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Author: NiteMayr

Before:

Kevin was born on the mossy hills of Scotland and lived for a while in West Lothian before the mores of pre-Thatcher and REALLY pre-Oasis Great Britain sent his family across the ocean to North America. They moved here and there and Kevin did the same when he was old enough. Now he lives in London with his family and a Dog.

Kevin Wardrop is an amateur writer, amateur photographer and professional pain in the ass. He has worked in the PC support business for most of his adult life and has been accustomed to simply answering technical questions as a matter of fiat, it was his career choice after all. Now he herds cats and puppies for a living as well as babysitting the web enterprises at the heart of western industry.

Madeline Albright can Win you over

Published by NiteMayr on March 24, 2004

I had the opportunity to watch Madeleine Albright’s testimony before the 9/11 commision yesterday, on TV that is. Besides the eloquence and poise she displayed and the reams of informaiton provided, she also took the time to admonish the current administration. She did so in the form of flattering attacks, “the president is under al ot of stress…making the US unpopular” etc…

It was fun, no wonder she was able to make so many friends around the world.

Playing Now: Radiohead f. The Sneaker Pimps – Climbing Up The Walls

Damn you Zombies!!!!

Published by NiteMayr on March 16, 2004

I hate it when I fall intothe trap of watching a zombie flick late at night, I always end up dreaming about it all night. Jen and I watched the 10 minute “Dawn of the Dead” preview last night, before bed. So, as per usual, I was left dreaming about the Zombie Apocolypse that the movie entails. Mostly just wandering around “the Day After” running into other survivors. The Zombies didn’t make a big showing until one point later in the dream when a helicopter crashes into a group of people at a party (?) and zombies sprung forth from the hurt. Man, I hate zombie dreams.

Again, let me state this, I hate zombies.

Playing Now: Moby – Landing

Dreaming about the "Normal Life"

Published by NiteMayr on February 18, 2004

Over the past few days I’ve had semi recurring dreams about what I’d have to describe as normal life stuff. You know going to work, driving a car visiting friends. These are sprinkled with light dreamstuff, like toys that eat each other or semiautomatic cars. Yet, the principal themes appear to be just ordinary everyday life occurrences.

The only really odd deal was in one dream I was fighting a toy pillow that had come to life and had began to construct a plastic army of robot toys made from the flesh or Barbie dolls (bleached and hardened) and last night I was working in a radio station along with a troupe of kids straight from the pages of Newsboy Legion.

The common themes of most of the last few night’s dreams has been an overwhelming number of dreams about moving home to Ontario, which I’m sure will be put aside by a visit home sometime in the next few months.

Playing Now: Fine Young Cannibals – I’m Not Satisfied

I've written a script or two

Published by NiteMayr on February 1, 2004

Laugh if you want. no, go ahead.

I’ve written a small shooting script or two in the past. I’ve always wanted to shoot a real low-budget flick. The whole shebang, actors, lights locations sets, music and all the rest of it. I’ve toyed with it so much I’ve went as far as trying to rope in performers and technical folks. This is how far it usually goes though…

Me: So you wanna make this flick then?
Co-Conspiritor: I was interested, but now I’m going to look at this shiny thing over here.

See what I mean?

Anyway, since I started actually paying attention to how movies are made, and less to just the stories, I actually started noticing how they are composed and portrayed. Commentary tracks on DVDs help out LOTS. Two movies stand out as really making art of their shots (in my opinion) and they might surprise some

Number One is PI: Here is a movie that blends the music to the mood to the action. The Camera is both OUR eye and the Eye inside the mind of the character. It was so compelling.

Number Two is 187: This is a “good teacher gets revenge on bad kids” story. Watch the camera work and sound on this, it is momentous.

