So, how good is computer translation?

In an earlier post ( What does my site look like in Spanish? ) I had noted that a person in Spain had visited my site, in Spanish, via Google Translate.

As this had to be a machine (computer) translation, I wondered just how good this kind of translation could be.

To test it, I decided to feed English into the translator, to be rendered as Spanish, and then take that result to be translated back into English, in this format...

   The original text in English,

   the Spanish translation of it,

   and that Spanish turned back into English.

Two prose examples:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Perfect Storm (1997) - Sebastian Junger...
   (Capturing the flavor of the place) ...
"The plate glass window in front is said to be the biggest barroom window in town. That's quite a distinction in a town where barroom windows are made small so that patrons don't get thrown through them."
  ...
"If Gloucester is the delinquent kid who's had a few scrapes with the law, New Bedford is the truly mean older brother who's going to kill someone one day."

La tormenta perfecta (1997) - Sebastian Junger ...

   (La captura el sabor del lugar) ...

"La ventana de cristal en frente se dice que es la ventana más grande cantina de la ciudad. Esa es una distinción en un pueblo donde las ventanas bar se hace pequeño por lo que los clientes no se produce a través de ellos."

  ...

"Si Gloucester es el joven delincuente que ha tenido una raspa pocos con la ley, de New Bedford es la verdad significa hermano mayor que va a matar a alguien un día."

The Perfect Storm (1997) - Sebastian Junger ...
   (capture the flavor of the place) ...
"The glass window in front is said to be the largest window bar in the city. That is a distinction in a town where the windows bar is small so that customers do not occur through them."
  ...
"If Gloucester is the young person who has had a few scrapes with the law, of New Bedford is the older brother really means that he will kill someone one day."

------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight (1969) - Jimmy Breslin
   (On the demise of gang leader Raymond the Wolf)...
"Raymond the Wolf passed away in his sleep one night from natural causes; his heart stopped beating when the three men who slipped into his bedroom stuck knives in it."

La banda que no podía disparar recto (1969) - Jimmy Breslin

   (en la desaparición del líder de la banda Raymond el lobo) ...

"Raymond el Lobo falleció en su sueño de una noche por causas naturales, su corazón dejó de latir cuando los tres hombres que se metió en su dormitorio cuchillos pegados en él."

The gang that could not shoot straight (1969) - Jimmy Breslin

   (in the disappearance of band leader Raymond wolf) ...

"Raymond Wolf died in his sleep of a night of natural causes, his heart stopped beating when the three men went into his bedroom knives stuck in him. "

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Handling prose doesn't appear to be one of its strengths.

For a real acid test, I'm going take one of my posts, and see what happens. This could get really messy...

A Boy and his Vampire
(This post is mostly about remakes)

  Owen: "How old are you, -- really?"  
   Abby: "Twelve, -- but I've been twelve for a really long time."

Let Me In is the story of 12-year old Owen, lonely and tormented by bullies at school, and of Abby; a very unusual girl of the same apparent age, with whom he becomes acquainted when she and her guardian move into the apartment next to his.

Based on the Swedish thriller Låt den rätte komma in (Let the Right One In), from the novel of the same name, it is the latest in the long-standing Hollywood tradition of taking an absolutely superb foreign film and remaking it for those who "don't want to read their movies".

What is not in that tradition is the fact that this remake stands in the same league as the original, to a degree I haven't seen since Gore Verbinski's The Ring.

The Swedes have been cranking out some interesting work lately, including The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, already scheduled for an American remake with Daniel Craig.  For the role of Lisbeth Salander (the girl of the title), for a short while Emma Watson (Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter films) was briefly considered for the remake, before being ultimately passed over for someone else. Lisbeth would have been one Hell of a change for Watson; very edgy and as big a step as Kurt Russell going from the nerdy kids he played in Disney movies to putting on the eye patch and becoming "Snake" Plissken  in John Carpenter's Escape From New York. (Believe it or not, even that one has a remake in the works.)

Before that, I'd have to rate Insomnia (with Al Pacino, Robin Williams and Hillary Swank) as maybe one of the most successful re-dos of a first-rate Swedish movie. That particular remake was directed by Christopher Nolan (Memento, Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, Inception) and that may have had much to do with it turning out so well.

Of course, Hollywood doesn't have to go overseas to mine something already done (and done very well) before. (They never seem interested in taking something that should have been good but was botched, and giving it another shot.)

Even the Coen Brothers are going down this path. After couple of decades of some of the most original work seen on the screen, they confessed to being inspired by The Odyssey for O Brother, Where Art Thou?, they adapted Cormac McCarthy's novel for No Country for Old Men, and now they are going as mainstream Hollywood as one can possibly get; they are remaking True Grit.

Scheduled for this Christmas, this is one remake that does not fill me with dread. I've not seen any of the trailers now available online (watching videos on a dial-up connection is an exercise in masochism), but some of the stills I've seen give me a very good feeling about this.

Jeff Bridges steps into John Wayne's role as Reuben J. "Rooster" Cogburn, and looks absolutely perfect for it.

Matt Damon is the Texas Ranger LaBoeuf, and while Damon can make me want to throw things at him when he opens his mouth politically, as an actor he has a lot more going for him than did singer Glen Campbell in the original.

Likewise, I have no problem with Josh Brolin taking over from Jeff Corey as Tom Chaney, the object of the manhunt the story is about.

Who I'll be most curious about is Barry Pepper (the sniper, in Saving Private Ryan, who would cross himself before blowing out the brains of some poor German soldier). He will be essaying the role of the outlaw "Lucky" Ned Pepper, a role that was filled by Robert Duvall in the original.

Now, that will be a challenge on a par with Steven Weber following in Jack Nicholson's footsteps in the TV remake of The Shining. I think Weber did a fine job of meeting that challenge. We'll just have to see how well Barry does.

