November 2004 Archives (25 posts)
Beef Filets Bourguignon Recipe
I’ve added a new recipe to the sidebar for Beef Bourguignon. I made this a few weeks ago and loved it, so did my dad and my brother (they don’t make a lot of Sunday dinners).
With some green beans and roast potatoes you can’t go wrong. Just don’t cut corners with the beef filets. They will look small and seem expensive but they’ll taste great.
Served best with an expensive bottle of wine that your father brings over. Make sure you have a decent bottle of port on hand for after the meal.
Posted in Recipes at 7:45 PM | Comments (0)
How To Dismantle an Atomic Bomb
I’ve been listening to the latest U2 album and my intitial reaction is disappointment. There was a lot of hype surrounding this latest disc, that it was going to be their best album to date, blah, blah, blah.
I’m sure that with time that I’ll like this album a little more. I picked it up for $13.99 at Future Shop and noticed that there was a special edition package for $40 that included a small book and DVD with the album. Huh? I received the DVD with my $14 disc. Am I missing something here or is that tiny book really worth $26?
Posted in Music at 7:24 PM | Comments (0)
Maximize battery life in your iPod
Here’s an intersting link I found over at kottke.org on how to restore and maximize the battery in your iPod if it isn’t lasting as long as it used to.
Posted in Apple at 5:30 PM | Comments (0)
Fantastic Four is coming
I didn’t know this movie was being made. Check out these images:
Hopefully this movie is well done. There was a really bad version made in the early 90s that never got released.
Posted in Movies at 7:30 PM | Comments (0)
Lost In La Mancha (2002)
At the last minute, Keith Fulton and Louis Pepe decided to make another documentary of a Terry Gilliam film—The Man Who Killed Don Quixote (in 1996 they made The Hamster Factor and Other Tales of Twelve Monkeys). They figured that during the shoot of a Terry Gilliam film, anything can and will happen. What they captured on film is considered to be the first documentary of the un-making of a film.
Gilliam’s The Man Who Killed Don Quixote was abandoned shortly after it was started. Jean Rochefort, playing Don Quixote had a prostate infection or was it a bad back? He spent seven months learning English for the role and would have been great. He was finished after the first week of shooting, suffering from back pain.
There was the freakish storm with golf ball size hail that literally washed away the entire set. Did I mention that this set was right beside a NATO bombing range?
You get to see Gilliam constantly losing it on the set as the problems mount. Nothing is censored. Johnny Depp, the other lead is often sitting around waiting, while Gilliam and company figure out how to shoot a scene as NATO jets scream by and drop bombs in the background.
If you’re a fan of Terry Gilliam’s films (Brazil, The Fisher King, Twelve Monkeys) then you won’t want to miss Lost In La Mancha. It’s a fascinating look at the filmmaking process and the chaos that often surrounds Gilliam’s films.
The second disc in the DVD edition of the film is packed with 3 hours of extra features—deleted scenes from the documentary, interviews with Johnny Depp, Terry Gilliam, Keith Fulton, Louis Pepe and a really interesting 55 minute conversation with Salman Rushdie and Terry Gilliam at the Telluride Film Festival.
Gilliam says that he will eventually make The Man Who Killed Don Quixote. He is trying to buy back the rights to the screenplay and is hoping that his next feature, The Brothers Grimm (2005), is a big hit so that the studios will finance Quixote. Johnny Depp also said that he would continue making the film with Gilliam in a second.
Posted in DVD Reviews at 5:31 PM | Comments (0)
Honeywell Thermostats
This post is for you homeowners out there. Last year I decided to get a new thermostat for our house. After a quick trip down to the Home Depot and I purchased a Honeywell thermostat (CT3600).
Installation was quite easy—connect a few wires, put in 3 AA batteries, and program your settings. This thermostat has a seven-day program capability. I can have different settings for each day of the week that lower the temperature when nobody is home. This saved us some money on our heating bills last winter. If you don’t have a programmable thermostat then crawl out of you cave and get one.
Now the bad news. Recently, the thermostat began going through batteries on a weekly basis. The replace battery light would flash and then the thermostat would shut off. This would be followed by complaints of “it’s freezing in this house!” After the second package of batteries was drained I called the company that services our furnace.
$90 later my furnace was cleaned and inspected. Everything looks great except the thermostat. It probably has a short somewhere and is draining the batteries each time they’re installed. The batteries should last a year. Just replace the thermostat is what the service guy told me.
Do you think I could find the receipt from a year ago? I called Honeywell to complain and tell them that there thermostats suck. After waiting for 10 minutes of listening to Christmas music and Honeywell ads that sound like they were read by adults with a grade four ed-u-ca-tion, I heard a human voice.
I told Brad (my service rep) how disappointed I was with my Honeywell thermostat. He assured me that there wasn’t a common problem with the model that I had. Then he asked me for my address and telephone number and put me on hold for 10 minutes!
I was so tempted to hang up but waited patiently. Finally, Brad came back on the line, apologized for the wait and explained that he had to authorize a replacement for me. Huh? I’m getting a replacement model? Yes.
After a 20 minute phone call, some simple questions, and a lot of patience, I’m getting a new thermostat delivered to my door in the next 7 business days. I was shocked. Customer service is alive and well at Honeywell. Bell Canada could learn a few things from these guys.
Posted in Observations at 7:26 PM | Comments (1)
Bell Canada—excellent customer service
If you’re Canadian then you’ll view my headline as a paradox. Bell Canada called me up at 6:15 PM while I was preparing dinner. They wanted to update my customer profile to imrpove their customer service. One of the questions they asked me was to confirm my user login for their Internet service—Bell Sympatico. At this point I’m thinking that this could be a scam or Bell is just that dumb.
Who sits at their computer in 2004 and enters a login and password to connect to the Internet? Hello? Router? Connection script? I’m always logged on with my router and laughed at her question.
The best part is when they asked me to hold the line and confirm the information I just gave them. I’m prompted to press 1 for English service and 2 for French service. I choose English, hear a slight pause and then get disconnected. Morons.
Posted in Observations at 7:44 PM | Comments (0)
Disney will make Toy Story 3 without Pixar
CNN is reporting Toy Story 3 in the works. Disney is setting up their own 3D animation studio in California. Two things. I predict that Toy Story 3 will suck and that Disney can add Pixar to its list of bitter rivals.
Posted in Movies at 7:34 PM | Comments (0)
A Boy’s Dream
Somehow I missed this. Guy Ritchie directed a 60 second ad for GM that features a kid driving around in the new Corvette. Okay, so maybe this kid was driving a little too fast and performing a few too many Dukes of Hazzard jumps, but come on, he’s just day-dreaming.
Back in August, seven auto safety groups thought the ad looked too real, too unsafe, and asked that GM pull the ad. They did. Wimps.
If you missed it, you can still view the ad here. QuickTime required. Thanks to Graham for the link.
Posted in Television at 7:42 PM | Comments (1)
The Ford Sportka commercial
Ford created this hilarious commercial (Windows Media Player required) for its European Sportka model. Cat lovers were not amused and I’m sure that some thought that this was commercial was real. Are people really that stupid? Haven’t they heard of special effects? Enjoy.
Posted in Humour at 7:28 PM | Comments (1)
Diamond Dave the Paramedic
I’ve always been a fan of Diamond Dave—Van Halen’s former frontman. It was weird to see him on The Sopranos last season. Weirder still, is this recent news story that says he is training to become a paramedic in New York. I just hope that he hasn’t been using Bringing Out The Dead (1999) as his training video.
Posted in News at 7:35 PM | Comments (0)
Electronic Arts—sweatshop of the year
Yes it’s true. That really cool gaming company that my friend Andy works at is a modern day sweatshop but it is probably one of the coolest sweatshops you could work for. Where else can you get free laundry service, Gummy Bear stations, Starbucks coffee tables and free meals?
A recent New York Times story says that EA’s “work force is toiling like galley slaves chained to their benches.” Working 80 hours a week during the beta testing phase of a game is normal at EA. Employees often work months without a day off. It reminds me of my days back at ICE. We didn’t have free Starbucks coffee but we did have a 50 cent beer machine on the roof. How cool is that?!
Posted in News at 7:32 PM | Comments (0)
What Barry Says
What Barry Says — incredible motion graphics and 3D work can be seen in this QuickTime video. Enjoy.
Posted in Motion Graphics at 5:24 PM | Comments (0)
BitTorrent accounts for an astounding 35 percent of all the traffic on the Internet
There is a story on Yahoo that BitTorrent accounts for 35% of all Internet traffic. This is incredible!
I visit a BitTorrent site called Suprnova occasionaly if I miss an episode of The Sopranos. I don’t have a PVR and I haven’t used a VCR in about 4 years so being able to download a current TV show, whenever I want is, well, the way it should be.
I can’t be bothered downloading DVDs from BitTorrent sites because I suspect the quality isn’t as high as a professionaly mastered disc. Call me a snob but I’d rather purchase or rent the real thing instead of suffering through a poorly mastered disc that is missing commentaries and extras. Sorry Dave, Neal and Youssef.
I wonder how long it will be before Apple figures out a way to distribute video using a P2P network? Thanks to Dave for the link to this story.
Posted in Web at 7:43 PM | Comments (0)
Goodbye Audion
If you’re a Macintosh user then you may have used Audion to listen to your audio CDs and create/play your MP3 files. Most of you probably use iTunes because it’s free with every Mac, is a great piece of software, and it works seamlessly with your iPod.
So how does a software company like Panic compete with Apple in the audio player market? They don’t. They can’t.
Today, Panic sent an email to anyone that purchased Audion in the past to say that the application is being retired. As a thank you for using Audion, Panic is offering a 20% discount on all of their software to former Audion users. Act fast, this deal expires Monday November 15, 2004.
Don’t miss The True Story of Audion detailing the history of Audion, including how it almost became iTunes.
Panic still makes several other software applications including a great FTP client called Transmit. I’ve been using Transmit for about 5 years now and can say that it is a solid piece of software.
Posted in OS X Software at 7:27 PM | Comments (0)
I want my Globe and Mail newspaper!
I used to read the Globe and Mail newspaper each morning. I had it delivered to my office in Markham. Now I don’t read the Globe and Mail because their distribution department is full of a bunch of dumb asses.
I moved my office to Toronto over a month ago. I notified the Globe and Mail of my address change and haven’t seen my newspaper since. Over the last three weeks I’ve made countless calls and complaints to their distribution department. I’ve been promised that the paper will “arrive tomorrow” three times now and have yet to see my Globe at 577 Kingston Road.
I can’t believe that this newspaper is still in business with the deplorable customer service they have.
Posted in Observations at 7:08 PM | Comments (0)
Trade in your old DVDs at Blockbuster
My local Blockbuster is taking part in a trial program that allows customers to trade in their old DVDs for store credits. Located in Scarborough, Ontario, this Blockbuster store is the second store in Canada to take part in this program.
I traded in a two-disc special edition copy of Lord Of The Rings for $8.50 (I have the 4-disc extended edition). I can use this $8.50 credit to pay late fees, rent movies or purchase used/new DVDs. The minimum trade in value for a DVD is $5. Not bad. If the title is more popular it may be worth more money.
Posted in Movies at 5:27 PM | Comments (0)
The Iron Giant
November 16, 2004 is when The Iron Giant DVD is being released. If you enjoyed The Incredibles then you’ll want to see what director Brad Bird did five years ago with this film.
There are some great extras on the DVD—8 never-before-seen additional scenes, an alternate opening sequence (cool!), and a 13 mini-documentaries. This could easily be one of the best discs of the year.
Posted in Movies and News at 5:38 PM | Comments (0)
ihaveanidea
ihaveanidea describes itslef as advertising’s intellectual archive. There are some great interviews with the creative teams behind the award winning campaigns featured on the site. Or, if you don’t care about the articles and resources for creative professionals, enjoy some of the great ads. Below are a few of my favourites:
Dirty Tackle
IKEA
MIX 99.9
Volkswagen
These video clips require QuickTime
Posted in Motion Graphics at 7:06 PM | Comments (0)
Crusade Against Credit
There were a couple of great stories on 60 Minutes last night and I felt that a lot of people could benefit from the segment called Crusade Against Credit.
Lesley Stahl did an interview with Dave Ramsey who is on a crusade to help Americans beat debt and build wealth. He explained how a staggering percentage of our population has multiple credit cards, loaded with debt. The banks will give anyone a credit card, dead or alive. If you want something now, charge it. Don’t save for it.
“In America today,” he says, “you could drive up in front of an old boy’s house. He’s got the Chevy Silverado four-wheel drive loaded up, awesome, kickin’ butt truck. There’s a $32,000 bass boat sitting over here. There’s a satellite dish on the side of the house. And all of this is in front of a trailer.”
A lot of Dave’s preaching is common sense. Live within your means. Don’t spend more money than you make. Save. But how many of us, really do this? How many of us feel the pressure to invest in more RRSPs while our credit cards or lines of credit are spiraling out of control? Do we feel the urge to put everything we purchase on our Air Miles credit card so that we can ‘earn’ a free trip? Are we really earning anything or are we just selling our privacy to the marketing departments of global corporations? Do we care?
Posted in News at 7:39 PM | Comments (0)
I Am Trying to Break Your Heart (2002)
I was pleasantly suprised last night when I flipped to the Documentary Channel last night and found a great documentary about the band Wilco. Fashion photographer and fan, Sam Jones, decided to make a documentary about the band while they were making Yankee Hotel Foxtrot—considered by many to be a brilliant album.
Sam Jones’ timing was perfect and he completely lucked out in capturing an incredible part of the band’s history. Consider that:
- the day Jones starts shooting, drummer Ken Coomer quits
- shortly after, long-time member Jay Bennett leaves the band
- after completing Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, the band is dropped by their label—Repirse Records
- Wilco signs with Nonesuch Records for three times the amount Reprise paid them to do Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
Time Warner is the parent company to Reprise Records and Nonesuch Records and basically, paid them twice to release an amazing album. If you’re at all a fan of Wilco then you’ll love this fascinating documentary.
Posted in Movie Reviews at 7:16 PM | Comments (0)
The Incredibles (2004)
Incredibly awesome! Without a doubt, my favourite Pixar film to date. It is geared to slightly older audience and but kids will love it. My five-year-old thought it was great and loved the characters. Some parents have been concerned that the film may be to scary for the kids. Give me a break! This isn’t Spider-Man 2!
The amazing 3D animation, the story, the art production, everything is impeccably done. I love the retro-look of the entire film, the obvious James bond themes and the great characters. Nothing is wasted in this film and it shows.
Frozone, voiced by Samuel L. Jackson is absolutely hilarious. He’s used sparingly which makes you enjoy his character even more. Director Brad Bird also steals a few scenes with his character, Edna Mode.
The Disney site for the film has some great video clips that take you inside the making of the movie. These will likely end up on the DVD next year. I will definately be seeing this in the theater again.
One more reason to see this movie in the theatre is to view the Star Wars III: Revenge of the Sith trailer that plays beforehand. You can also see the trailer from the Star Wars homepage.
Posted in Movie Reviews at 5:40 PM | Comments (1)
Toogle
Do you have some time to waste? Try looking for some images using Toogle. Pretty cool.
Posted in Web at 5:28 PM | Comments (0)
35 or 28?
On Wednesday night I decided to join a few of the guys on my hockey team, The Holy Rollers, for a beer. I don’t know a lot of the guys on this team and they were suprised to hear that I had my own business, a wife, a five year old, etc.
Most of these guys are in their early 20s, some are attending university, all of them are younger than I am which is probably why I felt like vomitting after our last game (I’m a little out of shape). One of the guys asked me about my age and I mentioned that I was 35 (I’m 36 in 22 days). They all looked amazed and said that they thought that I was 28 years old, tops.
Needless to say, I’m feeling pretty good about myself this week.
Posted in Observations at 7:46 PM | Comments (0)
A Decade Under the Influence (2003)
If you’re at all interested in films from the 1970s then you have to see this documentary. If you’ve read Easy Riders, Raging Bulls by Peter Biskind then is mandatory viewing.
A Decade Under the Influence was directed by Richard LaGravenese and Ted Demme—the last film Demme complete before dying of a heart attack. There was also a recent documentary based on Biskind’s book about 70s film culture but I don’t think it was as good.
Posted in DVD Reviews at 7:38 PM | Comments (0)
