Over the weekend, I had the opportunity to go and see Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow. Wow was that ever a mistake!

I went in knowing that most of the reviewers out there had said it was bad and about half of the geeks were saying the same1. However the trailers for the movie looked just gorgeous with an impressive style that felt very much like one would expect a 1940’s pulp sci-fi movie to look2, from the giant robots to the cars down to the ray pistol. The one interesting thing about the movie that one should remember is that the entire thing was shot in front of a green screen and there were no locations. All the background stuff was computer-rendered. Then it appears that they pushed the film of the actors through some filters to add a bit of noise & distortion into the film, giving a feeling of being from the 40’s. These computerized specials effects were unfortunately the only good thing about the movie. The writing of the movie was wretched. The acting was sub-par at best. If you wish to know more details, following the (more) link but be warned that there are some spoilers mixed in there.
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While reading a blog, I followed a link they had to another blog whose design they liked. I pulled up the source code of the 2nd blog to try getting some idea of how they put their site together and found this delightful commentary in the comments:

Meta information was once really useful, but thanks to Google it doesn’t do much for your well being anymore. Kind of like comfort food – it tastes good and it makes you feel cozy but causes a lot of heartburn and gas.

The meta tags you see blow are mostly for show. All rebuilt from vintage 2001 code that was rusting out in a forgotten web site. The interior was re-stitched by hand and features an 800 thread count. I’m not sure if the ‘MSSmartTagsPreventParsing’ is needed anymore but I left it in as a reminder of how much our world is controled by heartless global coporations who seek nothing more than to turn us all into soulless lemmings with a Platinum Card.

Have a nice day!

Quote found on Airbag. Kudos to the Binary Bonsai for the link.

AOL hasn’t tried darkening my mailbox in quite some time but when I checked the mail today; there it was another “free trial offer”. Normally, I would have just tossed it directly into the trash since they no longer send their software out on floppies. However as I walked back up to my apartment, the packaging the CD was in reminded me of something I’d seen previously online.

In short, it looked rather much like Jewelboxing’s Kings, Movie-Sized Cases. I tore the case apart to remove all of AOL’s crappy marketing and to examine the case for manufacturing marks. Unfortunately, I didn’t see anything on the case that positively identified it as a one of Jewelboxing’s cases. Is it the real thing? A cheap knock-off? Heck if I know!

What I do know is that I just got a nice DVD size case for free that goes for $49 per pack of 20 ($2.45 each). This will work great for storing some DVDs I’ve burned of fan-subbed anime. *keen*

I was over Heather Armstrong‘s site catching on the current wackiness in her life and her post Of Lima Beans and Pickle Juice cracked me up. More to the point, it reminded me of my own family’s last encounter with the dreaded lima bean.

This was probably about six, maybe 7, years ago. I was having dinner with my folks. Mom had just finished setting the food on the table and was about to take her chair; when Dad dishes himself up some of the mixed vegetables. While dishing the vegetables; he makes a comment –sounding rather excited as he does so– that there are lima beans in the vegetables.

Mom shudders in disgust and finishes sitting down. Dad looks at her somewhat puzzled.

I’m going to stop this narrative momentarily to point something out about my father that was truly amazing to me. That would be his memory. He never forgot anybody’s name and would frequently remember small details from conversations he had with them years ago. He was an active member of the local Masconic lodge and for their ceremonies/ritual; he would memorize the entire thing and do it without resorting to any kind of reference. As I understand it that’s expected of the local Masons but is still something that not all of them are able to do.

Myself, I have to carry a PDA in order to keep track of my own phone numbers and my fiance remembers the names of my cousins better than I do.

Back to the story….

Still looking puzzled, Dad asked “what’s wrong?”

With a mixture of disgust and a hint of confusion on her face; Mom said “I hate lima beans.”

Dad was just floored by this. “You hate lima beans?!? Huh, I never knew that!”

At that point, Mom gave Dad a look that said he was treading on thin ice and which made me glad that I’d just stayed on the sidelines of this conversation. Then she said “In all the years that we’ve been married; have I ever cooked lima beans for you before?”

He sat there for a moment, casting his mind back through all the meals over the years. Finally he looked up at her with a smile and said “No, I don’t believe you have.”

Mom just kept looking at him.

Eventually, Dad had the grace to say “Ah” and we were able to continue on with the meal. The remainder of the meal was uneventful and I couldn’t say what else we were eating that night; but I’ll never forget that moment.