Life got in the way of my reading...

Linda has been wanting to see Red Riding Hood since we first saw a trailer for it.

We finally went yesterday. "Are we the only people?" I asked the ticket guy.

"Just about..."

There turned out to be two other couples. It was in Siberia -- which is what I call that little south shoot of the theater where dying and gasping movies are sent. (Sadly, Sucker Punch was already there...) The previews start, and I turn to my wife, "Oh, my god. These are all chick flicks. Which must mean the movie we're about to watch is a chick flick!"

As the plot started, the tall handsome aristocratic pale guy vying for the the young girl's love with a tall dark and handsome blue collar guy, I said, "I think I've SEEN this move...."

Anyway, the movie was about what I expected...

**********

I think we should treat that unemployment rate the same as the number of feet of water surrounding a guy who can't swim.

So saying that unemployment rate is down from 14% to 13.1% is a little like telling a drowning man, the water over his head is 13.1 feet high, instead of 14 feet high.

So hang in there!

Oh no it's up to my toe. (1% rate.)

Oh me it's up to my knee. (3% rate.)

Oh fiddle it's up to my middle. (4% rate.)

Oh heck it's up to my neck. (5% rate.)

Oh dread, it's up to my (glub, glub). (6% >>>>>>>)

**********

"I'm a luddite." Funny, my throw-away comment when Jordan (the Bulletin reporter) asked me why I didn't have any "gadgets" made it the front of the article.

Can't complain. It's true.

(I have no idea who that old grizzled guy they pictured under my name is....)

**********

So Martin Sheen's live show bombs.

I'm not surprised. It's fun to read a bunch of selected quotes from a rant; it's a whole nother thing to actually listen to a ranter live.

I should know, heh.

(Apparently, his second show went over better -- gee, preparation. What a concept.)

**********

I've gotten bogged down in a fantasy series, and have fallen off the 2 books a week pace. It sometimes happens that I start reading a book that is good enough to keep reading, but somehow isn't compelling. Bit of a contradiction, that.

**********

It also finally happened that I have last Sunday's N.Y. Times sitting unfinished, as the new one shows up. That's a whole lot of newsink.

O.K. I had a family reunion last week, which took up about four days.

Life got in the way of my reading.

***********

I've got the perfect solution for the guy who burned the Koran in Florida.

We airlift him to a square in central Kabul so he can explain why Christianity is superior to Islam, and why it was necessary to insult their beliefs. I'm sure his arguments will be so persuasive they'll all convert instantly.

I mean, surely such an outspoken fellow would have the courage of his convictions, and wouldn't place innocents in danger because of his actions.

**********

Been down so long it looks like up.

Calculated Risk has a chart showing the % job losses in post-WWII recessions, which look like a tangle of lines downward, which start to turn up -- except one line, which just keeps diving and diving. The current recession.

So the line starts to curve upward, and --lately -- is just nearing the bottom of every other recession. So -- we are basically where bottom of every recession other recession JUST STARTED RECOVERY.

But hey, it looks like up!