Don't know my own self

I don't know what it is about hockey movies, but I love them. Ok, two of them. There's the classic, Slap Shot, which I've liked for many years. And then there's the one I saw last night, and then stayed up late (and I mean LATE...) to watch it a second time.

Goon.

On the face of it, there's really not much for a girl like me to find appealing. Well, except Seann William Scott, and Liev Schreiber, who are both totally cupcake worthy.

But it's not even that, really. I like Seann William Scott in movies because he's had this kind of crazy gleam in his eye, and he didn't have it in this movie.

And there's a lot of brutal violence, which I really don't go for. But I think the difference was that it was sort of lighthearted. It wasn't a grudge match, good-vs-evil confrontation kind of a deal. I don't like that whole 'crush thine enemies' vibe, and while I heartily endorse good winning over evil, I'd prefer to keep evil off screen. I'm a sensitive soul, I don't need to see them plumb the depths of depravity to feel invested. This had a light touch--sad sack makes happy.

And this movie had some great transitional moments with the wind having a supporting role. Wind. Go figure.

And the underlying theme of finding your groove is totally cool too.

Subversion of the expectation

"Research carried out at the University of Southampton has concluded that participants in drug trials should be better informed about the potential significant benefits and possible side-effects of placebos."

Now, I don't want to knock placebos. An oncologist invented that flower essences thingamagiggy because of the research coming out on the positive effects of placebos, and he had nothing better.

But I really wish they hadn't brought up the possible side-effects of placebos, because now I KNOW I'm going to suffer from them, hypochondriac that I am.

At any rate, when I found out about this research, I laughed out loud, and that's worth something.

I sent a postcard to my sister this week that said "Does this postcard smell funny?" 

What does funny smell like, anyway? Certainly that postcard!

My Boring Ass Life

No, no NO! Not *my* boring-ass life. Kevin Smith's.

I checked this book out from the library because I really wanted to read a different book that he wrote (can't remember what) but this was the one I could check out at the time.

As storylines go, it sucks rocks. It's like a year's worth of blog entries of his day-to-day life, and I swear to god he includes every loaf he pinches out. Which reminds me I have to look up what a beer shit is, and I'm a bit trepidatious, because there is no eraser for the brain, and we all know the internet has no brakes. And I digress.

It's not really that it's a fascinating insight into a more-interesting-than-mine film-making life, and I'm definitely not one of those guys who follow the gossip rags to live vicariously on the publication of celebrity. That stuff's in there, but it is embedded in a matrix of the everyday stuff that doesn't really make a good story, but make a good life. And I'm not even halfway through.

This was apparently all published on his view askew online forum, which I don't read because I'm not that much of a movie geek. Or a Kevin Smith Geek. Though I do appreciate his work, even this boring-ass-yet-can't-put-it-down book. Kudos.

An Invitation

A funny thing happened to me on the way to... wherever it is I'm going. I got distracted! But I'm here today to tell you a riveting story... About Last Night.

I woke myself up. Because of a dream sneeze. Seriously! I was dreaming that I was crashing at a friend's house, and his whole family came by in the middle of the night to drop of leftovers and har de har me. I think we gave the leftovers to a homeless waif. In the parking garage next door.

And I sneezed--in the dream. NOT in real life. JUST in the dream. It was pretty gross, like there was snot all over my arm and I cleaned it up and all, but I seriously wanted to take a dream shower. 

I saw another movie

This week it was: This Means War, which is a romantic action comedy, I guess. It was cute, with explosions and puppies. I liked it. There were people in it, mostly total cuties.

But what I can not stop boggling at is the preview for another movie. Abraham Lincoln. Vampire Hunter.

Every time I start thinking about it, I can't decide if it is a HORRIBLE idea, or a BRILLIANT idea, and I'm leaning over towards brilliant, with a dash of lunatic.

Abraham Lincoln was apparently an axe-wielding vampire hunter. Who knew?

I didn't really see any of the vampires, or the menace they pose, but it's probably the usual. Blood sucking fiends of the night that find humans magically delicious. I'm always kind of interested in the vibe for vampires, it's different all the time. Moody? Sarcastic? Tormented? Feral?

I can not decide if I would go to see Abraham Lincoln. Vampire Hunter. I'm just glad to know it exists.

Not about Johnny Depp

I watched a movie last week that was pretty good, "Thumbsucker" with Vince Vaughn, Vincent D'Onofrio, and Lou Taylor Pucci, who played the title character, playing a junior in high school.

I picked this movie because I ADORE Vincent D'Onofrio, for reasons I cannot fully explain. I have not seen every movie he has been in, because I am a pansy who is not going to watch a movie called "Full Metal Jacket" no matter how good it might be. But everything I've seen him in, he has been riveting.

I also like Vince Vaughn, but I didn't really like his character in this movie, because, HELLO, he is a teacher who bought beer for students on an out of town trip. I am such a goody-two-shoes that I have trouble believing that this would ever happen, but not so naive as to believe that it NEVER happens. At any rate, I digress. Though seriously, who even likes beer? (OK, ok, I know people like beer.)

