This weekend saw, a la The Matrix, the advent stream of a variety of numbers whose varied significance is worth noting within the ebb and flow of our lives:
1: The number of hours we had to set our clocks ahead (3, another number, weeks early). Yawn.
4: The Final Four tournament, aka March Madness, is now locked in and ready to proceed;
300: The number of Spartans desperately defending their homeland in the Zack Snyder-directed, Frank Miller-authored story of the Battle of Thermopylae in 480 BC (yet another number). And while we're at it, the number 1 represents where this film landed in box office earnings (translated to yet another number, 70,000,000). That's a lot of zeros. I haven't seen it but it looks bitchin' -- and despite the lousy reviews, that's not relevant to me. After all, the one thing that the aforementioned 300 Spartans can't confront are critics.
25: The number of games Islander forward Chris Simon was suspensed by the NHL for his stick attack on the Rangers' Ryan Hollweg. The last two major on-ice incidents (involving, respectively, Steve Moore and Todd Bertuzzi and Marty McSorley and Donald Brashear) resulted each in suspensions of 23 games. What's next, the NHL bans the offending player for life? Mr. Simon's ban, by the way, will cost him another number: $82,000. That's not nearly enough zeros.
5: The number of days until my birthday. More importantly, the number 3 -- the number of days until Kaia gets into NYC.
Of the aforementioned numbers, there's only one that concerns me; the rest are just plain-ol' digits. Any others I'm missing, please let me know :)
Monday, March 12, 2007
Thursday, March 08, 2007
One Swing, Out!
The majority of readers who happen by these parts don't partake in the NHL. Hockey is, when looking at the big picture, the red-headed stepchild that doesn't get to go to the dance. Yet for me, despite my love for baseball, football and even basketball, the truth is that hockey -- even insignificant games early in the pro season -- can be more exciting than anything the "Big Three" sports have to offer.
Tonight, however, was a different story. Regional rivalries -- like the Yankees and Mets in New York, the Cubs and White Sox in Chicago, and the Rangers and the Devils (and the Islanders) in New York, permeate and flavor whatever otherwise vanilla aspirations early-season games may offer, resulting in a variety of memorable moments, some for reasons better than others.
Tonight's game between the New York Rangers and the New York Islanders was a late-season game with significant playoff implications. As a result, the terse, palpable pressure that normally fills the ice and the stands, especially in a match-up between these two teams, was ratcheted up a notch or five.
So late in the game, when the Rangers' Ryan Hollweg checked the Islanders' Chris Simon (a former Ranger) into the boards, Simon returned to his feet and readied himself. When Hollweg spun back towards Simon to check him again, Simon suddenly snapped and swung his stick as if he was chopping down a tree. The shaft of his stick caught Hollweg in the mouth, dropping him instantly, and immediately the referees sprinted to Simon to insure he wouldn't be attacked by the balance of the Ranger players on the ice. They were a bit late, but managed to prevent further carnage.
Why is this such a significant incident in the otherwise storied history between these two teams?
For one, Chris Simon is -- not surprisingly -- known as a "goon." That means he is not on the ice per se for his skating, passing and/or shooting skills but instead for his proclivity and his skill in the art of beating the shit out of players wearing another team's sweater. The "art" -- if you will -- of fighting in hockey is alive and well, but for the wrong reasons.
Without going into too much detail, the game of hockey has and always will be policed by its players. That means that if a guy on their team hits a guy on your team in a way that most players consider a cheap shot, someone will return the favor and hit that player in a similar manner. It's the age-old notion of an eye for an eye, or two wrongs make a right. It doesn't make much sense, mind you; but there are plenty of occasions when the referees don't see marginal or line-crossing plays, and the players send messages to one another, player by player and team by team. The notion of violence begatting violence is never more present than on the ice during a typical NHL game. The thought process, however, is not to instill violence in the game, but rather prevent it with the threat of retaliation. Think power as its own deterrent, like the immense arms race which showed two sides -- Washington and Moscow -- building and arming so many nuclear weapons that each side painted itself into a corner. Hockey violence is the same; some guy takes advantage of a smaller player, and some other guy -- a team member of that smaller player -- will come along and do the same thing to the guy who took advantage of his teammates.
Why is all this valid? Because hockey has and accepted its own culture of retaliation and redemption. There's nothing finer than scoring a game-winner in overtime after some guy takes a whack at you and watches you score the winner from the penalty box.
Problem is, by inviting and condoning violence in the game, that means that sometimes players go too far. Like tonight.
