Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Idiots
Some people never learn. Many of those people are called "Republicans."
A very good food weekend
With so many choices across so many cuisines and price ranges, I don't understand why people in HK still like to go to McDonalds or KFC.
Friday night, dinner at Rei Sushi in the IFC Mall. They claim to get their fish flown in from Tsukiji six times per week. The aji tataki was the real standout. The maguro was really nice but the ohtoro was disappointing. Overall I prefer Sushi Hiro in Causeway Bay, but I was at the IFC already for other reasons.
Saturday, lunch at Crystal Jade La Mian Xiao Long Bao, the Wanchai branch of the Singapore chain. Their xiao long bao remains my 3rd favorite in the world and is consistent across all of the branches that I've tried. (A little no-name dump in Shanghai is my #1, the original Din Tai Fung shop in Taipei is #2.) The jiang nan style pork ribs were also really really good.
Saturday dinner at Agave, Wanchai branch. If you've never been there, this place has over 200 different tequilas listed on their menu, an entire page of margaritas and two more pages of tequila cocktails. So details on exactly what I ate are fuzzy, but it was strips of beef served in a pan with a slightly spicy sauce, some onions, some beans, some tortillas stuffed with cheese served on the side. What I appreciate about Agave is that a large portion of their menu is really Mexican, not the Tex-Mex hybrid that every other place in HK tries to pass off as Mexican.
Sunday, dinner at 798 & Company, the branch of the "gastropub" located in Times Square in Causeway Bay. This place is a problem for me because every time I go there, I want to order the entire menu. But I kept it simple, spaghetti with clams - spaghetti was perfectly al dente, clams were cooked exactly right and the sauce was a very basic olive oil and garlic.
Monday, dinner at Nha Trang, Wellington Street near the escalator, still a line at 9 PM on a Monday which will tell you that I'm not alone in thinking this is the best cheap 'n cheerful Vietnamese in HK. I practically inhaled the softshell crab and we should have ordered a second plate of the rice noodle rolls with prawns. I thought the Vietnamese chicken ceviche didn't do anything for me. And we had a beef dish that was not bad at all though the details are a bit hazy.
Okay, I guess you can guess from reading this that I'm heading off to have lunch now. If I was in Wanchai, think I'd be waiting in line for some char siu at Joy Hing. Sadly, I'm in Quarry Bay ....
Friday night, dinner at Rei Sushi in the IFC Mall. They claim to get their fish flown in from Tsukiji six times per week. The aji tataki was the real standout. The maguro was really nice but the ohtoro was disappointing. Overall I prefer Sushi Hiro in Causeway Bay, but I was at the IFC already for other reasons.
Saturday, lunch at Crystal Jade La Mian Xiao Long Bao, the Wanchai branch of the Singapore chain. Their xiao long bao remains my 3rd favorite in the world and is consistent across all of the branches that I've tried. (A little no-name dump in Shanghai is my #1, the original Din Tai Fung shop in Taipei is #2.) The jiang nan style pork ribs were also really really good.
Saturday dinner at Agave, Wanchai branch. If you've never been there, this place has over 200 different tequilas listed on their menu, an entire page of margaritas and two more pages of tequila cocktails. So details on exactly what I ate are fuzzy, but it was strips of beef served in a pan with a slightly spicy sauce, some onions, some beans, some tortillas stuffed with cheese served on the side. What I appreciate about Agave is that a large portion of their menu is really Mexican, not the Tex-Mex hybrid that every other place in HK tries to pass off as Mexican.
Sunday, dinner at 798 & Company, the branch of the "gastropub" located in Times Square in Causeway Bay. This place is a problem for me because every time I go there, I want to order the entire menu. But I kept it simple, spaghetti with clams - spaghetti was perfectly al dente, clams were cooked exactly right and the sauce was a very basic olive oil and garlic.
Monday, dinner at Nha Trang, Wellington Street near the escalator, still a line at 9 PM on a Monday which will tell you that I'm not alone in thinking this is the best cheap 'n cheerful Vietnamese in HK. I practically inhaled the softshell crab and we should have ordered a second plate of the rice noodle rolls with prawns. I thought the Vietnamese chicken ceviche didn't do anything for me. And we had a beef dish that was not bad at all though the details are a bit hazy.
Okay, I guess you can guess from reading this that I'm heading off to have lunch now. If I was in Wanchai, think I'd be waiting in line for some char siu at Joy Hing. Sadly, I'm in Quarry Bay ....
Monday, October 29, 2007
Caution: Lust
No, not a further post on the Wanchai murders. Last night I went to see Ang Lee's latest film, Lust, Caution.
I wasn't too sure about going to see it in a HK movie theater because I was afraid that too much of the audience would be made up of idiots merely lured into buying a ticket because of the Cat III rating and the sex scenes. Most HKers seem pre-occupied with the color of Wei Tang's nipples (apparently they are not pink enough, leading people to believe she must be a slut) and that you can see Tony Leung's balls in one shot.
It did seem as if the only people in the theater who were talking during the movie were the two women sitting behind me, Aunt Blabby and her cousin, who were engaged in a non-stop yak-fest. About an hour in, I couldn't take it any more, turned around and said, "what the hell is wrong with you?" And they did then seem to keep their conversation below 100 decibels for the rest of the film.
As for the movie itself, it is as you probably know more than 2-1/2 hours long and it really feels like it, too. I think there's a good 97 minute movie hiding inside just waiting to get out. Rodrigo Prieto's cinematography is first rate throughout and high marks for Lai Pan's flawless production design. The sex scenes were, I feel, necessary to the development of the plot, an important way to show how the relationship between Mr. Lee and Ms. Wong changed over time.
One thing that seriously distracted me in the movie though. Granted I'm no expert on Chinese history. My view of Shanghai during WWII was shaped by the film Empire of the Sun. Lust, Caution depicts a very different Shanghai during the Japanese occupation. A Shanghai in which lush shops and cafes are still open and thriving along Nanjing Road. A jewelry store owned and staffed by men from the middle east. Westerners can frequently be seen walking down the main streets. Our heroine stops into a western style cafe and the waiter is a European man. And at several times during the film, she goes to a movie theater showing American films (although one screening is interrupted to show a Japanese propaganda film). This stuff just took me out of the movie. I thought that all of the westerners in Shanghai were either killed or tossed out, except for Batman.
Another thing that struck me was that here we had a movie with a plot that made sense. It was well thought out and the characters' motivations were clear and logical. We rarely get that in HK movies any more, where people act in stupidly unpredictable ways in order to advance the plot in illogical ways. Which had me thinking ... where is modern Hong Kong literature, even at the pulp fiction level? Is there really no one writing novels or short stories locally? Around the world, novels, short stories, magazine articles are the primary source material for films. That doesn't seem to be the case here. Are these things not being written? And if they are being written, why are they not optioned for films - $$$?
Does this point to yet another HK failure - the failure to provide students with education in arts and culture equivalent to the basic math and language training? In Hong Kong, art (including theatre, literature and music) is seen as something to invest in, not as a career and not as something to appreciate for its own sake. Why is Beijing a global art center but Hong Kong isn't? (It ain't just HK. Shanghai and Shenzhen are also both pretty much cultural wastelands.)
Take a ride on the MTR or KCR here sometime. See for yourself what percentage of people are reading books (not including textbooks or manga).
Oh well, it's Monday.
I wasn't too sure about going to see it in a HK movie theater because I was afraid that too much of the audience would be made up of idiots merely lured into buying a ticket because of the Cat III rating and the sex scenes. Most HKers seem pre-occupied with the color of Wei Tang's nipples (apparently they are not pink enough, leading people to believe she must be a slut) and that you can see Tony Leung's balls in one shot.
It did seem as if the only people in the theater who were talking during the movie were the two women sitting behind me, Aunt Blabby and her cousin, who were engaged in a non-stop yak-fest. About an hour in, I couldn't take it any more, turned around and said, "what the hell is wrong with you?" And they did then seem to keep their conversation below 100 decibels for the rest of the film.
