Diablo Cody and Jason Reitman, the write director pair from Juno, re-team for this feel-bad film. Mavis Gary (Charlize Theron) is a young adult novelist living in Minneapolis who's recently divorced and completely maladjusted. She drinks to excess and has one night stands and is completely lost. She goes back to her nearby home town to reconnect with her high school sweetheart Buddy (Patrick Wilson) who's a bit simple but happily married and has just had his first child. Mavis views this as a situation she can rescue him from. Yeah, she's sociopathic. This is a dark comedy so the main character is unlikable and it's serious so she doesn't change much. She's still the "psychotic prom queen bitch" she was almost 20 years ago. See that's why she writes young adult novels and the film is called Young Adult, she hasn't outgrown high school. Patton Oswalt plays Matt, the character we can (kind of) relate to. He was a nerd in high school and is still living in the past but that's because he got the name "hate crimes guy" for a reason, so we can feel more (sorry) for him. The performances in this film, particularly Theron and Oswalt, are very good and quite brave in roles that are difficult to pull off, I just didn't care for the experiment. See how bad high school was and how we really shouldn't make that the center of our lives? Yup got it. And if you didn't notice, every TV in this movie is tuned to an E! ! reality show starring a Kardashian or a Girl Next Door. See, those shows are stuck in high school too and we shouldn't be watching them either! Yup, got it.
Pina - This was nominated as Best Documentary and I hadn't heard of it. All I knew was that it was about dance and it was directed by Wim Wenders (Wings of Desire). I know nothing about (particularly modern) dance and had no reference for the title. The film is structured around several big modern dance performances and a few small ones by one or two people. These are intercut with the dancers being interviewed about their mentor Pina and by interviewed I mean the camera shows their faces while a voice over (I assume was their own voice) says a few sentences (which I had to read as subtitles). Maybe I've been too influenced by Werner Herzog but I was wondering if Pina was real or fictional. Apparently it was acclaimed and recently German dancer and choreographer Pina Bausch and her management style was similar to Steve Jobs; just a few words of direction and a demand for excellence. The film is less a documentary about than a tribute to, it's really a performance film. Some of the dances are intense and mesmerizing, others I felt like I just didn't have the background to understand. What was evident was the skill of the dancers, many of who were with Pina for 20+ years. Some of the leaps and falls they did were frighteningly fearless. I saw it in 3D and it did a good job of using it to define the spaces for the performances.
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy - I have read the book nor have I seen the Alec Guiness BBC version. I knew to expect a more cerebral spy story rather than anything Bond-like and I was looking forward to that. I think the ads are pushing it as a spy thriller and it's really more of a mystery. It's set in the 70s and Gary Oldman plays George Smiley, a recently retired top spy in the British Secret Service. He's brought back in to hunt for a mole in the upper levels of the service. There are a lot of characters (suspects) and rather than action it's mostly people talking in rooms. I was engaged through all of it though I found it simple. Smiley goes from one person to the next getting the info he needs to get to the next person. And then there's a giant leap that seems completely unexplained. Someone I saw it with thought she fell asleep and missed something, though she hadn't. Apparently the book is the same way, given the things that Smiley observes, you're supposed to piece it together as he does. I think that's much easier to do in a book than in a film, particularly in a theater. I liked it, but it's very low key and I don't really understand all the extreme praise I've seen.
Sherlock Homes: A Game of Shadows - Very much like the first one; I liked this one a little better. It's a bit more action and less banter between Holmes (Robert Downey Jr.) and Watson (Jude Law) which is the opposite of what I'd want, but I thought the ending made up for it. This one introduces Moriarity as the villain and the inevitable confrontation was more thoughtful than I expected.
Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol - I really appreciate how Tom Cruise has run this series, finding a director he likes and giving them free reign. This time it's Pixar's Brad Bird's turn, in his first non-animated film. He definitely brings the excitement from The Incredibles to the IMF. My one complaint with the film series is it seems like every time they get disavowed, something else would be nice. This film like the others is a series of big set pieces. There's a lot of crazy equipment but it's all used in a way to make the scenes more exciting. The middle of the film is the Dubai sequence which is shown in the all the commercials. It's the most giddy fun I've had in the movies since Inception. The last sequence went a little to far on the suspension of disbelief scale for me but overall it's a lot of fun. It's a fine summer action and I have no idea why it came in December.
The Muppets - Jason Segel is a big muppet fan and wrote a screenplay and convinced Disney to revive this brand they bought and let lie fallow. Segel stars as Gary who's brother is a (new) muppet named Walter who is an enormous fan of the muppets. They take a trip to LA with Gary's girlfriend (Amy Adams) and one thing leads to another and their helping the muppets get back together and put on a big show in too little time to save their theatre. What else would the plot be? It works well as a muppet film, with lots of guest stars, and I laughed every time Beaker was on camera and a few times more. It's one of only two films up for Best Song.
