Recent History

The BIG recent news is the Ash Wednesday 2001 (28 February 2001) Washington State earthquake. Now, that was exciting. Our overpass voted "Most Likely to Collapse in The Big One", the Alaska Way Viaduct, has been dropping pieces off it and has tipped to the east 3 inches (7.5 cm). It's a north-south road, so that isn't good. Also, one of the supports has shifted away from the rest of the bridge. This is a major road, a double deck highway like the one that collapsed in the LA earthquake. Where I work, we had a gas leak when a damaged pilot light didn't go on. Can we say "evacuation"? All of this two months after the quake. Hills are still sliding, houses and building are still being condemned as they settle more and damage becomes more visible. On the whole though, most of us are almost feeling guilty that we survived so well. Call it a sort of survivor guilt, after all that India, Peru, Turkey and El Salvador have endured. Many of us turned right around and donated some of our remaining dot-com dollars to international aid organizations to help them out. If you would like to do so the same, here are two links for organizations I know are actively helping in those areas:

Most Recently Viewed Movies:

5 stars indicates best overall quality (acting, directing photography, etc., etc.). I'll probably buy a 5 star movie when it comes out on video.

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon Some may find this film a little inscrutable, but I found it beautiful, fun, exciting, sad, touching and all the good things you want out of a movie. I am not big on crying at movies but this one had me doing just that at the end. These are the best performances I have ever seen Michelle Yeow and Chow Young Fat give and the entire cast was good. I highly recommend this, despite the subtitles. I watch a lot of foreign language films, so I am probably more accustomed to subtitles than most. I attended with others who aren't used to them and they said they had some trouble following the action and the dialog in places but that didn't keep them from enjoying the film.
Josie and the Pussycats Disclaimer first: I got to see this film for free with a pass from Moviefone.com, so my review may not be unbiased. I find seeing a film for free generally colors my opinion of it a rosier shade. That said, this is a strange film but I liked it. It makes fun of itself, it has some of the energy of the comic book and the television series but the characters have been updated. I liked the Go-Gos Meet Joan Jett songs performed by Kay Handley of Letters To Cleo, I liked the blatant advertising that they constantly made fun of (who displays dish washing detergent on a private jet and could the Target bulls-eye be any more prominent?) and I like most of the performances. Just seeing the boy band send up by Seth Green, Breckin Meyer, Donald Faison and Alex Martin is worth it. I think that BackStreet Boys, 'NSync, 98 Degrees and O-Town have a little competition from Du Jour. (Ha! I'm joking! Seth Green gave up doing Buffy the Vampire Slayer for this?) Alan Cummings is deliciously wicked as always. Rachel Leigh Cook, Rosario Dawson and Tara Reid were very cute yet edgy as the Pussycats and I thought they all did a fine job of capturing their characters. (I don't know Tara Reid's work that well, was she just acting dumb or is she really that stupid in a perky way? it was so convincing.) The only wrong note for me was Parker Posie's performance. I just didn't like it. She was creepy without being funny and she overplayed her part a bit too much. Still all and all, I had fun and the audience I went with were laughing the whole way through. Great for a matinee date movie -- or rent it on video/DVD.
Bridget Jones's Diary Another disclaimer. I don't normally go to "chick flicks". I wanted to see "Enemy at the Gate" but couldn't talk anyone into going to it with me, so I ended up at this film with my sister. I am not a Renee Zellweger fan. I haven't liked anything Hugh Grant has done since The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill and Came Down a Mountain. I have had a major crush on Colin Firth since Apartment Zero and Valmont, but didn't particularly like him in Pride and Prejudice. All said, I still enjoyed this film. It was well scripted, well acted, had some of the most horrible wardrobe I've seen in years and was very funny. The soundtrack is full of scary sad songs from the 80's, stuff that made me cringe. All said, it is totally a Chick Flick. Men, if you aren't gay don't bother. You will probably not get it. Women, you must see this film.

