Random thoughts:
1) A major winter storm is blowing through the midwest, blocking roads, closing airports and causing general misery as it heads for the northeast. Every time something like this happens, right-wing looneys use it as an excuse to say, "See? No such thing as global warming!"
Of course, thirty years ago, if you had a storm like this, the snow stayed on the ground for weeks, or maybe for the entire winter. These days, it melts off with freakish speed. But yeah, I'm pretty sure that has nothing to do with global warming.
2) A while back, I was having problems with Blogger. Every time I'd try to sign in, I'd be taken to the sign in page for Blogger Beta, which would not recognize me or my password. Eventually, that problem was solved, but now when I click on my Blogger: Dashboard bookmark, I'm directed to a page extolling the virtues of Blogger Beta, which I have to bypass to be able to sign in.
I'm getting the impression that I'm going to have to switch over or die, and to tell you the truth, the format in which this blog appears isn't something I really spend a lot of time worrying about. But I do resent having something forced on me against my will.
One of the selling points for Blogger Beta--as opposed to Blogger VHS?--is that it allows you to create a private blog, viewable only by your friends. Wouldn't it be simpler to send an email? Besides, the Blogger format I'm already using allows me to do that. The main difference I can see is, to use Blogger Beta, you need to open a Google account.
Say, you don't suppose that could be why they're hyping it?
3) Woody Allen turns seventy-one today. He has a movie due for release next year, and no doubt something in the works after that.
Around the time Kill Bill opened, I read an interview in which Quentin Tarntino claimed it would be "pathetic" if he was still directing movies in his sixties, because all the great directors lose it as they get older. The only directors he mentioned by name were John Ford and Alfred Hitchcock.
Leaving aside the fact that Hitchcock's penultimate film, Frenzy, is a terrific, nasty piece of work, what about more modern directors, Quentin? Steven Spielberg tuns sixty this month. With such fine recent work as Munich and A.I., should he just give it up?
What about seventy-six year old Clint Eastwood, who halfway through shooting Flags Of Our Fathers decided that the battle for Iwo Jima needed to be told from a Japanese perspective, and so decided to make a seperate film, Letters From Iwo Jima? Even a routine Eastwood picture like The Gauntlet makes Tarentino's stuff look like the fanboy droolings it is, but Eastwood has only gotten better with age.
And for God's sake, what about Robert Altman? He was well into his forties when he made MASH, so obviously, much of his finest work was done when he was in his sixties and beyond. And again, Tarentino isn't fit to be mentioned ion the same breath as Altman.
Wow, that turned kind of nasty. I don't hate Tarentino's movies, but I hate the persona he's created for himself, and it annoys me that so many young film fans buy into it.
4) Both of the cats are sleeping, which means they're not doing anything crazy or annoying. Around here, that's as close to Heaven as it gets.
