We's Gonna Dodge That Draft

I grew up in Toronto having a few really cool teachers. Coincidentally, some of them just happened to be old draft-dodgers from back in the day. Good people they were, with their wacky old-hippie ways. A lot of them came up to Canada, and changed it forever. Vancouver is the city it is today because of them, and so are other Canadian towns.

The sculpture in the picture shows a Canadian welcoming two Americans with open arms. It's going to be part of the Our Way Home Reunion later this summer in British Columbia. Although it seems like too much flakey hippie stuff for me, I think it's great that people are finally recognizing the contribution made by these people.

Hobo

I've been helping shoot a Public Service Announcement this weekend working as a 2nd AD. I've met some pretty cool people that I never knew before. It's all about connections.


The bad thing has been the ridiculously long hours. Yesterday, we worked 16 hours, and today 12. All for free.

Anyways, last night I was sitting behind the school we were shooting in with a bunch of lighting equipment waiting for others to bring the grip truck around to haul the lights away. So I was sitting on this ladder, and it was around 9:30pm. I was so exhausted so I took off my hat just to unwind. A group of frat boys walked by and they were well on their way to getting seriously soused, and one of them comes up to me and is like "here ya go buddy, you have a good night" and he flicks a dollar bill at me. I was a bit confused at first, then it dawned on me: OH MY GOD, HE THINKS I'M A BUM! I was going to call him back and tell him the error of his ways, but I decided to avoid a scene and pocket the cash. I also thought I was dressed pretty hipster for a film shoot. Maybe it really is the shoes.


We shot this afternoon in a really cool home in the West Village (why anyone would loan out their house to a film crew is beyond me - I would never do such a thing). At any rate, Isaac Mizrahi walked by which got me all giddy. Last week we saw Philip Seymour Hoffman at NYU yapping on his cell phone. Nothing will ever beat the evening I saw Max Weinberg outside of a local burger joint.

Fade to Black

I was just reading that a chain of the Art-house/repertory cinemas in Toronto will be closing down. I have fond memories of the Festival Cinemas. It was there that you could see relatively new films, but not the crappy ones. They always programmed excellent foreign stuff, new prints of classics and just crazy shit. Where else are you going to see Lars Von Trier's 280-minute 'The Kingdom' in it's entirety?

Every year they had a 'pick the Oscars' contest and once I won it. The prize: Free Movies for a year plus a guest. Needless to say, I watched a ton of movies that year. The place was dark, musty and never ever full. However, that was part of the charm. You felt part of a club.

The way we watch movies has changed the game, Netflix has changed the game and pirating has changed the game. I understand when places like this go under, and I'm surprised that they stuck around for so long. Prost.

Bookworms.

The Times asked a bunch of bibliophiles what they thought the best book by an American author was in the past 25 years. The results are here. On top was Toni Morrison's 'Beloved', which I haven't read. Come to think of it, I haven't read any of the books on that list, which I think is a damn shame on my part. For what it's worth, I think the best book I've read by an American writer in the past 25 years would have to be Helen DeWitt's "The Last Samurai", which is always confused for the Tom Cruise movie, which was unfortunately titled the same thing. It was so creative in it's narrative structure. I still don't know if Ms. DeWitt has done anything else, or if a movie adaptation is in the works.

Ladies, how hot is this guy?

Research from the crew at UofC has shown how women use men's faces as judges for flings and fathers. Not any of it is surprising.

Perhaps most notable, is a woman's ability to determine a man's testosterone level solely on looks. That's kind of scary:

The women were asked to rate the men on four qualities: "likes children,"
"masculine," "physically attractive" and "kind." Then they were asked to rate
how attractive they found each man for short-term and long-term romance.
The
study found women did well at rating men on their interest in babies, and those
they rated masculine generally had higher testosterone levels than those that
didn't.

On to the good news:
The features that research has suggested denote high testosterone levels include a prominent jaw and a heavy beard.

Awww yeah.

Tragedy

The bad news is that the hard-drive on my laptop completely conked out a couple of days ago, and Apple says it will take about a week to get fixed. Thankfully, everything is generally backed up, and there was nothing of great importance on it. There was a lot of music, but I can always download that stuff again.

I'm just a magnet for computer problems. In the new year, my external harddrive (with all of my film stuff) died, before leaving Chicago last summer, my dell laptop broke down yet again for the one year that I owned that piece of junk for. Dell laptops are crap. I'm just happy that I've got important stuff backed up, and I will continue to be vigilant about that. Computers are great, but they break down. Get the extended warranty.

Don't Drop the Soap

Perhaps the hardest part of teaching is dealing with academic dishonesty. Cheating on exams, essays and lab reports is rampant, and there's very much one can do. It's usually very hard to accuse a student of cheating and to provide the proof of it.

I think that most students have cheated in one form or another in school, but we've got to be willing to pay the penalty for our actions. From what I've seen, most instructors make a judgment call depending on how severe they feel it is.

Not to get into details, but a student (not one of mine) created an entire web of lies (that included me) surrounding an entire semester's worth of work. Completely suspicious, the said student has yet to provide a reasonable answer to how this work was done and provides a changing story every single time. We had a small 'hearing' yesterday, and the chair ruled to send it off to the disciplinary branch of the university. No doubt, he will get kicked out.

