Matthew’s Blog

This week’s Itunes Single of the Week is a rendition of my favorite holiday song

Carol of the Bells

This is sung by a new artist to me The Bird and the Bee

A female sound like the male duo Kings of Convenience.

Download your free song before it goes away on Tuesday

These elephants don’t just live in Minnesota, they exist anywhere the temperature drops below 32 degrees Fahrenheit and precipitated. This elephant has a more common name - SNOW shoveling. As I write this we are having our first winter snow storm. They expect anywhere from 6-12 inches today and tonight.

Now as I look out my front window, it appears that most people are saving up the snow and tucking themselves away in doors, nary a sidewalk or driveway cleared. Inch upon inch of snow keeps coming down. I on the other hand have been out twice already and have removed about 4 inches of snow. Many of my neighbors and perhaps even you might think I am crazy. Why not wait until its all done? What does this California native know about snow shoveling? Doesn’t everyone know that you are suppose to wait until it finishes snowing otherwise its “wasted effort”?

Well, yes I am a California native, and for the first 10 years that I lived in the Midwest I followed suit with the “common wisdom.” After every snowfall you’d see people emerge from their homes to tackle the elephant that awaited them. MN White Elephants are a lot of work. People sprain their backs, dehydrate, and bitch about it for a week. Being the perpetual entrepreneur I kept thinking there has to be a better way.

Then about 3 years ago I read this article in the local paper pining away over the lost art of snow shoveling His argument was that we have forgotten how to shovel snow properly. We’ve gotten lazy with our handy dandy snow blowers (that always break down) and our ergonomically correct snow shovels. He looked at the big orange elephants (snow plows) roaming the streets for guidance.

The art of shoveling snow is like eating elephants - one bite at a time. Don’t try to tackle the whole thing at once. Do it while it is easy. One layer at a time, as it comes down.

1. Go out immediately after the first inch has fallen. We all know one inch is easier than six inches of snow. So take your first bite. Do it before the snow gets stepped on, driven on, or turns to ice. Do it while the snow is light and not heavy with moisture. Also, if the first layer is sleet or ice - take care of it now before it gets compounded with six inches of snow on top.
2. Push don’t lift. All those fancy dancy new ergonomically correct shovels are built to LIFT heavy snow. Do you see the orange elephants lift? No, they push. Pushing is a lot easier, especially when you’ve only got one inch to move. Push a path in front of you. Let it all pile up near where you are going to end up putting it. (saves your back, less energy exerted, and more fun)
3. When you do lift: Lift in bites not chunks. Tackle the pile in layers. Take your time. Be easy on your back. Alternate sides. Lift only an inch or so, not 4-6. Snow gets heavier when packed. One inch at a time will quickly disappear a pile (try it).
4. Go in for some warm cocoa and repeat in two hours or in 1-2 inches. If you are lucky and the snow stops you are ahead of the game because the thinner layer of snow will melt when the sun comes out.

Copyright 2007 Matthew Rochte, Eat Your Elephant, LLC
Will appear on http://www.EatYourElephant.com when the new website is launched next week.

Last year I wrote about Paul Hawken and his presentation at the Bioneer Conference. I just found a video feed on QuantumShift.tv that gets to some of the heart of the speech, how all these movements (environmental, social justice, indigenous rights, bioneering . . .) all are really under the umbrella of one enormous cultural movement shift.

I just stumbled upon this unusual site called http://www.freerice.com/

The site provides an opportunity to help the hungry and covertly to expand your vocabulary.  For every word you correctly identify 10 grains of rice are donated.  Each time you get a word wrong it tells you the correct answer and lowers the difficulty.  As you get more write the difficulty goes up.

So for all those wordsmith social activists this is the site for you.

A new internet friend  of mine Peep Laja, an Estonian who found himself in the United Arab Emerates and is now galavanting around the world creating interesting websites.  The latest is for all the catlovers out there.  Catpert!  http://www.catpert.comикони

In my last post I talked about Malcolm Cohan and his coming to Minnesota.  I also said he was re-editing some of his earlier works.  Well today he just released one of the them.  It’s awesome.   It speaks to what he’s up to.

