Wednesday, 28 November 2012

 Today in Toastmasters, I was called up to give a speech during the Table Topics portion of the meeting.  In case you don’t know, Table Topics is the part of the meeting, lasting about ten minutes, where someone gets up with their prepared list or bag of options and calls on people to speak on a certain subject. The speeches are impromptu, but they only have to last a minute. While part of me thinks I really shouldn’t have any trouble speaking for a mere 60 seconds, it’s really is tough to speak on a topic that someone else selects for you.

The Table Topics master today selected the topic of Thanksgiving. i was the first person called up – and I knew I would be the first one called up as I had no roles in today’s meeting – and my question was something like: “What dishes can people make with their leftover Thanksgiving food?”

Man, I had no idea. I pretty much just said to make a sandwich with your turkey or just reheat stuff.

The next person had to answer the question of how they participated in Black Friday, and I would have had something to say about that. That seems to happen to me a lot, where I get a question completely out of my league, and then the other questions all seem like things I could speak about for 5 minutes.

Thursday, 29 November 2012

 Here’s an interesting article about how well pollsters did in predicting the Presidential election results: CLICK HERE.

I heard a lot about polls having a Democratic, or liberal, bias. That is, they were overestimating the percentage by which Obama would win. To me, this seems like a dangerous thing to do. First, if your overestimation is too high, then you’ll look inaccurate in retrospect. Say you were reporting that a candidate would win by 10%, and then he only won by 5%…that’d be a 5% difference and not reflect very well on your techniques.

A more serious problem might be that if voters think their candidate is ahead by an even more comfortable margin than he really is, they might not go vote, figuring their vote isn’t really needed.

As you can read in that article….

…all the comments from right-wing pundits that the pollsters were biased toward Obama were nonsense. Of the 14 major pollsters in our study, 11 had a Republican bias. Only three small pollsters had a Democratic bias.

Friday, 30 November 2012

I’ve now reached the point in the semester where there’s a lot of work to do, and a short time to get it done. It’s feeling overwhelming.

Specifically, I have an 8-10 page paper due on December 19th. While that is a while from now, I need to have the draft ready to turn in on December 4th (this coming Tuesday). Also, a week after that, I need to deliver a presentation based on my paper.

So, today, I stole as many minutes as I could working on the paper. My whole lunch break, for one thing, and several small gaps of “down time.” This evening, I gave a concerted effort to work on the thing, but I didn’t get much accomplished. My hope is to dedicate an hour or so to it both days this coming weekend. Wish me luck!

Monday, 26 November 2012

I’d like to see the film Hitchcock, which is in theaters as of this month. I actually receieved an email inviting me to a free screening at a local theater, but I was busy that night, so I couldn’t attend.

As I’ve written about before on this site, I’m a huge Hitchcock fan, having seen all of the films and TV shows he directed (that are still extant). So, it’s probably just stating the obvious when I say this film piques my interest.

But…

It centers around the creation of the film Psycho. Now, I looove that movie (I ranked it first on my list of all-time favorite films), but it’s such an obvious choice to use as a backdrop for Hitchock’s life, that I wonder if the film really delves into his life, or is just using the fame and legacy of Psycho as a means to generate increased ticket sales. It’s kind of like doing a biopic on John Lennon, and having it center around his writing and recording of “Imagine.” That’s a great song, don’t get me wrong, but there’s so much more to Lennon and his music than that one, overplayed, song.

I’ve read Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho, and it just wasn’t that great of a story. I’ve read a couple Hitchcock interviews, and his biography, too, so I know there’s a lot more to his life. While I whole-heartily agree that Psycho should rank among his best films, I’m not sure that period of his life (1958-1960) is the best choice for a film. I, for one, would rather see one from the mid-1920s, when he got his start and rose to prominence in England.

Anyway, those are my thoughts going into this film. I hope to see it at some point in the next month or so. I’ll elt you know how it goes.

 Tuesday, 27 November 2012

Sight and Sound, that erstwhile British magazine best known for their every-ten-years top ten list, has come out with their latest list. Every tenth year, beginning in 1952, they have published a list of the 10 Best Films of All Time. This list is generated via the opinions of noted film-makers, film critics, and film historians. It’s a virtual smorgasborg of the cineste.

So, this year they came out with their list again. They actually published it back in August, but I’ve never had a good time to discuss it. But here, in this blog post about Hitchcock, it seems very appropriate.

Let me give you some background on the list…

In 1952, they rated The Bicycle Theif as the greatest film of all time. Only four years old at the time, that paragon of Italian neo-realism is a bit slow in places, but all-in-all a good flick. Ten years later, it had dropped to #7 on their list, and it hasn’t been on the list since then.

Meanwhile, Citizen Kane, a film that was 11 years old at the time of the first poll, didn’t appear at all on the top ten. But then, in 1962, it popped up, seemingly out of nowhere, and lodged itself at #1.

