Posts (page 2)

What's your favorite music for a Sunday morning?
Submitted by Nick.

what a random question!  umm...  i'm gonna have to go with the pre-game show theme song. 

What's your favorite kind of Girl Scout cookie?
Submitted by My Lovely One.

I'm gonna have to say Samoas.  The ones with coconut, caramel, and chocolate.  Yum!

If you're reincarnated, what do you think you'll come back as?
Submitted by Diana.

I HAVE NO IDEA.  A dude??

What song makes you rock the karaoke mic?
Submitted by Ann.

I don't sing in public.  You all should thank me!

What's the worst pickup line you've ever heard?
Submitted by ShellEy.

Whenever I'm at the mall, doing nothing, all by myself, I'm prone to getting variations of the following: "I, uh, have my learner's permit, and uh, I uh, turn 16 next month, and uh, I have my own car, and uuh... did you maybe wanna hang out sometime?" 

A Movie Review/Reflection by abcdefg81:

Saw this movie over the weekend.  I totally expected something brilliant... from what I gathered from the trailers and the ciritcs, it was supposed to be like "Crash," where there's a bunch of stories being told simultaneously and there's supposed to be some connection between all of them and a profound theme.  I thought "Crash" was the best movie made in a loooong time, so I expected this one to be at least somewhat brilliant.  Don't get me wrong; it wasn't a terrible movie, but it was kind of disappointing.  Definitely an attempt at a copy of "Crash," and you know how copies are never as good as the original...  And some editing would have been nice.

Yes, there were a bunch of stories being told.  One story in Japan, one story about an American couple in Morocco, one story about some kids and their Nanny in San Diego, and one story about the Nanny and her family in Mexico.  But I just didn't get any thought-provoking or moving theme out of it.  Which is why I'm a bit disappointed.

If you haven't seen the movie yet, and don't want the story to be ruined, stop reading now!  But if you've seen it, and can maybe shed some light on it for me, please keep reading.

One thing I didn't like was that the connection between everyone seemed so linear.  The Japanese dude gave his rifle to a Moroccan hunting guide, who sold it to a family, whose kids shot the American tourists, whose own kids are left in San Diego with their Nanny, who takes the kids to Mexico to see her son's wedding.  I hate to keep comparing it to Crash, but in Crash, the characters were interrelated kind of in a more "web-like" manner; that made the characters seem much more alive, because you got to see all these parts of them. 

One of the things I did like about the movie was that it tried to bring you into worlds that aren't your own.  Much of the movie takes place outside of America, and you can see the different cultures and hear different languages.  And the movie does a good job bringing you into other people's worlds; probably the best example is when you see things from the deaf-mute Japanese girl's point of view.  The film just goes silent and you kinda feel like you're in her shoes.  It doesn't sound like a very impressive or insightful technique, but it's quite effective, and it really makes everything feel chaotic and confusing.

I think that one of the themes of the movie was that no matter how different we are as people, we're essentially all the same.  Like the Japanese girl mentioned above... her mother had died and she feels like she's being ignored by her father, so she throws herself at every male character she comes into contact with.  It just goes to show that it's natural for a teenage girl (or immature woman) to go slutty when she's craving attention and approval, even if they're disabled and from another part of the world.

Another point I got from the movie was that "everything you do has a consequence, and in these times of global communication, what you do can have a global impact."  Which was part of the message in "Crash," except it focused on LA, and had more to say about our own society's racism.  "Babel" didn't really seem to have much more to say than just "we're all connected and we're all the same."

But I think that some of the other points of the movie didn't really seem to fit.... Like the integrity and selflessness of the guy that wouldn't take Brad Pitt's money after saving Cate Blanchett's life.  And the courage and sudden "growing up" of the kid that admits to having had shot Cate Blanchett.  So maybe you could say that "everything we do has a consequence, and those consequences can bring out the best in people."  Okay, but what about the Nanny who treats her American employers' kids like her own, but gets caught working in the country illegally the one time she does something for her own kid?  What are we supposed to get out of that?

And what about Brad and Cate?  So Cate had a miscarriage, which threatened her relationship with her husband, and now that she's gotten shot, she realizes that life is important and she's gonna go and be a good mom to her kids and they're all gonna live happily ever after?  Oh, and as far as we can tell, she's not gonna do a damn thing to save her kids' deported nanny, other than to not press kidnapping charges?

I just don't get it.  There didn't seem to be a unifying theme to the whole extremely long, two and a half hour movie.  And it didn't really make me look inside myself and see something that I hadn't seen before, which I think all great movies need to do.

Overall, not a bad movie.  But I definitely didn't get any moving message from it... Am I missing something... thoughts anyone?

