Slashdot fun: Witty science

How we discover exoplanets

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What the years do to people

Here's an edited and complemented posting, which I first wrote as a reply to a forum posting I originally made on an IMDb forum:

Only that he was about 25 while playing an 18-year-old (the film was released on 15.03.1991 and Grieco was born 23.03.1965), but this might have been a running gag about how much older actors play teens. The movie was funny, but not necessarily because of Richard Grieco.

To provide some context, then I am gay, too.

I should say that I kinda fail to see anything hot in him, despite his above-average looks at that time (I had to Google to see what he was like back then :-).

When watching the movie, I only passingly noticed him as the lead there, where the best-performing actor was actually Linda Hunt. Thereafter, I often confused Hunt with Mindy Sterling, who played Frau Fabrissina, a cohort of Dr. Evil in Austin Powers movies. Granted, Hunt's Ilsa Grunt and Sterling's Frau Fabrissina were both very similar characters and I think that Fabrissina may have in part been modelled after Ilsa Grunt: both characters are evil, diminutive, authoritarian and murderous women who are not in their first youth anymore and who have or have had an affair with the main antagonist.

In Estonia, "If Looks Could Kill" (will be referenced below as ILCK) was never seen in cinemas, with the reason being that the film was released in 1991, which was the year when Estonia regained its independence from the Soviet Union (the first widely seen and distributed Hollywood flicks were "Home Alone" and "Hot Shots" or "Hot Shots 2").

Instead, ILCK had a few airings on TV many-many years after 1991 (2000-ish and later), when I wasn't young enough anymore to see what was it in Grieco that charmed the generation before me.

When searching for pictures of Grieco in Google Images (using "Richard Grieco" with quotes for the exact phrase search), I stumbled upon a blog called "My New Plaid Pants" with a post ("The Hall of Hubba-Bubba", dated April 5, 2007) praising the various famous male physiques of the era (mostly 1980's and very-very early 1990's). There, one of the images near the top was the Diet Coke Guy, or Lucky Vanous (who I think was much hotter than Grieco). Since I had then just seen from my Google image search what Grieco looks nowadays, I was intrigued to see what Lucky Vanous looks now...

Despite both having had different fates (Grieco evidently continued acting; yet while Vanous (born 1961) became instantly famous, he struggled as an actor, so a few years back he opened a successful healthy fast food restaurant in L.A.), it is my judgment that Vanous now looks much-much cuter than Grieco:

• 1996 look
• Hottest Restaurant in LA
  The page links to a large large image with a long URL, so I only referred to a blog article: Find the image with this description next to it: "Gordon Naccarato, Lucky Vanous, Mariel Schneider", then click on it for a 1600x1200-res original.
  
• http://luckydevils-la.com/news
  The page features a more-or-less viewport-wide image of Vanous.


• Some images on flickr

Other Lucky Vanous information:
• People Magazine: Lucky Vanous
• Canyon News 11.2009 article
• Getting Lucky in the New Year - Lucky Vanous a pop culture icon
• Lucky Vanous: career pursuits and life lessons.
• Blogger posting (just one)

From then-and-now comparisons of Grieco, I thought that his face does not look as natural than it did in his youth or in 12-year-old basketball images on his IMDb profile's gallery page, when his face appeared more natural.

Other film and media material on Estonia

As it happened again, I wanted a more permanent fixture off a forum post on IMDb.

A list is available titles @amazon.com with the search string Estonian film.

From Amazon's two-page list, I can also recommend the following:

• "Broidit" (2003, IMDb score 3.8/10 (I don't know why such a low rating while the film picked up a few accolades), roughly titled "Brothers" and is an Estonian/Finnish co-production), which I haven't seen, but the synopsis of which I am familiar with and which I know was featured in the 2003 Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival (Pimedate Ööde Filmifestival/PÖFF). The plot itself revolves around the title subject, love and loss.
• "Sigade revolutsioon" (2004, IMDb score 6.3/10, "Revolution of Pigs"), which is is a comedy/coming of age movie set in a Soviet pioneer camp during the perestroika era. It has quite a historical/nostalgic flare to it and it picked up the Special Jury Prize at the Moscow International Film Festival.
• "Klass" (2007, IMDb score 8.2/10, "The Class", Wikipedia article) is about what a bad school environment may lead to. This is typically a staple for students in Estonia and the film has won four awards, two each from Karlovy Vary and Warsaw international film festivals. The plot slightly resembles that of "Heart of America".
• "Sügisball" (2007, IMDb score 7.6/10, "Autumn Ball"). I haven't seen this film, but it's contemplative and is about life and love in tower blocks that were built during the Soviet era. "Sügisball" has won numerous awards from around Europe.

