North by Northwest - Again!

One key exception is Alfred Hitchcock's North by Northwest, which I last saw just over a year ago. It's one of my favorite films, and certainly my favorite of the Hitchcock films I've seen.

One thing I'd forgotten about since I last saw it, though: I'd forgotten exactly how, uh, yummy Eva Marie Saint is as Eve Kendall; the way she says "yes" (as either an answer or a question) is nearly as heart-melting as Audrey Hepburn saying "Marriage license?" in Charade. The film probably shows Cary Grant's strengths - a pre-Bond Bond attitude, and the perfect delivery of understated witty remarks - better than anything else I've seen him in. And the story is terrific, with Grant's advertising man caught in a near-fatal case of mistaken identity (a criminal mistakes him for a man who doesn't exist!) running around the country in an effort to clear himself.

And, of course, the film is filled with famous Hollywood scenes: The cropdusting scene, the art auction, and the chase at Mount Rushmore.

Apparently the print they're showing at the Stanford Theater this week is a newly-restored print of the film. If you have a classic film theater near you which gets a copy, I strongly suggest you go to see it.

I managed to introduce Bill to several of my other friends in the area: Subrata, Rollie and Kelly, and Mark (all gaming people). Ceej had intended to join us, but never showed up.

After the movie we went to the Peninsula Creamery, an old-style diner in downtown Palo Alto, which is apparently well-regarded for its desserts. I must say that the mocha chip extra-thick malt I had was decidedly yummy! I'll have to go back there.

Apple's stock has taken quite a hit lately, falling from around 78 to just below 60. However, although some of the initial fall was probably due to the shortage of G4 chips from Motorola, limiting sales of our desktop supercomputers, a big chunk of it is probably due to tech stocks falling in general, and in part to the brilliant announcement by Microsoft bigwig Steve Ballmer saying he thinks that technical stocks are overvalued. Thanks, Steve.

By the way, my boss JP has helped me out with a lot of stuff since I moved out here, but one of his rare misfires was recommending that I use a company named Bay Area Rentals to help me find a new apartment. It turned out that most of the apartments listed with them - at least, the ones that allow cats - are in relatively remote areas in the cities I requested listing for. So there were very few I had any interest in going to look at at all. And, their contract says if I don't find a place then they'll refund most of my money as long as I notify them in writing when the contract expires. However, they never sent me a notice that the contract had expired - they simply stopped sending me e-mail updates - and by the time I realized what had happened, it was too late.

So, I would suggest, if you live in the area and are looking for an apartment, that you avoid Bay Area Rentals.

Oh, well. It's only money.