Song snippet
…It started when I thought that to be strong you must be flame retardant…
“Ampersand” by Amanda Palmer
…It started when I thought that to be strong you must be flame retardant…
“Ampersand” by Amanda Palmer
Did you know you can comment on these posts? There’s a tiny “0” in the upper right corner. See him up there? Very tiny, very green, but there. Clicking on this “0” gives you the opportunity to share your thoughts, just like you may have done on ARoB. So, feel free!
That being said, a commentary on my work right now: I’m exhausted.
Well, that’s not all, really. Work has been really busy of late because we’ve got a plethora of large-scale projects running through the department at the same time. We’ve also got no extra people or money to pull them off and we have to keep up the same amount of stuff we were doing before the major projects arrived with no loss of quality or speed. So, you figure that out.
On the upside, the summer should see some very interesting new technologies like Zimbra and Blackboard 9. I’m curious to see how the students take to those powerful tools. Oh, and new MacBook Pros for Beck and my office. Thank god – this one is getting rather long in the tooth as a production workstation.
Thank you so very much, io9!
Kate tipped me off the other day to the fact that Bat For Lashes – the British-Pakistani beauty who stole my heart with her riveting voice and remarkable videos – has a brand new album. Two Suns doesn’t so much pick up where Fur and Gold left of as it expands into a new, eerier sonic universe. Somewhere that gives the Karate Kid (see: “Daniel“) the chance he always never knew he wanted to do battle with bayou black magicians and giant, “Human Behaviour”-styled teddy bears.
My favorite track by far is “Sleep Alone,” though I was completely floored by “Siren Song.” It probably even lives up to its name, though no ships have yet crashed into the front of my apartment building from the mighty Chester.
I’m not the biggest fan of this cover art,
but it pretty much nails it.
Who’s that over there
Looks like he don’t care
Almost lost his mind
Too much working overtimeGotta get out every night
City gates are open wide
Gotta get away from here
Take that car and push that gearHe don’t need no one
He’s the rising sun
He won’t shed no tears
Got no time to break down here
“Working Overtime” by New Order
(I wish that said “New Order.” I am most definitely ready for them.)
“In this economy,” some strange things are happening to global finance and our domestic banking systems. I’ve actually taken quite a bit of interest in economic happenings – even leading me to buy and read an issue of The Economist, which I’m sure will delight Andy to no end.
So, hot on the heels of the Rolling Stone article that has me ready to sink $1000 into gold coins as opposed to my savings account, I found this piece from The Raw Story:
China’s top banker proposes new world reserve currency
The article’s author, Stephen Webster, seems set on downplaying the significance of this move, even after Moscow also pledged support for the same move as we get closer to the G20 summit. However, I find it weird that this is now the fourth time I’ve heard mention of the same global currency thinking in a two week period.
I’m not necessarily scared of a single, global currency but I do worry that the people who will be controlling it are going to be the same third-world debt peddlers as those running the World Bank, IMF, etc.
If you haven’t been watching the Travel Channel’s “Mark & Olly: Living with the Machigenga,” you may have missed out on one of the better shows this season. Mark (our ex-military adventurer – a greying, less deranged Bear Grylls) and Olly (our bumbling journalist) have taken their nearly neo-Victorian explorations to Peru to live with a tribe of people known as the Machigenga. Not content to merely study these people, Mark and Olly have decided to live with them as members of the community. So far we’ve seen these two Brits high as kites on shamanic medicines, attempting to build canoes out of felled trees and teaching the tribe how to make a proper cup of Earl Grey.
But, the real star of the series this time around has been an accidental cast member. On a hunting exhibition, the tribesmen shot down two wooly monkeys – a father and mother, as it turned out. As they crashed down to the ground from the canopy, their tiny baby fell with them. While the Machigenga had no qualms about eating mom and dad, they decided to keep the baby on as a pet and gave it to Mark with the promise that it would “help him do things” in the village.
As far as I can tell, baby Gianna is mostly interested in helping ratings for the show and being the focus of a web series, “The Adventures of Mark and His Monkey.” It may be the cutest thing imaginable, watching this globetrotting adventurer fall madly in love with a very clever little chattering critter. The fact that she reminds both Kate and I of Bellatrix only adds to the joy of watching these videos every single week after the show.
Luckily, the webisodes are online forever and there’s going to be an all day marathon of “Mark & Olly” this Sunday, starting at 3 pm. I highly recommend tuning in and going head over heels for “Monkeyface,” too.
Another Sunday evening and The Fifth Element is on TBS again. I’d have never guessed, back in 1998 while watching this on HBO (since no one would take me to see it in the theatre) that this movie would become such a mainstay on the TV films circuit.
I’m not complaining of course. This is always a treat to see. Milla Jovovich, Jean-Paul Gaultier, the future – what’s not to love?
I realized that Luc Besson and Milla Jovovich had developed a “Divine Language” for Leelo to speak in the film but I just learned tonight that there’s been an effort to expand and write down this fictitious language. Behold:
The Divine Language (on Blogger)
They are even working on other translations for the dictionary based on languages other than English. It’s like frakkin’ Tolkein shit up in here. Some people are so very motivated by the weirdest things.
I’m glad that they are.
Welcome friends and professionals. I’m glad to report that I’m up and blogging again. You may have noticed the new address – nicholasjsmerker.info. I’ve changed my domain to reflect the fact that I’m doing this on my own now. I hope to really get moving now that I’ve got everything under one umbrella. Thanks for coming by and bear with me while I get things put back in order!