In DEFENCE of whaling?

Incredibly, there seems to be some Japanese who think whaling is a good thing.
Today in the Japan Times was this letter:
Hold your beef about whale meat

By MISAO NAKAYA
Nara

J.H.G.'s Nov. 22 letter, "Plenty of other things to eat," motivated me to respond. It is true that only a few countries such as Japan, Norway and Iceland have hunted whales for food. Japanese fishermen used to make the best use of all parts of the whale, not only its meat but also fats and other stuff.

On the other hand, countries like the United States used to hunt whales only for the oil rendered from the fat, discarding all whale meat. What a waste! That was probably because Americans didn't have the habit of eating whale meat, just wasting the precious resources of the Earth.

Whales still provide a kind of meat that people eat for their meals. Although many kinds of whales were on the verge of extinction, some whales, such as minke, have proliferated to the extent that they can be used for our meals. Those whales are eating so much smaller fish, including sardines, that it is becoming harder for us to have fish for meals.

If the number of whales keeps increasing at the present rate, we will have fish shortages in the near future. It is too arrogant to insist that Americans can eat beef but that Japanese shouldn't eat whales.
The opinions expressed in this letter to the editor are the writer's own and do not necessarily reflect the policies of The Japan Times.

And my response:


I feel I have to respond to MISAO NAKAYA's letter of Dec 4,2007, "Hold your beef about whale meat".
To use America's continued addiction to beef as an excuse for Japan's whaling is morally questionable to say the least. One's actions should need to be defended by pointing out the errors of others.
Nakaya's letter is a veritable brochure for Japan's whaling industry and quotes the oft-mentioned fallacy about whales and their fish consumption. I don't think there is a single, credible (i.e. not funding by the ICR or a similarly vested-interest body) study that would give this any weight. Even if there were, one could argue that perhaps instead of slaughtering some of the earth's greatest inhabitants you could, oh, I don't know... eat less fish???
That Japan and the Japanese don't seem to mind being globally identified by their whaling is a mystery to me. I would not want to be known as 'the ones who kill whales'. Indeed that is near the top of what people think of when they think of Japan, and I think that is sad. And if Japan managed, as Nakaya's letter implies, that they limited themselves to Minke whales then maybe there would be some measure of tolerance. But, as was reported recently, that Japan thinks that scientific research (the by-products of which - the meat - seem to make it to the stores shelves somehow) on Humpback and other great whales is going ahead as well.
I find the action shameful and a striking blow against what I truly think is a great nation and people.

On another note, if Nakaya really wanted to try and win us over there should have been some mention of Japan's spending sprees to try and win sway at the IWC. All over Africa and the Caribbean poor nations receive millions from Japan to gain their vote of support. That, it could be argued, does some good in the world. Shame that it comes at the cost of the lives of some of the world's gentle giants.

Oh dear....

http://kotaku.com/gaming/clips/kwaris-five-steps-326814.php

re: america

Interesting post from the Japan Times (In case you think I am making it up:
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/rc20071127a3.html)

Tuesday, Nov. 27, 2007

READERS IN COUNCIL
Sticky details about America

By ROBERT LEZZI
Chiba

I was inspired by Roger Pulvers' Nov. 18 Counterpoint article, "How well do you really know Japan?" So I put together my own test on America. Many non-Japanese are up on Japan, but how well do Americans know their own land? Try this quiz:

(1) How many countries did America bomb after World War II, and can you name them?

(2) How many of the people that America has slaughtered or maimed have been women and children?

(3) How many tons of the poisonous chemical dioxin did America drop on the people of Vietnam?

(4) Two centuries ago, when adverse conditions on long sea voyages called for lighter loads, how many Africans were marched overboard, chained and weighed down to drown while on their way to new agricultural careers in America?

(5) What fraction of the Native American population survived America's expansion westward?

(6) What single country killed the greatest number of human beings in the history of civilization?

The answers? Search me . . . I'm an American.

CostaFilma update

A little cross-posing never hurt!

