Thursday, May 29, 2003

 
OOMPA LOOMPA DOOMPADEE DAX MACHINE.
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Tim Burton is reportedly going to direct a remake of Willy Wonka and the Chocoloate Factory! Burton's dark, colorful vision is best demonstrated, I think, by such films as Pee-wee's Big Adventure (1985), Beetlejuice (1988), Batman (1989), Edward Scissorhands (1990), James and the Giant Peach (1996), and Mars Attacks! (1996).

This is The Official Record. 6:38 PM
link to this item: http://www.creamy.com/blog/2003/05/oompa-loompa-doompadee-dax-machine.html


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MEMORIAL DAY WEAKENED.
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I had a great weekend with Pete and Samara. We ate at some of the best restaurants in the city (The Carnegie Deli, Balthazar, Serindipity 3) and saw a few shows (Jesus is Magic, The Mamas and The Papas Musical), and had a few relaxing drinks. A good time was had by all!

This is The Official Record. 6:12 PM
link to this item: http://www.creamy.com/blog/2003/05/memorial-day-weakened.html


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Saturday, May 24, 2003

 
GET IT AT HOME.
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Here's an interesting rundown of the distributed computing projects you can have your computer work on for the betterment of humankind while it is idle. The oldest and best known is seti@home, the search for extra-terrestrial intelligence, which has recently exceeded 1.4 million years in total CPU time.

This is The Official Record. 1:17 AM
link to this item: http://www.creamy.com/blog/2003/05/get-it-at-home.html


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Friday, May 23, 2003

 
PETE AND SAMARA.
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I'm being visited by one of my best friends, Peter B., and his wonderful and pregnant wife, Samara. They got into town yesterday, and they'll be here until Tuesday.

This is The Official Record. 4:51 PM
link to this item: http://www.creamy.com/blog/2003/05/pete-and-samara.html


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Saturday, May 17, 2003

 
MOVIE REVIEW: THE MATRIX RELOADED (2003) * * (2 stars out of 4).
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I loved the first Matrix movie, so I was extremely disappointed by this sequel. It starts off extremely slow, but without clearly explaining the convoluted plot. Then, there are some nifty fight scenes, but which go on too long, and don't come close to the creativity and visual appeal of the first Matrix. And then, the movie ends with a cliffhanger, promising "To Be Concluded."

The Matrix was one of my favorite movies, with a brilliant story, and amazing visual effects. In a way, every fighting movie since then has been a sequel to the Matrix, and its once-stunning visual effects have since been over-used to sell cars and beer. But this new movie is not even as visually interesting as the first. And the fascinating, thoughtful story of part one has been replaced by a trite, boring, over-complicated story.

I haven't seen part 3, of course, but I suspect that parts 2 and 3 could have been made as a great, single movie, instead of in two halves, where at least the first half really drags.

This is The Official Record. 5:35 PM
link to this item: http://www.creamy.com/blog/2003/05/movie-review-matrix-reloaded-2003-2.html


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MOVIE REVIEW: X2: X-MEN UNITED (2003) * * *
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The story is a little thin, but the special effects in X2 are great and beutifully conceived, and worth the price of admission.

This is The Official Record. 5:00 PM
link to this item: http://www.creamy.com/blog/2003/05/movie-review-x2-x-men-united-2003.html


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Saturday, May 10, 2003

 
RESTAURANT REVIEW: JING FONG * * * 1/2 (3 and a half stars out of 4).
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Jing Fong at 20 Elizabeth Street is my new favorite Dim Sum place in New York. The variety is astounding, every single thing is incredibly delicious, and it is very reasonably priced. My only complaint is that it's one of those deals where they stick you at a big round table with a bunch of other people, which I always find very annoying.

This is The Official Record. 1:55 PM
link to this item: http://www.creamy.com/blog/2003/05/restaurant-review-jing-fong-12-3-and.html


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RESTAURANT REVIEW: SERENDIPITY 3 * * * 1/2 (3 and a half stars out of 4).
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Andy M. brought me here two weeks ago, and a week later, I brought my family. The desserts here are fantastic, and reasonably priced considering how huge they are (you have to share). They have regular food here, too, but most people seem to come just for dessert. I find the $5 minimum to be a little annoying though, especially because sometimes someone just wants a cup of coffee or something because they're skippping dessert yet want to be social, and the minimum kind of screws things up.

Their famous Frrrrozen Hot Chocolate is really that good. It's huge though, at least a quart. And the ice-cream and all the toppings are so, so good.

