It was a great, if overly busy weekend and as a result, I'm not fully on the ball today. I managed to get my full 8 hours of sleep but am still feeling a bit rundown.
I had the opportunity to share "The King of Kong" with a few friends on Friday night and I think everyone enjoyed themselves which is always good. I'm constantly amazed at how great that little film is. There are few documentaries out there that I can throw into the DVD player just for the heck of it but this is certainly one of them. If you haven't seen it yet, I urge you to track it down on DVD because chances are, you won't be disappointed.
Saturday was spent with friends and fellow podcasters Dale and Colleen at the Bridging Media conference. It was a fascinating and enjoyable day and from it came a load of interesting talking points which we felt deserved some attention so on Sunday, we recorded a short podcast on the subject and I must admit that listening to a bit of it yesterday, I was surprised to find I sounded a bit cross. I'm not, really. It's just a subject that I feel passionately about. If you have some time and have some thoughts on film (and other forms of creative en devours) financing and distribution, I urge you to check out the post over on Row Three which has the podcast, links to the event and links to more coverage of the event (including blogging coverage and audio of the various sessions).
The day wrapped up with a bit of a surprise when on the drive home I spoke to hubby and he mentioned that Future Shop was having a sale on televisions and after months of searching and humming and hawing about upgrading our TV to something more modern, we finally bit the bullet. The result was the purchase of a 42" true HD (1080p) LG LCD.
Yes, it's gorgeous and I love it but setting up the components took a few hours and Sunday was so busy I didn't get much of a chance to enjoy it. I look forward to sitting down with "The Matrix" to really get the feel for it. The next investment will be a Blu-Ray player though I think we'll hold off on that until the prices come down.
A great, if busy weekend which has turned into a crazy Monday. I look forward to going home tonight and curling up with the new TV and maybe a game or two of Super Mario 3.
My Access assignment which is due tonight took MUCH longer to complete than I anticipated, largely in part to the fact that the wonderful professor decided to use the most difficult of the Office applications to test our ability to adapt and as a result, much of the material which I had to finish last night were things that were not explicitly covered in class and which required a little research. I finally printed the last bit of the assignment at nearly 4AM. Considering that at that point I was only going to get a few hours of sleep before having to get up again, I buckled down and edited the new show. My thought was - go through the pain today and come home tonight and straight to bed. At least that's the plan!
A few weeks back I registered for an upcoming free event titled Bridging Media: Addressing The Challenges. I registered on a whim and nearly forgot about it until Dale mentioned it yesterday. I was waffling whether to go or not but I promised to look over the schedule of happenings and now that I've reviewed it, I'm definitely planning to attend. Not only do the sessions sound like they could be of particular interest to me but I'm curious to meet a few of the attendees, particularly Graham Fortin of Movie Set. This could definitely be a great opportunity to build some local contacts.
On a more sombre note, last night I discovered that Enrique Manuel "Rick" Marques, the disabled man found dead in his home the other day, is actually a relation of ours through marriage. I knew Rick only a little (through a cousin). My warm condolences go out to his family.
And because I know you're all jumping at the bit to know what I've been listening to for the last 2 hours ;):
It's been a strange day. A holiday for some, not for others (including myself) hence it's been pretty quiet with the phones but hectic with everything else around the office.
Nothing new to report other than the fact that I filed my taxes yesterday afternoon. The return this year isn't as stellar as last year's but it is enough to buy a new computer and leave me a bit of spending cash for a memory upgrade (RAM not my own memory though I would shell out a few bucks for an upgrade on that - some days I feel like Johnny Mnemonic: too much data stored in not enough memory and the bloody thing starts to leak).
As for this computer I'll be spending my return on...A few weeks ago hubby and I were at our favourite computer store when we spotted these Asus Eee's. I thought they looked nice from the start but that grew to infatuation and lust when I saw a number of them at NV and now I really want one. It weighs nothing, battery life is pretty good and to boot, it comes with everything you need to work on the web from anywhere. And seriously, just look at the size of that thing compared to a full lap top! Sure, my lap top is pretty lightweight but I don't carry it everywhere. This thing is the size of a book! I'd never leave home without it! So yes, I'm excited to go and spend my return. If all goes well, it should come in late this week or early next!
Photo from Flickr care of chilehardware.
I've already found what is likely to be my addiction this summer. Are you ready for this? Thanks to a post over at Media Bytes, I've discovered that Guitar Hero is coming to the DS this summer. Brilliantly, the game will be titled "Guitar Hero: On Tour".
I. CAN'T. WAIT.
During my stint at Northern Voice this year, I became painfully aware of just how out of touch with current trends I really was. Sure I blogged, took photos, used Facebook (badly - meaning few updates) but I wasn't really following some of the cutting edge apps that were making splashes on the web. I made a pact with myself that this year, I would try to expand my horizon and not be so indoctrinated into technologies that I'm comfortable with. As a result, I've been "test driving" a bunch of cool little apps and for the most part, the results have been fairly positive. Over the next few months, I'll have the occasional post about something new I'm trying out and giving you my "mid tech" (not completely unaware but also not an expert) take on various web tools.
In this installment, I'll briefly go over my Facebook experience and Twitter.
My move to Facebook was a direct result of my dislike of MySpace. The sleek and minimalist pages with limited customization work for me. No auto streaming anything and the plain white background makes it easy on the eyes. I was addicted from the first moment but over the last few months, a few things have really started to piss me off. The daily bombardment of people asking me to install apps to the point where I don't install ANYTHING new. I blame this as much on the users as on the app itself since I've noticed that some of the add-ons, like Flixter, are constantly asking you to invite your friends when you do anything with them (like every time I take a Flixter quiz). It even automatically checks them off while the "Skip" link is hidden amongst a bunch of ads.
I will also admit that I haven't spent too much time digging around Facebook and customizing various pages simply because I don't find it that easy to navigate through the menus. I do love the "News Feed" page with all of the recent updates but I wish it was RSS enabled. Then I'd never miss anything.
Pros: Easy to find friends and communicate with them, cool add-ons, excellent way to stay connected with local groups of interest and upcoming events, minimalist appearance.
Cons: Spam requests, preference menus not easy to navigate through, group page not easy to organize, lack of RSS functionality in the "News Feed" is inconvenient.
Final Thoughts: Though I do have my problems with Facebook, it's better than the alternative and nearly everyone I know is on it which makes it convenient and really, the only reason I'm still using it.
Immediately after NV I also started micro-blogging using Twitter. This service is pretty fancy in that it allows you to essentially post mini blog posts (limited to 140 characters long which is the maximum length of an SMS) from your cell phone using SMS. You sign up, set up your account, connect your phone to it, search the site for a local telephone number that you can use to automatically update your blog and off you go. And yes, it's really that easy. I had mine set up in minutes.
One of the other cool features is that it has an integrated RSS type of feature that lets you "follow" other Tweets (what they call people to Twitter) and displays their updates on your feed.
There appears to be a fair bit of customization, allowing you to set up notification via your phone (you get an SMS message every time a new update is made) and you can set up witch Tweets you want to receive these type of updates from. You can also limit Twitter to a web only app which is a nice option.
Something to keep in mind before getting on board with the SMS updates is to check with your cell phone provider what your package includes as far as sending and receiving SMS messages. Rogers plans includes free unlimited messages received but each package varies on the number of SMS messages you can send. This is my first month playing with it so I won't know until next month whether my current plan is going to fit into my Twittering "habit".
Pros: Keeps you constantly updated and connected with fellow Tweets, easy to set up and navigate, easy to turn off SMS messaging (if you're in the office can turn it off and turn it back on when you leave).
Cons: Help menu isn't particularly helpful and not a lot of my friends are on it.
Final Thoughts: Twitter is addicting and a fantastic way to keep track of people and stay up to date on events (I followed a few movie bloggers at SXSW and it was the next best thing to being there). At this point, I just wish more of my friends were using the service!
On the next installment of Test Driving Web Apps...Flock, Socialthing! and Ping.fm.
Hubby's back from his trip to California. He got back very early yesterday and I did manage to see him before I headed for work.
The pictures are surprisingly good (surprising because he hardly uses a camera anymore) and though I would have taken hundreds of pictures, he stuck to about 90.
This is one of my faves of the bunch. It's the new Dodge Challenger which will be rolling off of the production line later this year. I love the classic lines and grill and for a moment, I really did think it was a classic car. Should be a hot seller with the American Muscle aficionados.
Sadly, the trip involved too much driving for the alloted time and hubby didn't have much of a chance to shop. I didn't even get a t-shirt! Oh well, at least he had a good time!
For the curious, all of the photos are here.
