"Valentine's Day" plus odds and ends

The final cut of "Valentine's Day" is completed. It has its deficiencies, but overall I'm happy with it. I'm particularly proud of the story I wrote for it, which comes through despite rudimentary equipment, amateur acting and a bumbling crew (meaning me and my co-director).

For those of you who wish to view it, I've posted two different versions, in Windows Video Format, which I believe should also play in QuickTime. First is a large but high quality version that's about 11.4 MG with a bit transfer rate of 512 kbps. So I wouldn't try that one if you don't have a couple minutes of download time and a broadband connection. The second is a small but lower quality version that's only 2 MG and a bit rate of 87 kpbs. It's a bit blurry, but you can get the gist.

The third and final film we are to do is to be an atmospheric piece based on a song, poem or other moody art thang. I have an idea of what I want to do, but I have to ask the instructor if it's technically possible, or foolhardy to even attempt.

Other odds and ends:

Last night, Argotnaut and I attended a gathering of linguists that meets every first Friday of the month for snacks, drinks and generally linguistic geekery. I posed a question that's been on my mind on and off ever since the calamity. In English, we have short-hand words to describe the condition of not being able to see (blind), not being able to hear (deaf) and not being able to speak (mute). But what about a similar word for not being able to smell? Or to taste? ("Tasteless" doesn't work very well to describe the latter!)

The linguists left me high and dry on this one. Any suggestions from readers? Argotnaut offhandedly tossed out "blind in the nose" but I think we can do better.

I don't talk like a Portlander yet, but I'm sure it's creeping in my accent around the edges.

Here's a quote I saw in the paper recently that I think will be exactly how historians will sum up George W's administration. This comes from Robert Hutchings, the chairman of the National Intelligence Council from 2003 to 2005: "Frankly, senior officials simply weren't ready to pay attention to analysis that didn't conform to their own optimistic scenarios."

I think that pretty much hits the nail on the head. Hutchings was talking about how the administration poo-pooed the idea that the insurgency in Iraq was intensifying and expanding, but really, I think it succinctly explains why W's administration has become "The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight."

Movies on tap for this weekend: "Night of the Hunter" and "Don't Look Now." I might get around to watching part of the Oscar telecast tomorrow, but probably not all of it. The electronica band in which Argotnaut and I participate usually rehearses on Sunday evenings, and rather than spend time watching other people celebrate other people's art, I prefer to try to make some of my own. Although "art" is probably giving our little band far too much credit!