No, you can NOT run your car on water. Sounds cool, but it won't work. It's a scam. Ignore those delectable ads you see floating around the internet. waterreplacesgas.com is a scam. water4gas.com is a scam. All of the other ones who claim the same thing are scams, frauds, hoaxes, and snake oil salesmen. I know you want to believe it, but don't.

http://www.aardvark.co.nz/hho.shtml

My favorite movie of 2007 was the Pixar film Ratatouille. A lot of people liked it--it shouldn't surprise you that I did too. But I'll go ahead and list my reasons. Below are the three things that made me know I would like it long before I saw it.

1) Pixar is always good. Even when it's not as good as most times, it's still better than anything else. Yes, I include Cars in this.

2) I love to cook. It gives me pleasure to make delicious, satisfying dishes to share with friends and family.

3) I love rodents. I have many pet mice and love them dearly. I'd love to have a pet rat someday, too. I think they are the cutest, sweetest things on the planet.

4) Brad Bird directed this film. He also directed The Incredibles, which was my favorite Pixar movie up to this one, and the Iron Giant. Both incredibly fun and heartfelt, with beautiful animation and engaging charaters. Brad Bird strives for excellence, and consistently attains it.

And all this was before I even stepped in the theater! So yes, I went in with very high expectations. And my expectations were beyond fulfilled--they were exceeded greatly. It's hard to describe such a magnificent whole in ways that make sense, so I'll try to elucidate on the parts.

Animation: Simply breathtaking. The Pixar geniuses have taken their art up another two hundred percent, as impossible as that seems. The food was all mouthwatering and exquisitely rendered. The scenery was gorgeous. The little actions of movements of every character were perfect. All in all, incredibly acting by these animators--as that's what they were doing: acting through the characters on the screen. For instance: the rats. They managed to look and move just like real rats, yet retain the anthropomorphic features that make them appealing on the screen. Every second, it seemed, I ws seeing in the rats a little gesture or movement or twitch that looked exactly like my mice. It was just stunning. Oh, and all the hair looked real, too. Finally, the true breakthrough in computer animation! It was a wonder to behold.

Music: So perfect. The score was jazzy and Frenchy and delightful. Many fun, beautfiul scenes were greatly enhanced by the bouncing, playful music. It never intruded on the senses, yet always gave the perfect note to each scene.

Characters: Very appealing and engaging. I loved Remy's heartfelt desire, his earnestness and brilliant creativity. Linguini also felt like a real person. And so funny! All of it was very well done. I don't know want to say too much for fear of spoiling the movie. Suffice to say that you will definitely cheer for the right people.

Setting: Ah, Paris! Every scene was beautifully rendered. No, it wasn't realistic to how Paris actually is, but it was exactly correct for how Paris ought to be--beautiful and romantic and full of light and dreams.

Humor: Trust me, there's plenty. And also some drama and romance, and an underdog plot to back it all up.

Theme: The overarching theme of this movie, as in The Incredible, is to be the best that you can be, to create and inspire and push for excellence, no matter where you come from or what others think of you. A very good lesson that everyone should learn.

Plot: This is the only part that is not quite as perfect. The movie does feel a bit disjointed, as if too much is being stuffed in the pot (heh heh) at once, and certain elements come as a complete surprise with very little lead-in. But in the end, it all feels right.

I do so love this movie. And with one viewing, I'm 98% certain that you will, too. (Hey, there are always a couple of sourpusses, right? I'm sure you're not one of them. Only awesome people read this blog.)

So, yesterday, I finally got Verizon FiOS installed at home. Wahoo! At first it was going kind of slow, and I was confused. I was like, "This is the amazing FiOS? It's not any better than fast dial-up or DSL." But I finally caught a clue and did their online optimization, and now it's going much more smoothly. Yay!

Except me to be posting a lot more from now on. I love being able to surf in my underwear. Up 'til now I only really had internet at work, since I hadn't gotten internet at my new apartment since moving out of my parents' house more than a year ago. It was definitely time! I expect I'll be watching tons of streaming videos and downloading bunches of stuff. Even with the slowest FiOS available, 5/2, things are still moving really quickly here. Downloads of Firefox extensions that would usually take about ten minutes took about thirty seconds. Awesome!

I'll keep letting know how happy FiOS is making me, I suspect.