A former client sent me a mass mailing today that was addressed to “Tammy Blust.” Not sure what this means.
At least they got the last name right.
Author: Adam (Page 100 of 224)
Big thanks to my brother Matt, who graciously hosted me over the weekend at his hacienda. He gave me a fun and stress-free weekend, and for that I am deeply grateful.
I thought I would give NetFlix a try, just to see how it would go. I really like going to my neighborhood video store, Bongo Video, but I’m a technological guy, and renting DVDs online seemed like a fun idea.
So I signed up the Saturday before Thanksgiving. They said my initial movies would arrive on Turkey Day. Well, nothing ever arrived. I reported them lost on the site, and received no notification or anything. I sort of put it out of my mind and went to Florida.
Well this morning I thought, I’ll call them and see what’s up. This was definitely a “I want to speak to a person” situation. After searching high and low for a phone number on the site, I couldn’t find it. Big, big mistake. You’re a service company and you don’t list your phone number? I know you want to limit the phone traffic, but this is ridiculous.
Finally, after clicking on “cancel my account” (!), they displayed the phone number. Oh, great. (They also apparently give you special deals if you indicate you want to cancel, deals not offered to the poor saps who don’t click the “cancel” button. Another mistake.)
The good news is, I got through to an actual human person, and he said he would credit my account for the first month’s charge, and resend the movies. I’m not holding my breath.
Adam’s One-Sentence Movie Reviews
I thought I should write a little something about the movies I’ve seen lately. But in order not to take up too much of your time, I’ll limit each to one sentence.
Die Another Day
Pretty much what you’d expect.
Analyze That
No reason to exist.
Far From Heaven
Loved the art direction – straight from 50s melodramas – and loved, as usual, a movie taking a chance on something different.
Real Women Have Curves
Simplistic but sweet and good-natured.
The best part of RWHC was the audience – my brother and I were the only people under 80 in the theater. There was much loud exclamation and narration, especially during the one (tame) love scene. My favorite part was when one lady, probably wandering back from the restroom or the concession stand, couldn’t find her way back to her seat. So ensued this loud conversation:
Lady: WHERE ARE YOU?
Her friend, just feet away: I’M RIGHT HERE!
[repeat 10 times]
For everything we did that we regret, there’s probably 20 things we didn’t do that we regret. Here’s to stamping out those 20. Life is short.
My brother and I just drove past his friend’s house, where they have erected a giant inflatable snowman, with hat and scarf and all, on their close-manicured Florida lawn. I’m kicking myself that I didn’t bring my camera on the trip. I think I could make prints of this image and sell them.
Many thanks to the hospitality of Xkot, who showed me around Jacksonville during my brief stay. We didn’t get to browse through the “Stein Mart,” because it was closed, but maybe next time.
And no, they don’t sell beer steins there. Despite what you might have heard.
Word of the day
-courtesy of Jeffery Steingarten, “The Man Who Ate Everything.” Great book. Read it. It’s made some long airport waiting times somewhat bearable.
Just a quick hint, from the “Laptop Lane” (quiet!) in the Cincinnati airport: don’t attempt to fly in these security-conscious times while wearing shoes containing metal plates. I think they should start marking shoes “Airport Friendly!” so we’ll know.
There are no answers, only choices.
Kelvin: Will she come back?
Snow: Do you want her to?
I’m the wrong person to review “Solaris.” I just finished the book a couple days ago, so every frame of the film is filtered strongly through the pages I just put down. I’m pretty sure someone who has no knowledge of the book will find this movie slow, static, opaque, overwrought, and possibly even silly in spots. But I was so fascinated by the book’s themes that my fascination carried through to the movie screen.
I’m pretty sure my movie companion, Sparky, was none too pleased with what Soderbergh and Clooney have come up with, even though he doesn’t like to talk about movies afterward. He alternately checked his watch and chortled through most of it. But as I’ve said many times before, I would rather watch a deeply flawed attempt at something different than 100 attempts at the latest crowd-pleaser.
I find it hard to write about this movie because it deals with all kinds of issues, and I think those issues will be different for each person. It’s definitely a story to sit around a coffee shop and discuss. If you want to do that, let me know.
Recommended? I have no idea.