I’m feeling mighty worn out after a hard day of laying down that flooring. Unless you have either a lot of help or a very small rectangular room, this is not a one-day job! In all truth, we did start closer to 10:00 than 8:00, since Rick had to run an errand first. And I had to run out to buy the concrete patch (see below) around 11:00. Nevertheless, Rick was Johnny-on-the-spot with his superb carpentry skills. He cut under a door frame like a master — pictures upcoming, since I have to save something for later in case I don’t get anything else done myself during the week.

<

p>The main problem we had was a sizable sink in the concrete subfloor, about 3/16″ in a ten square foot area. You can see where we attempted to fill it with latex underlayment/concrete patch. Unfortunately, we either spread it too wide or just didn’t make enough. On our next attempt we are going to try wedging a small sheet of 90# tar paper in there, which Rich has used to take care of this problem in the past. Fortunately, we had plenty of good music to keep us in a working mood. (Also note the sizable coffee mug, and the ubiquitous Lowe’s receipt.)

<

p>There’s still a long way to go. But it’s all worth it to see my beautiful girls’ smiling faces when we’re all done and they see the new studio/office!

<

p>By the way, there’s a new picture of Evie up — see the “links” area on the left for the current mugshot.

The time has come… tomorrow I’ll be laying my new basement floor with my mom’s hubby Rick, and wishing I’d gone to shop class in high school. The good part is, at least Rick’s a carpenter, so at least one of us will know what he’s doing.

<

p>Then Sunday we’re going to my friend Chris’ house, where I’ll be giving my first Stick “lesson” — more like showing Chris how not to make the same mistakes I do. Hopefully at some point during this weekend (more like next week) I’ll also be relocating the office and musical equipment to the brand new studio room, complete with floor.

Ack! Has it really been almost a week since I last posted anything? I’ve been really busy at work, and also at home trying to keep our contractor fixed on a deadline for finishing our basement. I guess it would be easier for him if he was there for more than a couple hours at a time.

<

p>Saw a couple good movies this weekend, Antwone Fisher and The Ice Storm. Both recommended, although I would say that Storm is a little more challenging from an audience perspective, while Fisher veers dangerously close to cliches at several points.

<

p>Eleya turns 33 today, but we celebrated it yesterday since today was a work day, and she will be away tonight teaching dance class. I got her a full set of Nigella Lawson cookbooks. She and I both love Nigella, albeit I suspect for somewhat divergent reasons once you get past Nigella’s wonderfully unassuming and familiar approach to the culinary arts. Perhaps this was somewhat of a selfish gift, since I expect to benefit from them too in the larger sense. (Wait a minute, was that a weight joke?) I also got her some new CD’s for her belly dance classes. And Chinese food delivered for dinner! She said she really enjoyed her day, all-in-all, and I think it was pretty successful if I do say so myself.

Here is a great paper explaining why SCO’s recent $1B lawsuit against IBM is all sound and fury, signifying nothing.

We had a great weekend; saw Matrix: Reloaded on Friday while our friend Amy watched Evie. And it was well worth it. Don’t let the mixed reviews bug you; although it is a little talkier than the first movie, the action scenes are unbelievable. And the movie does an excellent job of setting up the much more important emotional story between Neo and Trinity — it’s essential because the point of this second movie (to me, at least) is that it’s all about Neo learning what his newfound identity requires of him. In realizing that, he also has to come to grips with how much he now has to lose, both in the personal sense and in the broader sense of the future of humanity.

<

p>I won’t say anything more about the plot for now; there is a kind of “cliff-hanger” ending, but it’s mild; I knew the movie ran about 2:15, so after the two-hour mark I was very worried every time there was a climactic moment, wondering if that was where we were going to be left hanging for the third part of the trilogy in November. Fortunately, it’s not a heart-stopper, but I am eager to see what happens next! Make sure you stay in your seats for the credits, since there’s a short preview of Matrix: Revolutions at the end!