Had Chris Simon's stick hit Ryan Hollweg about six to twelve inches lower, it could have damaged Hollweg's ability to breathe and might have very well killed him. And for what? For a relatively hard but clean body-check? After the game, when Chris Simon was interviewed, he acknowledged his action -- and the subsequent, instant removal of him from the game -- guaranteed he'd face a long suspension from the NHL. What had happened, however, if his clothes-line of Ryan Hollweg actually was fatal?
Any time I watch cartoon violence -- the Roadrunner and Wiley Coyote; Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd; the World Wresting Federation; or the Bobby Brown/Whitney Houston reality show -- it's designed to titilate but in a humorous, entertaining way. Seeing Chris Simon swing at Ryan Hollweg's head reminded me that all the clean hitting during the game are part of the game, and Simon's action was really repulsive. I've been on the receiving end of some of those types of cheap shots and dirty actions. I've gotten slew-footed, tripped, checked and hit with elbows and cross-checked into the boards, other players and the opposing goaltender. I've also returned the favor on occasion, although a guy on my old team, "Meat," used to insure no one messed with us, even though on occasion other teams occasionally did.
But seeing what I saw tonight reminded me that players who normally remain poised and in control aren't always able to bottle their emotions and know how their actions could not only injure but really hurt.
It's closer to the edge, if not over the edge completely.
Tonight, however, was a different story. Regional rivalries -- like the Yankees and Mets in New York, the Cubs and White Sox in Chicago, and the Rangers and the Devils (and the Islanders) in New York, permeate and flavor whatever otherwise vanilla aspirations early-season games may offer, resulting in a variety of memorable moments, some for reasons better than others.
Tonight's game between the New York Rangers and the New York Islanders was a late-season game with significant playoff implications. As a result, the terse, palpable pressure that normally fills the ice and the stands, especially in a match-up between these two teams, was ratcheted up a notch or five.
So late in the game, when the Rangers' Ryan Hollweg checked the Islanders' Chris Simon (a former Ranger) into the boards, Simon returned to his feet and readied himself. When Hollweg spun back towards Simon to check him again, Simon suddenly snapped and swung his stick as if he was chopping down a tree. The shaft of his stick caught Hollweg in the mouth, dropping him instantly, and immediately the referees sprinted to Simon to insure he wouldn't be attacked by the balance of the Ranger players on the ice. They were a bit late, but managed to prevent further carnage.
Why is this such a significant incident in the otherwise storied history between these two teams?
For one, Chris Simon is -- not surprisingly -- known as a "goon." That means he is not on the ice per se for his skating, passing and/or shooting skills but instead for his proclivity and his skill in the art of beating the shit out of players wearing another team's sweater. The "art" -- if you will -- of fighting in hockey is alive and well, but for the wrong reasons.
Without going into too much detail, the game of hockey has and always will be policed by its players. That means that if a guy on their team hits a guy on your team in a way that most players consider a cheap shot, someone will return the favor and hit that player in a similar manner. It's the age-old notion of an eye for an eye, or two wrongs make a right. It doesn't make much sense, mind you; but there are plenty of occasions when the referees don't see marginal or line-crossing plays, and the players send messages to one another, player by player and team by team. The notion of violence begatting violence is never more present than on the ice during a typical NHL game. The thought process, however, is not to instill violence in the game, but rather prevent it with the threat of retaliation. Think power as its own deterrent, like the immense arms race which showed two sides -- Washington and Moscow -- building and arming so many nuclear weapons that each side painted itself into a corner. Hockey violence is the same; some guy takes advantage of a smaller player, and some other guy -- a team member of that smaller player -- will come along and do the same thing to the guy who took advantage of his teammates.
Why is all this valid? Because hockey has and accepted its own culture of retaliation and redemption. There's nothing finer than scoring a game-winner in overtime after some guy takes a whack at you and watches you score the winner from the penalty box.
Problem is, by inviting and condoning violence in the game, that means that sometimes players go too far. Like tonight.
Had Chris Simon's stick hit Ryan Hollweg about six to twelve inches lower, it could have damaged Hollweg's ability to breathe and might have very well killed him. And for what? For a relatively hard but clean body-check? After the game, when Chris Simon was interviewed, he acknowledged his action -- and the subsequent, instant removal of him from the game -- guaranteed he'd face a long suspension from the NHL. What had happened, however, if his clothes-line of Ryan Hollweg actually was fatal?
Any time I watch cartoon violence -- the Roadrunner and Wiley Coyote; Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd; the World Wresting Federation; or the Bobby Brown/Whitney Houston reality show -- it's designed to titilate but in a humorous, entertaining way. Seeing Chris Simon swing at Ryan Hollweg's head reminded me that all the clean hitting during the game are part of the game, and Simon's action was really repulsive. I've been on the receiving end of some of those types of cheap shots and dirty actions. I've gotten slew-footed, tripped, checked and hit with elbows and cross-checked into the boards, other players and the opposing goaltender. I've also returned the favor on occasion, although a guy on my old team, "Meat," used to insure no one messed with us, even though on occasion other teams occasionally did.
