February 25, 2002

 
I watched the visually arresting film The Cell starring Jennifer Lopez. The directoral debut of Tarsem Singh—a name you will hear again—it's a work that clearly marks him as the cinematic equal of Ridley Scott and James Cameron in terms of visuals. This is eye-candy on par with the best there is.

Unfortunately, that's all it is. The story (and film) itself is demented, a sick and twisted tale that delves into the mind of a serial killer. Do we really need to take a trip there? I sure don't think so, no matter how neat-o effects-wise it might seem.

So in the end there's just no way I can recommend this movie. It's violently and disgustingly over-the-top, and story is obviously secondary to the imagery. Flash without substance doesn't make much of a show, but I'll be very curious to see what Tarsem comes up with next. Given a better story—and assuming he can tame his desire to elevate the visuals at the expense of the rest of the film—he may churn out something great.

 February 24, 2002

 
Bret came down this morning, and we ambled down to the park where we spend the next three hours hoopin' it up. H-O-R-S-E, 21, 1v1, and 3v3 action. I'm fairly exhausted, but it was a great time. I wasn't an embarrassment either which, considering I've only played three times since November, is what I call a pretty solid showing. I'll take it.

I've started reading Jews for Buchanan, an account of the 2000 presidential election. Do not read unless you want your happy world disturbed. It lays out in stark detail how Bush and the Republicans stole the Florida election (and therefore the presidency). It's a madding look at the American political system gone awry, and it confirms the fundamental opinion I've held since early on: The intent of the majority in Florida was to vote for Gore and by hook or crook their will was thwarted. It's depressing stuff, but I also happen to believe it to be true.

 February 23, 2002

 
This magnificent thunderstorm rolled up the valley last night, and Erin and I got to sit in our living room and watch lighting crack across the sky. It was an amazing sight—one that makes me wish for a video camera so that I could've recorded it. Well, I'm sure the opportunity will come again in the next 50+ years, but it was a pretty cool storm.

This evening we watched Miss Congeniality starring Sandra Bullock. It's your inoffensive, middle-of-the-road comedy with some funny bits and nothing all that special. Sandra is good, William Shatner and Michael Caine are enjoyable, and everybody can go home happy. Your world won't end if you miss this, but it's a pleasant way to spend a couple hours.

That stands in marked contrast to National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation which was really pretty awful. Chevy Chase is fair, Randy Quaid is good, and there are a couple of funny bits. Unfortunately, there are a lot of unfunny bits and a lot just plain tedium. (And what the heck happened to the kids? Anthony Michael Hall was terrific in the first one and in this he's been replaced by a little dumplin boy.) I thought the first vacation movie was great, but I'd give this one a pass.

 February 20, 2002

 
I've got these Event 20/20bas monitors—and when I say "monitors" I mean audio speakers—which are just terrific. Not only do they sound great, but they look sharp too. Unfortunately, up until this afternoon I couldn't get the things to work right. I don't mean that they sounded bad; I mean that when used in conjunction with the MOTU 24i recording system they put out the decibel-level equivalent of a shuttle launch. (I'm lucky I didn't go deaf trying to troubleshoot this.)

I won't bother you with the rigamarole of how I checked all the volume and signal strength settings for the 24i and Digital Performer and the XP-80 and even the Event 20/20s themselves. Trust me, it was a hassle and I did it. Repeatedly. In the end, I took a screwdriver and potted the input level on the back of the 20/20s down from the factory setting of 10 to less than 1 to solve the problem. (I initially potted it from 10 to 5, but I didn't even notice a difference.) Let me just say that I have NO IDEA in what context these speakers would have to be operating for someone to require an input level of 10. The closest thing I can even imagine is if they were being shipped to a dance for a deaf school and everybody needed to feel the sound rather than hear it. Selling a lot Event speakers to the hearing impaired community nowadays, are they?

But that problem solved, I can now pursue the audio technology with a vengeance, which is roughly to say "when I feel like it." Since I'm still planning to have an album out this fall, I feel like it a lot.

3D Home Architect v3.0 showed up the other day. Aside from the expanded fixtures and furniture library, I'm afraid it's a kinda iffy upgrade. Not sure that it was $20 well-spent on my part, but it runs fine under Virtual PC so I guess I'll live.

The latest design I'm fiddling with is to build a Master Bedroom, Master Bath and small study over the garage. We'd put a straight staircase going up from the other side of what is currently the dining area (along the west side of the living room), and next to that we'd put the staircase going downstairs (in the same space as it currently exists, but reversed and with a landing a turn so that it comes out in the middle of the downstairs like it does currently). All of this is harder to explain than to show, but I'm not convinced there's an overwhelming call for our house plans beyond what I've already posted. (See the Gallery for the stuff I posted when we first moved in.)

