the pod bay door

¦¦ The brain functions better with sleep, of which I have not been getting much lately. Today at work the world was spinning too quickly – so much paper pushing. Yeesh.

¦¦ Librarians looking for an interesting sig file can check Lib.Sigs., “Quotations for Librarians’ E-mail Signature Files”. The latest entry comes from the Oscars, courtesy of Michael Moore: “We like nonfiction, and we live in fictitious times.”

¦¦ Speaking of Michael Moore’s Oscar acceptance speech, this evening I watched a video of the IFP Independent Spirit Awards, which were handed out on Saturday night, the day before the Oscars. Moore won an award there as well, and his acceptance speech was essentially the same one he gave at the Academy Awards, but longer and more drawn out, as he didn’t face a time constraint, and the attendees, independent filmmakers, writers, actors, etc., were on his side for the most part. The nominees and award winners are listed here.

¦¦ Remember Clonaid and their claims of having created clone babies? Apparently this is a picture of the third one. What, you thought there were only two clone babies? Well, try five.

¦¦ Tired of the one-sided tv coverage of the war on Iraq? I’m disgusted with the coverage on CNN today, broadcasting interviews with families of captured US soldiers – what horse pucky! One interviewer asked a father if he’d prefer to have his son released. Well, DUH! Hey, can we get a few more retired generals on board? Cheer up and read You Might Be A Right Wing Republican If …

¦¦ I watched the Oscars tonight with friends, something I haven’t done for so long I can’t remember the last time it happened. I enjoyed watching the awards and exchanging comments along the way. In my predictions, I went 3-8, not a good score. I was thrilled for Adrien Brody, by far the surprise award of the evening. I thought Michael Moore’s acceptance speech started well, and ended poorly, but not because of its content. I support him, appreciate his anger towards the injustice in the world, and wish there were more like him out there willing to speak their minds so freely and with conviction. I realize that his words were in character, and were what we were privately expecting to hear. I wish he’d have expressed himself with more grace and dignity, and with respect for the moment. The rant that Dubya didn’t win the election because he lost the popular vote in 2000 is such old news by now. Regardless, I’m glad he won.

That said, check out his comments in the press room after he won the award. I admire him for standing by his actions, and he makes a convincing case for saying what he did, which is the defense of free speech in a country where free speech is under seige.

I was disappointed that Eminem decided not to appear. This may be the first time in 75 years that a nominated song was not performed at the Oscars, and then won the award.

As for Martin Scorsese, his award, if ever, will wait for another film in another time. That Gangs of New York didn’t receive one award, however, was a bit much – it’s a powerful film that at the very least deserved the award for Art Direction.

¦¦ I’ve spent an hour wrestling with HTML coding for tables, trying to create a 4 column by 9 row table to list my Oscar predictions, deserveds and sentimental favourites. Alas, I am HTML-challenged. So I’ll do it the old fashioned way, one line at a time.

I’ve seen every movie nominated in these eight categories this year excepy Y Tu Mamá También, for Best Original Screenplay. My picks are listed as Will Win (W), Deserves to Win (D), Hope It/She/He Wins (H):

Film: Chicago (W), Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (D), Gangs of New York (H)
Actor: Jack Nicholson (W), Daniel Day-Lewis (D), Daniel Day Lewis (H)
Actress: Renée Zellweger (W), Salma Hayek (D), Julianne Moore (H)
S Actor: Chris Cooper (W, D, H)
S Actress: Catherine Zeta-Jones (W), Meryl Streep (D), Catherine Zeta-Jones (H)
Director: Martin Scorsese (W), Rob Marshall (D), Martin Scorsese (H)
Original Screenplay: Gangs of New York (W, D, H)
Adapted Screenplay: Adaptation (W), The Hours (D), The Pianist (H)
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¦¦ The Edmonton Journal published a feature on blogging in the Friday 14 March 2003 edition. Written by Mairi MacLean, the two pieces feature comments from a number of locals, including Geoff, Robert (in Lethbridge), Jen, myself, and a mention of Kelly‘s site as well. Given the small amount of coverage available in a newspaper, I thought Mairi did a good job introducing blogging to the EJ readers. My only quibble: the URLs for the websites mentioned were not included in the print or online(!) versions of the articles.

