Kevin's Diary - December 1997

Kevin's diary is updated sporadically and includes a recurring cast of characters. If you have any comments, send mail to kdrum@home.com, but be forewarned that I probably won't answer….

Previous Months

November 1997 What are Kevin's all-time favorite books? Why do some teams name themselves after a state instead of a city? Is the Mall of America really as big as they say?
October 1997 Are bread and circuses the downfall of productive civilizations? Which expansion team is the youngest ever to win a championship in a major sport? Are digital cameras better than the film variety?
September 1997 What is Rosebud's motto? How was Princess Di properly addressed after her divorce (and before her death)? What's the highest single-night bridge score so far in 1997?
August 1997 What was Robert Heinlein's best novel? Is TV evil? What's the first track event in which women are most likely to perform as well as men?
July 1997 How do you say "Cup 'O Noodles" in Japanese? How much is an écu worth? What's the name of our new kitten?
June 1997 What time do movies start in England? What's the biggest problem with European hotels? What do you call someone who speaks only one language?
May 1997 How much did Labour win the recent UK election by? What videotape did I watch during my visit to Chico to visit Marc? What airport did Michael Ziegler leave Rick Tyler stranded at?
April 1997 What liquid do Scientologists believe that Thetans were frozen in before being transported to Earth? Can Kevin really balance the budget? What's an eschaton?
March 1997 Are Germans nastier than the rest of us? Who manages the economy better, Democrats or Republicans? What's the correct spelling of the word judgment?
February 1997 On what date will the earth stop rotating? Where do most people keep their dishtowels? What are the five most important inventions of all time?
January 1997 Is it legal to jog in a bike path? Who are the five greatest scientists of all time? How old was Marc's cat Phydeoux when he died?


Wednesday, December 31, 1997

It's 1997 awards day! The envelope please....

Book Awards

1997 awards are given for books read by Kevin in 1997, regardless of publication date. The winners are...

  • Best fiction: Infinite Jest, by David Foster Wallace. A mind boggling tour de force that is at once complex and difficult but also fun (and funny) and nearly impossible to put down. It has earned a place on my list of all-time favorites.
  • Honorable mention fiction: The Count of Monte Cristo, by Alexandre Dumas. A fascinating glimpse into life in France before the Revolution. The story has a lot of defects, but Dumas' prose style is so energetic and commanding that it just doesn't matter.
  • Best science fiction: The Diamond Age, by Neal Stephenson. Despite its weak ending, this is a truly inventive and well told story. Stephenson is clearly a writer to watch. Honorable mentions go to A Fire Upon the Deep, by Vernor Vinge, and Snow Crash, Stephenson's first novel.
  • Best nonfiction: Guns, Germs, and Steel, by Jared Diamond. Why did Eurasians end up dominating the world instead of, say, Africans or Australians? Diamond makes a convincing and compelling argument that it was based not on chance but on fairly straightforward matters of geography, food production, and availability of large animals. The Eurasians had all those things first, so they were the ones who developed powerful civilizations first. A genuinely eye-opening book.
  • Honorable mention nonfiction: How the Mind Works, by Stephen Pinker. An excellent and engrossing account of how evolution has shaped the way our mind works.
  • Worst book of the year: The Other End of Time, by Fred Pohl. It's a close call, since A Crooked Man was such a wretched book too, but Pohl's latest novella was more than just bad, it was practically dishonest. It's one thing to be an untalented writer, it's quite another to be a talented writer and deliberately foist such pathetic drivel on the reading public.

Movie Awards

1997 awards are given for movies seen by Kevin in theaters in 1997, regardless of production date. The winners are...

  • Best drama: Boogie Nights. Despite the amateurish camera work and a too-long closing scene, this was a very powerful and moving film, easily the best drama I saw this year. The 20-minute penultimate scene is one of the best I've ever seen.
  • Honorable mention drama: Gattaca. In a weak year for dramas, Gattaca stands out for its intelligent consideration of the consequences of genetic testing, a brooding, engaging visual style, and a good workmanlike story. Other honorable mentions go to As Good As It Gets, a sweet, charming film with great performances from its ensemble cast, L.A. Confidential, a fine noir-esque film with good acting and smart storytelling, and Evita, a very watchable film version of the musical with a top notch performance by Madonna.
  • Best comedy: Private Parts. Who would have thought that Howard Stern would make the funniest film of the year? Not me. However, this film rarely misfires and offers some of the biggest laughs of the year. I'm still not a Stern fan, but I'd go see this movie again....
  • Honorable mention comedy: Grosse Pointe Blank. A smart, well written black comedy with an excellent performance by John Cusack and great support from his sister Joan. Other honorable mentions go to Men in Black, a witty look at aliens inhabiting the Earth, and Hercules, Disney's latest cartoon with a scene stealing performance from James Woods as Hades.

The final 1997 Top Ten list looks like this:

  1. Boogie Nights
  2. Private Parts
  3. Grosse Pointe Blank
  4. Gattaca
  5. As Good As It Gets
  6. Men in Black
  7. L.A. Confidential
  8. Evita
  9. Hercules
  10. Fierce Creatures

Book and Movie Statistics

The total number of reviewed books was 35 (Chung Kuo has not been reviewed yet since I've only gotten through four volumes so far), and they broke up as follows:

  • General fiction: 10
  • Science fiction: 10
  • Nonfiction: 15

The total number of reviewed movies was 40. Grade distribution for books and movies in 1997 was as follows:

Note: a grade of B- is the cutoff point for recommendations: anything above it is recommended, anything below it is not, and anything that received a B- is on the edge.

Bridge Awards

  • Best average: Dave wins overall first place, with a year-ending ordinal average of 2.08 and an average score of 2529, considerably ahead of the rest of the pack. Kevin squeaks out second place in the face of a determined come-from-behind effort by Rick, who takes third, and Jay ends up in fourth place.

    Note: my statistical consultant has warned me that these results must be viewed skeptically. According to a standard t test analysis, Dave's result is better than Kevin's with only a 70% confidence, and better than Rick's with only a 71% confidence. However, his ending score is better than Jay's with an impressive 98% confidence.
  • Highest single-night score: Dave scored 4080 points on February 21. An honorable mention goes to Rick, who scored 3990 points on November 7
  • Lowest single-night score: Rick scored 380 points on April 11. This is such a phenomenal score that it really has no peer, but I suppose Kevin gets an honorable mention for his season ending score of 650 on December 20.
  • Most first place finishes: Kevin finished first five times. Dave wins honorable mention with four first-place finishes.
  • Most last place finishes: Kevin and Rick both finished last four times.
  • Steadiest player: Jay had a standard deviation of only 652 points for the year, easily outdistancing Dave, who gets an honorable mention with a standard deviation of 786 points.
  • Most erratic player: Kevin had a standard deviation of 1001 points, the only player to break the 1000 point mark. Nine of his scores (64%) were either first or last place finishes. Rick gets an honorable mention for his standard deviation of 984 and a total of seven first or last place finishes.
  • Best streak: Dave came in first three times in a row from February 21 through April 11. Nobody else even did this twice in a row.
  • Closest score: On March 21 Rick edged out Jay for second place by 20 points (1400 to 1380).
  • Perfect attendance award: Withheld this year due to lack of entrants. We played 14 games out of 26 opportunities, a 54% hit rate. Pathetic.

Complete 1997 bridge statistics are below:

  Kevin Jay Dave Rick
  Score Rank Score Rank Score Rank Score Rank
January 3 3000 1 2160 3 2360 2 1560 4
January 17 1110 4 1420 3 1910 2 2920 1
January 31 3670 1 1560 2 1420 3 1270 4
February 21 1750 3 1270 4 4080 1 2420 2
March 21 1290 4 1380 3 3370 1 1400 2
April 11 2200 3 2420 2 2700 1 380 4
June 20 3520 1     3050 3 3270 2
August 29 920 3 3000 1     2720 2
September 12 2870 1 950 4 2670 3 2730 2
September 26 2720 2 1000 4 3130 1 2470 3
October 10 2100 3 2770 1 2680 2 1250 4
November 7 1400 4 1510 3 2220 2 3990 1
November 22 3130 1 1430 2 1260 4 1320 3
December 20 650 4 1850 3 2030 2 2590 1
Total 30330 35 22720 35 32880 27 30290 35
Mean 2166 2.50 1748 2.69 2529 2.08 2164 2.50
Standard Deviation 1001   652   786   984  
                 
Firsts   5   2   4   3
Seconds   1   3   5   5
Thirds   4   5   3   2
Fourths   4   3   1   4

Tennis Awards

  • Best overall record goes to Dave Dvorman, with an 81% win rate and a record of 55-13 for the year.
  • Best record in tiebreaks also goes to Dave Dvorman, with a year-end record of 4-3.
  • Longest streak goes, once again, to Dave Dvorman, who won 13 sets in a row between July 17 and September 11.
  • Best comeback (I'm stretching here, folks) goes to Kevin Drum, who was 7-46 (13%) through September 11 and then went 6-9 (40%) in the last 15 sets of the year and 2-1 in the month of December.

Complete 1997 tennis statistics are below:

Date First Set Second Set YTD Score
January 19 3-6 2-6 0-2
January 29 4-6 2-6 0-4
February 1 1-6 2-6 0-6
February 8 7-5   1-6
February 15 2-6 3-6 1-8
February 22 4-6 5-7 1-10
March 8 2-6 1-6 1-12
March 15 6-3 1-6 2-13
March 22 4-6 4-6 2-15
March 29 2-6 2-6 2-17
April 5 6-2 2-6 3-18
April 19 3-6 1-3 3-20
April 26 4-6   3-21
May 11 2-6 4-6 3-23
May 17 2-6 7-6 (7-3) 4-24
May 24 4-6 0-6 4-26
May 26 6-4 3-6 5-27
May 29 4-6 5-7 5-29
June 26 1-6 2-6 5-31
July 3 4-6   5-32
July 13 3-6 6-1 6-33
July 17 6-4 1-6 7-34
July 19 2-6 4-6 7-36
July 23 2-6 2-6 7-38
July 31 6-7 (4-7)   7-39
August 7 3-6   7-40
August 14 4-6   7-41
August 28 2-6 3-6 7-43
August 31 2-6 6-7 (5-7) 7-45
September 11 1-6 6-1 8-46
September 18 4-6   8-47
October 9 6-4 2-6 9-48
October 23 6-7 (5-7)   9-49
November 6 2-6 7-5 10-50
November 8 6-7 (1-7)   10-51
November 16 3-6 6-4 11-52
November 20 4-6 1-6 11-54
December 9 3-6 7-6 (7-3) 12-55
December 21 7-6 (7-5)   13-55

Yahtzee Awards

  • Player of the year goes to Kevin Drum for his astounding score of 631 on August 19. Honorable mention goes to Marian for her high score of 498.
  • Handheld player of the year goes to Marc, for his score of 425 in the new, but increasingly popular game of handheld computer Yahtzee.

Minesweeper Awards

Player of the year goes to Marian, for her times of 12 seconds at beginner level, 72 seconds at intermediate level, and 220 seconds at expert level.

Kitten of the Year

In a stunning upset, the 1997 award for best kitten goes to Odile, Steve and Mary Lou's adorable little furball. However, we're hopeful that Rosebud will turn over a new leaf in 1998 and be a contender for Kitten of the Year (mature category) next year.

Wife of the Year

For an unprecedented seventh year in a row, the unanimous choice of the judges is....

Marian!

Where would I be without her?

Sunday, December 21, 1997

Last tennis game of the year: I beat Dvorman 7-6 (7-5) (YTD record 13-55).

Saturday, December 20, 1997

Last bridge game of the year. Final score:

  Kevin Jay Dave Rick
  Score Rank Score Rank Score Rank Score Rank
Tonight's Score 650 4 1850 3 2030 2 2590 1
YTD Total 30330 35 22720 35 32880 26 30290 35
# of Games 14 14 13 13 13 13 14 14
Bridge Avg YTD 2166 2.50 1748 2.69 2529 2.00 2164 2.50
Note: In the "Score" column, higher is better. In the "Rank" (i.e. ordinal score) column, lower is better.

As expected, David handily won first place for the year, and thanks to a remarkably lopsided score tonight Rick almost edged me out of what seemed like a sure second place finish. In the end, however, I scored 40 more points this year than he did. If only he hadn't gone down on that two diamond bid back on June 20....
Saturday, December 13, 1997

Having put together a list of favorite books, it's only natural to move on to favorite movies. This was a little harder since I don't have a convenient bookshelf of movies to browse through, but after some random searching through the IMDb database, a review of past Oscar winners, and a perusal of my copy of the Video Movie Guide, I managed to come up with 55 entries. This isn't quite as definitive as my book list, but it's as close as I'm ever likely to get.

The directors with the most entries turned out to be Jerry Zucker (3), David Zucker, Jim Abrahams, Kenneth Branagh, Terry Jones, George Lucas, Rob Reiner, Robert Zemeckis, George Roy Hill, and Carl Reiner (2).

Note that, as with the books, although all 55 movies on the list are recommended unreservedly, some are recommended more unreservedly than others:

  • Movies in bold (7 entries) are especially highly recommended.
  • My six favorite movies of all time are shown with a shaded background.

Here's the list:

Title Comments
Airplane! This one would make the list for the "jive talk" scene alone, but it doesn't need to. It's a funny send-up all the way through.
Amadeus The story is pure baloney, but it's dramatic and well told. Great music, too.
American Graffiti A testament to George Lucas' storytelling ability. It's hard to explain what American Graffiti has to offer, but it sure is a lot of fun.
Animal House This is a film with no redeeming features at all other than the fact that it's funny. Yeah, it's sophomoric, but somehow Belushi and the rest of the gang give it such a high-octane energy level that it doesn't really matter.
Beauty and the Beast The best feature cartoon ever made.
The Big Easy Great background, good characters, well told and well acted, and no plot holes. This is rare enough to put The Big Easy on my list even though there's really nothing very exceptional about the story itself.
Boogie Nights A very real movie. The dialog rang true and the characters grabbed you whether you liked it or not. The (almost) final scene is one of the best I've seen.
The Bridge on the River Kwai A great movie, especially if you're a good whistler.
The Color of Money Tom Cruise at his best, and Paul Newman is pretty good too. I saw The Hustler after I saw Color, and I actually think it's the better movie.
Cousins Who would have thought that Ted Danson could actually make a good movie? Not me, but he sure did a good job here. Isabella Rossellini was radiant too.
Crimes and Misdemeanors Annie Hall was a funny movie, but Crimes and Misdemeanors is the only Woody Allen movie that I've liked from beginning to end. It's funny in spots, but it's also tightly controlled throughout. Martin Landau is outstanding.
Dangerous Liaisons Power, lust, and intrigue: what more could you ask for? John Malkovich is deliciously vile, and Glenn Close gives one of her best performances as well.
Dead Again Just goes to show that Kenneth Branagh can do more than Shakespeare. This is a very smart take on the hardboiled detective genre, plus Branagh gets to show off how well he can do an American accent.
Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid Not only is this an awfully funny movie, it's clever too. The intercutting of classic movie scenes is done as well as I've ever seen it.
The Deer Hunter A great story, and one of Meryl Streep's best performances.
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels "You don't want me to get out the genital cuffs, do you?"
Do the Right Thing It does make you think, and that's what Spike Lee was after. I like movies that are a little open ended and that provide good conversational grist ("do you really think that's what he meant?"), and this one is both.
Double Indemnity You just gotta love the dialog. They sure don't make them like this anymore, do they?
Duck Soup The best of the Marx Brothers.
A Fish Called Wanda Kevin Kline is a really funny guy, and when you give him a good script he just shines.
Forbidden Planet Creatures from the id!
Ghostbusters Consistently funny idiocy, almost Python-esque in its weirdness.
Groundhog Day This is really a charming movie and it shows off Bill Murray at his best. The script is first rate, and the direction and timing--so crucial in a comedy--are impeccable.
Hoop Dreams Who would have guessed that a three hour documentary about a couple of high school basketball players could be so absorbing? And who could have guessed that the cretins who run the documentary category of the Academy Awards wouldn't even nominate it for best documentary?
The Jerk I guess Steve Martin is an acquired taste, but if you're one of the ones who likes his brand of slapstick you'll like The Jerk ("this is shit--this is shinola."). It's a shame to see him doing sitcom-ish stuff like Father of the Bride when he could be doing the genuinely funny comedy he's capable of.
Life of Brian Doesn't have quite the lunacy of Holy Grail, but in some ways it's even better. It's too bad these guys aren't making movies together anymore, but maybe three of them are enough anyway....
Mary Poppins Such a likable movie, and the music is great too. Any time I happen to see it on TV I almost always end up watching at least a half hour of it.
Monty Python and the Holy Grail Silly, silly, silly. But it probably has more repeatable bits in it than any other movie ever made.
Much Ado About Nothing The best Shakespeare adaptation I've seen. It's watchable, understandable, well acted, and funny, and that's hard to do given the inherent language barrier in bringing Shakespeare into the 20th century.
The Naked Gun In the same spirit as Airplane!, this is a movie that's nothing more than a whole bunch of jokes strung together. However, they're funny jokes and there are lots of them.
Network "I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore!"
Night Shift Michael Keaton's first movie, and he's side splittingly funny. Ron Howard obviously has the right touch in directing him, since his performances have been pretty uneven since then.
Ordinary People A very moving film. Mary Tyler Moore's performance as a mother who is unable to come to grips with her son's death is excellent, and with the exception of Judd Hirsch's cliched performance as a psychiatrist, Robert Redford gets great work out the rest of the cast as well.
Private Parts Genuine laughs all the way through. Howard Stern isn't much to listen to on the radio, but Private Parts is a genuinely funny and sometimes sweet movie.
Pulp Fiction This movie is hard to categorize, but it kept a grip on me throughout. It's not for the squeamish (or for kids), but it's an odd testimonial to the power of gratuitous violence when it's in the service of a good script and a creative director.
Raiders of the Lost Ark Almost as good as Star Wars in the adventure genre. The biggest difference is that Star Wars holds up better under multiple viewings than Raiders does.
Real Genius Can Val Kilmer do anything he puts his mind to, or what? This is a much underrated movie, far funnier and more intelligent than the thousands of other teen summer comedies movies that it's usually lumped with.
Repo Man A very strange movie. I'm not sure why I liked it, but I did.
The Return of Martin Guerre The only subtitled movie on my list. There are lots of good foreign language movies, but I usually feel like I've lost so much by not hearing the dialog that I don't enjoy them that much. Martin Guerre was one of the rare exceptions that rose above this.
Romancing the Stone Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner haven't turned out to be the Doris Day/Rock Hudson of the 90s, but their first outing together sure had chemistry. Overall, a very amusing romantic comedy.
Ruthless People It doesn't hold up that well on a second viewing, but it was awfully funny the first time around.
Sophie's Choice This is an effective movie throughout, but the climactic scene where Sophie has to make her choice is truly moving and poignant.
Silent Running Bruce Dern plays his usual brooding psychotic character and it works pretty well. Besides, it'll annoy Marc if I include this movie on my list but leave out 2001: A Space Odyssey.
Stand by Me A captivating and compelling story of 12-year-old boys coming of age, and it's from Stephen King of all people....
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan "Admiral Kirk?"
Star Wars Trilogy The finest and most memorable collection of fantasy characters since The Wizard of Oz.
The Sting The acting and direction in The Sting are good, but the real star of the movie is the screenplay. It's smart, well paced, and actually makes sense. What's more, for a movie that relies on a surprise ending it's surprisingly watchable the second and third times.
Three Days of the Condor Three Days of the Condor is something that's rare (and getting rarer): a smart thriller without gaping plot holes. For that alone it goes on my list.
This is Spinal Tap "Mine goes to 11."
Top Gun Top Gun is sui generis, the Star Wars of action romances. It doesn't bring anything new to the table, but it tells an old story in an almost elemental way, and the air combat footage is spectacular. Tom Cruise is a perfect matinee idol, and even Kelly McGillis somehow manages to dredge up a good performance.
The War of the Roses Another winner from Kathleen Turner and Michael Douglas, although Danny DeVito is arguably the real star. A little edgy for a comedy, perhaps, but it had some very funny scenes.
Way Out West The best of Laurel and Hardy.
The Wizard of Oz Let's see: Dorothy, the scarecrow, the tin man, the lion, Toto, the wicked witch of the west, and the wizard. That's seven characters that have become universal pop icons, and Auntie Em almost counts as an eighth. Can any other movie claim as many?
Who Framed Roger Rabbit A very innovative movie, and a testament to the way special effects can be used to genuinely improve a concept (or even make it possible). It goes on a little too long, however....
The World According to Garp I wouldn't have believed that anyone could make a decent movie out of this book, but George Roy Hill did. It also shows how good Robin Williams can be when he turns the volume down a bit.

Thursday, December 9, 1997

Split sets with Dvorman 3-6, 7-6 (7-3) (YTD record 12-55).

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