The Pod Bay Door: December 2002 Archives

Rabbit-Proof Fence and other stuff

I saw my 91st and in all likelihood, final movie of 2002 last night: Rabbit-Proof Fence. Let there be no doubt that movies can still be simple yet overwhelming in their power, originality, and inspiration. This movie tells the story of three sisters, taken from their aboriginal home in 1931 in Western Australia by the government. Considered "half caste" because they have white fathers, they are taken to a camp with other half caste children, and taught the ways of the white man, with the ultimate goal being that the children grow up to marry white men and women, and eventually breed out their aboriginal past. Molly Craig, 14 years old, decides to take her younger sisters and escape from the camp, and walk 1,600 kilometers back to Jigalong, to their mother. It is a true story.

The film conveys how strong the ties of love and family can be - at a time when the world continues to spawn wars and terrorism, I found the movie to be life-affirming in the deepest way possible. Such a simple movie - three girls walking home, and yet such a powerful story. I was pleased to see David Gulpilil, whom you might remember from the groundbreaking Australian film Walkabout, in the role as the tracker, Moodoo. The movie also features a stirring score by Peter Gabriel and stunning cinematography by Christopher Doyle. A fascinating study guide is available, from the Australian movie magazine called Metro Magazine. As well, read this interview of Noyce and commentary on the film by a Canadian aboriginal, Carmen Daniels, currently living in Australia and contributor to the Aboriginal Youth Network.

This is a picture of director Phillip Noyce with the three actors who portrayed the girls in the movie: Everlyn Sampi, Tianna Sansbury, and Laura Monaghan.

I will compile the list of my 10 favorite movies of 2002 soon. It is never a "best" list, because I don't see everything.

Today, Dec 31, my mom turns 70. Happy Birthday, Mom!!! I love you lots.

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Snow Quiet

It snowed today in Edmonton. Not the first heavy snowfall, that was in early November, but it melted later that month. Until yesterday, the grass in Edmonton was covered in frost. Now there is a lot of snow on the ground - it's a pain to drive, but we need the moisture, and the x-c skiers are besides themselves with joy. First permanent snow of the winter: Dec 29. Not too bad. And less than 12 weeks of winter left. Cool.

In other news that's too exciting to handle, I began cleaning up and down and around my house this afternoon. It feels good to rid oneself of old papers, knick-knacks, curious, doo-dads, and everything else in between. Now that I'm on a roll, I'll do more tomorrow. But not before a workout in the morning. With luck, I'll see Rabbit Proof Fence on Monday night.

What are your plans for Dec 31? I'm going to a house party, and will be wishing my Mom a Happy 70th Birthday.

Peace.

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Babysitting the Babysat, Decasia

Tonight was one of those memorable evenings. My friend Robert and his wife Mary asked me to babysit their amazing daughter, Tigana, while they went out for dinner. They are visiting from Lethbridge for the holidays. Tigana kept me busy for three hours, with reading, games, stencilling and general hijinks. I was worn out when the parents returned. Robert and I had a great visit afterwards, and I will see them again on Monday. When you visit and spend time with a good friend, the rewards are not measurable.

In last week's NYTimes Magazine is a fascinating article about a movie called Decasia. The film was "made" by Bill Morrison, although he didn't shoot a single frame. The film is composed of segments from movies that are decades-old, going back to the earliest films of the 20th century. However, these nitrate-based films have decayed and decomposed badly, and Morrison has grouped together bits from different US-based archives to craft a fascinating movie that according to what I've read, reveal a surreal beauty in the final stages of these films' lives. The film has no distribution yet, but was shown on the Sundance Channel this week (not available in Canada :-(, of course). A number of reviews are available here, and here.

I'm at the point where I know I need to make changes to my site, but I'm too lazy to do anything about it. Stay tuned, I guess. :-)

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Late Night

Boxing Day is nearly over. I'm exhausted from the last few days of Christmas activities: visits, dinners, wine, movies - such is the time of the year. I hope you had a great Christmas. I've two more parties on the agenda, and in between, sleeping, cleaning, reading, and a few workouts. Additional movies seen include Catch Me If You Can, Live From Baghdad, and Behind Enemy Lines.

Speaking of Catch Me If You Can, read the comments about the movie from the subject of the film, Frank W Abagnale.

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A Sad Day in Music

Today's news of the death of Joe Strummer hits hard, and I think it may be, on some levels, Gen X's equivalent of the loss of John Lennon, but on a smaller scale. While other punkers have passed on (Sid Vicious, for example), none who have left had the impact of Strummer. The Clash, led by Strummer, inspired U2, Billy Bragg, and countless other rockers who have imbued their music with politics and causes. Bragg is most eloquent with his words describing Stummer's impact on his own music. It is a terrible loss. An interesting Brief History of Punk examines the late 70s heyday, when it emerged from the underground.

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I And we slack too much to have a lennon for our very own.

Posted by jennifer on December 23, 2002 11:33 PM

The loss of Joe Strummer will probably be the last for this year, and hopefully for a long time. We have lost many, many fine people in the entertainment business this year including:

John Entwistle - bassist with The Who. The Ox died in his sleep in Las Vegas of a heart attack. Traces of cocaine were found in his blood.

Ted Demme (film/video director)(heart failure while playing a celebrity basketball game)

Esquivel - Juan Garcia Esquivel, the '60s "Space Age Bachelor Pad" lounge music composer who became a belated hero for a community of '90s post-angst alternative irony buffs, died at his home in Jiutepac, Morelos, Mexico on January 3. He was 83. Esquivel had been bedridden with a back injury for nearly 10 years. Three months before he died he suffered a stroke that left him unable to speak and caused paralysis in one-half of his body. He had a second stroke on December 30, 2001 that led to his death.

Erma Vernice Franklin - singer and sister of Aretha Franklin died in September at age 44, of cancer.

Ray Brown - Brown of The Modern Jazz quartet is considered to be one of the most accomplished bass players in all of jazz. Brown was once married to Ella Fitzgeral. The marriage ended in 1952. On July 2nd, Ray had gone to his hotel room to take a nap after playing golf and died in his sleep. Brown was 75.

Peter Bardens - leader of 1970s U.K. prog rock band Camel, played his last show 6 months (after being diagnosed with a brain tumour) before he passed away in L.A. with Mick Fleetwood, John McVie, Ben Harper, and Shelia E.

Hank Cosby - veteran songwriter, saxophone player and producer for Motown Records and a member of the famous Funk Brothers. Cosby co-wrote several of Stevie Wonders big hits including Fingertips Part 2, My Cherie Amour, and three of my all time favourite Motown songs: Stevie Wonder's - I Was Made To Love Her, Uptight Everything's Alright, and Smoke Robinson/Miracles - Tears Of A Clown. Hank died at the age of 73 after a lengthy illness. Stevie Wonder played My Cherie Amour at Cosby's funeral.

