CBC News - Politics - Japan, U.S. targeted whaling watchdog: WikiLeaks
Why I love wikileaks
Monday, January 03, 2011
Thousands of dead fish turn up in Arkansas | Weird | News | Toronto Sun
A day after 5000 birds fell from the Arkansas sky, now thousands of fish are dying. I don't think as the Toronto Sun classified this as "weird" news...I think this is REAL news.
Scary and sad.
Just one day before some 5,000 blackbirds fell from the sky in Arkansas, piles of dead fish turned up on a nearby shore, though wildlife officials say it's just a coincidence.
On Thursday, officials discovered between 80,000 to 100,000 dead drum fish along a 32 km stretch of the Arkansas River near Ozark.
Mark Oliver, chief of fisheries for the state's Game and Fish Commission, said the fish probably died of disease. He insists there's no connection between the fish deaths and the 5,000 blackbirds that fell dead from the sky on New Year's Eve just 200 km away in the community of Beebe.
“We don't see any possible way they're related,” said Oliver. “It's just a coincidence, but an interesting one.”
The birds started dropping at around 11:30 p.m., landing on cars and homes, lawns and roads.
The fish and bird deaths have prompted Christian media to quote Bible passages warning about the end times, while conspiracy theory websites tout it as evidence of UFOs. But the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission assures there's a scientific explanation.
About 65 of the dead birds have been sent to the Arkansas Livestock and Poultry Commission lab and the National Wildlife Health Center lab in Madison, Wis., for testing. Fish samples have been sent to the University of Arkansas for testing. Results are expected in two to three weeks.
The commission believes lightning or fireworks caused the blackbird deaths. In a statement, ornithologist Karen Rowe said this sort of thing has happened before in other countries.
“Test results usually were inconclusive, but the birds showed physical trauma and that the flock could have been hit by lightning or high-altitude hail,” Rowe said.
She said fireworks shot off in the area could have startled the birds from their roost, causing them to die of stress.
Scary and sad.
Just one day before some 5,000 blackbirds fell from the sky in Arkansas, piles of dead fish turned up on a nearby shore, though wildlife officials say it's just a coincidence.
On Thursday, officials discovered between 80,000 to 100,000 dead drum fish along a 32 km stretch of the Arkansas River near Ozark.
Mark Oliver, chief of fisheries for the state's Game and Fish Commission, said the fish probably died of disease. He insists there's no connection between the fish deaths and the 5,000 blackbirds that fell dead from the sky on New Year's Eve just 200 km away in the community of Beebe.
“We don't see any possible way they're related,” said Oliver. “It's just a coincidence, but an interesting one.”
The birds started dropping at around 11:30 p.m., landing on cars and homes, lawns and roads.
The fish and bird deaths have prompted Christian media to quote Bible passages warning about the end times, while conspiracy theory websites tout it as evidence of UFOs. But the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission assures there's a scientific explanation.
About 65 of the dead birds have been sent to the Arkansas Livestock and Poultry Commission lab and the National Wildlife Health Center lab in Madison, Wis., for testing. Fish samples have been sent to the University of Arkansas for testing. Results are expected in two to three weeks.
The commission believes lightning or fireworks caused the blackbird deaths. In a statement, ornithologist Karen Rowe said this sort of thing has happened before in other countries.
“Test results usually were inconclusive, but the birds showed physical trauma and that the flock could have been hit by lightning or high-altitude hail,” Rowe said.
She said fireworks shot off in the area could have startled the birds from their roost, causing them to die of stress.
Starting the year in Holland
Muchu in his less then hairy days. Much more beautiful fur now. Will post more pix
Airplane shot flying to France in May 2010.
I'm off to Amsterdam, Holland in less than a month doing post production on Co Hoedeman's short animation film 55 Socks. I'll get back to my recording studio and continue on the music soundtrack in a few minutes. Then I'm off to Budapest Hungary for a really cool voice recognition project. The new year was a quiet one but just a chill moment for the rest of the year which already has me busy travelling until March at least.
I'm also in home renovation mode. I guess making it pretty for me upon my return! I'm a bit nervous about leaving my dogs Tika and Muchu here. Muchu is a new pooch (now makes two), a Samoyed. Samoyeds are the most ancient dog breed about 2000 years old origininating from Siberia, and was a nomadic dog of the Samoyed people. They were the only dogs allowed into the igloo to keep the children and babies warm. Muchu was found in the Laurentian Mountains all matted.He was with a rescue group when I got him. but I'm worried he'll miss me and think he's been abandoned or lost again Then again probably not since a friend is house sitting.
I guess I'm the one who needs some consoling.
