Da Vinci code at Cannes

So, unsurprisingly, the pre-premier of "The Da Vinci Code" at Cannes was received with something less than overwhelming enthusiasm. Since I consider this book the most over-hyped B+ thriller since "The Hunt for Red October" I'm not surprised by the reaction at Cannes.

What I am surprised by, is the fact that I appear to be the first to come up with the obvious Variety-esque headline: "Cannes pans Dan's fans!"

(Yes, I know "Cannes" isn't pronounced that way, but d@mmit it screams out to me! Boffo!)

Monkeys, Typewriters and Shakespeare

Today, just before I left the office, I overheard a co-worker spouting the old saw about how if you put a million monkeys in a room with a million typewriters for long enough, they'd eventually come up with the works of Shakespeare. Since most of my thoughts at work lately have focused on process improvement, the first thing that crossed my mind when I heard this was: "Well that's an inelegant and inefficient way to do things. Perhaps if you selected two or three promising monkeys and put them through some creative writing classes, you could save yourself a lot of time and trouble."

However, it then occurred to me that for my policy proposal to be workable, I'd have to figure out how to deal with the resulting massive unemployment among monkey typists.

And that's when I realized that I'd pretty much lost it and decided to call it a day.

DOJ moves against EFF AT&T Class Action Suit

Via boingboing, we learn that yesterday, the DOJ filed a motion to dismiss the EFF's lawsuit against AT&T regarding their complicity in helping the U.S. Government spy on its own citizens.

Early Saturday morning, in the darkest hours of the night, the Department of Justice made good its threat to file a motion to dismiss our class-action lawsuit against AT&T, contending that AT&T's collaboration with the NSA's massive and illegal program to wiretap and data-mine Americans' communications (which violates the law and the privacy of its customers)--despite being front page news throughout the United States and the subject of government press conferences and Congressional hearings--is a state secret. The motion was accompanied by declarations by Lieutenant General Keith B. Alexander, Director, National Security Agency and John D. Negroponte, Director of National Intelligence. We will vigorously oppose this motion. Donate to EFF and help stop the illegal spying!

Personally, I would recommend that any American citizens who believe that our Government ought not to circumvent the law to secretly spy on its own citizens, consider donating a few bucks.

Ionic Air purifiers create smog

Hey, disgustedem...don't you have one of these?

Maybe that throat irritation and shortness of breath wasn't from the smoking....

Radiohead - '06 North America Dates Announced

Un.
Be.
Freaking.
Lievable.

So, Radiohead has finally announced this year's NorthAm dates. You can probably scroll down this page and see the post in which I was bummed about having to miss Boston because of my trip to Seattle, but I took solace in the fact that they'd have some days in Philly.

Turns out the Philly dates are also happening during my trip to Seattle.

Is it just me or do the east coast gigs seem a bit sparse this year?

Tickets go on sale Saturday at 10am. Info from ateaseweb:

June 1 - Upper Darby, PA @ Tower Theatre
June 2 - Upper Darby, PA @ Tower Theatre

June 4 - Boston, MA @ Bank of America Pavilion
June 5 - Boston, MA @ Bank of America Pavilion

June 7 - Toronto, ON @ Hummingbird Centre
June 8 - Toronto, ON @ Hummingbird Centre

June 10 - Montreal, QC @ Salle Wilfred-Pelletier at Place des Arts
June 11 - Montreal, QC @ Salle Wilfred-Pelletier at Place des Arts

June 13 - New York, NY @ The Theatre at Madison Square Garden
June 14 - New York, NY @ The Theatre at Madison Square Garden

June 17 - Manchester, TN @ Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival

June 19 - Chicago, IL @ Auditorium Theatre
June 20 - Chicago, IL @ Auditorium Theatre

June 23 - Berkeley, CA @ Greek Theater
June 24 - Berkeley, CA @ Greek Theater

June 26 - San Diego, CA @ Bayside
June 27 - San Diego, CA @ Bayside

June 29 - Los Angeles, CA @ Greek Theater
June 30 - Los Angeles, CA @ Greek Theater