Humans have a fundamental problem with driving. We get into our little machines which have way more power than we realize, and toodle around, completely oblivious to everyone else on the road. Take, for example, my recent trek northwards on 35E. A trucker (who should know better) hit the left blinker, and seconds later, I saw 4000+ pounds of steel-encased gravel swinging my way. Perhaps he was used to people swerving wildly around him, in an attempt to save their lives. Tromping on the brakes, I watched the bed continue to follow the tractor into the left lane. It had all the grace and precision of a Toyota Sienna being maneuvered by a Nascar driver. Crazy, I thought, though the incident had handily removed the man who was tailing me. It reminds me of a joke:
The National Transportation Safety Board recently divulged they had covertly funded a project with the auto makers for the past five years. In it, automobile companies installed black boxes in four-wheel drive pick-up trucks in an effort to determine, in fatal accidents, the circumstances in the last 15 seconds before the crash.
They were surprised to find in 48 of the 50 states the last words of drivers in 61.2% of fatal crashes were “OHSHIT!”
Only the states of Minnesota and Wisconsin were different, where over 89.3% of the final words were: “Hold my beer and watch this.”
Or, take this incident: I pulled up into a left turn lane, waiting for a green arrow. As I waited, the two lanes to my right received a green light. The car to my right stayed in place. I looked over to the kid in the car, making eye contact. He returned an inscrutable look as I tried to guide his eyes to the green light in front of him. I gave up, and he waited another 30 seconds until someone behind him beeped him ahead. I shook my head, laughing.
Let’s face it: we are easily lulled into a false sense of security and it makes us stiink at driving.
72 inch DLPTV - Really stupid pictures. However, a 10000:1 contrast ratio alone makes this awesome. Were I old(er), I would budget for a TV similar to this (imagine what they will be like in 20 years).
For those of you using the “what’s happened since you’ve been gone” feature here, I would like to point out that it was working almost completely worthlessly. The code that made it go was all corrrect, but the conditions under which it worked were bizarre at best.
Think about it this way. Robert Frontpage had to talk to Sally Searchpage. Robert looked at you and decided if you were returning or not. If you were returning, he saved a bit of information about your last visit, and passed it over to Sally. Sally received this bit of information, and then did some quick librarian work: finding what had happened since you had last visited. Under some circumstances, instead of receiving the information from Robert, Sally was left with absolutely nothing to work with. The reasons for this are not completely clear to me. Suffice to say, Sally and Robert had some issues to work out.
I took a little time out and patched this relationship back into working order. Robert now sends Sally a cookie instead of just a bit of information, not only making Sally’s work more consistent, but her job more palatable. If the “while you’ve been gone” results you experienced while these two were having issues caused you personal anguish or confusion, please address the issue with me directly before taking out your anger on me, Sally, Robert, my kneecaps, or Tumbledry, Ltd.
Mr. Nice Guy - Casual, but funnier than heck. Made it to my “revists” list after I read 3 posts.
“i was so frustrated at one point that i put the baby down, went into my room … and punched myself in the head as hard as i could. i had never done such a thing before. i will not lie to you: it hurt not only my head, but my hand as well.”
My undershirts live in the top drawer of my dresser. The top seven or so are laundered, and land back on top of the pile. To avoid wearing out (haha) these seven, I frequently grab a shirt from the bottom of the pile. This is what I did today, and I have regretted my actions ever since.
I don’t know what happened, but the dang undershirt (from here on referred to as Thing) smells like wood. Some sort of musty pine or pressboard smell has infused itself into the fibers of the Thing. To be honest with you, I smell funny. Think of sticking your nose in a book in your grandma’s basement … now you’re getting there. I considered a couple of options to address the situation:
Run away screaming
Cover odor (more cologne, more clothing)
Bleach in sun while wearing
I managed half of my second option (a zip-up sweatshirt), given my need to be at work as soon after dressing as possible. So here I am, typing away at work, covered by clothing, trying to avoid catching a whiff of whatever this Thing is.
I’m going to get a different, less weird smelling, dresser.
This movie received very average reviews. It is, however, sincere in its message, if a little heavy-handed in the delivery thereof. The message(s)? “People are more important than things.” “Life isn’t worth living if you are not doing what you love.” “True love is giving of yourself.” Do these sound like platitudes? To the jaded viewer, they almost certainly will. To me, at this confusing time in my life (anybody in college know exactly what they are doing? anybody? there you go …), these messages are refreshing and bear repeating.
Furthermore, Topher Grace of That ’70s Show fame developed a full character on-screen; some people come off TV and look completely flat and one dimensional on film, like a one-trick pony. In a paradigm shift from his small-screen roll (a shift which, by itself, would be impressive), Mr. Grace really convinces us of his character: a young, confused man going through the motions of corporate latter-climbing. He discovers himself, along with many other supporting characters in the film. While this overarching theme of “life revelations” means there can only be a very general theme (everyone finds something different out about themselves), the movie made me see what I believe it set out to do: we’re all going to be messes “figuring it out.”
Over a month after seeing this movie, I finally get time to review the thing. Whew. It was playing only at one theater in the entire Twin Cities area: Uptown Theatre in Minneapolis. While the price was the same as big-box theaters (8 bucks per ticket), the ambience was completely different. The seats were harder, the air a little damp, and you could watch from the balcony. None of this detracted from the movie, in fact it made seeing an ‘indie’ film seem … more indie. The audience seemed a bit less numb to the movie, too: people actually laughed at the funny parts (though this movie isn’t even a comedy).
All that said, the actual movie was engaging enough to make the surroundings melt away. All the reviews I read had trouble quantifying the tone of the movie; I certainly can’t, either. It had an amazing capacity to push the limit of what you’ve seen on screen, address issues to the extreme - yet do so gently and without overdramatizing things. Perhaps you could call it “real.” That is, there was no heightened sense of reality that you see in every movie you watch: it was simply an artful insight into people doing things that people do and worrying about things that people worry about.
Those qualities made You and Me and Everyone We Know comforting. I have to admit, watching something outside the ordinary, beyond what Hollywood deems profitable for a target demographic, beyond the formulaic, was an experience I fully intend to repeat. Sometimes you want the safe and tested, the bubble-gum pop of movies, other times you want the insightful, the out-there.
Footnote: credit goes to Mykala for finding this movie.