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    Friday, July 10th, 2009
    soldoutpuppet
         		4:10p
    In memoriam
     As much as I love suspense, there is no way to tell this story without hinting as to how it is going to end.

    I’ve been very contemplative this week due to the death of a music giant.

    No. Not the freaking pervert.

    Martin Streek was a DJ for my favourite radio station, and was instrumental in introducing me to many styles of music. He graduated high school with the promise that he not only was going to be a DJ, but he was going to be a DJ at 102.1, a small FM station in Brampton. The station was in financial trouble, and the fact that they only played “alternative” music well before “Alternative” was the norm, meant that they couldn’t pay him off of the bat. He just hung around there and helped out with things. One day somebody suggested that the station could make money by hosting video dance parties at high schools and colleges. The owners thought that this was a great idea, so they started to look for a driver for the truck. Martin stepped up, studied, and got his licence. His job was to drive all over Ontario in a 10 ton truck and set up and tear down the equipment 3 out of 5 days of the week. This idea saved the company and put the radio station on the map as the cool radio station of the current young generation.

    One night the DJ misjudged where the stage was and fell, hurting himself. Martin picked up the mike and lit up the stage. He found his calling.

    During the 90’s, Kevin, Pete, Tom and I would more or less follow this guy from club to club to listen to what he was mixing together, and to watch him command the crowd into a frenzy as he infected everyone in the room with his raw enthusiasm as to how awesome the music was. There was always a line going up to the DJ booth as people waited to talk to him and request songs. If he showed up at a club, then that club was packed. He was so popular that he was able to secure steady gigs at some of the biggest clubs in Ontario. We all knew that we could go to the Kingdom on Fridays, The Phoenix on Saturdays and The Vinyl Underground on Sundays to catch him doing his magic.

    He was hired by the radio station in 1984, and the station grew from “a little yellow house” with a small antenna into the biggest station in Canada, with a streetside broadcasting office in the Eaton Centre, using the CN Tower as it’s antenna (REALLY!). During those 25 years, he saw people come, and people go… But he stayed constant. His knowledge of music was only matched by his close friend Alan Cross, who went on to becoming the Production Manager of CNFY, and recently got promoted to corporate as an executive. I went from enjoying his high school dances to clubbing out every second weekend to now, where I would tune in to him on Saturday and Sunday nights and listen to his live-to-air broadcasts from the clubs that I used to all but live in. He was ageless. Anybody who knew his age wasn’t talking about it, at his request. Sporting a shaved head and a goatee, he used to skateboard into work in defiance of the grey hairs in his beard. At days from my 36th... I still am amazed that he had the energy to rock it so hard.

    And then in mid-May there was a new voice on the radio. The graveyard shift punk-girl was doing the primetime broadcast (and doing ok at it). I, along with most, assumed that Martin took a vacation. But this vacation was lasting longer than was normal. I checked the website for the radio station… and saw NO trace of him there. I later found out that his reign over the alternative clubs of the GTA was over as he had been let go from the job that he loved. I was saddened and outraged, but I was looking forward to what he had planned. My first instinct was that the bloodless corporation saw that the king of their alternative music franchise was some guy in his late 30s… and decided that this was not the demographic that they were aiming for.

    It turns out that Martin had only done one job interview in his life : The one for that radio station. Everyone who had met him knew that he loved the station enough to tattoo the logo on himself. He loved the music, and he loved doing what he did, and he put 25 years of blood, sweat and tears into that station. June 16, 2009, an unemployed, never married, childless Martin Streek turned 45. On July 6th (Monday), Martin posted this message in his Facebook :
    “So...I guess that's it...thanks everyone...I'm sorry to those I should be sorry to, I love you to those that I love, and I will see you all again soon (not too soon though)... Let the stories begin.”

    One of his friends read this as something ominous and went to his apartment to find the door with a post-it upon it : “Call 911”

    His friends and ex-colleagues have been tearing themselves to pieces trying to glorify the man while vilifying suicide and discussing as to what were the signs, were there signs?, who did he last talk to?... etc. I’ve been talking to Kari and Kevin a lot about the meaning of life lately, and have scoured the internet for answers to some of those questions, when I came across this on a discussion thread that put a new focus on this event : Somebody asked as to where the funeral was going to be, and one of Martin’s actual friends replied with (paraphrased) :
    "Remember who you are, and what is going on. YOU lost a radio legend. WE lost a friend. His mother is devastated and we want our time and space to grieve properly. If YOU have no idea as to what his cat’s name was then, really, we don’t want you at the funeral.”