But seeing what I saw tonight reminded me that players who normally remain poised and in control aren't always able to bottle their emotions and know how their actions could not only injure but really hurt.
It's closer to the edge, if not over the edge completely.
Tuesday, March 06, 2007
Goin' Mobile
Much like the Who song from 30+ years ago, today marks the first HoB post composed and uploaded via BlackBerry. Normally I'm one of the first adopters of technology, but Blackberry (aka Crackberry) never really blew my skirt up until I realized that it's less than $45 a month for the service, nearly perfect, and will allow me to get twice as much done in half the time while out and about, which, if you've been paying attention, is fairly often. What I really like is the fact this one, the 8800, doesn't come with a camera or games, just applications for e-mail, the net and office-related productivity. It automatically downloads all my e-mail so I can avoid 20 minute conversations with clients where a thirty-second e-mail would suffice, and so on. It's a new toy, but really it's anything but. In other words, me rikey ;-)
Oops...this is my stop...more to come...
-B-
Oops...this is my stop...more to come...
-B-
Saturday, March 03, 2007
What Would You Say...
Finally, a weekend arrives to satiate my sanity...
March 1st, our filing deadline, came upon us like it always does -- full speed without remorse or pity. Thankfully, like the well-oiled machine we are, we managed to get everything -- or nearly everything -- submitted to the City without too many bumps along the way. Since this deadline isn't directly tied into my specific end of the business, I had some other stuff to juggle on the side, but it turns out that the City agency with which I deal on a regular basis relocated within their building so they were basically in lockdown mode, meaning they didn't have much contact with the public over the past month, so as a result I was able to devote nearly all of my attention to helping out with the office deadline.
And while we got everything in, as I indicated above, now that it's past and we hit our mark, I get to go back to my regular, day-to-day existence of dealing with the agency that keeps me busy. They were, realistically, out of touch for about a week, but between the phone numbers changing, the physical move they underwent and the quasi-chaotic nature of that kind of relocation, they haven't missed me any more than I missed them while I focused full-throttle on the deadline. Now that we're finished, they're -- hopefully -- back to their normal, everyday operation and this speed-bump was a well-timed respite for us all.
Meanwhile, there's lots happening in and around my world. Kaia has been balls-to-the-wall planning for her event tonight, and it looks like it will be a big success. There's lots of little details to handle, as there always seems to be with parties of that magnitude, and while we haven't been able to spend as much time devoted to one another as we normally do, I understand as I know how the last few days before a big event become filled with frenetic, urgent, nonsensical bullshit. When we throw one of our parties, it's 150 people in relax mode, just looking to have fun; on her end, this party will be over ten times that, replete with issues that have to be handled with an entire security staff (we have four security people), a series of rooms and areas (we have one giant room), and bracelets indicating which ticket level attendees have purchased (we have two levels -- either you paid to get in or you didn't, in which case hit the pavement, Spanky). My point is, despite the fact that our parties don't approach the significance of the one she's handling for tonight, I understand how much goes into pulling it off -- no matter the magnitude -- so instead of petulantly complaining about her being so busy, it's all I can do to try and keep her sane ahead of the actual arrival of guests, and the guest of honor. Remarkably, she's kept it together really well, and while we've commiserated about what's been happening, she's keeping her eye on the prize with her usual poise and aplomb, so while our together-time has suffered, I'm actually really proud of how much she's accomplished despite the hurdles and the bullshit she's faced.
In other news, our business cell service has been a source of quasi-aggravation. Verizon, our cell provider, has somehow managed to sneak charges onto our bill and while we don't pore over each monthly statement they furnish to us, we recently got a bill that was about 20% higher than usual, so I spent a couple hours going through it with Skippy, the Verizon Wireless account rep. Sure 'nuff, they had a variety of little charges that had no business being on our account, like roadside assistance (for $10 a month they -- in theory -- will allow the user to get gas delivered to them if they run out and credit for towing of 50 miles). It's really a nice idea -- except they stuck it on an account for someone who lives in NYC, doesn't own a car and takes road trips three times a year, if at all. So that came off pronto.
On top of that, they added similarly useless stuff onto my father's cell package, so now he can send unlimited text messages and enjoy V-Cast (a sort of multi-media broadcast package). Except he doesn't know what a text message is, let alone how to send one, and has no interest in V-Cast, let alone any interest in learning to use it. So that came off as well.
Then there's my sister's phone, which is about two years old and in need of replacement. So sometime this week we'll go to a Verizon store and procure her a new one, probably the Motorola KRZR, which is like a taller, thinner Razor. We'll address that in the next few days.