The pictures are surprisingly good (surprising because he hardly uses a camera anymore) and though I would have taken hundreds of pictures, he stuck to about 90.
This is one of my faves of the bunch. It's the new Dodge Challenger which will be rolling off of the production line later this year. I love the classic lines and grill and for a moment, I really did think it was a classic car. Should be a hot seller with the American Muscle aficionados.
Sadly, the trip involved too much driving for the alloted time and hubby didn't have much of a chance to shop. I didn't even get a t-shirt! Oh well, at least he had a good time!
For the curious, all of the photos are here.
Borrwed this fabulous little "meme" from the lovely Carrie. Basically cut-n-paste the top 100 films of all time from IMDb and bold the ones you've seen. Simple, easy and fun!
1. The Godfather (1972)
2. The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
3. The Godfather: Part II (1974)
4. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)
5. Pulp Fiction (1994)
6. Schindler's List (1993)
7. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)
8. Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
9. Casablanca (1942)
10. The Seven Samurai (1954)
11. Star Wars (1977)
12. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
13. 12 Angry Men (1957)
14. Rear Window (1954)
15. Goodfellas (1990)
16. City of God (2002)
17. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
18. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
19. Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)
20. The Usual Suspects (1995)
21. Psycho (1960)
22. Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)
23. Fight Club (1999)
24. Citizen Kane (1941)
25. The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
26. North by Northwest (1959)
27. Memento (2000)
28. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)
29. Sunset Blvd. (1950)
30. It's a Wonderful Life (1946)
31. The Matrix (1999)
32. Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
33. There Will Be Blood (2007)
34. Se7en (1995)
35. Apocalypse Now (1979)
36. Taxi Driver (1976)
37. American Beauty (1999)
38. Léon (1994)
39. Vertigo (1958)
40. Amélie (2001)
41. American History X (1998)
42. The Departed (2006)
43. No Country for Old Men (2007)
44. Paths of Glory (1957)
45. M (1931)
46. To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
47. Chinatown (1974)
48. The Third Man (1949)
49. The Lives of Others (2006)
50. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
51. A Clockwork Orange (1971)
52. Alien (1979)
53. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)
54. Pan's Labyrinth (2006)
55. The Shining (1980)
56. Spirited Away (2001)
57. The Pianist (2002)
58. Double Indemnity (1944)
59. Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)
60. Forrest Gump (1994)
61. Saving Private Ryan (1998)
62. The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
63. L.A. Confidential (1997)
64. Das Boot (1981)
65. Requiem for a Dream (2000)
66. Reservoir Dogs (1992)
67. Downfall (2004)
68. Aliens (1986)
69. The Maltese Falcon (1941)
70. Raging Bull (1980)
71. Metropolis (1927)
72. Rashômon (1950)
73. Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
74. Modern Times (1936)
75. Hotel Rwanda (2004)
76. Singin' in the Rain (1952)
77. Sin City (2005)
78. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
79. Rebecca (1940)
80. The Seventh Seal (1957)
81. All About Eve (1950)
82. Some Like It Hot (1959)
83. City Lights (1931)
84. Amadeus (1984)
85. On the Waterfront (1954)
86. Life is Beautiful (1997)
87. The Great Escape (1963)
88. Touch of Evil (1958)
89. The Prestige (2006)
90. The Elephant Man (1980)
91. Jaws (1975)
92. Full Metal Jacket (1987)
93. The Sting (1973)
94. Cinema Paradiso (1988)
95. Once Upon a Time in America (1984)
96. The Manchurian Candidate (1962)
97. The Apartment (1960)
98. Braveheart (1995)
99. The Great Dictator (1940)
100. Blade Runner (1982)
I've seen 67/100 which isn't bad but what I really noticed is that I'm severely lacking in stuff before the 70's. Time to brush up on some classic cinema.
Wow. It's been a bad day. First news that Oscar winning director Anthony Minghella died at 54 and now news, via The Bad Astronomer, that world renowned author Arthur C. Clarke has also died.
I first discovered Clarke though the movies. Seeing Kubrick's "2001: A Space Odyssey" was enough to get me to look at Clarke's work and what I found was a treasure trove of fantastic writing. Over the years I've developed more of a like for fantasy stories but Clarke's work was always extremely enjoyable and "Rendezvous with Rama" is easily one of my favourite books of all time (a little mystery, a little sci-fi, all brilliance).
Clarke will be warmly remembered as a forefather of science fiction, a great man and a visionary. He will forever be remembered.
