...useless misc is moving!

I'm sorry for all the confusion this may end up creating, but I'm moving UM from Radio to my own server. This will allow me to control amy blogs I create all from a single tool and websserver.

The new address is: http://www.emaynard.org/uselessmisc/

RSS feed can be found at: http://www.emaynard.org/uselessmisc/index.rdf

I'm still tweaking the templates, but the conversion to the new site is now complete. See you there!

8:43:42 AM      

"...Speaking of bookmarklets, does anyone know how to modify the RadioExpress code so that the resulting post page shows up in another window? I sometimes like to refer to the page I'm linking to while constructing my post. I wonder if the RSS aggregator's Post button could be modified similarly? " [on Radio Free Blogistan]

Joe Jenett answers the call for help:

javascript:Q='';if(top.frames.length==0){if(document.selection)Q=document.selection.createRange().text;else if(document.getSelection)Q=document.getSelection()};void(window.open('http://127.0.0.1:5335/system/pages/radioExpress?t='+escape(Q)+'&u='+escape(location.href)+'&n='+escape(document.title)));

...cool tool Joe!

9:25:18 PM      

A vignetted look at the pivotal moment in one woman's life.  simple...and...true

8:07:38 PM      

How could I forget?  My 'media' weekend also included my first viewing of Run Lola Run. 

This is one of those fast paced, on the edge, what-the-heck-just-happened  type of films.

I rented this sucker at least twice before, but finally watched it on IFC last Sat. night for free,  imagine.

7:52:48 PM      

"If Dell launches these babies for say $200, it might do very well with them. But we suspect they'll be a bit more than that, don't you?"

Damn.  I wish they were $200 - I'd have one for work... one for home... and one for.... well you get the picture.

7:37:49 PM      

Movable Type 2.5 released. Ben and Mena Trott today released version 2.5 of Movable Type on the one-year anniversary of its initial release.  [via Radio Free Blogistan]

Cool!  Maybe sometime this weekend I can find time to finish that family blog I've been working on.

8:00:32 AM      

I'm reading Gibson... again.  This time his last three books - in reverse order for no real reason.  I just happen to pick up a copy of All Tommorrow's about a month ago and then read a couple of reviews mentioning the connection to Idoru and Virtual Light.  So now... I'm reading Idoru.  I'm about 1/2 done.  Gibson is a real easy read. 

"Idoru lacks ambition. Just when Neal Stephenson is reaching out further into the future with The Diamond Age, Gibson pulls back into a closer, blander tomorrow. And loses his lyrical style and plot originality at the same time. Both of which were still strongly evident in Virtual Light. " The Poet Hiccups - a review of William Gibson's Idoru

I'm not sure what lyrical style The Poet is looking for, but I believe the story to be pretty solid so far.  Perhaps, all the hub-bub over the being the "father" (man, I would hate that label if it hung on me) of cyber-punk is just too much for some people to stomach. 

Personally, I can't speak for the reference to Stephenson (i'll add him to THE list though),  but I do lean toward agreeing with this review on WIRED - Gibson's 'blander tomorrow' is really today reflecting back...

Gibson claims he does not write about the future. His novels, he maintains, are reflections of the present.

Check out the words of Gibson himself (if you're interested), in this Salon article.  It offers some insight into Idoru as well.

I wonder... am I enjoying these stories because I'm reading them in reverse order written?  Maybe that's the key... or maybe, I just simply like Gibson's 'bland' style.

Next up... Virtual Light.  After that my wife's got a vote in for Timeline by Chrichton.  She's neck deep in quantum theory as spun by one of mainstream fiction's masters.  I love it.

8:27:23 PM      

Asimov. catchy acoustic pop/rock fans

All their songs were recorded at home in their livingroom. The music is surprisingly good and definitely worth a listen.

- trippedwire at 5:40 PM on October 06 2002

 [via Emergent Music]

I agree.  This song is a melancholy filled trip into oblivion... i like the organ at the beginning - nice touch.

I'm for sure giving the other 10 songs on their site a listen as well.

7:19:46 PM      

Several enhancements at Blogrolling.com

• backup files
• add to Radio

Good stuff!

7:01:11 PM      

"It isn't exciting. Terri and I have worked very hard to make it that way, and I'm damn glad it isn't. What it is, is home."

Poetry, my friend...pure poetry.

6:49:41 PM      

nf0 (josh cooper). I agree awesome movie. I was reluctant to watch it because i suspected it was a chick flick, and boy was I wrong. This is one that i wouldn't mind watching again in a few months.

I'm still trying to rationalize that pivotal scene where he's taken into "professional" care.  Was there a clue there?

I'm definitely going to have to see it again just to make sure I didn't miss something hidden there that might have forshadowed the events that follow directly.   A Beautiful Film any way you look at it - very insightful.

6:36:35 PM      

Gnews2RSS at VoidStar.com

"Search Google News and get the results in RSS format. A neat tool, but not guaranteed by its author. I did a test run and it seemed to work fine. The headlines plus content are available. Let's hope it sticks around for awhile. [Library Stuff, thanks to Library Techlog]

Score another find for Matthew and Steven! It's working for me, too. [Via The Shifted Librarian]

Too damn cool!

6:05:25 PM      

Catching up on my movie watching now that I have the time...

An arresting Japanese model seeks to indulge her fantasy of having calligraphy inked on her body, a whim based partly on her father's habit of painting poetry on her face when she was a girl and partly on readings from the 10th-century erotica tome "The Pillow Book." But the tables are turned when she meets a bisexual English translator who wants to be her canvas instead. An assault on the senses in the best Greenaway tradition, featuring frames-within-frames, elaborate costuming and production design, painterly shot composition, and utterly frank scenes of nudity and violence.

Wow!  Erotic body painting and frank scenes of nudity... balanced with an artsy shooting style.  Very interesting to watch, but perhaps a bit longer than it needed to be.  I've been this 'eastern' cultural kick since The Matrix and Crouching Tiger.  Movies like this and W. Gibson's novels are just more fuel for the fire.

7:39:20 PM      

"A deeply troubled small town cop investigates a suspicious hunting death while events occur that cause him to mentally disintergrate."

Excellent acting... a descent into madness that I bought into hook, line and sinker.

7:24:46 PM      

"Directed by David Veloz Writing credits (WGA) Jerry Stahl (book) David Veloz (screenplay)"

Though the extremely large amount of drug use might a bit too much swallow (pun intended i guess) the acting is just incredible.

8:05:31 PM      

Just finished reading Gibson's All Tomorrow's Parties this past weekend.

I found it a very enjoyable and easy read thanks to Gibson's usual "blunt" writing style.   I guess I really can't  agree with the majority of the reviews on Amazon, as I have not read the prior novels that this book supposedly brings togther.   Perhaps, that's why I was able to really enjoy it as I didn't have any pre-concieved notions of 'sequel' as I dived in to the  storyline and subplots being weaved together. 

In defense of Gibson, a Salon.com article had this to say which I find myself agreeing with:

"...Gibson has trouble making his endings as vivid and precise as all the details leading up to them, and "All Tomorrow's Parties" suffers in this respect. The ultimate conflict has to do with introducing nanotechnology....Outrunning the future can be tough in the digital age. You have to hand it to Gibson for managing, once more, to stay at least one step ahead."

Although not a complete letdown, the ending did leave more than a few questions left unanswered.   Open options on another book perhaps?

8:33:40 AM