I decided to go check out ‘Inception’ at the Burbank AMC IMAX today.  I had originally seen it a month ago at the Warner Bros. movie lot and posted my review HERE.  Almost more than any other movie I can remember, I was excited to watch it again to see how it worked on a second viewing.  Would its length make it boring a second time?  Would the complexity be easier to understand?

First off, the AMC IMAX is bullshit.  It’s just the big screen theatres that they used to air regular movies in.  It didn’t look any sharper than the screening at WB, just on a larger screen (and a much smaller screen than a true IMAX).  For the real IMAX experience you have to go the Universal Studios or the California Science Center at USC and feel the true glory.  Paying the $15 for an IMAX matinee was a waste.

After what seemed liked 20 previews, the movie finally started and I was immediately sucked in.  Very quickly I started noticing things that I had not picked up the first time around.  I was better able to remember character names and keep track of all the exposition.

Not far into the movie my senses were picking up masterful things done by the creators of the film, from interesting compositions, to fantastic pacing in editing.  I really felt the beauty of the haunting score this time around.

I wasn’t bored for a second.  In fact, I think I was more bored during the first viewing when some of the action scenes seemed long.  They didn’t bother me as much on the second viewing.

There were many small things I didn’t pick up on the first viewing, from connections throughout the plot, to beautiful aesthetic choices made by Nolan.  There were also a couple HUGE pieces of the plot that I had not picked up on fully until the second viewing.

I enjoyed this movie even more this afternoon than I did a month ago.  In that first review I called ‘Inception’ the best summer blockbuster since ‘The Empire Strikes Back.’  A month after its release, IMDB voters have it ranked as the third best movie of all time (HERE) in between The Godfather Part I and Part II.

‘Inception’ is that good.  It’s amazing complexity can only be fully appreciated on a second viewing (and even then a lot of people are not going to get it).  People will be debating what happened in the film for as long as the medium exists.  What happened at the end?  Only Chris Nolan and every other person watching the movie know and the answers will be as varied as can be.

My answer after viewing number 2 was different than my answer after viewing number 1.  Hmmmm.  Would I love to sit down with Nolan himself and talk about it…

The LA Times has often been brutal in their assessment of the LA Unified School District and in particular the teachers union. It’s no mystery that LA schools are beyond awful and essentially give many kids little hope of a life beyond poverty. It’s also no mystery that this is a direct result of an out-of-control teachers union that doesn’t seem to care at all about education.

Classic Times articles include this one (HERE) entitled ‘Bar Set Low for Lifetime Job in L.A. Schools,’ this one (HERE) entitled ‘Firing Tenured Teachers Can Be a Costly and Torturous Task,’ and my favorite (HERE) entitled ‘L.A. Unified Pays Teachers Not to Teach.’

A couple days ago, the LA Times published an article called ‘Who’s Teaching Our Kids?’ (HERE).

So guess what? A.J. Duffy, the Los Angeles teacher union president, is now launching a boycott of the LA Times (HERE).

The message is clear – expose the teacher’s union incompetence and union members will stop buying your paper.

This is one of the biggest differences between the Left and the Right. The Left views teachers unions as an integral and wonderful part of society. The Right views teachers unions (especially in large, urban school districts) as evil and a purveyor of ignorance which locks generations (often generations of minorities) into vicious poverty cycles.

I can’t imagine how many millions of people in Los Angeles County have had to live entire lifetimes in urban poverty because they didn’t receive a proper education. Their teacher didn’t have to teach. If he or she did or did not, they got paid the same…

Peta had a fit with a recent Dodge ad because there was a monkey in it (end of the world, I know).

I would have responded with an ad featuring a Dodge driving by a monkey eating a cheeseburger and holding a sign that read ‘Cows Taste Delicious!’

