Saturday, November 19, 2005

Harry Potter

Saw the new Harry Potter movie last night. Now, I'm not a fan -- haven't read any of the books. But because my daughter is a huge fan, I have seen the movies. The first two are intolerable -- just bad movies. The third one is a gem -- lyrical, full of symbolism, beautiful, wonderfully paced, good acting from the kids and adults -- a great movie. The fourth and new one is a good movie, but didn't impress me as much as the third one. It seemed very choppy and disjointed for a lot of the movie. There are great special effects and the final 20 minutes of the film are great. The guy who plays Mad Eye Moody -- Brendan Gleeson -- is great. The kids who play Ron and Hermione are great as usual, but Daniel Radcliffe (Harry) was not as strong in this film as he was in the third movie. Still and all, I enjoyed most of the movie and would recommend it.

posted by Leimodnu @ 1:00 PM 0 comments

Monday, November 14, 2005

Busy Week

Monday: creating mailing list for artist friend participating in a local studio tour.

Tuesday: eat out to help local food banks and local bloggers' bash.

Wednesday: work second job.

Thursday: attend screening of new doc "Wal-mart: The High Cost of Low Price"

Friday: take my daughter and her friends to see the new Harry Potter movie (what a good mom I am)

Saturday: attend annual holiday market at local UCC church

posted by Leimodnu @ 7:26 AM 0 comments

Saturday, November 12, 2005

Hilary Hahn

Just got back from seeing Hilary Hahn perform. She is just unbelievable. Her recording of Bach concertos in 2003 is what turned me on to her. No Bach tonight but still a great recital. I preferred the first half with some more modern stuff, particularly the Ysaÿe piece -- superb. The second half bored me (Paganini, Mozart, Beethoven). Still, highly recommended -- go see her if you have the opportunity.

posted by Leimodnu @ 10:51 PM 0 comments

Friday, November 11, 2005

Sleep

I don't know about you, but I've never thought about the evolutionary reason for why we sleep. I'm always telling people that the reason we have to eat so much (compared to other species) is that in order to have big brains and high body temps, we gotta eat frequently. But what is the evolutionary reason for sleep?

People who seem to know something about this say its NOT to rest the mind or body. The mind is just as active during sleep as during waking hours. And if its about body rest, why does a couch potato need as much sleep as an Olympic athelete?

I stole that last line from this blog which comments on an article in the WaPo about sleep. It turns out that we may sleep because, from an evolutionary standpoint, its too dangerous for us to be out hunting or forgaing or whatever to eat. So we find a safe place and sleep.

Interesting, eh? Read the post, its fascinating.

posted by Leimodnu @ 3:25 PM 0 comments

Too Much

Sorry for not posting much in the last few weeks. Since I can't blog from work anymore, I rarely have time. That won't last much longer, though, since I am being laid off Dec. 31. I'll have plenty of time for blogging! But of course, no income.

There's been so much good news for progressives, its a bit overwhelming. The wheels definitely seem to be coming off the conservative machine. It reminds me that my friend (who was initially going to be the "reason" in the title of this blog) told me when I was despondent about the 2000 election that if we gave these dopes enough rope, they would hang themselves. It seems to be happening...

posted by Leimodnu @ 3:22 PM 0 comments