March 2006: National Geographic. Walking Tour of NYC
March 01, 2006: PC Mag. The Well-Connected Traveler. Which gear is right for the traveller
March 13, 2006: PC Mag. Yahoo! Power. Review of Yahoo services
March 15, 2006: PC Mag. 14th Annual Utility Superguide
March 21, 2006: Publish. How to Understand the MySpace Phenomenon.
March 20, 2006: Publish. The Web 2.0 Tutorials Toolbox
March 21, 2006: PC Mag. The Gudding Photogrpher's Home Photo Lab.
March 22, 2006: New York Times. Texas Skies May Fianally Be Set Free. Wright Amendment. Leonhardt, David.
Friday, March 31, 2006
Word of the Day benignant
benignant \bih-NIG-nuhnt\, adjective:1. Kind; gracious.2. Beneficial; favorable.
- After the captain and ladies had sat down, the autocratic steward rang a second bell, and with a majestic wave of the hand, and a calm, benignant smile, signified his pleasure that we should sit down.-- Sir Henry Stanley, "Grand tours - Mind your manners at the captain's table", Independent, August 18, 2002
- At the meeting it was strange to see, amidst the peaceful, benignant faces, this woe-begone old man, with his thick white hair and his deeply furrowed placid cheeks, looking wistfully from one to the other, and listening anxiously, hoping some day to hear the words which should bring peace to his soul.-- Alexander L. Kielland, Skipper Worse
- Human beings . . . are forever ascribing malignant or benignant motives even to inanimate forces such as the weather, volcanoes, and internal-combustion engines.-- Stephen Budiansky, "The Truth About Dogs", The Atlantic, July 1999
Benignant comes from the present participle of Late Latin benignare, from Latin benignus, "kind, friendly."
Word of the Day edacious
edacious \i-DAY-shus\, adjective:Given to eating; voracious; devouring.
Swallowed in the depths of edacious Time.-- Thomas Carlyle- [S]omething that... will dismay edacious lips.-- "The late showman", Independent, August 21, 1999
- Our... high-toned irritability, edacious appetites, and pampered constitutions.-- Isaac Taylor, Natural History of Enthusiasm
Edacious is from Latin edax, edac-, gluttonous, consuming, from edo, edere, to eat.
Tuesday, March 28, 2006
Thursday, March 23, 2006
Word of the Day Aubade
Word of the Day for Tuesday March 21, 2006
aubade \oh-BAHD\, noun:A song or poem greeting the dawn; also, a composition suggestive of morning.
He was usually still awake when the birds began to warble their aubade.-- Christopher Buckley, "What was Robert Benchley?," National Review, June 16, 1997
And there he lingered till the crowing cock...Sang his aubade with lusty voice and clear.-- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Emma and Eginhard
Aubade comes from the French, from aube, dawn + the noun suffix -ade: aube ultimately derives from Latin albus, white, pale, as in "alba lux," the "pale light" of dawn.
aubade \oh-BAHD\, noun:A song or poem greeting the dawn; also, a composition suggestive of morning.
He was usually still awake when the birds began to warble their aubade.-- Christopher Buckley, "What was Robert Benchley?," National Review, June 16, 1997
And there he lingered till the crowing cock...Sang his aubade with lusty voice and clear.-- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Emma and Eginhard
Aubade comes from the French, from aube, dawn + the noun suffix -ade: aube ultimately derives from Latin albus, white, pale, as in "alba lux," the "pale light" of dawn.
Friday, March 10, 2006
Monday, March 06, 2006
Academy Awards HRC They are IDIOTS!
Please see HRC gMail from March 6. Even after the Brokeback loss, they proclaim that America is ready for tolerance and acceptance. Horse-hockey!
Academy Awards Why Did Brokeback Lose? From BBC
The film that crashed the Oscars
By Neil Smith BBC News entertainment reporter
This year's best picture Oscar winner Crash has pulled off one of the biggest upsets in Academy Awards history by beating runaway favourite Brokeback Mountain.
The look on Jack Nicholson's face said it all.
Drafted in to announce this year's best picture recipient, the three-time Oscar winner looked as surprised as anyone when he declared Crash had landed the evening's most coveted award.
Not since Shakespeare in Love beat Saving Private Ryan in 1999 has there been an upset to match it.
But the signs had been there for those who were looking for them.
Paul Haggis' ensemble race drama won the main prize at the Screen Actors Guild - its first significant victory over Ang Lee's western.
None of us expected this. We had a tiny picture, and we opened at the wrong time Paul Haggis
Then came whisperings that the Academy's older, more conservative members were not responding as enthusiastically to Lee's film as other awards bodies had done.
After that came perhaps the most telling indicator of all - a drastic cutting of Crash's odds by leading bookmakers.
Brokeback Mountain was still the favourite, but suddenly it didn't look so invulnerable.
And the film that many critics had written off at the start of Oscar season began to emerge as its strongest competition.
Quite a turnaround for a film that opened months before the other contenders and was even running ads for its DVD during the UK TV coverage.
'Rule breakers'
Indeed, Crash's victory overturns the prevailing wisdom that films that open earlier in the year lack the stamina to make it to the Oscar podium.