However, I’m not in charge, so Dodge came up with their own response which is pretty good as well.  The first video is the original ad, the second is the revised one:

So I called up Directv today to see why my bill was so expensive and why it went up by $10 (after reading how they’re getting sued for false advertisement of their prices).  While I was on hold I clicked on their website to see what their advertised price was for the package that I have.  It’s $39.99/month with free HD for life.  Since I’m paying $79.99/month, when I finally get through to someone, I start complaining.

This bitch on the phone (bitch is a gender neutral term here) offers to appease me by giving me $5 off my bill for 3 months in a row!  Hot damn!

After I decline that, I get put on hold again as I’m transferred to someone else.  While on hold I have the epic conversation below with the Directv bot in a customer service chat window.

Then another bitch comes on (still gender neutral, don’t get your panties all up in a bunch) and tells me that the advertised price is for new customers only.  I complain some more since I’ve been a loyal customer for well over a decade.  Why should I pay twice as much as a new customer?  She got snippy with me and told me that I probably got a great deal for my first two years of service too.

So I finally said, I at least want free HD service.  She then said if I put in for auto-bill pay she can give me that for 2 years.  What?  Two years bitch?  I’ve been a loyal customer all this time and some newbie gets free HD for life and you’re only going to give it to me for two years?

Yes, she said because her system can only allow her to do it for two years.  So you’re blaming it on the system?  Really?  Oh by the way, cancel my NBA Season Ticket as well.  T-Mac ain’t going to bring the Pistons to the promised land anyway.

Put on hold for another five minutes.

Then she comes back and says that my auto-bill service is set up and my NBA is canceled.  Bye bitch!

Note to Directv:  I know this programming is expensive and your margins aren’t huge.  But throw a dog a fucking bone.  I’ve been with you too long to offer me $5 off.  That’s fucking insulting.

Hence I post this:

I hate to say it, but rarely do I read or hear an argument that truly impresses me.  Rarely do I hear someone make a comment that makes me think ‘that person has a deep understanding of how the world works.’  It just doesn’t happen much.

The Washington Post (HERE) recently asked a question: “Where does the Laffer Curve bend?”

Wow, what a question.  The Laffer curve is simply a curve that shows the total revenue based on tax rates. At some point you max out your revenue. The question asks, at what point does that happen?

Of the people who answered the question in the Post article, those on the Left gave answers around 70%. Those on the Right gave answers from 15% to 45%.

Two people gave answers that impressed me.  One impressed the hell out of me.

Greg Mankiw said that there’s a different answer for short- and long-run revenue. If you raises taxes substantially, in the short-run you gain more revenue, but risk losing long-term revenue because of slower growth.

The answer that really impressed me came from Martin Feldstein who argued that it’s not the question we should be asking.  Because you get diminishing marginal returns as you raise the tax rate, Feldstein argues that we should be below the maximization point because it’s not worth giving up $1B in GDP for $100M in additional tax revenue.  You give up too much for too little in return.

Wow.  I’m impressed.

I know who Greg Mankiw is as I read his BLOG daily.  He’s a brilliant economist from Harvard (teaches ec 10, one of the most popular courses there).   I didn’t know who Martin Feldstein was so I looked him up.  According to his Wikipedia PAGE, he taught ec 10 at Harvard for twenty years, before being succeeded by Greg Mankiw.

Damn.

For all the bashing I do of the Ivy League (and I would still never send my kids there), I must say, Harvard has one hell of an economics department.  Almost as good as the one at George Mason University.  Almost…

It’s a very interesting account from 1978 by a pilot of a Cessna in Australia.  Read about it HERE.  The article states that no trace of the pilot has ever been found.