Photo from Flickr care of jadc01.
Alright. So I'm still beyond excited about Pemberton Music Festival and heck, if we can find a place to crash for the Sunday, I'm more than there but when the event makes international news headlines (it appeared at Paste.com today)...I start to get scared. Is this REALLY a good idea?
We called around on the weekend and MOST of the accommodation in the area was already spoken for and frankly, we don't want to commute from Whistler but we may not have a choice. Pemberton just doesn't have the infrastructure for this type of event and I'm really afraid that the camp ground will turn into the nightmares I've heard coming of Merritt Mountain Music Festival.
I still have a few days to make a final decision but I must admit I'm getting a bit nervous about the whole thing.
Photo from Flickr care of Silvhorn Automotive Pemberton.
Some time back I gave the live blogging tool Cover It Live a whirl. It worked out great for both my NV coverage and for the Row Three Oscars live blog but it did have a few speedbumps, mostly that every comment had to be approved, something that turns into a bit of a hair pulling activity when you have a busy discussion as we did during the Oscar chat, and the fact that there could only be one moderator. We struggled through but the tool, even with its hiccups, allowed for a much smoother discussion than a traditional live blog. Now CIT has added a couple of new features that is sure to make current users happy and likely entice those sitting in the wigs.
Highlights of the recent upgrades include:
- Multi-authored live blogging which allows more than one producer/panelist to help run the event
- 'Always Allow' Reader Comments which allows producers to set comments from certain readers to be approved automatically, saving the producer from having to manually approve every comment
- Standby Mode that makes it easier to cover full day event without having to set up individual blogs for each event
- Download Completed Live Blogs so that you can save a transcript and host it on your blog directly
There are a few other fun upgrades but those cover all of my complaints. Now more than ever I'm looking forward to my next opportunity to use the service!
Maybe this is something that is common within the PC building world but it's the first time I've ever seen it.
I was flipping through the most recent Tiger Direct catalog when I spotted this strange looking CPU Cooler. It's kind of cool but a bit weird...
One of them at least.
Even since watching "The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters" I've had a not so secret crush on Donkey Kong champion Steve Wiebe. Not only is he a bit geeky (I'm sorry, anyone who attempts world records of video games is a little geeky), he's cute and just seems like the nicest of guys (mind you, I haven't met him...I'm just assuming).
This morning I was doing some reading when I stumbled on this article which somehow landed me in Google and consequently on YouTube. There I discovered this fun video of Wiebe doing a commercial for the Alamo Draft House (pretty funny):
Then I found this song which was written and produced by Ryan Wiebe, Steve's brother, titled "Chimpatized" and it too is pretty funny, and pretty sweet too!
This third one isn't quite as good but it features Steve being super amicable in the face of a jack-ass.
Photo from Flickr care of Chung Webster.
I've tried it all: paper organizer (OK for a few weeks and then I fall out of the habit of using it), PDA (also OK but I always forget to recharge it and/or sync), my head (a little shady when it comes to remembering dates and times). Playing around with my iPod the other day, I noticed that it has both a tasks and Calendar feature but I haven't figured out how to make either one work. I've been searching around on-line and discovered that there are ways to sync the iPod with Google calendar (the one calendar I've managed to keep updated, mostly because I can export from a variety of other online sites directly into it.
Since I always have my iPod with me and since it seems to be the only thing I charge and sync regularly, I figured that using the on-board calendar would be the ideal thing. Apparently you can sync the iPod with Google calendar through Outlook but I have an adverse reaction to using Office on my home PC so I thought I'd put it out there: does anyone else know how to sync the Google Calendar with the iPod? I've tried this handy tool but it doesn't seem to work (I'm running Windows XP and have an iPod nano. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Photo from Flickr care of Andrew*.
I was just about to post about how frazzled I am trying to get too much done before leaving the office for the day. I was basically going to post the KFF and call it a day.
And then IT came. An email from Leeny. The GREATEST EMAIL OF ALL TIME.
It was announcing the upcoming Pemberton Music Festival. Which includes the GREATEST lineup this side of the Rockies. Don't believe me?
LOADS of great stuff in there but the seller: NIN. NIN in Pemberton.
I was going to book the ticket and just go but now that I've seen the price...I'm concerned. $235 for 3 days. I just want one day. The NIN day.
