News from Neil

A posting from Neil Peart about the year just ended.  I like his take on:

• The Pagan Winter Festival (Christmas)
• The Border
• The Recent Tour
• Clockwork Angels (the upcoming album)
• And other shit

War Tard

War Tard is a very insightful blog.  I don't say this lightly.  This guy is able to distill world events using actual facts, with colourful fucking language.  Initially, I was going to quote the best excerpts, but then I'd end up quoting the entire damn thing.






I will point out some of his excellent postings though:

The War on Iran: Phase I

Things are cranking up in the middle east. Another Iranian nuclear scientist was killed in Iran yesterday. 

Surrounded

Back in the US, protesters have to divide their time between re-Occupy, and SOPA.  Meanwhile, the US news is saturated with coverage of the Republican primaries.  The US will soon get to choose which corporate spokesman the Republicans are going to run against Democratic corporate spokesman Barack Obama.  The more paranoid commenters on this posting make a link between SOPA and its timing to mute occupy protests and dissent about the upcoming Iran war.  Hmmm.  Another poster links to this article about army hospitals being built in Georgia in anticipation.  I will keep tabs on the RT? site though.


Occupy Wall Street: Can peaceful protests work anymore?
There's lots to protest these days.  Lots.  But lots doesn't fit in a sound bite.   He goes on to succinctly and very accurately describe the various shitstorms happening all over the world.  Including the protests in the middle east.  But with the incredible shrinking middle class, it's easy to keep us 'free' people scared and 'happy' about the status quo.  This is one of his best postings.  Read it.

Kim Jong Il: Crazy like a Fox!

An excellent description of one of the crazy state members of the 'Axis of Evil'  (I hate David Frum).  Hopefully things can change in a Berlin wall fashion.  I was listening to a documentary on Radio Canada.  A reporter there explained that North Koreans 'play' the role of faithful plebes.  There are inspectors monitoring the mourner's sadness.    They pretty much have to, if they want better lodging, food, and such luxuries.

Israel v Iran: The ultimate popcorn war (Part I)

His middle east insights are filled with facts, numbers and stuff.  Just read the damn thing.

Home File \ Media Server

Nerd Level 0

Well, hauling around USB or external drives is getting to be a PIA for me, and it's not user-friendly for my family.  I'm tired of figuring out on which of the 3 PCs, 2 laptops, external drives, or dozens of USB keys a particular file, movie or whatever might be.

Nerd Level 1

So I will be setting up a file server to store family pictures, music, and movies.  This server will be headless.  Which means I can remote into it from any other client, and not have to attach a monitor, keyboard or mouse to it.  It will go in the utility room next to the router, and modem.  I will also use it as a torrenter.  So if all that works fine, I 'll be happy.

Nerd Level 2

I will then attempt to:

• Use MythTV to PVR my Bell Satellite, or even my over-the-air (OTA) antenna.
• Install XBMC to stream content to various clients.  
• There are also nifty iPhone apps that can be used as remote controls.  Cool huh?
• Make it all user-friendly.

See? Even Mommy can watch TV.

Hardware:
I will put this on a muti-TB drive hosted on a headless server in the utility room.
The box:
Dell Optiplex GX 620
Pentium 4
3.2GHz
3GB RAM
80 GB drive for the OS
1TB drive for the data (for now)

I will be installing:
Ubuntu Server 10.04.3
Samba for sharing to Windows clients
VNC to make it headless
MythTV: For the PVR feature
XBMC for serving content.  It's client interface has good reviews.


Installing Linux:

I downloaded the 10.04.3 version of Ubuntu.  Ubuntu is 'flavour' of Linux.  I went with the 10.04 version because there were issues I read in forums with MythTV.  10.04.3 is the long term support version.  I downloaded the .ISO file.  An ISO file is used for creating CDs.  But burning CDs is so 1996, using a USB key is so much easier.  Creating a bootable USB used to be just as cumbersome, but there is an online utility called the Universal USB Installer.  This creates a bootable USB allowing you to install Linux via the previously downloaded ISO file.  After creating the USB key, plug it into the target system, switch it on, change the boot source, and voila, you are installing Ubuntu.

Note: This is a work-in-progress post.  I will repost when finalized.  


Update: Screw that.  Get a Network Attached Storage device (NAS) and a smart tv.  Even some of the game consoles have home network connectivity now. 

Departures

EDIT: The youtube site where I found this has been removed due to copyright violations (or my bad review lol).