As of now, the "True Grit" remake is scheduled for Christmas Day, 2010.

December 25th this year occurs on a Saturday. New movies are usually released on a Friday, with an occasional Wednesday or Thursday thrown in. I don't ever recall a Saturday being used before, BUT, this is the Coen Brothers we are talking about. So, anything can be on the plate where they are concerned.

But, WHY does Hollywood depend so much on remakes and sequels? Are they really that devoid of imagination?

I seriously doubt it. I believe some of the most imaginative people on the planet are in that industry, but, you must never forget that there are two words in "show business". Millions (lately hundreds of millions) are at stake in modern movies, and that is a powerful incentive to play it safe by remaking, or making sequels to movies that made money. It doesn't get any simpler than that.

As for sequels; there have been some good ones. But as far as most of them go, consider Robert Rodriguez's violent, over-the-top live action cartoon spoof of late 60's exploitation movies Machete.

As the end credits start, they announce...

Machete will return in

"MACHETE KILLS"

             and

"MACHETE KILLS AGAIN"

Right there, Mr. Rodriguez says it all about most sequels.

-

Un niño y su vampiro
(Este artículo es sobre todo acerca de remakes)

  Owen: "¿Cuántos años tienes, - en realidad?"
  Abby: "Doce, - pero he estado doce por un tiempo muy largo."

Let Me In es la historia de Owen de edad de 12 años, solo y atormentado por los matones en la escuela, y de Abby, una chica muy inusual de la misma edad aparente, con quien se conoció cuando ella y su tutor se mueven en el apartamento de al lado a la suya.

Basado en el thriller sueco Komma ratte Lat den en (Let the Right One In), de la novela del mismo nombre, que es el último de la tradición de Hollywood desde hace mucho tiempo de tomar una película extranjera absolutamente magnífico y rehacer que para los que "No quiero leer sus películas".

Lo que no está en que la tradición es el hecho de que esta nueva versión se encuentra en la misma liga que el original, en un grado que no he visto desde que Gore Verbinski, The Ring.

Los suecos se han arranque a cabo algunos trabajos interesantes últimamente, incluyendo La chica con el tatuaje del dragón, ya programadas para un remake americano con Daniel Craig. Para el papel de Lisbeth Salander (la chica del título), por un corto tiempo Emma Watson (Hermione Granger en las películas de Harry Potter) se examinó brevemente para la nueva versión, en última instancia, antes de ser pasado por alto a alguien más. Lisbeth habría sido un infierno de un cambio de Watson, muy nervioso y como gran paso uno como Kurt Russell, al pasar de los niños nerd que desempeñó en las películas de Disney a poner en el parche en el ojo y convertirse en "Snake" Plissken en Escape de John Carpenter de Nueva York. (Lo creas o no, incluso que uno tiene una nueva versión de las obras.)

Antes de eso, tendría que tipo de insomnio (con Al Pacino, Robin Williams y Hillary Swank), como tal vez uno de los más exitosos de re-dos de una película sueca de primer nivel. Esa nueva versión en particular fue dirigida por Christopher Nolan (Memento, Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, Inicial) y que puede haber tenido mucho que ver con que saliendo tan bien.

Por supuesto, Hollywood no tiene que ir al extranjero a algo mío ha hecho (y hacen muy bien) antes. (Ellos no parecen estar interesados en tomar algo que debería haber sido bueno, pero fue fallido, y darle otra oportunidad.)

Incluso los hermanos Coen van por este camino. Después de un par de décadas de algunos de los trabajos más originales vistos en la pantalla, que confesó haber sido inspirado en La Odisea de O Brother, Where Art Thou?, Que adapta la novela de Cormac McCarthy por No es país para viejos, y ahora van son como la corriente principal de Hollywood como uno puede conseguir posiblemente, están rehaciendo True Grit.

Prevista para esta Navidad, esta es una nueva versión que no me llenan de temor. No he visto a ninguno de los trailers ahora disponible en línea (ver videos en una conexión de acceso telefónico es un ejercicio de masoquismo), pero algunos de los fotogramas que he visto me da una sensación muy buena al respecto.

Jeff Bridges en el papel de los pasos de John Wayne como Rubén J. "Gallo" Cogburn, y se ve absolutamente perfecto para ello.

Matt Damon es el Texas Ranger LaBoeuf, y mientras que Damon se me dan ganas de tirar las cosas de él cuando abre la boca políticamente, como un actor que tiene mucho más a su favor que hizo el cantante Glen Campbell en el original.

Del mismo modo, no tengo ningún problema con Josh Brolin tomando el relevo de Jeff Corey como Tom Chaney, el objeto de la persecución de la historia está a punto.

¿Quién voy a ser más curioso es Barry Pepper (el francotirador, en Salvar al soldado Ryan, a quien le persignarse antes de soplar los sesos de algún soldado alemán pobres). Estará ensayando el papel de la margen de la ley "Lucky" Pepper Ned, un papel que estaba lleno de Robert Duvall en el original.

Ahora, eso será un desafío a la par con Steven Weber siguiente en los pasos de Jack Nicholson en la nueva versión televisiva de El resplandor. Creo que Weber hizo un buen trabajo de la reunión de ese desafío. Tendremos que ver qué tan bien se Barry.

A partir de ahora, el "True Grit" remake está prevista para el día de Navidad de 2010.

25 de diciembre de este año se produce en un sábado. Las nuevas películas suelen ser puesto en libertad el viernes, con un ocasional miércoles o jueves arrojados pulg No recuerdo nunca un sábado siendo utilizado antes, pero, se trata de los hermanos Coen que estamos hablando. Por lo tanto, cualquier cosa puede estar en la placa donde se refiere.

