Beware 'Windows Live' Scam

This morning I received an e-mail from something called the Windows Live Team that told me I had a nasty virus and that it would repair the virus for me if I'd send over my password. I called my IT guru Alecia Nash (alecianash@yahoo.com) instead and she said this:

Kill the e-mail and don't respond. Any time I get an e-mail from any source I didn't request that asks for my passwords, account information or credit card number, run from it. She also tells me there's an IRS scam going around that's scaring hell out of people and winding up with their credit card numbers. The IRS will not e-mail you for information. It will write you a letter or send an agent to see you if it's serious.

(Graphic: stormbringer005.blogspot.com)

'Sherlock Holmes': A Fun Movie and a Bright New Star

Coming on the heels, as it did, of the dreadful "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy," "Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows" offered up two delights: Noomi Rapace and engaging escapist fare that brightened the entire day.

Noomi Rapace as the gypsy Simza (left) is the scene-stealing star of the original "Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" (the real one, not the American remake) and an actress so engaging that even the wondrously talented Robert Downey Jr. (Sherlock) shrinks to midget status when sharing a scene with her.

In the newest installment of the never-ending Sherlock Holmes series, our sleuth is again faced with the demented genius Professor Moriarty (a sinister presence played by Jared Harris) and is ably assisted by his Dr. Watson (Jude Law). a solid cast includes Rachael McAdams and the delightful Stephen Fry. But it is Noomi Rapace, as a gypsy caught in the middle of the chase who steals the movie. She ranks right there with some marvy special effects (a lot of mind stuff with Sherlock) and clever dialogue.

This one's the kind of movie I so enjoy on a cold Sunday afternoon in January: pure escapism with no message, characters you can like and dislike, lots of stuff happening at every turn and somebody to fall in love with (guess who). If you want to stay in the winter depressive blahs, go see "Tinker, Tailor ..." If you want a little summer bright, this one'll do.

Repubs Sweating Bullets Over Voter Fraud; Here's Why

I don't think I even need to say anything about this except that it is yet another example of Republicans trying to suppress the vote with a false issue. Voter fraud, indeed.

(Graph from the DNC)

'Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy': Dull, Dull, Dull, Dull

"Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy," John Le Carre's masterful spy tale, the one that is supposed to earn the always riveting Gary Oldman his first Oscar nomination, is quite possibly the slowest movie I've ever seen. Slow, obtuse, complex, vague and difficult to comprehend at its best. At its worst, well, I'm still waiting for it to begin.

Rottentomatoes.com gives this dud an inexplicable 84 percent raging (96 percent among top critics) which only goes to show that critics and the rest of us are as far apart as Democrats and Republicans (they're the Repubs).

Oldman spends the length of the movie with a stone face either sitting or walking, saying little, almost never changing expression. I guess he's suppose to be thinking. There is a fine British cast that, to my mind, is all but wasted and left with little to do but mumble, hint, evade and make references that are so obscure--and never explained--as to be exasperating.

The cinematography is interesting and many of the critics credit it as being the saving grace of the movie, but mostly what it is is gray, like the rest of the movie. The shots are framed well, but they don't give any sense of unease, urgency, threat or dread. It's like somebody took a lot of the natural color out in the same way the movie is acted.

The story is a complicated spy drama as all of Le Carre's works are, but my recollection of the book is that, as slow as it was, I could follow it. A frustration I have with so many movies made in the British Isles is that producers seem to think Americans speak the language and understand its nuances and subtleties. Nothing could be further from the truth. Subtitles are needed on movies like this--especially with the level of mumbling being near epic--as much as they are needed on a Croation or a French or a Chinese movie.

The theater was full tonight. My guess it won't be so full tomorrow. The grumbling coming out the door was pretty much universal.

Elmwood Park Proposal Drawings On Display at Library

Library parking lot (right) becomes a scenic boulevard under the plan.

Parks & Rec Director Steve Buschor explains plan to journalist Valerie Garner.