My company, CostaFilma, is gearing up to be at a trade show in Puerto Real next week. The show is for film production companies in Andalucia. We are going to have a booth there, showing off our services and also promoting FilmAmora.com.

To get ready we've whipped up a new promo video that you can see on the CostaFilma website.

Check it out!

The Mighty JC

No, the OTHER JC - John Cusack. It has come to my attention that certain people, who live in not SO remote parts of Canada that they have an excuse, are unaware of the works of this actor.

It is most likely my age, but, I've kind of felt John Cusack has represented what I wanted my life to be on screen. He's the same age as me (roughly).

I stand by my claim that you could only watch Cusack movies and rarely watch a mediocre one and almost NEVER a bad one...and many greats.

Here's my Top 10 Cusack films!

1. Grosse Pointe Blank


2. Being John Malkovich


3. High Fidelity


4. Identity


5. Say Anything


6. Bullets Over Broadway


7. Max


8. Serendipity


9. The Grifters


10. Runaway Jury


11. Better Off Dead

All of these movies are also available through FilmAmora.com

The GPB Curse

'Gross Pointe Blank' is probably the reason I didn't go to my high school reunion.

I stayed up last night watching it again - it's one of my favourite movies. The fact is that a lot of people, I believe, want to be Martin Blank. They want to have lived dangerously, been damaged and have a chance to return home, push the reset button and correct those post-high school mistakes.

My problem was that my life wasn't as dark and mysterious as Martin's. And that I didn't have a great love in high school to try and reset things with. And I had actually had a pretty normal life, in a way, after high school.

And for someone who WANTED to be different, to be dark and myseterious but didn't have the chutzpah to do so, it is pretty disappointing. And of course to not be one ounce as cool as John Cusack.

If I'd gone back to my reunion a year ago I can imagine that after the first few minutes of 'and what did you do after high school' it would have been pretty quiet. I didn't speak to any of these people after school ended...so how do you do that now? I've always had a problem with chit-chat. And to be honest I am not very convinced that I am that nice a person, which might explain why people don't chit-chat with me either!

Its very depressing at times to realise that life is not like the movies - not just rarely... it never is!

FilmAmora

For the past few months CostaFilma (the independent film distribution company I own) has been developing a new website and service:



FilmAmora.com is an exciting new way to rent DVDs in Spain. With over 20,000 titles available FilmAmora offers an incredible selection of films - from the classics to the latest HD DVD releases. You don't have to go to the video store and look around. You don't have to drive back in the morning to drop it off.

The way it works is simple:

1. Go to FilmAmora.com and register. The site is fully in English and Spanish


2. Choose a plan that works for you. If you are a film-lover and watch lots of movies you can get 4 at a time with unlimited films a month! A more casual viewer may choose the 1 or 2 films at a time option.


3. Start building up your wish list from our catalogue of 20,000 titles


4. Wait for the films to start arriving in your mailbox. You can keep the films as long as you like. And we include a postage-paid envelope for you to send it back in


5. Return the film when you want and wait for more!


6. Contribute! You can write an online review for others to read and you can rate the film too

It couldn't be easier.

FilmAmora.com delivers to Spanish addresses only I'm afraid.

Gibraltar Elections

Yesterday the elections were held in Gibraltar. Incumbent Peter Carauna, leader of the GSD, won. Of course. Statistically incumbents win. He got about 50% of the vote. It was not a landslide, but, decisive none the less.

The GSD's competition came from the GSLP/Liberal Alliance. Helmed by former Chief Minister twice over Joe Bassano they claimed to be the future of Gibraltar. (Slightly odd, seeing as they are most definitely part of the past of Gibraltar - they are the oldest political party going in Gib).

The GSLP ran on blatant discrimination and isolationism, vowing, if they won, to stop such things as foreign consultants in the Gibraltar Health Authority, or foreign companies getting a fair chance at government tenders. Ridiculous and potentially damaging to an already damaged economy. Thankfully they lost.
[interesting to note that the first thing they seemed to do upon losing was to remove their manifesto from their website.]

As we all know, there is no such thing as 'the right party to win'. Caruana and crew are not without their problems - crony-ism, pandering for votes, fear of criticism - they've taken their toll on the future of Gibraltar.

