Russell Crowe? Australian for "Blasphemy"!

Some movies just shouldn't be re-made. The classics - those with characters whose shoes no one else can fill. How on earth could anyone else take the place of Bogey and Bacall in Casablanca? Or what about Pacino in The Godfather? Or Audrey in Breakfast at Tiffany's?

Well, an audacious Aussie is about to try to fill some pretty big shoes. I don't think he can do it...but then again, I've read the book three times and seen the movie far too many to count. There is only one Rhett Butler, and his name is NOT Russell Crowe.

Is Russell Crowe the new Rhett Butler? Before you say "Frankly my dear, I
don't give a damn," wait till you hear who the Scarlett O'Hara will be. She's a
fellow Aussie but the two have never worked together. The film will be made by
"Moulin Rouge" auteur Baz Luhrman and the script is said to be a love story
based on "Gone With The Wind." Who's the woman who may rip the draperies off the wall to stitch together a fetching frock? None other than the bewitching Nicole
Kidman. The as yet untitled film starts production next year. Just keep Russell
away from the hotel phones.

That said, I'm not a Crowe fan anyway - I'll avoid just about anything with him in it, no matter what his blockbuster status. At least Ron Howard was smart enough not to pick him to star in The DaVinci Code, although of the three who made the cut, I wish he had taken Clooney instead.

(By the way, Happy Holiday season to all! My few days off left many a thought swirling in my brain, and I think I'll do some blogging on them over the next few days. But tonight, I sleep)

Gobble Gobble!

Wow, this has been a busy week. A true sign the holidays are indeed upon us.

But I'm not too busy to wish you all a very happy and safe Thanksgiving. Whether you're gathering around the family table for a tryptophan (sp?) overload, or eating your tofurkey by yourself (as I've done with the real thing far too many years to count), or anything in between - good luck, and may the holidays be a good thing in your life this year instead of a drag.

This year, I'm skipping town...I refuse to eat another turkey breast for one. See ya when I get back!

2b/not2B?

It's a move that's giving a whole new meaning to the idea of the great literary texts. THe classics are going high tech. According to articles from CNN, the BBC, and numerous local newspapers , services are trying to summarize the ideas of Shakespeare, the Bronte sisters, and Upton Sinclair to name only a few, into small, consumable text messages.

Now, I love Shakespeare. Once you get into his work, the rhythm of the language is amazing, and his audacity to create new language or slang to get his point across is admirable. TO me, these snippets will lose something. However, I'm no purist. This could open the classics up to an entirely new generation of people who don't have the attention span or the time or the desire (or all three) to sit down and start them for themselves. This could be their gateway into the old fashioned technology known as print on a page, or a book.

So I don't think I'll be signing up for the service, but should anyone try to condense Hemingway down to 160 characters or less, let me know. That I gotta see!

Is technology turning us into veritable Luddites?

I had already started a great post about technology today when the phone rang. The substance of that conversation started me thinking. As for the other thoughts, well, you'll get them another day, don't worry.

So, a guy I know called me and told me he was thinking of switching his phone service. Turns out a company made the announcement they are coming out with a Skype wi-fi telephone. Forgive me if I get a few details wrong, as I know little about this technology, but basically, he could use his wi-fi router to make the service available in the whole house, and save money. This is because he could talk free to other Skype users, but would have to pay to talk to regular ol' folk like me, but he would do so in two stages - one package for minutes for calls coming in, and one package for minutes going out (We'll call them, "Skype-In" and "Skype-out").

He went on and on, extolling the virtues of this service over his current provider. Knowing, as I do, that this is a man who is hellbent on staying on top of gadegtry and technology, I finally had to stop him to make this observation.

Only the electronics/technology industry will ask us to step backwards and call it progress.

Think about it. Were any established type of phone service to insist that we pay for minutes by two plans, one for who's calling us and one for calls we make...we would be outraged. People would be switching away from BellAtlantic or Verizon or Sprint or whomever if our land lines chose to run like that, not to mention if cell service went that route. It's a pain and almost a step backwards. But because it's attached to a new "cutting edge technology" he's willing to give up that which we have come to expect, to accept something that rings of a throwback to the days of the party line, in order to have that cache of being "the first" or "cutting edge" himself.

And the phone industry isn't the only one doing it. Look, for example, at HDTV. It's no coincidence that more units are selling now. Until the last year or so, many units were not HD ready...so in order to see this beautiful new crisp digital picture, you had to get - you guessed it - the '90s or '00s version of digital rabbit ears! People who bought one of these units early on had to put aerials on their rooftops in order to even use their new high tech purchase. Wanted to cable to it? You needed a convertor box, and even then most cable systems fought having to carry the HD signals. Now, most units are HD-ready, and many more are heading off the shelves. It's not the only reason, mind you, but it's one that has opened people's minds and made them more open to the idea of shelling out that kinda dough for a TV.

Now, look at the auto industry. Imagine what would happen if Toyota (and I'm just grabbing random names here, folks) told us that in order to get a convertible, we'd have to have to have manual windows, or the hottest new car on the lot only came in puce, or the on board entertainment system only came in a 4-cylinder model? People who like puce, or don't mind manual windows, or those who ABSOLUTELY have to have the hottest car or the biggest entertainment system would be fine with it. The rest of us would likely high-tail it to another dealership to look for something that matches both our needs and our expectations.

I explained all of this to him, and asked if he was willing to allow technology - that which is supposed to enhance our lives - not advance his life, but rather reverse its course in that he would now have to spend time tracking three accounts of minutes and therefore eat into more of his free time. He said he looked at it as a cost savings. I say my time is worth more than that...his jury is still out.