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Radio like TV circa 1951:The Slow Death of Rock 'n Roll
Radio Silence: The Slow Death of Rock 'n Roll on the Airwaves
True enough turn on most FM stations and you're not going to hear anything on radio you haven't heard last month, last year, or five years ago. Is radio the last frontier, the final bastion of withering music industry guards? Yeah.It's too bad they haven't thought an opportunity knocks but what can one expect when you've invested millions to keep the common music makers at bay? Eventually you find a revolution takes place. So once the final Chrysler and GM cars are at the dump, Hybrids will be common place and perhaps windmills in every neighbourhood will we know that music is no longer alternative versus commercial. It will be music without the ball and chain of bad taste ( or perhaps simply "old news") and old investments near bankruptcy.
In April 1949, The Fred Waring Television Show became the first weekly one-hour musical show on television. Their weekly “spectaculars" on CBS-TV, sponsored by General Electric, captured numerous awards for Best Musical Show
Friday, February 12, 2010
Red Cross Haiti EarthQuake Animation created by children
Oscar winning animation Co Hoedeman directs this short animation created by children of the 6th grade class at Ecole Notre Dame de la Gare in Montreal. These workshops are presented by Le Rendez Vous de Cinema Quebecoise; presented as a collaboration with MusiVision, music and foley by CHIWAWA. The animation subject, the earthquake, was a spontaneous gesture by the children. The animation was donated to the Red Cross for them to use freely. It is the children of Haiti who are the most vulnerable. Please donate generously.Spread the word spread the video!
Donate Now.
Donate Now.
Monday, February 08, 2010
CTV Ottawa newsroom destroyed by fire
How can a news station storing news archives burn, where we thought cultural memories would have/should have/could have been digitized by now, accessible forever more, get charred to black bits - not bytes? At least some fireproof vaults? CTV Ottawa vice-president and general manager Louis Douville said the station’s historical video archives, dating back to 1961, may be in jeopardy as well.
Damage is estimated at around $2.5 million belonging to CJOH, the local Ottawa branch of CTVGlobeMedia. Where were their backups? Why weren't they digitized? After all surely they themselves require E & O insurance to cover producers from such disasters.
Incompetence? Head in the sand? Feeling untouchable. A tremendous loss. Pity.
“Right now that’s the least of our concerns,” Douville said. “It’s too early to assess.”
Firefighters work at the scene of a fire that gutted the CTV Ottawa newsroom early Sunday morning.
A cultural and broadcasting landmark went up in smoke early Sunday morning.
The fire appears to have started in or near the CTV Ottawa — formerly CJOH — building’s newsroom on the second floor around 4:15 a.m.
The fire ramped up to a four-alarm blaze, with a total of 16 fire trucks.
The fire only caused smoke damage to the five-storey part of the building, but destroyed CTV Ottawa’s newsroom.
“My entire life was in there,” said anchor Max Keeping of his office. “My awards, files, even my income tax.”
One of the firefighters told him he tried to save a few of the pictures by setting them aside. Though it’s not known if they were spared.
“A lot of pictorial mementos have been destroyed,” Keeping said, “I’m not sure what priceless memories are preserved in there.”
He said the newsroom and all its contents, and those of the reporters, are gone.
“The news archives are gone,” he said.
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Chaplin early film Restored. Adult content?
The world will regard Charlie Chaplin's early works with new perspective and will evolve as important archives are refurbished, shedding new light on his development as filmmaker.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
* Chaplin's early films show he wasn't always the loveable tramp of his later works
* The films are being refurbished as part of an international effort to preserve his film heritage
* British Film Institute one of the organizations helping his films live on
* Restored Chaplin films show his evolution as a performer in new light, highlight his comic mastery
London, England (CNN) -- Charlie Chaplin won the world over playing the Little Tramp, but the comic actor wasn't always such a loveable guy.
In his early films, Chaplin is "quite nasty, quite naughty, quite adult," according to Bryony Dixon, a curator at the British Film Institute.
"His expressions are funny and delightful, although he is not quite the character he later becomes," she told CNN. "He becomes nicer as time goes on, and more sympathetic as a character."
It's possible now to see Chaplin's evolution as a performer in a new light, thanks to an ambitious international effort launched by the BFI, Cineteca Bologna and Lobster Films to restore Chaplin's earliest comedies.
In a bid to preserve Chaplin's film heritage, the project has since 2003 been restoring his earliest comedies -- a collection of films he made in 1914 when he was starting out at Hollywood studio Keystone.
Video: Charlie Chaplin restored
In the span of the year he was working at Keystone, Chaplin underwent an "amazing transformation," Dixon said. In the films, "you see how he goes from being a stage performer to being a film star," she said.
Born in a south London slum in 1889, Chaplin's status as one of the most influential artists in cinematic history endures. He inspired a generation of filmmakers, including Richard Attenborough, and his influence can be seen in recent films like Pixar's "Wall-E."
Often touted as one of Britain's greatest exports to Hollywood, an exhibition devoted to his life and career opened earlier this month at London's Film Museum.
