Obama will announce presidential run details on Feb 10

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From an e-mail from Barack Obama's camp:


Dear Friend,



As you may know, over the last few months I have been thinking hard about my plans for 2008. Running for the presidency is a profound decision - a decision no one should make on the basis of media hype or personal ambition alone - and so before I committed myself and my family to this race, I wanted to be sure that this was right for us and, more importantly, right for the country.



...



I certainly didn't expect to find myself in this position a year ago. But as I've spoken to many of you in my travels across the states these past months; as I've read your emails and read your letters; I've been struck by how hungry we all are for a different kind of politics.And that's why I wanted to tell you first that I'll be filing papers today to create a presidential exploratory committee. For the next several weeks, I am going to talk with people from around the country, listening and learning more about the challenges we face as a nation, the opportunities that lie before us, and the role that a presidential campaign might play in bringing our country together. And on February 10th, at the end of these decisions and in my home state of Illinois, I'll share my plans with my friends, neighbors and fellow Americans.




I've chatted with a couple of friends about a potential Presidential run by Obama, and we all felt that this was the right time for him to run. It's rare for a politician to inspire such ardent backing from the public. The most oft-cited weakness of his presidential resume is his scant political experience, but to my mind that might be a strength.


A longer voting record in the Senate only gives opponents ammunition (already potential opponents have picked out bits and pieces of his voting record to try to tarnish his halo). When one of the only negatives the press can trump up about a candidate is the fact that he smokes, he's in good shape. Obama has a self-effacing charm that can probably turn attacks like that into positives.


There was a time I thought Colin Powell could have run for president and won. Instead he joined the Bush Administration and built up political experience. It didn't quite work out the way most everyone imagined it would. That's not to say Obama as a state Senator could suffer the same type of political damage, but to imagine that the stars will still be aligned this perfectly four years from now is risky.


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We'll take it

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A bit too close for comfort. I spent a good three hours bracing myself for the worst, so when the Bears actually won I was more relieved than elated.


Given the turnover-prone tendencies of Grossman and the weak play from an injury-depleted defense the last third of the season, Bears fans have had to live on faith more than swagger this season. I wouldn't be at all surprised if the Bears are the underdogs in the NFC Championship; most experts will be picking the Saints.


But you reach a certain point in life and you realize it's better to look at the glass half full when there's nothing you can do about it. In the offseason, then you give your team an honest evaluation. Now, in the playoffs, you hope for some luck and know that on any given Sunday, your team can beat the other team.


The Bears are one win from the Superbowl, and though they're regarded as the weakest of the four remaining teams, I don't care. In January and February, every Sunday your team is playing is a happy Sunday.




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Land ahoy

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According to this article, ABC plans to set and announce an endpoint for Lost. I'm all for it. The show really needs one if only so fans believe there actually is some plan. It would even be beneficial to ABC (if disingenuous) for them to announce an endpoint even if it didn't exist.


But I'm skeptical that they'll announce one. TV networks tend to milk their golden geese for all they're worth; most shows end up drawn out so far that they jump the shark.


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Blades of Glory

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Trailer for Blades of Glory, the pairs figure skating comedy starring Will Ferrell and Jon Heder. I'm always suspicious of movies that try to spoof something that is already a spoof of itself (in this case, the dramatic stylings of Olympics pairs skaters), but it has Will Ferrell in it so I'll probably go see it the same way I would a Sixers Nuggets game to see Iverson.


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David and Mamet, Barney and Bjork

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"David and Mamet" is a 91 second short by Alex Rose about two guys chatting David Mamet-style about...well, that's really the pitch, isn't it?


Ooh ooh. Matthew Barney's Drawing Restraint 9 has leaked onto the Internet. Barney has always treated his films as limited-edition art pieces, and so bootleg DVD copies of his Cremaster Cycle were spoken of in the same hushed tones as holy relics in Indiana Jones movies. But the internet, the ability to digitize content of all types, and people's yearning for that content is one of the most powerful forces in the universe. Nothing, even the fabled Cremaster Cycle, can escape it.

[The last time I saw something by Matthew Barney was at Sundance. He directed the first segment of the movie Destricted, a series of 7 shorts about pornography. In Barney's segment, "Hoist," a nude man copulated with a giant Caterpillar truck. The man had a massive turnip growing out of his butt and flowers growing out of his mouth. Needless to say, the rarity of Barney films on DVD does not mean they're for everyone.]




