Perserverance

I recently heard the story of a friend from high school. As long as I can remember, she always wanted to be a dentist. That is a completely questionable desire, but hey who am I?

Anyways, a clever girl she busted her ass through high-school and did quite well. Went off to a good university, applied to dental schools and got rejected. Kept on working, but never lost sight of dental school. Rejected over and over and over. I think it's been at least 5 years.

Anyhoo, apparently she finally got in this year and starts in September. I probably would have given up long ago, but I'm glad to know that there are still a few people that still believe in themselves, are willing to put in the work and suffer a bit to achieve their goals.

Here's to them and hopefully you.

The Best Ball Players Ever

At the game last night, they handed out those perforated carboard ballots that they usually hand out for all-star voting. I was like "huh? The All-Star Game was back in July!". Anyways, it turns out that it's a new list that MLB is trying to do: Who are the best players ever to play for each franchise?

An interesting list, which I can't even imagine beginning to compile, especially for storied teams like the Yankees, Red Sox etc...

As I was casting my votes, I realized that it's really tough to do this. I mean, there's no doubt that Babe Ruth, Willie Mays, Jackie Robinson etc... they were all great players. Or so I've been told. I haven't had the opportunity to really see them play before my eyes. Like I *KNOW* that Ken Griffey Jr is incredible. I *KNOW* that Nolan Ryan and Roger Clemens are dominating pitchers. I guess, I wish I could have seen all of the 'greats' play on a field, such that I'd have a greater appreciation for them.

You can see the list here. There are a few interesting things:
- Greg Maddux doesn't appear for the Braves, but John Smoltz does.
-Randy Johnson doesn't appear for the Mariners, but for the Diamondbacks.
-Pete Rose appears for the Reds. Could this be a sign from MLB to let things go?
-Nolan Ryan appears both for the Astros and the Rangers.
-Marc McGwire doesn't appear for the Cards or the Athletics.
-Barry Bonds appears, which I think is great.
-The Nationals, I'm assuming also had the Expos past to draw from. Why wasn't Andre Dawson included?

Now for the Jays: Pat Hentgen, Roberto Alomar, Joe Carter, Tony Fernandez and Dave Stieb.
Joe Carter and Tony Fernandez are shoe-ins. Dave Stieb is questionable. Alomar and Hentgen definitely don't belong on that list. Alomar was a supreme douchebag. Hentgen wasn't dominating.

Because of these glaring ommissions, I wrote in George Bell(which should have been a no-brainer). I also think Fred McGriff, Jesse Barfield and Roy Halladay deserved to be on this list.

What do you think are the good choices, and not so good choices for your team?

Gratuitous Cute Cat Entry

IMG_5930.JPG,
originally uploaded by subatomicfilms.

I never thought that I'd be passing around photos of cats, but here it is.
This little guy is my sister's, and his name is "Moo Moo". An all round cutey, he's really interested in running water.

I shall never post another cat picture. Mark my words.

I went to the fights tonight, and a baseball game broke out!

High Drama at Skydome tonight.

The Jays laid into the Athletics in the first few innings, hammering out 8 runs going into the 3rd inning. Somehow the A's came back with a bunch of solo HR's and kept on coming. The Boss comes out to give Ted Lilly the hook, and some choice words occurred between the two. All of it to see up on the massive screen in the stadium. Not sure what they were arguing about since Lilly should have been yanked after giving up a comfortable lead. Using my masterful lip reading powers, I clearly saw a 'Fack aff' from Lilly.

With the relief warming, the manager followed Lilly to the tunnel where they physically duked it out. Gibbons emerged back to the dugout with a bloody nose.

Look for Lilly to be sent down in the coming hours.

(the Jays lost, in the end).

I'm all set for the New Fall Fashions

According to various reports from the world's red carpets and runways, I will be at the height of fashion this year. Hats (which, if you know me, I'm always wearing), and thick eyebrows are all the rage.

Don't hate me because you want to be me.

Bottom of the Pack

Maclean's Magazine, which is like a Canadian version of Time or US News puts out an annual ranking of all the Canadian Universities. As in the USA, these rankings have become points of shame/pride amongst students and schools. However, there have been a lot of people on both sides of the border questioning the validity and honesty of such rankings and just how useful they are. The good thing is that a lot of the big schools in Canada are choosing to not deal with Maclean's anymore. I think the whole ranking system in the USA and Canada needs to be revised or just completely done away with. The only way this can be done is if the top schools refuse to deal with the rankings. Students should be concerned with getting an education that suits their needs rather than the brand name.

The Greatest New Show

Reason to get cable

The Sweater

The National Film Board of Canada has finally gone through their vaults and digitized a lot of their awesome animated shorts. Most of them were just impossible to view, and to have them so readily available is really a great treat.

My favourite has to be Sheldon Cohen's "The Sweater", based on the childhood story of Roch Carrier. I hadn't seen this since grade 5, and honestly I think it still holds up today. The story concerns a young boy in rural Quebec that plays hockey with all his friends, all of them donning the very same Maurice "Rocket" Richard Montreal Canadiens jersey. Soon, the guy's jersey becomes way too old and small so his moms goes through Eaton's (R.I.P.)catalogue and orders him a new one. What comes in the mail a few weeks later is not a red, white and blue Canadiens jersey, but a blue and white Toronto Maple Leafs jersey. Mon dieu! His mother forces him to wear it, and he must deal with the fall-out.

The animation is just impeccable. The film elevates to a folk-art with it's caricatures and fluid transformations between people, places and things. Also, Roch's francophone accent is so beautiful.

This film is a national treasure, and YOU MUST WATCH IT HERE.

The Coolest Record Store in the World?

On a recent tour of the East Village, a friend and I checked out Hospital Productions. The self described "shrine for noise and black metal", which I am not a fan of either per se. I like my metal doom or death.

Anyways, it's a pretty cool little joint. You have to literally go through another record store (Jammyland), go to the back, climb down this rickety old ladder, **ask a guy for an egg, give a secret handshake, and say "Blaze in the Northern Sky", then this secret vault appears**. OK, everything between the ** is false, but you do have to go down a ladder at the back of some other store.

What you'll find there in the space equivalent to my bedroom, is bins and racks of noise and black metal (as advertized), and the helpful proprietor. The dude, who is also in his own band, is an all round good guy. Although they didn't have what I was looking for, some old Impaled Nazarene he had a good stock of stuff. I ended up buying some Wolf Eyes.

I wish duder well in actually trying to fill a niche market. Good for him.

Zen and the Art of Cashing In

I read 'Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance' as part of my 1st year Philosophy course back in undergrad, and it completely blew my mind. It really changed the way I thought about science, and I became enamored with this value of quality. I haven't read the book since then, and I really do wonder how I would think of it after all my physics training.

'Lila' the book after Zen, never really was as popular. A copy is sitting on our bookshelf, about half way read. The problem with 'Lila' is just that it's not so well written. It's really heavy-handed, whereas Zen read like a road story with quick little diversions.

Phaedrus himself, Robert Pirsig, has recently resurfaced to push the new re-issued 'Lila'.

It's a kind of shame, because I like my recluses to remain reclusive like Terrence Malick, J.D. Salinger. They keep it real.

On the Road Again

IMG_5840.jpg,
originally uploaded by subatomicfilms.

With the summer dwindling away really quickly, and classes finally ending yesterday, I decided to take a bike ride from my place in Bay Ridge Brooklyn all the way to Central Park. I decided to follow the 4th-Ave subway route into the city over the Manhattan Bridge.

Passing through some of the 'hoods in Brooklyn, I got to see so many things that I never get to see on the subway. I felt a better understanding of the diversity involved. The stank of Chinatown, the radical-chic of the East Village, the madness of Mid-town. I felt one with all of the bike couriers.

Anyways, I've posted a few pics from my trip on my new flickr page.