    The desire to ask certain obvious questions fell away after reading that. He was just an awesome DJ that I had the chance to talk to a few times. He was a lot more to many people.

    I’ve reconciled this event as these revelations :
    - I have questions, but I don’t have the right to ask many of them.
    - He was a selfish ass for putting his family and friends through this
    - He is a legend that will be remembered by thousands

    Last night I listened to a 5 hour tribute to Martin by his mentor : David Marsden, a creaky fogey in his late 60s. At first, it was weird listening to a retiree talk about the hottest Canadian Alternative DJ ever (Chris Sheppard is the only possible contender)… But that man knows his stuff. The playlist was a celebration of Martin’s energy, and it closed off with a few songs that were guaranteed to pull tears.

    Kevin’s and my conversation ended like this last night :
    Kev C says:
    you do realize the Martin provided much of the soundtrack to our lives right?
    that's been bothering me for a few days now
    how will I evolve?
    am I simply to age now?

    A chapter in thousands of lives just closed for good. To the best of my knowledge, he never pulled the plug on a set before it was finished. Why did he pull the plug on the big one?

    The above story embodies the “live fast, die young and leave a pretty corpse” mentality… But it highlights the devastation that is left behind when somebody decides to take their own life.

    My thoughts are on the good times, and my condolences to his family and friends.

    Wherever you are,
    Keep it locked in and cranked, Martin.
    We will miss you

    Rich

    Current Mood: crushed
    james_nicoll
         		2:22p
    james_nicoll
         		10:21a
    Augh!
     Biology in Science Fiction reports on a panel at fabled Readercon:

    This year marks the sesquicentennial of the publication of The Origin of Species and the bicentennial of Charles Darwin’s birth. Considering the importance of the scientific idea, This year marks the sesquicentennial of the publication of The Origin of Species and the bicentennial of Charles Darwin’s birth. Considering the importance of the scientific idea, there has been surprisingly little great sf inspired by it. We wonder whether, in fact, if the theory has been too good, too unassailable and too full of explanatory power, to leave the wiggle room where speculative minds can play in. After all, physics not only has FTL and time travel, but mechanisms like wormholes that might conceivably make them possible. What are their equivalents in evolutionary theory, if any? We wonder whether, in fact, if the theory has been too good, too unassailable and too full of explanatory power, to leave the wiggle room where speculative minds can play in. After all, physics not only has FTL and time travel, but mechanisms like wormholes that might conceivably make them possible. What are their equivalents in evolutionary theory, if any?

    First off, I question this: there has been surprisingly little great sf inspired by it.

    (Bearing in mind that "inspired by" is different from "and understood it and got the details right.")

    Secondly, any actual biologists out there feel that the field is so well understood by now no grey areas remain?

    Thirdly, Green Door seemed to go over reasonably well and it's all about one toy model that touches on evolution.
    sardonyx
         		10:18a
    Crazy wedding season time is about to start! Tonight I have a bridal shower to attend.. tomorrow a wedding, midweek my cousin arrives from Italy for my sister's wedding next Saturday, which I'm in the bridal party for. I did not get an awful stray-on tan for the wedding this time. Why didn't anyone tell me how horrible it looked on me for my last sister's wedding. I will brave the sage dress in my regular skin tone, mucho danke!!

    Next Thursday is Spa Day. [info]missuh and I are going to spoil each other at Body Blitz for our respective birthdays. An afternoon by the salt-water and green tea pool with fruit smoothies followed by a massage is the perfect birthday present for a girl :D
    james_nicoll
         		9:34a
    Julian Comstock
     So, has anyone on my flist read this? I myself have not (although I did read something related in an anthology I will call the Best SF So Morose You'll Plotz SF of 2007. At least, I think it was the 2007 one).
    sun_tzu
         		9:32a
    In which I seek to define my outlook beyond self-loathing Conservative

    So lately I joined Twitter. Having heard all the hype I decided to see what it was all about. Mainly I like being able to follow a few news outlets and receive essentially a quick snapshot of the headlines in the mornings. Then I started to understand how the hashtags work and the various "communities" that exist.

