...in which my baby reaffirms her love for me, in French, with three adorable children accompanying her.
[youtube]rr_bVKoaNUA[/youtube]
Friday, July 16, 2010
Testing Wordpress Video Embedder
I'm testing out different video embedders. This one is very simple. It points to a video I uploaded to youtube taken during a dinner last year in Paris
[youtube]_0XzV2sTqBM[/youtube]
[youtube]_0XzV2sTqBM[/youtube]
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Enchanting
That's the word I used to describe I Know Where I'm Going, a 1944 British film I watched a few nights ago by the directing team of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, starring Wendy Hiller and Roger Livesay. Utterly charming, and as I said above, enchanting. It's a rather simple story: a headstrong young woman from London who knows what she wants and where she's going, is to be married in Scotland on the Hebridean Island of Kiloran to one of the richest men in England. Unable to make the crossing over to the island due to the weather, she finds herself falling in love with one of the locals, on leave from the Navy. She realized she must get to the island and be married or all the things she's always wanted - money, luxury, the high-life - will be threatened by these feelings. But enough spoilers. If you really want to know more about it the link above has a terrific analysis of the movie. My wife wasn't up for a movie when I watched so that gives me an opportunity to see it again soon - it's not one she'll want to miss. I also filled up my Netflix queue with three more Powell and Pressburger movies from their 1940s heyday, which arrived in the mail today. And a happy feller am I.
The movie reminded me of another movie set in Scotland that I love, Local Hero, which was one of the first movies my wife (then girl-friend) and I ever saw together. Another piece of enchantment: the big-city oil executive arrives in a small Scottish seaside village to buy the entire town in order to build a new refinery. Slowly, he starts to decompress, he catches the rhythms and the charms of the town and the townfolk, and finally, he is in love. Not with a woman, but a way of life. He's found the contentment he'd always been searching for. The last thing in the world he wants to do is disturb this little slice of paradise. The humor in it is that the people of the village, aware of his initial intentions, would like nothing better; they're holding not-so-secret meetings to figure out the best strategy to net them the most money from the deal. I've always considered Local Hero to be a small masterpiece.
So there are two movies set in Scotland for your enjoyment. And my preceding post was about the ongoing British Open at St. Andrews, Scotland. I guess I must end with some music set in Scotland. Here is Mendelssohn's Hebrides Overture, a magnificent piece of music, completed in the year 1830 when he was just 21 years old:
[audio:TheHebridesOverture.mp3]
The movie reminded me of another movie set in Scotland that I love, Local Hero, which was one of the first movies my wife (then girl-friend) and I ever saw together. Another piece of enchantment: the big-city oil executive arrives in a small Scottish seaside village to buy the entire town in order to build a new refinery. Slowly, he starts to decompress, he catches the rhythms and the charms of the town and the townfolk, and finally, he is in love. Not with a woman, but a way of life. He's found the contentment he'd always been searching for. The last thing in the world he wants to do is disturb this little slice of paradise. The humor in it is that the people of the village, aware of his initial intentions, would like nothing better; they're holding not-so-secret meetings to figure out the best strategy to net them the most money from the deal. I've always considered Local Hero to be a small masterpiece.
So there are two movies set in Scotland for your enjoyment. And my preceding post was about the ongoing British Open at St. Andrews, Scotland. I guess I must end with some music set in Scotland. Here is Mendelssohn's Hebrides Overture, a magnificent piece of music, completed in the year 1830 when he was just 21 years old:
[audio:TheHebridesOverture.mp3]
Rory
I was walking downtown today, on my normal lunchtime walk, when I heard someone passing by me say into his cellphone "Nine under!" and I realized I'd forgotten it was the first round of the British Open at St. Andrews. I also knew that someone had shot a 63 and I was anxious to find out who it was. No surprise that is was Rory McIlroy, who one day (I predict) will be the greatest golfer on the planet. He's already close.
