42point1

may the force be with you

So, it turns out that in 2005, Hollywood turned out a comedy called "The Forty-Year-Old Virgin", about a guy, well, who is forty, and, well, is...a virgin.  And the whole film is pretty much about how he (with some help) goes about fixing that.

(No, I actually haven't seen it.)

But it also turns out that in 2003, Bollywood made a film called "Mumbai Matinee".  It's about a guy who is thirty-two, and is, well...a virgin.

And the whole film is pretty much about how he (with some help) goes about fixing that.

I saw it on television this morning, and frankly?  The best thing about it is the performance of Vijay Raaz as Baba Hindustani -- you might remember Vijay Raaz from Mira Nair's "Monsoon Wedding".

(The dialogues are, BTW, about 95% English, and the film is unusually racy, albeit in a kind of sophomoric way, for Bollywood.)

on ne fait pas d'omelettes

There are moments when I really am very, very, very homesick for France.

This is one of those moments:

Astérix aux Jeux olympiques opens January 30th.

(Okay, honestly, I don't think it's going to be as good as the second one, for a variety of reasons, but they have got some very important things right.  Franck Dubosc as Assurancetourix is one of the most perfect bits of casting.)

Z2P: From Zero to Podcasting in Two Days

I should have mentioned this earlier, but I'm fighting off a bit of a bug and find myself slow to get to things.

Z2P:  From Zero to Podcasting, is a two-day session that will be part of PodCamp Toronto 2008 (February 23 and 24, 2008 -- click on the link in my sidebar for more information), and will be especially interesting for those who are curious about podcasting and how to go about creating their own podcast. Even for experienced podcasters, there will be some useful opportunities to both learn from the experiences of others and to help others by sharing your own experiences.

In addition to the campfire talks, there will be technical workshops (including some “hands-on” sessions) presented by Mark Blevis and Bob Goyetche of the Canadian Podcast Buffet. Whether you’re a total noob wanting to know how to start podcasting or are already podcasting and want to improve your game, their workshops will have something for you.

Also bringing their podcasting experience to the campfire talks / circle discussions will be Sage Tyrtle of Quirky Nomads, the Scarborough Dude of DicksnJanes, and Michelle Sullivan of the Aquinas8788 Podcast.

Rob and I will be along to help out and offer up what we can, too -- and we're looking for others to come out and bring their experience to the circle discussions.  We all have a range and wealth of experience to bring to the table, we all work in different ways.  And, you know, the more, the merrier.  Contact me if you're interesting in participating, and I'll add you to the list.

nuntii latini

So, let's say you're an ancient Roman, and find yourself suddenly gifted with the ability to time travel.  And you do, and you find yourself in the twenty-first century, but you have No Idea what's going on.

How would you find out?  Where would you get your news?

Well, you'd probably get yourself a computer (shut up, yes you would, if you're clever enough to time travel, you're clever enough to get yourself a computer), and head over to the Nuntii Latini.

What's that?  What are the Nuntii Latini?  Why, none other than a weekly review of the news of the world delivered in classical Latin, courtesy YLE Radio Finland.

Leave it to the clever Finns to come up with this.  Have I not said I love Finland?  I do, I love Finland.

BTW, you can also get it as a podcast.  Why, of course, I subscribed.  Carpe diem, and all that.

(For the record, I tried to get this translated into Latin, but the on-line translator I found managed to butcher it royally.  I only had one year of Latin before the school declared it a Dead Language and pulled it from the curriculum, which I regret.  Mind you, I decided to switch over to studying Italian, which was definitely a good thing.)

la divina commedia

One of the things I put on my Life List when I rewrote it back in December of 2006 was to study Dante in the original Italian.

Now, I had no idea how I was going to go about it, but it was something I wanted to do.

As I've mentioned before, I have this theory that if you put something on the list, it is already an act of setting things in motion.  Sometimes it's obvious how to go about achieving a goal; sometimes it just happens without you really realizing it.

This happened to me last night, when I was watching Rai International, and realized that I'd been taping Roberto Benigni recite Dante in his series called "Tutto Dante".*  I'm struggling to follow along -- but Benigni spends about 45 minutes taking you through each canto he recites, line by line or couplet by couplet, explaining it, putting it in terms the audience can understand. 

And I'm getting some of it.  I'll go back and watch the tapes over again once the series is finished, but I'm really enjoying it, and the best part?

Without my even planning it, I'm studying Dante in Italian.  Okay, I still have more work to do, but this wheel is already in motion.

To give you a taste, here's Roberto Benigni reciting the primo canto from the Divine Comedy:

*There were some plans to try to bring the show to Broadway, but Benigni decided against it.  If he ever changes his mind, I will be selling my soul to get to New York and get tickets to see him.

comfort zone

Here is a thing I believe:  if you want to stay creative, if you want to avoid writer's (creator's) block, then there's no better way to do this than to do something outside of your comfort zone.

No, I'm not talking about bungee jumping or skydiving, it doesn't need to be that extreme.