    One of the largest is #tcot or Top Conservatives On Twitter. Mostly Americans, rather obviously. So I started reading some of those feeds and even wading into some of the debates, especially healthcare related stuff but just in general. What a ridiculous bunch. It's got me to the point that while I usually label myself as generally conservative now I don't want to really at all. I guess I'll stick to Red Tory. You know, one of those people without a party to represent them in Canada? The ones who vote Conservative because they cannot stomach the idea of voting Liberal, but then hope it works out to be a minority government to keep the social conservative morons in check? That's me.

    If for whatever reason you've been reading my LJ for a long time or you're a member of [info]canpolitik than you probably have a good idea of what I think but just in case I guess I'm going to recap it.

    ( Read more... )

    snopes_dot_com 3:00p
    Senior Death Warrants

    http://www.snopes.com/politics/medical/seniordeath.asp

    Message warns that health care reform will be a "death warrant" for seniors.
    Thursday, July 9th, 2009
    evan_tech
    [ evan ]
         		6:47p
    pubsubhubbub
     I'd like to draw your attention to bradfitz and Brett's pubsubhubbub, a protocol for distributing real-time updates.

    It feels very bradfitzy to me: it is simple, decentralized, seems obvious in retrospect, and pays careful attention to an incremental migration path from existing technology (here, people who provide static feeds with the expectation of clients polling).

    The slides are brief and to the point. Give 'em a glance.
    sardonyx
         		3:30p
    Ponderings.
     This morning as I was walking to work with piles of cherries from the grocery store, I was thinking about how good it felt to say no to the 5 cent plastic bags. I would prolly not take them anyways, but now that they ask you every time, I feel really good after I announce that I will carry them in my napsack.

    In a way, this is kinda a cool way to attempt to make everyone that shops feel a little bit more like they're doing something for the environment when they don't buy a bag.
    james_nicoll
         		2:41p
    For the record, I have not actually seen Merlin yet
     Just out of curiosity, what is the single worst Arthurian TV show or movie? Is there a consensus on this?
    james_nicoll
         		2:36p
    Other people must have looked at this
     Once Moore's Law no longer holds due to inevitable natural limits, what are the logical strategies the computer industry will follow?
    uwaterloo
    [ ___vanillaskies ]
         		11:47p
    FR151
     Recommendations for an easier French 151 prof?
    Schedule of Classes show instructors: Carla Toracchio, Samia Ndayisaba, Therese Sabaryn
    (that fit into my schedule)


    thanks!
    lonita
         		11:34a
    Goodbye
     A long-time favourite local (Toronto) radio and club DJ committed suicide on Monday. The how is not public knowledge, and it really doesn't need to be. The why? That's anyone's guess. I could speculate, but won't. It's not my place. The why he's taken with him, and is no longer important.

    I know there are folks who think that suicide is the ultimate coward's way out. I don't, never did, believe that. I don't have a grasp on suicide anymore, though when I was young I had my moments. As awful as life can seem at times, I guess I just can't imagine not being alive; and, I suppose I believe there are more people who could find another solution than do. Rather, I want them to find another solution - I hope for it.

    I read somewhere recently, in regards to David Foster Wallace and Infinite Jest, though I can't recall in what context exactly, something regarding why people end things this way. It's got little to do with escape in the way one might assume it, but more to do with ending pain, with not wanting to hurt anymore - and this is the only way the person can contemplate (at that moment) not hurting.

    In the case of the gentleman aforementioned, there was apparently no real indication that something was this amiss. No one seems to have realised he was in this much distress. I am sorry he felt that this was the only solution. His presence in the musical life of Southern Ontario will be much missed.

    Rest in peace, Martin.

