I’ve made a couple of Wordpress themes myself (here and here) but nothing quite like this one. Check it out and maybe you’ll be as impressed as I was.

I think its really clever. Seen any other really good themes lately?

From the newspaper Le Matin on January 31, 1907:

What needs to be proved today is that as long as a man has a car, he can do anything and go anywhere. Is there anyone who will undertake to travel this summer from Peking to Paris by automobile?

I was flipping around the TV listings one afternoon a few weeks back and discovered a program titled Peking to Paris on the Book Channel. The program’s basic premise: recreate a historic race from modern-day Beijing to Paris using century-old automobiles and take along a TV crew to film the whole thing. I was hooked immediately.

The most fun appears to be meeting interesting people along the way during such a race. The least fun is likely the numerous breakdowns although crossing the border from Mongolia into Russia didn’t look to be a laugh. On a positive note, the frequent breakdowns turn into new opportunities to meet people such as a rough-looking motorcycle gang who turn out to be excellent mechanics and who also know a very skilled blacksmith who can make replacement leaf springs by hand.

The show concept is great, the narration is really delightful, and the visuals are excellent. There are four episodes in total; the first three involve getting from Bejing to the Ural mountains, halfway to Paris, and certainly the toughest half. The second half of the trip as well as the conclusion are all wrapped up in a single episode

I understand from the Wikipedia article there have been a number of recreations although none as accurate as this one. I also see there is another recreation coming up this year to commemorate the race’s centennial anniversary.

I think it would be really fun to enter such a race. Maybe someday! Anyone else find this sort of thing irresistible?

Edited January 28th: there were only four episodes total, not eight as I originally predicted.

Its been tough to be a Canucks fan. The Canucks are the only Canadian team to never win a Stanley Cup (lost to the New York Islanders in 1982 and lost to the New York Rangers in 1996). This year has been particularly tough. The new GM, the new coach and many new players made the start of the season a bit uncertain. Nobody was sure how the team would come together or even if they could form a competitive team. The scoreboard showed mixed results through October and it only got worse into November. By Christmas everyone was hoping for an actual miracle to turn things around.

Christmas came and went. Suddenly, without any warning, the Canucks look like a winning team at the same time as many divisional rivals are starting to struggle. The Boxing Day win in Calgary at first looked like a fluke but fans were ready to believe. The Flames came to Vancouver the next night for a rematch. It promised to be a very exciting game; even the scalpers didn’t have tickets to sell. We were fortunate enough to have tickets and see first-hand an overtime win by the Canucks in a game that was maybe the very best game of the season.

Last night’s win against Edmonton really got the blood pumping. Sure Edmonton has been struggling lately but the Canucks looked really strong despite a rash of poor penalties in the second half of the last period. Could they make a serious run this year? Hope so!

By the way, while confirming my suspicion about the Canucks’ Stanley Cup woes at Wikipedia I found some really interesting trivia about the Cup and its misadventures. I suggest having a read yourself to check it out.

Two more outstanding movies to report on. We finally saw Casino Royale today, and caught The Good German a little more than a week ago. Both film are really excellent although in very different ways.

Cate Blanchett and George Clooney bring outstanding performances to what may appear to be a rather mundane film. Steven Soderberg has truly captured the essence of a 1940’s film noir set during the Potsdam Conference at the close of WWII in Europe. Shot entirely in black and white using techniques and sometimes equipment from that era, the film stands out against the action-oriented films that dominate today’s theaters.

George Clooney plays his role with his typical excellence however the real star is Cate Blanchett. She brings an extraordinary performance that reminds me of Ingrid Bergmen or Marlene Dietrich.

The plot is not very complex and the pacing is a bit slow by comparison to Casino Royale. On the other hand, compare this film to something like The Maltese Falcon. Both films have intrigue, good guys, bad guys, and a women in desperate need of assistance. The Good German is an excellent film worthy of critical attention.

I doubt this film will appeal to a lot of people but if you should see it if you have the opportunity. The photography, lighting and acting is really something special.

For comparison, we saw Daniel Craig in the latest James Bond franchise film. This is the best Bond film in many years. Its packed with gritty action, a bit of cheesy dialog and a femme fatale or two. This “Bond Villain” is a classic megalomaniac but without the doomsday weapon. He is very smart however and has a great plan for personal gain to the detriment of the general populace. Although trivial, the backdrop of a terrorist organization updates the plot from the 1960s nicely.

I was reminded of Goldfinger quite often while watching this film (my two favorite Bond films are Goldfinger and Thunderball). The villain is powerful and wealthy but not so powerful as to be unbelievable. The villain’s plan for personal gain is not too fantastic – its possible it could actually work. The locations are beautiful; the automobiles and gadgets are even better.

The obligatory torture scene is a bit more disturbing than any other I can recall but the outcome is far superior. There is no magic involved and no special gadget that saves the day. The cheese factor is quite low for a Bond film actually, and very much appreciated.

Some have said that Daniel Craig is as good as Sean Connery. I’d have to agree, and this is certainly the best Bond film in a very long time. Gosh I hope they make another one as good as this one.

Microsoft suggests you should stop using their product due to security concerns. Really. Read their Security Advisory here.

I might be exaggerating their statement a little bit, but they really do say this:

Do not open or save Word files that you receive from un-trusted sources or that you receive unexpectedly from trusted sources. This vulnerability could be exploited when a user opens a specially crafted Word file.

User beware.

It’s already an accepted fact that end-users do not (and probably cannot) differentiate malicious email attachments from safe email attachments. But never mind, Microsoft is sure that you will be able to figure it out. Right. Fortunately it’s unlikely this potential exploit will be widely abused before anti-virus vendors (like the one I work for) can respond.

In case you think you’ve been a victim of this potential attack, Microsoft reminds you there is no charge for support incidents involving security updates. Hopefully lots of people will call them.