It's as simple as choosing a book, a magazine, a blog, or a podcast that's on a subject you know nothing about, or that normally you wouldn't bother picking up, for whatever reason.

This is what I did recently:  after hearing so many raves for Mitch Joel's podcast "Six Pixels of Separation" (okay, that's a great title -- don't you wish you'd thought of that?), I decided to give it a try.

Now, those of you who know me know that I'm probably a marketing person's worst nightmare.  I'm opposed practically everything marketing stands for.  I don't like ads, I try to avoid them, and when I can't, I pick them apart to try to figure out what the seller is trying to push at me.  I quite honestly do not understand why we need more, why we need shiny, why we have to have The Latest Thing -- I'm the kind of person who figures out what I need, what would be the best thing to fill that need, and then I take care of that thing until it finally disintegrates into dust, and then I make a decision to replace it.

I like things that are solid, well-designed, reliable, and that do the job I need done. 

So it will probably surprise you that I decided to listen to Episode 84 of Six Pixels of Separation. 

Quite honestly, I don't remember a lot about the whole episode, but I did find myself rewinding and grabbing a piece of paper when Mitch got to his list of ways to make 2008 count.  I wrote down three that I thought would be useful for me to consider:

-  choose one social network and really get to know how to use it well. 

I'm not sure what to choose, as I'm only really involved in two social networks, Facebook and Ravelry, and both only out of curiousity.  I will say that Twitter intrigues me.  I'm not interested in people tweeting every minute of their day, I could care less about that.  But when my friend Sylvain starting putting out a daily thought on creativity, that was the moment when I realized that there could be more to Twitter than meets the eye.  So if I can figure out what *I* could do on Twitter that might be this valuable or interesting, that may be the one I choose to focus on this year.

- share:  blog/podcast/comment/write reviews/share who you are

Well, what can I say?  I've been blogging for years, podcasting for a while, but I don't think I take it all as seriously as I should.  I lurk on a lot of blogs/podcasts, and I have started making more of an effort to comment.  My aim for this year was to do more of that, to let people know when I've appreciated something they've created, and to share more of the things I've read or enjoyed.  Mitch has reminded me that this really is important.

- get yourself a new piece of hardware

As I said, I'm not interested in owning all the latest and greatest gadgets, and though I think Mitch was probably referring more to something in the tech line of things, there are a few things on my list that I really would enjoy having:  a Zoom H4 portable recorder (okay, I would practically sell my soul to afford one of these, this is the exception to my No Bling or Fancy Gadgets rule); a food processor; a bread-maker; a new Mac (mine is not well.  Rob has done some surgery on it to keep it limping along, but it's only a matter of time, I think); an iPod video.

But since I live on a limited budget, I'll probably only be able to save up for one thing this year, and as much as I drool over the Zoom H4, what I am going to invest in as my one piece of hardware?

A freezer.  If I really want to get serious about local eating, I need a freezer.  I live in Canada, and in the winter, the only local foods available are what can be stored:  carrots, potatoes, parsnip, beets, onions, some squash, some apples.  Even Barbara Kingsolver wrote that if she lived in our more northerly climate, she might have to consider supplementing with non-local foods during the winter months. 

My aim is to get my freezer this spring, and then start freezing local produce for use over next winter, so that even if I have to supplement with non-local produce, I'll be able to keep that to a minimum.  My main goal will be fruit, since that's what we lack most during the winter, but I'm going to think about some veggies as well.

So, the shiny, impractical Zoom will have to wait for another time.  Which is okay, because I'll really enjoy the fruits of the freezer, and when I finally am able to afford the Zoom, just think of how much I'll enjoy that, too.

There is, after all, something to be said for deferred gratification.

(Oh, and Episode 85 of Six Pixels of Separation is cued up -- because Mitch Joel does seem to have a few things to teach me.)

in which i reveal that i adore les Schtroumpfs

Actually, I adore what the French call "BD" (pronounced "bay day", for "bandes dessinées");  what struck me living in France was that these weren't just for geeky adolescent boys, as is so often the case here in North America.  Les BD are for everyone, and there is a whole section of the bookstore devoted to them.

My niece loves BD, too, but here's the problem.  Here in North America, we've decided to push them at adults and give them the very high-faluting name "Graphic Novels".  I really hate that term -- I think it targets the books at a really small audience, instead of allowing the BD culture to flourish for every age level.

As a result?  There are lots of age-appropriate BD for my niece produced in France.  The catch, though, is that my niece is not French. So far, we've managed to introduce her to Tintin and Asterix, but that's about it in terms of what's available for her age range (she's ten).

She would love the Smurfs (les Schtroumpfs).  She would adore them as much as I do.  She would love reading and collecting and re-reading the albums.  But the Smurfs had their heyday in English about twenty years ago, and any albums I can find that were translated into English are now very pricey collector items.

But.