As for the movie itself, it is as you probably know more than 2-1/2 hours long and it really feels like it, too. I think there's a good 97 minute movie hiding inside just waiting to get out. Rodrigo Prieto's cinematography is first rate throughout and high marks for Lai Pan's flawless production design. The sex scenes were, I feel, necessary to the development of the plot, an important way to show how the relationship between Mr. Lee and Ms. Wong changed over time.
One thing that seriously distracted me in the movie though. Granted I'm no expert on Chinese history. My view of Shanghai during WWII was shaped by the film Empire of the Sun. Lust, Caution depicts a very different Shanghai during the Japanese occupation. A Shanghai in which lush shops and cafes are still open and thriving along Nanjing Road. A jewelry store owned and staffed by men from the middle east. Westerners can frequently be seen walking down the main streets. Our heroine stops into a western style cafe and the waiter is a European man. And at several times during the film, she goes to a movie theater showing American films (although one screening is interrupted to show a Japanese propaganda film). This stuff just took me out of the movie. I thought that all of the westerners in Shanghai were either killed or tossed out, except for Batman.
Another thing that struck me was that here we had a movie with a plot that made sense. It was well thought out and the characters' motivations were clear and logical. We rarely get that in HK movies any more, where people act in stupidly unpredictable ways in order to advance the plot in illogical ways. Which had me thinking ... where is modern Hong Kong literature, even at the pulp fiction level? Is there really no one writing novels or short stories locally? Around the world, novels, short stories, magazine articles are the primary source material for films. That doesn't seem to be the case here. Are these things not being written? And if they are being written, why are they not optioned for films - $$$?
Does this point to yet another HK failure - the failure to provide students with education in arts and culture equivalent to the basic math and language training? In Hong Kong, art (including theatre, literature and music) is seen as something to invest in, not as a career and not as something to appreciate for its own sake. Why is Beijing a global art center but Hong Kong isn't? (It ain't just HK. Shanghai and Shenzhen are also both pretty much cultural wastelands.)
Take a ride on the MTR or KCR here sometime. See for yourself what percentage of people are reading books (not including textbooks or manga).
Oh well, it's Monday.
Wanchai Murders
The bodies of two American men were found Friday night in a room at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Wanchai North.
The SCMP's article (paid subscription required) offers reaction from some guests to finding out that they were on the same floor with two bodies but offers no speculation as to what the cause might have been. (Oddly, the article refers to the two Americans surname first, given name second, e.g. "Cherry Paul.")
The Standard's article is more forthcoming with details, noting the men were spotted returning to the hotel that evening with two women, that a 20 year old Filipino girl was arrested 8 hours later and that a check of credit card receipts showed the two men had been to a number of bars in Wanchai prior to their death.
Since the bodies show no visible wounds but "white foam" coming from the mouths of the bodies, the speculation is that they brought two hookers back to their hotel and that the hookers either drugged or poisoned them as part of a robbery attempt.
Curiously, the Standard's article says that the Filipino girl who was arrested on the basis of overstaying her visa does not mention how the police tracked her down. The photo accompanying the article shows a girl in a very short skirt and leather boots covering her face as she's being escorted by cops past Mes Amis, which as most of you know is several blocks away from the Hyatt.
This type of event does not happen often in Hong Kong - or perhaps it does but is not deemed newsworthy if it just ends in robbery and not death. Rare or frequent, it's distressing and sad on many levels.
The SCMP's article (paid subscription required) offers reaction from some guests to finding out that they were on the same floor with two bodies but offers no speculation as to what the cause might have been. (Oddly, the article refers to the two Americans surname first, given name second, e.g. "Cherry Paul.")
The Standard's article is more forthcoming with details, noting the men were spotted returning to the hotel that evening with two women, that a 20 year old Filipino girl was arrested 8 hours later and that a check of credit card receipts showed the two men had been to a number of bars in Wanchai prior to their death.
Since the bodies show no visible wounds but "white foam" coming from the mouths of the bodies, the speculation is that they brought two hookers back to their hotel and that the hookers either drugged or poisoned them as part of a robbery attempt.
Curiously, the Standard's article says that the Filipino girl who was arrested on the basis of overstaying her visa does not mention how the police tracked her down. The photo accompanying the article shows a girl in a very short skirt and leather boots covering her face as she's being escorted by cops past Mes Amis, which as most of you know is several blocks away from the Hyatt.
This type of event does not happen often in Hong Kong - or perhaps it does but is not deemed newsworthy if it just ends in robbery and not death. Rare or frequent, it's distressing and sad on many levels.
Friday, October 26, 2007
No comments for reasons that you may think are obvious but actually it's something else
Unlike other HK bloggers, I cannot get upset over the fact that some people in HK and China have called Martin Lee a traitor for suggesting that other countries use the Olympics as an excuse to pressure China on human rights. What else did anyone expect? For them to suddenly go, "wow, yeah, he's right!" If Lee had any expectation of any outcome other than this, then he's an even bigger idiot than his enemies think.
And aside from the fact that the Olympics doesn't mean shit to a tree to me, I thought the general concensus amongst those who like to believe that they are politically correct in their thinking is that one should not politicize the Olympics. That doesn't suddenly change because you happen to agree with the issue involved. You don't make exceptions. Some things in life need to be absolutes. Like freedom of speech. Or human rights. You don't pull no punches but you don't push the river.
And it's not unexpected when HK officials blame six months of the worst pollution in HK history on the weather. Why get upset over it? There is a script to be followed and The Donald has his job because he does an excellent job of following it. Why does anyone expect him to change? Is he suddenly wearing turtlenecks instead of bow ties?
United States Resident George Bush actually thinks that someone aside from the 20% of double digit IQ Americans who still support him would care what he has to say. He doesn't seem to understand that when you launch an unprovoked war on a sovereign country, displace millions of people, cause a million casualties, throw away the Geneva Convention and torture people, hold people in prison for years without legal council or trial, illegally wiretap your own citizens, (well the list goes on - national debt, New Orleans, Blackwater) you no longer have the moral high ground to lecture someone else like, oh, Cuba, on how they should govern themselves. And he hasn't got the brains to figure out that the world isn't going to jump to support you when you threaten war against Iran simply because their unpopular nutjob of a president has done a better job of being a nutjob than you have. Right now Kim Jong-Il is shaking with laughter thinking about how he can do and say whatever he wants since he doesn't have any oil in his country for Bush to try and steal.
And don't forget about the fires in California, which not only wonderfully illustrate the perils of ignoring global warming and climate change but have also given Arnold ample opportunity to show how someone who was honestly elected and re-elected and has behaved in a mostly responsible fashion should respond to a crisis. But of course, since Bush already appointed anyone with any experience running dog and pony shows to national security positions, all Arnold had left to hire were people who might have a chance of knowing what they were doing.
From the funniest thing I have read today (the spelling isn't a typo, it refers back to an earlier joke in the essay):
And aside from the fact that the Olympics doesn't mean shit to a tree to me, I thought the general concensus amongst those who like to believe that they are politically correct in their thinking is that one should not politicize the Olympics. That doesn't suddenly change because you happen to agree with the issue involved. You don't make exceptions. Some things in life need to be absolutes. Like freedom of speech. Or human rights. You don't pull no punches but you don't push the river.
And it's not unexpected when HK officials blame six months of the worst pollution in HK history on the weather. Why get upset over it? There is a script to be followed and The Donald has his job because he does an excellent job of following it. Why does anyone expect him to change? Is he suddenly wearing turtlenecks instead of bow ties?
United States Resident George Bush actually thinks that someone aside from the 20% of double digit IQ Americans who still support him would care what he has to say. He doesn't seem to understand that when you launch an unprovoked war on a sovereign country, displace millions of people, cause a million casualties, throw away the Geneva Convention and torture people, hold people in prison for years without legal council or trial, illegally wiretap your own citizens, (well the list goes on - national debt, New Orleans, Blackwater) you no longer have the moral high ground to lecture someone else like, oh, Cuba, on how they should govern themselves. And he hasn't got the brains to figure out that the world isn't going to jump to support you when you threaten war against Iran simply because their unpopular nutjob of a president has done a better job of being a nutjob than you have. Right now Kim Jong-Il is shaking with laughter thinking about how he can do and say whatever he wants since he doesn't have any oil in his country for Bush to try and steal.