But, then what do I know?! I am a Spanish resident who slips across the border some mornings to rob Gibraltar's economy (according to the GSLP). I am Canadian by birth - not even part of the EU!

Slaughter

I was shocked to read this story. I've been a vegetarian for a while, and recently when I was tempted for various reasons to eat meat again I thought about it and the fact that I would be asking that animals where killed in the name of my hunger.

Perhaps even worse, in a way, is how animals, such as those in this story, are slaughtered because they have contracted a NON FATAL virus that could, perhaps, potentially, maybe, be transported to another animal and maybe that animal might be part of someone's livelihood and even though even then that animal wouldn't die, it would be a drag. So kill them.

To be honest foot and mouth disease is the same. "Outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease have resulted in the slaughter of millions of animals, despite this being a frequently non-fatal disease. The destruction of animals is primarily to prevent the disease from spreading throughout herds intended for human consumption or producing milk." [source: Wikipedia]

Isn't that sick? It's not that the disease would jump to humans.

What country?

Ever since I've heard about them, I have become fascinated with the notion of 'Unrecognized countries'. These are 14 areas of the world that believe themselves to be independent nations but for various, specific reasons, can't convince most of the rest of the world to go along with it.

I first heard of Somaliland. In the upper, right corner of Somalia, they have 2.5 million people, their own currency and own distinct culture. Sick of the battling in Somalia, they said screw it, quite literally drew a line in the sand and said that's enough.

Nagorno-Karabakh is officially part of Azerbaijan. The 138,000 people living there believe that they are distinct in their ways... and they're probably right! The Soviet Union was a mish mash over everything east of Germany, and not particularly known for its cultural sensitivity! They are closely tied to Armenia, and one could be forgiven for thinking that this was a little bit of Armenia stirring it up.

Transnistria sits inside another little-known (yet recognized) country called Moldova, famous mostly for a book about its dentistry, and personally, because a friend's brother got married there! There is, for some reason, a weird connection between Moldova and Ireland. Transnistria holds over half a million people and is squeezed in between Moldova and Romania on the right bank of the Dniester river. They had a war with Moldova in 92 and declared their independence, though not many other people were listening.

I'm interested in do a tour of these nations. There are about a dozen of them. Some, like Israel, are of course recognized by most, just not the people they are pissing off!

Anyway, I'll set up a tour of the nations and you can all sign up!

An exercise in democracy?

There are elections in the works down here in Gibraltar (ok, technically I live in Spain but I do spend a lot of time - too much time - in Gibraltar).
Gibraltar is a country of about 30,000 people. i.e. a small town. They also have 5 newspapers and 5 political parties. When I say newspapers, I mean there is one newspaper and 4 guys with printers at home churning out old-style blogs on paper!

The election is between parties so narrow in scope and in name it would be laughable, if it were not taken so seriously. You have the GSLP/Liberal Alliance and the GSD about 1% apart in the polls. It is a place full of personal attacks and family feuds. A recent tactic is sending SMSs around smearing candidates. Newflash - SMS's are traceable! It is not the case of who is starting it, it is the fact that people are listening.

What Gibraltar needs is strong, bi-partisan, leadership that will sort out the huge social issues bogging this place down. Ok, keep your sovereignty, but the relationship with Spain has little to do with the fact that the government won't support schooling for all, the local schools and institutions that deal with the disadvantaged and handicapped, do something about sky-rocketing teen pregnancy, drug use and alcoholism.
The border is not the problem!
(For those of you that don't know, Gibraltar has ongoing border-issues with Spain that keep a ridiculous customs post open and 30 - 40 minute queues to get in or out of Gib going).
Any Gibraltarian who can lives at least on the weekend in Spain. So stop going on about it!

As a filmmaker I should have the gumption to make a film about politics here. Kazuhiro Soda did it with the wonderful Campaign!. It could happen here, but then again the election is in 2 days!

It's over

Another Marbella Film festival comes to a close. The festival is, despite what anyone might think, a 3rd tier festival in only its second year. So, with that in mind, imagine my pleasure at being able to report that I actually saw some good stuff.

