Category: What the…?

Trans-Atlantic train travel.

I’ve always been a fan of the homage — or parody.

Listening to the bumpers between stories on NPR can often be enlightening. I just about burst out laughing when I heard the Youngblood Brass Band’s “Pastime Paradise”, a horn piece incorporating the theme of Coolio’s “Gangsta’s Paradise” (I hope he doesn’t get as mad at them as he did at Wierd Al for “Amish Paradise”). You’ll hear the chorus come up about a minute in. They’re going to be in Europe most of April and May.

For the eyes, check out “Good bye, Lenin”, a rather touching yet pretty funny film about a son’s dedication to his mother. The trailer tells you pretty much what you need to know. There are a couple of Kubrick references, some Fellini, and other stuff I don’t know, I’m sure.

So I’m listening to a piece on the South by Southwest music festival on NPR’s “Morning Edition” today, and they’re talking about how the Australian and Scottish governments (among others) send their bands to the festival because they see them as another potential export commodity. Then they mention that eight bands from the Netherlands are there because of the “government-funded Dutch Rock and Pop Institute”. Man, we gotta get one of those…

My younger brother celebrates his 40th birthday. If he’d been born a day earlier, he’d only be 10.

So, a few months ago, I filled out the form to join the antitrust suit against companies selling music CDs. Took a couple of minutes. Today I get a check for $13.86. Now I can buy another CD. Prices don’t seem to have come down, though.

Does this need explanation?

As part of my continual self-improvement regimen, I’m working on a rudimentary PHP/MySQL-based blogging engine, of which you see the results here. Among other things, I’ll cover anything interesting I see in Director or Flash development, the book business, politics, or whatever.