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Jack is back, a bit earlier than anticipated

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The first episode of the new season of 24 leaked out onto the Net. The torrent is out there. It took about 35 minutes and then I was sold on this season. Giddyup!


Stream the new Shins album.


Preview a track each from the upcoming albums by Arcade Fire, Modest Mouse, and The Good, the Bad and the Queen.


Links to loads of free classical music available online (in Ogg format)


Free album from Talib Kweli and Madlib called Liberation.


It was 72 degrees in Central Park yesterday, setting a new record.


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RIP Momofuku Ando

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The founder of Nissin Food Products and the inventor of instant noodles, Momofuku Ando passed away at the age of 96 today. In honor, I plan to eat a bowl of chicken ramen today. In the last half century, I can't think of too many food inventions that have had a greater impact on my life.


I'm surprised that ramen with Omega-3 and other nutritional supplements hasn't hit the market. Given its popularity and its relative lack of nutrients, ramen has always been a guilty pleasure. A brand offering the same taste with even a hint of nutritional benefit would do quite well, I suspect.




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Why is my suitcase always last to appear on the airport carousel?

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MacRumors has a roundup of all the rumors surrounding next week's Macworld in San Francisco. With all the leaks and speculation, it's difficult for Apple to continue to surprise anyone at the show, but I'm hoping they still manage to.


Download two tracks off the new album by Air, Pocket Symphony. (thx to Wolf Notes)


Richard Dawkins calls the execution of Saddam Hussein an act of vandalism because it deprived us of the opportunity to study his mind, something Dawkins considers a prime piece of evidence in the study of cruel dictators. I have no idea if that's true--can one learn that much from an individual mind/brain?


Scientific American lays a popular myth to rest: peeing on a jellyfish sting doesn't do any good. Try a little vinegar instead.


Gracenote is working to license lyrics from all the major labels with an eye towards offering a legal, commercial, and accurate song lyric service to launch in early 2007. Good news for karaoke on the computer services (I don't actually know if there are any, but I'm sure there will be soon if there aren't already), though not as big a deal with all the unofficial lyric resources all over the web.


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2-Double-0-Seven

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In this week's New Yorker, Malcolm Gladwell examines the difference between a puzzle and a mystery and argues that Enron's business model and much of what U.S. foreign intelligence face today are more mystery than puzzle. To solve a puzzle, you simply need more information, but more information may only add complexity to a mystery.


Also in this week's New Yorker (a good one), David Denby does a diagnostic of Hollywood, the state of the business. The article makes mention, at the end. of the ArcLight, perhaps the nicest multiplex in the country, at least in terms of sight and sound.


Most sports fans already saw the highlights, but for the few who didn't, Boise State won the Fiesta Bowl using, among other trick plays, a Hook-and-Ladder and a Statue of Liberty play. Here's another angle which also includes the following: after scoring the game-winning 2-pt conversion, Ian Johnson ran over and proposed to his girlfriend, a cheerleader. He converted that one, too. Just an unbelievable game, maybe the most entertaining college football game I've ever seen. Here's a compilation clip of all of the 4th quarter and OT highlights. (Sorry about the clip quality--YouTube and its Flash video is really suboptimal for sports clips; let's hope that by the end of 2007 there's a high quality video streaming site for sports highlights).


The Apple menu command key comes from a Swedish symbol used to indicate interesting attractions in campgrounds.


How do you like your coffee? With a mushroom cloud drop of milk, please. Cool photo.


100 things we didn't know last year. "In a fight between a polar bear and a lion, the polar bear would win."


I'm not usually one to make New Year's resolutions, and after being named Time's Person of the Year in 2006, I'm facing some brutal year over year comps, but one goal I have for 2007 is to be carbon neutral. It was easy to do while in NYC, when I took public transportation everywhere, but it will be a challenge in LA. There are a variety of Carbon Calculators on the web if you want to participate. It has been so warm in NYC this holiday break. Pieces of arctic ice shelf are breaking off or just plain melting. It feels to me as if the impacts of global warming will descend upon us quickly, perhaps not as quickly as this, but quickly enough that it's perhaps already too late for us to act. One way to start is by purchasing compact fluorescent bulbs to replace the incandescents you likely have in your household. I don't love the light of compact fluorescents, but I'm going to try living with it.


