Stephen Colbert with Obama

Did you miss President Obama ordering his general to shave Stephen Colbert's head? The shaving happened while Colbert was filming his show from Iraq. Obama's part was filmed earlier at the White House:

Brad Pitt and I Are Working Together

OK, not really, but he is giving $1M to St. John's Hospital in Springfield, MO, one of my employer's hospitals.

And Angelina stopped by our offices today, but I was travelling back from California and missed her.

Facebook Usernames

Why didn't they think of this earlier? You can find me on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/jay.carter1. Too late to get "jay.carter" but the "1" was available! And only 4 1/2 hours since they implemented the new feature! Woo hoo! Do you have your Facebook username yet?

NCR is Leaving Dayton

I am stunned... My former employer NCR is leaving Dayton, OH, after 125 years. 125 years! 1300 jobs will be lost in Ohio (2000 will be created in Duluth, GA, a suburb of Atlanta).

This is unbelievable.

Thanks to Listgirl, for breaking the news to me. She's a friend and former co-worker who escaped to former NCR sub-co Teradata in San Diego a few years back.

Wow.

Home Again

Went to see A Prairie Home Companion again. The show was broadcast live from the Fox for the first time since January 2007. This show wasn't as good as last time: the performers seemed a little lethargic, many of the skits felt like filler, and the music wasn't as good (because there was no Erin Bode?).

But those are gentle gripes. The show was a lot of fun! Mom and Dad and I agreed that the best part was the singing of Jearlyn Steele. Her "Jump Jive An' Wail" was a barn burner.

You can hear the whole show on the Prairie Home website after it's posted later this week.

Also: Saw Up: Though the trailers have been enticing, they barely hint at how sweet and funny the movie is -- Go see it! Ate at Liluma: Nice to eat at a place where "corporate headquarters" is just behind the curtain. Good Italian food. I have decided on a new food obsession: "flourless cake". Really, how do you get this thing to stand up and be moist and yummy without flour? And is it really cake?

My New TV

...is being delivered tomorrow.

My 55" big-a$$ rear-projection TV died recently, so yesterday I bought a Samsung LN52B750. I hope it's a good one. The picture looks fantastic. Last year's model, the LN52A750, was highly rated by Consumer Reports. It's got some weird "content library" and Internet features that I can't wait to try out, even if web reviewers don't put much stock in them. And it's ENERGY STAR compliant. That's about all I know.

I think we're going to be very happy together.

Snakes on a Plane TV Edit

This was mentioned in Entertainment Weekly this week (the one with Star Trek on the cover). This is a clean version of that famous line (SFW!):

Geyser

It's 1:30 in the morning and I've just seen a geyser in my front yard. The builder of New Town installed automatic sprinklers a few years back. I've rarely seen them working, but I happened to be awake just now. One of them was firing water about 20 feet in the air, showering the rogue car sitting in front of my house. The geyser ran for about ten minutes and just stopped. Hopefully someone at Customer Service will get the message and come fix it right away.

Next time I see it I will take a picture.

Ranking the James Bond Films

Count me among the zillions of fans of James Bond. I've been one for a long time. I don't actually recall my first theatrical encounter with Mr. Bond (Moonraker, I think) or home-viewing experience (most certainly The Spy Who Loved Me). My high school friends were bigger fans and they lent me Ian Fleming's novels and hooked me on The James Bond Bedside Companion. And -- lords of Geekdom preserve us -- we played the James Bond 007 role-playing game. (I wish I could remember all the names of our aspiring double-0's. Damien Fox, John Charles Fletcher, Martin Durand were some of them.)

Even with all of that, I never counted myself in the upper tier of Bond fandom because, as good as the movies were, they didn't impress me like other film series of my youth (Star Trek and Star Wars, to name two). The 007 movies of my adult life didn't change my opinion much. In fact, the films of the 80s and 90s lacked ambition -- they were just good, fun times at the theater.

And then I saw the perfect James Bond film. Casino Royale has it all: A tough-as-nails James Bond with real espionage skills. A femme fatale with beauty and brains who can make Bond re-think his career goals. Thrilling action scenes. Beautiful locations. Cool cultural elements. A killer theme song. Casino Royale restored my faith in James Bond.

The movie also made me want to revisit the entire series. That was mid-summer 2007. This also happened to be when I started a new consulting gig (which later turned into a full-time job). We were experimenting with a rating scheme for prioritizing projects that my boss called "Plinko" after the Price is Right game. What scoring lists have to do with dropping chips down a peg board has never been explained, but the scoring idea is sound. So I set about to create a set of criteria that defines a good (or bad) James Bond movie.

I have now rated all of the 007 films, and I'm pleased to share the scores with you. Here is my Plinko criteria (one point for each question):

• James Bond...: Is a bad-ass? Is proactive? Makes it personal? Acts like a spy? +1 for intangibles (e.g., showing Bond's mission to become a double-0)
  
• The "Bond girl"...: Is sexy? Is believably smart? Is capable? -1 if she acts stupidly; +1 for intangibles
  
• The main villain...: Is a bad-ass? Is charming and/or fun? Has cool henchmen/colleagues? -1 if the villain acts silly; +1 for intangibles
  
• Bond's friends/allies...: Are bad-ass? Are cool? Include an Oscar winner (i.e., +1 for Judi Dench)? -1 if they detract from the movie; +1 for intangibles
  
• The plot/threat...: Is not too unbelievable? Has interesting cultural elements? Has thrilling sequences? Has a cool teaser? +1 for intangibles
  
• The movie in general...: Has worthy locations? Has a good theme song? Is quotable? Has cool gadgets? +1 for intangibles
  

Of course, each of the scores is completely subjective, as was the scoring criteria. These are my rankings after all. I don't expect yout to agree with me -- just Google "best james bond films" and you will see plenty of opinions. To quote a great James Bond movie, "Do I look like I care?"

OK, yes, I do. Read my ranked list of James Bond films, then come back here and tell me what you think.

And if you're not a fan, then treat yourself to a viewing of Casino Royale. Then come back here.

Star Trek Clips

Clips of the new Star Trek. Oh, and by the way, people are starting to see it, but mugs like me have to wait a month still.

Kirk meets Uhura:

Movie Trailers - Movies Blog

Click here for McCoy's introduction.