From the monthly archives:

January 2008

“Symphonie Fantastique”

by Joey deVilla on January 31, 2008

Hector Berlioz and AC/DC’s Brian Johnson
Composer Hector Berlioz and AC/DC vocalist Brian Johnson.

My calendar’s full, but if you’re thinking about making those first baby-steps into — ahem — culture, may I recommend Berlioz’ Symphonie Fantastique, which the Toronto Symphony Orchestra will perform tonight and tomorrow at Roy Thomson Hall, with super-maestro Charles Dutoit conducting. I think it’s pretty accessible: after all, it’s all about trying to impress a chick with your music, lust, obsession, orgies, drugs, devil-worship and a big-ass bell — dude, it’s AC/DC, if they’d formed a band 150 years earlier!*

(* It could also be a loose summary of my social life — or a very accurate summary of Robert Downey, Jr.’s — from ages 27 to 37.)

Links

{ 2 comments }

Never Forget: 1-31-07

by Joey deVilla on January 31, 2008

“Lite Brite” mooninite with the words “Never forget: 1-31-07″

Wow, has a year already passed?

There’s more here and here.

{ 0 comments }

“Races” and Their Faces, 1906-Style

by Joey deVilla on January 30, 2008

Illustrations of “Race Types” from the 1906 book “New Complete Geography”
Click the photo to see it on its original Flickr page.

[Via Boing Boing] Here’s a page from the 1906 schoolbook New Complete Geography showing a number of various “races” and what they look like.

Note the inclusion of “Philippino” — probably included because the Philippines was an American protectorate at the time (one of the by-products of which was my great-grandfather, one James O’Hara, born near Dayton, Ohio). I thought I’d run the image of my kababayan (countryman) from the book side-by-side with my own smiling mug, just for kicks:

“Philippino” man from “New Complete Geography” side by side with Joey deVilla.

Should I swap my goatee for that splendiferous handlebar moustache from the illustration?

{ 9 comments }

“Alice in Wonderland” at Toronto’s New City Hall

by Joey deVilla on January 30, 2008

Here’s a great photo from a performance of Alice in Wonderland outside Toronto’s New City Hall taken by Sam “Daily Dose of Imagery” Javanrouh. The show was performed by Theater Gajes, a troupe from the Netherlands, and they’ll be performing it again this Saturday and Sunday at both 2 and 5 p.m..

Man in bed suspended in the air with Toronto’s New City Hall in the background
Click the photo to see it on its original page.
Photo courtesy of Sam Javanrouh.

Here’s the description from the City of Toronto’s site:

Scene from Theatre Gajes’ “Alice in Wonderland”

Floating high above the crowds on one-metre-high stilts, Theater Gajes present their interpretation of the well-loved Lewis Carroll story. Set to live music, this enchanting, interactive production features hilarious banter and highly physical performances with a 15-member cast in colourful costumes weaving through the audience with oversized props.

Scene from Theatre Gajes’ “Alice in Wonderland”

Follow Alice into the weird but wonderful world of Wonderland, amid odd creatures and whimsical characters who try to convince you that they only exist in your imagination. The unexpected storyline twists and turns promise to entertain fans of all ages.

Man in viking helmet sticking his tongue out
Click the photo to see it on its original page.
Photo courtesy of Sam Javanrouh.

{ 0 comments }

“Star Wars” Stills in 1080p

by Joey deVilla on January 29, 2008

For your nerdy enjoyment: a set of stills taken from Star Wars: Episode IV — A New Hope, in glorious 1080p. Click the photo below to see it in its full high-def glory:

Star Wars stills in 1080p
Click the photo to see it at full size (it’s huge — 1.7MB!)
Photo courtesy of Miss Fipi Lele.

I’m turning a couple of these into my desktop background images.

{ 2 comments }

At Last, a Computer Peripheral for Those Romantic Encounters

January 29, 2008

The use of computers as assistive devices for romantic encounters isn’t new: from the “computer dating gone terribly wrong” plotline used by some ’60s and ’70s sitcoms to SolveDating.com (has its developer, who had not yet been kissed at the age of 33 back in 2004, “gotten anywhere” yet?) the likes of LavaLife and eHarmony, [...]

Read the full article →

My Favourite Political T-Shirt: “Bros Before Hoes”

January 28, 2008

T-Shirt Hell makes some outrageously offensive (but sometimes funny) t-shirts, and this one’s my current favourite:
Click the photo to see the order page.

Read the full article →

Rambo Stats

January 25, 2008

Back in the 80’s, the Rambo series of movies was considered to be yardstick against which other action movies were compared for sheer hellzapoppin’ action. As the table below from the New York Times Magazine shows, the latest Rambo movie turns up the heat:
Click the picture to see it at full size.Scan courtesy of Miss [...]

Read the full article →

MacGyver Hairdresser

January 25, 2008

It warms my heart that someone out there still draws inspiration from MacGyver:
Click the photo to see it at full size.Photo courtesy of Miss Fipi Lele.

Read the full article →

Davos Photo of the Day

January 24, 2008

Actress Emma Thompson, like most sane people, is put to sleep by economics.Thanks to Miss Fipi Lele for the photo!
I don’t blame her; a large gathering of people coming together to discuss hand-wavey applications of The Dismal Science would knock me out too.
(According to this article, she’s there in her capacity as a campaigner for [...]

Read the full article →

The Vintages 2005 Bordeaux Tasting

January 24, 2008

My sister and brother-in-law gave the Ginger Ninja and me a pair of tickets to the Vintages wine tasting for 2005 Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux wines. It took place on Tuesday night, and naturally, I took a few photos…
Here’s Yours Truly having one of his couple-dozen-or-so samples of red. I like to think [...]

Read the full article →

“Enfranchised Mind’s” Tips on How to Be Happy

January 23, 2008

I seem to be on a “How-to” list kick today. While I’m at it, here’s another one, this time from the blog Enfranchised Mind: Let Me Save You $40: Here’s How to Be Happy. In this introduction for this article, Robert Fischer writes:

I was over at my father-in-law’s birthday party, and I saw that he [...]

Read the full article →

How to Work the Room

January 23, 2008

Over at FoundRead, Larry Chiang has some advice that you might find useful if you’re following Scoble’s advice for people who’ve just been laid off (particularly the parts about networking and attending business events). His piece is titled How to Work the Room.
Here’s a condensed version:

Be more of a host and less of a guest. [...]

Read the full article →

What to Do If You’re Laid Off (or Just Looking for Work) in the 2008 Recession

January 23, 2008

A still from the original “Odd Todd” cartoon, Laid Off: A Day in the Life.Click the image to watch the cartoon.
Inspired by news of the impending layoffs at Yahoo!, Robert Scoble — quite possibly the internet’s best-known tech evangelist has compiled a list in his article What to Do if You’re Laid Off in the [...]

Read the full article →

T-Shirt of the Day

January 22, 2008

Here’s a fine t-shirt that you can get made at any shopping mall that has one of those stores where they’ll stick the slogan of your choice in Cooper Black letters onto a t-shirt or sweatshirt with one of those big press irons. You’ll be a big hit at your next geek gathering!
Photo by Kris [...]

Read the full article →

Toronto Gatherings for Rails Developers

January 21, 2008

If you’re a Ruby on Rails developer, there are a couple of events you might be interested in…
Tonight: Rails Pub Nite at The Rhino
The fine folks at local development company Unspace have hosted the monthly Rails Pub Nite for nearly two years now, and the event is going strong. It’s a meet-and-greet event where you [...]

Read the full article →