Today’s Rocketboom (which has won back a lot of fans in the last week or so, I suspect…even though we all still miss Amanda) is about the Art Gallery of Ontario and Frank Gehry’s upcoming redesign. It also has an interview with native Toronto son David Cronenberg, who’s curating the Andy Warhol exhibit there.
[tags]rocketboom, art gallery of ontario, ago, frank gehry, david cronenberg, andy warhol[/tags]
Dumbassery: racist ringtones in South Africa and George Bush planning to get his veto on against stem cell research.
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Scarlett Johansson and Natalie Portman in a movie together. Can’t…breathe…
[tags]racist ringtones, stem cell veto, scarlett johansson, natalie portman[/tags]
I’m thinking the safest course of action for me today is to just hide somewhere and ride it out.
[tags]bad day[/tags]
Well, we’re an unhealthy bunch here at the Dickinson ranch. I felt a little wonky all day; around 3:30 I felt fully wonky and left work, came home and laid on the couch until Nellie arrived. We had a summerlicious dinner tonight with some friends and I didn’t want to miss it, but didn’t really feel up to eating. I was actually a little dizzy until we got to the restaurant (Goldfish) and I had some bread and water. Now that I’ve eaten (it was pretty good, but not great) I feel better, but still just a little off. Nellie, on the other hand, started feeling nauseous toward the end of dinner and got progressively worse. I’ll just be happy if we can make it through the day sans vomit.
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A phrase I never thought I’d type: Mogwai will be on the Miami Vice soundtrack.
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More than 200 dead in Lebanon now, including several Canadians. The Guardian seems surprised that western powers haven’t intervened, but they shouldn’t be. The US has always back Israel very heavily; they won’t move to stop any Israeli attacks (within reason), and no other western or european country will do anything unless America makes a move first. Or perhaps what seemed in the Guardian like surprise was just veiled criticism?
I just bought a copy of Munich yesterday and began watching it today. I wonder if Ehud Olmert struggled with the moral justification of his reciprocal response as much as Golda Meir struggled with hers? I’m amazed anyone runs for political office in the middle east, knowing that you could — and probably will — have to make decisions like that.
[tags]goldfish, mogwai, miami vice, lebanon, canadians, israel, ehud olmert, golda meir[/tags]
Another hot day, another bout of movies while we stayed home and kept our cool. I suspect today could be similar; high of 36 degrees (!); with the humidity it’ll probably feel like the mid-40s. Bleh.
Pretty Persuasion (imdb | rotten tomatoes) had all kinds of potential, but mostly just stayed bland for 100 minutes. There was the occasional biting truth or social insight, but it was muddied by my complete lack of belief in the main character. Evan Rachel Wood’s a good actress, but I just didn’t buy her character Kimberly. When I read the description of this movie I was hoping for something as good as Saved!; alas…
Broken Flowers (imdb | rotten tomatoes), on the other hand, was excellent. I like Jim Jarmusch’s films (this was more accessible than his usual work) and I love Bill Murray, so it was hard to go wrong. Murray’s interactions with his neighbour were hilarious, and his reunions — anywhere from mildly awkward to downright painful — with his exes were classic little character sketches. Highly recommended.
[tags]pretty persuasion, broken flowers[/tags]
In no particular order:
Wait…shit. That was alphabetic.
And, to a leser extent:
[tags]amy millan, asobi seksu, band of horses, neko case, regina spektor, cat power, jolie holland, mogwai, raising the fawn, yeah yeah yeahs[/tags]
I love relaxing Friday nights…just Nellie & I, some delivery and some movies. It’s too hot to do much else this weekend.
Proof (imdb | rotten tomatoes) was a little better than I expected. The previews made it look like little more than standard family drama, but it got a little deeper than that. It was obvious that the movie was adapted from a play — too obvious, actually, since the dialogue felt stilted at times. It started well and picked up steam through the middle, but just lost it in the final third. Still, pretty decent performances, especially by Gwyneth Palthrow, who I don’t normally like.
Wolf Creek (imdb | rotten tomatoes) was crap. I was hoping for something better than Hostel, but it was never tense, or scary, or even overly bloody (except for one or two unpleasant parts)…just shlocky. It’s too bad, the first half of the movie did a decent job of setting everything up, but it just went to waste. Maybe if it’d carried any of the authenticity the “based on actual events” tagline (which is a lie, by the way) tried to impart at the beginning, it would have been better.
[tags]proof, gwyneth paltrow, wolf creek[/tags]
If we don’t melt in the heat, I think we may go buy this camera tomorrow. Our old 3.2 megapixel just isn’t gonna do our upcoming Rockies trip justice.
[UPDATE] It’s been boughten. Nellie now plans to spend the day testing it out.
[thanks to c|net for the picture]
[tags]canon s3 is, digital camera, rockies[/tags]
I’m plowing through my music “inbox” now. Here’s the latest poop:
I also keep listening to the new Regina Spektor album Begin To Hope over and over. It’s broader than her earlier stuff; “Bettter” sounds almost radio-friendly, “That Time” sounds PJ Harvey sans bass, and “Apres Moi” sounds like Fiona Beethoven. Or Ludwig von Apple. Your pick.
[tags]danny michel, the pipettes, john frusciante, primal scream, tilly & the wall, jose gonzalez, regina spektor[/tags]
Last night kicked off this year’s Summerlicious fun. For the third time in as many years we went to Bymark, accompanied by T-Bone and #4 (as I believe he’s known). Let’s face it, we were there solely for the burger; it was as good this time as it had been in years past (I didn’t miss the foie gras). It normally costs $37, so you’d expect it to kick ass…and it does. Every time. The only bad part was that, due to our late reservation, we didn’t get to the burger until about 10:30 at night, so this morning when I woke up I could still feel the burger’s in my stomach.
We also got to try some Francis Coppola wine, followed by a bottle of Pacina. If a bottle had come out labelled “Brandino” or something it might’ve freaked me out.
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Any plans I had of sleeping in a bit late this morning came crashing to a halt at exactly 7 AM when some yahoos started running jackhammers across the street. It was so loud the cats freaked out and hid in the den, and even closing the double windows couldn’t drown out the sound. I could even hear some guy out his balcony yelling, “Hey, shut the fuck up!!!!” at the jackhammering dudes, but to no avail. If anybody couldn’t hear, it was them. Anyway…it seemed a little early for such nonsense. Surely there’s a bylaw I could reference if I weren’t too lazy to complain…
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After staying pretty much quiet for the whole offseason, the Canadiens have finally made a move or two: they dumped Richard Zednik before signing Mike Johnson and Sergei Samsonov. Zednik-for-Johnson is a good equation; adding Samsonov gives them more depth at centre, but it sure as shit doesn’t give them more size. They might be going for some sort of record; has any team ever started the year with 4 centres under 6 feet? If they dump Radek Bonk I believe they’ll manage it (’cause no way on God’s green earth is Mike Ribeiro 6 feet tall).
The Raptors have made some minor moves as well, adding two European players (Jorge Garbajosa and Anthony Parker) and signing John Salmons this afternoon. And, of course, there was the trade for T.J. Ford a while back.
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If you watched The Daily Show last night you saw Ted Stevens, the Senator from Alaska, make a fool of himself trying to explain net neutrality to Congress. As this ABC article says, “It’s too obvious that this man has no idea what the Internet is exactly and no idea about the issues behind Net neutrality. It seems like a miracle that he can even find the crapper.”
You can hear the pitiful shilling here. By the way, dig how he pronounces “Deutsche”.
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Also on The Daily Show last night: Shawn Wayans, star of the upcoming Little Man, which appears to be a right piece of shit. It has a 20% rating on Rotten Tomatoes right now, just slightly worse than the 22% sported by You, Me and Dupree.
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Finally, and obviously most troubling, is what’s happening in the middle east. Israel didn’t want their soldiers to be kidnapped, but they’ll certainly sieze the opportunity to go on the offensive. The US will obviously back Israel should anything escalate, just as Syria and Iran will back Hezbollah activity in Lebanon. The question, in my mind, is whether Saudi Arabia and/or Egypt would intervene if Israel moves more aggressively into Lebanon, or even against Syria. If the US found itself trying to decide between Israel and Saudi, all while fighting a war in Iraq and rattling sabres at Iran…it could get even messier (if that’s possible).
[tags]summerlicious, bymark, francis coppola, pacina, canadiens, richard zednik, mike johnson, sergei samsonov, anthony parker, john salmons, daily show, ted stevens, net neutrality, little man, dupree, israel, lebanon[/tags]
Skirl | Dan Dickinson 