Wednesday, January 28, 2009

The Kite Runner

After reading the book, viewing this movie was mandatory for both of us. We both loved the book and we both liked the movie, which is not a bad result, given that literary adaptations aren't always successful.

I guess that to those that haven't read the book, the story might seem a little rushed towards the end, and I did feel like a couple segments were treated a little too summarily, but the product as a whole is good.

We all heard the horrible stories coming out of Afghanistan when the Taliban regime was in control. This intimate look at the lives of two little boys helps in understanding that terrible time in that country's history.

The actors, unknown over here, all do a very good job, including the two little Afghan kids that, I remember reading, had to be removed from the country in order to protect their lives before the movie premiered. Can you imagine living in a place where your life in is danger for a role you played in a movie when you were barely old enough to know what acting is?

I would heartily recommend this movie. It's an eye opener, even though the book is ten times more powerful and descriptive, so between the two, I'd pick the book.

Grade: 7

Monday, January 26, 2009

Box Office Tally vs. Total Tickets Sold

The New York Times had this wonderful article up a while back, and I saved it because it dealt with one of the topics surrounding movies that I feel passionate about: as much as Hollywood likes to tout how much money a movie makes, its box office take hardly determines its artistic value.

Furthermore, anyone with half an ounce of brain would quickly remark that it's not surprising that opening weekends get bigger and bigger every year, and that more and more movies pass the $100 million mark, once still considered a real sign of success. The inflationary effect on money is enough to explain that phenomenon.

What really would be interesting to know is, How many tickets did a movie sell? Not how much those tickets rang up for, but how many. How many people actually saw that movie? That would be interesting to know. Funny how studios don't feature those numbers more prominently:
WHAT a year for movie openings.

I mean, who could forget “Twilight”? Teenagers screaming for free tickets outside the dual-theater Westwood premiere here. Mayhem in the malls. Girls thirsting for Robert Pattinson. Box-office projections growing bigger and bigger as online vendors sold out theater after theater.

It was amazing. When all is said and done, maybe 24 million tickets will be sold to that movie, based on current sales. That makes it almost as big as, what?

“Patch Adams,” the No. 10 movie of 1998. Or roughly the size of “George of the Jungle,” which placed No. 13 the year before. Or any number of films that are fondly remembered as midsize hits.

Looking back, in fact, 2008 may be remembered as the year when Hollywood succeeded in redefining the Big Event.
[...]
Remember the high-heeled stampede toward “Sex and the City”? What a romp! Cosmopolitans. Bus tours. Girls’ nights out.

Eventually, about 22 million tickets were sold. That puts it on a par with “Steel Magnolias” in 1989 or “The First Wives Club” in 1996 — movies that played to about the same number of viewers, but did so with considerably less noise.

Even this year’s really big one, “The Dark Knight,” was never quite as big as it felt. Clear away the urgent reports about 6 a.m. screenings and Imax-size demand, and you are left, according to an always-sobering tally kept by the Box Office Mojo Web site, at boxofficemojo.com/alltime/adjusted.htm, with the 26th-most-popular movie of all time, in terms of tickets sold.

Apparently, movie events that were once routine are now routinely treated as thrilling.
[...]
Inevitably, the weekend box-office numbers loomed larger and larger, even as fewer people were going to see the pictures.

According to Media By Numbers, a consulting company that tracks such things, admissions to theaters — adrift for years — are now about 3 percent behind last year’s count, even as box-office revenue is poised to top the $9.7 billion record set in 2007.
[...]
Pretty soon, even The New York Times is staking out “Twilight”-mania at a shopping center in suburban Philadelphia.

All not to be scooped on a movie that so far has had about as many viewers as the dimly recalled angel romance “Michael,” from 1996.

(At the same time, the population has been growing, so a movie with the same number of viewers is actually drawing a smaller chunk of the market. If you were to count the percentage of Americans who actually watched in a theater, “Twilight” was probably closer to the performance of “Congo,” a jungle thriller from the year before.)
[...]
As colossal as it seemed back in May, “Iron Man” was no “Twister.” The 1996 tornado film, that year’s No. 2, easily outsold the superhero, this year’s second-biggest event, 55 million tickets to 45 million.

And “Turner & Hooch,” from 1989, would have looked like a very big deal — more than a third bigger in ticket sales than Disney’s dog-movie-of-the-century “Beverly Hills Chihuahua,” actually — if that sloppy old hound had slobbered on Tom Hanks in 2008.
Amazing isn't it?

I mean, last year's Iron Man and The Dark Knight were GIGANTIC hits (and the latter did make more than $500 million dollars in North America, the second movie ever to do so), but when you think that more people actually went to see Twister then Iron Man, and Twister is now all but forgotten, how soon will we forget about Iron Man... if it weren't for the inevitable sequel, that is.

Interesting how all these supposed mega-hits suddenly deflate when weighed against an index that doesn't change over time.

Friday, January 23, 2009

Super Mario Galaxy

This is the second Wii game I beat and probably the most famous Nintendo character of all time. Heck, it's probably the most famous video game character from any platform ever! Period.

It was the first time I played a Mario game, and I was a little wary because my only other experience was that dreadful movie from 1993 with John Leguizamo and Bob Hoskins. Gods, wasn't that awful!!

Thankfully, the experience was completely different, and I actually loved this game, with all its different levels, more and more complex and beautifully designed, and the excellent gameplay.

My only complaint is that, although I technically did beat the game, I did not complete it.

While with Metroid Prime 3 Corruption (the only other game I ever beat) the game was actually over when I beat the final boss, here, I did beat the last boss, but then a new series of levels opened up.

Now, every level has its challenges (chief among them, are several types of enemies) and end with you collecting a Grand Star. Well, these new levels are simply the previous, already played levels, but without enemies, and with the only task being collecting 100 Purple Coins. Once that's done, you can collect the new level's Grand Star. Sounds easy enough. Maybe just a way on the part of the programmers to let you play the game a little longer before you move on after you've beat it.

Now, while a few of these new levels are extremely easy to complete, I am now at 110 Grand Stars collected, with 10 more to go. Three levels are available for me to pick from, but I cannot seem to be able to pass any of them. And since I've collected 110 Grand Stars, I surely think I know how to play the game!!

I am actually facing the possibility that I might never be able to collect all the 120 Grand Stars of the game because these last levels, which sound simple as all you have to do is collect coins unopposed by any enemy, are the hardest thing I've been presented with so far.

I have now resolved to move on to other games and occasionally come back to this one, well armed with a lot of patience, and attempt the remaining levels one at a time, but at this rate it might take me years, and one loses interest.

It's upsetting because I would feel more challenged to try and beat these levels if I hadn't already beat the game, but since I technically have, what's the point?

Oh well, I guess this shouldn't detract from the overall wonderful experience that's been playing this game.

Grade: 10

Sleep well, it's good for you!

This BBC News article reports on new research pointing to a link between our immune system and the time we spend sleeping. Apparently, the more shut-eye time we get, the better our bodies are at fighting off infections, including the common cold:
Sleeping for under seven hours a night greatly raises the risk of catching a cold, US research has suggested.

A team from Carnegie Mellon University found the risk was trebled compared with those who slept for eight hours or more a night.

It is thought that a lack of sleep impairs the immune system and the body's ability to fight off the viruses that cause colds and flu.
[...]
Previous research has suggested that people who sleep seven to eight hours a night have the lowest rates of heart disease.

However, there has been little direct evidence that getting a good night's sleep can help ward off a cold.
[...]
The less an individual slept, the more likely they were to develop a cold.

The quality of sleep also appeared to be important. Volunteers who spent less than 92% of their time in bed asleep were five-and-a-half times more likely to become ill than those who were asleep for at least 98% of their time in bed.

The researchers believe that lack of good quality sleep disturbs regulation of key chemicals produced by the immune system to fight infection.

Professor Ron Eccles, director of the Common Cold Centre at the University of Cardiff, said sleep and the immune system were closely linked.

He said: "The immune system may control the sleep-wake pattern and lack of sleep or sleep disturbance may depress the immune response to infection.

"I do believe there is enough information on this to indicate that lack of sleep or sleep disturbance will reduce our resistance to infections such as colds and flu."
Interesting, but not too surprising. After all, when we're sick, isn't sleeping all we want to do? And isn't that our bodies' way of telling us that that's what they need in order to heal?

