December 2008 Archives (15 posts)
Software I Paid For But No Longer Use
I liked Alex Payne’s post titled Software I Paid For But No Longer Use that it got me thinking about some of the software I paid for and no longer use.
David Watanabe’s P2P client software is nicely designed but BitTorrents have replaced peer-to-peer downloads for me. I use Watanabe’s Xtorrent software which is also great.
I love Panic’s shockingly good software but the idea of one window web development software just doesn’t work for me. I prefer to use multiple windows with Transmit, BBEdit and Safari to code my sites.
ecto is a blog editor that seemed like a good idea at the time but then Movable Type improved their editing features with version 4. I haven’t used ecto in over a year.
Now owned by Adobe, my old copy of Fireworks MX (version 6) hasn’t been fired up in over two years. I don’t use it to create animated GIFs or slice up PSD files any more. I code everything by hand and Photoshop CS3 handles all of my GIF and JPEG optimization.
I stopped upgrading StuffIt’s file compression software at version 9. It is now up to version 12. With Terabyte hard drives and zip file compression built-in to OS X, Stuffit has become obsolete on my desktop.
Posted in OS X Software at 2:10 PM | Comments (0)
Russian Professor Predicts End of U.S.
Wow! The Wall Street Journal is running a piece on a Russian professor named Igor Panarin who is predicting the end of the U.S. Imagine a world where Michigan and North Dakota become a part of Canada. Panarin says, “there’s a 55-45% chance right now that disintegration will occur.” Let’s hope he’s wrong.
Posted in News at 1:21 AM | Comments (0)
Slumdog Millionaire
Slumdog Millionaire (2008). Directed by Danny Boyle.
Slumdog Millionaire was the winner of the audience award at TIFF, has four Golden Globe nominations and it’s on just about everyone’s top ten list for best film of the year. It’s being called a masterpiece by more than one critic and it just may be the most entertaining film of the year.
Jamal, an orphan from Mumbai’s slums ends up on India’s version of Who Wants To Be a Millionaire and becomes a national hero when he answers every question on the show correctly, round after round. How can an educated kid, a slumdog, know all the answers? If you haven’t seen the film, I suggest you stop reading now.
The game show is a great narrative device for telling Jamal’s story. Through a series of flashbacks we find out why Jamal is able to answer each question. Each flashback builds upon the previous one in chronological order. Part of me thought that Jamal was going to be a Verbal Kint type of character (Usual Suspects) that cons his way into winning the top prize. I love that you never quite know how the film is going to turn until the last question.
Some films tend to drag but this one moves along at quite a clip. Great editing, beautiful cinematography and expert storytelling immerse you in the world of Slumdog Millionaire. I’ve never been to India but I feel that I’ve experienced on some level before the film ends. This is a great feel-good movie that ends up being the fastest 120 minutes I’ve ever watched.
Slumdog Millionaire is easily one of the best films of the year. 
Films are rated from 1 to 4 stars.
Slumdog Millionaire - Official Site
Posted in Movie Reviews at 8:38 PM | Comments (0)
Worst movies of 2008
Here are my top 5 worst movies of the year:
The Love Guru (2008). I’ll be surprised if Mike Myers makes another comedy after watching this bomb.
Hell Ride (2008). No. Plot. Whatsoever.
Eagle Eye (2008). I had no intention of seeing this but a couple of other guys were going to the theatre so I tagged along. Big mistake. This movie is a bad rip off of Enemy of the State and Hal from 2001: A Space Odyssey.
Igor (2008). Great visuals but not Pixar. The story was boring and the dialogue was lifeless. This was easily the weakest family movie of the year for me.
Genova (2008). I saw this at TIFF and wrote a review a few months back. I found Michael Winterbottom’s film to be the biggest disappointment of the festival for me.
Some of these movies are out on DVD now. My advice is to avoid them if you can.
Posted in Movie Reviews at 8:43 PM | Comments (0)
Chinese Democracy
Album review by Drew Kerr.
With all of the original GNR members long since departed (and plenty of acrimony between the two camps still lingering) the group now is pretty much the Axl Rose Project. An apt equivalent is that Rose is to GNR what Trent Reznor is to Nine Inch Nails — all aspects of the sound and vision of the band begin and end with these individuals. This certainly suits Rose’s narcissistic personality. Interestingly, Rose has been a Reznor fans for years (there are definite NIN influences all over Chinese Democracy) and it’s almost as if the evolution of GNR into an autocratic dictatorship (and no longer, ahem, a democracy) became a self-fulfilling prophecy as soon as the “classic” GNR lineup began to fracture in the early 90’s.
Initial attempts at getting the album proved frustrating, although in an amusing way. A couple of weeks before the official release date the “final retail” version started showing up on file sharing sites. I did plan on buying the CD but my curiosity couldn’t wait any longer and the first few attempts at downloading the album resulted in mp3s where the first track played fine and followed with the rest of the songs “Rickrolling” me about 20 seconds in. Wonderful.
