Evil Cuteness

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Uh...

I'm absurdly flummoxed.


[Insert glib comment here.]

(Source)

Iconic Films

Ah, another movie post. Hope no one minds!

Over the long weekend, we had Metro's Mum and Dad visiting -- for the most part, a classic in-law visit: dinner out at the local delicious Greek restaurant, a day trip to see some wineries, huge turkey dinner...and Metro took his Dad out one night for a poker game, leaving Mum and me to our own devices.

We watched a movie -- her choice: Thelma and Louise (1991). She said she was tired of always pretending to have seen it, because it was so iconic.

Is that the definition of an iconic film? It works for me.

Last night, I saw another iconic film for the first time: The Warriors (1979) -- a film so ingrained in movie culture that I feel like I'd already seen it. (The 70s version of 300...)

Off the top of my head, I'd say the most iconic film of the current generation, if we use the definition above ("Oh, right! Yeah...that film!") is Mike Judge's Office Space (1999).

Here's some proof:



And if you've heard people talk about a "TPS report," wondered why red Swingline staplers are so freakin' popular now, or had someone ask you if you have a 'case of the Mondays', and you just don't get it, go out and watch this film:




So, what other iconic films are out there that we all need to see to fully function in today's society?

Browsing movies

I really enjoy movies. And I have a confession to make, to those of you who don't know me, I'm a re-watcher. Yes, I delight in throwing a movie into the machine that I've seen a multitude of times, because I know how it will make me feel -- and I want that!

Come on -- there are more of you out there. What movies do you re-watch, and why? The comments are open!

Last night, I encouraged good ol' Metro to go play poker at a friend's place (He would like to point out that he broke even.). I knew I was in an escapist movie mood, and figured it would be easier to watch what I wanted without him! (Oh, he's patient and all, but understandably not that great with the re-watching thing...)

So I watched my new DVD copy of The Little Princess (1995), based on the book by Frances Burnett Hodges, one of my childhood favourites. Even though I hadn't seen this one in years, I was not surprised to see that it was directed by Alfonso Cuaron, who directed the most delightfully moody of the Harry Potty films (Prisoner of Azkaban). Everything in the film The Little Princess is essentially in two colours -- a dark green representing all that is dark and unpleasant, and sunny yellows and golds to represent all that is magical and good. It works beautifully.

And despite having seen the film a few times, I still sobbed like a baby. I love films!

Then, not having had enough, and having a purring cat, a fireplace, a little bowl of barbecued peanuts, and a beer, I threw in my VHS copy of the movie The Fifth Element (1997). I absolutely adore this film, and have watched my VHS copy to fuzzy-wavy-lines-of-VHS-death. The next time I see a DVD copy, I'll to pick it up (I've been resisting...but I want the extra features!).

Browsing IMDB this morning, I came across the most delightful bit of cross-movie pollination! I discovered that the wacky mugger in the Fifth Element...



...is the delightful romantic lead Nino from Le Fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain (the actor Mathieu Kassovitz)



I love finding these connections!

Talk to me of movies!

Lori

Something I've wanted to know...

I've got a lot of cousins, and some of them are 2nd cousins once-removed...or is that 1st cousins twice-removed?

I found a chart (here), and now my life is complete. :-)


So my mom's first cousin is my 1st cousin once removed, and her kids are my 2nd cousins.

I really do feel better knowing this!

Lori

Students Run Underground Junk Food Trade

The local school board could take the credit if they wanted to -- "See, the students learned a valuable history lesson about how organized crime began in the United States, and learned entrepreneurial skills at the same time!"

(The full story here.)

Some high school students are making money by selling junk food out of lockers at their Burnaby school despite a provincial ban on junk food sales now in effect in all B.C. schools.

The three Grade 11 students — who asked to be identified only as Weeman, The Fern and Goggles — told CBC News they made more than $200 in the first week of school by bulk-buying candy and chocolate bars, then selling them at a profit.

And the beautiful part of the story is that the School Board isn't cracking down...they're a bit proud of them, I think.

Plus, there's an intimation that teachers are taking advantage of the opportunity as well!

The Piano

Watch more cool animation and creative cartoons at aniBoom

A lovely way to start the day...

Lori

The Reason I Could Never be a Photojournalist:

more animals


Lori

Stationary and Wacky Fun -- 2 of my fave things!

From the guys who brought you the Mentos-magic...

Fun with Post-its!




(Source)

Enjoy!

Lori

Destino -- Dali meets Disney

More intellectually absurd than my normal head-slapping variety...but absolutely, almost painfully beautiful and brilliant is this trailer for a "Salvador Dali/Disney collaboration Destino that was begun in the 40's and only released recently":

Chef-d'oeuvre ! Walt Disney + Salvador Dali
Uploaded by LTT

The whole piece is about 7 minutes long, as the source points out:

Sublime !

Collaboration artistique unique entre deux géants !

Walt Disney commande un dessin animé à Salvador Dali dans les années 40 et décontenancé par le resultat jugé "trop original", le film initulé "Destino", petit bijou de 7 minutes, restera dans les placards de Disney jusqu'en 2003, date de sa sortie aux USA.

