The Scout Report today had a link to this interesting web site, Lists of Bests. It a list of “best of …” lists, like the AFI top 100 films, Pulitzer Prize Winners for Fiction, etc.. Good stuff and neatly all in one place.

Although these lists are subjective or contain the results of subjective judging, I like to see what knowledgeable people liked rather than just diving in randomly. If I want to see a good old movie, why not start with one from the AFI list? Then if I like it I can check out something else starring the same actor or director.

On an unrelated note, my grade school alum Spinning-Jennie has a wish list for her grade school library posted on Amazon. Send them a book, you’ll feel good about yourself.

I saw an article last night about HP’s new pricing units based on something they call a “computon”. It’s a way to do pricing of hardware based on usage, allowing the user to utilize capacity as needed. It makes the high end systems more affordable, etc., etc..

While this is all well and good, it is yet another case of mainframe capabilities from years ago being re-invented. My goodness, we can charge by the hour for computer usage. Isn’t this kind of thing that created the PC revolution? Didn’t users want to pry the systems away from the acolytes of IBM and CDC and put the power on the desktop in the users hands in a form that was cheap and ubiquitous?

I guess we are doomed to recreate the mainframe again and again. What next OS virtualization, clustering, subscription software … ?

Saw Stomp last night in Boston.

It was a great show that I have been wanting to see for some time. Better yet, it was a team activity, so the tickets were not associated with a cash outlay on my part.

What did I think? I enjoyed the show immensely. The rhythm and creativity was beyond belief. As a person without rhythm I was blown away. On the flip side, it was a bit long and the theatre was a little hot. Of the bits incorporated into the show, I enjoyed the newspaper bit the least. The basketball bit was great. Overall, it was a great show, but I wouldn’t see it twice, unlike the Blue Man Group. Three stars out of four.

I am in Boston this week for work meetings this week.

Some of the highlights for me include Boston Commons, which feature in one of my favorite children’s stories, “Make Way For Ducklings.” We also made time to enjoy the fresh seafood at Legal Seafood.

Hopefully today I’ll be able to hit the freedom trail.

Sometimes a ranting monologue posted on the web takes on a certain disonance that it transcends ordinary prose and crosses the line into poetry.

Here is an excellent example:

I agree in some aspects. I think there is a little too much hype surrounding blogging at the momoment, especially since conceptually it’s not too different from me posting interesting items on my office door.

Spinning-Jennie who revealed yesterday that she was a classmate of mine from 5th and 6th grade posted photo’s from those glory years.

My photo is fabulous.

Thanks, Jennie.

Today while tail’ing my refferrer log I came across this entry.

Being the curious type of person, I thought I would check the link out.

Turns out spinning-jennie went to grade school with me. She linked to my blog after googling me. Small world, no.

Of course, I am still having difficulty figuring out just who this person is. I went to four different grade schools. They were located in Richland Center, West Allis, and two in Milwaukee. My fondest personal memories are the time I spent in Richland Center and at Manitoba (the grade school, not the Canadian Province).

Spinning-Jennie give me some hints.

Top 10 Things I Hate About Star Trek

To me this is hilarious.

Crow Lake, by Mary Lawson.

This is a good light read. It’s the kind of book you might take with you on a vacation flight. Not too thick, interesting writing, but it won’t keep you up nights wondering what’s going to happen.

The basic story line is about a child who looses both parents and life in her rural farming community. The story flashes back and forth between time periods in an interesting way and creates story threads that will hold the readers interest.

One negative comment is that this story at points seems to be a non-story. There isn’t the classic build up — resolution events that some people seem to enjoy. Don’t get me wrong their is tension and build up, but it’s not like a thriller style book where everything is neatly resolved for the reader in the end.

The book has great descriptions of place and I can clearly imagine them in my head. I would say the writing was very strong. I would read another book by Mary Lawson if I ran into one.