Sorry there haven't been any updates for the past couple months; I've been busy with work. I've implemented a demo game (in PHP4 and Perl), and the process taught me a bit about how to structure programs. More recently, I've been revamping the Unplugged Games website, working up some Dynamic HTML, which means JavaScript, which means browser-specific code, which means a real pain in the ass. PHP is making my life a bit easier, letting me compartmentalize the browser-specific chunks so they're easier to keep track of.
One of my new co-workers told me about an art studio on Spring Street where one can walk in and pay a few dollars to draw from a live model, without having to sign up for a long-term class (which generally costs hundreds of dollars). This is just what I've been wanting for, oh, a couple of years at least. So I too the 4 train over the Spring Street and wandered around a bit. I found a great little pastry shop, a pizzaria with a coal oven, and eventually the studio. Yep, life drawing for US$10 a session. Cool. Now I just need to find the time.
Then I wandered around Manhattan for a couple of hours. I might have bought some sneakers, but I'd forgotten to bring socks along (today was beautiful sandal weather, and even if it hadn't been, my shoes are falling apart, which is why I need new sneakers) so I couldn't try any on. I met Chris to see The Contender, which I suspect was paid for by the Democratic National Committee. Someone in the theater even shouted out "Vote for Hillary!" as the closing credits started rolling. It's not a bad movie (though Salon's Charles Taylor says otherwise, and his criticisms are not inaccurate, though he's wrong about the videotape, it was still photos), there's some good acting, and I even approve of the primary moral message it designed to convey. It's just a bit, well, blatant. Also, the movie wants to have its cake and eat it too, in ways I can't explain without spoiling the ending. If you've seen it already, or don't care, look under the spoiler warning. Still, Jeff Bridges is wonderful as a president who really seems to be enjoying his office despite the best efforts of his opponents to make his life miserable.
The main message of the film is that a political candidate -- or anyone else, really -- shouldn't be judged by his or her sexual history. (Well, there's also a message that Republican politicians are vicious scumbags.) The central character is a woman, a Democratic senator, who's been picked by a Democratic president to fill the position of vice-president after the elected veep has died in office. The head of the confirmation committee uncovers a story (and photos) about how the senator'd had a wild sex life in college, and tries to use this to keep her from being confirmed.
Good triumphs over evil, and the movie ends with the strong implication that she'll be confirmed, but just before the end she tells the president, in secret, that the sex story was just a rumor, that she'd never really done it, that the photos are of someone who looks like her and she's got a distinctive birthmark that isn't in the photos to prove it, but she doesn't want this evidence brought out, because she really thinks that a person's sex life shouldn't be a political issue, and that includes cases where it would be convenient for it to be one. Heroic, and an ideal that deserves some time in the spotlight, but it also seems a bit convenient for the filmmakers. "A woman can have a wild sex life and still have courage and strong moral values, and here's just such a person, only wait, she didn't really have a wild sex life."