Afghan Muscles is <sarcasm>the best movie about Afghani body builders I've ever seen</sarcasm>. But seriously, the film is everything you would want in a documentary - it has a great central character, a story arc and is packed with emotions.

Fish Can't Fly was a delightful romantic short. Shorts, in my opinion, are best when done as jokes with a solid punchline and a twist. This one fits that to a T.

I Became is a touching narrative short from Mumbai. The filmmaker was actually there *I'll fill in her name when I find her card* . She was great to talk with. This film won the best short category, and it deserved it. She is a young filmmaker, with a great eye. Ok, it did meander a little, but for those of us NOT living in Mumbai, it was a visual treat.

check them out if you can (with hope they'll be appearing on FilmAmora)

Marbella Film Festival

This weekend is the Marbella Film Festival. Last year my company, CostaFilma, bought the rights to the winning film. This year I haven't seen as many films, I've been promoting CostaFilma, and our new venture, FilmAmora, and also hooking up with the people from eWorld.
eWorld has this interesting Boomerang Media Station product that CostaFilma supply video content to. It's well worth a download. I don't think it is ready for prime time yet, but, I can see that it might actually be the future of watching content online.

Anyway, off to Marbella and more films!

TechnoCRAAAZY

Technorati Profile

I'm rich!

My attention to charity seems to have been finally rewarded! Oh wait, it might be spam.

Anyway, here is the funniest spam email I have received in a long time. I have left it uncorrected.

*************


Mr Paul Glover.
Hemel Hempstead Hospital
Hillfield Road
Hemel Hempstead
HP2 4AD
England.


Here writes Mr Paul Glover, suffering from cancerous ailment. I am into private practice all my life and do not have time for myself or any other things,except making money via my numerous business.I was oncemarried but after three decades without child i have to continue my life.

Iam writing this email to you because i want entrust the sum of 5 Million (Five Million Great Britain Pounds Sterling which were derived from my vast estates and investment in capital market with A Bank here in UK for the good work of charity in your country. Presently, this money is still with the Bank.

Recently, my Doctor told me that I have limited days to live due to the cancerous problems I am suffering from. Though what bothers me most is the stroke that I have in addition to the cancer. With this hard reality that has befallen my family, and me I have decided to donate this fund to you and want you to use this gift which comes from my effort to fund the upkeep of widows, widowers, orphans, destitute, the down-trodden, physically challenged children, barren-women and persons who prove to be genuinely handicapped financially,for doing this you will be entitle to 20%.

I made a vow to uplift the down-trodden and the less-privileged individuals as i had passion for persons who can not help themselves due to physical disability or financial predicament. I can adduce this to the fact that i do not have a Child from my late wife, which never came.

It is often said that blessed is the hand that giveth. I took this decision because I do not have any child that will inherit this money and my relatives are bourgeois and very wealthy persons and I do not want my hard earned money to be misused or invested into ill perceived ventures. I do not want a situation where this money will be used in an ungodly manner, hence the reason for taking this bold decision. I am not afraid of death hence I know where I am going. I know that I am going to be with the Almighty when I eventually pass on. The Almighty will fight my case and I shall hold my peace. I do not need any telephone communication in this regard due to my deteriorating health and my doctors advise. With God all things are possible.

As soon as I receive your reply I shall give you the contact of the Bank. I will also issue you a Letter of Authority that will empower you as the original beneficiary of this fund. My happiness is that I lived life worthy of emulation. Please always be prayerful all through your life. Please assure me that you will act just as I have stated herein.
Hope to hear from you soon and God bless you and members of your family.Reply to my mail through my email address: xxxx@xxxx.com

Mr Paul Glover.

New blog

I've set up a new blog, with the hopes of just using the RSS feed of it on here... but bloggers feed widget seems to be broken.
Anyway, it's called Dog Walking Music

Too bizarre

This is too bizarre NOT to post. Normally I wouldn't, and it is definitely adult content, but, my god this is strange! This is NOT a comedy piece, incredibly. It is from local TV.

