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2011.03.02
"Anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that 'my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.'" - Isaac Asimov
2010.09.17
Back home after a whirlwind week-long trip to Switzerland and Germany. Why there? U2 shows, naturally. Two shows in Zurich, and one in Munich. Had a great time drinking good local beer, eating far too many wursts of various kinds, and enjoying the cool weather. Zurich is certainly an interesting city - such long history in the architecture contrasted with new money in the various exotic cars and specialty shops. People were very friendly, and the two concerts in the Letzigrund Stadion were some of the most dynamic I've seen - both from the crowd and the band. Second night was particularly interesting with a complete downpour the whole time. Monday it was on to Munich, where the beer flows like wine. Tuesday flew up to Leipzig for a visit to the Porsche factory, complete with a ride in a 911 GT3 on their test track piloted by Günter, a professional race driver. I had no idea the 911 was capable of what he made the car do, especially given the rainy track (lots of drifting). Wednesday night's U2 show was huge, as the Olympic Stadium holds 80,000+. The band seemed a bit more restrained, but still played a couple new songs (North Star, Mercy). All in all, a lot was packed into a week, and it's good to be back to a more normal pace - but I must admit I do somewhat miss the Euroland city living.
2010.08.09
U2 360 started up again for 2010! First show was Torino, Italy on AUgust 6th. The bootleg was out that night, and big props to Romeo on an excellent audience recording. New songs include North Star, and Glastonbury. Ultraviolet was dropped in favor of Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me, which is a great song but doesn't quite live up to the Ultraviolet vibe.
[www.u2.com]
2010.07.10
Saw Predators last night. I thought it was done well overall for a summer action flick, but I'm such a fan of the original Predator that it's pretty near impossible for anything to come close. I thought the acting was great in spite of the script, and the only major thing that really bothered me was the fact that too much was revealed of the Predators too early. The best part (IMHO) of the original 1987 film is how you don't really even see the creature until the last act, and even then not much. Jaws showed that not seeing the creature actually makes for a scarier film. I wish they had hidden more of the creatures in this film and had more use of their invisibility and stealth until the very end. Also, in a more minor sci-fi-creature-geek, my big complaints with the Aliens vs. Predator films (besides the obvious story and character deficiencies) were they made the Predators too big and clunky. The original Predator was lean and mean, and used the trees and he hunted. We need a more graceful Predator for it to be truly scary. I wanted more acrobatics and skill from the "super" predators, not just standing there howling. Overall, well done, Adrien Brody was surprisingly good in this role, and the ten minutes we got of Laurence Fishburn's character were fantastic. [www.predators-movie.com]
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