This time of year sets me into wanderlust.  Before the internets, I used to reread Travels with Charley
by one of my favourite authors, John Steinbeck.  It is no Grapes of Wrath or East of Eaden, but it is a great read.  Neil Peart's Ghost Rider, along with his other books are good travel books too.

Departures is a TV travel series.  It does not have the depth found in my other references, not by a long shot.  It's about two guys in their 20s who decide to travel for a year.  A very smart thing to do at their age.  They bring their fancy production crew with them.  Not a bad way to fund a world travel trip.

They try to experience the 'real' side to their destinations.  Occasionally Scott Wilson seems thoughtful for his age.  Justin Lukach is, I'm sure, very fun to have around but...  But they kind of stand out with their trendy clothes and sometimes douchey brashness.  I wish they had a little more depth.  I'm still going to watch the whole series though, but it misses something.  One thing that salvages the show is the above average cinematography.  Andre Dupuis does a fantastic job bringing you into the scenery.

My favourite one so far is a trip to Zambia, where they go on safari, and sleep in a tree house in the jungle.

Film Festival

So many to choose from; any one of these would be fun to see with a group of friends:

The Terminator
Robocop
The Big Lebowski
Pulp Fiction
Scarface
Ferris Bueller's Day Off
Sixteen Candles
Jurassic Park
Serenity
Shaun Of The Dead
Back to the Futures 1-3
Spaceballs
Three Amigos!
Airplane!
Stand By Me
Lost Boys

But this one will be hard to resist, man:

Touching the Void

When the weather gets cold, it's nice to watch a doc about an expedition to a cold, hellish place, while snug in my pjs and comforter.  Makes me less whiny about the shitty Ottawa winter.  It could always be worse you know.  Last year I watched the adventures of Ernest Shackleton.  This year was about a climbing expedition.
 
Touching the Void is a 2003 documentary film based on the book of the same name by Joe Simpson about Simpson's and Simon Yates' controverial expedition on the 6,344 metre (20,813 foot) Siula Grande in the Peruvian Andes in 1985. 


It can be seen here.  I won't spoil it.  It is worth watching.

Top Documentary Films is a good place for, well, documentaries.  They have many categories to choose from.  I'll be spending lots of time here.


Currently, I am watching a series called Philosophy: Guide to Happiness
Sometimes it's nice to hear the point of view of a 2000 year old thinker.  Some of the shit they had to deal with back then is a lot like the shit we have to deal with today.  Except now you're not forced to drink poison because you're 'different'.



So far, I have watched:

Socrates on Self-Confidence (Part 1) 

Epicurus on Happiness (Part 2) 

Seneca on Anger (Part 3)

Happy New Year!

Not an actual depiction of my New Year's Eve.

Archer wins in my list of best shows I've watched in 2011. 

1. Archer. It's Arrested Development meets James Bond.  Season 3 starts soon. Watch it.  Malory Archer is played by Jessica Walter who plays Lucille in Arrested Development.  Another AD import is Judy Greer who plays Cheryl Tunt.  She played the boob job secretary in AD.  All the characters in this show are fantastic.  The writing is superb and the dialogue is quick.
2. Breaking Bad.  Very Coenesque (Joel and Ethan Coen).  Season 5 starts sometime in 2012.  This is by far the best drama I have ever seen.  The attention to detail is phenomenal.  Each episode is an action packed cliff hanger, with real consequences to the next episode.  Each scene is meticulously crafted down to the symbolism of the colours the actors wear.  Highly addictive, you will be hooked by the first episode.
3. The Walking Dead.  It's got zombies, how cool is that.
4. Sons of Anarchy.  It's got Harleys, how cool is that.
5. Bob's Burgers.  The main actor is voiced by H. Jon Benjamin, the voice behind Archer, code name Duchess.  The dude could read the phone book and still make it sound funny.  This show is very crude, but worth watching.  Try to catch the special of the day.  Plus it has Kristen Schaal who is stalking me.
6. Californication. Lots of naked breasteses.  It's about an author, cool.  It's in LA, ok. He gets laid all the time by everyting from college coeds to hot milfs, cool.  But he's in a long-term relationship, not cool.  And he accidentally fucks the daughter of his girlfriend's fiancee (it's complicated), not cool.  Lots of beautiful women of course, plus his sidekick Charlie Runkle is fun, if not painful to watch.  Also, Marcy Runkle, played by the adorable Pamela Adlon, who, and this blew my mind, plays the voice of Bobby Hill.