¦¦ In the world of You-Gotta-Be-Sh*tting-Me, a woman in Germany began emerging from a 6-year coma when her parents took her Regensburg to listen to a Bryan Adams concert. My favorite take on the story left me in tears from laughing. Previously Bryan Adams was known only for Waking Up The Neighbours, not comatose fans. Meanwhile, in Kenya, sadly, three people died trying to retrieve a mobile phone that fell into an open-pit latrine.

¦¦ It’s unfortunate that you need to subscribe to read stories from the NYTimes Magazine online. The March 9 issue features three fascinating articles on: face transplant surgery, “smart-mobbing” the antiwar movement, and a disturbing piece on Mel Gibson and his father, orthodox Catholic theologian Hutton Gibson. Discussed is The Passion, Mel Gibson’s upcoming movie on the last 12 hours of the life of Christ, with the actors speaking in Latin and Aramic only. There will be no subtitles. “Gibson has has said that he hopes to depict Christ’s ordeal using ‘filmic storytelling techniques’ that will make the understanding of the dialogue uncessary.” (NYTimes, 9 March 02, p53) The publication of the article has infuriated the younger Gibson. What is disturbing about the article in the NYTimes Magazine are some of Hutton Gibson’s beliefs such as: the Sept 11 jets were not flown by Al-Qaeda operatives but were remote-controlled, and that the Holocaust never happened.

¦¦ Why are there not enough hours in the day to do what you want to do?

¦¦ Forthcoming project: to record in a notepad every song that appears in my head in one day from wakeup in the morning to going to sleep at night the same day.

¦¦ Today was a busy day at work: I attended three meetings and worked a shift in public service. Somewhere in there I was able to fit in lunch. After my final meeting, I headed for a quick workout, and then to dinner at the home of my friend and colleague, Kathryn, who is an amazing chef: Nova Scotia haddock, asparagus, sapphron rice, delicious salad, apple cranberry crisp. This was, you see, a bribe to entice me to join her at the Edmonton International Film Festival gala screening of Marion Bridge, the first feature film by director Wiebke von Carolsfeld. The film stars one of my favorite actresses, BC native Molly Parker, whose films include The Center of the World, Sunshine, Men With Brooms, and one of my favorite films of 2002, Max. During the drive down, I mentioned that the gala screenings at the festival usually feature the director and an actor or two from the film, and I jokingly suggested that maybe Molly Parker would appear. When we arrived, I learned that in fact she was there! My smile grew very wide!

Marion Bridge film tells the story of three sisters in Cape Breton, who are facing their mother’s impending death and the need to exorcise some of their own inner demons and past secrets. Molly plays Agnes, who returns from Toronto to be with her sisters and mother, and decides to stay for an extended period of time. Agnes is dealing with past drug and alcohol addiction, and her return is met with her sisters’ scepticism. Rebecca Jenkins plays the oldest sister, Theresa, apparently divorced/separated from her ex-husband/partner, but who cannot leave her past life with him alone. The youngest sister, Louise, played by Stacy Smith, seems to be not much more than a bump on a log – endlessly watching her shows on television and otherwise doing much of nothing, trying to numb out the world.
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¦¦ My good friend Robert Runté has joined the blogging ranks. He doesn’t disappoint.

¦¦ I have a remote starter on my car. It’s great this time of year, when the temperature is -25C. I saw The Recruit tonight, and upon leaving, discovered the remote starter decided not to start. So, I’ll be at the retailer tomorrow asking them to fix it quickly, and for free. BTW, it’s -25C in Edmonton tonight.

¦¦ Speaking of The Recruit, I enjoyed it, despite Al Pacino’s way-over-the-top performance. Colin Farrell, the current It Guy, was good without annoying me. A predictable story, but worth two hours of escape and $9.95Cdn.

¦¦ The Morning News’ Guide to New York Jargon is hilarious.

¦¦ The lists on McSweeney’s, brainchild of Dave Eggers, are also hilarious. Try Some Famous Names That Can Replace The Word Yesterday In The Song “Yesterday” by Paul McCartney or Actual Entries From The Scots Dialect Dictionary.