What a movie reviewer does

I read the following comment on what movie reviewers do, and I thought that it was worth emphasizing.

Movie reviewers (and we're talking here about reviews, not criticism*) are just watching the movie to determine its strengths and weaknesses. They are often out of step because they have seen more movies than the moviegoing public and can recognize cliches more readily. In addition, they tend to be interested in elements like plot and characterization, which a lot of the movie audience these days don't care about, since they're interested in flashy special effects. Ultimatly, though flashy special effects just become dated, making the weakness in the story more obvious (once you remove the "bullet time" elements from The Matrix -- which has become a cliche now -- the movie is very dull and cliched)

I will say that there are very few examples of films panned by all critics, and those that are panned by an overwheming majority or critics are nearly always as bad as the critics say. When you have so many critics saying the film is bad, then those that like it are the ones who are likely to be wrong.

*A reviewer assumes you haven't seen a film and want to know whether to see it; a critic assumes you have seen the film and want to discuss its strengths and weaknesses. Most newspaper film "critics" are generally reviewers, except for occasional special articles.

I hate yard work

I hate doing yard work.

I've just spent nearly an hour mowing my lawn and laying down compost. I would much rather have spent that time reading or exercising.

Now I have to lay down some pre-emergent herbicide. Then I have to spray some more standard herbicide to kill all the dandelions and ground ivy around my place. Then I have to tend to the compost pile again.

Oh, and I planted some lilies in these oversized pots. I sure hope they turn out well.

I wish I didn't have so much lawn to take care of, and that the previous owner had taken better care of this place. I also wish that my neighbors would take care of their weeds, so as to prevent them from infecting my own lawn. I view this place as an investment, and I'd really like to take care of it.

I need to plant a couple of fruit trees in a couple of weeks. Boy. Ugh.

The first season of the SuperFriends

I'm posting this article with permission from the original author:



I'm surely in the minority here, but... I kinda liked the "Wendy, Marvin, Wonderdog" era. Sure, the stories were fairly juvenile, but no more so than the Wonder Twin episodes. In fact, there are several things that I liked about the original series. For example:

Characterization. Wendy and Marvin had distinctive personalities that were not entirely comical. Wendy was acerbic, bright and full of initiative. Marvin was not as bright, but often was insightful nonetheless. He had a typical teenaged ego problem, and entertained fantasies of being a full-fledged superhero. The Wonder Twins, on the other hand, were nothing if not comical. Zan was a one-note character -- an egotistic, bumbling boob. Jayna, on the other hand, had no character to speak of, and was blander than tap water. As for Gleek... ugh. Don't even get me started on monkeyshining, banana-craving, consistently-played-up-for-sight-gags-and-forced-laughter Gleek.

Even the villains were portrayed in a manner atypical for Saturday morning cartoons. They weren't your typical power-crazed baddies who were hungry for revenge or out to conquer the world. Rather, they had more substantial reasons for the crimes they committed -- misguided reasons,
of course, but certainly better than the standard "Must kill/steal/conquer because I'm evil" that characterized many of the later SuperFriends episodes.

Not having any powers, the Junior SuperFriends actually had to use initiative and their wits to solve the crises. This was quiet different from the Wonder Twins' approach, which was to simply use their powers -- ineffectively, at that.

We got to see more of the SuperFriends than just their powers. We saw Marvin relate the story of Superman's origin, and his early years on Earth. Wonder Woman was shown to have brains and scientific savvy, instead of merely being the resident lasso-bearer. Aquaman was more than just a man who talked to fish; instead, he was often shown to be an expert on ocean geography and marine life, and on some occasions, was depicted as having superhuman strength, in keeping with his comic book portrayal. Batman used his analytical skills as often as he used his bat-gizmos. And Robin... Robin got to reminisce about his aborted circus career, and was shown to be a vital member of the team -- not just some kid who took orders from the man in black.

Okay, so the show was hokey. Okay, so it was flawed. Still, I think there's a lot to appreciate about it, when contrasted with
the years of predictable, one-dimensional SuperFriends stories that came in its wake.

