The Wrestler (2008 film)

On January 19, 2009January 19, 2009 By Rick McIn movies, product endorsementsLeave a comment

I downloaded The Wrestler, a Golden Globe Award-winning film directed by Darren Aronofsky.

Highly recommended.

Click PLAY or watch the trailer on YouTube.

Mickey Rourke is a strong candidate for Best Actor at the Oscars. He is deserving, perfect in this memorable role. (Thank God the original actor chosen — Nicolas Cage — stepped away from the project for Rourke.)

Marisa Tomei I’ve never liked. But she’s excellent in this film.

Both actors are completely believable in a study of the psychology of getting old. And coming to terms with the end of your career.

We’re all getting older.

Archie Bunker

On January 14, 2009 By Rick McIn product endorsements, TV1 Comment

That was the most ground breaking TV show in history. Genius.

Archie Bunker got us talking by pushing so many hot buttons.

A 10min clip from Archie Bunker Meets Sammy Davis.

TV Guide named Archie the greatest television character of all time.

Wikipedia

living in a 10ft cube

On January 12, 2009January 9, 2009 By Rick McIn product endorsements1 Comment

I like my perfect (future) apartment.

But here are some digs that require less cleaning.

… a study of living in a compressed space …

organicube-desk

more pics on Treehugger – Organicube Squeezes Entire Apartment into 10x10x10 Cube

Twilight – vampire craze

On January 6, 2009January 6, 2009 By Rick McIn books, movies, music, product endorsements2 Comments

Buffy might have been a fad. But the new TV series True Blood seems to be a hit. (I saw episode #1. It was OK.)

And the staggering success of the Twilight novel series by Stephenie Meyer makes me believe this is a real “craze”. There’s almost a blood lust for these books.

Twilight is a series of four vampire-based fantasy/romance novels by the American author Stephenie Meyer. It follows the adventures of Isabella “Bella” Swan, a teenager who moves to Forks, Washington, and finds her life turned upside-down when she falls in love with a vampire named Edward Cullen. …

The Twilight series is popular among young adults, having sold 20 million copies in the United States and over 5 million further copies worldwide.

Wikipedia

Disclosure. Even I’ve read book 1. And quite enjoyed it. (These are the first and last Romance novels of my life.)

Twilight (The Twilight Saga, Book 1)

The author said she based book 1 Twilight on Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. That’s a bit of stretch.

She posted a musical playlist to accompany book 1. Cool. It’s somewhat similar to the movie soundtrack which has already sold over a million copies.

Click PLAY or watch the Twilight Movie trailer on YouTube.

The film scores an overall approval rating of 50% on Rotten Tomatoes. Not good.

Actually, I thought it was quite good. Well cast. But some of the changes made to the book were unnecessary. Better would have been to stay more true to the details of the original.

I’m planning to read Book 2 in the series next. Leave a comment if you have an opinion on the vampire craze.

I love Wikipedia

On January 4, 2009January 5, 2009 By Rick McIn economics, internet, product endorsementsLeave a comment

And it may just be the prototype of all big web destinations in the future.

The Wikimedia Foundation, the non-profit organization behind the immensely popular Wikipedia online encyclopedia, just announced that it has reached its fundraising goal for 2008, which will allow the foundation to cover its operating expenses for the current fiscal year, ending June 30, 2009. Overall, a total of 125,000 donors gave over $6.2 million during 2008, …

According to Jimmy Wales, these donations will be used to pay for the day-to-day operations of the Wikimedia Foundation, including the costs of hosting and bandwidth, as well as the salary of its small staff of only 23 people. The Wikimedia foundation will also use these funds to support outreach events like the Wikipedia Academies and to help its volunteer community.

No Advertising

The Wikimedia Foundation has always declined to run advertising on its pages. Given that it is one of the most popular destinations on the Internet, it could surely make more than $6.2 million in revenue every year, but the organization, and Jimmy Wales in particular, have always vehemently rejected this idea in favor of direct donations from users.

$6.2 Million: Wikipedia Reaches Fundraising Goal for 2008

So, the 9th most visited site in the USA runs on open source software. It’s content is generated by the visitors. It’s FREE. And does not even need advertising support.

WOW.

How could any other online encyclopedia compete?

WordPress.com (the site that runs this blog) is ranked #24.

It’s free. Open source. Has very, very little advertising. And has very few employees, just like Wikipedia.

Most of the code is written by volunteers. The content put up by bloggers, like me.

=== UPDATE === Rockin’ points to this post in response:

Just caught myself intrigued by an article about Wikipedia cofounder Jimmy Wales possibly losing his board seat. It was on gawker.com and not very complimentary (understatement). Then these few sentences about Wikipedia and made me think it really ought to be called repupedia. “Incompetence and infighting are endemic to nonprofits, of course. But Wikipedia’s bureaucracy is distinctly, fearsomely awful. The site, which dictates the online reputation of countless living people and companies, itself operates by rules that are completely incomprehensible, determined by a self-appointed group of volunteer editors who can seldom stop arguing over obscurities to explain their ways to outsiders.” Food for thought about how Wikipedia catalogues all these institutions’ and individuals’ reputations online.

Repupedia

That’s from Valleywag / Gawker … not your most reliable source. Less reliable than Wikipedia, I’d say.

Rick’s perfect (future) apartment

On December 23, 2008December 24, 2008 By Rick McIn philosophy, product endorsements2 Comments

The prototype is in the Hague, Netherlands, designed by Queeste Architecten and photographed by Teun van den Dries, via ::Dezeen.

300ft-apartment

b300ft-apartment1

c300ft-apartment1

Less is more.

As posted by Treehugger.

Less is the New More: Making the Most of Small Spaces

Less is More: Stay at my Home by Designasyl (guest bed)

Facebook is just a FAD

On December 20, 2008December 18, 2008 By Rick McIn internet, product endorsementsLeave a comment

Or not.

Facebook is growing at a rate of 600,000 users each day …

facebook_growth_chart

Facebook Growth Explodes, Site Reaches 140 Million Active Users

I note that it’s finally gotten popular in Idaho as I now have several new “friends” there.

Flight of the Conchords

On December 18, 2008December 16, 2008 By Rick McIn humour, music, product endorsements, TVLeave a comment

Have you seen the TV show yet?

Here’s a snippet.

Flight of the Conchords is a Grammy Award-winning New Zealand comedy duo composed of Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement. Billing themselves as “Formerly New Zealand’s fourth most popular guitar-based digi-bongo acapella-rap-funk-comedy folk duo”, the group uses a combination of witty observation, characterisation and acoustic folk guitars. The duo’s comedy and music became first the basis of a BBC radio series and then an American television series, which premiered in 2006, also called Flight of the Conchords. …

Wikipedia

I think I’ve seen all 10 surreal episodes of season one. Interesting, quirky and original.

The boys try to make it BIG in New York City. And fail hopelessly.

Lovable losers.

how David Pogue bought a Honda Fit

On December 17, 2008December 16, 2008 By Rick McIn internet, product endorsements1 Comment

Tech pundit David Pogue on the NY Times:

… I put in an order for a second Prius last Spring, but was told that there was a ten-month wait. Many readers asked why I didn’t just buy a Honda Fit. Great car, glowing reviews, costs 40 percent less, gets 35 mpg rather than 40 — and much more available.

So I test drove one. My readers were right. It’s a truly great car. I picked up my dark-blue 2009 Fit just today — and canceled my Prius order. Woo-hoo!

pogue533