Yup, Diana and I have changed jobs. Coincidentally, we're changing over within a week of each other. Diana's now working at BET.com which sounds like betting, but is actually the website for a TV channel here in the US (a sister company to MTV). I'm starting next week at Marriott.com and yes there is a friends and family rate that I'll be able to get for you...
As you can see from the .com on the end of both, we're staying firmly in our familiar territory of interactive and online. And my job is out in Bethesda (on the way to Rockville - remember that place?) so I'll be driving to work now. We were looking at Mini Coopers, but just couldn't stomach the plasticky interior (I'm not being picky here - the interior really is a big disappointment - shame because the rest of the car is fantastic) and ended up getting a BMW 325. Funnily enough Minis share the same base as the BMW 325, so the ride has a lot in common. The BM is way better built inside though, and the sat nav is very well done (v. important for me - I'm lost in DC without one). Probably a bit of an extravagence, but I followed Adam's sage advice to get the car I really want because when we have kids the choice won't be the same. Anyway, it'll be interesting to see which turns out to be our fave - the Infiniti (which we still love - a pure joy to drive) or the BM.
Friday, April 21, 2006
Monday, April 03, 2006
Kati's birthday pics
Hooray, I finally downloaded Kati's birthday pics, and you can see a selection on this page:
Kati's 5th Birthday Tea Party pics
Kati's 5th Birthday Tea Party pics
V for Vendetta and Guy Fawkes
I've dragged Diana to two very good movies these last two weeks, and the evidence is that she's not complaining :-)
Last week it was Inside Man, which was an intelligent heist movie done through the style of Spike Lee - which means great characters from Denzel Washington and Clive Owen, and classic film storytelling without the MTV-style trappings that most Hollywood thrillers have these days. Some of the plot twists aren't that twisty but I reckon the real pleasure of this movie is in the characters.
This week it was V for Vendetta, which I also had pegged as an MTV-esque Hollywood action movie, but actually turned out to be a very though provoking and satisfying take on the fight against a totalitarian dystopia. I gather the plot was changed to make parallels with the current state of US politics (and very satisfying that was too!) but the action takes place in London and the character V styles himself on Guy Fawkes.
Diana learnt all about Guy Fawkes when she came to London so that she could understand the stuff we do on November 5th, but I've never known that much about him and always found it a bit odd that he's celebrated as a historic Briton (made the BBC's list of 100 greatest Britons, for example) when tried to blow up parliament (surely not a good thing?!). Wikipedia has helped me out a little - now I know that he was one of a bunch of Catholic terrorists (!) and when you read the rest of the 'Remember remember the 5th of November' poem it's all about giving the Pope a horrible death! Shades of Sept 11th...? Nowadays there's some kind of rosey-tinted view that he was actually a crusader against oppressive government, although it seems a confused notion to me. Can anyone help me understand??
Last week it was Inside Man, which was an intelligent heist movie done through the style of Spike Lee - which means great characters from Denzel Washington and Clive Owen, and classic film storytelling without the MTV-style trappings that most Hollywood thrillers have these days. Some of the plot twists aren't that twisty but I reckon the real pleasure of this movie is in the characters.
This week it was V for Vendetta, which I also had pegged as an MTV-esque Hollywood action movie, but actually turned out to be a very though provoking and satisfying take on the fight against a totalitarian dystopia. I gather the plot was changed to make parallels with the current state of US politics (and very satisfying that was too!) but the action takes place in London and the character V styles himself on Guy Fawkes.
Diana learnt all about Guy Fawkes when she came to London so that she could understand the stuff we do on November 5th, but I've never known that much about him and always found it a bit odd that he's celebrated as a historic Briton (made the BBC's list of 100 greatest Britons, for example) when tried to blow up parliament (surely not a good thing?!). Wikipedia has helped me out a little - now I know that he was one of a bunch of Catholic terrorists (!) and when you read the rest of the 'Remember remember the 5th of November' poem it's all about giving the Pope a horrible death! Shades of Sept 11th...? Nowadays there's some kind of rosey-tinted view that he was actually a crusader against oppressive government, although it seems a confused notion to me. Can anyone help me understand??
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