the pod bay door

:: It’s one of those days where it’s hard to keep up. I read a post on Geoff’s site that led to comments from Lucas about Textile – A Humane Web Generator, and my brain exploded. It’s like, my brain couldn’t handle one more piece of new, state-of-the-art, cutting-edge blogging/HTML/coding technology today.

:: Tonight I need to rehearse for a Saturday, May 3rd, concert, and refresh my memory about Blogger for an upcoming presentation in May. I’ve done neither yet.

:: Read this post mortem on Napster.

:: Karlin Lillington follows up her interview with William Gibson with this incredible post that links to a 1967 CBC broadcast called Yorkville: Hippie Haven – Yorkville was Canada’s equivalent to Haight-Ashbury in San Francisco at the time. It’s a 14-minute clip, but worth watching. A 19-year old Bill Gibson appears at the beginning and the end of the broadcast – he speaks over top of scenes of him walking about Yorkville. The CBC page notes that the show’s featured hippie, Bill Gibson, is none other than the author of the classic 1984 cyberpunk novel Neuromancer, and the man who coined the term “cyberspace.”

:: Dear Dirtbag in St Louis: Please stop making intrusion attempts to my machine. Thank you.

:: William Gibson, who started blogging in early January 2003, has (apparently) decided, after three months and such, to give up the activity, at least for now. Or has he?

Gibson is currently in Ireland on a book tour for Pattern Recognition. In an interview with Karlin Lillington in The Irish Times, he notes that to prepare for his next book, he’ll have to give up the blog:

I do know from doing it that it’s not something I can do when I’m actually working. Somehow the ecology of writing novels wouldn’t be able to exist if I’m in daily contact. If I expose things that interest or obsess me as I go along, there’d be no need to write the book. The sinews of narrative would never grow.”

I’ve enjoyed reading his blog entries, as have others, and I will buy the new book soon (I need a break from non-fiction). I met Gibson in Vancouver in the 80s, while still an active member of sf fandom, and saw him a number of times afterwards. He was invited to be a co-Guest of Honour at the ConText’89 in Edmonton, the conference that served as the launchpoint for what is now known as SF Canada, and for the nifty Canadian magazine, Edmonton-based On Spec. The last time I saw him was when he was on tour for Virtual Light, and came through Edmonton. After his reading, Derryl and I rescued him from the masses and took him for a beer on Whyte Avenue.

He said in the interview that he’s giving it up, but he’s posted an entry today. Can we expect more?
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¦¦ I just finished a workout, 30 minutes on the cross-trainer, and it felt excrutiating. But upon returning home, the sun has just appeared, and that feels so nice.

¦¦ Here’s a fascinating proposal: A barn-raising for civilization.

¦¦ I’ve never played a round of golf, but like millions of Canadians last weekend, I was thrilled when Mike Weir won the Masters. It was a nice diversion from the rest of the world’s woes, and a morale boost for the country. Nice to also hear that he’s made the cover of Sports Illustrated.

¦¦ This is interesting: QuickTopic, a service which allows users to create their own one-topic bulleting boards/group discussion space. Also offered is a service called Quick Doc Review, to allow collaborative review of HTML or Word documents.

¦¦ What Liberal Media?, sez Eric Alterman.

¦¦ Another Canadian band worth supporting: The Boomers, led by Ian Thomas, brother of Dave (SCTV) Thomas, and a Canadian music icon in his own right. Here is a good, concise “omni” of their musical output to date. Their newest album is called Midway. Thomas’s lyrics focus on love, life, and getting older, and the music is laid-back but intricate and multi-layered.

¦¦ Tired of getting those scam emails from various diplomats in Nigeria who want your money? A guy named Brad Christensen (this might be his site) has had enough, and has been scamming the scam artists. It’s brilliant stuff. (Thanks, Bill Barol/Blather.)

¦¦ BTW, check out Quatloos, a US public educational website that covers financial scams. (I love it that this website gets its name from an episode of the original Star Trek series, called The Gamesters of Triskelion. That’s the one with the three talking brains, who wager on combat games involving alien species. What currency do they use? Quatloos. Migod, here’s the entire script!)

¦¦ 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?????