Beltmann

This looks promising

Say what you will about the disposable Transporter movies, but I would trade all of Crash for how Transporter 2 cleverly choreographs a water hose into an effective weapon. Speaking of bad movies and the MST3K treatment... one of my favorite filmgoing experiences ever was seeing Solo--you know, Mario Van Peebles as a killer android--at a budget theater with a couple of college pals, and turning the auditorium into our own MST3K show. (No one else was there, and rightly so.)

Listen, one afternoon I paid to see, in consecutive order, Booty Call, The Sixth Man and McHale's Navy. I have no regrets.

Okay, that's it. We are so over.

Guster typically mentions how "now is the time we're supposed to leave and then come back," so they dispense with the artificiality. They just stay on stage and start what would, I guess, normally be the "encore." They certainly poke fun at how the encore has become an expected convention rather than a special event.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JEN!

I've been Netflixing for 6 years, and so haven't rented a movie in a store for 6 years. And yet I go into Blockbuster nearly every week or so, to peruse the used DVDs. Today I picked up Inside Man and the South African Yesterday. They also had Mon Oncle D'Amerique, but I'm sure it'll still be there when I go back.

That's how I feel about me and NBC, about the day I first saw Punky Brewster.

The one that aired in January? I could send it to you on DVD.

He's a sharp one.

I imagine so. There are 14 songs listed--surely they didn't air 14 songs?

Tristram Shandy cracked me up. I thought it was great. And I really loved The Virgin Suicides--maybe even more than Lost In Translation. I think it has something to do with how everything I liked about LIT was fairly conventional, while everything I loved about VS was fairly unconventional. Its flaws were easier to disregard.

Huh. I pre-ordered yesterday, and my account still lists it, along with the Neko DVD, as an open order.

I'll pre-order the Tweedy and MMJ discs, but this one too.

I missed it, too. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Tracy!

Speaking of Beijing, we learned last week that our new school superintendant wants to add Chinese--Mandarin? Cantonese?--to the list of foreign languages offered in our district. Her initiative is a direct response to China's growing economic influence. All the Spanish and French teachers quaked in their boots.

It's bad.

For the longest time my wife and I resisted, but eventually got one for online purchases and emergencies. But we haven't wavered in principle: We pay the full balance every single month. I don't think the credit card company has ever collected a penny in interest. They probably hate us. But we don't put nearly enough into savings, which needs to be addressed and soon.

I think I could do that.

In the "less gore" category, off the top of my head I'd recommend Rosemary's Baby, Eyes Without a Face, Dead Ringers, Carnival of Souls, The Devil's Backbone, A Tale of Two Sisters, The Tenant and Little Otik. Ooh, and especially Haneke's Funny Games.

I would have pegged you as the crucifixion type.

This book is great fun. Since it's almost entirely comprised of word-for-word interview material, it's easy to get caught up in its rhythm of quick, fascinating backstage stories.

I read a new Shakespeare play every summer--well, "new" to me, anyway. I enjoyed this more than its reputation might suggest.

When I was an English undergrad, we were expected to read about 50 pages every day, for every class--including weekends. For a 12-credit load, that was roughly 1400 pages a week. I remember many mornings of waking up and grabbing a book and reading for hours before even climbing out of bed. I didn't really mind, though. For the most part, I liked what was assigned.

According to Associated Press: