12.18.03
Posted in General at 3:05 pm by Jules
This movie contained the second-most disturbing movie scene I’ve ever witnessed. (The first being almost the whole of Trainspotting - especially the baby scene.)
This scene I’m talking about is one in which a girl commits suicide in a bathtub. She cuts her wrists and lies there and bleeds to death. I’m not sure what was so disturbing about it to me. I mean, it certainly bothers me to think about someone committing suicide over a love interest, even though I know it happens, but… there was just something about the way this scene was put together and how the actress carried it that made me just sit there, horror-stricken.
It’s so odd because I’ve seen some really fucked-up stuff in movies over the years, and most of it just doesn’t really bother me. I’m not squeamish, and although I’m not a big fan of violence, seeing it in movies doesn’t affect me a great deal. I suppose I’m used to it.
I think one thing about this particular scene is the absolute lack of hesitation on this chick’s part. I guess she just had her mind made up. Then there was no regret (that I can recall) at any point during the process.
Anyway, I’m babbling on. For some reason, this scene just impacted me in an inexplicable way. Much the same as the entire mini-series Angels in America which I just loved!!! I won’t even go into that now.
Permalink
12.17.03
Posted in General at 6:11 pm by Jules
Doing things a certain way in an effort to save money will often lead to more complications in the future. Sometimes, it’s better to just go ahead and pay the extra few dollars.
A couple of years ago, I finally talked my boss into letting us get DSL. Instead of going ahead and buying a router and having things installed properly, I went the cheaper route (my boss hates spending money on things he deems a “nuisance” - of course, now that he’s had high speed, he kinda understands) and bought a modem, hooked it to one machine, and used internet connection sharing.
Now the modem is in one room, and our network hub is in another. I have no clue which phone line the modem is hooked up to. I thought it was on the fax line, but there is no filter on the line coming from the fax machine. I don’t know how it could be hooked to any of the other four lines because they’re all part of a digital phone system, and I’m pretty sure the DSL tech didn’t mess with that system when he installed our DSL. When he initially came to install it, we were going to put it on the fax line. He put the filters on and installed everything and left. Well, the fax machine wouldn’t work properly, so I called him back. Evidently, he couldn’t get it to work, so he said that he would just put in a new phone jack (free of charge) and hook up the DSL through there.
We’re remodeling mine and my co-worker’s offices, so she and I are temporarily moving into another office. Soooo… we have to have some way to hook up the DSL in there. I’ve got the guy from our cable/phone place coming tomorrow to install a new jack in that office. BUT… ah shit. I don’t even feel like trying to explain anymore of it. Hopefully the guy tomorrow will be able to give me some good advice. I’m tired of being responsible for stuff I know nothing about.
Next time, I’ll get the router.
Permalink
12.14.03
Posted in General, Movies at 11:20 pm by Jules
Sometimes it’s really nice to hang around the house and not do much. Just about the only thing I’ve managed to do this weekend is go shopping for a Christmas tree and wash a load of laundry. I’ve enjoyed some movies, though.
Secretary starring James Spader and Maggie Gyllenhaal (with a small appearance by Patrick Bauchau who plays Lodz in HBO’s Carnivale). I can say one word about this movie. FREAK! I liked it, though. I didn’t erase it from my DVR yet.
Two Weeks Notice starring Hugh Grant and Sandra Bullock. What can I say? I enjoy romantic comedies, and I’ve developed an affinity for Sandra Bullock over the past couple of years. I must say, this movie was actually a good deal funnier than I thought it would be.
I have the first half of Angels in America (HBO miniseries starring Al Pacino, Meryl Streep, and Emma Thompson) recorded, but I’ve not had a chance to watch it yet. Part II comes on tomorrow night. With that cast, I can’t help but think it will be quite good.
Of course, I’m not very picky when it comes to movies and such. If they entertain me, I like them. A movie has to REALLY suck for me to say it sucks.
On a non-suck note, I finally saw Pirates of the Caribbean last weekend. Very good!! I wish I had gone to see it in the theater when I had the chance (rather than missing it twice - once to see TR: Cradle of Life and the other time to see Once Upon a Time in Mexico. Both of those disappointed me somewhat, but Johnny Depp was brilliant, as usual.)
