"The Illusionist" was as good as I had expected. Ed Norton is one of my favorite actors, and I liked Paul Giamatti in Sideways. It is a love story and a mystery revolving around a stage magician and the Crown Prince of Austria in Vienna. I'll admit to a weakness for stories involving stage magic, as I idolize Harry Houdini and James Randi for ( Read more... )

We went to see the new science fiction movie "Children of Men" last night. It is an example of what I think really good science fiction is. It is about the effects of a technology or problem on humanity. Children of Men starts with the premise of that in 2009 all women of the world suddenly became infertile. No more babies at all. The film ( Read more... )

Yet again it comes down to a Patriots and Colts match-up. The Patriots don't quite carry the same mystique as they once did. The Colts have beaten them the last two times they have played. At the same time, though, the Patriots went through the Colts in both of their last two Superbowl runs. Both times the games were in New England, the first ( Read more... )

Just as inexplicably, the Colts won a second playoff game on the strength of their defense. Who would have thought that Indianapolis would win two games in a row were Peyton Manning had thrown only two touchdowns versus five interceptions. They won a game this week without a single touchdown, on the leg of the Patriots' old kicker. They again ( Read more... )

Amanda and I were talking about whom our favorite FFXII character was. I really liked the honorable, stoic Basch. He is the loyal retainer, he doesn't sit around pondering the morality of what he does, he just does what his sense of duty demands. Amanda prefers the lovable sky pirate Balthier, the rogue with darker issues in his past. You would ( Read more... )

"Today is the second day of the most holy time of year, Footballmas. My much-suffering Colts gave me a present yesterday by slaying those nefarious Kansas City Chiefs. Bewielderingly they did this despite fearless leader Peyton Manning throwing three interceptions, two to his old nemesis from the New England Patriots, cornerback Ty Law whom he ( Read more... )

If Jesus is the reason for the season, so it goes, then why do so many local churches cancel the evening service when Christmas Eve falls on a Sunday? Maybe because what I contend is true, and that the holidays are really mostly about spending time with family, not worshipping God? People spends loads of time out shopping for presents and ( Read more... )

The funny things is that the extra time demanded of a new father is only partially the reason I have not updated ( Read more... )

Portraits of the Squeakiest Rogue.This past two weeks have went by too fast. I had big plans for getting a couple of projects done, but it is hard to take into consideration how tiring having a new baby in the house can be. If we are lucky she'll sleep a straight three hours at night, usually more like two to two and an half. It can take close ( Read more... )

You never know what is going to happen ( Read more... )