My bride and I actually got to go see a movie in the theater this weekend. If this doesn't sound like a big deal, consider that in the time it took NASA to design, launch and land a glorifed roomba on Mars, we've seen exactly 2 movies in the theater. Return of the King, and that other one. Of course, because we've recently discovered the seedy underbelly of Liverpool's flea markets, we've actually seen everything decent that's currently out. But we weren't about to waste an afternoon without the critter. We ended up picking White Noise, nearly at random. We knew nothing about the movie walking in, other than it was supposed to have something to do with ghosts or the living dead, or the cable man, or something. In the first two minutes, we figure out that Batman is in it. Which is cool, except for the rest of the movie, my mind kept telling me things like "ok, Batman is watching static," and "now Batman is going into the abandoned warehouse." The movie was supposed to be scary, I think. A whole lot of the people who start the movie alive end it dead. Which I guess makes sense in a movie about the afterlife - It would be hard to do a movie about the undead if everyone stays alive through the whole thing. The general plot was that those dead people could talk to us through the static you pick up on your TV. In one scene, Batman's kid is adjusting the TV's rabbit ears to get better reception. Rabbit ears? What the hell? Is this 1978 all of a sudden? Anyway, just the sheer experience of popcorn and stadium seating makes me give the movie a good rating. Without that extra boost, I'm not sure if this one would really rate a 'must see.' Maybe more of a 'don't kick your friend in the teeth if he offers to loan you his copy.' Although it's too bad Alfred died and wasn't in this one.

It's a phone that you write with. No wait - it's a pen that's as big as a cell phone. "Siemens goes small with the new PenPhone, the first ever tri-band mobile phone housed in the unusual shape of a pen and offering all the features of a standard mobile phone. The 140mm (5.6") long PenPhone recognizes handwriting for dialing numbers and writing text messages directly into the mobile phone -- no matter what surface you write on." ...providing a perfect illustration of the saying "Just because you can do something doesn't mean you should."