Nostalgia

Whee. I'm tired. I got up late again, which I didn't intend to do, and while waiting for my laundry to go, I turned on the television and watched a short thing on rocks in the UK. I've been meaning to head over to Dover for a day or so to see some real rocks again. It was enough to finally get me over to Victoria Station to look up train tickets for the place. About £22, which is a little more than I expected, but not too bad. I also picked up a thing for bus tickets, which might prove to be cheaper. After that, I wandered around the area a bit, and ended up going in circles. Walked by Buckingham Palace, Green Park (which I liked more) and around a number of back streets. I don't know how I went in a giant loop, I just did.
When I returned to the FSU to do some work, I wrote up a power point presentation on the Grand Canyon, for a class later this week at the Charter School. The geography teacher that I've been helping out, Mr. Henderson, learned that I hiked part of it and I found myself assigned to do a presentation, which I'm excited to do.
But in writing it, I went over all my old photographs of the place. I really miss the place, the South West. The geology department went out on a trip this past week (I think) to Texas for driving around looking at rocks, and I really wish that I could be out there, because the past two trips, to New Mexico and Nevada/Arizona/Utah were some of the best experiences in my life, not to mention the most beautiful. I really like London, but it just doesn't have some of the things out there. But I digress. Maybe next year.
Still looking at Ireland and Greece, but I need to hear back from people about other travel plans. You know who you are.

Bombshell

I got back from the Charter School today and found an e-mail from my boss, Jon. As some of you know, I work at a residencial summer camp in Vermont, going on 7 years (hopefully). While I've been there, I've seen literally hundreds of kids go through there, having a great time, and the kids that you really remember are the ones that come back year after year. Not because their parents force them to, to get them out of the house, but because they leave Abnaki with a smile on their face when they leave.
The e-mail that I got told me that one of the campers that has been returning for at least 4-5 years now has passed away, Nate Ketcham. The Ketcham family is well know to the camp, because they've sent all their kids there, who've turned out good or not so good, but Nate was a great camper. He was one of my first when I was starting out, in the Tamakwa village, was a leader in the cabin with other kids, and maintained an extremely high level of energy throughout the one, two, three or even four weeks that he'd stay at camp. He was twelve years old.
I don't really know what else to so, or how this happened. He will be greatly missed, not because he was a great camper, but because he was a great kid, with a very bright future.

Excerpt from the Black Book

While I've been here, I've been doing quite a bit of writing about London and travelling here. Mostly small observations, tips and places to see and visit here, sometimes as a reminder, but also something to pass on to if I know that someone will be visiting London. There's a lot that I wished that I knew about the city. Because it's an English speaking country, the culture shock has been very low. So, things that I've learned, and observations and thoughts that I've had along the way. Paraphrased and added to a little bit:

"It's worth it to visit locations other than the postcard scenes, ie, off the beaten path of the tourists. Museums and historical sites are well worth visiting, some more than once, but each one has a commom denominator - a large mass of other tourists, with cameras, loud children and no desire to really see anything else. This takes away from the various sites, in my opinion. Not all tourists are like this, but there's a good amount of them.
Some of the more interesting and intreging places are the ethnically concentrated areas around this city. South Hall and Brick Lane are two of these places, where there is a strong population of Sheiks from India and Muslims from Pakistan, respectively. These streets/neighborhoods are rich in culture that at first seems contrary to the traditional 'English' view from everyone. These places contain outstanding resturaunts, among other things. They usually have a very interesting history, with the current group being the lastest in a string of other ethnic groups that have inhabited the area.
It's facinating to see street signs in Hundi or Farci, and to hear those words in the air.
How interesting it is to be the odd one out. "
Last Entry, 14-3-05.

Grr... Arg...

My iPod has stopped working again. Over the last week, it's been giving me problems, the hardrive has been buzzing, it's been freezing and whenever I pug it into a computer, it stops almost everything from running. And more importantly, when I listen to music, it skips songs, only plays half of them or something similar to that.
I turned it into a Apple Store to run some tests, where they'll replace it if they need to. It's not too far from where I go to school, so it's an easy pickup. The biggest problem is that all of my music is back at home, and I have almost nothing to listen to. That's the most frustrating.

