The Code Reviewed

Before I begin, the obligatory warning. Beware: spoilers follow. Of course, this applies only if you're one of the 10 people left on earth who has not read the 'Da Vinci Code'. Did you know that there are tours of Rome, and even special viewings of Leonardo's works such as the Last Supper, based solely upon this book? I don't know whether to applaud the interest it has generated in great works of art, or to bemoan the inaccuracies and falsehoods that it promotes. I guess now I know how the Church and Opus Dei feel....hehe....

I was skeptical going into this flick. Really, I probably would not have bothered to purchase tickets on my own, but my company was generous enough to provide free viewings for its employees. The movie reviews have all been mediocre at best (some were downright scathing), and the prospect of Tom Hanks running around in a mullet for 2.5 hours was less than appealing. But, having missed the last cultural event of our time (the Harry Potter phenomenon), I was determined not to lose touch with pop culture entirely. My subscription to Newsweek has ended, and somehow I don't think the Economist cuts it.

But enought dithering. In short: the movie was somewhat entertaining. Yes, I know that "somewhat entertaining" is not a glowing review, but it's not let down either, especially considering expectations were set so low. There were definitely a few good action sequences, one or two surprises, and of course a pretty girl. Let me point out the good and the bad, starting with the good (always start on a high note).

The Good:
1 - Ian McKellen as a crippled old geezer with a mean streak. Great acting as always, and you even get a slight hint that he knows he's acting in a sub-par movie. It's fun to watch him.
2 - Jean Reno as Captain Fache. A friend told me that when he read the book, he pictured Jean Reno playing Captain Fache, and I concur. It was perfectly cast. Plus, he's also just a fun actor.
3 - Audrey Tautou. She was much better in Amelie, but she's not bad in this role. Plus, I do think she's quite cute.

The Bad:
1 - Tom Hanks. Oh Tom, how thou hast fallen from the heights of Forrest Gump. That was good acting, this is like watching a block of wood. He could have done much better.
2 - The Direction. The movie is just plain patchy -- it does not hold together. The only reason it was palatable was because the audience had read the book, and thus could follow along. Picture Mission Impossible without the cool action sequences, and you'll get what I mean here.
3 - The anticlimax. It's not so bad in the book, but here it's just plain silly. At the end there is the final revelation (spoiler warning) when Tom Hanks looks at her and says "you are the last descendent of Jesus Christ", and I swear the audience just burst out laughing. Even I did. We all knew it was coming, but it was just so preposterous to hear, and the direction did not give it nearly enough gravity. Levity was the natural reaction. Talk about an anticlimax.

Should you go out and see it? If you liked the book, I can think of better things to spend 10 bucks on. If you really liked the book, then it's not a bad way to kill a rainy afternoon. If you LOVED the book, go see it. Actually, if you liked it that much, odds are you've probably seen it already anyway.

Let's just hope that if they make a movie of Angels and Demons, they keep Tom Hanks out of it.

Whitewater Rafting

What an absolutely gorgeous weekend in San Francisco. Today it must have been 80 degrees in the city, with a slight breeze keeping it just cool enough. The grass was green, the birds were chirping, the girls were all wearing shorts and tanktops, and best of all it looks like we have this weather for another week. After one of the rainiest early springs on record this late spring is looking damn good.

And to take advantage of said weather, I went whitewater rafting. It was great.

I have never been whitewater rafting before, so I wasn't quite sure what to expect on my inaugural trip. The day started off poorly since I had to get up extraordinarily early (6.45 -- anytime before 10am on a Saturday is painful). I was meeting friends at my place at 7am to eat breakfast, and at 7:30 we were to take off for the river, which is 2.5 hours away. We were headed to the American River: this popular river with the imaginative name is located east of Sacramento.

Of course, my friends did not show until 7.30, and we ended up leaving at 8 after a quick meal of homemade breakfast burritos. Our delay and the slightly erratic driving one of my friends notwithstanding, we arrived only slightly late at the designated meeting place, and greeted our guides. Nathan - a friendly and very relaxed college freshman, and Zach - one of the owners of the company. Both were easy to get along and clearly a lot of fun. Oh, and also pretty competent (somewhat important, all things considered....)

We promptly all got wetsuits to put on -- not normally necessary, but apparently a requirement with the water levels so high. All of the rain and snow this past winter has raised the water levels and increased the flow rate to a level not seen in 30 years. These wetsuits were called "farmer johns", as they resembled a pair of overalls.....i found them pretty odd, but hey, when in rome.... So we got into wetsuits, put on lifejackets, signed away our lives on release waivers, received the requisite safety talk, and hopped into a big rubber boat.

There were six of us, and we all fit in one raft (that was it's max capacity, it worked out quite well) plus the guide who sat in the back and barked out orders: "forward row!" "backward row!" "STOP!", and the ever popular but uttterly confusing "left turn!!"

We then proceeded down the river. After about 1.5 hours we stopped for lunch along the shore, a hearty meal of sandwiches, fruit salad, lemonade, and oreo cookies. I tell you, eating good food beside a roaring river under the sun with friends is what life is all about. After lunch we continued rafting for another 1.5 hours or so, through what is known as "The Gorge". The water was white and the rapids were strong, everyone got soaked but we never tipped over. In short, it was a blast. At the end we all jumped in the water for a refreshing swim before heading out. To tell the truth, it was a little too refreshing: the water was absolutely frigid.

And that was my first experience rafting in whitewater. It's probably not going to be my last -- I had a good time, and would love to do something like that again for a longer period of time.

Colbert, White House, and Funny

My internet was on the fritz for the past couple of days, making it quite difficult to post various rantings and ravings. It is now back, allowing me to express my thoughts as protected by that beautiful, essential, first and foremost of ammendments. Amen.

Which brings me to tonight's Word: Colbert.

Stephen Colbert is the star of the Colbert Report, a faux news show on Comedy Central in which he mimics to absurdity the blustering and idiotic wing of the Republican Right as often seen on Fox News. His show happens to be damn funny. I mean really, if you have not checked it out, I highly recommend it. (sidenote/preface: yes, i do believe the Democratic Left has an equally idiotic and blustering wing).

Anyway, he (Stephen Colbert) was invited to be the keynote speaker at the White House Correspondents Dinner, an annual event where the President tries to prove he's a regular guy with a sense of humor by making fun of himself. In fact the President led off the night with a comedic routine where he had a dialogue with a Bush impersonator. It was pretty predictable -- laughing at his inability to command the English language, and his inability to find WMD's. It got a pretty good reception....the impression one got was of old friends slapping each other on the back. Hahaha, look, our president is an idiot. The jokes are often soft, they lack the barbs of true satire, the sting of sharp humor that raises hackles and draws blood.

And then along comes Colbert.

This was a truly wonderful performance. As John Stewart so eloquently put it: "balls-alicious". Not once did he break character, and through this caricature he managed to lay out in hilarious terms the list of greivances that many Americans have with the President. What I find funny is that the President was not laughing. Seriously -- this is what a "roast" is supposed to be. It can't be the first time he's heard this criticism.....can it? Not only did Colbert never break character while ripping into El Presidente, he also held no punches in socking it to the media as well.

The newspapers are filled with articles on the subject. Mainstream media did not give Colbert much coverage or credit, and the liberal blogosphere pretty much exploded. Now there's a back and forth, and it's become a political issue. To me it's not really a political issue, it's simply one of taste. Seriously. Well I guess there are two reasons the audience might not have found Colbert funny: he was not funny, or he hit too close to the mark. It very well could have been the latter (i rather think it was), but it could have been the former.

I'm not one to judge what another person finds funny or not. That's up to them. I, however, found it damn funny, and courageous to boot. And smart too....I hear his ratings have been through the roof. Anyway, take a look and you can judge for yourself.

Bridge and Tunnel

I spent this past weekend in NYC, hanging with family and enjoying the weather. It was a chill weekend -- it's always good to get away for a few days. Good perspective. Now what does one do when in NYC? Ask almost anyone and you'll get a variety of responses, ranging from "go see a museum" to "ooohh...there's this one greek restuarant that's really good, but I can't remember where it is". Great.

However, I guarantee that "Go see a Broadway show" will be a popular answer. And so, of course, I made an effort to go see a Broadway show. Well, to be completely honest, my brother purchased the tickets, and I kinda went along for the ride.

It's called 'Bridge and Tunnel', performed by Sarah Jones. It's just her up on stage, and she spends about 90 minutes going through various different personas -- from an old Polish Jewish woman to a young black man named Rashid. They all have one thing in common: they're all immigrants. And that's the theme. It's a show about immigrants (legal and illegal, i suppose) and how they cope with living in NYC.

There are two things which made this show really worthwhile for me. First was Sarah's amazing ability to morph herself into various characters. Within seconds she changed from an old Mexican man to a muslim woman, and then again to an 11 year old schoolgirl. Her accents were great, her little phrases thrown in from different languages were authentic and well spoken. It was really quite an impressive acting achievement. The second part that made it worthwhile was that it helped me with perspective. After seeing the play you walk down the streets of NYC, and you start to wonder at the stories that lie behind each face you pass on the street. You wonder what, if they had their 10 minutes on stage, they would say. If they could write a poem, would it rhyme? Little things like that. It's a good performance that makes you think about it afterwards.

I also did other random stuff in the big apple. Saw a comedy show (decent), paid a lot for taxi's (expected), learned the subway system (sort of), and ate at a fancy restaurant with great food (unexpected but good). And now I'm back. Ready for the sunshine to hit the bay area, and get out climbing.

If anyone happens to want to join, or want to learn, just drop me a line.