If this article means what I think it means, then Douglas Adams has been reaffirmed. It seems that a quantum computer has managed to find the answer to a question without knowing what the question was in the first place, just like a certain computer in Hitch-hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. The mind boggles.
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Hats Off…
…and coat, skirt, blouse, bra and knickers too, to the naked ramblers, Steve Gough and Melanie Roberts, who have just walked from Land’s End, the most southerly tip of the UK mainland, to John O’Groats, the most northerly.
I’ve always harboured a secret desire to hike naked about the British Isles, or anywhere, really. But that’s not really news to anyone who knows me well enough. I’m tempted to replicate Mr Gough’s endeavour in the US, but I think I’d probably get shot as many times as he was arrested.
Three Dollars
Quickest customer of the day in Mishka’s:
She: I’m gonna get a latte.
I: Certainly, what size?
She: A $3 one.
I: OK.
I ring her order into the cash register and look at her expectantly.
She: How much is that?
Varsity News
We have an opening date for the Varsity, April 6th. I’ve also allowed myself to be roped in to promoting the opening night. All sorts of interesting plans are afoot, but for now you can check out the Davis Wiki entry for the cinema, and the official site, www.thedavisvarsity.com, a preliminary version of which is now online.
My movie, now titled The Varsity Story, is progressing fairly well. I’m shooting yet more material at some point in the next week. Any time I’m not in the coffee shop it seems I’m shooting or editing the movie, or promoting the cinema. It feels good to be busy working on something I care about.
Unearthed
My good friend Jeff has an exhibition of paintings starting on 1st March in Gino’s cafe, Sacramento. Called Unearthed, it’s a series of abstracts ranging from the folksy to the formal.
Music from Norfolk and Belgium
I wasn’t a huge fan of Beth Orton’s previous album, Daybreaker, but I’m back in love with her thanks to the new one, Comfort of Strangers. Produced by Jim O’Rourke, who’s been working with Wilco recently, it’s pure Beth stripped of the lavish arrangements that characterised Daybreaker. Consequently her voice returns to the fore, complete with its endearing quirks and occasional flashes of Naarfolk accent. Folksy.
I also treated myself to a long-overdue Django Reinhardt album, 1949’s Djangology, recorded in Rome with Stephane Grappelli. I’ve been using a version of Django’s Minor Swing to time my editing of the Varsity Documentary opening sequence. I’m not going to be able to use it in the final film for copyright reasons, so I hope the musician who’s helping me out will be able to deliver something with a similar feel and exactly the same timing!
I’ve been into Django since I was a little ‘un, thanks to Mum and David-Dad taking me to the Upton Jazz Festival every year. The event is always overburdened with mediocre old white beardy trad players, but there is always one stage dedicated to Hot Club style gypsy jazz, and that’s where we’d hang out. Over the years I’ve seen many, many excellent Djangologists, including Manouche gypsy Fapy Lafertin, but all of them had the use of all the fingers on their left hands (the tendons of Django’s pinkie and ring fingers were damaged in a caravan fire when he was eighteen). A couple of days ago I came across a video file of Django complete with a close-up on his two-fingered fretboard style. It was a pretty wonderful thing to behold.
Click here to see the movie, and click here to see where I got it from. The WFMU page also has a link to France Gall performing dirty old Serge Gainsbourg’s Poupee De Cire, Poupee De Son. Cracking.
The Way of the Barbie
Yesterday the sun was shining, the sky was blue and I was seized by an uncanny urge to buy a barbeque, so I did. Refusing to tell Courtney what was up I ushered her into the car and drove to a hardware shop in the town centre.
“Where are we going?” she asked, “I’m so confused.”
I did not reply. I just grinned and let her figure out what was up.
In the event, Courtney was just as excited as me to be buying a barbeque. We settled for a circular charcoal grill with three legs, two wheels, vents on the bottom and a round top. We bought metal skewers, a barbeque spatula, a metal cleaning brush, a bag of charcoal and a bottle of lighter fluid and returned home well pleased.
I Wish I was a Little Bit Taller
Continuing my mission to reach a better understanding of the strange land I currently inhabit, last Sunday I went with Tom, aka Politco Wonk, to see my first basketball game.
Baker’s Dozen
Behold my first attempt at scones! They taste every bit as good as they look, and they were pretty easy to make. I’m basking in a warm yellowy self-satisfied glow right now. The ladies at Courtney’s Margaret Atwood book group should be well fed tonight. Click here for a screenful of food porn goodness!
Chav Doppelgangers
According to this slick-looking website, to which I sent the picture above, I look like a mixture of: Rosanna Arquette, Hrithik Roshan, Ralph Nader, Dave Mustaine, Pierce Brosnan, Hilary Swank, Doris Lessing, Neve Campbell, Nick Cave, and Arthur Rimbaud. Who’d have thought?
Of course, I tried a different photo, which proved conclusively that I am the bastard child of the moronic Dan Quayle and the magnificent Meryl Streep. So, who do I really look like? Answers in the comments if you can think of anyone.
During my link harvesting I discovered that Nick Cave was born and raised in the town of Warracknabeal, where a far-flung branch of my family owns a restaurant.
