On the weekend of the 12th, I was up in Lyon with a few other assistants to see the annual Fête des lumières, or Festival of Lights. Since we were out past midnight on the 11th, I took this shot of a colourful light installation around 1am on the 12th as we walked back to our host’s apartment.
After a very restful sleep, we woke up late in the morning. Our host (who is also an English assistant, in Lyon) had a really nice apartment, complete with a variety of artwork provided by the French subletter.
Fellow Toulon assistant Vanessa and I headed to Lyon’s Christmas market to experience the local holiday atmosphere. Being a chestnut fanatic, she couldn’t resist some hot wine with chestnut flavour.
The Christmas market was really bustling with people.
Since we hadn’t eaten dinner at a restaurant in France for a couple months, we agreed that we would look for a reasonably priced place to experience a Lyonnais meal that evening. We scoped out the picturesque Rue Mercière to find a suitable restaurant.
Seeking shelter from the cold, we went inside the Eglise Saint-Nizier and discovered this nice candle display on the altar. As per tradition during the festival, the Lyonnais light candles in recognition of the Virgin Mary, whose protection they prayed for during the plague of 1643.
Inside the church was also this “hands-on” display (pun intended) where visitors express their thanks to Mary and write prayers on their hand outlines.
Continually seeking shelter from the winter weather outside, we found refuge in a small, infinitely charming café where we got cheap hot drinks and shared a mouth-watering tartine with chèvre cheese and thyme.
We swiftly scuttled over to FNAC, a big entertainment / book store. We used the display iPads to check our e-mail until the store closed.
Although the festival officially ended on the 11th, a lot of the illuminations were still up on the 12th. I’m not sure if the Palais de la Bourse is always lit up like this or if it was just for the festival.
We finally rendez-voused with our host, Maggie, and headed off to a Lyonnais restaurant for a delicious dinner. Our table was at the very back of the restaurant, essentially inside the kitchen. Saucisson chaud in a beaujolais sauce was the main course, followed by a very tasty fondant au chocolat. Only the French know how to eat so well.
Since it’s very difficult to see major English-language films in Toulon without French dubbing, I promised myself before going to Lyon that I would take advantage of their version originale screenings. Maggie accompanied me to see the new Narnia movie, Voyage of the Dawn Treader (in 3-D). It wasn’t quite as solid as the first two films, but it restored some of the vibrancy and optimism of the first installment, and I quite liked the ending.
I took the above picture during one of the previews. My next 12 of 12 will be in – you guessed it – 2011.
After getting a new computer, I completely relabeled and reorganised my iTunes songs into convenient categories. Rather than racking my brain over what genre to assign to songs, I leaned towards simpler categorizations like ’70s, ’80s, French music, soundtracks, etc. Each of these categories represents a playlist that I can pull up when I’m in the mood.
I was curious to see what percentage of my total 2,923 songs was made up by each category. The results were enlightening and, well, a little embarrassing:
Click on the picture for a larger image.
Here’s the breakdown:
French music: 19.9%
70s music: 9.2%
2000s music: 7.4%
90s music: 6.4%
Showtunes / musical soundtracks: 6.3%
Film scores & soundtracks: 5.7%
Video game music: 5.2%
Christmas music: 5.2%
80s music: 4.6%
60s music: 4.5%
Classical music: 4.1%
Disney music: 2.8%
Italian music: 1.9%
Spanish music: 1.0%
Other (uncategorised, comedy, other languages, jazz, instrumentals, anthems, etc.): 15.8%
1 in 5 of my songs are in French. No big surprise there. What was surprising, however, was the absurdly high proportion of showtunes (it’s all Les Miserables’ fault! I swear!) Not to mention the ridiculous number of Christmas songs I have. OK, I might have gone a little crazy downloading songs the last two Christmases. But when you have a greater than 1 in 20 chance of hearing a Christmas song while listening to your iTunes on shuffle in July, you have a problem.
