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Diary
By ucblockhead (Mon Oct 13, 2008 at 08:05:28 PM EST) (all tags)
I'm off work, so you get this.


Fill your bowl to the brim
and it will spill.
Keep sharpening your knife
and it will blunt.
Chase after money and security
and your heart will never unclench.
Care about people's approval
and you will be their prisoner.

Do your work, then step back.
The only path to serenity.


My wife and I say Burn After Reading.  This is their "spy thriller", involving the CIA and...uh...others.  I'm a fan of the Coen brothers, but this was a bit of a misfire.  It was brilliant in parts, but overall quite uneven.  The acting was brilliant, but the story just didn't ever fire.  I'd accuse it of being random and confusing, but that was really the point.  Also, I'm not a fan of deadly violence for laughs, especially when the victims are not entirely deserving.  I loved the reactions of the CIA officer in charge.

Also, unlike "The Big Lebowski" or even "Hudsucker Proxy", there isn't really anyone to root for.  Everyone's either an idiot or an asshole, and the idiots are venal idiots, as opposed to Tim Robbins' wise fool in "Hudsucker Proxy".



We went to the SF Academy of Science.  Review: cool except for all the fucking people.  If it had been the wife and I, we'd have run screaming, but we promised the kid...  An hour or two I was fit to kill.  Hopefully in a few months the crowds will die down to the point where it is sane.


Huh.  I thought I had more to post.
< I have a speech | Jon Stewart is shouting on the telly >
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reflections by aphrael (2.00 / 0) #1 Mon Oct 13, 2008 at 10:16:30 PM EST
Fill your bowl to the brim
and it will spill.
Keep sharpening your knife
and it will blunt.
Chase after money and security
and your heart will never unclench.
Care about people's approval
and you will be their prisoner.

I've experienced two of those.

I've no wish to experience the other two.

If television is a babysitter, the internet is a drunk librarian who won't shut up.


Me too by ucblockhead (2.00 / 0) #2 Mon Oct 13, 2008 at 11:44:38 PM EST
Now I remember to pay attention when serving the soup.
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ウセーバラケダ
[ Parent ]

The moral message... by codemonkey uk (2.00 / 0) #4 Tue Oct 14, 2008 at 05:28:55 AM EST
Is unclear.

Is it staying, don't try... or don't try too hard... or just, don't take it to heart if you fail.

?

--- Thad ---
developer of ... ?
[ Parent ]

The message by ucblockhead (2.00 / 0) #7 Tue Oct 14, 2008 at 11:30:41 AM EST
You can easily screw things up by trying too hard.     Moderation in all things.  This is an idea that runs all through Taoism, that you are often both better able to accomplish things and better able to deal with failure if you can pull back emotionally from the task at hand.

So it is really kind of both things.  That's the first four lines, at least.

The last four are all about how striving for money/fame chains you to money/fame.
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ウセーバラケダ
[ Parent ]

burn after reading by MillMan (2.00 / 0) #3 Tue Oct 14, 2008 at 01:51:04 AM EST
I had similar thoughts, although I think I enjoyed it a bit more than you. I liked how the whole movie wasn't set up for anything other than the CIA officer's reaction at the end. I'm also biased because I'd like Tilda Swinton to slap me around a bit.

"Just as there are no atheists in foxholes, there are no libertarians in financial crises." -Krugman


she should lay off using clorox as base by cam (2.00 / 0) #5 Tue Oct 14, 2008 at 10:03:29 AM EST
Her fair, fair skin is beautiful. by muchagecko (2.00 / 0) #10 Wed Oct 15, 2008 at 02:23:56 AM EST
She probably just uses the clorox on her elbows.


A purpose gives you a reason to wake up every morning.
So a purpose is like a box of powdered donut holes?
Exactly
My Name is Earl

[ Parent ]

I liked it by ucblockhead (2.00 / 0) #6 Tue Oct 14, 2008 at 11:14:05 AM EST
Perhaps this sounds more negative than I intended.  The movie is flawed, but I enjoyed watching it.  (And I agree completely about the ending.)

If nothing else, it was just fun watching cloony play the self-important stupid jerk.
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ウセーバラケダ
[ Parent ]

also by MillMan (2.00 / 0) #8 Tue Oct 14, 2008 at 03:58:39 PM EST
the only performance that wasn't top notch was Brad Pitt. In his defense it takes serious acting skill to play that character without actually being a buffoon.

"Just as there are no atheists in foxholes, there are no libertarians in financial crises." -Krugman
[ Parent ]

I disagree by ucblockhead (4.00 / 1) #9 Tue Oct 14, 2008 at 04:10:30 PM EST
I thought his "blithering idiot trying to be sneaky" scene in the car with Malkovich was a complete riot.
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ウセーバラケダ
[ Parent ]

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