Wednesday, November 13, 2002

I started to collect the financing for my studies today.  I know that I should have done this months ago, but I didn't feel like getting a bunch of loans and then having to unwind everything should I have failed to meet the language requirements.  With that out of the way, it's much easier. Thankfully, Tanya provided a marvelous financing guide.  I copied her instructions and have followed them carefully.  I really owe her dinner for this, and she doesn't even know it yet.   11:02:20 PM    comment []

Last night I went to the film "Comedian".  I went there expecting a few laughs during a somewhat commercial production, but walked out inspired and enlightened.  It's one of the best movies I've seen this year. The story revolves around Jerry Seinfeld as he recreates his standup routine from zero.  Literally zero.  He threw away every single piece of comedic material that he had ever used and started from scratch.  Apparently, this is something that comics never do, as evinced by the wide-eyed stares of other performers who are impressed when they find out what he is doing.  Jerry starts out by doing five-minute performances in New York City's comedy clubs and gradually builds his routine, minute by minute, joke by joke.  It is a painful, nightmarish process that is not without its share of crash-and-burn performances.  But he perseveres and works his way back to doing marathon, hour-long sessions by the film's end. For me, the power of the film comes from seeing someone who is widely recognized at the zenith of their career, a veritable master of the craft, rebuild his career and reputation from point zero.  What was he to do, after making more money than he would ever spend, and having his own record-breaking television show?  Start from scratch and do it again.  That's incredible courage, and it shows throughout.   9:04:18 PM    comment []

Delta gets it. About six months ago, the passenger to my right informs me, Delta Airlines installed the new information system that I just experienced for the first time at La Guardia airport this morning. It's one of the most effective uses of information technology I have ever seen. Even if you don't usually fly Delta (as I don't), you might want to wander by one of their gates next time you're in an airport and check it out. Air travel still sucks, of course, but Delta earns my eternal gratitude for a brilliant application that makes it suck less. ... [Jon's Radio] As a Delta Shuttle commuter, I heartily agree with Jon's observations.  Finally, some airline IT that works! 6:52:22 PM    comment []

I love Radio, and I just found my first feature request.  After spending a half hour writing a post, I clicked the "Publish" button... which publishes the content but doesn't post what you just typed.  This wouldn't be so bad if your post remained in the input form, but unfortunately it just disappears. I suppose, at 30 minutes of my time, it was a good (ie. not expensive) lesson, but it seems to me that you shouldn't be able to do that without some kind of warning. 12:35:15 PM    comment []