Listening to Podcasts, Reading Blogs, and Watching Photos (2007-02-08/07-13)

I want to share below some Web sites I find entertaining, a mixture of links from artists and friends. The blogs and photostreams of friends broadcast parts of their lives. I read them daily between tasks (really when I want to procrastinate).

Noticing that Walt, Jeff, and others have blogrolls and del.icio.us bookmarks, I decided to share selections from my reading using my news aggregator. The result is "William's Blogroll" on the right of the Where's William? page, which leads to shared items (also available as a feed for those using a feed reader).

Below are a few of my favorite sites:

• In Language Log linguists discuss language in the modern world--in news, in software, and on the Web.
• Scott Adam's Dilbert comic strip is popular with white-collar workers.
• xkcd is a "webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math, and language" by Randall Munroe.
• My London friend ketuzin is a student and amateur photographer.
• My business partner Jim Benson writes about technological cooperation on the Web--and food and music.
• The Open Source podcast is my most recent addition to my previous podcast listening.
  

Watching Ne le dis à personne (2007-06-01)

In November while Ryan and I were in Paris, we noticed the release of Ne le dis à personne/Tell No One, a thriller based upon a novel. Upon our return to the States Ryan bought the novel No se lo digas a nadie, thinking it was a translation of the novel that formed the basis of the film in France. No se lo digas a nadie is indeed the basis for a movie--a different movie, No se lo digas a nadie/Don't Tell Anyone (which, like any movie mentioned in this blog, I had seen).

I'm glad we went to see Ne le dis à personne, as it was quite good. It had action, romance, and plot twists.

Watching Death at a Funeral (2007-06-01)

A modern UK comedy, Death at a Funeral centers around sibling rivalry and secrets (almost) taken to the grave. Those familiar with "Firefly" and Serenity will recognize Alan Tudyk.

Watching Black Sheep (2007-05-31)

The tagline, "Get ready for the Violence of the Lambs!" and the trailer tell the viewer what to expect from this New Zealand film: gory black comedy. A number of scenes are deliberately gross, with the camera panning across the bloody stumps of limbs chewed off by killer sheep. The comedy, of course, comes from the fact that it's sheep doing the killing. Surprisingly, I found Black Sheep more gory and less humorous than Fido.

Watching Ein Freund von mir (2007-05-31)

After watching the trailer a friend in Berlin thought that A Friend of Mine/Ein Freund von mir would have no real story but nevertheless be humorous. Indeed, even though fast cars are part of the plot, so are conversations; the film is more striking for its tone than its sequence of events. It shows the development of friendship between two quirky characters, one of whom is played by Daniel Brühl. I'll recommend the film to my German friends.

Singing on Lake Union (2007-07-03)

"If I had $1000000, I'd buy your love."--Barenaked Ladies, "If I Had $1000000"

It was Fourth of July Eve and the evening sun of northern latitudes was fading behind Queen Anne hill as I danced under a disco ball illuminated by a flashlight lashed to the mast. Under my sandaled feet the deck of the sailboat sloped towards port, not heeling in the wind but rather tipping under the weight of skippers and crew gathered there. Like me they had clambered across the rafted sailboats--lashed together (lines around cleats) for the party after sailing--to hear Gertrude's Hearse. Surely this crew of of S/V Distance was the most original in the Duck Dodge?

"If I had a million dollars" I sang in response to the lead singer's call, then listened, as Yusuf Kilgore played an electric guitar solo from a boatswain's chair suspended between mast and forestay of S/V Distance, or Keith Stone played saxophone from the roof of M/V Steel Drum. The movement of dancing, the fresh wind that had powered the earlier race, the red vodka Jell-O shot in my stomach, the enjoyment of the music, and the energy of the crowd all warmed me.

Receiving New T-Mobile MDA® (2007-06-27)

T-Mobile shipped me via UPS a new MDA because within the one-year manufacturer warranty period the one I purchased began flickering and failing to find the network. I took pictures of the old MDA to show there were no cracks or water damage and sent it back.

I probably would have procrastinated the return even longer if it didn't irritate friends and significant others that they couldn't call me. I regularly use Skype from anywhere. In fact, I noticed a lot of redundancy among the mobile devices I've mentioned: Canon PowerShot SD600 Digital ELPH, Dell D820, and iPod nano. Out of curiosity, I took an inventory of the activities I can do with each device, and (except for the ELPH) the feature or software available for that activity.

[Updated to link to Google Docs & Spreadsheets instead of embedding table.]

Reading The Bridge of San Luis Rey (2007-06-29/07-02)

"There is a land of the living and a land of the dead and the bridge is love, the only survival, the only meaning."
--Thornton Wilder, The Bridge of San Luis Rey

Hanging in our hallway is a painting from Peru of a hanging bridge, bequeathed to me by my maternal grandmother, along with The Bridge of San Luis Rey. I received these after January 2006 when she died in Panorama City Convalescent Center in Lacey after a period of ill health. Thornton Wilder writes, "Even memory is not necessary for love," but both love and memory of her still remain.

Reading The Moon is a Harsh Mistress (2007-05-24/06-17)

Thing that got me was not her list of things she hated, since she was obviously crazy as a Cyborg, but fact that always somebody agreed with her prohibitions. Must be a yearning deep in human heart to stop other people from doing as they please. Rules, laws— always for other fellow. A murky part of us, something we had before we came down out of trees, and failed to shuck when we stood up. Because not one of those people said: "Please pass this so that I won't be able to do something I know I should stop." Nyet, tovarishchee, was always something they hated to see neighbors doing. Stop them "for their own good"—not because speaker claimed to be harmed by it.

--Robert A. Heinlein, The Moon is a Harsh Mistress

I recall a time I looked through everything in the school library by Robert A. Heinlein. Although this blog only holds one such book review, I love speculative fiction--especially science fiction, fantasy, and magical realism. Nevertheless, I only really recall reading Stranger in a Strange Land and The Number of the Beast. I don't remember reading The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, even though I tend to remember social science fiction I read (e.g., Animal Farm, Brave New World, Fahrenheit 451, The Left Hand of Darkness, Nineteen Eight-Four).

The Moon is a Harsh Mistress was published in 1967--the year of the Summer of Love--and mentions themes common in the hippie counterculture movement of the 1960s. Its society excites me and inspires my imagination. It appeals to my civil libertarian leanings. I want freedom from conventional careers, freedom to travel, freedom from relationship restrictions, etc.; and I believe in responsibility and the importance of individuals. Luna in The Moon is a Harsh Mistress is among the societies in speculative fiction that seem desirable and viable to me. However, I don't know how our current societies would evolve into them.

Sailing on Lake Union (2007-06-26)

Tuesday nights during the summer I'll often be with Allan's crew on his sailboat on Lake Union in Seattle, WA instead of elsewhere in the world. I love the wind and water; sailing is adventurous to me. This night stronger winds added exercise to my relaxation. As yet we've won no more black ducks, however.