Author: Mike P. Lewis

Dopplr is really cool

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I started using the site Dopplr a few months ago when it was in Beta and thought it was just okay. I recently went back to check it out and i’m blown away.  It’s a great site.  What is Dopplr?  Dopplr is a website that…

lets you share your travel plans privately with a group of friends and colleagues whom you have chosen. It then tells you when people you know will be in the same cities. It also reminds you of people who live in the places you’re planning to visit.

In short, it keeps track of your trips and your friends and provides some goodness around that information.  What i like about this site is:

  • It knows your flickr account and your travel dates so it can grab the photos from those dates for the trip.  This is MUCH easier than uploading photos for a trip.  Don’t know why Sidestep or others don’t do this
  • For each trip, it places a Google Map and any overlaps with other friends
  • It’s very simple to use.  The site doesn’t try to do to much.  It hides alot of little functionality until you need it.  The design is very slick.

Top 5 Albums of 2007

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Here’s a list of my favorites for 2007. I originally wanted to list 10, but then i realized that i hadn’t really listened to 10 albums. I’ve listened to lots of tracks, but not really 10 full albums. So here are the top albums of 2007 for me.

Honorable mentions

  • Easy Tiger by Ryan Adams
  • Icky Thump by White Stripes
  • American Gangster by Jay-Z
  • Magic by Bruce Springsteen
  • Endless Highway Tribute to The Band by Various Artists
  • The Stage Names by Okkervil River

#5: Favourite Worst Nightmare by Arctic Monkeys

The album jams. That’s all i can really say. These guys have good lyrics and they hit hard. You have to be in the mood for the Monkeys but if you are, it’s pretty damn satisfying. As people say, “Arctic Monkeys play a less hooky brand of brat-punk than a lot of their peers and predecessors, but their off-kilter song structures—and Alex Turner’s witty, effusive descriptions of youth culture—make them every bit as unique and vital as their supporters claim.” While the albums is pretty much the same stuff as their first album, it’s still good. I also saw them live this year which increased my enjoyment as i was able to fully appreciate their skills

#4: Because of the Times by Kings of Leon

KOL are weird and strange and shrieking but they really deliver. The two songs “Ragoo” and “Fans” are truly great songs. The rest of the tracks grew on me over time, especially after i saw them live. They have a great sound and they are one of the last true rock bands. Most of the artists today are emo, electronic, pop, or some mix of all 3. These guys are just old school rock.

#3: Oracular Spectacular by MGMT

I was introduced to this by Tiger in December and the first time i heard it, i was hooked. The first track “Time To Pretend” is fantastic. They are rock mixed with electronic so you can jam and dance at the same time. A very, very enjoyable album


#2: The Stage Names by Okkervil River

This album is amazing.  It has depth in a way most others don’t.  It also rocks in a traditional rock ‘n roll way of rocking.  Let’s just say there’s only one CD i bought for someone as a present this Christmas and it was this one.  I like this review:

Usually, we go through life in a hazy bliss, emotionally and spiritually dead to what is going on around us. Sometimes, it takes something glorious to snap us out of this haze. Sometimes, it comes in the form of a new album from a band that is by leaps and bounds becoming one of the best currently making music. Am I speaking nonsense? Maybe, but then again you wouldn’t think so after you heard Okkervil River’s The Stage Names. Yes, this is an “indie” rock album but the layers and substance that fill and encompass it are utterly unmatched. In many ways, this album is the kind of musical collection that could alter your discernment and overall attitude on life.

While that’s going a bit far, it’s still a great album.  Check it out.

#1: In Rainbows by Radiohead

I was never a huge Radiohead fan but i really love The Bends. I was skeptical when the new album came out. That said, this was the one album of the year that i kept playing because it was so easy to listen to. This is what i just read in the AV section The Onion and i agree completely so i’m just going to repost it: “First, Radiohead announced the completion of a new album that few people even knew was in the works; then, the band said the record would be for sale in a week. And the price of this unexpected bounty? Whatever people wanted to pay, be it £100 or sweet fuck-all. After all that brilliant hype-stoking, the biggest surprise was that In Rainbows wasn’t some collection of afterthoughts or off-putting avant-garde exercises, but an honest-to-goodness Radiohead album—and an excellent one at that. Matching the glitchy sound of Kid A and Amnesiac to the fully developed rock songwriting of Pablo Honey and The Bends, Radiohead delivered its best album since OK Computer, renewing its heartfelt exploration of how the organic and the electronic can exist in creaky harmony.” You can download the entire album here.

Hollywood story

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I’m reposting this from Marc Andressen’s blog. It is a story from Paul Zollo’s book Hollywood Remembered, an oral history of the movie industry. A great story about drive and commitment.

A 2001 interview with A. C. Lyles, a producer at Paramount who was born in 1918 in Jacksonville, Florida and worked at Paramount for over 60 years.

When I was 10 [in 1928] I wanted to make movies…

I had seen a picture called Wings — the first and only silent picture to win the Academy Award — with Clara Bow… and a new fella named Gary Cooper [who subsequently became a huge star]. I went and just fell in love with that picture. It was a Paramount picture playing at the Paramount Theater [at the time, the studios owned the theaters] in Jacksonville. I had seen that it said Adolph Zukor Presents, so I was in awe of Adolph Zukor [the founder and CEO of Paramount]. I spoke to the manager of the theater that day [to see] if he would give me a job. And he gave me a job handing out leaflets…

After four years in the job [he was then 14] I eventually met Adolph Zukor… when he came to Jacksonville. I asked him to let me come to Hollywood to work for him. He said, “Well, you’re just a kid, but you’ve been working for Paramount now for four years at the theater. So you finish high school, keep in touch, and I’ll hire you when you get out of high school.”

Now that was extremely kind of him… when he said to keep in touch and finish high school, my main objective then was to finish high school. But the most important thing was writing him a letter every Sunday. He didn’t tell me to write him every Sunday, he just told me to keep in touch. So I wrote him every Sunday for four years.

He didn’t write back — I didn’t hear from him but it didn’t matter. I never lost confidence or lost courage. I just knew he was looking forward to my letter each week as much as I was looking forward to writing him.

One day Gary Cooper came to my hometown. I was writing movie news for the hometown paper. I saw Mr. Cooper and I told him I would be out here in Hollywood to work at Paramount as soon as I got out of high school. And there again, for some reason, he took a quick liking to me. I told him about my letters to Zukor every Sunday and he asked me what I would be writing about this week, and I said, “Oh, about meeting you, Mr. Cooper.”

So he said, “Give me a piece of paper.” So he… wrote a note to Adolph Zukor saying, “I’m looking forward to seeing this kid on the lot.” So I wrote to Mr. Zukor telling him I had met Gary Cooper and enclosed the note to him.

Then I heard from Mr. Zukor indirectly. A woman named Sidney Brecker, who was his secretary, wrote to me and said, “Mr. Zukor has been receiving your letters. But he feels that you don’t have to write every week. If you wrote once every three or four or five months, that would be enough.”

Well, that didn’t discourage me at all. I continued to write to Mr. Zukor every Sunday. But I also had a new pigeon, Sidney Brecker, his secretary. So I wrote her every Sunday too. My whole main objective all week was what I was going to write to Mr. Zukor. Then I had to write another original letter to Sidney Brecker…

I wrote [Zukor] a letter every Sunday for four years, keeping in touch. The day I got out of high school [in 1936, in the heart of the Great Depression], I was in a day coach headed for Hollywood, where you sit up — probably four days and four nights. I had $48 in cash that I had saved up, and two loaves of bread, and two jars of peanut butter and a sack of apples, and I headed for Hollywood. Got off the train downtown, took the streetcar straight to Paramount, and told them at the gate to tell Mr. Zukor I was here.

And I’ve been here ever since.

I Am Legend is a better book than movie

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I saw the new Will Smith movie I Am Legend last night.  While it’s an average movie, it is far inferior to the book.  The book is only about 150 pages.  You should read it instead of seeing this movie.

What do i not like about the movie?  Specifically, i HATED all the last-minute saves.  The main character (Robert Neville) goes to fight the zombies in the middle of the night (dumb idea) and gets trapped under his car.  He’s been battling the zombies for 4 years at this point and is about to die.  At the exact moment when he’s about to be devoured, a girl comes out of nowhere to save him.  Nobody for 4 years and then at the last possible second, in the middle of NYC, a woman appears.  Puh-lease.

