Bless My Friends

Bless all who, have been there for me, and made me feel welcome, through the Beard Community, IM, www.bear411.com, and emails. I won't name names, but you you know who you are! If this is where my life is destined for, in the next several years, I welcome it. I love you, guys!

Recent Movies, I Have Seen

I took it upon myself, to see "War Of The Worlds" and "Batman. War Or The Worlds, a remake of a 50s-60s version, had some of the best special effects, I have ever seen. It's amazing how these movies, were directed by one guy. Of course it's just another feather in Tom Cruise's cap as well, who appears less glamorous and pretty, than he has in other movies, and it seems he's also less concious about his acting, than he's been in other pictures. My favorite of the two movies, I had recently seen, was "Batman", and also my favorite Batman of all time. I didn't think the first one with Michael Keaton was bad, but up to now, all the villains were too over the top, and reeked too much of that comic book camp. This movie had 3 main villains played by Tom Wilkinson, Liam Neeson (Bot actors, I highly favor) and the third, an actor whose name elludes me, playing the scarecrow. The whole cast was great, with Gary Oldman (Another favorite) this time as a sargeant Gordon, and veteran actor Michael Caine as Alfred, the family butler. Christian Bale, in my opinon is the best choice for Bruce Wayne, and Batman. It's his portrayal, and the other elements of the movie, that turn this institution, from, what only comic book fans can only appreciate, into a modern masterpiece, that everyone can enjoy. Gary Oldman puts a little fun and dimension, as he clumsily makes himself familiar with the batmobile. Michael Caine is also well cast, and Katie Holmes is better than the critics will have you believe. The story-line delves deeper in the back-story of Bruce Wayne, and how he eventually became Batman, how he joined this shadowy group, so he could learn from them, but turns his back on them, when they reveal their true philosophy and intentions, and brings about the distruction of their temple. Liam Neeson, who had taken the young Bruce under his wings and tutelege, becomes his arch enemy, and is set in his intentions to destroy Gotham City, which in this version, is modeled after Chicago.

Understanding Your Computer: The Saga Continues

My computer, apparently has informed me, that it's "schwitzing like a dawg". Actually my friend Steve, from Massachussets had discussed, that it may have something to do with the San Diego weather, and humidity. Now it hasn't been too hot, lately; only in the low 70s or high 60s, but the humidity "Oy!" Bastardized, East Coast Yiddish aside, the humidity has been pretty brutal, here in the last few days, or weeks, and I feign to guess that myself and my computer are suffering for it. Apparently, my computer has a defective/weak fan, and that when the case overheats, my computer begins to lock up like crazy. So I removed the side of the case, and sofar, I haven't had that problem. So good, so far.

Where Is My Energy?

I was in a mental block, today, not knowing what to post about. Then a friend from Massachussetts, suggested, online, that I simply write about the low-energy rut I find myself experiencing. I thought about it, and jokingly, warned him, that this could get boring, all to quickly. He replied, that blogs don't always have to be exciting. I had been toying with another draft, today, of which I had only devised a title, and that was it. I knew what I wanted to write about, but felt at an empasse, about how to formulate it into words. I still will try to return to it, but for now I can't formulate anything. So back to my mood of the day; Basically I'm not too keen on doing too much, just surfing the web, working on my blog, and chatting with the friends, I haven't yet scared off with my grief. I think I will shortly, soak in a cold bath, just to beat the humidity. Earlier I painted a blueish ground on one of my canvases, and intend to paint a self-portrait, based on an original ink sketch. I'm letting the blue underpaint dry, before I proceed with the next step. I guess a periodic post like this one does work to break the monopoly of insightful essays.

That's me! 

Computers, Vessels Of Convenience, Or Headaches?

I bought my current computer in January, of 2005. It was a Gateway, through the HSN (Home Shopping Network). About 4 months, later it began to, (what the technicians, describe as) hard-lock on me. I've always described, it as "freezing" up on me; the cursor, IM windows, all animation, everything! The only remedy was to turn the PC off and on again, a procedure I've been conditioned, over the years, to be wary about. Now imagine, if you can, dealing with this dozens of times in a day. It got so bad, that I formatted the whole drive, without the safety net of a back-up. I had nothing, and had to send the tower in, for restoration, and hopefully any other cure. Well I got it back, in about 1-2 weeks time, with the newly restored Windows XP. I still had the freeze-up problem, though not nearly as frequent. Once again I called Tech support, and they recommended a hard drive replacement. I said, " Sure" It was still free. So I waited for the mail, for another 1.5-2 weeks, and got a new hard-drive. One that performed even worse than my old one, or better said, the new one, in supposed mint condition, wrapped in a plastic-sealed packet, was a complete dud. I was so pissed, a feeling compounded by grieving over my best friend's lost battle with cancer. It was clearly the most hellish time of my life.

They are idiots, at Gateway Tech-support, who couldn't even come to that same conclusion, that they had sent me a complete dud, as a replacement for my old hard-drive. Now, instead of waiting another 2 weeks for yet, another uncertain replacement, I suppose I'll opt for going to Fry's or whatever dealership, and plunking down the full price for a replacement.