Archive | April, 2013

Turn It Off

12 Apr

disconnect-posterThe new film Disconnect is meant to be a cautionary tale.

So is this review.

A laughable collection of stories whose moral is no deeper than “The Internet is evil,” the film covers the same ground that films like Identity Thief and Bully, and TV shows like Catfish, already have. Not only does Disconnect add nothing new to the idea that you need to be skeptical when it comes to communicating with others online, it way overhypes  the idea that there’s nothing good about the Internet, so you should stay far away.

Either the filmmakers — who include director Henry-Alex Rubin (the excellent documentary Murderball) — have been burned so badly by online relationships that they need to exact revenge, or they just don’t understand how the Internet works. My money’s on the latter. Continue reading →

You Let Me Love Baseball Again

11 Apr

42-movie-posterThe new film 42 is going to do a great public service for a new generation of baseball fans who may be familiar with the name Jackie Robinson, but who don’t know much about him.

It’s a rousing movie that casts Robinson in the role of noble baseball player — a man who earned admiration not just because he broke the sport’s color barrier, but because he was a terrific athlete on the field and, just as important, a class act off it.

Which is not to say it’s the best baseball movie ever. It’s not even one truly worthy of the man himself. Predictably, with its reverential tone, majestic music cues, and sometimes cheesy dialogue, 42 is a rather conventional biopic. It tells the story of this all-American hero, putting a fine point on his accomplishments, and hammering home the point that those who objected to the integration of baseball were on the wrong side of history.

For a more rigid critic, the manipulative sincerity of the film might be a turnoff. But not me. 42 isn’t a walk-off home run, but I still scored it a solid run-scoring double. Continue reading →

41 Things I Learned During My Year of Unemployment

1 Apr

back-to-workIt’s a big day for me today: I’m going back to work!

(Insert obligatory Soul II Soul reference here.)

If you’ve been following along over the past 12 months, you know I left my last job at the end of March, 2012. Since today is April 1, that means I had exactly one year “off.”

During that time, I had some fun, took on some freelance and short-term contract work, and applied for more than a handful of jobs. Obviously, most of the jobs I applied for didn’t work out. But the one that did work out is one I’m really excited about.

And given the timing of when I was hired, it just goes to show you that things will work out when, where, and how they’re supposed to. It just may take longer than you expect it to.

In other words, you have to be patient.

That’s one of the important lessons I learned this year. I thought I’d take a moment to share some others:

Continue reading →

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