Must research. Must go. I'm divided. Anyone have a friend in the neighbourhood? I just need a couch...
And before I go, this week's KFF:
Listening to Charlee Morgan on 104.9 this morning, she brought up a news story that peeked my curiosity. Earlier this week, the Vatican issued a release outlining seven new sins for the new century. The seven deadly sins have not been replaced, rather, these new sins are less 'personal' and more 'social' and speak to a way of life rather than specific incidents.
In simple language, care of AHN, the new sins are:
(1)genetic modification; (2) human experimentations, (3) polluting the environment; (4) social injustice; (5) causing poverty; (6) financial gluttony; and (7) taking drugs
It's interesting to note that removed from religious affiliation, most individuals are likely to fall in line with the guidelines (as they do with the deadly sins). I don't find this as groundbreaking as some folks, probably because I'm not particularly religious.
Does this mean that the church will be spending even more money on helping the poor and needy rather than building/renovating churches?
Photo from Flickr care of knobelsp.
My mom is not computer friendly. While my dad makes the effort to read the news daily, I'm pretty sure mom has no concept of how to even turn the computer on.
Since hubby is on his road trip and I'm home alone, I went up to spend some time with her and cruise YouTube for Portuguese language content - that always makes her smile. An hour later, and gosh knows how many hundreds of clicks later, we do a search for something or other that leads me to stumble on what is likely the greatest commercial. EVER. Mom has informed me that it was in heavy rotation during the World Cup tournament but this is the first time I've ever seen it and it's BRILLIANT. But don't take my word for it. Check out Portugal vs. Brazil:
And of course, this IS YouTube we're talking about here so in come the related videos that will keep you busy for months but amongst much of the drek, I did find one of my favourite commercials from a while back. I call it, Elimination Chamber (trademarked, but not by me):
And Figo makes me a bit weak in the knees...
Photo care of Abdel-Aziz Hammad on Flickr.
Forget Nostradamus.
The great folks at TED have just posted clips from a speech given by Nicholas Negroponte, architect and computer scientist best known as the founder and Chairman Emeritus of MIT's Media Lab, at the first TED conference in 1984. I think it's safe to add the title "futurist" to Negroponte's resume. Not only are the bits of his speech really interesting and ground breaking in 1984, a number of them are now a reality.
There are plans to release the entire 2 hour talk but some of it needs to be restored. In the meantime, take a time out and check out Negroponte "wax prophetic on the converging fields of technology, entertainment and design".
We've been prepping like mad for hubby's bit trip to Irvine's "Spring Festival of LXs" (he leaves Wednesday). He has a list of things to pack, so that bit is under control and if you've been following my Twitter updates, you know I spent most of Saturday killing time at the mall waiting to pick up the vehicle from servicing (green light - all's well). The only thing left was to give the Mean Mary a kick ass cleaning and so we got to work yesterday.
After getting home from the early morning movie and after I had some excitement at getting my new toy, we headed off to clean the car. A good wash and dry and then on to the waxing. I've never waxed a car in my life and rather than get right into the 7 (or maybe it's 9?) step bar process we decided to stick to the easy, three step liquid application (my favorite brand too!): apply in small circles, let dry, remove in small circles, finish with clean microfiber cloth. The finished product is STUNNING:
That there is hubby with the supper shiny vehicle.
We also gave the car a super interior clean (including spraying of the seats). At some point, we must really invest in upholstery cleaning (especially of the roof - not sure how it got so dirty but my keen eye sure pick it up). While detailing the interior, I did notice something which gives me pause. Whoever cleaned the car before we bought it used Armor All on the plastic. Huge mistake. It's left streaks on the plastic and I can see exactly where they sprayed. I tried to get the marks off but they don't seem to be disappearing. Thankfully they're only apparent when the plastic is wet. If anyone out there has a solution for getting rid of them, please let me know. In the meantime, don't use that Armor All crap on your car. It does more damage than good. (Side note: worth noting that Armor all has a Charger on all of their bottles and even featured prominently on their website).
Finally, I also took some shots of the interior of the car. I didn't think to take any before pictures but essentially, it looked like this except that all of the brushed aluminum stuff was black. Hubby decided early on that he wanted to purchase a carbon fiber dash kit except that those things run well into the $140 range. Instead, hubby went the cheap yet spiffy alternative: stickers. We bought some carbon fiber auto stickers at Canadian Tire and hubby carefully cut and placed the entire center console, reading lights and the odometer and steering wheel accents. Throw in a very fancy new shifter (in black complete with carbon fiber design) and you have a finished look that looks like it cost a fortune but instead cost $40 and a little elbow grease. 