But, when he was just starting out at Keystone, he didn't have control over his prints or what happened to them. Keystone, which owned his films, would cut them up and reissue them with different titles, particularly as Chaplin's popularity grew, Dixon said.
As a result, over the years, bits of his films were rearranged into other works. These mutilated copies, with their disrupted narratives and lack of continuity, detracted from the reputation of his earliest films, which were widely viewed as being of poor quality.
But the refurbished films highlight his comic mastery, Dixon told CNN. As soon as the quality is restored, "suddenly you understand what a brilliant performer he is," she said.
When repairing a film, the aim is to create a film as close to its original release condition as possible, according to Kieron Webb, technical director at the BFI. Archivists essentially work out a film's original shape and texture and build it up from scratch
The restoration of movies like "A Film Johnnie," (1914) which was undertaken by the BFI, can be a painstaking process that requires tough decisions.
*
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
* Chaplin's early films show he wasn't always the loveable tramp of his later works
* The films are being refurbished as part of an international effort to preserve his film heritage
* British Film Institute one of the organizations helping his films live on
* Restored Chaplin films show his evolution as a performer in new light, highlight his comic mastery
London, England (CNN) -- Charlie Chaplin won the world over playing the Little Tramp, but the comic actor wasn't always such a loveable guy.
In his early films, Chaplin is "quite nasty, quite naughty, quite adult," according to Bryony Dixon, a curator at the British Film Institute.
"His expressions are funny and delightful, although he is not quite the character he later becomes," she told CNN. "He becomes nicer as time goes on, and more sympathetic as a character."
It's possible now to see Chaplin's evolution as a performer in a new light, thanks to an ambitious international effort launched by the BFI, Cineteca Bologna and Lobster Films to restore Chaplin's earliest comedies.
In a bid to preserve Chaplin's film heritage, the project has since 2003 been restoring his earliest comedies -- a collection of films he made in 1914 when he was starting out at Hollywood studio Keystone.
Video: Charlie Chaplin restored
In the span of the year he was working at Keystone, Chaplin underwent an "amazing transformation," Dixon said. In the films, "you see how he goes from being a stage performer to being a film star," she said.
Born in a south London slum in 1889, Chaplin's status as one of the most influential artists in cinematic history endures. He inspired a generation of filmmakers, including Richard Attenborough, and his influence can be seen in recent films like Pixar's "Wall-E."
Often touted as one of Britain's greatest exports to Hollywood, an exhibition devoted to his life and career opened earlier this month at London's Film Museum.
But, when he was just starting out at Keystone, he didn't have control over his prints or what happened to them. Keystone, which owned his films, would cut them up and reissue them with different titles, particularly as Chaplin's popularity grew, Dixon said.
As a result, over the years, bits of his films were rearranged into other works. These mutilated copies, with their disrupted narratives and lack of continuity, detracted from the reputation of his earliest films, which were widely viewed as being of poor quality.
But the refurbished films highlight his comic mastery, Dixon told CNN. As soon as the quality is restored, "suddenly you understand what a brilliant performer he is," she said.
When repairing a film, the aim is to create a film as close to its original release condition as possible, according to Kieron Webb, technical director at the BFI. Archivists essentially work out a film's original shape and texture and build it up from scratch
The restoration of movies like "A Film Johnnie," (1914) which was undertaken by the BFI, can be a painstaking process that requires tough decisions.
*
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Canada Facebook Privacy Faceoff
Canada's privacy commission is again investigating Facebook after receiving a new complaint from the public regarding how the website handles users' data
This is kind of bizarre yeah? This guy thinks Facebook can change human behaviour in a couple of years.
Maybe.
Facebook has been dealing with privacy concerns around the world for much of the past year. Website founder Mark Zuckerberg provoked controversy this month while speaking at a conference in San Francisco when he said that privacy was no longer a social norm.
"People have really gotten comfortable not only sharing more information and different kinds, but more openly and with more people," he said. "That social norm is just something that has evolved over time."
This is kind of bizarre yeah? This guy thinks Facebook can change human behaviour in a couple of years.
Maybe.
Facebook has been dealing with privacy concerns around the world for much of the past year. Website founder Mark Zuckerberg provoked controversy this month while speaking at a conference in San Francisco when he said that privacy was no longer a social norm.
"People have really gotten comfortable not only sharing more information and different kinds, but more openly and with more people," he said. "That social norm is just something that has evolved over time."
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
CBC News - Arts - Apple unveils iPad tablet computer
Apple unveils iPad tablet computer
Chief executive Steve Jobs announced the device — basically a supersized iPod Touch.
I knew it I knew it I knew it. I knew Mr. Jobs wasn't going to do more than introduced a bigger version. We're still at the edge of revolutionary but I'd say that the iPhone, iTouch did this two years ago. The mini-me's were the real ground breakers.
The next big thing I'm waiting for is the foldable screen and buttons projects from strands of ribbon that you can tuck nto your ocket or squash in your back pocket.
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