In love...

I just set the irobot Roomba loose for the first time and...swooooon! I need to give it a name. This is most definitely the beginning of a beautiful relationship.

Go Glee!

At first I was watching Glee because I liked the singing and dancing, and then I enjoyed the guest appearances, but I have to admit that I'm really getting hooked. I really enjoy their ability to make fun things in the top-40 music world and even the show itself. I haven't hit the point where I'm appreciating the long-term storylines though. I'm purely enjoying each episode as a discrete entity. The way that they've packaged the episodes thematically is lovely. Keep it up, Glee.

Moncler does it again!

Love it!
I love Moncler more and more. Feel free to watch their previous fashion show again. And I still want to be part of a dance-party flash mob. A good one.

New experience

Sweet. I think I have laryngitis. This no voice thing is kinda cool.
It was especially cool during my presentation today.

And I'm a benevole...

18 hours after the day started (and it began when I was already tired, with a nice cold developing), a delayed, no - canceled flight and expensive taxi ride later (fo shiz...but I didn't have to pay the bill), I am finally home from North Bay. At least I have raspy-sicky voice to show for it.
Stellar weekend.

Seriously?

And now it's 'Copacabana'.

Strange musical choices

When checking-in at the airport, 'The Right Stuff' by New Kids on the Block was playing. I'm waiting at the gate to board my flight and being serenaded by 'Stop' by the Spice Girls.
So strange.

James Stewart

I don't know if I'll write a textbook in the future, but if I do, I probably won't be as successful as James Stewart.
I used his Calculus: Early Transcendentals text (4th Edition) for MATH120 in first year university. We fondly referred to it as Stewie. My copy is sitting in a box with all of my other math textbooks in my storage room.
The reggies used his Calculus: A First Course for OAC calculus.
I want an integral house.

Thunder Soul

Before I do my little write up about this most recent installment of Doc Soup, I have to talk about the screening that I missed last month. In January, I remember hemming and hawwing about whether or not to go to The Mouth of the Wolf. The write up wasn't particularly compelling. The trailer wasn't particularly compelling, but it has gotten rave reviews at some other film festivals.
Turns out, I made the right decision. Prior to this week's film, we were read some of the e-mails that Hot Docs had received after last month's film. We were read a selection of comments that were all supposed to be negative. They were pretty funny to hear. I think my favorite was, "Too innovative!" So Hot Docs didn't choose the best film for their audience. But I do agree with them that it's nice to throw a curve-ball at us every so often. They just now know not to go too far. Hilarious.
Anyway, so this month, the documentary that they screened was Thunder Soul. This film had been part of Hot Docs 2010 and won the People's Choice Award, so they thought that they should bring it back from Doc Soup. The write=up from the Doc Soup website is as follows:
Conrad "Prof" Johnson composed original funk songs and arranged fantastic stage antics with Houston’s Kashmere High School Stage Band. He became the first black high school bandleader with an all-black high school band to win the Texas state championship in the 1970s. His "give it all you got" attitude made the group unstoppable, leading them to win 42 out of 46 contests over the course of the decade and establishing them as international funk legends with tours in Paris and Japan. THUNDER SOUL combines archival footage of the kids in action, showing off their James Brown showmanship, platform shoes, and Bootsy Collins-type rhythms, with the band members' recent reunion. With nothing but love for the father of funk from their youth, they practice for the first time in three decades, hoping they "still got it" enough to perform a tribute show for the ailing 92-year-old Prof.
So the film was great. I mean, it had me at music and education. When that band played at the final reunion...whoooooo wheeee! If you didn't feel like dancing or at least bopping your head, there is something wrong with you.
Apparently the band played after some screenings at other festivals. Jea-lous.
I think some seriously musical folks would enjoy this film as well. There's some music history and talk about genres that I don't know much about in there. Click here to hear the Kashmere High School Band sampled by DJ Shadow. This is a film that has quite a few different levels.
So on top of the music, my heart was melting at one of the main messages of the film. The Post-film Q&A with director, Mark Landsman confirmed that the film was trying to bring attention to the lack of funding towards the Arts in schools. In the film, Prof made it clear that he believed that music in schools does more than just provide students a chance to learn an instrument. So much more.
And of course, the other message of the film: a great teacher can be...life changing.

This film is getting wide release in the States in the fall. That probably won't help my readership in any way, but this is a darn good film. And maybe one day you'll watch it.

- picture courtesy of www.thundersoulmovie.com

Happy New Year!

I hope you have a hoppin' good year!

Snowstorm!

Apparently there's going to be a big snowstorm tonight. I'm looking forward to wearing my Moon Boots. Wheee!
An ex-pat friend was asking if this was a 'regular' winter, but I didn't know the answer. Other people tell me that the past couple of years have been very mild, and of course I wasn't in the country prior to that. And then before that, I was living in K-town which was ridiculously cold and snowy.
So basically, I don't remember what 'regular' Toronto winters are like.