Time Served

Folks, this is just a friendly reminder to disregard all of those newspaper articles and blog posts claiming today is an "extra" day in the calendar year. Those reports are totally bogus.

Leap Day isn't a bonus, it's backpay.

The earth orbits the sun once every 365.25 "days" (a roughly 24hr period) and since man decided to start counting, he has tried to cram everything into nice ordered little boxes.

Doesn't work. Nature's more complicated. That extra time gets taken away from you in non-leap years! Taken away.

So, don't celebrate leap year and do something crazy because this is a day you wouldn't otherwise have, instead, get indignant! This is a day owed you by the calendar-mongers, and time-keepers.

Every year! A quarter of a day taken away from you! Just think what you could do with that time when it was fresh! Not stored away for years until there's enough of it to see clearly. A quarter day means 6 more hours of sleep January 1st after your New Year's Hangover! 6 hours!

You could use that time to study for your final exams the night before! No more cramming!

You could spread it out and never be late for work!

What would I do? Well, I'd probably save up until I had a whole days worth. And then treat it like a bonus day.

Besides, if I had to carry it around all year with me I might lose it.

-t

More Weight! (in the form of little gold statuettes)

Time for a review of my predictions for the Eightieth Academy Awards.

Best Picture

I'd say it's a toss-up between There Will Be Blood and No Country for Old Men -- I'm picking NCFOM to take it.

My pick: No Country for Old Men
Winner: No Country for Old Men



Best Director

I'm picking the Coens in this category. This may be because NCFOM was brilliantly directed, or because I've recently seen The Big Lebowski.

My pick: Joel Coen and Ethan Coen - No Country for Old Men
Winner: Joel Coen and Ethan Coen - No Country for Old Men


Best Actor

I thought Day-Lewis got shafted for Gangs of New York and anyone who didn't vote for him then will certainly vote for him now, putting him over the top.

My pick: Daniel Day-Lewis - There Will Be Blood
Winner: Daniel Day-Lewis - There Will Be Blood


Best Actress

No idea on this one...I'm going with the foreign language title - Marion Cotillard.

My pick: Marion Cotillard - La Vie en Rose (La môme)
Winner: Marion Cotillard - La Vie en Rose (La môme)


Best Supporting Actor

Javier Bardem for this award, but Michael Clayton seems to be a favorite among critics...I'm still picking the Western.

My pick: Javier Bardem - No Country for Old Men
Winner: Javier Bardem - No Country for Old Men


Best Supporting Actress

But I have seen I'm Not There and Cate Blanchett was absolutely amazing as rock 'n roll star Bob Dylan. She runs away with it.

My pick: Cate Blanchett - I'm Not There
Winner: Tilda Swinton - Michael Clayton


Best Original Screenplay

Juno was good, but come on, a story about a guy falling in love with a life-size doll?

My pick: Lars and the Real Girl - Nancy Oliver
Winner: Juno - Diablo Cody


Best Adapted Screenplay

NCFOM is two-to-one, and the other to movies split the remaining odds (eight to one each)...(I could probably be a bookie -- I understand fractions. [edit] I understand fractions, but I may not really know how they apply to odds. Maybe I couldn't be a bookie. Or, maybe I could, but my odds would be fair and I'd never make any money)

My pick: No Country for Old Men - Joel and Ethan Coen
Winner: No Country for Old Men - Joel and Ethan Coen


Some closing thoughts:

Best Animated Movie is a stupid category. If your animated movie isn't good enough to get nominated for a real category (Disney's Beauty and the Beast 1991 Best Song, Best Original Score Winner, Best Picture nominee) you should just be happy for the millions of parents who'll be forking over $25 a pop for the DVD to shut up their whiny spoiled brats instead of plying the Academy with yacht rides and solid gold chocolate bars so they'd invent a category that can only support two thirds of a movie every year.

Disney might get another Original Song, since three-fifths of the nominees in that category are Enchanted. [edit - but it's my understanding they totally suck][update - Enchanted lost]

Oh, and just so you know, of the nominated movies discussed above, I've [still] only seen Juno and I'm Not There. I liked them both. (I really liked Juno).



