bool bladePower = (powerBitmask & 0x0001 << bladeNumber) != 0;

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This week I have rediscovered that, while I deal with elaborate and complex arrangements of Boolean logic at work, I have absolutely zero grasp of what is “logical” in a conventional non-mathy sense. For several days in a row now, I have awoken, descended the stairs, opened a can of cat food, dished half of the can in the cats' bowl, resealed the can, and placed it in the fridge … next to all of the other half-used cans. D'oh! As of this morning, I am up to four cans.

Monday was Netflix night. Identity started out looking very interesting–plus it was John Cusack in a rather non-John-Cusack role. The movie sort of pays homage to Agatha Christie's Ten Little Indians. About halfway through, the “twist” (as all movies nowadays need a twist) revealed itself, as well as revealing the crappiness of the plot and the extent of me no longer caring about any of the characters. The “second twist” (because the moviegoing public has gotten used to twist endings and now demand a second twist) was a bit more cool and surprising, but by no means made up for my disappointment with the first twist. Are we going to get movies with triple-twist endings now? Perhaps a triple-twist with a half-gainer?

After Hours (rented at the suggestion of substitute many, many, many moons ago) was a much more well-made film. Unfortunately, I am not such a big fan of what This American Life refers to as the cringe moment. This film, while well made, was a cascading sequence of cringe moments and was difficult for me to watch. Plus, from the very second in the opening credits, where director's name Martin Scorsese appeared, all the way through to the end of the movie, I kept getting that King Missile song popping into my head.

Yesterday, I had dinner with feedle and chibidl (whom I finally got to meet) at the Delta Cafe. Mental note: they only take cash and checks. The thing is, I am pretty certain I ran into this issue before, yet did not remember it this time around. Similarly, I am also certain that someone has explained to me what grits are, yet I needed them re-explained last night because I had no clue. At any rate, the food was as tasty and meat-laden as ever.

The daylight hours of today were spent tediously refactoring code. Tonight (so far) has been spent assembling my new workbench, bleaching Ebenezer-stains from the bathtub, toilet seat, and sink, fixing dinner (spiral pasta in an alfredo sauce) and removing the copy protection from music I legally purchased. Speaking of which: after hearing some hoopla about the band “The Postal Service,” both here and elsewhere and noting that they are on the front page of iTunes, I decided to check out the 30-second samples. They sounded good, so I picked up their album, but I guess it remains to be seen if I continue to find them good in a week or two. They sort of sound like what you would get if Aphex Twin (on one of his more mellow days) offered to perform the backup music for Death Cab for Cutie. Generally, I need to be in the right mood for most of Aphex Twin. Similarly, since all of Death Cab for Cutie's songs are basically the same song with different lyrics, I need to be in the right mood to listen to them. So far, though, I like what I hear.

Oh–did I mention that my Trogdor The Burninator hooded sweatshirt arrived yesterday? Strong Bad rocks! “Burninating the countryside! Burninating the peasants!”

Posted in: Dear Diary Food Movies Music

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