Attack of the Clowns

We went to see Episode II yesterday. We both hated it.

I though the plot was poorly piecemealed together. The acting was about as bad as I've seen, with the exception of Natalie Portman. Whomever had the brilliant idea to cast Samuel Jackson, aka Jedi Shaft from the Bronx, should be shot on sight.

We didn't expect much from the movie to start with, but hoped the CGI scenes would be worth the trip. They truly weren't. If this is to be the future of computer animations, please go back to the old ways.

It really didn't help that Christopher Lee's big fight scene was comical, at best.

Hibachi

We bought a little Hibachi grill at Fred Meyer's on Sunday. We got rid of our big smoker last summer as it was badly rusted.

We cooked a couple big Costco steaks on it. They turned out perfect. Definitely the best $9.99 we've ever spent.

Diet

Vicki and I are doing a modified version of the Atkins induction diet for the next 14 days. We also started to go workout together, 3 times a week.

Since I pretty much decided to move back to Europe in a not so distant future, I thought it would be a good idea to slowly re-familiarize myself with the EU mentality by regularly watching the BBC World News on BBC America.

20 years ago, while in France, I used to religiously watch the Evening News with Dan Rather. I'm sure I didn't grasp any of the subtle nuances as my command of the English language was pretty basic at the time. Nevertheless, I was in awe of American news programs. Nowadays, I pretty much can't stand watching the news. Although I have to admit that the BBC show is a breath of fresh air.

The first thing I noticed is that we pretty much don't get world news in the US, just the big headlines. That's sad. We really have no clues on what is going on in the world. Heck, we don't even know what's really happening in Afghanistan. I heard statements from a couple US and UK allied forces representatives that frankly raised the hair on the back of my neck.

I also realized that the US media favors reporting (and editorializing) on what people said instead of actually showing or quoting them. On the other hand the BBC always seems to directly quote or show people making statements. For example, the day Bush left for his trip to Europe, they showed one of the White House press secretary assistant answering questions about the President's itinerary, etc. Which, of course, reminded me of C.J. on The West Wing. But I also came to the realization they never show that kind of stuff on the evening news. We almost never get to witness White House press briefings, we get a bunch of selective he said/she said or sound bites, at best.

I think it all comes down to the BBC news format. I would describe it as being like CNN's Headline News with more depth, interviews and less propaganda. Works for me.

I canceled my NetFlix membership yesterday. In the last 4 months we managed to rent the following movies:

1. The Fast and the Furious
2. Summer Catch
3. Rock Star
4. Josie and the Pussycats
5. Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within
6. AntiTrust
7. Shrek
8. U-571
9. The Glass House
10. Valentine
11. Saving Silverman
12. Dracula 2000
13. The Musketeer
14. Save the Last Dance
15. Joy Ride
16. A.I. Artificial Intelligence
17. Druids
18. Angel Eyes
19. The Forsaken
20. Baise Moi
21. Rules Of Engagement
22. Evolution
23. Driven
24. Along Came a Spider
25. Finding Forrester
26. Primary Colors
27. Training Day
28. Legally Blonde
29. Iron Monkey
30. The Gift
31. Texas Rangers
32. Behind Enemy Lines
33. Heist
34. The Others
35. Zoolander

The shipping/return delays have seriously improved (1-2 days) since they opened a warehouse in Tacoma, but even though, 20 bucks a month hardly seems worth it.

MasterCard using scare tactics. Priceless.

The US Copyright Office has rejected CARP for now. Yippie!

I feel naked.

I lost my wallet last Friday while doing laundry. Luckily I only had $5, my driving license and a couple credit cards in it. I called the credit card companies within the hour, but someone had already used my check card. I have to admit that, for once, my bank was extremely helpful.

I probably could have prevented the unauthorized charges if I had called right away, but I wasn't entirely sure whether I had lost it or just misplaced it. We also decided to retrace our steps, just in case.

Next time, I won't hesitate.