Kathy Lin

Just a side note: if you want to buy anything Mac related, wait until after August 7th.  That’s when the next WWDC is … I always have to remind myself to refrain from looking at shiny-ness until the end of the summer.  Then perhaps I can get a toy to go with my TV. :)

Thanks, Pixar. I love you guys. Cars, the first movie not completely and utterly leave me disappointed. I admit I haven’t seen the Da Vinci Code yet, but something tells me that will probably leave me disatisfied.

But how could Pixar, the hero of all animation studios, possibly disappoint me? Of course they didn’t. Aaron had mentioned that perhaps the animation wasn’t up to par after viewing the first few trailers, and I have to admit, the trailers were pretty bare-boned. But I remained confident til the end, and I was rewarded with a great movie, the first to make me all sniffly in a while.

The plot wasn’t the most original in the world. A character starts out arrogant, is humbled, and gains morality and a rich spirit. He has to learn a number of life lessons. But Pixar does everything with such inherent cleverness that the “typical” plot can be accepted. Lightning McQueen, the hot shot racecar voiced by Owen Wilson, develops real heart. Unlike the characters in other movies such as Shark Tale and Over the Hedge, his character is not tied exclusively to the actor. How refreshing to see animated objects brought to life by voice talent, not but actor/actress reputation. Mater was by far the cutest character, even though he is basically a sloppy redneck. He has a lot of great lines, and also is brutally honest.

The animation was lovely, and I didn’t mind the super shiny-ness of all of the cars. The animation world has come a long way in terms of trees and water, so of course those looked great. How many hours did those scenes take to render?

I was also really amused by the popularity of NASCAR, evident in this movie. Attention was given to a lot of race details, which I only managed to catch because Aaron’s dad watches a lot of NASCAR. Who knew that knowledge would come in handy? And of course, cameos from Mario Andretti, Richard Petty, and Dale Jr.

I guess the biggest con was the somewhat generic plot. Even though this movie was really clean and clever, it didn’t come up to the standards set by Toy Story, The Incredibles and Monsters Inc. That’s ok. The other con was the trailer reel before the movie. Blech. Practically every movie featured smart-mouth asinine animal characters who are crude, generic, or representitive of some ethnic group. Ugh. We’ve reverted to the crows found in Dumbo.

Stay for the end credits, though. Definitely.

Well, my trip to San Diego is almost over. That is kind of sad. My sisters seem to be doing alright, although I’m sure we could all be a lot better. Chris is starting her 4th year in medical school. I can’t believe there is no break between your 3rd and 4th year but I guess … that’s the way it is? She started a general surgery thing-y today. All I know is that it involved getting up at 5 AM. There’s a 5 o’clock in the morning now?

I haven’t been doing much here except hanging out with my sisters. I ran out of the touristy San Diego things to do a while ago, but that is ok with me. What really surprises me is that it’s rather hot here, which is a direct contradiction to that mild climate those San Diegans always talk about. Frankly, it’s not much of a change from Virginia, except that you can get away with leaving your windows open at night. Lack of humidity makes all the difference.

I’ll be back in good ol’ muggy DC tomorrow afternoon. Then it’s back to the daily grind. :) I wonder if anything has changed while I’ve been gone? Probably not.

I heard about this online quiz when I was driving to work. It was co-developed by Robert Beard, who has a Ph.D in linguistics from the Univeristy of Michigan. I took it for fun. I’m 52% rebel — “barely in Dixie.” That’s pretty bad for someone who was born and raised in South Carolina, the first state to secede from the Union. ;)

• Take the Quiz
• Read the NPR story

Chris says: Yes — there are towns. There is a port in Antarctica and people live there…I saw it on TV! On a special!

Sam says: No way. There is no one out there but scientists or people living there temporarily for research. Are you trying to tell me that someone’s address actually has “Antarctica” in it?

South Pole Questions and Answers (hosted by the University of Chicago):

There are no cities or towns where people live. Most of the people in Antarctica stay for short time periods during the summer months. A few winter over, which means they stay all year.

questions.htm” target=”_blank”>CoolAntarctica.com states that:

No-one lives in Antarctica permanently or even for a long period of time. Most people do a “summer only” that’s about November to April, with a lesser number staying over the Antarctic winter (when any chance of transport in or out is virtually impossible), some stay for two winters and three summers, this is the longest time any one stays there. The only “settlements” are scientific bases. These vary in size, but typically have 50 people there in the summer and 15-20 in the winter. There is a US base at McMurdo sound that has up to 1000 personnel at the peak time, this is the nearest there is to a town. With such rapid turn-over of people, Antarctic bases are more like oil-rigs or military bases than towns.