Albums In Heavy Rotation On My Stereo:

Hybrid Theory -- Linkin Park These guys rock! They rock! Rock...! Must go play it again...
No Angel -- Dido This is one of those albums that I like more each time I listen to it. I've owned it since September of 1999 and still am not sick of it. Go figure. It was so wrong that they replaced her at the Grammy awards with Elton John. He did a terrible job on "Stan" with Eminem. Just my humble opinion.
Songs from an American Movie, Part I & 2 -- Everclear I just love everything they are doing lately. What more can I say?
Make Yourself -- Incubus These guys rock. I love the sort of jazzy quality to their riffs, although I am not a big jazz fan. Their songs are well crafted and well performed. Amazing considering how young they are. 'Nuff said.
A Dark Moon Night -- The Shroud This is a San Francisco Goth Alternative band that I discovered one day while fooling around on MP3.Com. Groups like this are the strongest arguments I can think of for places like MP3.Com and Napster -- where else would you hear about them? Sure, now you can download clips and buy the CDs from CD-Now and Amazon.Com, but that was after they took off on these pioneer sites. Sorry, Lars. You've made your money, let the other guys and gals have a chance.

Songs that make me dive for the radio to change the channel:

I'm like a Bird -- Nelly Furtato Make her stop. Please. I hate this song and I hate the video. I hope she follows through on her threat to make her next album in Portuguese. Then I won't have to hear it.
Butterfly -- Crazytown What totally lame white boy hip-hop. I can hear Eminem puking from here.
Your Disease -- Saliva Now you guys know I like my metal hard, but these guys are a bunch of cheap Molly Hatchet rip off artists. Dudes! It's 2001, not 1975! You suck! Go back to Texas. Cool band name though.
Survivor -- Destiny's Child These girls are no En Vogue and this song is mediocre, but they keep playing it over and over and over and over. I hear it everywhere all the time. I didn't like it the first time I heard it and I am not liking it any better after the 1000th time.
All For You -- Janet Jackson Sure she still has the dance moves in the video but this song is LAME and dated.

Concerts:

Third Eye Blind at Seattle Paramount Theater -- October 2000. OK, I am not a Third Eye Blind fan. They are just a little too happy and pop for my tastes but my sister needed someone to go with her, so I agreed. I must confess, they are a fine bunch of performers and well worth the money. I hate to say it but I enjoyed myself. (I feel so dirty...) I have to recommend them you see them if you get a chance.
Matchbox Twenty - Everclear - Lifehouse at the Key Arena, Seattle Washington -- April 2001
- Lifehouse: The sound was weak but I was really surprised at the quality of their performance and musicianship. They were good! Everyone played well and I liked them better after their set than I did before it.
- Everclear: The sound sucked, it was poorly balanced and I could barely hear the vocals at all. Other than that, they were great. They are a fine bunch of musicians and funny as all get out. I'll see them again in a heartbeat.
- Matchbox Twenty: How did these guys get to be a headline act? Talk about mediocre. Now I know why Rob Thomas said Lifehouse would be eating their lunch by the end of the tour. What was weird was most of the audience was loving them. I don't know if the bass player and the drummer had spent too much time crawling through the local Microbrews or what but their playing was terrible. Rob Thomas has no charisma on stage but he did sing well. The guitarist is awesome. That guy can play. He made the rest of them look like fools. As for the stage show, did they hire some lighting guy who used to do the staging for Poison and Bon Jovi? All that 80's Hair Band lighting was all in place: large swinging banks of strobing and equally large banks of colored lights, except for the flash pots. The lights strobed so much I had a seizure for gosh sakes! (Seriously, I have photosensitive epilepsy and missed the middle 30 minutes of the show. It takes 15 minutes of strobing to do this to me, so it's not normally a problem.) I do not recommend seeing these guys live in a stadium. Yuck!
Elevation Tour: U2 and PJ Harvey at the Tacoma Dome -- April 2001
- PJ Harvey: This is the second time I have seen PJ Harvey as an opening act. Both times I have been blown away. This woman's voice can not be captured by digital recording. It is amazingly complex and has nuances that are just lost on a CD. And her voice is HUGE. How can such a tiny, tiny woman make such a big noise, particularly after being ill for a month? Just incredible. She just sings, no small talk, and I like it that way.
- U2: This show is everything you would want from U2. Amazing showmanship, Bono and gang were in fine voice and played incredibly well. The staging had my mouth open the whole time. I don't want to say too much and ruin it for those who are going to it in the future. I don't think I'm giving anything away by saying the first song they did was Elevation from the "All That You Leave Behind" album and they hit the ground at a full run and never looked back. The stage had this amazing mix of video and lighting that went with each song they played and flowed seamlessly from one song to another. Very artistic and I found myself gaping with my mouth open at the roof of the dome more than once. I hear they played 30 minutes longer for us than they have any other show. All I know is they did 4 encores and they were all good. No, we weren't special, The Edge's parents and three of his kids were there.