    Current Music: MASH.S03E14.DVDRip.DivX-SFM

    sardonyx
         		11:04a

    (stolen from [info]pers)

    I ammm soooo excited for Louise Black!! She's on the next Project Runway!!

    http://bloggingprojectrunway.blogspot.com/

    I am sooo glad that I bought the corsets and dress from her when I did! She's gonna be famous :) Finally the recognition she deserves for her amaaaazing work!
    james_nicoll
         		10:52a
    Greybeards dream of stars
     Tibor made a huge and telling point when he looked around the room and asked: “Where are the young people?” Indeed, he himself was one of the youngest in the room and, as he told the crowd, he was almost 50.


    Tibor's site. Tibor is quite optimistic:

    “The first true interstellar mission, targeted at the closest star to the Sun or even farther, will be launched before or on December 6, 2025 and will be widely supported by the public.”

    I'd settle for a nice fleet of outer planet orbiters.

    Provoked by Doug Muir
    james_nicoll
         		9:27a
    mlik
         		8:01a
    Dear lazyweb,
     I'm trying to find a webcomic I saw recently, but now I can't remember where.

    The set up is one of the characters is freaking out. Then one character says something like "Quick! Get me a sheet of paper." Then the character scribbles somethings and then shows it to the character who is freaking out.
    Then it shows the piece of paper. It's a Venn diagram with two separate circles. One says "The set of all sets that contain themselves." the other is "The set of all sets that do not contain themselves" and the punch line is something like "How about I move these two closer together?"

    Current Mood: curious
    snopes_dot_com 3:00p
    Passing Fancy

    http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/charity/jackson.asp

    Article contrasts observances of the passings of Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcett, and Michael Jackson.
    Wednesday, July 8th, 2009
    mlik
         		11:55p
    Loneliness
     I haven't gotten any telemarketing calls in a while. Maybe they're starting to respect the do not call list. I don't even get the blank messages on my answering machine. Yesterday I got a call, said hello twice, but there was no one there so I hung up.

    I picked up my phone to check for the dial tone, to see if it still worked. I was going to make a plea to have people call me and leave amusing messages on my machine, like we used to do in residence. No reason you couldn't still do that though.

    Anyway, as a happy coincidence I got a message on Facebook from Jen (Bonnie's friend). I told her I was feeling a bit lonely, so she gave me a call. That was kind of her. Better than a jar of peanut butter and a spoon for sure.

    And then I spent some time watching youtube videos: Amy's Song, which lead me to A Chorus Line, which made me want to watch Inchworm, which lead me to Inchworm on Sesame Street, Bert and Ernie in the rain, 30 Rocks on Sesame Street, Feist on Sesame Street, Andrea Bocelli on Sesame Street, Furry Happy Monsters, and then Johnny Cash on Sesame Street.

    I feel much better now.... I really do.

    EDIT: And oh yeah, Wii Fit says I'm the lightest I've ever been. 158 lbs! (not including the times I had company over and had to adjust for clothing)
    da_lj
         		8:49p
    On ending migraines
     [I've not posted this partly because I don't want to jinx it, but at the same time- good news!]

    Excellent news even- I have a non-drug remedy for my headaches.

    It may have had something to do with:

    - a bunch of physio appointments to un-stick a few vertebrae in my neck;
    - a few (possibly ineffectual) acupuncture visits with same physiotherapist;

    And it definitely had to do with:

    - 9 days away at the Quaker confab, including some sort of "stress reset button" when I got handed an entirely different things to fixate on for the time there;
    - five minutes with my friend Amy, who is an acupuncturist/acupressure practitioner.
    - other factors, such as the very mellow massage I got from [info]peaceofpie.

    But the real biggie was Amy's accupressure points- on Tuesday morning I mentioned to her I was disappointed that the acupuncture back home hadn't had any positive effect, and she said, why don't you try pressing your thumb fingernail on your other hand right [here] in the web next to your thumb? On the right hand if the pain's behind your left eye, and vice-versa? So I did, and blam, the headache went away in under 5 minutes of pressing on my hand! Woah.

    I got goosebumps. And the headache came back, and I did it again, and it went away again.

    I had read about those pressure-points before, and tried them, to no effect, but I wasn't pressing hard enough, and I didn't have the right part of my hand.

    All week I expected the migraines to come back just as bad. Instead they came milder and easier to get rid of. Like magic. And maybe there was magic involved; I don't know what all my friends were doing for me there... :)

    All the old triggers are still triggers: not enough sleep, stress... But the pressure-points win over both of them. Wow.

