I'm not a fan of the ultra polished martial arts film, but I really enjoyed Hero. I saw it because I like Jet Li's feline elegance and leading man looks, and figured that the movie itself looks extrodinarily lovely in the previews, so seeing it all on the big screen would be exciting.

The storyline is simple, but the narrative is complex. The main character is nameless and remains largely a cipher, though he is in almost every scene. Never has a movie more deserved being described as telling its story in "broad strokes". See the movie, and understand what I'm talking about.

Posted by Nica @ 10:23 PM PST [Link]

Lately we've been having lots of fun letting Soren flit about the apartment for longer and longer periods of time. Every day he gets a little more aquainted with the place and less shy about exploring. Here he has found a nice cubby-hole in a bookcase.

Posted by Nica @ 12:36 AM PST [Link]

So there's this MMORPG that's not really an MMORPG that is clearly is massively multiplayer, but not really a game, though it has games, and I'm losing my train of though.

Anyway there is this virtual world call Second Life which sounds like a good place if your first life isn't anything to brag about. So I downloaded the software and I've begun using up my one week trial period before they will start charging me for access.

This virtual world has it's own bloggers, economy, shopping malls, scripting language, and I don't know all what. You can buy land, build or buy furniture for your home. You can make or buy new outfits. There are nightclubs, parks, and it's all too much to really describe without sounding insane.

Is Second Life a success? Is it fun? Does it work? I'm not sure. The UI is a little awkward at times, but I'm new at it. While in the orientation, the program crashed a couple times, but once I was in the main part of the world, things ran smoothly. Sometimes the virtual world seems too empty for comfort. There are plenty of interesting things people have built, but at any given time there are large areas with nobody logged in.

If you care, you can download the software and try it out for yourself. I love the concept, and I really hope this experiment works.

Posted by Nica @ 11:43 PM PST [Link]

Soren started to get terribly testy a few weeks ago, picking fights with the hens and inadvertently hurting hatchlings. He was also picking on some of the juveniles, so we put him in a seperate cage...a laundry basket under a large sheet of glass actually.
That doesn't give him much room, so we've been letting him out to fly about the apartment every day for a few minutes to a couple of hours depending on our mood. All in all it has actually bonded Soren and us. We put him in a little bird diaper and he wanders about. Here he is with my husband who is playing Final Fantasy XI with Soren.

Posted by Nica @ 11:39 PM PST [Link]

I hate the Olympics. Yes, it's that simple. I really hate the Olympic Games. I don't like the way the Olympics are used to validate sports. Sumo wrestlers have been trying to make their sport an Olympics sport. Why can't they just be happy being an non Olympic sport? It's not like the Olympics are something that makes a sport good.

People get caught up in the world of modeling and starve themselves. That is stupid because as exciting as the world of glamour is, and as much money as can be made, it's not important. Being a good parent is important. Building safe bridges is important. Paying attention to local politics is important. Education is important...sometimes. The Olympics are just a part of the world of glamour, fun but actually not really important, and sometimes destructive.

For some reason people think the Olympics represents something more than NASCAR or the Miss Universe pageant. It doesn't represent anything more than any competition, and frankly the the fancy shows, nationalism, and huge crowds make me uneasy. It all gives me the same feeling as I get when I watch documentary footage of fascist rallies.

So when I hear about new sport getting into the Olympics, or scandels over doping, or who is getting the most gold medals, I give it about has much concern as I give gossip about Paris Hilton.

Posted by Nica @ 11:45 PM PST [Link]