Movies Watched -- The Tree of Wooden Clogs (1978)

Added on by C. Maoxian.

In Italian … 179 minute running time … normally I’d say this is twice as long as it should be, but this was a special movie and gets a pass because it had many beautiful moments … it’s not a single story, but a series of dozens of vignettes… the life of Italian peasants at the turn of the 20th century.

I liked it and am glad I saw it and can recommend it and would have also voted for it if I were on the Palme d’Or committee, but be warned, it’s three hours long.

From the Criterion blurb: “Through the cycle of seasons, of backbreaking labor, love and marriage, birth and death, faith and superstition, Olmi naturalistically evokes an existence very close to nature, celebrating its beauty, humor, and simplicity but also acknowledging the feudal cruelty that governs it. Winner of the Palme d’Or at Cannes in 1978, The Tree of Wooden Clogs is intimate in scale but epic in scope—a towering, heart-stirring work of humanist filmmaking.”

Marriage is a Holy Sacrament

J.E. Sunde's Blind Curve

Added on by C. Maoxian.

I really dig this song… if I got any of the lyrics wrong, let me know.

UPDATE: I emailed J.E. Sunde and he was kind enough to send some corrections. What a guy!

It's hard to feel unnoticed

When my work requires

That I find a stage in a dark room

To tell some strangers all my secrets

Cuz I feel a strange transcendence

When I get some words to rhyme

And I don't understand the purpose

But it makes my father smile

So I am betting on a blind curve

I'm betting on a blind curve

I'm betting on a blind curve

I can't see what's to come

I thought it'd be more certain

Than life has proved to be

But if love still runs the game

Then love is proof enough for me

To keep on calling all my friends

In the struggle and the doubt

You need not die to make it holy

We’ll just try to sing about it

Cuz we're betting on a blind curve

We’re betting on a blind curve

I'm betting on a blind curve

I can't see what's to come

I'm betting on a blind curve

I'm betting on a blind curve

I'm betting on a blind curve

I can't see what's to come

Ford F-Series Trucks Through the Years

Added on by C. Maoxian.

Still a work in progress

  • 1948-1952 Ford F1 – First Generation

  • 1953-1956 Ford F-100 – Second Generation

  • 1957-1960 F-100 – Third Generation

  • 1961-1966 F-100 – Fourth Generation

  • 1967-1972 F-100 – Fifth Generation

Movies Watched -- 3 Women (1977)

Added on by C. Maoxian.

124 minute running time which means 30 minutes too long, but this was just terrible and would be at any length. Was Robert Altman a druggie? This seems like drug-addled nonsense. How on earth did 20th Century Fox approve the budget for this? Who was in charge back then? Geez. Shelley Duvall with her weird googly eyes and crooked teeth. Sissy Spacek is cute but plays a nut. The whole story is just dumb and bizarre. Who could watch and enjoy this crap? I have John Farr to blame for this awful recommendation, “one of Altman's finest films of the 1970s.” If that’s true, I’d hate to see his less fine ones!

Give me a slug of that, huh?

Stock du Jour -- PRTG

Added on by C. Maoxian.

There were no minimum 70% gappers today … PRTG came closest with a 57% gap. I paid 25 cents!! per share to borrow this ($3,198 upfront) and then it went up 95% from the open taking out all the fixed 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% stops (100% stops safe), as well as the pre-market high of $7.71 … so it was another gapper that lost money into the close, and oh yeah, the $3,200 paid upfront for a borrow. See why so many genius day traders disappear?

I Finally Cancelled Netflix

Added on by C. Maoxian.

Netflix cost $25 a month (after tax) and I never watched it and my wife never watched it and even my kids never watched it, so I decided to cancel it. My buddy Dave recommended Ripley in a last ditch effort to get me to stay, but I hated the artificial digitized quality of it (I guess it’s a Showtime show, but still, it had that weird NFLX post-production look) and that sealed the deal for me. We’ll see if anyone misses it.

Had to click that last page many times before it finally went through, so it was more like cancel your membership in ten clicks.