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April 24, 2008

Miracle Of Miracles

Not only could I get into the parking garage connected to Union Station in New Haven this afternoon, but the very first parking space inside the structure was open! It seems like years since I've been able to park this close to the train station.

September 30, 2008

I'll Never Be Off The Grid Now

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In the last few minutes of my MetroNorth trip from New Haven to Grand Central tonight, I was able to accomplish what proved elusive for months back home: I activated the Exchange syncing so my school account--my primary e-mail address--is now accessible on my iPhone. I'm not sure if my e-mail messages following me everywhere I go is a good or a bad thing, but I'll try it for at least a week to see.

November 9, 2008

Squash Scoring

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At the meeting of the New England Interscholastic Squash Association earlier this afternoon, the boys' and girls' team coaches agreed to change our scoring system to point-a-rally games to 11 points to reflect the coming change in World Squash Federation and U.S. Squash tournament formats. We'll be a little ahead of the curve in the New England prep schools, but that has been typical of our Association, which also led the way in the shift from hardball to softball play.

December 21, 2008

Double Feature

Since another round of stormy weather hit New England last night and this morning, I decided to scrap a planned trip to Boston for a Bach Christmas concert staged by the Handel & Haydn Society (I am not making good use of my subscription, having backed out of two events this month!), hunted under the snowfall for my Sunday Times, grabbed a bite to eat, and drove slowly down I-91 to the art cinema in New Haven to settle in for a day at the movies.

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First up was Slumdog Millionaire, which has earned some stellar reviews, including a favorable mention in Frank Rich's column this morning. This film was well worth the praise it has garnered. Having spent time in Mumbai and Agra--the two principal settings for the story--I appreciated the movie's presentation of India in all its splendor, misery, and diversity. An uneducated 18-year-old finds success on the Indian version of the television game show "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?" and is subsequently grilled by Bombay policeman who are convinced he has been cheating his way through the show. The television program and the interrogation sessions frame flashbacks to various points of the boy's life. Knowing much more than that might spoil enjoyment of the film, which is one I recommend strongly.

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Next up was Milk, Gus Van Sant's biopic of the slain 1970s gay activist and San Francisco politician. While Sean Penn was outstanding in the title role and the rest of the cast was similarly strong, I found the film itself a bit tedious and too long. While the filmmakers clearly worked hard to present to lead character as a fleshed out human being, there was a sniff of heavy-handed political correctness informing the whole piece. Of course, the country has become from more tolerant in the last thirty years in many ways. One of the central elements of the storyline, however, was the fight over California Proposition 6, which was nearly reminiscent of this year's Prop 8 battle in the state. Some reviewers have commented that an earlier release of this film might have made an important impact on reversing the outcome of that recent referendum. I'm not sure if that's true, but even with its flaws, this film is an important document of a significant figure and his time in the struggle for human rights.

January 1, 2009

The Reader

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Just finished seeing The Reader, a story set in postwar Germany about an affair between an adolescent boy and a much older woman, who turns out to be a Nazi war criminal. The film has a stately feel, and at times does seem to drag, but it's provocative and well-crafted.

June 1, 2009

Now There's Something You Don't See Every Day

Spotted on Broadway in New Haven today: R2D2 apparently now working as a mailbox. I knew times were tough, but sheesh!

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June 11, 2009

My Commute

I am heading down to New Haven four days a week this month for a 1 p.m. class. On Tuesday I got caught in a traffic jam because part of Interstate 91 was closed due to some sort of accident. This meant I had to negotiate the back streets--which were congested with other people trying to do the same--to get to Yale. Then I had to deal with the always problematic situation of parking near York and Broadway. I was ten minutes late for class, and I absolutely hate being tardy for something like this. So today, and for the foreseeable future, I am leaving myself extra travel time in case of unforeseen difficulties like this.

June 20, 2009

D.C. Bound

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I am taking the 10:18 Acela Express from New Haven, which will get me to Washington by 3 p.m. I can rent a car in Union Station. It's a bit pricey, but well worth it to relax and spread out with the New York Times, which I can't really do when I am driving for seven hours! I also want to read Henry V before I see it tonight.

July 3, 2009

Final Day At Yale

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I am about to head into my last Shakespeare class at Yale at the end of a five-week term. It's been a treat to come down here 4-6 times a week during the past month or so. I started in the last days of the school year at Choate and am wrapping up a week into summer school, so the bookends have been a bit hectic for me, but this course was well worth the time, effort, and expense.

December 20, 2009

Stop Motion Splendor

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Unlike the cutting edge motion capture and CGI employed in Avatar, The Fantastic Mr. Fox is old-style stop-motion animation produced painstakingly. It works well in this Wes Anderson-helmed flick, featuring a great vocal cast, led by George Clooney, Meryl Streep, and Bill Murray. As one might expect from Anderson, there is a wonderfully subversive feel to the storyline, which is based on a Roald Dahl book.

Me And Orson Welles

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As the roads were relatively clear after last night's storm--southern Connecticut didn't get dumped on as much as points south and east, apparently--I trekked down to New Haven to catch up on a couple of theatrical releases before things get busy with family time later in the week. First up was Me And Orson Welles, an account of a late 1930s Broadway production of Julius Caesar staged by Welles, told from the point of view of a high school senior (Zac Efron) who stumbles into the director's orbit. Lots of nice touches in this film, and the actor who played Welles was pretty convincing capturing the man physically and vocally.

January 10, 2010

Union Station In New Haven

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I am taking the train into New York City and for a change I am down at the New Haven train station in plenty of time, without the rush to park, scramble for tickets, and run to the platform. Arriving early results in a much better pace on a Sunday morning!

October 10, 2010

Never Let Me Go

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Saw a noon matinee of Never Let Me Go, the film based on the Kazuo Ishiguro novel. It was a slow-moving, rather depressing story, but it certainly was pretty to look at throughout.

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