And don't forget about the fires in California, which not only wonderfully illustrate the perils of ignoring global warming and climate change but have also given Arnold ample opportunity to show how someone who was honestly elected and re-elected and has behaved in a mostly responsible fashion should respond to a crisis. But of course, since Bush already appointed anyone with any experience running dog and pony shows to national security positions, all Arnold had left to hire were people who might have a chance of knowing what they were doing.
From the funniest thing I have read today (the spelling isn't a typo, it refers back to an earlier joke in the essay):
In a brief Q&A, the president said that the Dali Lama had asked him who he would want to be reincarnated as, and Mr. Bush replied "An Iraqi woman, because that means I'd be living in a free, open, democratic society. Plus, I'd look great in a burkah."
When the Dali Lama reminded him that he'd be having sex with Iraqi men, Bush said that would be an improvement over Dick Cheney.
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Larry King looks like how I feel today
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Sent by everyone in the world I know to me
Just one of many issues I'm having at the moment. TTFN.
Monday, October 22, 2007
Heart and soul
I'm just back from a quick weekend trip to Singapore. Managed to spend the better (and worse) part of Sunday with Expat@Large, Indy, Mercer Machine and others. My thanks to all for the good companionship and for continuing to put up with me after I drank the better (or worse) part of a bottle of Jack Daniels. I also got to eat pepper crab and chili tiger prawns and murtabak (but no laksa), spend a couple of hours stocking up at Kinokuniya, and managed to avoid the sorts of places where I would normally be found, so all in all a very successful trip.
That being said, at the moment, my passion for blogging is at an all time low. It could return as soon as later tonight, or it might be a while, hard to say. Suffice to say that I am alive and well and as close to happy as I generally allow myself to get. Columns in BC will continue ....
That being said, at the moment, my passion for blogging is at an all time low. It could return as soon as later tonight, or it might be a while, hard to say. Suffice to say that I am alive and well and as close to happy as I generally allow myself to get. Columns in BC will continue ....
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
What I do for my readers
Monday night and of course I'd like to spend a quiet evening at home with my dogs and my maid. Instead, I went out to a press junket on Fashion TV's F. Diamond mega yacht, currently anchored in our fair harbor. While there, I was forced to watch a show that featured 17 models in tiny dresses and bikinis. It's a hard luck life for Spike.
The F.Diamond is here in HK for a week and there will be a big party on Thursday night, co-sponsored by Prive, which I will probably also attend. This marks the 10th anniversary of the Fashion TV cable channel, which claims to be the 4th largest channel in the world (in terms of households which could tune in to it). After HK, they will be in Shenzhen this weekend before steaming off someplace else.
We witnessed their weekly Miss FTV contest, 17 contestants, including three Hong Kong models (one of whom was first runner-up and is my future ex-wife, though she doesn't know it yet).
Since they had their own camera people swarming around us, this leads to the nightmarish possibility that my face could soon be appearing on FTV. The apocalypse is indeed nigh.
Here are a selection of photos - small on this page because there are so many but click on them for slightly larger versions.
This is Michel Adams, the founder of FTV, with the three local HK models. Most of the other girls are from eastern Europe, one from Spain.
Friday, October 12, 2007
The United States is a Refuge for Hate Mongering Bigots.
And that's just one reason I don't live there.
Ann Coulter is a best selling author, columnist and commentator and extremely typical of the right wing of American politics.
Now I believe in the freedom of speech as an absolute right. But I am dismayed, to say the least, when some people choose to use that freedom to stir up hatred merely to get a response and get ratings, or use that freedom to express what by now should be outdated bigoted ideas.
Freedom of speech does not mean that freedom of access to media to express yourself. The fact that someone like Ann Coulter continues to have this access and receive this broad exposure is a reflection on America, because people agree with this, people like this.
Here's a transcript of her appearance on a show on CNBC, "The Big Idea," hosted by Donny Deutsch, earlier this month. Deutsch is every bit as guilty as Coulter, because he knows who she is and what she stands for, and is happy to let her broadcast her 15th century view of the world because he knows it means ratings numbers for him. Who is more guilty? Not easy to say.
DEUTSCH: Christian -- so we should be Christian? It would be better if we were all Christian?
COULTER: Yes.
DEUTSCH: We should all be Christian?
COULTER: Yes. Would you like to come to church with me, Donny?
DEUTSCH: So I should not be a Jew, I should be a Christian, and this would be a better place?
COULTER: Well, you could be a practicing Jew, but you're not.
DEUTSCH: I actually am. That's not true. I really am. But -- so we would be better if we were - if people -- if there were no Jews, no Buddhists --
COULTER: Whenever I'm harangued by --
DEUTSCH: -- in this country? You can't believe that.
COULTER: -- you know, liberals on diversity --
DEUTSCH: Here you go again.
COULTER: No, it's true. I give all of these speeches at megachurches across America, and the one thing that's really striking about it is how utterly, completely diverse they are, and completely unself-consciously. You walk past a mixed-race couple in New York, and it's like they have a chip on their shoulder. They're just waiting for somebody to say something, as if anybody would. And --
DEUTSCH: I don't agree with that. I don't agree with that at all. Maybe you have the chip looking at them. I see a lot of interracial couples, and I don't see any more or less chips there either way. That's erroneous.
COULTER: No. In fact, there was an entire Seinfeld episode about Elaine and her boyfriend dating because they wanted to be a mixed-race couple, so you're lying.
DEUTSCH: Oh, because of some Seinfeld episode? OK.
COULTER: But yeah, I think that's reflective of what's going on in the culture, but it is completely striking that at these huge megachurches -- the idea that, you know, the more Christian you are, the less tolerant you would be is preposterous.
DEUTSCH: That isn't what I said, but you said I should not -- we should just throw Judaism away and we should all be Christians, then, or --
COULTER: Yeah.
DEUTSCH: Really?
COULTER: Well, it's a lot easier. It's kind of a fast track.
DEUTSCH: Really?
COULTER: Yeah. You have to obey.
DEUTSCH: You can't possibly believe that.
COULTER: Yes.
DEUTSCH: You can't possibly -- you're too educated, you can't -- you're like my friend in --
COULTER: Do you know what Christianity is? We believe your religion, but you have to obey.
DEUTSCH: No, no, no, but I mean --
COULTER: We have the fast-track program.
DEUTSCH: Why don't I put you with the head of Iran? I mean, come on. You can't believe that.
COULTER: The head of Iran is not a Christian.
DEUTSCH: No, but in fact, "Let's wipe Israel" --
COULTER: I don't know if you've been paying attention.
DEUTSCH: "Let's wipe Israel off the earth." I mean, what, no Jews?
COULTER: No, we think -- we just want Jews to be perfected, as they say.
DEUTSCH: Wow, you didn't really say that, did you?
COULTER: Yes. That is what Christianity is. We believe the Old Testament, but ours is more like Federal Express. You have to obey laws. We know we're all sinners --
DEUTSCH: In my old days, I would have argued -- when you say something absurd like that, there's no --
COULTER: What's absurd?
DEUTSCH: Jews are going to be perfected. I'm going to go off and try to perfect myself --
COULTER: Well, that's what the New Testament says.
DEUTSCH: Ann Coulter, author of If Democrats Had Any Brains, They'd Be Republicans, and if Ann Coulter had any brains, she would not say Jews need to be perfected. I'm offended by that personally. And we'll have more Big Idea when we come back.
[...]
DEUTSCH: Welcome back to The Big Idea. During the break, Ann said she wanted to explain her last comment. So I'm going to give her a chance. So you don't think that was offensive?