Birds of Prey
The Varsity doumentary is coming along. I shot interviews two weekends ago, and now I’m amassing documents. Above is an original lobby card for the first movie to play in the Varsity cinema on June 9th 1950. By all accounts, it was a bit of a B movie, albeit one presented in glorious Technicolor.
Update: 1st Feb 2006
On further investigation, it seems that The Eagle and the Hawk was in fact the original Brokeback Mountain, as this alternative version of the lobby card conclusively proves. Who’d have thought? Thanks to Jeff for sending that along. ;-)
Quilty
This is a snap of the Central Valley taken by Courtney from the aeroplane that brought us back to California after Thanksgiving in New York. The original was very hazy and washed-out. I boosted the contrast and reduced the brightness until this image emerged. Then I forgot about it until today.
Mickey Mouse Degree
I thought that taking a year out before university was something you did to broaden your mind and get some experience of the real world. Perhaps no-one told this nutter, who has chosen to spend an entire year in Disneyworld, at a cost of about $100,000. That’s going to look really good on his university application forms.
Very
There’s something very Pet Shop Boys about the underside of our new non-slip chopping board.
Black Swan Green
From the Random House website:
From award-winning writer David Mitchell comes a sinewy, meditative novel of boyhood on the cusp of adulthood and the old on the cusp of the new. Black Swan Green tracks a single year in what is, for thirteen-year-old Jason Taylor, the sleepiest village in muddiest Worcestershire in a dying Cold War England, 1982.
David Mitchell himself says:
It’s about 13 months in the life of a 13 year old boy. It’s set in a small, narrow village in South Worcestershire that the narrative only leaves twice. It’s 1982, in the cold war, and the year of the Falklands war.
Source: The Agony Column Book Reviews.
Knowing that Mitchell is from my neck of the woods, and knowing that neck just as well as he, I’d suggest that Black Swan Green is the name of the village in which Jason Taylor lives, and that the real-life precedent for that village is Hanley Swan. I’m going to have to wait until April to find out if I’m right.
HD!
No, this is not a reference to the modernist poet. It’s an expression of excitement because my Final Cut upgrade arrived today. I’m ready to roll with editing, now all I need is some footage.
Also, I now have the funds I need to set the Varsity documentary in motion. It’s a tiny budget, but just about workable.
Big Mac
A mysterious box arrived in our apartment yesterday. The contents of the box made it possible to bring you this daft little film, (14.5mb). If you click on the link and just see a big blue Q and nothing seems to be happening, don’t worry. The movie just takes a while to download.
Technically, I think Courtney’s parents are the executive producers for the movie, as they provided the editing station. Thanks, in-laws!
Oooh
Oooh. What is it? Or, more to the point, what has just taken our photograph?
Enter the Niche
Early last week Jeff emerged from his editing cave shouting “final cut” and waving a shiny plastic disc. He gave it to Carl’s web oompa-loompas, who ran off to their chocolate factory to internet the nuts off it. Now, squished down to a tenth of its original size, and available for viewing on your common-or-garden computer screen is the Camp Niche web movie.
Grok the Transition
During a brief morning web browse I came across this little article about fixing your parents’ computer. I was gratified to see that it recommends my first course of action:
Switch the system’s default web browser to Firefox
Download Firefox. Install it, and import all of IE’s preferences and bookmarks. (See previous Lifehacker feature Importing Bookmarks into Firefox for more info on how.) When Firefox asks if it should be the default web browser, click “Yes.†Finally, remove the blue E from your parents’ desktop. On newer versions of Windows (like XP), you can simple drag and drop the blue E into the Recycle Bin. In Windows 98 (yeah you know some of your parents still use it), in Control Panel choose Internet Options. On the Advanced Tab, uncheck “Show Internet Explorer on the Desktop.â€To help your parents grok the transition from the blue E to the orange fox, rename Firefox’s desktop shortcut to something more obvious, like “Internet – Mozilla Firefox.â€
Grok, indeed. Did you know it means “to understand something intuitively or by empathy?” No, neither did I.
Upstate
This week we’re visiting Courtney’s parents in upstate New York. It’s snowy and crisp out, and the light this afternoon was pretty good, so I took a walk.
Commentary
I’ve just upgraded the blog’s spam trap, so the errors some people have complained about should be fixed.
Butt-Naked Chef
I don’t know exactly how this came to be, but I remember a degree of nagging and flattery emanating from Courtney, and a degree of arm-twisting from Julie at the Co-op. The upshot is that on February 16th 2006 I will be teaching a course on how to make Cornish Pasties and Chicken Tikka Masala. Here’s my class description:
How to Eat with a Stiff Upper Lip
British cuisine is underrated! Join Liam Creighton to learn to cook two perennially popular winter warmers. From England’s rural past, the Cornish Pasty, and from multicultural modern Britain, Chicken Tikka Masala, the nation’s favourite dish. This class features meat, but is totally free from jellied eels, pickled eggs and black pudding. Vegetarian versions of both recipes will be demonstrated.
I hope no-one I know turns up. That would be really embarrassing.
Varsity Documentary
I’ve started pre-production on the Varsity documentary. Hopefully everything will be in place for a shoot on the second weekend of December. I’ll post more news as and when it happens.
The New(ish) Jaga Jazzist album is wonderful. Courtney and I are looking into buying an iMac for me to edit on. If and when it happens it will look like this. That is all.