Merci

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Watched “Our Idiot Brother” the other night. 

Paul Rudd was reliably good. As were Steve Coogan and Emily Mortimer. Rashida Jones was almost convincing as a frumpy lesbian. Zooey Deschanel was totally not believable as the slutty sister.

The most astonishing part of this well meaning and sometimes funny movie was Elizabeth Banks’ impersonation of Parker Posey. It was so completely realistic, without even a whisper of camp or irony that I didn’t even notice that Posey’s name was nowhere to be found on the ending credits. And then the “Making of” DVD bonus featuring Banks speaking in her own voice became the great reveal of the film for me. The second surprise was how much prettier Elizabeth Banks is as a brunette.

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The Ethereal Weirdo appears a lot in movies, but nowhere else. If she were from real life, people would think she was a homeless woman and would cross the street to avoid her.
From Mindy Kaling’s rundown on romantic comedies and their parallels to science fiction. Am eagerly awaiting her book’s release. 

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The amount the U.S. military spends annually on air conditioning in Iraq and Afghanistan: $20.2 billion*

“When people spend their own money on themselves, they are careful about how much they spend and about what they spend it on. If people spend their own money on others, they are careful about how much they spend, but not as careful about what they spend it on. If people spend other people’s money on themselves, they are not careful about how much they spend, but they are careful about what they spend it on. If people spend other people’s money on other people, they are not careful about the amount of money they spend, nor are they careful about what they spend it on. That is government.”
—Donald Rumsfeld

*That’s more than NASA’s budget. It’s more than BP has paid so far for damage during the Gulf oil spill. It’s what the G-8 has pledged to help foster new democracies in Egypt and Tunisia. (source: here )

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I once “parked the wrong way” in Falls Church City. The policeman told me he could not give me a ticket, since he had not seen me do it, but that there was no way I could leave the space legally. (I so enjoy a dare.) Here in Virginia, or at least in Falls Church City, the rule of law reigns; the policeman recognized the car might have been there forever, or might have been parked by a computer (that’s illegal too, but let him try to prove the computer did it), or might have materialized there through quantum effects. A game of waiting ensued.
Tyler Cowen 

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I’ve always loved Woody Harrelson. He’s usually the best (and sometimes only) reason to see anything he’s been in.
An exception might be The Messenger, which I recently watched on DVD. Woody’s great, but who is this Ben Foster? He is completely mesmerizing as a haunted Iraq vet. And his scene with Samantha Morton* in her character’s kitchen is totally devastating.

*I spent the entire movie thinking she was Sara Gilbert from Roseanne! As the credits rolled I was really surprised that I had failed to recognize Morton. This was the first time I’ve seen her play American and she is pitch perfect as an army widow.

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Twenty-five

A full week into 2011 and I’ve settled on a single new year’s resolution: to be able to do a handstand by December.

Working towards a handstand seems doable within a 12 month timeframe. The goal combines reaching certain physical fitness goals (to increase core and upper arm strength) and the overcoming of a mental block I’ve had against inversions.

So first things. I recently discovered that my mother wakes up and immediately does 150 sit-ups each day! I don’t think I’ve ever done that many within a single month, ever. As prep work for the handstand, I’m going to do at least twenty-five crunches, six days a week (for at least 150 abdominal reps each week). I will also work on maintaining the plank pose for at least two minutes for both upper body and core strength.
Figure this will be a good start for now.