Johnny Griffith - keyboard player for Motown Records and The Funk Brothers, a classically trained musician, died November 10, at age 66.

Howard Richard 'Pistol' Allen - drums - yet another member of the famed Funk Brothers. Howard played on the Supremes' hit 'Baby Love,' Martha and the Vandellas' 'Heat Wave,' and on Marvin Gaye's 'How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You).'
Howard Allen died on 30th June 2002, after a long battle with cancer.

Richard Harris (actor/singer)(hodgkin's disease) Harris was 72.

Lionel Hampton - the great jazz vibraphonist died on 31st August from heart failure. He was 93 or 94 depending on what bio you read.

Barbara Randolph - singer - Barbara had the honour of joining the group the Platters after the departure of Zola Taylor. Barbara toured briefly with Maryin Gaye replacing Tammi Terrell in the '60's. She died of cancer in July. (Her mother was actress Lillian Randolph.)

Otis Blackwell (a.k.a. John Davenport) - He was a prolific songwriter, penning more than 1,000 tunes, some of which have become popular classics.
Otis wrote 'Great Balls Of Fire' for Jerry Lee Lewis, 'Don't Be Cruel' for Elvis Presley (number one on the pop charts for 11 weeks in 1956) and 'Fever' for the late Peggy Lee, amongst others. Blackwell died on the 6th of May 2002 from a heart attack in Nashville, Tennessee where he resided, following a stroke that occurred in 1991.

Lonnie Donegan singer - Lonnie is considered the founding father of British pop music, and the musician who provided the original inspiration for John Lennon, Paul McCartney, and a host of others. By the time the Beatles shook up the music world in the mid-1960s Donegan's glory days were over, and he had retreated to comedy and cabaret, but between 1956 and 1962 he notched up an incredible 26 hits. Donnigan was 71.

Lisa 'Left Eye' Lopes a.k.a Lisa Nicole Lopes - singer - Lisa, singer with TLC, was killed in a car crash in Honduras on April 26. Lisa was 30.

Rosemary Clooney - jazz singer/actor - Clooney, who co-starred with Bing Crosby in the film White Christmas, had been battling a recurrence of lung cancer. She died in June at age 74.

Weldon Irvine - accomplished musician who worked in the jazz field for years with such artists as Nina Simone, Billy Cobham and Randy Brecker. Weldon's songs were sampled by A Tribe Called Quest and Ice Cube amonst many other rap artists. He, also, played instruments on several rap tunes.
Weldon died of a self-inflicted gun shot wound in April, in New York at age 58.

Big John Patton - organ/piano - John worked with Lloyd Price, Lou Donaldson, Eddie 'Lockjaw' Davis, Calvin Keys, the late Arthur Prysock, the late Sonny Stitt, Johnny Griffin and Grant Green amongst others. Big John Patton died on the 19th March 2002, at age 66.

Hnery Knowles - Henry Knowles of the Nardcore band Agression passed away in August from leukemia and hepatitis c.

Huey Davis, the guitarist for the Sixties group, The Contours, died at his home in Detroit on the 23rd February 2002. Davis was born in 1939.

Doreen Waddell, 36 - singer - Former singer with Soul II Soul of Clarendon Villas, Hove, U.K., died after being hit by three cars as she fled a shop after being caught shoplifting. She leaves behind a four year old son. Waddell sang lead vocals on Soul II Soul's 1989 Club Classics Volume I album. She was 36.

Michael Houser - guitarist - The lead guitarist and pioneer of one of Athens premier bands, Widespread Panic, died after a bout with a pancreatic cancer. Houser, 40, died at his Athens home.

Karl Chambers - drums - Chambers played for on many Philly sessions during the Sixties and Seventies. Karl was recruited by the Gamble & Huff organisation and was a key part of several classic slices of soul music, for the label, including sessions for MFSB, The O'Jays, The Three Degrees, Archie Bell and the Drells along with further sessions for Gladys Knight and the Pips and the Tymes. Karl played the drums on the Delfonics hit 'La La Means I Love You', 'Ain't Nothing But A Houseparty' by the Showstoppers and on the Intruders 'Cowboys To Girls'. Karl also played in a band called Toomorrow (see above), a group fronted by a youthful Olivia Newton John in 1970. Karl was the brother of guitarist Roland Chambers. He died in February of cancer at age 55.

Mickey Newbury - songwriter - Credited with helping usher in a new era of country music songwriting, Newbury, in the '60s, Newbury had hits in four different genres: Eddy Arnold scored a top country hit with Here Comes the Rain, Baby; Solomon Burke had an R&B hit with Time is a Thief; Kenny Rogers had a pop and rock hit with Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In), and Andy Williams had an easy-listening hit with Sweet Memories. Mickey died in September after a long battle with a blood disease. He was 62.

Tim Rose - folk singer - died in London in September. Rose turned down the offer to replace Brian Jones in The Rolling Stones. Rose left the music business and became a construction worker in New York. Nick Cave recorded Rose's "Long Time Man" and Rose learnt that his albums had been reissued in the UK. He began playing again the late 1990s and up to this year. Rose was 62.

Willis Draffen - founder member of the soul band Bloodstone, died on the Friday the 8th of February. He was 56. He was a diabetic. He had become ill as he was in the process of organizing a stateside tour for the band.

Duane West - singer with The From 1982 until 1999 Ernest Duane West was the smooth baritone member of the group. He worked in the earlier part of his career as a singer in the Southern Gentlemen Quartet with Sonny James. He then was tapped to fill an opening in the Jordanaires and joined the group that has appeared on countless record-
ings, from Patsy Cline's "Crazy" to most of Elvis's biggest Nashville-recorded hits. The
quartet was inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame in 1998. Ernest Duane West was only 61.

Jerry Fuller - drummer - Born in Calgary, Alberta in April of 1939, Fuller spent his entire music carrer as a drummer. His highlight was playing drums with Duke Elllington. Fuller can be heard on the Ellington CD, North Of The Border. He died in his sleep in Toronto, in July. Jerry was 63.

Ray Coniff - Ray Conniff, the Grammy Award-winning composer and bandleader whose arrangements epitomized the Big Band sound while spawning such albums as "S'Wonderful" and "Somewhere My Love," has died. He was 85.
Conniff died Saturday at Palomar Medical Center in Escondido after falling down and hitting his head.. He had suffered a stroke in April.

Conniff had more than 100 recordings and produced 25 Top 40 albums for Columbia Records. He rendered such classics as "Besame Mucho" and "New York, New York," in a career that spanned six decades.