I genuinely feel bad for the kid, as he made a stupid mistake, and we should all be able to make mistakes. Also, his entire college is done for, and tens of thousands (if not hundreds?) of dollars are down the drain.

Students are well aware of the rules, and must abide by them and pay the penalties if they are found to not abide by them.

Marathons

Two weekends ago was the NYU 1st year grad film showcase (which I was a part of). Last weekend was the 2nd year film showcase, and this weekend is the thesis showcase.

After working on some of them, and getting to know the people that made each of them, it's still such a thrill to see YOUR work on a big screen and your name in the credits.

It's also humbling to know that I'm part of such an incredibly talented group of people that can consistently churn out beautiful work.

If you're in the NYC area this weekend, check out the Thesis Screenings.

How's the Weather?

It's been a long time since posting. So much has happened in the past week:
-finished editing my last short film of the year.
-screened it on Sunday afternoon.
-moved to some new digs this weekend.
-brokers are evil people, and I hate them all. Or at least one in particular. Not Fun.
-not being able to steal wireless signal, is not fun.
-packing up is not fun.
-packing stuff away, is not fun.
-waking up in a strange house for the first time is fun.
-living closer to the train is fun.
-having more space is fun
-having windows is fun.
-having awesome people help you move is BEAUTIFUL.
-went to a psychic. what i learned:
-I will die at age 87
-Great change will occur for me on the 16th of this month. It will be good.
-The next two weeks will have misunderstandings. I should keep conversations to trivial things like the weather.
-Went to a Mets game last night
-went with a bunch of film kids from my program. It was great to know that although we sometimes are a bunch of snobs, we all like the ball-game.

Haute Cuisine

The Village Voice has a great review of fried chicken joints in NYC. Apparently, the latest trendy food thing is Fried Chicken. It's something you would eat before eating Magnolia Cupcakes, I guess.

These new 'gourmet' joints have regular sides (except gourmet), and then use free-range chickens and other frou frou changes.

The results of their taste test? Popeye's still rocks. Really, was there really a contest?

Victoria's Secret: Getting Cash from Dudes

It doesn't take a genius to figure this one out: Apparently, men are more likely to part with their money after looking at scantily clad ladies.

However, from the article I learned one thing:
-testosterone can be measured by relating the lengths of the index and ring fingers : a relatively long ring finger is a sign of a high-testosterone man.

I'm gonna wear a baseball glove all the time from this moment forth.

Note to self: when trying to get money from people, have a Victoria's Secret catalogue laying around.

In Dusty We Trusty. (Warning: May Contain Talk of Sports)

Baseball's still getting going and all of the teams are busy jockeying for positions. Fortunately, there's still a lot of ball still to be played, dogs to be eaten, and cold beers to downed.

Some teams are showing promise The Sox are finding their groove, The Jays are keeping up with the big boys, and the Cubs are right in there too. HUH?! Don't worry, The Onion got an exclusive interview with Dusty Baker, and he lays it all out:

"The guys are in a bit of a groove right now, but they'll
snap out of it," Baker said. "It's early yet. There's still plenty of time to
get back off track and give the fans the kind of season they've come to know and
expect."
"I'd love to go out there and lose all 162 games for this city, but
both the players and the fans know that's not possible no matter how bad you
are," he added.

I'm glad Dusty's on it. I was starting to get a bit worried.

Know your Enemy!

There's been so much hubbub and sensationalization of the fact that Iran's ability to produce Nuclear energy is on its way. For some reason, which I don't understand, there are rumours of military strikes from the US side.

I feel that there needs to be some facts and understanding of exactly what Iran has done, and it's ability/desire to produce nuclear weapons. Nature has produced a very sobering article that should cool the hot heads.

I hope Iran continues it's Nuclear Power initiative and I wish that more countries had the knowledge and resources to be able to provide electricity in a cheap and efficient manner to its citizens.

Girls Will Be Girls

It never ceases to amaze me just how mean females can be to one another.

Not very nice.

Say hello to my little friend...

Don't mess with me folks...I'll make my new friends take care of you.

I Pledge Allegience to our New Leader

Hey, he promises to lower taxes and gas prices! I'm voting for Zod in 2008.

A Fish out of Water.

A story that's been getting a lot of press, and rightfully so, is that weird fish/land creature that was found up in Ellesmere Island in a quarry.

The article appears in Nature, and I think it will be one for the ages. It's the 'missing link' between water animals and land animals, which eventually gives rise to us.

Definitely worth a read, or peep the NYTimes article.

More Streets Stuff

At the risk of becoming The Streets fansite, there is an article off of the CBC site about how British artists are more and more performing with their accents. In my naivite, I thought people sang in this kind of 'universal accent'. Like Phil Collins. Your favourite artist. The words/phrases I've learned since listening to The Streets/Dizzee Rascal: chuffed, geezer, radge, Day-Vay-Day, nowt, to validate one's wages, fit, "th" sounds like "f".

Working Girls

I just read a very interesting essay by Alison Wolf about the repercussion of generations of women choosing careers over the 'traditional' role of housewife.

She raises many good points some of which I agree, some of which I don't. I don't want to paraphrase or quote any of it, as I feel the entire piece should be read and digested as a whole, as taken out of context some passages would definitely enrage people.