And how the heck can I have more Christmas music than 80s music, 60s music, or classical music?! That’s just not right. Granted, classical would probably outrank the others if we were going by song length. But still. I know a lot of 80s music is crap, but I need me some more.
And the other great embarrassment… my Disney music. A lot of that comes from the brief phase where I downloaded classic Disney songs in as many different languages as I could. I kept these in the Disney category rather than putting these in the foreign language groups. But 2.8%? C’mon!
I was also curious to see who the artists were with the most songs on my iTunes. Unfortunately, the number of songs each artist has is not exactly proportional to how much I like them. Some of these high numbers are artifacts of crazed mass-downloading phases. Here’s the rather unusual list of the top 15 most “prolific” artists on my iTunes:
While I don’t have data on my most listened to songs for this year since I switched computers in May and lost my old library play counts, back in 2008 and 2009 I did make note of the songs that I listened to the highest number of times. Again, many of these seem like odd choices. Then again, the songs we listen to most are often not the ones we’re most proud of. They’re just like drugs that get you hooked.
Someone was in an Arcade Fire mood last year… but then, when have I not been in an Arcade Fire mood?
And finally, some songs that have been stuck on repeat recently: She’s Got a Way (Billy Joel), No Complaints (Beck), Time in a Bottle (Jim Croce), Fearless (Pink Floyd), Watching the Wheels (John Lennon), Red-eyed and Blue (Wilco), Danny’s Song (Loggins and Messina), Reckoner (Radiohead), Karma Police (Radiohead), Truth Doesn’t Make a Noise (The White Stripes), Sleeping Lessons (The Shins), Love Hurts (Incubus), Alone (Heart), Say You Love Me (Fleetwood Mac), Laundry Room (The Avett Brothers), My Old School (Steely Dan), Wot’s… Uh the Deal? (Pink Floyd), Lovin’ Touchin’ Squeezin’ (Journey), Change Your Mind (The Killers)…
Of course, I’m sure once I tally my most played songs for the year, all these great songs will be trumped by some incredibly girly and embarrassing ditty that just happens to get stuck in my head.
Most Played Song since May 2010: Our Lips are Sealed (The Go-Go’s)
Since I’m obsessed with history, pop culture, and nostalgia, I decided to begin a series of retrospectives on the decade that has just ended. The first task I took upon myself was to compile a list of all the words I could possibly associate with the 2000s. It was a challenging endeavour, to say the least. You will find this very incomplete “glossary” below — feel free to add your own entries, as I surely have not done this crazy decade justice.
#
9/11
16:9
24
300
2 girls 1 cup
24-hour news cycle
28 Days Later
30 Rock
40-Year-Old Virgin, The
4chan
50 Cent
80s nostalgia
A
A.I.
Abu Ghraib
Across the Universe
Adult Swim
Afghanistan
-age (suffix)
a’ight
airport security
Akon
Al Gore
Al Jazeera
Ali G
Alias
Alicia Keys
All Your Base Are Belong to Us
Al-Qaeda
Amazing Race, The
Amber alert
Amélie
America, f*** yeah!
American Chopper
American Idol
America’s Next Top Model
amnesty
Amy Winehouse
An Inconvenient Truth
Anchorman
Anderson Cooper
anime
Anna Nicole Smith
Anonymous
anthrax
AOL Time Warner
app
Apple
Apprentice, The
Aqua Teen Hunger Force
Arcade Fire, The
Arctic Monkeys
Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader?