Derek Bell - harpist - The Chieftens harpist Derek Bell died suddenly in late October. Bell had just been cleared to return home after minor
surgery and routine health exams. The Chieftains had just finished a U.S. tour on Sept. 30 in Nashville. Bell was 66.

And finally,

Charles Frazier - sax/flute - Frazier passed away in September at the age of 95. He was the last living musician that recorded with King Oliver.

Peggy Lee (jazz singer)(heart attack)

Rudy Robinson - He was at various times (in Detroit) a music writer, arranger, producer, promoter and keyboardist whose associates included:
The Temptations, Spinners, Dramatics, Four Tops, Martha Reeves, Diana Ross, David Ruffin, Liza Minelli, Isaac Hayes, Johnny Taylor, Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis, among others. (heart attack at 61)

Zac Foley - bassist with U.K. popsters EMF (He died from a cocktail of drink and drugs).

Webster Lewis - funk/jazz musician - pianist, clarinetist, conductor and arranger worked with such artists as Herbie Hancock and Barry White, died of diabetic complications at age 59, in November.

Waylon Jennings (country singer/songwriter/guitarist)(diabetes-related illness)

Mick Tucker - drummer for 1970s U.K. glam rock band, The Sweet. Remember Little Willy, Ballroom Blitz, Fox On The Run, Love Is Like Oxygen? Mick died in February after a 5 year battle with leukemia. His wife Janet and daughter Aysten, 22, were at his bedside.

Joe Schermie - bassist, Three Dog Night (died suddenly in March from a massive heart attack)

Billy Mitchell - former singer with the Washington-based rhythm-and-blues group the Clovers who was best known for his rendition of 'Love Potion No. 9,' died on the 5th of November at Washington Hospital Center after a stroke. He had colon cancer. He was 71.

John "Speedy" Keene - A close friend and associate of The Who, and a member of Thunderclap Newman. Keene was a talented musician (drummer), signer and songwriter, author of the psychedelic classic Armenia, City In The Sky, which opened The Who's classic 1966 LP The Who Sell Out. (This was the only time the 'Oo used a track written for them by another composer). Keene is best remembered for Thunderclap Newman's perennial 1969 hit Something In The Air.

Dudley Moore - actor/comedian/musician - Dudley will be best remember for his role in Arthur. Moore was 66. (pneumonia as a complication of progressive supranuclear palsy)

Marc Moreland - guitarist - Wall Of Voodoo guitarist and songwriter Marc Moreland died in March, in Paris of kidney failure at the age of 44. Moreland -- a member of one of L.A.'s first punk rock bands, the Skulls --founded the more sophisticated group Wall Of Voodoo in 1978 with vocalist Stan Ridgway. The band recorded six albums for IRS from 1980-88; its song "Mexican Radio" became an early MTV staple> Moreland later worked with Johnette Napolitano of Concrete Blonde and recorded under his own name. Mark was 44.

Frank Tovey - singer/musician - Frank Tovey aka Fad Gadget died in April at his home in London of heart failure at the age of 46. Frank had suffered from heart problems since his childhood. Frank Tovey will be best remembered as one of the Electronic pioneers who, alongside Human League, Cabaret Voltaire and The Normal, were at the forefront of the U.K. Electronic Movement of the late '70s/early '80s. Tovey had recently toured with Mute label mates Depeche Mode and was working on a new album and tour.

Layne Staley - singer - Staley, 34-year-old singer from Seattle's Alice In Chains was found dead in April from a drug overdose.

James Dewar - drummer - Jimmy Dewar, former drummer for guitarist Robin Trower, died of pneumonia on May 16 in the U.K. Dewar was 59.

Gwen Sales - Scottish violinist and artist was killed in a car crash at the age of 30. Sales appeared in the Michael Flatley touring show Lord Of The Dance and was a well-loved figured on the folk scene. She died in Chicago, where she lived with her husband, American guitarist Dennis Cahill. Sales was also an accomplished artist having done some album artwork.

Dee Dee Ramone aka Douglas Calvin - bass guitar -Dee Dee, founding member of The Ramones, was found dead at his home in Hollywood. Cause of death, accidental drug overdose.

Robin Crosby - guitarist - A longtime member of Ratt, Crosby was a big part of penning some of Ratt's most familiar songs. Crosby his battle with HIV/Aids in June.

Michael Stewart - singer/musician/writer/producer - Michael Stewart, two-time Grammy nominee who lead the popular 1960s folk-rock group We Five and produced Billy Joel's breakthrough "Piano Man' album, died in November at age 57 after a long illness.

Rich Dangel - guitarist - After jamming with current and former bandmates at a 60th birthday concert in Tacoma, Northwest guitar giant Rich Dangel died of an aneurysm at his Seattle home.
Dangel was a member of the seminal Northwest rock band the Wailers and is credited with creating the opening guitar chords of garage band staple "Louie Louie." Dangel was 60.

Mary Hansen - singer/guitarist with U.K. band Stereolab was killed December 9th, in East London on Monday after being hit by a truck while riding her bicycle. Mary was 36.

Zal Yanovsky - Lovin' Spoonful - Zalman Yanovsky died of a heart attack at his home in Onatario just six days before his 58th birthday on December 14.

AND we must not forget Joey Ramone (Jeffrey Hyman) leader of the great punk rock band, The Ramones. Joey passed away in April of 2001 from lympathic cancer. Joey has often been called the godfather of punk rock.

Posted by Mike Richards on December 24, 2002 08:54 AM

Giusseppe Codeluppi of Italian hardcore legends Raw Power passed away of heart failure at the young age of 44. Giusseppe(along with brother Mauro) was a founding member of RP.

Posted by Tim on August 10, 2003 04:50 PM

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Cold and the Dark

How the FBI can monitor your movements on the Internet.

The weather in North America has been unforgiving in a number of locations recently. California is getting a lot of snow, Newfoundland has received its usual blizzard-like conditions, and just east of Alberta, in Saskatchewan and Manitoba, snow and icy conditions closed the Trans-Canada Highway east of Regina towards Winnipeg. In Edmonton, we have no snow. I repeat, no snow. Well, drive about town and you'll see remnants of heavy November snowfall, but for now, grass is visible, although covered in frost because it is very cold here, -20C in the evenings. On the upside, the days begin to get longer now...

When I bought my '96 Corolla in March, I had installed a remote starter. At this time of year, it's a blessing, as I can start the car from inside my house when it is this cold. Another nifty feature is this: aim the starter at the car and hold down the starting button for five seconds. Do this, and the car will start itself every four hours and run for about 4-5 minutes. In sub-zero temperatures, this helps the car warm up faster when you start it to leave in the morning.