Walking

I've been having an odd sort of day today. Class was boring, and I was extremely tired as that the neighbors were very loud - they must have had a gathering or something. I ended up catching a couple hours sleep in the living room, then back to my own bed, where at four in the morning, I could still hear people talking. I think I told them to shut it, and went to sleep.
Class was boring, as I mentioned, and I handed in my essay on politics and economics during the early 18th century. Went out, picked up a book, Long Way Round, by actors Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman, about a trip that they took around the world on motorcycles, through Europe, Asia and North America. It's extremely good thus far. Went to the flat, had a small lunch, then set out walking with my book, intending to go to a small park to read for a while.
Since I've been here, I've found that walking is a good activity to do. I've spent several hours at a time picking a random direction and seeing what's down which street. While doing so, I've found some very good streets to walk down that are nice, English and quiet. My favorite walk is between my flat and the FSU campus. It's all back streets, along Rugby Street and to Greater Ormond Street to Queen Square, then over to Greater Russell Street. It's about ten minutes, and in my opinion, more interesting than Theobold's Road, which has quite a bit of traffic.
While walking along it today, I came across a small bookshop - the smallest in London- according to the owner. We talked for a little while. He was interested that I was a history and geology student, and I bought a book from him, which he gave me at a discount, being a student. It's probably the best bookshop that I've ever seen.
From there, I went to Queen's Square, which has some benches and an enclosed grassy area with a statue of Queen Victoria (I think). I was attacked by an excited Black Lab with a large, half deflated ball in her mouth. The owner let me throw it for her a couple times, and I petted the dog (Ozzy) before leaving. It's been a while since I've been near a dog, and it makes me miss Buck and Fionna a little.

Goodbye and Good Riddence

Pulled this in from BBC:

Milosevic found dead in his cell

He was found in his cell this morning, dead for a couple of hours. The cause of death is not clear, but he has been suffering from some health problems recently, and had a request to go to Russia for treatment.
Personally, I'm kind of glad that he's dead. Unfortunently, that means that he can't be brought to justice to stand for his crimes. The victims of the nearly 200,000 people who he killed, and their families will not have the closure that they might have otherwise have.

Next trip

Starting to think about another trip out of London, and this time, England. So far, I've been really wanting to visit Italy, as well as Greece. Leaning towards visiting Athens, because Greek history has been a longtime facination for me.

Any thoughts on where I should go?

Everybody's Going to the Moon - Finally!

NASA recently released their 2006 Stratigic Plan, outlining their goals for the next couple of years. If some of the things that they're planning pan out, it's going to be very exciting.
In the table of contents, the following items are presented:

1. Fly the Shuttle as safely as possible until its retirement, not later than 2010.
2. Complete the International Space Station in a manner consistent with NASA’s International Partner commitments and the needs of human exploration.
3. Develop a balanced overall program of science, exploration, and aeronautics consistent with the redirection of the human spaceflight program to focus on exploration.
4. Bring a new Crew Exploration Vehicle into service as soon as possible after Shuttle retirement.
5. Encourage the pursuit of appropriate partnerships with the emerging commercial space sector.
6. Establish a lunar return program having the maximum possible utility for later missions to Mars and other destinations.

The full plan is online here: NASA Stratigic Plan (PDF)

Further looking around NASA's website, reveals that they've got a new type of lander that they're working on, much, much more advanced than the original Apollo ships, because of new technologies and whatnot. The site mentions that the lander will be able to take 4 people to the moon, and mentions that there's the posibility that the moon and ISS (International Space Station) will be used for missions to the planet Mars. They also mention a minimum of two missions per year. When this will happen, I don't know, and I really hope that this will happen. More on that here.

Remember, Remember the 5th of November

The line comes from an English nursery rhyme that is about a terrorist plot to blow up the English Parliment during some troubled times in England, involving religion and a plot to overthrow the government.
Very appropriate, that it's being used as the tagline for the movie V for Vendetta, which is coming out the 17th of March. I've been seeing ads for it everywhere, not surprisingly, because it takes place in a London where Nazism took hold after WWII (I believe that the Allies lost) and revolves around a terrorist/freedom fighter called V (Hugo Weaving aka Elrond, aka Agent Smith) and a girl (Evey Hammond, played by Natalie Portman) who gets caught up in it all. I wasn't really looking forwards to it earlier, but I've been getting more and more interested in the project as time goes, and with the various interesting trailers that have been coming out.

