First of all, all the scary movies of the past are not scary any more. I don't know if it is because I am older or because they just don't fit in our society any more.

Last night Sonja and I watched Halloween and Scream. Both movies had scared the bejeebus out of me in the past. This time, they just seemed funny.

Scream was really the letdown. The killer dude, just seemed like a crazy freakazoid. It was great how he would get the shit kicked out of him before he killed every girl in the movie.

One cool thing about Scream were all the hidded references to other movies. like when Drew Barrymore's father tells her mother to go down the street to "the "McKinsy's" that is a line from Halloween. And the castodian in the highschool's name is "Freddy" and wears a sweater just like Freddy in Nightmare on Elm Street.

I'm sure there were more to find, however Sonja and I got tired and went to sleep.

We both slept soundly, thank you.

~n

My goodness! I have been working on this Bug for work, and it eats 99% of my time.

Fortunately I did not write the bug. It was kindly placed in some important code just before the person was laid off.

I don't think there was any foul play, just that he didn't get a chance to iron out his code.

Anyway, that is why I am quiet lately.

~n

God bless geeks to take the time to produce this.

Props go out to the Slashdot.org folks for sharing this one.

~n

This is my kinda kid.

I love causing people this kind of grief.

~n

I only wish this link pointed out what Europeans thought about Americans.

They probably think,

This last weekend I had a few friends over for a dinner party. The list included 3 of my childhood buddies and 2 of Sonja's girlfrinds.

Well, simply put, we played games until around 12 or so then stayed up with my drunk friend until 4:30 AM, while he talked and talked and talked and. . .

All in all it was a good weekend. Sonja and I released some energy, thanks to wine and Gin 'n Tonics. And sonja bought me a zip zap to play with. I love it!

~n

"Sen to Chihiro no kamikakushi" (The Spiriting Away of Sen and Chihiro), or the American Title, "Spirited Away", is the best movie I have seen all year. Directed and written by, the master, Hayao Miyazaki, this movie tells the story of a young girl(Sen/Chihiro), Chihiro/Sen and her adventures trying to get out of the spirit world she has found herself in

I have heard it many times, however it bears repeating, this movie is much like Alice in Wonderland. The world is, simply, strange with much imagination. It has an Asian feel, with Chinese Dragons, and Japanese dress.

The movie mostly takes place in a bath house for the spirits in the spirit world, run by a sorceress (Yubaba). This character is what makes Miyazaki's films special to me. In any Hollywood flick, this character would be purely evil. With a mindless dark devil quality. In Miyazaki's movies the antagonist is usually a shade of grey, with clear goals and a sense of purpose. Everyone respects Miyazaki's antagonists, including the protagonist of the story. Nobody in Miyazaki's films are pure good or pure evil. Much like the real world. The conflict usually resides inside, like our day to day lives.

Sen finds herself making many friends in the bathhouse. And NOBODY does cute like the Japaneese, and Miyazaki creates pure cute in two of Sen's friends, a little bird and a little mouse. Oh my god, to think of them makes me want to hug and kiss them to death. I can only imagine what little girls would think. They both help make the movie enjoyable for children.

The translation is quite good. It never got in the way with the story, and never hid the fact that this is a Japanese film. My buddy told me that the spirit in the movie known as a "No Name" was actually a play on "Noh Theater", where no words are used and the actors use masks. Just like the spirit in the movie. I'm really glad I learned that, thanks Scott.

Again I would say this is the best movie I have seen this year. Along with Miyazaki's Princess Mononoke these are masterpieces. Well worth a look-see.

A+

~n

Nick has graciously given me my own little corner of Arlo's blog in which to blather. Thanks Nick!

I'm at work right now, so I have to wrap this up . . . more will appear this weekend . . .

Last night I hooked into my second Steelhead of the year. And, Man was he fun to catch.

I headed to the Clackamas after work. When I got there I discovered that I didn't have my 8 wt reel for my 8 wt rod. All I had was my wife's 6 wt reel. For you non-fishermen, a 8 wt is a heavier line for larger fish. Also it is more dense so it can cut through the wind nicely. A 6 wt is more for large trout, where an 8 wt is for large Steelhead.

So I had to use the 6 wt. No biggie, it wasn't windy and the line won't break. All I need is a large leader for the line. I'll be OK.

I try a few new places, really far from the car, and work my way back. I was told that the new spot I was walking to was very successful and held a ton of fish.

I didn't have much success for steelhead, however I did catch a nice trout. If I caught it on my 5 wt (light rod) as apposed to my heavy duty 8 wt it would have been a great fight. However, with the heavy rod, it was like picking up a toothpick with a crane.

I started on another spot that looked promising. When all of a sudden, I look behind me and this other fly-fisherman has a steelhead on. He waves at me franticly to come over there. So I start walking to him. It turns out he is a guy that hangs out on my westfly board. He has me take a picture of him and asks how to kill the nice hatchery steelhead he just landed.

I show him a few pointers and then head back to my spot. No luck in this spot too.

I make my way back to my favorite spot. Where I hooked into 3 steelhead in under an hour and landed one earlier this month. It is a good spot to finish out the day because it is so close to the car. I start swinging my black skunk in the run.

After about 45 min or so, it is starting to get dark. I decide to only cast a few more times then head home.

All of a sudden I think I snag a rock. So I yank on the line (you never know, it might be a fish) and the "rock" yanks back. Yahoo FISH ON!!

He takes off running. Already more fun than my last fish. He goes and goes. Putting a lot of pressure on the 6 wt reel I am using. He gets into the backing of the reel (backing is the strong line that is used past the casting line on a fly rod). I'm thinking "Woo hooo! This is fun!"

Then near disaster strikes. He runs so hard that the line has so much inertia and the reel has so much centrifugal force that when he stops running the reel keeps turning. This creates slack in the line that causes a tangle in the backing at the reel. So the fish can't run. If he can't run he can break off the line.

My only recourse is to run downstream and real in as much line as I can. He can't get too far because he will get to the tangle again and . . . disaster, a LDR (long distance release). We don't want that.

So I start running down stream, and he is jumping and yanking his head back and forth. Finally I get enough line where I can start feeling safe he won't get to the tangle on my reel. I run into another fisherman who offers some words of encouragement.

He makes another strong run, so I have to run down stream again. Finally we meet each other in a calm pool with plenty of room for him to run and not get into a hard current that will take him into my backing.

He jumps and yanks his head in the air. I laugh, thinking to myself this is so much fun.

And there, for the first time I hope he is a wild fish, because I have so much respect for this fish. Wild fish you have to release, while hatchery fish you can keep. The thought of killing this fish makes me sad, so I say to my fisherman friend, "I really hope he is wild."

He looks at me like I'm crazy. "Why wouldn't you want to keep it," he must be asking himself.

After another 20 min or so, he finally comes to the shore. He is a huge fish, about 30" or more. Fat body and dark green. He looks really healthy, not like my last fish.

My new buddy, takes my flashlight--it is really dark out now--and sees that it is wild. My heart is lifted. I really love catching wild fish. They are more special.

I grab my new catch for a picture when he makes a hard wiggle and shakes himself free before the picture could be taken. A symbolic response to a fish who has always known freedom.

Man that was a fun fish!

~n

A buddy of mine had a free lunch sent to me as part of a fund raising event for Loaves & Fishes

First of all, thanks Brent for the meal. It was really good.

Second of all, support this group. They do good work.

~n