"None of us expected this," Paul Haggis told reporters backstage. "We had a tiny picture, and we opened at the wrong time."
But the director still had nothing but praise for his film's distributor Lions Gate.
"In doing everything wrong they did everything right. They were so smart the way they did this.
"They broke all the rules, and this is the year Hollywood rewarded rule breakers."
So how did Crash manage to confound the critics, the punters, even its stars?
First, let's not overlook the significance of its large cast - no small concern given the vast number of actors in the Academy membership.
And not just any cast either. From Bafta winner Thandie Newton to rising star Terrence Howard to comeback king Matt Dillon, no other film this year could boast so many eye-catching turns.
Then there is Haggis himself - one of the few people not to be honoured last year for Million Dollar Baby, despite writing its Oscar-nominated script.
Perhaps the Academy felt he deserved some recognition, not least for suffering a heart attack while making his film.
Simplistic message
Lions Gate may have released the film prematurely, but they made up for it by spending $4m (£2.3m) on its Oscar campaign and sending out 130,000 DVD "screeners".
Big numbers considering the film itself cost just $6.5m (£3.7m) to make, and a considerable act of faith on the part of one of Hollywood's smaller outfits.
"Lions Gate were really smart," said Haggis after the ceremony. "They said that if people saw the film, they'd vote from it."
But perhaps the key factor in Crash's success is that, as hard-hitting as its look at racial tensions in modern Los Angeles may be, it ultimately contains a heartwarming, even simplistic message.
Brokeback Mountain, Munich and Capote are profoundly feel-bad movies that leave the audience ruing man's bigotries, weaknesses and evil deeds.
The same can also be said of Good Night, and Good Luck, with its clarion call for independent media and unashamedly left-wing sympathies.
Though its characters often behave despicably to one another, Crash ultimately ends on an uplifting note.
Much has been written on how this year's Oscar contenders have embraced serious political and social themes that reflect a new maturity in Hollywood.
The clever thing about Crash is that it achieves this while still peddling the same wholesome truisms that have sustained Hollywood since time immemorial.
Story from BBC NEWS:http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/entertainment/4777808.stmPublished: 2006/03/06 09:21:40 GMT© BBC MMVI
By Neil Smith BBC News entertainment reporter
This year's best picture Oscar winner Crash has pulled off one of the biggest upsets in Academy Awards history by beating runaway favourite Brokeback Mountain.
The look on Jack Nicholson's face said it all.
Drafted in to announce this year's best picture recipient, the three-time Oscar winner looked as surprised as anyone when he declared Crash had landed the evening's most coveted award.
Not since Shakespeare in Love beat Saving Private Ryan in 1999 has there been an upset to match it.
But the signs had been there for those who were looking for them.
Paul Haggis' ensemble race drama won the main prize at the Screen Actors Guild - its first significant victory over Ang Lee's western.
None of us expected this. We had a tiny picture, and we opened at the wrong time Paul Haggis
Then came whisperings that the Academy's older, more conservative members were not responding as enthusiastically to Lee's film as other awards bodies had done.
After that came perhaps the most telling indicator of all - a drastic cutting of Crash's odds by leading bookmakers.
Brokeback Mountain was still the favourite, but suddenly it didn't look so invulnerable.
And the film that many critics had written off at the start of Oscar season began to emerge as its strongest competition.
Quite a turnaround for a film that opened months before the other contenders and was even running ads for its DVD during the UK TV coverage.
'Rule breakers'
Indeed, Crash's victory overturns the prevailing wisdom that films that open earlier in the year lack the stamina to make it to the Oscar podium.
"None of us expected this," Paul Haggis told reporters backstage. "We had a tiny picture, and we opened at the wrong time."
But the director still had nothing but praise for his film's distributor Lions Gate.
"In doing everything wrong they did everything right. They were so smart the way they did this.
"They broke all the rules, and this is the year Hollywood rewarded rule breakers."
So how did Crash manage to confound the critics, the punters, even its stars?
First, let's not overlook the significance of its large cast - no small concern given the vast number of actors in the Academy membership.
And not just any cast either. From Bafta winner Thandie Newton to rising star Terrence Howard to comeback king Matt Dillon, no other film this year could boast so many eye-catching turns.
Then there is Haggis himself - one of the few people not to be honoured last year for Million Dollar Baby, despite writing its Oscar-nominated script.
Perhaps the Academy felt he deserved some recognition, not least for suffering a heart attack while making his film.
Simplistic message
Lions Gate may have released the film prematurely, but they made up for it by spending $4m (£2.3m) on its Oscar campaign and sending out 130,000 DVD "screeners".
Big numbers considering the film itself cost just $6.5m (£3.7m) to make, and a considerable act of faith on the part of one of Hollywood's smaller outfits.
"Lions Gate were really smart," said Haggis after the ceremony. "They said that if people saw the film, they'd vote from it."
But perhaps the key factor in Crash's success is that, as hard-hitting as its look at racial tensions in modern Los Angeles may be, it ultimately contains a heartwarming, even simplistic message.