Freezing blood cells

Using peripheral blood mononuclear cells in an experiment can present a bit of a challenge. Ideally, one should use fresh blood cells; however, it's not always possible to extract this blood as needed, and it certainly won't stay fresh forever. Not to mention that using samples that were taken from different blood draws creates obvious problems, even when they are taken from the same donor.

Cryopreservation is the key. The challenge is to freeze the cells in a way that yields high recovery rates, i.e., where you don't lose too many cells. In addition, one needs to guarantee that the cells remain productive.

Specialized PBMC cryopreservation techniques are available to suit these purposes. They require the use of serum-free cell culture media, among other things, to achieve the required post-thaw productivity and viability.

"Enchanted" is enchanting

Gotta rave about Disney's Enchanted. This is one of the few live-action Disney movies in recent years that I really enjoyed. It would have made a pretty darned good date movie, too. The only other Disney live-action flick in the past 20 years that I enjoyed as much was George of the Jungle.

Amy Adams was wonderful, of course. Totally enchanting and a real discovery. Here's hoping that she does a lot more with the creative Disney wizards.

Oh, and I did not recognize Paige O'Hara at all. She looks completely different. What the heck...?

Anyway, I loved the music, I loved the storyline, I loved the characters, and of course, I loved the Disney homages. These folks were darned amazing.

Travelling on the cheap

When I travel on business, I like to do so for cheap. For example, instead of taking a taxi to my hotel, I prefer to take a shuttle if at all possible. It's much cheaper that way, and I don't want to create unnecessary expenses for my employer. I also take cheap flights, even if this means getting up at ungodly hours of the morning.

To be sure, this is less comfortable than picky a cushy flight or a taxi cab. Still, I just can't justify spending an extra $200 or so without any really good reason.

That's not to say that I won't ever spend the extra money. Recently, for example, I picked a decent hotel over one that had a reputation for being a bit of a rat trap. Why? Quite simply, it was a question of safety.

I hope that my employer appreciates how I'm trying to save them some money.

Death to dandelions!

Owning residential land is such a hassle.

Now that I own a home, I'm forced to pay attention to the upkeep of the lawn. This includes annihilating the dandelions and other weeds whenever possible. Why? To preserve its resale value.

Sure, I don't plan to resell this place for many years. Nevertheless, unless you stay on top of these weeds, keeping them under control, they will continue to spread. I've seen the lawns of some of my neighbors, and they are practically swimming in yellow petals. Not good.

In fact, I wish they'd take better care of their lawns. After all, their weeds will eventually wind up infecting my property.

Oh, and I wish that the corn gluten I ordered would finally arrive. I ordered that stuff two weeks ago. Where is it??? It makes for a darned good organic (non-toxic!) pre-emergent herbicide, and I want it here NOW!

Watching "Bones"

I'm watching "Bones" on TV right now. Thank God for DVRs!

These guys are really inspiring. I wish I could do this kind of work. I know that I have an aptitude for it, but that's not the direction that my life took.

Emily Deschanel does a terrific job of playing a cool and sharp scientist, one whose beauty does not compromise her credibility. David Boreanaz shows more acting chops here than in his previous roles. The rest of the cast is also impeccable and stellar. Even the new addition of Dr. Sweets (what is that actor's name again) simply makes sense.

If only DeForrest Kelley were still around to make a guest appearance.

Plate reader applications

I decided to come up with a list of applications that the UV instrument listed here can be used for. It's actually a combo plate reader that uses a variety of filters and light sources such that it can be used for both visible light and fluorescent assay applications.

The applications that I came up with are as follows: ELISPOT assays, FluoroSpot assays, microbial load testing, sterility testing, bioburden testing, stem cell assays, viral plaque counting, clonogenic assays, cell counting (fluoroscent and visible light), apoptosis tests, cell viability tests, cytotoxicity tests, virus neutralization assays, genotoxic assays, and SBA assays.