<

p>I also bought a huge amount of laminate flooring for the basement studio/rehearsal room. Carpet is coming next week, so this means we are nearing the end (finally) of what has become a very long process, thanks to weather and other factors. So we’ll see if I have any success at all with a DIY project. The closest I’ve come before this was recaulking around a tub and hanging drapes.

Saw a completely awful movie last night, The Transporter. I’m not even linking it because it was so bad, I can’t conscientiously allow anyone to get one iota closer to it. What a train-wreck. Poor editing, nonexistent acting, weak screenplay, monotonous score (Stanley Clarke, what were you thinking?). Stay far, far away.

<

p>In other news, a discussion broke out on StickWire, the Chapman Stick mailing list, regarding the supposed “death of the recording studio” (said rumours exaggerated, of course). It quickly morphed into a discussion of intellectual property rights, and yours truly made what I thought were pretty decent arguments regarding the record companies’ being unfairly maligned in the music piracy battle (i.e. p2p sharing). Most of the responses seemed to be of the “their music sucks, and they’re big ugly faceless corporations, and everyone does it, so why shouldn’t we steal from them?” variety. Although I’m not a big fan of most RIAA members’ artist rosters, nor their output of dreck, they’re entitled to the same rights as the rest of us from having their property stolen.

Doing an enormous data recovery job today due to one of our RAID controllers’ having gone belly-up over the weekend. Fun, fun, fun!

<

p>DVD rental recommendations:

<

p>Possession: Fantastic. Hard to believe this came from the same man (Neil LaBute) who gave us In the Company of Men, Nurse Betty and Your Friends and Neighbors. The modern romance plot thread is a little hard to swallow due to the compressed time frame required in a movie that splits its time between two eras. And unfortunately I didn’t feel that the two main modern characters ever really produced more than a mediocre screen chemistry. Nevertheless, fully enjoyable due to beautiful set design and cinematography, and a marvelously bittersweet screenplay by David Henry Hwang (among others). It certanily can’t top the book, but then, not much does. Highly recommended.

<

p>Catch Me If You Can: A superbly entertaining caper movie from Steven Spielberg, with fine performances all around and another simply stunning cinematographic outing for longtime Spielberg collaborator Janusz Kaminski. Telling you much about this one would ruin the fun. Run, don’t walk. Highly recommended, for purchase or rental.

Latest DVD rental report… we watch ‘em so you don’t have to!

<

p>Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets: Certainly better than its predecessor. More action, more laughs, and more thrills. The characters are even gaining some depth, even in the oafish and hammy hands of director Chris Columbus. The main problem with this film is that it is simply too damn long. No child should have to sit through 160 minutes of film, period. I am understanding of the producers’ desire to stay true to the books, and while a laudable goal, you cannot combine it with a director as long-winded and crane-shot-happy as Columbus and expect it to yield a film that young kids can enjoy. I think it took me less time to read the book than to watch this movie. At least it felt that way. If you count by the minute, though, you certainly get your money’s worth on this DVD. Special features worth paying for are nonexistent. Recommended, if you have the time to kill.

<

p>About a Boy: Like Bridget Jones’ Diary from a couple years ago, this was surprising for a couple of reasons. First, it’s a thoroughly British film directed by an American (or in this case, two of them, the brothers Weitz of American Pie infamy); and this culture clash has not done anything harmful to the film. Second, the film not only manages to avoid the required moments of precious saccharine that seem to abound in typical romantic comedies, but it also forgoes the typical Hollywood cliches that require that every plot point be so heavy-handedly foreshadowed that you can pretty much sleep through the last half, and still know what happened when you wake up. Boy is pleasantly cynical and unflinching in its depiction of some of its characters’ less savory aspects, yet allows them to redeem themselves without violating their nature. It also provides Hugh Grant one of his most uncharacteristic roles in a while; rather than playing the lovable cad or the befuddled boyfriend/husband, he is playing a thoroughly selfish and amoral skirt-chaser, and with great gusto. The DVD includes commentary, and a pack of deleted scenes that show how carefully the directors avoided stepping into cliche potholes. Highly recommended.