Another time that pissed me off.  So, Neville’s been working on developing a cure for this virus for years and about 30 seconds before he’s about to die, he finally discovers the solution.  And of course, the solution takes only 5 seconds to create.  Done!  Yeah right.

Will smith staring in debelief of the horrible final draft of his movie

The movie is about a doctor trying to right his wrong (releasing a virus) and being very active and regimented about it – he works out, takes detailed medical notes and is on top of his game all the time. Whereas the book is about an ordinary guy coping with the loss of his family, friends and society. He’s torn apart.  The people trying to kill him are the same people he loved for decades.  He’s shattered.  He drinks himself to sleep every night otherwise there’d be no way to go on.

The book’s character is extremely skeptical when he meets another person, he doesn’t trust her as everything he’s learned from the vampires leads him to believe they’re out to destroy him.  There’s a touching moment in the book when his desire for companionship overwhelms his mistrust and he let’s his guard down.  This same moment in the movie took 45 seconds and completely sucked.

[**Spoiler Alert**] The ending is the biggest difference.  There is a great twist in the book that fits with the entire theme of the story.  The twist in the book is that the woman found by Neville turns out to be a new type of vampire that has mutated enough to wistand the sunlight, and she’s been sent to find out more about Neville so he can be captured and disposed of.  Just when he begins to trust her, she turns on him and sells him out – even though they had a strong connection.  It’s a great turn of events.  The hunted (the vampires) become the hunters and the normal (Neville) become the monster in need of extermination.  There is no twist in the movie.  It instead turns into a typical horror/vampire movie where creatures jump out of the dark and try to kill everyone and their girlfriend.

Oh well, i guess Holiday season movie-goers don’t want clever endings or interesting stories.  If they do, they should pick up the book instead.

You make me touch your hands for stupid reasons

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As someone who reads and receives lots of comments from young folks (i’m the person where feedback@qloud goes to), i’ve seen the worst of the worst when it comes to grammar. I was looking at some bad messages today when i was shown this letter (below).

This is a breakup letter from a 13 year old to another 13 year old. It’s pretty funny to read but even funnier to listen to. PLEASE click on the message image and listen to the audio (or click here). It is hysterical.

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Best Movie of the Year: Juno

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I went to go see the movie Juno this weekend.  It was an incredible experience.  I can’t remember the last time i laughed out loud so much at a movie.  The humor were not just witty one-liners (which there were many) but physical and situational comedy too.  Just looking at Michael Cera in his running gear got me every time.  The entire experience was so great that i didn’t want the movie to end and had to restrain myself from applauding when it finished.

The movie was funny but also very touching.  It is the perfect comedy.  It’s touching, sad, clever and everything else that is great.   Not too many scenes and not too few.

The main character, Ellen Page, who plays Juno is incredible.  She’s completely believable as a smart-ass pregnant 16 year old and carries the movie every step of the way.  Her character reminded me somewhat of Natalie Portman’s character (Marty) in Beautiful Girls in that she’s both very cute and wise beyond her years.  And similar to Portman’s Marty, Page’s Juno is one of the best movie characters ever.

The movie is written by Diablo Cody, a former stripper (who stripped at the Deja Vu in Minneapolis).  I don’t know how she did it, but she’s written one of the best comedies i’ve seen in a long long time.

The unexpected pregnancy theme is similar to this summer’s “Knocked Up” and i read the following comparison:

Ms. Cody (writer), Mr. Reitman  (director) and Ms. Page (Juno) have conspired, intentionally or not, to produce a feminist, girl-powered rejoinder and complement to “Knocked Up.” Despite what most products of the Hollywood comedy boys’ club would have you believe, it is possible to possess both a uterus and a sense of humor.

“Juno” also shares with “Knocked Up” an underlying theme, a message that is not anti-abortion but rather pro-adulthood.

This is true – and many comedies stick you with a pro-adulthood message at the end, but few actual deliver the goods in a way where you believe the maturation that’s occured and Juno definitely makes you a believer.