I just love the backdrop this round.

I had totally forgotten about this blog posting. I started my reviews in October and then they got lost in the shuffle. Several of these films have been released or are being released currently. Some never will be.

2007 marked our 7th Annual pilgrimage to the TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival). My parents & I see 10 movies in 3-4 days out of the 300+ movies that are showing during the 10 day festival. This year I lucked out and got to see 11 movies and they were for the most part fun and worth seeing.

FYI my rating system is split between the movie and the film (the movie being the escape/entertainment value, the film being the artistic form value)

The Italian, which was not really about an an Italian but rather a Russian boy who is living in an orphanage where he has been chosen to go home with the Italian couple looking for a boy. One day the mother of one of the children comes to claim her son only to find that the son was sold to a European couple just a month before. This gets the boy to thinking. . . The story is well told and believeable. It is taking place in present day Russia. It brought back odd and fond memories of my trip to the USSR in 1986. If you like well told foreign films with subtitles, you’ll enjoy The Italien. It reminds me of some of the feelings I had about the movie Kolya (sp?)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0450450/ available on netflix
Movie: +++++ 5/5
Film:++++-4/5

2:37 - Refers to the time when a tragedy hits a high school. Someone has committed suicide. We don’t know who. Dial back 12 hours and replay the day from POV storytelling. We follow a group of 6 youth who are dealing with all the regular high school issues and concerns and myopathy as they go through the day. By the end of the film you realize that any one of these youth could be the one, but which one. Not only is this film well timed suspenseful, it is film/cinematographer’s dream movie to experience. The film was directed by a then 19 year old and starred real high school students. The film was shot on steady cam and some of the audience commented in the talk back that you almost sensed another character because of the steady cam. Another interesting tweak the film had was the use of mindwaves. This is the first time this has ever been done for a movie. Apparently if you have different frequencies being heard separately in each ear it is possible to guide or effect our emotions through subtley changing the frequencies. What they did was apply a mindwave mask to all of the soundscape so that even the laughter and leaves falling had a pulsing rythm. Very well done film. I am not sure if it will be released in the states. It is an Australian film and very much worth seeing if you are a film buff. A word of caution there are two scenes that are incredibly painful to watch and at the same time crucial to the story (one is a rape scene and the other the suicide after we determine the identity). Not a movie for the faint hearted.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0472582/
http://www.twothirty7.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2:37
Movie: ++++- (4/5)
Film: +++++ (5/5)

A Grave Keeper’s Tale - is the story of caste, honor, duty, and love. A girl is born into a family of gravekeepers in India. The story is somewhat predictable. The filming left a lot to be desired. The lead role was played by a beautiful and famous Bollywood actress. Movie: +++– (3/5)
Film: +—- (1/5)

The Host: Hilarious, gripping, campy, and thrilling North Korean monster movie. Like the old Japanese Godzilla movies, but with modern effects. Basic plot: Greedy Americans don’t care about pollution and dump their problems down the drain. The problem mutates and starts to terrorize the city. There is a family living by the river in their home/convenience store. The mutant gobbles up people. The military is brought in. The reporters get involved. The military medical staff don’t believe the hero. There are several great chase scenes through tunnels, the river and the river banks. There is genuine suspense and ewe factors. The little girl saves the day. The boy man grows up takes responsibility and saves the day. You leave the film entertained, smiling, amused, and full of rich geo-political undertones.
Release Date 2006 - Touring US art houses in 2007
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0468492/
available on netflix
Movie: ++++- (4/5) (Campy)
Film: ++++- (4/5)

Penelope
Sweet darling Penelope. Penelope is a girl born of a family of blue bloods. Life should be easy for her. Except for the fact that her family has been cursed. You see, back in the good old days of the heirs fell in love with someone beneath them (a servant). When the family found out they forced an end to the relationship and jilting the lover. The town witch was infuriated and cast a curse on the family that the next girl born to the family would have the face of a pig. Well several generations passed without the birth of a girl child until modern day when Penelope is born. It is a story of 1st impressions, love, stations, class, true love, curses, and adventure. I would go as far as saying that this film has the potential to be this generation’s “Princess Bride”
Release Date: 17 August 2007 - now February 2008 (as of 10/6/07)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0472160/
http://www.penelopethemovie.com/
Movie: +++++ (5/5)
Film: +++++ (5/5)

