Elysium

I thought I was tired of the blockbuster summer movie busts, but here I am, anticipating yet another one. Basically it’s because this new one has two of my favorite actors in it.

Jodie Foster and Matt Damon are being billed as the stars of the movie Elysium¹. Both are known for choosing movies with interesting subject matter, so this looks promising.

Neill Blomkamp, the director of District 9² is also directing this film. Apparently Elysium will explore more of the same types of themes. This time dealing with issues such as immigration, health care and class issues. Seems pretty timely.

Check out the previews. (When I viewed these, there must have been a large number of people at the server because there was a lot of  stutter.  Hopefully  Sony Pictures will correct this soon.)

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1. Scheduled for release 9 Aug 2013. ↩
2. From Wikipedia: The story, adapted from Alive in Joburg, a 2005 short film directed by Blomkamp and produced by Sharlto Copley and Simon Hansen, pivots on the motifs of humanity, xenophobia and social segregation. The title and premise of District 9 were inspired by events that took place in District Six, Cape Town during the apartheid era. ↩

App iOS Store Sales

According to Sharif Sakr at Engadget today:

Here’s a little treat on a Monday morning. A number of premium iOS apps and games have been discounted to nothing over at the App Store, including the charming and mildly addictive Tiny Wings (and Tiny Wings HD for iPad), Traktor DJ (normally $20), Superbrothers: Sword and Sorcery EP, as well as Infinity Blade II (usually $7).

via News360

Whispers gone

My blog called Whispers has died. It crashed and so far, I have not been able to revive it. I’ll keep trying for a while but I’ll have to accept its demise.

Meanwhile some of my more personal musings can be found on G+.

Taxes for fun and profit

chart by Gabe courtesy of MoveOn.org

Well, it’s tax day again and I just thought I’d remind those of us who are retired and working, that  while we are  counting our pennies and deductions before the dreaded deadline, there are entities of our society that would like to be treated as though human but not suffering any of the duties of taxes.

A few weeks ago, Senator Bernie Sanders released a list of the ten worst companies for paying their taxes.  You sorta knew that Exxon Mobil would be there as number one, but check out some of the other names.

John’s Blog

John at work

My friend John has started a really cool blog on fashion. Not your usual “she looked terrible in that dress,” but actually historic critiques of what fashion is.  You can visit his site here.

Goodbye Winter

I am so glad that winter is on the way out. It has been really wearing me out.

Buying prescription glasses online

Now that I am on a fixed income since my retirement, I have started looking for ways to cut back on expenses. So when I noticed how scratched my glasses were, I figured I’d get a new pair, before the inevitable headaches began.

I considered the possibility of  just using the same frames and getting new lenses and using a local eyeglass store, but having all the options I wanted was still going to cost me a a pretty penny.  Besides, I wanted a more up to date style frame.

My ophthalmologist* said my prescription hadn’t changed, and he gave me a prescription to get filled.  One thing I found out, is that if you’re going to order online, you need to know you PD or pupillary distance. Usually the optometrist at the store measures for this, but your doctor can do it just as well… it might even be in your file already!

*(Before retiring, my occupation was/[is?] as a photographer and photo editor. I never take chances with my eyes. I have them examined by my eye doctor yearly.)

I did a great deal of research before placing an order, and I found I could get two pair of glasses for less that the price of one, if I was willing to do the footwork.  In the past, getting glasses with all the options like thin lenses, scratch resistent, anti-glare etc., cost close to or over $500 at a local national chain.

There are one or two things I might have done differently, but I’m totally happy with the glasses I got, and will stay with online purchasing now that I know what I’m doing.  The first thing you’ll need to do, is

Shutter Island

I went to see Shutter Island today. It was a pretty good movie, but I knew what was going to happen before it started! It was something I just expected.

What made it good anyway, was that I still got surprised by the ending. It has a twist that I wasn’t expecting. If you have a chance, go see it.

Leonardo DiCaprio is fantastic! And great direction by Scorsese.

Avatar

I’m really looking forward to seeing Avatar. I’ve been looking forward to it since at least August of this year. I was hoping that I would see it on Saturday but now it looks like Tuesday.

I also wanted to see Surrogates but I think I’m going to have to wait until it comes out on DVD.

Joe Wilson and the fringe right

It is understandable that he chose – or as some suggested, was told – to bellow “You lie!” when the President was explaining for the umpteenth time that undocumented immigrants would not be covered under health care legislation. After all, Wilson’s extreme anti-immigrant positions are well known.

Albor Ruiz hits the nail on the head in his column in today’s Daily News. He cuts right through the crap and hits right to the main belief system of the GOP extreme right wing (or is it their middle ground?).

Much of what they have to say, is based in racism and hatred.  Maybe one day, the Conservatives will take over from the hatriots.