Human Tetris

For Twin CIties Movie Lovers.

Sometimes you walk into a book store and just do a total impulse buy. I was recently at a Barnes and Noble and picked up Twin Cities Picture Show: A Century of Moviegoing. (BTW--the link is to amazon.com. I guess there is a bit of irony in that.) I love movies. I love seeing pictures of the old movie palaces. This book is for anyone who enjoys this too.

The twin cities has had many great theaters. Unfortunately many of them are gone. Every time I would walk by the Hamm Building in St. Paul or go inside to the Park Square Theatre, I feel a certain sense of regret that I never got to walk into the Paramount before it was gutted. I find that I'm not reading this book in a linear fashion, but rather picking and choosing through the pages. Finding the sections that talk about the wonderful Riverview that still has the best popcorn in town.

It all brings back memories of going to the Hollywood Theater in little California, PA where I first saw the trailer for Star Wars and saw my first R rated movie, The Godfather. The building is still there, but it hasn't been used as a theater since before I left for college. It is really a pity considering that California, PA is home of California University of Pennsylvania (I'm not making this up) and has a ready audience of customers who would love to have a movie theater or 2 in town. Sigh.

Review: Horton Hears a Who

Rating: Four out of Five Stars.

I liked this movie much more than I thought I would. I love Dr. Seuss. I have not loved the previous movie adaptations of the books. They always seemed to be much more about the commercial tie ins rather than the stories. Although I have seen Jim Carey plays roles that I have enjoyed, I have also seen him totally take over a movie.

But this one walks a fine line. Yes, it is a Jim Carey take on Horton, but the character's sweetness does not get lost in it. Steve Carell and Carol Burnett are great to listen to. The movie is better than good, but not a knock-out like Ratatouille. But it I would still definitely recommend it.

Yes you can...

At the end of Rutter's The Reluctant Dragon, St. George tells the villagers that he can't kill the dragon. In the front row was a little boy who said "Yes, you can."

Sunday Night, time to blog

A lot happened this weekend, but for the most part it was low stress. The big news is that our house now has a copy of Super Smash Brothers Brawl! It was released at midnight Saturday, but we told Tony that we would get it Sunday morning. Both boys were excited about getting it (Tony used his money) and Wendy made a "Happy Brawl Day" cake to celebrate.

I had fun singing this weekend with Chorus Polaris. We did a children's concert and sang "The Reluctant Dragon" by John Rutter. It was a very fun piece to sing. I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with Rutter. I like many of his pieces, but as a choir member I can really hate the way they are edited (with page turns at the worst possible moments). And every time I hear his Requiem I think the text for the main theme should be "Buy your film from Kodak, take a pretty picture..." (Sacrilege, I know, but the music is very "pop" to the point of sounding like background music for a commercial.)

The boys have FINALLY quieted down. After behaving well all day they decided to make bedtime interesting. Wendy is doing her NYTimes crossword and I'm starting to think about the coming week and what needs to get done.

Review: A Madman Dreams of Turing Machines

Review: A Madman Dreams of Turing Machines

This book is most unusual.

Its storytelling is quite minimal as it paints in fast brush strokes the story of two geniuses of the 20^th century: Kurt Gödel and Alan Turing. Both men never truly fit into their world. Both men ended up committing suicide. Gödel suffered from paranoia and spent time in a sanatorium. Turing was gay and also would have probably been diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome today.

They each asked a great question of the 20^th. Gödel asked if we can ever truly know for sure if something is truly true? (His answer was ‘no’.) Turing asked if humans were anything more than just complicated machines? (His answer was also ‘no’.)

This book explores the implications of such questions and answers in regards to God and faith. What I enjoyed most about this book was that it did not offer answers. The older I get the less interested I am in finding the “right” answers. I find myself much more interested in asking the “right” questions. I would recommend this book to anyone who shares a similar point of view.

The lost Star Trek episode...