Brokeback Mountain, Munich and Capote are profoundly feel-bad movies that leave the audience ruing man's bigotries, weaknesses and evil deeds.
The same can also be said of Good Night, and Good Luck, with its clarion call for independent media and unashamedly left-wing sympathies.
Though its characters often behave despicably to one another, Crash ultimately ends on an uplifting note.
Much has been written on how this year's Oscar contenders have embraced serious political and social themes that reflect a new maturity in Hollywood.
The clever thing about Crash is that it achieves this while still peddling the same wholesome truisms that have sustained Hollywood since time immemorial.
Story from BBC NEWS:http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/entertainment/4777808.stmPublished: 2006/03/06 09:21:40 GMT© BBC MMVI
Academy Awards Why Did Brokeback Lose?
Crash won best picture. Everything else went according to predictions until best picture.
I am devastated. Phillip Wuntch in the DMN calls Crash the "safe choice." I am anxious to read other opinions. I don't want to admit that mainstream Hollywood (remember Brokeback won the best picture from Independent Spirit Awards just the night before) is not ready for iconic (cowboy) gay men or an enduring love relationship between gay men. Gay characters, yes - see Phillip Seymour Hoffman in Capote (not the best example but to the point). Gay stereotypes, okay - see Love!Valour! Compassion! (how independent was that?) or Far From Heaven. But a relationship that spans decades?
Perhaps the SAG win for Crash for ensemble acting was a harbinger.
I am devastated. Phillip Wuntch in the DMN calls Crash the "safe choice." I am anxious to read other opinions. I don't want to admit that mainstream Hollywood (remember Brokeback won the best picture from Independent Spirit Awards just the night before) is not ready for iconic (cowboy) gay men or an enduring love relationship between gay men. Gay characters, yes - see Phillip Seymour Hoffman in Capote (not the best example but to the point). Gay stereotypes, okay - see Love!Valour! Compassion! (how independent was that?) or Far From Heaven. But a relationship that spans decades?
Perhaps the SAG win for Crash for ensemble acting was a harbinger.
Sunday, March 05, 2006
Academy Awards Hollywood Stock Exchange My Predictions
Hollywood Stock Exchange predicts the following:
I don't disagree with any - as much as I would like Heath Ledger to win for Brokeback. (Still think that he, in some way, had the hardest role to find. Three of the five roles - Capote, Murrow (David Straithorn), Johnny Cash (Joaquin Phoenix) - had to be "impersonated" first before they could be believed. The fourth role - Terence Howard in Hustle and Flow - is a contemporary character that the audience sees/ has seen in other media or in real life. Ennis DelMar is completely fictional situated/trapped in a very specific time and place, and there is nothing in the setting, costuming, music, etc. for the audience to use to put the action in a historical perspective. It is all the actors and the director who do that.) However, in the spirit of throwing out surprises in the lesser, major categories (i.e. Marisa Tomei), I think that Amy Adams for Junebug may have a shot at Supporting Actress.
- Best Picture: Brokeback Mountain
- Best Actor: Phillip Seymour Hoffman
- Best Actress: Reese Witherspoon
- Best Supporting Actor: George Clooney
- Best Supporting Actress: Rachel Weitz
- Best Adapted Screenplay: Brokeback Mountain
- Best Screenplay: Crash
I don't disagree with any - as much as I would like Heath Ledger to win for Brokeback. (Still think that he, in some way, had the hardest role to find. Three of the five roles - Capote, Murrow (David Straithorn), Johnny Cash (Joaquin Phoenix) - had to be "impersonated" first before they could be believed. The fourth role - Terence Howard in Hustle and Flow - is a contemporary character that the audience sees/ has seen in other media or in real life. Ennis DelMar is completely fictional situated/trapped in a very specific time and place, and there is nothing in the setting, costuming, music, etc. for the audience to use to put the action in a historical perspective. It is all the actors and the director who do that.) However, in the spirit of throwing out surprises in the lesser, major categories (i.e. Marisa Tomei), I think that Amy Adams for Junebug may have a shot at Supporting Actress.
Wednesday, March 01, 2006
Monthly Readings March 2006
May 6, 2005: NYT - A. O. Scott review of Crash
December 23, 2005-January 6, 2006: The Week - Faces of 2005
January 13, 2005: The Week - Best Movies, Best Books, Best Albums Best of 2005
March 2, 2006: Slate Magazine - Obituary for Sci-Fi Writer Octavia Butler; with suggested readings
March 08, 2006: wikiHow - How to Make a Decision Using a Quantitative Scoring System
March 08, 2006: wikiHow - How to evaluate DLP, LCD, Plasma TV, and HDTV Quality
December 23, 2005-January 6, 2006: The Week - Faces of 2005
January 13, 2005: The Week - Best Movies, Best Books, Best Albums Best of 2005
March 2, 2006: Slate Magazine - Obituary for Sci-Fi Writer Octavia Butler; with suggested readings
March 08, 2006: wikiHow - How to Make a Decision Using a Quantitative Scoring System
March 08, 2006: wikiHow - How to evaluate DLP, LCD, Plasma TV, and HDTV Quality
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