:: I'm checking statistics for my site, and decided to see what phrases people are searching that brings them to my site. Here are a few gems:
:: Did you see School of Rock? I was pleased to learn that there is a real such movement, called Little Kids Rock. It was started in 1996 by David Wish, an elementary school teacher who at the time, was frustrated with the lack of funding for music education in his school.
:: Some of you may be familiar with This Modern World, by Tom Tomorrow, aka Dan Perkins. Mr Tom Tomorrow was interviewed in a recent issue of Time Out New York.
:: For dinner this evening, I had the first of four delicious Nova Scotia lobsters, flown in from Halifax yesterday. The lobsters were in the luggage of a friend I picked up at the airport, the second year in a row she has returned from her Christmas trip with this delicacy that is my favorite food. *sigh* Thank you, K!
:: Fans of Steve Earle will be interested in this new documentary, Steve Earle: Just an American Boy. Earle stirred up much controversy when his 2002 album, Jerusalem, featured a song called John Walker's Blues, about the American Taliban fighter. A double-CD functioning as a companion piece to the movie has also been released. Time Out New York reviewed the movie favorably. I really like Jerusalem, and hope the film makes its way to Edmonton in 2004.
| TrackBack (0):: I've been very lazy the past few days. I was in Calgary on Christmas Day, visiting my brother Chris and his girlfriend, Debra, where they treated me to a fine Christmas dinner and great company. I returned on Boxing Day (Dec 26 for my non-Canadian friends), and have been doing a lot of nothing since then, except seeing movies.
:: I wanted to see at least 100 films this year, and reached that number yesterday. In the past few days, I've seen Peter Pan, Morvern Callar, Paycheck (ok, so I needed to see a fluff film), 21 Grams, House of Sand and Fog, The Barbarian Invasions, Looney Tunes: Back in Action, and LOTR: TROTK. I'll see Elf this afternoon with friends. Despite my best attempts to keep a master list of the films I see, I believe I always forget to list a title or two each year.
:: In the remaining week away from work, I hope to get some cleaning done in the house, but given how lazy I'm feeling, I'm beginning to wonder if I'll get anything done!
| TrackBack (0):: I was talking on the phone with my mother, Loretta Reichardt, the other day, and the conversation turned to how we lived in the 50s, and how we heated our home in the winter. I recall that we had a coal furnace, and remember watching my Dad shovel coal into the large, mysterious vessel that lived in our basement on Gareau Street, in St Boniface, Manitoba. I asked my Mom what it was like in the 1930s, when she lived in a little house with her three sisters and two brothers. How did they heat their house in the winter?, and other questions emerged. I asked Mom to detail this for me, and I present to you her words below:
Then you asked me what it was like in my home when I was just a young girl. How did grandma and grandpa heat our home?, you asked. We had two different types of stoves in our home. My dad put one of the stoves up in the living room in the winter. It was called a Booker furnace. It was your typical pot-bellied little furnace that had the pipes going up through the ceiling, and into one of the upstairs bedrooms and then out through the chimney. At night, my Dad would stoke the furnace until it was unbelievably hot in the house, then my Mother would say to us, "Sneak upstairs and open the bathroom window." So one of us would open the window, and five minutes later, my Dad would yell, "Who opened the bathroom window?", and we'd all say, "Nobody, it wasn't me, Dad!" Then the stove would burn out in the middle of the night, and when it was -30 outside, the house would begin to cool down within an hour, to a very cold temperature. We had many blankets to keep us warm during those nights.
By the time my Dad woke at 6:00 am, he'd start the fire again in the Booker furnace, and one in the kitchen stove. My younger sister, Carol, and I, wore navy blue bloomers and black stockings to school with our tunics and white blouses. When it was really cold at night, we tried to sneak the bloomers and stockings on before bed so that when we woke up in the morning, we wouldn't have to step on a freezing cold floor. But before we'd get to sleep, my Mom would check on us first; she'd toss the covers back, check our feet and see the stockings sticking our from our pajama bottoms, and order us to, "Get those off immediately, you cannot sleep in your bloomers." We would respond, "But we don't like stepping on the cold floor with our bare feet in the morning", and she'd say, "You're not babies, stop crying and just do it", and sometimes she'd give us a story about her growing up on the farm, and how much harder it was then, and how much easier life was now.
