Friday, September 26, 2003

Post World War I - Mediaburn MP3 Selection From 1921 Post World War I - Mediaburn MP3 Selection I love the lassies (1921) by Hart, Chas. (Charles).... I love the lassies (1921) by Hart, Chas. (Charles). [ mp3 ] From The Virtual Gramaphone. [Off On A Tangent] 6:30:37 PM

From the Japanese Blogosphere ��. If you have any interest in recent Japanese movies in general and Takeshi Kitano's in particular, then you might already know that Japanese for fireworks is Hana-bi (��)...... [DrDave's Blog] 4:58:12 PM

A Message From Rob Reiner Dear Gary, Over the past year I met personally with a number of the Democratic presidential contenders. I was searching for a candidate with a lifelong commitment to Democratic values; for a candidate who has faced the challenges of executive leadership and produced results; and for a candidate who would speak the truth and never back down from this president's assault on the values we hold dear. I, like all of you, decided Governor Howard Dean is that candidate. Howard Dean stands proudly on his record of having consistently and fearlessly opposed this president's misguided war and bungled reconstruction in Iraq. During his 11 years as Governor, he balanced every budget, provided health insurance for every child, and cut taxes fairly. Howard Dean stands on his record of leadership, and I stand proudly with Howard Dean. I am writing to ask you to stand with us by contributing to his campaign today: http://www.deanforamerica.com/contributenow In June, when Howard Dean asked all of us for our support, the response was overwhelming. Together we shocked the political world - and put Howard Dean at the front of this race. We came together and sent a message to the political insiders in the only language they understand: money. At the end of the last quarter, we proved that tens of thousands of small donors have the power to make a candidacy viable in the world of big-money politics. In just 5 days, the 3rd quarter will end for Federal Election Commission filing purposes - and once again we are called to demonstrate the depth of our support for Howard Dean. If every single one of us who believes in Howard Dean does something right now, we will again shock the political observers and overwhelm the politics of the few: http://www.deanforamerica.com/contributenow I'm doing everything in my power to support this campaign. Because I have reached the legal limit for personal financial contributions, I'm appealing to you and all of my friends to contribute whatever you can today. If everyone receiving this message gives something right now, we will shake the very foundation of the Bush money-for-influence machine and begin the restoration of honesty and dignity to our political process: http://www.deanforamerica.com/contributenow Please contribute now. Over the next few days, almost every story about the race for president will focus on the end of the fundraising quarter. The political pundits are right about one thing: our strength is in numbers - but not the numbers they watch. Over the past four days more than 19,000 Americans have contributed whatever they can afford to Howard Dean's campaign. The real power derives not from raising the most money, but from the number of people committed to this campaign and the fundamental change it represents. Together we really can take back America. When we recognize that -- and take action -- everything else will follow. Yours sincerely, Rob Reiner California Co-chair Dean for America P.S. Join the largest conference call in political history on September 29. Click here. http://www.deanforamerica.com/housecall 2:14:58 AM

Neil Gaiman The enchanter. With his comic book masterpiece "The Sandman" and his instant-classic children's horror tale, "Coraline," Neil Gaiman has established himself as today's master of fantasy. [Salon.com] 1:32:13 AM

More Words on the 'Bush Political Bubble' Another website on topic is http://www.HarvardWatch.org/ --- Even if he had convinced the public that earlier stories about his $848,560 insider trade, his failure to report it to the SEC, his low-interest loans from Harken to buy company stock (a practice he particularly denounced in his Wall Street speech, as though he had never heard of such an unseemly scam before), and the Enron-esque sale of Aloha Petroleum were all what he described as "recycled stuff," he was still surrounded by bad stories about to break. --- "Bushwhacked!". A new book excerpt traces President Bush's rise from failed oil baron to wealthy Texas governor, courtesy of Daddy's friends. [Salon.com] 1:22:27 AM

Re: Landmark Mark Cuban buys Landmark Theaters. Marc Cuban buys Landmark Theatres, nation's largest art-house chain. Digital media evangelist Mark Cuban -- the serial entrepreneur behind Broadcast.com (sold to Yahoo!), HDNet, and owner of the Dallas Mavericks -- just bought Landmark Theatres. Cuban and longtime business partner Todd Wagner purchased the chain for an undisclosed sum, and say digital projection systems will eventually be introduced in an effort to influence every aspect of filmmaking, from production to display. They already have their own film production company, called 2929 Entertainment, and they own part of Lion's Gate, a film production and distribution company, as well as Magnolia Pictures, an art-house movie company. About 18 months ago they bought Rysher Entertainment, which owns a library of TV shows and movies. Now, with their own movie theaters, "We somewhat control our own destiny," said Wagner in an interview yesterday. "The ultimate goal is to attract more and more filmmakers. If they work with us and we commit to a project, they already know that (their movie) is going to get a certain amount of distribution right out of the box." Link to Seattle Times story, Link to press release. UPDATE: And in a post to the pho list today, Cuban says: "We are going to be vertically integrated with our other companies....and not play by the rules." [Boing Boing Blog] I'm also on the pho list.  Here's some interchange from earlier today.  It starts off with John Parres (Mr. pho list) asking Cuban this question..... > Hmmmm.... how long before NBA away games and other special events are beamed into some of those venues? ;) > JP Cuban replies...... On Behalf Of Mark Cuban Sent: Thursday, September 25, 2003 5:22 PM To: John Parres; pho@onehouse.com Subject: Re: pho: Our Boy Mark That's old, we have already done that, but keep the ideas coming ! So then I, your humble author - add my own 2 cents...... and give him some ideas...... Interactivity baby! Remember the PC? How 'bout the Internet? I say: - a special Landmark "club" which combines:   - social network (ala Tribe.net, Friendster, Ryze)   - personal publishing system for reviews, opinions, recipe exchange, resumes, journals   - MP3 and home movie storage locker   - virtual file system, road warrior, PIM system   - connection to Home LAN to cell phones - basically a "digital lifestyle aggregator" This club gets members: - movie discounts - HD discounts (both HW & SW) - ties into other social networks (and other on-line communities) - tie into other couponing or frequent flyer clubs (Virgin, United, Hertz, Barry Diller-ville, MTV-club) It's time for convergence to bring meatspace to cyberspace. - Marc Canter [Marc's Voice] 12:24:34 AM