Pero, ¿por qué Hollywood depende tanto de remakes y secuelas? ¿Son realmente tan carente de imaginación?

Lo dudo seriamente. Creo que algunas de las personas más imaginativas en el planeta se encuentran en esa industria, pero, nunca hay que olvidar que hay dos palabras en el "show business". Millones (últimamente cientos de millones) están en juego en las películas modernas, y que es un poderoso incentivo para jugar sobre seguro por rehacer o hacer secuelas de películas que hicieron dinero. No hay nada más simple que eso.

En cuanto a secuelas, ha habido algunas buenas. Pero por lo que la mayoría de ellos van, considere violenta de Robert Rodriguez, el exceso de la parte superior-parodia de la historieta de acción en vivo de películas de explotación finales de los 60 Machete.

En los créditos finales de inicio, que anuncian ...

Machete regresará en

"MACHETE MATA"

    y

"Machete mata de nuevo"

Allí mismo, el Sr. Rodríguez lo dice todo acerca de las secuelas más.

-

A boy and his vampire
(This article is mostly about remakes)

  Owen: "How old are you - really?"
  Abby: "Twelve, - but I've been twelve for a very long time."

Let Me In is the story of Owen age 12, alone and tormented by bullies at school, and Abby, a very unusual girl's apparent age, whom he met when she and her tutor move in the apartment next to yours.

Based on the Swedish thriller Lat den ratte Komma in (Let the Right One In), the novel of the same name, which is the last of the Hollywood tradition for a long time for a foreign film absolutely gorgeous and redo that for "No I want to read his films."

What is that tradition is the fact that this new version is in the same league as the original, to an extent not seen since Gore Verbinski, The Ring.

The Swedes are starting out some interesting work lately, including The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, already scheduled for an American remake with Daniel Craig. For the role of Lisbeth Salander (the girl of the title), for a short time Emma Watson (Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter films) was briefly considered for the new version, before ultimately being passed over to someone else . Lisbeth would have a hell of a change of Watson, very nervous and as a major step as Kurt Russell, from the nerdy kids who played in the Disney movies to put in the eye patch and become "Snake" Plissken in John Carpenter's Escape from New York. (Believe it or not, even that one has a new version of the works.)

Before that, he would have that type of insomnia (with Al Pacino, Robin Williams and Hillary Swank), as perhaps one of the most successful re-two of a Swedish film class. This particular remake was directed by Christopher Nolan (Memento, Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, MI) and may have had a lot to do with going so well.

Of course, Hollywood does not have to go abroad to something of mine has done (and done very well) before. (They do not seem interested in taking something that should have been good but was unsuccessful, and give him another chance.)

Even the Coen brothers are going down this path. After two decades of some of the most original seen on screen, who confessed to having been inspired by the Odyssey in O Brother, Where Art Thou?, Who adapted the novel by Cormac McCarthy No Country for Old Men, and now they are as mainstream Hollywood as one can possibly get, are remaking True Grit.

Scheduled for this Christmas, this is a new version that does not fill me with fear. I have not seen any of the trailers now available online (see videos on a dial-up connection is an exercise in masochism), but some of the frames I've seen gives me a good feeling about it.

Jeff Bridges in the role of the steps of John Wayne as J. Reuben "Rooster" Cogburn, and is absolutely perfect for it.

Matt Damon is the Texas Ranger LaBeouf, and while Damon makes me want to throw things at him when he opens his mouth politically, as an actor who has much more going for it that made the singer Glen Campbell in the original.

Similarly, I have no problem with Josh Brolin taking over from Jeff Corey as Tom Chaney, the object of persecution of the story is about.

Who'll be most interesting is Barry Pepper (the sniper in Saving Private Ryan, who was crossing himself before blowing the brains of a poor German soldier). Will be rehearsing the role of outlaw "Lucky" Ned Pepper, a role that was filled with Robert Duvall in the original.

Now, that will be a challenge on par with Steven Weber follows in the footsteps of Jack Nicholson in the new television version of The Shining. I think that Weber did a good job of meeting that challenge. We have to see how well Barry.

From now on, the "True Grit" remake is scheduled for Christmas Day 2010.

December 25 this year occurs on a Saturday. New movies are usually released on Friday, with an occasional thrown in. Wednesday or Thursday on a Saturday do not remember ever being used before, but these are the Coen brothers are talking about. Therefore, anything can be on the plate where it relates.

But why Hollywood remakes and depends both sequels? Are they really so lacking in imagination?

I seriously doubt it. I think some of the most imaginative people on the planet are in this industry, but never forget that there are two words in show business. Million (ultimately hundreds of millions) are at play in modern movies, and is a powerful incentive to play it safe by remaking or making sequels of movies that made money. Nothing is more simple than that.

As for sequels, there have been some good ones. But what most of them go, consider Robert Rodriguez's violent, over-the-top parody of the live-action cartoon movie late 60's exploitation Machete.

In the end credits start, announcing ...

Machete return in

"MATA MACHETE"

    and

"Machete kills again"

There, Mr. Rodriguez says all about the sequels.

-

And, there you have it.

As G. Wolfe commented on the earlier article, you can generally get the gist of it, but formatting, capitalization and punctuation sometimes goes straight to Hell.

As for the prose you've labored hard to express in a particular way, it can be absolutely heartbreaking.

-

ADDENEDUM - 11 Feb 2011 - For those who may want to experiment with Google Translate

A gent in the UK noted...
"For example, I used Google Translate to translate the idiom 'out of the blue'
into Italian. The Italian translation is nonsense. However, if I translate
back to English, I get 'out of the blue'."

Be warned, the translated text on the right side of Google Translate's page overlays or links to the original text in some way, so if you cut and paste it back into the translation box, I expect it will invariably render it back into the original text.