One thing that was pretty much not addressed in the article was the role of the father in the home as more women choose careers.

I grew up in a home with two working parents, and so did everyone else I know. I feel that there must be a balance between both parents in terms of child-rearing, meals, cleaning etc...
I think we all turned out OK, and society's a better place.

Extra! Extra! Crime Doesn't Pay!!

Having orchestrated the death of Biggie & Tupac (according to Nick Broomfield's riveting doc), Suge Knight has filed for bankruptcy.

He's huge and scary, and I doubt we'll see him in the poor house. This is clearly just some economic maneuvering.

Let's all cry together.

Go Ozzie Go! (Gratuitous Sports Rant).

There was a very nice piece in the Sun-Times about my favorite manager Ozzie Guillen.

He speaks his mind always and is filled with honour, humility and respect. My kinda guy:

''I know people say that God says when someone slaps your face, turn the other cheek. No, no, you slap my cheek, I will kick your ass.''

In other news, my South Side brethren won their first game by slapping Cleveland 10-4 at the Cell. I was there on opening day last year, and it was great. I wish I was there to see the World Series banner unveiled.

Most of the predictions are in, and a lot of pundits are choosing the Sox to repeat at least as AL Central Champs, if not the World Series. What a far cry from the dismissal of last year this same time.

My Predictions:
AL East-New York (Unfortunately)
AL Central-Chicago
AL West-Anaheim (or is it Los Angeles?)
Wildcard-Toronto (all of the off-season moves by Ricciardi should pay off)

NL East - New York (they just look awesome on paper)
NL Central - St. Louis
NL West - San Diego
Wildcard- Milwaukee

In summary: Go Jays Go! And.....SOUTHSIIIIIDE!

That was the martini shot....that's a wrap!

My crew finally wrapped our final shoot! Yay. I'm absolutely exhausted, and ready for a few days of R&R, and looking for a new place to live.

The way we do things at NYU during the first year is this: the faculty assembles a crew of 5-6 people (a balance of people with experience and none whatsoever) and we all rotate crew positions. The key positions are: Director, Director of Photography, Sound, Gaffer and the Assistant Director. If there is an extra person, they get those couple of days off to pre-produce their film if it hasn't been shot. It works out well, as everyone becomes educated in all aspects of the filmmaking process.

Our films are going to be 5 minutes long (for faculty evaluation, but can be longer if we submit them to festivals), and we gave everyone three days each to shoot.

I had tons of fun, spent way too much on my production, but also learned a lot (in theory, my main concern). It was also just really cool to collaborate with my classmates and help achieve their vision, and see their ideas unfold.

No more crack of dawn call-times...no more 12 hour days...no more stressing out...huzzah!

Now the realism of post-production starts.

Yes, but does it Cure Lobsterphobics?

So they've found a pill that can potentially cure you of your fears. I was thinking that maybe that's not such a good thing. Maybe it's what we fear that provides our motivations, in a general sense. I guess it's about learning how to use your fears to learn about yourself.

I, myself am deathly afraid of lobsters and crabs. You could imagine my dismay when I took a trip out to Shediac, New Brunswick a few years ago (the self dubbed "Lobster Capital of the World") and came face to face with this beast to the left.

Brooklyn STAND UP! I mean, Brooklyn WTF?!

On Monday morning, my regular commute out of Brooklyn was hampered by a water-main break just a few blocks from my home. What a pain in the ass, and my commute was twice as long.

Didn't bother thinking twice about it, as delays usually happen all the time. It wasn't until I started poking around the web did I see the real damage that was done. An SUV fell right through the road!

It totally reminds me of the huge storm that swept away part of a major artery in Toronto last summer when I was visiting.
Come to think of it, the disaster on Finch Ave back in August is about the same distance as my folks' home as I am from this new street collapse in Brooklyn. Hmmmmm.

It took them over 6 months to fix that road in Tdot, but I reckon this one in Brooklyn will be done in no time.

Don't Hate

For the third year in a row, the Princeton Review has said that NYU is the "dream school" for kids applying to schools out of highschool. This is kind of cool, and with it comes bragging rights.

NYU seems to be on the rise recently with Faculty/Alumni getting a few Oscars.

Also, they've just announced a $200 mil. donation to create a new research institute.

All this comes at a price though. It would be great if they could increase the amount of scholarship money that goes around. I mean, I knew it would be expensive, but I didn't realize just how tough it would be.

Worst Celebrity Endorsement EVER!

I usually think it's really funny/cool when washed up/B-List celebrities can make fun of themselves on TV. It shows that they don't really take themselves seriously, and just to what lengths they will go to get their face out there.

But Jeebus, what was Ben Johnson thinking when he decided to shill for D'Angelo's new sports/energy drink Cheetah (Cheetah...cheater...get it?). It's just uncomfortable to watch it. I mean, I could see how it could have worked, but it's awkward and I kind of feel sorry for Big Ben. The low production values (it looks like my basement with my bedsheet for a backdrop) don't help things.

Here's an excerpt:
President of D'Angelo/Talk Show Host:`Ben, when you run, do you Cheetah?'
Ben Johnson:`Absolutely! I Cheetah all the time!'