COULTER: No. I'm sorry. It is not intended to be. I don't think you should take it that way, but that is what Christians consider themselves: perfected Jews. We believe the Old Testament. As you know from the Old Testament, God was constantly getting fed up with humans for not being able to, you know, live up to all the laws. What Christians believe -- this is just a statement of what the New Testament is -- is that that's why Christ came and died for our sins. Christians believe the Old Testament. You don't believe our testament.
DEUTSCH: You said -- your exact words were, "Jews need to be perfected." Those are the words out of your mouth.
COULTER: No, I'm saying that's what a Christian is.
DEUTSCH: But that's what you said -- don't you see how hateful, how anti-Semitic --
COULTER: No!
DEUTSCH: How do you not see? You're an educated woman. How do you not see that?
COULTER: That isn't hateful at all.
DEUTSCH: But that's even a scarier thought.
Ann Coulter is a best selling author, columnist and commentator and extremely typical of the right wing of American politics.
Now I believe in the freedom of speech as an absolute right. But I am dismayed, to say the least, when some people choose to use that freedom to stir up hatred merely to get a response and get ratings, or use that freedom to express what by now should be outdated bigoted ideas.
Freedom of speech does not mean that freedom of access to media to express yourself. The fact that someone like Ann Coulter continues to have this access and receive this broad exposure is a reflection on America, because people agree with this, people like this.
Here's a transcript of her appearance on a show on CNBC, "The Big Idea," hosted by Donny Deutsch, earlier this month. Deutsch is every bit as guilty as Coulter, because he knows who she is and what she stands for, and is happy to let her broadcast her 15th century view of the world because he knows it means ratings numbers for him. Who is more guilty? Not easy to say.
DEUTSCH: Christian -- so we should be Christian? It would be better if we were all Christian?
COULTER: Yes.
DEUTSCH: We should all be Christian?
COULTER: Yes. Would you like to come to church with me, Donny?
DEUTSCH: So I should not be a Jew, I should be a Christian, and this would be a better place?
COULTER: Well, you could be a practicing Jew, but you're not.
DEUTSCH: I actually am. That's not true. I really am. But -- so we would be better if we were - if people -- if there were no Jews, no Buddhists --
COULTER: Whenever I'm harangued by --
DEUTSCH: -- in this country? You can't believe that.
COULTER: -- you know, liberals on diversity --
DEUTSCH: Here you go again.
COULTER: No, it's true. I give all of these speeches at megachurches across America, and the one thing that's really striking about it is how utterly, completely diverse they are, and completely unself-consciously. You walk past a mixed-race couple in New York, and it's like they have a chip on their shoulder. They're just waiting for somebody to say something, as if anybody would. And --
DEUTSCH: I don't agree with that. I don't agree with that at all. Maybe you have the chip looking at them. I see a lot of interracial couples, and I don't see any more or less chips there either way. That's erroneous.
COULTER: No. In fact, there was an entire Seinfeld episode about Elaine and her boyfriend dating because they wanted to be a mixed-race couple, so you're lying.
DEUTSCH: Oh, because of some Seinfeld episode? OK.
COULTER: But yeah, I think that's reflective of what's going on in the culture, but it is completely striking that at these huge megachurches -- the idea that, you know, the more Christian you are, the less tolerant you would be is preposterous.
DEUTSCH: That isn't what I said, but you said I should not -- we should just throw Judaism away and we should all be Christians, then, or --
COULTER: Yeah.
DEUTSCH: Really?
COULTER: Well, it's a lot easier. It's kind of a fast track.
DEUTSCH: Really?
COULTER: Yeah. You have to obey.
DEUTSCH: You can't possibly believe that.
COULTER: Yes.
DEUTSCH: You can't possibly -- you're too educated, you can't -- you're like my friend in --
COULTER: Do you know what Christianity is? We believe your religion, but you have to obey.
DEUTSCH: No, no, no, but I mean --
COULTER: We have the fast-track program.
DEUTSCH: Why don't I put you with the head of Iran? I mean, come on. You can't believe that.
COULTER: The head of Iran is not a Christian.
DEUTSCH: No, but in fact, "Let's wipe Israel" --
COULTER: I don't know if you've been paying attention.
DEUTSCH: "Let's wipe Israel off the earth." I mean, what, no Jews?
COULTER: No, we think -- we just want Jews to be perfected, as they say.
DEUTSCH: Wow, you didn't really say that, did you?
COULTER: Yes. That is what Christianity is. We believe the Old Testament, but ours is more like Federal Express. You have to obey laws. We know we're all sinners --
DEUTSCH: In my old days, I would have argued -- when you say something absurd like that, there's no --
COULTER: What's absurd?
DEUTSCH: Jews are going to be perfected. I'm going to go off and try to perfect myself --
COULTER: Well, that's what the New Testament says.
DEUTSCH: Ann Coulter, author of If Democrats Had Any Brains, They'd Be Republicans, and if Ann Coulter had any brains, she would not say Jews need to be perfected. I'm offended by that personally. And we'll have more Big Idea when we come back.
[...]
DEUTSCH: Welcome back to The Big Idea. During the break, Ann said she wanted to explain her last comment. So I'm going to give her a chance. So you don't think that was offensive?
COULTER: No. I'm sorry. It is not intended to be. I don't think you should take it that way, but that is what Christians consider themselves: perfected Jews. We believe the Old Testament. As you know from the Old Testament, God was constantly getting fed up with humans for not being able to, you know, live up to all the laws. What Christians believe -- this is just a statement of what the New Testament is -- is that that's why Christ came and died for our sins. Christians believe the Old Testament. You don't believe our testament.
DEUTSCH: You said -- your exact words were, "Jews need to be perfected." Those are the words out of your mouth.
COULTER: No, I'm saying that's what a Christian is.
DEUTSCH: But that's what you said -- don't you see how hateful, how anti-Semitic --
COULTER: No!
DEUTSCH: How do you not see? You're an educated woman. How do you not see that?
COULTER: That isn't hateful at all.
DEUTSCH: But that's even a scarier thought.
Yeah, I know
Some folks have noticed that I haven't blogged in 3 or 4 days and that for me that's a relatively long stretch to be quiet.
Actually, for the most part, things are going well, but these things require a lot of focus at the moment and are things that I don't want to blog about.
However, an unrelated note.
Tonight I attended opening parties at two different Soho galleries.
Zee Stone has an exhibition by 70 year old Chinese artist Qiao Shiguang, lacquer and ink paintings.
The Gallery on Old Bailey has a new exhibition called Scarlet Ladies, large oil paintings by a young female Chinese artist named Yu Fengli. I met Ms. Yu and also the curator of the show, Judi Wong (who is also a recording artist and has the same manager as Fay Wong, and also mentioned that when she was in university one of her professors was Peter Jackson). (I may end up doing an interview with her for BC.)
It was a major change of pace for me. Walking along Wyndham Street afterwards, I was reminded of several things that I had told myself earlier in the year and then conveniently allowed myself to forget. I'm thinking about them again.
Actually, for the most part, things are going well, but these things require a lot of focus at the moment and are things that I don't want to blog about.
However, an unrelated note.
Tonight I attended opening parties at two different Soho galleries.
Zee Stone has an exhibition by 70 year old Chinese artist Qiao Shiguang, lacquer and ink paintings.
The Gallery on Old Bailey has a new exhibition called Scarlet Ladies, large oil paintings by a young female Chinese artist named Yu Fengli. I met Ms. Yu and also the curator of the show, Judi Wong (who is also a recording artist and has the same manager as Fay Wong, and also mentioned that when she was in university one of her professors was Peter Jackson). (I may end up doing an interview with her for BC.)
It was a major change of pace for me. Walking along Wyndham Street afterwards, I was reminded of several things that I had told myself earlier in the year and then conveniently allowed myself to forget. I'm thinking about them again.
Monday, October 08, 2007
Tech blips
Several class action suits against Apple over the iPhone bricking and one would seem to have potential. California's anti-trust law, the Cartwright Act, prohibits tying - a company requires a consumer to purchase one product or service in order to obtain another and the arrangement restrains trade.
