Something I Noticed In The Film The Prestige

I recently watched an older movie that I never got to see before. The Prestige ( 2006) is about two rival magicians ( illusionists) who were former partners . They keep trying to outdo each other throughout the film as the stakes keep getting higher. I noticed what I thought of a gaffe ( at least for the period)


There is a scene where there is a formal inquiry about one of those transparent tanks of water you see onstage. This inquiry is held in London and the units used to describe the capacity of the water tank was gallons. Maybe my assumption they would use  "liters" in 19th century London but that might be just me. Possible that was a concession given to American audiences? Then again maybe gallons was acceptable at the time according to this. 









prestige movie 2006  gallons tank water liters metric

A Halloween Todd Schindler Memory

Back in 1987 I met Todd Schindler.      I have not seen him or heard from him since the late 90s. Yet some of his stories still resonate with me.

This particular story goes back to Todd's time in an IGA grocery in Hamilton, Ontario. I used to remember the name of his funny ( intentionally or unintentionally ) co -worker known for the phrase " we are here to make money". It might come to me eventually.

One day a female customer came to this co-worker looking for a particular canned soup called Scarios.

The clerk then replied that he was sorry since that soup was unavailable but they did have product from the same line called Alpha-Getti. Which I imagine would be the exact same thing except a different shaped cutter was used to generate letters instead of ghosts and goblins.

The customer then replies to the clerk with a curve ball " But I want to be scared when I eat."

Most of us at this point would throw our hands in the air and try to explain logically that they were physically constituted the same or whatever route. But our grocery clerk protagonist was undaunted. His reply:

" Pretend you are scared."

Do You Really Listen To Music?

Do You Really Listen To Music?   Of course everyone thinks that they do. I remember very clearly a night in the fall of the 1983 listening to Side 2 of Springsteen's Born to Run and bring so out of breath at the end (Jungleland is the last song on Side 2) and just saying thank you rhetorically to Bruce and the band.  That was my first time to hear most of the songs on there. My story has nothing on this guy. When you really listen to really good music it is all over you and you are somewhere else. I doubt anybody tried to do a film/ video dramatization of this song nor should they. Just listen to it the same way I did. Put on headphones and just you and the band. Really listen to the music . 









Memory

Funny, I played this song on my "ghetto-blaster" on a caleche ride in Old Montreal, on my first date with a beautiful young lady named Donna, back in May of 1984. We had tickets to see The Boss in August (Born in the USA), and I wanted to introduce her to Bruce in an intimate and memorable setting. I think we both teared (and hugged) listening to the song - one of those unexpected yet understandable emotional reactions to the sounds and poetic verses of a man you know is prophetic. Riding around beatiful Montreal on a horse-drawn carriage at night with the proclaiming and stirring sounds of Bruce Springsteen all seemed so cool and so right! So, on the night I proposed I borrowed a "limo" (my mom's Civic!) and drove down to Old Montreal. I played Jungleland on the car's cassette deck (pretending to play the local radio). Well that just set the mood, along with a chain of events which would end up with Donna saying, "yes"! That was back in 1991. We've had 3 kids and 2 dogs since, and last summer we were lucky enough to see Bruce (again!) in Montreal; he closed with Jungleland, and we embraced as we smiled and cheered (and wept).

https://songmeanings.com/songs/view/149531/ 

Not Everybody Will Understand You

There is no sense in controlling perception. People will believe whatever they want to. It comes to a point you might have to take your cue from an old beer commercial  There are several reasons of course. Not all of them have to do with you. 

• They don't understand . 
• They don't care to understand . 
• They don't want to understand .
• They  are incapable of understanding.  

Which ever option it  turns out being: 

I Am Sure This Was Intentional

There is this TV show I have not seen called Shooter. There is a character there played by veteran actor Harry Hamlin named Addison Hayes. David Addison and Maddie Hayes are the two main characters in one of my all time favorite shows Moonlighting.  That is all.