And then there's my situation. Odds are that, with my phone expiring later in the month (on my birthday, actually), and my battery dwindling so much that I barely make it through a day without having to recharge, I'm probably going to go with a Blackberry. I spoke to some of my friends who have Motorola Q dataphones, and they all have a lot of positive things to say about them. But when I spoke to a Verizon tech guy, he told me to wait six months because of all the bugs and problems they've been having with them. So it looks like Blackberry will be the way to go. As a result, I've had to convert all my data from the Palm Desktop to Microsoft Outlook -- no simple step, actually -- in anticipation of the new Blackberry. Incidentally, the concept -- at least for me -- behind getting a Blackberry is simple: I'm spending shitloads of time outside the office seeing clients, inspecting buildings on-site, and spending more and more time at City agencies, and having Blackberry means I can communicate with the office, and, more importantly, clients, without having to be on the phone all the time. I can e-mail with updates, receive e-mail, and keep myself and the office in the loop of what I'm doing, where I'm at, where I'm going and handle the impromptu emergency that pops up. It's true that I could do all that with any regular cell phone, but the difference is that having it all stream to me via a Blackberry -- in writing -- means I can keep it all organized, scheduled and efficient, and reduce the number of minutes I need to be on the phone, which leaves me to focus more on the actual day-to-day stuff I need to address. The other nice thing is that, while having a BB won't enable me to surf all over the Internet, I will be able -- on the fly -- to access the City websites I use on a daily basis, so I'll be able to keep tabs on everything I need to see/hear/know without having to call my office for updated info. I keep my soon-to-be retired Palm relatively current, but since that's been giving me issues as well -- the Palm itself has, since I got it two years ago, been quasi-unreliable but now the hardware is nearly shot -- getting a Blackberry will also allow me to keep all my office data -- contacts, datebook, spreadsheets and files/attachments -- handy and available 24-7.
Inasmuch as I'm looking forward to getting one of these devices, I know that in six months -- if not sooner -- there will be something that will be better, slicker and easier to use than the unit I'm getting that I'll want to procure. However, more and more, I'm seeing that the device I'm using is increasingly irrelevant; it's all about staying in constant communication with the office, with clients and with City people. And having a BB -- even one without a camera, without an mp-3 player and without voice recording -- will enable me to do that. So I'm kinda jazzed.
Finally, to come full circle, I spoke with a friend who advised me that she discovered one of her semi-ex's -- someone with whom she dated briefly but with whom she never got seriously involved -- was hired on a semi-temporary basis to be one of the doormen in her building. When I initially heard this, I was floored by how ironic it was/is that this was happening. But after some time to reflect, I actually think it's a good idea; most doormen are relatively friendly but they have ulterior motives: most do as much as they can to help various residents based on the eventual tips they expect to receive therefrom on Christmas. So having a semi-ex -- especially one with whom the relationship ended in a relatively friendly, amicable way -- as a doorman might seem awkward and difficult but, overall, not too bad a development. Although, I'll admit my hypocrisy and confess that if an ex of mine -- one specific one, not any thereof -- happened to move to my building, I'd move that same day. But in this particular situation, the irony is more humorous than anything else. Suffice to say that the irony is mostly humorous to people that don't have to experience it firsthand.
Finally, based on the fact that the weather seems to have warmed up in a big way in NYC, so I'm looking forward to going outside and play. Chicago's got snow, parts of Cali have rain, and the south/midwest have tornadoes...and New York is 45 and sunny. Go figure.
March 1st, our filing deadline, came upon us like it always does -- full speed without remorse or pity. Thankfully, like the well-oiled machine we are, we managed to get everything -- or nearly everything -- submitted to the City without too many bumps along the way. Since this deadline isn't directly tied into my specific end of the business, I had some other stuff to juggle on the side, but it turns out that the City agency with which I deal on a regular basis relocated within their building so they were basically in lockdown mode, meaning they didn't have much contact with the public over the past month, so as a result I was able to devote nearly all of my attention to helping out with the office deadline.
And while we got everything in, as I indicated above, now that it's past and we hit our mark, I get to go back to my regular, day-to-day existence of dealing with the agency that keeps me busy. They were, realistically, out of touch for about a week, but between the phone numbers changing, the physical move they underwent and the quasi-chaotic nature of that kind of relocation, they haven't missed me any more than I missed them while I focused full-throttle on the deadline. Now that we're finished, they're -- hopefully -- back to their normal, everyday operation and this speed-bump was a well-timed respite for us all.
