October 2008

Blogging for Dollars in Danger?

by Brian on 10-31-2008

in business

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I noticed this article yesterday in the New York Times about marquee marathons that are in danger of becoming too popular. Funny: “You are a victim of what you accomplish,” Morse said. “We want to be as big as we can be without compromising the integrity of the event. There’s a breaking point, and you may not [...]

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SNL Behind the Scenes

by Brian on 10-30-2008

in art,civics

On Charlie Rose, again: a great conversation with Lorne Michaels, Seth Meyers, Darrell Hammond, Fred Armisen, and James Downey, about what it takes to write, produce, and perform Saturday Night Live — which is as popular and influential as ever. Lot’s of discussion on political humour, impersonations, and how politicians themselves feel about them. One interesting takeaway is the [...]

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Winter Music

by Brian on 10-29-2008

in art

I was just out walking around on the snowy and limb-strewn streets of London (trying to find season 2 of The Wire by the way – y’all gotta return that, for real), listening to music, when I suddenly had the urge to listen to The Police. It’s funny that the aftermath of intense winter weather puts me in [...]

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Generation We

by Brian on 10-29-2008

in civics

Yet another factor that’s contributing to massive changes in our world: Gen We. Demography has interested me since way back when I read Boom, Bust & Echo in high school (it was one of the only books I read in high school), but this newest generation is really getting fascinating…

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If you don’t already know about behavioural economics I’m going to give you a choice: either become familiar with it — starting now by reading the rest of this post — or stop reading and never ever come back to this blog again. I mean it – have a nice confused and misled life.  If you already know this stuff, we’re chill. Maybe [...]

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Russia’s War on Bond Girls

by Brian on 10-28-2008

in art,civics

I truly hope this is a joke:  A Russian communist group has attacked the newest Bond girl, Olga Kurylenko, for her “moral and intellectual betrayal” in starring in a film about the “enemy of the Soviet people.” Ukrainian-born Kurylenko, 28, stars in the new James Bond film, Quantum of Solace, alongside English actor Daniel Craig. [...]

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About 2 days ago I got worried that maybe I’m worrying too much. So I suggested a few checkpoints for myself. For example, I suggested that if a year from now none of the big three automakers exists in their current form I’ll be vindicated. I also suggested I’ll be vindicated if by next year [...]

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Synecdoche, New York

by Brian on 10-27-2008

in art

Even if only to know how to pronounce it, check out Charlie Kaufman and Philip Seymour Hoffman on Charlie Rose talking about their new movie, Synecdoche, New York. In the movie, Hoffman’s character spends fifty years putting together a play with a cast of thousands that keeps developing and incorporating elements of his own life [...]

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A Decade of the National Post

by Brian on 10-27-2008

in canada,media

I didn’t realize it has been ten years until I read Paul Wells this morning. Robert Fulford also looks back. Lately I tend to favour the Globe and Mail a little more. For a few years I didn’t read (or care to read) it at all. But during its first few years I had to read the National [...]

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A felicitous find in a used bookstore yesterday: The Nature of Economies by Jane Jacobs. Two bucks. The paper cover claims it was a “#1 National Bestseller” (in Canada, in 2000) but I doubt whether everyone who bought it actually read it. [They should!] I suspect a lot of left-leaning folks (as Robert Fulford pointed out, ironically, [...]

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Designing Through Challenges

by Brian on 10-26-2008

in business,civics

Tim Brown of IDEO shares my curiosity:  I am very interested in what new behaviors might emerge this time around and ultimately what innovations they may inspire. Will it be something to do with people changing their attitude toward saving versus spending? Will the growing uncertainty of the world encourage us to look for lives that [...]

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