After getting hold of a listenable version it quickly became clear as to some of the reasons for the album’s delay. There are so many nuances and layers to each song that one can envision Axl the perfectionist agonizing over the most minute of details. There is a lot going on here sonically - some might (and have) call it over-production. To fully grasp the complete scope one needs to strap on a good pair of headphones, where the jigsaw arrangements of multi-layered guitars and orchestral flourishes work on most levels. Nearly everything has an epic feel to it. Yes, it’s excessive (would we expect anything less from Rose?)…but it’s brilliant.
The album is bookended by the two strongest songs. The first track (“Chinese Democracy”) is probably the most straightforward rock tune, anchored by a buzzsaw guitar riff and Axl’s unique vocal style (including double layered vocals sung at different octaves). The closing song (“Prostitute”) kicks along on a hip-hop drumbeat and follows a quiet-loud dynamic that eventually dissolves into the last 90 seconds of the track, a beautiful instrumental section that brings the album to a fitting conclusion. It may be the best thing Rose has ever recorded. Other standout tracks include “Better”, “Madagascar” and “Catcher In The Rye”. “Scraped”, “Shackler’s Revenge” and “Riad N’ The Bedouins” showcase Guns at their most aggressive and possibly best illustrates the difference between the old and the new GNR. Techno and industrial elements share space with heavily processed guitar sounds that Slash would never have gone anywhere near. “Street Of Dreams” and “This I Love” follow in the tradition of piano-driven GNR ballads like “November Rain”, with Axl’s Elton John and Freddie Mercury influences on full display. Overall there isn’t one truly bad song in the bunch, which isn’t too much to ask considering how long it took to release this. A curious oddity: Rose gives possibly the oddest vocal delivery of a line I’ve ever heard at :37 of the song “Sorry”, where he affects a foreign accent for some reason.
Chinese Democracy was not worth waiting almost 15 years for (no album is) but it’s probably the next best thing. So much has changed on the music landscape over that time and this album might have been immediately rendered irrelevant or obsolete due to the slow, painful birthing process. But just as the polished Use Your Illusion albums were a forward step from the gritty Appetite For Destruction, so too does this feel like the next logical step in the band’s evolution. The music sounds fresh, exciting and anything but dated.
Posted in Music at 12:05 AM | Comments (0)
Christmas Shopping
Don’t you love it when your spouse
- goes shopping for herself just two days before Christmas
- purchases the item you picked up for her the day before
- complains that all she wants for Christmas is a replacement battery for her cellphone.
What do you think would happen if I gave my wife a cellphone battery for Christmas? You can’t win. Merry Christmas.
Posted in Observations at 12:15 PM | Comments (3)
Stanley Kubrick’s Boxes
You can watch Jon Ronson’s documentary film Stanley Kubrick’s Boxes on Google Video. Sounds like an interesting film to check out.
More4 on the film:
Stanley Kubrick’s films were landmark events - majestic, memorable and richly researched. But, as the years went by, the time between films grew longer and longer, and less and less was seen of the director. What on earth was he doing?
Posted in Movies at 6:46 PM | Comments (1)
Little Dieter Needs to Fly
Little Dieter Needs to Fly (1997). Directed by Werner Herzog.
When I learned that the Hollywood film Rescue Dawn (2006) was based on the documentary film Little Dieter Needs to Fly, I had to see it.
Dieter Dengler is a true survivor. During World War II he survived the Allied bombings and postwar poverty in Germany. He was beaten regularly as he apprenticed to be a blacksmith but he really wanted to be a pilot.
He emigrated to the US and peeled potatoes in the US Air Force until he got the chance to fly for the Navy. In 1966 during the Viet Nam war he was shot down over Laos and became a prisoner of war. Down to 85 pounds, he managed to escape the POW camp, endure monsoons, leeches, and angry villagers with machetes until he was rescued.
Dengler took an early retirement from the Armed Forces and became a civilian test pilot. He survived another 4 crashes. Death didn’t want him is how Herzog explains it with his unique voiceover narration and a quote from Reveleation to set the tone for the film.
Through a series of interviews, archival footage and reenactments, Dieter tells the story of his fascinating life. Along the way we begin to understand how Dieter is haunted by his past.
Herzong captures the story of Dieter Dengler’s life brilliantly in this documentary and I think you’ll find that it is a better film than Rescue Dawn.
Posted in DVD Reviews at 12:32 PM | Comments (1)
Sony Blu-ray player on sale at Future Shop
Future Shop is having a 2 day sale (Dec 16-17) that includes the Sony BDP-S350 Blu-ray player for $229.99.
I picked up the Sony BDP-S350 at Future Shop for $249.99 when it was on sale about a month ago. The normal price is $269.99 at Best Buy and Blockbuster Video. To sweeten the deal you get 3 Blu-ray movies (Kingdom of Heaven, I Robot, Devil Wears Prada).
If you’re looking to put a Blu-ray player under the tree this year for a great deal, then you’d better hurry. Sale ends tomorrow.
Posted in Home Theatre at 11:51 AM | Comments (0)
Expensive HDMI cables vs cheap HDMI cables
Tis the season and this year a lot of people will be purchasing their first HDTV or Blu-ray player. Most people don’t plan ahead and consider what kind of cables they should get. HDMI or component? Do you need 3 metres (10 feet) or 5 metres (16.5 feet)?
