Brendan Larkin-Connolly's Blog

I love that dirty water

2008-11-18T19:52:00.000-08:00

A man driving his car in Cambridge, MA today drove his car into the Charles River after he sneezed and lost control of his car.

I think we've all been here, well at least at the sneezing while driving form of here, and recognize the true fear when it happens. I always think that its pure luck that nothing happens during a sneeze while driving. Think about it, you end up closing your eyes and your whole body jets forward. At least this poor guy has filled up the stats for us so that just by probability we're less likely for it to happen now. An article on Boston.com about this incident can be found here.

Really?

2008-10-27T21:24:00.000-07:00

A recent New York Times article on the increase of kidney stones in children begins with the above picture.

The caption for the picture reads:"YOUNG VICTIM Tessa Cesario, 11, developed a kidney stone in February. She has since cut back on salt and is drinking more water." Funny...because the picture sure looks like the girl is downing some coca-cola, a drink high in sodium and a potential dehydrator due to caffeine. Where are the parents!?

President Bush, sub-prime mortgages, MLB umpires, and high energy costs are supposedly responsible for the spike in kidney stone incidents. Well, no, not really. But they're being blamed for everything else so truly what's another one on the list?

This might be a little too late for some of you.

2008-10-19T14:39:00.000-07:00

Google this week introduced Mail Goggles, a new feature to GMAIL that can be set to present you with a series of math questions before you send a message during 10PM-4AM on the weekends. If you fail to solve the problems in a timely manner then the message will not be sent. This feature is for all you late night drinker and typers that might regret that message to your boss/ex/co-worker/current s.0./grandmother who you might be sending inappropriate drunken e-mails.

The 10AM -4PM time period is set by default. If you have some issues with alcohol or just simply send stupid message without thinking about the consequences first, you can alter the settings to present you with the problems 24/7.

I still don't know what to think about this bail out

2008-09-27T12:56:00.000-07:00

Your room looks like a trash heap

2008-09-24T13:58:00.000-07:00

A house in South Boston was condemned recently when local authorities got reports of high carbon monoxide levels. I can't believe these pictures. I'd like to see some reality show watching people live like this because I can't fathom how you get to this level.

My deodorant has neurotoxins and my body wash kills the environment!

2008-09-13T09:45:00.001-07:00

At least the people at GoodGuide.com are telling me so. The new site, currently in beta form, compiles various bath and cleaning products and gives each a score based on the producing company's environmental impacts, the products potential health hazards, and its overall quality. It's a great concept and potentially very useful, but are you ready for what Good Guide has to tell you? Should I say good-bye to Old Spice Nightlife Anti-perspirint /deodorant and Dial for Men 3-D body wash? I think we all have a lot of thinking to do…

Who has a plan? UMass has a plan...

2008-09-10T20:20:00.000-07:00

Researchers from the home of my very own graduate studies have published a report that lays the plan for $100 billion of investment in renewable/green energy investments. I have not got a chance to read the entire report but will post my thoughts when I do. For now here's the link: http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2008/09/pdf/green_recovery.pdf

Google has more than just search results

2008-09-09T16:55:00.000-07:00

Google.org is the internet giant's philanthropic arm. They do work in developing countries and renewable energy. Here is an interesting experiment I found on their site:

http://google.org/recharge/experiment/

Top 5 Movies so far...

2008-09-02T08:55:00.001-07:00

1. Edge of Heaven: Unlike other recent multi-story movies like Crash and Babel there is no motive that tries to get pounded into us. I think the best way to describe it is that the world can at sometimes be so small but the very next moment seem so big.
2. Wall-E: Tough to do a character study in this one because the lead is a robot. But Pixar's heaviest project to date is so unique that you can't help but smile like an idiot throughout the whole thing.
3. The Visitor: See review in one of my earlier entries (not that difficult to find I only have 5).
4. In Bruges: Might be on here because its the most recent movie I've watched. I have a thing for movies that take us to places we've never been and really develop the location. It harks back to that old days when travel was not as easy and you went to the movies to see places you wouldn't normally visit.
5. Forgetting Sarah Marshall: One of the funniest romantic comedies I've seen in a long time.

Others I've liked: Tropic Thunder, Wanted, Dark Knight, 4 months 3 weeks two days, Shine a Light, Iron Man, Penelope

The bad: Mamma Mia, Sex and the City, The Fall

Religion today

2008-07-20T08:09:00.001-07:00

Remember when the Catholic Church was closing churches and people held demonstrations and sit-ins in order to keep their parish from closing? Well, it seems Americans are trying to save places of worship again…although this time the deity is coffee.

