November 2007 Archives (22 posts)
The Key to Reserva
Director Martin Scorsese had 3 pages of a Hitchock film treatment that was never developed. So he took a stab at making the film like Hitchcock might have. I think it’s brilliant.
The way this short film integrates the behind the scenes making off the film is great. If you’re in need of a coffee break then watch the film. Best 10 minutes of my week so far.
Posted in Movies at 5:34 PM | Comments (0)
Evel Knievel (1938-2007)
On of my childhood heroes passed away today — Robert Craig Knievel. He was 69.
Daredevil Evel Knievel claimed to be a lot of things but he’ll always be the daredevil from the 70s that jumped buses and attempted to jump the Grand Canyon. He was one of the crazy ones and he’ll be missed.
The NY Times has a piece about him here.
Posted in News at 5:17 PM | Comments (1)
He’s probably at the beer store
I was a few minutes late in picking up my son Daniel from school last week. He was getting some tutoring from his grade 3 teacher after school. She’s a fabulous teacher, works the kids hard and has been very generous in terms of giving up her time to tutor kids.
When I arrived at the front of the school she seemed very quiet. I apologized for being a little late and explained that I was on a business call. She seemed a little embarrassed about something and said that Daniel would explain. As she hurried off I asked Daniel what was wrong.
He said, “oh, nothing’s wrong. I told my teacher that you were probably at the beer store again, and that’s why you were late. I told her that every day you make a list and go to the beer store to get more beer.”
I was shocked, embarrassed, then angry. I asked him why he would tell such a lie? I love beer but I don’t drink a lot of it let alone make a list every day and visit the beer store. He thought it would be funny to make up an answer like he did.
After a few minutes I started to laugh. His teacher is pretty conservative when it comes to things like alcohol and she must think I’m a complete alcoholic. Anything I say to her will make it seem like I’m trying to cover up a drinking problem. Kids!
I made sure that I was on time when I picked up Daniel the following day. Before she could say anything I said, “sorry for being late, there was a long line at the beer store.” She looked surprised then started to laugh. I can only imagine what other stories Daniel has told his teacher about me.
Posted in Observations at 11:39 PM | Comments (6)
Chuck Berry Hail! Hail! Rock ‘n’ Roll (1987)
Taylor Hackford directed the Ray Charles biopic, Ray (2004) but have you seen his 1987 film Chuck Berry Hail! Hail! Rock ‘n’ Roll (1987)? I’m not a huge fan of Chuck Berry but I couldn’t resist watching this documentary when I learned that Keith Richards put together a group of musicians (Eric Clapton, Robert Cray, Julian Lennon and Etta James) to celebrate Chuck Berry’s 60th birthday.
The film leads up to a celebratory concert at St. Louis’ Fox Theatre. The rehearsals leading up to this concert are great. One of the best scenes has Berry insisting that Ketih Richards play a note correctly. Richards keeps flubbing the note and Berry makes him play it again and again.
The film shows why Berry is credited with being the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll. He’s a musical genius, an innovator and a very savvy businessman. His musical creativity and playing ability is incredible. Even at the age of 60 he was doing his trademark ‘duck walk’ around Linda Ronstadt.
He can be very unpredictable — changing the key of a song at the last minute, or going on stage without a set list and just going for it. Don’t turn the tables on him though. When Taylor Hackford tried to ask him about his time in jail, Berry got angry and refused to answer the question. It wasn’t one of the scripted questions that he prepared for.
I was surprised to see Berry driving himself to and from his own shows. He insists on taking care of business before playing and always fulfills a contract. If he gets paid to play 12 songs, he plays 12 songs. Nothing more, nothing less.
Hackford does an excellent job at helping the viewer appreciate what Chuck Berry has done for American music and how important he is when it comes to the origins of Rock ‘n’ Roll.
I couldn’t help noticing the physical similarities between Snoop Dogg and Chuck Berry but that’s another blog entry.
Chuck Berry turned 81 on October 18 and is still performing around the world.Posted in DVD Reviews and Music at 2:08 AM | Comments (0)
CNET classifies Windows Vista as terrible technology
CNET released a list of the top 10 terrible tech products. Rounding out that list was Windows Vista.