Fortune magazine reports that analysts have estimated that around 150,000 iPhones have been hacked and unlocked. That represents somewhere around 10-15% of the total number sold. That's huge.
In other anti-consumer electronics news, reports are in that two recent Blu-Ray releases, Day After Tomorrow and Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, do not play on certain Blu-Ray disc players and on others experience problems of varying sorts (e.g. up to 2 minutes to load the disc). The culprit is thought to be Sony's BD+ copy protection. As always, DRM only hurts those consumers who try to go the legitimate route. And as has frequently happened in the past, the offending party here is Sony.
=========================
Assembling a list of the crap I wanna get when I visit the US in a few weeks. Probably ordering used or cheap copies in advance of the trip, have them waiting for me at my mom's when I arrive. Geek jacket and sweatshirt from Scott eVest already delivered and waiting for me there.
Obviously going to get I Am America (And So Can You) by Stephen Colbert (and the audiobook version, available on iTunes, has a musical score and a cast of at least a dozen) and Clapton: The Autobiography by, well, yeah, of course, Eric Clapton. Then there's my cousin's book Practicing: A Musician's Return to Music (I understand that a NY Times review is forthcoming). But should I get Timothy Ferriss' The 4-Hour Work Week: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere and Join the New Rich? Generally the only "new rich" are the ones who write these books, not the ones who buy them.
On the music front, Love Is the Song We Sing - San Francisco Nuggets 1965-1970 and in a similar vein some of the newly remastered releases of classic albums from Moby Grape.
==========================
In an unusually strange mood today. For reasons that I can't go into. Some related to work, some not.
Fortune magazine reports that analysts have estimated that around 150,000 iPhones have been hacked and unlocked. That represents somewhere around 10-15% of the total number sold. That's huge.
In other anti-consumer electronics news, reports are in that two recent Blu-Ray releases, Day After Tomorrow and Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, do not play on certain Blu-Ray disc players and on others experience problems of varying sorts (e.g. up to 2 minutes to load the disc). The culprit is thought to be Sony's BD+ copy protection. As always, DRM only hurts those consumers who try to go the legitimate route. And as has frequently happened in the past, the offending party here is Sony.
=========================
Assembling a list of the crap I wanna get when I visit the US in a few weeks. Probably ordering used or cheap copies in advance of the trip, have them waiting for me at my mom's when I arrive. Geek jacket and sweatshirt from Scott eVest already delivered and waiting for me there.
Obviously going to get I Am America (And So Can You) by Stephen Colbert (and the audiobook version, available on iTunes, has a musical score and a cast of at least a dozen) and Clapton: The Autobiography by, well, yeah, of course, Eric Clapton. Then there's my cousin's book Practicing: A Musician's Return to Music (I understand that a NY Times review is forthcoming). But should I get Timothy Ferriss' The 4-Hour Work Week: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere and Join the New Rich? Generally the only "new rich" are the ones who write these books, not the ones who buy them.
On the music front, Love Is the Song We Sing - San Francisco Nuggets 1965-1970 and in a similar vein some of the newly remastered releases of classic albums from Moby Grape.
==========================
In an unusually strange mood today. For reasons that I can't go into. Some related to work, some not.
swimming against the tide
I was in the mood to go to Shenzhen yesterday and so I did. Others might reason that yesterday would be a terrible day to go - the last day of the golden week holiday, hordes of mainlanders who were visiting HK returning home, flooding the border.
But I figured they'd wait for the last possible minute to go home and that the foreigner line at immigration wouldn't be impacted by this much and I was right. The train going up at 1 PM was 75% empty all the way and for the very first time in my experience, there was absolutely no line for immigration on the China side - I was able to walk right up to the window and sail right through.
Dim sum lunch for one - 3 dishes plus a coke and some really nice exotic tea - came to RMB66. This was a corner place on the second floor, English menus and English slips for the dim sum (hell, a lot of HK restaurants don't offer that), not the best I've ever eaten but far from the worst. Then a 60 minute foot massage for 30 RMB gave me the energy to do some shopping.
In one shop where I'd bought a belt the week before, the two girls working there remembered me. They both have exceptionally good English and we stood around joking for half an hour or so. They confirmed something that I've pretty much already known. They get only 2 days off per month, work long hours in the shop (which they don't own) and they hate people who come in and bark at them or yell at them during the bargaining. That final 10 RMB (US$1.25) means nothing to most of the people who come in there but it's an entire meal for these girls, who probably just make a few thousand RMB per month at best. I got a couple of pairs of True Religion jeans at RMB250 each. Does 30 bucks a pair sound like a lot for knock-off jeans? Not so much when you look at a web site like this one where discounted they're selling on average for 150 pounds (US$300). They'd started the bargaining at 400 each. I told them I'd gladly pay 400 each if that also included their phone numbers. So the price went down ...
After awhile, the Luo Hu mall gets oppressive. "Hello sir you buy watch bag dvd golf hat shirt?" One guy literally grabbed me by the wrist and wouldn't let go for 5 minutes. Another started following me through the mall until I started doing some creative zig zagging around the aisles. Some excitement as the police chased the thief du jour, crowds gathered around the central atrium, escalators shut down.
So over to the Sunday mall for a two hour body massage. They were offering something new, an oil massage which they said was Japanese style. Not sure what was particularly Japanese about it except the girl used so much oil I felt like I'd been dipped in a bucket of it. But she managed to find all the spots on my back that had been really achy and I left feeling very relaxed indeed.
A quick crappy dinner and a taxi ride over to Huanggang. At midnight, it was a little busy there, I think I had to wait all of 10 minutes on the immigration line and on the HK side, the line for each of the 5 eChannel machines was 10 deep.
I do so enjoy these Shenzhen trips, even when I make them alone. The cost of food and massage more than offsets the cost of the train and bus and the time spent going back and forth.
But I figured they'd wait for the last possible minute to go home and that the foreigner line at immigration wouldn't be impacted by this much and I was right. The train going up at 1 PM was 75% empty all the way and for the very first time in my experience, there was absolutely no line for immigration on the China side - I was able to walk right up to the window and sail right through.
Dim sum lunch for one - 3 dishes plus a coke and some really nice exotic tea - came to RMB66. This was a corner place on the second floor, English menus and English slips for the dim sum (hell, a lot of HK restaurants don't offer that), not the best I've ever eaten but far from the worst. Then a 60 minute foot massage for 30 RMB gave me the energy to do some shopping.
In one shop where I'd bought a belt the week before, the two girls working there remembered me. They both have exceptionally good English and we stood around joking for half an hour or so. They confirmed something that I've pretty much already known. They get only 2 days off per month, work long hours in the shop (which they don't own) and they hate people who come in and bark at them or yell at them during the bargaining. That final 10 RMB (US$1.25) means nothing to most of the people who come in there but it's an entire meal for these girls, who probably just make a few thousand RMB per month at best. I got a couple of pairs of True Religion jeans at RMB250 each. Does 30 bucks a pair sound like a lot for knock-off jeans? Not so much when you look at a web site like this one where discounted they're selling on average for 150 pounds (US$300). They'd started the bargaining at 400 each. I told them I'd gladly pay 400 each if that also included their phone numbers. So the price went down ...
After awhile, the Luo Hu mall gets oppressive. "Hello sir you buy watch bag dvd golf hat shirt?" One guy literally grabbed me by the wrist and wouldn't let go for 5 minutes. Another started following me through the mall until I started doing some creative zig zagging around the aisles. Some excitement as the police chased the thief du jour, crowds gathered around the central atrium, escalators shut down.
So over to the Sunday mall for a two hour body massage. They were offering something new, an oil massage which they said was Japanese style. Not sure what was particularly Japanese about it except the girl used so much oil I felt like I'd been dipped in a bucket of it. But she managed to find all the spots on my back that had been really achy and I left feeling very relaxed indeed.
A quick crappy dinner and a taxi ride over to Huanggang. At midnight, it was a little busy there, I think I had to wait all of 10 minutes on the immigration line and on the HK side, the line for each of the 5 eChannel machines was 10 deep.