The movie was supposed to come out on November 5th, but the studio, Warner Brothers, stated that they didn't have enough time to finish it, while other people speculated that it might be because of the then-recent terrorist bombings in the London Tube. In any case, there's been quite a bit of press about it here. It's gained a lot of press when Natalie Portman shaved her head for the filming, something that she was apparently thrilled to do.
I'm afraid that I'm not familar with the graphic novel, and it's not likely anything that I'll be picking up, although I might get the novelization in the next couple days to see what it's about.

It's going to resonate very much, I suspect, especially in this day and age about the role of governments and people, a very timeless type of story. A couple lines stood out when I watched the trailers:

Beneath this mask there is more than flesh. There is an idea, Mr. Creedy, and ideas are bulletproof.

And,

People should not be afraid of their governments, governments should be afraid of their people.

Both very true statements. I am going to guess that this was influenced slightly by 1984. In any case, I'm really looking forwards to it now, despite anything that I might have said earlier. I remember being skeptical of it when production first started, but I've changed my mind.

And, the original poem:

"Remember, remember, the fifth of November, gunpowder treason and plot. I see no reason why the gunpowder treason should ever be forgot. Guy Fawkes, Guy Fawkes, 'twas his intent to blow up the King and the Parliament. Three score barrels of powder below, Poor old England to overthrow: By God's providence he was catch'd With a dark lantern and burning match. Holloa boys, holloa boys, make the bells ring. Holloa boys, holloa boys, God save the King! Hip hip hoorah! A penny loaf to feed the Pope. A farthing o' cheese to choke him. A pint of beer to rinse it down. A faggot of sticks to burn him. Burn him in a tub of tar. Burn him like a blazing star. Burn his body from his head. Then we'll say ol' Pope is dead. Hip hip hoorah! Hip hip hoorah!"

How the hell?

How on Earth does Weird Al say the following in about 30 seconds?

Would you look at all that stuff ...
They've got allen wrenches, gerbil feeders, toilet seats, electric heaters
Trash compactors, juice extractor, shower rods and water meters
Walkie-talkies, copper wires, safety goggles, radial tires
BB pellets, rubber mallets, fans and dehumidifiers
Picture hangers, paper cutters, waffle irons, window shutters
Paint removers, window louvres, masking tape and plastic gutters
Kitchen faucets, folding tables, weather stripping, jumper cables
Hooks and tackle, grout and spackle, power foggers, spoons and ladles
Pesticides for fumigation, high-performance lubrication
Metal roofing, water proofing, multi-purpose insulation
Air compressors, brass connectors, wrecking chisels, smoke detectors
Tire gauges, hamster cages, thermostats and bug deflectors
Trailer hitch demagnetizers, automatic circumcisers
Tennis rackets, angle brackets, Duracells and Energizers
Soffit panels, circuit breakers, vacuum cleaners, coffee makers
Calculators, generators, matching salt and pepper shakers
All from the song Hardware Store.

How is that possible?

The Oscars

Well, I didn't get to watch these, but I must say, I'm fairly pleased with the results, especially the supposed upset for best picture.

BEST PICTURE
Crash

I'm happy that this got the best picture. While I'm sure that Brokeback Mountain is a good movie, I was afraid that it'd be a huge sweep, and while that's find, that tends to exclude a number of really good other movies. Crash, by all accounts, is fantastic, about race relations in LA. I really wanted to see it.

DIRECTING
Ang Lee - Brokeback Mountain

I was rooting for George Clooney to get this one for his movie Goodnight and Good Luck, which was just amazing. The directorial work on that was fantastic, and I'm sad that he didn't get it.

ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
Philip Seymour Hoffman - Capote

I really want to see this one. It was odd, because I hadn't seen any of the trailers or any hype for it before the awards season - but when I saw the trailers, it looked fantastic.

ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
Reese Witherspoon - Walk the Line

Haven't seen it, but I've also heard really good things.

ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
Wallace & Gromit in the Curse of the Were-Rabbit

I wanted to see this very much. Although, I haven't any of the others.

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Brokeback Mountain by Larry McMurtry & Diana Ossana

I would have been happy with any of the other choices- Constant Gardener, A History of Violence, Munich, or Capote. All really good or good looking movies.