I could be wrong about that though, so if you're interested in receiving a copy of the current house plans with the idea of using them to submit various suggestions as to how we could change the house around, let me know. I'll send'em off to you. Some people I know are going to get them whether they request copies or not. Hehe.

 February 16, 2002

 
They're not due for a couple months, but taxes are better done early if you ask me. I don't like being in the dark as to my financial situation, and though it's usually extraordinarily bad news (can something be usual and extraordinary?), this year proved a nice break in our annual tradition of owing enough to teeter on the brink of IRS penalties. Yes, we owe $750 to the feds. A lot of that comes from a couple Roth IRA conversions from 1998 which we prorated over four years. The rest of it, well, I have no idea why I'm off in my planning, but as long as I'm not in the penalty range, I don't care too much.

The better news is that we'll be getting $1100 back from the state, a number so high that I've obviously calculated something wrong. Yes, it's neat to get a windfall, but that's a lot of money to let the government have interest-free for a year. I'm not pleased with that.

I'm still recommending TurboTax as the way to solve your filing problems easily and inexpensively. Unless you have a financial world considerably more complex than mine (which you certainly could—I dunno), TurboTax is a great way to get the job done.

 February 15, 2002

 
Erin and I watched The Red Violin with Samuel L. Jackson last night. I'm prepared to pronounce it a well-made film, though I was hardly as captivated as some seem to be. I kept thinking it was Forrest Gump as a violin, actually. Erin thinks that's unfair to the violin; I think it might be unfair to Forrest Gump. Either way, we follow this violin from it's creation in the 1600s to its auction circa 2000. It's an interesting tale well-told, but incredibly lacking in thematic substance. Oh, it's pretty and the Oscar-winning score, yeah, it's a thing of beauty. There is an attempt here to imbue the film with an epic quality, but lacking subtext and narrative drive, it peters out. There are enough reasons here that I can recommend it as a film, but those calling it a "classic" need to raise their standards.

This evening we watched Luc Besson's The Messenger, aka the Joan of Arc story. As near as I can figure, Besson paints Joan as a lunatic possessed, which she very well may have been. Canonized or not, Besson's Joan is clearly a woman who would fit very neatly into one of today's psychiatric hospitals. We realize in short order that she's bats, and that simple observation steals a great deal of power from the proceedings. Perhaps we're meant to feel more torn about Joan's potential to be heaven-sent—maybe the French are—but it looked a lot like post-traumatic stress disorder to me.

The death and rape of her sister (in that order by the way) is supposedly the prime mover of her struggle, but however keen this sounds to a screenwriter in terms of a character's motivation it suffers the twin faults of (1) being really horrific cinema and (2) not being at all factually accurate. Indeed, this event appears nowhere in the historical record. An event like this could have lit Joan's fuse (so to speak), but if it did, we don't know about it.

Additionally, this is one long movie. (As one reviewer put it, "At times you wish they'd hurry up and burn her.") France of the 1400s is elaborately recreated, and cinematography is top-notch, but sometimes less is more. That's especially true when it comes to gruesome battle scenes, and unfortunately this film has them in spades.

I liked Besson's La Femme Nikita and The Fifth Element, but I've got to say give this one a pass.

 February 14, 2002

 
I've heard that A Beautiful Mind is a great movie, but I've not seen it yet. The best two Oscar-eligible movies I've seen this past year are Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring and Memento. The former garnered 13 Oscar nominations and probably deserves to win them all. The latter only picked up a couple, which is probably fair enough. I thought it was good, but a bit overrated. Regardless both are worth viewing, and though at a current domestic gross of $271 million LOTR doesn't need your money, it's especially worthwhile on the big screen.

Our friend Tom Smith passed along the important news that the FDA is recalling a wide variety of over-the-counter (OTC) medications because they contain phenylpropanolamine (PPA) which has been shown to increase the risk of stroke in women. The OTC medicines which contain PPA include various brands of: Acutrim, Alka-Seltzer, Comtrex, Contac, Dexatrim, Dimetapp, Robitussin, Triaminic, and others. Check out the above link, and then start checking your meds.

UPDATE: Dave, a pharmacy manager, informs me that most of the above products were recalled and reconstituted without PPA. Here's a quote from him:

The original health advisory from the FDA came out in Nov 2000 regarding the risk of phenylpropanolamine (PPA) and stroke. Initially they asked for a voluntary manufacturer recall. Several major chains (CVS, Rite-Aid, Walgreens) removed products containing PPA from their shelves and were followed by most remaining chains in the following week.

