James Piper, Author

Movies Watched in December 2007 1. 2007/12/01 The Princess Comes Across. Comedy. (1936, 76 mins.) NR 2. 2007/12/01 El laberinto del fauno. Fantasy. (2006, 112 mins.) NR 3. 2007/12/02 White Christmas. Musical. (1954, 120 mins.) *** 4. 2007/12/02 True Confession. Comedy. (1937, 85 mins.) NR 5. 2007/12/03 Clash by Night. Film Noir. (1952, 105 mins.) NR 6. 2007/12/03 Clash by Night. Film Noir. (1952, 105 mins.) NR 7. 2007/12/04 Spider-Man 3. Action. (2007, 139 mins.) NR 8. 2007/12/05 The Gods Must Be Crazy. Comedy. (1980, 109 mins.) ***½ 9. 2007/12/05 The Gods Must Be Crazy II. Drama. (1989, 98 mins.) NR 10. 2007/12/06 Over the Hedge. Animation. (2006, 83 mins.) NR 11. 2007/12/06 Vanity Fair. Drama. (2004, 141 mins.) NR 12. 2007/12/07 That Beautiful Somewhere. Drama. (2006, 93 mins.) NR 13. 2007/12/07 The Right Stuff. Biographical. (1983, 193 mins.) **** 14. 2007/12/08 Talk To Me. Drama. (2007, 118 mins.) ***½ 15. 2007/12/08 Over the Hedge. Animation. (2006, 83...

Movies Watched in November 2007 1. 2007/11/01 Live from Baghdad. Drama. (2002, 110 mins.) *** 2. 2007/11/02 To Sir, with Love. Drama. (1967, 105 mins.) ***½ 3. 2007/11/02 Control Room. Documentary. (2004, 84 mins.) ***½ 4. 2007/11/03 The Forty-Year Old Virgin. Comedy. (2005, 116 mins.) ***½ 5. 2007/11/04 Platoon. War. (1986, 120 mins.) **** 6. 2007/11/04 Hitch. Romantic Comedy. (2005, 118 mins.) *** 7. 2007/11/05 The Wedding Date. Romantic Comedy. (2005, 90 mins.) ** 8. 2007/11/06 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Adventure. (2005, 157 mins.) NR 9. 2007/11/07 The Da Vinci Code. Thriller. (2006, 149 mins.) *** 10. 2007/11/08 The Godfather: Part III. Crime. (1990, 162 mins.) **½ 11. 2007/11/09 Yellow Submarine. Animation. (1968, 90 mins.) *** 12. 2007/11/09 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Adventure. (2004, 141 mins.) *** 13. 2007/11/10 Fiddler on the Roof. Musical. (1971, 181 mins.) ***½ 14. 2007/11/11 Babel. Drama. (2006, 143 mins.) **** 15. 2007...

Movies Watched in October 2007 1. 2007/10/01 La fille du juge. Drama. (2006, 90 mins.) NR 2. 2007/10/02 Last Orders. Drama. (2001, 109 mins.) ** 3. 2007/10/03 Perfume: The Story of a Murderer. Crime. (2006, 147 mins.) NR 4. 2007/10/04 His Girl Friday. Comedy. (1940, 92 mins.) **** 5. 2007/10/05 Bobby. Drama. (2006, 120 mins.) ***½ 6. 2007/10/06 Sideways. Comedy. (2004, 126 mins.) ***½ 7. 2007/10/06 Just Like Heaven. Romantic Comedy. (2005, 95 mins.) *** 8. 2007/10/07 Revenge of the Nerds. Comedy. (1984, 90 mins.) **½ 9. 2007/10/07 Revenge of the Nerds II: Nerds in Paradise. Comedy. (1987, 98 mins.) NR 10. 2007/10/07 The Constant Gardener. Thriller. (2005, 129 mins.) NR 11. 2007/10/08 A Certain Kind of Death. Documentary. (2003, 69 mins.) *** 12. 2007/10/08 Wallis & Edward. Romance. (2005, 94 mins.) NR 13. 2007/10/09 Eye of the Needle. War. (1981, 112 mins.) *** 14. 2007/10/10 The Queen. Drama. (2006, 103 mins.) **½ 15. 2007/10/11 Eternal Sunshine of the ...

Movies Watched in September 2007 1. 2007/09/01 The Lake House. Romantic Comedy. (2006, 99 mins.) ***½ 2. 2007/09/01 Happy Feet. Animation. (2006, 109 mins.) NR 3. 2007/09/02 Big Eden. Drama. (2000, 117 mins.) NR 4. 2007/09/02 Battleground. War. (1949, 118 mins.) NR 5. 2007/09/02 Star Wars. Action. (1977, 121 mins.) **** 6. 2007/09/04 Spider-Man 2. Action. (2004, 127 mins.) NR 7. 2007/09/05 Syriana. Biographical. (2005, 126 mins.) **** 8. 2007/09/06 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Adventure. (2005, 157 mins.) NR 9. 2007/09/07 China Seas. Adventure. (1935, 87 mins.) NR 10. 2007/09/08 Fat Man and Little Boy. Drama. (1989, 127 mins.) *½ 11. 2007/09/08 Hoffman. Comedy. (1970, 113 mins.) NR 12. 2007/09/09 Letters from Iwo Jima. War. (2006, 141 mins.) ***½ 13. 2007/09/10 A Prairie Home Companion. Comedy. (2006, 105 mins.) ***½ 14. 2007/09/11 Aurora Borealis. Drama. (2005, 110 mins.) NR 15. 2007/09/12 The Shop Around the Corner. Romantic Comedy. (1940, 99 mins...

Movies Watched in August 2007 1. 2007/08/01 Gideon's Daughter. Drama. (2005, 105 mins.) NR 2. 2007/08/02 Look Both Ways. Drama. (2005, 100 mins.) NR 3. 2007/08/03 The Departed. Crime. (2006, 151 mins.) NR 4. 2007/08/04 Dreamgirls. Musical. (2006, 131 mins.) NR 5. 2007/08/05 Little Miss Sunshine. Comedy. (2006, 101 mins.) **** 6. 2007/08/06 Emma. Romance. (1996, 121 mins.) NR 7. 2007/08/07 Syriana. Biographical. (2005, 126 mins.) **** 8. 2007/08/08 Babel. Drama. (2006, 143 mins.) **** 9. 2007/08/09 James and the Giant Peach. Animation. (1996, 79 mins.) NR 10. 2007/08/10 Blade Runner. Science Fiction. (1982, 117 mins.) NR 11. 2007/08/10 The Man in the Glass Booth. Drama. (1975, 117 mins.) NR 12. 2007/08/11 Schindler's List. War. (1993, 195 mins.) NR 13. 2007/08/12 Volver. Drama. (2006, 121 mins.) NR 14. 2007/08/13 Casino Royale. James Bond. (2006, 144 mins.) **** 15. 2007/08/13 Mr. Moto Takes a Vacation. Mystery. (1939, 65 mins.) NR 16. 2007/08/14 Th...

Movies Watched in July 2007 1. 2007/07/01 From Russia with Love. James Bond. (1963, 115 mins.) NR 2. 2007/07/02 84 Charing Cross Road. Drama. (1987, 100 mins.) *** 3. 2007/07/03 Jurassic Park. Adventure. (1993, 127 mins.) *** 4. 2007/07/03 Thunderball. James Bond. (1965, 130 mins.) ***½ 5. 2007/07/04 September. Comedy. (1987, 82 mins.) NR 6. 2007/07/05 The Front. Drama. (1976, 95 mins.) ***½ 7. 2007/07/06 Frida. Drama. (2002, 123 mins.) NR 8. 2007/07/07 Der Name der Rose. Mystery. (1986, 130 mins.) NR 9. 2007/07/07 A Room with a View. Drama. (1985, 117 mins.) NR 10. 2007/07/07 A Change of Seasons. Drama. (1980, 102 mins.) ** 11. 2007/07/10 Charlotte's Web. Drama. (2006, 97 mins.) NR 12. 2007/07/11 Lautlos. Thriller. (2004, 94 mins.) NR 13. 2007/07/12 Gaslight. Drama. (1944, 114 mins.) *** 14. 2007/07/12 Of Mice and Men. Drama. (1992, 115 mins.) NR 15. 2007/07/13 The Maltese Falcon. Crime. (1941, 101 mins.) NR 16. 2007/07/13 The Maltese Falcon. Crime. ...

Movies Watched in June 2007 1. 2007/06/01 Battle of the Bulge. War. (1965, 167 mins.) NR 2. 2007/06/02 Battleground. War. (1949, 118 mins.) NR 3. 2007/06/03 The Age of Innocence. Drama. (1993, 139 mins.) NR 4. 2007/06/04 Pat and Mike. Romantic Comedy. (1952, 95 mins.) NR 5. 2007/06/05 Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back. Action. (1980, 124 mins.) NR 6. 2007/06/06 A Raisin in the Sun. Drama. (1961, 128 mins.) NR 7. 2007/06/07 World Trade Center. Drama. (2006, 129 mins.) NR 8. 2007/06/08 Beloved. Drama. (1998, 172 mins.) NR 9. 2007/06/08 Wag The Dog. Comedy. (1997, 97 mins.) NR 10. 2007/06/09 The Remains of the Day. Drama. (1993, 134 mins.) NR 11. 2007/06/12 Erin Brockovitch. Drama. (2000, 132 mins.) NR 12. 2007/06/13 Marie Antoinette (1938). Drama. (1938, 157 mins.) NR 13. 2007/06/14 Troy. Drama. (2004, 163 mins.) NR 14. 2007/06/15 Bon Cop, Bad Cop. Comedy. (2006, 116 mins.) *** 15. 2007/06/16 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. Action. (1997, 178 mins....

Sunday, June 24, 2007 A Good Woman. Feature film. (2004, 93 mins) IMDB ... Adapting a play for film is never an easy task ... O ne has to wonder how, in adapting a play to film, they can change locations (England to Italy), centuries (1890's to 1930's), nationalities (British to US) and heros (Lady Windermere to Mrs. Erlynne) and expect it to resonant as the play does. It can happen, but not with A Good Woman --a 2006 feature film starring Helen Hunt and Scarlett Johansson. I almost believe the brain trust behind the film saw A Month by the Lake with Venessa Redgrave and wanted a similar movie. They thought about it and came up with Oscar Wilde's play Lady Windermere's Fan instead of an original story. It's based on the play, but they shouldn't have bothered. The play addresses two issues: satirizing the British upper class and illustrating the manner in which most humans jump to conclusions often to their own detriment. But how do yo...

Saturday, June 23, 2007 Sylvia. Feature film. (2003, 110 mins) IMDB ... Some ideas just don't work as a film. ... S ylvia is a 2003 feature film starring Gwyneth Paltrow as Sylvia Plath and Daniel Craig as her husband Ted Hughes. There was nothing wrong with the acting or the actors. Both stars are accomplished and believable, but the film attempts to show the real-life story of poet Sylvia Plath and fails. She falls in love, gets married, and struggles with her writing. No respect. Little income. Her husband is an accomplished poet and philanderer. This is filmable, but so what. It's not very interesting. What is interesting is her struggle with depression--a depression that leads her to suicide at 31--but how to show that with any insight? It's not in this film as it raises more questions than insights. Narrate her journals? You'd be better off reading her published journals. Posted 2007/06/23 at 17h16ET in Movie Commentary.

Friday, June 22, 2007 ... Why do people like it? ... I decided that I should read some novels of writers I wouldn't normally read and this time around it's Ruth Rendell and Thirteen Steps Down. I knew nothing about her or her work, but it was clear she's popular (number of copies at the library and hold list) and successful (long, long list of credits). I'm a quarter of the way through and I want to throwing it back at the library. There are two main characters--an eighty-something spinster and a twenty-something male border named Mix. The spinster spends her time reading and reliving the past. Mix is delusional about some fashion model and obsessed with a serial killer who was hanged fifty years ago. I don't find either of them interesting. Nothing they do or say interests me. I'm tired of serial killers stories so I don't care who he was or who he killed or why he did it or how it did it. There is a narrative but it laced with back...

Movies Watched in May 2007 1. 2007/05/01 The World Is Not Enough. James Bond. (1999, 128 mins.) NR 2. 2007/05/02 The Best Years of Our Lives. Drama. (1946, 168 mins.) NR 3. 2007/05/03 The Thirty-Nine Steps. Thriller. (1935, 86 mins.) **** 4. 2007/05/04 Glengarry Glen Ross. Drama. (1992, 100 mins.) ***½ 5. 2007/05/05 Dead Poets Society. Drama. (1989, 128 mins.) NR 6. 2007/05/05 A Night in Casablanca. Comedy. (1946, 85 mins.) NR 7. 2007/05/05 A Dry White Season. Drama. (1989, 97 mins.) ***½ 8. 2007/05/06 My Favourite Year. Comedy. (1982, 92 mins.) **** 9. 2007/05/06 The Thirty-Nine Steps. Thriller. (1935, 86 mins.) **** 10. 2007/05/07 High Noon. Drama. (1952, 85 mins.) NR 11. 2007/05/08 A Night At The Opera. Comedy. (1935, 96 mins.) NR 12. 2007/05/08 A Night At The Opera. Comedy. (1935, 96 mins.) NR 13. 2007/05/09 My Man Godfrey. Romantic Comedy. (1936, 94 mins.) NR 14. 2007/05/10 North by Northwest. Thriller. (1959, 136 mins.) **** 15. 2007/05/11 Never Cry Wo...

Tuesday, May 1, 2007 ... Americans loath the metric system--sometimes ... Q uick. True or false. The length of American cigarettes is measured using the metric system. "It's the 100 yard dash, goddamn it," they'll say. "I weigh 300 pounds and stand five foot two. Not an inch more." But go find a pack of the 100s. Those long slender American cigarettes that, in a pinch, work as pole vaults. Find a ruler and measure them. Surprise. The name 100s, used for these cigarettes, comes from the fact they are 100 millmetres long. Go figure. In Canada, you can buy Winston 100s. They are made specifically for the Canadian market so the packaging is bilingual. On the English side it's 100s and the French side it's 100mm. I know. I know. I'm making it up. This can't possibly be right. They aren't 100mm, they're 3.93700780078 inches! Posted 2007/05/01 at 19h37ET in Life.

Tuesday, May 1, 2007 ... Of crosue you can raed tihs ... T he mnid can do smoe fnuny tinhgs. Oaky. Smoe anamizg tgnhis. Tkae any wrod with fuor ltetres or mroe and jmlube the ltetres bweeten the fsirt and last ltteer and you can raed it. Too bad the wrod peosrscor I'm unisg wtnas to corerct me all the tmie. And so much for spelling. Posted 2007/05/01 at 19h51ET in Writing.

Monday, April 30, 2007 October Sky. Feature Film. (1990, 108 mins) IMDB ... damn rockets are fun ... O n average I watch one movie a day--it's better than watching television--and tonight I watched October Sky . At some point since its release in 1999, I had seen at least part of this movie, but at the time, it didn't do anything for me because I would have remembered more. Not so tonight. It's the late 1950s in a coal mining town in West Virginia, USA. Homer is in high school facing two options: work in the coal mines or get a football scholarship. Within the first five minutes of the movie, any football dreams are shattered with his failed tryout, but since it's a movie there has to be more and that more is Sputnik. On October 4, 1957, October Sky, the Soviet Union launched Sputnik 1. The successful launch of the satellite shocked the US and inspired Homer. He wants to build rockets. It's his way out of the town, his way to avoid working i...

Movies Watched in April 2007 1. 2007/04/01 Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World. War. (2003, 138 mins.) **** 2. 2007/04/01 A Month by the Lake. Drama. (1995, 92 mins.) **** 3. 2007/04/01 Must Love Dogs. Romantic Comedy. (2005, 98 mins.) **½ 4. 2007/04/01 One Fine Day. Romantic Comedy. (1996, 109 mins.) *** 5. 2007/04/01 Mrs. Dalloway. Drama. (1997, 97 mins.) NR 6. 2007/04/01 Song of the Thin Man. Comedy. (1947, 86 mins.) NR 7. 2007/04/03 Stand By Me. Drama. (1986, 89 mins.) NR 8. 2007/04/04 Stand By Me. Drama. (1986, 89 mins.) NR 9. 2007/04/05 The Razor's Edge. Drama. (1946, 145 mins.) NR 10. 2007/04/06 I Capture The Castle. Drama. (2003, 113 mins.) NR 11. 2007/04/07 Shakespeare In Love. Drama. (1998, 122 mins.) **** 12. 2007/04/08 Stardust Memories. Comedy. (1980, 88 mins.) NR 13. 2007/04/09 My Life as a Dog. Drama. (1985, 101 mins.) **** 14. 2007/04/10 Sullivan's Travels. Comedy. (1941, 90 mins.) NR 15. 2007/04/10 Sullivan's Travels....

Wednesday, April 25, 2007 ... the power of the comma ... I f you've ever thought that punctuation doesn't matter, is too restrictive, too pedantic then consider these two sentences. A woman, without her man, is nothing. A woman: without her, man is nothing. The same words in the same order. Replace a comma with a colon, move the other comma and the meaning is startling different. Posted 2007/04/25 at 13h32ET in Writing.

Saturday, April 21, 2007 ... Crosby only has two choices about the World championship and saying I'm not going isn't one of them ... W hen the Pittsburgh Penguins lost their fourth game of the first round of the 2007 Stanley Cup playoffs to Ottawa the obvious question became: Would Sidney Crosby play at the World Championships? There's no doubt Steve Yzerman, this year's General Manager for Team Canada, would love to see him on the team. The are only two options for Crosby: play or feign an injury. He can't say no. For good or bad, if he declined to play, said "I don't want to go", many wouldn't forget it and many would use it to take shots at him and since he has the potential for a Wayne Gretzky like career, he has to avoid a backlash. I am therefore not surprised to see today he announced he won't be going. He's been playing with a fracture in his foot. To be expected. Posted 2007/04/21 at 18h29ET in Hockey.

Saturday, April 21, 2007 ... Even David Mamet makes mistakes ... I started reading David Mamet's Bambi vs. Godzilla: On the Nature, Purpose, and Practice of the Movie Business. In his chapter on producers, he compares a movie producer to a casino gambler who bets black on a roulette wheel. After the first loss, he bets black again but with twice the money and keeps this up until he wins. Movie producers keep betting more money on the tent pole movies with the hopes it will be the next JAWS or STAR WARS. If the movie fails, the producer can't be blamed because he didn't cut any corners. "We doubled our budget." The strategy he insists is doomed to fail just like the gambler. When he writes that there is a limited bankroll for both the gambler and producer, it's easy to understand even for a multibillion dollar company. They may very well run out of funds before their strategy pays off. And he's correct when he writes about the indepe...

Friday, April 20, 2007 ... new limit to what television newscasts will broadcast ... O n April 16, 2007 I clicked on a Toronto newspaper's web site and learnt about the shootings in Virginia earlier that day. Two days later when I clicked on the same site, I saw a photo, the size of a paperback, of a man pointing a gun at me. A second newspaper had the same image. I wasn't pleased. The saying goes: don't point a gun at someone unless you intend to shot. I don't intend to get shot and I don't like the idea of a gun pointed at me even if it is a photograph. How many movies have you seen where an actor points a gun directly, in close-up, at the audience? Rarely. There is a famous early sound film where that stunt took place, but it failed miserable as people keeled over from freight. Why did The Toronto Star and The Globe and Mail think the photos were appropriate? Money. Today I read in the G&M that TV news broadcasts were playing video of...

Movies Watched in March 2007 1. 2007/03/01 The Big Red One. War. (1980, 162 mins.) NR 2. 2007/03/02 Patton. War. (1970, 170 mins.) NR 3. 2007/03/02 Patton. War. (1970, 170 mins.) NR 4. 2007/03/03 Easter Parade. Musical. (1948, 107 mins.) NR 5. 2007/03/03 Easter Parade. Musical. (1948, 107 mins.) NR 6. 2007/03/04 The Birds. Thriller. (1963, 120 mins.) NR 7. 2007/03/04 All The President's Men. Drama. (1976, 138 mins.) NR 8. 2007/03/05 The Awful Truth. Romantic Comedy. (1937, 91 mins.) NR 9. 2007/03/05 Summer Stock. Musical. (1950, 108 mins.) NR 10. 2007/03/05 The Bells Of St. Mary's. Drama. (1945, 126 mins.) NR 11. 2007/03/06 The Joy Luck Club. Drama. (1993, 139 mins.) NR 12. 2007/03/07 The Awful Truth. Romantic Comedy. (1937, 91 mins.) NR 13. 2007/03/08 Truly, Madly, Deeply. Romantic Comedy. (1991, 107 mins.) NR 14. 2007/03/09 Sense and Sensibility. Drama. (1995, 136 mins.) NR 15. 2007/03/09 A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. Comedy. (19...

Saturday, March 10, 2007 ... mourning doves take over the nest ... I n the late summer of 2006, a pair of robins decided to build a nest on a spout that ran down from the eavestrough then back under the roof. Where it attached to the side of the house, the spout is almost horizontal giving the birds a flat surface to build their nest and a protected area from rain, wind and I suppose predators. They worked non-stop to build this nest. An engineering marvel—sturdy—built of twigs, grass, string and mud. Then came their chicks. Two parents and two chicks. The parents took turns gathering worms to feed the chicks. Flight after the flight, one parent would arrive with food then the other would leave to find more. Hour after hour these chicks were feed. At first, the points of their beaks were the only thing that popped out of the nest, later, more of the beaks, then more, then their necks showed, until, not less than four weeks later these chicks were as big as th...

Monday, March 12, 2007 ... words, words, words...we got words ... I started reading Words, Words, Words by David Crystal (Oxford University Press, 2006) and I was surprised by his statement that there is no definitive word count for the English language. On a number of occasions I've read and heard that the English language has so many million words and the French language this many or Swedish a much smaller number. I took it that someone went to the trouble of counting the words and came up with a total, but it's not that easy. Compare a British dictionary to an American dictionary and there are numerous differences—differences that extend beyond simple spelling variations. Words are included in one dictionary but not the other and vice-versa. Then there is the issue of scientific words. Do you include all those Latin-derived mouthfuls used to name plants and animals? Lawyers may use stare decisis and economists, ceterus paribus , but should they be ...

Saturday, March 10, 2007 ... Chris Simons' attack brings out the worst in hockey fans ... O n Thursday, March 8th, Chris Simon of the New York Islanders thought he was a baseball player instead of a hockey player. Thought his stick was a bat and Ryan Hollweg's head a baseball. With two hands and one swing, Simon smashed his stick into Hollweg's face. It was a repulsive and barbarous act that highlights the worst aspects of hockey. There can be no justification for his attack. It was criminal, yet to hear some callers on the FAN 590 in Toronto, incidents like this were bound to happen because of the instigator rule. They argue that if the instigator rule were removed, the players could police themselves. They could drop their gloves at will and everything would be fine. But it wouldn't be fine. Chris Simon took matters into his own hands and swung his stick. Swinging his fists instead simply eliminates the stick. What they are really saying i...

Thursday, March 8, 2007 ... Me went to the movies ... Hollywood can't write as good as I. ... M e or I and I am me. I hear it all the time. Me and my friend went to the show... He's not that smart. He's certainly not as smart as I. The misuse of I and me is so common I ignore it, but then I read this from page 8 of While Europe Slept by Bruce Bawer published by Doubleday. How often had I stood in a New York subway surrounded by men, many of them smaller than I... Would you say: Me went to the show? No, but every day people say: me and fill in the partner went to the show. And as smart as I may be, I'm not as smart as I think I am or as smart as me. Posted 2007/03/08 at 01h09ET in Writing.

Tuesday, March 6, 2007 ... Online Tax Services Suspended by CRA ... I received an email press release from the Canada Revenue Agency late on Tuesday stating they were shutting down the computer that processed e-filed personal tax returns. For many tax preparers the announcement means they will have to file paper returns or wait for the system to come back on, but it could be a long wait. Until we can announce a business recovery date, the Agency will provide daily updates to the media on the steps we are taking. On the surface, e-filing a return makes sense because it is more efficient, but at present it only makes sense for simple returns. If you file a return beyond a T4 and an RRSP deduction, you can expect follow-up letters requesting original receipts. For accountants, this hassle means additional time—time that usually can't be recovered. As result, many accountants file paper returns for their benefit. What is required is a system that allows the recei...

Monday, March 5, 2007 ... a valuable lesson about rabies ... T here is a story in the news that a man is in an Albertan hospital waiting to die. There are probably hundreds of people in hospitals waiting to die and it's not news, but for this man, they won't disclose his name, it is news because he is dying of rabies. As a child growing up in rural Ontario, people talked about rabies. I remember one instance where a dog at a cousin's farm was quarantined to determine if he had rabies and I was in no circumstance to go near the abandoned chick coup where he was held and I didn't. I also remember horror stories about people who got rabies. They had to spend weeks in hospital getting injections forty times a day with needles as long as my leg and as thick as pretzels. The treatment seemed horrifying but never once did anyone explain that a bite from a rabid animal (e.g., a bat, fox, skunk) would lead to certain death without medical treatment. Now, ye...

Sunday, March 4, 2007 ... This is the start. ... T here has to be a start and this is it. Is there an objective, a purpose? I suppose, but it's personal. If there are rules, then I set those rules and I like that. Posted 2007/03/04 at 19h37ET in JamesPiper.com.

Movies Watched in February 2007 1. 2007/02/01 Baby Doll. Drama. (1956, 114 mins.) NR 2. 2007/02/02 Million Dollar Baby. Drama. (2004, 132 mins.) NR 3. 2007/02/06 The Tragedy of Macbeth. Shakespeare. (1971, 0 mins.) NR 4. 2007/02/08 Some Like It Hot. Comedy. (1959, 122 mins.) NR 5. 2007/02/09 The Poseidon Adventure. Action. (1972, 117 mins.) NR 6. 2007/02/10 Breakfast at Tiffanys. Comedy. (1961, 115 mins.) NR 7. 2007/02/11 Rashômon. Drama. (1950, 88 mins.) NR 8. 2007/02/11 The Guns of Navarone. War. (1961, 158 mins.) NR 9. 2007/02/11 Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi. Drama. (1983, 134 mins.) NR 10. 2007/02/12 Like Water For Chocolate. Romantic Comedy. (1992, 105 mins.) NR 11. 2007/02/13 My Fair Lady. Musical. (1964, 170 mins.) NR 12. 2007/02/13 Annie Get Your Gun. Musical. (1950, 107 mins.) NR 13. 2007/02/15 Out Of The Past. Biographical. (1947, 97 mins.) NR 14. 2007/02/17 De Fem benspænd. Documentary. (2003, 90 mins.) NR 15. 2007/02/17 The Ghost an...

Movies Watched in January 2007 1. 2007/01/01 The Confession. Drama. (1999, 114 mins.) NR 2. 2007/01/01 Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace. Action. (1999, 133 mins.) NR 3. 2007/01/01 The Grass Is Greener. Comedy. (1960, 105 mins.) NR 4. 2007/01/02 Scary Movie. Comedy. (2000, 88 mins.) NR 5. 2007/01/03 Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace. Action. (1999, 133 mins.) NR 6. 2007/01/03 The Piano. Drama. (1993, 121 mins.) NR 7. 2007/01/04 Mr. & Mrs. Smith (1941). Thriller. (1941, 95 mins.) *** 8. 2007/01/05 The Magnificent Ambersons. Drama. (2002, 150 mins.) NR 9. 2007/01/06 The Tigger Movie. Mystery. (2000, 77 mins.) NR 10. 2007/01/07 Citizen Kane. Drama. (1941, 119 mins.) ** 11. 2007/01/07 Citizen Kane. Drama. (1941, 119 mins.) NR 12. 2007/01/07 Citizen Kane. Drama. (1941, 119 mins.) ** 13. 2007/01/08 Little Women. Drama. (1994, 115 mins.) NR 14. 2007/01/08 Little Women. Drama. (1994, 115 mins.) NR 15. 2007/01/09 Little Big Man. Drama. (1970, 139...