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Crash by Paul Haggis & Bobby Moresco

I was rooting for Syriana, but this also won best picture.

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
March of the Penguins

Very cute, fun documentary.

ACHIEVEMENT IN VISUAL EFFECTS
King Kong, Joe Letteri, Brian Van’t Hul, Christian Rivers and Richard Taylor

Yeah, this deserved it. It looked fantastic, although it was too long.

Overall, I was happy with the choices. No major sweeps like the past couple years. I'm only annoyed with the fact that Goodnight and Good Luck, Revenge of the Sith or Munich didn't pick up anything, but there were A LOT of good looking movies out there this year. Come to think of it, Serenity should have been at least nominated. It should have swept everything.

Vermont Losing Prized Resource

This article surprised me, in the New York Times:

Vermont Losing Prized Resource as Young Depart
POULTNEY, Vt. — Not long ago, Ray Pentkowski, the principal of Poultney Elementary School, published an unusual request in the school newsletter. Please, he urged parents, have more babies. The school desperately needs them.
He was half joking, but the problem is real. His school, down to 208 children, has lost a third of its student population since 1999 and must cut staff levels, he said, "for the first time in my memory."
Poultney, a town of 3,600 bordering New York, is just one example of a situation that increasingly alarms many in Vermont. This state of beautiful mountains and popular ski resorts, once a magnet for back-to-the-landers, is losing young people at a precipitous clip.
Vermont, with a population of about 620,000, now has the lowest birth rate among states. Three-quarters of its public schools have lost children since 2000.
Vermont also has the highest rate of students attending college out of their home state — 57 percent, up from 36 percent 20 years ago. Many do not move back. The total number of 20- to 34-year-olds in Vermont has shrunk by 19 percent since 1990.
Vermont's governor, Jim Douglas, is treating the situation like a crisis. He proposes making Vermont the "Silicon Valley" of environmental technology companies to lure businesses and workers; giving college scholarships requiring students to stay in Vermont for three years after graduating; relaxing once-sacrosanct environmentally driven building restrictions in some areas to encourage more housing; and campaigning in high schools and elementary schools to encourage students "to focus now on making a plan to stay in Vermont," said Jason Gibbs, a spokesman for Mr. Douglas.
The rest of the article here.

You know, this doesn't surprise me a whole lot, although I didn't know that we have the lowest birthrate in the country. I was born and raised in Vermont, and I love the state. It's small, quiet, low crime and very nice to look at. Unfortunently, jobs and prospects are fairly low here. The biggest employer is IBM (I'm pretty sure) and there have been cuts every now and then, and it's always a possibility that the company will pull out of Vermont all together. We depend on tourism, which is largely a seasonal job, with foliage season, ski season being the biggest.
Tourism is risky though. Often, people come up to see the quaintness of Vermont. The dairy farms, cows, beautiful leaves and the locals.
That's all been changing. People see this and move up, and want paved roads and the farms to smell nicer. The cows have been vanishing as more and more people - much like the kids leaving the state- have been leaving family farms for other prospects, not wanting to work seven days a week, twenty hours a day with a job that's slowly becoming harder and harder to keep up with. It's just not what it seems on the surface - Vermont is a very hard place to live, with extreme weather, distances and roads.
I don't know if I'll be leaving Vermont once I graduate. I've often thought about living in some places in New York, Ohio, the mid-west and south west of the country, places that I've visited and fallen in love with while there. But, I also want to raise a family here, because from everything that I've seen, that's the best place to do it. I wouldn't change anything of that.
I'm not a Gov. Douglas supporter. I've met him a couple of times, and he's a very nice guy, but I don't always agree with his policies. However, I do agree with him that we need work, and a sort of Silicon Valley project would make sense for the state- It would bring in some new industries that would be fairly environmentally friendly and would bring in new work. The only problem is that there will be a lot of resistance to the expansion of places like Williston (known for it's huge number of box stores - Walmart, Office Depot, Staples, Best Buy, Toys R Us, etc) and people - especially people who have moved in for the quaintness of the state, object because it destroys local stores. It's a dilema.