It's really kind of sad, and almost exploitive. I mean, I really can't think that Ben got rich off of the deal considering how much he's in demand these days. D'angelo's knows what they are doing though. I mean, I'm devoting an entry to them.

I still feel that Ben's illegal time at the 1988 Olympics was still an incredible human achievement.

See the commercials here.

Information Wars!

There is an interesting fight developing between Nature and encyclopedia Britannica. Late last year, Nature published an article claiming that Wikipedia provided information on topics with about the same level of 'correctness' (my word, not theirs) as Encyclopaedia Britannica.

Obviously, the Britannica people took issue (this is their bread and butter, with Wikipedia...Well no one is out of a job), and it looks like quite a few feathers were ruffled behind the scenes.

The gloves are off now. Britannica posted an open letter on their site (20 pages of argument) claiming Nature is misleading the public (blah blah blah), and Nature published their response today. In short, Nature isn't retracting their story and told them to screw off.

Ultimately, I side with Nature, as I believe that Wikipedia is going in the right direction. Granted, everything on there is not factual, I feel that over time Wikipedia will sort itself out and it will become the new standard of information. Britannica has a lot of money involved and is just trying to save face and sell a few more copies of worthless volumes to school libraries. Why pay for the milk (via Britannica's books and website) when you've got the Cow (Wikipedia's dynamicism, and free) at home?

The days of going to some massive tome in search of the truth, or the fact that there can exist a volume with the truth is over. Sorry Grandpa, you've earned your sleep, now go and take it.

Where do Numbers come from?

I've always been interested in numbers. Not necessarily 1's and 2's, but rather our concept of numbers and the world around us. Like how do we "know" that 1 + 1 =2? OK, it sounds like I'm being trite, but I don't mean it that way. Is our ability to count and compare quantities something that's learned? Just as I suspected (and hoped), recent research suggests that our ability to count is something innate within us (and other animals). Personally, I've always believed that numbers (or the concept of quantity) is more of an abstract idea.

Transit Geeks of the World: Unite and Takeover!

I ain't gonna front: I like trains. More specifically, subway trains. It just appears to be a jumbled mess of connections (and missed connections), tracks extending forever. The chariot of the people. Whether it was my first system: The TTC or the other systems in which I've grown to love: Hamburg's sprawling HVV, Chicago's beautiful CTA, or the ZOO of Berlin. I always feel that I'm with my people when I'm on the train or bus. My latest love affair is with the great Queen herself: NYC's MTA. Oh, is there somewhere you don't go?

So I'm a transit geek. There, I said it.

I'm not alone. Here's the page for the TTC's geek page, and better yet, my latest call to arms: the straphanger (check the Rider's Diaries for a topic that is causing much debate: Should the N Train skip 49th St at all times? I say yes. Yes it should).

I'm Back

So between recovering from the flu, passing it on to my roommate (woops!), and shooting my film, it's been a hectic week. My shoot went OK, Friday was a bit of a challenge as I had to work with child actors, but it was easier than I thought. Saturday was much easier, but somehow took much longer. In the end, we got it in the can, and I've seen my footage. It looks good, the performances by my main actors are great, and I was working with a great producer. It's still really humbling when people bust their ass for you...for free. I still believe that no one really understood the film that I was making, except for myself. Needless to say, the hard work is over for me, and I can bust my ass working on my classmates films now.

I Think I'm Dying

This is what I've looked like the last couple of days. And to make matters worse, I am shooting my film on Friday.

I'm also holding rehearsals tonight and Wednesday, big movie premiere tomorrow (red-carpet shin-dig), then working on a friend's shoot starting on Wednesday.

What I need to do: rest.

The True North Strong and Free

The look on Derek Jeter's (the most overrated player of all time) face says it all.

I'm truly shocked that Canada defeated the USA 8-6, in the World Baseball Classic.

I don't believe this result to be a testament of Canada's prowess at baseball, but rather a result of team work, which is the essence of America's game.

Some weird facts that I remember from Childhood: Buck Martinez is managing the US team, you may recall he managed the Toronto Blue Jays for a bit, and is perhaps best known to Canadians as the long time Colour Commentator during Blue Jays TV broadcasts. He got that job, because he was a general all 'round good guy, AND because he was a catcher back in the 80's with the Jays.

Back in the 80's Martinez had a platoon situation with another catcher, who was on the original 1977 Blue Jays roster. That catcher was Ernie Whitt, the manager than led the Canadians yesterday. Rumour is that he's being groomed for the Blue Jays managerial position in a couple of years.

I predict that Pat Borders (whom replaced Ernie Whitt, and World Series MVP) will come back and manage Cuba in a couple of seasons.

'Till I'm Laid to Rest

One of the crappy things about completely relocating, and downsizing your life is that you can't take everything with you.

For example: CD's & Tapes. Most of them are stuck in a Toronto garage, whilst a lucky 10 made their way with me to NYC.

Once in a while, you have the desire to hear something, and you can't, because you don't have that CD.

Well it's the digital age, so I download. I don't feel bad about it because I actually do own these recordings somewhere. Anyways, I just got Buju Banton's 'Til Shiloh, which has aged beautifully. It's one of those albums that you remember liking a lot, and then when you hear it again, it's like Why don't I listen to this more often?