I sure think it looks spiffy!
For more pictures of the interior and a few more shots of the super shinny car, head here.
We've also ordered some decals that didn't manage to make it before our install deadline so those will have to be applied when hubby returns from his trip. I'll post more when that's done!
A few weeks ago, I bumped into a couple of young guys at the Skytrain Station. I was on my way downtown and they seemed harmless enough. Not sure how it started but we started chatting and the next thing you know, I'm getting a rundown on Plan Canada (formerly known as Foster Parents Plan). After a bit of conversation, they asked if I'd ever considered 'adopting' a child and to be honest, I had. My only concern with the specials I'd seen on TV was that they were usually affiliated with a religion and to be honest, I didn't like the idea of some of my hard earned money going towards spreading a belief I myself don't stand behind.
It was a good day, I was feeling generous and I signed myself up. A week ago, I received my introductory package in the mail along with the first pictures of Fatou Diop, a two year old little girl from Senegal whom hubby and I will help put through school. My paltry $35 a month help provide her with vaccination and medicine, food, clean water, school (when she's old enough for it) and clothing. $35 a month is just slightly more than what I pay for my monthly Zip membership. Not a whole lot of money to help save a little girl's life.
I've shared her story with my mom who is very excited about sponsoring her own child. I can't believe the amazingly rewarding feeling I got from two little pictures and the knowledge that I was making an impact on a little child halfway around the world.
From here on in, you'll probably have semi-regular updates on Fatou so you may as well meet her:
I know. She's ADORABLE!
I've also uploaded a photo of Fatou and her mom which you can see here.
I don't know how it happened but at some point a few months back, I ended up at a post titled "top 10 physically modified people". It was an interesting, if bizzare, read and on a whim, I added the feed to my RSS reader.
Over the last few months, I've been beyond impressed by depudog's absolutely amazing posts of some of the strangest and most innovative architectural and oddball things. Essentially, every post makes me say wow and scratch my head that I'd never known about it.
The most recent is his entry on the Chapel at the Air Force Academy in Colorado. AWESOME. Check it out here.
And be sure to dig through his archives. There's some truly amazing stuff in there.
Also, there are some amazing photographs of the Cathedral on Flickr.
Picture from Flickr care of Martin Third.
Talk about being at the right place at the right time. Hubby dropped my mom and I off at the movies for a special screening of "The Year My Parents Went on Vacation" at The Park theater. Instead of going home he decided to stick around for a few hours until the movie let out. He headed off to Canadian Tire to buy some polish and on a whim, ended up at Best Buy, in line to get in with the kids who were jumping at the bit to get their hands on Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Instead, he ended up with a form for one of 96 Wii's and apparently after walking around for an hour trying to figure out whether to buy it or not, he decided to splurge.
I've set up the toy and spent much too long playing the Wii sports. My favrouite it easily the Wii Tennis. I also got The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess which I've yet to play with but am excited to try out. Oh yes...and I've also created a Wii Me (though I think it has another name....still trying to get used to the terminology. Anyway you cut it...my Wii is FABULOUS!
Blogged with Flock
Like I did last week. This week's KFF:
I don't have a lot of time in my day to regularly watch TV shows but at some point I remembered to subscribe to CBC's The Hour. At this point, it's only fair to admit that one of the few reasons I had any interest in this show to begin with was because of George Stroumboulopoulos. I've had a crush on George since I first spotted him on MuchMusic but it was more than just rugged good looks - he also seemed to know what the hell he was talking about.
Then he took the job at CBC (I'm assuming the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation was looking to spice up and bring in some of the youth viewership) and though I very rarely catch his entire show, I do watch various segments here and there - basically whatever they upload as their vidcast.
I bring this up because sometime last week I saw a short interview with Sebastian Horsley, a guy I've never heard about but who, after hearing, I'm particularly curious about (enough to go looking for his book). Watching this particular video was also the first time I consciously noted how good Geroge is at what he does. He never seems nervous, he doesn't hold notes yet he's prepared, casual and poignant with his questions. He's the kind of interviewer others aspire to but never quite reach and he does it all with a natural charm. It's no surprise that Bono had this great little compliment of him: "George, I am a fan."
