Snippets:
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DVD: Chasing Amy (1997). 113 min. Written and directed by Kevin Smith. w/ Ben Affleck, Jason Lee, Joey Lauren Adams. Third installment in the 'New Jersey Trilogy'. Comic book artist falls in love with lesbian and thereby jeopardizes the relationship with his best male friend. Dialog-heavy, some strong language, funny moments. Some mediocre acting. Overall rating: 5 out of 10.
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Technology: Fab Lab: abbreviation for Fabrication Laboratory, a group of off-the-shelf, industrial-grade fabrication and electronics tools, such as a laser cutter and milling machine to carve out two- and three-dimensional parts, a sign cutter for creating graphics or plotting flexible electronic circuits, and electronic assembly tools. Overall price tag ~$25,000. Gives users the ability to locally conceptualize, design, develop, fabricate and test almost anything. Allows design and fabrication at micron length and microsecond time scales. Fab Labs have been installed in various locations around the world by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), guided by the MIT physicist and computer scientist Neil Gershenfeld from the Center for Bits and Atoms. Also see Yahoo News article 'Fab Labs Unshackle Imaginations', Nov. 6, 2005, and a lecture in 'The Digital Future'(video stream) available, a series from the Library of Congress, on March 28, 2005. Neil Gershenfeld has also published an article in Scientific American (draft here) on Internet Zero ("Internet 0" or "I0"). Internet Zero presents an architecture for "interdevice internetworking." This system promises to fully network our computers with our environments using a unified protocol based on Internet Protocol (IP).
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DVD: The Bourne Identity (2002). 119 min. Directed by Doug Liman. Novel by Robert Ludlum. w/ Matt Damon, Franka Potente. Jason Bourne (Damon) lost his memory and is trying to find out who he is with the help of a woman (Potente) he meets. Both are chased by the CIA, slowly uncoverying Bourne's former life. Good acting. Good cinematography. Good car chase sequence in a 'Mini'. Ending too shallow. DVD also provides alternate beginning & ending, but it's not much better. Overall rating: 7 out of 10.
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Computer: How To Build A PC - A Computer Building Guide by Rob Williams. Also has tips about hard drive upgrades.
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Video: Cold Mountain (2003). 154 min. w/ Jude Law (Inman), Nicole Kidman (Ada Monroe), Renee Zellweger (Ruby Thewes). Directed and screenplay by Anthony Minghella (The English Patient). After the book by Charles Frazier. During the American Civil War, the deserted Confederate soldier Inman is on his way to Cold Mountain, NC, where Ada is awaiting him while she is learning from the boyish Ruby how to run a farm. Love story in historic setting. Zellweger received an Oscar for Best Supportuing Actress. Entertaining. Overall rating: 6 out of 10.
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Life: Chautauqua: 1.) geographical name: Lake Chautauqua, 18 miles long in SW New York. 2.) Chautauqua Institution in Chautauqua, NY; founded on the belief that everyone 'has a right to be all that he can be -- to know all that he can know.' Flourished in the late 19th and early 20th centuries providing popular education combined with entertainment in the form of lectures, concerts, and plays often presented outdoors or in a tent. A Pat Metheny album from 1979 is entitled 'New Chautauqua'.
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Music: Wilco: Rock-Pop-Country band around Jeff Tweedy (from Uncle Tupelo), founded in 1994/95. Wilco in Concert on NPR.
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Music: Orenda Fink. Pop. Sg: Bloodline. Debut solo album: Invisible Ones. Also member of the duo Azure Ray.
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DVD: Chaos (2001). Directed by Coline Serreau. w/ Vincent Lindon, Catherine Frot, Rachida Brakni. French w/ English subtitles. A married middle class couple encounter prostitute who is being chased and beaten. While the husband cares little, the wife nurses her and gets to know her terrifying story. Revenge lurks. A good story to tell. Too long in some parts. A good look at native French vs. immigrants. Overall rating: 7 out of 10.
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DVD: Clarissa (1991). 2 DVDs with 97 and 104 min. 4 parts. BBC/TV. Novel by Samuel Richardson (1689-1761). Directed by Robert Bierman. w/ Sean Bean (Robert Lovelace), Saskia Wickham (Clarissa Harlowe). Virtuous girl refuses to marry the man her family has sought out for her, gets 'rescued' by a playboy who tries all tricks to get her into bed. Only her death is her revenge. The story starts somewhat cheerful but only goes downhill from there. Clarissa's naivity gets annoying after a while. Film is much too long, melodramatic, depressing. Dwells too long on Lovelace's advances, becomes monotonous. Great costumes though, and some fine acting. Overall rating: 4 out of 10.
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Art: Reg(inald) Butler (1913-1981). British sculptor. Welding in Iron, later modelling in clay or plaster and casting the models in a thin light weight bronze. Biographical info. Some works at the Tate Collection, London.
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