armchair general
Arrested Development
Ashlee Simpson
Ashton Kutcher
ass-hat
Atkins Diet
auto-tune
Avatar
Avenue Q
Avril Lavigne
Axe
Axis of Evil
Ayman al-Zawahiri
B
baby mama
Bachelor, The
Backstreet Boys
badunkadunk
bag for life
Baghdad
bailout
Bali bombings
ballin’
balloon boy
Ban Ki-moon
Barack Obama
bare midriff
Beautiful Mind, A
Beltway Sniper
Ben Stiller
Benazir Bhutto
Bennifer
Bernie Mac
Bernie Madoff
Beyoncé Knowles
BFF
bicurious
Big Brother
Big Mouth Billy Bass
Bill O’Reilly
Billy Mays
biotch
bird flu
Birthers
Black Eyed Peas, The
Blackberry
Blackwater
Blades of Glory
Blagojevich
Blanket Jackson (over the balcony)
bleached blond hair
bling (bling)
Blink-182
Bloc Party
blog
blogosphere
Bluetooth
Blu-ray
boho-chic
Borat
Boston Legal
Boston Public
Botox
Bourne Trilogy, The
Bowling for Columbine
box sets
brain fart
Brangelina
bridezilla
Britney Spears
Brokeback Mountain
bromance
Bruce Almighty
Burger King King
Burj Dubai
Bush v. Gore
Bushisms
Butterfly Effect, The
C
California recall
Can you hear me now?
Can’t Get You Out of My Head
canvas totes
capris
Captain Sully
carbon footprint
Carrie Prejean
Carrie Underwood
Cash for Clunkers
Cast Away
Catholic sex abuse scandal
CGI
Change
Chappelle’s Show
Chapter 11
Chechnya
chillax
Chocolate Rain
Chris Brown
Christian Bale
Christina Aguilera
Chronicles of Narnia, The
Chuck Norris facts
City of God
civil unions
Clay Aiken
Clay Henry
climate change
Clocks
Cloverfield
cockblock
Colbert Report, The
Coldplay
Colin Powell
comic book movie
Concorde crash
Condoleezza Rice
cosplay
cougar
Counter-Strike
craigslist
Crash
Crazy
credit crunch
Creed
Cribs
Crocs
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
crunk
CSI
Curb Your Enthusiasm
CW, The
D
D.C. Madam
Da Vinci Code, The
Daft Punk
Dan Brown
Dancing with the Stars
Daniel Craig
Daniel Pearl
Danish cartoons
Darfur
Dashboard Confessional
David Beckham
DDR
Deal or No Deal
Death Cab for Cutie
death panel
Decembrists, The
decider, the
Demetri Martin
Demotivators
Departed, The
Descent, The
Desperate Housewives
Destiny’s Child
Dexter
Dick Cheney
Dick in a Box
digital cameras
dirty bomb
Dixie Chicks
DO NOT WANT
Don Imus
Donald Trump
Donnie Darko
Don’t tase me, bro
Dora the Explorer
Dot-com bubble
douche
douche chill
Dr. Phil
Dragonball Z
dramatic chipmunk
Drop It Like It’s Hot
Dubai
Dubya
Dude, Where’s My Car?
DVDs
DVR
E
earmarks
ebaumsworld
Election 2000
electronica
Elian Gonzales
Eliot Spitzer
Elizabeth Smart
Emeril Lagasse
Eminem
emo
energy drinks
Engrish
Enron
Entourage
epic
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Ethanol
Euro
European Heat Wave of 2003
Evanescence
evil-doers
extraordinary rendition
Extreme Makeover: Home Edition
F
facebook
facepalm
Fahrenheit 9/11
FAIL
fairtrade
Fall Out Boy
Fallujah
Family Guy
fashionista
Fast and the Furious, The
fauxhawk
Fear Factor
Fergalicious
Fergie
fetch
Final Destination
financial crisis
Finding Nemo
Firefly
Firefox
Flaming Lips, The
flash mobs
flat-screen
Flight of the Conchords
flip-flopping
Flying Spaghetti Monster
FML
fo’ shizzle my nizzle
foodie
foreclosures
Franz Ferdinand
Frat Pack, The
Freddy Got Fingered
freedom fries
freegan
From Justin to Kelly
frosted hair
FTW
furries
G
Game, the (sorry, you just lost)
game-changer
Garden State
Gary Condit and Chandra Levy
gaydar
GEICO
gel pens
geocaching
George Bush doesn’t care about black people
George Lopez
George W. Bush
Get ‘er done
ghetto
Ghost Hunters
Gigli
Gilmore Girls
ginger
ginormous
girly men
Gladiator
global warming
Gnarls Barkley
Gnutella
goatse
God Bless America
Goldman Sachs
Goldmember
Gone in Sixty Seconds
Google
Gossip Girl
Governator
GPS
grammar Nazi
Grand Theft Auto
Great American Boycott
green
Grey’s Anatomy
grinding
Ground Zero
Guantanamo Bay / Gitmo
Guitar Hero
G-Unit
Gwen Stefani
Gym Class Heroes
H
H1N1
Haliburton
Halle Berry
Halo
Hamid Karzai
hanging chads
Hangover, The
Hans Blix
Harry Potter
hater
hawt
hax (h4x)
HeadOn
Heath Ledger
Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt
hella
Heroes
Hey Ya!