2008 is the fiftieth anniversary of the Smurfs (they first appeared in Le journal de Spirou in 1958), and, according to a CBC report I stumbled across this morning, there are going to be a number of things going on to celebrate, including a new film.

But what I'm hoping?  Is that a renewed interest in the Smurfs this year will mean that the English-language albums will be re-published, and I will be able to afford to give them to my niece.

Because that?  That would be smurftastic!

five reasons why i love the Y

I love the Y, and here are just five reasons Y -- er -- why:

1.  There's a steam room.  I can't tell you how important that is, especially on a day like today, when I'm fighting off a sinus cold, and it just felt so good to breathe in that warm, damp air.

2.  There's a wide range of programmes and equipment.  If you can't find some kind of exercise you'll enjoy here, then there probably isn't anything you'd enjoy.  I'm kind of fond of the cycling classes, though I really do find them tough.

3.  The staff is great.  They honestly, really care about the members, and they make a real effort to help you figure out what kind of programme would be best for you.  They take the time to help people correct their form on the equipment.  They thank me when they see me stopping to turn off the tvs that others have left on (okay, the whole tv thing is the only thing I hate, but I understand that they had to install them to compete with the new, flashy gym that opened up nearby.  Frankly, in my eyes, the Y has No Competition).  They check in with me to see how I'm doing.  Just today, I got a mini-lesson on two new pieces of equipment they've installed, and recommendations for a couple of books to help me get back on track with my running.

4.  They run really sensible programmes that help support change -- for example, right now, they're running "Y Wait?".  You commit to working out three times a week for six weeks, and there's always someone following your progress and trying to encourage you and help you stay on track.  I signed up to do my weights three times a week -- I'd got out of the habit of doing them after I injured myself, and haven't managed to push myself to get back to them.  But the Y staff is going to help.

5.  They really believe in community.  In the Y community, in connecting with the community at large.  I've felt this in every single Y I've been a member of, and it's a great feeling.  It's why, when we move, it'll be someplace that has a Y, because it's on my list of "must haves" in any place we live.

and since we were speaking about community

I love how I get thinking about something, and then I'm reading someone else's blog, and they're thinking about the same thing.

This morning?  I was mulling over the "Bring Da King" campaign, and then went over to see what Mark was thinking about today, and lo and behold, he's posted about it.

So, what is it? 

Podcasters Dave and Isabelle (from the Broca's Area podcast) and Scarborough Dude (from the DicksnJanes podcast) decided that it really was important that we get James Whittingham of the Regina Radio podcast to Podcasters Across Borders 2008.

Let me take a step back -- for the last two years of PAB, James has been unable to attend, but provided his own "live" coverage of the event.  It was absolutely brilliant and very, very funny (James is a very, very funny guy).  I remember saying to Rob that someone should pass around a hat and collect up the funds to bring James to PAB, and whammo -- there were Dave and Isabelle and Scarborough Dude with the idea.

As Mark noted, they're trying to collect up $1000 to cover travel and accomodation for James, and so far, they've managed to collect about $200.

Here's the thing -- they're not asking for much from each person, $10.   They'd probably happily take $5, and if enough people donated just that small amount, $5 or $10, the total amount would probably add up in no time.

I've kicked in a few bucks, and I'll probably kick in a few more, because I would really love to see James come to PAB. 

What I love about this?  It's more of that communitizing that I'm starting to harp on about.  It's about people pulling together and helping out another member of the community -- in the end, it'll benefit us all, because I'm sure that James'  actual live coverage of PAB would be even more brilliant than his virtual "live" coverage of PAB.

So, to quote Mark -- "I'm helping Bring Da King.  And you?"

(Note:  you don't have to be a podcaster to donate.  You can be a podcast listener, you can just be someone who would get a kick out of seeing if we could pull this off.  Every little bit will help.)

Talking Stick: Podcasters in Chains

So, a while back, Todd Tyrtle came up with an idea and sent out a call to a whole whack of podcasters to participate.

Todd's idea was kind of a riff on the chain letter:  an audio chain.  A topic would be chosen, and the audio file would be passed from podcaster to podcaster, and some kind of discussion/exchange of ideas/expansion of thought and opinon would happen.  Messages were exchanged, silliness insued (you can't put a group of podcasters together without some of that going on, thankfully), and in the end?

A new podcast --  Talking Stick:  Podcasters in Chains

At the moment, there are three more chains in progress, but Todd has just put Episode One online.

Now, I'm biased, because I'm one of the members of the group involved in this (though my contribution will be part of Episode Three, I think).  But I think this is an absolutely brilliant idea, and I'm grateful to Todd to coming up with it and inviting me to be a part of it.

I love podcasting for a number of reasons, but most important to me are the fact that it gives voice to many, varied, and interesting ideas and people.  As well, I love the sense of community that exists -- I've begun talking about how we need to "communitize" our podcasts (in opposition to the idea of "monetizing" it), how we need to reach out to others and get involved with others, and Todd's idea is "communitizing" made manifest.