I thought I would be able to easily find info about the actual date of the FDA official recall, but after browsing a half dozen pages of a Google search, I gave up. Half the links were to law firms for personal injury cases. Suffice it to say that in January of 2001, it was very unlikely to find any product containing PPA available. As of sometime in summer/fall 2001, most products that had been withdrawn, were reformulated using pseudoephedrine and returned to the market.

It was my understanding that the majority of strokes etc, came in young women who were taking the over-the-counter diet pills containing PPA. More is not always better and in this case not good at all. I believe there was one case of a young child who suffered a stroke, but again, the product was not taken according to the package directions and they ingested an "overdose."

So it doesn't look like there's a ton of stuff to worry about after all. Everybody can return to their regularly scheduled programming.

Via the Neighborhood Association and the Police Liaison Committee, I've been immersed in the budget battles of local government for the last week or two, and it's turning out messy. The city's police department will be $2 million down from last year. The county will see a $2.2 million shortfall. In the meantime, City Council is debating plans for a $17 million conference center downtown. These are different monies in some respects, since the conference center would be bonded and, in theory, would have a zero impact on the city's general fund operating budget from where the police department receives funding. But the conference center as a city priority comes pretty low on my list compared to emergency services, utilities, and transportation/roads.

It's clear to me that I need to get a better handle on how the money works, because on the face of it the priorities here seem a little wacked—especially since the City of Vancouver is just completing its own convention center which is projected to draw from as far south as Medford. I'm not sure a convention center is how Salem needs to be spending its money.

 February 11, 2002

 
It's almost hard to believe that there is now five years worth of my typing available online. Boy are my fingers tired! And thank God I didn't accidently leave the CAPS LOCK on. That could have really been a downer.

In years past I've used this anniversary to update the site or add new features or what have you, but this year things will be remaining relatively unchanged except for a couple of items:

1. I will be making every possible effort to get my album out this year. I dunno if that will mean fewer web site updates or what, but what extra time I have will be going there. I say "extra" because SiteRev.com work is, at present, keeping me plenty busy.
2. I have registered the domain "TyDavison.com" and it will go online later this year with the launch of the album. Indeed, all my music stuff will ultimately end up there, and the Music section here will either be converted or closed down or something. I dunno. As usual, I've not thought that far ahead. Hehe. (In case you're curious, TyDavison.com is currently redirected to my business site. Don't believe me? Try it and see.)

My grateful thanks to all who have called or written to express their best wishes. It means a lot to me that you've taken the time. Thanks also to those who have, for years now, tuned in to read my online postings. I appreciate it.

 February 9, 2002

 
At Erin's urging and in view of the mild weather, I headed down to the park for some 1v1, 2v2, and 3v3 basketball glory. Not having played in months, I was mediocre at best, but I think I won more than I lost and had a pretty good time of it either way. My shoes were already worn out (literally—I had a hole in the bottom of my right shoe and wiped out a sock playing today), so new ones are coming soon.

Erin and I ate at Marie Callender's in what was a very pleasant dining experience. We started with onion rings which was a mistake in hindsight only because we also were intent on ordering dessert. Erin had a zesty salad—I think it was the Cabo San Lucas—and I played it safe with the Baked Lasagna. We finished neither of these given the onion rings and the portions, but that was no barrier whatsoever to us ordering apple pie for dessert. Marie Callender's is renowned for their pies, and hmmmm, baby, do they deserve the kudos. (Although, in fairness, Erin thought the pie was only average.)

After dinner we waddled over to Gart Sports so I could pick up some new basketball shoes. I tried on a few pairs and ended up with the Converse Defiants, a pretty ordinary pair except that they have a bubble chamber in the heel filled with helium. Now that's not the stupidest thing I've ever heard of, but it's close. Anybody think my vertical will improve because I've got helium in my shoes? Despite the cool name and the trash-talking points I'll score with the helium gimmick, these were also the cheapest pair that fit comfortably.

We returned home to watch Sixteen Candles, an '80s romantic comedy by John Hughes starring Molly Ringwald and Anthony Michael Hall with bit parts by John and Joan Cusack. In many respects, this is the quintessential '80s teenage girl movie, covering all the hopes and fears that abound in adolescence. Erin said that she'd seen Sixteen Candles at least 10 times growing up and that it and Poltergeist were staples at virtually every slumber party she attended. (This was the first time I'd see the movie.)