Christmas fast approaches. I'm off work until 2 January 2003. I have gifts to deliver tomorrow, and dinner with a good friend in from Vancouver tomorrow night. I saw LOTR: The Two Towers, Thirteen Conversations About One Thing, and Gangs of New York this weekend.

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The Gutnick Case, and Film Quiz Fun

A recent judgement by the High Court of Australia may not bode well for bloggers, who are rapidly growing accustomed to expressing whatever they feel in their blogs. Joseph Gutnick, an Australian mining magnate, was the subject of an article published in the Oct 28, 2000 Barron's Online (and in the print equivalent journal, dated Oct 30 2000). Having considered the article defamatory, he sued in Australian court for damages.

The question was, would the fact that the publication of the article originated outside of Australia (on a server in New Jersey) prevent the lawsuit from proceeding, since the story was downloaded in Australia? The Court said no, and ruled that a lawsuit could be filed in Australia against Dow Jones & Co, who own Barron's. Dow Jones appealed, and the appeal was dismissed. Opinions in favour of the judgement and against are appearing in increasing numbers. The growing concern is what some consider an impending threat to what the Internet provides for millions: a platform for free speech and expression. Some are saying the judgement could be critical, because it opens anyone who expresses an opinion of someone or something in another country to be subject to that country's libel laws.

Someone likes the name of this blog.

FilmWise is a nifty site that poses movie quizzes, including Invisibles, wherein they digitally remove the bodies of actors from scenes, leaving only their clothing. You try to guess from which movie each scene is. Here's the latest quiz. Good luck.

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Up in Smoke, Cashing In?, and Rebuilding Lower Manhattan

A library specializing in the history of artificial intelligence, whose collection was built over a 20 year period by one librarian in particular, together with 150 work stations and equipment worth over £500,000 was destroyed by fire in Edinburgh, Scotland, on Dec 14th. Ouch! As a fellow librarian, I empathize with how hard it must be to come to terms with such a loss.

In Florida, a manufacturer is producing a set of trading cards which feature portraits of victims of the Sept 11 attacks. He apparently has the approval of the families of each victim shown on the individual cards, which will sell for $2.50US each. Families will receive 8% royalties. The manufacturer denies he is cashing in on tragedy, but rather, is "providing a service to these families." Do you agree? I don't - I think it's really difficult to justify this. I might be more amenable if all the profits went to charity after costs, but that isn't possible when a for-profit enterprise is behind such a product.

Today in NYC, another seven new plans for the rebuilding of the WTC site were unveiled. My first reactions are not that positive, but I believe I need to study the designs further. The design from Richard Meier and Partners appears as an enormous hash mark from a distance, for example. You can see them here, and vote for your choice. Clicking on each entry opens another window with different views of the proposed sites, and each graphic within the new window moves while you are looking at it, a nice touch. (Warning: pop-up windows)

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Breathing Bad Air, Awards and the Hollywood Stock Exchange

First of all, it's Tuesday evening, I've returned from working out, and am inhaling toxic fumes in my house. Workers were here earlier today, ripped out my kitchen window, cleaned out the rotting wood and whatever else they found, reinstalled it with new window goop stuff, and the fumes are stomach turning. Thank God it's "warm" out, all my windows are open and the overhead fan in the kitchen is rocking. But my stomach hurts.

It's the beginning of the movie awards season. The New York Film Critics Circle named Far From Heaven Best Picture, Daniel Day-Lewis Best Actor for Gangs of New York, and Diane Lane Best Actress for Unfaithful (now that's a surprise!). Far From Heaven won 5 awards. The winners of the Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards included About Schmidt for Best Picture, Daniel Day-Lewis (Gangs of NY) and Jack Nicholson (About Schmidt) for Best Actor (a tie), and Julianne Moore Best Actress for her work in Far From Heaven and The Hours. The Boston Society of Film Critics Awards are never predictable. Best Picture went to The Pianist, a Holocaust film and a comeback of sorts for Roman Polanski (note: official site is in French), Best Actor to Adrien Brody for The Pianist, and Best Actress to Maggie Gyllenhaal for Secretary. The information above comes from the brilliant page of Alex Fung, the Film Awards Archivist Supremo!

But wait, there's more! From Anne comes this: The Hollywood Stock Exchange! YES! But what is it? "Buy shares of your favorite actors and their new movies and watch their values rise or fall based on their success. Stocks soar with a blockbuster opening at the box office and plummet with a bomb no one went to see." You begin with $2,000,000 "Hollywood Dollars". It sounds like a blast, I'm joining today!

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This Blogging Life

Geoff and I are planning a short article for Feliciter on blogging. We will not break new ground necessarily, but will report on the current state of the art, and how it is being used now in the library world, and what applications or uses might be forthcoming. We had our first coffee meeting today, and hope to have an outline in the next day or two. I am near the end of Rebecca Blood's book, which is a joy to read: straightforward, lucid, clear and obvious, presented in a crisp writing style that holds my attention.

I receive the Sunday NYTimes, and in this week's Magazine is their 2nd Annual Year in Ideas. It is fascinating, and I'm kicking myself for not keeping last year's issue. Check out genetically modified saliva, the crying baby translator, and the self-cleaning dinner table, to name a few. Rebecca also mentions this issue.

From Milk and Cookies comes the Stewardess Uniform Collection. This may seem odd to some, but students of fashion would find a site like this quite useful.

I finished a workout after work, ran errands, and returned home to load a new #15 b&w cartridge in my HP 812C, only to have it fail. Frustrated, I returned to Staples and swapped it, and when I arrived home and installed it, the same thing happened. I was incredulous. I surfed HP web pages, eventually found schematics for the model, and while staring at the cartridge casing noticed a small piece of metal was missing, the contact for the cartridge to connect to the printer. Argh! The part is probably worth 12c, so tomorrow I'll bring it in for repairs which will probably total $50...

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Google View

One of the fun aspects of blogging is checking out someone else's blog and discovering new information. From Geoff 's site I found the 2002 Year-End Google Zeitgeist, a review of "search patterns, trends and surprises." An examination of the various charts suggests that pop culture rules the search engine domains, and a pop culture of the very young. I was surprised to see that the top athlete, the athlete with the mosts searches, was someone I'd not heard of, David Beckham, a British soccer player.

Keith has an interesting take on dealing with unreasonable people.

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Random Thoughts

Last night I attended a party at a colleague's house, and had a great time. The gang spilled out onto Whyte Avenue at midnight, with some of us ending up at The Commercial Hotel (blues bar), where I watched a blues band from Chicago mop up the floor with some great tunes. The lead guitarist was amazing, getting tones from his Stratocaster of which I can only dream. I made it into bed at 2:00 am, and couldn't really get moving until 1:00 pm this afternoon - no hangover, mind you, it's called "getting old(er)".