Meanwhile, there's lots happening in and around my world. Kaia has been balls-to-the-wall planning for her event tonight, and it looks like it will be a big success. There's lots of little details to handle, as there always seems to be with parties of that magnitude, and while we haven't been able to spend as much time devoted to one another as we normally do, I understand as I know how the last few days before a big event become filled with frenetic, urgent, nonsensical bullshit. When we throw one of our parties, it's 150 people in relax mode, just looking to have fun; on her end, this party will be over ten times that, replete with issues that have to be handled with an entire security staff (we have four security people), a series of rooms and areas (we have one giant room), and bracelets indicating which ticket level attendees have purchased (we have two levels -- either you paid to get in or you didn't, in which case hit the pavement, Spanky). My point is, despite the fact that our parties don't approach the significance of the one she's handling for tonight, I understand how much goes into pulling it off -- no matter the magnitude -- so instead of petulantly complaining about her being so busy, it's all I can do to try and keep her sane ahead of the actual arrival of guests, and the guest of honor. Remarkably, she's kept it together really well, and while we've commiserated about what's been happening, she's keeping her eye on the prize with her usual poise and aplomb, so while our together-time has suffered, I'm actually really proud of how much she's accomplished despite the hurdles and the bullshit she's faced.
In other news, our business cell service has been a source of quasi-aggravation. Verizon, our cell provider, has somehow managed to sneak charges onto our bill and while we don't pore over each monthly statement they furnish to us, we recently got a bill that was about 20% higher than usual, so I spent a couple hours going through it with Skippy, the Verizon Wireless account rep. Sure 'nuff, they had a variety of little charges that had no business being on our account, like roadside assistance (for $10 a month they -- in theory -- will allow the user to get gas delivered to them if they run out and credit for towing of 50 miles). It's really a nice idea -- except they stuck it on an account for someone who lives in NYC, doesn't own a car and takes road trips three times a year, if at all. So that came off pronto.
On top of that, they added similarly useless stuff onto my father's cell package, so now he can send unlimited text messages and enjoy V-Cast (a sort of multi-media broadcast package). Except he doesn't know what a text message is, let alone how to send one, and has no interest in V-Cast, let alone any interest in learning to use it. So that came off as well.
Then there's my sister's phone, which is about two years old and in need of replacement. So sometime this week we'll go to a Verizon store and procure her a new one, probably the Motorola KRZR, which is like a taller, thinner Razor. We'll address that in the next few days.
And then there's my situation. Odds are that, with my phone expiring later in the month (on my birthday, actually), and my battery dwindling so much that I barely make it through a day without having to recharge, I'm probably going to go with a Blackberry. I spoke to some of my friends who have Motorola Q dataphones, and they all have a lot of positive things to say about them. But when I spoke to a Verizon tech guy, he told me to wait six months because of all the bugs and problems they've been having with them. So it looks like Blackberry will be the way to go. As a result, I've had to convert all my data from the Palm Desktop to Microsoft Outlook -- no simple step, actually -- in anticipation of the new Blackberry. Incidentally, the concept -- at least for me -- behind getting a Blackberry is simple: I'm spending shitloads of time outside the office seeing clients, inspecting buildings on-site, and spending more and more time at City agencies, and having Blackberry means I can communicate with the office, and, more importantly, clients, without having to be on the phone all the time. I can e-mail with updates, receive e-mail, and keep myself and the office in the loop of what I'm doing, where I'm at, where I'm going and handle the impromptu emergency that pops up. It's true that I could do all that with any regular cell phone, but the difference is that having it all stream to me via a Blackberry -- in writing -- means I can keep it all organized, scheduled and efficient, and reduce the number of minutes I need to be on the phone, which leaves me to focus more on the actual day-to-day stuff I need to address. The other nice thing is that, while having a BB won't enable me to surf all over the Internet, I will be able -- on the fly -- to access the City websites I use on a daily basis, so I'll be able to keep tabs on everything I need to see/hear/know without having to call my office for updated info. I keep my soon-to-be retired Palm relatively current, but since that's been giving me issues as well -- the Palm itself has, since I got it two years ago, been quasi-unreliable but now the hardware is nearly shot -- getting a Blackberry will also allow me to keep all my office data -- contacts, datebook, spreadsheets and files/attachments -- handy and available 24-7.
Inasmuch as I'm looking forward to getting one of these devices, I know that in six months -- if not sooner -- there will be something that will be better, slicker and easier to use than the unit I'm getting that I'll want to procure. However, more and more, I'm seeing that the device I'm using is increasingly irrelevant; it's all about staying in constant communication with the office, with clients and with City people. And having a BB -- even one without a camera, without an mp-3 player and without voice recording -- will enable me to do that. So I'm kinda jazzed.
