Quantum Forest

In these times full of ‘issues’ we need the correct approach to deal with them.

Flight of the Conchords playing ‘Issues (think of it)’.

I am not sure what I would have thought under other circumstances, but in my current mood Garden State (IMDB, Rotten Tomatoes) was a perfect match. Looking for understanding, trying to make sense of it all and then comes this quote:

- Large: You know that point in your life when you realize that the house that you grew up in isn’t really your home anymore? All of the sudden even though you have some place where you can put your stuff that idea of home is gone.
- Sam: I still feel at home in my house.
- Large: You’ll see when you move out it just sort of happens one day one day and it’s just gone. And you can never get it back. It’s like you get homesick for a place that doesn’t exist. I mean it’s like this rite of passage, you know. You won’t have this feeling again until you create a new idea of home for yourself, you know, for your kids, for the family you start, it’s like a cycle or something. I miss the idea of it. Maybe that’s all family really is. A group of people who miss the same imaginary place. [emphasis mine]

Breaking old ties, making new ties. Some times the script tries too hard to be intelligent and the editing goes too fast for my taste. However, when one sees the whole story, it touches the essence of my search.

Some years ago I went to this ‘art cinema’ with a friend to watch ‘Fanny och Alexander’ (Fanny and Alexander), a film by Swedish director Ingmar Bergman. We were patiently waiting in the queue to buy tickets when this couple or über-intellectual looking guys (UILG) came from the previous showing:

— Bergman is dropping the ball, I can’t believe it!, said UILG 1.
— Yes, how could he do such a simplistic movie…, replied UILG 2.

Gosh, they were talking about Bergman — one of the most painfully intellectual directors in the planet — as if he were some sort of Silvester Stallone making utterly simple movies. They were talking about one of the most boring movies I have seen in my life (it won four Oscars, which says a lot about my taste or about the Oscars). Actually I was able to stand only half an hour and left (having paid for a ticket), for the first time in my life. Simplistic movie… Who were they trying to impress? Then I was thinking, do I act sometimes like this couple of jerks? Answers: each other and yes, some times I behaved like them.

Whenever I start acting like the stereotypical arrogant UILG I remind myself of this movie. There is no point on trying to pass as extremely smart because I can stand more boredom than you can. The smart thing to do is build bridges towards people rather than burn them; to make complexity meaningful rather than a sign of superiority.

Four Oscars, what were they thinking?

P.D. 2007–07–31. I heard the news that Bergman just died. What a coincidence!

After our 1998 expedition to India, we gained a bit more appreciation of Indian food. Hobart has four or five Indian restaurants, with Annapurna being probably the best one. Anyway, we have not had Indian food for a while and we decided to order this time from that Tandoor and Curry House (101 Harrington Street, Hobart). The food used to be very good and this time we ordered simple and mild dishes: Lamb Korma and Palaak Paneer. However, it seems that they have changed chef or something like that; the food was pretty ordinary, the Palaak Paneer quite spicy and we both got heartburn. Not recommended anymore.

And the movies

Last weekend was—as any weekend—horrible on terms of TV programs, so after putting Orlando in bed we just started watching our copy of the twentieth anniversary edition of E.T. the extraterrestrial Twenty three year later the movie is still magical for me and, embarrasingly, I still get emotional when E.T. say goodbye.

On Sunday I decided to watch The girl in the café, which was broadcasted by ABC. The previews of the movie promised something a bit different and funny: it starts with a socially disfunctional public servant (Bill Nighy—for some obscure reason I have a weak spot for him) meeting a mysterious low-key girl (Kelly Macdonald) in a café, with the background of G8 summit negotiations. Unfortunately, as time passes the movie becomes a propaganda medium and very incredible. The movie promised much more than it delivered.

This reminded me of some (relatively recent) movies that I had really enjoyed, in no particular order:

• American splendor: a mix of fiction and reality portraiting the life of comic book author Harvey Pekar. Paul Giamatti does a superb job as Harvey. Movie web site, Rotten tomatoes reviews and Amazon link.
• Sideways (link to IMDB): another movie with Paul Giamatti, this time working with Thomas Haden Church. A drama with comedy overtones, or a comedy with drama touches. Movie web site, Rotten tomatoes reviews and Amazon link
• Being John Malkovich: interesting, funny, weird. A real treat. Rotten tomatoes reviews and Amazon link.
• Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind: I find Jim Carrey really boring as a comedian, but I think he does a great job as a ‘serious’ actor. A very intense movie about the value of our memories and of each part of our lives, even the most painful ones. Would you erase parts of your life because they were too painful to remember? Movie web site, Rotten tomatoes reviews and Amazon link.
• The Royal Tenenbaums: A very funny and carefully made movie. The cast is great and really matches the characters. Incidentally, the use of Futura font across the movie is excellent. Movie web site, Rotten tomatoes reviews and Amazon link.

I should probably prepare a list of older movies that I still like (coming one day, maybe soon).

Working with Tim and quote

We have almost finished adding content to Tim’s web site, including a PDF version of his book. We have implemented the whole site using Textpattern. Yes, this is a shameless plug to get Tim’s site indexed by search engines.

Finally, the quote of the week:

Rehab is for quitters—Unknown.