Lori

A Group of Individuals

Last week, my man and I were in a hotel in Our Nation's Capital. Yes, thanks for asking, we had a good time. A bit stressful, with all of the visiting-family requirements, but fun. [Note to self: next year, do not combine family obligations with holiday.]

But when I stay in hotels, I watch TV. It's really the only time I watch TV, so suddenly I get to see the underbelly of our culture as something of an anthropologist...with fresh eyes.

This time around, I noticed that the cult of individuality, mutated into a revolting sameness that inspires every young woman to be a slut with a lower back tattoo just like everyone else's, and makes me confuse Christina Aguilera with Paris Hilton (Is it only me, or are they clones of each other?), has now spread to advertising, where what's cool goes to die.

• A car commercial that has cars (and drivers, I assume) coming together for a rally: "It is that which makes us different that brings us together!" yells the speaker. The tag line? "United by Individuality"
• A commercial for a cell phone company which entices potential new customers with "the only thing we have in common is how different we are."
• A(ny) commercial for alcohol that has the whole bar drinking the same mixed drink (following the herd ain't just for beer any more!). My, aren't they having fun.

So, is that it then? Is the cultural love affair with individuality run its course? When it's the theme of 3 oft-repeated commercials shown during the broadcast of one re-run of CSI, could it be that Individuality as the Icon of Cool is dead?

Gads. What's coming up behind us, here in the mainstream? (Yes, RC, I hear you...You, of course, are not mainstream...)

I mean, really, if an idea, a cultural meme (in its original meaning) works its way through the initiators, then the early adoptors, then the rest of the world before becoming noticed by ad execs...then individuality is in its death throes.

Okay, so being an individual is not a short-lived trend, like some. From Jung helping people along the path of individuation, through to today's tattoos and piercings being the norm, this trend has had some real longevity. But I'm throwing these musings out to my clever readers -- What's next? If individuality is old hat, what can possibly follow it?

Lori

The Omnivore's 100

Ripped shamelessly from casa az: yet another list...

So, you know the drill:

"Copy the following list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
Cross out any items that you would never consider eating."

I've had 75 out of the 100. I've noticed that a lot of interesting things aren't there -- like 100-year-old eggs, geoduck, live octopus, or bo-shin-tang (dog stew). I've not had live octopus, but I have had live sushi.

The VGT Omnivore’s Hundred:

1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses (I'm going to assume yes, since I tried many stinky soft cheeses in Paris, yum!)
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn or Head Cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam Chowder in Soudough Bowl
33. Salted Lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac
37. Clotted Cream Tea
38. Vodka Jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects
43. Phaal
44. Goat’s milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth $120 or more
46. Fugu (aka pufferfish) (didn't know it until I was done...best damn fish ever!)
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald's Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips
61. S'mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. kaolin
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings [maybe not, now that I've looked them up!]
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost or brunost
75. Roadkill [depends on how old...]
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess fruit pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang Souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom Yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. 3 Michelin Star Tasting Menu
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose Harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole Poblano
96. Bagel and Lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake

How about you?

Lori

Game Night Fun

Okay, I'll admit, I'm a game fan. I've clocked some hours in roleplaying games, Civilization...I played Civilization when it was, gasp, a board game!

I was terribly depressed after going into a gaming store in the late 90s, asking if they had any bookcase games...The young guy in the store looked bewildered. "Bookcase game? What's that?"

Ah well. I enjoyed the marathon gaming sessions as a 20-something, and now that I'm a mumble-mumble-something, I enjoy my evenings of drinking wine and playing games with friends.

Which brings me to the new game in my repertoire, ZapIt's GameWave.

Before we go any further, as I've mentioned before (here, here, here and here), I'm into the whole phenomenon of word-of-mouth marketing...I get samples of products, and chat about them -- with full disclosure of course.

Well, I received a GameWave unit through BzzAgent.com and to be completely honest, I'm thrilled with it! I like my games competitive, but without rancor, and that is exactly what we get with this unit.

I've had a couple of game evenings with friends so far, and they were definitely successful. Luckily, the most successful game so far is the one that comes free with the unit, "4 Degrees", a trivia game. What really works is that all of the games are played by everyone all at once, as everyone has a remote that works independently. It's a very neat concept, and all of the games are familiar ones, with mutations that take this everyone-at-the-same time idea to a new level.

Tips
If you do some looking around on the site (GameWave), and you're interested in purchasing one of these units, here are some things I've discovered:

• The unit comes with 4 remotes, and most of the games can only accommodate 4 remotes. No need to upgrade with the extra 2 remotes until they have more games that can use them.
• Other BzzAgents have had problems with the unit and its interaction with plasma TVs. But, they've also reported very good customer service -- so check before you buy, to see if it is (still) a problem.
• The Bejeweled clone game, "Gemz" is cool, but definitely needs a larger TV if you want to play with opponents. I won't even bring it out when people come over...my TV is too small!
• If you are interested, let me know, 'cause I can toss a coupon your way. Email me at loricat at gmail dot com.

