Happy Birthday Paula!

Everyone please wish Paula and Happy Birthdya today.


Thanks,
-- C.

Downtown Fright Night

Looking for something to do before going to MR's annual Halloween Bash? Check this out.

"Stranger Than Fiction"

I finally got around to watching this movie over the weekend. I have mixed feelings about Will Ferrell. Some of his skits are weird and maybe not so funny. But I really liked him in "Elf" and was really surprised by that film in general. I didn't know what to expect from "Stranger."

On the surface it's a story of a man who works as an IRS agent. His life is very structured and revolves around numbers, almost to the point of OCD. One day he hears a woman's voice narrating his life.

I thought it was going to be more of a comedy, but I found it to be more of a light-hearted drama. It didn't take very long for me to start really enjoying it.

It's got a wonderful cast, too, including Emma Thompson, Queen Latifa, Dustin Hoffman, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Linda Hunt, and Tom Hulce (you may remember him from "Animal House" or "Amadeus").

If you liked "Elf" and "Being John Malkovich" you'll probably enjoy this movie.

"The voice isn't telling me to do anything, it's telling me what I've already done. Accurately, and with a better vocabulary."


-- C.

Classical Composers

I didn't think I could name very many composers, but after starting a list, I was surprised at how many I remembered:

Ludwig van Beethoven, Johann Sebastian Bach, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Chopin, Joseph Haydn, George Frideric Handel, Gustav Holst ("The Planets"), Strauss, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky ("The Rite of Spring"), Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky ("The Nutcracker Suite", "Swan Lake"), Antonion Vivaldi ("The Four Season"), Franz Liszt, Johannes Brahms, Felix Mendholson, Niccolo Paganini, Richard Wagner, Johann Pachelbel ("Canon in D").

Okay, I had a little help from Wikipedia on the full names, and some of them didn't come to me at first. But still, I think most people will recognize many of those names.

Classical Music - take 2

How many classical music composers can you name without looking them up? I thought of more than I thought I could.

Can you also name songs for which they are famous?


-- C.

Classical music

A couple years ago Paula and I won Philharmonic tickets in an auction. It was a complete steal, getting two season tickets for about the price of two one-show tickets. I enjoyed going to the shows even though I don't know much about classical music. I don't know my Bach from my Beethoven. I like some of it and want to learn more about it, but I don't know where to begin. I've started listening to some classical music on the radio, and I've learned a couple composers, but it's a pretty small sampling.

Do any of my faithful readers know much about classical music? I do have Holst's "The Planets" which is pretty good. I'd like to hear more but I don't want to blindly spend money on CDs that I may not like.

I find it very interesting that music from hundreds of years ago is still being listened to today. I would be surprised (and embarrassed) if any of today's music lasts over 100 years.


-- C.

Age old Conundrum

If they won't hire you because you don't have experience, how are you ever going to get experience?


-- C.

Doctor Who?

If you haven't been watching the latest version of the "Doctor Who" show, you're really missing out. The series started decades ago (1963) but stopped in 1989. They did make a movie in the 90's, but other than that the series has pretty much laid dormant. That is, until 2005 when Christoper Eccleston starred as the new Doctor. (You may recognize him as "Claude" the invisible man from Heroes.) I really liked his take on the Doctor, but he only lasted one season.

David Tennant (aka Barty Crouch Jr from Harry Potter) has since taken the helm and will continue to play the doctor for another season or two.

You may want to read up on some background info before you jump into the new series in order for things to make more sense. Start here at Wikipedia. But it's worth it.


-- C.