Why Cowboys and Aliens Doesn't Work

I thought when I saw the trailers that the best part of Cowboys and Aliens would be the title, and it turns out I was right. I actually paid full price to see it yesterday and I am therefore kicking myself around the house.

Shana and I agreed that the movie was boring, but we were not sure why. Part of it was because it was just that some scenes were way too long. In special effects movies I imagine there is a temptation to want to use as much of the "exciting" footage as possible because it cost so much. In fact from my perspective, they lose impact by letting the scene go on so long that the viewer can hardly wait for it to be over. (This may not be true of the target audience of 18 year old boys) The movie also lacked anything like character development. We did not know these people or what relationship they had with each other. Almost no screen time was "wasted" on character exposition. Whether this was because the scenes that would have established this were sacrificed to put more action scenes on the screen or because there was no character in the screenplay I do not know, but ultimately the result was that we really did not care about these people.  We were not invested in them and because we did not know them we could not be surprised or interested in anything they did.

It might seem nit-picky to point out issues of believability in what is so obviously a fantasy, but I think even the wildest of inventions must have internal logic to carry a story.  If you send space aliens into a preindustrial society in flying machines the characters should be surprised, terrified, awestruck - anything but the bland and stoic reactions shown here. Even during the (pointless) alien attack I did not see terror - only surprise and distress. As the townsmen ride out to save their family members why are they not at the very least saying "what the hell was that?" or speculation about where they came from or what the machines were? Given the backwater nature of the town some of the people would never have even seen a train, let alone alien spacecraft. The characters are bored and so are we. They are not surprised by the appearance of the aliens - because we are not surprised. They are literal copies of the current tropes of alien appearance - little and green for good, insectoid and large for evil.

Every hackneyed plot device was employed, every stereotype of race or class displayed, every inconsistency including anachronism used to bad effect.  Daniel Craig looked great, but neither he nor anyone else bothered to vary their facial expression. A waste of their time and mine.

As is no doubt glaringly obvious, all photos today are unrelated to each other or this post - just some pictures from March that I had not shared yet.

At the Edge of Fashion

I saw a fascinating bit of technology today at the interface of fashion and technology:


Electricfoxy talks with Asta Roseway at Microsoft Research from Electricfoxy on Vimeo.

I've been seeing a lot of examples of technology in fashion and art, especially clothing with lights. This piece is unique, in that it is capable of displaying an almost infinite combination of characters. Obviously not ready to be worn down the street, but as a combination of art and science it is very intriguing, and I wonder what the ultimate manifestation of this combination might be. Think of the practical innovations that came out of the Space Program!

Household Necessities

Over at "For the Love of a House" there was a list of housekeeping "must haves" that got me thinking. My list of necessary house stuff:

1.  Magic Erasers - really do work like magic on just about everything, especially tea cups.
2.  The FURminator - The single best pet hair controller anywhere.
3.  The Dyson Animal - for everything the FURminator leaves behind.
4.  Pressure cooker - for emergency meals
5.  Coleman stove - Camping gear pressed into service when storms knock out electricity.
6.  Bleach - cheap & easy germ killing
7.  Vinegar - windows, coffee pots, washing machines, odor killing: all purpose liquid!
8.  Old toothbrushes -  a "free" tool that quickly gets into every little crevice.
9.  Coffee - to drink, to adsorb odors, to kill slugs in the garden. It's hard to beat.
10. Newspaper - to read, to wash windows without streaks or lint, to layer under mulch in the garden to turn weeds into compost. The quality of the reporting may vary but the usefulness of the paper never does.

Of course I'm sure my memory of what I like to use at home is fading..looks like because of the timing of the tile orders we will not have a bathroom until mid August. I don't know whether this is the way it is and what I should have expected or if we are uniquely lucky. I don't know whether I should kick the contractor or designer (or both) in the shins or just roll around in the yard.  Instead I will post another bonus picture of The Amazing Roxanne.

Crawling on the Ground

Those of us who walk along looking at the ground often see very interesting things. One thing I had never seen before was the Indian Pipe . I saw some yesterday on my way to pick up the mail but I did not have my camera with me (I know) and was dragging an uncooperative Mitzi down the road. This morning I noticed some in our yard - a little more mature and not so translucently pretty as the ones I first saw, but just as interesting. At first glance this looks like it should be a fungus, but is actually a flowering plant that feeds on fungi instead of producing food through photosynthesis.

And for those who simply can't get enough of all things Roxy - a new picture with way too much junk in the background. She's slowing down a bit these days but still enjoys a good ramble. Every once in a while I turn her loose in the morning to walk around the yard and she turns up in about 15 minutes at the front door ready for her nap. She's turned out to be a pretty good goose repellent - she'll run at them until they take wing, then come right back in the house. She has no interest in catching them, so she runs at a pretty casual pace.

Playing in the Yard

We are not moved into the house yet, although there are signs of progress in the bathroom in the form of shower pan and plumbing changes. I am going over almost every day to pick up the mail, check for progress, and play in the yard.

So far I've got the front beds pretty much the way I want, the shady bed (with one sunnyish end) is probably near its final condition. It still needs weeding, mulching, and probably a couple of ferns but is otherwise just about done. Today I worked on the sunny corner bed. It needed major weeding - I cheated by laying down newspaper and mulch. It was also a little out of balance because this is the one Irene took some things from when she moved. There were a few plants I moved out to another bed and I added "The Fairy" between a large purple hydrangea and a mature butterfly bush (probably Black Knight, based on the size of the shrub). I added Montauk Daisies and generally cleaned it up.

I started on my all sun all the time bed with a few day lilies, a bit of yucca and some more Montauk Daisies. I don't expect to get much going on this bed this year, in part because I think I will be planting some seeds in this one and it may be too late in the year to get going. I will have some divisions from my gardening friends to get it going, so my main focus this year will probably be planning and soil amendment. It's pretty dry and sandy without much nutritional value.

One thing I saw in the garden today that really caught my eye: a hummingbird moth! I'm guessing a snowberry clearwing moth from its appearance. It's quite large in the body, but with smallish wings and looks like a hummingbird in flight. We had some in Oklahoma, but I've never seen this species before. Very interesting.

To get a closer look you can click on the pictures to enlarge.

Me & My Celebrity Lookalikes

Just for laughs I took a very unflattering picture of myself barefaced with no makeup and bedhead. This is who I look like:



Apparently many celebrities look old and ragged in the morning! I am pretty happy that no men were selected as my lookalikes.

Dementia Resources

I've been keeping my father in law company for the last few months. He has Alzheimer's and is still able to stay in his home with a little help.  It was his late wife's wish that Shana and I help him stay at home and we have been able to help him transition from his wife's passing to becoming accustomed to having some hired caregivers in the house. Although I am certain he does not remember our names I know he recognizes or faces and trusts us as friends and helpers. I've done some searching around the Internet for some information about dealing with this disease and have run across some pretty good resources. Teepa Snow , an expert on Alzheimer's has a series of videos on You Tube that are easy to watch, enoyable, and informative in addition to a helpful website. Here's one:




One other thing I have found on my own is that people, even old friends, are afraid to stop by and reluctant to offer any concrete forms of help. To them I say: "Man Up!" Alzheimer's is not contagious. Don't just pull long faces and ask how the patient is doing when you see me on the street. Ask how the caregiver is doing. Come by to visit, bring some cookies or a casserole, seriously offer to stay for an hour or so to let the caregiver have a break. Offer to pick up groceries or the dry cleaning. We are lucky to be able to hire caregivers, but lots of spouses do not have this luxury and would at the very least like to think that their friends have not all disappeared.