So go to bed early tonight. Or sleep late tomorrow, I guess.

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Il Signore Dei Tranelli, by The Harvard Lampoon

This is the Italian translation of "Bored of the Rings," a parody of one of the best books I've ever read, The Lord of the Rings trilogy, by J.R.R. Tolkien.

As all parodies, this too was meant to be amusing, but I felt like it only mildly succeeded. In the book's preface, the authors mention how they sent a copy to Tolkien and asked for permission of parodying his opus before publication. He did give them his blessing, but also told them he didn't think their work was particularly funny. I'd have to agree with the professor, despite the huge success this parody apparently had.

I do want to point out that I feel like a lot of the funny parts were lost in translation, and that perhaps the original would be funnier, but I only found myself chuckling here and there.

Yes, the new names of characters and locations are often funny, but I expected to be laughing out loud most of the time, and I wasn't. I guess that maybe I just expected too much.

And it's not like I was offended or anything, just because I loved Tolkien's work so much, it's just that I didn't find this funny.

Would I recommend it? Barely.

Grade: 6

Piccoli Gay Crescono, by Jaffe Cohen, Danny Mcwilliams, and Bob Smith

This is a somewhat interesting but scarcely funny collection of short musings on what it means to grow up gay in a straight society.

Some of the passages are mildly amusing, but I wouldn't call it a funny book, even though that was clearly its stated intention.

Oddly enough, while the original title from the back cover is "Growing Up Gay" that title seems to point to a different book from the one I read, when Googled, so I wouldn't know what title to recommend.

That is, if I were to recommend it, which I'm not.

Grade: 6

Health care for all

I'm sure Chinese health care isn't the best in the world (although I've never been there, so maybe I should say I'd assume) and who knows what they will be actually able to accomplish, but China just approved a universal health care plan, while the US hasn't:
China will spend 850 billion yuan ($124.26 billion) to offer health care to its 1.3 billion citizens.

At a meeting of the nation's State Council presided over by Premier Wen Jiabao, the expenditure, with aims to guarantee universal medical coverage to China's population by 2011, was approved, Xinhua reported Wednesday.
Could this be any more embarrassing?

I do need to mention that China has 400 million people with no health care coverage, but still, at least they're trying to fix it.

More from Raw Story.

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Rendition

One of the many unsuccessful movies related to the ongoing Iraq quagmire, Rendition flopped at the box office, but its message is one we should all heed: powerful people can ruin a life in the name of ideology, laws and human rights be damned.

The title refers to the practice, utilized by the CIA in the so-called "war on terror," of secretly transferring suspected individuals to countries where unorthodox interrogation practices (read torture) are carried out without qualms, at the expense of the occasional innocent soul that gets mangled by the system.

Is Rendition successful in delivering its message? I think so. Is it a good movie? That's arguable.

The script isn't bad. The actors do a good job, chief among all, obviously, Meryl Streep. Technically, the execution is professional. There's tension, a gripping editing, and a good cinematography. But ultimately, the result is simply "all right."

Ultimately, it's not a bad movie, and serves as a reminder of the dangerous policies enacted in the name of democracy and freedom by the guy that just yesterday finally left the White House.

Grade: 6

The Failure of Bush's presidency

Raw Story reports on a Reuters piece on the many newspaper articles all over the world that virtually told Bush, with no measured words, "Good Riddance."

Some excerpts:
Editorial writers around the world have been taking their final printed whacks at George W. Bush, accusing the president of tarnishing America's standing with what many saw as arrogant and incompetent leadership.
[...]
"A weak leader, Bush was just overwhelmed in the job," said Germany's Sueddeutsche Zeitung under a headline: "The Failure". "He confused stubbornness with principles. America has become intolerant and it will take a long time to repair that damage."

Editorials hit out at Bush for two unfinished wars, for plunging the economy into recession, turning a budget surplus into a pile of debt, for his environment policies and tarnishing America's reputation with the Guantanamo Bay detention centre.
[...]
"Goodbye to the worst president ever," it declared. "Bush was an unmitigated disaster, failing on the big issues from the invasion of Iraq to global warming, Hurricane Katrina and the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression."

