I'm pleased to finally announce what I've been up to the last couple of weeks. It's my new business and it is called BrendoMan Productions. I had done some of this stuff when I was in college for my friends' bands, putting up their MP3's and creating pages for them on the now defunct MP3.com and other sites. I've continued to help out various bands (and our own label) with websites and other promotional services. Phil gave me the idea to really pursue this when we were at the DIY Convention earlier this month. While we were there we met a lot of independent artists and realized that a lot of them didn't have the time and/or knowledge to really develop an online presence. So that's what got the ball rolling. I really want to thank Phil for all his help in fleshing everything out. If you a musician or in a band and are looking for affordable online promotion, website design and hosting, and digital distribution solutions, be sure to check us out. You can also help get the word out by becoming our friend on MySpace.

That's right, all you Bostonians that read this blog...we will be visiting your fair city from March 23-27. We have a few unreasonable demands to put in place first, however:

1. Good weather. Preferably, yachting weather. We've never been, and unreasonably demand it.
2. A Yacht. We don't have one, so that makes yachting a bit difficult. If you provide us with one, we could make our dreams come true.
3. The cast of Cheers. If we make it all the way to Boston, we'd like to see the entire cast. But, we'd settle for just Norm, if the rest aren't available.
4. Admittance to Harvard. That's right. We want to actually be admitted to Harvard for the length of our visit. And from then forward, we will refer to ourselves as dual Harvard grads (get it? Harvard AND Harvard of the midwest? That's funny stuff, people).
5. Last but not least, we demand to throw some tea into the harbor. Real tea, not instant Nestea crap.

I tried pretty hard to incorporate as many Boston stereotypes as I could into a 5-itemed list. Our final demand is the only actual one we would like to have met (besides meeting Norm, obviously): please give us suggestions of what to do while there! Places to eat, things to see, etc., etc. Also, let us know if you are free that week--we are always up for visits!

~Kelly

This is one of a number of movies I've added to my queue recently because it's been mentioned by several fellow bloggers. I've really been enjoying watching a lot of foreign movies lately.

The story features a guy (I wouldn't call him a man, quite, because he has such childish ways) named Bruno, who is a petty thief for a living, often employing local boys to do the dirty-work and paying them a fair percentage. He and his girlfriend, Sonia, have their own way of life in the outskirts of a small Belgium town. They rotate between her apartment, a shelter, and a makeshift living space by the side of the road near a small river. They are in love, and seem to be taking on parenthood with an odd mixture of responsibility and immaturity: they wait in line to file official paperwork for the baby, while the baby lies in a baby stroller that also doubles as a "car seat" when it's sitting unsecured in the backseat of their rented convertible. Bruno, having been told how much money a baby can go for on the black market, decides to sell the baby while Sonia's waiting in line; when Sonia reacts like any mother would at the news, he tries to get back the baby. The only problem is that the black market is blackmailing him for backing out on the deal.

Bruno and Sonia are such an interesting couple, and it's great fun to watch them as the movie unfolds. They play games with each other and often seem to have no cares in the world, even though they have a baby along for the ride. They don't seem to worry about money because they can always thieve for it. Their lifestyle is odd to us as viewers, but somehow it's easy to accept as normal for them.

Director-writers Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne (whose other work I haven't seen) have a very unobtrusive presence, letting the action happen very naturally. We don't know what Bruno's thoughts are as Sonia brings the baby home to him, and we don't know what they are as he gives the baby away. But with the absence of a soundtrack or score, our imaginations are allowed to fill in what they might be, although that is more difficult for the type of audience that is likely watching this movie: people who probably can't relate to his way of thinking or his situation.

Okay, I'm pressed for time, so skip to the final scene. I won't say what it is, but it's extremely moving, showing us a transformation occurring in Bruno that began when one of his kid friends is caught for theft. What I like about Bruno is that, in the beginning of the film, one can sense that he is kind, fair, and intelligent, but doesn't apply those things to his life very well because of his immaturity, and as events progress, the dormant potential starts to be realized. It takes the presence of a small child to put him face-to-face with his wrongdoings and take responsibility, and ultimately seek redemption. What a nice little story. I liked it a lot.

Apparently, Wikipedia has been accused of having a liberal bias (along with anything else, I imagine, that fails to exclusively promote conservative, American, capitalist ideals). To balance things out, a group of people have created Conservapedia: the FOX News of user-edited online encyclopedias.

To start with, the site has a lengthy entry pointing out examples of bias in Wikipedia. Among the offenses are failing to credit Christianity with the Renaissance, using British spellings of words (a clearly anti-American bias), and including a lot of entries for songs by Moby.

Given the obvious liberal bias in Wikipedia, it's interesting to see what balanced information Conservapedia offers. Here are a few choice excerpts.

Democrat: "The official platform of the Democratic party emphasizes strengthening America. Right-wing critics claim, however, that the Democrat voting record reveals a true agenda of cowering to terrorism, treasonous anti-Americanism, and comtempt [sic] for America's founding principles such as freedom of religion."

George Washington: "Washington is perhaps the person other than Jesus who declined enormous worldly power, in Washington's case by voluntarily stepping aside as the ruler of a prosperous nation."

Unicorn: "The existence of unicorns is controversial. Secular opinion is that they are mythical. However, they are referred to in the Bible nine times, which provides an unimpeachable de facto argument for their once having been in existence." [This sounds too unbelievable--I think it may be a prank]

My personal favorite entry, though, has to be the one for Republican, the entirety of which is just five words: "The party of Abraham Lincoln."