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Twas two nights before 2007

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The NYTimes 2006 Year in Pictures.


After seeing Pan's Labyrinth, I couldn't help thinking of Insect Lab, a studio which combines dead insect bodies with antique watch parts and electronic components.




Okay, so NYC is not perfect. One problem being that is populated by lots of people like this.


LifeHack's 50 best hacks for your life from 2006.


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Pan's Labyrinth

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The early critical response to Pan's Labyrinth was strong, and now that I've seen it, I can add my voice to the chorus of admiration. The audience word-of-mouth for this movie is going to be off-the-charts. It's magic.


One thing Guillermo Del Toro has shown in his film career thus far is an ability to conjure the sensual and the dark. With this movie, he's blowing up before our very eyes.


It's tough to shake that lullaby from the soundtrack from your head. You can hear much of the soundtrack by just clicking through to the official website.




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Is there a one syllable name athlete?

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Funny but also debate-provoking bit from this Football Outsiders NFL article:


The greatest athletes of all time by number of syllables in their name: Two syllables: Babe Ruth. Three: Wayne Gretzky. Four: Michael Jordan. Five: Muhammad Ali. Six: Roberto Clemente. Seven: LaDainian Tomlinson. Eight: Martina Navratilova. Nine: Chris Fu'umatu-Ma'afala or somebody.

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The long and the short of it

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Zudeo is a high-res content distribution system built on Bittorrent. You have to download a lightweight client to browse and grab clips. It's not going to cause YouTube any heartache, but for people who like their video content big and beautiful, like me, it's a useful supplement. They signed a deal with the BBC to put episodes of TV shows online at some point for some undisclosed fee. But there's some decent free content already live, like Luis Bunuel's classic surrealist short "Un Chien Andalou," based on a story by Bunuel and Salvador Dali.


Un+chien+andalou


Criterion is launching a new line of DVDs under the name Eclipse. They won't be the souped up DVDs customers are used to with the Criterion label, but Eclipse will help to rush many more movies that aren't currently available on video onto DVD. The first release on the label will be the 5 DVD Series 1: Early Bergman on March 27 of 2007.


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Two clear winners thus far: Children of Men, The Queen

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Among the numerous movies I've seen this holiday break, two have stood out thus far: The Queen and Children of Men. One of the immense pleasures at the heart of each is the performance of the leads. Helen Mirren is a shoo-in for a Best Actress nomination from the Academy, and Clive Owen is, as always, combines equal parts sensitivity and flintiness in a way that is wholly unique. He is, in that way, a sort of modern day Bogart. Both Mirren and Owen have an appealingly lean method of acting: precise, without a hint of fussiness. They never seem to seek the camera's attention, and because of that we can't take our eyes off of them.


Children of Men features two single-shot action sequences that will put cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki's name on the tongues of film students everywhere. One is a car chase. I have no idea what type of rig the camera was mounted on, but I sure hope the DVD contains a making-of video that shows it because the camera seemed to be able to move all around the inside of a vehicle filled with actors.


The second is a single, unbroken shot in which a handheld camera chases Clive Owen for what feels like ten to fifteen minutes through an urban warzone, diving and ducking behind walls and rubble, into a building under siege by government soldiers, up stairs, down halls, in and out of several rooms. The longer the shot went, the lower my jaw dropped. The audacity required to try to shoot that sequence in one take fills me with glee. Give that camera operator a gold star.


It's too bad that Children of Men is only in limited release, and even in LA and NYC it is only in two or three theaters. Though it depicts a grim, dystopian future, it is a nativity story for our times and a thought-provoking Christmas film for adults.


Another movie I can't wait to see opens this Friday in limited release: Pan's Labyrinth. The trailer makes me giddy, though the voice of the voiceover doesn't feel right.


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A visual pun?

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Coming back from a Christmas morning brunch with my family at Joe Shanghai's, I spotted this not so subtle ad on a Chinatown store window and had to snap it with my cameraphone.




The name "bubble tea" comes from "boba tea," as it was known in Taiwan where I first encountered it in 1982. "Boba" is Chinese slang for breasts, or, in a strange phonetical coincidence, boobs.


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