"Bush leaves a country and an economy in tatters," wrote the Sunday Times in London. It said America's national debt and unemployment nearly doubled on his watch.

Britain's Daily Mail said he entered office with a budget surplus of $128 billion but exits with a $482 billion deficit.

"He leaves the world facing its biggest crisis since the Depression, the Middle East in flames and U.S. standing at an all-time low.
[...]
The Scottish Daily Record observed: "America is now hated in many parts of the world. Bush leaves a legacy of wars and the world economy in meltdown. He has been dismissed as a buffoon and a war-monger, a man who made the world a more dangerous place while sending it to the brink of economic collapse."
[...]
"He leaves as one of the least popular and most divisive presidents in American history. Bush has presided over the most catastrophic collapse in America's reputation since World War Two."

The Sydney Morning Herald complained about Bush's "singular lack of curiosity in international matters" in an editorial titled "Farewell to a flawed and unpopular commander-in-chief."
[...]
"It's hard to find a historian who won't say that Bush was the most catastrophic leader the U.S. has ever known," the French daily wrote. "One success: since Sept. 11, 2001, there was no attack on U.S. soil. But this sits alongside an interminable list of failures, starting with the war in Iraq."
[...]
Stern magazine said: "Bush led the world's most powerful nation to ruin. He lied to the world, tortured in the name of freedom and caused lasting damage to America's standing."
[...]
"Perhaps we could say that fate, which let the American people down first in Florida and then with the issue of the pretzel in the president's throat, ultimately helped them by making sure the president would spend half his time on vacation.

"Indeed, he would have caused twice the damage if he had been more active and focused."
[...]
In Poland, the Warsaw daily Dziennik lamented the worst part about Bush's presidency: "It was empty rhetoric."
WOW!

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

January 20, 2009 -- follow up

A few more pictures from this unforgettable day in our lives:

Barack Obama gets ready to be sworn in with his family by his side:


Barack Obama officially becomes the 44th President of the United States of America:


Barack and Michelle, the new representatives of America:


The President and First Lady walk among the cheering crowds during the inaugural parade:

January 20, 2009

A few pictures from this historic day:

Two million people stream on the Mall to witness Barack Obama's inauguration:


President Barack H. Obama's inauguration speech:


People leave the Mall after the inauguration to reposition themselves for the upcoming parade saluting the new President down Pennsylvania Avenue to the White House, his and his family's new home for the next 4 (and hopefully 8) years:


The despised ex-President (that sounds quite sweet to say!!) leaves town for good:


The new face of American Power:


President Barack H. Obama signs his first official document as President:

The Inauguration

History in the making.


Two million people are expected to attend Barack Obama's inauguration today, January 20th, 2009.

Monday, January 19, 2009

He's almost OUT!!

This is what my Bush-Over counter read a few seconds ago:

Friday, January 16, 2009

Eastern Promises

I think Viggo Mortensen is one of the most underestimated (and underworked) actors in Hollywood, although this might be partially his choice too, since I know he's an accomplished painter, photographer, musician, and poet, among other talents, which means that maybe he just never meant for his acting career to take over his whole life.

I also consider him one of the most attractive actors out there, and in Eastern Promises both his masculinity and his craft are in full display. This is the movie in which, famously, he has a fight scene in a sauna during which he's wearing no clothing whatsoever. And he delivers.

The movie is quite violent and graphic, so it's not for the faint of heart, but it's a good story, with a couple twists and a lot of tension, and the whole cast is very good, although it's Viggo who shines above all (he also got an Oscar nomination for it, so finally someone did notice him).

A good thriller.

Grade: 8

Strike Down Proposition 8

Excellent news that hopefully will bear fruit this coming spring:
Today, hundreds of religious organizations, civil rights groups, and labor unions, along with numerous California municipal governments, bar associations, and leading legal scholars collectively urged the California Supreme Court to strike down Proposition 8. Dozens of amicus curiae or “friend of the court” briefs argue that Proposition 8 drastically alters the equal protection guarantee in California’s Constitution, and that the rights of a minority cannot be eliminated by a simple majority vote.
[...]
In May of 2008, the California Supreme Court held that laws that treat people differently based on their sexual orientation violate the equal protection clause of the California Constitution and that same-sex couples have the same fundamental right to marry as other Californians. Proposition 8 eliminated this fundamental right only for same-sex couples. No other initiative has ever successfully changed the California Constitution to take away a right only from a targeted minority group. Proposition 8 passed by a bare 52 percent on November 4.