Dealing with the Colombian embassy

Over the past two days, I've been trying desperately to get some information on travel requirements for entering Colombia on business. Do I need a visa, for example? What effect does my citizenship have? And so forth. Their various websites have been extremely unhelpful in this regard, and the main telephone line at their closest location greeted me with a long and unhelpful automated message.

I finally got ahold of someone this morning. The person who answered the telephone could barely speak English. Perhaps there was some reason for this, so I won't judge the situation too harshly; however, it seems to me that if you're managing a consulate within the USA, you'd want to employ people who can speak English pretty well. (Again, I recognize that I don't know the whole story here.)

She referred me to another person who had to ask around to get the information I needed. At one point, she referred me to the consulate's website -- but she had to ask her co-workers what the website URL was. Again, I thought that was a bit strange. (Unless she's a brand new employee, I find it hard to understand how someone would fail to know what their website address was.)

Investing during a recession

When a recession hits, a lot of people panic. They cash in their stock investments, afraid to play the market. I think that such fear is understandable, but counter-productive in the long run.

Here's what people should do. They should invest in defensive stocks. This means stock in companies that provide food, medicine, oil, gas, toothpaste, detergent, and the like. You know, the sorts of things that people don't do without, even when times are tough.

Of course, one should still pick one's company carefully. Some oil companies will do better than others, for example, and some food companies could conceivably go bankrupt. Still, the goal should be to invest in companies that can be expected to provide hearty, reliable returns on one's investment.

It's Free Comic Book Day on Saturday!

You heard it here, folks. This is no hoax, no urban legend.

On Saturday, May 3, comic books across the USA will be giving out special freebie comic books. This is all an attempt to drum up business and show people that comic books aren't just juvenile literature.

And they aren't. A lot of them are written at a very mature and sophisticated level. To be sure, some of them are skill kinda dumb (a lot of the fanwankish Marvel stuff as of late, for example), but some of them are pretty darned good indeed.

Oh, and while we're on that topic, go ahead and pick up a copy of this week's "DC Universe #0." It only costs fifty cents, and it's well worth more than that.

An article recommendation

I just wanted to recommend this article on stock market investing. The article talks about how the best time to buy stocks for much less than they're worth is when the economy is down. Just to drive the point home, the author likens it to the way airfare was undervalued in the wake of 9/11. What's more, the flights were actually safer at that time. (As an aside, he could have mentioned that the flights would also have been extremely roomy -- but I guess that's not really an essential point to make.)

The economy is suffering right now, but that's actually a good thing if you're playing the stock market. It's a good time to make a potential killing later down the road.

Why I discontinued using my landscaper's services

Several things made me decide to discontinue his services.

Money was a bit tight, so I asked him to mow my lawn on a biweekly basis rather than weekly. He either forgot those instructions or conveniently ignored them though, since I saw him mowing my lawn on the second week after I hired him. (I decided to pay him for that anyway, but reiterated that I wanted biweekly mowings.)

When I received my second bill, he had crossed out the name of his company and asked me to make the check out to his name. In other words, it looked like he was trying to avoid paying taxes on this service. Mind you, I don't mind having an informal gentleman's agreement, but I wasn't thrilled that he did this without consulting me first.

Finally, after a few weeks, his bills were marked "Due immediately" instead of "Due in 15 days." Again, this sudden change did not sit well with me. Don't get me wrong; I could afford the money. I wasn't thrilled that he decided to spring this on his customers without advance notice, though.

Now, I know what you're thinking. It sounds like money was getting a bit tight for this fella. If that was the case, and if he had simply explained the situation, I would have been happy to help him out. Instead though, he tried to slip these changes past his customers, and that did not sit well with me.

Movie princesses in "Enchanted"

Judy Kuhn and Paige O’Hara both had brief roles in Disney’s neo-classic movie, Enchanted. You may remember them from the exquisite vocals that they provided for Pocahontas and Belle, respectively. Disney's Ariel, Jodi Benson, had a longer and more significant role, possibly due to her closer association with the mighty mouse factory. These were all in-jokes (Easter eggs?) that they producers provided for astute viewers to pick up. Her character, the eponymous lead, was a princess of sorts, so I guess that’s kinda appropriate.

