I saw the movie Breakin' on TV a few minutes ago. Strangely, it fits the theme I want here, since it's referred to as street jazz...
Anyways, as a storyline it was really bad, and the fashion was very early 80s (when the film was made. Duh, Jeff!), but the dance routines were great. I actually think I've seen modern dance far more outrageous than what they showed here!
I just tried to show it to dad. He wasn't very impressed when I hooked up to stations in Paris and Moscow - half a globa away from us. I find it cool, though.
Right now I'm listening to a station in Britain, on Radio Free Virgin. It's called Sax in the City. Cool saxophone jazz.
Someday, I have to get a dedicated high speed net connection like this!
For me, it hasn't been a major year for progress, but I have achieved a few great things. We also all learned a new escalation in the horrors man can commit in the name of their beliefs...
I'll see you all on the other side of the year. Remember to party safe.
This project began many years ago now, and it hasn't wrapped up yet.
The photo on the main page just shows part of the quilt, and it seems enormous already - but it's still only part of it all...
According to the site, AIDS has claimed 21.8 MILLION lives to date, 3 million of them last year alone. Very sobering statistics.
Even though today was already one of sadness and reflection on George Harrison, I wanted to make sure that the day I commemorated last year as part of The Day Without Weblogs was commemorated again:
Above this you'll find links to several sites about AIDS, to help you learn more.
Sir Paul McCartney was wrongly blasted for his seeming blasé attitude when John Lennon died. Really, it was shock when the news was just tossed at him.
No one could accuse him of that now. More tributes to George Harrison.
My Sweet Lord... the writing was very likely on the wall with the report earlier this year, even though it was proclaimed false.
George is the second Beatle lost to the world, after John Lennon in the 1980s...
When we was Fab... George had a major influence on modern music, even if he sometimes didn't seem to. Introducing the sitar to us, tunes after tunes after tunes...
Only 58. Taken from us too young, as John was. We'll miss you George. I have to go on with my life now, While my Guitar Gently Weeps.
I also got to follow a growing movie trend, even though I usually try to avoid trends: I saw the Harry Potter film in theatres.
I actually have yet to read any of the books but I had to say: the film was bloody brilliant. It actually made me want to read the books now.
Previews also reminded me just how much I anticipate the premiere of the first Lord of the Rings movie. This for a trilogy I haven't read in 20 years too!
I'm still blown away by the frenzy for this... still, Harry Potter got people reading again.
Right now, ABC news is pasting the airwaves with news of another plane crash outside of New York City. They've been doing so since early morning.
It might be a terrorist act; it's most definitely a tragedy, as over 200 lives were lost.
By bringing all the lives of TV viewers to a halt again, though, ABC is doing exactly what the terrorists want.
Bourque proved just how dense he could be in his concession speech; on the city merger, he said he might have explained it better, to make it more palatable. Hey, moron: it's an unpopular idea in Montreal, no matter HOW you explained it. As I've said from the beginning: no matter how we phrased it, we still said as one: we don't want it!
Now, the message should be clear - not that he'll understand it.
This is considered the most significant election in years, considering it's for the people in office once the entire city is merged (a forced merger that few people outside of the government want). As a result, it's also the election the highest percentage of citizens have voted in ever.
Even though the current mayor Pierre Bourque is one of the most despised in years, polls give him 35% of the vote. Why he'd have moore than 0.001% of the vote is beyond me. On the 11 o'clock news tonight, I'm hoping to have the results declared, so I can learn them before I wake up tomorrow.
That in itself is fantastic, but even more so was actually seeing him. He doesn't look his age at all! He looks aged, granted, but I've met 70 year-olds who look older than he does.
We should all aspire to achieve that.
This is exciting news: Chic Corea reuniting with two members of his classic sextet Origin.
Bio-warfare is happening now.
I still don't think the anthrax situations are from bin Laden; I think some other sicko is using him as a cover for their own insanities. Still, just the fact that chemical weapons are now being used - and on innocent civilians - is just mind numbing on top of the chilling things that have happened already.
It's bad enough that Peter Jennings at ABC interrupts shows often with 30-minute "Special Reports" that contain nothing as far as actual news... now, thanks to the inept workings of the Canadian media, a Website done for only parody - I'll say it again: PARODY, was pulled from the 'net because the Webmaster had enough harassment.
The site in question was called "Bert is Evil". Said site just played on a joke: that Bert from Sesame Street was actually involved in some of the most heinous actions of the past century.
One photo was an image made a few years ago, of Bert behind Osamu bin Laden. This was after the bombing of a few embassies in Asia. Unfortunately, some scumbags made posters of the image for an anti-America rally in Afghanistan recently. The vultures who used it had no idea who Bert even was.
This led to major media furor, which led to the Canadian press hounding the Webmaster, which in turn led to him saying "Screw it!" and closing the site.
Shame on you, media vultures. Shame. On. You.
Was this the result of terrorist actions? I'm not so sure... but we can't hide under a rock in fear of everything being done by these evil men (and I'm not gender typecasting here; in the extremist beliefs, women are treated as less than 3rd class citizens).
I don't know who's stating the truth about zero civilian casualties or many, but I don't believe a word from Taliban mouths.
Even if he can't be directly linked to the horror of September 11th, he has orchestrated other acts of hate and murder around the world... and the 'peace' he calls for in Palestine would be nothing short of genocide.
Enjoy hell when you get there, bin Laden. You've earned it.
Thing is, they announced a few months ago that the product was becoming shareware. After a month trial, you had to pay for it.
That's what killed Netscape's market share. Why pay for a browser when Internet Explorer's free? They changed their tune, but it was too late.
Now Netcaptor is cutting their throats. Oh well.
Some critics called it too preachy, said that it seemed like a civics class...
Uhm... excuse me? The story was of a politics class, and all the characters spoke to them? Did you critics miss that point?
They used an accurate logic point about Islamic Fundamentalists, who are not to have other followers of Islam lumped in with them:
Islamic Fundamentalists are to Islam like the Klu Klux Klan to Christianity.
I can't think of a more accurate description of this splinter group.
First, they eliminated free GeoPlus for Community Leaders, which meant their pop-up ads now show on any page that doesn't already hold their Geoguide ad banner. This blocks out a lot of my design. You can click twice to turn it off, but it returns on every page right away anyways.