Considering the Dancehall/Reggaeton explosion recently, it all can be traced back to this genius album. Before it, Buju was one of the most popular dancehall artists out of Yard. I personally didn't take to him, as I found most of his lyrics to be trite and offensive. I initially dismissed this album, until my sister urged me to give it another chance, and I'm glad I did. It's just a great hybrid of dancehall/roots with words of wisdom all through a gravelly voice.Buju got older and wiser.

There has been better dancehall singles since then, but no one has made a stronger artistic statement as this. Dancehall stresses the hot track, not the hot album, so I doubt 'Til Shiloh will ever be topped in terms of consistency. This is the album Bob Marley would have made if he was still around.

Rites of Passage

Today, I became an adult. Got myself a Costco membership. Not with my parents.

To make matters worse, we showed such enthusiasm over the great price on buying pretty much a WALL of toilet paper for such a low price. Don't get me started on the rock-bottom price paid for dishwashing detergent. Almost 100 loads it promises!

When leaving the store to the massive parking lot, I understood how a minivan would actually be useful.

Oh, wasted youth!

House Party!

It was supposed to be such a great time. The 'rents gone for the weekend.We're young. It's expected that there would be a houseparty.

There would also be the expected expensive vase that would get broken, that would tip off the parents that something was amiss.

A few weeks grounding, and a maybe a stern lecture.
That's the Cosby Show.

Some girl pulled the wool over her parent's eyes, and threw a party for a 'small group' of friends, which quickly swelled to some 300 young, drunk kids:

One young partygoer described the scene as "nuts", saying he saw "some kid
go down the stairs on a rocking horse."

The cops were called once, and the girl was passed out on the floor. So the cops take her to the krankenhaus and fix her up for alcohol-poisoning. The same cops get another call talking about a possible break-in at the house. They enter the house to find:

No room was left untouched. Computer monitors had been thrown through windows, a
large-screen television had been kicked in, furniture and electronics were
ransacked, and the family car had been stolen.

Awesome. Check the article here for even better video footage.

Those wacky suburban kids!

Stop Farting on me!

The Times had a really interesting article on Sibling Rivalry. Well, more like sibling abuse. Pretty much an extreme form of the jabs and pokes that the older sibling usually inflicts on the younger.

Perhaps most interesting is the fact that violence between siblings transcends all socio-economic fronts.

Also, the author brings up the rivalries that appear amongst animals:

Baby animals, researchers theorize, fight mainly to establish dominance and to compete for scarce food. Human children, on the other hand, fight not only over who got the bigger bowl of ice cream but also over who decides what game to play, who controls the remote, who is supposed to do the dishes, who started it and who is loved most.

Perhaps there is nothing we can do about getting the beats if we are born 2nd (or 3rd....). I maintain, if I were born before my sister, I'd be the one farting on her.

Starting Production

Long time no babble. The reason is because I'm knee-deep in work. It's been a crazy week, and I don't think it will let up for at least another week.

I'm still working on cutting my documentary, which is supposed to be an observational 5 minute character portrait, using no 'talking head' interviews. I shot about 8 hours of footage, which I cut down to 15 minutes. That took me a couple of weeks. The hardest part would be to cut it further down to 5 minutes, since I actually like my 15 minute version. That has to be done by Thursday for evaluations. It will get done, it just needs some time.

We also started casting my next narrative film, which will be shooting in about 3 weeks. I'm pretty close to locking down the script, so all I need now is just to find the right two people to lead it. I put a posting on Craigslist last week, and got about 300 responses within a couple of days. It's so strange the amount of people willing to work for free on your productions. I mean, it's mutually beneficial, but still, it's just awesome that people are willing to trust you and get aboard your ship.

My producer and I cut down the applicants to about 30 (honestly, it becomes really boring and tedious), and invited them for auditions this past weekend. As usual, there was a range of quality: from the laughably awful to the incredible. I'm going to have call-backs really soon for a selected few, and then decide from that.

Once I nail down actors, I'll be able to work with them to really get the film going. Then all of the work with my director of photography. I think it's going to be a challenging shoot in that respect, as I plan to use a lot of natural light and simple sources like candles and flashlights.

The hardest part in this whole film game, is getting the movie you have in your head on the screen. Usually it's not possible, and you have to compromise and be willing to change your vision. I think I need to be more of a control freak to be a better director.

FASTER! HARDER! HARDER!

The Superbowl party I had the pleasure of going to this year was given by a sketch comic, and thus a bunch of his cohorts were in attendance. Much laughter occurred, except for the crack about curling. Naturally, I took offense. Curling is a lot of fun, and it really is quite strategic. Chess on ice.

There's also some interesting physics involved: you sweep the ice in front of it, the friction of the broom on the ice creates heat that melts the top layer of ice, creating a slicker surface for the rock to move even further. Also, it underscores a seemingly basic question: why are things (more precisely, ice) slippery? Some Scottish blokes have made some interesting discoveries using Great Britain Curling Team as experimenters. Pretty cool experiment, with great results. They hope their study can be used to better design tires that grip better on ice. Read the article, if only to see that they spell tire as 'tYre'. Teehee they spell things different.

For your enjoyment, play some Championship Curling Game on the CBC site (it's on the left side).

UPDATE: By some weird coincidence, the Times has an even better article summing up everything that we know about ice. There's even a cool (i.e. goofy, but good) video with their science writer Kenneth Chang. Definitely worth checking out.

We're cool. Try not be jealous

Much to my surprise, the hats sported by the Canadian squad in Torino have become the 'it' fashion accessory. I can't say that I'm surprised, but it's just a bit ho-hum since I've been sporting mine for 5 years now. Why am I such the fashion visionary for?

In general, this year's Olympic wardrobe designed by The Hudson's Bay Company is a bit boring compared to the slacker-chic designs of the last few Olympics done by Roots Athletics. Then again, Roots' work with the American team has clearly shown that they have become followers rather than leaders.

In case you are wondering, you can get all of your toques, scarves and other over-priced swag here. Get 'em while they're still hot.

Tell GQ: I plan to be wearing a White-Sox baseball cap for my Spring '06 collection. Make sure it's smaller than your head.

I've Got a Hunch...

Although there is no rhyme or reason, more and more I've found myself making decisions purely on whim, or my gut feeling. Perhaps you have too. In general, things work out or at least work out not too badly. I've learned to trust my gut, even if the 'logical' part of me tries to rationalize it.

Easier said than done, following your intuition never made much sense. Until now.

Some Dutch researchers have tried to quantify the effect, and their results agree with common knowledge: your guts know best.

They asked people to buy clothes or housewares (defined as 'simple purchases', unless you're a girl. Zing!), and a separate group of people to buy furniture (defined as a more involved decision making process). Their results:

Department-store shoppers who made simple purchases were happier if they had thought consciously about their choice in advance. IKEA shoppers, on the other hand, were happier with their choice if they hadn't mulled them over.

At least when making some complicated decisions, such as choosing a car or house, the results suggest that we would actually do better to go with our gut.

This seems to suggest that our unconscious mind is far more important than we originally thought. Perhaps the mind is able to quickly move through a huge amount of information and produce the most prudent decision, unknowingly to our conscious mind.

With that being said, I feel that I need to eat some pie. Citing current research, I shall indulge.

I'll have a Buddha Burger with extra blood of Satan. To go.

This is just as huh-larious as the Freedom Fries debacle.

Skiers with Lipstick

After a lengthy 'discussion' last night, I've been thinking a lot about female/male societal roles. I'm more interested in the deeper philosophical ideas: how we perceive ourselves and how external people perceive us. This all sounds like humdrum intro to phil stuff, but can we ever not be influenced by other people's perception? Are all of my actions done with other people in mind? Whoa!?!

Where was I...oh yeah women and society. I saw this interesting article about 'powerful' women, and their woe when it comes to relationships. The results are not that surprising: in general, women with larger IQ's (granted, a rather dubious measuring scale) find it tougher to hook up. If they do, it's usually to someone in their profession.

I remember reading a more in depth study a few years ago involving physicists (still pretty much a man's game, although it is changing...slowly), which stated that ~90% (ok, I don't remember the exact numbers. Let's just say the overwhelming majority) of male physicists that are married, are married to women outside of the field. Whilst ~95% of married female physicists are married to other physicists. From my experience, I've found that to be true.

In a sort of related path, I started to look up old Helmut Newton photos (he's responsible for that one above), and learned that he died a few years ago, which I didn't know. His work for Vogue is the stuff of legends, not to mention his nudes. In general, people are divided by his body of work: Feminist or misogynist? You decide.

Dick Cheney in the News

Apparently, Dick Cheney thought he was at the Source Awards this weekend and put a cap in his homey's ass. Quick to villify him, the mass media forgot to mention this far more heinous revelation:

A Million Words

It's that time of year again. Nope, not the Grammy's or the Oscars. World Press Photo Of the Year Contest. Every year, the images are of such staggering beauty that one must pause after seeing some of them.

This year, Finbarr O'Reilly (a Canadian, bigups!) working for Reuters, won for his image in Niger.

I've always wondered about a photographer's ability to spot images, under such difficult conditions...that whole creative process. Maybe, there is no process, maybe it's all just about 'being in the right place at the right time'. I doubt it, as these photographs are no mistake. Their makers have a clear idea of colour, composition and framing.

You really should take a look at all of the other winners.

Not So Funny Cartoons

Weighing in on the whole Anti-Islamic Cartoon situation that seems to be rocking the world these days. I just don't like the idea of publishers hiding behind "Freedom of Speech" as a way to publish clearly inflammatory work. From all accounts, newspapers gets thousands of submissions every day for publication, and it's the editor that decides what to print. Someone made a decision to print it. S/he thought they could sell some newspapers. That's what it comes down to. I don't believe they looked at them and thought "The fine Danes NEED to see this, it's their right!", because there are tons more things that the Danes need to know (like the racist undertones in their fair country).

For a great piece written on this check out Haroon Siddiqui's essay, or an even better letter on Al Jazeerah's site. Even "funnier" cartoons can be seen here.

In short, yes there are rights to freedom of speech, but with that comes responsibility to human decency and respect.