Any operating system that provokes a campaign for its predecessor’s reintroduction deserves to be classed as terrible technology. Any operating system that quietly has a downgrade-to-previous-edition option introduced for PC makers deserves to be classed as terrible technology. Any operating system that takes six years of development but is instantly hated by hordes of PC professionals and enthusiasts deserves to be classed as terrible technology.
Posted in News at 7:55 PM | Comments (1)
Things now available for preview
Things is a new to-do management application from Cultured Code. If you’re like me and you run your own business, you have an endless number of tasks to complete. To get things done and stay organized, you need a program like Things or a Moleskine notebook.
I haven’t used Things but it looks fabulous and I will be testing the preview release. My usual to-do list application is Backpack from 37signals. It costs about $60/year but I don’t know if it is the best application for me. If you’re working in teams and you need a web-based application then I think you get more value from it.
If Things proves to be better and costs less (under $60) then I may start using it instead. I don’t need my to-do list online right now. Unfortunately you can’t purchase Things just yet but there screencast that might pique your interest.
Things will only be available for Mac OS X.
Posted in OS X Software at 3:42 PM | Comments (0)
Is phantom load really a wall wart?
How much electricity is your fridge consuming each month? How much phantom load (idle current, vampire power, wall wart) does your cell phone charger suck out of your wallet each year?
If you leave a cell phone or iPod charger plugged in all the time, it can draw a minute amount of power known as phantom load. Over the course of a year, this wasted power can amount to a lot of wasted money. Or can it? Are sites like TreeHugger wasting our time with these alarmist claims or is there some truth to them?
Here are some facts:
- Home Power magazine found the average American household supports 1.45 kilowatt hours of phantom loads per day
- The US department of Energy states that “75% of the electricity used to power home electronics is consumed while the products are turned off. This can be avoided by unplugging the appliance or using a power strip.”
- The National Energy Board of Canada notes that there is an “increasing phantom load or standby losses per household. This is the energy used by appliances and electronics when they are turned ‘off’. This demand is usually unknown or not thought of by homeowners, hence ‘phantom’.”
Okay, so our microwaves and DVD players use power when they aren’t actually turned on but how much does this really add up to over the course of a year? Is it really worth getting down on your hands and knees and turning a power bar on and off each time you want to watch Heroes?
According to Ideal Bite, in the average home, “40% of all electricity is used to power home appliances while they’re turned off.” Now, if that is true then the notion of phantom load has my full attention.
Another website, says that, “phantom loads make up approx. 2%-8% of your electric costs.” So who should I believe? I think that there has to be some savings to reducing the amount of phantom power in your home.
For $29.95 USD you can find out how much that 50-inch LCD HDTV costs by the hour, day, week, month, or an entire year. Then you can figure out how long it will take to save $29.95 in electricity to pay for this device. I’m considering getting one to see how much hydro I can save in my home.
As a bonus, all of you home theatre enthusiasts with ‘clean’ Monster Power can find out how clean your power really is. The Kill-A-Watt can monitor the quality of your electric power by displaying voltage, line frequency, and power factor.
Posted in Technology at 7:21 PM | Comments (2)
A Wii shortage of game consoles this Christmas
Nintendo announced that there will be a world-wide shortage of their popular Wii game console this Christmas. Nintendo simply can’t keep up with the demand for its popular console. I feel really lucky to have purchased mine when I did last week.
Posted in Technology at 10:21 PM | Comments (1)
Blu-ray or HD-DVD?
This HD format war between Blu-ray and HD-DVD is heading into its second year and my gut feeling, is that Blu-ray is winning. As a consumer I tend to notice Blu-ray discs (Spider-Man 3, Ratatouille, Cars) more than HD-DVD discs.
Did you know that Blockbuster and Target are promoting Blu-ray discs and not HD-DVD? Steve Spielberg’ first film to be released in HD (Close Encounters of the Third Kind) is only available in the Blu-ray format. Disney, Fox and MGM have announced a slew of Blu-ray titles for next year (many of them exclusive to Blu-ray).
The Digital Bits endorses the Blu-ray format and advises people not to invest in an HD-DVD players and discs.
HD-DVD is not going to win this format war. In fact, one of two things is possible right now: Either Blu-ray will win, or neither format will win. But the best HD-DVD can hope for is to just keep hanging in the game as long as possible.
Industry rumours say that Microsoft is financially subsidizing HD-DVD losses for Toshiba and Universal. Microsoft has an HD-DVD player in the XBox 360 and HD-DVD uses a Microsoft video codec. Isn’t it ironic that Microsoft is backing the weaker system (think Vista).
The more I read about it, the more I think Blu-ray is the clear winner here. I’m going to hold off getting a Blu-ray DVD player but it is very, very tempting when it comes to purchasing new DVD releases. For now I’ll wait and see how things play out.
Posted in Home Theatre and Movies at 12:20 AM | Comments (4)
BookCloseOuts.com for cheap cooking and photography books
If you’re at all like me love photography books then BookCloseouts.com has some incredible bargains for you. I couldn’t believe how many of the books that I own were available on this site for 50-70% off. With the markup in Canadian books the discounts are even greater.
This isn’t Amazon.com but for Photograpy books, this should be your first stop when shopping.
For books on cooking, food and wine then you’ll definitely want to check out this site. They are offering an additional 25% of their ridiculously cheap prices.
If that isn’t enough to convince you, then use the online promo code road and password bookcloseouts.com to receive $5 US off your order of $35 US or more. Unbelievable.
Posted in Books and Food and Photography at 9:49 PM | Comments (0)
Cineplex Entertainment 2007 Holiday Gift Pack
Available at HBC.com, the Cineplex Entertainment 2007 Holiday Gift Pack looks like an easy gift idea with some great extras thrown in.
For $32 you receive:
- 4 Cineplex admit one certificates.
- Free admission on your birthday.
- Free large Twizzlers with purchase of a large popcorn and a large soft drink
- Free regular soft drink with the purchase of a large popcorn.
- $10 off a $50 purchase at Hbc including the Bay, Zellers and Home Outfitters.
- $10 off a $50 purchase at Chapters, Indigo and Coles.
Posted in Movies at 7:10 AM | Comments (1)
The Most Photographed Barn in America
There are many popular photography spots in the US that have been snapped thousdands of times. When I visited a covered bridge in Vermont, I was amazed at how many people came by in the span of an hour to take a picture.
I haven’t been to The Most Photographed Barn in America but it’s incredible how many photographers have been. Just about every morning there are tripods being set up at Moulton Barn near Grand Teton National Park where amateurs and pros are looking for that perfect postcard photo.
Flickr is great for providing landscape photographers interesting shooting locations. I don’t think that there is anything wrong with shooting something that thousands of people have photographed before. The light is always changing and you can always look for a new ways to shoot a popular location.
Posted in Photography at 11:21 PM | Comments (2)
Philips DVP-5140 or DVP-5982 for DivX and PAL playback
I’ve been looking for a cheap DVD player that handles DivX for all of the TV shows I download and that can playback PAL DVDs.
I used to have a Philips DVP-642 DVD player until the tray became jammed. When the public library called for an overdue copy of Zathura I unplugged the broken DVP-642 and gave it a shake.
Yup! Something was loose inside. I undid several screws, peeled back the sheet metal and found the missing DVD. Then I went to my son’s room and yelled at him for 5 minutes.
A year later, I’m in need of a DVD player that can play my DivX TV shows. Converting the shows into DVDs with Visual Hub just takes too long.
The Philips DVP-5140 looks like a good update to the DVP-642. I can get one at Best Buy for $46.00 CAD which is much less than what I paid for the DVP-642.
I found a great site with an indepth review of the new player — Comparing the Philips DVP-642 and DVP-5140. The DVP-5140 has:
- a much nicer remote (still no open/close button),
- better onscreen menus,
- improved video playback (updated video codecs)
- and it runs much quieter.
I’m also looking at the possibility of getting the Philips DVP-5982 for $76.49 CAD. It has an HDMI input, a USB port and it up-converts the signal to take advantage of HDTV displays. Other than that it seems to very similar to the DVP-5140.
