Inside Temp

At what temperature do you set your thermostat on winter nights? We typically like it around 65-67 degrees, but I know people who set as low as 62 and as high as 78 degrees.

Chanchow Goes Back to Basics #1: The Shining (1980)

I figured I should go way out of my comfort zone for my first movie review of the year, and The Shining seemed to fill that order (The Exorcist would have been better-- as I'm told it's much scarier-- but that movie wasn't available at the library yesterday). I'd seen snippets of The Shining, but never the whole thing.

The opening shots of Nicholson's character, Jack Torrance, driving the winding, snowy, mountainous road up to the Overlook Hotel are amazing (the scene was shot by helicopter in Glacier National Park). Torrance is going to the hotel to interview for the winter caretaker position. The interviewer tells him that the caretaker 10 winters ago went crazy and killed his wife and two daughters with an axe and then shot himself. Unfazed, Jack says he's looking for quiet and isolation, so that he can get some writing done. He gets the job and moves his wife (Shelley Duvall) and son (Danny Lloyd) into the hotel.

The movie was shot really well-- in addition to the opening shot, I liked the shots of Danny riding his big wheel around the hotel and the chase in the hedge maze. But that's all I can rave about. I thought Jack Nicholson was so-so. Playing a half-crazed (or, in this case, fully crazed) character seems almost customary for him, and I can't say that this performance was any better than the other movies where he does a lot of freaky staring.

Also, I was confused by all the ghosts. Who saw what? I thought that Danny was the only one who could see ghosts. I thought Jack was hallucinating about the bartenders until the end when the wife saw stuff, too. It seemed sloppy to me. And what's up with the ending? Was Jack really at the hotel in a past life or did the hotel integrate him into its history only after he went apeshit?

3 out of 5 stars.

My Bright Idea Amended

It's January 3rd and I'm already lowering my expectations by cutting the list in half.

1900
The 400 Blows
2001: A Space Odyssey
Apocalypse Now
Battleship Potemkin
Ben-Hur (1959)
Birth of a Nation
Blade Runner
Blue Velvet
Cabaret
Cabinet of Doctor Caligari
Carrie
Citizen Kane
A Clockwork Orange
Close Encounters of the Third Kind
Dirty Harry
Do the Right Thing
Dr. Strangelove
Doctor Zhivago
Dracula
Drunken Master II
Enter the Dragon
The Exorcist
The Fly (1986)
Frankenstein (1931)
Ghostbusters
The Godfather, Part II
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
Lawrence of Arabia
M
Manchurian Candidate (1962)
Midnight Cowboy
Mon Uncle
Network
Nights of Cabiria
Nosferatu
Repulsion
Rocky
Rosemary's Baby
Scarface
The Searchers
Shaft
Saturday Night Fever
Shane
The Shining
The Sting
Stromboli
Tootsie
Triumph of the Will
Two Lane Blacktop
Umberto D
West Side Story

New Years and Nipples

I can't muster excitement for new years. We are going a party tonight, and I'm glad to have plans, but I don't see the passing of time as something to celebrate. I don't like beginnings and I don't like ends. I like middles.

I'm starting to combat aging. I'm moisturizing my neck and hands more. I'm lifting weights to avoid bone density loss. I'm exercising more, eating healthier, drinking less. Fortunately, I'm happy to do this and it isn't a struggle. I see the payoff and I certainly don't want to get sick. You hear about people getting cancer in their thirties. All sorts of terrible things.

On a lighter note, sort of, here's an article on Facebook's 'war on nipples.' Tee hee.

See you next year.

My Bright Idea

This blog has been limping along sadly for a while now. I don't have the motivation to update it. Mostly I feel like I don't have anything to say. But I'm not ready to let go of Chanchow yet.

One of my new year's resolutions is to watch 52 movies, roughly one a week, that I've never seen or haven't seen in a long, long time. Classic or cult favorites that are referenced a lot. Movies I should know.

Here is my list, which is subject to change at any moment. Heavily represented are genres that I've never liked and always avoided-- horror, sci fi, war and westerns (i.e., guy movies). I suppose now is that time to bite the bullet and watch some of these.

1900
The 400 Blows
2001: A Space Odyssey
Apocalypse Now
Battleship Potemkin
Ben-Hur (1959)
Birth of a Nation
Blade Runner
Blue Velvet
Cabaret
Cabinet of Doctor Caligari
Carrie
Citizen Kane
A Clockwork Orange
Close Encounters of the Third Kind
Dirty Harry
Do the Right Thing
Dr. Strangelove
Doctor Zhivago
Dracula
Drunken Master II
Enter the Dragon
The Exorcist
The Fly (1986)
Frankenstein (1931)
Ghostbusters
The Godfather, Part II
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
Lawrence of Arabia
M
Manchurian Candidate (1962)
Midnight Cowboy
Mon Uncle
Network
Nights of Cabiria
Nosferatu
Repulsion
Rocky
Rosemary's Baby
Scarface
The Searchers
Shaft
Saturday Night Fever
Shane
The Shining
The Sting
Stromboli
Tootsie
Triumph of the Will
Two Lane Blacktop
Umberto D
West Side Story

Your Friday Afternoon Video #33: Eartha Kitt

For Those Who Read

The folks behind the Omnivoracious blog (editors at Amazon.com) have been putting together The Books of the States-- a series in which they select books about a State equal to the number of that State's electoral votes (e.g., 55 books about California). Since I only read 2 books a year, this will take me 100 years.