I do so enjoy these Shenzhen trips, even when I make them alone. The cost of food and massage more than offsets the cost of the train and bus and the time spent going back and forth.
Sunday, October 07, 2007
Pavements of poets will write that I died in nine angels' arms
I'd like to strongly recommend a series on Showtime called Californication. It stars David Duchovny as Hank Moody (get it?), a novelist who hasn't written a word in 5 years. He's recently broken up with his girlfriend - they lived together for 10 years and have a kid together but never married - and now that she's engaged to someone else, he has ideas about trying to win her back. He spends a lot of his time drinking and having a series of one night stands. Yes, it's another writer with writer's block leading a self-destructive lifestyle in the city of angels, but Duchovny does a great job with this role. The show was created by Tom Kapinos, writer/producer of Dawson's Creek (which I've never watched). The show is 9 episodes into its first season.
I've also been watching It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Basically it's the story of 3 lifelong friends who a) own a bar that no one ever goes to and b) are complete morons, not in the Jim Carrey Dumb and Dumber sense, but in the sense that ten minutes into each episode they're generally standing toe to toe and screaming at each other. Danny DeVito was brought in during season 2 to play the father of one of the guys, richer, smarter and going through a midlife crisis, and that widened the series out in a good way. In one episode they discover one way to pack the bar is to allow high school kids to drink. In another, one guy pretends to have cancer so he can score with the cute waitress at the coffee shop down the street while another starts dating a trans-sexual. Season 3 has just started. Maybe not entirely classic stuff but defintely twisted.
And the season 2 premiere of 30 Rock, featuring Jack Donaghy's SeinfeldVision scheme, puts last year's best new comedy off to a great start. Mystic Pizza The Musical, anyone?
My next column will be on Scott Walker unless I get some other flash of inspiration in the next couple of days.
So here, two songs from the album Scott 2.
The first being The Amorous Humphrey Plugg, written by Scott. I can't say I'm 100% certain that I know what this song is about, but I get the feeling that one could change the title to The Amorous Spike and change "Channing Way" to "Wanchai":
I've also been watching It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Basically it's the story of 3 lifelong friends who a) own a bar that no one ever goes to and b) are complete morons, not in the Jim Carrey Dumb and Dumber sense, but in the sense that ten minutes into each episode they're generally standing toe to toe and screaming at each other. Danny DeVito was brought in during season 2 to play the father of one of the guys, richer, smarter and going through a midlife crisis, and that widened the series out in a good way. In one episode they discover one way to pack the bar is to allow high school kids to drink. In another, one guy pretends to have cancer so he can score with the cute waitress at the coffee shop down the street while another starts dating a trans-sexual. Season 3 has just started. Maybe not entirely classic stuff but defintely twisted.
And the season 2 premiere of 30 Rock, featuring Jack Donaghy's SeinfeldVision scheme, puts last year's best new comedy off to a great start. Mystic Pizza The Musical, anyone?
My next column will be on Scott Walker unless I get some other flash of inspiration in the next couple of days.
So here, two songs from the album Scott 2.
The first being The Amorous Humphrey Plugg, written by Scott. I can't say I'm 100% certain that I know what this song is about, but I get the feeling that one could change the title to The Amorous Spike and change "Channing Way" to "Wanchai":
Hello Mr. Big ShotThis next one is the first Scott Walker record I ever heard, a cover of the astonishing Jackie, written by Jacques Brel, translated into English by Mort Schuman. In the documentary 30 Century Man, Walker tells a great story about how he first came to hear the music of Jacques Brel, but that's to share another time:
Say, you're looking smart
I've had a tiring day
I took the kids along to the park
You've become a stranger
Every night with the boys
Got a new suit
That old smile's come back
And I kiss the children good night
And I slip away on the newly waxed floor
I've become a giant
I fill every street
I dwarf the rooftops
I hunchback the moon
Stars dance at my feet
Leave it all behind me
Screaming kids on my knee
And the telly swallowing me
And the neighbor shouting next door
And the subway trembling the roller-skate floor
I seek the buildings blazing with moonlight
In Channing Way
Their very eyes seem to suck you in with their laughter
They seem to say
You're all right now
So stop awhile behind our smile
In Channing Way
Oh to die of kisses
Ecstasies and charms
Pavements of poets will write that I died
In nine angels' arms
And they all were smiling
Still seductive as sin in their eyes
The man I had been
No more hard luck stories to wear
Nothing left to give
Why the hell should I care
Ann knows my smile and buries my shadow
In Channing Way
And with her cellophane sighs
Corrina the candles
Begs me to stay
You're all right now
So stop awhile behind our smile
In Channing Way
And if one day I should become
A singer with a Spanish bum
Who sings for women of great virtue
I'd sing to them with a guitar
I borrowed from a coffee bar
Well, what you don't know doesn't hurt you
My name would be Antonio
And all my bridges I would burn
And when I gave them some they'd know
I'd expect something in return
I'd have to get drunk every night
And talk about virility
With some old grandmama
Who might be decked out like a christmas tree
And though pink elephants I'd see
Though I'd be drunk as I could be
Still I would sing my song to me
About the time they called me "Jackie"
If I could be for only an hour
If I could be for an hour every day
If I could be for just one little hour
Cute-cute in a stupid ass way
And if I joined the social world
Became procurer of young girls
Then I would have my own bordellos
My record would be number one
And I'd sell records by the ton
All sung by many other fellows
My name would then be handsome Jack
And I'd sell boats of opium
Whisky that came from Twickenham
Authentic queers
And phony virgins
If I had banks on every finger
A finger in every country
And the countries ruled by me
I'd still know where I'd want to be
Locked up inside my opium den
Surrounded by some China men
I'd sing the song that I sang then
About the time they called me "Jackie"
If I could be for only an hour
If I could be for an hour every day
If I could be for just one little hour
Cute-cute in a stupid ass way
Now, tell me, wouldn't it be nice
That if one day in paradise
I'd sing for all the ladies up there
And they would sing along with me
We'd be so happy there to be
Cos' down below is really nowhere
My name would then be Juniper
Then I would know where I was going
And then I would become all knowing
My beard so very long and flowing
If I became deaf, dumb and blind
Because I pitied all mankind
And broke my heart to make things right
I know that every single night
When my angelic work was through
The angels and the Devil too
Would sing my childhood song to me
About the time they called me "Jackie"
If I could be for only an hour
If I could be for an hour every day
If I could be for just one little hour
Cute-cute in a stupid ass way
Saturday, October 06, 2007
Misc
Very surprised to see that file swapping trial has ended with a ruling in favor of the record companies. Or perhaps I shouldn't be surprised. After all, the judge and jury are making rulings based on the laws as they stand, not on the laws as (some people think) they should be. The judgment is for over US$200,000 for 24 songs. And there was no proof that anyone ever downloaded any of these songs. The judge said that making them available was crime enough. And all I can say to that is, Balderdash!
Playing around some more with Windows Vista. Having issues.
This stems from trying to maintain two completely separate iTunes libraries. The easiest way to do it, I figured, was that since my main PC dual boots, I'd have one under XP and another under Vista. That part is working out okay.
But one thing I'm noticing is that I'm not able to change file attributes for some reason. I have a number of files marked as read only, I change the attributes, go back to see if the change took place, and no, it didn't, they're still read only. (I do have full admin rights with my current logon, of course. Or do I?)
The other annoying thing is the confirmations. Everytime I click on anything at all, the screen goes darker and asks me if I really wanted to do that. Run a program. Move a file. Anything. I assume there is some tweak out there to stop that but I have no idea.
Plus it's not mounting my RAID drive.
I am not amused.
Playing around some more with Windows Vista. Having issues.
This stems from trying to maintain two completely separate iTunes libraries. The easiest way to do it, I figured, was that since my main PC dual boots, I'd have one under XP and another under Vista. That part is working out okay.
But one thing I'm noticing is that I'm not able to change file attributes for some reason. I have a number of files marked as read only, I change the attributes, go back to see if the change took place, and no, it didn't, they're still read only. (I do have full admin rights with my current logon, of course. Or do I?)