Finally, to come full circle, I spoke with a friend who advised me that she discovered one of her semi-ex's -- someone with whom she dated briefly but with whom she never got seriously involved -- was hired on a semi-temporary basis to be one of the doormen in her building. When I initially heard this, I was floored by how ironic it was/is that this was happening. But after some time to reflect, I actually think it's a good idea; most doormen are relatively friendly but they have ulterior motives: most do as much as they can to help various residents based on the eventual tips they expect to receive therefrom on Christmas. So having a semi-ex -- especially one with whom the relationship ended in a relatively friendly, amicable way -- as a doorman might seem awkward and difficult but, overall, not too bad a development. Although, I'll admit my hypocrisy and confess that if an ex of mine -- one specific one, not any thereof -- happened to move to my building, I'd move that same day. But in this particular situation, the irony is more humorous than anything else. Suffice to say that the irony is mostly humorous to people that don't have to experience it firsthand.
Finally, based on the fact that the weather seems to have warmed up in a big way in NYC, so I'm looking forward to going outside and play. Chicago's got snow, parts of Cali have rain, and the south/midwest have tornadoes...and New York is 45 and sunny. Go figure.
Monday, February 26, 2007
Wow.
Five words: Scorsese wins for Best Director.
Not much needs to be said beyond that. I'm still shocked that his first Oscar was for The Departed and not Goodfellas, but, I suppose, better late than never. Congrats to him and the entire cast.
The best actor and actress awards didn't shock me; Helen Mirren, who looked incredible for a woman of 62 (although Diane Keaton, at 61, also looked phenomenal), supposedly turned in one of the best performances ever committed to screen. And I give kudos to Forest Whitaker, who is always dead-on perfect. I didn't see The Last King of Scotland, but I remember three of his many performances -- The Crying Game, The Color of Money and Fast Times At Ridgemont High -- as proof that no matter what type of film or what role he fills, he hits it out of the park.
I feel badly for Eddie Murphy; I think Alan Arkin is great so it's not a disappointment that he won (Glengarry Glen Ross and Grosse Point Blank are two of my Arkin favorites). Either way, I hope Eddie Murphy has more Dreamgirls-esque opportunities and no more Pluto Nash, Best Defense or Holy Man movies in his future. I'm glad Jennifer Hudson won; just watching her reaction and seeing how moved she was was a wonderful experience.
Overall, I enjoyed the show; Ellen DeGeneres was entertaining without being preachy, and the show seemed to move along, despite running 45 minutes over, in a fairly quick-paced manner. Having not bothered to see four of the five nominated films -- The Departed was the only one I did see -- I was really shocked that Scorsese and this film won. My only other disappointment other than Eddie Murphy not going home a winner was that Clint Eastwood didn't win anything for Flags Of Our Fathers or Letters From Iwo Jima.
But on this night, I'm just glad I saw -- and enjoyed -- the movie that won Best Director and Best Film. I'm a bit shocked -- and frankly, I'm not even sure I would have given The Departed Best Film -- but overall I'm just happy for Martin Scorsese. After failing to win a Best Director Oscar for Goodfellas, I'm sure he believed he'd die without winning an Oscar. I suppose better late than never.
Not much needs to be said beyond that. I'm still shocked that his first Oscar was for The Departed and not Goodfellas, but, I suppose, better late than never. Congrats to him and the entire cast.
The best actor and actress awards didn't shock me; Helen Mirren, who looked incredible for a woman of 62 (although Diane Keaton, at 61, also looked phenomenal), supposedly turned in one of the best performances ever committed to screen. And I give kudos to Forest Whitaker, who is always dead-on perfect. I didn't see The Last King of Scotland, but I remember three of his many performances -- The Crying Game, The Color of Money and Fast Times At Ridgemont High -- as proof that no matter what type of film or what role he fills, he hits it out of the park.
I feel badly for Eddie Murphy; I think Alan Arkin is great so it's not a disappointment that he won (Glengarry Glen Ross and Grosse Point Blank are two of my Arkin favorites). Either way, I hope Eddie Murphy has more Dreamgirls-esque opportunities and no more Pluto Nash, Best Defense or Holy Man movies in his future. I'm glad Jennifer Hudson won; just watching her reaction and seeing how moved she was was a wonderful experience.
Overall, I enjoyed the show; Ellen DeGeneres was entertaining without being preachy, and the show seemed to move along, despite running 45 minutes over, in a fairly quick-paced manner. Having not bothered to see four of the five nominated films -- The Departed was the only one I did see -- I was really shocked that Scorsese and this film won. My only other disappointment other than Eddie Murphy not going home a winner was that Clint Eastwood didn't win anything for Flags Of Our Fathers or Letters From Iwo Jima.