The Adventures of Tintin - Spielberg's first animated film and first 3D film is based on classic Belgian comics by Hergé. I've only read one of the comics and it was a while ago so I wasn't a huge fan going into the film. I had a hard time engaging with this and I'm not sure why. I didn't relate to the characters very much. Tintin struck me as very naive, and the villain was rather generic. I know Captain Haddock is supposed to be a drunkard but I found so much of this revolved around getting him sober or drunk to remember things that happened in his past. He seemed far more annoying rather than charming. The Thompson twins were really stupid and Snowy the dog was by far the smartest character around. It's an adventure story involving some treasure and there are some big chase sequences where Spielberg really makes use of animation. The camera flies around doing things that would be impossible in real life and the 3D generally works well for this. I don't know why but rather than being enthralled I found myself waiting for the set pieces to end so that we could get back to the plot. Maybe it was because it was obvious no one would be hurt and how they would end, with whatever artifact being the possession of whichever character was needed to further the story.
Hugo - Scorcese's first family film and first 3D film is based on an illustrated story, The Invention of Hugo Cabret. Hugo is an orphan living in a train station in 1920s Paris. He lives with his drunk uncle who cares for the clocks and he longs to repair a mysterious mechanical man his father left him. The first half is the setup with a limping station inspector (Sacha Baron Cohen) chasing Hugo (Asa Butterfield) through the station and with Hugo making a friend of young Isabelle (Chloë Grace Moretz) who's the daughter of a shop keeper (Sir Ben Kingsley) in the station. The second half weaves in the story of Georges Méliès the real life pioneer of early cinema who created many special effects and is best known for his film A Trip to the Moon. I've seen a few reviews where people like either the first or second half better but there's no consensus. For me the second half is where the film came to life, being something more than just an obvious adventure story. The characters are a bit weak and people either love or hate Cohen's inspector. It's up for 11 Oscars which is a large number considering none of them are for acting awards (basically for everything other than song or makeup). It also seems fair.
A Dangerous Method - David Cronenberg's film about Carl Jung (Michael Fassbender) and Sigmund Freud (Viggo Mortensen) is based on a play based on a book. It centers around a real life patient Sabina Spielrein (Keira Knightly) who was treated by Jung using Freud's methods and eventually became an early psychoanalyst. She became close with Jung and it's not clear if this is historically accurate, but the film argues she had a sexual relationship with him and that contributed to Jung's falling out with Freud. Knightly's performance is filled with over-the-top physicality which contrasts with the constraint of both Fassbender and Mortensen. The film is talky but doesn't reveal too much of either man's theories. Without the credits I would not have known that Cronenberg directed this so perhaps this shallowness was purposeful and I just missed the point. But to me it emphasized the lurid details of Spielrein's story and Jung and Freud's split and assumes knowledge of the parts of consequence.
Young Adult - Diablo Cody and Jason Reitman, the write director pair from Juno, re-team for this feel-bad film. Mavis Gary (Charlize Theron) is a young adult novelist living in Minneapolis who's recently divorced and completely maladjusted. She drinks to excess and has one night stands and is completely lost. She goes back to her nearby home town to reconnect with her high school sweetheart Buddy (Patrick Wilson) who's a bit simple but happily married and has just had his first child. Mavis views this as a situation she can rescue him from. Yeah, she's sociopathic. This is a dark comedy so the main character is unlikable and it's serious so she doesn't change much. She's still the "psychotic prom queen bitch" she was almost 20 years ago. See that's why she writes young adult novels and the film is called Young Adult, she hasn't outgrown high school. Patton Oswalt plays Matt, the character we can (kind of) relate to. He was a nerd in high school and is still living in the past but that's because he got the name "hate crimes guy" for a reason, so we can feel more (sorry) for him. The performances in this film, particularly Theron and Oswalt, are very good and quite brave in roles that are difficult to pull off, I just didn't care for the experiment. See how bad high school was and how we really shouldn't make that the center of our lives? Yup got it. And if you didn't notice, every TV in this movie is tuned to an E! ! reality show starring a Kardashian or a Girl Next Door. See, those shows are stuck in high school too and we shouldn't be watching them either! Yup, got it.
Movie Review: Celeste and Jesse Forever
Sundance Film Festival U.S.A. is a program where films playing at Sundance are shown in a few select cities around the country, usually with filmmakers there willing to take questions. Thursday night I saw Celeste and Jesse Forever at the Coolidge Corner Theatre.
Celeste (Rashida Jones) and Jesse (Andy Samberg) have always been best friends and until recently were husband and wife. It just didn't work out, but they've remained best friends after the separation and their friends find this weird. The film follows both of them, though mostly Celeste, to see if this arrangement works out.