What I had to do was to cut and past the translated text into a plain-text editor
(Notepad in my case) and then cut and paste from that, back into the translation box. (This act may will account for the loss of formatting, but the punctuation and capitalization problems remain.)

Doing that with his example gets...

   out of the blue
   di punto in bianco
   point blank

FYI
-

Psychosomatica

- They say it's all in your head.  So?

"Tell me one last thing," said Harry. "Is this real?  Or has this been happening inside my head?"

Dumbledore beamed at him, and his voice sounded loud and clear in Harry's ears even though the bright mist was descending again, obscuring his figure.

"Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean it is not real?"

    (~J. K. Rowling - "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows")

Being beaten before I even start is a special talent of mine, in that I am often the one supplying the beating.  (Updated below - 06 Feb 2011) (Addendum - 14 Feb 2011)

On Jan 7, I posted Carpal Tunnel Self-Treatment, in which I expressed "Hope to update this, with useful info, in a couple of weeks".

Well, somewhat more than a couple of weeks have gone by and what have I accomplished so far?  Nothing!  Nada!  Zip!

Far worse, ever since the debacle described in Airshow  (back in October), after months of a successful walking regimen I have managed to even fail to keep that up. Like an alcoholic falling off the wagon, I am a mess and back to square one.

I can find plenty of excuses;  I believe that I could qualify for a PhD in excuses and rationalization. (Is there a career opportunity here?  Nah.  I think the post of Presidential Press Secretary has already been filled.  Besides, I still  place some value on my soul.)

While I believe that I have genuine physical problems, I have to face the fact there are probably serious issues upstairs, in my head, that contribute to all this.

Example on how attitude can affect you physically...

In 1971, I hadn't even reached 30 and was having back pains that almost literally crippled me.  I could barely even walk and my doctor told me that I had a degenerative disc in my lower spine that would eventually need surgery to fix.  At that time, I was in severe financial straits and under a lot of stress.

A few months later, a raise came through and relieved some of the financial pressure and, milagro!, the pains went away ("Mein Fuhrer --- I can WAAALK!!!").

That was almost 40 years ago.  While not a medical expert, I've never heard of a degenerative disc fixing itself (and I'll bet you never have either), so I must actually consider the possibility of my doctor being mistaken in his diagnosis (Yeah, that is a shock to me as well).

Around that same period, I had wild mood swings that would make me react impulsively and extremely to problems, eventually getting me fired for a short while;  getting re-hired only after promising to get some help.

The help I got, from a recommended shrink, was damn near useless (not exactly reinforcing my faith in doctors), but I came across a book on the evils of sugar and its effect on mood swings. So, I tried my best to purge (or at least, greatly reduce) sugar from my diet. It really did  help, by controlling my mood swings (it had no effect on my problems, of course, but it did change my perception of them, so that something that had seemed overwhelming and hopeless was now seen as only the damned nuisance it really was).

So, I actually have a lot of experience with the damage that can come from my own depression and despair.

What's the history of this round of feeling sorry about myself?

It's been building up a while, synergetically, probably ever since my IT job was outsourced and I went into early retirement.  When, a few years later, I desperately needed a supplemental source of income, the only thing I could get at my age was part-time work as a grocery cashier.

The manager who hired me was worried about only having that for a person with my engineering and computer background, but I promised him that he would not be getting some disgruntled guy showing up every day with an attitude.  So far, I've done my level best to keep that promise, but the plain truth is, that if asked to conjure up a short phrase to describe this work, "soul killing" would probably cover it.

In response to my post on Carpal Tunnel, a writer emailed to me that he had managed to spend a fairly large portion of his life on keyboards without being afflicted with it.  I've used them since 1981, and when did I start having problems?  About a year and a half into the cashier job.

I suspect there is a limit to how long one can be dead inside before problems surface.

So getting back on track is gonna be a major effort, starting with the restoration of the walking regime.

To get anywhere on the self-treatment program, I think I'm going to have to find and consult a Licensed Massage Therapist, specializing in Trigger-Point Therapy, for help in finding those points in the scalenes that have eluded me.

There is no way on earth I can afford repeated visits, but perhaps a single consulting visit that I can pay for will point me in the right direction (unless of course this licensed professional declares, "Paul. This is B*LLSH*T!  You're wasting your time and money with this").

Having had experience with "licensed professionals" before, I cannot predict how I would take that.

Bottom line:  Back to square one.

Is there a hopeful note on which to end this post?

Well, how about this? ...

I have hit absolute rock-bottom several times before, in 1962, 1986 and 1999, coming damned close to suicide each time.

So, this ain't the first time, and it probably wont be the last.  Why is that  hopeful?  I'd have to be dead  for it to be the last. That I'm writing this is a fairly strong clue that I'm still here (Go easy with the "ghost writer" jokes -- Ok? :-).  Whatever weaknesses I have (and Lord knows they're plenty), my survival instincts appear to still be working.

Putting myself back together is likely to take a while, so I'll try to cease being so damned stupid as to make any promises as to when I'll report whatever results I achieve (That would absolutely guarantee more failure and excuses).

Such reports will come when they come.  That's all I'm saying for now.

Update - 06 Feb 2011 - "Dark Night of the Soul"...
That was the album the therapist was playing when we had our session. The piece she was playing was actually quite soothing and peaceful (dare I say healing?) but the title of that album perfectly captures the mood I was in when I first wrote this post; in my head, I was in a very dark place indeed.

I had done some searching on Google, for licensed massage therapists, specializing in "trigger-point" therapy, and found one close by.

By Friday, Feb 4, I was already six days back into the walking and was now actually going to see someone who could give me the straight dope (at least, as how she saw it) on whether this was a worthwhile course of action, or a waste of time and resources.

Instead of declaring what I feared above, she actually thought it had great promise, and that I was on the right track. She also had a lot of other tips to help me, so we'll see how that goes.