Hmm. I just read a comment on Videohelp.com about the Phillips DVP-5982.
I recently bought two Sony Bravia HDTVs and decided to go with this upconverting Philips model until I see how the HD-DVD/Blu-Ray war plays out. I have been astonished by the fidelity and quality of the image of regular DVDs played through this unit! Although my Bravia’s only support 1080i (and not 1080p) I am still amazed by the detail this unit seems to tweak out of SD DVDs.
Having recently purchased a Sony Bravia HDTV with 1080i support this might be the DVD player to get. The region-free hack for this unit is also available at videohelp.com and enables playback of PAL discs.
Does anyone have any experience or opinions on the Philips DVP-5140 or DVP-5982?
Posted in Home Theatre at 12:15 AM | Comments (0)
Choose a Vista
I love the new Get a Mac television commercials at apple.com. My favourite of the bunch is Choose a Vista.
It plays down the 6 different versions of Vista that Microsoft offers and notes that Apple has one new operating system with all of the features you need.
Posted in Apple at 11:14 PM | Comments (0)
Tim Kring admits that season 2 of Heroes has been weak
If you’re a fan of the television show Heroes then you know that the second season has been terrible. Series creator Tim Kring admitted this earlier in the week and has vowed to put the show back on track.
The Dec. 3 episode will has been reworked to act as a season finale. This will give Kring and his writers a chance to start fresh and put the show back on track for the second half of the season two.
Say goodbye to some of the worst television romance in recent history — no more cherry trees and Hiro kissing a Japanese princess. Say goodbye to Claire and her ‘fly’ boyfriend. In an EW.com interview, Kring says, “I don’t think romance is a natural fit for us.”
The pacing has been way too slow and the introduction of some new heroes has been terrible. What happened to the cliff hangers from last year? The show needs to be a little less Love Story and a little more Bourne Ultimatum to win back viewers. Episode 6 was a step in the right direction.
Posted in Television at 10:54 PM | Comments (3)
Wii, this is fun
I went to Future Shop to purchase a copy of Ratatouille (2007) on DVD — Pixar’s latest 3D film which is absolutely brilliant. I asked one of the sales people if they had any Nintendo Wii game consoles in stock. I wasn’t looking to purchase a Wii or even expecting the store to have any copies. The Wii is sold out everywhere. They had two systems in stock.
I started to get excited. I looked at my wife like an 8-year-old, half-expecting her head to turn disapprovingly from side to side. She didn’t say anything. Then I told her how difficult it is to get a Wii in North America. It’s outselling the Playstation 3 by a rate of 2-to-1.
I turned around and quickly grabbed a Wii console out of the cardboard box. I’ve heard stories where people purchase multiple consoles and flip them for a profit. I didn’t want to take a chance. With the Wii console safely in my hands, my 8-year-old son was starting to freak out and so was I.
Before I knew it I was standing at the counter with my little Wii box and a couple of extra game controllers. My son kept making weird noises trying to contain himself but it was hopeless. My wife reminded him that this was an early Christmas present (like he’ll ever remember that on the morning of December 25th).
Once we had the Wii console set up and running I was having a blast. I used to spend days on my Apple II playing Lode Runner, days mapping out games on my brother’s TurboGrafx-16. I worried that I’m going to want to spend days playing on the Wii. I forgot that video games could be this much fun and I was only playing Tennis!
The Wii rocks! The graphics aren’t incredible and it doesn’t have a Blu-Ray disc but the game play is amazing. If you’re lucky enough to get your hands on one then you’ll see what I mean.
I’m afraid my productivity will be taking a dip in the next few weeks.
Posted in Movies and Technology at 10:39 PM | Comments (2)
The Pixar Story
Leslie Iwerks directed/produced a new documentary film called The Pixar Story. It’s a behind the scenes look at Pixar — how Steve Jobs, Ed Catmull and John Lasseter created a new animation industry with the film Toy Story.
The film is screening across the US in a few cities at the moment. Unfortunately Toronto isn’t on the list or I’d be there in a second. I’ll post an update if it gets a theatrical release any time soon.
