Dealing with neanderthals, part 4,522: I wasn't able to summon up any eloquent response to being called a "cocksucker" by a passing moron in a pickup truck, but fixing him with an "I heard that and I'm so not impressed" stare until he looked away proved to be reasonably effective. (My crime was apparently stopping in the street to talk to another motorist who asked me for directions, such that said moron in the pickup truck had to steer around me. Or really, I suspect my crime was being female and existing, but whatever.)

I got a jury duty summons for July. Wonderful. I really don't mind doing my civic duty, but can't they pick a slow time at work or something? (In fairness, I think my last slow time at work might have been sometime back in 2003.)

Daniel and I saw Pirates of the Caribbean 3: At World's End yesterday. I liked it better than number 2. Daniel liked it slightly worse overall than number 2, but liked the ending. I think the movie was a shade too long. And that it overindulged in gratuitious Orientalism and a gratuitous number of costume changes for Kiera Knightely.

And I don't think that as a movie-goer, I've ever been so unenthused to see Chow Yun Fat. Which is just sad. It's not that he's bad in the film - just nowhere underused, somehow.

Keith Richards, however, is used just the right amount. He doesn't have a huge part, but he does it well, and only a tiny part of your brain is sitting there thinking, "My goodness, I don't think I've ever seen Keith Richards utter so many coherent sentences in a row!" And he plays the guitar. Killer.

I do wish the film makers had found some way to make the climactic "plot twist" actually twisty. Okay, this is spoilery, so I'm going to try to protect it for those who don't wish to see. If I do this right, you should be able to see the bit between the [spoiler] markings by highlighting it.
[Spoiler]
So, the moment when Jack Sparrow has Davy Jones's heart, and he's all poised to stab it? I thought, "Oh, no, now they're going to talk for 5 minutes, and Jones is going to do something dastardly, and Will is going to have to stab the heart because that will be Tragic and Sad." And yeah, they kept talking, and I'm thinking, "You! Sparrow! Shut up and stab! Now! Now!" And, of course, he didn't, and it all worked out exactly as I'd predicted.
[Spoiler]

I also thought that Calypso was a bit of an anti-climax. But still, not a bad film. Far better than the third movie in a series based on a theme park ride had any right to be.

Also watched the first episode of Life on Mars. Which was better than it had any right to be. The set-up: A cop from 2006 gets hit by a car and wakes up in 1973. So this is a series that is building in the possibility of an "And he woke up and it was all a dream" ending from the start. Even making a part of you root for that ending. And yet at the same time, it's sucking you into this story that may or may not be real. And on a completely different level, it's an excuse to indulge in nostalgia and make an old school 70s cop show. But it also makes 1973 look like a pretty ugly year to live in. It's an interesting balancing act, and I'm curious to see how the writers keep it up without turning it into, "And on this week in Life on Mars, Sam Tyler doesn't wake up...again."

The soundtrack is great, too. Full of classic rock from 1973.

Hope all of you had a good weekend!