Random Web Theft

From my lazy Saturday surfing the web, I bring you some highlights:

**For those of you who saw both The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and Forrest Gump, you will love this video parody of their uncanny similarities. Spot on!

The Curious Case of Forrest Gump - watch more funny videos

**And now for something completely different. I found this video from a link on Andrew Sullivan's blog. It does a great job of explaining the current financial crisis.


The Crisis of Credit Visualized from Jonathan Jarvis on Vimeo.

**Also from Sullivan's blog, but originally from here.

I love this! (In case you didn't realize - that's Darwin).

**This article on happiness comes from Slate.com. It's not exactly neoteric and looks rather banal but I thought it was helpful - especially since work hasn't made me the happiest person in the world of late. The bullet pointed version is below:

9 Ways to Be Happier

1. Boost your energy.

2. Reach out to friends.

3. Rid yourself of a nagging task.

4. Create a calmer environment.

5. Lay the groundwork for some future fun.

6. Do a good deed.

7. Act happy.

8. Count your blessings.

9. Perform an action that reflects your values.

**Lastly, for those of you who, like me, enjoy Sudoku. Enjoy the newest puzzle craze out of Japan: Kenken. I like it even better.

The Curious Case of The Curious Case

Yumi and I went to see The Curious Case of Benjamin Button this past weekend and it was enjoyable but hardly worth all of the Oscar buzz as far as I could tell. 13 nominations? The second-highest total of all time? Really? I thought it was well done but you'd think it was the second coming of Citizen Kane with 13 nominations.

For the uninitiated, the film is about the life of a man who ages backwards and his romance with Cate Blanchet's character. It was a nice diversion although after 2 1/2 hours I was itching for it to be over already. I did like the creativity of the story and the execution (the makeup, the period costumes and sets, etc.).

Other odds and ends from our movie experience. It cost ¥1800 per person (around $20) which is hard to stomach but it is what it is and I either accept it or forgo movies altogether. I was already choosy before, now I'm even more so. Despite the steep price, our Sunday matinee was almost completely full. Amazing. It was in English with Japanese subtitles. There were other showing which were dubbed into Japanese with English subtitles. Dubbing is evil.