I saw Star Trek Nemesis this afternoon, and agree with a number of critics who are calling it the best Trek film since The Wrath of Khan. The film features great performances from Patrick Stewart, Brent Spiner and the newcomer, Tom Hardy. The film is dark and brooding, and a lot of fun. I suspended my disbelief and had a good time.

Recently I learned that the ATF, the US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, discovered my web site, and through a contact, asked me to remove certain references from it. Out of respect for this person, I made the necessary (very minor) changes. No, the integrity of my site is fine, and there was nothing bad, illegal, suspicious, etc., of note. At issue was a reference to someone I know who works for them, and they asked if I would remove the reference for this person's protection. I did so, despite the fact that I live outside of their jurisdiction (duh). End of story.

Another website of fascination: soulbath.

I am finished my Christmas shopping, which wasn't much to begin with, a handful of gifts for children, mostly. What's left are my Christmas cards, which I make from cardstock and a chosen photo. The cards are ready to be personalized, what's left to add is my annual letter. This year it will be shorter than usual, because I have this blog now.

There has been much talk in the news about taking religion and Christ out of Christmas, as in past years. To me, it's tiresome. "We" are so worried in this era about offending anyone or being politically incorrect. Enough, already: Christmas is a Christian celebration and tradition. I'll say "Merry Christmas", and if that offends you, my apologies. So far, no one has ever been angry with me or corrected me for saying so. There's even a commercial out in which they sing, "On the first day of giving, my true love gave to me..." Ridiculous and offensive from the get go.

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Why Do This?

The problem with getting older is that short-term memory loss kicks in more often. Where was I again? Recently someone in my office at work asked me why I blog. It's a good question. And I think this question will go around and around, and that there are not enough answers to this question, because everyone who blogs has his or her own thoughts on the subject.

First of all, it's fun. Yes, fun. One's definition of fun isn't the same as another's right? Perhaps you get your kicks playing with from electric trains, collecting ketchup bottle labels, watching old movies, playing chess, working out, raising raspboras, what-evah. This is one of many things I enjoy devoting time to doing.

Since I began this in July, what I learned is that serendipitous blog browsing is an interesting way to discover and learn about new people and ideas and information, no different fundamentally from browsing a library shelf or the contents of a magazine. Here the playing field is somewhat larger, however. See the links in the right hand column to other blogs? The NYC ones, for example, were discovered by randomly surfing through the nyc bloggers site.

Within the weblog world, there are so many ways to connect with other blogs that most of the time I don't know it's happening. Witness this recent entry by Chris Heilman, of which I was not aware until he posted a comment on my site. Note that he says he found my site through Waypath, yet another linking service of which I was - wait for it - not aware. Waypath is a fascinating concept in information gathering: "...an attempt to network the weblog community, connecting weblogs that share common themes, ideas, and topics"

Another reason that became clear to me after a time is that it's an outlet to be creative. I confess that most of my friends are better writers than I am (Derryl, Robert, Geoff, Keith, Stephen, Bill, the list is endless.) I cannot think of myself as a writer - scribbler of words, perhaps. But the point is, I can log in, and wri - er - scribble about anything on my mind, and in the process become a better scrib - er - ok, writer. So, yes, I have to say it, blogging is "another learning experience!" AGGHHH!!! And no, writing a blog isn't the only way to create.

Examples of practical applications (as opposed to personal blogs like this one) are out there in many forms. In my work environment, examples include Science Blog and News.NanoApex. There are a number of library-related blogs, and I bow in Jessalyn's direction, followed by Jenny and Peter, for example. You will notice that some subject blogs allow for comments and discussion, others don't. There are no sets of rules on how to set up and run your blog.

Funny thing about blogs is how they parallel the world of science fiction fanzines, where the word fanzine was coined, btw. (Here's an interesting take from 1959) As a zine publisher in the late 60s-mid 70s, I can tell you that there were different kinds of zine before that time, during that time, and right up to this time: genzines (general fanzines), perzines (personal zines), sercon zines (serious/constructive), crudzines (need no explanation), clubzines (ditto), apazines (APA: Amateur Press Association), and so on. In the blog world, you have genblogs, perblogs, and sercon blogs. But don't quote me, please. Heaven forbid that these terms make it into the blog lexicon.

And I can't resist this one: the term blog has existed in the sf fandom world for decades. One scribe wrote that the term "blog", which means essentially a punch served with dry ice. Here's a detailed explanation from this site:

BLOG:
A fannish drink, like bheer. The present version, we are told, is a punch, often served with dry ice. According to Fancy II, it has come to be used for all the indefinable concoctions of alcohol and other things usually too hideous to mention which go the rounds of fan clubs and conventions. It started with Liverpool Fandom, first as the supposed sponsor of their taped faanfiction play "The March of Slime," then by hanging a "Drink Blog" sign at First Kettering (with the cooperation of the bartender); anyone who asked (including a few mundanes) was told they were "out" and didn't expect the next shipment until the next day, but later the barman made up a mixture of cider and rum to sell. The first fan concoction to bear the name was eggflip, brandy, bits of Tia Maria, Beecham's powder, aspirin, Benedictine, Alka-Seltzer, black currant juice, a touch of mustard and "other things" (The March of Slime took place in the mid-50s, so sf fandom has claim to word over bloggers by about 40+ years.)

I hestitate to say that another reason is to meet new people, because of the connotations, but in effect, you can and do meet fascinating people via their blogs, or others who may be interested in reading and commenting on your site but don't host their own.

Consider also the simple beauty of the exchange and discovery of new information. You never know where that will lead.

And for me, Rule 1 of creating and maintaining a blog: assume that no one will ever read it. When someone does, it's a small blessing.

Finally, Geoff and I will be writing an article about this. Stay tuned.

Conversation over.

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Movie, Movie, Movie, Movie (Movie)

Well, here's a switch: I saw three movies yesterday (five in total all weekend), and one of them hasn't been released anywhere in North America yet, including LA and NY, where it opens on Dec 27. John Cusack is one of my favorite actors (the other is Robert Duvall). Cusack has made smart choices in his career (exceptions include Con Air, but everyone needs a payday, right?), the results being a set of films that are mostly interesting, challenging and rewarding to the viewer. Plus, we share the same birthday, June 28.

Max is his latest film, a movie already being protested by the Jewish Defense League. The movie takes place in 1918 Munich, just as Germany begins to recover from having lost WWI. Ostensibly, the picture is about Max Rothman (Cusack), having returned from fighting less his right arm, but of a wealthy family and the owner of an avant garde art gallery. Having lost his arm, he has also lost his ability to paint. He has a beautiful wife and mistress, children, and the best living conditions. One day he meets a corporal in the German army, who has come in hopes of showing Rothman his artwork. When asked his name, he replies, "Hitler...Adolph Hitler." It is a numbing scene just for hearing those words.