NOW they've eliminated the Geoguide, so the pop-ups appear on every page, hiding much more of my site messages.
I will now move the site, as I suspect a lot of the more net-savvy denizens will. I just have to find a free host that doesn't put pop-ups everywhere. If you know of such a host, please please let me know.
I'm still stunned that a Harry Potter book won the best SF Novel Hugo this year, but it's interesting to see how the books are still increasing literary business.
3 fundamentalists killed is a tragedy? Evil vulture... anything over the number 0 is bad, but zealots killed more than five thousand innocents in New York - and the number is rising daily!
It's alright to murder innocents because they are American? Never!
To say it was emotionally draining would be an understatement - but then, it was supposed to be. The events that led to it were beyond tragic. I still don't have the words to accurately convey the scope of atrocity last Tuesday.
One celebrity deserves mention right here: Jim Carrey.
I've been underwhelmed by him ever since his debut on a special here in Canada many years ago. I don't find him funny in the least.
I do admire him now, however, for donating one million dollars to the relief efforts. He's Canadian, and no celebrity has ever found need to give so much of their own money - yet he didn't hesitate, didn't even blink here. He just saw that it would help a lot, and gave it. I wish more celebrities were as selfless.
With the Taliban actually trying to negotiate terms for the release of Osamu Bin Laden, I don't blame them. Scumbag terrorists took too many human lives (anything over zero is too many); what right would they now have to dictate terms? NONE.
What I'm upset with though is the now-current trend of PC censorship. A list of songs radio stations should now cease playing because of potentially offensive lyrics has now been released. On that list is Imagine by John Lennon.
Excuse me?! A song extolling peace and unity for all mankind is dangerous? What are they smoking? Whatever it is, keep me far away from it!
JIHAD IS NOT "HOLY WAR" NOR IS IT A "PILLAR OF ISLAM" --------------------------- JIHAD: (Striving) Although it is not a pillar of Islam but is a duty in one form or another. The most common media misconception is of calling Jihad a 'Holy War.' The general meaning of the term is "striving for moral and religious perfection." The broader meaning of this term encompasses one's life and community. The constant struggle of striving to remain on the path of Islam by observing the above five pillars of Islam (Witness, Prayer, Alms, Fasting, and Pilgrimage) is Jihad. One who Strives is Mujahid. Being a Mujahid, a striver for moral and religious perfection, involves numerous forms of public and private devotion that charaterizes the 'practice' of islam. This includes respecting the dietry laws against eating pork and drinking alcohol, respecting parents and elders, helping to provide for close relatives and kin, giving to the poor and disadvantaged. On the other side, theft, murder, fornication, adultery, lying, cheating, wrongly accusing or testifying are strictly forbidden by Shari'a (Islamic Law). http://www.cco.caltech.edu/~calmsa/intro.html ------------------------- It is of the utmost importance at this time of justice-seeking and finger-pointing that non-Muslims learn something about the religion of Islam before buying into and passing on dangerous misinformation about Islamic beliefs.(e.g. that jihad is a religious mandate to holy war). Sources of clear information abound on the web, including the FAQ at alt.religion.islam or http://www.faqs.org/faqs/islam-faq/alt-newsgroup/, and the fine longer article "The Spiritual Significance of Jihad" at http://www.al-islam.org/al-serat/jihad-nasr.htm But there are even better sources of information about the Muslim religion: your local Islamic community centers and the Islamic members of your local community. Many American Muslims are currently in deep fear of the reactions of their fellow non-Muslim countrymen; help ease their fears -- and yours. Show them that America is ready to learn about their beliefs and practices from the keepers of those beliefs and not through media-driven misconceptions. Would you expect any less from others if your your own religious tradition were being questioned? America shows her best side when she shows her wisdom as well as her compassion. Let us not add Muslims to the long list of religious and ethnic groups who have suffered due to the ignorance of others or the heinous acts of the few. May the golden lamp of knowledge draw us all together and light our way in the dark days to come. "Without knowledge there is no wisdom" (Sirach 3:25)
- This shows just how evil terrorist fundamentalists are: they perverted the usage of a word signifying peace in their own faith, and convinced people of a lie that it actually represents violence.
How significant was his part of Canadian culture? Mike Myers listed him on his list of Top 5 things he loved about Canada - even higher on his list that hockey... and we all know how fanatical he is about that.
Mr. Dressup was a simple children's show. The central character would draw cartoons, or dress-up to enact stories for the puppet boy Casey and his silent dog Finnegan. No explosions, no action or guns. Just a gentle half hour for kids every day.
I saw him perform live on stage when I was a child. That'll be a memory I'll always cherish.
My friend Pat, a journalism graduate, spoke of the malignancy of the networks in his log, now I've seen it proven: today the tv schedule was supposed to get back to normal, so I tried watching All My Children. After a week of dread, I needed some fluff to lift my spirits. Many people do.
ABC doesn't think so. First they interupted 15 minutes in for a so-called Special Report: the presidential press secretary giving the President's schedule for the day. Considering it was business as usual, did we really need to hear that for 20 minutes?
Then, as they were supposed to go back to the show, they cut in with another Special Report - this time for a briefing by Secretary of State Colin Powell. At this point I turned the set off, but I'm sure nothing he said would be important to know now.
ABC, if grinding life to a standstill was a terrorist goal, you're doing their work for them.
Here's what Falwell had to say - no, dared to say:
"The ACLU's got to take a lot of blame for this. And, I know that I'll hear from them for this. But, throwing God or successfully with the help of the federal court system, throwing God out of the public square, out of the schools. The abortionists have got to bear some burden for this because God will not be mocked. And when we destroy 40 million little innocent babies, we make God mad. I really believe that the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays and the lesbians who are actively trying to make that an alternative lifestyle, the ACLU, People For the American Way, all of them who have tried to secularize America. I point the finger in their face and say 'you helped this happen'."
He realized what damage these words may have done for his business ministry, so he claimed afterwards they were taken out of context. NOT a retraction of these hateful words, but that others quoted him wrong.
Pat Robertson did no better. Also on the 700 Club, his words did the work for the terrorists:
On his website, Pat's doing the hateful, anti-American, seditious act of telling people that the terrorism is going to grow worse. He's doing the terrorists' job for them. And get this quote: "We lie naked before these terrorists who have infiltrated our country. There are probably tens of thousands of them in America right now. They have been raising money and preaching their hate."
(Fair credit time. These words came to me thanks to members of the Compuserve Comics and Animation forum.
Can people now get it through their brains that these scum don't do anything good, that they do nothing but program hate into the masses? I hope they get shut out by all like they deserve!
It was almost comical, as I purchased a cheap disposable lighter that I couldn't make work, ended up using a long match anyways.
I've added a Red Cross donation box somewhere on this site. If you can, please use it. Your donation may help in a small part to combat this tragedy.
Considering how significant this tragedy was, that's not surprising... but it's still emotionally draining.
At least the speech from my Prime Minister, Jean Chretien, was good. Generally, I don't like him... but he said words similar to what I did earlier today: that an ethnic race can't be called to blame for the actions of a few.
Even if they don't read this, I hope this message gets through by osmosis: A race isn't responsible for this, individuals are. Break the cycle of hatred.
This man was there. Fortunately, only on the subways and streets around the WTC, and not in them.
Many of these photos are images burned into our minds already, but the account of someone actually there is very poignant.
Last night, I spoke of my disgust with the words of the leader of the Hesballah.
This morning, Osamu Bin Laden was quoted saying that while he wasn't responsible for this atrocity, he wanted to congratulate those who were. Am I deathly in hatred of him? Yes.
The news all showed the same group of Palestinians rejoicing at this action. Am I deathly in hatred of them? Yes again. Such disregard for innocent life is an abomination
Does this mean I now hate all Palestinians, or Muslims, or Arabs? No.
One group of slime does not an entire race make. I have friends who are practicing Muslims; I don't hate them for their beliefs.
As a Jew, the grandson of Holocaust survivors, a culture and ethnic race attacked and killed just for living a mere 60 years ago, I can't perform similar acts of generalization.
How sad that the nation-state of Israel has forgotten those lessons, and helped to fan the flames of similar hatred now.
Gee... so many people killed, I really care what ideology is taken for the attacks... not.
You've likely been hearing about it on all the news: before 9 am, a plane crashed into the World Trade Center in New York City.
At first, it was thought to be a horrible tragic air accident - but at 9:03 am, as Good Morning America was showing the accident, another plane came into view, colliding with the second tower in a horrific fireball.
Shortly thereafter, another plane crashed into the Pentagon in Washington. Others were then reported over various areas in the US, which may have been intended for strategic targets in the areas.
Before 11 am, the news announced that the Trade Towers were destroyed, and they showed gruesome footage of the buildings imploding.
Other footage was shown of revellers on the West Bank, and Palestinians also rejoicing that the major power (the US) had been shown to be defenseless.
I wanted to reach through my TV to strangle these vultures. Hoow many tens of thousands of innocent lives were ended by this? How can anyone rejoice at such suffering.
I visited the World Trade Center more than 20 years ago. When I think of how I once looked at the city skyline from a building now fallen, I feel like throwing up again.
Here's the deal: For Better or Worse has been a comic strip in newspapers for decades. It's also one of the few strips where the characters have been aging.
The current storyline has the son (Michael) getting married. The storyline has him getting one of his best friends as best man... said friend happening to be gay.
Cartoonist Lynn Johnson has the mother of the bride worried about this - but the Bible Belt seem to be up in arms about it in real life. How dare she have a gay character in her strip, and how dare she put him in this storyline.
My question: how dare you people still be so closed-minded and ignorant? Gay people have been a facet of life since time began - and in the grand scheme of life, it doesn't matter one way or the other.
I'm disgusted that such narrow-minded people still exist.
It was amazing to see Victoria Jackson on Bizarre. It was also a trip to read the copyright notice at the end for 1984 - that reminded me I wasn't yet a high school graduate when the show was still on (I graduated in June of 84).
The funny thing was seeing Victoria - who made her fame on Saturday Night Live... and the very next show was an old (1970s) episode of just that show!
I figured this site merited a plug (even if he's using something other than Blogger), for the simple fact that the writer is one of my best friends... and he's indirectly mentioned me a few times. :)
Sacu Coivu, the captain of the Montreal Canadians, was diagnosed with abdominal cancer.
He's only 26 freakin' years old. Hopefully, that and the fact he's strong will hopefully help him to pull through this... but as I said here about two months ago, I lost an aunt to cancer. She was a few years older at 53, but there's really no age when cancer is okay.
26... sometimes, fate is downright cruel.
I'm not a big fan of the reality shows, but I actually enjoyed this one. The 'Ugly American' frat brothers were funny in their crassness, and it was interesting seeing a contest that involves a lot of thinking.
The only thing that made me very uncomfortable was the bungee jump. I suffer from vertigo, so I'll never try it (the lack of dexterity helps) - but every leap here gave me chills.
I linked a few articles about a young singer's death in here (I won't say her name again, to avoid increasing my search rankings for that term). Since then, I've had a minimum of 21 visits to the site a day, mostly from people searching for news of her in the major engines.
It's bad enough that so many perverts come to my site looking for nude photos of popular models (notes to pervs: THERE ARE NO NUDE PHOTOS OF CYNDY MARGOLIS - ANYWHERE!). Now death has brought me bounty.
I feel so cheap.
Reading through this, one thought came to mind: can you say petty?
TV as a form of birth control? Riiiight.
"Fred Hoyle. An astrophysicist, Hoyle didn't really believe that the "Big Bang" was the start of the universe, but he was the one who coined the term, using it with derision in a lecture. "Every cluster of galaxies, every star, every atom had a beginning, but the universe itself did not," he once said. It was also Hoyle (working with William Fowler, Geoffrey Burbidge and Margaret Burbidge) who realized that all chemical elements heavier than helium were produced by nucleosynthesis (nuclear reactions inside stars). He also led the group that developed radar in World War II. Sir Fred Hoyle died August 20 in Bournemouth, England. He was 86."
Although he didn't believe his own theory, he'll still be remembered as the father of our beliefs of the Universe' origins.
I saw films at this theatre about 11-12 years ago. It's hard to put in words how beautiful the art-deco architexture was, the statues and sculptures that made it something unseen anywhere else in the city.
Sadly, a fire shortly after I saw my last film there gutted the building. It remained as a pile of rubble on St-Catherine (the main street of the downtown core) for a decade since. It was never repaired, and just added to the urban blight of that part of the city.
Now, it was torn down for Concordia University (ironically, my alma mater), which bought the land to build new buildings for the university itself. These new facilities are planned to launch in 2004.
It's a matter of putting some use to territory lain wasted for so long... but still, another part of my cultural memories is now gone.
A younger Clint Eastwood was a startling sight to see. =) The story and look of the film is very dated today, especially considering how the story logic seems nonsensical... but I was also surprised when I recognized the actor who played the antagonist:
I don't remember his name, but he played Garok on Deep Space 9.
Forget the 5 disco songs they performed for Saturday Night Fever - they have a tremendous body of work, with classic songs like It's only words, San Francisco, and Nights on Broadway (that last one has stalker-like lyrics these days, but it's still an incredible song).
Anyway, when this show first aired they were celebrating over 40 years as performers. That's a tremendous record any way you slice it!
Once I got home though... the heat is barely tolerable. This as I have to go out for another meeting too...
I told a friend down in Austin about the heat of the past 9 days... he said it was as if Montreal had become Texas. =)
The fact that the heat is lower finally gave me the drive to update my company site, Thothwares Web Design. I now have branded e-mail, and a lot of information cleared up.
You can visit it at: Thothwares.com
I told a friend down in Austin about the heat of the past 9 days... he said it was as if Montreal had become Texas. =)
The fact that the heat is lower finally gave me the drive to update my company site, Thothwares Web Design. I now have branded e-mail, and a lot of information cleared up.
You can visit it at: Thothwares.com
Remember a few weeks ago when the public was led to believe that George Harrison was dying of cancer? A story denied by George, and former manager George Martin, whom the story was attributed to?
Well, here's an update on it from Salon:
"Anyway, now we hear (via www.salon.com) that one James Desborough has been fired by something called the World Entertainment News Network (WENN) after admitting that he took a reporter's mundane interview with Martin, jazzed it up with invented quotes about Harrison's health, and sold it to a London paper, The Mail on Sunday.
Then, Salon says, the Mail further enhanced (my emphasis) the quotes. "
Anyone who perpetuated such cruelty deserves far worse than just firing, in my opinion.
The heat isn't much less than in Montreal, but a few degrees seems to make a difference.
Plus, my aunt has a DSL Internet connection. Playing with the high speed is very addictive... if I hadn't hoped to get a high speed connection after my move, I would indeed now!
I'm not surprised. I wish the media would learn: if a virus is mentioned everywhere as supposed to strike on a specific date and time, it's already been thwarted, assuming it was anything more than a hoax story to begin with. A real epidemic would strike with no warning.
If you needed any more proof of how these pageants don't celebrate true beauty, this is it!
I heard on the radio this morning that former Beatle George Harrison expects he'll die soon from cancer. He just recently had his third operation to remove a tumor for a third type of cancer too.
He told former producer Sir George Martin that he's made his peace with it... but he's only 5 years older than my aunt Susan was when she died of lung cancer recently.
What a sad world...
Coolboard ended their free discussion board program at the end of June. Since I was the only person who ever used it, I decided to just remove it rather than find a substitute.
Likewise, the link to a music store that never was. In the year I've been blogging, I never set it up, so it's gone.
I'll add more changes over time... and I'll fix the archive soon.
I'll work on a redesign for the Archive section Saturday.
I'll still have to do some major work on the Style Sheet to get it to do what I want too - but if I pull this off, it may look cooler here!
The Freeservers banner at the top of the page would muddy up my design a bit... but I can't afford the paid, banner-free version just yet.
I learned that a science fiction/media convention in Toronto that I used to attend and speak at invited my best friend to be a guest this year, but not me. Maybe they don't consider me so important.
Let's see: I've been a publisher for 13 years, wrote animation screenplays, game adventures, do Website designs, edit and publish my own newsletter... seems pretty big to me.
I was offline to eat, or write, or to do some packing. I also took some time to work on the new site for my ABomanation blog. Overall though, I'd say I've been earning my ISPs keep on Unlimited access. :)
It's always scary when someone so easily breaks codes and gets information like this... but let's face it: anything done to Bill Gates can't be all bad. :)
Let's face it: the band has had nothing but trouble since Roth was originally kicked out. That they're still having trouble is no surprise.
I learned this week that I was 2nd on the Housing list. That may be lowered if someone with a more urgent need for housing comes in, but it's still way better than being lower on the list.
This doesn't mean I won't possibly have a long wait ahead of me; one of my friends was #1 on the list for a year and a half. I likely still have a decent amount of time to pack. Still, on the off chance that something becomes available in the near future, I have to get ready.
Another sad, significant loss.
I first learned of Mordecai Richler from the film version of his novel The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz. From there, I often saw him as the voice of Montreal Jewish culture.
In his later years he became the terror of sovereignists, blazing the federalist trail and publicly denouncing the crimes against Anglophone culture.
He will be greatly missed.
I've heard the arguements for awhile now, and I'm still scratching my head.
Correct me if I'm wrong on this, but stem cells are taken after a baby is born. Furthermore, what is taken doesn't affect the child in any way.
If I'm right, then what's the problem?
More sad news today: Jack Lemon, star of many films, passed away at 74.
One of my favorite films of all time is Some Like it Hot, the Billy Wilder-directed film that starred Lemon, Tony Curtis, and Marilyn Monroe. Tony is now the only surviving member of that group...
The film is a prime example of the screwball comedy. Years ago, a film teacher almost managed to ruin the film for me, but couldn't succeed.
Lemon was a well-loved member of old school Hollywood, an actor famous for great comedies, but also a great dramatist. He was a man so loved and respected, actor Vim Raines gave him his 1999 Golden Globe, because he felt Jack deserved it.
Goodbye, Mr. Lemon. Those of us who remember your work will make sure you're never forgotten.
She stopped eating more than 2 weeks ago, and she hadn't opened her eyes in over a week. She'd gone into a coma.
She didn't feel pain in the end, and her suffering is now over - but what an awful way to go.
It's something we've expected for weeks now, an inevitable ending... but it still hurts. I've been on the brink of tears ever since mom told me.
I spent a large part of the day copying over my personal diary to another program; problem with Lite versions of some apps is that they don't provide proper export functions... so, I cut and paste, and re-live some of my older journal entries while I do.
(Not that Canada Day next week is any different. The whole "I Am Canadian!" ad campaign for Canadian Beer fits to a T.)
Johnny Lee Hooker, legendary blues man, an influence on the Rolling Stones, died at the age of 80.
He was still performing to the end, still recording. He will be missed.
The other I didn't hear of until a few minutes ago - but his memory will always be significant: Carol O'Connor.
Archie Bunker was a character I grew up with, and played a significant part in my pop culture gestalt. Archie's favorite chair has been an exhibit in the Smithsonian for years. Now, memories of Archie - and Carol - will be forever in our hearts and minds too.
By winning this title, they've also become the first NBA champions of the 21st century, and it seems they've possibly started a run as the new dominant franchise.
A few things about the games stuck out to me: first, Tyrone Hill of the Sixers is a fantastic player - but he really needs to eat a bit. The guy must be the one player I've seen who looks way emaciated.
Secondly, Shaquille O'Neil is a truly dominant player, one of the strongest big men I've ever seen on the courts. His size must be the reason he seems to sweat so much, however.
Finally, one of the announcers really annoyed me: PJ-something, a guy who offered commentary off-court. He always looks like he's in tremendous pain or furious when he speaks.
Regardless of anything though, the Sixers played a hard-fought series. Even from down scores, they fought back to the end.
A family friend, one I haven't seen in many years, is right now in Paliative care, most likely on her death bed.
The reason: lung cancer.
Was she a smoker? No.
She's only 53 years old.
About 4 years ago, she went to her doctor for chest pains. He discounted it as nothing serious, gave her some cough medecine. The pain didn't go away. One of her friends recommended an Oncologist. A few months after her mis-diagnosis by one doctor, it was found to be cancer - a cancer that had spread throughout her body by now.
She had two operations to remove tumors - but now it was inoperable. She had to face four damn years of getting worse, being sick from drugs and radiation, just to lead to this. Death by millimeters. Sometimes, life really sucks.
Apparently, Toronto has one of the best such services in Canada - as if we don't have enough reason to hate Toronto!
I had to pass on the rally because of the high temperature outside; high heat makes it hard for me to get around, so I wouldn't have been able to participate for long.
The problem is: as far as I can tell, Montreal news services didn't find it important enough to mention, as I didn't hear word one on the air! I guess I'll have to hear the radio news tomorrow and check the newspapers to see if everyone ignored it.
I suspect that right now the families of the Oklahoma bombing victims are feeling their loss no less. His death doesn't erase the deaths of their loved ones in any way. It does bring a small measure of closure to events, though.
I stand by what I said previously in this Blog: for killing all these innocents and showing NO regret whatsoever (calling them incidental to his plans), for his callous disregard for other lives, McVeigh didn't deserve to continue the gift of life... but how sad is it that any of us would think that now?
One bonus, clipped from their site:
The Festival's closing performance will be devoted to Miles Davis, who would have celebrated his 75th birthday this year. As such, master trumpet player Wallace Roney has been invited to offer us a glimpse of Miles' musical legacy, in a concert entitled " Miles and Miles: A Musical Journey." Furthermore, to commemorate the 10th anniversary of Miles Davis' death, the Festival is holding a posthumous tribute, and presenting one of his unknown achievements at the Galerie du Festival. This work, a signed and numbered serigraphy, will be available during the event.
As I mention on this site's discussion boards, I've grown to really enjoy Miles Davis music in the last few years, so this'll be a plus for me.
I also visited Holly Cole's Website. I haven't been there in quite awhile, and saw it was redesigned top to bottom.
One of the changes is a very welcome one: the message boards are now using Ultimate Bulletin Board. UBB seems to be growing more popular by the day... it meant I had to register for it again - but the nice thing is that it remembers your login information for you... a good thing, as I'd forgotten my old login!
With news, however, improvisation is unforgivable. Not doing the research needed to actually be knowledgable in your stories - that's just neccesary, not a choice.
Yahoo News failed on that miserably: they had a piece about actor Scott Bakula coming to play the Captain on the next Star Trek series. They spoke of him playing "Doctor Sam Bennet on Quantum Leap for five seasons".
Bennet? Could have sworn his character was Sam Beckett - a fact this reporter would know if he actually reasearched his piece.
The Yahoo staff must now be hiding in shame.
The big difference: Mozilla is actually updated regularly, and is supposed to be more stable. I'll see... it seems to take as long to load, and pages do render slowly with it... that may be improving in later versions.
I'm stunned at the tech news today: Netscape announced they're no longer in the browser business.
Netscape 6 was far delayed, granted. It's a fantastic browser, albeit one that hogs mondo RAM to run. They set-up entire sections of their site for it too; Sidebar Central and Theme Park.
It's also more Standards-compliant; as a Website designer, knowing a Website would appear as designed would be a tremendous plus.
Netscape was the first browser I ever used to surf the Web. MSIE is a good browser, but a) it is a Microsoft product, which seems a synonym for a product being buggy and full of security holes, and b) they are a company that has ever to follow the Standards rules 100%, which is why we have to design multiple versions of sites.
Now they won't have any real competition; Opera is nowhere near that level, so I just hope someone comes along to compete soon.
I read some of the site's other reviews, as well as reviews of them. To be honest, they make me think of the comic shop owner on The Simpsons in terms of critquing style: mean, detailed, brutal...
To which I say: GOOD! My creative writing courses were harsh and brutal (which may be redundant terms). To me, that was the only way to learn and improve. I'm a better writer now for it (although in my mind I still have a lot of learning to do). I tend to get upset when people soft-sell their critiques, or just leave comments at the level of "Good stuff!"
So to the reviewers at Blog You!: if you look at this site and say "He's a disabled artist. Let's go easy on him." I'll personally track you down to bash you with my canes! (not that I think you'll go easy). I'm hoping to improve my design here; feedback will only help me do that.
I had several of the free Internet 'hard drives' for several years: Freedrive, I-drive, and X-Drive. The first two I've used quite a bit to port work files between the office and home.
X-Drive announced they would be closing the service last month. Today I-drive did the same. I'm currently downloading a legal MP3 from there as I type, and I've removed any other files I want to keep from it, deleted those I don't.
It's a shame to lose another great resource like that.
If I believe the following post from the Evrsoft bulletin board, then updates on the software are pretty much kaput:
"I just received some complaints from Bravenet about the excessive use of this Message Board. To clarify the reason that there have been no update is that the software company previously owned by myself and known as Evrsoft Pty. Ltd has been sold to a source who does not wish to be identified. I am still very much involved with Global Planet the makers of Under Construction 98. We should be releasing a new version of Under Construction by September. "
I say "if I believe" because, while it was posted by someone named Napoleon Pham (the name of the supposed owner of Evrsoft), people have posted false names on the board before... in any event, I didn't post the URLs from the post, as I didn't want to give them any advertising.
For myself, I'll just move on. I can't afford to buy UC 98, so I'll stick to free programs available out there.
Tonight, Montreal's Global Television affiliate aired a special about Jazz Fest 2000. It showed footage of Ray Charles, Al Jarreau, Chick Corea, Holly Cole, Didi Bridgewater and the Manhattan Transfer performing. They made it seem like the 21st Annual festival was full of great outdoor performances.
They mis-represented the Festival, big-time.
Oh, all of these performers did play during the Festival - but all in indoor concerts, shows you had to pay major bucks to attend.
The outdoor free shows, while they sometimes had talented newcomers, were shows repeated as many as 10 times each during the entire festival. Not all of them were jazz music either.
The big outdoor show presented was a concert by a Brazilian group; last year was actually a show that garnered a lot of controversy for not being suitable: a Techno DJ spinning records. That caused a major uproar.
The show was packaged well; it adds to my desire to check out this year's Festival, more than I was able to last year. It just wasn't very truthful.
Unlike the many disgruntled and abusive posters in their guestbook, I haven't flamed them about taking time to release a product... I know enough about the development process to know it doesn't always work to a fixed timetable.
BUT...
It's really a shame... I've been a Website designer for years, and FirstPage is the first product I've used in a long time that freed me up to think more of the creative process rather than the technical side. That's like the difference between free and structured Jazz: when you can think more of the sound rather than worrying about the technique, it usually sounds better.
As a disabled person, this upsets me. Those of us with real disabilities are harmed by this, as our stated conditions may now be questioned.
For the record, I do have MS. This isn't pretend for the Web, this isn't a case of "On the Internet nobody knows you're a dog"-things... it also isn't life threatening, or even a sticking point for this Blog.
I added a new Blog to my personal site about a week ago, to replace my writing journal. If you'd like to check it out, you can find it here.
Today was a busy day of packing and cleaning for me. With an Adapted Housing inspector coming on Monday, I want this place to be as ship-shape as possible; anything that can push me up the waiting list is a good thing.
I realize that just mentioning these names now will guarantee my logs showing them as search terms to visit Jazz Life again... well, let the pervs feel dumb while I just get a few more visits!
It'll possibly be laughed at by many viewers, because the songs are all contemporary pop, sung as if they were written in the late 1800s.
Hearing the KISS song "I was made for loving you" sung by a romantic man of that era just sounds too weird.
- Oh, it may also be that I attributed Blueberry Hill to the wrong Fats. It may well have been sung by Fats Domino, not Waller.
His life should be cause for celebration at this year's Montreal Jazz Fest... but I don't expect organizers who got freakin' Prince in concert to feel this way.
Although this item was listed under Bizarre News, it's really a bit sad; a century later, and the families of some of the people dead in this tragedy still won't have closure.
One of the two items I listed has had no bids; the other has now seen 3... totalling a "whopping" $1.25 more than my initial price of $2.50.
The first item I'll attempt to relist with some images to entice buyers and more information. For other auctions though, I'll know better to start them at a higher bid...
I spent a large portion of the day tweaking the settings for my new message boards on The Wild World of Jeff. I started doing much yesterday, as I mentioned in the last post, but continued today, pushing at it until I got it right.
But that isn't all! Both my Comicopia and Apacalypse zines are due on June 8th. I've already written most of my materials for them... but today I worked on a lot too.
Mr. Prolific is slowly coming back.
While working on it, I also remembered my love for hand-coding HTML pages. I know, it's a skill I'm trying to make a career of, but it's been so damn long since I used it... it felt good.
Marc Kevin Hall here has a very well-thought out essay for those most upset with Blogger the last few days. I have to admit, I was one of the.
(Well granted he wishes a happy birthday to a guy named Jeff too... I know it isn't me, and it was posted a few days ago, but I take all the ego-boo I can. :])
The good was finding out both George Lucas and Tim Roth were born today too. One of my favorite directors and favorite actors; a good blend!
The sad news was that crooner legend Perry Como died this weekend. I think this is something that comes with age, that you begin to appreciate more performers whose careers were before your time, their material not 'hip' enough in your youth.
(Cue the Beatles song)
34 is the year before we reach mid-thirties. Most folks have accomplished a lot by now... I don't yet feel I have. Mind you, a large part of my nature is always trying to do more.
I think of my former classmate Anne Marie at times like this: she was a few years my elder in University, but far younger in spirit. She pointed out that as Animation people, we tended to be younger at heart.
I think she was right.
"Hitchhiker's Guide" was one of my favorite early readings.
Douglas Adams, like Joey Ramone, died way too young.
It cheered me up a little... as I got the notice on my provincial tax refund - all claimed between the student loan folks and Welfare. Almost three hundred bucks.
I anticipated the loan people taking their blood money, but it still smarts.
Sadly, I don't think spam can be best, since spammers change tactics as soon as folks make them... but I can dream.
The group are... bland. Their music seems bland. They look bland. Even the concert venue was bland, and the recording looked cheap to me.
Why is it that everything made here in Canada has to look and feel like poor seconds to American fare? Even shows like Silk Stockings and Sweating Bullets suffered from that, going for the Miami Vice pastel look - but nearly a decade later.
We could do good products here. Only time we produce better work is when an American company work out of Canada.
Since the ratings for the show return have been quite low, it would make sense for ABC to try airing something that does gain ratings instead.
I noticed last night that Making the Band 2 wasn't on ABC at all last night; both episodes were pre-empted for the American version of Who's Line is it Anyways?
Could it already have been cancelled by its third week? Could it be that as I said, the boys of O-Town come across as too shallow for television viewers? We'll see.
Meanwhile, this was the first time in ages that I've watched entire episodes of the American Who's Line...; the original British show airs regularly on our Comedy network, but the American one usually conflicts with other shows for me.
Many of the improv-ers are the same for both countries, but one of the Americans really stands out to me: Wayne Brady.
He really has amazing improv talent. I think the producers go out of their way to have him do most of the song improvs... without any hesitation, he picks up the song thread and goes with it. Incredible.
So, I've begun to do what I should've to start with: giving them dry food in the morning only.
Not surprisingly, they aren't yet accepting it. They haven't yet made a dent in their dry food bowls, and beg me for the food they aren't getting all day.
The nights tend to still be a little crisp, but we've been mostly having daily weather like late Spring. More importantly, most of the cursed snow and ice is gone.
The warmer weather has started my creative mojo a bit more; I started a few project proposals today. I'm not as prolific as I've been (yet), but I'm getting there!
This news is already changed, as I understand now that protesters did initiate violence.
This upsets me on several levels: as a Canadian, I'm embarassed for my country.
As a native of Quebec too, I'm ashamed that my province has now made a fool of itself in the world's eyes.
On a newsgroup I'm part of, someone made a good point: you don't expect hard rockers to succumb to cancer...
(This article has some strong language; if you don't want to read it, don't go here.)
Usually, I'm against the death penalty. Killing a killer won't bring their victims back. I can't really see any of the survivors feeling any less empty because of this.
On the other hand... it's almost a cliché, but life is a gift. It can be difficult at times (I know this intimately), but just being here to experience it is a blessing.
Tim McVeigh took that gift away from over 100 people - many of them children, young people who didn't get the chance to see where their lives' journeys would take them. Worse, he has no remorse for what he's done; in fact, I've heard that he thinks he did America a favor by killing these innocents.
Someone like that doesn't deserve to live, in my books.
(Don't worry... those of you who read this Blog often know I won't fill this post up with "Eden's Crush are hot!" discussion - although band member Rosanna Tavares is very attractive to me. They are mostly under 20; I'll be 34 in May. My name isn't René Angelil)
First off, I do consider the girls more talented (I like their first hit), but more importantly, they seem more dedicated.
Consider the difference: on Popstars the ladies were under tight deadlines to perform, and they did it. They still haven't let success get to their heads (at least in the show);
In the case of Making the Band, the guys have acted like they are already stars from day one. They blew practices; they ignored requests from their bosses; almost every episode had trainers chewing them out for their disregard for the actual work they had to do.
A second season starts next week; too bad it's stuff from the past year, or I suspect we'd see them feeling like idiots in comparison.
I decided to go outside late this afternoon... of course, today was a day that the weather chose to be both snowy and rainy...
My usual Friday get-together with friends as a result was a meeting here at home; we ordered take-out and watched TV. Safer than me risking outdoor navigation again!
I went out today with my friend on another grocery run. Didn't do a huge amount of other things though. I did reconnect once more with old friends from High School via phone and email however. One lives a few minutes away from my mom in the Laurentians, one in Ottawa. That's all I'll say of our conversations; my life's an open book on this site, but not theirs.
I went out to get some groceries today, thanks to help from a friend. Spending most of my time indoors has left me with a bit of cabin fever.
I also worked on the Mind Map for another new project. With my latest Apacalypse zine in, I wanted to start working on the next one. Re-reading old issues of another rpg APA I used to be part of, it saddened me to see the breadth of output from others... compared to it, I really haven't been producing that much. This has to change.
I had to cancel out of a few things because of this... not being able to put much weight on that arm makes it hard to walk (I need a cane in each hand for balance), and my current building has stairs; when I get Adapted Housing, I won't have that problem to deal with.
Meanwhile, Unemployment screwed me over: I'd been told it would start in 3 weeks; this is the third, and no money. I called in, to find out it starts next week; according to the person I spoke to, the person who gave me a date couldn't make decisions... that makes me feel so much better.
Cartoon pioneer William Hanna dead at 90
As a graduate of animation school, the limited nature of this work bothered me... but you can't demean the appeal and recognition of The Flintstones or Scooby-Doo, or any of the hundreds of other characters created by Hanna and Barbera.
A cappela is a music style I enjoy almost as much as Jazz. I've heard some tremendous pieces by people singing without any instruments, their voices filling in all the sound.
That I was able to do it 1.5-handed too (I'm in a relapse, and my right arm is a bit fuzzy) was a good sign too.
It started to snow again this morning. 15 centimeters (about 6 inches) of the white stuff, so far not melting away.
To think: yesterday, I was seeing a large percentage of the winter snows gone, my mood improving tremendously... Mother Nature, you can be cruel sometimes!
I've been guilty of this far too many times: hours or even days after posting something to a Blog, I re-read it and discover tons of typos that I let slip by.
Frustrating, because I'm a Website designer by trade. Proofing pages before uploading is something I double- and even triple-check usually... yet I still make mistakes here.
Sad news yesterday of the death of two parts of my pop-culture heritage. I wanted to commemorate both yesterday, but a system freeze kept me from doing so.
John Phillips of the Mamas and the Papas was announced dead from heart failure yesterday, at the age of 65.
When I was a subway singer, "California Dreamin'" was a staple for me. The harmonies, the lyrics... they were just special. "Monday Monday" was also a great song.
Although the group only had 5 songs known, they were still a part of the cultural fabric of my life, and he will be deeply missed.
What drives it home even more: my dad is only 62 (not that 65 was that old). He just had heart surgery last November.
Unnamed (for now) from The Village People. I feel awful that I don't have his name handy right now, but I'll track it down. He was even younger: a mere 51.
True, the Village People get a lot of snorts of derision for their style of music, its sexual implications, or the fact the group didn't know how to play instruments... but can you think of a wedding or Bar Mitzvah which you didn't hear "YMCA" at in the past decade or so? Remember the karaoke gag using them in Wayne's World 2?
If anything, no matter the jokes, they brought FUN to the music scene. He will also be missed.
The first day of spring today. How sad that it had to start with good-byes.
Ghod willing, this means winter is ending.
Granted, we've had much colder winters in the past. I think that after the last few mild ones, we just aren't prepared to handle a real one.
Still, even though summertime leaves me frazzled too, I won't cry once there's no more snow or ice on the ground.
The message on my answering machine said the smell should only last a few hours. It's over a day already.
I'm trying to get everything done sooner, because this will be my first zine composed using Pagemaker... I want to give myself a lot of time to practice getting it right.
I rarely talk about comics in this Blog, but I've been a fan of the medium for over 20 years - more than the time since George Pérez first mentions beginning on it.
I'd given up hope of this story ever happening; now, it'll be a reality.
I think I can safely predict that this year's record sales won't set any records as a result of this.
I hadn't seen this Aunt since my sister's wedding, almost 6 years ago. She's changed... she's now really looking her age of 86, where she still looked very strong the last time I saw her.
She's the only living member of her generation of my family, my only source for adding an entire branch of information to my family tree... I have to see her soon.
I like what I read on this weblog. The writer's "voice" comes across very well.
I should be more upset than I feel right now - but I know I'm going back on Monday, may be doing a few more days of work to get the Flash site done (why is that Queen song running through my head now? "...savior of the universe!"). As well, if the government approves their next grant application, I'll be back there at the end of March, for another 18 months.
I guess that's why I'm not more worked up.
WWFE launched its XFL promotion a few weeks ago. I watched part of the first game, but then it hit me: no matter the rule changes, it was still just a football game - and I'm very bored by football.
This isn't to say that I didn't oggle the cheerleaders a bit - but even they aren't enough to keep me watching a bunch of guys throwing a ball around and trying not to be tackled by other big guys when they catch it.
Meanwhile, this current contract ends next Friday, March 2nd. The director is trying to get another grant that would give me 18 months more of work... but it won't be decided until the 26th of March - so I'll at least be in Limbo for the better part of a month. Lovely x 2.
The message forums have been available on the Web for close to a year now. As you exit, a page for 'My Compuserve' comes up, since we are members.
The problem is: whenever you click a link on that page, you get redirected to one where you get told that only registered members have access to this.
If we can't access it, then what's the point of showing it to us?
President G.W. Bush, in his first month in office: first, he's pushing for tax cuts. Then, he orders another air strike in Iraq.
I don't know about you, dear readers... but I first had a flashback to his father's "No new taxes!" stance, and the whole concept the first President Bush brought of using conflict at almost random times to give America more of a strongarm image.
Why does it feel like GW is just Xeroxing his dad's Presidency so far?
It's still frustrating to me. I've now fallen twice in a month where I haven't in years, and while doing things I never had trouble with, either.
I've been a subscriber to the Inklings newsletter for years now. It was an excellent resource for writers, highlighting markets, news, and offering a lot of advice.
The newsletter and its website are owned by the XLibris company. They can no longer afford to produce it, so it has ended. Very sad news.
This was a frustrating day for me... I'm commissioned to do some work on a website, we set today as a target date... only few of the things I'm in charge of are working. The Perl-based chat room isn't working, the search engine doesn't work as I expected either... that is something I'll fix "off the clock", because it was my oversight.
Why I never tried this restaurant before I'll never know... but I've been there three times so far in the past few weeks. I'm even going to have meals delivered bt them soon.
I talk about wrestling-related stuff in ABomanation, but I had to mention this here.
First, I'll admit this up front: football bores me. A bunch of muscle freaks tossing around a ball and trying to flatten the guy who catches it just doesn't appeal to me. When the XFL was first announced, I was underwhelmed by the idea. Vince McMahon has proved several times in the past that he can't make non-wrestling products work: The WBF, a bodybuilding promotion, fizzled in less than a year after starting. In the 1970s, he tried a sketch comedy with wrestlers based on Hee-Haw; it flopped too.
I don't hold out much faith in the XFL - and based on the ratings, viewers don't either.
Friday started off pretty brutal, with rain and freezing rain. Brutal because it turned much of the snow to ice. While I do have ice picks on my canes, my feet aren't really all-terrain; they slip easily. So, I found myself walking very slowly just to cross a street... once. (I didn't leave the house for most of the day)
Friday night was the in-person deadline for issue 63 of Comicopia. My buddy-and-Central-Mailer Mike had already practically compiled all the newsletters already... we just had to get the last one from our friend/member Niall coming in from Ottawa specifically for that reason.
Ottawa is an unusual city in some ways: it's the Nation's Capital for us Canadians, but it's also less than 2 hours travel away. Niall frequently comes into Montreal by bus to meet people, taking a bus home around midnight. I guess it feels weird since Toronto is close to 8 hours of travel away...
We have a new member in Comicopia this issue; in itself, that's a great thing - but at the same time, the usual 'copia 'luck' struck: as one member joins us, one of the longer term members drops out from lack of activity. It always seems that when we get new members, an equal number of older ones drop out. Sigh
I'm not so famous yet that my name would be cause to search for me (hopefully, some day!). I can only guess that two people I used to know well tried to locate me on the Web. Unfortunately, no one signed a Guestbook or discussion forum, so I have no way of knowing who it was... oh well.
Don't let the name mislead you. Bif may look unusual, have a strange name too - but she also has one of the smoothest voices today.
Anyone who, like me, watched Saturday Night Live in the 1970s will remember the cathartic shorts starring the Play Doh character, getting mauled every week.
Now, you can relive it online... or if you never saw him before, see what we loved!
That's not gonna happen anytime in the near future... I've been growing it for over 8 years now; don't plan to change anytime soon!
The Delphi forums were very convenient for me... I already have an account there, and I just had to choose the school forums from the 'My Folders' option. Now, I'll need to take yet another step to do things.
The Forum brought some surprises to me in the recent past: I heard from a student who graduated the year before me. Said student and I had... well, a colorful past not full of warm fuzzy memories. I'll have to wonder how many people will come to Classmates now.
THIS WEEK'S HONORARY UNSUBSCRIBE goes to Michel Navratil. One of the 706 survivors of the sinking of the Titanic, Navratil was the only male still alive (only four other survivors, all women, remain alive). He was not quite four years old when his father grabbed him in the middle of the night after the ship hit an iceberg on April 15, 1912. "My father entered our cabin where we were sleeping. He dressed me very warmly and took me in his arms. A stranger did the same for my brother. When I think of it now, I am very moved. They knew they were going to die. I don't recall being afraid, I remember the pleasure, really, of going plop into the lifeboat." His father indeed was one of the 1,480 who died that night. Navratil went on to become a professor of philosophy, saying that the disaster, and his ordeal in proving his identity so he could be reunited with his mother in France, influenced his thinking throughout his life. He died January 31 in France at age 92.
(Taken from the THIS IS TRUE newsletter)
The "Honorary Unsubscribe" section is really just a tribute to the lives of people overlooked for notice by most of the press.
The Titanic tragedy was nearly a century ago, but it was an event that will live on for a long time. Hopefully, so will a memory of Michel Navratil.