This movie is about the kid, who I found extremely distracting on two levels. First of all, he bears some indefinable resemblance to one of my own best friends from high school, Ben. And secondly, he bears an UNCANNY resemblance to Johnny Depp. Which leads me to the confusing confluence of opinion that maybe my friend Ben looks like Johnny Depp in some way? I always thought my cousin Billy did, but whatever.

When actually my cousin Billy looks exactly like my grandpa. It's not a big surprise, they're related-- but the idea that my grandpa might have looked like Johnny Depp too is a sudden surprise to me as I'm writing this, and really I just want to skip right past this and get back to the movie.

Mind you, I think Johnny Depp is an excellent actor too. Just, sort of reserved in some way.

So, the kid's in high school, and doesn't have any friends, which is totally lame. But, oddly, it's not about that--it's about his academic listlessness and self-soothing thumb-sucking behavior. Oh, and did I mention Kenau Reeves is in this movie too? They pulled out ALL the stops. He's the orthodontist/hypnotist/pivotal influence character for this movie, which is odd because he kind of has a tiny role.

I should mention that Tidla Swinton is the Mom, and I found her part in the movie sort of confusing. But I won't tell you why, because I don't want to give EVERYthing away.

And I am writing a review of this movie for NO REASON. I actually wanted to talk about some music on the soundtrack, but this isn't the music I was thinking of! Whoops.

And since I can not figure out which movie has the music I am so drawn to, I will just explain that I LOVE the sound that you get on an acoustic guitar from the left hand switching and changing cords--particularly that sliding sound. I play a little guitar myself, and that sound in almost any music adds an extremely uplifting false feeling of accomplishment, because usually you only hear that sound when you're playing the guitar yourself--it's not amplified like the notes played over the sound box are. The only recording I can think of right now where you can hear this is almost any track from The Creek Drank the Cradle by Iron & Wine, a favorite of mine.

Another abrupt conclusion, brought to you by the vocabulary booster: Pecksniff. I'm totally not telling you what THAT means. Though it is totally safe for work.

Magic Horses, Great Jobs, and The science of impulse

I saw an old movie the other day or month or so ago, at a friend's house. Into the West is the story of a broken down family in Ireland and the horse that changes their lives. The two adorable urchins give marvelously satisfying performances, which isn't always the case with young performers. I'm going to give almost the whole plot of this 1992 movie away here, so if you're saving yourself for the willful suspension of disbelief (which I LOVE, but rarely have trouble capturing), read no further!

They are mad for movies from the old west, and have seen every western available in the local convenience stores. The horse that changes their lives is horse-napped by some bad guys, and by a crazy chance the kids find and attempt and succeed in getting him back!

But where to go? Home is no good--the neighbors complained about the horse and that's what got him taken away in the first place! (They did live several floors up in a cramped apartment building, but it seemed to be the idea of the horse that offended the neighbors rather than any specific offensive realities. Convention rather than public safety.)

They decide to make like cowboys or Indians, and head... Into the West. Then it's sort of an action/chase movie with comedy hijinks mixed in with the painful story of a half-healed grief... as a movie it's kind of got a lot of stories going at once, but they don't trip over each other TOO much.

At any rate, I've gone through ALL THAT to get to the start of my point... The last lines of the movie.

One of the kids asks their dad: Are we [as 'travelers'] cowboys or Indians? And he replies: There's a bit of a traveler in everybody, Tito. But very few of us know where we're goin'.

It was really my favorite part of the movie, and it is so neat that it WAS the end, because it's hard to get that kind of timing going!

And all this was in service of discussing an article from Steve Denning of Forbes Magazine, about the 10 Happiest Jobs. Unfortunately this is based on self-reporting, but some of the conclusions of the article are, of course, valuable.

Like this: "However, for a life to be meaningful, it must also be worthwhile. Engagement in a life of tiddlywinks does not rise to the level of a meaningful life, no matter how gripped one might be by the game." (Todd May, The New York Times)

But one thing absolutely grated on me, enough so that it is the final, undeniable impulse to write today's blog post.

"...with a focus on delighting the customer through continuous innovation..."

Now, as a customer, I am not bothered by innovation. But Newer does not make Better. And companies that are working to engage their employees in new and innovative ways, as well as their customers, are all very well. But a 'new look' does not offer anything newer than looks, and for people who have been participating for a while, a 'new look' is a 'can't find anything anymore' problem. Which I hate.

Some of this stuff is not mere economics, and I do not want anyone to be hurt when I suggest that delighting (or confusing) the customer may have a financial bottom line.

Harvard professor Jennifer Lerner (of the Harvard Decision Science Lab) says that anger makes people optimistic and risk-seeking. (Fear has the opposite effect.) Sadness will make you eager to buy!

Does continuous innovation stimulate anger and sadness? Are we entering some post-celebratory period of consumerism where nostalgia drives impulse buying? Or did that ship already sail when the home shopping network came to cable TV in the US in 1985?

The difference between what we are like and what we THINK we are like is an interesting question, one I have been considering with some seriousness as I shape up my prospects. The difference between what we like and what we think we like is pretty much the same question. Or is it?