Things That Matter To People Who Matter

Zombie movies, His Dark Materials, Wine tasting, Intel Apples

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Published: Nov 29, 2006

Zombie movies

Damn I love a good zombie movie, and let me tell you why. They were originally intended to scare and entertain while getting the message across that society is indeed like zombies. Recent Hollywood attempts totally lost the genre's true meaning. George A. Romero still kept it real with his last release, Land of the Dead (pictured), but he had to let them ruin Dawn of the Dead to be able to get the money to do his last film. "We are them and they are us!" Those were the words Barbara uttered in the color reshoot of Night of the Living Dead. (Tom Savini did the original justice.) Anyone with a free mind who likes zombie movies and doesn't look around to find the rest of the world to be very zombielike, well, cough, you might be one of them.

His Dark Materials

I think my book club dumped me for going on about a kid's book. But fans of Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy know better. Thankfully it's getting less unknown by the minute, with the first movie on the way next year, so it's time to pass it around before Hollywood defangs it. Yeah, that's right. The movie's going to dumb down a "kids" book. I won't go so far as to call HDM subversive, because frankly Pullman's retelling of Paradise Lost in a contemporary society that never experienced the Enlightenment is more, well, enlightened than anything else. It's a fantastic and emotionally honest story that explores the soul, parallel worlds, dark matter, and eventually a war on God.

Wine tasting

Since visiting the Finger Lakes of New York, my husband and I have acquired a new taste for wine — like "art appreciation." In addition to taste, we admire the appearance of wine, its fragrance, we sip slowly, savor the feel, flavor, and the finish. It's interesting how the Delaware Valley wineries compare to upstate New York's. It's not that one is better, just different. That's part of the beauty of wine. Location, soil, weather and a myriad of other factors shape the experience of a particular vintage and varietal. We've also been to wine tastings at local liquor stores. We've found that wine tastings are opportunities to learn and appreciate the art of wine, and discover new wines to enjoy. Highly recommended!

Intel Apples

As you should know, Apple recently completed the transition to Intel processors in all of its computers. For longtime users, we already had to go through a complete overhaul with OS X (for the better) and now are forced to wait it out while third-party software companies churn out their dual-binaries. For PC users, this switch should change their life. With the launch of Leopard, Apple computers will be able to boot both Windows and the Mac OS; Windows will be able to enjoy an Apple-style makeover. Even though I can't run all of my software on it yet, I still love my new 17" MacBook Pro Intel 2.33 GHz Core 2 Duo with 2GB RAM, 667 MHz Frontside Bus and 7200rpm internal hard drive. Yes, Mac fans care too much about their computers.

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