Genius

I get accused of throwing around the word 'Genius' quite haphazardly. However, when it comes to Leonard Cohen, there really is no other appropriate description. The man seems to be coming out and making appearances as of late. Make no bones about it, he's got to push some records and some books, as apparently he got screwed over by his old manager who swindled him out of millions while Lenny was in a self-imposed exile in a Buddhist Monastery for years. What a guy.

But seriously, he recently got inducted into the Canadian Songwriter's Hall of Fame (yeah, I didn't hear of it either) and a bunch of good people were there, including my O.G., Willie Nelson. I'm not going to lie, I didn't really get into Leonard Cohen until the latter parts of his recordings such as The Future, and I'm not really a big fan of his really early work. I still remember the first time I heard The Future, I thought 'how the hell did this guy get a record deal with such a crappy voice?'. Then he grumbled 'It looks like freedom, but it feels like death, it's something in between, I guess'. I remember that album got me through at least two Toronto winters.

Maybe I tend to romanticize the tortured, but profound artist way too much, but why is he so cool for?!

Mr. Cohen accepted the award and promptly said:
"We shuffle behind our songs into the hall of fame, shuffling not quite believing that we wrote them but happy that you do....The brevity and poverty of these remarks do not reflect the abundance of feeling in my heart for you".

Shivers up my spine. Let's hope he never dies.

A Treatise on Actors

So I got together this afternoon with the lead actor in my last film, just to give him a copy of the film (hopefully for his reel). Aside from being a great actor, Chris Prangley is just an all round nice guy. He told this great story about his role in an upcoming episode of Guiding Light, that he had just shot hours before meeting up, and the near disaster of it. It was cool to hear about the work he's doing, and his take on the whole 'business'. I've said it before, but for all the crap that actors sometimes bring with them, at the end of the day, there is no way I could do what they do. To put yourself out on the line, in front of an audience, and if the circumstances are right, you bare your soul. No thanks, I'll stick behind the camera. He also seemed genuinely interested to know about directing and writing and all that. I'm always trying to become a better director, so I hope my conversation with him will inform both of our work.

At the end of the day, audiences will forgive crappy editing, poor lighting, inaudible sound, out of focus shots, but they won't forgive bad performances. It's been said that 75% of filmmaking is casting, and I've found that to be true.

Profound

In one of the more profound articles that I've read recently, Nature published an article called "The Scaling Laws of Human Travel". What the authors (some badass physicists) studied was data from Where's George, the website that tracks american dollar bills, and assumed that money is a good indication of how people move (i.e the movement of cash implies that people have moved it). They modeled over a million pieces of data and came across some interesting conclusions. Namely the movement of people is much like a Random Walk, rather than the dispersion equation (the traditional way of thinking about it), amongst other things. This type of work, they hope, will give better insight into how pandemics travel and spread.

Aside from that, it's just very cool to know how people move through space in a large way. It's also just an incredibly creative way of using existing data sets.

*SOME* people dismiss the whole study, saying that data from wheresgeorge.com does not constitute a reasonable sample of people. To that, I say "psh".

Here's a news article from my brethren at the CBC.

Dumbing It Down (Even More)

The Ontario government is playing with the idea of eliminating Calculus from the high school curriculum due to declining enrollment. They would then add in some more algebra, geometry and trigonometry.

What morons.

The idea is that they'll just pass the burden on to the eggheads in Colleges and Universities. Kids are happy, faculty is pissed. I mean, I remember back in highschool, Calculus was the KILLER. The people in your class were your fellow soldiers. You were in it together, and it quickly became a badge of honour to walk around the school with a textbook that said "Calculus" on it. My parents couldn't help me, most of my friends couldn't either.

I sucked at it then, and I still suck at it. With that being said, there is no doubt in my mind the necessity and importance of the calculus. It really changes the way you look at the world and of mathematics. As I've seen in some of my teaching duties, some students are woefully unprepared for college/university level science, and most of it stems from their lack of training in math. This is not their fault, but rather the system. Awful or over worked teachers, and a dumbing down of the high school curriculum. Even if the kids are just exposed to it a bit, it will help them down the road.

With all that learnin of calculus going on, check out an application here at Britney Spears Guide to Semiconductor Physics (created by some well meaning, albeit creepy person). It's a good thing the physics is legit in it. (yes, I know there's no real calculus in that picture).

The Truth

Here's a recent snippit from Stephan Pastis wikkidly wikkid, Pearls Before Swine. I'm also a fan of Get Fuzzy (Go Satchel!), For Better or For Worse (I have an unhealthy attraction to comic strip characters...*sigh* Elizabeth Patterson is hot!), the nerd in me keeps it real with PhD Comics. I've always been a fan of the funnies, especially the Sunday Full Colour editions. What strips do you read?

I Couldn't Make this Shit Up if I Tried.

Has it come to this?

