Category Uncategorized

Jul 9 1998

News for 7/9/98

Welcome to “Geocities”! I lost my
cable modem connection to the internet and had to
find someone to host my website. Geocities fit the
bill perfectly.

I also have my own domain now:

Review: [[Beauty and the Beast]]

Review: “Beauty and the Beast (Stage)”

Review: [[Mulan]]

Review: [[The X Files]]

Jul 8 1998

Beauty and the Beast

Disney’s near perfect adaptation of the classic fairy tale

I remember when I first saw this movie. I came out of the theatre thinking
to myself “That was pretty good, but I think I liked Little Mermaid
better.” Then I saw the movie again, and it grew on me. And then I saw it
again and it grew some more (if you haven’t figured it out yet, I have 2
daughters that just have to watch that movie over and over again :-).

##So what’s in there for adults anyway?

The more I saw this movie, the more I was amazed at how much the folks at
Disney paid attention to incredibly minute details.

Let’s start at the beginning. In the opening musical number where Belle
goes to the bookshop to get her favorite book, sits down and explains to a
sheep why it’s her favorite, she describes the story and the fact that the
girl meets prince charming in chapter 1, but doesn’t know it’s him until
chapter 3. This is in fact a description of the story that we’re about to
see unfold on the screen. Chapter 1 is the opening act, and chapter 3 the
closing act where the true nature of the beast is revealed. Also, pay close
attention to the melody line Belle sings at this point, because its the
same melody (with different lyrics) she sings later in the movie when she
starts to fall in love with the Beast.

There’s also the little subtleties that the animators put into the
characters to bring them to life without you even noticing. For instance,
how many times does Belle brush the hair out of her eyes? This little
gesture makes her more real (we all have little quirks in our behaviour).

Jun 27 1998

The X Files

Mulder and Sculley head all over the world to try and break a global conspiracy.

##The Truth Is… Somewhere

I’ve been a fan of The X Files almost since the beginning. I love
the way the show is written to keep you on the edge of your seat while
never quite answering anything. How many times are Fox and Dana going to
touch the truth but not quite grasp the whole truth before they give up on
the whole thing?

##The Story So Far

The X Files television show ended last season by shutting down
Mulder’s and Sculley’s investigations into the unknown.

The movie opens up with Mulder and Sculley reassigned to an antiterrorism
unit that’s investigating a bomb threat in Texas.

##Enter: The Paranoid OBGYN

Jun 18 1998

A Note to a Friend

Sometimes friendship is hard

Recently I had to do something unconscienable: I had to shit
on a friend.

Let’s back up a bit and fill in the story. About a year and a half ago I
relocate my family across the country to somewhere in New England (I just
feel weird giving out more info than that). We really liked it here and
decided to stay. A couple of months after we came here I met someone who
would later become my best friend. Now, hold onto your hats. This person
is a *she”! I’m a ”he*. How could we possibly be friends and not
be having an affair?

Well the answer is short and sweet: grow up!

##The Chicken and the Egg

I’ve never been one to make **good** friends easily. Maybe it’s a
shield I have put up around myself to help me deal with a deep seeded
sense of inferiority (which I do have, but we won’t get into that now). I
have to know someone very well before I’ll open up to them, and it’s hard
to get to know someone well if you don’t open up. So this all adds up to
the fact that I haven’t had many close friends in my life. Since my late
teens (now I’m in my 30’s), there’s only been 5 (including my wife).

Now here’s the shocker: 4 of those 5 have been women and only one involved
sex (that would be my wife ;-). I can’t explain why, but for some reason I
identify more with and find it easier to open up to women. Don’t get me
wrong with that statement. I’m neither gay, nor do I dislike going to grab
a beer with some guys from work and watch hockey players tear each other
apart. I like *guy* things, but I also like art and Shakespeare and
poetry. I like high fives, but I also like long involved heartfelt
conversations. I like martial arts but I also like a good “Firing Line”
debate. For some reason, I’ve found it easier to connect with women on
more of these things than with men (i.e. women seem to be able to cross
that stupid gender line easier. Probably because they’re smarter and they
know it 🙂

After that last paragraph, I realize I need to include a note for the more
PC people who might be reading this article: lighten up!!!

##Back to our story

So, in any case, over the course if a year and a half or so, I became close
friends with this woman. Our families did things together. I got along
with and liked her husband and their kids. Our kids got along well (they
have a daughter that’s 9 years old and I have two daughters at 6 and 4).
In short, everthing was in the open because I didn’t want anyone feeling
uncomfortable with us being friends (and neither did she).

But my wife was uncomfortable.

I won’t go into details here, but something ugly happened (keep your mind
out of the gutter, it was nothing sexual!!!), and the unfortunate victim
was my friendship.