Risk Quotient

A Persian proverb declares there are four kinds of people:

He who knows not and knows not that he knows not is a fool – shun him.
He who knows not and knows that he knows not is a child – teach him.
He who knows and knows not that he knows is asleep – wake him.
He who knows and knows that he knows is wise – follow him.

Somebody actually created a test to measure where you are on this proverbial scale. In other words, the test doesn’t measure what you know; it measures the validity of your certainty about what you think you know. I took the free test and scored 73, which puts me at line 3: asleep. That sounds about right, too: asleep at the switch. That’s me. Excuse me while I move to the sofa.

You can find the test at http://projectionpoint.com/.

Hugo

I saw the movie Hugo. It’s a nice family movie, set in 1930s Paris, and beautifully directed by Martin Scorsese. It's been called a children's movie, but most adults will love this movie, too. It’s about an orphan boy named Hugo (Asa Butterfield) who lives in the walls of a train station, a young girl named Isabelle (Chloë Grace Moretz) who befriends him, and a mysterious key that connects their lives. Ben Kingsley acts the part of the girl’s godfather, Georges Méliès.

The film is historical fiction; it mixes fiction with actual people and events. Georges Méliès was a real person and a pioneer in silent movies, and events that happened to him in the film really happened to him. Portions of his films are shown in Hugo. Clearly, Scorsese wants to reacquaint audiences with this early filmmaker and his work.

Asa Butterfield is a talented young actor. He should have a bright future in films. And with roles as diverse as Mindy Macready (Hit Girl) in Kick-Ass and Abby in Let Me In, the versatile Chloë Moretz is the Natalie Portman of her generation.

Here's the NY Times review. No guns, no shootouts, no car chases. Just a gentle, lovingly made film. There’s one scene that will look familiar if you saw my blog post from last December. I saw Hugo in 2D. I haven’t seen any recent 3D movies in 3D. It just seems gimmicky.

Random Photos

Not much writing tonight … just some photos from my computer. Most were taken in, around, or near my home. All photos were taken with a $99 point-and-shoot camera. No special lenses were used. In fact, the factory lens is not removable.

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Many years ago, I bought this plate in the San Francisco airport and gave it to my parents. They hung it on a living room wall. After they had both passed on, I found myself owning it again. It’s tourist kitsch but I like it. (Click image for a larger view.)

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You’re supposed to have fruit every day. Brandy is made from wine, which is made from grapes, which are a fruit. So there.

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Angles.

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Salmon fillet and veggies.

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Halloween in the park across the street. After sundown it got crazy. The giraffes were out of control.

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Thanksgiving. Homemade cranberry pie.

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Remember when kerosene was so cheap people burned it to stay warm?

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The biggest moon. Ever. Remember, cheap point-and-shoot camera.

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Pansies. Not to be confused with posies. Which is a band. Which are a band?

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This is a purple, uh, a lavender … a lavender … dang it, I used to know this.

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I know what some of you are thinking: a strawberry is neither straw nor berry. Keep up that kind of thinking and soon you’ll be telling me a peanut is neither pea nor nut. It’s a slippery slope. Where does the insanity end?

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Afternoon sunshine on oak floor.

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The 3 objects above are about the same size.

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My kitchen window.

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“Can With Leaky Valve.” It just looked cool in the morning sunlight.

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Maple leaf on oak floor.

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Three geese go into a bar. The first goose says to the bartender …

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Another Earth

I recently watched a movie called “Another Earth”. The interesting thing about it, to me, was how it came to be made.

Brit Marling, who played the movie’s starring role, graduated from Georgetown University with a degree in economics. She was offered a job with Goldman Sachs but decided, instead, to move to Los Angeles and pursue a job in the film industry. After a couple of years, during which she was offered roles such as “the cute blonde in horror movies”, she decided the best way to get a decent role in a movie was to write the movie herself. So she learned how to write movie scripts. Then she wrote two movie scripts simultaneously, one in the mornings and one in the afternoons. And that is how Another Earth and Sound of My Voice came to be written and ultimately made. (Brit co-wrote each film with the film’s director.) Both movies premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2011. Both movies were generally liked by the critics.

Here’s how Brit puts it: “How terrifying to surrender your life to being chosen all the time. Having to be chosen and re-chosen. Writing so that I can act became a way of having not more control over my future but not having to wait for permission. You can choose yourself. Hmm, who should play this part? I nominate me!”

There’s something to admire in being able to “find a way” to get it done.

Dinner

For you readers who, like me, cook your own meals (see previous post: “Lunch”), here’s an easy dish you can try. Not as easy as opening a jar of peanut butter, but fairly easy. You’ll need a wok to cook this dish, although a large frying pan might work if you modify the recipe to make the volume of food smaller.

I was strolling the grocery aisle at Walmart a few days ago and saw a package of “Johnsonville Chicken Sausage with Monterey Jack Cheese and chipotle peppers”. That’s a mouthful to say, but they sure looked good. The package looks like this:

They’re fully cooked and their taste reminded me of Hillshire Farm Turkey Kielbasa, only (in my opinion) better. Although, I think I’d prefer the kielbasa if I planned to eat it with mustard and sauerkraut.

Tonight I got out my wok and I stir-fried yellow squash, red Bell pepper, and white onion. I toasted garlic and ginger in peanut oil before adding the veggies to the wok. I also added red pepper flakes, a little soy sauce, salt, and fresh ground pepper. After the veggies were almost done, I added the four (cooked) sausages which I had already cut into slices.

I’m not a cook and I just winged the recipe (no pun intended). It turned out very tasty. The Johnsonville website has more recipes, including this kabob: