Tuesday, May 24, 2005
Nooooooo!
I've always loved anything written by Sars over at Tomato Nation, but her essay on Revenge of the Sith could be summed up with the words, "my thoughts exactly." She managed to write two pages of wildly articulate and well-reasoned explanation for the same set of thoughts I had when I told friends after seeing the movie that it seems like George Lucas has either watched too many movies in the past 20 years, or not enough.
Tuesday, May 17, 2005
Movies and Music
Last night I saw Hitchhiker's Guide, and the more I think about it, the more I like it. The way it was filmed reminded me of British television, and I wasn't the only one thinking that. D. compared some of the graphics to Red Dwarf. I think the actors were very well cast too. The guy who played Arthur was just as aggressively ordinary as Arthur should be. I imagine it was a temptation to cast someone who was "Hollywood-average" looking, which would have been all wrong -- Arthur isn't good looking. (He isn't bad looking either; he's just...ordinary.) Also, Zaphod Beeblebrox was wonderful. The actor really nailed a combination of politician and rock star. Hell, I would have voted for him! And of course there was Bill Nighy as Slartibartfast. I just love him. He was the one bright spot in Love Actually and so perfect as the stepdad in Shaun of the Dead. Mos Def was excellent as Ford Prefect too. He really knew how to use that towel!
Somehow I suspect another upcoming sci-fi movie could take lessons from this one about letting your characters carry the movie and not surrounding everything in superfluous CGI. Ahem. Revenge of the Sith, I'm looking in your direction.
Just started trying the new Yahoo! Music engine and Yahoo! Music Unlimited, which is still in beta. I've been a big fan of Yahoo's online radio (formerly Launchcast) for quite a while, because it lets you rate artists, songs, and albums in order to make a customized radio station. Since I have fairly wide-ranging tastes, this has been the ideal solution for me. Yahoo also includes music that you haven't rated so that you're constantly getting a stream of new stuff and don't get locked in to just the stuff you've already heard. Music Unlimited marries that ability to rate artists and hear new music based on what you like to a subscription-based service similar to Napster to Go and Rhapsody. What I think is going to make Music Unlimited the killer app is subscription price. While Napster and Rhapsody charge around $15/month, Yahoo! is only $7, or $5 if you choose to subscribe for a full year. I chose the full year option, because at only $60, it's well worth the money to me. I can listen to any album or song in Yahoo's collection, which previous experience with their radio service has already taught me is extensive. So now I can check out music I haven't heard before and listen to it as many times as I want. This is an awesome way to decide if I want to buy an album. Music Unlimited also has the ability to load these songs onto your MP3 player so you can take the music with you as long as you're a subscriber. Of course, the trick for this to work is that you need to own a player that supports the type of DRM Yahoo uses. Right now the list is fairly small, so check their website before you commit if this is an important feature to you. For me it's something I'd love to have, but since I spend so much of my day at a computer I can mostly get my fill of new music at my desk, so it wasn't a deal breaker.
You can also purchase songs for $.79, $.20 cheaper than iTunes or Napster. A full album usually works out to about $8, which is very reasonable. There are some restrictions on how many copies you can make, but in general it's pretty reasonable. These downloads can be transferred to almost all players, not just the ones that work with the subscription-based part of the service. The one exception is the iPod. Because iPods won't play WMA files this service is fairly useless to Pod-heads. The only reason I'd recommend this to someone with an iPod is if they are willing to pay to only be able to listen to music at their desktop.
I've already listened to the new REM album, some Uncle Tupelo, and the new Beck album. These are all ones I might decide to buy after a few more listens. On the other hand, I've already decided I'm not so enamored with Of Montreal or Fallout Boy. But the great thing is I still have a year left on my subscription to revise and revisit those decisions. So much better than having to make a purchasing decision based on one track I've heard on the radio. Viva la revolución de la música!
Somehow I suspect another upcoming sci-fi movie could take lessons from this one about letting your characters carry the movie and not surrounding everything in superfluous CGI. Ahem. Revenge of the Sith, I'm looking in your direction.
Just started trying the new Yahoo! Music engine and Yahoo! Music Unlimited, which is still in beta. I've been a big fan of Yahoo's online radio (formerly Launchcast) for quite a while, because it lets you rate artists, songs, and albums in order to make a customized radio station. Since I have fairly wide-ranging tastes, this has been the ideal solution for me. Yahoo also includes music that you haven't rated so that you're constantly getting a stream of new stuff and don't get locked in to just the stuff you've already heard. Music Unlimited marries that ability to rate artists and hear new music based on what you like to a subscription-based service similar to Napster to Go and Rhapsody. What I think is going to make Music Unlimited the killer app is subscription price. While Napster and Rhapsody charge around $15/month, Yahoo! is only $7, or $5 if you choose to subscribe for a full year. I chose the full year option, because at only $60, it's well worth the money to me. I can listen to any album or song in Yahoo's collection, which previous experience with their radio service has already taught me is extensive. So now I can check out music I haven't heard before and listen to it as many times as I want. This is an awesome way to decide if I want to buy an album. Music Unlimited also has the ability to load these songs onto your MP3 player so you can take the music with you as long as you're a subscriber. Of course, the trick for this to work is that you need to own a player that supports the type of DRM Yahoo uses. Right now the list is fairly small, so check their website before you commit if this is an important feature to you. For me it's something I'd love to have, but since I spend so much of my day at a computer I can mostly get my fill of new music at my desk, so it wasn't a deal breaker.