I agree, Citizen Kane is a better film than The Bicycle Theif. But the best film of all time? I don’t know. I really like it…but part of the poll is to rank films on historican significance, something that generally has no bearing on me when I rate a film myself.  So I guess I can account for the discrepancy that way.

At any rate, Citizen Kane was, as I said, ranked as the best film in 1962. It retained that ranking again when the poll results were published in 1972. And 1982. And 1992. And 2002.

But not this year.

In the half-century that  Citizen Kane has been ruling the roost, Alfred Hitchock’s Vertigo has been inching its way to the top. It didn’t appear on the list at all in 1962 (when it was four years old), or even in 1972. But in 1982, it made a respectable showing at #7. In 1992, at the height of my Hitchcock obsession, it slid into #4. Ten years ago, critics lodged it comfortably at #2. And, well, this year it takes the throne.

I gotta say, I’m really split on this. On the hand, part of me thinks, “Yay! Hitchcock is the best and he deserves the recognition.” But another part of me thinks, “Does anyone else notice the gaping plot holes and bizarre contrivances?” There are huge leaps of faith I need to maintain verisimilitude while watching this flick. And thought I’ll admit it’s a beautiful looking  film, there are other Hitchcock pictures that just as assuredly take the cake. And historical significance? Sure…but what about Rear Window, North by Northwest, and, of course, Psycho? Surely, someone could concoct a cogent argument for those being of superior historical impact.

For myself, here’s a list of Hitchcock films I prefer over Vertigo (and this list is just off the top of my head, in no particular order): Rebecca, Lifeboat, Suspicion, Spellbound, Rope, Notorious, Strangers on a Train, North by Northwest, Dial ‘M’ for Murder, Rear Window, Frenzy, The Birds, Psycho.

Now, I’ve read entire books about Vertigo, I’ve seen it on the big screen, and I’ve studied it in college. So don’t say I haven’t given it a fair chance. It’s good – it’s very good – but it’s not great and it’s certainly not the best. I prefer Citizen Kane, for that matter, if – for no other reason – than because it’s completely coherent.

Oh well. Congratulations, Alfred Hitchcock, Jimmy Stewart, Kim Novak, and Saul Bass. You guys deserve it.

For the record: Psycho landed at #35 on the list, the only other Hitchcock film to make an appearance in the list of 50. The complete list is HERE. I’ve seen exaclty half the films on that list, an omission of culture I intend to correct by the end of 2013.

Saturday, 24 November 2012

 I discovered the other day that two of the molding screws for one of the windows in Isla’s room are missing. There are holes where they’re supposed to be; there are even dark spots where the fancy washers have left their marks…but no screws.

I went to the local hardware store to buy some replacements. Alas, they only had replacements in gold and silver, not black like I wanted. So, I bought some gold ones.

Today, I looked around the house to see if the screws were missing from any other windows. There are some missing. One kitchen window is missing one screw, and the adjacent window is misssing two. Meanwhile, the small window in our mudroom is missing all four.

Whenever I see something like this in our house, I try to figure out what was going on in the previous homeowner’s brain. The best I can figure with this is that he removed the molding to paint, stain or sand, and then somehow lost some screws in the interum. Or maybe he was doing some majore rennovations in one room, and lost all the screws for one of the windows, and then took screws from other windows around the house so that no window was missing all the screws. Well, except the mudroom window. But in that case, he never bothered to install any screws in the first place. The modling is just sitting there, and you can take it out with your bare hands. I can’t figure that one out.

Sunday, 25 November 2012

Today I went to the hardware store and bought more gold screw/washer combos. I had this epiphany that I would replace all the screws in the windows in Owen’s room with the new, gold screws. His room already sports some gold, and he claims to like the color. So, he gets the gold screws.

Then, I took the black screws I had salvaged from his room, and installed them in the missing places around the house. Except the mudroom. I still haven’t fixed that one. I’m gonna need the drill for that, so it’s a bigger job.

Here’s a visual to help you know what I’m talking about:

This is a piece of molding in the kitchen. See the hole? Yeah, a screw is supposed to go there. And notice the dark ring where a decorative washer is supposed to lie.

And after…

Okay, so this is a poor-quality picture. But that’s the best I could do with my phone’s camera. I hope you can tell that the screw and washer I absconded from Owen’s room are now in place here in the kitchen.

So now our house is just a tiny bit better than it was a few days ago. Lucky us.

Thursday, 22 November 2012

Today my wife and I drove separately to her parents’ house for Thanksgiving. Isla is still sick, so we figured one of us (me) would leave with her shortly after dinner.

Jennifer called the nurse hotline today, and told her Isla had a slight fever. The nurse didn’t think Isla was contagious anymore.

Isla was terribly lethargic all day, and fell asleep in the car on the way to Thanksgiving. She played for a little while, coloring with the other kids, and she ate a carrot and then a pickle. She was lying on the couch looking real tired as I was finishing up my seconds, so I scooted her toward me and said, “Should we go home as soon as I finish eating?” She said yes, and then puked all over me.

