Here spring is in a fury to get over and done with and let summer take over. Buds on trees are turning to leaves so quickly - seems like in a few more days the trees will be filled out. Light greens are taking over the darker ivy that survives the winter. I need to get some pictures loaded here! Next weekend we plan to go camping (this time we're really gonna do it). There should be a good crop of wildflowers out by then, in the fields and along the roadsides. They are most incredible in this area starting about now, through May.

Our house painting continues. Its looking pretty good now, but not quite ready for the unveiling yet. We're ready for it to be done!

  posted by John : 3:08 PM

 
troubleshooting
Firefox browser seems to have trouble loading this site -- doesn't load the sidebar sometimes or loads garbage characters in the posts. Does it load okay for you? This link http://www.dayowl.com/slownewsday seems to work better than this one http://slownewsday.dayowl.com

  posted by John : 5:55 AM

 
Gadgets
Last week I bought one of these:

its a cell phone PDA with wi-fi. I didn't like it so I returned it after 3 days. I could tell that I wouldn't use it very much, and there were flakey things about it too. I did need a new phone, so I ordered one from Amazon. If all goes well I'll net $200 after the sale from rebates, and have a new toy to tinker with in waiting areas.

From the experience with the PDA what I realized is that what I really want is a very small laptop that I can take with me anywhere, but that still lets me see the whole screen and type on a proper keyboard. I can always use external devices at home - a bigger screen, external hard drive. This one is very intriguing, but maybe still too small a screen. I'd be interested in trying it and found what might be a good deal on ebay, but I don't know if the auction is legit:



I think I'm better off at more of a compromise in size rather than such a drastic reduction. A machine I could do my work with as well as have better portability over the 5-year-old-brick-of-a-laptop I have now. Perhaps a 2lb laptop with a 12" screen, like the IBM X40.

Such are the problems of an IT guy who can't sleep well in a hotel room in Dallas...

  posted by John : 5:38 AM

 
Fat Cat

Fat Cat Inc. are the makers of some fine dog toys. They now have Gov. Arnold, George W and Hillary models for dogs to shake around.
  posted by John : 7:48 PM

 
Progress
Some pictures from a walk today on the 700 acres behind our place that is slowly becoming a subdivision...

  posted by John : 1:37 PM

 
Shining Roadshows
Before a film yesterday at the Alamo Drafthouse, they showed an ad for several far-ranging Rolling Roadshow events that will be happening on August 26th this year. They'll be showing films at suitable locations all over the country. The only one I can remember right now is The Shining at the Overlook Hotel -- which I assume is the Timberline Lodge in Portland, Oregon, where the exteriors were shot. It won't be winter, there's no hedge maze there, and the interiors were shot at a set in England (the # of room 217 was changed to 237 for the film, to not be an actual room number at the Timberline). But still, what a great programming combination! I couldn't find info for any of the other Aug 26th locations online, and like I said can't remember what they were now - but I'll post a link when I find out.

Looking for other Shining info, it appears that what I'd always heard about it being shot at the Banff Springs Hotel in Alberta is false - the interiors were sets built in England. The story was inspired by a stay at the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado, by Stephen King and his wife in 1974.

One Rolling Roadshow event they're doing closer to home is a 50th Anniversary screening of the film Giant - in Marfa, TX, where it was shot in the 1950s. Then they had bleachers set up so the public could watch the film being made, which doesn't really happen on movie sets anymore. Not much happened in Marfa, a small town in West Texas, before Giant came to town, or has happened since - except the mysterious Marfa Lights.

Among the more frequent local happenings is a screening of The Big Lebowski at a local bowling alley, with one free White Russian with your ticket.

  posted by John : 8:56 AM

 
SXSW Films
We went to fewer films at SXSW this year than usual, less than we wanted to because our lives got in the way. All documentaries, except for the mix that was part of the shorts program. There seemed to be a concious effort to blur the line between documentary and films with actors, in the way SXSW presented the film indexes. I want to see only documentaries, so had to read between the lines to identify clues as to which was which (screenwriter/acting credits in the synopsis would not be a doc). No idea why they would try to mix them together in this way. Not enough people going to fiction films anymore?