On November 19, 2008, the California Supreme Court granted review in the legal challenges to Proposition 8, and established an expedited briefing schedule, under which briefing will be completed in January 2009, with amicus curiae or “friend-of-the-court” briefs due on January 15. Oral argument potentially could be held as early as March 2009.
Let's hope the Court rules in our favor once again.

What I wonder is, last year the decision was 4-3 in our favor. How are the 3 that voted against going to look at the law and the Constitution now? Last year's ruling, establishing marriage as a fundamental right and homosexuals as a suspect category requiring special scrutiny, is now considered the law, even if 3 judges dissented, isn't it?

In that light, will those 3 judges now look at Proposition 8 from the standpoint of a Constitution that recognizes marriage as a fundamental right for gays and lesbians as well, or will they look at it the same way they did before that historic ruling took place?

In the former case, and if the Court considers striking Proposition 8 down, could we hope for a unanimous ruling?

I can still dream, right?

Bushisms

Just in time for his long awaited departure from Washington DC, here's a list of utterances from W that reminds us why this coming Tuesday, when Barack Obama takes up residence in the White House, is a good day for America and the world:
"They misunderestimated me,"
-- Bentonville, Arkansas, November 6, 2000

"There's an old saying in Tennessee -- I know it's in Texas, probably in Tennessee -- that says, fool me once, shame on ... shame on you. Fool me -- you can't get fooled again,"
-- Nashville, Tennessee, September 17, 2002

"I want to thank my friend, Senator Bill Frist, for joining us today ... He married a Texas girl, I want you to know. Karyn is with us. A West Texas girl, just like me,"
-- Nashville, Tennessee, May 27, 2004

"I'll be long gone before some smart person ever figures out what happened inside this Oval Office,"
-- to Israeli journalists in Washington in an interview published May 12, 2008.

"Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we,"
-- Washington, August 5, 2004

"For a century and a half now, America and Japan have formed one of the great and enduring alliances of modern times,"
-- Tokyo, February 18, 2002

"Thank you, Your Holiness. Awesome speech,"
-- Washington April 16, 2008 to Pope Benedict XVI.

"I remember meeting a mother of a child who was abducted by the North Koreans right here in the Oval Office,"
-- Washington, June 26, 2008

"I know the human being and fish can coexist peacefully,"
-- Saginaw, Michigan, September 29, 2000

"Too many good docs are getting out of the business. Too many OB/GYNs aren't able to practice their love with women all across the country,"
-- Poplar Bluff, Missouri, September 6, 2004

"Rarely is the question asked: Is our children learning?"
-- Florence, South Carolina, January 11, 2000

"You teach a child to read, and he or her will be able to pass a literacy test,"
-- Townsend, Tennessee, February 21, 2001
More here, from Raw Story.

Doubt

Meryl Streep never disappoints, even when the movie is not too memorable.

In Doubt, she plays a nun who rules over the kids in the Catholic school she supervises with an iron fist, but doesn't hesitate to do what she thinks necessary to defend them from the local priest's supposedly predatory instincts.

Naturally, the priest denies any wrongdoing, which ends up pitching the two against each other in a battle of the wills for the ages.

Philip Seymour Hoffman, playing the priest, is outstanding, as are Amy Adams and Viola Davis.

Beating any of them for an Oscar won't be easy, except of course, Streep, who, in spite of raking up nominations like no other actor of her generation (she already holds the record and will increase it this year, no doubt), never seems to be able to win anymore, since she already won twice. As if previous victories should be the deciding factor.

The movie itself, although good, doesn't linger in memory for long, although the palpable tension it creates is suddenly experienced when it abruptly ends.

I liked it, and Streep's craft is displayed so masterfully, it's worth the viewing.

Grade: 7

Thursday, January 15, 2009

I love orchids


This was taken a few days ago. I hope I'll be able to get it to bloom again once these flowers are spent.

