Year: 2008
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Movie: The Counterfeiters
Two weeks ago in Phoenix, we went to see The Counterfeiters. Winning the Oscar for best foreign language film does help bring a movie some attention, and some needed distribution. My German is non-existent, so when the film started with the subtitles half off the screen, annoyance started to rise. But the projection corrected, and…
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Book: Flashforward
A month ago, Vin sent me a box full of books, including several Robert Sawyer novels. I’ve enjoyed earlier reads, and Flashforward was a quick romp. Courtesy of a supercollider experiment, the world gets a glimpse of its future 21 years out. Sawyer takes a swing at the mundane (patent office is overwhelmed with applications…
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Book: The Naïve and Sentimental Lover
The Naïve and Sentimental Lover was the next book in my John Le Carré sequence, at least by chronology. The problem? The first hundred pages or so did not draw me in. Usually, I’ll plug away. I hate dropping a book unfinished. But I’m going to suspend my usual practice here. I’ve long since moved…
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Saturday night links
Pirillo Starts Large Scale Community CMS Project is TechCrunch coverage of Chris Pirillo’s announcement of Gnomepal. I’m trying to think of a company where its content management system is a sustainable competitive advantage. I’ve been involved in the building (and rebuilding) of several, and it’s hard to imagine a scenario where you wouldn’t start with…
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favorite10.com helps you find new music
My friends Vin and Chris found time for favorite10 this year. f10 is for music lovers who are constantly on the lookout for new music. Honestly, I am not the target audience. Hard to remember the last time I looked for new music, whether online or off. But Vin was kind enough to invite me…
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Thursday night notes and links
Khoi Vinh watches another generation fall under Tintin’s spell. Been there, and also waiting for the movie. Some of the language in these comic albums isn’t PC anymore (e.g., “dirty gypsies”), but Tintin is never one to stand for injustice. Google News finally answers some of publishers’ questions, and promises more information in the future.…
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Mary on the accordion
My sister Mary sits in with The Loose Marbles, a New Orleans street band. That’s her on the accordion, on the right. Original location, if the embed causes any problems. More about the Loose Marbles in The New Yorker from May 2007.
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Book: The Amber Spyglass
I found the final book of the His Dark Materials trilogy, The Amber Spyglass, a bit loose. No untidy loose ends, but Philip Pullman uses more words to describe less action as the climax approaches. I do appreciate the bittersweet ending, though. You don’t get to save the world and live happily ever after. Think…
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Book: The Subtle Knife
Book 2 of His Dark Materials passed in a flash last week. The Subtle Knife continues Philip Pullman’s trilogy, and introduces the not-so-subtly named Mary Malone, the former nun turned physicist. These tales twist, and are complete independently, but the sweep across all three books taken together is marvelous.
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Book: Of Mice and Men
I was heading somewhere I knew I’d have to wait, so I grabbed John Steinbeck’s thin novella Of Mice and Men off the shelf. A few pages in, I realized I’d read it before, but didn’t remember details. Anyway, 118 pages later, I knew why Lennie had to die, just like their dreams. It’s not…