Eesti Rahvusringhääling (ERR), the national TV and radio broadcaster in Estonia, has its own e-shop (in Estonian, though):

• Main page
  
• Film and documentary features:
  
  
  
  • "Mehed unustatud armeest" ("Men from a forgotten army") is about Estonian soldiers in the Estonian Guard Company (Eesti Vahikompanii) 4221, who fought on the German side during WWII and then guarded German prisoners during the Nuremburg trials (not always at the trials but near the court house) after the war as part of occupying forces of the U.S.
  • "August 1991" is also available.
• History series and music suggestions from the catalogue:
  
  
  
  • "Eesti aja lood" (Vol. I) is a history series that concentrates on life during the First Republic. Has English-language subtitles and is currently the best multimedia resource about what life during the Old Estonian Republic was like (includes both politics, economy, and ordinary life and how people lived).
  • Estonian song and dance festivals — These are recordings of national song and dance festivals, which take place every 4–5 years. This is if you are interested in classical and choir music.
  • "Öölaulupidu Märkamisaeg" is the 2008 song festival "Märkamisaeg" ([i]märkama[/i] is to notice, so "A Time To Notice"), which is a very large nighttime festival that lasted for like six hours and features all kinds of music throughout the history of Estonia (not just choir music).
  • "Laulupidu 2009" is about this year's song and dance festival
• Order information:
  You can order by e-mail and there's a mail-in charge: 1 item is 40 EEK and then it's progressively less the more you order.

Truth be told, I am not much into Estonian film, despite some interesting material available. What I really like are Estonian documentaries about history and nature.

Estonian films on the history of Estonia

I just saw the "Names in Marble" movie on DVD, so when looking on IMDb for Estonian films about Estonia's and Estonians' history, I felt compelled to write a primer, a list of Estonian movies to those interested in Estonian history. The list is by no means complete.

• "Noored kotkad" (1927, IMDb score 8.2/10, roughly titled "Young Eagles", Wikipedia article) is one of only very few Estonian films made before 1940 that wholly remained intact. It depicts the War of Independence.
• "Inimesed sõdurisinelis" (1968, IMDb score 7.1/10, roughly "Humans in Soldier's Uniform" — inimesed means both 'people' and 'humans' in plural form) is a film made during Soviet times about Estonian Shooting Corps, formed by the Red Army and so these men fought for that side during WWII.
• "Tants aurukatla ümber" (1987, IMDb score 8.6/10, roughly "The Dance Around a Steam Boiler"). This one chronicles peasant life throughout much of the century until about 1986/1987.
• "Äratus" (1989, IMDb score 6.8/10, roughly "Wakeup"). This one is about the March-deportations of Estonians to Siberia. That one was made under the Soviet reign, but at the time of glasnost. I recently saw that on TV.
• Then there is "Need vanad armastuskirjad" (1992, IMDb score 6.8/10, "Those Old Love Letters"), about the adult life of Raimond Valgre, an Estonian composer. Throughout the film one will also see some of the history of Estonia throughout approximately 1930–1949.
• "August 1991" (2005, IMDb score 6.9/10), a TV drama production on video made by Ilmar Raag chronicles the events of the month in 1991 when Estonia regained independence.
• "Georg" (2007, IMDb score 7.2/10) is about the life and times of Georg Ots, an all famous (both in Estonia and all of the Soviet bloc) opera singer and baritone. The film also dwells around war-time, WWII, more specifically.

I don't know if "Tants aurukatla ümber" is a staple on local TV, but it's the one movie that I liked the most and it's also one of those in this list that has the highest overall rating.

Skulskaja valimiseelne kommentaar

Jelena Skulskaja on, nagu alati, tasemel ning kirjutas "Postimehes" väga hea jutu kohalike inimeste meelsusest üksteise suhtes.

Seega teatud reaktsioon juba kirjutatud viiele kommentaarile:

Võib-olla püüab Skulskaja lihtsalt meelde tuletada, et kõiki ja kõike, mis ei paista "oma", ei saa alati ühe puuga võtta.

Arvan, et kohalikel (väga vokaalsetel?) eestlastel ja venelastel ei ole endi seas veel täielikult välja kujunenud taju sellest, et mõlemad pooled on üksteise suhtes teatud transformatsiooni-faasis. Selle taju puudumist võivad eri pooltelt läbi erisuguste väljaannete toita äärmuslikult meelestatud instantsid ja üksikisikud, olles siis oma eesmärkides enam varjatud või vähem varjatud.

Kas poolte teisenemine liigub siis üksteisele lähemale, ei tea, kuid et transformatsioon kätkeb endas seda, mida Skulskaja kirjeldas ettekujutusena riigist -- rahvakeskne vs. üksikisiku-keskne. Loodetavasti liigub see üksikisiku-kesksuse suunas, aga kuhu see teisenemine tegelikult liigub kohalike venelaste eri kihtide seas, ei ole selge.

