Sunday news

Pet Food Recall: Menu Foods, a Canadian based company has recalled 48 brands of cat food and 40 brands of dog food, including premium brands like Eukanuba and Iams. At least ten pets have died from the affected food across North America. Symptoms include vomiting, loss of appetite and kidney failure.

The estimated recall will cost the Canadian based company up to 34 million dollars. --Buddy, that’s not the worst of your worries if pet owners find out you killed their pets.

For a complete list of products go here.

We went to Walmart this morning and noticed that the affected pet foods were still on the shelves. I contacted the manager immediately and told her that unless the company wanted new lawsuits they needed to pull those products asap.

Early birthday present: Greg bought me one of those 22 inch flat screen monitors. Very nice. The new flat screens are actually better for your eyes too. They don’t flicker the way the old monitors do. Less strain on the old eyeballs. (BTW, you won’t consciously notice the flicker but your brain does, forcing your eyes to work harder.)

Today: I’ll update later with a review. I think we’ll be seeing “300” today. Ancient Greek history is a hobby of mine, so I’m looking forward to it.

Update: Review of 300
Okay, I’m about as difficult to please as they come, but I LOVED this movie. This is the best movie I’ve seen in years, bar none.

It was graphic, violent, testosterone-driven and as sensual as mortal man can devise. Most of the time I tut-tut artsy films because the director tries too hard to impress with snobbish "statements of art". This was true art. It had an aesthetic that rose above the art of dilettantes.

I judge a film by how much I squirm during its showing. No squirms. I was engrossed from the very beginning. As an amateur historian I was also pleased with the care they took in keeping the accuracy of weaponry and tactics. A few things they exaggerated for the film’s sake but it did nothing to diminish its quality.

300 is the story of the 300 Spartans who sacrificed their lives at Thermopylæ rather than submit before the Persian, King Xerxes.

There was only one flaw that annoyed me and that was at the very beginning when the narrator explained how Spartan boys were sent to agoge, a military education regime at the age of seven. A mother is seen grieving as she reluctantly releases her child to two men.

Spartan women were the original liberated females; educated and given the same rights as men. They understood their sons’ roles in society as well as any man. I was happy to hear King Leonidas’ queen utter later to her husband, “Come back with your shield --or upon it.”

One last thing. Never have I seen so much male magnificence on one screen. The battle scenes were exquisite. The cinematography while unusual was intuitive and mesmerizing. My compliments to the art director and cinematographer. I am buying this film as soon as it comes out on dvd.

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