"It's just like the 60's. Only with less hope."

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

Been home sick the last couple of days. Nothing too bad — just a low level nausea and complete lack of energy — but there’s no particular reason why I need to be in the office today, so I’ve stayed home. My boss is leaving on vacation tomorrow and the last thing I want is to infect her before she leaves.

The worst part about being moderately ill like this is that I can’t focus. Yesterday I tried to do some work, but it took me about 3 hours to do what would normally take me 30 minutes. I just couldn’t concentrate and focus on the screen. I’m blogging right now ’cause I know that by noon my brain will be mush again.

.:.

I would’ve paid a great deal of money to see Led Zeppelin last night, but I hope they don’t tour. It kills me to say that — I consider them one of the greatest bands of all time, and regret that they effectively broke up when I was still in diapers — but I hope they don’t go after the carrot that must surely be dangling in front of them.

.:.

Couple of movies we watched on the weekend (when I could still focus on the TV):

Shortbus (imdb | rotten tomatoes) was as weird and explicit as I’d heard…and that was about it.OK, it was mildly funny in places too, but I think the shock of the film is what would have made it remarkable if I wasn’t already hyper-aware of the film’s racier content following last year’s film festival.

American Gun (imdb | rotten tomatoes) was one of those films with a compelling subject and stellar cast that just never got anywhere. With Forest Whitaker, Donald Sutherland and Marcia Gay Harden starring in a film about America’s obsession with guns, you’d expect more meat on the bone, however the director decided to play it. I have no problem with subtlety, but I do have a problem with melodrama. It was OK, but I couldn’t really recommend it.

[tags]led zeppelin reunion, shortbus, american gun[/tags]

"Does the Archbishop of Canterbury know you talk like this? "

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Ever since we signed up for TMN we’ve been recording movies left and right. Unfortunately, because we’re recording in high def, the PVR fills up awfully quick. We’ve had to kill off a few to record the ones we really want to see. This weekend we knocked off a couple:

  • The Last Kiss (imdb | rotten tomatoes) was ok, even if I couldn’t identify with (or stand, in some cases) most of the characters. I’m sure part of the low RT score comes from the fact that Garden State set the Zach Braff bar so high, and I know it affected my expectations as well, but even setting that aside there was very little redeeming about this film. I can only listen to so much whining from a posse of scared little 29-year-old boys.
  • The History Boys (imdb | rotten tomatoes) was a hard one to figure out. At times I felt like the film wason the verge of greatness, about to grab me with some high-minded debate about purity-vs-competition of education, or with a touching exploration of student-teacher bonding, but it too often drifted and teetered into melodrama or tawdriness. There were parts of it I liked very much, but overall I can’t say it’ll stick with me.

Nellie also watched Date Movie (imdb | rotten tomatoes) which, based on the ten minutes or so for which I could stand to be in the same room, was one of the worst movies ever made.

[tags]the last kiss, zach braff, the history boys, date movie[/tags]

I'm a fine, fine fellow

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

In the summer I was struck by how much greener Toronto looked from our balcony than it does at street level. Now, with the leaves on vacation and the snow taking up residence, it just looks gray.

.:.

It’s not official yet — the paperwork still has to go through — but I heard back from our adviser today: we passed our final project. That effectively means that I am now a fellow of the Institute of Canadian Bankers. I’m now in the home stretch of finishing the MBA: 256 days left!

.:.

Poor Nellie’s not feeling well today. We had dinner at Fieramosca last night and were plied with a little too much Limoncello. It was supposed to be a quick meal, out by 8:30, but there’s really no such thing with us anymore. We kind of lost track of time somewhere around the sixth shot.

.:.

News from last week: Toronto councillor Giorgio Mammoliti asked for the army to be brought in. Not because of some snowdrifts, mind you. No, councillor Mammoliti wants the army to come in and crack down on gang violence.

Having had a few days to consider and weigh the councillor’s words, I have arrived at this conclusion: Giorgio Mammoliti is batshit crazy.

I’m all for curbing gang violence, councillor. I suggest you lobby for more police funding, or a special anti-gang task force. Perhaps you could move to ban handguns in the city, or increase funding to social programs that keep kids out of gangs. Any of those seem fairly reasonable, if not politically expedient. Maybe it’s my quaint inclination toward freedom, but I don’t think military occupation of a civilian area is something a democratically-elected politician should suggest.

Sigh…every time someone from this city mentions the army I just know the rest of the country’s going to make fun of us for the next three years.

[tags]toronto the gray, institute of canadian bankers, fieramosca, limoncello, giorgio mammoliti, gang violence[/tags]

'Tis the season to be zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

I’m so tired. Been at a conference the last two days, and didn’t get very much sleep at all last night. I’m a zombie tonight; no energy left. I’m so out of it I actually left my card in the ABM and walked away. Still signed in. Some nice lady had to chase me down and give it back to me. I should not have been out in public.

I’ll blog more tomorrow when I’m coherent again.

[tags]sleepydan[/tags]

Tip tip

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

I’m all for capitalism, but Jayzus.

McDonald’s Blasted for Advertising on Report Cards 

Susan Pagan was recently surprised by her 9-year-old daughter’s report card. Her daughter had made the honor roll, but that wasn’t a shock. What was surprising was that her daughter was now entitled to a free Happy Meal because of her grades.

(Hat tip: Ron Shevlin)

.:.

Decent Nova Scotia wine? I might have to pick some up the next time I’m back on the ancestral manse. Actually, I do believe the vineyard is very close to my aunt’s house…

More remarkably, it achieved something no other Nova Scotia wine had before, taking home a silver medal in a mainstream category at the All Canadian Wine Championships in Windsor in May, beating out highly regarded rivals from Ontario and British Columbia.

(Hat tip: Duarte)

[tags]mcdonald’s, report cards, ron shevlin, gaspereau vineyards, wineboffin[/tags]

In which I geek right out

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  • That’s a pretty kickass-lookin’ Iron Man.
  • Jenna Fischer wants to do more nudity in her films. Well, if that’s what she feels she has to do for her craft, I guess we’ll all just have to support her.
  • Ray Park, the who portrayed Darth Maul (probably the only good thing about Star Wars: Episode I) will now get to play Snake Eyes in the upcoming G.I. Joe movie. That’s two iconically cool characters in one lifetime, Ray. Give thanks.

.:.

May not blog for a couple of days. Conference. Talk amongst yourselves.

[tags]iron man, jenna fischer, ray park, darth maul, snake eyes, g.i. joe[/tags]

UnZipped

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Here I thought taking some time away from the MBA would be nice and relaxing, but with work being what it is and with Christmas just around the corner, it’s still loopy. Still, anything’s better than reading about the effect of tax shields on corporate financing decisions.

.:.

Do you love yourself? Do you love good music?

If you answered yes to both of those, then ask yourself this: have you listened to Spoon‘s Kill The Moonlight? If you haven’t, then you were probably mistaken about the first two questions. Really, it’s one of the best collections of music I’ve ever heard. If you haven’t heard it, I can’t really give you a good reference point for comparison, even if you’ve heard other Spoon albums. Just do yourself a favour: go download it. At first you’ll only like one or two songs, but soon they’ll all grow on you.

.:.

I have signed up for The Movie Network and am planning to cancel my Zip account. It’s just not cost effective; I’m paying $15/month and not watching any movies. TMN, on the other hand, gives me a lot more immediate variety (as opposed to variety that I have to order) and access to TV shows that we want to see in real-time like The Wire and Dexter. Some day — like when the MBA is finished — we may go back to Zip, but for now it’s going bye-bye.

[tags]spoon, kill the moonlight, tmn, zip.ca, the wire, dexter[/tags]

The ruins of adventure

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A couple of stories of subversive perseverence that are fascinating me today:

1. The decades-long near-total anonymity of the musician called Jandek;

Only a handful of people claim to have contacted Jandek, whose steadfast anonymity is legendary…Some of Jandek’s allure stems from his small but devoted fan base that includes Sonic Youth, Bill Callahan, Mike Watt, John Darnielle of The Mountain Goats, Low, Ben Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie and Bright Eyes.

2. The year-long infiltration of a Parisien “cultural guerrilla” group to restore an antique clock in the Pantheon.

For a year from September 2005, under the nose of the Panthéon’s unsuspecting security officials, a group of intrepid “illegal restorers” set up a secret workshop and lounge in a cavity under the building’s famous dome. Under the supervision of group member Jean-Baptiste Viot, a professional clockmaker, they pieced apart and repaired the antique clock that had been left to rust in the building since the 1960s. Only when their clandestine revamp of the elaborate timepiece had been completed did they reveal themselves.

Amazing stories, both.

[tags]jandek, untergunther[/tags]

Ow! Yawn. Hooray!

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

I’m very excited, Internet. I finished my latest assignment this afternoon and, while I’m sure I’ll have to fix a few problem following my review in a few minutes, that’s it for me for the MBA for a little while. OK, only eleven days, but still…I’m looking forward to not reading finance for a week and a half like you can’t believe. Should give me time to finish up some shopping and knock off a few other niggling tasks.

.:.

Last night was my company’s year-end party, so we had some folks over for a pre-event drink or two, then had mingling & dinner & such just a few blocks away, and then back here for another drink or two. T-Bone somehow managed to get home even though standing seemed a struggle, and I somehow managed to knock over a pepper mill which knocked a martini glass off the counter which sent glass shards flying in all directions. Oy. In my haste to extract a cat from the glass minefield and clean it all up I got a piece stuck in my foot. I couldn’t reach it so I had to sleep (not very well, mind you) with it stuck there until Nellie woke up enough to pry it out with some tweezers. On the plus side I managed to clear some room in the liquor cabinet by finishing off the lingering drops of two different bottles of scotch: a 10-year-old Macallan fine oak and a 10-year-old Bruichladdich. So yeah, a fun night. Looking forward to next year.

[tags]walkin’ on, walkin’ on broken glass[/tags]