:: I'm still very much enjoying what Boston accomplished last Wednesday. Red Sox Nation will never be the same. It so wonderful that they won the World Series. I'm going to savour this win for a long, long time. Check out these front pages from local and regional newspapers after the Sox WS victory last week.
:: I haven't exercised now since late August, and I feel like a total slug. I hope to return to the cross-trainer this week. I also need to clean up my diet, an ongoing, never-ending story. I ate some butterscotch ice cream tonight, then tossed the remainder of it into the garbage can in my driveway.
:: The fallout from the Ashlee Simpson fiasco on SNL on Oct 23 continues. Last night's episode skewed her repeatedly, in sketches, on Weekend Update, and in Kate Winslet's opening monologue. Leslie Stahl of 60 Minutes was onsite the night of her blunder, working on a story about Canadian ex-pat Lorne Michaels, who produces SNL. The story includes a picture of Simpson, walking past Stahl and clutching her throat, in tears after she walked off the stage during rehearsal. The picture almost makes me feel sorry for her. A portion of Stahl's report, which can be viewed for free from this page. I have to give Simpson credit for this, however. She did tell MTV that she thinks it's silly that so many are concerned about her snafu given everything else that's going on in the world. Fair enough, but at the same time, she's another in a string of bland, manufactured pop stars. If this is what the music industry is offering the public, it doesn't surprise me that the industry itself is in turmoil. My other question is: whatinhell was Michaels doing booking her in the first place?
:: Saw the movie, Easy Riders, Raging Bulls: How the Sex, Drugs and Rock 'N' Roll Generation Saved Hollywood, on DVD this weekend. The movie is based on Peter Biskind's book of the same name, and is a documentary about 1970s maverick filmmakers, including Coppola, Scorsese, Lucas, Spielberg, Schrader, Bogdanovich, Hopper, Jaglom, and more. Directors are not exclusively featured, actors and actresses, producers, cinematographers, editors, producers, are also included in the discussion. Equally fascinating is the 2nd disc, which includes an addition 100 minutes of interviews, ending with comments, all unflattering, from many who were mentioned in the book, including Peter Bart and Paul Schrader. The clips end with Biskind describing how the book began, examples of how he was able to interview subjects such as William Friedkin and Spielberg, and finally, responding to criticisms from his subjects. A fascinating piece.
Biskind followed this book with another examination of the movie industry: Down and Dirty Pictures : Miramax, Sundance, and the Rise of Independent Film. I haven't read either title yet.
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:: As someone who wants to be able to subscribe to HBO, I almost fell off the couch reading this article, which appeared in many Canadian newspapers this morning:
Making it illegal for Canadians to subscribe to television programming via foreign satellite systems infringes on their freedom of expression, a long-awaited judgment concluded yesterday.In 2002, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that it was a federal offense to sell technology which allowed consumers to get access to encrypted signals from US-based satellite systems. Côté's ruling could eventually lead to the end of the CRTC dictating to Canadians what they can and cannot watch on their televisions. Côté is allowing a one-year grace period before her ruling comes into effect. Consider that appeals will probably be made as well, meaning that change could take a while. But it's a move in the right direction.Quebec Court Judge Danielle Côté handed down a 153-page ruling that found two sections of the federal Radiocommunication Act violate the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
Those sections deal with so-called grey-market satellite systems for decoding an encrypted programming signal.
The court order was sought by Jacques D'Argy of Drummondville, after years of legal battles:
D'Argy, representing himself throughout all the court proceedings, said yesterday he always wondered "why can I import the New York Times but not (the U.S. television network) Fox."Well, DUH! The Red Sox win the World Series, and a ruling in favour of allowing access in Canada to US cable networks. What a great week. | TrackBack (0)
Sweet.
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:: Man, what a fall classic we have on our hands. With the Red Sox Nation ahead 3-0 in the World Series, everyone, and I mean everyone knows better than to assume the Sox will win it all tomorrow, or on Thursday, or on the weekend, breaking their 86-year drought. We've seen it not happen too many times before. But migod - you could taste it tonight. You could taste it in the late innings of the game, when it became apparent St Louis wouldn't mount a comeback, and you knew the Sox would win Game 3. The Cardinals are almost an afterthought tonight. I want the Sox to win, badly. Do I think they'll do it? Maybe. Y'see, when you pull for the Sox, or the Cubs, or White Sox for that matter, you assume nothing, and follow the Berra rule: it ain't over 'till it's over.