This is The Official Record. 1:49 PM
link to this item: http://www.creamy.com/blog/2003/05/restaurant-review-serendipity-3-12-3.html


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MOVIE REVIEW: OWNING MAHOWNY (2003) * * * (3 stars out of 4).
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Owning Mahowny, starring Philip Seymour Hoffman was a little slow, but it was very compelling. It was about a bank manager who cleverly steals money from his bank to finance his gambling addiction. It really captured how compelling gambling can be. A big theme of the movie is the contrast between the huge fortunes of money that he's willing to spend on gambling, with how cheap he is in his regular life. It reminded me a lot of my own father, who might make or lose a hundred thousand dollars or more in a single day in the stock market without demonstrating any emotion, but is very excited to save five dollars on his lunch.

This is The Official Record. 1:40 PM
link to this item: http://www.creamy.com/blog/2003/05/movie-review-owning-mahowny-2003-3.html


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THEATER REVIEW: BILL MAHER, VICTORY BEGINS AT HOME (2003) * * * 1/2 (3 and a half stars out of 4).
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I found this show to be much, much funnier than his TV show. My favorite joke from the show was this: You know who I really feel sorry for? Whores. Because, if you're a whore, what do you wear now so that people will know that you're a prostitute?

At the end, he asked people to come up and asked him questions. So, I got up and pointed out that a guest on his show once misspoke, and nobody caught it, saying of France that "If it weren't for us, they'd all be speaking French," which I thought was funny because it had a lot of truth to it, so I asked Maher, why does he think that the people who are so critical of France for being ungrateful for our participation in World War II, are always so quick to forget that if it weren't for the French, we'd all still be British Subjects. It was basically a paraphrasing of my April 18 blog entry on this. Maher responded that he agreed with my criticism, but added that France helped us because it was in their interest to hurt England, and we helped them in World War II because it was in our interests, so the whole issue of gratitude is irrelevant.

This is The Official Record. 1:27 PM
link to this item: http://www.creamy.com/blog/2003/05/theater-review-bill-maher-victory.html


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LAST WEEKEND.
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May parent's and my brother and my prospective sister-in-law all stayed with me last weekend. Here's what we did.

On Thursday, we went to a great Indian restaurant that I forget the name of. Then we went to Dylan's Candy Bar, which is an incredible two story candy store with unbelievable selections of every kind of candy you can imagine. It's on the corner of third and sixtieth. We didn't buy anything, because we were saving our appetites for Serendipity 3, a great ice-cream place around the corner at 225 E. 60th.

Friday was my birthday. As I wrote in my last blog entry, too long ago, I went to the Statue of Liberty, the South Street Seaport, Bill Maher's new one-man Broadway show, and the Carnegie Deli.

Saturday, we had Dim Sum in Chinatown at Jing Fong, at 20 Elizabeth Street, which was excellent. Then we walked around Chinatown all afternoon. We went to dinner at The Original Vincent's in little Italy at 119 Mott. And we saw the new Philip Seymour Hoffman movie, Owning Mahowny, which I enjoyed.

Sunday, we went to a birthday party for Sabrina and Nicholas, the twin children of my cousin Michael and his wife Stephanie. Sunday night we saw the 500th ASSSSCAT at the brand new Upright Citizen's Brigade theater.

Monday, we went on a guided tour of the United Nations, and went to my Cousin Barry's house for dinner with him and his pregnant wife Sara and their children, Shayna, Mira, and Josh.

Tuesday, we had lunch in Chinatown at Big Wong, and my family went back to Florida.

This is The Official Record. 1:14 PM
link to this item: http://www.creamy.com/blog/2003/05/last-weekend.html


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Saturday, May 03, 2003

 
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!
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My birthday was Friday, May 2. I am now 32 years old.

My parents, brother, and sister-in-law-to-be are in town staying with me, visiting for my birthday. We went to the statue of Liberty (which I'd never been to before) and the South Street Sea Port. We saw Bill Maher's new one-man Broadway show "Victory Begins at Home," which was great! Then we had dinner at my favorite restaurant in the world, The Carnegie Deli, where I indulged in a quarter of a corned beef sandwich, which is like a full sized sandwich anywhere else, and we all shared a slice of cheese cake.

This is The Official Record. 1:33 AM
link to this item: http://www.creamy.com/blog/2003/05/happy-birthday-to-me.html


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Thursday, May 01, 2003

 
ENTERPRISING.
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Last night's episode of Enterprise (the new UPN prequel to the Star Trek series) was, by far, the best yet. It had an intelligent, layered, thought-provoking story, raising questions that have no easy answers, and finishing with a powerful ending. Just as importantly, it elegantly addressed my three biggest complaints about the show: that Captain Archer is too wishy-washy, that Trip is too self-absorbed and impulsive, and that the show is not colorful enough, visually.

The episode, "Cogenitor," will be rebroadcast Sunday at 7PM, at least in New York City. If you've been meaning to check out the show, or if you'd given up on it, then I recommend checking out this particular episode.

This is The Official Record. 3:37 PM
link to this item: http://www.creamy.com/blog/2003/05/enterprising.html


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