Your Friday Afternoon Video #32: Go See Slumdog Millionaire

Earthquakes, Fires and Mudslides. Oh My.

But don't worry, they probably won't kill you.

This Blog Has Become Super Lame

Between facebook and swimming and the rest of my not-so-interesting life, there really isn't time or inspiration for what once was a borderline mildly interesting blog. I'm mulling some ideas about how to get myself back in the game (actually, just one idea), so don't cry just yet, dear remaining reader, the Chanchow may be back.

2009: Year of the Gorilla

Only 700 mountain gorillas remain in the wild. More here.

Don't Let This Happen To You

Man killed for 'hogging karaoke'.

Food = Family

Thanksgiving is guava time in the Octopus household. And right now I have over a 100 guavas sitting on my kitchen counter. My mom and I harvested them from her tree this weekend. These tropical fruits have overtaken the kitchen counter, looking like a bunch of weebles that have multiplied out of control.

Every Thanksgiving I give a box of guavas to the Octopus in-laws and they go nuts. They love guavas. I smile and feel like Santa as I watch them gather around, dipping the fruit in salt and chili powder, lips smacking, telling me how they can't get good guavas in Connecticut. I am starting to like guavas myself, and look forward to guava season every year.

Your Friday Afternoon Video #31: The Cutest Thing Ever

Discovering the Archive of LIFE Photos Has Not Been Good For My Productivity

Amelia Earhart. 1926.


Oil derricks. Margaret Bourke-White. 1930.


Part of Apollo 7 falling to Earth. 1968.


Czar Nicholas II of Russia and wife. 1904.


British arms factory during WWI. 1914.

It Was a Good Week

Holy Sh*t, the Election is Tomorrow

Finally! Already?! Can't decide. I've wanted it to be over for a very long time, but only if the result is the one I want. I really hope that by the time I get home from work tomorrow, results from key battlegrounds on the East Coast will be in. If they call PA and VA for Obama, then I'll start celebrating.

I've been reading Dreams from My Father. I'm up to the point where he's studying at Occidental College. The man can write. It's made me think about my own identity, identity crisis perhaps. It's not something I've ever given much thought to. Octopus and I are going to Vietnam in a few months, which will make me really confront how American I really am. Being an outside in the motherland. More on that later.

We were at the Obama rally in Henderson, Nevada, on Saturday. It was awesome. When I saw him come up to the podium, I wanted to cry. Minority in the White House. Could it really be? Afterwards, we canvassed, knocked on doors to see who had already voted, who needed a ride to the polls on Tuesday.

I'll be lining up at the local elementary school to vote tomorrow. I'm prepared for a long wait. Until then!

Your Friday Afternoon Video #30: SNL

SNL is the only good thing about McCain Palin.

Your Friday Afternoon Video #29: Pandas

Checking In

Hello. I am still here.

I feel optimistic about Obama. I want to believe the polls. I can't believe the election is just a few weeks away. I've hit my saturation point on the campaign and talking heads stuff. I want this to be over.

The Santa Ana winds blew furiously the other night. The windows rattled. In the morning our lawn was covered with pine needles from the neigbor's tree.

I saw a dead bird next to my euphorbias this morning. A small bird. Kinda pretty, except that it was dead. The other week I saw a praying mantis on my guava tree. It scared the bejesus (sp?) out of me because I didn't see it until it was a couple inches from my face. It was really trippy looking. It looked just like the mantis in Kung Fu Panda.

Speaking of Jesus, I saw Religulous. It was hella funny. I really liked it-- probably in large part because I don't believe in God. I guess if I were a true believer I might be pissed.

I love Fall weather, except that it gets dark so early. I think Spring is my favorite season.

I've been swimming about 3 times a week at the Rose Bowl. Weekend swims are my favorite. I go for endurance over speed. The other day I managed to swim a mile. It was great.

I love going to gardens. Over Labor Day weekend we went to Lotusland in Santa Barbara. It's the 40 acre estate of the late Ganna Walska, a many times well-married Polish opera singer. The gardens were awesome, wacky, unconventional. I highly recommend.

Our next vacation is slated for mid-February. As usual, I'm getting a little OCD about where to go. Every other day I think of another possible place. I research fares, hotels, weather patterns. I used to enjoy the legwork. Now it's just a pain.