Lincolnite

The movie version of "Sin City" is an, AWESOME, amazingly well done and very fun adaptation of the graphic novels. I saw it last night and it was a blast. I loved it. If you are familiar with the graphic novels, you will not be dissapointed. First of all, 99.9% of the dialogue is pulled exactly from the comic books and the stories are the exact same. Even the frames, angles, and costumes are virtually the same. The artwork is insane. If you are familiar with the comic, Miller perfected the use of black and white, particularly in pattern work, he first started using when he penned Daredevil. (Brief digression here: the Daredevil movie with Ben Affleck was also an adaption of Miller's work when he both wrote and drew Daredevil, and was not nearly as good an adaption of Sin City.) The scenes are filmed in ways that replicate the frames from the comic. The only 4 digressions from the comic I spotted are (SPOILER AHEAD????) 1) in the comic Kevin appeared to be older than he is in the movie. In the movie, he is played by the young guy who played Frodo in the Lord of the Rings movies. 2) In the fight scene between Marv and Kevin, in the comic I think Marv literally did lose his eye (or it could have been some other organ) and he mentioned something like "oh well, I only need one" or something like that. 3) I was always under the impression, though perhaps an incorrect one, that the original Goldie was actually a black or latino woman and not a white woman - albeit with blond hair. In the movie, she is white. Not that it really matters or anything, but an interesting observation about Miller's work (and another reason why he was so groundbreaking) was that his storylines often featured interracial couples (see the original Wolverine limited series and the Ronin series he did with DC). 4) There are a few "interlinking scenes" with characters common to the 3 stories depicted in the movie that didnt exi st in the comics. Again, not a major thing, but I guess they had to do it to make the stories connect with familiar faces sort of like in Pulp Fiction. Speaking of which, why the hell did QT get a "guest director" spot in this one? WTF? My only dissapointment with the movie is, and this is by no means a negative remark, that it wasn't as good as the graphic novels. The original comics are still better. And I think that's the way its supposed to be (only exception being "The Godfather"). So anyway, GO SEE THIS MOVIE!!!!! NOW! STOP READING THIS. DO NOT WALK. RUN TO THE NEAREST MOVIE THEATER AND WATCH THIS MOVIE!!!! 6 STARS OUT OF 5 STARS!!!!! GO GO! SEE THIS MOVIE!!!! NOW!!!

The Rhode Island Senate has approved a bill that would make it illegal for any professional athlete or entertainer to charge somebody under age 16 for an autograph. Somehow the bill passed unanimously. The mind boggles.

Driving back from the netherworlds of rural Nebraska today, I stopped in Mama D's Pizzeria on 27th ave this evening to pick up a few slices for dinner. They had a sign on the door advertising 2 slices and can of soda for $3.25. Pizza is a very personal thing. Everyone has their own conception of what is and what is not a good pizza. I am not a huge stickler on types of crusts, sauces or toppings. There are so many good pizzas and different styles that I have found myself liking all sorts and all sizes. Case in point: one of the best pizzas I have ever had in my life was made by a Swede, in Thailand, and the toppings were curry powder and bananas.... One thing that I really like however, is that feel of home made freshness...and that is rare. When I walked into Mama D's tonight, I asked "mama" if the $3.25 deal was still on, and she said yes. I asked what slices were available - assuming that they would have pre-made slices in an heater like most places - and she informed me that they make the slices fresh, AND you get to choose 3 toppings for your slices! I was pleasantly surprised to hear this, and looking at their menu of over 40 toppings, chose the burger, tomatoes and artichoke hearts. About the $3.25 deal, she remarked "its the only thing I can do so people can taste the best pizza in Lincoln." The kitchen is well lighted and in full view of the customer. I watched as Mama, literally rolled out the dough for my pizza, and prepared it with the toppings I ordered. About 10 minutes later, the pizza was done, and I took it home. The pizza was excellent. Far far superior to the slag that is offered at that over-rated dungheap Valentinos. The dough and sauce tasted as if it was freshly made, not canned like what you get at chains. The topping portions were very generous. The tomato I ordered were literally slices of whole tomato. The cheese was thick. And it wasn't oversalted or greasy. In conclusion, Mama D's MAY be the best pizza in Lincoln (that I have tasted). Hands down, it is better than any chain. Although its not really comparable to Yia-yia's, I would say that it is at least as good. I give Mama D's 4.5 stars out of 5.

