13 Assassins (2010)

We watched director Takashi Miike's 2010 movie "13 Assassins" Wednesday evening at Sacramento's Crest Theater.

Miike also produced the 2009 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, "Departures". Both movies deal with the topic of death and have cello music in their respective soundtracks--the similarities end there.

First, the bad news (no spoilers): I found this a challenging movie to watch. Miike opens with an extended, uncomfortably up-close-and-personal act of seppuku, then moves, in turn, through rape, murder, butchery, torture, and debasement. I think that was maybe the first 30 minutes. o_O;; The final 45 minutes depicts the graphic butchery of an army of men through--essentially--long, extremely sharp knives.

I struggled to keep up with the quickly scrolling intro expository subtitles. Differentiating the 13 assassins also proved difficult, equating characters to their choice in weapons.

Second, the good news: The acting, while good, was not great, mainly due to the massive amount of ground to cover, both literal and figurative, which left much less time for character development. I found the cinematography, the choreography, and the attention to detail with the sets pitch-perfect. Miike's attention to detail shines through in every scene. It is just an amazingly well-executed movie.

Final verdict: if you enjoy well-executed period pieces and do not mind gratuitous, over-the-top violence, this movie will not disappoint! :o)

Almost forgot: +1 for including a line referencing the Japanese folklore monster tanuki :o) I believe the exact subtitle was an assassin exclaiming "Are you a raccoon goblin?" when they first meet Kiga in the mountains on their way to Ochiai. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanuki

Romanticized Pasts

Noted today how two people in disparate fields--Paul Krugman (Economics) and Richard Stallman (Computing)--both seem motivated by a romanticized vision of the past. In Krugman's case, a middle-class New York City suburb in the late 50's and early 60's. In Stallman's case, the bohemian M.I.T. computing culture of the early 70's.

http://thebrowser.com/interviews/paul-krugman-on-inspiration-liberal-economist?page=full

Trader Joe's - Receipt Amount Ending in Zero

Trader Joe's currently offers customers tallying a "*.00" price on their receipt a free spin on their prize wheel.

Here is one combination which totals zero-zero:

FISH SALMON CHIMICHURRI FILLET $7.95
BEEF SIRLOIN ROAST FULLY COOKED $8.99
KERRYGOLD IRISH UNSALTED BUTTER, 2OZ @ $2.79/OZ $5.58
YOGURT GREEK STYLE PLAIN $1.99
ORGANIC SOUR CREAM - PINT $2.49
SUBTOTAL $27.00
TOTAL $27.00

I think we won an insulated bag on our spin.

Zipcar - Day One

Via Wikipedia, "Zipcar is a membership-based car sharing company providing automobile reservations to its members, billable by the hour or day."

Brand new to the Sacramento-area, Zipcar now has five downtown locations: (1) 18th and Capitol Avenue; (2) 11th and L Street; (3) 10th and I Street; (4) 16th and J Street; and (5) 28th and J Street. These locations primarily serve denizens of Sacramento's dense urban core. (Did I just call Sacramentans dense? No offense intended!)

The Sacramento City Council voted to bring Zipcar to the city in late March, 2011, as a way to reduce fleet costs for City employees. From a March 28 article in BizJournals, "The only [startup] cost to the city is the loss of money from 10 spaces taken by the Zipcars and signs."

We signed up with Zipcar as an experiment. We own a car with a manual transmission and a driver in our household faces two challenges: (1) they are learning how to operate a manual transmission; and (2) they have not driven for a number of years and want confidence behind the wheel. So, Zipcar seems like a natural complement to getting back behind the wheel. Low investment and on-demand. Plus, we used code 75ZIP11 when signing up to get $75 free in credits, if used during a specified window (30 days?).

Our Zipcard--a credit card used to unlock the car--arrived in about a week. The reservation process went smoothly. We found our car--a silver, 2010 Honda Insight Hybrid--in a Zipcar parking spot just off 11th and L Street. It was clean, inside and out. Unlocking the doors stumped us, at first--until we noticed the Zipcar activator in the upper-left of the driver's side window. *Click* went the locks and we hopped in. Turning the car on immediately provided relief from the 93 F ambient temperatures.

Early evening downtown traffic was moderate. We drove for just under an hour, returning before our time expired. Everything went smoothly, until we drove west into the setting sun, which provided a bit of tension as we fought sun-blindness.

Afterwards--Temple Coffee for post-stress drinks.

Overall a very positive experience.

Given the $8/hour price, can see this coming in useful for trips to the San Francisco area: (1) gas is included in the hourly rate; (2) 30 locations downtown and 13 in the East Bay (and a handful in the South Bay); (3) brand new, shiny, hybrid vehicle; and (4) no parking fees once you arrive. Which works out to maybe $32 round-trip for transportation to/from The City. Budget in public transportation of $2/ride, each, and tolls of ~$10, for a total of roughly $60 for transporting two people for a day. Compare that to the alternatives: (1) Amtrak: $116 for train fare, plus public transportation fees, so maybe ~$130 total; or (2) Personal vehicle: (180 miles / 30 mpg) * $4/gal = ~$25; parking fees = $25/day; tolls = ~$10, so ~$60.

On the way home, we realized we had forgotten to wave the card over the Zipcar reader to logout of our reservation. A call to Zipcar customer service clarified turning off the car ends the reservation. The customer service call went through efficiently and was handled quickly. The attendant even suggested we can review our reservations online, to see if they went over/under.

So, all-in-all, a great first experience.

For an alternative, more in-depth experience, see: http://www.newsreview.com/sacramento/low-car-diet/content?oid=2082256

Radio Song

Heard on 90.3 FM KDVS out of Davis, CA:

Ghent, Belgium-based Soulwax's "E Talking (Live)" from their 2005 album "Nite Versions Live" on the PIAS label. Video.