Enough of the product-praise. I think my regular readers understand that I wouldn't give a good review of anything if it were shite...I've panned books and products in my time.

Back to your regularly scheduled absurdities...

Lori

Lazy "Artists"

So, I was wandering in an adult toy store this evening...

Get your minds back here! I was in a Future Shop, not the other kind of toy store!

Anyway, I was browsing the cheap DVDs, and I came across this fabulous 1985 movie:

We all remember this one? I'm sure it was on everyone's Top 10 lists!

But Dennis Quaid's picture on this poster/cover made me stop short...

"Hell, he looks just like Miles Vorkosigan!!"

So, out there somewhere is an artist that got paid the big bucks at Baen books in 1995 for "creating" this very cool cover art.

Buddy, people have longer memories than that!

Lori

Can Pass Air

Press releases abound today for the launch of Canada's new get-through-customs-easy-like program: CANPASS Air.

C'mon people! Did you not run this past a couple humans with even a mild sense of humour before the launch?!?

What's next for the border? CanPass Gas?

Make me proud!

Lori

Inflatable dog turd sculpture escapes Swiss museum, wreaks havoc

Seriously, you can't make this stuff up!

For real and for true.

Found this via a friend on Facecrack...whose favourite headline when we were kids was "Hippo Crushes Circus Dwarf."

Lori

We Are What We Do

I was pointed in the direction of a great site today: We Are What We Do. It is a simple way of reminding people that all of the little things that we can do every day will make the world a better place. (Here's my public action list if you're interested.)

The key thing here is the word 'better'. Far too many people find themselves paralyzed by the enormity of the task of making the world 'perfect'...lower your standards, and things actually get done!

And that is the lovely, simple premise of the book The Better World Handbook (already in its second edition!). I had the great honour of being involved in a wacky one-day festival in Vancouver a few years ago that was celebrating this book.

Now the word is getting around, and people are happily lowering their expectations to better the world.

What did you do today?

Lori

What defines Canada?

According to an enormous poll of Canadians (conducted by Ipsos-Reid), the top five things that define Canada are:

1. Maple Leaf
2. Vimy Ridge
3. Canadian Flag
4. Queen Elizabeth
5. Hockey
   

And the list goes on to outline the 101 things that we thought encapsulated our fair country.

What do you think?

Lori

How the Music Turns

Well, my Zune arrived. Cute little thing. And they sent along some extras -- the adaptor (to be able to charge it up when not near a computer) and ultra-snazzy headphones. I will play it with the headphones that com mit, to be able to comment on them.

Disclaimer: If you're just stopping by for the first time, you may want to read this post. It's some background of why I have this cute little Zune to play with.)

I am not having the problems that Raincoaster is having. She's trapped by technological issues, poor thing. The Zune needs at least Windows XP, with a minimum of Service Pack 2 installed. That second point took me a while to get myself.

So, besides it being cute, what are my first impressions?

I like the interface. Big, clear, intuitive. (Take a look at Cnet.com's review with video showing the interface.)

It annoyed me that I had to get all the updates for my Windows XP. Okay, yes, maybe I should have been on top of that, but still...

I was worried about the implications of the file sharing capabilities this thing supposedly has. You and your friend could be hanging out in a coffee shop, and using the wireless connection, you could throw a song at your friend: "Here, try this one!" Neat...and no, not stealing files. You can listen to a song received that way 3 times before it deletes itself (or something), but it will remind you to look that song up later (when hooked up to the Internet where you can buy it, of course.).

I also like that when you're playing one song, you can navigate all over the thing, browsing your songs, videos, podcasts...but it won't interrupt the song, until you hit play on something else.

More later.

Lori

Goodbye Oliver...I barely knew you!

I just got an email today from Metro's sister...linking me to an article in the Toronto Star about the sudden death of Oliver Schroer -- Canadian composer and violinist.

I first experienced his music on an Easter Sunday CBC special called "Churchgoing" (no where near as religious as it sounded...included readings and a Monty Python sketch!). Metro and I were driving and suddenly this song came on:




Schroer had actually done the Camino de Santiago through France and Spain:

He had just released his CD, Camino, to critical and audience raves. Camino was recorded over two months in 2004 as he and two friends walked the Camino de Santiago, an ancient trail that wanders across France and Spain. Schroer stopped in churches along the way to play his violin.

(Hmm...the Camino is a pilgrimage, not merely a trail. Silly newspaper!)

The music recorded along the way, with rudimentary equipment that he and his friends carried for 1,000 kilometers, was soaring -- violin pieces played in old cathedrals along the way. It appealed to me also as an architecture buff, as you can almost hear the expanse of vaulted ceilings in this music. I immediately went out and bought the CD, and it is now one of my favourites, that I force friends to listen to all the time.

But in the end, succumbing to leukemia at 52, it will be his attitude that stands out:

His acceptance of his imminent death comes from how he has lived.

"As an artist, I found my own unique voice and have been able to publicly express that voice. I've gotten to collaborate with different wonderful musicians. What more does an artist want?

"I'm one of the burning-bright guys who fire it all up and then go down in flames."

May we all have this acceptance when our time comes.

Lori