Ultranormal

Author: Kevin Lawver

  • Weekend Movie Reviews

    This weekend, we saw American Pie (me for the second time, Jen for the first), State and Main, and I finally finished watching my new copy of Akira.

    Before I get into the reviews: Yes, I know these movies were in theaters months ago. That’s what happens when you have a kid. You watch movies on video instead of going to the theater. So, shut up.

    American Pie: This movie was really funny the first time I saw it. I’m not sure what happened with the second viewing. It just wasn’t that funny. Jen didn’t even laugh all that much. It still had its moments, like the scenes with Eugene Levy, the Pie and Finch’s toilet adventure… it just didn’t ring true like it did the first time.

    State and Main: I love David Mamet. I adored The Spanish Prisoner and Vanya on 42nd Street. Now you know where I’m coming from here, and won’t be disappointed. I really liked this movie. It wasn’t terribly deep nor did it have an important message to share. It was funny. William H. Macy was great as the producer, coddling, tough and an ass when he needed to be. The whole cast was fantastic. But, my favorite part of the movie had to be the relationship between Rebecca Pidgeon and Philip Seymour Hoffman. It wasn’t overtly sexual, and just rang true for me. It was nice to see Mr. Hoffman in a non-gay role (hello, Talented Mr. Ripley, Fabulous… anyone else paying attention?), and he really pulled it off. Ms. Pidgeon played her attraction to him very understated, and I just loved it. If you’ve ever hit if off with someone, you’ll recognize the feelings there. It was great fun.

    Akira: I saw this a long time ago on a bad VHS copy, and didn’t really like it, but remember the animation as something special. SO, I bought the DVD at Price Club for $14. This is a very Japanese movie. If you like Anime, you’ll love it. If you don’t, you’ll probably hate it. Could you sit through Princess Mononoke? Yes? Then get Akira. If you couldn’t, don’t bother.

  • I would love to get

    I would love to get some work done today, but I can’t. I keep starting things and then putting them down. I’ve written a couple hundred lines of code that is just shell for something that will actually do something. I started something in PhotoShop, and it’s just sitting there, half-started. I have a new page in my text editor sitting there waiting for me to bring it to life.

    Well, it ain’t gonna happen today, folks. If something NEEDS to get done, it will. Unfortunately, I have nothing that HAS to get done today. I have a lot of stuff staring me in the face that I can’t start on yet, but nothing I can do RIGHT now except clean-up and documentation. Clean-up and documentation suck, so they never get done.

    Maybe I’ll start something else…

  • Six Feet Under

    So, it’s 9pm on Sunday night, and my favorite show of the summer is starting. I bought a 25 ft. phone cord last night so I can sit on the couch in the sunroom, watch TV and be signed on. Yeah, baby. This is my substitute or wireless networking, my friends. I would love to have DSL, a wireless gateway, wireless network cards and other cool tools, but hey, that costs money. The phone cord was $2.99. Here’s dreaming.

    My computer downstairs isn’t even connected to a phone line. It’s three years old, starting to breakdown, and there’s no replacement on the horizon. Yeah, baby, this is the highlife.

    Why do I bring this up? No idea… just rambling. I’m the only one I know of my friends at work with a wife, a kid and a mortgage, well, with a wife that stays home. (take your meds, Billy… sorry Six Feet Under moment). I love my life, but I sometimes watch my friends and wonder what it would be like to be able to go out on the weekend without worrying about Max and if he’s all right. To be able to go out and spend money without worrying about the mortgage. Yep, responsibility… it’s a bitch. But, I really (and I mean it this time) wouldn’t have it any other way. Max only gets more fun. He’s hilarious. He’s not saying words, but his babbling is becoming more intoned and animated. It’s too funny to listen to him babble away.

    It’s funny. We make decisions with no real idea what the consequences will be. Thankfully, most of the time, things work out. We make it work. I’m glad that when I got married I knew what I was getting into. I knew what I wanted out my marriage, and I think we’re doing a pretty good job as a couple and as parents. So, that’s the state of the union. Now, back to the show… and Sweetie, I’m sorry. I hit the record button @ 9, but it didn’t start. I’ll fill you in when you get home.

  • Let’s see if this works

    I’m using Mozilla to write this post. We’ll see how this goes.

