topic change theatre presents

Brick was very, very, very good indeed. At any time the film could have folded under the weight of its cleverness, but somehow the strength of its convictions won over and all the kids sounded very good with the Dashiell Hammett-esque dialogue. It'd be interesting to see what the film would look like in black and white, though it definitely wasn't shot for B&W.

Before the film, I watched a guy try to pick up a waitress at a diner. Seemed almost appropriate. He did not do a good job of it. I do have to say I give the guy full marks for making a sincere effort, cause honestly, who's had the stones recently to ask out their server? (Let he who is with stones cast the ok I got nothing.)

But when he started dropping phrases like "Listen, I could give you my number, and you could call, or if you don't, that's cool too" and "I'm just coming off a bad divorce" I knew this matchup was not destined to be. I think the waitress was being polite in her refusal, but I can't read that whole interest/disinterest thing for beans. She certainly didn't snark about him with the other waitresses after he left, which might have just been the classy thing to do (and saved for the back room.)

DOCTORWHOJOURNAL

NOW HOW COME NO ONE TOLD ME "TORCHWOOD" WAS AN ANAGRAM FOR "DOCTOR WHO" I MEAN REALLY NOW FOLKS SERIOUSLY THROW ME A FRICKIN' BONE HERE

Give Alex a cork nut for his hatch day!

Alex the African Grey is pretty damn awesome. Smartest parrot in the world. The ifMUD people know that, and I'm pretty sure someone's tipped 'em off to the fact that Alex celebrated his 30th hatch day recently and has also discovered the concept of zero (rather, "a numerical concept akin to zero") -- and if not, well, let me present the announcement and a financial call-to-arms, courtesy sanspoof, who's had the pleasure of working with Dr. Irene Pepperberg and knocking back the cork nuts with Alex ("cork nut" is a term Alex himself coined for almonds, a favorite snack.)

Alex is an African Grey parrot that is learning to recognize various letters, can count to 7 and is working on 8, and learned the color 'grey' by looking at himself in a mirror and asking 'what color?' He's just turned 30. Irene Pepperberg (my professor last semester, and an awesome lady), who bought him from a pet store and has been studying him ever since, has just won an award for her paper on Alex's zero-like concept, which is a major coup given how hard it is to get any recognition in the animal cognitive field nowadays. The pursuit is very uncool right now; it's not techy or sexy, and lots of scientists are finding themselves with cut funding or the inability to renew grants. So, in order to help in some small way, I'm making t-shirts to benefit the Alex Foundation. You can buy them here.

So help keep Alex in cork nuts by getting a t-shirt! It has a parrot on it! You like parrots!

mahna mahna.

21 new pictures taken today.

HARBORWALK & BROADWAY A walk down the Fort Point Harborwalk while storm clouds loomed on the horizon. Then we go underground. And just look at what you get!

Oh, we sure had a grand walk today, didn't we, Beezer?


YOU'RE TELLING ME

REESE WITHERSPOON SHOOTING WES ANDERSON FILM WITHOUT WES ANDERSON'S KNOWLEDGE

The Gilded Moose might possibly be the best celebrity snark blog ever.

No, wait, scratch that, it is. When viewing this collection of paparazzi-n-snark, you're either saying "OH SNAP" every forty-five seconds or you're saying "OH, THAT'S NOT RIGHT." Cause it ain't right. It's wrong. It's so very wrong and so very, very funny. And chances are you're going to be offended by at least one of the items. One of the first five items you see. And then one of the next five you see.

But it works. It so works. Every time you say "Oh that one, that one's my total favorite" (such as "Maggie Gyllenhaal Seriously Considering Mr. Potter's Offer to Pay 50 Cents on the Dollar") another one comes along that makes you reconsider your definition of the word "favorite" (such as "BREAKING: J. Lo Approaching Grassy Knoll")

Brilliant.

Here's Reese in full Wes Anderson getup.

Oh, and Maggie Gyllenhaal decided to keep her money in that ol' Savings & Loan. One of the best parts of The Gilded Moose is their ability and willingness to tenaciously follow a story until it's done.