But on this night, I'm just glad I saw -- and enjoyed -- the movie that won Best Director and Best Film. I'm a bit shocked -- and frankly, I'm not even sure I would have given The Departed Best Film -- but overall I'm just happy for Martin Scorsese. After failing to win a Best Director Oscar for Goodfellas, I'm sure he believed he'd die without winning an Oscar. I suppose better late than never.
Sunday, February 25, 2007
The Oscars and The Day The Music Died
The last time I got pulled over for exceeding the speed limit, a friend and I were going about 63 and on our way down to Maryland to see Billy Joel with another friend. Being that Maryland has state troopers who are only slightly more personable than most Colombian rebel death squads, I wasn't as surprised as I probably should have been. When I explained to Joey Bag O'Donuts that I was simply moving along with the rest of traffic, his emotionless response -- "License and registration, please" -- was the end of the discussion.
Today, I rarely find myself behind the wheel of a car; mostly, I find myself behind a bus driver or a cab driver. In lieu thereof, then, the "Everyone is doing it, I was just keeping up" excuse is perhaps a viable excuse for online file-sharing, but if at all, that viability is disappearing by the day.
I came across a recent article on CNN that highlighted this very fact. File-sharing has increasingly become part of our modern technological model; once the next high-speed advances vis-a-vis internet access become the norm -- perhaps not farther off than another few years -- we'll be able to download full-length, high-quality DVD's. For the time being, however, the majority of us -- those who download stuff online -- will be relegated to downloading a track or an entire CD's worth of music. There are several issues with legit music downloads, of course; downloading stuff from Apple's iTunes is simple, but the quality of those downloads is only mediocre, and more importantly, they only play through iTunes and/or the iPod. There are other avenues for legal downloads, but those are suspect, quirky, and are billed in bunches (either as a ten-pack or more of tracks or as a monthly download/membership fee). In short, the options for legal music downloads are underwhelming at best.
It's no shock that the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has gone bananas over the lost revenue that illegal downloading has cost its industry; with the recent bankruptcy and disappearance of an institution, Tower Records, it's increasingly clear that people don't need the actual CD in their hands in order to enjoy music. Further, the RIAA sees that people would prefer to download a so-so quality version of a single than pay $18 for the CD with that track and 11 others. So their response to file-sharing has been predatory and vicious, and understandably so. People have found a way to circumvent the institutions which previously decried we pay $15 or more for a disc filled mostly with stuff with which we were disenchanted. Gone are the days people will buy an entire disc for that one elusive track; and while that, on some level, could eradicate or at least question the validity or usefulness of albums/discs as a whole, the real concern should be with the RIAA and their future.
While the RIAA has predicted the dangers of file-sharing by quoting stats showing record sales are down in a mjor way (with the fall of Tower Records, how could anyone argue?), I wonder whether this phenomenon -- file-sharing -- is the cause of the RIAA's problems, or a result thereof. To wit, if cd's were filled with good stuff -- on the level of the last several releases by Foo Fighters, Audioslave, Tom Petty, Pete Yorn, et al -- I don't imagine I'd consider skipping the store experience, online or otherwise. My personal distaste with the music industry these days isn't the exorbitant prices of CD's but instead the quality -- or lack thereof -- of most of what's on store shelves. Going after the nation's university students, of course, is one way to attack this problem, as indicated above; however, the arbitrary persecution of a few students at each of 250 universities across the country isn't going to stop the phenomenon. It certainly won't endear anyone to the RIAA any more than they already are; and judging by the mentality of modern youth, I imagine rather than extinguishing that fire, it will only make it burn hotter and bigger.
At some point, someone -- an individual, an entity, or an entire generation -- will finally challenge the RIAA and hopefully inspire both them and the MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America) to revisit the issue of copyrights and file-sharing. Despite the lack of high-high-speed internet, a casual search for the five nominees for Best Picture yielded about 500 unique, legitimate sources to download same online, illegally. Now that the RIAA has chosen its path -- and, in my opinion, chosen unwisely -- the MPAA, on this Oscar night, may want to pay attention to what is actually happening and react in an effort to cure the problem rather than persecute -- and prosecute -- it.
What I find interesting, of course, is of the five best-picture nominees, I enjoyed The Departed immensely but didn't bother seeing any of the other four, although Little Miss Sunshine is supposed to be great (and Dreamgirls, a non-nominee, was also supposed to be great). So Hollywood, while you lament decreasing profits and empty theater seats, blame Denon, Yamaha, Sony, Panasonic, Phillips and Samsung -- the manufacturers who drive home theater systems' prices into the ground -- and crappy movies and not people who are downloading DVD's. That problem won't be a reality for several more years, whether or not excessive, inhibitory copy-protection measures are implemented (didn't work with macrovision, etc.).