That pretty much describes life in Downtown Lincoln following the smoking ban. All I wanted to do was walk over to Oso, grab a burrito, and walk back. In the process I was assaulted by literally dozens of smokers forced to line the sidewalk in a sort of carcinogenic gauntlet. Who is the supposed winner here? The business owners lose money while their customers are stuck outside; the smokers still face the same health risks as before; litter along Downtown's streets has increased substantially; and now more people -- specifically, more unwilling people -- are exposed to second-hand smoke than prior to the ban. Today I inhaled about five minutes' worth of second-hand smoke as a direct result of the smoking ban. Without the ban, I would have run into about a minute's worth (mostly directly outside the building I work in). How, exactly, does the ban help me and other non-smokers like me?

Is it just me, or is the announcement that Michael Schiavo will permit an autopsy on Terri a little weird? It's great that he is willing to prove to the world that he is correct. I admire his openness. He doesn't have to allow an autopsy before she is cremated. But an autopsy -- by definition performed after Terri is dead -- seems like an awfully lame way to prove that Terri is truly a vegetable. Michael Schiavo has refused to authorize a number of tests that could be done on Terri while she is alive to determine the level of her brain activity. What is he going to say if she is proven to have been semi-conscious this whole time? "Oops?!" If he really wanted to prove to the world -- and, more importantly, to Terri's family -- that she has virtually zero brain activity, wouldn't a full list of brain scans, oh, 8 years ago have been a great idea? [Update]I just discovered that Terri did, in fact, have a full MRI back in 1990.

"7/24/1990 -- MRI Report Dr. Pinkston. profound atrophy w/ very atrophic appearing cortex. Mild white matter disease, anoxic/hypoxic injury."

I had been led to believe that, although a few basic brain scans were performed, MRIs and advanced tests were not performed. I seem to have been misinformed about the full extent of the tests completed to date. In that light, an autopsy isn't nearly as ironic, and the point of my original post is pretty much deflated.[/update]

What do you get when you combine boredom, small change, and a degree in civil engineering? Penny power.

Looks like Burger King is hopping on the gigantic sandwich bandwagon, following Hardee's lead. BK's Enormous Omelet Sandwich doesn't sound all that exciting to me. Their Croissanwiches are plenty tasty and reasonably sized. But I don't doubt that a larger offering will be popular, especially for young men whose metabolisms are still chugging away.

Only five more days of work remaining at my current job. It's going to be a long, busy week. As I look over the mess on my desk I am realizing: not only do I have a lot of substantive work to do, I have a lot of miscellaneous stuff to do as well. For example, I have to file a ton of stuff that I took out of various filing cabinets long ago. As if I'm going to remember where everything belongs. Had this not been my last week at this job, I would not be here today. Yesterday's fantastic weather helped me to realize it's practically a crime to sit in an office on a day like today. Oh well, at least I got to spend much of yesterday outside. We took Daisy for a long walk at Pioneers Park in the morning, and we watched my niece play outside for part of the afternoon. My parents left for a Caribbean cruise this morning. It's their first cruise, but not their first vacation on the ocean -- they went to Tahiti years ago. They decided to go on a cruise in part because the Missus and I so enjoyed our honeymoon Alaskan cruise. It will be interesting to see how they like it. They should arrive in Florida around Noon today.

I received spam from Dan Marvin today. I replied, asking for him (or his campaign) to explain where he found my e-mail address. I have a feeling I know where he got it -- from a particular e-mail list I happen to be on. If true, I'm going to be uber pissed. It would be a gross violation of the list's privacy policies to have given out my e-mail address. I will be interested to see if Mr. Marvin replies and, if he does, what he has to say. He may very well have collected my e-mail address "legitimately." If so, fine. I'll just tell him to take me off his list. But if he got it where I think he got it...

