With the tightening of the belt, I don’t get to go out and rent whatever strikes my fancy. We have to PLAN for movie rentals, and borrow things from friends and neighbors where possible. The best rental option is renting things at the local Albertson’s grocery, where new releases are only 99 cents Monday through Thursday, but you only get them for the night. That’s fine — I only need one night to see most stuff.

So… the list. Keep in mind that this is more for ME than for you (whoever YOU happen to be), but I thought I’d share it so you can study the silhoutte my tastes cast in this particular light:

1: Troy
2: Shawn of the Dead
3: Monk Season 2
4: Resident Evil: Apocalypse
5: CSI: Miami Season 1
6: CSI: Miami Season 2
7: King Arthur
8: Catwoman (because Sandra may want to see it… I’ve already seen it once)
9: Without a Paddle

Let’s see… Death features prominently in at least seven of the nine… and it’s the FIRST seven. The Undead feature prominently in #s 2, 4, and 8 (hmmm… powers of two? Coincidence.) (Yes, Catwoman qualifies as “undead,” what with her having been killed and brought back. So does Elektra, or so I hear.) Forensic science is featured in four of the titles (3, 5, 6, and 8), though we won’t argue here about either its accuracy or its believability. Hotties feature in 1, 4, 7, and 8, but be aware that I distinguish between “hot” and “attractive” in such a way that I can admit to being both turned on AND creeped out by Angelina Jolie (#1), Milla Jojovich (#4), and Halle Berry (#8). Crazy people can be found in all of them, I think. I mean, I can’t say for sure about King Arthur, but just based on the trailers I’m confident that mental illness of some sort is a plot point everywhere else.

Car chases? Dunno. Probably at least four of them. Sword fighting? At least two. Explosions? I have no idea, but the smart money is on “all of the above.”

Oscar nominations? Not a one of them, I suspect. And that’s just the way I like it.

–Howard

What a fascinating juxtaposition. Yesterday CNN and others reported that the French foreign minister has called for “a new trans-Atlantic relationship” between the United States and its European allies. And yesterday evening I watched Godzilla (the 1998 remake with Matthew Broderick), and lo and behold, a FRENCHMAN is a key military hero.

If only the French were all as cool as Jean Reno. His cronies all got eaten, mostly because they panicked or froze up when confronted by 9-foot-long Mini-Godzillas, but Jean Reno’s character “Phillippe,” HE was cool. He saved the day. Admittedly, he had the help of the U.S. Military, which made the movie believable, but he also had the help of Matthew Broderick, which made the movie ridiculous.

(ASIDE: At one point Matthew Broderick turns to Jean Reno and says “Phillippe.” I turned to my wife and said “I see you brought your crossbow.” Ladyhawke fans may now giggle. She certainly did.)

France and the US certainly have some kissing-and-making-up to do if they want to accomplish anything meaningful together. I think that Americans are more likely to accept the French as allies if we can be convinced that they’re all cool, heroic types like Jean Reno. I prescribe a month of Americans Rent Godzilla, during which we can laugh as Jean Reno complains about our coffee, grin as he does Elvis impressions to get through military checkpoints, and stand up and cheer as he rappels from a press-box using a spool of audio cable.

–Howard

On non-leap-years, the date/day relationship in February is identical to the date/day relationship in March, excepting the last three days, obviously. The first Monday in February this year is the 7th, and so is the first Monday in March.

Useful!

–Howard

In ripping some of my classical music, I’ve re-discovered a simple principle of sound recording: if you want the quiet bits to sound quiet, make ’em LOUDER.

This is exemplified in a comparison of my two “O Fortuna” recordings. The one I first purchased back in 1994 is a standard classical recording in which the engineers try to faithfully capture the exact sounds of the orchestra and chorus. It’s disappointing because after the powerful opening chorus the levels drop to where you have to turn the volume up to hear what comes next. Then you blow out your speakers when the punchy bits come back.

The second is one I bought on iTunes, and it’s the “OperaBabes” recording. It’s classical music with Pop/Rock production sense applied. The opening is like a thunderclap, but when the ladies and chorus back off to hushed tones, you as the listener get yanked all the way onto the stage so you can hear them. In short, while the overal levels, as measured in decibels, stay within a much smaller range than they do in the first recording (up towards the TOP of the 90dB range of a CD), it SOUNDS like there’s more dynamic range. This is because you can HEAR the whispers.

There are obviously multiple schools of thought on audio engineering. Some audiophiles will tell you that the first method (leave the levels alone, and use the ENTIRE 90dB range of the CD format if the music has that kind of range in it) is better, because it’s somehow “purer.” Me, I’m about accessibility. Audio recordings are an illusion to begin with. A good audio engineer is a master illusionist, and will convince me, when I close my eyes, that I’m right there.

–Howard