You can also purchase songs for $.79, $.20 cheaper than iTunes or Napster. A full album usually works out to about $8, which is very reasonable. There are some restrictions on how many copies you can make, but in general it's pretty reasonable. These downloads can be transferred to almost all players, not just the ones that work with the subscription-based part of the service. The one exception is the iPod. Because iPods won't play WMA files this service is fairly useless to Pod-heads. The only reason I'd recommend this to someone with an iPod is if they are willing to pay to only be able to listen to music at their desktop.
I've already listened to the new REM album, some Uncle Tupelo, and the new Beck album. These are all ones I might decide to buy after a few more listens. On the other hand, I've already decided I'm not so enamored with Of Montreal or Fallout Boy. But the great thing is I still have a year left on my subscription to revise and revisit those decisions. So much better than having to make a purchasing decision based on one track I've heard on the radio. Viva la revolución de la música!
Monday, May 16, 2005
Better late than...
Ooof. Sorry for the delay in updating.
Battle of me vs. the ants still continues...
I think I've finally routed them from my kitchen, but now they seem intent on infesting my bathroom. There seem to be at least two colonies. One is coming out of the wall and taking the poisoned syrup very nicely. The other seems to be coming out of the light fixture in the ceiling, and occasionally drops from the ceiling onto my head. Not the sensation you want while you're brushing your teeth, let me tell you. I've put Terro up on top of my medicine cabinet now to try and lure the ceiling dwellers to their doom. Victory will be mine!
Uchenna and Joyce won The Amazing Race on Tuesday. Hooray for nice and well-mannered reality show contestants! Although, truth to tell, I wouldn't have been too disappointed if Rob and 'Ambah' had won either. They definitely played the game better than any of the other teams.
Speaking of reality shows, why did Britney get booted from America's Next Top Model on Wednesday?!! This is really the only episode that has made me suspect the result might be fixed, because from what they showed on camera it seemed so clear that Keenyah should have been the one to go and that Khalen should have been facing potential elimination with her. Instead the two girls with the best pictures found themselves on the block. I don't get it. I'm rooting for Naima to win because she seems like the only one who has the complete package: she photographs well and can walk a runway, but Britney was my second favorite. Her over the top personality really made the season interesting.
If you aren't reading GFY, start now. This entry about Dennis Rodman just kills me.
Ummm, I'm sure I had more things to say when I started this entry three days ago, but they appear to have completely drained out of my head. So I will conclude by congratulating my friend L.T., who got her doctorate this weekend. May you be the best PhD since Doctor Zaius! (Or was Zaius actually an MD? Or did they even have a formal university system on that crazy Planet of the Apes? Anyway... you rock, L.T.!)
Battle of me vs. the ants still continues...
I think I've finally routed them from my kitchen, but now they seem intent on infesting my bathroom. There seem to be at least two colonies. One is coming out of the wall and taking the poisoned syrup very nicely. The other seems to be coming out of the light fixture in the ceiling, and occasionally drops from the ceiling onto my head. Not the sensation you want while you're brushing your teeth, let me tell you. I've put Terro up on top of my medicine cabinet now to try and lure the ceiling dwellers to their doom. Victory will be mine!
Uchenna and Joyce won The Amazing Race on Tuesday. Hooray for nice and well-mannered reality show contestants! Although, truth to tell, I wouldn't have been too disappointed if Rob and 'Ambah' had won either. They definitely played the game better than any of the other teams.
Speaking of reality shows, why did Britney get booted from America's Next Top Model on Wednesday?!! This is really the only episode that has made me suspect the result might be fixed, because from what they showed on camera it seemed so clear that Keenyah should have been the one to go and that Khalen should have been facing potential elimination with her. Instead the two girls with the best pictures found themselves on the block. I don't get it. I'm rooting for Naima to win because she seems like the only one who has the complete package: she photographs well and can walk a runway, but Britney was my second favorite. Her over the top personality really made the season interesting.
If you aren't reading GFY, start now. This entry about Dennis Rodman just kills me.