It would have been great if they could have gotten Lea Salonga, Linda Larkin, or Susan Egan to appear as well. Still, this was a real treat.

Remembering "Herman's Head"

Herman's Head was, without a doubt, one of the quirkiest and most original sitcoms of the 1990s. Too bad it wasn't one of the funniest as well.

The premise was certainly offbeat. The show centered on its protagonist, Herman, and the voices in his head (so to speak). That is, it allowed the audience to glimpse the thought processes within Herman's cranium, as represented by four different aspects: intellect, fear, love, and lust. These four aspects were depicted by four different characters with suitable nicknames: Genius, Wimp, Angel, and Pig.

There were definitely times when I would bust a gut laughing. On the whole though, it just wasn't that funny.

Dang it! Windows Vista should rot in heck!

Okay, that does it. I am sick and tired of Windows Vista. Windows in general sucks quite a bit, but Windows Vista in particular stinks. It's a horrible piece of bloatware, and whoever conceived it must have been pretty clueless. This has all the earmarks of some corporate bigwig saying "Hey, here are a whole bunch of nifty features that'd be nice to have. Let's use them!" without much regard for performance.

I'm oversimplifying a little, I'll admit. For example, the Windows Aero interface prudently foists a lot of graphics processing off onto the graphics card, as it should. Some of the UI annoyances have been improved as well. There's just way too much bloatware though, and I can't stand using a resource hog.

I dread booting my computer nowadays. The wait is agonizing. It especially stinks that Internet Explorer remains unresponsive for a minute or two after it starts. I can type a URL into its address bar, but because Vista takes forever to connect to a network, IE simply returns an error message instead of doing as it's told. Blast it.

Get rid of Vista. It's a piece of junk.

More on "The Brave and The Bold"

In my previous posting, I raved about Mark Waid's writing on the first twelve issues of "The Brave and the Bold." Now I want to talk about the artwork.

George Perez did his usual amazing job with the first few issues. If you need someone who can depict a wide array of comic book characters, while simultaneously giving them dynamism and expression, then George is your man. That's why it was so unfortunate when he had to stop doing the interior art.

Having said that, Jerry Ordway was a worthy and logical successor. He's one of the few guys who can even come close to touching Perez's work. Like Perez, he injects realism and dynamis into his art, which is one reason why I loved his old work on "The Power of Shazam" so much.

Great job, gents. Great job.

Just finished the latest "Brave and the Bold"

I just finished reading the latest issue of "The Brave and The Bold," written by Mark Waid. This is wonderful stuff! Waid has done a much better job in twelve issues than was covered in decades of the old Batman-centric B&B series.

Having this story arc center on the Challenges of the Unknown was a brilliant touch. What's more, the final scenes were absolutely touching. Waid has this uncanny ability to ask logical questions, such as "How does June Robbins fit into the Challengers, as the only member who has not miraculously cheated death?" The characterization that he provides is absolutely spot on, and the way he resolves this storyline is positively poetic.

As a testimony to Waid's genius, I never realized that the artifacts which Megistus had been creating all had transformative properties (well, except for the power battery, but that was clearly necessary for other reasons). I also loved how he worked in the likes of Firestorm and Metamorpho, both of whom were transmuters. If he could only have included Element Lad somehow...

Mark Waid, you're amazing.

More on Asians as leading men

Western society -- and the USA in particular -- isn't generally receptive to the notion of an Asian leading man. That's why in those rare instances where an Asian fella is the leading man, he still maintains a distant and chaste relationship with the female lead. (The King and I, anyone?) Asian male actors usually get portrayed as either chaste action heroes (Jackie Chan), nerds (Hiro!), or (more recently, as on 24) shadowy agents of various Asian countries.

Then there's Jet Li in Unleashed. They hint around at him and the female lead (I'm forgetting her name) having feelings for each other, but nothing happens. Jet Li is considered to be one of the more physically attractive of the Asian leading men, but even he is treated like a eunuch. Ditto for Chow Yun Fat. And of course, neither one is regarded as a Hollywood heartthrob of any sort.