The Pixar Story (2007) is a great topic for a documentary film and it has exclusive interviews with Jobs, Catmull, Lasseter, Brad Bird, Michael Eisner, George Lucas and more. I wonder when an Apple documentary will be released? Is anyone working on one?
Reviews:
Update:
Frames Per Second Magazine said that The Pixar Story will be showing at The Waterloo Festival for Animated Cinema (WFAC) next Thursday (Nov 15, 6:30 PM). Does anybody want to go?
Posted in Movies at 9:48 PM | Comments (0)
Compact fluorescent light bulbs suck
I turn off my lights when I’m not using them. I turn my computer off instead of putting it too sleep. I turn off my power bars if I’m not going to be using them for a while. I try to be green, to a point.
I hate the compact fluorescent lamp (CFL) also known as the compact fluorescent light bulb. Yeah, I know it’s supposed to replace our old incandescent light bulbs but the light they emit is cold, sterile, ugly. Give me a halogen light any day. I don’t care how much energy they use, or waste.
The colour temperature in most CFLs is pretty lousy in my opinion. Until Philips or GE can make a CFL that produces a warm light that is comparable to incandescent lamps then I’m holding out. I don’t care if I can reduce greenhouse gases, I’m not switching.Compact fluorescent light bulbs suck.
If the province of Ontario follows through on their plan to ban the sale of incandescent light bulbs by 2012, well, I’ll just stock up on them like my friend Bill once did when Canadian Tire had a sale. I’ll purchase enough light bulbs until I go blind or die.
I’ll continue to recycle, conserve water by using rain barrels, upgrade my furnace, drive a small car, take public transit, use a push mower, but give up my halogen lights. Never.
Now I know how Charlton Heston feels about his guns.
Posted in Observations at 11:50 PM | Comments (10)
US$1.10 for a Loonie
Yikes! When is the Canadian dollar going to stop rising? It hit US$1.10 in trading today.
For the first time (in my 38 years) I deposited a US cheque in my Canadian bank account only to realize that it was worth less in Canadian dollars. I never thought the Canadian dollar would be this strong. I’m used to treating US money like it was gold and now our Loonie is worth more than an American dollar?
I don’t know why, but I feel nervous about our dollar being so strong. This ride can’t last forever and I can’t help but wonder if some global economic catastrophe is just around the corner.
Posted in News at 1:34 PM | Comments (2)
Taste and Power — Mondovino Revisited
Jonathan Nossiter, a trained sommelier, produced, directed, shot and edited a fabulous documentary film about the wine industry called Mondovino (2004). I’m amazed at how many wine lovers I meet have never heard of the film. If you enjoy wine at all then purchase this film or at the very least, rent it!
3 years later, Nossiter is still on a crusade to tell us about the evils of the globalization of wine. He’s written a book called Taste and Power that continues to slam influential wine critics and the outrageous prices of some wines. Robert Parker and The Wine Spectator are favourite targets in Nossiter’s book and film.
Decanter.com is reporting that Nossiter “attacks just about anyone involved in the production or sale of wine” which should make it a good read in my opinion. Love him or hate him, Nossiter has a lot of interesting things to say about the wine industry.
Posted in Books and Food and Movies at 12:56 AM | Comments (2)
Frozen or fresh?
Lately, I’ve been watching a lot of Gordon Ramsay’s show, The F Word. Part of the show deals with people who can’t be bothered to cook, have these amazing kitchens and mostly microwave their dinners from the freezer.
I like to cook but occasionally those microwave dinners are convenient when you’re in a rush. It’s easy to live on frozen microwave dinners instead of actually cooking a meal with fresh produce.
What do you eat when it’s time for dinner and you’re hungry?
Posted in Food at 9:13 PM | Comments (6)
Make My Logo BIGGER!!!
Make My Logo Bigger Cream is a clever infomercial that unfortunately has a lot of truth to it. If you’ve ever designed a logo or a website for someone, you’ll find Make My Logo Bigger Cream to be very amusing.
Posted in Web Design at 9:38 AM | Comments (2)