To prep her for what I was going to ask about, I gave her the links to both of my carpal tunnel posts, and to this one. I fear I have fallen hopelessly in love with someone probably not even half my age, because she didn't just read them; she READ them, as I could tell during our conversations.

Smart as Hell, curious, great sense of humor, and apparently absolutely loves reading.

Sigh...

A looong way to go, but I feel better and more hopeful about this than I have in a long while.  Just having someone to talk to about it was an indescribable help.

Maybe I'm emerging from that dark night. :-)

Addendum - 14 Feb 2001 - If the title of the music intrigues you, and you wish to check it out,  look for Dark Night of the Soul by Phillip Wesley.  A Google search just for the title will turn up a lot of hits on the same title by Danger Mouse & Sparklehorse.  Other than the title, there is not even a trace of similarity

-

What does my site look like in Spanish?

A check of my site meter this morning revealed that a person in Spain had visited Paul_En_Houston,  which turned out to be my site as shown through Google's translator.

I'm pretty certain this is machine (computer) translation; HAS to be.

To those who know both English and Spanish, does this appear to be a good translation?

Just curious.
-

Carpal Tunnel Self-Treatment

This is a work-in progress that will be updated periodically, and is a follow-up to Help! - Carpal Tunnel Syndrome???, which should be read first.

(Updated below - 06 Feb 2011)

At the end that post (in the update of 05 Dec 2010), I had just ordered the The Julstro Self-Treatment System© and was awaiting its arrival.

When I got the kit (on 13 Dec 2010), it was missing the accompanying book I had ordered with it.  An email to them got a prompt apology for the screw-up and a promise to ship it right away. That was followed by another email, with a USPS tracking number, showing that it was indeed in route. The book arrived on the 21st.  So, apparently not a run-around.  (You want to see run-around?!!   Check out Anatomy of an eBay Transaction...  that's what a run-around looks like. )

If you've been reading carefully, you'll have noticed that I had everything by Dec 21st;" seventeen days ago, and I'm only just now writing about it?!!!

DAFT PUNK

-Say WHAT?!  Huh?!!!

I've watched TRON: Legacy twice now.

I saw the original TRON when it first came out in 1982, and in 2002 I added the 20th Anniversary Collectors edition to my DVD collection.  It somehow survived the many purges and sell offs I had gone through over the years.

With the new movie sequel coming up, I was very surprised to not see the original all over the place; Disney has absolutely no peer when it comes to milking something for all it's worth.  It's been out of print for years now, and I've learned that my copy truly is  a collectors item; prices starting at $130.00 on Amazon.com for new copies still in the original factory wrap.

A relook at my copy of the original verified my memory of it; it was fairly good, but not all that fantastic.  I suspect the suits at Disney took a look and decided that it would not compel people to put the sequel on their "must see" list.

Which is a shame, as they did something truly amazing with the sequel, elevating it into one Hell of a fine movie, with a simple (deceptively simple) storyline that has a lot more going on than at first appears.

(Jeff Bridges also has had an amazing year, appearing in this, and  in True Grit ; THE best movie of 2010, so far. He deserves a post of his own, so I'm not going to cover him here.)

The first thing that grabbed me (really grabbed me) was the music; seemingly a marriage of Phillip Glass and Tangerine Dream (with bits of John Carpenter and John Barry thrown in). The music is mostly for motion (and there is a lot of motion here) and it puts the movie into overdrive.

I had to wait until the end credits to learn that DAFT PUNK (an electronic music duo consisting of French musicians Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo and Thomas Bangalter) did this score.

I had never heard of them before, and this appears to be their very first film score, but they've been around for awhile.  I can see now that my next bankruptcy may well be engendered by seeking out what else they have done.

Hunt up the CD soundtrack of TRON: Legacy and give it a listen.

If it doesn't move you, and make you want to check out the movie, you might as well pack it in;  you're already dead!.
-

Dr. Sanity's already been here.

I had thought (in my post  Dr. Sanity nails it! ) that she had said it all about nanny-statism.

That clearly shows my lack of imagination. 
Check out one of AJStrata's latest:  Dumbest Lawsuit Evah ...
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The left truly is insane. Who else would champion a lawsuit that basically cries out: “Mom has no damn backbone“:

"The lawsuit alleges that “McDonald’s exploits very young California children
...
said she was bringing the case because of the constant requests for McDonald’s Happy Meals."

Good lord, what a moron.  Her kids want Happy Meals and so she is suing McDonalds to shut them up.  Just let that one settle in for a bit.
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There appears to be truly no limit to this urge to place restrictions on absolutely everything we do in life. In total contradiction to everything I've ever believed in and advocated, she makes me feel that, in her case at least, some people really shouldn't be allowed to run around loose. :(
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"What is THAT for?"

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I'd love to post the whole Strategy Page  article that answers the question, but that might strain their patience on copyright, so look for "What is THAT for?" on this page...  http://www.strategypage.com/cic/docs/cic324b.asp

(Somehow, this brings to mind Jerry Van Meter's "Glooshmaker" joke.  No, you probably wont find it on Google; it's peculiar to his sense of humor.  If any of my Air Force buddies see this, they will know it.  I could tell you, but then... :-)

Bureaucracy forever.
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HOW do spambots evade my site meter?

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I occasionally get anonymous comments of the type that neo-neocon has posted about as "Spambot of The Day", when a new or somewhat original example came through her spam filters.

Often whimsical, with wonderfully loose language, and sometimes no other apparent purpose than to show that it could  be done.
(Updated - With an answer)

December 7

My calendar shows today as...
   1) Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day
and...
   2) First of Muharram (First day of the first month in the Islamic calendar;
       making it the Islamic equivalent of New Years Day)

Any bets on which one will most likely be honored (or even mentioned) by The One?
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ADDENDUM - After that vent, I remembered this...

