Not a front for a secret organization.
Written by Rob Schultz (human).
I originally registered NormalWebsite.com for Leopold, the computer in this clip. I thought that as a computer, he would want a perfectly ordinary website, because one of his two favorite things is fitting in with regular folks.
I'd hate to take that away from him just so I can have fun writing, so hopefully he'll turn up now and then.
After three years, I've moved back out of Burbank and into the city of Los Angeles. The house where I was renting was a money-losing operation for the owner, and he decided to sell. I thought that I would be safe from eviction, since the owner only referred to me as "the other one" when announcing his decision. It's pretty tough to serve papers to "the other one." But then the day came when he called up one of the roommates to ask what my name was, and one day later, boom! NOTICE TO MOVE OUT.
So I did. I'd been looking forward to it, even planning and counting on it, sometime this year.
The last time I moved, I was Improving My LA Experience, and it was the keystone in that project. The general quality of LA-livin' has been better since then, but I haven't spent much time actively improving it, either. So maybe that's something to do.
What I do know is that I seem to have, in the past, made a habit of using a move and fresh start to make as many other changes at once as well. Not in a new year's resolution-y way, but in a hopping-in-to-the-pool way: I'm about to have to adapt and adjust, so I might as well do all of that at once.
What I'm trying to say here is that I'm going to do a new web thing for a little while. I've decided to take www.normalwebsite.com away from Leopold the robot, because it's a pretty great domain name, and it lets me try new things without blowing up my old site, to which I will be able to retreat in the event of catastrophe.
There are old posts here that I'm proud of, and others that seem embarrassing, and I'm reluctant to mention either since I am not trying to encourage you to look through the archives. I'm encouraging you to check out the new thing, and I hope the few regular readers I had there will join me over here.
Here's a short documentary about Los Angeles comedian Joseph Patrick Larkin.
I have Joseph's first two comedy albums and his book, and he's been gracious enough to let me produce shows of my own in some of the clubs he owns.
Something like seven years ago, I heard the story of Le Gentil and thought it would be fun to do in a Reading Rainbow style. We could do a whole series of cartoons about people who lost in a big way while doing Science.
Later on, I made friends with some people who were pretty well equipped to make it happen. And it did!
Also, this year, a Transit of Venus actually happened, so it was nicely timed.
Sometimes old posts get stuck in draft form because they need more thought and revision. I have no idea why capsule movie reviews don't get published. These seem to be from December 2011.
-Hugo - Great 3D, and identifiably Scorsese, from the first shot, a long tracking through the station. Weird script though; characters exclaiming stuff in the same room instead of listening or talking to each other. Also, hints of a hated trope: Can't Spit It Out. That is, if one character would just speak up when they're a) in trouble and b) in no danger as a result of just using their words, so much trouble could be avoided, and so easily.
- J. Edgar - A perfectly good telling of the story of J. Edgar Hoover. If you've ever seen or read anything about him before, you've probably got the story down already. Saw it in the theater with a bunch of chatty audience. But they were a few guys in their 60s, so nobody had anything to say to them.
- The Lie - This seems like something that would be sold as a drama, but actually: pretty funny. Dark, and funny. Jess Weixler is great. Especially her reaction to her husband's terrible rock song.
- Real Life - Albert Brooks on reality TV. Really good. I love the nonsense presented as good science and sociology.
And of course:
- The House on Skull Mountain - a mostly black version of Dark and Stormy Night, or any other meeting for the reading of will in a spooky old house. Above all else, this was a movie that lives right on up to its title:
