bloggie blog

I’ve created a bookmarklet to switch from IMDb to IMDb Pro more easily. If you subscribe to IMDb Pro, do this.

Drag this link [Pro] to your bookmark bar. This link will now switch you to the IMDb Pro version of any IMDb page, or it will take you to the IMDb Pro home page if you click on it when not on regular IMDb.

Now, you may be saying that this is useless because every regular IMDb page has a link to its IMDb Pro version. Yes, but with this bookmarklet, you can click on one reliable place, a place that doesn’t scroll, a place whose horizontal location is not dependent on the length of an actor’s or agency’s name, and a place not blocked by very invasive ads that IMDb sometimes puts up! It was the invasive Flash ads for Alice in Wonderland that drove me to develop this. If you use Safari, you can also use a keyboard shortcut to the first 10 bookmarks in your bookmark bar. Speedy!

I find this handy. Leave a comment if you find it handy, too!

P.S. If you’re interested in the nuts and bolts of this bookmarklet, here is its Javascript code:

h=location.href;
w=h.indexOf("http://www.imdb.com");
p=h.indexOf("http://pro.imdb.com");
if(w==0){window.location=h.replace("www","pro")}
else if(p==-1){window.location="http://pro.imdb.com/"};

I just received an email from Delta Air Lines, that begins as follows:

Dear Kevin Ashworth,
We are trying to contact you because our flight has cancelled. We have rebooked you on the best available flight and we’ll keep trying to reach you by phone.

What’s wrong with this? Doesn’t one syntax thing jump out at you immediately? My inner grammar cop says this is wrong. Maybe it’s just industry jargon. Maybe they’re British. I mean, let’s talk about how many l’s this word has. Or maybe it’s just plain wrong!

Cancel is a transitive verb, meaning it requires a subject and an object, no matter how it’s spelled (one l in America). My flight has canceled? Not so much. Something canceled my flight. What or who could that something be?

The Hollywood Walk of Fame is one of Los Angeles’s best known tourist attractions. In fact, it’s way up there as far as sidewalks go. (Really, is there a more famous sidewalk in the world?) Now, I’m not one to hit up the tourist traps, but the Walk of Fame is one of few touristy things I’ve done. Inadvertently. If walking to a store counts as doing something touristy. This is because in my old apartment and my new one, I live(d) within walking distance of the Walk.

Spanky McFarland used to be the closest star to my pad. His star is at the very western end of the Walk, where La Brea Ave and the north side of Hollywood Blvd meet. Now Franklin Pangborn is closest to me, as his star is at on the east side of Vine St at Sunset Blvd. Both faces I know fondly, but the latter’s name is less well known — unless you love Preston Sturges movies. You watch Preston Sturges movies, you love them. This is a simple, reliable formula (with the exception of The Great Moment, which is a yawner, despite dealing with a worthy, historical subject).

While Franklin Pangborn also did multiple Jack Benny films and multiple W.C. Fields films, I think Sturges withstands the test of time better. So if you happen to be wanting to watch some great old movies, let me recommend the following Preston Sturges films that have Franklin Pangborn in them: Sullivan’s Travels, Hail the Conquering Hero, Christmas in July. These are not Sturges’s best three, but they’re good, and better than The Great Moment, which also happens to have Franklin Pangborn in it. The one film on this list of 3 that I need to watch again, and have been wanting to watch for months now even since a friend said I remind her of Joel McCrea, is Sullivan’s Travels. Off to the library to rent me a DVD!

My friend Stephen Katz appeared in a commercial during the Super Bowl. He’s the one that gets slapped as he graduates, slaps back, and then has a slapping moment with a dog, too!

It was a great experience to watch him watch himself. I spent that Sunday at his apartment, and after this spot aired, we high-fived and generally celebrated. We did not slap each other in the back of the head — he was too busy responding to the onslaught of text messages from his peeps. Good stuff. Congrats, Katz!

When I was quite new to LA, I landed a lead role in a short film being made by Chapman University student Abiel Bruhn. Damsel was a 2-character piece about a guy that gets had by a young lovely. Perfect for me.

Abe asked me to be in another film of his several months ago, but I had to decline at that time. Last fall, he approached me regarding playing the role of Nurse in Anchor, yet another film of his, and I just completed that work yesterday. The nurse (murse) works at an institution doing cutting-edge mental work, and by cutting-edge I mean you may or may not want your tendencies treated at this place. It’s the kind of short film that should leave you with lots of questions. I look forward to seeing it!

I worked opposite Deanna Noe and Kristin Carey, who were great. Abe’s team was great. It will have a screening in Orange on May 1, which is also great — that’s going to be my week, what with my 24 episode airing 2 days later!

“Hold tight” for a few quick, random, unrelated comments on current television programming. I don’t care for Big Love’s new opening credits, but I’m loving that the show keeps being what it is, and am 100% into this new season.

Caprica, I can’t get into it. Despite my deep deep love for BSG. I have to say the strongest SyFy show now is SG-U.

Archer is a well-done cartoon on FX. People aren’t talking about it in my world, but they should. TV-MA ratings and cartoons can be a strange combo for viewers that aren’t immature men like myself, but check it out.

Modern Family is strong, strong, strong.

The Super Bowl was awesome.

And the two shows I never, ever miss continue to be The Daily Show and The Colbert Report, because they make me a better person.

What shows do you never miss?

In the last week or so, Google downed my quality of life. They used to up it with changes, but now they are downing it. I’m refering to the change in Saved Locations within Google Maps. Google used to remember addresses, and allow you to label them with such words as “home,” or “fff” (which is easier to type). Suddenly, last week, that feature is no more.

As the Googledouches explain on this page, it’s a thing of the past. Their new approach of using personalized suggestions is faster, they say.

Ba. Lo. Ney.

Is it worth complaining about? Yes. I signed up for the Google support forum and in one pertinent thread I posted my opinion. I urge you to do so, too. Let’s keep it short and simply write, I want Saved Locations back, now.

At Whole Foods, I saw a packet of fresh, organic herbs labelled “Poultry Herbs.” Try as I might, I couldn’t find a list of what was inside. Strange. But if you open it up, you will find the exact quantities of rosemary, sage and thyme that my chicken soup recipe calls for. Exact. Ain’t that nice? No extra expense of 3 herbs (and they are expensive), and no extra herbs going bad in the refrigerator. The aroma is wafting even as I type this. Mmm … herbs.