The Book Foole's Journal

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Timecrimes (2007)

Because I'm two days in the future right now, I thought I'd review a time travel film I saw recently. Yes, it's Friday, April 3rd where I am. I was worried about that virus/worm that was to strike on April 1st, so among my precautions, I moved the date of my computer up to April 2nd last night. You know, April 3rd feels a lot like I would expect April 1st to feel.

I saw Time Crimes about two and half weeks ago (a Saturday night) at the DFT (Detroit Film Theatre):

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0480669/

Cronocrímenes, Los (2007) [Yes, it's in Spanish with subtitles --but surprisingly little dialog]

This film is an extremely low-budget film with only four characters and five actors, BUT it's the best time travel film I ever saw. It involves a person, who without his permission, is sent 1 1/2 hours into the past --and it's the most internally-consistent time-travel film I've ever seen --and ingenious --and very weird. Some reviews say the plot is confusing --it's not. In fact, it's not the intricate plot that stays with you, but the premise that everything this person does --including some real crimes --were done without a choice. His actions are not really choices, he does things --even criminal things --because he HAD ALREADY done them. And except for a brief slow period in the beginning, it's among the most non-stop, fast-paced films I've seen --and that's amazing for a film without a budget. It also has a sense of humor, even though that's secondary to the plot.

I'd give it 4 1/2 out of 5 stars.

SNOW DAY!

--except for the self-employed.

At least 7 inches has fallen and it's still snowing. I snow-blowed twice and the snow is knee high next to the walk and driveway.

I went to the storage area and the plow hadn't made it out there yet (no surprise), but the city plow did the major street that they're on (Van Dyke), so I got stuck in the berm made by the street plow at the entrance. It really wan't that bad, but I had to wait because I didn't want to rock the car when there was any traffic.

Most of the streets around here haven't been plowed, so it's still rather fun driving : ) [until someone gets hurt].

I have to venture out one more time to take packages to the post office. Orders have been rather steady --of course, since Monday most have been Priority Mail --which is fine with me. It saves on packing supplies. eBay and Amazon have been the big venues this year. Though, I did get a $75 ABE order this morning and I had two orders off my website yesterday. Alibris and B&N have been rather disappointing.

The mead has been bubbling steadily since Sunday morning. It was down to 1.040 last time I checked (last night). So, the main fermentation is about half over. I'm not seeing much flocculation, but it is rather opaque (honey brown : )

I'm just finishing a cup of green tea with a touch of honey in it.

Current Mood: cold

Politics

Things are looking good.

[per the Princeton Election Consortium]

Current Mood: relieved

While there are hundreds of baby name books, I have yet to come across a beer name book.
I brewed Saturday before last and racked and dry hopped last Saturday and will be bottling on Saturday, so I need a name for my beer ASAP. I'd like something book related. The friends I brew with use Pond Scum Ale and Rat Bastard Ale, so those are already taken.

For those who care about such things --I did a partial grain pale ale that will be very dry hopped (aromatic) and will have a hint of apricot in it.

1/4 lb. Briess 60L
Sparge
6.5 lb. M&F light DME
1/4 lb. Malto-dextrin
1 oz. Nugget @ 8.5% AA (bittering hop)
added water to bring it up to 5 gallons.

boiled 45 min. and added
1/2 oz. Perle (flavor hop)
1 tsp. Irish moss

boiled 14 min. and added
1/2 oz Perle (aroma hop)
1 oz Cascade (aroma hop)

Boiled 1 min. more and cooled and strained into carboy and topped off water.
Wyeast 1056 American ale yeast.

Racked and dry hopped
2 oz. Cascade
1.5 oz. apricot beer flavoring

Poll #1076736 Name That Beer
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 9

Which current choices do you like?

View Answers

First Edition Pale Ale
3 (42.9%)

Limited First Edition Pale Ale
1 (14.3%)

Limited Signed First Edition Pale Ale
0 (0.0%)

Unpaginated Ale
4 (57.1%)

PLEASE, PLEASE, Sugsest Something Else

View Answers

oops --Feel free to "Suggest" too --because of the Rich text / HTML / Preview changes with polls, I ended up retyping this one at least four times --of course, the error crept into the final copy.