Great Article On Cold War Movies

http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2014/11/9/the-cold-war-movieclassicsdrstrangelovethedeerhunterandmore.html

Dan Marino Is An Idol In More Ways Than One

I have been a Miami Dolphins fan for many years. I was so lucky that I even saw them play  in person . Appreciating Dan Marino comes naturally to a Dolphins fan of course. What if there was something else that he did that would make me think he was supremely cool that had nothing to do with throwing a football. For me here it is. From a twenty year old Sports Illustrated Article.

Marino has no tolerance for his younger teammates' tastes in visual entertainment (Madden NFL '98) or music (rap). "The receivers are right across from me in the locker room, and they blast that stuff all the time," Marino says. "A few months ago I said to myself, Screw this, and I drove to Best Buy and said, 'Give me the biggest boom box you've got.' The next day I brought in a bunch of my CDs, flipped on some Ted Nugent and blasted it right back at 'em."

Noynoy and Gloria

Wansoy Is Cilantro In Case You Are Making Guacamole

I was pleasantly gifted with some avocados on Saturday. For over a decade I have not made guacamole. Part of me finds it depressing because any love affair with guacamole is like having an OFW spouse that goes incommunicado for months. Many of the online recipes look like this.

https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/marcela-valladolid/simple-guacamole-recipe-2119544

I will rarely go to the supermarket or cook on a work day but with the shelf life of the avocados, I made an exception. Two days earlier the one ingredient that gave me nightmares was cilantro. The day before the grocery I looked again on the Interwebs for a recipe that did not call for cilantro. I found a good one yet when time came to make the grocery list I could not find it in my Gmail just before my commute to work.

At the grocery, I did a very anti-guy thing. I asked one of the staff where cilantro was. Great job, she showed me the section and pointed out a label that said wansoy. I then bought the other ingredients I needed.

Maybe around 1 AM I began my task. I assembled the ingredients.

Peeling garlic is a pain. I add to my pain by putting more garlic than the typical human in everything savory I make. For two years now I have been making my own garlic sauce.   I am always glad when all the peeling is done.

This is what the ingredients look like after peeling and some chopping. I still had some peppers from the vegetable dip I made over the weekend. You won't believe what happens next. Refrigeration. That is not how this would typically go except for the fact I was not going to do the rest of the work with a spoon and knife. That decision though comes with a choice. My choice was not to disturb myh neighbors at maybe 2:30 AM with the whirring and chopping of the food processor.

In the spirit of full disclosure,  there may have been 7-8 hours between this picture and the last picture. The avocado was not mashed as most recipes recommend but finely chopped. I only had a little bit of it as of press time. A little too much cilantro/ wansoy.

Lou Brock's Connection with Lazada

Last night I was looking up different hard drives in Lazada. Which  is a very significant online seller in this country. Today I was curious what teams former major league baseball player Lou Brock played for. Amazing , somehow Lazada infiltrated Baseball Reference.com . Just saying.

Movies That Made An Impact

I've been nominated by Roman Surtida ( in Facebook) to choose my 10 favorite films. Post the film poster, 1 poster per day, no need to explain why and nominate a person each day to do the same. Like some who don’t go near leather, I am not good with chains. You may volunteer to post your favorite  movies. No obligation. I did something similar with music  albums.  So instead of one movie a day here are a bunch.  No particular order.


Notes: 

• Of all the Elvis movies, no one would have guessed that one but that is just proof of the appeal of Elvis. 
• I have to apologize to someone at work who refuses to watch Dead Poet Society and Shawshank Redemption, sorry zero  Duane Johnson movies. 
• Almost every James Bond is represented. 
• I love Monty Python but adding one would have felt forced. Maybe I should have watched one in the last 10 years. 
• Lot of Arny movies.  
• The pre Harry Met Sally Reiner very well represented. 
• Very few comic book movies despite being a comic fan. 
• the western and war films  totally nudged out the rom com films. 
• Lots of 80s  Kevin Costner  including Silverado. 
• A few musicals but no Sound of Music. 
• There has to be a Chuck Norris movie on this list. 
• Shoestring type movies  here include: Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs.