And we're back...

So, didn't mean to drop off the face of the blogosphere for the better part of a month. But, as the late, great Douglas Adams so rightly observed, time is an illusion, lunchtime, doubly so. Funny how you can get so bogged down in school that you forget about the rest of your life.

First up, a movie review: Happy Feet. Yes, I'm aware its a kid's movie. The strange thing is that once I got to my mid-twenties I realized how good I had it as a kid and hence started liking children's movies again. I suspect that most people have this experience at some point in their lives, but I'm getting off the subject. Like most movies directed at the 12-and-under set, don't expect much plot, in fact there is very little plot beyond what you might have seen in the trailer: an emperor penguin is born who cannot sing (the usual mating ritual for his kind) and therefore expresses his emotion by dancing, much to the consternation of his parents, peers, and most of all the elders of his tribe. Yadda, yadda, yadda. The animation is quite good and the visuals are sweeping and dramatic, sometimes zooming into extreme close-up or out to a view of the Earth from space. The action is well done and there are some decent acting performances. These include Robbin Williams playing both southern-fried preacher Lovelace and lead Latino penguin (for some reason the Adelie penguins speak with Latin American accents) Ramon.

Next, a complaint about the Washington Capitols home games. Apparently, unlike most stadiums, which sound a very loud air horn whenever the home team scores, the Caps have added a siren. This, combined with the horn, which like most games stateside is sounded for far too long, creates a wall of unpleasantness. Yes, we know you scored, now get over yourselves. I guess the is the American substitute for the roar of the crowd. Yeah, stick to football and leave our game alone.