The Old Boys Club

I got invited to the big swanky NYU Faculty Spring Semester Reception the other night, and decided that I should go. They promised free food and cocktails. Usually it's beer and wine, or just beer, or just wine. However, the thought of drinking cocktails with academics was one that I relished. What a feast! Sushi galore (not that I sampled it), quiche galore, spring rolls galore, and yes, drinks galore. Waiters in tuxedos waiting for you to put down a plate or glass, so that they could pick it up. The President John Sexton came by and gave a pretty rousing speech, and introduced some previous Presidents (all of whom looked like they were going to croak at any moment). They had an Irish band playing some old folk songs, much to the crowds delight. The eggheads do enjoy a good drink, and much flirting followed. I got into this ridiculous conversation about baseball with the University Librarian (who was well tipsy), until he had to excuse himself. After the crowd was well soused, a few women started to dance, some guy went up to the mic and started to sing some old songs with the band, and wouldn't you know it, but most of the crowd started to sing along! It was pretty cool to see a bunch of stuffed shirts letting loose. Then I looked around the room, like really looked, and I realized that for all of the progressiveness and 'affirmative action', the world of academia is still pretty much still the Old Boys Club.

I've Got Ho's, in Different Time Zones

Whilst thinking about the upcoming international events (Winter Olympics and World Cup) I began to think about when they would be playing on the teevee. I've got to be able to see Trinidad take what is rightfully ours. It takes a clever cat to figure it out, what with all of the +6GMT's all over the place. Which leads me to my latest rant: I don't believe in Time Zones! Yes, I said it. It needed to be said.

I mean, I understand the reason for them oh, perhaps 100 years ago. In these (Charlie Chaplin) Modern Times, does it really matter if you wake up at 8:00 and the sun is not up? I propose one global 24-hour clock, in which everyone abides by. If it's 14:00 at Greenwich, then it's 14:00 in NY, Chicago, LA, Tokyo, Jakarta, Moscow etc... One world, One Time. Cue marketing genius...now.

It boils down to our conditioning, methinks. Obviously, people would still work during the day, and sleep during the night. However, no longer would you have to consult the internet to know what time it was in Sydney, because you'd know exactly what it was. Flava Flav wouldn't have to wear his clock. Business would run smoother, and so would my calls to all the ladies.

An Eye for an Eye for an Eye

I remember back in tha day when Rate My Professors was all the rage. "Dude, we totally get to grade them now!". However, it quickly became boring after reading some really dumb reviews and seeing who was hot and who was not so hot. Actually teaching a class of undergrads has completely changed my perspective on these so-called 'ratings', as most are clearly done by bitter students. With that being said, the new rage is Rate Your Students, where the bitter faculty gets back at the bitter kids. It's huh-larious. A recent sampling:

"At the end of the semester, the devilish students finally get the stones to come to the office, beg for forgiveness, ask for extra credit. I say a pox on all of them. Don't you read the syllabus? Don't you listen in class? Don't you read the daily bulletin board I send around electronically? Why do you assume that I'll hold your hand in the waning moments of the semester just because you're too damaged from TV, sugar, and glue? It may be impolitic to say these things, but students today are too entitled and too precious. I've seen colleagues roll over and take it up the ass from these awful, demented, and lazy students for too long. Don't do the work? Pay the price. See you next semester, kiddies."

Wha?? Fung Wah!

Got back from Boston aboard the awesomely awesome Fung Wah Bus. Usually, I can't even take a taxi from Midtown to NYU for $15, but aboard this magical bus, you can go from Boston to New York. Some people say that it's just a mafia front. And there are rumblings of a Jewish competitor in the midst. Price war anyone?

It's like looking in the mirror

I've been working on a 2nd year film up in Boston the last couple of days, and it's been a lot of fun and really interesting. I've learned so much about it all, and I really think it will inform my own directing when it comes around again.

A few people (and it's happened in NY too) have mentioned that I look like a younger, thinner and browner version of Francis Ford Coppola. I personally don't think so, but I hope one day to be able to command the respect that he does and be able to make whatever I want. Oh yeah, and make wine.

You Got a Fast Car

One of the not-so-cool things about movie-making are the early call-times. To wit: 5:30am Sunday morning. Which meant that I had to wake up at 3:30am, to leave my place by 4am. Not so cool. The transit system is filled with homeless people and bleary-eyed fratboys coming down from a night of 'good times'.

With that being said, there is this surreal calm that permeates everything. Almost haunted.

The only thing for a boy to do waiting for the J-M-Z train at Canal St at Five in the morning is to listen to music.

I've rediscovered Tracy Chapman's 'Fast Car'. What a brilliant song. It's such an amazing narrative, filled with hope, beauty and eventually sadness. But it's also empowering in a carpe diem way.

We gotta make a decision
We leave tonight or live and die this way

The Best Thing To Happen To Science?

It's old news about Woo Suk Hwang and his bogus SCIENCE articles. To be honest though, I really do think that this type of fraud is more prevalent than people think. It also shows the need for the current scientific review system to be revamped. I recently spoke with an editor at the Phys Rev, and he told me that a HUGE proportion of articles received are completely bogus, but most don't get past the editors on to reviewers. So what I find most distressing about this entire debacle is not that Hwang 'invented' his data, but that it got past the editors AND the reviewers. That is the cause for alarm. People just never learned from the Sokal Hoax, have they?

In yer face, condensed matter physicists!

I'm tired of all the trite, sensationalistic 'Best of x' (x=films, singles, albums, plays, books etc...) lists at this time of year. Except when they concern me. The American Institute of Physics said that the top physics story of the year was the strongly interacting liquid-like thingy of quarks and gluons. This is cool because my former collaboration, PHOBOS, is one of the four experiments involved with the work. It's great when things don't go according to plan.