Don't watch if you are under 18 or easily offended. Or don't have a sense of humour.

The power

"shrimp at long john silver, whats that plate, 2.99 ??"

Web Urbanist

While spending a lazy Monday on holiday here in Newfoundland I discovered this website and a fascinating article:
7 Deserted Wonders of the World. Sometimes you get the feeling that places here in Newfoundland are deserted, but wow, the places on this website are freaky!

If you check out the main page you'll see lots of cool articles. What a great website. I wish I was clever enough to come up with something like that!

From one Rock to Another

We're over here in Newfoundland. Our friends Joan (that's Dr. Joan to you and me) and Susan visited us in Spain last Christmas. So we thought, in punishment, we'd impose ourselves on them.
I've never been to the East Coast of Canada before. It is, well, pretty awesome! St John's, at least the downtown, is very beautiful and full of great restaurants. What more could you ask for?! (Outside of downtown of course it just turns into another Canadian city with shopping malls and WalMarts).
And the music! If you like traditional music, surely St John's is one of the best places to see it. We stopped in for lunch to a place called Auntie Crae's and saw a 'Kitchen Party' (newfie-speak for a jam session). A bunch of local players, cranking out the tunes.
Ok, I am a tourist, and maybe some of these things are touristy, but, I am enjoying myself immensely.

As I write this I am sitting out in a cottage on Conception Bay, perilously close to the edge of the cliff. Waves are crashing into the rocks and it is awe-inspiring.

Write more soon!

Model Search 2007

Earlier this week I had the honour of being a judge at Model Search 2007, a modeling contest put on by Mark Montovio and Mount Productions.
Thankfully it wasn't as hot and humid as last year! It was actually a pleasant night, both weather-wise and the show.
Unfortunately, my choice didn't show on the night - I'll do a post on her later - but there were some good contestants.

The male winner, of course, could be none other than Adnan Laoudy. I've known Adnan for a while and he was in a short film I directed last year.


Female winner was Sascha McPhillips. Her photo didn't impress me, but in person she had great presence. Maybe she needs more photo time or something to bring that out on camera. She's not tall enough to be a pro model, but, I can definitely see her having some success in the local market (or perhaps acting) if she wanted it.


The runner up for females was Krisanne Alvez. This girl has a killer body, it has to be said. She didn't have the presence on stage that I would have liked, but she moved well. I think some training would bring her up to an amazing standard.



There were tears from the winners... not these winners (well, ok, Sascha had some!), but from some of the male winners. There was one guy, Nigel Usquieri, who I just couldn't make my mind up on. He was...odd! Odd is good, as you remember it (and hence I am talking about him and not others). But I just don't know if he is modelling material. But he did have something.

The show also included a couple of dance routines. One from Genyka Celecia - her first performance after a long injury. The other from a girl who's name I didn't catch (other than it was Tamara something) that was really amazing. Great choreography.

Anyway, thanks to Mark for the night.

Where NOT to shop

I do try and restrain myself from turning this blog into a negative rant about things, but, unfortunately I can't stop myself on this one!

My wife, Marcia, is a massage therapist (and she also runs Spanish Spirit Holidays a holistic holiday retreat). One of the things she does is make up custom blends of oils for her clients. To hand these out she needs a lot of little bottles.
We thought we'd found a good supplier in Primrose Aromatherapy in the UK. They claimed to have 50ml Amber bottles with dropper tops.
Now, the stuff Marcia sells HAS to be in glass (plastic gets corroded by the oils). So, I sent an email to Primrose:

From: Phil Smy
To: primrose_aromatherapy@yahoo.co.uk
Subject: bottle droppers

hi, I'm interested in buying your 50ml bottles with dropper 
caps (item amber11), but can you tell me if the droppers 
are glass or plastic?

The response:

Hi Phil
droppers are glass.
 
