I went last evening to see the new Spielberg/DreamWorks release, Catch Me If You Can. I must say, it has been a long time since a movie impressed me as much as this one did. I was also very surprised to learn, and even more so as the movie progressed, that the events were based upon the true-life story of Frank Abagnale Jr., the main character as played by a surprisingly good Leonardo DiCaprio. He is being chased by the FBI's lead check fraud agent Carl Hanratty (an interestingly accented Tom Hanks) throughout the 1960's. Favourite Christopher Walken plays Frank Abagnale, Sr., and actually has a fair share of dialogue as a non-psychologically disturbed person, a welcomed change from the seemingly semi-regular fare of the seasoned actor.

I was impressed from the word go. The opening title sequence, a series of well-done animations depicting and foreshadowing the chase of the movie, is done in true late 1950 to 1960's styling, even down to the fonts used. Of particular amusement was the use of the font from era LP albums indicating the recording was in "stereo." That font is one of my personal favourites and found a good life-after-death in the title sequence.

The rest of the style of the movie, the shots and transitions used, the focused and very thought-out, but not distracting lighting all really combined considerably with a humorously written screenplay to play out a very entertaining two hours, twenty minutes of film. It was also very nice to hear a good John Williams score that fit the panache of the movie and did not sound like every other score he has produced.

I stopped on my way home at Steak 'n Shake to meet a friend (Rick) and have my meal for the day (at 0320, mind you). After eating and chatting for a bit, Rick and I retired to our vehicles and began the short ride home. As we approach the Interstate 4 interchange, a local city cop pulled in front of us and began driving rather slowly. Knowing I currently had a burnt-out driver's side headlamp, Rick pulled in front of me to block the view of my car from the officer. Well, because the cop kept slowing down more and more, I decided to pull around Rick to his right, effectively placing Rick's vehicle between the cop and myself. It did not work; the cop slowed and pulled in right behind me.

*Ring*

I answer Rick's call with, "Yup, anytime now! He's running my tag as we speak!" Just about the time I finished saying that, on come the lights. Rick and I arrange a meeting place for after this fun and I pull over into a shopping centre.

The typical exchange happens and the officer very politely points out my headlamp issue to which I reply I knew it was broken and speculated it happened that day (I was actually aware and simply lazy about changing it since Thursday, but he did not need to know that). He asked for my driver's license, insurance card and registration. The first two were an easy find, tucked in my wallet. But I had a little more trouble with the registration.

Recently changed from a long, yellow form to a little white card that blends very nicely with all the other junk I have managed to collect in my glove box and centre console, the registration form is damn hard to locate. He retreats to his squad car to run my driver's license and tells me to stick the registration out the window when I find it. Well, he comes back to my car and I still have not found it. I joke with him about how the new ones are hard to find and he says, "Well, you know, I am just going to take your word on the fact you have it. Take care of the headlight and have a safe morning."

Today's To Do List:

• Mow Lawn
• Clean Bathroom
• Replace Headlamps
• Locate God Damn Registration Card

Quentin Tarantino's new film Kill Bill, promoted by studio Miramax as "The 4th film by Quentin Tarantino," has released a teaser trailer that is available to download from who else but Apple. There is also an official Flash-only website for the film that does not contain much content at this time.

I cannot say that the teaser really got me excited about the film, but I have to give Quentin Tarantino some leeway since he is Quentin Tarantino and has yet to lead me up the garden path.

As much as I generally steer away from such materials, Jean-François Allaire has a (non-spoiler) script review posted at TNMC that rekindles my interest a bit. My only fear is that this homage to traditional Kung-Fu will be all too reminiscent of the recent trendy Asian-themed film, which not to say I do not enjoy, but does not really meld with the Tarantino style as far as I am concerned. Again, I wait for him to prove me wrong. As it stands, a piece of alleged trivia listed in the IMDb page for the movie indicates Tarantino "forbade the use of digital effects and 'professional' gags and squibs" for a more tralatitious look and feel. That at least improves my confidence in the film.

Currently the only release date indicated is Fall 2003, so we will have to wait a bit before we have the opportunity to see if this film can prove itself worthy of the tradition and legacy already established. And I will give it that chance, even sans the guns and drugs we look to expect from arguably one of the finest and most influential directors of film in the 90's.

I just want to take a moment to thank everyone who has been visiting the site and participating in the Forum over the past year and some. It is because things around here have been gaining popularity I decided to give the site the face-lift it needed.

And that is what you see now. This area will act in a blog or journal capacity, featuring my writing on whatever is on my mind. Forum members and non-members alike may comment on posts here (simultaneously fed from the "One Last Breath" section in the Forum).

The right column of content windows are home to the main menu ("Welcome"), a list of active Forum threads ("Forum"), information on a product I am currently enjoying ("Fixation"), links to other sites I enjoy ("Exit Piazza"), a section for site donations and the requisite wish list ("Benefaction") and finally, a miscellaneous afterthought containing page translations and a word of the day ("Salmagundi").

I have spent a fair amount of time making sure all the newly written code and graphics are working and looking as they should. Of course, sometimes things get overlooked, so please drop me a line at david @ mountsutro.org should you see anything out of order.

Thank you again to everyone who visits and Happy New Year!

I am really sick and tired of retailers pulling items from their shelves because of customer feedback on the item. Now, mind you, I am not referring to recalls or defective products being removed from commercial circulation. Just items, such as the following, which "caused some customers concern."

Barbie's pregnant pal pulled from shelves

I saw a programme last week on television about toys being sold this years whose suitability for children was questionable. I am god damn tired of consumer watch groups telling me what is suitable or not for my children.

Now, while I may agree with some of the recommendations they make, why take that decision away from the parent. When a parent goes into a retail store, they are not blinded by the product. They can clearly see what their child has requested and then decide for themselves whether they feel it is a suitable product for their children.

Some of the toys mentioned in the show were WWE action figures with rather large breasts, an Austin Powers action figure with a defined crotch, a lingerie Barbie and an action figure play-set depicting a bombed-out house. The toy manufactures were quick to point out the collectible nature of certain products. The watch group quipped back immediately on how the products are labeled "for ages * and up" and how they disagreed with those assessments.

A television programme, motion picture or video game may not be apparently overt on what content it will feature, therefore a rating system there is at least partially understandable. But do you need the box to tell you, a parent, whether "Hooker Barbie" is suitable for your three-year old or not?

Inspired from the non-bomb scare, I decided that when I never finally get a little musical group together (even if for one fucking evening), I would like to be called "The Industrial Magnets."

I got a fur up my ass tonight and made the following, basically a CD album cover for the non-existent band. Let me know what you think (keeping mindful it is a scaled-down version of the original 700k Photoshop file).

[ view image ]