Most Recently Read Books:

Darwin's Radio, Greg Bear -- I don't have time to write a review right now but it is an excellent book.
Ender's Shadow, Orson Scott Card -- Ditto, no time. This is a no-brainer, I liked it a lot but I could see where others might not enjoy it. It does not have the same flavor the original Ender books had but I appreciate the different slant he is taking on the story.
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone / Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets / Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, J.K. Rowling -- Ditto, no time. Must say though, I haven't enjoyed a series of books this much since The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. I think these may even be a better story (blasphemy!). It is fun to have a book that my 9 year old nephew, my 70 year old father and I can all discuss.
(I'm working on Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire right now. Think I'll follow that one with a mystery book. I'm working too many hours to read anything that takes too much concentration.)

Computer Games

Ones I'm Playing

Balder's Gate 2: Shadows of Amn -- Just got this one, I haven't even finished rolling up my first character. You will have to wait for a report.
Icewind Dale -- I am in the middle of this one and am afraid I am losing interest. Too much slash-n-bash and I am getting bored. It's a girl thing, I need more story. Things are a little better on my new Alienware computer (Prrrrrrr...I have the Conspiracy Blue Hive Mind...thank you, Dad), but that just proves it's the game not the system that was slow.
Kyodai Mahjongg -- This is a totally addictive shareware mahjongg game. Beautiful graphics, gorgeous music, fantastic play. It contains other games (including a Tetris-like and Easy River game) it is well worth the price of purchase. HIGHLY recommended.
The Sims / Livin' Large/House Party -- I pre-ordered The Sims, knowing I would like it. I've played SimCity since the version with the unreadable red card came out. Little did I know how bad it would get. I am so pathetically addicted to this game, it would shame me if I wasn't such a junkie. I even get annoyed when people try to talk to me when I play or if something keeps me from getting my two hours in. Gee, maybe this is why I don't have any time for anything else. Hmm... Haven't had time to play House Party much but long enough to already have thrown a horribly dull party and one that rocked till the wee hours of the morning. Can't say if it is good or not, since I am so hooked on these games but the parties are fun and I like the new items. Barely scratched the surface on this one.
Roller Coaster Tycoon -- Again, I am pathetically addicted. How do junkies do it, keeping two addictions going at once? Guess that's why most of them lose their jobs. This is a silly cute little game that is deceptively easy and hard at the same time. Loads of childish fun. I love listening to those little kids scream on the roller coasters and puke their little animated guts up on my neat clean paths.

Ones I've Pre-Ordered

Elder Scrolls: Marrowind -- My former addiction was Daggerfall. I played that thing over and over although it crashed repeatedly. I just love it to death. I'm hoping for the same from Marrowind. Of course, this one is two years late.
SimVille -- The addiction continues although the release date has been pushed back to 2002. Must be making too much money off The Sims.
Pool of Radience: Ruins of Myth Drannor -- I love AD&D computer games. Love them. I am kind of worried about this one. UBI Soft has purchased The Learning Co. who purchased...ah, who remembers? This game was supposed to be out last Christmas. Now it is supposed to be out July 4th 2001 but doesn't show on the UBI Soft site at all.

Question I Am Most Often Asked

"What kind of name is Atherly anyway?"

Old book and movie reviews are here. I chose to create a new page for the new stuff because there are other sites linked to these older reviews and I didn't want to break their links.
You can reach me by e-mail at: susana@oz.net

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