Hidden Fortress

Hidden Fortress @imdb

Too bad they couldn't afford color. Maybe they could but preferred b&w.

There's a sequence where the two peasants are chasing a woman through the forest and the woman uses saplings and tree branches to beat them off. She bends them back and lets them snap against her pursuers. Since I've done that myself, probably during a game of capture the flag, it gives the scene great authenticity. You really feel like you're in the forest with them.

I have never seen a real forest used to such effect. That scene must have taken days to shoot.

Health Insurance

I finally got up the nerve to apply for health insurance today and guess what? The Mass Dept. of Insurance aka Mass Health Connector is closed.

BECAUSE IT'S RAINING

The hacks get a day off because snow was forecast. I'm sure they'll use it to catch up on all that paperwork that keeps piling up.

Well, it has been snowing, off and on. The snow might have stuck to the roads if the temps were lower. We could have had an earthquake. Or a volcano might have erupted in Harvard Square. The Canada geese could have declared war on public servants. I'd like to see that.

possible solution to recruiter problem

We need to put them on a barge and ship them to Nigeria. That way we keep most of the world's scam artists in one easily nukable place.

Linus hates cell phones!

There's a new post on Slashdot about how Google's Nexus One phone is the first cellie that Linus does not hate. Weird. The most ubber of geeks hates cell phones. And here I was thinking how uncool I was for not being a part of the cell phone obsessed herd.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/07/AR2010020701126.html

raw shrimp for supper?

I was invited over to my folks place tonight to feast on fresh Gulf o' Maine shrimp. It's prolly the best seafood event of the winter. Come to think of it, it's the ONLY seafood event of winter. The Maine shrimp season lasts for only four to six weeks so you better hurry.

Unlike those nasty jumbo shrimp from central American farms these little crustaceans are tender, inexpensive and mild-tasting. Yum! There was only one problem: my folks were eating them raw! They forgot that Maine shrimp are pink when raw. No wonder they said they weren't very good. My dad said they were overcooked. Strange.

I peeled my share and cooked them in a chicken stock with rice noodles, ginger, sesame oil and lime juice. Wish I'd had some scallions. They take about 20 seconds to cook. Actually, I'd like to be able to buy them with their heads on, too. I don't eat the heads but they do add lots of flavour to a broth.

Harp Lager

Harp is brewing a lager beer in Canada these days and it's damn good. I tasted none of that nasty skunk that I learned to expect from Canadian imported beer. Canadian beer is great when drunk in Canada but like European beer, it is often ruined in transit. Nice to see that at least one Canadian brewery has figured out a way to get their wares to us fresh.

Unboxing? Really?

Seems like everytime I watch a consumer review video about some new handheld or computer, the video is half about the product and half about unpacking the bloody thing.
WAKE UP! NOBODY CARES ABOUT THE CARDBOARD AND STYROFOAM!!!
Why the FUCK would I want to see the unboxing of anything, unless it was packed by the Pharoh's minions 3,000 years ago? I might just want to know how the product worked. Ya think?