Hezbollah
High Definition
High School Musical
high-speed Internet
Hillary Duff
Hills Have Eyes, The
Hills, The
hip hop culture
hipsters
hockey mom
holla
hollaback girl
Homeland Security
Homestar Runner
hoodie
hookah
hooking up
Hope
Hot Topic
House (M.D.)
housing market bubble
How I Met Your Mother
Howard Dean scream
Hugh Jackman
Hugo Chavez
Human Genome Project
Hummers
hybrid
hyphy
I
I do what I want!
I drink your milkshake!
I like!
I see what you did there
I.E.D.
Ice Road Truckers
illegal immigration
ILOVEYOU
I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!
I’m f***ing Matt Damon
I’m Lovin’ It
I’m on a Boat
I’m Rick James, bitch
IMDb
I’mma let you finish
In Da Club
Incredibles, The
Indian Ocean Tsunami
indie
insider trading
insurgents
Intelligent Design
Internets, the
interweb(s)
Invisible Children
iPhone
iPod
Iran
Iraq
ironic T-shirts
Is that your final answer?
Islamic extremism
It’s a trap!
iTunes
J
J.K. Rowling
Ja Rule
Jack Black
Jackass
Jamie Salé and David Pelletier
Jared Fogle
Jay-Z
Jena Six, The
Jennifer Holloway
Jessica Alba
Jessica Simpson
Jesusland
jewfro
jihad
Jim Gaffigan
Jimmy Eat World
JLo
Joe Lieberman
Joe Millionaire
Joe Sixpack
Joe the Plumber
John Ashcroft
John Edwards
John Kerry
John McCain
John Walker Lindh
Jon and Kate Plus 8
Jon Stewart
Jonas Brothers
Judd Apatow
Juno
Justin Timberlake
K
Kabul
Kanye West
Karl Rove
Katrina
KaZaA
Keith Olbermann
Keith Urban
Kelly Clarkson
Ken Jennings
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed
K-Fed
Kill Bill
Kim Jong-Il
Kim Kardashian
kind of a big deal
Kindle
Kings of Leon
Kobe Bryant
kthxbye
Kurds
L
L Word, The
Lady Gaga
Large Hadron Collider
LARPing
Larry Craig
Leave Britney alone
Lebanon War
LeBron James
leetspeak
leggings (and mini-skirts)
legit
Lehman Brothers
Leona Lewis
Let the Right One In
Let’s roll
Lil Wayne
Lilo & Stitch
Lindsay Lohan
Linkin Park
lipstick on a pig
Little Miss Sunshine
livejournal
Lives of Others, The
Livestrong
Liza Minnelli and David Gest
Lizzie McGuire
lolcats
London bombings
Lonelygirl15
Lord of the Rings
LOST
Lost in Translation
low rise jeans
low-carb diets
Ludacris
Lupe Fiasco
M
M. Night Shyamalan
M.I.A.
mad cow disease
Mad Men
Madeleine McCann
Madrid bombings
Mahmoud Abbas
Mahmoud Ahmadenijad
make it rain
Malcolm in the Middle
Mamma Mia!
