Oh, Canada & Old Friends
Posted by: j_john
Last week I did some international traveling--sure it was only Canada, but the border patrol, the kilometers, the "centres" and "loonies" made it seem foreign enough. I took the train (and bus) up to Vancouver, B.C. to visit an old friend of mine I've known since the 5th grade, Martha Larson, who was attending a conference held by the Acoustical Society of America. While I didn't sit in on the action I did get the opportunity to see more of the city than in my previous visit, (when I hung outside this place for a few hours hoping to see Stereolab and The Microphones--I never got in, but I did meet some kind people and I had already seen the 'lab in Portland and Seattle that week).
Vancouver is a much bigger city than I remembered and I wanted to check out what it had to offer--of course I'm always up for a film no mater where I am, so I decided against watching the new Star Wars when I discovered that the much anticipated IMAX movie Sharks 3-D was showing in town.
After mistakenly going to the science museum "Science World" where they only have the Omnimax theatre, I eventually found my way to "Canada Place" (what's with these terribly unoriginal names?) where I was soon greeted with enticing images of great whites and text proclaiming an opportunity to "Dive In Without Fear." My anticipation was growing with each new step and sign--I've wanted to see sharks in 3-D ever since I missed out on the terrible third Jaws movie 20 years ago. However, anyone familiar with my history of Universal Studios rides and multiple unsuccessful attempts to experience the mechanical shark attack will probably not be surprised to discover I didn't get to satisfy my 3-dimensional desires, when I discovered this.
Well, I wasn't about to let a projector problem ruin my trip, so I hopped on the Sky Train and explored the outer areas of the city. I stopped off in New Westminster and discovered the world's largest tin soldier on their scenic boardwalk area. Another interesting discovery awaited me in Burnaby, home to the Michael J. Fox Theatre. After a half-hearted late attempt to find a screening of Star Wars I headed back to the city for a free meal with the acoustical folks, and then hit the smoke-free pool hall with adjacent bowling alley--where I discovered the weird way of Canadian bowling. Maybe it's difficult to tell, but the balls are totally lawn bowling size.
The next day Martha and I came back to Portland and I tried my best to show off the city despite the poor Spring weather. We went to Byways for breakfast, then Powells, the PSU area Farmer's Market, Saturday Market, and stepped out of the rain for a screening of Episode III: Revenge of the Nerds. After the mostly forgettable movie we hit the Apple store where Martha bought her first apple product, a new 6GB iPod mini. She found herself drawn to the pink one, but after debating the ability for pink to match with everything in her wardrobe she settled on silver (with a future pink accessory case in mind). I kept thinking how disappointed in me Mike would be if I didn't convince her to go for pink, but I have a hard enough time convincing myself it's okay to branch out and buy navy blue adidas instead of just black adidas. After a quick trip to Lewis and Clark College (where we strangely didn't see one person) we ate at pizza Oasis and talked about how great it is to still have good friends from our Minnesota roots. Then it was off to the airport and back to the routine...
SEE-SAW-SPRING
Posted by: j_john
My rad friend Martha is visiting from Chicago, so I made another animated gif:
THE STUFF
Posted by: j_john
Sometime last year I read an intriguing article about filmmaker Larry Cohen in The New Yorker. Although he has been writing and directing for over 30 years, his script for the 2002 film "Phone Booth" had been a somewhat surprise hit and exposed him to a new generation of fans. I wasn't sure if I had seen any of his previous films, but I was struck by his desire to create a "phone trilogy" (last year's "Cellular" was the second part), and his ability to maintain a high level of energy and excitement about his new ideas was endearing, so I made a mental note to check out some of his older films.
I didn't quite follow-through on the plan until a couple of weeks ago when his name came up again at work. Dan said something about adding the Larry Cohen film "THE STUFF" to his Netflix queue and I was instantly flooded with fond memories of watching this horror film in my childhood. Since the details were fuzzy, I was looking forward to seeing it again after almost 20 years, and it didn't dissapoint. If you are still with me no doubt you are asking yourself, "what is THE STUFF?"
THE STUFF is a special yogurt/ice cream-type dessert that some old guy finds spurting out of the ground. He tastes it, likes it, and decides to market it. It's a huge hit (The catchy jingle "One taste is never enough, of THE STUFF!" plays throughout the film) and everyone starts pounding cartons of THE STUFF, everyone except for a 12 year old boy who sees THE STUFF move in his fridge and gets a weird feeling it might not be safe.
Jason tries to warn his family but they are so pumped about THE STUFF that they won't listen. Turns out THE STUFF brainwashes all those that eat it, and then it makes your jaw stretch and your eyes pop as it works its way out of your body. You see, THE STUFF is totally a parasitic organism. Eventually Jason teems up with this guy named Mo (Michael Moriarty from Law & Order) and they convince Mira Sorvino's dad to blow up the place where THE STUFF is harvested, and humanity is saved.
Something about the propaganda and the young protagonist obviously struck a chord with me when I first saw it, but it was good to know I could still enjoy it after spending the past decade immersed in film history.
So, next up on the Larry Cohen watch list are:
God Told Me To, about an alien abduction, eerie killings, the apocalypse, and religious angst.
&
The Ambulance, with Eric Roberts trying to track down a mysterious ambulance where patients disappear.
Money Made Easy
Posted by: j_john
In early March, after seeing the legendary AC Dickson presentation Ebay Powerseller at Reed College I could hardly contain my excitement. I wanted everyone to know what an inspiring experience it was, and I quickly developed some potential selling avenues I would explore. A couple of months later I have yet to sell a single item on Ebay, but the fever of potential additional income has apparently permeated the Afryl family, as I found myself following my sister Marni to a seminar today at the Lloyd Center Doubletree: "4X Made Easy."
4X is a way of saying "Foreign Currency Exchange" with sexier overtones. Basically we listened to someone talk about how easy it was to make money buying and selling currency using their patented software. All you have to do is follow color coded lines and you will be raking in the dough! There was talk of "pajama trades" made late at night while watching Jay Leno, or spending time at the beach with your laptop making tons of money. It sounded so simplistic and sketchy, but our host kept assuring us anyone could be on the fast track to financial excess.
I wish I had the balls to take a photo of our slick, professional-yet-relaxed presenter--Marni quickly noted "his casual attire is not convincing" but after initially assuming we wouldn't last more than 30 minutes we eventually found ourselves sticking around for the full workshop. At the end they hit you with the total software/support cost of over 6 grand, then make it seem like you can get an amazing discount of 60% if you sign up right away. (Of course the stuff wasn't Mac compatible.)
On the way out, I found myself agreeing with the guy in front of us when he quipped "I'd rather play Blackjack."
