:: The 2004 IFP Independent Spirit Awards were announced on Saturday night in Santa Monica CA. The awards are given the night before the Academy Awards. "The Spirit Awards is a celebration honoring films made by filmmakers who embody independence and who dare to challenge the status quo." Lost in Translation was the big winner, taking Best Picture, Best Director, Best Male Lead, and Best Screenplay.
| TrackBack (0):: What's next in writing tools for weblogs? Dave Winer wants your opinion. I'm wondering if something like Textpattern is where things are headed. Then there is the corporate blog movement; anyone heard of SilkBlogs?
:: When I drive, I play word games with licence plates on vehicles in front of me. When it's a plate with three letters, I try to form words using the letters in the order they appear from L-R. For example, my plate's letters are WZN, which could be wheezing or waltzing. My previous licence plate was STR, which could be straight, stretch, mustard, magistrate, saturate, etc. Today I saw a plate with CRD, and could though of chord, card, cradle, etc. I also though of The Communards, an 80s UK band. Later while driving, I was switching radio stations (all of the pop music stations in Edmonton suck bobos), and the first song I heard was "Smalltown Boy", by the Bronski Beat, which later became...The Communards.
Coincidence? Psychic phenomenon? Rift in the space-time continuum?
:: Grey Tuesday happened yesterday. An LA DJ, Danger Mouse, "created" a remix of Jay-Z's The Black Album and The Beatles' White Album, and released it on the Internet, calling it The Grey Album. (Jay-Z had released an a cappela version of The Black Album to encourage sampling.)
EMI, claiming copyright of The White Album, is attempting to stop the album's distribution, having previously sent Mouse a cease and desist order, re: online distribution of the record. The Grey Tuesday web site notes that "Danger Mouse’s album is one of the most "respectful" and undeniably positive examples of sampling; it honors both the Beatles and Jay-Z." Jason Kottke suggests that "musical sampling without prior consent of the copyright holder should be legally allowed because it does our society more good than harm." Hundreds of web sites turned grey on Tuesday in protest.
I can't buy this argument. I've been a musician for 37+ years, and don't see anything creative or inventive in the "sampling" of another artist's original work by adding new lyrics or rhythm, then claiming credit (or co-credit) for it as an original work. That opinion notwithstanding, how does not informing a copyright holder that her or his music has been taken by another "artist" and morphed into something else, do harm to society? WTF?
So why am I against this, while not against downloading? Because I believe these are two different issues. If the music industry can get its act together (right, and the sun will go nova this weekend, too) to create a fee-for-service downloading service, I'd be happy to pay to download music, if the fee structure was within reason, and the quality of the product could be guaranteed beforehand. So far, the industry hasn't responded. And P2P downloading is legal in Canada. With "sampling", an artist takes an original work, changes it, and we are expected to view this as a new, creative and unique product.
DJ Danger Mouse "honors" The Beatles with this effort? The album cover shows Jay-Z in the centre, with The Beatles standing behind him, as if to suggest collaboration. Still other versions have him sharing space with The Beatles on the Revolver and Yellow Submarine covers. Sacrilege.
Many artists allow sampling of their music, but the process begins with permission to use copyright material, and then negotiations for compensation with the copyright holder(s). Many other artists, The Beatles included, do not allow sampling.
Then again, this is just my opinion, I could be wrong.
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:: While chopping up a piece of tomato tonight, I sliced off a small portion of the top of my left thumb with the knife. Damn thing wouldn't stop bleeding for about an hour. Now it's just throbbing. Some peoples' kids.
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:: Garth (old Wpg friend living in Mpls area) sent a link to The Comics I Don't Understand Page. The owner uploads comic strips published during a one-week period, the punch lines or points of which he doesn't get, and asks readers for their interpretation.
:: Keith advises that Microsoft is offering its Windows Security Update CD free of charge. "This CD includes Microsoft critical updates released through October 2003..." It's useful if you are have a slow 'net connection. More info available here. As well, updated info on the Mydoom and Doomjuice worm variants is available, including a free scan of your computer to see if it's infected with either of these products.
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:: I discovered a fascinating web site last night, or more specifically, an online ad. But what intrigues me more is how I got there. In the February 8, 2004, issue of the New York Times Magazine was an article by Clive Thompson, called “The Virus Underground.” The article is about an elite group of computer virus writers, some of whom are members of the Ready Rangers Liberation Front. The virus code, or “malware”, which they create is freely available for downloading from their site(s), but almost always, the viruses do not do permanent harm. The codes offered do not (necessarily) harm machines like Sobig.F, Slammer, Blaster, or the recent MyDoom.A, which were designed to do permanent and serious damage, and whose creators have yet to be found.