[Final Word]

I only missed two categories, and it's my belief Cate Blanchett's statue was wrongly awarded to Tilda Swinton because, come on, she's famous, and did a good job, and CB has like, four little gold guys already, right? So I'm not really wrong, I just forgot to factor in previous winnings vs. Irish descent. No biggie. I definitely missed the Juno screenplay win, so that's a legit miss.

Any votes on best dressed?

-t

All-Points-Bulletin

I'm too tired to do most all of the work on my desk right now. And there is certainly a lot of it.

Dozens of problems, and hundreds of trades due to the audit cycle for two of the most active funds, and we've got another fund (a big one) that is selling off all of its holdings. Liquidating everything. I imagine some Hedge Fund Advisor somewhere owes a lot of money to some somebodies and is trying to cash in while the cashing is good (and all of his bones are still unbroken).

Incidentally, I'm in the middle of a book about Murder Incorporated, the enforcement and contract killing arm of the national crime syndicate ("The Syndicate") in the 1930s and 40s. The stories are incredible. Every two-and-a-half pages they detail another gangland execution and I've got to imagine screenwriters would be tripping over themselves trying to write these up into guaranteed hits staring all of Hollywood's tough guys. None of this Tom Hanks as a gunman baloney. The Coen brothers would be a shoo-in to direct anything from this narrative. Or Coppola.

And another thing! The language is amazing! I'd love to hear this book as told by the original author (B. Turkus, a NYC ADA) instead of reading the transcript. I think people really did talk like this, everyday, not just in the movies:

There was no method of murder their fiendish ingenuity overlooked. They used the gun, the strangling rope, the ice pick -- commonplace tools for homicide. There was the unimaginative mob-style ride, the shotgun blast on the lonely street. And there were the bizarre touches, too. Dozens were dropped into quicklime pits. Others were buried alive, cremated... Fantastic? It can't happen in your town? It did!"

The book is strewn with alliteration, catchy phrasing, and amusing direct address. "Fiendish ingenuity," "parasitic pirates..out to foment or break strikes for fancy fees." It is fantastic.

And speaking of gangs...Real Time Worlds, the makers of Crackdown for the Xbox 360, have just announced their next project: All Points Bulletin. A cops/criminals real time MMO action title set in a current day urban landscape. Looks incredible. Great concept, great team behind it, solid premise, here's a preview.

That's just a quick update. I'm heading out to grab a cup of coffee to combat my fatigue. Hope all of you in Boston are enjoying the snow.

I am an Assassin - I wear my hood Up.

I have been playing a lot of Assassin's Creed lately.

To the exclusion of almost everything else. Towhit: I woke up saturday morning at 9:30AM and played until 11:30PM(ish).

I haven't spent this much time playing since KOTOR, or my first foray into THPS (N64) a.k.a. "The greatest video game ever invented for any video-gaming system ever."

-T

Solo Legend

Hey, readers!

I'm too busy with work to post a lengthy and interesting entry, but I can still try to post a significant entry:

I just got Rock Band and am a pro on Medium difficulty, and Hard is kicking my ass.

Also, Samantha totally rocks on drums. Like, seriously.

You should come over and play.

Later tonight we're opening in Moscow for Oasis. Bam.

-t

19 and -- Oh. - Superbowl XLII Reaction

The night before the Red Sox played Game 7 of the ALCS against the Cleveland Indians it looked like they might lose.

That series revealed, without a doubt, that the 2007 Cleveland Indians and Boston Red Sox were the best teams in the American League. Identical records, the number one and two finishers in the Cy Young race, offense, defense, bullpen, management.

I had to ready myself for a possible Red Sox loss - and I was able to do it, because the Indians were so good.

I knew that whatever the outcome it wasn't going to come down to a fluke victory or one bad call, or one boneheaded mistake.

Turns out, the Patriots loss in the Superbowl came under the same circumstances. No overtly boneheaded plays, no atrocious calls (a few I'm upset about, but it's no Tuck-Rule Game), and both teams flat-out played.

It was a good, solid game. No miracles, no flukes.

And I'm dissapointed, sure. But if we were going to lose, that's how it had to happen.

So, I'm taking a deep breath, hoping no one at work talks about it too much, and moving on. I still celebrate the AFC Championship. Way to go Pats.

Now, on to baseball season! Ten days until pitchers and catchers!

-t

P.S. - There is no f-ing way I'm ever voting for Menino again. I hope somebody gets fired.

Now I'm really done.