man crush
manscaping
Marc Rich pardon
March of the Penguins
Mark Foley
Mark Sanford
Maroon 5
Mars rovers
Martha Stewart
mash-up
mavericks
McGriddles
McLovin’
McMansion
McNasty
Me, Myself & Irene
Mean Girls
meep
Meet the Parents
meetup
meh
Mel Gibson
meme
Memento
Memoirs of a Geisha
Mentos and Coke
metro(sexual)
Michael Cera
Michael Ian Black
Michael Jackson
Michael Moore
Michael Phelps
Michael Schumacher
Michael Vick
Michelle Obama
Miley Cyrus
MILF
military tribunals
Milkshake (brings all the boys to the yard)
Minority Report
Miracle on the Hudson
Miss South Carolina
Mission Accomplished
Missy Elliott
misunderestimate
Mitch Hedberg
MMORPGs
mobile 3G
mockumentary
Modest Mouse
Mole, The
Monk
more cowbell
Moscow theatre hostage crisis
Mosul
Moulin Rouge!
MP3s
muffin top
muggle
Muse
My Big Fat Greek Wedding
my friends
My Name is Earl
My Super Sweet 16
MySpace
MySpace angles
MythBusters
N
‘N Sync
n00b
Nancy Pelosi
nanotechnology
Napoleon Dynamite
Napster
Naruto
Nas
nasty
Nelly Furtado
Neo-Con
Neopets
nerdgasm
netbook
Netflix
Nickelback
Nicole Richie
ninjas
Nintendo DS
Nip/Tuck
No blood for oil
No Child Left Behind
No Country for Old Men
Norah Jones
North Korea
Northeast Blackout of 2003
Northern Alliance
Notebook, The
NSFW
nucular
Numa Numa
O
O Brother, Where Art Thou?
O RLY?
O.C., The
Ocean’s Eleven / Twelve / Thirteen
Octomom
off the chain
Office, The
offshore drilling
Oh, snap!
Old School
OMG
on the DL
Operation Iraqi Freedom
organic
Osbournes, The
Others, The
OutKast
outsourcing
oversized sunglasses
OxyContin
P
P2P file sharing
PalmPilot
Panic Room
Pan’s Labyrinth
Paper Planes
Paris Hilton
Passion of the Christ, The
Patriot Act
PDAs
Peanut butter jelly time
Pearl Harbor
Pervez Musharraf
Peter Jackson
phishing
photoshop
Pianist, The
Pimp My Ride
pirates (Somalia & Internet)
Pirates of the Caribbean
plasma TV
Plutoed
podcast
Poker Face
Pope Benedict XVI
popped collar
pre-emptive
prequel
Prison Break
Prius
Producers, The
prohibited liquids
Project Runway
PS2 / PS3
PT Cruiser
public option
pundit
Punk’d
Pussycat Dolls
pwn(ed) / own(ed)
Q
QFT
Queer Eye for the Straight Guy
R
Rachael Ray
racial profiling
Radiohead
Ralph Nader
random
Raptor Jesus
Rascal Flatts
Ratatouille
Razor scooters
reality television
reboot
recount
Red Bull
Red States, Blue States
regime change
Regis and Kelly
remake
Reno 911!
