Category Archives: General

Tintin | The Adventures of Tintin

Tintin | The Adventures of Tintin.

I saw the Tintin movie last week and was reminded of fond childhood memories.

I was reading Tintin 50 years ago at my friend’s house and we had to ask my friend’s father to translate them from the French (he had been raised in France).

The movie seemed to combine three different books for the overall plotline and used characters from other other books.  So many of the images leapt to life . The portraits in the opening shot were old familiar characters. Thomson and Thompson were there. In the opening credits there was the rocket to the moon (and many other cameos but that one jumped out at me). No Professor Calculus though; I suppose you have to sacrifice something for the cinema.  The prize scene was watching Snowy drag the dinosaur bone through the desert and everyone else completely oblivious to it. I remember that from long, long ago.

As for the movie, I thought it captured the spirit of Hergé very well, it was fun, not too dark, and it took you on adventures around the world. Steven Spielberg is a pretty good director, he captured his subject well. I thought the sword fight at the end, with dueling cranes, was a bit over the top, but I didn’t see it in 3D. I hadn’t been reading any of the pre-release hype, so it surprised me in the credits to see Peter Jackson as second unit director.

FREX

Frex – Fares & Tickets.

I was just wondering what it would take to commute to Denver.  Just in case…

I worked out that a 75 mile trip in a car that gets 30 mpg (which is a bit more than my PT Cruiser gets, but it is the 2011 CAFE standard) would run me about $8.75 per trip (2.5 gallons @ $3.50 a gallon).  Looking at the FREX prices and adding in that someone else will be driving, using the bus is a very affordable option. And since I would be leaving from the Monument stop, it is even a better deal.  The main problem would be if I had to go somewhere far away from the FREX route.  But I think Denver has a pretty comprehensive local transit system.

And with free wi-fi on the Bus, I can stay connected if I decide not to sleep.

Netflix: Suggestions For You

Because I like liked “Red Dwarf”, “Dead Like You” and “Buffy” Netflix is suggesting “Coupling”, the UK version. I don’t think their suggestion algorithm works well.

I have seen “Coupling” and it is another one of those ensemble sitcoms in which characters compete to do the most embarrassing thing in 30 or 40 minutes.  Even if the show has great writers, I do not subject myself to that level of ‘comedy’ regularly.

PayPal?

Why @PayPal is wrong regarding @Regretsy, according to their own policies. « greengeekgirl.

After reading the story of the Regretsy nightmare with PayPal, I would like to find some alternative to PayPal to handle my on-line micro-finance needs.  I am especially alarmed at the idea that PayPal can freeze my account for 6 months on the whim of an employee.  If I ever decide to put a “Donate” button on my web page, it won’t be with PayPal.