| (no subject) |
[Apr. 3rd, 2009|10:22 am] |
New French language laws in Quebec come into force today prohibiting the sale of English-only video games if a French version is available.
http://www.thestar.com/article/611472
What this means is that games in Quebec will be delayed while the French version is produced. People will order the English version from amazon.ca or get them across the border. Game stores will lose a lot of business.
Quebec language laws are a form of censorship: yea or nay? Does anyone thing language laws are a good idea in any form? |
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| (no subject) |
[Mar. 26th, 2009|11:02 pm] |
I've only finished two seasons but I'm hooked. The Wire is a great show because it is a study of systems. The drug gangs are run like corporations. They don't use the terminology, but they have executives, middle management, junior employees.
The show doesn't take sides between the cops and the criminals. They are given equal time and shown as two forces who fight against each other and fight internal corruption.
( (continue) ) |
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| (no subject) |
[Dec. 22nd, 2008|10:07 pm] |
I used to have a cellphone that had an "airline mode". Selecting airline mode did one thing: it turned the cellphone off.
Hilarious, but I know how these things happen. I've been in the situation where we had to negotiate requirements for a product delivered to another company. For my old cellphone, somewhere there was a requirement that would have been along the lines of: "Device must support 'airline mode' in which no network activity is possible." Somewhere a programmer was on a deadline. |
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| (no subject) |
[Nov. 24th, 2008|12:14 pm] |
I just saw Slumdog Millionaire and it was pretty good. In an interview on Fresh Air, Danny Boyle explained that the movie was shot in English to please the investors even though it takes place in India. He ran into problems with the kids where their English wasn't good enough to sound natural. He decided to just let them speak their native language.
I didn't know that the subtitles in these scenes are in bright colours and splashed all over the screen. It adds a comic book effect which suits the movie. Normally subtitles are plain and unobtrusive. They are there because they need to be and are not part of the original vision for the movie. Here they can make them beautiful and part of the visual experience.
I don't know how I feel about the trailer to Revolutionary Road. (Watch the trailer, not the TV spot.) It's more suburban malaise like Mendes already covered in American Beauty. What I find so bizarre is that the characters in the trailer are just speaking the subtext aloud in plain language. Is the whole movie like that?
I guess sometimes I find that awesome. "It's a hell of a thing, killing a man. Take away all he's got and all he's ever gonna have." |
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| (no subject) |
[Oct. 5th, 2008|04:38 pm] |
I had never heard of this. It's a pilot for an early 90s show that was never picked up. It's called Lookwell, stars Adam West, and was by Conan O'Brien and Robert Smigel.
It's pretty awesome.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBQ3HbB0c8Y |
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| (no subject) |
[Sep. 20th, 2008|12:26 pm] |
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Do anyone know of any good independent comparisons of the Canadian political parties and their platforms? I'm looking for condensed information. Last election cbc.ca had a good issue-by-issue comparison, but they don't seem to have anything up yet. |
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| (no subject) |
[Jul. 23rd, 2008|09:59 pm] |
I've been looking for Wii Fit, and found it impossible to find anywhere. Tonight I thought to check Craigslist. An hour after deciding to check, I had it in my house for only $16 more than I would have spent at the store.
My balance is TERRIBLE. |
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| (no subject) |
[Jul. 22nd, 2008|04:38 pm] |
Estelle Getty
1923 - 2008 |
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| (no subject) |
[Jun. 29th, 2008|01:43 pm] |
I knew I was going to see Encounters at the End of the World, because it's a new Werner Herzog documentary, but I wasn't that excited for it. I liked it a lot more than I thought I would!
Herzog goes to Antarctica, wanders around interviewing miscellaneous cooks, scientists, plumbers, and bus drivers. This is intercut with pretty visuals set to music. It sounds meandering, and it is. But as the movie went on, I got filled with the sense of joy that is scientific discovery, that is exploring, that is recognizing that the universe is more than just us.
There's a scene with a wandering penguin that is tragic and hilarious, a linguist describing why he came to a place with no languages, cell biologists excitedly putting together DNA samples on a computer, a trip to a volcano. I had a smile ear to ear for most of it. |
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| (no subject) |
[Jun. 4th, 2008|11:26 am] |
I love the Reel Geezers, because they are cantankerous and old in a way that makes you think that old people are onto something. Not in a Grandpa Simpson kind of way.
(Sex and the City spoilers)
More reviews |
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| (no subject) |
[Apr. 30th, 2008|06:48 pm] |
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We flew into Newark and took a train to Manhattan, getting off at the World Trade Center. What surprised me was that my first view of New York for the weekend was from inside ground zero. We came out of the tunnel and into the empty hole in the ground, below street level. From there we took steps out to the street. It was surreal. |
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| Bug Fights! |
[Jan. 11th, 2008|12:57 pm] |
1. Two Bugs to a fight
2. Bug fights go on as long as they have to
3. No outside weapons in Bug Fights
This might be kind of disgusting (in the immoral way), but I can't help but find it interesting and disgusting (in the awesome way).
http://www.japanesebugfights.com/
INFORMAL POLL:
I am curious if the stereotype holds true, especially among my friends! Please state 1) your gender, 2) how awesome this is on a scale from 0 to 10. |
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| (no subject) |
[Nov. 18th, 2007|12:27 pm] |
I'm trying to get rid of an Ikea "aneboda" bed frame that I have no use for anymore. It works but it squeaks. If you want it, it's yours! I'm also putting it on craigslist as a "for free" item. If no one takes it, it's being thrown out!
It's like this, but the wood is more of a tan colour:
http://www.ikea.com/ca/en/catalog/products/S49842330 |
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| (no subject) |
[Nov. 12th, 2007|09:38 pm] |
When I was a child I wrote comics about a porcupine named Spizzy and a rabbit named Bunbun. They were best friends and they lived the forest. Spizzy was worried and kind of shy, Bunbun was loud and outgoing, and they were both jerks and terrible people. Muffin the Muffin (who was a talking Muffin) was kind and generous, so of course Spizzy and Bunbun hated him. The forest they lived in also had an octopus named Bob.
Just recently I found ( an unfinished masterpiece! ) |
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| New Years |
[Oct. 25th, 2007|11:21 am] |
Dearest Toronto Friends, and Friends who Will Come to Toronto for New Years:
Want to have a party at our place again? |
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