Hill Studio, which is creating plans for the re-design of Elmwood Park in downtown Roanoke, had its preliminary plans on display tonight in the basement of Roanoke's Main Library, just off the park. This is the first phase (at $4 million) of what will eventually be a $9 million re-do of one of Roanoke's most popular festival sites.

Stage backs up to Williamson Road for unloading.

In the new vision, a permanent stage (75 feet by 45 feet) will be enlarged and will contained an enclosed area at the back and a dock that borders Williamson Road, so that vans and trucks can easily be unloaded. In front of the stage area a water fountain that looks like a moat will be built and that base area can be used as a dance floor when the water is emptied. In front of it will be 1,900 seats created from the terraced hill facing the stage.

The parking area beside the library will be landscaped and removed as a parking area (many of the spaces will be added in front of the library, simply by making the spaces slant, rather than parallel to the curb). The area at the end of the parking lot will be flattened for vendors, as will be the walkway toward the stage area.

The hill overlooking the entire area will hardly be touched.

Architect David Hill (left) talks with lawyer Steve Lemon.

Architect David Hill says the entire area will work in concert with the 1952 art deco library, "a great piece of architecture," and brick used on the new stage will match the library's brick. The art deco sign at the entrance of the library, which has been removed (David didn't know why) will be replaced. It is a marvelous and distinctive piece of Roanoke-ania.

None of this has been approved, but the drawings are up for a while for you to view and give your opinion.

Dorchester Court Hotels: How Big Will They Be?

Huff Lane School from Huff Lane. A visual barrier would go here.

When Roanoke City officials and prospective hotel developers met with my neighbors in Dorchester Court Tuesday to talk about a proposal to put two hotels and a restaurant where Huff Lane School now sits, there were far more questions than answers delivered.

Roanoke Economic Development Manager Rob Ledger and Chris Chittum of the planning department showed up with Commercial Realtor Dennis Cronk (Poe & Cronk) and Steve Albus of HMP Properties, which put together the package the planners most like at this point.

Initially, the two hotels sketched out in the five acres of space off Valley View Boulevard were said to be two stories tall. Steve Albus of HMP, when asked how tall they would be, said he wasn't sure, but "four to five stories" was likely. He said the hotel would be "high end" without explaining what that means and that a restaurant for the site would "compatible" with high-end hotels. He estimated each hotel would ideally contain 70 to 80 rooms.

Ledger was asked how much tax money hotels and a restaurant of this type would bring in (since the area is rife with them) and he said that those numbers would be virtually impossible to compute because of variables. He did not have figures for the hotels already in the immediate area, he said.

Ledger says the land at Huff Lane School, which represents a third of the property (the remainder is a park that Ledger said would be "improved"), is valued at $1.5 million and the city would expect to make more than that for the sale. The proceeds from the sale would go toward improving Round Hill School, where the former Huff Lane School students now attend. That school is overcrowded and uses a number of trailers for classrooms.

There were several questions about how the hotel would be accessed (right turns only off Valley View Boulevard and right turns out of the parking lot) and how the neighborhood would be shielded from both noise and the view of the back of hotels.

At one point, I pressed on the height of the hotels, saying, "A five-story hotel would block the view of the mountains for people living on the other side of Huff Lane, while a two-story hotel would not." The answer was that the back of the hotel would be pretty. I took exception, mentioning that the most attractive hotel in Roanoke is not as the equivalent of the ugliest mountain.

Basically, the meeting ended with little information given to the neighborhood and with a lot of skepticism expressed about the intent for the property. It will likely get uglier before it gets prettier.

Who's Supporting the Nameless PACs? Here's a List (Mostly Republicans)

If you're wondering how the Super PAC money is being spread around, Mother Jones magazine has a breakdown of the top 20 individual money-soaked donors. A report is here. It is hardly surprising that 17 of the top 20 big spenders are Republicans and they are listed by the weight of their donations, which is substantial.