Jason Reitman's 3 month, 300 interview, press tour for Up In the Air... in under 3 minutes
"Reading" SuperFreakonomics
This sequel to the highly regarded first release “Freakonomics” is rather underwhelming. While I like the paradigms that the authors pose, they seem more entertainment than substance. Definitely not as good as the first one.
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#MusicMonday: A Trio of Eigenharp's Playing Moby
Pretty cool instrument called an Eigenharp. Here’s how it works. Maybe the future of music?
Twitter's Retweet Rollout
As a serial retweeter, I like Twitter’s new approach, which is
basically akin to Facebook’s and Friendfeed’s “like”. Instead of the
well-known “RT” prefacing a retweet, a neat little retweet symbol
takes its place. Plus, the original tweeter who has been retweeted
appears in the Twitterstream, which makes more sense. My favorite
part of this update is the new retweet section, which lists your
tweets that have been retweeted by others, as well as the tweets of
others that you’ve decided to retweet. There are, of course, many ways to use Twitter. For instance, one of
the ways I like to use it is as a searchable bookmarking service for
anything I find interesting through those I follow, as well as my RSS
feeds (yes, I’m still using my non-real time RSS reader). As such, I
retweet *a lot* probably at a detriment to some who follow me because
I may clog up their streams. But now, there’s a way to turn off the
retweets from individual users, which is a very nice touch!
Conversation potential remains, while trimming some of the broadcast
tendencies of some tweeters.
Just heard...
Sonus Faber Elipsa (two speakers on far left and right) powered by McIntosh. Magnificos!
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#MusicMonday Video: I Want You To by Weezer
Long-time favorite group Weezer has a new video, directed by Marc Webb, from their new album Raditude entitled, “(If You’re Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To”. There’s even an acoustic version with Sara Bareilles.
Don't See: New York, I Love You
After watching, and liking, two of the world’s four “global cities” set the stage for films of similar formula— compilation of multiple shorts shot by different directors highlighting personal interaction within a large metropolis— I thought this third, global city, film, with New York City as the backdrop, was going to as interesting. I had high hopes since the story is told stateside in, arguably, the world’s greatest city. Unfortunately, it fell well short of expectations. To me, the captivating aspect of the other two which were filmed in similar vein, Paris, je t’aime and Tokyo!, was in the direction. Whether it’s Coen, Van Sant, and Craven in Paris or Gondry and Carax in Tokyo, watching contrasting styles within the same film made those films much more interesting. I didn’t get that feel from New York. One of the shorts that could have added diversity and contrast to the overall production— the directorial debut of Scarlett Johansson, shot in black and white— didn’t make the final cut. Not all aspects of this film were bad though. There were some very fine performances from Ethan Hawke, Robin Wright Penn, and Cloris Leachman. If someone decides to produce this niche genre for the fourth global city, London, I hope that he or she will tap contrasting directors that will make the story interesting. How about Kevin Smith, Sam Raimi, and Peter Jackson? It could happen… 