The sheer, crystalline beauty of what the Sox accomplished against the Yankees last week can't be celebrated and savored enough. Yes, the Yankees have 26 WS titles, and no other MLB team has more than 9 - St Louis, oddly enough, is that team. If the Red Sox win, they will move into third place, with 6 WS titles. In 1986, the Sox were within one strike of the title, with a 2-run lead, and found ways to lose. It wasn't Buckner's fault, his was the last in a series of mistakes made by the team. In the ALCS last week, the Sox turned the tables on themselves - down to three outs away from being swept, they tied the game against arguably the best relief pitcher in baseball, clawing back in extra innings to win Games 4 and 5 at home, anchored by their own version of flawless relief pitching. Game 6 saw Schilling's miraculous turn, and in Game 7, the icing on the cake: a 6-0 lead after two innings, allowing baseball fans across Planet Earth to watch both teams set records: one for the greatest comeback, and one for the greatest choke in 100 years of baseball playoffs. The overpriced Yankees were absolutely humiliated in their home park while hundreds of millions of fans watched worldwide. It was a stunner.
The first WS was held in 1903. Boston beat Pittsburgh. There was no WS in 1904, and in 1994, it was cancelled. Thus, 2004 is the 100th WS. How fitting it would be for the Sox to bookend 100 years of World Series play with victories at both ends of the playoff century.
Hell hasn't frozen over yet, but the temperature is approaching sub-zero.
Also posted to Blogcritics.
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:: And God smiled on Boston. Yeehaw!
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:: The worst nightmare of a Democrat voting in the 2004 US presidential election. (If that link doesn't work, try this one.)
Update - both links not working one day later. The domain name for the BoomChicago site in The Netherlands appears to have been claimed another group. Pity, because the video is a good one, and very funny.
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:: It started snowing on Friday night in Edmonton, and continued throughout Saturday. When it snows this early, not even one month into autumn, the only word that comes to mind for me is: offensive. It's too early!! All we can do is hope that it melts before it gets too cold for that to happen.
:: Jon Stewart, currently the co-author of the #1 best selling non-fiction book in the USA, was on Crossfire last week, and was brutal in his assault on the show itself. Rather than appear on the show in his role as a comedian, as Tucker Carlson apparently expected, he tore into both Carlson and co-host Paul Begala for the show's lack of journalism ethics. The video of the segment is available on iFilm - if you are running Norton Internet Security 2003, you'll need to disable it in order to get the film to play.
Read "Jon Stewart Bitchslaps CNN's 'Crossfire' Show", on the MTV web site. Stewart leveled into Crossfire, accusing the co-hosts of being "partisan hacks". But Stewart saved the best for last, when Carlson said to him: "I do think you're more fun on your show", to which Stewart replied, "You know what's interesting, though: you're as big a dick on your show as you are on any show." From the MTV article:
"What you do is not honest. What you do is partisan hackery," Stewart said. "You have a responsibility to the public discourse, and you fail miserably.The transcript of the show is available, as is Carlson's reaction."I watch your show every day, and it kills me. It's so painful to watch," Stewart added as it became apparent that the comedian was not joking. He went on to hammer the network, and the media in general, for its coverage of the presidential debates. Stewart said it was a disservice to viewers to immediately seek reaction from campaign insiders and presidential cheerleaders following the debates, noting that the debates' famed "Spin Alley" should be called "Deception Lane."
"The thing is, we need your help," Stewart said. "Right now, you're helping the politicians and the corporations and we're left out there to mow our lawns."
While the audience seemed to be behind Stewart, Begala and Carlson were both taken aback. The hosts tried to feed Stewart set-up lines hoping to draw him into a more light-hearted shtick, but Stewart stayed on point and hammered away at the show, the hosts, and the state of political journalism. Carlson grew increasingly frustrated, at first noting that the segment wasn't "funny," and later verbally sparring with the comedian.
"You're not very much fun," Carlson said. "Do you like lecture people like this, or do you come over to their house and sit and lecture them; they're not doing the right thing, that they're missing their opportunities, evading their responsibilities?"
"If I think they are," Stewart retorted.
The conversation reached its most heated moment when Carlson said to Stewart, "I do think you're more fun on your show," to which Stewart replied, "You're as big a dick on your show as you are on any show."
God bless Jon Stewart and The Daily Show. It is simultaneously funny and sad that at least 21% of people under 30 in the USA consider The Daily Show and SNL as sources for presidential campaign news.