Just sitting here entering books into the databases
...and listening to the Tigers beat the Cardinals 3-0 (end of the third). Players who did not get a hit during the entire World Series are now hitting.

I get the feeling the Tigers are going to make it to the playoffs again this year. They lost a double header to Boston yesterday and dropped to second place, but they're still doing amazingly well and short slumps aren't affecting them that much.

Current Mood: working

Letter Books & Letter Copying Presses

Plate 1

I mentioned having an 1874 tissue copy of a letter by an early sports figure. This is the first time I had a tissue copy like this in, so I did some research. I found an article over here at www.officemuseum.com. Here is a slightly abbreviated version of the article:

Letter Copying Presses

A few alternatives to hand copying were invented between the mid-17th century and the late 18th century, but none had a significant impact in offices. In 1780, steam engine inventor James Watt obtained a British patent for letter copying presses, which his firm manufactured. The patent illustrations include a press with two opposing rollers, like the wringer on an old washing machine, and a second model with a screw mechanism like that in Plate 1. However, the presses produced by Watt were portable devices contained in wood boxes similar in size and appearance to the late 19th century Edison Mimeographs.

Although use of letter copying presses was initially limited, by the late 1840s copying presses with a variety of screw and lever mechanisms were widely used in offices to copy outgoing correspondence. Along with typewriters, letter copying presses are the most common machines found in photographs of late 19th century and very early 20th century offices. (See plates in the Early Office Museum’s photograph exhibit.) Screw model letter copying presses were still marketed in 1950.

In a review of office equipment at the 1851 Industrial Exhibition, Granville Sharp recommended that when an office was selecting a press like that in Plate 1, it should make sure that the handle was heavily weighted at the ends to insure proper spinning. “This is essential to a screw copy press; for unless one pull will serve to raise or to depress the plate, much time is lost.” In addition to the press, offices needed to buy copying books that contained up to a thousand pages of tough tissue paper, copying ink, copying paper dampers, oiled paper, and blotting paper

Sharp explained that before using the new press, the office had to decide how to organize its letters. Production of copies was easiest if the user copied its letters into a single letter book in chronological order. In that case, the user needed to make an index so that letters of interest could later be retrieved. Alternatively, the office could organize its correspondence by client, which avoided indexing but made it necessary to use numerous copying books on a given day.

Although copies could be made up to twenty-four hours after a letter was written, copies made within a few hours were best. A copying clerk would begin by counting the number of letters to be written during the next few hours and by preparing the copying book. Suppose the clerk wanted to copy 20 one-page letters. In that case, he (copying clerks were men) would insert a sheet of oiled paper into the copying book in front of the first tissue on which he wanted to make a copy of a letter. He would then turn 20 sheets of tissue paper and insert a second oiled paper. Sharp advised that “Success in copying letters depends almost entirely upon the damping of the paper. The paper should be saturated and damp, not wet.” To dampen the tissue paper, the clerk used a brush or copying paper damper. The damper had a reservoir for water that wet a cloth, and the clerk wiped the cloth over the tissues on which copies were to be made. The oiled papers confined the moisture to the pages that were to be used. Blotting paper was used to remove excess moisture.

Next, letters were written with special copying ink, which was not blotted. The copying clerk arranged the portion of the letter book to be used in the following sequence starting from the front: a sheet of oiled paper, then a sheet of letter book tissue, then a letter placed face up against the back of the tissue on which the copy was to be made, then another oiled paper, et cetera, “oiled paper being in all cases placed next the damp paper, to prevent the ink forcing beyond the paper intended to receive it.”

Finally, “Close the book, put it into the press, and screw tightly down, letting it remain a minute or two under pressure, when the copy will be properly taken, and may be dried with blotting paper, or held near the fire.” Based on experience, the clerk could adjust the press time. If he made a copy soon after a letter was written, only a second or two was needed to make a good impression. When the letter book was pressed, some of the ink transferred from the letters to the moist tissues in the book. Because the ink penetrated the tissues, copies could be read from the front sides of the tissues.