The Golden Compass is Great – Atonement is Not

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Saw 2 movies this weekend: Atonement and The Golden Compass

Atonement has lots of hype. I read comments like, “This is one of the year’s best films, a certain best picture nominee.” (from Ebert) on Friday and was really excited to go see it. I left the theater disappointed. The first half is great – it’s a great setup. The set of circumstances that destroy the lives of the 3 main characters is done extremely well and it’s very fun to watch. However, once the *main event* happens, there’s about an hour of crap.  We see McEvoy and Knightly’s lives go down.  There’s very little dialogue – just the two of them in different locations feeling miserable for 60 minutes.  I like the concept of the movie and the cinematography is incredible, but i just didn’t feel it.  Don’t believe the hype

The Golden Compass on the other hand is amazing. It’s a fairy tale similar to Harry Potter or Chronicles of Narnia.  I thought Naria was horrible but have always found the Potter movies to be pretty good.  The Golden Compass is easily as good as the Potter films if not better. I wasn’t as familiar with Compass so i was pleasantly surprised with the plot and the story. I love the concept of each person having a daemon representing your soul in the shape of an animal.  It adds an entirely other element to all conflict and interaction and makes it much more fun to watch.  I thought the story was captivating and the characters were all impressive to watch: the polar bear was awesome, Nicole Kidman was very hot and just as creepy, and the main british girl was GREAT.  I’d recommend you check it out.

kanagaroo.jpgThe entire time i was trying to think which animal my soul would be – i’m still not sure but i’m leaning towards a kangaroo.

TripIt is Really Useful & Virgin America is the best

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I’ve been traveling a lot lately and i’m always looking for the best fare (or Virgin America, my new favorite airline).  Because of this, my flights are all over the place.  My trip to Minnesota for Christmas has me leaving from BWI on Southwest, changing to American in Chicago and then coming home on the cheap airline Sun Country into Dulles.   The itinerary is a mess.  Luckily, i discovered the website TripIt.  All you need to do is forward your confirmation emails to the email address plan@tripit.com and the website will parse out the dates, confirmation numbers, flight numbers, frequent flier codes, etc. for you and keep your itinerary nice and neat.  Now, instead of combing my inbox for that exact flight time, i just go to TripIt and it’s all there.

I recommend it for anyone who’s traveling and needs to keep track of their itin.

As a side note, you should also go out of your way to travel on Virgin America.  It’s an amazing airline.  They have the following things going for them:

  • Big TV screens on the back of the seat (bigger than JetBlue)
  • On demand ordering.  You punch in on the screen what you want and they will bring it to you immediately.  You can eat whenever you want
  • It’s totally empty. I’ve flown on them 3 time and had the entire row to myself each time.  It reminds me of the early days of Independence Air.
  • You can IM any one else on the plane.  Just type in a seat number and you can chat.  I’ve never done this but it’s a good idea (or really sketchy – not sure yet which one)
  • As you travel, instead of a lame map of your distance, it maps it to a Google Map where you can zoom in and see exactly what you’re flying over
  • Very nice seats and cool colors
  • Coming soon: Power Outlets! and Internet!

The Strike goes on..

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I found (from VSL) some really funny short videos have been made by the writers and directors that are out of commission due to the strike.

One episode has a room full of actors (Martin Sheen, Demi Moore, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, etc.) try to audition for a movie when the script is completely blank.  I really like episode 16 where Patricia Clarkson and Amy Ryan are literally acting out ads from the phone book.  

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There’s also an episode 18 where a guy picks up a phone to check on movie times and gets this recording…

Hello and welcome to Moviefone

  • For Dancing With The Stars, The Movie” Press 1
  • For America’s Funniest Home Videos, The Movie” Press 2
  • etc.

They’re pretty good.  Check ’em out

Levels of Blogging – where have my blogging friends gone?

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Over the past year, I have seen some of my friends (Toby, Kathryn, Sarah, Drew) drop off the blogging scene. Some of them have switched blogs, but some have just switched the way they share information. With the growth of other online tools, it’s becoming much easier to express yourself (sharing ideas, links, and messages) in ways that are easier than blogging.

Because of this trend, this post by Fred Wilson and image really stuck a chord in me:

You can see how facebook and MySpace and the ease of use there is going to take people away from glogging. I know a few of my friends have been casualties.

Personally, i like blogging still as it allows me to fully explain my thoughts and ideas whereas the other mechanisms are smaller chunks and just single thoughts. I do them too. But with facebook there is no nuance. Of course, not everyone has the time to explain themselves – at least that’s the number 1 excuse. To which i’ll reply, if you have time to debate a topic for hours – which all of you do – then you have time to stick it on your blog. Get off your ass