:: I've been volunteering at the EIFF since Wednesday, working in the "Industry Centre", and picking up a few delegates at the airport. I've seen two pictures so far, P.S. and Primer.
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:: From NewsScan Daily:
A father in China's Zhengzhou province has been denied permission to name his son "@" because it cannot be translated into Mandarin, as the law requires. The father had argued that the symbol is in common use on keyboards and should be acceptable. The attempt reflects parents' global penchant for saddling their progeny with silly monikers -- earlier this year a couple in Holland, Michigan insisted on naming their son Jon Blake Cusack Version 2.0. As The Register noted at the time, "Jon and his wife will certainly be spending many a sleepless night debugging little Jon Blake Cusack Version 2.0 and -- in about 16 years' time -- having a pretty hard time explaining to their unfortunate offspring whose bright idea this was in the first place." (The Register 12 Oct 2004):: Primer will indeed play in Edmonton in 2004. Tomorrow, in fact, at the Edmonton International Film Festival. I plan to see it. I also hope and/or would like to see Bad Education, Bright Young Things, Dear Frankie, The Five Obstructions, Intimate Strangers, P.S., and Seven Times Lucky, to name a few (more.) | TrackBack (0)
:: Scanning the Leisure section of yesterday's NYTimes, I noticed an ad for a movie called Primer, written, starring, and directed by Shane Carruth. I visited the film's web site, discovering that it includes a review from the NYTimes, written by AO Scott. The film sounds compelling and interesting, and quite the mind bender - Scott describes the movie as "technically speaking, science fiction, but of an unusually rigorous and unassuming kind." Two amateur inventors create a machine in their garage, "a device that reduces the apparent mass of any object placed inside it by blocking gravitational pull", with far-reaching consequences. Scott compares the brain-teasing flow of the film to other movies like Pi and Memento. One reviewer has seen the film five times, with Scott advising that "part of the attraction is the tantalizing belief that if you see it enough, you will finally figure it all out." But he counters with the following:
I'm not sure of that. Having seen it twice from start to finish and gone back over the videotape in search of clues to its meaning, I wouldn't say that it entirely makes sense. At a certain point, Mr. Carruth's fondness for complexity and indirection crosses the line between ambiguity and opacity, but I hasten to add that my bafflement is colored by admiration. Mr. Carruth has the skill, the guile and the seriousness to turn a creaky philosophical gimmick into a dense and troubling moral puzzle."Ambiguity: "doubtfulness or uncertainty of meaning or intention" (1 of 2 definitions listed); opacity: "obscurity of meaning" (1 of 7 definitions listed). I'm not sure that helps me. :-)
Also intriguing: the film was shot on 16mm and cost $7,000US to make. Unfortunately for us in Edmonton, I doubt we'll see a print of the movie before 2005 at the earliest. Until then, watch the trailer here.
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:: My Winnipeg visit is nearly over. On Friday night, as mentioned earlier, Claire and Tony hosted a group of 15 friends at their home, having cooked an Indo-Dutch dinner, on which we feasted for the evening. The food was incredibly delicious, the company engaging. On Saturday, I attended my cousin Barbara's wedding ceremony in the afternoon, and reception in the evening. There were enough guests invited to warrant the use of a curling rink for the dinner and dance that evening. I was able to spend some quality time visiting with my cousin from Atlanta, Adam. I also took time to bolt over to Oakbank, and visit some of the WPC homeys, who were enjoying a post U Manitoba Bisons football game bonfire and pizza party.
This morning, my parents, my friend Susan Robinson, and I went for dim sum. Following that was another visit with Steve, Tony and Mike, and Steve's family, including daughter Kaitlyn, aka KickButt Kate (her soccer name). After that, I drove back to St Vital, to a community club where my cousin and her husband were opening their wedding gifts. After visiting with everyone there, and eating yet more food, I returned to my parents' place, where I've packed, and now plan to veg out for the evening, before waking again tomorrow morning at 0430 hrs, to catch a plane that leaves at 6:25 am for Edmonton.
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:: The USC Annenberg School Center for the Digital Future has completed a study of the impact of online technology (note - 105p pdf document), specifically how the Internet affects America. I don't know of an equivalent study underway in Canada. From the press release, among the findings from Year Four of the Digital Future
Project:
-Internet access has risen to its highest level ever. About three-quarters of Americans now go online.Here are the top ten trends identified by the Center:
- The number of hours spent online continues to increase, rising to an average of 12.5 hours per week – the highest level in the study thus far.