The other annoying thing is the confirmations. Everytime I click on anything at all, the screen goes darker and asks me if I really wanted to do that. Run a program. Move a file. Anything. I assume there is some tweak out there to stop that but I have no idea.
Plus it's not mounting my RAID drive.
I am not amused.
What not to wear
The above t-shirt is taken from the movie poster for Kill Bill Volume 2. I have this shirt, except it's in black and the entire design is in a sort of pinkish red. I like this shirt. The tattoo-style motif. The slogan that never fails to get a response from people who take the time to actually look at it. I wear this t-shirt frequently. I wore it tonight. To a wedding dinner. Oops.
(Or, depending on your perspective, fucking awesome!)
(Sorry K&J, you know I didn't mean you guys. Even if when I arrived I offered my condolences to the groom.)
Friday, October 05, 2007
Spaghetti Papa Ass
There's this Tagalog song that they play in local discos called Sex Bomb. It's not the crappy song that Tom Jones had a hit with; it's a different, even crappier song. Since I don't know Tagalog, the chorus of this song sounds like they're singing "Spaghetti papa ass, papa ass, papa ass!" My maid semi-reliably informs me that those are not the words that they're singing but that's still what it sounds like to me.
Falling under the heading of spaghetti papa ass today is the recording industry as a whole and especially the RIAA. This report on testimony given on the first file-sharing case to go to trial in the U.S. holds few surprises.
It certainly would seem from this testimony that the outcome of this trial is a foregone conclusion. As opposed to the Hong Kong person who posted torrents for three really bad movies and was sentenced to prison.
Falling under the heading of spaghetti papa ass today is the recording industry as a whole and especially the RIAA. This report on testimony given on the first file-sharing case to go to trial in the U.S. holds few surprises.
One of the biggest bombshells from the cross-examination was [Sony BMG head of litigation Jennifer] Pariser's admission that the RIAA's legal campaign isn't making the labels any money, and that, furthermore, the industry has no idea of the actual damages it suffers due to file-sharing ....The next line of questioning was how many suits the RIAA has filed so far. Pariser estimated the number at a "few thousand." "More like 20,000," suggested Toder. "That's probably an overstatement," Pariser replied. She then made perhaps the most startling comment of the day. Saying that the record labels have spent "millions" on the lawsuits, she then said that "we've lost money on this program."
The RIAA's settlement amounts are typically in the neighborhood of $3,000-$4,000 for those who settle once they receive a letter from the music industry. On the other side of the balance sheet is the amount of money paid to SafeNet (formerly MediaSentry) to conduct its investigations, and the cash spent on the RIAA's legal team and on local counsel to help with the various cases. As Pariser admitted under oath today, the entire campaign is a money pit.
In any other business, suing your best customers, alienating your fan base and losing millions of dollars in the process would be properly viewed as insanity.
It certainly would seem from this testimony that the outcome of this trial is a foregone conclusion. As opposed to the Hong Kong person who posted torrents for three really bad movies and was sentenced to prison.
Thursday, October 04, 2007
Music notes
Not much going on right now so some music notes 'n news:
The new Annie Lennox is the first of her solo albums I've liked since the first one.
The Robert Plant & Alison Krauss is weird.
So far I'm not moved by the new Joni Mitchell but will keep listening to it.
The new Springsteen gets better with each listen.
The new Jose Gonzalez proves the last one wasn't a fluke.
New Mark Knopfler sounds nice.
New Herbie Hancock, all Joni Mitchell songs with guest vocalists. The Jungle Line - solo piano with Leonard Cohen reciting the lyrics. I wouldn't have even dared to dream this one.
The first new Eagles studio album in 29 years comes out end of October. In the US, it will only be sold at Wal-Mart. So Wal-Mart probably paid them shitloads of cash for the exclusive rights and the Eagles have shown they don't give a shit about their fans.
The Sex Pistols have re-united to re-record "Anarchy in the UK" - not for a CD release but for use in a video game. Don't know whether to shake my head or laugh.
Beyonce's scheduled concert in Kuala Lumpur has been canceled before tickets go on sale because apparently Beyonce refused to conform to their 15th century dress code for stage performers. She's not coming to HK but will be at the Venetian in Macau, top ticket price M$1,290. One would think they would offer a package of ferry ticket, concert ticket and room (and hooker?) but apparently not.
Billboard reports that so many people are going to the Radiohead web site to pre-order their new "name your own price" album are slowing the site to a crawl. But they didn't say how many people that actually is or what they are offering to pay on average.
First day sales in the US for the new Springsteen album are 89,000. Apparently that's all one needs now to have a #1 album in the US.
The numbers are in on the Rolling Stones' "A Bigger Bang" 2005-6 tour. Are you ready for this? 4,680,000 people paid to see them, gross revenues at US$558,255,524. Yes, that's right, over half a billion dollars. I don't believe that number includes revenue from merchandising either.
The above three paragraphs taken together further reinforce what I wrote in my previous BC column questioning why we still need record companies.
The new column should be out today or tomorrow and is about why Apple sucks. (Following images all stolen from Gizmodo.)
Hey, they left free ringtones off that chart!
The new Annie Lennox is the first of her solo albums I've liked since the first one.
The Robert Plant & Alison Krauss is weird.
So far I'm not moved by the new Joni Mitchell but will keep listening to it.
The new Springsteen gets better with each listen.
The new Jose Gonzalez proves the last one wasn't a fluke.
New Mark Knopfler sounds nice.
New Herbie Hancock, all Joni Mitchell songs with guest vocalists. The Jungle Line - solo piano with Leonard Cohen reciting the lyrics. I wouldn't have even dared to dream this one.
The first new Eagles studio album in 29 years comes out end of October. In the US, it will only be sold at Wal-Mart. So Wal-Mart probably paid them shitloads of cash for the exclusive rights and the Eagles have shown they don't give a shit about their fans.
The Sex Pistols have re-united to re-record "Anarchy in the UK" - not for a CD release but for use in a video game. Don't know whether to shake my head or laugh.
Beyonce's scheduled concert in Kuala Lumpur has been canceled before tickets go on sale because apparently Beyonce refused to conform to their 15th century dress code for stage performers. She's not coming to HK but will be at the Venetian in Macau, top ticket price M$1,290. One would think they would offer a package of ferry ticket, concert ticket and room (and hooker?) but apparently not.
Billboard reports that so many people are going to the Radiohead web site to pre-order their new "name your own price" album are slowing the site to a crawl. But they didn't say how many people that actually is or what they are offering to pay on average.
First day sales in the US for the new Springsteen album are 89,000. Apparently that's all one needs now to have a #1 album in the US.
The numbers are in on the Rolling Stones' "A Bigger Bang" 2005-6 tour. Are you ready for this? 4,680,000 people paid to see them, gross revenues at US$558,255,524. Yes, that's right, over half a billion dollars. I don't believe that number includes revenue from merchandising either.
The above three paragraphs taken together further reinforce what I wrote in my previous BC column questioning why we still need record companies.
The new column should be out today or tomorrow and is about why Apple sucks. (Following images all stolen from Gizmodo.)
Hey, they left free ringtones off that chart!
Wednesday, October 03, 2007
Karma Police
The paradigm continues to shift. This time it is Radiohead leading a new charge.
Go to their web site. Digital downloads of their new album will be available on October 10th, almost a full two months before the CD is in stores. (The CD will contain additional material not in the download.) Purchase the CD for download. And then ....
Name your own price.
That's right. Pay zero pounds if you think that's what it's worth. Or pay one pence, or one pound, or ten pounds, it's up to you. There is a 45p processing charge. (Someone has suggested that if you offer to pay 0, you don't get charged the 45p either, but I haven't seen confirmation on that.) There do not appear to be any geographical restrictions on this order. There will not be any DRM encoded into the files.
How many people will do this? I think millions. How many people will chose to pay a sum greater than 0? I think enough will. I will.