Most people walk in to Best Buy, purchase a 40” HDTV and watch as the salesperson rubs their hands together and explains how they need HDMI cables for the best picture quality. You wouldn’t pay $3,000 for an Denon receiver and hook up some crappy $20 speakers would you? Of course not!
So here are some of your options at Best Buy for HDMI cables:
- Monster 4m HDMI Cable (ULTV1000HD-4M EFS) $254.99
- Rocketfish 8’ HDMI Cable (RF-G1164) $49.99
- Dynex 2M HDMI Cable $49.99
Do not purchase the Monster cable no matter what the sales person tells you!
Purchasing the most expensive HDMI cable on the market will not make a difference to the picture quality on your TV. Take a look at the prices at a discount electronics store like Modcom.ca:
- 10 ft. (3m) HDMI to HDMI Cable (Male/Male) [CHDMI-MM-3M] $23.85
- 25 ft. (7.6m) HDMI to HDMI Cable (Male/Male) [CHDMI-MM-25] $34.42
Do yourself a favour and do your homework. Figure out how much cable you need for your home theatre setup before your purchase your HDTV or Blu-ray player. Buy the cheapest HDMI cable you can find and spend the money you saved on some Blu-ray movies instead.
Posted in Home Theatre at 8:09 PM | Comments (4)
Cineplex Entertainment Gift Card
Looking for a simple gift idea for that special cinephile this Christmas? Why not get a Cineplex Entertainment Gift Card from cineplex.com?
Buy a gift card for $30 and get up to $70 in free offers ($10 off at Chapters, $10 off at HBC, free popcorn, drinks and more). I’m even thinking of picking up a card for myself. I doubt that I’ll come close to using up all of the free offers but to me this card is a no-brainer.
Posted in Movies and Observations at 9:24 PM | Comments (0)
Hell Ride
Hell Ride (2008). Directed by Larry Bishop.
This film has a great cast, great visuals, cool music, and absolutely no plot. Larry Bishop is a hack that tries to pay homage to Quentin Tarantino’s films but ends up copying most of them. The story is such a confusing mess that it is a wonder this film received a green light.
This wonderful piece of prose from the IMDB message boards sums this film up beautifully:
this movie was retardedly bad.
the plot made no sense, the story was extremely hard to follow.
the acting was the worst thing ive seen in my entire life and alot of things that went on had nothing to do with anything.
aka the gent sitting in a tree saying hoot hoot im an owl.
honestly what the hell is that
Don’t waste your time trying to watch this trash.
Posted in DVD Reviews at 7:56 PM | Comments (0)
The Sugarland Express
The Sugarland Express (1974). Directed by Steven Spielberg.
I’ve been watching classic 70s car chase films of late and Steven Spielberg’s first feature film, The Sugarland Express is worth watching if you’ve never seen it before. It’s based on the true story of two fugitives that kidnapped a policeman and forced him to drive from Port Arthur, TX to Wheelock, TX in 1969. At one point there were over 150 police cars and news vehicles in pursuit of the kidnappers. I wonder if OJ Simpson has seen this film?
In the film, Lou-Jean (Goldie Hawn) helps her husband Clovis (William Atherton) escape from prison and plan to kidnap their infant son who was placed with foster parents. Along the way they end up kidnapping a Texas state trooper which leads up to a downbeat ending a la Bonnie and Clyde.
Don’t expect a car chase movie like Vanishing Point or Dirty Mary Crazy Larry. The Sugarland Express has some great action sequences but it’s also strong on character development. By the end of the film you sympathize with Lou-Jean and Clovis instead of looking down on them as a couple of morons.
It’s interesting to see a few Spielberg trademarks that have carried through to this day — the John Williams score, the importance of family, scene transitions using bright light, innovation (first film to feature a tracking shot within a car). Take a look at the crane shot below. The camera pans up and turns into the floodlight of a police helicopter to transition to the next scene. For a second there I thought I was watching a scene from Close Encounters.
It’s interesting to see what Pauline Kael had to say about this new, 26 year-old director back in 1974:
He could be that rarity among directors—a born entertainer—perhaps a new generation’s Howard Hawks. In terms of the pleasure that technical assurance gives an audience, this film is one of the most phenomenal debut films in the history of movies.
The DVD version of The Sugarland Express isn’t bad for a film that hasn’t been restored. There is some dirt and noticeable film grain but it doesn’t take away from the movie experience. I would love to see an updated version with a director’s commentary.
Posted in DVD Reviews at 4:20 PM | Comments (0)
10 useful iPhone tips and tricks
tap tap tap as a really handy list of 10 useful iPhone tips & tricks.
A lot of the iPhone’s features are hidden and incredibly useful. Who knew that tapping the status bar (where the clock resides) acts as a top of page button? Great list. (Via Daring Fireball)
Update: The website iPhone J.D. has a nice list of iPhone shortcuts that can help you get more out of your phone.
Posted in Apple at 12:00 AM | Comments (0)
Churjch or Church
I don’t know why but I often misspell the word church as churjch. Apparently I’m not alone.
Posted in Observations at 11:52 PM | Comments (1)
