Did I mention that, a few days ago, we also saw the charming (if a bit risqué) Down With Love? It’s a fun and frivolous sex-comedy that is also at once a tribute to and sendup of classic early 1960′s flicks like Pillow Talk and That Touch of Mink. The casting is impeccable, the score marvelous, and the pacing just right. (Composer Marc Shaiman should be up for another Oscar for this score, in my opinion. Two warnings: many of the jokes may fall flat, and the movie will seem very odd and dumb, if you are not familiar with the older examples of this genre; and the more modern sexual humor in Down With Love is definitely inappropriate for young viewers — rent one of the originals instead. Nevertheless, highly recommended.

I, Cringely has an excellent explanation of why open source software works, why it has and will continue to surpass proprietary software (such as that from Microsoft) in stability, security and overall quality, and why this man is constantly spreading FUD (fear, uncertainty and doubt) in a desperate attempt to save a faltering vision.

We watched a great movie on DVD last night, Danny Boyle’s horror thriller 28 Days Later. Normally when people say something is a “scary movie,” my brain automatically inserts those little quote marks as they’re talking. The Ring was no scarier than an average episode of the Teletubbies, for instance. But 28 Days Later was a big step in the right direction for horror movies — toward the good old classics, like Night of the Living Dead (the original of course) and The Exorcist — where the world we know gets turned upside down seemingly overnight and there’s no way to escape from the terror.

<

p>I won’t bother to hash out the plot here; you’ve probably already read it in a hundred other places. The photography (on MiniDV instead of film) is an interesting and appropriate choice; the subsequent transfer to film gives the movie a grainy, rough, documentary feel, although it also unfortunately causes a few problems in a couple of the low-light scenes where the principals’ faces “smear” in the shadows, as tends to happen with compressed digital video sources. I have yet to hear the commentary track, but the three alternate endings are interesting enough. Which one you prefer probably tells you more about yourself than the filmmakers, although the “radical” ending is a great way of presenting material that was never shot. Well worth your time: Highly recommended.

Elliott Smith – 1969-2003 – R.I.P.

<

p>What can I say? The music world has lost an incomparable songwriter, who drew on his own personal struggles to write dark but wry reflections on relationships, and particularly the difficulties involved therein. While they may not have been strictly confessional, his songs were powerfully emotional and definitely informed by his demons.

Tomorrow night (yes, another Sunday), you can catch me backing up ace songstress Leah Morgan, at IOTA Club & Cafe in Arlington. We will be debuting a couple of new original tunes. That’s right, this is one act not content to rest on its laurels. We are hopelessly devoted to bringing you thoughtful new songs full of heartfelt… oh, what the hell, just show up, and don’t forget to bring a nice tip for Dave the bartender, who is a heckuva guy, and not too hard on the eyes. That means free drinks, right Dave?

Even if you’re a strict vegetarian, this should turn your stomach more than a plate of London broil.

We left the munchkin with my sister on Saturday, and gleefully tore rubber to see Kill Bill Vol. 1, thankfully at our local THX screen in glorious digital sound. And wow, it certainly wasn’t wasted on this glorious tour-de-force. Director Quentin Tarantino shows that he still has everything it takes, and more, to deliver two hours of pure enjoyment for people who simply love the movies. Uma Thurman brings credible dramatic weight to a story that is essentially a one-note revenge quest, as The Bride, a.k.a. Black Mamba, a former assassin whose entire wedding party is slaughtered by her ex-teammates, all working for a barely-glimpsed crime boss named Bill, for reasons yet unknown. The Bride, very pregnant at the altar, is shot in the head and left for dead; upon waking up from a coma four years later and discovering her baby is gone (in a remarkably moving scene that, I’ll have to admit, hit me broadside and left me welling up a little), she has only one thing on her mind, which you can guess from the title. But first she will warm up her appetite by avenging herself on her coworkers.

<

p>If you, like I did, spent a significant number of Saturday afternoons in your youth glued to “Kung Fu Theater” on one of your local TV stations, you will laugh out loud and applaud Tarantino’s masterful and obviously loving tips of the hat, starting with the opening logos, especially the 70′s “Shaw Scope” leader that hails back to the old Shaw Brothers films. The brutally powerful opening scene yanks you right into the film universe that QT has created, an alternate world where Michael Parks once again moseys his way across the desolate landscape of Texas as The Sheriff; where swords are allowed on airplanes, from which, cruising low over the city of Tokyo, the passengers can glimpse the nightlife below; where flashbacks are told in anime form; and where a “silly Caucasian girl” can chop-socky her way through armies of Yakuza warriors in the most exuberant fight scenes ever made in an American film, bar none.

<

p>I’m assuming anyone reading this already has an opinion on QT’s other films, the stark and bracing Reservoir Dogs, the sexy and self-assured Jackie Brown, and of course the seminal staple of college quotability, Pulp Fiction. If you hated all of those — well, first, you’re probably in desperate need of a fun infusion… (I personally would suggest a stiff drink and a good f***, but there’s no need to get personal.) In any case, you’ll probably not get anything out of this film either. For everyone else, highly recommended; grab your car keys right now and get in line.

There’s a tremendously helpful post on the fedora-list mailing list concerning the whole point behind the Fedora Project, its goals, and a pretty thorough explanation of its vision and philosophy for the future. Check it out here. Thanks to Mike Harris, you da man.

<

p>Don’t forget to check out my bugs, yo!

Note to self: Cancel plans to teach cows “Stop, Drop and Roll” technique.

This morning I had an experience with one of those “training sessions” that makes me feel like I’m in high school again. Now in some ways, feeling like that’s not a bad thing, especially when it’s Saturday night and I’m on stage (or home with the wife and the munchkin’s fast asleep, if you know what I mean, and I think you do). But I’m talking about feeling like you’re sitting in one of those interminable classes geared toward dunderheads. After daydreaming my way through half of my high school years and still breezing by on honor roll most of the time, you can understand why this is not a big seal of approval.

<

p>I really hate having my time wasted, whether it’s by telemarketers, vendor cold calls, or lame training sessions like this one. (A bit hypocritical, considering how much time I waste on my own.) But I hate it even more as I get older, probably because I realize that I’ve got less of it left.

<

p>Here’s a hint for all you would-be “trainers” out there… Assume your students’ time is more valuable than yours, and make what you use of it count! If you’re showing me some new system I need to use, make sure you only take enough of my time to show me what I need to use to get the job done. Roughly 80% of what went on in this morning’s meeting had anything to do with the vast majority of the 50 people there. But we all had to lose two hours of our lives to hear all of it in great and gruesome detail. This is a perfect example of why the designer of a system should not be teaching how to use it, since the whole thing ended up as a “isn’t this neat, let’s all bow to the wonderfulness of me” session. Enough grousing, I’m going to get some lunch.