Jones and her friend Will McCormack (who also co-stars) wrote the screenplay and it was made for less than $1 million. Think very indie (though set in LA) with lots of their friends. Maybe I've been listening to the Tobolowsky Files too much but there isn't much of a three act structure, it's mostly middle. Given the setup you already know what the first and third acts would be so they can get away with doing them in just a scene or two.
It's really about pulling realistic moments from relationship stuff, whether funny or sad. This was the film that convinced me to add Dramedy to the genre column of my movie list. The lead performances are both good and the dialog is mostly natural but there isn't much here to remember a few days after seeing it.
Celeste (Rashida Jones) and Jesse (Andy Samberg) have always been best friends and until recently were husband and wife. It just didn't work out, but they've remained best friends after the separation and their friends find this weird. The film follows both of them, though mostly Celeste, to see if this arrangement works out.
Jones and her friend Will McCormack (who also co-stars) wrote the screenplay and it was made for less than $1 million. Think very indie (though set in LA) with lots of their friends. Maybe I've been listening to the Tobolowsky Files too much but there isn't much of a three act structure, it's mostly middle. Given the setup you already know what the first and third acts would be so they can get away with doing them in just a scene or two.
It's really about pulling realistic moments from relationship stuff, whether funny or sad. This was the film that convinced me to add Dramedy to the genre column of my movie list. The lead performances are both good and the dialog is mostly natural but there isn't much here to remember a few days after seeing it.
Schneiderman’s RMBS Working Group
dday talks about Schneiderman’s RMBS Working Group: Resources, Jurisdiction and Will. "But I want to pull out the sentence I highlighted previously in Schneiderman’s interview which shows that at least he is thinking creatively about this. He said that ‘We have the Internal Revenue Service in because there are huge tax fraud implications to some of the stuff that went on.’ I suppose he could be talking about a few different things (like the tax evasion from the banks using MERS instead of recording mortgage transfers at public records offices and paying a fee), but my guess is he’s talking about REMIC claims.
REMICs are an acronym for Real Estate Mortgage Investment Conduits. When you’re talking about mortgage pools used in securitization, you’re talking about REMICs. And REMICs have special tax treatment; they are exempt from federal taxes provided they only invest in ‘qualified mortgages’ and other permitted investments. Here’s the important part: under the 1986 Tax Reform Act, the REMIC must receive all of its assets in the trust within 90 days and the assets have to be performing (not in default). Any REMIC violations make the vehicle subject to a penalty tax of 100%, with additional penalties as they apply."
REMICs are an acronym for Real Estate Mortgage Investment Conduits. When you’re talking about mortgage pools used in securitization, you’re talking about REMICs. And REMICs have special tax treatment; they are exempt from federal taxes provided they only invest in ‘qualified mortgages’ and other permitted investments. Here’s the important part: under the 1986 Tax Reform Act, the REMIC must receive all of its assets in the trust within 90 days and the assets have to be performing (not in default). Any REMIC violations make the vehicle subject to a penalty tax of 100%, with additional penalties as they apply."
What Industries Contributed to Google's $37.9 Billion in 2011 Revenues?
What Industries Contributed to Google's $37.9 Billion in 2011 Revenues? | WordStream "On the heels of Google’s ‘disappointing’ earnings announcement last Thursday – they generated a whopping $37.9 billion in revenues in 2011 – we conducted our own analysis to determine the top 10 industries that spent the most money on Google advertising last year. The results are summarized in our Google revenues infographic, also shown below (click the image to enlarge). We think that the results of our analysis reveal some surprising insights into the current state of the US economy – read on for more commentary."
I found this via Chart Porn which wrote, "Ok, there’s not much charting going on here, but there is a whole lot of fascinating data on Google ad revenue, as compiled by search marketing company WordStream. It is stunning what companies are paying per click for some of these keywords. In revenge for years of mediocre service (and because it was fun), I just went and searched for “high speed internet deals” then clicked on Comcast’s ad – supposedly costing them >$20. That’ll teach ‘em!"
I found this via Chart Porn which wrote, "Ok, there’s not much charting going on here, but there is a whole lot of fascinating data on Google ad revenue, as compiled by search marketing company WordStream. It is stunning what companies are paying per click for some of these keywords. In revenge for years of mediocre service (and because it was fun), I just went and searched for “high speed internet deals” then clicked on Comcast’s ad – supposedly costing them >$20. That’ll teach ‘em!"
Blue Marble 2012: Amazing High Definition Image of Earth
Blue Marble 2012: Amazing High Definition Image of Earth "A new high-definition version of the ‘Blue Marble’ has been taken from the newest Earth observation satellite. The just-renamed Suomi NPP satellite took numerous images on January 4, 2012 and this composite image was created from several ‘swaths’ of Earth. It is a stunningly beautiful look at our home planet, with the largest versions of the image showing about 1.6 km (1 mile) per pixel."
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