Lucinda McKee
Primrose Aromatherapy

So, I placed the order! Guess what, the droppers were plastic.
Then I was told this:

Do you mean the long glass pipettes with the little
rubber squeezable teats at the top? The tops I have sent 
you are universally known as droppers but the others as 
I have mentioned are called pipettes. 
If this is the case I'm sure we can sort something out. 
Have a look on the site in caps and atomisers at pipette 
droppers (cap 02) and let me know.
Dawn Hinsley
Primrose Aromatherapy

Oh... I see. It's MY fault. I called them droppers instead of pipette droppers. Ok. So I looked at her suggestion (cap02). They looked good, so, I thought I'd bite the bullet and order them even though they should have come included.
This is what I got from placing the order:

In order to make the business what I wanted it to 
be I am going to discontinue some of the lines. This, 
unfortunately, is going to be one of them. I will sell 
what I have but I will not replace these lines once 
they are depleted. 
The stock situation is that we have pipettes for the 25ml 
bottles (67mm length on the shaft) but none for the 
50ml bottles (90 mm drop on the inside of the bottle).

So even though she told me to buy them she doesn't have them!
So I asked for a refund. Guess what?

Your request for clarification from Lucinda McKee was for 
the material used in the droppers. You were advised that 
the droppers were glass. The previous owner used the 
description "dropper" for the seperately sold items 
with a rubber top and a GLASS shaft. In this case the 
description was correct.
 
When we took the business over we were unaware of the 
correspondence as attached below. Your order was for 
Amber11 with black caps and droppers, which we 
believe we fulfilled.
 
This being the case we are unwilling to have these items 
returned to us. I trust you will undersand this and we 
can move forward. 
 
Best Regards
 
Dawn Hinsley
Primrose Aromatherapy

So. To summarize:
I asked what they were made of. Was told glass. Got plastic. Asked for glass, tried to order, was told they weren't going to help me and because they consider there isn't a problem (of course not, they got the money!) they wouldn't offer a refund.

Great customer service!

Buyer beware if you order from here!!!!

New Game Coming

A while back I worked on the back-end of an interesting new online game. The game is part first person shooter and part money making! Basically, how well you play the game will determine how much money you win.
The public beta has just opened up, so why not go sign up.
I haven't played the game myself in months (since I ended the project) but it looks to be good.

Here's the link: Go To Kwari

getting the concept going

Had an interesting meeting this morning with Mark Montovio and a group of his clients in Mount Productions. We are working on a kind of Public Service Announcement for Gibraltar about teen drinking.
We sat around with the 4 young people who are going to be in it (hopefully) and tried to get some ideas flowing. A couple of them were great - forthcoming with ideas and willing to share their experiences. The other 2 were a bit more shy. Funnily enough one of the shy ones told me she wanted to be in the modeling business. You can't be a shy wallflower in the modeling or acting world! You have to be confident and get out there.
At first I thought, hey, they're only young. But then I realised that a lot of the contestants on America's next top model (for example) were only a year or so older than these guys. I know that at the age these guys are at I was out playing in bands in clubs. So it is possible to be confident!

Anyway, I am hopeful that the product will be entertaining and get a message across. (FYI the message is that drinking as a teen is not all fun!)

Best Wikipedia page ever!

Check this out

What Web2.0 is all about!

Once more with Tori!

Once again we saw Tori Amos! Ah, we were in London anyway, so thought we'd stop in. Good seats. The show was a little different from Milan - she was a different opening character.
Unfortunately she did a prolonged solo set at the piano. And she managed to destroy 'Winter' - one of my favourite songs of hers. I really wish she would stop this self-indulgent pausing and interpreting. Yes, they are her songs... but come on! She needs a producer.
But the rest of the show was great and the fans were a bit more rowdy than in Milan, which was nice.
She wore this CRAZY outfit - it was after all the 4th of July.

See more photos on my photo site.

Oh Canada!

Sunday was Canada day, and we flew up to London to attend my friend's Dave and Linda's Canada day party. The day was spent listening to Canadian music - more Terry Jacks please! - and eating such things as potato salad and pumpkin pie. Despite a high number of non-Canadians the part was a complete success.
The horrible weather even managed to hold off and we had a day of relative sunshine.