Jennifer gave her a bath, and I wiped up my in-laws’ couch while repeatedly apologizing for the vomit stench. Less than 10 minutes later, I was driving home with Isla in the back seat. She fell asleep right away, and barely stirred when I brought her into the house. She slept on the couch for a couple more hours while I did some house work.

All in all, a pretty downer Thanksgiving.

Friday, 23 November 2012

Last year, I took it as a point of pride that I did not buy anything at all on Black Friday. I did not go to any store, never got in my car, and did not buy anything online. My intention was to do the same thing today.

But that changed back on Wednesday.

See, two days ago, my plan was to stop at Northern Brewer in St. Paul to pick up some brewing ingredients. I wanted the ingredients to whip up some stuff at some point during the next couple of weeks, and I thought I might have time to make stuff this weekend. Alas, mere hours before leaving work on Wednesday, I received an email from the good folks at Northern Brewer announcing their 20% off sale, good on Black Friday only.

So, today, at noon, Owen and I battled the crowd at a very congested Northern Brewer. I was, therefore, part of the problem today. But give me a break, I was going to buy the stuff anyway, I just delayed my purchase by 42 hours.

Tuesday, 20 November 2012

This morning, during my commute to work, I finished listening to the book Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a President, by Candice Millard. I enjoyed listening to the book, and I will probably talk more about it later (especially in comparison to the last audio book I listened to). But here’s what I want to note right now:

The book marks the 71st book I have read this year, which ties my all-time high total, set back in 2000. Wow! I wouldn’t have guessed that I would have read so many books in a year in which I am in college, but I was in college back in 2000, too, so maybe it gives me the organization and impetus to read more. Who knows?

And speaking of reading accomplishments and books, the last book I finished reading, Diving Into the Wreck, by Adrienne Rich (which I read for class), marks the 900th book on my list of books I’ve read. Of course, I’ve read many more books than that, but this list doesn’t count really short books or little kids’ books. Still, since at least 1989, I’ve had a goal of reading 1,000 books, and I am now over 90% done with my goal. At this rate, I should reach the goal in 2014, or maybe 2015. Wish me luck!

Wednesday, 21 November 2012

As note above, the most recent book I listened to was Destiny of the Rpublic. But before that, I read The President and the Assassin. They’re both centered around the assassination of a US President.

Quick! Pop quiz: Name a president who was assassinated?

“Oh, that’s easy,” you say.

“Really?” I ask. “But can you name one besides JFK or Abraham Lincoln?”

“Ummm…”

Yeah. Tougher, isn’t it?

The fact is, four of our presidents have been assassinated: Lincoln, James Garfield, William McKinley, and JFK. The first and last are, of course, the more famous of the four. One, because it was the man considered the best president ever and, the other, because it was by far the most recent. Those two assassinations share many similarities:

-Both men elected in ’60 (1860 and 1960).

-Both men shot in the head and died the same day.

-Both assassins were killed before they could be brought to justice.

-Both men succeeded by Vice President Johnson (Andrew and Lyndon).

But now consider the similarities between the other two men…

-Both ran on the Republican ticket.

-Both men were overweight

-Both assassinated in years ending in 1 (1881, 1901).

-Both lived for several days following the shootings.

-Both assassins had impossible-to-pronounce last names (Guiteau and Czolgosz).

-Both assassins were brought to justice, found guilty, and executed.

The book I just finished reading, the one about Garfield’s assassination, was the more interesting of the two. Probably because James Garflield was a more interesting man, and President, than William McKinley. Did you know Garfield published one of the proofs for The Pythagorean Theorum? He also advocated against the spoils system, which was how things were going back then. The spoils system bascially meant the President rewarded his friends and helpers to positions of authority, such as the cabinet, judicial appointments, and ambassadorships, regardless of the person’s credentials. Garfield didn’t think this was a good idea, and he spent the first three months in office battling senior senators who disagreed with him. And his own Vice President, too. In fact, his stance on this position is what enraged his assassin.

The President and the Assassin also held my attention, but the book wasn’t as focused; it kept moving forward and backward in time seemingly at random. It tried to cover too much – the gold standard, the Spanish-American War, the rise of American imperialism, Theodore Roosevelt’s rise to fame (Teddy was McKinley’s second VP, and the one who succeeded him to the presidency).

Sadly, both men suffered for days after being shot. Garfield actually lived for over two months, losing a third of his body weight, being paralyzed from the waist down, and being subjected to humiliating invasions. Pretty good arguments can be made that both men died from the lousy medical care they received. Garfield, for example, endured the probing by filthy physicians’ fingers, which introduced gangrene and tore new holes in his body. And when Alexander Graham Bell showed up with a new invention to determine the whereabouts of the lodged bullet, Garfield’s haughty doctor would only let Bell look for the bullet in the places where he, the doctor, believed it was. The subsequent autoposy revealed his error. At the trial, the assassin argued that the killer was not him, but Garfield’s primary physician. Pretty clever, I think.

Anyway, if you’re only going to read one, read Destiny of the Republic. And if you need a President to admire, you could do a lot worse than James A. Garfield.