The Day the Critics Agreed...

On The Day the Earth Stood Still...

Amygdala:

On the bright side, this movie seems to have almost followed through on the intent of the origional movie: it brought together some 80% of the Earth's movie critics. Too bad it was to hate the film; as higher purposes go, that'll have to do.

"it takes a lot of water to catch a fish..."

Greg Laden's Blog : Basement Kitteh and The Water Bill:

Pampam and Jason kept getting huge water bills. They knew beyond a doubt that the bills weren't representative of their actual usage, and no matter how they tried to conserve, the high bills continued. Although they could see nothing wrong, they had everything checked for leaks or problems: the water meter, outdoor pipes, indoor pipes, underground pipes, faucets, toilets, washer, ice maker, etc., all to no avail. One day Jason stayed home to do his work, but kept hearing water running downstairs. He finally got up to investigate, and stumbled onto the cause of the bills. Apparently this was happening all day long while Pampam was sleeping and Jason was at work.

A very concise summary of the origins of the current crisis...

In the cold...

We went ahead and joined friends in visiting the National Christmas Tree by the White House, my first time ever (in spite of 24 years living here...). Yes, it was COLD...