Radiohead were in complete control of the elements (and more) last night.

Sarah and I arrived at the Molson Amphitheatre in a complete downpour. As the sun started peaking out from behind some clouds to the west, a vision appeared:

We were literally In_Rainbows! Get it?

Anyway, we found our seats roughly in time for the opener Grizzly Bear to leave the stage. Still Pouring. Good thing I brought my rain suit. And then, during the stage change, and before Radiohead takes the stage, the sky clears!

Radiohead start playing music with almost nary a word. But the stage! What a light show.

Somehow, Radiohead even managed to cue up airplanes flying over during song climaxes, and fireworks synchronized from CNE grounds. These guys really bring out the stops!

The girl next to us was at her first Radiohead concert, and she'd been trying to see them since the days of Pablo Honey. She was giddy like she was watching the Beatles. She took a picture everytime the colours changed on stage. The people in front of us were very talkative and let us their binoculars (yeah, we were that far back). Radiohead played two encores. Good show.

Yeah, I'd hit watch it.

• I discovered yesterday, and make of this what you will, that I am part of the target audience for the show Wipeout.
• I found out what courses I am taking next term. The good news is that I only have classes on Thursday and Friday (hooray for 5 day weekends). The bad news is that I only got four of the five courses I wanted. I am taking Consumer Health Information Sources/Services (for fun), Academic Libraries (for my future, I hope), Open Source Software (also for future life), Knowledge Management (not really what I wanted), and an Independent Study course (still working finalizing details on this one).
• If you know exactly what style of jeans you want (along with size, etc.), Ebay can save you a lot of money. This is helpful when you trip and put a hole in your previous pair.
• It's hot in herre.

Saturday.

• The day started off with a bang, Emma arrives at 11am, but is a dear in waiting for me to get my shit together. Huge downpour w/ hail @ 1pm (including power outage). Passes quickly, fortunately. Followed by beautiful day.
• Arrive in time to catch the end of The Burning Hell set. It's a song about conferences. sweet! Emma and I eat Roti.
• Catch a bit of Land of Talk (mostly spent explaining what web 2.0 is to Emma. We get all 2.0 later by changing our facebook statuses via cellphone), head back to see Akron/Family. Emma secretly hopes it's actually Akon and his family. Turns out they couldn't make it. We wait patiently for Plants and Animals. Who rock.
  • Emma admits to loving moustaches. We play count the moustaches.
• Thunderheist comes on next and kicks the festival's ass. The whole tent is on its feet and dancing. The lead singer/rapper Isis is hot.
• Dinner with Jason Collett. He's kinda dull, but it goes well with dinner. Dessert with Born Ruffians. I liked these guys. I think I spot the guy in that frozen yoghurt ad, where doesn't want to try it, then he does, then he's all "mmm, mmm".
• The big draw is supposed to be the Bourbon Tabernacle Choir, but E and I decide that they're pretty dull, so we move on to see Jason Rutledge bare his city/country soul. Emma's in love. I spot an ex. Jason closes with a jaunty sing-a-long, which is a bit of fun.
• Back to watch Islands, but huge delay means we only catch a song before we have to leave.

Sunday.

• Sarah and I have evening tickets, and we arrive a little bit before 6, just enough time to get something to eat and find a place to watch Stuart Mclean record a Vinyl Cafe show. In reality, it's just enough time to get something to eat, and then have a big ol' cold/rain/hail downpour soak us and my Roti (yes, #2).  The surprise musical guest was Ron Sexsmith.
• We decide to check out Moshav and Taxi Chain do some kinda fusion of Middle East meats Scotland meets Jamaica thing. It went well with a beer.
• We do some wandering (get ice cream), and eventually make it over to The Speakeasies. We think our friend Sam is the bassist, maybe. Sure looked like. These guys took it to another level with a Zeppelin cover to close the set.
• More wandering, Sarah buys a longsleeve to stay warm, back to see Mr. Something Something do some Afrobeat. I attempt to dance on the picnic table seat. I am told not to. You can't stop the dance, baby. I proclaim that "I love that shit", afterwards.
• Finally, the closers, Broken Social Scene take the stage. I quite like the stuff from "You Forgot in People", the rest was so-so.

The End.

Kimberly asks:

"I have a problem: I don't what kind of music I like. Well, I know what I like, I just don't know what it is, or what it's called. How can I listen to what you listen to on last.fm?"

