About a year ago, I got a “Claim of Copyright” notice for the montage video I made of photos around Pace's birth using the song “Tippy-Toeing”
by Loretta Lynne. When I first read it, I thought the music label
(Universal) was saying they were going to take down the video unless I
could prove I had the rights to the song but on a second reading, I
realised it was basically them saying they were going to let the video
stand but they may at some point in the future, exercise their right to
do whatever they wanted with it – take it down, advertise on the
video's page, etc.
I wasn't sure what to do – I thought about re-doing the video with a different song (or the same song but different photos) but that would just be a ticking time bomb, waiting for another notice on a different song.
So
instead, I just decided to leave well enough alone for the time being
to see if anything else happened. Universal weren't being total jerks
and completely taking it down. And as much as I'd like to think it was
a 50-50 deal (which it was in
terms of audio/video contribution and actually I'd done more by
actually doing the work to create the video), I have to admit that this
semi-obscure country song that apparently played a big part in many
people's childhoods is the reason that this video gets the third most hits of any video I've put on YouTube (Click “Sort By Views” to see them ranked – and FYI, number one = “Breastmilk Popsicles” – no idea why that is though! )
So
even though it's not necessarily 50-50 in terms of why this video
generates hits, you gotta wonder if the record company is missing the
point since obviously I'm also creating interest and generating traffic
for this song just by having it on YouTube – something they haven't
done themselves.
Not everyone who hears it on my YouTube
video will buy it (though they may obtain it via file sharing – which I
hate to even term “illegally”) but again, at least that record company
did let my video stand. Apparently, not everyone is being even that progressive.
[Edit: Saw on Reddit that they've even muted the infamous Rick Astley “Rick Roll” video! Where will the carnage stop?]]
I
did learn a lesson from this in the end – namely, not to identify the music
used in my clips making them harder to find. Er, no I didn't – this one is labeled “Toddler 'Plays' Johnny B. Goode”…
About once a month, give or take, RPL hosts an Education Institute presentation that staff members can attend. Today's session is Micheal Stephens giving his annual “Top Tech Trends” presentation and I was looking forward to it quite a bit.
Unfortunately, both Shea and I got hit hard with the flu last night so instead, today is a sick day with the two of us trying to find the energy between us to watch one kid who isn't sick and who also happens to be a perpetual motion machine.
Stephens has his Powerpoint slides online so it's not like I'm not getting a sense of what he'll be talking about. But it's still good to hear the actual presentation and any discussion that may ensue. (I was fortunate enough to hear the presentation live in 2006 when I attended OLA.)
The first thing on his list for this year is “The Cloud Becomes Ubiquitous” and that's a coincidence because I spent a bit of time last weekend uploading a bunch of documents to Google Docs. I haven't yet decided to put anything too private or too essential up but things like a list of books I've read, a list of books I want to read, a To Do list (I know there are other services for this but my list is pretty basic and easily managed as a single Word document), a scratchpad for ideas for my SLA presentation in May, a scratchpad for ideas of my take on the Great Canadian Novel.
What else? I guess that's about it for now. Later…
Last night, we watched Tim Burton's “Big Fish“. I barely remember hearing about this movie when it came out for some unknown reason. I only picked it up now because it was recommended a couple times in a thread I posted on AskMetafilter asking for suggestions of works about fathers and sons (a big theme in my recent reading and viewing).
The movie was pretty good but the father-son thing didn't hit me as hard as promised in that thread – perhaps because I was expecting some big sentimental or tragic ending. It was a touching enough film but didn't reach the next level. (And for those who say it's Burton's masterwork, I think I'd still take “Edward Scissorhands”. Hell, I might take the first Batman over this one!)
In the end, more than the father-son theme, it was the other themes in the film – the idea of how you live your life, how you remember it for yourself and how those memories are passed on to others, whether they are children or others you come into contact with, are what define you is what really resonated.
Then tonight, Pace had his first ever “real” (ie. not grandparent, not other relative or family friend) babysitter and man, there's another transition moment – thinking back to being the babysitter yourself twenty (holy shit – TWENTY?) years ago and now, it's some teenager coming over to your house with a backpack full of homework and you're the one saying “here's our cell phone number and he likes toast for his nighttime snack and there's pop in the fridge – help yourself and did I give you our cell phone number?” Shea and I went to the “Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (I joked to someone that it was that or “Marley and Me” but this one had a longer running time meaning we'd be out of the house longer so we went for it!) and I really liked it.
(Shea always teases me that I let reviews – whether I read them before or after a film – influence how I feel about a movie too much. There's a bit of truth to that – as soon as I get home tonight, I get on the Net to read Ebert and Salon's reviews and they both felt the film was lacking. Ebert was actually pretty harsh about the film.)
So yes, a couple negative reviews do temper my enthusiasm for the film. But it's not like I now hate it because Ebert thought it wasn't realistic. Brad Pitt, besides being one of the few men on the planet I would happily sleep with (er, too much information) is also a really good actor who rarely to never disappoints. (Note to self: time to re-watch “12 Monkeys”)
And, as with “Big Fish”, the themes running through the film about aging, family, memory and love all resonated heavily. (And there were a couple scenes, especially near the end, that caused the waterworks to be turned on for the person sitting next to me too. )
Anyhow, I have a feeling that if we watch a movie tomorrow, it'll probably be about…death and dying and memory and love and family. Hmm, now where's my copy of “Ghost”?
(Oh, one last Benjamin Button thought – I'd love to see the very similar “Time's Arrow” get a film adaptation someday. One of my favourite novels of all-time which I highly recommend to everyone.)
There are a few similar services out there but JustHearIt is one of the best I've seen for being able to instantly stream pretty much any song you type into it. (I'm picking fairly mainstream stuff for the most part so YMMV.)
I have my issues with religion but here's a story which portrays religion in an extremely positive light. In fact, when I think of how I would hope religion would inspire people to act, this is getting pretty close to the idea. I guess my only comment/criticism is “why does religion even have to play into this? Why can't the behaviour of the one football team towards the other be a norm without needing the justification of religion?” Uhm, Merry Christmas!
Shea and I were looking for something to get us out of the house after a couple of weeks staying mostly inside due to cold weather, holidays and illness. I was blanking on something to do until I remembered that today was RPL's 100th Anniversary celebration wrap-up after a year's worth of various celebrations and projects.
So we went over to one of our nearest branches (we're roughly halfway between two) and enjoyed cupcakes, popcorn, visiting with staff – both those who were working and who were popping by to check things out like we were, a clown show, a visit from Sask Roughriders' mascot, Gainer the Gopher, a sleigh ride in -30 weather (but almost no wind so not nearly as cold as you would think.)
One funny moment – one of the media personnel who was there came up to me and goes “I remember you from last summer – I interviewed you somewhere and you gave me a great quote. Do you remember that?”
Turns out I do – it was at the Regina Folk Fest when I got cornered in the food area as he was looking for some sound bites and after a couple extremely lameo attempts at saying something witty – “I come to folk fest for the food”, “You always find a new band to enjoy”- I came out with “If everyday could be like Folk Fest, the world would be a better place.”
Apparently, it was a memorable line! (I've got it taped on VHS somewhere around here I think. If I get a chance sometime, I'll try to figure out how to convert it to digital and throw it on YouTube. Which means I'll probably just play the tape on the VCR and point my digital camera at it.)
) but that would just be a ticking time bomb, waiting for another notice on a different song. 
) 