Today (Dec 7) is also the 38th anniversary of the Apollo 17 launch;
the very last manned lunar exploration mission.

This is very personal to me, as described in...
  Adventure of a Lifetime
and
  The Adventure - Continued

(Yeah, I'm blowing my own horn here.
 Well -- So What? :-)
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Help! - Carpal Tunnel Syndrome???

That's a term I've heard for a long time, and always thought of as some kind of arthritis-like pain in hands and fingers.  (Updated below) 
(Updated again 05 Dec 2010 below)

For months now (since my 68th birthday on May 25) I've had problems with my fingers and thumbs feeling numb and thought it to be a circulation problem; hence the walking regimen I've forced upon myself since the end of May. While good for other things, it may turn out to have been an exercise in futility for this particular problem.

You see, a number of people where I work, observing my problems, have raised the possibility of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS). While that sounded just plain wrong to me, I finally decided to look it up on the internet.

So, what did I find?

Thanksgiving pizza...

...will have to wait 'til Friday.

You see, Pizza Hut will be closed on Thanksgiving day (the one convenient to me at least).   For some time now, I've favored them over others; having long considered grease an essential ingredient of a good pizza. :-)

Wasn't always so; when I first came to Houston in the mid '60s, the absolute best pizzas, bar none, were served by Shakey's, but they became history here when Hunt International bought them out in the mid '70s and closed the local restaurants (Domino's taking over most of them).

A lot of other buyouts followed, with the results that an outfit once having hundreds of locations all over the country has now been reduced to a few dozen, mostly in their home state of California.

Second best (also now history) was the Post Oak Drive-In Theater.  Instead of pulling out a frozen pizza and shoving it into the oven, they made theirs from scratch, just like a real pizzeria.

One of their toppings  was chili.  When washed down with the beer I had snuck into the the drive-in, it was fantastic. (Just had to be sure to also bring along a trash bag, a roll of paper towels, and some wipes; messy doesn't even begin to describe it. :-)

Once in a while I try to duplicate that experience by adding chili to a frozen one.  Close, but somehow just ain't the same.

By now, instead of asking "What about turkey?!!!", you've probably deduced that I'm not a big turkey fan.  Give me pizza and beer, and throw in a DVD to watch (there'll probably be nothing but football on TV that day), and I'm all set.

Did I just commit blasphemy with that "there'll probably be nothing but football on TV that day" above?

Well, I've never been much of a football fan either, except for a brief shining moment in the late '70s when coach O. A. "Bum" Phillips raised what was then the Houston Oilers to superbowl material, twice actually making it to the playoffs (only to run into that steel wall called Pittsburgh).

Something I'll always remember was the wonderful welcome the team got from cheering crowds that greeted them when they came home. They had to be feeling pretty low from those defeats, and for those fans to give that kind of "Welcome Home" made me proud beyond description.

(For a while, before those playoffs, I'd considered the Oilers as mostly just their two prima donnas (Dan Pastorini and Earl Campbell). But, while on vacation with friends in New Mexico, I saw a game (don't remember who they were playing), where both of them were benched and the remaining players went out there, just like a real team, and WON!)

Unfortunately, Phillips was getting more publicity than team owner Bud Adams (worthy of his own story) and many of us felt his days were numbered.

Sure, enough, Phillips was eventually fired and went to New Orleans to coach the New Orleans Saints (at that time owned by River Oaks native (and neighbor of Bud Adams) John Mecom.  I think there was a rivalry between them worthy of a TV movie, if it hasn't already been done.)

So many Oilers' players (Campbell, Pastorini, others) followed him there, our secretary began referring to the team as the Houston Saints.

Well, I've managed to wander all over the map this time, even including one of my least favorite subjects. So, I think it's time to close this one.

Hope you have a really wonderful thanksgiving. I'm gonna give it a shot. :-)

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The Anvil of Life

To be smart as Hell and to not have a lick of sense are not mutually exclusive.

In my previous post Ready for a firestorm? :-)  (about an Ann Coulter article on the insanity of letting young people vote) a commenter noted...

"After reading Ann's full article, if it's true that 18-24 yr. olds broke for Obama by 19 points (I still question who's polling them and where because I don't recall any pollsters anywhere in my neighborhood) but if that's true, with a military service exemption, I would be for. Sigh. There really are millions of stupid Americans.

I replied in a comment of my own, and after further reflection, decided to tweak and expand the comment into the post you are now reading.

There really are millions of stupid Americans.

Yup!

But, in the 18-24 range, I suspect it is ignorance more than stupidity.

I've always viewed ignorance as simply lack of information, whereas stupidity consists of going ahead and doing something when you damned well (or should) know better.

In 1962, I was in the USAF, newly stationed at Goodfellow AFB outside of San Angelo, Texas. One weekend, I went with three other Airmen down to Del Rio and across the border into Villa Acuña (now Ciudad Acuña) to check out "boystown" (the local red light district) and to buy and bring back cheap duty-free booze.

A little background necessary for what follows:

We were in the United States Air Force Security Service (now the Electronic Security Arm, I think).  (See update below)

When you enlist in the service, you are given a battery of tests on almost anything imaginable (of course, to see just what, if anything, you're good for).

The spook shops have the privilege of being the first to troll through the results and they pick from the top 2%.  If they're interested in you, background checks will be performed while you are still in basic training ("Some people from the government were asking about you, but we lied and said you were Ok." :-) but they'll likely wait until they're sure you aren't going to flunk out of basic training before informing you.

In my case, about 2/3 of the way through basic, after being marched to a class one morning, and standing at parade rest waiting to go in, my drill instructor comes up to me and quietly tells me, "at 1300, you will report to Bldg. ####, Room ###, in the Uniform of the Day. That is all."

