Fresh, Hot Wastes of Time

The pair on the box of Mastermind?

Now you know.

(Okay, maybe not as compelling as the search for the Afghan girl on the cover of National Geographic, but still fun.)

“Discrete” means separate.
“Discreet” means quietly.

If you do something discretely, you do it one at a time. Unconnectedly. Apart.
If you do something discreetly, you do it unobtrusively. Circumspectly. Silently.

I don’t think I have seen ANYONE use the proper spelling for “discreet” in the last 4 years. Did they stop teaching vocabulary and spelling in schools? I’ve even seen posters on a forum dedicated to college professors consistently spell it “discrete.” Oy.

Along those lines, go to http://www.freerice.com/ and see how high you can get. I got as high as 47, which probably means that I should quit reading the OED for fun.

Maybe I’ll be Michael Jackson this Halloween.

Absolutely amazing interstitials from a Japanese children’s program. I had a hard enough time with Lemmings or The Incredible Machine; I can’t imagine designing one of those babies from scratch.

We went to see Zodiac at the Alamo Drafthouse last night. It was long, but I thought it was a great flick. The first half deals with the murders themselves, while the second is about the subsequent investigation. Great acting by all involved, and nice period settings.

After I came home, I spent about 4 hours obsessing on the unsolved code. Robert Graysmith, portrayed in the movie by Jake Gyllenhaal, claims to have solved it, but IMO that’s a joke. Some interesting theories, discussion, and argument floating around out there, though. Enough to waste houuuuuuuuuuurs on. Which I did.

Also, I just wrote a suggestion to the Drafthouse that if they’re going to show a three hour movie, at least let people know ahead of time that last call will be 30 minutes in. Pretty parched by the end, there.

ETA: Wow, that was quick! I just got an email back from Tim League, who founded the Drafthouse. He said that the early last call is one of his pet peeves, and it’s something they’re working on. He wants to have last call be 45 minutes before the movie ends. Awesome!

ETA2: And shortly after that, I heard from the manager of the Alamo Village, offering to send me passes. Have I mentioned how much I love the Drafthouse, even if their last call is early?

If anyone reads the Living With Melanoma blog linked on the sidebar, I just read the sorry news that the blog’s author, Heather, died this morning. She left behind a husband, four young children, and a bunch of people online and off who cared about her. 🙁

Laugh with this guy. Fast forward until about 1:30 and don’t drink anything while you’re watching.