    Wednesday as an experiment I spent the afternoon in sun without sunglasses, and I got a dull headache. Yes, a boring dull headache- the kind I remember getting before the migraines took over a few years ago.

    The other big factor is stress- on Saturday morning I was feeling quite stressed about travel and having to re-enter normal life again- and the migraine went away with the pressure points, but I found I could affect how it came back, by doing bits of meditation and by telling myself sensible things like "I don't need to do everything on my todo list on the day I get back." "I won't forget my passport again, I've already checked it's in my pocket." And so on.

    This has felt like a successful science experiment- at this point I'm dealing with figuring out what I should do with the stress-factors so that they don't even get me to the headaches.

    And also, it still feels like magic. And I have yet another thing to be grateful for.
    sun_tzu
         		5:47p

    So we have made it to my folks' place in Truro just fine. Got in last night at about 9pm after spending some time on Prince Edward Island with our friend Crystal and her girlfriend. We avoided most of the mainstream tourist traps thankfully but did go down to Cap-Egmont on the Acadian coast to see the "Bottle Houses", buildings made of bottles made by an eccentric old Acadian fisherman and preserved by his family and friends. Quite interesting and with the sun out in full force we got some great pictures.

    The only problem I have with PEI is their drug-pusher like racket. It's free to visit the Island - but when you want to leave you have to come up with cash for the bridge or the ferry. Or just stay. Which I'm sure at least a few people seriously consider.

    For now we have no real plans save for a trip to Parrsboro and Five Islands tomorrow, and off to Halifax Friday night to party and go to the wedding on Saturday. Then we will start meandering back to Upper Canada for Friday when I have to leave for Alberta for a recce of CMTC Wainwright for an upcoming exercise. That'll bring in a little extra money to cover the unplanned sidetrip to PEI.

    There will be lobster at some point. And a trip to the Chickenburger in Bedford. And maybe Lobster Benedict for breakfast Sunday. And I think I might finally actually visit the Alexander Keith Brewery. I spend so much time here and I have never actually been, after all.

    Return trip we are contemplating the scenic route back through New England but that depends on budget considerations. So we will see.

    Posted via LiveJournal.app.

    uwaterloo
    [ catbear ]
         		4:01p
    Theatrical Production - Les Liasons Dangereuses

    Note: the set is work safe, although quite steamy.

    Click the image for 59 more images from a production of Les Liasons Dangereuses by Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario local theatre group KWLT. Locals are highly encouraged to go see this excellent show, about love, sex, trust and betrayal. Excellent acting throughout.

    Technical details
    I shot the entire production during the first dress rehearsal. D200, stage lighting only. All at ISO 400. Primary lens was the 18-200 zoom, which is my main stage lens due to the image stabilizer. Some shots with the 50mm, and a handful with the 10.5 fisheye. I shot 2100 exposures, 18GB of data. I used ACDsee Pro for culling, Bibble Pro 4 for post. From first shot to upload of the final set was less than 24 hours. If I'd had more time for this, there are some things I'd touch up but on the whole I'm happy with the set.

    N.B. you can hire me to take shots like this for you or your group.
    james_nicoll
         		3:25p
    sardonyx
         		11:37a
    100 Bullets finally over + the Doctor
     I know the series has been over in comic form for months, but the final trade paperback of 100 Bullet's is coming out today.



    I am so excited!! I've started rereading the previous 12 trades to refresh myself on what's been going on.

    Also, I've been watching the new Doctor Who with a few friends. We've made through the Christopher Eccleston season and got as far as some of the David Tennant ones. Tom Baker's always been my favorite Doctor, followed by Peter Davison. Eccleston has bumped Davison down a notch now for me. I lurve him! So batshit insane! I was all sorts of arms-crossed-pouty when Tennant took over but he has grown on me something fierce. The stories are so good! Blink's been one of the best episodes so far!
    sardonyx
         		11:03a
    Movies Movies Movies!
     Is anyone going to the Toronto After Dark movie festival? They listed some of the movies coming today:

    http://torontoafterdark.com/2009/the-films

    I'm debating getting the Full Access pass but I'm not sure if it's worth it for me! TIFF, that's another story ;)
    [ << Previous 25 ]
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