Archive for January, 2004


The beginning of the end started with the tag line insanity is relative, and working backwards through time arrived at the end which was a few months ago. Whoever said time could only flow in one direction was so wrong. I'm going to adopt some new philosophies and see if my quality of life improves at all. Besides, up until now I've been living by the code of woot!

There are several factors that led to this enlightenment.

  • Igby Goes Down caused the final straw to snap.
  • The Dangerous Lives of Alter Boys nearly got me to where I needed to go.
  • Who's your daddy highlighted the geek social dilema
  • Some Linkin Park music
  • And several episodes of Malcolm in the Middle dealing with switching off your brain and thinking less.
  • Hell, even Speedyway Junky could have had something to do with it. So all in all, that probably sounds just sad, but perhaps there is a slight chance that I might have accidentally discovered the meaning of life in some films and a few episodes of a cult tv comedy. Either way, up until now I have not really been living, so there are changes afoot.

Other changes around here include the theme which changed to one I cooked up a while ago but never got around to finishing off. It'll be replaced shortly with a better theme which bears more content and enhanced code behind it (including fixes, no one noticed the search was borked since moving away from portland, it's fixed now).

I've also moved to swiftdsl so if you decided to switch to them, please signup with my home phone as the referal number (ask me for it first because it's changed a few times). This way I might be able to save some cash on the net connection. This site is now brought to you from my Swiftel ADSL line.

A light second is just like a regular second but with less calories.


Film: Igby Goes Down

posted by robert
Jan 19

From time to time theres a film that you watch that brings many things into perspective, and for me Igby Goes Down was one of these. The film's tag line of Insanity is relative just clicked with me and made sense, combining this with the great story line and excellent cast selection makes this a film worthy of putting on my dvd shelf. Shortly that is.

The rough outline of the film is this. A troubled youth, Igby who is trying dramatically to get out of school and away from his parents. The story follows him through various schools and ploys to get out of them. Dealings with women and his calm and contented elder brother drive him nearly to insanity, combine that with his drug addicted mother and schizophrenic father leave him believing that there is no point aiming to succeed (as his father did) or aiming to fail (as his mother did). This is a classic in my book.



The Dangerous Lives of Alter Boys is an interesting tale of young boys growing up, though it focuses on the things they do to avoid boredom. The 2 main characters are alter boys and go to a Catholic school, this seems to cause them grief which they then resort to making their own fun, usually in a dangerous or criminal way.

This film has several short sections of it which are animated and it fits in nicely, continuing the story at the time. The basis for these animated sequences is the comic book the boys are writing throughout the film.

Some of the things the boys do makes you wonder what was going on in their heads at the time (of course, you also wonder if it actually happened or not, because it is based on a book, and the film is dedicated to the author of it). And as it progresses towards the end I was thinking it was all over, but then it continues and the twist at the end, if you could call it a twist was so unexpected, but so well placed, it completely changed what I thought, and in the last 5 minutes too. This is another one to watch.


Film: Home Alone 4

posted by robert
Jan 19

I watched Home Alone 4 not knowing they actually bothered to make a third one. To say little about this one would be best, because it's not very good. Needless to say I wouldn't recommend renting it, you'd have more fun chewing al-foil for an hour and a half.

Firstly the kid (Kevin) set hardly any traps, maybe two at most, and the environment he was in was rather artificial and plain, especially when compared to the first 2 movies (which I didn't think were half bad at the time of viewing).

The only thing slightly redeeming in the film was a quote about 40 minutes in.

I know all about the inner child. Thats why old guys drive sports cars. But the trouble with sports cars, no room for anybody else, maybe one other person max. But if you want to take a real road trip with luggage and all you don't even have room for a friend. I mean they're cool and fast and all but who wants to be in a nice car when your all alone.

It made me think about my inner child.