I’m currently re-reading Timeline by Michael Crichton. I’m afraid I’ve missed my chance to see it in theaters, however. *sigh*
/end babble
Permalink
12.10.03
Posted in General at 9:15 pm by Jules
Can one of you German-speaking folk give me a literal translation for the following? All I can find is an English prose-type translation, and I don’t want that.
Please please please please… pleeeease…..
Wer reitet so spät durch Nacht und Wind?
Es ist der Vater mit seinem Kind;
Er [hat]1 den Knaben wohl in dem Arm,
Er [faßt]1 ihn sicher, er hält ihn warm.
“Mein Sohn, was birgst du so [bang]2 dein Gesicht?”
“Siehst, Vater, du den Erlkönig nicht?
Den Erlenkönig mit Kron und Schweif?”
“Mein Sohn, es ist ein Nebelstreif.”
Du liebes Kind, komm, geh mit mir!
Gar schöne Spiele spiel ich mit dir;
[Manch bunte Blumen sind an dem Strand]3,
Meine Mutter hat manch gülden Gewand.
“Mein Vater, mein Vater, und hörest du nicht,
Was Erlenkönig mir [leise]4 verspricht?”
“Sei ruhig, bleibe ruhig, mein Kind:
In dürren Blättern säuselt der Wind.”
Willst, feiner Knabe, du mit mir gehn?
Meine Töchter sollen dich warten schön;
Meine Töchter führen den nächtlichen Reihn
Und wiegen und tanzen und singen dich ein.
“Mein Vater, mein Vater, und siehst du nicht dort
Erlkönigs Töchter am düstern Ort?”
“Mein Sohn, mein Sohn, ich seh es genau:
Es scheinen die alten Weiden so grau.”
Ich liebe dich, mich reizt deine schöne Gestalt;
Und bist du nicht willig, so brauch ich Gewalt.
“Mein Vater, mein Vater, jetzt faßt er mich an!
Erlkönig hat mir ein Leids getan!”
Dem Vater grauset’s, er reitet geschwind,
Er hält in Armen das ächzende Kind,
Erreicht den Hof mit Müh’ und Not:
In seinen Armen das Kind war tot.
Permalink
12.04.03
Posted in General at 1:11 pm by Jules
Here is what we have:
- 3 computers
- running Windows 2000 Professional on a peer-to-peer network
- connected through a HUB
- One machine has a USB modem connected to it and acts as a Gateway for the other two machines to access the internet
Here is the problem:
The gateway machine can access the whole of the internet. We haven’t found any sites it can’t surf to yet. However, the other two machines cannot surf to certain sites. Following is the list of these sites we’ve come across to date:
- www.walmart.com
- www.ae.com
- www.ebay.com
- www.gap.com
- and the secure part of a credit card site
We’ve got people all over the place thinking about this one, and no one can make sense of it. The two non-gateway machines can access their email with no problem and can surf to all kinds of “bad” sites and sites similar to those listed above (Target, Amazon, online banking), so it’s not a normal security issue.
We thought it might be an issue with Norton Internet Security because that was originally installed on all three machines. However, the gateway has a new hard drive on which NIS has never been installed. Also, our network guy hooked up a laptop to the network which never had NIS installed, and it wouldn’t work, either.
We’ve tried using DHCP and specifically assigned IP numbers. Still the same problem. Our tech even called Microsoft yesterday and couldn’t get THAT moron to understand what he meant.
Help?
Permalink
12.03.03
Posted in General at 5:44 pm by Jules
Has anyone had any experience working with BulkRegister? I’m transferring my hosting from PTC Hosting to Dreamhost, and apparently PTC registered the domain name through BulkRegister. I need to have BulkRegister point my domain name to the new DreamHost nameservers. I haven’t contacted either my current hosting company or BulkRegister directly yet. Just wanted to check here and see if anyone has any inside tips they could offer.
Permalink
Posted in General at 2:55 am by Jules
I’ve been out-of-pocket since Thanksgiving. My husband’s dad died early Thanksgiving morning very suddenly, so we’ve been out-of-town the whole time. There were some very sad moments, of course, but we had some great laughs in his honor, too. He will be missed very much by many people.
Just wanted to let y’all know.
Permalink