the pod bay door

¦¦ The 30 March 2003 Herald published a brilliant rebuttal by Silver Donald Cameron to the national spanking US Ambassador Paul Cellucci gave Canadians recently about our lack of support in the war on Iraq. I think we need to be reminded often of the points made in Cameron’s letter, and Americans need to know more about the history between our two nations. The again, all that matters in the States these days is the now. It’s as if Canada is only as good as the last war it supported. After reading Cameron’s letter, with its historical detail, I’m prouder today to be a Canadian.

¦¦ On a more serious note, Warner Bros is asking fans of the classic Looney Tunes to complete a survey on upcoming LT home video and DVD products. Check out some of the packaging options being considered by WB for the LT DVDs.

¦¦ I know I said I wouldn’t post anything else until I switch providers, but…

As if free speech isn’t under enough attack in the USA, Warner Bros has decided to remove the peace sign being flashed by Amanda Bynes on the poster for the movie, What A Girl Wants. WB fears that the “peace sign would be viewed as a political message.” Well, gosh, yes, the message being that peace is a good thing. It’s not surprising that the poster, revised or otherwise, is nowhere to be found on the movie’s official site.

Hollywood has lost its balls. A peace sign will offend someone? How much more ridiculous is it going to get in the USA?????

¦¦ An interesting take on what might happen in the documentary industry in the wake of both Michael Moore’s acceptance speech at the Oscars, and the success financially of Bowling for Columbine. Has the door been opened for a wave of feature-length documentaries?

The reaction to Moore’s speech has its contrarians, of course. BTW, for the week ending March 25, 2003, Moore was #7 in the Top 10 Gaining Queries list from Google.

Moore is not losing any momentum. His next film, Farenheit 911, will examine the link between Al Qaeda and Dubya Sr.

¦¦ This article pretty much sums up the insanity regarding the Oscar nominations – old news, perhaps, but it’s infuriating to be reminded that Peter Jackson wasn’t nominated for Best Director for Lord of the Rings: TTT. (The error in Devin Gordon’s article appears when he points out that Jackson had been snubbed for the 2002 nomination for Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, as well – he wasn’t, he did receive a nomination for that 2001 Oscar.) Also, consider that in 2002, LOTR:TFOTR won Oscars for Best Makeup and Original Score, and LOTR:TTT wasn’t nominated in either category for 2003. Eh??? As David Gordon points out in the article, the work is essentially the same. A backlash against TTT? Duh.

¦¦ My admiration for Michael Moore has gone up a notch, after reading a number of entries on his web site. He has an essay, “I’d Like To Thank The Vatican“, added on 27 March 03, which offers his view of the Academy Awards. Biased I’m sure, but if he is to be believed, then as viewers, we were hosed when the booing began, and when Gil Cates ordered the orchestra to start playing, and his microphone began receding into the floor. In his words:

Why didn’t we see shots of the actors applauding him, like Ed Harris, and apparently many others? In an article that appeared in Democrat & Chronicle, he answered charges that by dissing Bush and the Iraq war during his acceptance speech, he wasn’t being patriotic:

The American national anthem reminds us that the USA is “the land of the free.” At this time, free speech and dissent are under siege in America. Did I expect to read stuff on Moore’s site bashing Michael Moore? Of course not, and I realize he’s posting words and article links that are favorable to him. I wasn’t thrilled with his speech, but I respect his right to make it – others did that night as well, and were not booed. In their own way, Gael García Bernal, Susan Sarandon, Barbara Streisand, Chris Cooper, and Adrien Brody expressed their concern and fears about the war; however, in the process they didn’t slam Dubya.

¦¦ 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 …

¦¦ 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.