Blog by Sumana Harihareswara, Changeset founder
I done got schooled
Hi, reader. I wrote this in 2001 and it's now more than five years old. So it may be very out of date; the world, and I, have changed a lot since I wrote it! I'm keeping this up for historical archive purposes, but the me of today may 100% disagree with what I said then. I rarely edit posts after publishing them, but if I do, I usually leave a note in italics to mark the edit and the reason. If this post is particularly offensive or breaches someone's privacy, please contact me.
Yesterday, after I beat Nathaniel (twice!) at air hockey, a young-looking guy -- Samuel, he said his name was, from the Middle East -- absolutely schooled me. Afterwards, when he -- quite kindly -- explained how I might get better, I realized that he had thought I was wrongly inferring his intended actions, when, in fact, I'd just been trying to guard my goal against any willy-nilly puck. I wasn't even good enough to get tricked the way he was trying to trick me. But it was very fun nonetheless.
I saw Citizen Kane yesterday, for the first time. I wish I could have seen it without all the baggage that a modern viewer brings to the film. I knew what "Rosebud" meant, at the end, and I knew that many critics consider it the greatest movie ever made. It is very, very good. But I'd like to see a lot more cinema before pronouncing it "the best" or only "one of the best."
Citizen Kane: Hot or Not?
Yesterday's class was pretty good. My students cajoled me into doing my comedy act from Monday. I performed for them at the end of class. They clapped.
"Right now, you like me! You really, really like me!"
Tomorrow we'll be discussing The Matrix, and this coming Wednesday too. I encourage interested readers to stop by. It promises to be an interesting discussion. I came up with my frist political interpretation after seeing it the second or third time, I saw it that time on campus, at one of SUPERB's Friday night Wheeler showings, and explained it with great enthusiasm at dinner at Mario's La Fiesta on Telegraph -- the best Mexican restaurant in Berkeley.
I owe a great deal to my friends and family for their patience with my enthusiasms.
Another SUPERB movie tomorrow -- Darren Aronofsky's Requiem for a Dream, which I have been wanting to see ever since I first heard of it. But I also have a fun party I could attend! Decisions, decisions. I, ever the social butterfly.
Maybe I should just while away my Friday night in the arcade, taking all comers at air hockey and stomping the pads for Dance Dance Revolution as Korean pop infuses my brain.
Poll: What should brainwane do on Friday night?
- Go to the party -- mostly free
- Watch the movie -- $3
- Play in the arcade -- probably around $7 or $8
- Do homework, working towards an education -- priceless
Originally published by Sumana Harihareswara at http://www.kuro5hin.org/story/2001/4/19/144930/415