The film explores the relationship between Hitler and Rothman, suggesting that the cultural and political milieu of Munich contributed to his decision to move his abilities and talents from art to politics, or perhaps to meld the two. The JDL is objecting to the movie on the grounds that it humanizes Hitler. I believe it does, but does it without prejudice and with no favours. We see how Hitler began his orating, and how he struggled with his burgeoning hatred of Jews and his grudging respect for Rothman, not only because of his art gallery, but because Rothman continually challenged him to improve his art.

Noah Taylor, robbed of an Oscar nomination for the movie Shine, plays Hitler convincingly. Small, wirey, and often filthy and poorly dressed, he is the opposite of Rothman in every way, yet they are attracted to each other intellectually. The scenes of Hitler learning to become on orator are chilling. Cusack, meanwhile, gives his best performance in years. Recommended.

Later that evening...

...I saw Little Otik, and a 20 minute confusing wash of colour, animation and camera movement called In Absentia, by The Brothers Quay. The best I can do is supply a quote from the official website:

"Shot in black and white and color and projected in CinemaScope, IN ABSENTIA combines live action and animation with dazzling use of light to convey the mindscape of a woman alone in a room repeatedly writing a letter with broken off pieces of pencil lead, while outside her window vistas of ever changing light register her every emotion. The film is dedicated to 'E.H. who lived and wrote to her husband from an asylum.'"

Knowing that in advance might allow the viewer to, er, enjoy this a bit, but overall it's a tough 20 minutes of your life to lose. The music is overpowering and an assault on the senses.

It was no surprise to learn that the Quays are fans of Jan Svankmajer, who wrote and directed Little Otik, the feature film shown after In Absentia. First of all, I've seen none of his other films, so I have no frame of reference to them. Little Otik is the story of a childless couple, unable to conceive. The husband, working at their cottage, cuts down a tree, then removes the stump and roots. To cheer up his wife, he trims and cuts the stump to make it appear like a baby. She immediately begins to dress, feed, talk to, and treat it like their new son. The film is in Czech with English subtitles.

Eventually the stump transforms into a living creature with an enormous appetite that can't be met with a few bottles of milk and some baby food.

This is one of the most bizarre films I've seen in a long time. I am still trying to wrap my head around it. The stop-action animation is jarring and hard on the eyes. There is no time to process each image before it changes. The characters are wacky to say the least: the wife creates nine pillows, each numbered and bigger that the previous, to fake a pregnancy.

I enjoyed this film up to a point, and then my enjoyment started to wane. Svankmajer repeatedly shows closeups of food, people eating food, people preparing food, often together with disgusting slurping and glorping noises. OK, so Otik gets bigger and likes to eat, I get the point. The film combines humour with surreal horror: Otik takes on a frightening form and behavior, and begins to eat the locals. In the midst of this, the little (really annoying) girl who lives next to the couple discovers a fairy tale that tells the story of Otik, shown to us in cartoon animation - it's not a fairy tale I'd read to any child I know.

I think I would have enjoyed this more if 30 minutes had been trimmed. One brilliant quote I read called it "a Czech "Eraserhead" featuring "Twin Peaks" Log Lady."

Oh, and I saw Hollywood Ending on Friday night, and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets on Sunday.

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NYC Photos

The first batch of photos, all digital, are up. It looks like Gallery won't run on my server. And I'm not finished with CIBC. Grrr...

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CIBC - More Proof that Big Banks Don't Give a Rat's Ass About Their Regular Customers

I've been banking with Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) since 1968. Why? They were the closest branch to my house when I was a kid in St Boniface, Manitoba. Throughout the decades, the service in branches has been excellent. However, on the U of A campus where I work, it's gone from good to poor to SBT: Sucks Big Time.

To wit: 1) many years ago: CIBC shuts down its campus branch and moves it five blocks off campus; 2) shortly thereafter: CIBC removes its two Instant Tellers from the Student Union Bldg; 3) sometime later: CIBC removes one of its two Instant Tellers from the entrance to my bldg (both heavily used); 4) this morning: CIBC removes the other, very heavily used Instant Teller for reasons unknown. This is a bank machine that has a long lineup most times during the day. It's now boarded up with a hand written note advising customers to call a number and complain - duh. My first e-mail of complaint to the imaginary customer service suits is below. My advise: don't bank with them if you haven't. Now it's time for me to consider my alternatives. What's sad is that the service I get in my branch is penultimate - the people there genuinely seem to care about their small change customers like me. But the Suits must think differently - I guess students, the bulk of the users of machines like the ones outside my library, aren't worth their time.

Here's the text of my e-mail to the faceless wonders at CIBC:

"Hello. My name is Randy Reichardt, I have been a CIBC customer since 1968. I work in the Cameron Library at the University of Alberta in Edmonton. Until this morning, there was a CIBC Instant Teller outside the entrance to the library. It was HEAVILY used. Most times during the day the lineup would be 10 deep. For years there were two machines there to handle the load. Then a few years ago, CIBC removed one of them much to our (students and staff) displeasure.

This morning, the other machine was removed. We are all stunned and angry. Please note this as a protest and a plea to have the machine returned. Please don't quote me user statistics - I work here, I see the machine 10 times a day, it is always busy during term.

CIBC's action is incredibly frustrating for its users here. This is the antithesis of customer service. It is customer betrayal.

CIBC seems to have it in for the University of Alberta:

1) First, the branch that was in our students union bldg was closed and relocated many blocks away from campus
2) The CIBC Instant Tellers from the same bldg were removed sometime later in the 90s.
3) One of the two CIBC Instant Tellers was removed from outside the entrance to my bldg a few years ago
4) Today, the other one is removed.

Please explain to me how this is improved customer service. Really, it sucks big time.

Thanks for nothing. I must give serious consideration to moving my accounts at a later date. This is a shame, because the staff, especially Tina, Chantel and Yvonne, at the College Plaza Branch, #09069, provide fantastic customer service. How sad that the opposite is what we are seeing here at the U of Alberta, with a machine that is the most heavily used I have ever seen.

What were you people thinking?

I have a small, modest personal web site which includes a weblog. Please feel free to read my latest entry regarding CIBC's customer service:

http://www.podbaydoor.com/archives/000071.html#000071

Sincerely, Randy Reichardt."

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So are you saying that the machine in the breezeway from CAB to the Library is gone, now, too?

The one in HUB eats cards. Be wary!