Võimalik, et mõnel noorel sotsioloogil oleks hea teha yks huvitav uurimustöö (või rohkem?) selle kohta, kuidas ja millisena vastavalt Skulskaja ülaltood kriteeriumitele peamised rahvusgrupid Eestis tajuvad Eesti riiki, kuidas ja millisena Vene riiki ning millised on näiteks nende kahe riigi vahelised võrdlusmomendid. — Nii igapäevaelus ja asjaajamises kui ka ametliku suhtlemise tasandil.

Võib-olla oleks see teatud meelsusmonitooring, mida paljudki küsitlusfirmad teevad, kuid nende kriteeriumid on tihti suhteliselt kuivad, et ehk siis midagi jääb ikkagi puudu. Kas on siis võrdlusmomente vähe või kui võtta kohalikke venelasi, et kas on siis nende identiteedis kahestumine, jäigastumine, kriis või hoopiski ühestumine/samastumine asukohaga, kus nad praegu on, jäädes samal ajal iseendaks.

Tugeva eesti identiteediga poolvenelasena on niisuguseid küsimusi väga huvitav vaagida. Et kas siis minu identiteet võimaldab või pärsib arusaamist kahe kogukonna vahelistest suhetest — kas olen ma kummalegi poolele venelane/eestlane või ei olegi ma eestlane eestlastele ja venelane venelastele? Jahnoh, ma tunnen ennast rohkem eestlasena ning Vene klassikute kultuuri tunnetus on nõrgavõitu.

Näiteks Vene kultuuri tunnetuses kätkevad minu jaoks olulist rolli näiteks klassikaline muusika, mõned filmid ("Kured lendavad", "Intertüdruk", Šuriku seiklused) või umbes käputäis väga häid koomikuid (osad neist on ukrainlased: Jevgeni Petrosjan, Jelena Stepanenko, Jelena Vorobei, Ponomarenko-vennad, Vladimir Vinokur, Svjatoslav Ješenko, Uued Vene Vanamemmed, Igor Hristenko jpt). Nii palju siis praegu.

Eestimaalaste oodatav eluiga

Postimees: Eestimaalaste oodatav eluiga purustas 50 aasta rekordi (ning mitte kõige intelligentsemad kommentaarid takkaotsa ka)

Kes veel asja väga hästi ei mõistnud:

Artikli iva on mitmetine, aga seda pole vist eriti täpselt välja toodud (konjunktuurne kantseliit?).

1. Statistikat oodatava eluea kohta on vähemalt uue Eesti ajal kogu aeg tehtud ja seda saab ka tagantjärele teha, arvutades vastavalt vanemate andmete sündide ja surmade (ja rännete) numbrid lihtsalt kokku. Iseasi, kas 50 aasta tagused numbrid väga õiged olid, sest ametlikke andmeid võidi ja saadi nõukogude ajal moonutada. Seega on numbrid saadud vastavalt olemasolevatele andmetele, olgu siis nende kvaliteediga nii nagu on.
   
   
2. Ma ei märganud oodatava eluea tõusu kohta väljatoodud põhjuseid. Ainus ega ka määrav faktor pole mitte ainult positiivne iive, vaid ka enneaegsete surmade vähenemine.
   Selle fenomeni näitajaiks on sellel ja eelmisel aastal (mille andmete põhjal arvud saadi) vähemalt kaks head uudist ja üks mittehea:
   
   
   • Surmaga lõppevate autoõnnetuste suur vähenemine (50 aasta parim tulemus);
   • Suitsu- ja tuledetektorite kohustuslikuks tegemine, mille tulemusel siis surmaga lõppevate tulekahjude oluline vähenemine;
   • Masu: osa inimesi rahapuudusel välja reisida ei saa ja jääb Eestisse, sisseränne on piiratud ja illegaalseid immigrante riiki ei lasta. Samas on tööjõu vaba liikumise tingimused EL-is põhjustanud selle, et riskialtimad inimesed on välja rännanud ja teevad välismaal tööd.

Obituaries, John Hughes, and feelings

This is the best obituary that I have ever read so far — one remembering John Hughes, a filmmaker who's films have defined the look and feel of 1980's youth.

The blog post reminded me of an obit poem I once wrote and published (granted, I won't publish the link to it here) to remember a young man who was killed in action. I wrote the poem, because I looked a the released document photo depicting him and suddenly felt infatuated of him. Even though he was dead.

When re-reading the poem I wrote, it now appears a bit cheesy and maybe rough around the edges, possibly a result of my infatuation at that time, but then decided to keep the poem intact, perhaps because it represents a snapshot of how I felt about the loss of a person I didn't know, but knew somehow that he was a good person, nevermind his occupation.