Breakthrough

Well, I finally figured out how to update my iPod on the school computers. Really stupid little thing that I had to do, and missed. But, now, I can stick new music on, after I've been e-mailing things to myself for ages to retain it. You can't use an iPod to move music from computer to computer, but you can back it up, and have it on the music device. So, I can now listen to some songs, and a lot of podcasts with news and things for the bus. w00t!

Get A Move On

Well, despite the lack of American help recently with all of our problems with our orbiters, the International Space Station is still to be completed.

ISS 'to be completed as planned'

All I have to say is good. Was there serious doubt that the project would not go on? It seems like that's a HUGE waste of money and effort. Due to be finished by 2010. That's only four years away, and these projects take a lot of time. Get a move on!

Bliss

I'm going to see Philip Pullman.

That's right, Philip Pullman, the author who wrote The Golden Compass, Subtle Knife and Amber Spyglass.

Along with him, Brian Aldiss, who's a really amazing Science Fiction writer.

Oxford is running a Literary Festival, and when I was there, I found a pamphlet with the topics and speakers there. Pullman, Aldiss and a couple other authors are doing one on the Science in Science Fiction. So, I just booked a ticket, VERY close to the front row, so I'm getting a good seat for this. I doubt that they'll be doing a signing, but just being there will be plain cool. 25 days from now then.

Went to Bristol yesterday, had a very fun time there. Great city, very clean, small, homely. Had lunch at a very good cafe, walked around a lot. It snowed. Hard. Literally, I've never, ever, seen a snowstorm come up so fast. It was sunny when we went into a building, ten minutes later, we get out and it's coming down extremely hard. Visibility dropped and for about a half hour (We went to the cafe) it just came down. Insane.
Pictures: http://norwich.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2002520&l=9673e&id=70000497

Now, for class.

Latest Trip

So, I did do a bit of travelling again, this time with the Marymount Students that we're studying with. We were scheduled to go on the trip, all of us in Lexia, but for some reason, Ryan, the project Coordinator, didn't know that and there was a number of last minute phone calls to get me to go. They were happy to have me come along, they were just surprised that we'd thought that we're going on as well. So last minute, I was going along.
Got up at about 8 on friday, showered, and got myself down the road to where we were getting picked up, and by around 9ish, we were off.
It was the first time that I've exited London via roadway. The numerous other times that I've left the city was through trains, and it was really cool to see a new side of the city. It was about a three or so hour ride to our first stop, Blenheim Palace, Winston Churchill's birthplace. Big house, with the family still living there, although we went to a different wing, one open to the public. Very well decorated, and boring. Our guide was interesting, but I really wasn't interested in china and chairs. There was a very cool display on Churchill's life, and of his paintings.
From there, we went on another couple hour ride to reach Stratford-Upon-Avon, the birthplace of the playwrite William Shakesphere, which was very cool to see. Nice, small town. All the book stores had huge sections on him, and there are some very old buildings. I didn't actually get to see his house, because of the expenses and time. So we all walked around for a while, went to a pub for dinner. Decent enough food and drinks there.
That evening we went to a play, Women Beware Women, which was long, slow and weird, but interesting, although I was falling asleep at times. I believe that it was put on by the Royal Shakesphere Company, and the actors were very good. We stayed in a bed and breakfast for the night.
The next morning, we got up, and drove over to Oxford, which I've already been to. There was a major protest while we were there, something about animal rights and anti-testing, as well as a pro-testing group that was huge. The police were out in force. I gathered that the anti-testing group had been violent in the past and they were completely surrounded by policemen and police women on foot, horse, motocycle and lorry. We did a tour around the city with a guide, a nice guy named Chris, who took us into one of the colleges and explained a lot of the history and interesting points of the city. We then scattered, and I got a cookie and lunch at a resturaunt. (It was about a 45 minute wait though) but worth it. From there, went around on my own, then stopped by the Eagle and Child again, got a drink, then got the bus and returned home.
Overall, a fun trip.
I've put the pictures that I took online, here: http://norwich.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2002216&l=33832&id=70000497

Impromtu Trip

Just got back from Stratford-Upon-Avon and Oxford again. Took some pictures, met some new people, watched some protesters, and am fairly tired. I'll talk about it when I've had some sleep.