Don’t worry Congress is on the immigration issue…

2008-06-27T07:46:00.001-07:00

http://www.informationweek.com/news/management/h1b/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=208403651

Movie Review: The Visitor

2008-06-26T22:50:00.001-07:00

Director/Writer: Tom McCarthy
Prof. Walter Vale: Richard Jenkins
Tarek Khali: Haaz Sleiman
Zainah: Danai Jekesai Gurira
Mouna Khalil…Hiam Abbass

Director Tom McCarthy follows up his charming 2003 film The Station Agent with another intricate story about human relationships.

Richard Jenkins plays Walter Vale, a sullen widowed college economics professor who coasts through his work with a minimalist approach. When a colleague whom he co-authored a paper with cannot make a conference in New York City, Walter must go in her place despite his admission that he is in fact just the author by name only—never having contributed to its writing. In New York he returns to his seldom used apartment to find Terek (Haaz Sleiman) and Zainah (Danai Jekesai Gurira), two immigrants, having taken up residence. Out of some combination of good will and loneliness Walter invites Terek and Zainah to remain in the apartment until they find another place. Over the next few days Terek, a musician, introduces Walter to the African drum he plays and the two bond together over jamming sessions. One afternoon as Terek struggles to get his drum through a subway station turn-style New York City police officers mistakenly arrest him for not paying the toll. While seemingly just a misdemeanor, this small misstep uncovers the truth of his illegal alien status and results in him being sent to a federal detention center.

After not hearing from her son for a few days Terek's mother, Mouna (Hiam Abbass), comes from Michigan and arrives at the apartment. Walter shares the unfortunate news with Mouna and, even though she cannot enter, he takes her to the detention center in Queens so she can see where her son is held. The two form a close relationship throughout the remainder of the film and like Terek does she brings out another side to Walter that we had not seen before. The remainder of the film covers the growth of this relationship and the two's unsuccessful battle to get Terek released.

Jenkins is the key to the film. Most notable for his role as the deceased father on HBO's Six Feet Under the actor's soft demeanor and slow manner of speech is perfect for the role. He is the central, although not only, visitor in the film when he arrives to the apartment and stays with the couple who have made it their home. He also ends up being a visitor in the lives of these people for a short time and the film is a tribute to the impact this short acquaintance has on his life.

Some viewers might want to characterize the film as a left sided crusade against the government's single minded philosophy on immigration and place Walter in the role of the ignorant lazy American finally realizing the faults in the broken system. But, while notably walking a fine line, McCarthy steers clear of propaganda clichés by keeping the characters grounded and constrained to the personalities he has established. At the climax of the film, when Walter confronts the immigration issue head on, he bubbles out disdain and criticism on two detention center security guards and is clearly the most animated and emotional we have seen him—yet we can still see the same reserved calculating man. When told to leave, he pauses, and stands dumbfounded clearly trying to come up with some logic, some answer to the problem in front of him. He is, after all, an economist and using theory and logic to solve difficult problems is what he knows. But at a moment when he is at a loss and can find no logic for what has happened to his friend he gets angry and shouts, this is not a man on a soap box but a man in pain.

The government's increased emphasis on immigration control comes as a result of September 11^th and this event plays a role in the background of the film. In the detention center where Terek is held a 9/11 mural is sketched on a wall of the visitors' room. Also, while on the Staten Island Ferry, Zainah points to the empty space in the Manhattan skyline and tells Mouna, "That's were the two towers used to be." McCarthy includes these reminders to acknowledge how this day hangs over immigration policy and sets the atmosphere of a post-9/11 America in which there is essentially no tolerance illegal alien.

McCarthy counters this fear, ironically, with the use of New York. While the city might seem like the hot bed of the hysteria he reminds us that this magnificent city is still a magical place to people all around the world. A place where these visitors still come and jump at the site of the Statue of Liberty or dream about seeing the Phantom of the Opera on Broadway. And, as we see with Terek and Zainah, these people bring character to the city as the street performers and street vendors. The vitality of immigrants to the city is perfectly illustrated in the scene when Terek and Walter bring their drums to the park and jam with a group of fellow drummers.

The Visitor can be slow at times and in the beginning you might think Walter is thinking and reacting in slow motion. But the simplicity in the way McCarthy develops the relationships between the characters is truly wonderful. Given the small sample size of McCarthy's work it is hard not to draw comparisons between his two films. It seems that the writer/director has a gift for exemplifying the power and randomness of human relations.

Funny but interesting site

2008-06-24T21:35:00.001-07:00

I have to admit that I got the heads-up on this link from Greg Makiw's blog. For those who do not read his blog I thought I would pass it along: PerotCharts.com. Before you click, just think what could this web site be? Of course you read Perot and think of everyone's favorite little ol' Texas businessman Ross Perot. Then you read charts and think, um, of charts. So put them together and you get a web site of Ross Perot and some charts, right? Right.

That's it. It is a site developed by Perot with a lot of charts covering the current status of the economy. I get a kick out of the simplicity.

First blog

2008-06-13T20:44:00.001-07:00

I just created this site and am trying to figure out what to include in my writings...