I was hungry as hell for some good, fast Mexican food today. I was also running a bit late as I found it hard to find a hardware store open today (Easter) because I needed to buy some things for my vacuum. First, I drove past the new De Leon's on 27th street, dissapointed to find that it still hadn't opened yet (although it did seem close to being on the verge of final remodeling). After finally going to an Ace Hardware up on vine and 48th that was open and purchasing what I needed to get, I turned back south and headed for chipotle, which is usually open on Sundays, only to find it closed due to the holiday. There were also several other people milling about outside, dissapointed and a bit surprised it was closed. Knowing that Oso is closed on Sunday, I headed south on 13th, thinking that Taco John's was probably open. Taco John's is pretty crappy, but Taco John's also has super hot salsa verde available on request only (a discovery I made in Iowa), and with enough of that stuff on, their horrible tacos are actually suitable for human consumption. I drove into the driveway at the Taco John's on south street, to find a policeman standing at the door asking me if I worked there! I said no, and he remarked that it was closed, but someone had left the door open. In anycase, I quickly left TJ's and headed south on 9th directly for Taco Inn, the nearest Mexican place I knew of. I was really late already and very irritable because I was missing basketball. Within minutes I came to the Inn, only to find that it, too, was closed. OK, as a last resort, I knew there was an Amigos on Nebraska Highway and Pioneers another moment down the road. Yes I was truly desperate. I swung in, to find it open. Although I was really late and could have brought it home with me, I decided to eat i t quickly there so I could make use of the salsa bar and cheese and eat my meal while it was hot and pour a ton of condiments on it to make the food edible. I ordered the "combo burrito" and "crispy pinto burrito" and used a lot of cheese sauce, pico, and a salsa with a sign on it saying something like "limited time only fire-cooked salsa" or something like that. Both burritos were stomach churning. The combo burrito tasted like it was made from rat meat. The so-called "fire-cooked" salsa ("fire" connoting a message that it was supposed to be spicy) was about as hot as ketchup. I could not finish either the combo burrito or the pinto burrito, even though I was hungry as hell. Ironically, this particular Amigos faces a prison across the road, where I could watch inmates from afar exercising in the yard (what a wonderful view to complement your equally wonderful food...not). It made me wonder whether the food I was eating was any better than the grub served at the prison. Most shocking of the entire experience was that there were several people, including couples and families, who were also at Amigos and apparently seemed as if they were actually enjoying their meals! This included one family, who I could tell from their dress had obviously just come back from Easter service. WTF?! Why in God's name would a family celebrating a religious holiday spoil their day with a meal at Amigos?!?! That's like having Christmas dinner at a Runza (another horrible Nebraska chain). Lincoln truly dissapoints me. Not only have Lincolnites, collectively, allowed the cancer called Amigos actually spread as a franchise, but they keep this tumor alive by continuing to frequent this hellish establishment because they apparently like the "food" it serves. And some twisted and perverted souls like it so much that they bring the family there on holiday weekends! I am counting the days until De Leon's opens its 27th street branch. Please....let it be soon.

Interesting article here. One wonders if he would have liked to have had his dad's tragic death turned into a political circus and international headline news?

Jacob Sullum has a quick and dirty analysis of the dangerous precedent Congress set in the Terri Schiavo case.

I swung by the old Vien Dong restaurant across from UNL's city campus earlier this afternoon. As some of you may know, Vien Dong recently and quietly gave up (or moved on). They served a damn good beef pho, which I use to eat religiously once a week last summer. Anyway, walking by there was a very small sign with a photo indicating that the old Vien Dong will now become "Dat Nguyen's Restaurant" and there was a small photo of a guy standing behing a teppanyaki grill and holding a plate of sushi. This should be an interesting development. In my experience, teppanyaki places actually make very good fast food joints. A typical place will have several teppanyaki grills surrounded by chairs, with a chef who will cook up an entree on the flat iron grill (so hot it takes a minute or so to cook the food) in front of you, and comes as a set meal with say, a small vegetable salad, white rice, and some miso soup, which is served to you separately. Here is a photo I googled depicting a teppanyaki type of experience. Notice that all the customers have smiles on their faces, communicating a message that they are happy and pleased with the meal. I have never been to a restaurant where the patrons all have similar such smiles plastered onto their faces, but I would be happy if there was a quality, inexpensive teppanyaki place to replace Vien Dong.

Well it looks like those fools over at lincolnite.com are posting more garbage as usual. WHOOPS! Sorry, I meant to post that on my new blog I just created, which focuses on international law and policy. Mr. Wilson wants me to tell him the URL of this new blog, but if I tell him, a moment later I know it will be flooded with "cowboys rule!" and "uR teh SuxX0R" comments on it. In fact, he just got so worked up about it, that he physically attacked me moments ago! In the many years I have spent living in this fine city, I have met and known many people who I am sure have wanted to assault me. Mr. Wilson actually did assault me. Way to go Mr. Lincoln Guy. Represent.

A new ABC poll shows that a whopping 70% of Americans think congressional intervention in the Terry Schiavo case is inappropriate. That is a HUGE number. Seventy percent of Americans don't agree on anything. Ironically, 67% of Americans think that politicians are getting involved for political gain rather than for principles. If it is true that congressional Republicans are getting involved for political gain, they really ought to rethink their actions.