Venus This is what last year’s ShopGirl wasn’t! This film has depth of characters that you are genuinely interested in learning more about and understanding how they see the world. Peter O’Toole does an incredible performance as Maurice, a famous stage and screen actor in his extreme later years, who is in love with all women. When his acting pal need to bring in a home assistant in comes a brash young teenager (the friend’s niece) who makes Maurice’s head spin. There is clearly sexual tension in the room which is charming, awkward to watch, and tender all a the same time. There is a very good review at http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0489327/ If you are a fan of O’Toole and solid acting this is a worthy watch. It is slow paced, not predictable, and refreshing look at this classic tale of old men and young women.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0489327/ available on netflix
Movie: ++++- (4/5)
Film: ++++- (4/5)

Confetti is a mockumentary about a wedding magazine that decides to run a competition on who will have the most original wedding of the year. They have hired two wedding arrangers to coordinate the three finalist couple’s weddings. The choices are a couple who LOVE tennis, a couple who are nudists, and a couple who want to have a musical (hollywood heyday style). It is a fun flick. If you liked “Best of Show” you’ll enjoy this film. Given the puritanical nature of the American audience I doubt this will get wide spread showing in the US.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0427089/ available on netflix
Movie: ++++- (4/5) Fun Flick
Film: +++- - (3/5)

Citizen Duane Every year we go to the Toronto Film Fest we make a point to see at least one Canadian Film. We could have chosen better on this one. Citizen Duane is a story about Duane Balfour a teen-aged odd duck born into a family of odd circumstances and spectacular failure. Duane decides to run for mayor to reclaim his family honor and arrest the positions from the powers that be. There is a little romance. A lot of oddity. But all in all it was not worth watching in the theatre. Maybe video if it ever gets released, but I’d wait till comes on as an afterschool special.
Movie: ++— (2/5)
Film: ++—(2/5)

The Last Kiss. Not being a fan of movies about infidelity, I ended up mentally walking out of this movie as it is the movie’s core theme. What I did see was poor acting and unbelievable characters. Young wed couple discovers that she is pregnant. Husband (of course) is panicking about his life. Husband is hit on by a college girl who likes older men. Wife finds out. Then something happens between girl and husband. Wife takes him back after forcing him to sleep on the front steps of the house for days. Grow up. Movie: +—- (1/5)
Film: ++— (2/5)

Stranger Than Fiction - Hi entertainment value. Well done movie. What if your life was really being written by someone else? What if that person lives in the same town as you? What if that author is going to kill you in her book? What do you do? Well, Will Ferrill is that man with an ordinary life who Emma Thompson (the afore mentioned author) is going to snuff. Will Ferrill really comes into his own in this film. The actor comes forth here. In many respects its like the turning point that Jim Carey had with the Truman Show - the actor emerged, not the comedian. This is not to say he isn’t funny. The movie is a riot. I have to say I am totally smitten with Maggie Gyllenhaal who plays a baker that Ferrill comes to audit and as things would be written - fall in love with. One of my favorite film feature is the mathematical equations and mapping that get drawn on the screen while Will is being who he is (an IRS auditor - assessing and measuring and categorizing).
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0420223/ available on netflix
Movie: +++++ (5/5)
Film: +++++ (5/5)

All the Kings Men
Sean Penn became Governor Willie Stark. Powerful performances by all. Sean Penn, Jude Law, Kate Winslet to name a few. Jude law has the toughest role being the stand up guy and first hand lieutenant to Willie Stark. I have never seen the original 1949 movie, but was quite impressed by this one. Politics, progress, at what cost. Historical Fiction at its best.
Movie: ++++- (4/5)
Film: ++++- (5/5)