Here's a list of the full length films we saw, ranked from the one's I liked best down. Sharon's ranking would be a bit different, but pretty close. Links are to various sites with descriptions of the films). I recommend the first three if you get a chance to see them on PBS or maybe even at a theatre sometime in the future.

Self Made Man

Troop 1500

Cowboy Del Amor

Rock School

Occupation:Dreamland

Reel Paradise

The Dreams of Sparrows

Strange Fruit

From this it may be inferred that the more symbolic/abstract titles or titles will allusions to songs (Strange Fruit), could be seen as indicators of duds. While the ones with plain/clear titles were superior. Next festival I'll incorporate this into our selection process! But generally we're happy to even see one or two films we really enjoyed. So in that way, this year's festival was another success. And its always true that I find something to inspire me in every film - if at times its only a sense that I myself could make something better and have it screened at a prestigious film festival.

  posted by John : 7:07 AM

 
Victor has a basket full of toys - this morning he got a bunch of them out. Here he is with his pink pig. Another one he has is a bear that he grabbed out of a hedge while we were walking along in Toronto last summer. He knows stuffed animals are dog toys.

  posted by John : 2:34 PM

 
Liz
Found her again today hibernating in the rockpile...
  posted by John : 7:18 PM

 
New Listening Room playlist : Spring Clean
I liked all of your songs about places. Makes me want to travel. But I'm here at home and we're cleaning house - and need some music to listen to. So the title of the room is Spring Clean. As in: upload whatever that might make you think of (except any version of Stairway to Heaven!).

I've started it off by uploading a tune on Arnie's behalf - something he's been listening to lately by Mary Gauthier.

Enjoy!
  posted by John : 12:01 PM

 
Sprung
This morning there was threats of a nasty thunderstorm and the skies were grey and very heavy. I drove Sharon in to work and it rained pretty good on the way back. But as I continued on blue skies opened up ahead of me - though it was the same greyness in my rear-view. The sun broke through and its been a gorgeous hot day. I think spring has officially begun.

I couldn't help but take advantage of the weather and continuing working on replacing the boring hardware-store lattice at the side of our house with something a bit more interesting... I just now went outside to take a picture of it, and the nice spiky lizard I found sleeping under a rock. He was dormant went I found him and I set him on the steps, but when I got the camera he had warmed up and I scared him away with my movements before I could set up the shot. Then the batteries died before I could take the house picture. So you'll just have to take my word for it all for now.

  posted by John : 3:09 PM

 
Pit-Bull Ban Update
It will be interesting, if not uncomfortable, to gauge the pre-ban climate in Toronto this summer as we walk around with Victor (who would love to kill a squirrel, but would clearly never harm a person or another dog). The following is an article from the Toronto Star my Dad kindly scanned and ran through OCR (Optical Character Recognition) to send to us. He is very much into scanning things.

pit bulls dying breed
RICHARD BRENNAN
QUEEN'S PARK BUREAU ,
Ontario has a newlawthat spells the beginning of the end for pit bulls. Under the controversial ban passed yesterday, pit bull owners will be able to keep the dogs they own now, but once they are gone, thafs it
"Once the law goes into effect, it will mean no more new pit bulls in the province of Ontario," Attorney General Michael Bry- ant said, adding that he expects other jurisdictions to follow On- tario's lead.
The legislation is in response to a spate of vicious attacks across Ontario in the last year. "We should have, immediately, better protection of the public from pit bull bites because they will now all have to be muzzled and feashed, and neutered or Spayed," Bryanf said.
The legislation also calls for a crackdown on any dog that bites, attacks or is a menace to public safety. Owners will face fines of up to $10,000 and, for the first time, a jail term of up to six months, while fines for cor- porations will be up to $60,000.
The pit bull ban has been an emotional issue among dog breeders, owners and various organizations, who complained the act was far too sweeping. Prominent lawyer Clayton Ru- by, acting on behalf of the pro- pit bull lobby, has said he would challenge the legislation on con- stitutional grounds.
There will be a transition peri- od'of six or seven months, al- lowing municipalities to get ready to enforce the changes. Dogs that get pregnant between novrand roughly the fall will be exempt from the new rules.>

  posted by John : 12:31 PM