March 26, 1998
Dear Everyone:
Finally got
AOL fixed this past
(long) weekend. No more
“IMFART” messages. I’d
finally gotten desperate and ordered an “upgrade” CD so I could
re-install the software.
Then, before it even arrived, I discovered that one of the guys at work
had “several” CD’s available.
In fact, he decorates the walls of his cubicle with useless free
software CD’s.
I took an unopened package home and installed the
software and now AOL is all better, shinier than before.
Except that in doing so, I discovered that I had lost my Address
Book of email ID’s and my “Favorites” folders.
No, actually, I hadn’t thought of writing this information down
somewhere. That’s what the
computer is for. So I’ve
been calling around, getting people’s addresses again.
As for “Favorites”, when I need them again, I’ll find them again
and make new Favorites out of them.
More PC problems:
A couple of weeks ago, my speakers started not
working. It might not seem
like much; but after the machine talks to you for a while, it’s not the
same without all the beeps and whistles.
And I like listening to soundtracks while I’m writing Letters and
doing other incredibly important stuff, like looking for more funny
stuff on AOL. So, last
Friday, I took the speakers into the office to double-check that it was
the speakers and not the sound card or the wiring that was dead.
It was definitely the speakers
So off I went to the computer store, looking for
speakers and anything else I couldn’t live another day without.
Found an upgrade to
Microsoft Money
98 that was only $19.95.
Couldn’t pass that up. And a
nifty box that lets you plug all the pieces into outlets in the back,
with matching power switches on the front.
No more bending over to turn on daisy-chained power-strips.
I can even turn on the printer from where I’m sitting.
Of course, I still have to climb over the sofa to reach the
printout when it arrives.
Movies...
“Jeannie” was uncharacteristically disinclined
toward movies last weekend, so I went alone.
Saw
Mr. Nice
Guy, starring martial arts expert
Jackie Chan.
This is a delightful
Keystone Kops
type comedy in which just about everyone is an experienced kick-boxer.
Jackie is your basic Wrong Guy in the Wrong Place at the Wrong
Time, but with incredibly fast reflexes.
He’s a television cook in
Melbourne, Australia,
who has something two rival drug gangs want, only he doesn’t know he has
it and can’t understand why bad guys keep coming after him.
However, he has an innate talent for turning just about anything
into a weapon. Where a
lesser hero might turn to bullets for protection, Jackie uses
jalapeños. Eventually,
the Nice Guy gets mad and brings down the house.
Then the real fun starts.
Just to show that it’s not as easy as they make it all look, they
show a series of out-takes.
Botched scenes with flubbed lines (“I get nervous in English”), props
that go right when they should have gone left, a buzz saw that clearly
doesn’t take direction well, and erstwhile adversaries tenderly picking
Jackie up off the floor after a fight scene ended unexpectedly.
All in good fun.
Primary
Colors is another movie “Jeannie” didn’t care to see.
When the book came out, I didn’t pay much attention to all the
fuss over who could have written it, primarily because I don’t pay much
attention to anything that comes out of Washington.
The book is supposedly based on the
Clinton presidential campaign.
The movie is supposedly based on the book.
It shows the inside story of a
coming-up-from-behind-do-we-really-have-a-snowball’s-chance-in-hell-of-winning-this?
campaign where nothing is black and white, but everything is in infinite
shades of gray. It boasts
some fine performances, particularly from
Kathy Bates.
It also boasts an unexpected appearance by
Henry Woronicz,
our former
Artistic Director of the
Oregon Shakespeare Festival.
He’s even identified by name, for those who might not recognize
him right off the bat. I
almost blurted out, “My God, that
is Henry Woronicz!” which probably would have perplexed the people
around me.
On the other hand, with the exception of the “Bill
Clinton”-type character and the “Hilary
Clinton”-type character, Henry’s the only one I really would
recognize. I could trip over
Kenneth Starr
and never know it. So much
for politics.
Love, as always,
Pete
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