Nominated for four Academy Awards, Notes on a Scandal delivers some intense, creepy, and complex drama. Cate Blanchett and Judi Dench are at their finest. I wish the movie was longer! 4/5 stars.

This adaptation of the book by Jhumpa Lahiri was an enjoyable experience, through and through. It spans about 30 years of the lives of a Bengali family who struggles with the competing desires to adhere to tradition and to fit into their new home in the US. 4/5 stars.

Time Magazine wants to know who you think are the 100 most influential people in the world. You can see the current standings here.

As with any high-profile Internet poll that does not have barriers to entry, it has been corrupted by rabid fans or haters of various contestants. Paris Hilton may not be well-liked, but she is extremely influential. People talk about her constantly, she has various commercial products, a CD, a TV show, and has been in a few movies. How is that not influential? Meanwhile, Stephen Colbert has an iron grip on the #1 spot. To be fair, I am a huge fan of Colbert. However, I don’t think he’s the world’s most influential person, unless you are measuring influence as your ability to get your fans to vote for you on the Time Website. Voters either do not understand the meaning of the word “influential” or they are co-opting the poll and turning it into a popularity contest. My money is on the latter.

I guess it’s only fair that Time Magazine asks YOU, the 2006 person of the year, who the most influential people are. I think it’s ironic that they find out the hard way how untrustworthy and corrupt YOU are

If someone favors rational thinking over emotional, how does that person make a leap of faith? When the outcome of a decision is uncertain, one can either decide based on blind faith (a.k.a. wishful thinking), opt-out of the decision altogether, or… decide using the laws of probability, experience, trusted advice, and whatever else is available in order to make an informed decision. Is the last option a kind of rational faith? Can faith be rational?

The Nanda “Clocky” alarm clock is now available for purchase! If you’ve never heard of it, it is the alarm clock that runs and hides so that you have to get out of bed to turn it off. Watch this video to see what I mean.

Conceptually, I love it. It’s hilarious. It’s annoying. But, will I enjoy it? I find it funny watching someone walk into a glass door, but if I were that person I would be really pissed off. Especially if I did it every morning! On the plus side, if you actually wake up when the alarm goes off, you don’t have to chase it anywhere. It promotes discipline, I suppose. Or does it encourage laziness?

More words of wisdom from Paul Graham… this time more about psychology than economics. I hope some day I get to meet Paul, I seem to love everything he writes.

In a nutshell:

If you regard someone judging you as a customer instead of a judge, the expectation of fairness goes away. The author of a good novel wouldn’t complain that readers were unfair for preferring a potboiler with a racy cover. Stupid, perhaps, but not unfair.

Life is not fair, so don’t expect fairness. Don’t take things personally unless they were intended as such (and they rarely are).

I was excited to see this movie because I felt as though I might be able to relate a bit to the main character: trying to get his act together and make it big in the business world (although I am not homeless and do not have a child). The plot was inspiring and the movie was well-made. Will Smith has a great personality, but none of the characters had much depth. All in all, this was a “nice” movie but nothing special. 3/5 stars.

Fucking awesome! Perfect for a guy’s night out, this gruesome double feature was one hell of a good time. Rodriguez’s “Planet Terror” is a completely over-the-top tongue-in-cheek zombie movie filled to the brim with gore and violence… Tarantino’s “Death Proof” was 1/2 boring conversation and 1/2 edge-of-your-seat action. 4/5 stars.

I am breaking my MBA silence I got a phone call Tuesday informing me that there is a spot for me at Yale’s MBA program this fall! My future just became a bit more certain… or has it become more uncertain? Either way it will be an exciting journey.

Frank McCourt’s memoir of his 30-year career teaching in New York City public schools was a quick and enjoyable read filled with amusing and memorable anecdotes. That said, I don’t feel like I learned very much from it. Much like Mr. McCourt’s teaching style, the book was loosely structured and did not tell you what to think. I don’t generally mind that, but in this case I just didn’t feel like it was stimulating enough to get away with not having a clear message. The book was fun and very casual, so if that’s what you’re looking for, pick this up for some light inspiration. 3/5 stars.