By the late 1880s, the method for moistening pages in copying books had been improved. Rather than using a brush or damper to wet the tissues, the clerk inserted a thin moist cloth or pad between each oil paper and the following tissue. A supply of moist pads was prepared in advance using a copying bath. Examples are Tatum’s Ideal Copying Pad Bath, which was patented in 1887 (Plate 6), and the Globe Roller Copying Bath, which was marketed in the early 1900s (Plate 7). To prepare a supply of moist pads using the Ideal bath, the clerk removed the tray from the bath, poured water into the pan, and replaced the tray. Also, the clerk sprinkled a set of pads, let them stand overnight, and then placed them in the tray. “The evaporation from the water underneath will generally be sufficient to keep pads damp enough for ordinary work.”

I'm finding that the general consensus is that the signatures on these tissue copies of letters are not considered actual signatures for collecting purposes --one collector/dealer went as far as to compare them to xerox copies --but this is a bit extreme because they were created within 24 hours of the original and are unique copies (only one copy would have been made in this manner).

For example, the letter I have would be worth at least $800 to $1200 as a manuscript letter, while it's likely that the tissue copy will only get between $150 and $250.

Current Mood: nerdy

The Road Home (China—2001—Zhang Yimou)

This was more of a "chick flick" than I expected. I thought it was going to be a story about a man returning from the city to bury his father, a teacher in a small village --instead this scenario brackets the majority of the film which is love story about how his parents met. It was visually interesting --the area seemed like Michigan in the Fall --except a bit more hilly --and the story was charming. It's a nice date film, but I really don't know if it was worth the drive down to see it --on the other hand, nothing ventured... And it was by no means a bad or unpleasant film --I guess, overall, I'll damn it with faint praise. By the way, it starred Zhang Ziyi, the young actress in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. I think the director is in love with her face --a lot of long lingering face shots --of course, there are a lot worse faces to do that with.

I'm think I'm going to catch THE TURANDOT PROJECT
(USA - 2001 - Alan Miller) tonight --a documentary about staging an opera in China. It starts at 7:30, so I better get going (I'll close in a few minutes).

Current Mood: critical

Moulin Rouge: An "Ironic" Opera

Like many great films and great books, Moulin Rouge is flawed. But greatness is usually decided by the strengths and not the weaknesses. Unfortunately, in Moulin Rouge, the flaw is lined up exactly opposite it's strength. This weakens the film enough that it falls short of greatness. Still, falling a bit short of greatness is more than most films can measure up to.

First off, the flaw: a lack of a suspension of disbelief due to numerous and often very funny pop references in a film about sincerity (truth, love, beauty). But it's those pop references that make the film. Basically, I really didn't care about the plot while I reveled in how the plot unfolded. This could work, if the film was an indictment of pop culture. But, if that was the case, it wouldn't have invested as much in the plot line, because it wouldn't expect you believe or care about the plot. This may just be my problem --D., who I saw the film with, had enough belief in the plot to make her cry. I, on the other hand, was cracking up during much of the film. It can be VERY funny. Though, I found the funniest parts undermine the plot.

That said, this is a film that creates an interesting and unique world. Very few films do this and I have a soft spot for those that can despite any flaws. In Moulin Rouge's case, it's a world consistent in its inconsistencies. In no way can you take this seriously as a historical film. The Moulin Rouge and Paris in this film is like Mars in Bradbury's Martian Chronicles --another place, consistent in its own internal logic, but not what it purports to be.

This is also a film of color and motion and sound. This is where the film shines. If nothing else, it's a feast for the senses. You'll get your money's worth from this alone.

Rating: 4 of 5 stars (Recommended). Unless this turns out to be a banner year, I hope it gets nominated for Best Picture and Best Director --but I'll probably complain if it wins.

Current Mood: critical

FUN
I was going back to work to enter more items on eBay, but I decided to see a movie instead. Maybe I'll see CHOPPER(Australia–2000–Andrew Dominik).