I checked the rRlf site, and while there, looked at the links page. I noticed on the list a website called Collision Detection, and the name next to it was "Clive Thompson", who wrote the article I was reading. Thompson's site is a blog, which "collects weird research I'm running into, and musings thereon." Scanning through Thompson's entries, I noticed one titled, "The coolest ad I've ever seen", which caught my attention.
There is a GE commercial running on TV these days which features a string quartet playing music on a stage. The bodies of the musicians, however, are made of water. The online ad opens in a smaller window, and features one "water-bodied" violinist playing a few notes. The ad morphs into a heading about water technologies, and 16 drops of water in a row are left on screen, each representing a different note in a major scale. Moving the cursor over top of a drop from below plays the note. Move your cursor fast enough, and you can play a tune! I was able to do the five-note run from CE3K without much effort. Try it yourself.
What's of further interest is how Thompson found the ad: he was trying to read an article in Salon, but without a subscription, he had to click on an ad to view it, which was this ad.
:: I had an MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) on Friday night at 8:45 pm, in the region around my left elbow, where I have lateral epicondylitis, aka tennis elbow. At the hospital, I had to remove everything I was carrying and leave it in a locker, and wear a hospital gown and a robe over top of that. I was asked if I ever had an eye injury which left metal lodged in my eyes. I was placed on the bed of the imager, and a camera was wrapped around my left arm, and the arm was held in place with straps. I needed to lie slightly to the right of the bed, which was uncomfortable, because as the bed moved into the imager, my right arm was jammed up against the inside wall a bit too tight for my liking.
I was also given headphones to wear, because of the constant loud banging sounds made by the magnetic field gradients. An example of the sound can be heard here. I was in the imager for about 25 minutes, trying not to breathe too deeply or move at all, while doing my best to reduce the pressure against my right elbow. "Your MRI Exam" provides an accurate description of my experience that night.
| TrackBack (0):: Those who know me well, know that I am as good at working on home improvement projects as I am at, say, thoracic surgery or the study of lower paleolithic prehistory. As well, I am as interested in actually doing home improvement projects as I am, for example, in getting hit in the skull with a baseball bat, contracting a terminal disease, listening to country music, or eating ratatouille.
When my colleague and friend, Kathryn, saw the walls for the first time, she took it upon herself to begin nagging encouraging me to give serious consideration to removing the wallpaper, insisting that it was a relatively painless process, and could be done quickly. Such as it was, her constant pestering encouragement continued until I caved in agreed to give it a shot. Use of a wallpaper steamer would make the project easy and quick.
With that in mind, on Monday, Kathryn, and I began and completed the wallpaper removal project at my house in a mere four hours or so. Turns out she was right, and I actually had fun doing it. But imagine our surprise when we began removing the pink wallpaper only to discover that the wall behind was painted...pink. Not only that, but the exact same shade of pink as the wallpaper. Er...why would someone wallpaper a painted wall with the same shade and colour as said painted wall? We'll never know.
In the meantime click on the picture or here to see some photos from the event, as well as a short, 27-second movie clip of the wallpaper removing action!
Next up, painting. The colour I'm liking at the moment is called Scotland Road. The three smaller colours (top to bottom) in this combination are Neptune Blue, Southern Breeze, and Parsnip.
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:: There is word circulating that Dick Wolf is considering a fourth Law & Order series. Apparently a third CSI series is in the works, CSI New York. Saturday Night Live featured "Law & Order: Parking Violations Unit", in an October 6, 2001 sketch. I enjoy the three L&Os now, but don't know if a fourth is necessary. How about "Law & Order: Library Fines"?
I don't watch the CSI shows. However, my tv viewing habits keeps shifting. I've watched some of the new Dennis Miller show, but his move to the right disappoints me; I can't believe he's leaving Bush alone. Typical week for me: Monday: The Newsroom; Tue: 24, L&O:SVU; Wed: L&O; Thu - nothing; Fri - nothing, although I watched South Park last night because they went to Canada to see the new prime minister; Sat: SNL, Ebert and Roeper, MAD-TV, Coupling (when it's broadcast), Sun: L&O: CI. I tape SportsCentre, Charlie Rose, The Daily Show, the occasional Letterman/Leno/O'Brien/Kilborn, if I learn that a guest in whom I'm interested is scheduled to appear.