Here’s a partial transcript from the site:

1910 hours
Melbourne: …roger… and how large would the… er… object be?
Valentich: … it seems like it’s stationary… what I’m doing right now is orbiting and the thing is just orbiting on top of me… also, its got a green light and sort of metallic like… it’s all shiny on the outside…
Valentich: (open microphone for five seconds)… it’s just vanished…

1911 hours
Valentich: Melbourne, would you know what kind of aircraft I’ve got? Is it military aircraft?
Melbourne: …confirm the… er… aircraft just vanished…
Valentich: … say again?
Melbourne: … is the aircraft still with you?
Valentich: … approaching from the south-west…
Valentich: … the engine is rough idling… I’ve got it set at twenty three twenty four and the thing is…

1912 hours
Melbourne: … roger… what are your intentions…
Valentich: … my intentions are… ah… to go to King Island… ah… Melbourne that strange aircraft is hovering on top of me again… (two seconds open microphone)… it is hovering and it’s not an aircraft…
Valentich: … (17 seconds open microphone)…

Pretty weird huh?  I wonder if the guy really saw something or if it was an elaborate prank.  The incident even has its own Wikipedia page HERE.

…the last week so I haven’t been posting much.

Hot/Cold, Hot/Cold + congestion, in the summer heat.  Pretty miserable.

The Coaches’ Poll came out today (HERE) and Alabama is #1 of course.  I do a horrible job at predicting sports (my 2009 preseason poll can be seen HERE), but that doesn’t stop me from trying.

So here I go with my 2010 College Football Preseason poll.  To atone for last year, I’m going to stop underestimating Alabama and Boise St., as I’m sure most everyone else will as well.

1. Alabama

2. Florida

3. Ohio State

4. Boise State

5. Iowa

6. Texas

7. Oregon

8. Virginia Tech

9. TCU

10. Arkansas

My underdog pick of the year: Georgia Tech

I have mixed feelings about this verdict.  I favor making gay marriage legal.  I guess I’m more Libertarian than conservative Republican on this issue.  But I don’t like these California courts constantly overturning voters’ decisions.

I think most Republicans under 40, even straight Republicans like myself, probably favor legalizing gay marriage.  Sometimes social change takes a long time, and it’s obvious that in the not too distant future, the tide will turn against older Republicans (and older Democrats like Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, & Joe Biden) who favor the defense of traditional marriage.

I’d rather let that natural process play out than have activist judges making policy.  If Californians want to take welfare away from illegals, it should be up to the voters of California, not judges.  If Arizonans want their police to inquire about a person’s legal status once they break the law, that should be up to the voters of Arizona, not judges.

When the pendulum swings the other way, and a conservative judge orders that all types of abortion are immediately illegal, I think liberals will have a different view of judicial activism.  When it favors their views, they’re all for it.  Let’s see what happens when it doesn’t.

Judicial activism takes power away from the people and puts it with government.  I don’t like that.  That favors liberals who like the collective and doesn’t favor conservatives who like the individual.

I think a better way to accomplish this would be to put it back on the ballot every four years.  At some point the tide would change and gay marriage would become legal via the voter.  That’s always preferable to becoming legal via a judge.

I’ve read the Constitution, and I’m sure some of you have as well.  I didn’t find anything in it regarding gay marriage, rights for illegal immigrants, or abortion.  No matter what your feelings are regarding these issues, someone is going to disagree with you.  You can either have society choose one or a few people to make those decisions, or have voters make those decisions.  I side with the voters.  Even if they may take generations to get something right, in the long run they’re a safer bet than individuals…

Had my first sleep study at a clinic last night.  They hook up electrodes all over your scalp, upper torso, and legs, and put you in bed in front of a camera.  It’s obviously not an ideal situation for sleep as you have limited room to toss or turn.

I did eventually fall asleep however, though I kept waking up throughout the night.  Turns out I do have sleep apnea and will have to see an ENT doctor to see what I have to get done to fix it.

It is a little weird trying to fall asleep while someone else is watching your brainwaves.  I wish they would Tivo that stuff for you to watch later.

I’m really hoping once I get surgery or a CPAP machine that I’ll finally be able to sleep through the night.  That would be awesome…

There’s an interesting flowtown chart which can be seen HERE on the subject.

From looking at the chart I would ascertain that your typical blogger is someone who is male, around 40, with a grad degree, who lives in California, and who’s been blogging about 3 years.

