Boy, I just don't get the appeal of Wallace and Gromit. Although watching the new short (Soccamatic) on their web site made me realize that the web has finally come closer to realizing its earliest promises. Back in the day, I recall seeing stories about the web that promised that we would all be watching web-distributed movies on our laptops. While we're not quite there yet, we now can view news clips and other small films with reasonable resolution, as long as the download technology is compatible with whatever firewall you happen to be cowering behind.

One of the Christmas gifts for our babysitter this year is a DVD of the BBC series The Office. Would it be wrong to open the DVD and watch it just to make sure it really does play correctly? One would have to watch every minute to verify that there are no skips or jumpy bits, wouldn't one? Especially one who suspects that she would really really like this series for herself. Which is worse - using a gift in an essentially undetectable manner such as that, or buying clothing, hiding the tags, wearing the clothing, and returning to the store? Not that I've ever done either, of course.

Movies: Interview with the Assassin. Slippery little faux documentary. Never quite sure what is what, even at the end. Of course, living in the state of residence of the famous senator who authored the infamous "single bullet theory", in which the laws of physics are rescinded and replaced by loose guidelines that can be twisted to whatever political ends are convenient (that was *not* a rant), one does wonder about this on occasion. Right before I wonder about that low carb ice cream I bought and whether sorbitol really has the same digestive effects as Olestra, described as "that indigestible fat substitute" by a bunch of whining yahoos.