Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Who wants to know?

Ummm... that response can be put to the test by reviewing the access logs for any website. I was curious how my blog was being used and was very surprised to see how far away people came from (everywhere) and what they were interested in (everything).
Seemingly random for the most part one meme did emerge from a quick look through the rough data. E-Readers. People don't have enough information and want to see what people are using and how they like them. They're naturally nervous about giving up their comfortable, dog-earable, tactile books!

Here are a few queries that landed on this page via Google using the Search Words "e-reader comparison." Among the many were users from Lichfield, Staffordshire, UK, The Metropolitan Government of Nashville, Tennesee, NASA in Greenbelt, Maryland, The Republic of Korea, Edmonton, Oklahoma, Villagen,Switzerland, Bellevue, Washington, and Budapest, Hungary (at 8am their time, proving internet addiction is universal!).

Other notable queries involve someone from Ile-de-France, Paris looking for information on Don Dixon, someone from Western Finland looking for "cruel to be kind" and Ron Sexsmith (umm, Ron didn't do that one but the are mentioned together in my blog entry of the Nick/Ron duo show), as well as Glen Tilbrooks' legion of fans reading up on the show he did here at the Pour House last year. So keep dropping by whatever the keyword is that gets you here.

Monday, July 14, 2008

Flickr favorites

These are some of my favorites from my photostream at Flickr lately...


Yep, its still raining

River Walk I

Crayons at the Diner

Sunday, July 13, 2008

Reprise


The tale of two friends and not-so-simple twists of fate, Reprise is first-time Norwegian director Joachim Trier's artful dialogue on art, love and a bit of punk rock. The film opens with best friends Phillip and Erik standing at the mailbox, knowing their whole lives are about to change at the simple act of mailing their first manuscript to the publishers. Fast forward to Phillip, whose novel garners instant acclaim and turns him into a cult celebrity and has had a life-altering breakdown. Erik, still struggling with rewrites of his novel, is still editing away, determined to follow in the footsteps of Phillip and the idol of their youth a mythic Norwegian cult author.

Reprise features great performances from Anders Lie as Phillip and Espen Hoiner as Erik. Espen Hoiner hits all the right notes with his portrayal of the less talented, harder working Erik, who's quiet longing for the status and talent effortlessly attained by Phillip draws us in. Anders Lie is terrific as Phillip, the immensely talented, complicated, complex and fragile artist. Phillip goes through a typical teenage transformation to a gifted adult, later through creative burnout, and a severe mental breakdown over an obsessive relationship with his girlfriend. Erik has a ringside seat for meteoric rise of Phillip and watches with wonder at the unfolding destruction of his friend.

Philip later moves into some surreal headspace where he plays with the idea he can control/transform his reality by counting backwards. The incantation of the counting summoning the intended result. Through a chain of coincidence Erik achieves some assurance and accolades from the mythic author who inspired him in his teenage years. Humorous and angst ridden these characters and their director are interesting to watch.