My Rating:  Three Stars

What comedian makes you pee your pants laughing?
Submitted by pookieb.

um, no comedian really.  i generally think they're kinda lame.. it's not so funny when people are trying to be funny.  i think the funniest people in the world are the people i know!

What's your method for calculating a tip?

Weeell... I was a math/econ major, so you'd think I'd be some super-expert at stuff like making certain calculations related to money, but uh... not so much.  I'm way slow and not entirely accurate.

But since you asked, here's my method. 

Step One:  Consider the quality of service; does it meet a threshold level of decency?  I DON'T tip at all if the service sucked; seriously, like I'm gonna pay someone for treating me like crap. 

Step Two:  Inspect the bill to determine whether a gratuity has already been added.  If so, I feel free to add a discretionary amount as a "bonus" if the service was exceptionally good, and if the gratuity rate charged by the restaurant wasn't unreasonably high.  If gratuity was added, proceed to Step Six; if not, proceed to Step Three.

Step Three:  Assuming no gratuity was added, and assuming the service meets the low standard of "arguably decent under the circumstances," I determine whether the meal is "breakfast or lunch" or whether it is to be classified as "dinner."  

Step Four, Alternative 1:  If it's breakfast or lunch, I tip around 15%.  I take ten percent of the total (done by mentally "moving" the decimal point one place to the left).  Then I take half of that (to get 5%), and add the two (to get 15%).  I round to the nearest dollar at each step of the calculation, so the "15%" I get is a little off. 

Step Four, Alternative 2:  If I've determined that the meal is dinner, I take ten percent and double it to get 20%.  Again, I use round numbers.

Step Five:  Take the amount determined in Step Four and add it to the total given by the restaurant.  I always round it out so that the total dollar amount charged is even (i.e., no cents).  And if at all possible and sensible, I try to aim for a round dollar amount, something divisible by 5 or 10.  If the service was better than average, I'll give 'em an extra buck or two so that I get that round dollar amount; if it was kinda crappy, but not so crappy so as to be unworthy of a tip, then I bump 'em down a buck or two to get that round dollar amount.   I also do consider how far off I might have been in making my calculations of the 15% or 20% tip amount.  For example, if I noted that I was rounding down a lot, I'll be more willing to add more to get my "round number total." 

Step Six: Take total determined in Step Five, and go back and make sure that the tip the waiter/waitress would get is fair; that means, calculate the percentage you're giving them and make sure it's not too high or too low.  If the total and the tip the server is getting adequately represent their level of service and your level of satisfaction, write in the amounts, and sign the bill :)

Note:  This process is a lot harder when drunk.

A Book Review by abcdefg81:

The Nanny Diaries: A Novel

A very enjoyable read.  The main character "Nanny" kinda drives you nuts sometimes, because her bosses treat her like crap, and she totally lets them.  But the authors do a good job portraying her dilemma: she could leave her horrible employers and maintain some sense of dignity, but if she did, she'd be ditching the poor kid she takes care of, which would really suck for the kid because she's all he has.

The authors also did a really good job showing that Nanny loved the kid... And they did that without explicitly telling you page after page, Jane Austen-style, that "Nanny loved little Grayer."  There's a way to convey emotion without being totally obvious, and the authors nailed it.

On the downside, the ending was disappointing.  SPOILER ALERT: Sure, Nanny's course of action is graceful and classy, but I think her alternative course of action  would have been more effective.   The kid's parents are so clueless, they really needed someone to explicitly, and even profanely, tell them off.  While that isn't a sure-fire way to change their minds, the way Nanny chose didn't make any difference at all.  At least I didn't think so.  The "Xes" were so profane with each other, I think they're the kind of people that won't take you seriously unless you sink to their level, and yell and swear at them too.  They won't respond to kindess, empathy, and class.  So it was just kind of frustrating that in the end, you know that Nanny didn't really make a difference, and poor Grayer's gonna end up going through nanny after nanny, and never being a priority in his parents' lives.  And the Xes aren't ever going to stop seeing people -- both their employees and their own children -- as being disposable.  AND, Nanny didn't even get paid in full!  I totally would have stolen something or sued them!

All in all, though, this book was very enjoyable.  Light and fluffy, just like I like my books :)  I'd recommend it.

RATING:  Four Stars.

What's the most drastic change you've ever made to your appearance?
Submitted by Laurie.

Hmm.. other than the constant weight fluctuations.. I would have to say hair changes!  I change my hair cut, style, and color pretty often.  I don't do anything major MAJOR, like dyeing my hair pink or going platinum blonde or anything, but I'll play around with different lengths, layering, bangs, highlights... I'm not too picky; it's just hair, after all, so I'll pretty much just sit my ass down on the stylist's chair and let her do what she wants.

Yeah, the changes aren't very drastic, but I do try to mix things up as often as I can