Overall, still too much tv.
The family of James Davis, an NYC councilman slain in 2003, was upset with NBC last week for airing an episode based on that incident.
:: I'm disappointed but not surprised to learn that the Yankees are pursuing Alex Rodriguez. I really hope he doesn't sign with them.
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:: Mike sent word (no pun intended), that the Oxford English Dictionary chose blog as their Word Of the Day recently. In the OED, blog has two definitions, one as a verb, and one as a noun.
Also, here's the OED entry for weblog, which as you will notice, has two definitions; the one from 1993 has nothing to do with blogs.
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:: The 2004 IFP Independent Spirit Award Nominations have been announced. The awards will be presented on February 28, 2004, the night before the Oscars.
| TrackBack (0):: The Village Voice has released its 30th (or 31st) Annual Pazz & Jop Critics' Poll. Details: "This poll combines ballots from 732 critics, who divided 100 points among 10 2003 albums. Maximum per album: 30. Minimum: 5. Points determined placement, with total mentions (indicated in parenthesis) used for tie breaking."
I don't recognize many of the artists on these lists, and certainly don't know most of the Top 50 singles or albums. Lil Jon & the East Side Boyz featuring Ying Yang Twins? Kelis? Lumidee? Chingy? And what's with Jay-Z (or Jay-Zed, as we say in Canada): Beyonce featuring Jay-Z, Panjabi MC featuring Jay-Z, Pharrell featuring Jay-Z? OK, I do recognize Warren Zevon, Coldplay, Johnny Cash, The Strokes, Radiohead... Hey...YA!
What am I listening to these days? The Jethro Tull Christmas Album, and it's damn good.
| TrackBack (0):: In yet another in a never-ending series of insane and idiotic examples of "this can only ever happen in the USA", a Knoxville TN woman is suing Janet Jackson, Justin Timberlake, MTV, CBS and Viacom, alleging that she and millions of other viewers suffered "outrage, anger, embarrassment and serious injury", as a result of the nano-second baring of Jackson's right mammary gland during the Super Bowl halftime show. The woman is seeking billions of dollars in compensatory and punitive damages! She has not specified what serious injuries she suffered as a result of the incident.
This woman needs to sit down and shut up. How do people come up with this garbage? What lawyer would take this on willingly? (Well, maybe that's not a leap of faith, actually...)
Here's hoping this is dismissed as fast as the Al Franken/FOX News lawsuit was last fall.
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:: Things are little out of whack lately, as I sort through this and that in my life. It happens. I'm spending an inordinate amount of time agonizing over a lecture I'm giving in an engineering design class next Friday, trying to settle on what to highlight in the 50 minutes, and in what order. My house is a mess, and I've got a number of small tasks that I keep putting off, like writing a few letters, sending cards, getting some info to my Dad for a painting he's composing, etc. I know this will sort itself out. Plus, it's early February, and already I have events scheduled through to October, which for some reason, I find bothersome. No big deal, I suppose.
:: Among the increasing number of annoying catch-phrases and doublespeak that we hear on television and radio, and read in newspapers and magazines, I detest the habit of sportscasters who use an amount of money to describe the time left in a sporting event, when said time left is under two minutes. "Vince Carter, with a "buck twenty-two" left in the game, slam-dunked a decisive basket, leading the Raptors to victory blah blah blah..." Is this usage supposed to be cooler than saying "a minute and twenty-two seconds?"
I'm also weary of reviewers using the word "twee" to describe music or some other art form. Although I must admit I didn't know that "niminy-piminy" is a synonym for twee. Whatever...
:: Interesting to note that the two entries below with photos of my father in 1945, and my mother in 2004, both feature them with casts on their right arms.
:: I saw The Triplets of Belleville and City of God this weekend, two Oscar-nominated movies. Both are excellent. Triplets is a bizarre, spaced-out 80-minute animated movie about a grandmother and her grandson, who competes in the Tour de France, but is kidnapped by the French Wine Mafia. There is little dialogue, so no subtitles are needed. And the song, "Belleville Rendezvous", nominated for the Music (Song) Oscar, is infectious and catchy, making you want to start boogeying in your theatre seat.