Hopefully, someday -- somehow -- the RIAA, and the MPAA as well, will focus on improving their products rather than prosecuting their duplication and improving the quality of the products themselves in lieu of their copy-protection.
This scenario is about as likely as Charlie Sheen receiving a Lifetime Achievement Award for his role in Navy Seals; but I like to think the glass is half-full even when it's nearly empty.
Nuke some popcorn, dim the lights, and enjoy the show!
Today, I rarely find myself behind the wheel of a car; mostly, I find myself behind a bus driver or a cab driver. In lieu thereof, then, the "Everyone is doing it, I was just keeping up" excuse is perhaps a viable excuse for online file-sharing, but if at all, that viability is disappearing by the day.
I came across a recent article on CNN that highlighted this very fact. File-sharing has increasingly become part of our modern technological model; once the next high-speed advances vis-a-vis internet access become the norm -- perhaps not farther off than another few years -- we'll be able to download full-length, high-quality DVD's. For the time being, however, the majority of us -- those who download stuff online -- will be relegated to downloading a track or an entire CD's worth of music. There are several issues with legit music downloads, of course; downloading stuff from Apple's iTunes is simple, but the quality of those downloads is only mediocre, and more importantly, they only play through iTunes and/or the iPod. There are other avenues for legal downloads, but those are suspect, quirky, and are billed in bunches (either as a ten-pack or more of tracks or as a monthly download/membership fee). In short, the options for legal music downloads are underwhelming at best.
It's no shock that the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has gone bananas over the lost revenue that illegal downloading has cost its industry; with the recent bankruptcy and disappearance of an institution, Tower Records, it's increasingly clear that people don't need the actual CD in their hands in order to enjoy music. Further, the RIAA sees that people would prefer to download a so-so quality version of a single than pay $18 for the CD with that track and 11 others. So their response to file-sharing has been predatory and vicious, and understandably so. People have found a way to circumvent the institutions which previously decried we pay $15 or more for a disc filled mostly with stuff with which we were disenchanted. Gone are the days people will buy an entire disc for that one elusive track; and while that, on some level, could eradicate or at least question the validity or usefulness of albums/discs as a whole, the real concern should be with the RIAA and their future.
While the RIAA has predicted the dangers of file-sharing by quoting stats showing record sales are down in a mjor way (with the fall of Tower Records, how could anyone argue?), I wonder whether this phenomenon -- file-sharing -- is the cause of the RIAA's problems, or a result thereof. To wit, if cd's were filled with good stuff -- on the level of the last several releases by Foo Fighters, Audioslave, Tom Petty, Pete Yorn, et al -- I don't imagine I'd consider skipping the store experience, online or otherwise. My personal distaste with the music industry these days isn't the exorbitant prices of CD's but instead the quality -- or lack thereof -- of most of what's on store shelves. Going after the nation's university students, of course, is one way to attack this problem, as indicated above; however, the arbitrary persecution of a few students at each of 250 universities across the country isn't going to stop the phenomenon. It certainly won't endear anyone to the RIAA any more than they already are; and judging by the mentality of modern youth, I imagine rather than extinguishing that fire, it will only make it burn hotter and bigger.
At some point, someone -- an individual, an entity, or an entire generation -- will finally challenge the RIAA and hopefully inspire both them and the MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America) to revisit the issue of copyrights and file-sharing. Despite the lack of high-high-speed internet, a casual search for the five nominees for Best Picture yielded about 500 unique, legitimate sources to download same online, illegally. Now that the RIAA has chosen its path -- and, in my opinion, chosen unwisely -- the MPAA, on this Oscar night, may want to pay attention to what is actually happening and react in an effort to cure the problem rather than persecute -- and prosecute -- it.
What I find interesting, of course, is of the five best-picture nominees, I enjoyed The Departed immensely but didn't bother seeing any of the other four, although Little Miss Sunshine is supposed to be great (and Dreamgirls, a non-nominee, was also supposed to be great). So Hollywood, while you lament decreasing profits and empty theater seats, blame Denon, Yamaha, Sony, Panasonic, Phillips and Samsung -- the manufacturers who drive home theater systems' prices into the ground -- and crappy movies and not people who are downloading DVD's. That problem won't be a reality for several more years, whether or not excessive, inhibitory copy-protection measures are implemented (didn't work with macrovision, etc.).
Hopefully, someday -- somehow -- the RIAA, and the MPAA as well, will focus on improving their products rather than prosecuting their duplication and improving the quality of the products themselves in lieu of their copy-protection.
This scenario is about as likely as Charlie Sheen receiving a Lifetime Achievement Award for his role in Navy Seals; but I like to think the glass is half-full even when it's nearly empty.
Nuke some popcorn, dim the lights, and enjoy the show!
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