In the kitchen was a large stove with a warming oven at the top. The stove itself had several rounds on the top which one could open to place the wood in. These were located to the left side of the stove. On the extreme right side of the stove was a reservoir which my parents would keep filled with water. This water would then become hot whenever the stove was lit and you had a good fire burning. There was the oven in the centre of the stove. It had a thermometer on the front and my mother would regulate the heat whenever she was baking bread, cookies, cakes, pies, or cooking meat such as a roast, chicken, turkey, etc. Looking back, it amazes me how she managed to keep the fire in the stove at the right temperature, so as not to overcook or over bake anything.
We didn't have a hot water tap in our home so we were always grateful to have the hot water in the reservoir for washing ourselves before bedtime and then again in the morning. We did not have the luxury of a bathtub or shower. We had to bathe in a huge galvanized tub which my dad would place in the downstairs bedroom which was located just off the kitchen. My father would fill a large copper double boiler on the top of the stove. I am not too sure just how many gallons of water it held, but it was enough to fill the tub in the bedroom where we could bathe in privacy. You were always happy if it was your turn to be first in the tub. Being that we were a large family, one tub full of water had to do for three of us, one after another. We took turns being first. Then my father had the job of emptying the tub and then refilling it again with more hot water for the next set of children.
This was a common practice among those of us who were considered the poor in the community. However, although we were truly poor as far as dollars and cents go, were very rich in so many other areas. My mother kept her six children spotless, our home was always immaculately clean, and because she was so gifted, she sewed most of our clothes. I lie in bed even now and sometimes can almost hear her treadle sewing machine working into the late hours of the night. When we awoke in the morning, there would be a new coat for one of us that mom had made from an old coat someone had given her. She would get these coats, take a razor blade and invite one of us to hold the coat at one end while she carefully ripped the seams open with her trusty razor blade. Then she would take a piece of white chalk, have us stand in front of her while she measured and marked just where she knew she would have to cut and sew. Voila! A masterpiece awaited one of us by morning. My mother was a real genius. We were truly blessed.
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:: I wasn't really aware until this "holiday season", of how Politically Correct we've become in North America, regarding saying Merry Christmas and mentioning Jesus Christ at this time of the year (gosh, it's his birthday), instead saying "Happy Holidays", and especially not mentioning anything connected with Christianity and the like, so as not to offend anyone. I was raised Catholic and still consider myself to be a small "c" Christian, and find myself more than a bit annoyed at this trend. A Christmas tree at the law school at Indiana University was removed so as to ensure that the University remains "an inclusive area in which no-one felt offended or left out." I find this astonishing. Christmas trees and nativity scenes are not offensive religious symbols, but represent tradition and beliefs of, in this case, the majority of North Americans. Political correctness runs the risk of sucking dry whatever non-commercial-based joy there is left at Christmas time.
This letter from a local Devon pastor says it all: "However, I find a peculiar solace in one thing: I can now wish salespeople a "Merry Christmas" and consider it not only an act of faith, but an act of sheer political defiance."
I hope you are not offended by my best wishes to you for a very Merry Christmas and a Happy 2004!
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:: Speaking of the Village VOICE, regular columnist Michael Musto reveals his 2003 Felix Awards, and they are worth the read!
| TrackBack (0):: The Village VOICE has released its list of winners of the 5th annual VOICE critics' poll. Here's how it works:
Individual ballots of the participating critics can be viewed here. A collection of essays on the year's films is also provided. The VOICE film critics, J Hoberman, Michael Atkinson, and Dennis Lim, listed their top films of the year as Spider, Platform/Unknown Pleasures, and Medea, none of which I have seen. Medea was made in 1988 for Danish television by Lars Von Trier. No wonder I missed it.
:: Top Ten movie lists have begun to appear. What's interesting is the choice for top film is different on the four lists provided here. Time Magazine critic Richard Corliss picked Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King as the top film (and I agree.) His colleague, Richard Schickel, chose Mystic River. Chicago Sun-Times' Roger Ebert gave the nod to Monster, and his Ebert & Roeper partner Richard Roeper chose In America as his top film of 2003.
I saw In America today, and it's a wonderful, brilliant, moving film, highly recommended.
| TrackBack (0):: A revised model of the Freedom Tower, to be built at the WTC site in Lower Manhattan, was unveiled yesterday. The tower will be 70 stories tall, have an angular shape, and a 276-foot spire, bringing the height to 1,776 feet, the same number as the year of American independence. Add the broadcast tower to the the spire, and the total height will be above 2000 feet. It will be the tallest free-standing structure in the world, and have turbines at the top of the main structure, to harvest wind energy to provide 20% of the buildings energy. The building will be constructed with additional safety features absent from the WTC: "The tower is to have a concrete core and be encased in a steel cable netting that will brace the building." The building is scheduled for completion in 2008. A 360-degree view is here (requires Real Player.) Details of the finalists for the design of the WTC Memorial Site can be seen here.