Orchids are amazing plants.

Click the picture for the bigger version.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

The latest Brad Pitt project, in which he plays a man who ages in reverse, doesn't disappoint.

The story is peculiar in itself, but what I enjoyed most was the love story that slowly blossoms between him and Cate Blanchett.

Yes, it's true, the movie is very long and I understand how some people might find it boring, but I thought the acting and the marvel of seeing a person aging backwards so believably in front of my eyes were astounding.

Besides Pitt and Blanchett, Taraji P. Henson does an amazing job as Benjamin's adoptive mother, and Tilda Swinton is superb as usual.

The film's technical apparatus is first class, especially makeup and cinematography. I would suggest you check it out. I liked it.

Grade: 8

A Quote By:

Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple and the creative force behind the iPhone, iPod, iTunes, and many other revolutionary gadgets and devices -- excerpt from a commencement address he gave at Stanford University on June 14, 2005, as he was recovering from surgery to remove cancer from his pancreas:
"Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything—all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure—these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart."

A Quote By:

The Rev. Al Sharpton, civil rights activist, speaking at Tabernacle Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia, against the Mormon Church and the evangelicals who fought to pass Proposition 8:
"It amazes me when I looked at California and saw churches that had nothing to say about police brutality, nothing to say when a young black boy was shot while he was wearing police handcuffs, nothing to say when the they overturned affirmative action, nothing to say when people were being delegated into poverty, yet they were organizing and mobilizing to stop consenting adults from choosing their life partners. There is something immoral and sick about using all of that power to not end brutality and poverty, but to break into people’s bedrooms and claim that God sent you.
"I am tired of seeing ministers who will preach homophobia by day, and then after they’re preaching, when the lights are off they go cruising for trade...We know you’re not preaching the Bible, because if you were preaching the Bible we would have heard from you. We would have heard from you when people were starving in California, when they deregulated the economy and crashed Wall Street you had nothing to say. When [alleged Ponzi schemer Bernie] Madoff made off with the money, you had nothing to say. When Bush took us to war chasing weapons of mass destruction that weren’t there you had nothing to say. … But all of a sudden when Proposition 8 came out you had so much to say, but since you stepped in the rain, we gonna step in the rain with you."

The Hunchback of Notre Dame

Watched this movie on Family Night and enjoyed it quite a bit.

It's a classic Disney tale in which the beautiful girl falls for the handsome guy while a less fortunate-looking suitor steps aside. Naturally, there's also a very bad guy and a bunch of funny sidekicks who help our hero out.

This is definitely one of my favorite Disney movies ever, and I was awestruck by the handsome features the animators gave both Frollo and Esmeralda, whom I now consider the most beautiful among the cadre of Disney Princesses.

Don't miss it if you like Disney and animated movies.

Grade: 7

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Disturbia

I'm pleased to report that this remake of a Hollywood (and Hitchcock) classic, Rear Window, is not just watchable, but actually pretty good.

Shia LaBeouf is a promising actor, or should I say star, since he has already been in 2 huge movies since this one came out (Transformers, now a franchise, and the latest installment of the Indiana Jones saga).

The story is very similar to the original and simply updated to the 21st century's sensibilities, which mostly means a lot more gadgetry and younger and sexier actors to attract a bigger audience.

Ultimately, the acting is good and the scare level is kept way up, with palpable tension spread throughout, which is what's most important for a movie of this genre.

I'd recommend it, but make sure you watch Rear Window as well!! That's a masterpiece.

Grade: 7.5

The Air I Breathe

I like movies that deal with intertwined story lines, where multiple threads go on for a while, until somehow they end up joining together, à la Siriana or Traffic, and this one is similar, although there is an added element that I won't spoil.

The acting is good, but the screenplay is a little weak and spotty, so the end product is interesting but also easily forgotten.

Grade: 7

Wednesday, January 07, 2009

The chips begin to fall

We might have passed the point of no return in the Arctic years ahead of forecasts:
Scientists have found the first unequivocal evidence that the Arctic region is warming at a faster rate than the rest of the world at least a decade before it was predicted to happen.