Requiem for a Dream
reverse the curse
RIAA
Richard Reid / the Shoe Bomber
Rickroll
Ricky Gervais
ridiculous / ridonk(ulous) / ricockulous
Rihanna
Ring, The
ringtones
Road to Perdition
Rob Schneider
Robert Blake
Rock Band
ROFLcopter
Roger Federer
rolling blackouts
rollover (SUVs and minutes)
Ron Paul
Royal Tenenbaums, The
Ruben Studdard
Rudy Giuliani
Runaway Bride
Russell Crowe
Ryan Seacrest
S
Sacha Baron Cohen
Saddam Hussein
Salad Fingers
same sex marriage
Sarah Palin
Sarah Silverman
SARS
Sasha and Malia
sausage fest
Saw
Scary Movie
School of Rock
Scientology
Scooter Libby
Scott and Laci Peterson
Scrubs
Seabiscuit
Sealab 2021
Sean Kingston
Segway
September 11th
Serena & Venus Williams
Seven Nation Army
sexile
sexting
sexyback
shaggy hair
Shakira
Shaun of the Dead
Shia LaBeouf
Shi’as
Shock and Awe
shovel-ready
Shrek
sick / ill
Sigur Ros
Simon Cowell
Simple Life
Sims, The
Sin City
Six Feet Under
sketchy
skinny jeans
Skype
Slumdog Millionaire
smoking bans
Snakes on a Plane
Snape kills Dumbledore
Snoop Dogg speak
social networking sites
Something Awful
Soulja Boy
South Ossetia
South Park
Space Shuttle Columbia
spam
spider hole
Spider-Man
spiked hair
SpongeBob SquarePants
Star Wars kid
Star Wars prequels
stay the course
staycation
stem cell research
Stephen Colbert
steroids
Steve Carrell
Steve Irwin
STFU
straightened hair
strategery
streaming video
Strokes, The
subprime
Sudoku
Sunnis
Superbad
Supersize Me
Surge
Survivor
Susan Boyle
sustainability
Swift Boat
Swine Flu
T
Taliban
Talladega Nights
tap that
tard (suffix)
tasers
Taylor Swift
Tea Partay
tea party protests
Team America: World Police
Team Edward / Team Jacob
Ted Williams
teeth whitening
Terror alert color system
Terry Schiavo
Texas Hold ‘em
texting
texts from last night
That ’70s Show
That’s what she said
This is Sparta
Tiger Woods
Tikrit
Timbaland
Tina Fey
TiVo
tl;dr
To Catch a Predator
Tom Brady
Tom Cruise
TomKat
Tony Blair
torrents
torture porn
totes
totes magotes
town hall meetings
Traffic
tramp stamps
Trigger Happy TV
Triplets of Belleville, The
Trogdor
troll
trucker hats
truthers
truthiness
tweens
tweet
Twilight
Twitter
U
über
Uday and Qusay
Uggs
Ugly Betty
underboob
Underworld
Usain Bolt
USB flash drives
USS Cole bombing
V
V card
V for Vendetta
vajayjay
Valerie Plame affair
vampires
Very nice!
Viktor Yuschenko
viral video
Virginia Tech
Vladimir Putin
vlogs
W
Walk the Line
WALL-E
Wanda Sykes
War on Terror
wardrobe malfunction
warmonger
warrantless wiretapping
Watchmen
waterboarding
Weakest Link, The
weapons of mass destruction (WMDs)
Web 2.0
Wedding Crashers
Weeds
Wes Anderson
Westboro Baptist Church
whassup
White Stripes, The
Who let the dogs out?
Whose Line is it Anyway?
Why so serious?
Wicked
widescreen
Wii
wiki
wikipedia
Will Ferrell
William Hung
Willis Tower
Wilson!!!!!!!!
Windows XP
Winona Ryder
Wire, The
wireless / Wi-Fi
World of Warcraft
World Trade Center
World Trade Center
WorldCom
Writers Strike
X
Xanga
Xbox
XFL
X-Men
Y
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Yes we can
You lie!
your Mom jokes
You’re fired!
youtube
ytmnd
Yu-Gi-Oh!
yvan eht nioj
Well, I haven’t exactly escaped… yet. But I do try to get out of the local ghetto as often as possible, and this morning I headed up to Griffith Park for the first time since I arrived in LA over three years ago.
After a week of oppressive temperatures in the 80s and 90s, yesterday was more genuinely “fall-like” (at least to those of us who know what a real fall is), with cloudy skies, temperatures in the 60s, and even a few raindrops. When such fronts come through, they tend to temporarily clean out some of the smog in the air, so I figured I would take advantage of the improved weather today for a hike up Mt. Hollywood.
Unfortunately, the smog wasn’t pushed completely away (it never is); when I headed to the bus this morning, looking down Figueroa past the famous Felix sign, I could see plenty of smog downtown on the horizon:
I headed downtown, hopped on the metro and then took a trolley to the Griffith Park Observatory. I didn’t have time to explore the observatory itself — just enough to answer an eastern European tourist’s question in broken English about the name of the tallest building in the LA skyline (the US Bank building).
While I would have liked some tranquil hiking, the trail to the summit of Mt. Hollywood was quite busy. I did enjoy the change in scenery and vegetation, although given the aridity of southern California and the recent fire damage in the park, “vegetation” is a liberal appellation.
One advantage of the hike is the ubiquitous view of the Hollywood sign (which is on Mt. Lee, not Mt. Hollywood. Go figure.):
The views from the summit are incredible – not because they’re beautiful, but because they show you how incredibly vast the city is. The sprawling metropolis covers your entire field of vision and just disappears into the distance at the horizon.
To see all of my photos from Mt. Hollywood, click here.
The other highlight of the week was the French Club’s first major event, a “French Music Night” where we shared favourite songs and artists. Well, most of the suggestions came from myself, but I did discover some cool (and modern) artists thanks to others’ recommendations. Janet shared some particularly cool Canadian songs, including this music video, “Je suis un robot” by Plastic Lite:
But I think my favourite recent music video discovery is this song by “Les Trois Accords,” entitled “Saskatchewan.” Despite their strong Canadian accents, the video is the epitome of awesomeness. Not only does it have nothing to do with the lyrics, but it has NINJAS!!!!
SASKATCHEWAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!! TU M’AS PRIS MA FEMME!!!!!!!!!!!!
For those of you who have forgotten what Anderson Cooper’s job was before Anderson Cooper 360, then your memory might be jogged by ABC’s recent revival of its 2001-2002 reality series, The Mole.
The show, originally a Belgian creation, premiered during the height of the reality television craze around the turn of the millennium and was the only reality TV that I really enjoyed. While the show does feature some physical challenges a la Survivor, it stands out thanks to its greater emphasis on mental challenges and psychological gameplay. Moreover, it’s just dang fun to watch and try to figure out who “the Mole” is, sharing observations with your friends and looking for hidden clues in each episode.
The first two seasons, hosted brilliantly by Anderson Cooper, were followed by two “Celebrity Mole” mini-seasons in 2003-2004, hosted by Ahmad Rashad and featuring B-list celebs like Kathy Griffin, Stephen Baldwin, and Dennis Rodman. Although the shows certainly didn’t capture the magic of the first two seasons, they were quite funny.
If you’re feeling nostalgic or have a genuine interest in discovering The Mole for the first time, then you can watch all of season 1 on youtube and season 2 on veoh. You can also get a taste of Celebrity Mole: Hawaii here.
The very first episode:
In any case, you can imagine my joy upon discovering that ABC had brought the show back for another season. Heck, I had been such a Moleaholic that I even participated in an online version of the game (and made it to the final four before being executed). When the new season premiered last week, I was somewhat disappointed by the new host and the lack of the classic Mole score (although the new one’s pretty good), as well as the overall unlikeable group of contestants, but I was just so happy that the show was back.
Warning: Spoilers follow. Although it’s probably too early to speculate on who the Mole is, I can make some basic assumptions based on previous Mole selections. The attractive and/or intelligent female Mole seems like a cliché at this point, as does the unassuming old person, so I’m putting my money on one of the younger guys. Paul can’t possibly be the Mole, given the size of his mouth. Alex seems like a better candidate, especially since he kept a rather low profile in the first episode (a common Mole strategy).
Additionally, I read some comments on the abc.com Mole boards about possible hints in the first episode. One of the host’s questions, something along the lines of “Do you think you have a beat on who the Mole is?”, might be a veiled hint pointing to Alex, a musician. Apparently the host even said something like, “That’s music to the Mole’s ears.” Could these clues be too obvious? If I recall correctly, Anderson Cooper did not actually have knowledge of who the Mole was in the original run of the show, although that might have changed.