Wow, do I fit the bill…

I think I’m the first person in history to invent a math based off of The Beatles.  I did it so people who don’t listen to The Beatles can easily learn everything they need to know about the band. Below are the basics of this new branch of mathematics:

{Paul, John, George, Ringo} subset {The Beatles} subset {£}

Paul or John or George or Ringo = ?

Paul + John + George + Ringo = $$$$$ and :-/

Paul + John + George + Ringo + drugs = $$$$$ and !!!!!!!!

Paul + drugs = John + drugs > George + drugs > Ringo + drugs

Yoko = -infinity

John + Yoko + drugs = ???!!! + :-{

Paul + drugs = $$$$

John + drugs = $$

George + drugs = $$

Ringo + drugs = $

…as it’s yet another shining example of liberal bias by one of the big three media outlets.

Talking about areas of the nation that are recovering best from the economic slump, an article from ABCnews.com (which can be read HERE) mentions Texas as a good example.  It explains why:

“The places that are likely to recover the fastest seem to be places that have suffered the least during the recession,” says Howard Wial, who heads up research on metro and regional economies at the Brookings Institution’s Metropolitan Policy Program. Texas, he notes, has a fiscally stable government buttressed by oil and gas revenues and spending from Uncle Sam.

Now everyone can agree that Texas has a fiscally stable government, and it does have oil and gas revenues (as others states have various revenues from their resources).  But to claim that Texas has weathered this slump because of spending by Uncle Sam?  What?

What the article conveniently doesn’t state is that the Brookings Institute is a leading liberal think-tank.  Of all the places to get input on why Texas is doing so well, ABC went to the Brookings Institute who told them it’s because of government spending by Uncle Sam!

If you look HERE at cnnmoney.com, you’ll see in their list of ‘where the jobs are at,’ 5 out of the top 7 counties are in Texas.  Guess how many California or New York counties make the top 25?  Zero.  Does anyone really think states that have the biggest government spending in them are faring the best during this recession?  Really?  Well there are Virginia counties in the top 25, so I guess the counties next to D.C. do well (surprise, surprise).

Now, the big 3 aren’t as biased as NBC’s little sister MSNBC.  A few weeks ago I heard Rachel Maddow say that Fox continually runs bogus stories in order to make ‘white Americans afraid of black Americans.’  But to some extent, that doesn’t bother me as much as what ABC, CBS, and NBC do, and have done for decades.  The anchors and reporters at MSNBC are out-of-the-closet Leftists.  Instead of having an intellectual discussion about policy, they just bash people with opposing views as bigots. But at least they’re open about who they are.

The big 3 try to hide their bias and that’s what’s so immoral about it.

I wish one of them would move out of DC and NYC and into the Heartland.  They’d certainly gain a different perspective on the world…

Here’s an article in the Wichita Eagle about the very last roll of Kodachrome being processed: LINK.  This is significant in so many ways and a terrific symbol of what’s been going on in our modern economy.  Back in the day I was a heavy user of Kodachrome, but like most people I haven’t used it in many years.

Here’s what’s happened: Film has gone by the wayside in favor of digital technologies.

Here’s what happened as viewed from the Left:

Thousands of people have lost their jobs!  Film processing plants have shut down, causing hardworking Americans to be put out on the street!  How could we have let this happen?  The government needs to step in and help these people as their suffering is a direct result of corporations putting profits before people!

Here’s the view from the Right:

The free market found a more efficient and high quality way of allowing people to capture photographs.  This increase in utility will save people time, money, and will result in better photographs.  There will be losses of labor from the closure of outdated processes and gains in labor from the new technologies and increase in consumer spending (because people  won’t have to spend as much on photography).  The lost jobs will free up labor for more efficient processes elsewhere.  The free market, as always, has found a better way of doing something, and although there are individual winners and losers, there is a net overall gain to humanity.

That’s the difference between Blue America and Red America.  For the first view, you just have to be able to observe and feel.  For the second view you at least need an intuitive feel for economics.

Bye Kodachrome! I’ll miss you (but not that much)…