The interview with Horsley is at the CBC's "The Hour" page and I warn you now, it's a bitch to load. The page itself takes for ever and then the video is equally frustrating to work with but a little patience definitely pays off.
Guess what George? I'm a fan too.
Photo from Flickr thanks to photogirlkate.
Not sure who came up with this idea but someone somewhere thinks that the British Royals are popular enough to deserve their very own YouTube Channel.
I'm not sure about older generations but I sort of get the feeling that the Royals' appeal has been sliding on a downhill slope since Charles and Di's wedding and Di's death was probably the end of the infatuation with the Royals for many a folk. I certainly don't care and I'm wondering who on earth does?
The folks that are interested probably don't use YouTube and the folks on YouTube probably don't care. It is, however, an interesting approach to regaining some of their cultural influence.
Thanks to Laurie for the link.
Picture "borrowed" from Salome's Corner.
Or maybe you don't even know what Twitter is. That was me at BarCamp last year when I first heard the question "Do you Twitter?". Well, no and to be honest, at first glance, I didn't really get what the point was. I already had a blog, Skype and SMS but after NV, I decided I'd give it a shot. You may have noticed the Twitter This addition to the sidebar with a little link at the bottom asking you to follow me. You don't HAVE to but if you're at all interested in the minutia of my day to day life, you might find it fun. To boot, I'm still getting used to the whole thing so I don't use it as much as I could.
Instead of my trying to explain what on earth Twitter is, I give you this short and informative video from the folks at Common Craft.
Thanks to John Biehler for the link.
So if you think you know me, or want to know me, follow me.
Check out the crappy song...
Or skip it completely and head over to the A.V. Club for witty commentary on the disaster.
Remember those photos that popped up a few weeks back of Lindsay Lohan posing as Marilyn Monroe during her last photo shoot? Don't remember? To refresh your memory, head over to NY Mag.
That shoot was apparently supposed to re-introduce the newly sober and bright Lohan to the world but instead, it garnered a lot of negative attention and now the backlash has really begun. Famous Village Voice columnist Michael Musto (trust me, you may not recognize the name but you KNOW who this guy is) has his own spread at VV, copying Lohan copying Marilyn. It's all a bit meta and kind of strange but it's pretty damned funny. And I give Musto credit for doing it too. He seems like a pretty laid back guy but this takes a bit of balls.
The fancy comparison picture comes to you care of Just Jared but you can check out all of the photographs here.
I can't quite remember what I was looking for but I somehow ended up clicking around over at Amazon.ca and spotting a link to Sarah Brightman's new album "Symphony", I watched the little video they have posted and the first thing that came to mind is that Brightman looks a bit scary. How much plastic surgery has this woman had done?
This got me thinking of how it had been since I heard one of my favourite of Brightman' songs "Harem" from her 2004 album. I searched for that on YouTube, listened to it and then decided I also needed to find Dulce Pontes' "Canção Do Mar" which is heavily sampled in "Harem". All that work and you get to reap the benefits.
First up is Brightman's "Harem" and following that is Pontes'"Canção Do Mar". And have I mentioned how much I love/hate Amazon's "Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought" feature? Love it because I always find cool new stuff and hate it for that same reason.
Photo from Flickr care of Carlos Rojas.
Oh the woes!
It appears I was lucky to miss the first crest of downloads. Newsweek has some words on what the problem was.
Thankfully for me, I should have no trouble getting my $5 worth of music tonight. And yes, I've decided to invest in the $75 version of the collector's set though I'll hold off on shelling out the $300 for the deluxe.
And yes, what I've heard so far (essentially all of "Ghosts I" 4 times this morning) is FANTASTIC.
And jeez, I feel *really* old. Music that was once on the cutting edge and completely radio unfriendly is now making Newsweek headlines. That's a bit painful.
Good god man. Just when I thought I couldn't/shouldn't lust for anything else, I find something I want.
I'm just downloading "Ghosts I", the first of the new NIN albums (since the site is down at the moment I can't buy the rest) but while doing that, I'm clicking around at Artist in Residence and lusting after the Deluxe edition of the release.
If I was really selfish, I'd likely opt for the "Ultra Deluxe Limited Edition" but I'm a woman of small wishes (ok...maybe not).
Maybe if the tax return goes my way I can splurge...
Blogged with Flock
According to this story, the album was mysteriously released today. I'll be making a purchase tonight and filling you in on the details tomorrow!
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