Speaking of paying too little or too much, eBay has basically admitted that they paid too much for Skype. They paid US$2.6 billion two years ago. At the time analysts were stumped both by the purchase itself and by the price tag. Now eBay has just taken a $900 million write-down on the purchase.
"EBay also agreed to take another charge of $530 million to settle future payments to Skype's original shareholders for the unit meeting certain performance goals through the first half of 2009 as called for in the acquisition contract. However, the unit apparently is failing to meet some of the loftiest goals because the pay out could have been as much as $1.7 billion."
Niklas Zennstrom, Skype chief exec and co-founder, has also resigned "voluntarily." Zennstrom will remain with his latest start-up, Joost. Henry Gomez, Skype president, also resigned - but he keeps his 2nd job as eBay SVP.
"Skype's revenue, though growing quickly, was tiny by Internet giant standards at $90 million in the second quarter, up from $44 million a year earlier. The contribution barely makes a dent in eBay's overall business, which had $1.83 billion in revenue in the second quarter. Skype had 220 million registered user accounts in June, although it's unclear how many of those accounts were active. The service's users spent 7.1 billion minutes on free calls during that period, flat from the same period a year earlier. The number of paid minutes was 1.3 billion, a 57 percent increase from the previous year."
Go to their web site. Digital downloads of their new album will be available on October 10th, almost a full two months before the CD is in stores. (The CD will contain additional material not in the download.) Purchase the CD for download. And then ....
Name your own price.
That's right. Pay zero pounds if you think that's what it's worth. Or pay one pence, or one pound, or ten pounds, it's up to you. There is a 45p processing charge. (Someone has suggested that if you offer to pay 0, you don't get charged the 45p either, but I haven't seen confirmation on that.) There do not appear to be any geographical restrictions on this order. There will not be any DRM encoded into the files.
How many people will do this? I think millions. How many people will chose to pay a sum greater than 0? I think enough will. I will.
Speaking of paying too little or too much, eBay has basically admitted that they paid too much for Skype. They paid US$2.6 billion two years ago. At the time analysts were stumped both by the purchase itself and by the price tag. Now eBay has just taken a $900 million write-down on the purchase.
"EBay also agreed to take another charge of $530 million to settle future payments to Skype's original shareholders for the unit meeting certain performance goals through the first half of 2009 as called for in the acquisition contract. However, the unit apparently is failing to meet some of the loftiest goals because the pay out could have been as much as $1.7 billion."
Niklas Zennstrom, Skype chief exec and co-founder, has also resigned "voluntarily." Zennstrom will remain with his latest start-up, Joost. Henry Gomez, Skype president, also resigned - but he keeps his 2nd job as eBay SVP.
"Skype's revenue, though growing quickly, was tiny by Internet giant standards at $90 million in the second quarter, up from $44 million a year earlier. The contribution barely makes a dent in eBay's overall business, which had $1.83 billion in revenue in the second quarter. Skype had 220 million registered user accounts in June, although it's unclear how many of those accounts were active. The service's users spent 7.1 billion minutes on free calls during that period, flat from the same period a year earlier. The number of paid minutes was 1.3 billion, a 57 percent increase from the previous year."
Touch quick first impressions
So there I was having dinner at Toscana and instead of reading the menu, tearing open the box for the iPod Touch. Turning it on, I was greeted with an icon saying it needed to be connected to a computer. So back in the box, read the menu, ate dinner, tried not to drink too much wine, home immediately afterwards.
First impressions are this is a thing of beauty. I'm not having the screen problem so I guess the latest software revision takes care of that. And it's impossibly thin for what it does. On the other hand, it's a smudge magnet.
The interface takes just a few seconds to figure out, a bit longer to get used to since I've been using iPods for years. The cover flow view is smooth, actually smoother scrolling than on my PC.
Even though it's "16 gig" that's including the overhead from the OS - there's 14.8 gig usable space. The tiny amount of space is what's going to kill me. Probably 6 months from now Apple will release a "Touch" with a hard disk instead of flash memory and, yes, I'll probably buy one.
First impressions are this is a thing of beauty. I'm not having the screen problem so I guess the latest software revision takes care of that. And it's impossibly thin for what it does. On the other hand, it's a smudge magnet.
The interface takes just a few seconds to figure out, a bit longer to get used to since I've been using iPods for years. The cover flow view is smooth, actually smoother scrolling than on my PC.
Even though it's "16 gig" that's including the overhead from the OS - there's 14.8 gig usable space. The tiny amount of space is what's going to kill me. Probably 6 months from now Apple will release a "Touch" with a hard disk instead of flash memory and, yes, I'll probably buy one.
Tuesday, October 02, 2007
bad luck streak in dancing school
My life is a series of tragedies that make things like Iraq or Myanmar pale in comparison.
Today I get into work and my laptop is coughing up blood. I hand it over to the help desk. They can't tell me how long it will take to fix. I do what things I can at work without a computer and then head home after lunch.
30 minutes after leaving the office, I get an email telling me my new iPod Touch has arrived. Since I wasn't expecting it until Thursday, I figure I can wait till tomorrow to go get it, rather than make a special trip back and forth.
Then I recalled I'm meeting someone from the office for dinner tonight and can ask him to bring it along to the dinner.
Decades ago, in one of their 2,000 year old man comedy routines, Carl Reiner asked Mel Brooks the difference between comedy and tragedy. Brooks response was something along the lines of, "Comedy is you fall off a cliff, you get eaten by a tiger. Tragedy is I break a nail, I stub my toe."
Today I get into work and my laptop is coughing up blood. I hand it over to the help desk. They can't tell me how long it will take to fix. I do what things I can at work without a computer and then head home after lunch.
30 minutes after leaving the office, I get an email telling me my new iPod Touch has arrived. Since I wasn't expecting it until Thursday, I figure I can wait till tomorrow to go get it, rather than make a special trip back and forth.
Then I recalled I'm meeting someone from the office for dinner tonight and can ask him to bring it along to the dinner.
Decades ago, in one of their 2,000 year old man comedy routines, Carl Reiner asked Mel Brooks the difference between comedy and tragedy. Brooks response was something along the lines of, "Comedy is you fall off a cliff, you get eaten by a tiger. Tragedy is I break a nail, I stub my toe."
Monday, October 01, 2007
Americans do the darndest things
Among the movies that opened in the US this weekend:
Darjeeling Limited - Latest comedy from Wes Anderson, starring Owen Wilson and Adrian Brody
Lust, Caution - Ang Lee's latest complete with adults-only rating
The Kingdom - Jamie Foxx & Jennifer Garner in a terrorism thriller from the director of Friday Night Lights
Feast of Love - from the director of Kramer vs Kramer, with Morgan Freeman as a philosophy professor
Outsourced - good reviews for this tale of a call center manager whose job is outsourced to India, and then he's sent to India to train his replacement
Trade - Kevin Kline in a drama about global sex trafficking
The Game Plan - Football player Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson learns to love the daughter he didn't know he had
I would have thought that The Kingdom would rule this weekend. But Jamie Foxx got his butt whupped by The Rock. $22.6 mil for Game Plan, $17.6 mil for Kingdom.
Not sure what it means. Am sure that lots of people (including some commenters here?) will read all sorts of things into it.
Darjeeling Limited - Latest comedy from Wes Anderson, starring Owen Wilson and Adrian Brody
Lust, Caution - Ang Lee's latest complete with adults-only rating
The Kingdom - Jamie Foxx & Jennifer Garner in a terrorism thriller from the director of Friday Night Lights
Feast of Love - from the director of Kramer vs Kramer, with Morgan Freeman as a philosophy professor
Outsourced - good reviews for this tale of a call center manager whose job is outsourced to India, and then he's sent to India to train his replacement
Trade - Kevin Kline in a drama about global sex trafficking
The Game Plan - Football player Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson learns to love the daughter he didn't know he had
I would have thought that The Kingdom would rule this weekend. But Jamie Foxx got his butt whupped by The Rock. $22.6 mil for Game Plan, $17.6 mil for Kingdom.
Not sure what it means. Am sure that lots of people (including some commenters here?) will read all sorts of things into it.
