I've sat down several times to start writing about my trip...but my words fail me. I don't even know where to begin. Cambodia has touched me so deeply. The people I met and the places I visited. My time with Greta and meeting the other members of the PEPY Ride...
I'll sit down tonight and try to work something out...and least start somewhere. Maybe I should try to break it into smaller, more manageable pieces like the venerable Andrew Olaf.
Sorry to keep you all in suspense.
Tuesday, March 28, 2006
Sunday, March 26, 2006
Saturday, March 11, 2006
Consistently Sexy
Click on the image to get a larger version.
What you see before you is a display of the astonishing (yet true) mathematical statistical prowess of one Peter E. Spangers.
Love from Ohio,
Peter
Monday, March 06, 2006
What do Kurt Vonnegut and Mila Jovovich have in common?
It was pretty amazing to see the master (Kurt Vonnegut) in the flesh. It's difficult to describe him...or even what I thought of him. his oddly rhetorical and oftentimes flippant style of discourse was a little disconcerting. I feel like he didn't say anything of substance for the hour or so that he sat and chewed the proverbial fat.
He made more than few comments along the lines of "George Bush is really dumb." which made the crowd cheer wildly, but left me feeling a little cheated. I mean, that's hardly insightful and it certainly isn't constructive. When asked what we can do to make a difference he said, and I'm paraphrasing here, that it doesn't really matter since the end of the world is neigh. I'm not sure if he was being prosaic for some effect...but if so, it was lost on me.
So...it was good to see and hear him in person, but I think he may be reaching the end of his public appearance lifespan.
Also a bit disappointing was the movie Ultraviolet starring Mila Jovovich. Let me begin by explaining that there are few movies I have ever watched during which I repeatedly say to myself "Dear God, let this be over." And this is coming from the guy who thinks Starship Troopers was a brilliantly wrought film (I'm looking at you, Martinson). Ultraviolet was plagued with horrid characters, cheap and unsuccessful attempts at emotionality, and a palpable desperation to make the movie seem epic. To all moviemakers out there, please, PLEASE do not play gentle music and shoot soft focus close ups and assume we're going to be crying our eyes out...especially when in the last scene, our heroine shoves a broken samurai sword blade through a man's forehead (after killing nearly 100 of his closest friends). Also, this does NOT constitute good dialogue:
Bad Guy:
You got hemophage blood on me. Oh, it's on.
(10 to 30 second dramatic pause)
Mila Jovovich:
Yeah
(10 to 30 second dramatic pause)
it is.
And this is one of more florid dialogues. It upsets me because virtually anyone, ANYONE, I know can write dialogue better than this. Stick Falconer, Nelson, and me in a room with nothing more than two 1 pound bags of skittles and a word processor and we're going to generate something that eclipses this garbage!
*sigh*
-The Plug
He made more than few comments along the lines of "George Bush is really dumb." which made the crowd cheer wildly, but left me feeling a little cheated. I mean, that's hardly insightful and it certainly isn't constructive. When asked what we can do to make a difference he said, and I'm paraphrasing here, that it doesn't really matter since the end of the world is neigh. I'm not sure if he was being prosaic for some effect...but if so, it was lost on me.
So...it was good to see and hear him in person, but I think he may be reaching the end of his public appearance lifespan.
Also a bit disappointing was the movie Ultraviolet starring Mila Jovovich. Let me begin by explaining that there are few movies I have ever watched during which I repeatedly say to myself "Dear God, let this be over." And this is coming from the guy who thinks Starship Troopers was a brilliantly wrought film (I'm looking at you, Martinson). Ultraviolet was plagued with horrid characters, cheap and unsuccessful attempts at emotionality, and a palpable desperation to make the movie seem epic. To all moviemakers out there, please, PLEASE do not play gentle music and shoot soft focus close ups and assume we're going to be crying our eyes out...especially when in the last scene, our heroine shoves a broken samurai sword blade through a man's forehead (after killing nearly 100 of his closest friends). Also, this does NOT constitute good dialogue:
Bad Guy:
You got hemophage blood on me. Oh, it's on.
(10 to 30 second dramatic pause)
Mila Jovovich:
Yeah
(10 to 30 second dramatic pause)
it is.
And this is one of more florid dialogues. It upsets me because virtually anyone, ANYONE, I know can write dialogue better than this. Stick Falconer, Nelson, and me in a room with nothing more than two 1 pound bags of skittles and a word processor and we're going to generate something that eclipses this garbage!
*sigh*
-The Plug
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