senatorhung's pad
ramblings of an information troubleshooter
ramblings of an information troubleshooter
the long weekend continues ...
permalink Sunday, 16APR2006:finished unpacking this round of boxes and got them ready to take back to the old location on tuesday. to reward myself, i attended the easter supper hosted by charlene. i stuffed myself and slept like a log afterwards.
here's a rundown of my picks for desert island discs:
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afraid of losing control
permalink Monday, 17APR2006:the easter long weekend holiday continued into its 4th day, with my list of chores to do at home not getting whittled down any as curtis called to let me know that shawn and kevin were hosting yet another poker match-up. this time, it was just a 4-way, and i gave back everything that i had won a few days earlier, and more to boot. i escaped for a couple of hours to run to the AFN to do my radio show, and then returned to get fished some more. a very bad showing.
thinking on the game afterwards, i must say that i don't really like playing when the blinds are being raised so quickly. online, the blind levels are set at 8 minutes, but the pace is usually quick enough that you at least see and can play a couple of decent hands before doing the all-in gamble. i see a difference between playing poker (being able to analyze a hand to determine if it's still good, determining how much to bet, playing the odds) and gambling (relying on random chance). i prefer to play poker.
today's radio show was completely unscripted due to lack of time and i think the show suffered quite a bit for that. even as i was in the booth, i was thinking that the set of tracks plays much better as a continuous mix than broken up by my pointless ramblings. you can judge for yourself
Aur.Oral Exposures setlist for 16apr2006:
- poet's highway - jr. gone wild
- in my life - chantal kreviazuk
- lone wolf - colin james
- elephant love medley - nicole kidman and ewan mcgregor
- i (heart) shimotsuma - yoko kanno
- let's do it - joan jett and paul westerberg
- one night stand girl - kook girl
- the night has a thousand eyes - anita kelsey
- c'est la nuit - khaled
- this can't be love - diana krall
- begin the bequine - salif keita
- acquired taste - bob kemmis
- the break up song (they don't write 'em) - the greg kihn band
- easy come, easy go (johnny crawford and his dance orchestra)
- if i were you - killjoys
- i'd run away - the jayhawks
- taking it away - the jesus and mary chain
- train - klinix
- si tu veux - kathleen
- don't stop believing - journey
- tightrope - j. church
- seem so tired - jack drag
- you're a star - josie and the pussycats
spiraling into the night
permalink Tuesday, 18APR2006:finished packing the last of the monographs today and took down the last of the shelves that will be moving over. now all that's left is my own office ...
you can see the pad marks where the double-sided shelf bays used to be. a few people remarked that the space didn't seem nearly as big once it was emptied, which just goes to show how efficiently it was originally packed.
in the afternoon, i wandered over to the museum to preview the jewelry collection of the first year NAC arts students. oh, and the governor-general just happened to walk in :) it was a treat to meet her, though i didn't bother to mention my name seeing as i really had nothing to do with the exhibition. the son of another board member did catch her eye and it was amusing to see the kid go from rambunctious to solemn and shy when she addressed him.
in the evening, i stopped in at the legion cadet hall to catch the northern band night. while scheduled to last 2.5 hours, it ended up becoming a 4 hour marathon as technical difficulties and extended setlists began to take its toll on the crowd. by the time the inuit headliner uppitti (?) and his wife from qikiqtarjuaq appeared, half of the crowd had left for the night. those who stayed for the closing act were treated to a rousing finish as the accordion finally brought the dance-averse to their feet.
- link of the day:
'blogging'
in 1918:
"There are whole paragraphs in Belloc's [1918] essay where, if you substitute 'blogs' for 'the Free Press,' you will be struck by the parallels. He notes that the journals of the free press seldom pay their way and that they often suffer from the impediment of 'imperfect information,' simply because it is not in the politicians' interests to speak to them." ... This is an op-ed well worth reading, both for the historical context (history does repeat itself -- it's a spiral rather than a straightforward progression) and for the appreciation of the rediscoveries made possible by the free availability of books out of copyright.
brad's last stand
permalink Thursday, 21APR2006:went to the legion after work today to commemorate brad's final 5:01. unfortunately, our fond farewells were interrupted, not once, but twice by the fire alarm. turns out there was a leak in some gas gauge that the firefighters didn't find on their first go-round. luckily, my rib supper stayed warm and i was able to resume stuffing my face.
warding off the inevitable collapse
permalink Thursday, 20APR2006:even after collapsing into bed yesterday evening right after supper, this morning i was still struggling post-pepsi. with a headache and various obstacles to continuing with my move, i decided to go home early to get a few more hours of shuteye. since i wouldn't be able to move the rest of my library by friday, i figured, what's the rush - why wipe myself out physically to help someone else's schedule ?
prodded to revaluations
permalink Saturday, 22APR2006:though it was a beautiful spring sunny day outside, i went in to work again to begin packing up my office. after a couple of hours i had filled up many boxes, but hadn't seemed to even make a dent in the ratsnest of my office.
i hadn't gone to the legion for a couple of months, but tonight made it 2 nights in a row, as the northern ramblers were opening for jimmie inch's new halifax band 'halifax pier'. i thought i was going early by getting there before 10, but even then i encountered the infamous legion line-up. it was a huge relief to finally get inside the foyer and out of the frigid wind.
after making the rounds of small talk, i moved right up to the side of the dance floor to have live music blast out my eardrums. when i couldn't hear anything more in one ear, i wandered over to the pool room to play a nice friendly game against an opponent who was just toying with me. he let me get 5 balls up on him before he sank everything else on the table in a single skillful run. i thought about sticking around for a re-match, but decided to depart the legion while i was still in a pleasant mood.
when i got home, i re-watched 'bin jip' again for the director's commentary. what did i learn ? first, he shoots all of his scenes in order, filming all of the shots on location and allowing his actors to develop their characters in a naturalistic manner. to keep them on their toes, tho, he also is a fan of making changes on the fly, to take advantage of any last-minute inspirations while shooting. he doesn't do re-takes, but prefers to build something in the editing room from whatever he gets.
on the business side, he prefers to cast unknowns in order to save money and has the crew taking shares of whatever profits result, rather than a salary. before he set up his own production company, he wasn't allowed to choose the musical pieces that he wanted for his films, but finally managed to sneak in his favourite arabic piece into this very-korean film. he despaired that he had a bigger italian audience for his film than he had domestically in korea.
link of the day: chadwick jenkins writes about listening as a confrontation:
The critic rehearses the act of engagement that is fundamental to all experience not to replace our own act of engagement but to show us another. What does the object tell me about my assumptions ? What does it demand of me? Am I willing to pay the price it asks ? What resistance is appropriate? ... The act of listening to music — carefully listening, listening as a form of confrontation, of involvement — is a critical enterprise. Listening to music has many possible purposes and there undoubtedly will be times when we want the sounds to wash over us, to drift among the harmonies without thought and bask in the familiar. But surely that cannot be the only thing (or even the primary thing) we want from music. When we are listening, truly listening, listening as a critic, then we need to confront music that might seem distasteful to us. Such music prods us into revelations; or more properly, revaluations. It asks us to see and hear the world in a way not customary with us. In overcoming it, in coming to an understanding (which is not the same as claiming to have understood), perhaps we overcome ourselves.
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