Climate-change researchers have found that air temperatures in the region are higher than would be normally expected during the autumn because the increased melting of the summer Arctic sea ice is accumulating heat in the ocean. The phenomenon, known as Arctic amplification, was not expected to be seen for at least another 10 or 15 years and the findings will further raise concerns that the Arctic has already passed the climatic tipping-point towards ice-free summers, beyond which it may not recover.

The Arctic is considered one of the most sensitive regions in terms of climate change and its transition to another climatic state will have a direct impact on other parts of the northern hemisphere, as well more indirect effects around the world.
[...]
Temperature readings for this October were significantly higher than normal across the entire Arctic region – between 3C and 5C above average – but some areas were dramatically higher. In the Beaufort Sea, north of Alaska, for instance, near-surface air temperatures were more than 7C higher than normal for this time of year. The scientists believe the only reasonable explanation for such high autumn readings is that the ocean heat accumulated during the summer because of the loss of sea ice is being released back into the atmosphere from the sea before winter sea ice has chance to reform.
Sad and frightening. I guess we'll have to say good bye to polar bears living in the wild.

More here.

Tuesday, January 06, 2009

Good Bye 2008

Another year ends, a new one begins. As usual, one hopes that the new one will be better than the last, but I honestly cannot complain too much about 2008, the year I finally got to quit the school.

It is hard to describe how good it feels to finally have free nights and weekends (sounds like a cell phone plan), to be able to leave work without having to worry about anything until the morning after. I've even found myself slightly lost when faced with all this free time. I can't wait for the spring, when the nice weather will allow me to spend some time outside and work in the gardens.

Getting my paperwork straightened out was definitely the highlight of 2008.

The year also presented several traveling opportunities, a rarity I should say. I was able to go to Italy for a week to see my parents and friends. I spent a nice long weekend with Fabrizio in New York City. I went to California with my family to visit Ray's friend Sue and loved all I saw. And we closed out the year by going on a 5-day road trip during which we touched 4 states: Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas. I love traveling and I love road trips :-)

2008 remained weak on the movie-viewing front, with only 26 titles at final count, and the best movie turned out to be 2008's Best Picture Oscar winner No Country For Old Men. Following is the list of what I saw with my grades that, probably for the first time ever, didn't fall below 6:
9
No Country for Old Men
The Dark Knight
8.5
Juno
The Prestige
Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan
Wall-E
8
Beauty and the Beast
Charlotte's Web
Flags of Our Fathers
Ratatouille
Zodiac
7.5
Blood Diamond
The Descent
Disturbia
Mulan
Religulous
7
The Air I Breathe
Elizabeth: The Golden Age
La Gabbianella e il Gatto
The Illusionist
Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa
Meet the Robinsons
Tarzan
6
Jarhead
Night at the Museum
Open Season
2009 seems poised to be richer on that front, with 4 titles already to review and a slew more to come, since Ray's mom got us a subscription to Netflix for Christmas. However, movies will have to fight for my free time, since I still watch a few TV series, love playing with the Wii, and have finally started reading books again!!

2008 was also the year when the political pendulum firmly swung to the left again. The Democrats made big gains in both houses of Congress and, above all, regained the White House, with the victory of Barack Obama, the first black president of the US!! He inherits a troubled country from W, but the whole world has high hopes that he'll get it back on the right track.

As for gays' rights, it was a mixed bag. We lost Proposition 8 in California (as well as in Florida, Arizona, and Arkansas), where for the first time legal same-sex marriage was undone by a simple majority of the popular vote. However, we won full same-sex marriage rights right here in Connecticut, which now joins Massachusetts as the only 2 states were gays can legally marry.

I guess the low point of the year has been the ongoing trouble Danny's behavior caused the family. For 6 full months he just wouldn't behave in any daycare (we tried 5!! -- and not by choice...).

Then he finally settled down when he started kindergarten in September (and daycare number 6!), but he still keeps misbehaving at home. I think he's just too immature for his age and eventually will outgrow this, but in the meantime, it's like dealing with a 2 year old, and it's incredibly frustrating.

Another unfortunate event was Big Ray's declining health and his Parkinson's diagnosis, but he seems to have since recovered and is now doing pretty good. He'll turn 79 in a month!!

So, good bye 2008, you were pretty good to me, and hello 2009!

Let's see what it will bring me.