    I love other peoples’ photos. Why? I’m not really sure. I like seeing what matters to people I don’t really know. It takes some effort (a lot less than it used to) to post photos. You have to either suck them off your digital camera or worse yet, scan them, create the pages for the photos and then upload the whole mess. Yup, that’s effort. So, what makes people do this? Other than people who post just for family members, which makes perfect sense, why would people post their vacation photos from their trip to Boston or who knows where and then tell everyone where they are? It’s fascinating to me. I love looking at this window of a moment in someone else’s life and seeing what I can learn from them.

    Usually, not much. But, sometimes, there’s that perfect image of a party with smiling faces, arms around shoulders, drinks in hand. A picture of a family, doing normal family stuff in the backyard. Kids smiling. Parents smiling. It’s just great.

  • What is it about accomplishment

    What is it about accomplishment that’s totally re-energizing? After my brilliance this week, I feel like working again. I don’t feel like doing nothing, and grudgingly doing my job. I feel like doing it in new and fantastic ways, with plastic spoons. No, really, I’m amped. I think this new “get cool results by getting idiots to learn just some html tags” is really cool. It should save me from having to do things all the time, and I’ll really only have to write the tags once, make sure they work, and then unleash them on an unsuspecting world. Sure, I may be writing myself out of a job, but I’m tired of doing the same thing every day anyway. Without giving away too much, I’ll try to keep y’all updated on my quest to replace myself with HTML. It’ll work, I swear on Tim Berners-Lee’s shiny bald spot.

  • I am just blown away

    I am just blown away by this image. I reminds me of the little characters my brother, Tim, and I used to draw in high school. We’d draw a little person form, and then only fill in parts of the person, so they ended as these humanoid sculptures. It sounds a lot cooler than we ever got them to turn out. This is cool… but, so is the rest of the site.

  • Random Notes From the Underbelly

    Just because I’m a glutton for punishment, I watched Six Feet Under again. Yes, the one that ruined me on Sunday. Why? Jen hadn’t seen it, and I talked it up so much, she had to. So, I sat there and steeled myself against what I knew was coming. I got a little choked up, but no actual tears this time. Yes!

    You know what’s sad though? Jen didn’t cry at all, didn’t even snorffle once! I was amazed. Her explanation was that she had detached herself from it and it didn’t get to her. Yeah, well, it got to me, lady… it got me good.

    I’m still basking in the glow of my genius from yesterday. So much so that I’m not even thinking about any rumored impending layoffs.

    Max digs couscous!! I went a little nuts at the grocery store the other night and got couscous and hummus and other weirdities. The hummus was assy, but that couscous was yummy. Max used his little spoon on the little pasta and fed himself until we had to stop him. He’s a funny kid.

  • Days of Caffeine and Genius

    Yes folks, you heard it here first. I am a genius. I rule absolutely with an iron fist and Burger King crown. Baby, I am IT. I feel so much better. I took something written for a different web server, using a completely different language and underlying technology, and ported it to AOLserver. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, you may bow before your leader and say, “Kevin, you’re the greatest!” You know you wanna…

    And moving on… I think the season of Big Brother is miles ahead of last summer’s snorefest. The evil inside that house is eeee-eeeexcellent to behold. Everyone’s playing the game with a Richard Hatch-like perversity, and I love it. Will especially. I hope he’s one of the final two just so everyone can stand in awe of his evilness. Yes ma’am, that’s one slimy customer.

    And one more thing… Max and I came up with a new word last night: Doodootecque: not sure what it means, but it sure is fun to say. It made Max laugh and laugh last night, so I think I’ll keep saying it. I’ll define it later.

  • CHICKENHEAD: A cure for bad

    CHICKENHEAD: A cure for bad days.

  • Let’s Delay the Pain!

    Yeah, that’s a good idea. So, the big layoffs that all the media outlets were reporting haven’t happened yet. What fun. I even came in early today to be here when it happened. Why? I hate walking in on the middle of a disaster. I like to be there when it happens. It just makes dealing with it easier. I missed the last one, and didn’t get to say good-bye. If it’s going to happen, I want to see it.

    As someone said to me at an airport, “Corporations are bastards”. The people who work there do their jobs and are usually decent folk. Somehow, when viewed as a single entity, something bastardly takes over. I don’t know if it comes from management, or if it just happens. I give up trying to explain it. Just make it go away…