Posted by kelly on December 4, 2002 01:35 PM

That's what I'm saying, Kel. It sucks, it's bullshit, it's all about maximizing their profits. They don't give, like I said, a rat's ass about convenience for their users.

Posted by randy on December 4, 2002 03:30 PM

Randy:

It's more evil (eviller?) than you think. CIBC's own machines' fees are regulated under the Bank Act. Therefore they have set up a separate company as an unregulated company. See the evil yet. You pay every time you use a CIBC machine. When they put their 'private' ATM's on campus you and students will be paying a special transaction fee of 1-2$ and ON TOP OF the CIBC fee! And the Feds and the Finance and Banking Comittee in Ottawa are letting them get away with this!! You'll see - the private cm[pany can pay the University rent for the space so the U of A will be in collusion with the private affiliat/subsidiary of CIBC or another one of the big 5 banks. Watch and wonder at the evil plan! It's happened all over Toronto to the mall ATM's where the Malls started charging rent to the ATM's and the Big 5 ATM's were replaced by these duoble-billing fake-private ones. Don't say you weren't warned! They want your complaints to use in their negotiations with U of A to apply pressure . . . reduce the rent, share the profits, etc. Check out the U of A council - Who's the bank rep?

Posted by Stephen Abram on December 4, 2002 07:43 PM

Ah yes, another favorite blog topic of mine: bitching about the Big Banks. I'm with you Randy - CIBC does seem to do its share of sticking it to its customers. I've recently done some research into getting a small business account with the various Big Banks and needless to say, I did not choose CIBC due to their higher service charges, friend's past experiences (like your own) with them, and to boot, my own lawyer said that many of his (small business) clients have been unhappy with CIBC as well. In the end, I went back to the bank I've been dealing with for my personal needs: TD Canada Trust (which, incidentally, was better I think when it was just the TD bank).

Please let us know what response you get from this letter. I hope they realise how much power something like this on a blog has. They'd be stupid to ignore your letter.

Posted by zuchris on December 4, 2002 10:16 PM

Wow. Stephen, I wasn't aware of what you said. That is so frightening. I've always said that the transaction fee charged to your account when you use another bank machine rather than your own (i.e., instead of CIBC I use Royal) was bogus. I mean, it's all the same damn network. It's a false charge. But I wasn't aware that the banks factor in their costs of maintaining the machines into our user fees. Disgusting.

Zuchris, I've heard that TD Canada Trust has some respect for their customers. Maybe it's time to cheque - er - check them out.

Overall, the action of removing the machine from our area has caused hundreds, if not thousands of regular users on campus a considerable convenience. Here's what we've learned. The three reasons for removing that machine:

1) not enough transaction traffic (what the f*ck? - the lineup is often 10 deep)
2) the cost of maintaining the machine
3) something about Bank of Montreal having more exclusive rights to be on our campus. Er, then why are there Royal, Scotia, and CIBC machines on our campus?

It's so frigging lame. Once we had six machines on the main campus, now there is one.

Posted by randy on December 4, 2002 10:41 PM

Put up some signs, tell people where to write to bitch. And by all means, advertise the BS about private machines that Stephen says; that would make for good PR for the idiots. Me, I dropped CIBC many many years ago, after one too many diddles.

Posted by Murph on December 4, 2002 11:08 PM

All big banks suck. All of them.

Posted by jennifer on December 5, 2002 12:13 PM

I've just heard at the coffee shop a rumor that the CIBC's waiving of monthly fees that occurs when a minimum is kept is being modified. The minimum is going from $1000 to $5000. In looking to confirm this I found this site. That will make me look somewhere else and I've been there 35 years. I do know that they have no morals, it's strictly where you stand in the food chain.

Posted by Yvon Lebel on April 27, 2003 11:13 AM

Sheesh, the big banks do suck, I bank with smaller banks where they have more personal service and friendlier staff. Ive banked witht the National Bank Of Canada for years and not a single fee,( only $2.25 for Internet and Telephone banking per month) My Interac and Foreign withdrawal fees were waived, ATM fees, Direct Payment, everything was waived! I got screw by RBC, I was charged $55 for transactions on a account that had free transactions( my sons account) they fixed it , but this kept happening, we closed the account and moved it to the NBC. Its been nice with the National Bank, smaller banks are better!
Thomas,
Montreal

Posted by Thomas on May 2, 2003 10:07 PM

SOMETHING needs to be done...a class action something....I have been royally screwed over the last few years at the Bank of Montreal. Have you read their newest "Public Accountability Statement"? http://www2.bmo.com/content/0,1263,divId-7_langId-1_navCode-3680,00.html
It's a laugh and who knows how much they spent getting that done up. Could have saved hundreds of "small busineses the BMO supports" from the suffering they inflict daily.

Posted by Donna on August 13, 2003 11:05 PM

I agree with all of your comments. Totally justified!! I only deal with CIBC because I am forced to, unfortunately I am one of their many underpaid and under appreciated employees. So, if you think banking with them SUCKS, you should try working for them!! As far as I can tell, all big Banks SUCK and are only intersted in the profit!! Good luck to all!!

Posted by Anne on November 15, 2004 11:02 AM

I almost totally disagree with most of your comments. I too work at CIBC but I feel very appreciated and paid quite well. I am a customer service representative, and I feel that I give good customer service. I think that there are few things that need to be cleared up. For the waiving of monthly fees the minimum balance has been moved up from $1000 to $1500. I personally don't believe that there should be discounts for people with more money in their accounts because they are generally the ones who can afford to pay the user fees and I have stated my concerns to my superiors about this.

I think that as with every company no one will be totally satisfied with the service that they receive but be assured that CIBC has heard your complaints, our main focus is NOT on profits but on CUSTOMER SERVICE, believe me we have heard what people are saying and are trying to make ourselves better because of it. Thank you for reading this and I hope you all have a wonderful life. Stacey

Posted by Stacey on December 30, 2004 11:07 PM

Stacey: I appreciate your comments, and do not disagree with your point of view. I have always received good customer service from CIBC, that is not my complaint. I am beyond weary and bone dead tired of the attitude of the Big CIBC - the suits in Toronto that make decisions based on profit, and on what's good for CIBC's shareholders.

Where I live, CIBC recently shut down four local branches, consolidating them into one large branch that is difficult for anyone without vehicles to reach, especially seniors. The only branch left open in this area was the one servicing the wealthiest customer base.

Where I work, CIBC has withdrawn five of its six Instant Tellers over the years, despite howls of protests from hundreds of students and staff at my university. All their complaints and concerns fell on corporate deaf ears. What replaced the ITs were generic money machines which charge $1.50 per withdrawal, and (apparently) are owned by a company under CIBC auspices. The result: another cash grab by CIBC, in this instance at the expense of starving students.