City of God is about a young Brazilian boy, growing up in the middle of incredibly violent gang warfare, in the slums of Rio de Janeiro in the 60s, 70s, and 80s. His best friend turns to drug dealing, but he resists the criminal life, and instead dreams of becoming a photographer. It is captivating, sad, and compelling, and deserving of its four nominations.
| TrackBack (0)What follows is an account, written by my father, Michael Reichardt, of the time he was in the Canadian Army, in 1945, near the end of WWII. He didn't see action in Europe or Japan - he was too young when the war ended, so he was in basic training only. As part of a long-term project, my mother and father will be contributing vignettes about their lives during various time periods, from the 1930s onwards.
I trained with a few other soldiers, and finally the day arrived for the boxing matches. At the time, however, I was also training in another elite squad of soldiers. That weekend, this elite squad was scheduled to be honour guards at the intersection of Portage Avenue and Main Street (the major intersection in Winnipeg), to celebrate another successful war bond drive. As a result, I had to miss the boxing card. I didn't mind too much, however, because I got a 48 hour pass out of it.
Prior to leaving Fort Garry for advanced training at Camp Shilo, I had volunteered for the Japan war theatre, because the war had ended in Europe. VE Day was May 8 1945. After our basic training was over, we were transferred to Camp Shilo, south of Brandon, in western Manitoba, in the middle of May, 1945. After we were settled at Shilo, boxing came up again. I volunteered and this time got to fight. The only match I fought ended in a draw, and I broke my right thumb, and my nose was also badly injured. My opponent was left handed, and I didn't train to fight a southpaw, so it was quite confusing to land punches.
After the fight, my right thumb was in severe pain, and the doctor ordered an x-ray, confirming that the thumb was broken. I ended up with a cast on my right hand, up to my elbow, for what seemed forever. All that for a broken thumb, and it was during the hot summer months, and my arm was very itchy most of the time. My nose was very sore after the fight; the doctor asked me if I was having any difficulty breathing, and at the time, I said it seemed to be fine. Since the fight, I have had problems breathing through the left nostril. Nasal surgery in the early 1960's helped correct the problem for a few years, but the difficulty breathing eventually returned, and remains to this day. While recovering from the injury, I was assigned to light duty as an orderly in administration, and did not take advance training with the rest of the platoon.
Then one day, perhaps August 12, 1945, we were ordered to line up for a physical, in preparation for the forthcoming troop movement to Vernon. I went along with the big cast on my right-hand/arm, lined up and passed the physical. I inadvertently covered the cast with my jacket, and the doctors didn't notice it during the inspection! Within a couple days we packed our gear, piled onto a passenger train and headed west. Aug 14 1945 was VJ Day (Victory in Japan) and it was too late to cancel this troop movement. We were heading for Vernon, British Columbia, where we were scheduled to take American Army basic training.
While we were riding the train, a new medical staff did their physical inspections, and when they saw me, they asked me, “How the hell did you get on here?”, advising that I wasn't supposed to be on this troop movement with a broken arm. So now I'm leaving for further training, and I pleading total innocence, of course! What does an 18 year old kid know?
When we got to Vernon, the first thing the medics did was to rip off the cast with a pair of big tin snips. Shortly thereafter, it was back to basic training, but only for a short time, as the army was talking about demobilizing, and was asking for volunteers for guard duty or a career in the service. Because of my young age, I had a choice of being discharged early or remaining with the Army. I chose to leave the Army, and returned home to Winnipeg on the train.
After the discharge at Fort Osborne Barracks in Winnipeg, I enrolled in a six-month course on architectural and mechanical drafting course at the Manitoba Technical Institute. After graduating, I was unable to find work in drafting, as there were thousands of veterans all looking for work at the same time. Eventually, I took a job at Empire Radio and Auto Supply, where I worked about three years. In the fall of 1949, I left Winnipeg again, this time to go to Wells, British Columbia, to work in a gold mine, but that’s another story for another time.
:: I saw 19 movies in January, easily a new record for films viewed in one month. It sounds like a lot, but I did see 8 of them in four days while I was sick with the flu.
:: On Friday morning in Winnipeg, my mom slipped while getting into her car on the way for a workout.
:: Time seems to move at a faster speed when you get older. It's hard to explain. Tomorrow is Groundhog Day. At best, six more weeks of winter. We've had a lot of snow in the past two weeks. Today, while returning home from dim sum, I slid into the back of another car while driving on 99th Street. Luckily, there was no damage to either vehicle, and the driver, a young woman, was gracious, polite, and very friendly, and told me that it wasn't a problem. She was very sweet and considerate. I was angry with myself for not watching the road more closely. Lesson learned.
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