April 2006

fernando.dubtribe.com
Most amazing web page search I’ve seen!

Having followed a link from kottke.org to a converstaion between Errol Morris and Adam Curtis, I stumbled across a wonderful short film made by Errol for the opening of the Oscars in 2002 (I think…..)
In a brief exchange, Jerry Brown (Mayor of Oakland, CA) says:

Jerry: Movies are an escape.
Interviewer: Just an escape?
Jerry: Well what’s wrong with that? That’s quite a lot.

Movies are exactly that. An escape.
The difference between great moves and other movies is that a great movie gives you something to take back to reality.

A personal example:
From Jim Jarmusch’s Ghost Dog

There is something to be learned from a rainstorm. When
meeting with a sudden shower, you try not to get wet and run
quickly along the road. But doing such things as passing under
the eaves of houses, you still get wet. When you are resolved
from the beginning, you will not be perplexed, though you still
get the same soaking. This understanding extends to everything.

This is actually from the Hagakure (the book of the Samurai, available to download here).
This single paragraph of text (and its significance and importance within the film) not only changed my understanding of the film, but my understanding of life (made it a better film second time around too).

Just a small example of the power of movies.

Technorati Tags: hagakure, movies, undulattice

From Blogorrhea Junior

Constantly bombarded as we are by the media with uncited cultural references, stuff creeps in. And sticks. How often have you spouted some clever signature line from a show you love? It works the same way with voracious readers. Ask any author how easy it is to escape one’s influences. I guarantee they’ll hiss at you and reach for the whiskey.

Applies to all things in life.

Blogorrhea also has a link to a site containing before and after 9/11 photos.
Very surreal. I think I prefer the landscape without them (from an aesthetic viewpoint, not in a cold and unfeeling way).

This time, from film critic Jim Emerson. His list of 102 films you must see is copied below with an asterisk next to the ones I’ve seen (a la Jason Kottke)

* 2001: A Space Odyssey
* The 400 Blows
* 8 1/2
Aguirre, the Wrath of God
* Alien
* All About Eve
* Annie Hall
* Apocalypse Now
* Bambi
* The Battleship Potemkin
The Best Years of Our Lives
The Big Red One
The Bicycle Thief
* The Big Sleep
* Blade Runner
Blowup
* Blue Velvet
* Bonnie and Clyde
Breathless
Bringing Up Baby
* Carrie
* Casablanca
Un Chien Andalou
Children of Paradise / Les Enfants du Paradis
* Chinatown
* Citizen Kane
* A Clockwork Orange
* The Crying Game
* The Day the Earth Stood Still
* Days of Heaven
* Dirty Harry
The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie
Do the Right Thing
La Dolce Vita
* Double Indemnity
* Dr. Strangelove
* Duck Soup
* E.T. — The Extra-Terrestrial
* Easy Rider
* The Empire Strikes Back
* The Exorcist
* Fargo
* Fight Club
* Frankenstein
* The General
* The Godfather, The Godfather, Part II
* Gone With the Wind
* GoodFellas
* The Graduate
* Halloween
* A Hard Day’s Night
Intolerance
It’s a Gift
* It’s a Wonderful Life
* Jaws
The Lady Eve
* Lawrence of Arabia
* M (This is one of my favourite films of all time…..)
* Mad Max 2 / The Road Warrior
* The Maltese Falcon
* The Manchurian Candidate
* Metropolis
Modern Times
* Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Nashville
* The Night of the Hunter
* Night of the Living Dead
* North by Northwest
* Nosferatu
* On the Waterfront
* Once Upon a Time in the West
Out of the Past
Persona
Pink Flamingos
*Psycho
* Pulp Fiction
* Rashomon (or indeed anything directed by Akira Kurosawa)
* Rear Window
* Rebel Without a Cause
Red River
Repulsion
The Rules of the Game
* Scarface
* The Scarlet Empress
* Schindler’s List
* The Searchers
* The Seven Samurai
* Singin’ in the Rain
* Some Like It Hot
A Star Is Born
* A Streetcar Named Desire
* Sunset Boulevard
* Taxi Driver
* The Third Man
* Tokyo Story
* Touch of Evil
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
Trouble in Paradise
* Vertigo
West Side Story
* The Wild Bunch
* The Wizard of Oz

So that’s 75 out of 102. There are a few films on there I’d not heard of so i reckon I’m going to have to find some DVDs to watch!
It’s nice to see two Kurosawa films on the list. I’ve yet to see a film he’s made that I haven’t liked, and I’ve seen about 19 so far. My personal favourite is Red Beard which should have made the list, but hey, can’t have everything!

Technorati Tags: movies, undulattice

From NY Daily News.

Denise Richards fears her estranged husband, Charlie Sheen, may have had a hand in the death of a porn star and alleged hooker who ratted him out to a tabloid last year, court papers reveal.

In a bombshell sworn declaration, ex-Bond Girl Richards says she flat-out asked Sheen, 40, if he had anything to do with sex star Chloe Jones’ death — and he didn’t deny it.

Technorati Tags: movies, undulattice

From Daily UNIX Fortune

She sells cshs by the cshore.

Sorry. Couldn’t resist!

It is widely known that the Airport card that ships with a MacBook Pro supports 802.11b and 802.11g wireless networks. It also has support 802.11a networks, though this feature is undocumented and is not supported by Apple or Applecare.

Technorati Tags: apple, mac, macbook pro, network, undulattice

Apple have announced the addition of the 17″ MacBook Pro to their Intel based range.
Specs include Firewire 800 and a Double Layer 8x Superdrive, which were both missing in the 15″ MacBook Pro. It also has an additional USB 2.0 port.

You also get the option of up(down)grading from a 120gb 5400rpm hard drive to a 100gb 7200rpm hard drive. Personally I’d go for speed over space!

It’s expensive though, about £200 more expensive than a 17″ Powerbook (which have been discontinued and are no longer available from the Apple Store)

Technorati Tags: apple, mac, macbook pro, undulattice

From the Smashing Pumpkins website.

It’s official, The Smashing Pumpkins are currently writing songs for their upcoming album, their first since 2000. No release date has yet been set, but the band plans to begin recording this summer.

Let’s hope it marks a return to form.

Technorati Tags: music, smahing pumpkins, undulattice

Posted on MacSerendipity

Well I will start off by saying that my work Colleague Mr undulattice will be the first to jump to the fore and say hey this guy knows nothing, nothing I say about music. He will then pull out his 76 string guitar and prove his point

I am a very fond of my strings (currently owning three 12 string acoustics, two 6 string acoustics, one 6 string electric, and two hammered dulcimers - approx 225 strings in total!) but a 76 string guitar might be pushing it a little.

42 strings is the most I’ve seen on a guitar, which is the Manzer Pikasso

In 1984 Pat Metheny asked me to design and build a guitar with ” as many strings as possible” The resulting collaboration was the Pikasso guitar.

SPECIAL FEATURES

Four necks. Two sound holes. Two access doors; one on the upper player’s side and one atthe tail block. ( based on a panel door design by the brilliant -Abraham Wechter)

The “WEDGE” TM1984 is a special feature I designed specifically for this instrument. The body is tapered so that the side closest to the player is thinner than the side that rests on the players knee, thus leaning the top back towards the player for a more aerial view. This is also more comfortable under the player’s arm.

Now THAT is too many strings!

Technorati Tags: guitar, music, undulattice