- Although the Internet has become the most important source of current information for users, the initially high level of credibility of information on the Internet began to drop in the third year of the study, and declined even further in Year Four.
- The number of users who believe that only about half of the information on the Internet is accurate and reliable is growing and has now passed 40 percent of users for the first time.
- The study showed that most users trust information on the websites they visit regularly, and on pages created by established media and the government.
- Information pages posted by individuals have the lowest credibility: only 9.5 percent of users say information on those sites is reliable and accurate.
- Television viewing continues to decline among Internet users, raising the question: “What will happen as a nation that once spent an extremely large portion of time in a passive activity (watching television) transfers increasingly large portions of that time to an interactive activity (the Internet)?”
:: I'm in Winnipeg. My cousin Barbara's wedding is tomorrow (Oct 9th, not the 7th). Tonight is a dinner at Tony and Claire's house, a veritable feast of Dutch-Indonesian culinary delights, including Nasi Goreng and rijstaffel. Claire notes here that she is cooking for 17 (or 18), and the ensemble tonight includes a number of her friend as well. The edible hedgehog is a durian, resembling some kind of mutated pineapple thingee.
I've been sleeping and/or napping a lot here. Probably my body trying to catch up on days weeks months years of lost sleep. I took my folks to see Fahrenheit 9/11 last night. Michael Moore has two new books out, one being The Official Fahrenheit 9/11 Reader, the other being a collection of letters sent to him from soldiers, entitled Will They Ever Trust Us Again?. The latter has received mostly positive reviews on the Amazon site, but the most telling has to be the one written by Andrew Balthazor, an Iraqi war vet, whose writing appears in the book.
:: Speaking of Amazon, I ordered four items today: this, this, this and this. Speaking of this, there is a good interview with and write-up on Paul Westerberg on the CNN site. And another 70s band is reuniting. When the hell is Wang Chung getting back together, dammit!
There seems to be a pop culture explosion of late, of stuff that I'd like to have. I need another nap.
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:: I leave for Winnipeg in a couple hours, to spend a few days with family and friends, and attend my cousin Barbara's wedding on Saturday. Yesterday, while packing, I opened the curtains a little in my bedroom, and a bird flew out from behind them, scaring the shyte out of me. Initially I couldn't tell if it was a bat or a small bird. It flew around the second floor between rooms, until I was able to remove the screen in my master bedroom, and waited for it to fly back in that direction, which it did, and out into the night.
What I couldn't determine was how it got in, and for how long it was hiding in my bedroom. So far, I haven't seen any - er - evidenc, to indicate where it might have spent time while in my house. Enough surprises for one night.
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:: Cough is 99% gone, today is the first day I've not coughed throughout the day since late August. I'm off to Winnipeg on Wednesday for my cousin Barbara's wedding on Sat, Oct 7, and will make the round while there, visiting friends and family.
:: Check out the Mt St Helens web cam. I went to Mt St Helens in July 1981, a year after it blew its stack in May, 1980. I was at a conference in Portland OR, and my boss and I rented a car and drove to the mountain, or as close as we could. Much of the devestation was still visible.
I was in Vancouver on May 18, 1980, when St Helens erupted the first time. Later that week, I collected some ash from that eruption into a small container - the ash was on the car of a friend of mine who lived in Pullman WA, on the border with Idaho, and had driven to Vancouver a few days later. I still have it somewhere in my house, and it is the finest powder I've ever seen or felt.
:: So William Shatner releases a new album, and the buzz is positive. The album was produced by Ben Folds, and features collaborations with Henry Rollins, novelist Nick Hornby and Joe Jackson. He collaborates on Pulp's song, "Common People", with Jackson. I really don't know what to make of this. Is Shatner's new album kitsch supreme? I hope I have as much energy as he does now when I'm 73 years old.
:: Brian Wilson has finally released Smile - not the legendary album that never was, but a rerecorded version, just released. Legendary rock journalist Robert Christgau gives it five stars. More reviews and news available here, including the Village Voice.
:: Addendum: I forgot the Krispy Kreme update. A newspaper article in the Edmonton Journal on 30 Sept 04 reported that KK will open up a store at South Edmonton Common in the first half of 2005.
| TrackBack (1):: With encouragement from Derryl, I saw Shaun of the Dead last night, Sept 30, 2004, thus keeping alive the streak of having seen at least one movie a month since sometime in the late 1970s. It would be somewhere in the vicinity of 320-335 months.
:: Sore ribs are better, coughing almost gone away. Thanks for the kind messages.
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