When you say you are a good Customer Service Representative, I believe you. If I worked for CIBC, I would give them my best. As for me, I'm done with CIBC after 36 years. I recently opened three accounts elsewhere that have no service charges. When I need US cash, I will use a broker in the city that deals with foreign exchange. CIBC is interested in their rich, corporate clients. The raising of minimum balance requirements from $1,000 to $1,500 smacks of more corporate money grubbing.

Banks do not care about their lunch bucket customers. It's a reality of the 21st Century. If CIBC did care, they would drastically reduce their service charges, return accounts that generate interest, stop closing branches to increase profits, and stop pulling Instant Tellers from as many locations as they have done to date.

Thanks for your comment on my post.

Posted by randy on December 31, 2004 12:24 AM

I also work for CIBC and agree with Anne's comments. After reading Stacey's comments I can only conclude that she is either New with the company or started her New Year partying a tad early! And trust me Stacey, complain and voice your opinion til you're blue in the face, management does NOT give a rat's ass about the little fellows and never will. Wake up girl!!

Posted by Linda on January 4, 2005 09:53 PM

The CIBC is by far the worst bank I have had to deal with. I have been dealing with them since the early 90s and it just gets worse and worse. Absolutely no respect for the customer. I hate the CICBC so much I won't even walk in the door. I tried to close my bank account over the phone, but they can't even do that for me. I guess I will have to step in there one final time. If you have a Community Savings in your area, go there. They treat you like a human.

Posted by James on March 30, 2005 10:55 AM

re: stacey's comments; anyone who thinks banks are about customer service over profit has their head so far up their ass that it will never come back. banks make billions of dollars every quarter. why? they regularly implement steadily rising bank fees, and patently ignore any complaints about it. if you call to complain, all you get is a telerep who doesn't care, because they're probably outsourced for even less money than you make. you will get lip service and nothing better. i have had a rent cheque bounce because my account was supposedly $0.47 short. nevermind that bouncing a cheque over a matter of 47 cents is ridiculous to the extreme [and then they charge you $35.00 NSF, and you get charged NSF fees by the person you wrote the bad cheque to - in this case, my landlord, who graciously understood the situation, and waived any NSF fee], i actually had $21 more than enough to cover the rent; but guess what? the funds were partially on hold because i had deposited via an ATM. yes, the banks have ingeniously discovered multiple ways to make technology work against us, so as to milk us for all we are worth. yay for progress!

Posted by jacob on April 6, 2005 10:53 AM

Haha! I think this is hilarious! I work for CIBC as well, and I just typed in CIBC to see what I found - lo and behold - I found a ton of sites with people bitching about CIBC! Well, what I have to say is not new news - CIBC sucks! The only reason I work there, is because I need to eat, and pay the bills. Everytime CIBC is in the news - Everyone has heard about the idiots that can't work a fax machine - I can only hang my head in shame, that I work for a joke of a company.

I could seriously go on for hours about how horrible of an employer CIBC is.. The pay is crap, and how the customers are treated is even worse! The higher ups have finally realized how much they have f*ked up in the last few years, and are trying to switch the focus back to customer oriented. Oh, and all the while, raising the targets for sales even more!

I have a personal story for everybody.. Listen to this, I doubt anyone will believe it..

I got into an argument with my boss last year about vacation. He was being a jacka**, and wouldn't let me go. I had booked the hotel, thinking that it wouldn't be a problem, but he was being a f**ker, so we fought, and I ended up not going, and losing my deposit for the hotel.

Get this..

I try to complain to HIS boss, about how he was being a jackass, but because he is a salesperson that was meeting and EXCEEDING his targets, HIS boss didn't believe me. The two of them then got together and concocted some assinine story about how I wasn't doing my job, etc. First they offered me 4 weeks pay to quit, and when I said that I wanted to stay, they told me that if I didn't get mutual fund licensed in 3 months, I would be canned.

Well, you know what? I said f**k them, and I started putting my nose up everyone's asses, acting like an angel from heaven, and wrote my IFIC and got licenced. I worked hard to get where I was and I wasn't going to let a couple of chumps beat me like that! Besides - I had a little secret..

A couple of months later I dropped the bombshell.. My boss wasn't so innocent after all.. I wont tell you all the details, but lets just say I had some incriminating evidence.. After the fire under my ass had cooled, I shed the light on what was going down, and that f**ker got fired a month later. I must say, that is my proudest and best acheivement - don't f**k with me, because I am an elephant, I remember everything, and it WILL come back to bite you in the ass! And for those of you who work for CIBC - That jackass rated me a 3 OUT OF 10, and because of that bullcrap, I didn't get a year end bonus OR a raise. Funny, now, 3 months later, with a new boss - I have been nominated as an acheiver. Funny how I was such a terrible worker before, and wow, I must have suddenly become enlightened, to be good enought to be an achiever.. Or maybe I NEVER WAS A PROBLEM??

I hate these stupid politics, and honestly, I can't wait to retire - I only have 40 more years to go.

Posted by Carys on May 14, 2005 12:11 AM

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Signs

All I want for Christmas is a nice photo management program like Gallery.

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Anarchy in the Library

A fascinating interview with Jessamyn West, creator of Librarian.net, is available in the latest issue of Library Juice.

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Solaris and Other Things

I saw Solaris on Saturday, and the film moved me considerably. It's a remake of the 1972 film of the same name, based on the book by Stanislaw Lem, which I've not read. The film is about a psychiatrist who is summoned to a space station orbiting the planet Solaris, on which strange events have taken place - each member of the crew has a "visitor", someone from their past.

The film begins as a straightforward narrative, but then moves away from a linear story line. Despite the sf setting, it feels more like a love story, and it moves at the same pace as 2001: A Space Odyssey, my all-time favorite movie. Fifteen minutes into the film I was smiling, feeling the heavy influence of that film on director Stephen Soderbergh (which he has also acknowledged). Like 2001, it does not answer any questions, leaving the viewer wondering what just happened. For me, the film's feel was very much 2001, and I loved it for that reason. The music, feel, (even a line uttered by Natasha McElhone taken right from 2001), the pace, all evoked Kubrick's masterpiece for me. The non-obvious ending is puzzling and frustrating, but the film is worth the effort. There are no fast-moving spaceships, no aliens per se, no phasers. Expect the unexpected.

I had an otherwise quiet weekend. I attended a apartment warming party on Saturday night at my friend Elan's place, and it was nice - I knew no one there, yet found her friends to be warm, delightful and interesting. I also hung out after work on Friday at the Power Plant with friends, and I enjoyed that a lot.

There are some beautiful and amazing women in this town...

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