Ummm, I'm sure I had more things to say when I started this entry three days ago, but they appear to have completely drained out of my head. So I will conclude by congratulating my friend L.T., who got her doctorate this weekend. May you be the best PhD since Doctor Zaius! (Or was Zaius actually an MD? Or did they even have a formal university system on that crazy Planet of the Apes? Anyway... you rock, L.T.!)
Wednesday, May 04, 2005
It's not easy being green
Because I made an appointment to get my hair cut this weekend and had almost completely decided to get it cut back to chin length, of course my hair has looked fantastic for the past two days and made me change my mind. My question: How does it always know?!
The latest skirmish in the war of me vs. the tiny little ants in my apartment has begun. But this time I went nuclear. While I'm at work today the ants are busily gorging themselves on Terro, a combination of syrup and borax that is supposed to wipe out the entire nest. This time, I believe victory is mine. Good thing the ants don't have technology that would make this into a Mutually Assured Destruction situation. Or do they?
A friend at work told me the shirt I'm wearing today reminded him of Kermit the Frog. But in a good way. Um. Thanks?
The latest skirmish in the war of me vs. the tiny little ants in my apartment has begun. But this time I went nuclear. While I'm at work today the ants are busily gorging themselves on Terro, a combination of syrup and borax that is supposed to wipe out the entire nest. This time, I believe victory is mine. Good thing the ants don't have technology that would make this into a Mutually Assured Destruction situation. Or do they?
A friend at work told me the shirt I'm wearing today reminded him of Kermit the Frog. But in a good way. Um. Thanks?
My week in review
So what have I been up to lately, you ask? Well, last Thursday was my non-GSLIS storytelling debut at Verde Gallery. I think it went reasonably well. Definitely the end got quite a few laughs out of people. I've concluded, however, that I need a break from storytelling for a while. Three of the last four weekends have had some kind of event in which I was either performing or listening, and I think I'm full up to here (imagine me reaching way up over my head) with stories. So this summer may be a storytelling-free zone.
Friday, the touring company of Les Mis was in town, so a few of us went to the Assembly Hall to see it. We knew our tickets would place us in the top tier of the balcony, but when we entered the arena the usher directed us to keep climbing and climbing until we were two rows from the top of the hall, which made it almost impossible to see the stage. Which wouldn't have been so bad (I mean, it would have, but you pay your money and you take your choice, right?), except that there were about twenty rows of completely empty seats in front of us. We grumbled along with the rest of the people who had been relegated to seating Siberia, and eventually moved down to better seats a few minutes before the curtain went up. As B said, the theme of the play almost required that we do so in order to level the playing field with our bourgeois oppressors! Do we fight for a night at the opera now? Uh, wait you mean that wasn't all they were fighting for? Heh.
Later Friday was the PhD celebration for all the Human Factors PhDs who successfully defended their dissertations and came one step closer to being called "Doctor". And Saturday morning was a delicious pancake breakfast at OHOP with Janice, who was in from Chicago to do some work on her dissertation.
Saturday night was a date where we ate Indian food (yummy, but the restaurant was loud) and went to see Kung Fu Hustle (funny, but way more violent than Shaolin Soccer). Sunday was a day of total laziness, although I did manage to get an entire book read. (TWOP writer Wendy's very funny debut, I'm Not the New Me.)
Last night I went to see Hotel Rwanda. I don't really have anything to say, except that I didn't sleep well last night. Not well at all.
Friday, the touring company of Les Mis was in town, so a few of us went to the Assembly Hall to see it. We knew our tickets would place us in the top tier of the balcony, but when we entered the arena the usher directed us to keep climbing and climbing until we were two rows from the top of the hall, which made it almost impossible to see the stage. Which wouldn't have been so bad (I mean, it would have, but you pay your money and you take your choice, right?), except that there were about twenty rows of completely empty seats in front of us. We grumbled along with the rest of the people who had been relegated to seating Siberia, and eventually moved down to better seats a few minutes before the curtain went up. As B said, the theme of the play almost required that we do so in order to level the playing field with our bourgeois oppressors! Do we fight for a night at the opera now? Uh, wait you mean that wasn't all they were fighting for? Heh.
Later Friday was the PhD celebration for all the Human Factors PhDs who successfully defended their dissertations and came one step closer to being called "Doctor". And Saturday morning was a delicious pancake breakfast at OHOP with Janice, who was in from Chicago to do some work on her dissertation.
Saturday night was a date where we ate Indian food (yummy, but the restaurant was loud) and went to see Kung Fu Hustle (funny, but way more violent than Shaolin Soccer). Sunday was a day of total laziness, although I did manage to get an entire book read. (TWOP writer Wendy's very funny debut, I'm Not the New Me.)
Last night I went to see Hotel Rwanda. I don't really have anything to say, except that I didn't sleep well last night. Not well at all.
Monday, May 02, 2005
Yo mama
Hurrah! The list that I sent into McSweeney's finally went up on their site. And I was wondering why I got such a big spike in hits on Friday...
