Nuit Blanche was fun and tiring and just.. wow. Fun because, well, it seemed like the entire city was alive and awake and it was neat to walk into welcoming galleries and just take in everything. Tiring because, well for me, my bicycle got a flat tire and I ended up walking for much of the night. Tiresome also were the throngs of drunken club and bar patrons as they mingled and mixed with the other denizens, slurring their way through the streets. Still, there was so much to see and do -- a buffet of events and screenings and mixed-media. You can get a taste of it from my Nuit Blanche flickr set. I suppose the highlight was the spontaneous dance party inside the Bloor United Church. Also cool: The dance of the knitting sisters. Mixed-media stuff in the Gladstone. String of Diamonds. Pandas giving manicures. Children singing [myspace link].

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Nuit Blanche this year was just.. well, it was just too busy. WAY too busy -- drunken, riot-minded swarms of entertainment-starved streetlings, bustling here and there, yammering away bubbly nothings. It was more than a little upsetting when I think about their wanton destruction of art and latent disregard for the works. But mostly, just too too many people every which way. Make the TTC free for the night! Close the streets! Bah... next year I won't start until after 3 AM.

iPhone? Yes, I got one. Guilty? Very much feeling so. Paying more for a toy, a shiny technophilic toy, money going from me to them, voting finanically in the wrong way. And ringtones! Why can I not simply make my songs ringtones! Damn you APPLE, will you not free us from these scalywags who would have me pay for the air I breath and the sounds I hear?

It's not all bad, of course. The mapping and GPS-like ability is neat. Visual voicemail is dreamy. Email and SMS in my hand is.. handy? Camera is responsive, fairly true.

There's a US version of Life On Mars? Huh.. and it seems to take quite a bit from the UK version. First episode was.. alright. I do hope they change it enough so that it really is more of a US version, rather than just the UK version with US songs and accents.

Speaking of spending frivolously, I'm thinking of upgrading my computer! Well, just buying a new one. I likely will at least get a new computer chair.

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This year's Nuit Blanche was marred by large crowds and mundane exhibits. Is it my old man syndrome speaking thus? It's how I feel and I am certain that there are some who feel the same as I do. Certainly the size of the throngs cannot be disputed; I believe this year attracted the largest numbers yet. It wasn't all bad, I guess, but my dislike of line-ups was taken to its limit Saturday night.

Sunday I stayed in, having gone to bed near 6 AM and getting out of bed around 4 PM, groggy with a broken Circadian rhythm. I watched the first season of Party Down, an excellent new comedy. I went to bed at a reasonable hour; say, 1 AM. Unfortunately, I woke up feeling awful and was plagued with a malaise I had not felt in ages: a decidely colitis-like sensation, only without the sharp abdominal pain. I plan to retire by 11 so that my body can get some extra rest.

I guess I've watched a few other films since I last wrote, including:

1. Wet Hot American Summer (2001). It has quite the who's-who cast in comedy, and the movie is very funny though its wackiness may put-off some. My personal favourite scenes: when Garofalo's character makes Paul Rudd clean up his mess, the trip to town, anything with the crazed cook, the "new way" training.
2. Vertigo (1958), which you may be surprised to know I've never seen. But golly what a movie! It gives me shudders. The intro sequence sends chills up my back. "... he wanted to penetrate to the heart of obsession." I don't want to spoil a drop of this delicious, intoxicating brew should you have the pleasure of seeing it for the first time in front of you. Suffice to say, I envy you.
3. North by Northwest (1959), another classic Hitchcock film. My enjoyment of this film differs from Vertigo; I found the former haunting while this latter one was simply entertaining. I really only found the soundtrack to be memorable.
4. The Manchurian Candidate (1962). Intense from start to end. Hasn't aged a bit. I heard the remake was not as good but I will still seek it out for comparison's sake.
5. Silent Running (1972). I saw this one after it was mentioned to be a source of inspiration for Moon. Slow, with ups and downs but I liked the ending so overall I enjoyed it.
6. Moon (2009). "'Moon' is a superior example of that threatened genre, hard science-fiction, which is often about the interface between humans and alien intelligence of one kind of or other, including digital. John W. Campbell Jr., the godfather of this genre, would have approved. The movie is really all about ideas. It only seems to be about emotions. How real are our emotions, anyway? How real are we? Someday I will die. This laptop I'm using is patient and can wait." -- Roger Ebert. Me, I loved it.
7. The Iron Giant (1999). I can't remember why I wanted to see this film. I mean, I recall wanting to see this film back when it came out. I enjoyed the visuals and the art-style. It's a good kids movie, don't get me wrong. I guess I just wanted to satify a very old itch.
8. The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004). Another film I'd meant to see in the theatre but was too forgetful to get around to doing. Too forgetful, or maybe just too hermit-like. I liked it a lot! It's a shame it didn't fare better. A fun, quirky film.
9. The Hangover (2009). Yeah it was funny. I laughed. The best of this movie? Discovering Zach Galifianakis: that dude is hilarious.
10. All Quiet on the Western Front (1979). I watched this by accident, meaning to see the original 1930 version. This remake was fairly ho-hum.
11. Role Models (2008). Funny with a flash of heart, as these Rudd/Apatow films are.
12. Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008). Also funny, but I've never found Jason Segel to be all that amusing.

I actually saw those last two some time ago but I neglected to mention it at the time.

I said I would go to bed soon but I lied, it would seem. Typing these things up takes time! Well folks, I guess that's it for now. I had also wanted to talk about the new Curb and The Office and that new Jason Schwartzman show, but I tire of my voice. Later!

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2010/08/03 Hwan I won't say that all is well (for I don't believe it to be so), but I am better. Thanks to all for asking!
2010/07/20 QYV Expected range for Creatinine for guys is 60 - 110 umol/L
2010/07/20 llamariffic Hmm, macrocytosis here as well, but to be honest I've had it since before I truly embarked on drinking as a proper hobby. Similarly, stopped drinking entirely, and it didn't go away. Just one of those things, I think.
2010/07/19 girl ack!! It's weird to think that I am now a parental unit. It was nice to see you hwan!
2010/05/21 Hwan I recall trying earplugs well back in my undergrad years, to mixed results. My sleep was troubled by feelings of claustrophobia. I also have a, perhaps unfounded, fear of not hearing the essential alarm in the mornings. However, I may give these another go, thanks.
2010/05/21 llamatron Have you tried sleeping with earplugs? My flat faces out onto a main road, so I've started using the standard foam plugs. It took a few nights to get used to them, but they make a big difference.
2010/05/21 girl The original swedish title: "Men who hate women". I'm not sure if it's the fault of the translation, but I never liked the reporter dude.
2001/03/07 Hwan Damn.. it seems Unweb has since died. http://www.gamegrene.com/node/183
2001/03/07 TY SHARDEL YOU CAN TRADE WITH THE UNIVERSE AND ENABLE SOCIAL NEEDS, OR PERHAPS POST WISH LISTS, HUG THE GLOBE LIKE A BIG OCTOPUS... TY
2010/03/24 Hwan I am amused by the John Irving comparison. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Irving#Recurring_themes