iTV 3

Not the station, but another development, (Sort of) with television on the internet. Like the internet, the ability to view TV and media through it is also increasing. We've seen television episodes on Yahoo, iTunes launching a video section that has done amazingly, and now, iTunes is being used to advertise for TV shows in much the same way that Yahoo was used for the show Supernatural.
According to Comingsoon.net, iTunes will be allowing viewers to download the pilot episode of Conviction, a new show on NBC for free between February 21st through March 3rd. While the show might not appeal to everyone who might otherwise purchase the episode, the option to download and retain the episode for free will certainly bring in some new viewers who essentially have nothing to loose by getting the episode for free.
The show is apparently about a group of district attorneys and their lives. While not the most original, this should give the show a boost with viewers, who can download the episode a full ten days before the episode hits the airwaves.
Along with the pilot, there the following episodes of the show will be on iTunes as well, opening an entire new audiance, abit one with money and high speed dialup, to watch the show on their computers. This could potentially open the market to new people, such as students or people with limited TV access, to see shows. Because of the pay per download nature, one can also eliminate advertising and commercials.
More to come, full article here: http://comingsoon.net/news/tvnews.php?id=13279

Request

Someone back home or at Norwich, can you do me a big favour? I follow Scifi news religously, and I pick up the SciFi magazine when a new one comes out, although my subscription ran out a while ago. Can someone pick up the latest issue if they happen to see it?

Goodnight and Good Luck

Tickets were completely sold out for the concert, so I decided to see something else - the movie Goodnight and Good Luck, which has recently opened here. Despite what some people have told me, movies aren't as expensive, and even less so for matinees.
Goodnight and Good Luck. Easily one of the better films of 2005. Set in early 1954, a group of reporters at CBS become increasingly disturbed by the tactics that Senator Joseph McCarthy has been using to try and find suspected communists. They start by running a story on an Air Force officer who was kicked out of the service because his father had attended a suspected meeting, and he refused to disavow his father and two sibblings. The story was met with sucess, and the team moved on to the bigger fish, the senator himself, starting a short battle with him. A few blows were exchanged, and shortly thereafter, the Army began hearings into Sen. McCarthy's actions, which brought about his downfall.

Beyond the story, which was directed by George Clooney, there are two smaller side stories that added to the paranoia and tensions of the period. I thought that they worked well, although they didn't add very much to the overall story, beyond that.
Clooney is an absolute master at the camera and story with this. The camera works frantically at times, moving from person to person in the moment, or takes on the role of a news camera when needed. In addition, the choice to present this film in black, white and grey was absolutely brilliance, as it really brings the viewer right to the era and does not let go for a second. The dress, mannerisms and sound all contributed to this leading to a stellar period film, if that is the right term for a film so recent in history.
The movie is slow, to be sure, but extremely deliberate, and moves with purpose. Intercut, very interestingly, is the soundtrack, which is performed at intervels by a studio band in the movie, with a stunning jazz soundtrack. That's at the top of my list to get.
As far as acting goes, each and every role has been superbly done. While I'm fond of Clooney, I'm very glad that he didn't take the lead role because nobody could have carried this movie as well as David Strathairn did. He takes on this role in an amazing way, and simply could not have been done any better. Clooney and the rest of the supporting cast do just as well with their roles, and it will be a huge shame if this movie recieves few awards for the actor's performances.
One of the aspects of the movie that has largely been overlooked was the role of the media and the world, highlighted in the beginning and end of the movie with a speech by Murrow. It's almost word for word from a speech that the real Murrow did, and in it, he warns that the media will become a force that will only entertain and amuse the nation, and will no longer be the force that it was then. I think that he's got a number of very good points there, and I'm going to do some more research into him and that speech. The media has essentially become a force that entertains and amuses the nation, while it does educate and enlighten us as well, although I don't believe that it will ever go back to the same standard that was upheld then.
The movie takes political sides, but makes a clear case for loving one's country and agreeing with it, and is best summed up with Morrow's line: "We must not confuse descent from disloyalty.", which is an extremely important, and in today's world, relevant. While the characters and movie takes sides with this, no one is denying that communism was not a threat. It was the methods that were used to uncover it, no matter what the results, it wasn't right, a point that a number of low ranking reviews point out. It's not about uncovering communism. It's about taking a stand when one person is able to push people and their rights into a corner. And in this, the movie succeeds brilliantly.
So with that, goodnight, and good luck.