The strangest thing is that, for the first time in 7 or 8 weeks, he's not looking at me as if I scuttled out from under a rock, but has a quiet smile, as if he's proud or something.  Also, I'm the only one in my flight (40+ Airmen, the USAF equivalent to a platoon) to receive that attention.

Upon reporting to that room, I find several dozen other Airmen, NCOs and Officers also there to see what the Hell this is about. We're told that they are seeking linguists to attend a one-year intensive language course at the Institute of Far Eastern Languages at Yale University (this was 1961 - The USAF departed Yale in 1965 and now uses the Defense Language Institute or whatever at Monterey, California).

The afternoon is spent on testing our aptitude on learning Mandarin Chinese, although some will be selected for other languages (Korean in my case).

I manage to do Ok, and am selected. I had to drop out of school after the 9th grade, and here I am chosen to go to Yale!  (Well, I did know how to read (see On Reading... for how lucky I've been in this area)). I suspect that I really needed a cap a couple of sizes larger at that point.

I spent a solid year at Yale, with some of the brightest people I have ever met, and that was the greatest thing in the world for me.

After graduation, we were then sent down to Goodfellow for the next phase of our training. Whereupon, the four of us embarked upon the great Villa Acuña sex and booze adventure noted way up yonder.

What I'm trying to convey is that our little bunch was absolutely as sharp as they come (including, modestly, yours truly :-).

And, just how was all that brilliance used?  Stay tuned...

To bring that booze back over the border, you had to be 21 or over, and not one of us had reached that exalted age. So, we cleverly shoved the bottles under the seats as we approached the border crossing.

We had noticed that the Customs guards and Border Patrolmen were just waving through car after car of families that had come over to watch the bullfights and indulge in some very cheap shopping.

So, this bunch of super-smart Airmen (including myself) would later actually conjure up conspiracy theories, about informants in the liquor stores, to explain the mystery of why a Patrolman takes one look at this old Mercury pulling up with a Goodfellow AFB sticker on the windshield, occupied by four young punks sporting military haircuts, and waves us right over.

   "Do you gentlemen have anything to declare?"
   "No Sir."
   "Right!  Step out of the car please."

And they go straight to our hiding place and pull it out.

Not having enough to pay the fine, so help me, I actually asked, "Can I just leave it?"

To which one of the Patrolmen (probably really straining to keep a straight face) replied, "I've got news for you son; you are going to leave it."

Thankfully, one of the others was able to loan me enough to handle the fine.

As I said, being smart as Hell, and not having a lick of sense, are not mutually exclusive.

The missing ingredient, of course, was experience; the hammer with which we're forged on the anvil of life.

Updated 12 Dec 2010, and AGAIN 16 AUG 2019  - "(now the Electronic Security Arm, I think)" - Slightly off, and way out of date.  Its name often changed along with what was covered in its mission.

The various incarnations were...
  United States Air Force Security Service (USAFSS) 1948-1979.
  Electronic Security Command (ESC) 1979-1991.
  Air Force Intelligence Command (AFIC) 1991-1993.
  Air Intelligence Agency (AIA) 1993-2007.
  Air Force Intelligence, Surveillance & Reconnaissance Agency (AFISRA) 2007-2014.
  25th Air Force  2014-Present.

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Ready for a firestorm? :-)

Then check out Ann Coulter's latest: REPEAL THE 26TH AMENDMENT!... (Updated below)
   ...
Adopted in 1971 at the tail end of the Worst Generation's anti-war protests, the argument for allowing children to vote was that 18-year-olds could drink and be conscripted into the military, so they ought to be allowed to vote.

But 18-year-olds aren't allowed to drink anymore. We no longer have a draft.
   ...

Dr. Sanity nails it!

One reason I'm a Republican is that, while we may be cursed with a few of those she describes, the Democrats seem absolutely infested with them.

This lady is well worth bookmarking and reading.

Her latest post (at Dr. Sanity ) ...
--------------------------------------------------------
WHAT 'PROGRESSIVES' STAND FOR
Let's get down to the nitty gritty of what "progressivism" is all about, shall we? And, it's all about controlling other people's lives, down to determining the food you and your kids will be able to eat ( because, you know, you are far too stupid to decide that yourself).

For all their happy talk and utopian fantasies, that is the essence of progressivism. Oh, they say it is for your own good...they insist that they are protecting you from the "greed" of those evil capitalists who desire not only your money, but your death--but make no mistake, what they really want is to control your life.
--------------------------------------------------------

That last emphasis is mine. She has a lot more to say, but she really nails it right there.

Update - 05 Dec 2010 - Dr. Sanity does not permalink her individual articles, and this one no longer appears on her main page. To find the full article, look in the sidebar at the left of her page, go down to Archives, and click on November 2010,  Once that page finishes loading, look for Thursday, November 04, 2010 (near the bottom). The full article WHAT 'PROGRESSIVES' STAND FOR begins there.

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Election 2010 - So, where are we now?

...Not nearly as far as I'd hoped we'd be.

As I write this (Wednesday afternoon, 03 Nov 2010) the House appears to be 239 Republicans (for a gain of 60, so far), 185 Democrats, and 11 undecided.

That ain't chopped liver; legislation originates in the House, before being passed along to the Senate and eventually to the President's desk for signing. At the very least, after the new congress is seated in January, there will be enough Republicans to stop any new atrocities from being passed in the House.

Further, Republicans will now chair House committees. As this includes the House Ways and Means Committee, Republicans will now have a very big say on how much (or even if) certain legislation will be funded.

The Joker in this deck is, Will the Republicans actually exercise this power they have won?

"...Don’t worry, you’re boring.”