Ringwald captures '80s teen angst very neatly, and Hall is terrific as a geeky freshman "player." The supporting actors were all competent or better. I don't think Sixteen Candles aims all that high, but it certainly hits its mark, and several of the moments are superbly funny. The ending is hardly unexpected, but it's touching nonetheless, and the Thompson Twins(!) "If You Were Here" frames it perfectly. Recommended.

 February 8, 2002

 
A fellow from AT&T Broadband was out this morning to fix my Internet connection. As I suspected, the cable monkeys who fixed our neighbors' TV line after the snow storm last week were the ones who helpfully blocked my service. It took this guy less than 5 seconds to see what they'd done, and less than 5 minutes to fix it. Here's hoping that it never happens again, because I've been like a junkie needing a fix, and those withdrawals are something fierce.

I completed the plans for our house using 3D Home Architect v1.4. They're aren't perfect, but they're as close as I can make them, and I'm hopeful that they'll ultimately form the basis of more complete blue-lines. (Erin's cousin Adam, who holds a masters in architecture from U of Oregon, informs me that blue-lines, not blue prints, are the thing nowadays. The creation of blue prints, white lined drawings on heavy blue paper, involve a chemical process that's apparently pretty nasty for the environment so almost everyone has move away from them. Blue-lines are, as the name implies, blue-lined plans printed on large white pieces of paper.)

I've been happy enough with the CAD process in 3D Home Architect v1.4 that I've even gone so far as to order v3.0 for $20. I'm running the whole thing under Virtual PC, and performance has been good. It's unusual for me to buy a PC program—I can't recall ever buying one in fact—and even the version of 3D Home Architect I've been using was given to me by Mark. (Thanks, Mark!) I'm hopeful that with v3.0 I'll be able to more accurately render certain items, especially like the fact that it's a split-level house. Version 3.0 supposedly will auto-generate roofs as well, which should be great since I have no idea how any of that works.

After I get things cleaned up a bit, I'm planning to hand the work off to Bret who is the most adept CAD guy I know (since he's made his living at it for the last few years). Then I'm going to hand out the plans to anyone who's interested in looking at them and suggesting changes. My minor fiddling with ideas thus far has resulted in almost no usable solutions, and it's pretty clear to me that when it comes to architectural design I'm out of my element.

 February 5, 2002

 
The net connection is still on the fritz so I've been busying myself with various computer and music projects which, obviously, don't require the Internet. The music stuff in particular has been a lot of fun. Don't know that I'll have anything new to post online (once this offline nightmare is over), but any learning is good learning so far as the technology goes.

On the upside, the City finally came out and cleaned up all the downed tree limbs out front. Did a better than expected job of it, too.

I started playing a little bit last night with 3D Home Architect, a consumer-level CAD program. Using Bret's drawings as a guide, I laid out most of the upstairs of our house. (I'll do downstairs today.) In the midst of all this I had the interesting thought of moving the living room into what's currently the master bedroom. It makes some sense (really), since that would enable us to put windows in the south wall of the room and collect a lot more sunlight. I'm not really sure where the master bedroom goes then, but, hey, one step at a time.

 February 3, 2002

 
My Internet connection went down Friday night, so I've been unable to do any of the work I'd planned for this weekend. This was going to be "software update weekend," where I pull down all the updated versions of software I use and upgrade everything. I find that need to take a day or two and do that roughly every six months. Not happening this weekend, that's for sure.

I talked with Dave—his connection is fine—and he said that the AT&T Broadband site lists my zip code as being down for "scheduled maintenance" this weekend. It'd sure be nice if they'd tell us. You know, what with it being "scheduled" and all. It's it's part of that, I should be going again by Monday morning at the latest. If not, I've got a guy coming out on Friday morning, but that's a long time to be without 'net access, and I'm obviously less than thrilled about it.

Anyway, if you send me an email this week, don't plan on the instant response. I'll find a way check stuff, but getting back to you might take a bit of time. And if you've got anything time-sensitive, for gosh sakes' just give me a call. Thanks!

 February 1, 2002

 
I finished Tom Clancy's overly long Rainbow Six late last night. Although much improved over the last Clancy book I read (Executive Orders, I think), this work again has all the hallmarks of being virtually unedited. That's a sorry mistake in case anyone's wondering. I caught several writing and spelling mistakes, and -OK- it's a 700 page novel, but run it by a proofreader, all right? Worse, it's just not very interesting. The book takes way too long to get where it's going and you can see the conclusion a mile away. Earlier Clancy novels like Red Storm Rising and The Hunt for Red October are far superior.