I don’t have time to write more than a sentence or two about each of these, seen this past weekend:

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p>Die Another Day – Brosnan doing a fine job as a less perfect and more edgy Bond (again); convoluted plot is a little too thick but provides for many great action scenes; and Halle Berry manages to steal the show as Jinx. This will make collectors think about picking up the whole Bond collection, as it is a worthy 40th anniversary film — and also the 20th in the long-running franchise. Recommended.

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p>Love Liza – Philip Seymour Hoffman does some truly great acting but can’t save this weak script, which seems to strain under its own weight. A widower attempts to move on with his life after his wife kills herself, but can’t seem to stop huffing gasoline long enough to face his grief, or even open the suicide note she left for him. Not recommended.

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p>Full Frontal – Director Steven Soderbergh calls this a “karmic sequel” to Sex, Lies and Videotape, although it has a much larger ensemble cast and a looser storyline. Shot on digital video on a shoestring budget with big-name actors (who are all quite amazing, especially Catherine Keener and David Hyde-Pierce), and featuring some ver novel fourth-wall breakdowns, this is one of Soderbergh’s more challenging films, as evidenced by its box-office bellyflop, but definitely worth a look for those who dig his work. A great Soderbergh commentary (per usual) and fascinating behind-the-scenes, including in-character interviews with the principals, round out a great single-disc package. Highly recommended.

The “Mystery Picture o’ the Week” is unveiled here if you’re interested.

The national “Do-Not-Call” registry is now online. Go sign up now and get rid of at least some of those pesky telemarketing calls that keep interrupting dinner. If you sign up by August, many calls can be expected to stop in October.

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p>Also, Leah tells me that the new CD, the amusingly but erroneously titled Zero Dollars Spent, is being duplicated as we speak. Hopefully we will have some for sale when we play the Reston Festival on July 12.

We saw Almodovar’s latest, Talk to Her, last night. Great film for those who aren’t allergic to subtitles. In even better news (since I am after all an anglophone), Eleya brought home Paul Thomas Anderson’s latest masterpiece, Punch-Drunk Love. There’s not a lot in the way of special features, despite the fact that it’s a two-disc special edition, but Disc 1 is one of the SuperBit releases by Sony, where the video and audio rates have been maxed out to provide the highest quality — a good thing, since there are so many blues and blacks and shallow luminosity gradients in the film, as well as an amazing use of blown-out lighting and percussive sound. There is a nice short film (about 12 minutes) on Disc 2, made up of outtakes, unseen footage, and the beautiful vocal version of Jon Brion’s song “Here We Go” that appears in various instrumental forms throughout the theatrical release. Highly recommended, but not if you think The Waterboy is great cinema.

Second in a series: Mystery picture of the week, Part Two. Any guesses?

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What is it about Stick musicians who are so miserly about strings? These guys keep from clipping the ends, they boil worn out ones, they save them as backups, and so forth — all to avoid actually purchasing new strings. Stick strings last a lot longer than their guitar/bass counterparts due to their low vibrational energy; in other words, they don’t bounce a lot of munge off your fingers, which are normally coated with oils, dirt, and dead skin cells. (Mmm, tasty!) Plus, Stick strings are not that expensive compared to 5- or 6-string bass strings (good ones). Add to that the fact that you’re playing a $1300-2500 instrument, and you’re trying to save what comes to about $8-10 a month on strings? Puh-LEEZE.

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p>When I’m gigging regularly on guitar, I change my strings before every show, and at least once a week for practice. That $4 a set really adds up over time, but the tone is worth it. Chapman Stick instruments with old strings just don’t sound as good either. Come off it and call Stick Enterprises for some more strings… NOW!

I’ve been out of touch this week mostly because I was out of the country for work. But I have gotten some more floor done in the studio, about 3/4 done at this point. I expect to do a bit more tomorrow after I recaulk around the outside of the exterior door, to insure that there won’t be any minor leakage problems in case of major thunderstorms — which has happened a couple times. A little water on cement is no big deal, but sucked up into the laminate floor compound material? Yeeeesh.

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p>By the way, here’s the mystery picture of the week, Part One:

There’s now some significant progress on the studio floor! Rick got me out of the closet, and so I was able to make a lot of progress this weekend (worked over Fathers Day, even). I even cut into the trim under the doorway on the oppposite wall, all by myself! Hey, this is a big jump for someone who sits on his butt in front of a computer screen for a living. There is still quite a bit left to do, but I’m over halfway done at this point with no major screwups yet. The key for me has been to take it at a deliberate pace and remember Rick’s joke about the guy with no planning skills: “No matter how many times I cut it, it’s still too short!”

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p>(For fun, compare to the last status report.)

Completed four more rows of the floor. Not much, but tomorrow Rick and I are going to get to work on it big-time. Lots of work left to do! Pictures tomorrow night if I can still move.

The basement is really almost finished now! I’ll be doing some more flooring, but the contractor is practically done with the “punch list” work now. I expect to pay him off tonight or tomorrow and then it’s just floor finishing and nailing in some trim in the studio for me. Woo-hoo! More pictures on the way….

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p>By the way, even though I’m not a big high-gain amp guy (nu-metal, etc.), I found out that Line 6 is coming out with a new amp at the end of this month, the HD 147. 300 watts of bonecrushing power, a whole host of high-gain amps modeled to destroy even the most discriminating eardrums, and cool looks to boot. If I played that kind of music, this would be my first choice for an amp, bar none.

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p>Meantime, I’m just waiting for the next iteration of Vetta to be released. This should force down the price of the originals, and then I’ll pick one up on eBay.