All for a good cause

On Friday we went to a charity evening. The cause was 'Animal in Need' and the La Linea dog shelter.
Pedro (Peter) is a great guy, who has committed himself to making life better for the dogs of the area.
I am making a documentary about dogs in Spain - called 'No Shelter' - and Pedro's one of the shelters I am filming at.

It was also great to meet up with Diana Luchies. Diana is an ANGEL, who has spent the last few years committing herself to the dogs of the Costa del Sol. She has been spending her savings on living so she can devote herself to it.

So, if you can, show your support!

How cool is that?!

As I look more into Blogger here I find that there are lots of cool little support features, etc.
This post, for instance, is being written inside of a cool dashboard widget (mac of course!).
It's great for quick little entries.

Latest News

CostaFilma has sealed the deal with eWorld Entertainment.
We are the exclusive providers for this excitin Video On Demand system when it goes live in Spain in the autumn.

News Item Here

Back home

Ah, it's good to be back home in the relative peace and quiet of the Costa del Sol.
California was a lot of fun, and it was an amazing personal experience for me. I was fortunate enough to be involved in the high level discussions about eWorld's exciting Boomerang product, and to spend time with some impressive industry-leaders.

For all of you that couldn't attend the party on Thursday, you missed a good one! People like Russ Reagen (the guy who signed Elton John), the legendary producer and promoter Don Grenough, actresses Sally Kirkland and Cybil Danning, producer Doug McHenry (New Jack City, etc), me :-) and others were there. The music was great too!

Rehearsing that day at SIR was Jeffery Osbourne, so that was cool to hang out and listen to him and his band.

Anyway, I had a good time... pics of Hollywood to come.

Hollywood

Spending time in the Mecca of Movies....

(yes I took that picture from Hollywood and Highland).
Can't say as I'd want to live here, but it is a fascinating place. Even the street names are part of our popular culture... Mulholland, Sunset Blvd, Hollywood and Vine.
Pretty cool!

Off to LA

I head off to LaLaLand next week for a couple of days. I've never really been to Hollywood, so this is almost exciting if it weren't for the fact that I am only going to be there for 3 days.
The reason for the trip is to liase with eWorldEntertainment. CostaFilma are going into an interesting deal (details to be revealed this weekend and at the event).

The event is open to the public. It's Thursday, June 14th at 7:30pm at SIR Studios in Hollywood. Maybe see you there?

Tori Amos in Milan

We flew up to Milan (yes, Italy!) to see Tori Amos play at the Teatro Smeraldo. I've seen Tori quite a few times (I think this was my 5th time) and I have to say that this show was the best. Partly because she was playing with a band - I find her solo shows and they way she... stops... songs.......at..wierd...points very annoying. But with the band she was rocking!
She did, of course, some stuff from the new album, but the majority of the show, it seemed to me, was made up of old stuff. Even 'Liquid Diamonds' made a rare appearance!



The show appeared to be all but sold out - with a surprising cross section in attendance. Of course there were the feminist cheerleaders, but lots of men and a few old fogies like myself.
The girl in front of me seemed bored though, I think she was only their because of her friend.

Tori's daughter (I believe) hung out at the side of the stage for the first few numbers.

Someone's posted some videos from the show.

hit the road, jack... er, Phil

Yes, it's time for more travelling!
Later this week I am off to Milan. It's my good friends Dave and Linda's wedding anniversary, plus, Tori Amos is playing.
After that it is over to LA for some meetings for a week.
Then up to London for Canada Day festivities on July 1st, and what the heck, another Tori Amos concert!

It had to go!

Well, it took me years, but, I finally got rid of the hair. Not all of it mind you - not like that night in 1991 - but a significant chunk.
I am donating the hair to Locks of Love which provides hair for sufferers of cancer.

Back up...

Well, THAT was painful.
A hacker took out my brother's hosting computer, and because of all the hassle he just thought his life would be better if he stopped running his hosting business. Way to go hacker!
Anyway, I am now back up with a new site (http://www.philsmy.com) and this new blog.
I am going to TRY to migrate across the old blog. Not that anyone cares, but it would be nice to have that stuff.