The Guardian Gave me an Idea

Published by NiteMayr on January 31, 2004

The Guardian gave me an idea, they played some classic rock for some under 8s and asked them what they thought, here are some choice quotes:

“Substitue” – The Who

  • Beth Ugh. I was born with Plasticine in my mouth?
  • Holly It sounds like when your wee goes back up.
  • My own Daughter: This makes me feel bad

    “Touch Me” – The Doors

  • Gabrielle It’s too pointy.
    i don’t have this one on hand, so I can’t tell you how My Own liked it

    “Sunshine of your Love” – Cream

  • Gabrielle Argh! Vampires!
    i don’t have this one on hand, so I can’t tell you how My Own liked it

    “Immigrant song” – Led Zepplin

  • Holly This isn’t singing, it’s just screaming.
    Beth It’s kind of eeeevol. I’m going to watch Lord Of The Rings Three next week.
    Holly No you’re not.
    Beth Am.
    Holly Not.
  • My own Daughter:I like it Dances a bit

    “Smells Like Teen Spirit” – Nirvana

  • Sophie It’s making me think about doing bad things like putting snowballs down my sister’s back.
  • My own Daughter: this makes me feel Mad. This is a boy song.

    “Crosstown Traffic” – Jimi Hendrix

  • Gabrielle It’s making me feel all dizzy. Can I have some juice?

    Read the rest of the Article for more fun!

    Here are a few of my own, with my Daughter’s quotes:

    “How Soon is Now?” – the Smiths
    I like it, it makes me smile

    “Blue Monday” – New Order
    This is nice, I like this.

    “Pump up the Volume” – m/a/r/r/s
    This is cool

    “Behind Blue eyes” – Limp Bizkut
    “This makes me scared”

    • Jeff and Kevin: 28 Days Later is NOT a Zombie Movie

    Published by NiteMayr on January 19, 2004

    I am psychic, I swear

    shuggothmstr1: I got to see 28 Days Later, Loved it
    shuggothmstr1: Not a Zombie Movie Though, they weren’t dead
    mistermurdertoys: yes they were
    shuggothmstr1: No they weren’t
    mistermurdertoys: yes they were
    shuggothmstr1: if they were dead blowing off extremities wouldn’t hinder them then, right?
    mistermurdertoys: believe what you want
    shuggothmstr1: They didn’t work like zombies in Zombie flicks… as far as I am concerned, simply not a zombie flick, at least not a conventional one, and therefore a far superior movie all around, really loved the part where Jim thumbs the bad guy
    mistermurdertoys: And since when are you an expert on zombie flicks? I think I have seen far more of them then you have. in most european zombie movies they aren’t the shambling slow things you seem to think they are in every movie
    shuggothmstr1: I’ll just let it drop then, shall I?
    mistermurdertoys: :P
    mistermurdertoys: well it’s not an American movie, don’t expect george romeros rules
    shuggothmstr1: I really enjoyed the flick, and that’s enough said on the matter one way or the other. It was well filmed, had an engaging cast and the drama was well played. The score was awesome, as was the sound track. The sound design was awesome…
    shuggothmstr1: It was awesome, those guys should be commended for a fine fine movie

    Seriously, I saw this argument coming up the street like it had bells and a whistle

    So Where is that Server Located Anyway

    Published by NiteMayr on January 19, 2004

    A new databse tool has come into play, and some aspects of net access to our sites have become slow. Naturally the new web based tool is blamed. For S & Gs I propose that the new tool is in fact the cause, leading to the usual scoffing fro Mr. J

    Jared: siebel is hosted here!
    Kevin: I’m just saying, what if they have managed to do this?
    Jared: So, what your saying is everyone is insane then?
    Kevin: Yes, that is what I am saying, everyone is insane.
    Kevin (Thinks about it a bit) : What do I get if I am right, a cookie?
    Jared: Yes you get a cookie.
    Kevin (quick traceroute later): Second hop, hosted in Cupertino (far away).
    Jared: You get your cookie.

    The Dance of Death that is the Eugene Downtown Bus Station

    Published by NiteMayr on December 17, 2003

    I lived for a number of years in Toronto, and from 1997-2002 I rode the busses and subways there pretty much exclusively, having given my car to my Sister as a wedding present.

    The Bus stations in Toronto are laid out so that you never have to cross in front of a bus in order to reach it. Unless you take stupid risks on your own decision. This is not so in Eugene. You HAVE to cross in front of busses to get almost anywhere in the Eugene station, which is almost a guarantee that you will have to seriously watch out for one of the road behemoths as you cross the station. Add to this the fact that you have to cross from between the busses and you get the idea that the makers of this system didn’t design it with the riders in mind. Silly Hippies.