Feed Me Seymour, Feed Me

My spies told me about this freaky plant that's on display at the Brooklyn Botanical Garden. The rare event has this flower blossoming and smelling like dead bodies. Scary!

Perhaps, I'll check this out while I've got a c-47 on my nose.

Snob Movie Review: Miami Vice

Michael Mann treads a very similar aesthetic path in Miami Vice as he did "Collateral" a few years ago. It still kicks ass though. Filming mostly at night once again with a hot colour pallette, you can feel the steam in Miami. The Director of Photography, Dion Beebe, will probably be forgotten come Oscar time, but he's done great work here.

Instead of an opening title sequence, Mann gets right down to business putting us in a pulsing club with Crocket & Tubbs as they negotiate the underground crime syndicates.

Much like the great TV-Series, the plot is a bit run-of-the-mill, but Mann is able to throw in a few twists to always keep us interested.

My only qualms are Colin Farrell's awful hair, and the casting of the stunning Gong-Li. The former looks really dumb, while the latter looks like a fish out of water in some of the more dramatic moments on screen.

Make no mistake, this is a well made and entertaining summer movie.

Trailers for Books

Apparently, all the rage in the tough publishing industry is to make video trailers for your books. Get people interested in your story by showing them a glimpse of what the story's about, and hopefully they will go and fork over some cash for the hardcopy. The Times has an article on this trend. They get film students to make them on a budget. Cheap labour for the publishers, something to add to the reel of a film student. Mutually beneficial.

I actually did let the publishers know that I was interested, and they did send the three books over. Nice covers (i.e I haven't opened any of them yet). I still don't know if I will have time to even carry out the production of this trailer even if I won (which is slim), but maybe I'll try on whim. You've got to submit a script and a storyboard for them.

The books look to be geared towards young adults, and they should be sending a few more picture books. I think that will be more interesting.

Chuck Norris Bridge

The whole Chuck Norris thing is completely done in my books. I'm not even gonna pretend to post a picture.

Unfortunately, there are a lot of people that still think it's the cat's meow.

More unfortunate, are the poor Hungarian people that built a new bridge and opened the naming of it to the internet. By the recent vote casting, Chuck won't win, but if this thing spreads around the world, jeez, the possibilities....

What would Nell Carter Say To This?

NYU is planning to build a big 26 floor dorm right in the East Village (a few blocks from Campus). It seems that a lot of the locals are angry.

PUH-LEASE! Greenwich Village/East Village residents are perhaps the richest people in the city paying huge amounts of rent, or sometimes very little rent in their controlled buildings. The Bohemian life that made that whole area cool in the first place (remember the glory days of RENT?) no longer exists amongst the overcrowded bars, chic boutiques and trendy eateries.

It's called a free market, homies.

Snob Music Review: TV On The Radio: Return to Cookie Mountain

I first learned about TV On The Radio when they opened for legendary The Fall in Chicago back in 2003. The crowd was filled with a bunch of old punk rockers, which didn't really care for them. In all honesty, they weren't that great, but you could see the potential. Their 'Young Liars' EP came out, and then their first LP 'Desperate Youth, Bloodthirsty Babes' dropped. The latter getting a ton of acclaim. I didn't like it. I thought it lacked a focus, and at times was just boring.

The Brooklyn-reppin TVOTR's 'Return to Cookie Mountain' is already released in other parts of the world, but won't get a domestic (US/Canada) release until September. It's well worth a steal (then buy it when it comes out), because it's awesome. Their avant-garde tendencies somehow workout this time. Parts of jazz, soul, electronic, harmonizing vocals and straight up indie-rock really come together really nicely. It's definitely the most original music I've heard in a long time.

Hog Butcher of the World

I spent last weekend in Chicago, and (as expected) I had a great time. A lot has changed in the year that I have been gone, mostly for the better. However, the racial polarity is still such a problem.

The near-South Side is being rejuvenated and there seems to be a bit more Sox caps around town. Where did that Pink line come from?! Looks like a waste of time.