That's not such a bold statement? Many who follow golf think it's a foregone conclusion. He verily drips with talent. So long as he is a great putter - and so far he seems to be - he will be a great player. (No golfer can be truly be great if they are not great with the putter. Yes, that means you Sergio Garcia, and you, Adam Scott). But the specific moment when I realized he was the next great star of the game was earlier this at Quail Hollow, one of the finest courses they play on tour, when McIlroy shot 66-62 on the weekend to win going away. You don't do something like that at the age of 20 unless you're something special. It simply isn't done by ordinary run-of-the-mill players. Nicklaus and Woods could do it at 20. Who else? Who else has done something similar at such a young age and did not go on to be one of the greats? I don't have my golf history books out but I would venture that no one else at 20 could match such a feet.
Which is the same thing I thought last month when watching Stephen Strasburg strike out 14 batters without a walk in his thrilling major league debut. No one does that unless they are special. Clemens did it during his rookie season, and couple other guys had similar type games as rookies, and they all turned out to be great. Strasburg has had six more starts, all of which I've watched, and while none were quite so thrilling as his debut each contribute in some way to my conviction that he is the next great major league pitching star.
Back to McIlroy. Not only does he have talent, but he has flair, the kind of thing that draws people to the game, that makes the game exciting. I'm hoping for a Tiger/Rory shootout in the final round this week. It would be riveting for all sorts of reasons - the new kid on the block trying to knock off the old, the damaged hero trying to regain his game and a piece of his dignity, etc. And you know what? For the first time in ages I think I'll be rooting for someone other than Tiger or Phil coming down the stretch. Go Rory.
That's not such a bold statement? Many who follow golf think it's a foregone conclusion. He verily drips with talent. So long as he is a great putter - and so far he seems to be - he will be a great player. (No golfer can be truly be great if they are not great with the putter. Yes, that means you Sergio Garcia, and you, Adam Scott). But the specific moment when I realized he was the next great star of the game was earlier this at Quail Hollow, one of the finest courses they play on tour, when McIlroy shot 66-62 on the weekend to win going away. You don't do something like that at the age of 20 unless you're something special. It simply isn't done by ordinary run-of-the-mill players. Nicklaus and Woods could do it at 20. Who else? Who else has done something similar at such a young age and did not go on to be one of the greats? I don't have my golf history books out but I would venture that no one else at 20 could match such a feet.
Which is the same thing I thought last month when watching Stephen Strasburg strike out 14 batters without a walk in his thrilling major league debut. No one does that unless they are special. Clemens did it during his rookie season, and couple other guys had similar type games as rookies, and they all turned out to be great. Strasburg has had six more starts, all of which I've watched, and while none were quite so thrilling as his debut each contribute in some way to my conviction that he is the next great major league pitching star.
Back to McIlroy. Not only does he have talent, but he has flair, the kind of thing that draws people to the game, that makes the game exciting. I'm hoping for a Tiger/Rory shootout in the final round this week. It would be riveting for all sorts of reasons - the new kid on the block trying to knock off the old, the damaged hero trying to regain his game and a piece of his dignity, etc. And you know what? For the first time in ages I think I'll be rooting for someone other than Tiger or Phil coming down the stretch. Go Rory.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Blog moved to dreamhost and wordpress
While fixing the mp3 links below I realized that if I'm going to continue blogging I was going to have to find a spot to host my mp3 files. The mp3s below are hosted on free sites but they are all limited to 100 meg or less - not sufficient if I'm going to continue blogging and posting music. I then decided if I'm going to get a host I may as well have it host the blog completely, not just mp3s, and to go to a different blogging software. So, I've moved to dreamhost.com as my host and wordpress as my blogging software. I've done the move in just a couple of hours so, so far, I'm quite happy with it. Wordpress also, so I've read, gives you a lot more flexibility on themes and the like. So, anyhow, this is the new site. Enjoy!
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Done With The MP3 Changes
Okay, that's it - I'm done fixing all the broken MP3 embeds in the blog. They've all been migrated to the lovely little flash player that I discovered yesterday. It's supposed to be sunny today after raining buckets overnight last night and yesterday. No problem, we needed it. So here's to Buckets of Rain, one of my favorite Dylan songs:
[audio:Buckets-Of-Rain.mp3|titles=Buckets Of Rain]
[audio:Buckets-Of-Rain.mp3|titles=Buckets Of Rain]
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