:: I saw Lord of the Rings The Return of the King yesterday, and it is indeed the movie event of the year. I hope the Academy recognizes Peter Jackson's stunning achievement, and awards him the Best Director Oscar he so deserves, along with Best Picture of 2003.
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:: I haven't seen The Return of the King yet, but hope to tomorrow. Three friends have, and report that it's quite the cinematic experience. James Berardinelli describes it as "...not only the best movie of 2003, but the crowning cinematic achievement of the past several years. In fact, labeling this as a "movie" is almost an injustice. This is an experience of epic scope and grandeur, amazing emotional power, and relentless momentum." Rotten Tomatoes as of this evening was recording a 97% favorable rating, with 146 positive reviews of 150 listed. However, the review that left me howling was found at Derryl's site, written by Neill Cumpston and posted on Ain't It Cool News. Be forewarned that it is rude, politically incorrect, full of obscenities, and is hilariously funny.
:: The 2004 Golden Globe nominations were announced today. I don't know what the big deal is with Seabiscuit. It was ok, but didn't do much for me. Overall, I don't think this is a spectacular year for top quality movies. I hope LOTR:TROTK sweeps the big awards. Peter Jackson is overdue for recognition of what he has accomplished with the three Rings films.
| TrackBack (0):: Sree Sreenivasan has gathered together the year's best web tips, as reported in the Web Tips column on Poynteronline. Sreenivasan also has a site for "sharing tips on various topics", such as photography, Google, hoax sites, and graphics and image sites.
All web tips since Sept 2001 are listed here.
:: The 10 worst ideas of the fall 2003 television season include the dumbing down of The West Wing, and the full-frontal assault of the three Law & Order franchises, both of with which I agree. While you're at it, check Lost Remote, a television blog founded by Cory Bergman. And in case you missed Paris Hilton on SNL two weeks back, here's the transcript of her brief sketch with Jimmy Fallon during Weekend Update. It's totally brilliant and funny.
| TrackBack (0):: Geoff, on a blogging tear of late, wrote about Zempt, a multi-platform program that works with Moveable Type, and allows for blog posting without having to login to your MT site. I downloaded the app at work and at home, and it works brilliantly. Give it a try if you are an MT blogger. Another related app is w.bloggar, which works with MT and other blog software.
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:: I've been meaning for some time to make mention of two reviews I wrote recently for Blogcritics.com. Both reviews have Stanley Kubrick as their subject.
The first book is Moonwatcher's Memoir: A Diary of 2001: A Space Odyssey, by Dan Richter, the actor and mime who played Moonwatcher in the movie. What was special for me was that I e-mailed the review to Dan, who in turn e-mailed me back with a few comments, as well as permission to add to the review his notes about how the voices were recorded for the 18-minute Dawn of Man sequence, which opens the movie. The review is here.
The second book is Stanley Kubrick: A Life In Pictures, a gorgeous coffee-table book, assembled with much love and care by his wife, Christiane. I borrowed the book from another library in the country, and spent two weeks examining it in detail. If you are a Kubrick fan, it is a book that belongs in your library. The review is here.
| TrackBack (0):: Despite the recent ruling that P2P file swapping of music is legal in Canada, the Canadian Recording Industry Association is preparing its own round of lawsuits to be filed against individual Canada-based file swappers.
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:: Weighing in at 59 kg/113 pounds, and measuring 5 feet high and almost 7 feet long, Bhutan: A Visual Odyssey Across the Himalayan Kingdom, a 114-page picture book about the country of Bhutan, won't be fitting on any standard library shelves in the near future. The brainchild of MIT Computer Scientist Michael Hawley, 500 copies are being printed, to be sold at $10,000US each, with profits after cost going to tax-deductible Bhutan-related educational causes. The book evolved from four trips to Bhutan with a few MIT students. Photos from those four trips are available on this page: http://ark.media.mit.edu/.
This article from MIT News shows a copy of the book opened, with one of the subjects of the book standing at one end. More coverage in the NYTimes (free registration required.)
| TrackBack (0):: The NY Film Critics Circle has named Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King as Best Picture of 2003. The complete list of winners is here. (The Associated Press, btw, reported this incorrectly.) The NYFCC gave Best Director to Sofia Coppola, for Lost in Translation. (Coppola and her husband, Spike (Adam Spiegel) Jonze, are divorcing.)