Dr. Fang answers:

That's a pretty easy one, Kimberly. With the new last.fm upgrade, they have created a station called 'Library'. Every user has one. So, you could go and listen to my library radio station. There's really no telling what's going to be on there. I'm listening to it right now, just out of curiosity. It's good, of course. (Additionally, you can look at my listening charts for the last 3-6 months, and click on artists to listen to them.)

Also, go back and read my post about Muxtapes, and try plugging in an artist that you know you like, and then listen to the mix that someone has created around that artist. You will probably find something you like.

When my computer is finally working, I will make some muxtapes for your listening pleasure.

Hope that helps.
Dr. F

• In news of real-life emulating Tv-show CSI:

Thomas Hickman drove through New Mexico, police say, until his Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo ran out of gas. Then the 55-year-old North Richland Hills man walked into a field, tied helium balloons to a gun, covered his mouth with duct tape, and shot himself in the back of the head, according to New Mexico State Police.

That determination is a far leap from what authorities first suspected when Mr. Hickman's body was discovered March 15 near Santa Rosa, N.M., about 100 miles east of Albuquerque. Authorities initially thought the Red Lobster executive had been kidnapped and slain...
Read the rest (Tiara M. Ellis - Dallas News, July 16, 2008)

• Travelling? Hypochondriac? Epidemiologist? Check out HealthMap.org to find out what you should lie in bed worrying about contracting.
• Most people, at one time or another, have said to themselves, "I want to be able to do 100 push-ups". An admirable goal. As someone that does 100 push-ups daily, I can attest to its attainability. But maybe you need a little help? Hundredpushups.com

Hey guys, remember when I told you to go read "How to Draw a Face" on The Sneeze? Sure you do. You remember each and every link from each and every post I write, right? For sure. Anyway, The Sneeze is sorta back from a self-imposed hietus, and in honor of that, I'm going to direct you to read the hilarious series, "Steve, Don't Eat It!". I laughed, I cried, I blew potted meat food product right out of my nose.

I think you guys know now how I feel about The Wire. (I'll sum up. Best. Show. Ever.)

Which is why I'm disappointed to discover that it drew only a single Emmy nomination for it's 5th and final season (It was nominated for writing once previously). Granted, I haven't seen the 5th season yet, since it's not even out on DVD, but still...

"It's like them never giving a Nobel Prize to Tolstoy," said Jacob Weisberg, editor-in-chief of the Slate Group and a correspondent for Slate.com. "It doesn't make Tolstoy look bad, it makes the Nobel Prize look bad."

Weisberg, who has been an ardent supporter of "The Wire," added, "It's sort of proof if you needed any that the Emmys are not something that should be taken seriously."

JAKE COYLE - AP

It's that time of the season again, the part that I love to hate (or just hate?). Course selection time at FIMS.

Really, choosing elective courses should be a wonderful experience, where one selects those courses that fit their interests, happily looking forward to learning new things. Alas, what you mostly get is a bunch of courses offered that hold little interest, and choosing between a handful of courses that everyone will be vying for, so you may not even get in.

Where are the courses on information-seeking behaviour? Where are the courses on technology that relate to their use in libraries?: Administering catalogues and records, metadata, etc. Maybe I need to create a course.

It's going to take some doing to figure out my final five. Insights from other FIMS students appreciated..

Almost Definitely

9630 (514) Academic Libraries

Probable

9203 (615) Records Management

Would Consider

9130 (604) Information Policy

This is Going to be a Problem

9503 (644) Knowledge Management
9320 (584) Consumer Health Information Sources and Services
9610 (613) The Public Library in the Community
9316 (582) Government Information (Distance)
9762 (740) Special Topic: Open Source Software for Libraries [T]

Courses I wish were offered, but are not

9319 (591) Information Sources and Services in Science and Technology
9508 (646) Marketing and Public Relations for Information Professionals
9204 (762) Special Topic: Enterprise Content Management
9322 (729) Special Topic: Librarianship for Evidence-Based Health Care
9350 (751) Special Topic: An Introduction to Information Behaviour
9702 (712) Special Topic: Cognitive Perspectives on Information Design
9725 (726) Special Topic: Markup and Metadata [T]
9764 Special Topic: GIS in Academic Libraries [T] (Distance)

Pathologists Believe They Have Pinpointed Achilles Heel Of HIV

ScienceDaily (2008-07-16) -- Human immunodeficiency virus researchers believe they have uncovered the Achilles heel in the armor of the virus that continues to kill millions. The weak spot is hidden in the HIV envelope protein gp120.