Had some really good times with the group of wacky people that I'm lucky enough to call friends. What struck me was the pace of the city, which is much much slower than what I've come accustomed too. Walk faster you Midwestern folk!

Up, Down, Up, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A, START

For all the parents complaining that video games rots brains... it doesn't! In fact, they indicate the deterioration of the brain. Nerds are showing that old people playing FreeCell indicate their stage of Alzheimer's. I guess the obvious reason is to keep their brain occupied. This is a good use of research where simple technology can be used to have extraordinary applications.

Playa Haters 2.0

I'm a fervent mac user, but I honestly can't stand the new commercials with the grup guy being too cool for the stuffy shirt PC user.
You've seen 'em.

Anyhoo, here's a good parody of them.

The sad part of the whole thing is that I'm sure it would have been easier/quicker to create that whole video on a mac.

Playa Haters

I traveled across Canada back in 1999, and I learned that nothing unifies the country more than their unrelenting hatred for their largest city, and my home town, Toronto.

Without doubt, Toronto is the financial and cultural centre of the country. Admittedly, someone could make a reasonable argument for the greatness of Montreal, but there are a lot of historical reasons for the rift between those two cities.

I can't think of any other country where everyone outside of their largest city vehemently hates the said city. The good thing is that Torontonians don't let the hate get too much to them. I remember a few years ago, The Toronto Star had huge billboards that said "Our News IS the National News".

We're Half Way There....

The first concert I ever went to was back in grade 5, when I saw Bon Jovi (Skid Row opened) at the old Exhibition Stadium in Toronto. It was their "New Jersey Tour", and honestly it was such an incredible concert.

Back in 2001, Bon Jovi played a show in Hamburg, where I was doing research for the summer at a Particle Accelerator . A few colleagues and I somehow talked ourselves into the show (the concert was being held adjacent to our experiment's building, and we flashed our badges with authority), and had a blast. They played a long set mostly of 'best of' stuff, but they rocked out. Incredible energy, it looks like they were still having a good time.

There's a certain kitsch associated with the band, but as time rolls on, it becomes clear that Bon Jovi are the new Rolling Stones. Here are some insightful articles about the band, one a review of the show in Jersey, and another from Chicago.

In Defense of Critics

I've always felt that one of the professions that people love to hate is the movie critic. Who the hell does Roger Ebert think he is to pass judgement on any thing? A.O. Scott (the critic from the Times) wrote a really nice piece about the role of the critic in modern times.

I feel that people over estimate how self-important the critics feel that they are. Most readily admit that they are just folks with opinions, that love movies.

Also, I think it's important for people to find a critic that shares their same taste. Critics have to sit through so many movies, most of them bad, so when something comes across that they collectively champion, I tend to listen. However, I don't lose the fact that they are just folks voicing their opinion.

Let's Not Burn any Bridges

Almost every day I pass over the Manhattan Bridge to get into the city from Brooklyn. Not usually the first bridge that comes to mind when you think of NYC. My goal for the rest of the summer is to check out each of the four not-so-famous bridges in this article.

From Being Colonized to Being Colonizers

Current anthropology studies are suggesting that much of England was once ruled by the Germans. In fact, by studying the Y-chromosome, the brainiacs can ascertain that England probably had some sort of apartheid-like system of governance (a minority of people being the head of power). Fascinating, considering that England went on to become one of the world super-powers. This still doesn't explain the bad teeth.

The New Spielberg: Compliment or Dis?

M. Night Shyamalan has been touted as the new Spielberg on several occasions from the few films that he has made. The Times addresses him and looks into his hype machine.

Yeah, he's NYU alumni, and I've only seen one of his movies (Signs), but there's something quite boring about this work. Granted, he's brown, he's resurrected a genre, and doesn't seem to be making too many compromises, but I just wish he'd stop selling himself and focus on doing something different, and not what's expected of him.

How to Quit Smoking

In order to effectively and quickly quit smoking all you need to do is have a stroke.

Some of homies have found out that some stroke victims no longer feel the need to smoke.

This work raises so many questions about the nature of addiction, and how it can be controlled.

This is breakthrough work, methinks.

Shine On, You Crazy Diamond

RIP

Low Tech for the High Tech

NASA is looking at the idea of fixing their problems with some Duct Tape. I've always maintained that NASA was more of a ridiculous political waste of money, rather than a true scientific entity. If they invested more money into space telescopes, and not dubious 'experiments' on board (which can easily be replicated on Earth), the knowledge of our universe and our history would increase exponentially.

Small Junk

OH MY GOD!!! Did you hear that the dude from the Phillies won the Homerun Hitting Contest? HO-LEEE! The Phillies and everything associated with PA is incredible.

Brethren and Sistren

This week's Time Magazine has a really cool article on siblings.

In general, research is finally exploring just how much of an impact our siblings have on us. Parents die, spouses come along later in life, so the only people that are usually around us for our entire lives are the brothers and sisters.

It's a good read, but what interested me where the studies of brothers with older sisters (like myself) or sisters with older brothers:

"The guys who had older sisters had more involving interactions and were liked significantly more by their new female acquaintances," says Ickes. "Women with older brothers were more likely to strike up a conversation with the male stranger and to smile at him more than he smiled at her."

I'm not sure if this is always the case, but there is no doubt that what I know about the fairer-sex (which is admittedly not much), I learned from my sister.

Get your Bling...Give Me Cash

Tired of those ugly, bacteria infested Yellow Lance Armstrong bracelets? Grow up, and get some bling.

Cartier has put out some charity bracelets based on their love bracelets. Check them out here.

I'm not one to advertize, but Spike Lee is endorsing one of them (the purple one), so $100 of the $475 price tag goes directly to the Graduate Film School (i.e. me) at NYU.

Better yet, why don't you just give me the entire $475, and I'll get a dirty hippie to make a hemp bracelet for you in Union Square. Or if you like, I can get your name put on a piece of rice. Bling Bling!

What would PepsiCo Do in this situation?

Looks like some Coke suits were trying to sell trade-secrets to Pepsi! Of course, the morons got caught. However, the weird thing about the story is that Pepsi told Coke about it!!! Too bad, because we all know that Pepsi should have taken the recipe and made their swill taste more like liquid-gold.

It's Always 4:20 Somewhere

Nature has an article about how pot users may be more susceptible to being addicted to heroin.

I can imagine that the anti-pot people will have a field-day with these results; "marijuana is a gateway to more harder drugs!". Which has always made no sense to me.

I don't smoke, but I really have no problem with those that do. As Mike Skinner asks, how can something with no recorded fatalities be illegal, whilst cigarettes and alcohol are readily available?

All drugs (hard & soft, liquor too) are all tried and experimented via social interaction.

Let's (Wok &) Roll

Oh great Craigslist! You've hooked me up with ladies, you've sold junk that I didn't want anymore, you've found me places to live, you've found me actors for films, you've got me jobs and you've let me air my frustrations. Today, you gave me a free wok, fulfilling a life-long dream of mine to own one. You've made a grown man cry today.

Those Eyes are Fierce!

The Blue Jays are sending five players to the All-Star Game this year!! How did that happen!?

The truth is that the Blue Jays are this year's best kept secret. They are one game behind the Yankers in the A.L. East, but they are completely unnoticed. There is no doubt in my mind that the Jays could win this division. Slowly but surely will win this race.

Happy Canada Day

Happy Canada Day to all my fellow hosers out there.

Each year (even when growing up), the media in Canada always tries to define what it really means to be *Canadian*. The Star takes a stab at it with a list of cultural (music, art, film, architecture etc....) things deemed to be uniquely Canadian.

Personally, I find the lists a bit tame and predictable. Where is Godspeed You Black Emperor! , Broken Social Scene, Kardinal Offishall or K-OS on the music list? Each has made significantly Canadian music.

Also, how Robert LePage was left off the movie list is a crime. And what about The Newsroom. Shame.

How to Train a Boy (or Girl)

There has been a lot of hub-bub about this article that appeared in the Times a couple of days ago. I finally read it, and to be honest, it's one of the best written essays I've read in a long time. Check it here.

Tragic

This is very sad.

Happiness=O + (N x S) + Cpm/T + He

They figured out the that the happiest day of the year was yesterday. I missed the memo, and cried myself to sleep (as always).

The variables in the above equation are: O stands for being outdoors and outdoor activity, N for nature, S for social interaction, Cpm for childhood summers and positive memories, T for temperature and He for holidays and looking forward to time off.

Harold Hosein: R.I.P.

No no, he's not dead, but according to the Star, Harold Hosein has been let go by City-TV. He was perhaps the most unlikely weather guy ever: a West Indian accent, older and awful fashion sense. With that being said, it worked in a hokey kind of way. He was more though, he was perhaps one of the only West Indian personalities on TV growing up, and he had this striking resemblance to my dad. With him being really old, it will be hard to get another gig on TV. Let's hope he's got his umbrella to weather this storm out. Zing.

Come Back Pierluigi

It seems that the officiating at the World Cup has taken to the front-seat over the actual matches. Sports Illustrated has a really nice piece on how the refs are having too much effect on the games this year.

What I Hate

You know when you're at the gym, you're taking a shower, you're just about to turn off the water and grab a towel.... then the unthinkable happens:

You hear a toilet flush. I'm not talking about the water getting extremely hot or cold, just the sound of the flush. The toilet is probably in another part of the locker room completely out of sight. *VAWOOOOOSH* is enough for me to lather up again.

Maybe that's just me and my issues.

Greatest Day of The Summer (thus far)

Last Thursday will go down in personal history as one of the best. Started the day off at 9am...at the bar. My roommate and I decided to watch every single World Cup game drunk that day. We were the only ones drinking at the time (people and their jobs...psh!), but there's a certain freedom that goes with it. Anyhoo, we saw Ecuador trounce Costa Rica. Then we hopped on the train and went up to a bar that all the Trinidad Supporters were at. It was amazing. The place was rammed, and everyone was up for a good time. Keeping up with the Trini tradition, the drinks were strong. Trinidad lost, but they played much better and put up a good fight. Damn England! The crowd didn't seem to care, as we left when the fete was just getting hot.

Hopped on the train and headed to Manhattan and watched Sweden and Paraguay's first half. Continued to put back the pints. Got bored at that bar, so we moved to another bar took advantage of Happy Hour specials, and watched Sweden score their winning goal. Hung out in a drunken haze in Washington Square Park, ate a crepe and I think we saw Henry Winkler.

Went off to the NYU screening of Kevin Bacon's "Loverboy" (review below). It was cool because Kevin Bacon was there and answered questions afterwards. Much to my surprise, he was actually a pretty cool guy. So if you get stuck playing the Kevin Bacon game, always reference me from now on.

After that we roamed around the East Village and found a really cool small bar, called Big Bar. Nice place, and we were there catching the tail end of Happy Hour along with a really cool bartender and a revolving door of regulars. One of the guys turned out to be a former D.O.E. grant guy (aka, god to high energy physicists). The fun didn't end there....then we went to Trader Joe's!

How much craziness can we take? Well we got a slice of pizza and chilled in Union Square and that's what did us in.

All in all, a great day.

The Beautiful Game

I won't bore you with my take on the World Cup except to say that I've been trying to watch as many games as possible. Just to keep us sharp during the games, let's not forget about all the awesome physics involved . YAY!

This one's for the Ladies

Pity us dudes.

She's Juiced Up!

There's trouble brewing up at Columbia University, where another science fraud story is brewing. A prof is retracting four published research papers (a very big deal in the sciences), where he was listed as the primary author, but his now graduated student did the work. The results can't be reproduced. The researcher, now studying in Germany, claims that the independent research teams have not been using the right catalyst. Presumably, the catalyst is called 'cooking the data'.

How did the original papers get published?

Ill Communication

Nothing gets a teacher more angry than the sound of phones ringing in class. It totally ruins the momentum of teaching, and distracts all around. A lot of schools across the nation are starting to ban phones at schools (much to the anger of parents.... all of whom need to get over themselves).

Enter a new program that adjusts the frequency of ringing just above the range of most adult humans, but still audible to the younger crew. I applaud this, and I hope there was a way such that the kids using them had a way to talk at a frequency that I couldn't hear.

What makes it even better is that the original idea of exploiting different audible ranges in different ages, was meant to keep kids from loitering.

My Doppelganger

I was checking out the latest edition of the Onion, and lo and behold there's a dude that looks kinda like me . Weird. I did some more digging around, and he's Aziz Ansari , who is a pretty bad-ass comedian (or so it seems). I should check him out if only for the brown unification.

XXX Nature

A quick perusal through the pages of Nature sounds like science has gone all perv:
money shot #1 , money shot #2 and me love you long time .

All joking aside, very interesting stuff, especially the first link. My clock is ticking.

For the Ice Connoisseur

Like a chump, I thought the only way to make ice was to put it at a temperature below 0 C.
Enlighten yourself here.

Free The Pirates

Earlier today, the Swedish government raided the Pirate Bay . For those not in the know, The Pirate Bay is like a torrent search engine, where you can find anything and everything you ever wanted, but were too afraid/poor to buy.


I feel that the record companies and studios have been ripping off the consumer for decades now, and finally the consumer won't have it. With all the hubbub, the execs will have you believe that they are being robbed blind. The truth is that their profits are staying the same if not increasing.



Anyways, the Pirate Bay guys were great. They thumbed their nose at any form of authority, and openly mocked all of the 'cease and desist' orders that they got. In fact, in an age when people claim to be keepin' it real, the Pirate Bay folks were the platonic form of realness.

I'm taking all of my money out of that Kyjawmneuczcstskaia Fund

Nature's pointing towards a really interesting article concerning psychology, finance and statistics. A group has shown that stocks with simple names consistently out perform stocks with more complicated names. It's kind of a chicken and the egg problem, but still interesting results.

Ponderosa Kicked My Ass

This weekend, my awesome roommate was nice enough to drive up to Toronto to pick up some of my outstanding effects (books, CD's etc...) that never made the trip on my initial move to NYC. A nice long weekend was had which was way too short. Ended up doing a lot of shopping (IKEA, bigups) eating of local delicasies (poutine) and hanging with the folks. Also had time to fit in a baseball game, where the local squadron hosted the White Sox. My loyalties were tested, but I cheered for the pale-hose. If the situation were reversed, I'd be cheering for the Jays. Sox won the game!


On the drive back, we stopped for lunch at Ponderosa, a joint we both remembered fondly from childhood, but a place we both haven't went to recently. We went, we ate, we almost hurled. Needless to say, I started feeling really woozy and light headed by my 3rd plate. For real. Sometimes it's best to keep childhood memories as they are. Untouched.

High Drama in Ottawa

Prime Minister Harper is making questionable choices as of late. Most recently his shunning of the parliamentary press gallery (made up of national media correspondents). Harper wanted a system whereby his staff would decide who would be allowed to ask questions during question period. Naturally, the press balked at this idea and they all walked out of a press conference earlier this week leaving the PM twiddling his thumbs. Harper is now saying that he won't talk at all to the parliamentary press folks, and he'll deal exclusively with regional services. He says that the national reporters are out to get him and his government. Either way, I feel that it's a bad idea to not talk with reporters. It would be like Bush refusing to talk with CBS, NBC, ABC and CNN. Bonehead.

Best Awkward Catch Phrase That Somehow Caught On:

SOUL PATROL...SOUL PATROL....SOUL PATROL

Where's Iran when you need them?

President Bush: "For the sake of economic security and national security," [Bush] said, "the United States of America must aggressively move forward with the construction of nuclear power plants."

I think Mahmoud Ahmadinejad should send an envoy to Washington and try to affect American domestic policy.

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.