Meanwhile, the San Francisco Film Critics Circle reversed those two awards: they named Lost in Translation as Best Picture, but gave Best Director to Peter Jackson for LOTR: TROTK. When will the LAFCA announce their winners?
| TrackBack (0):: The Copyright Board of Canada ruled on Friday that downloading peer-to-peer music files is legal, although uploading them is illegal. More information is available under "Private Copying 2003-2004", on the Canadian Copyright Board web site.
| TrackBack (0):: I wonder when I will learn that agonizing about money is a complete and utter waste of energy.
In November, I was driving in the parking lot of an abandoned mall, near my home. The only other car in the vicinity was approaching from the opposite direction on the same road. I realized too late that this car and I would arrive at the corner of this mall road at the same moment. It had snowed considerably the day before, and while the other car passed me at that corner without a problem, I couldn't slow down enough to negotiate my left turn, and my car slid on an icy patch, into the curb. I knew immediately that I had a problem. When I drove on, I could feel the car leaning to the left. Back on the main streets, the steering wheel started to shake at 80+ kmh.
The car was in today for an oil change, and I reported the problem described above. I soon learned that the right front rim was bent. To replace it meant also replacing the front wheel bearing and necessary seals on the right side. Final damage: $491 and change. I also learned that the rotor run-out wasn't damaged, which would've added another $200+ to this experience.
Party On!
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:: Somedays you just don't feel like writing stuff.
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:: In an interview with Om Malik, Jacques Vallee suggests that weblogs will save the Internet.
:: Kenton and I attending the screening of the new 35mm print of 2001: A Space Odyssey last night at the Metro. The print was good, a bit rough in spots, and there was no surround sound in the theatre. But it was still great to see the venerable 35-year old movie on the big screen, complete with the Overture before the film started, and its intermission after the scene in the pod. The crowd numbered between 50 and 75, and with the exception of the occasional can of pop being opened, the crowd was almost reverant in its respect for the movie. During the scenes where there was no sound, only silence, you could hear a pin drop in the theatre.
2001 still looks good. I'm amazed that the sets and design of the movie still look good, almost contemporary, after three and a half decades. I was so wide-eyed when I saw it the first time, in December 1968. Certainly that sense of wonder isn't the same now, but seeing the film again made me feel, for a few moments, like I was that skinny 15-year old kid again, amazed at what I was watching on the big screen.
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:: According to Rolling Stone, a magazine that was once relevant in the world of music, here are the top RS 500 albums of all time. On this page you can take a quiz, check out videos associated with the albums, and debate who else should be on the list.
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:: ... Jena's site, the absolutely worst version of the Christmas carol, O Holy Night, ever recorded. Turn up the sound, get out the earplugs. It's hilarious.
:: ... Robert's site, a link to some amazing photos from the Hubble Telescope.
:: ... Oliver Willis's site, this entry on the decline of the bookstore comfy-chair (well, in the USA, anyway, we don't have Borders or Barnes & Noble around here.) Fascinating to read through the 45+ comments to find an entry from someone who thinks Oliver's observation is a left-wing cause. Eh?
:: ... Derryl's site, a photo that breaks the gigapixel barrier, containing about 1.09 billion pixels, and stitched together from 196 separate photographs.
:: various sites, mention of the National Board of Review's Award winners, and the nominations for the 2004 Independent Spirit Awards.
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:: A new 35 mm print of 2001: A Space Odyssey, re-released with very restricted distribution by Warner Bros in 2001 (duh), finally makes its way to Edmonton this coming weekend for four days. With 2001 being my favorite movie ever, I'll be there.
| TrackBack (0):: It is the end of the day, and for various reasons, it has been less than memorable. Nothing major, but small, nagging things, things that can't be articulated very well at the best of times, decided to appear and make themselves visible. Tonight I wish them away, back to where they originated, that they may find someone else to annoy.
:: I saw Bad Santa on the weekend, and the film didn't work for me. My observations are available on Blogcritics.com. I am, however, in a distinct minority, as the film is getting mostly good reviews.
:: My mom called this evening to tell me that when she opened her oven to put in a chicken this afternoon, the bottom element was on fire. My dad used the fire extinguisher, which didn't work initially, but he kept at it. The fire alarms went off, and four firemen in a firetruck appeared soon afterwards. All is well, but the oven is a mess, and according to Mom, their kitchen and living room are covered in a fine, white mist, from the fire extinguisher. She spent the remainder of the day working to clean everything up (and if you know my Mom, you know the house MUST be clean!)
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