DVD
On the plus side, I learned that watching a DVD on my PowerBook screen is quite workable. Decent resolution, smooth motion, good sound through headphones.
On the minus side, I learned that I can't use my PowerBook as a DVD player and display the DVD on my TV, which is what I really wanted to do. At least, I can't do it using the hardware and software (and information) I've got at hand. When I hook up the PowerBook to the TV, as one might have expected if one had thought about it (which, alas, one hadn't) before purchasing the S-Video cable, it acts like an external monitor, only without the resolution that my real external monitor has. And when an external monitor is hooked up to this particular PowerBook, the DVD software doesn't work.
Oh, well.
Watched Legally Blonde; I saw the preview half a dozen times, couldn't decide whether it looked like it would be fun or dreadful, decided to give it the benefit of the doubt largely on the strength of Reese Witherspoon. It turned out I was both right; the movie avoided both of the potentially dreadful paths I'd anticipated (it didn't show a totally ditzy blonde suddenly becoming a legal genius without difficulty, nor did it show a totally ditzy blonde getting through law school completely on the basis of luck and improbable coincidence, other than the dumb admissions-office scene), but it didn't quite make it all the way to "fun." I think the key thing that wasn't clear from the previews (probably intentionally so) is that the protagonist isn't a total ditz; she does have some brains, which gives her some depth, and yet (rather like the protagonist of Erin Brockovich, now that I think of it) manages to stay true to her blonde (ahem) roots. Unfortunately, that fact gives the movie an odd split personality; unlike with Erin Brockovich, this movie can't quite decide whether we're laughing at the protagonist or with her. So despite three or four laugh-out-loud funny bits (the best moment is one that involves a throwaway character named Chuck), the movie didn't quite work for me. I was surprised to discover that the screenplay was by the writers of Ten Things I Hate About You, a far superior movie. I was kinda intrigued to hear that Legally Blonde is based on a novel written by a blonde woman who went to Stanford Law School, she claims, largely due to how great the nearby mall is. (I assume she's talking about Stanford Shopping Center.) She even looked a little like the protagonist.
Funny that Mary Anne saw this movie the other day (she described it as "Truly pretty pointless, but amusing nonetheless"); I guess it must be 'cause it just came out on video.
In unrelated news, I just found out that Julia Roberts is precisely five months older than me. I'm not sure how old I thought she was, but that wasn't it.