Found this on John Lott's website... 

   http://johnrlott.blogspot.com/2010/10/indian-givers-fbi-demand-gps-bug-back.html

“We have all the information we needed,” were their parting words, “you don’t need to call your lawyer. Don’t worry, you’re boring.”

Now, that's cold. :(
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Early Voting

As I don't know what my unpredictable working schedule will be for Election Day Nov. 2, I took advantage of early voting today, about 15 minutes ago.

A LOT of people there. I'm told it's this way all over. This very likely means lots of people that just can't wait to get their point across, even though it's still a week until the results will be known.

This year, what to do was real damned simple; select "Straight Republican Ticket", then page through the ballot to be sure that every Republican candidate (and NOT ONE Democrat) was selected, and then cast the ballot.

From how quickly many voters were done, I suspect a lot of them were doing the same thing.

From the turnout,  I expect a very bad day for the Democrats when the results come in the evening of Nov 2.

We'll see.
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Airshow

%)#-#!&^##  &(%^#$-$&#**^%  @(^-($-!-%*%#^!!!

Just got back from the Wings Over Houston Airshow at Ellington Field, just south of Houston.

On May 30, I had posted Ready to hear God laugh?, in which I mentioned health problems and announced a regimen of walking to help with them. I set as a goal, catching this airshow, getting a lot of good shots and having something really good to write about in a post.

Well, here's the post. But it sure ain't what I intended.

Experiment

I'm going to see if I can play with the order of my posts by editing the publishing time.
(Originally published 10/10/10 11:00 AM)

Result, YES, I can!!!.

There's a post from a while back that I intend to move to the top when the time is right.
Now, I know how.
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A Boy and his Vampire

(This post is mostly about remakes)

  Owen: "How old are you, -- really?"  
   Abby: "Twelve, -- but I've been twelve for a really long time."

Let Me In is the story of 12-year old Owen, lonely and tormented by bullies at school, and of Abby; a very unusual girl of the same apparent age, with whom he becomes acquainted when she and her guardian move into the apartment next to his.

Based on the Swedish thriller Låt den rätte komma in (Let the Right One In), from the novel of the same name, it is the latest in the long-standing Hollywood tradition of taking an absolutely superb foreign film and remaking it for those who "don't want to read their movies".

What is not in that tradition is the fact that this remake stands in the same league as the original, to a degree I haven't seen since Gore Verbinski's The Ring.

The Swedes have been cranking out some interesting work lately, including The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, already scheduled for an American remake with Daniel Craig.  For the role of Lisbeth Salander (the girl of the title), for a short while Emma Watson (Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter films) was briefly considered for the remake, before being ultimately passed over for someone else. Lisbeth would have been one Hell of a change for Watson; very edgy and as big a step as Kurt Russell going from the nerdy kids he played in Disney movies to putting on the eye patch and becoming "Snake" Plissken  in John Carpenter's Escape From New York. (Believe it or not, even that one has a remake in the works.)

Before that, I'd have to rate Insomnia (with Al Pacino, Robin Williams and Hillary Swank) as maybe one of the most successful re-dos of a first-rate Swedish movie. That particular remake was directed by Christopher Nolan (Memento, Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, Inception) and that may have had much to do with it turning out so well.

Of course, Hollywood doesn't have to go overseas to mine something already done (and done very well) before. (They never seem interested in taking something that should have been good but was botched, and giving it another shot.)

Even the Coen Brothers are going down this path. After couple of decades of some of the most original work seen on the screen, they confessed to being inspired by The Odyssey for O Brother, Where Art Thou?, they adapted Cormac McCarthy's novel for No Country for Old Men, and now they are going as mainstream Hollywood as one can possibly get; they are remaking True Grit.

Scheduled for this Christmas, this is one remake that does not fill me with dread. I've not seen any of the trailers now available online (watching videos on a dial-up connection is an exercise in masochism), but some of the stills I've seen give me a very good feeling about this.

Jeff Bridges steps into John Wayne's role as Reuben J. "Rooster" Cogburn, and looks absolutely perfect for it.

Matt Damon is the Texas Ranger LaBoeuf, and while Damon can make me want to throw things at him when he opens his mouth politically, as an actor he has a lot more going for him than did singer Glen Campbell in the original.

Likewise, I have no problem with Josh Brolin taking over from Jeff Corey as Tom Chaney, the object of the manhunt the story is about.

Who I'll be most curious about is Barry Pepper (the sniper, in Saving Private Ryan, who would cross himself before blowing out the brains of some poor German soldier). He will be essaying the role of the outlaw "Lucky" Ned Pepper, a role that was filled by Robert Duvall in the original.

Now, that will be a challenge on a par with Steven Weber following in Jack Nicholson's footsteps in the TV remake of The Shining. I think Weber did a fine job of meeting that challenge. We'll just have to see how well Barry does.

As of now, the "True Grit" remake is scheduled for Christmas Day, 2010.

December 25th this year occurs on a Saturday. New movies are usually released on a Friday, with an occasional Wednesday or Thursday thrown in. I don't ever recall a Saturday being used before, BUT, this is the Coen Brothers we are talking about. So, anything can be on the plate where they are concerned.

But, WHY does Hollywood depend so much on remakes and sequels? Are they really that devoid of imagination?

I seriously doubt it. I believe some of the most imaginative people on the planet are in that industry, but, you must never forget that there are two words in "show business". Millions (lately hundreds of millions) are at stake in modern movies, and that is a powerful incentive to play it safe by remaking, or making sequels to movies that made money. It doesn't get any simpler than that.

As for sequels; there have been some good ones. But as far as most of them go, consider Robert Rodriguez's violent, over-the-top live action cartoon spoof of late 60's exploitation movies Machete.

As the end credits start, they announce...

Machete will return in

"MACHETE KILLS"

             and

"MACHETE KILLS AGAIN"

Right there, Mr. Rodriguez says it all about most sequels.
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