However, in the second episode my suspicions shifted somewhat. Alex seemed to ditch the low profile, which might just be part of his strategy, but there were a few possible instances of sabotage (penalty kick, pig launching). My suspicions were also piqued by Victoria due to a number of possible hints (including the Catholic / Virgin Mary connection) but if she is the Mole, then the hints are painfully obvious. I hope this isn’t the case. The only people that I’ve written off completely are Paul, Bobby (both of whom I CANNOT STAND), and Craig (who’s great). And I’m not particularly suspcicious of Mark or Nicole. But I could be way off. I was also sad to see Liz go.
(End spoilers)
Anyway, I’ll keep you posted on my thoughts about the Mole as the show progresses. I’m just glad that I have one decent summer TV show to keep me entertained.
The end of spring and the beginning of summer have been quite busy for me. I ended the school year with an awesome (and relatively cheap) trip to San Francisco and Yosemite. Even though the Megabus got stuck in major traffic during the overnight trip to SF (causing us to arrive an hour and a half late), I was really happy to be back in San Francisco. The ride across the hills east of the city was particularly nice in the morning, when the sun cast long shadows over the green hills topped by dozens of wind turbines. It’s definitely a very unique city, with some nice architecture, beautiful scenery, but perhaps most importantly, a dense population. It felt great to walk on the sidewalks with people heading to work in the morning – a virtually nonexistent phenomenon in LA.
After stopping at Union Square for some overpriced (but very good) orange juice and observing an art show, I jumped on the BART without too much trouble and headed across the bay to Berkeley, to meet up with my friend Trici. We had a nice brunch and she then treated me to a tour of the UC Berkeley campus. The place is pretty much as “out there” as I thought it would be, but the San Francisco area would be nothing without its crazy charm. Upon returning to the city, I spent the afternoon just walking around – an endeavour that would have been quite easier if the city weren’t covered by giant hills. Still, it was good exercise, and provided some great vistas, like the one above.
To see all of my photos from San Francisco, click here.
While searching for some of the stereotypical tourist photo ops (including the crooked Lombard St.), I somehow managed to lose my map and ended up abandoning my quest to find the famous Painted Ladies. Unfortunately, by this time I had developed a bad cramp in my leg from walking so much and wasn’t able to make it to Chinatown for dinner as I’d hoped to do. I did pass through Japantown on my way to my hostel, as well as the Mission District, which was nothing short of sketchy. Needless to say, I was happy to get to my hostel, which was pretty nice (en-suite bathroom AND free Internet!)
I had to leave pretty early the next morning, and after grabbing some pastries at a 24-hour Walgreens, I headed to the Amtrak station. The train voyage began with a nice ride along the bay, but then traversed the very flat, very hot-and-dusty-looking San Joaquin Valley before stopping at Merced, my portal to Yosemite. The following bus ride was a long journey along sinuous roads of increasing elevation, at one point passing through the picture-perfect “Old West” Gold Rush town of Mariposa, before finally arriving in Yosemite, where I was greeted by the sight of some enormous waterfalls.
Fortunately, I was in Yosemite at the perfect time of year, since the waterfalls were at their full flow. The weather was actually a bit warmer than average, however, feeling quite summerlike most of the time, except at nighttime, when it was rather cold in my unheated canvas tent-cabin. Good thing there were blankets for three people in it. Of course, the canvas walls were so thin that I could hear the entire conversations of the cabins next to mine in the evening, which was only really an issue my first night in the park, a very busy Saturday.
Despite the number of people around, I really enjoyed the vastness of nature in the park. The meadows near my campground were always full of deer in the mornings and evenings, and although I failed to see any black bears, I did manage to spot a coyote just before I left the park. Nothing really that exotic for me, though. My real amazement came from the epic scale of the waterfalls and all of the granite peaks from which they descend, a sense of amazement which is perhaps best captured by the famous “Tunnel View” shot:
Even more impressive was the view atop Glacier Point, which I reached via tour bus. I thoroughly enjoyed the tour, except I accidentally bought a round-trip ticket and so was unable to hike down from Glacier Point via the Panorama Trail. Still, I was able to do a little easy hiking around Mirror Lake (where I almost got lost) and to the Vernal Falls footbridge. It would have been nice to have had more time in Yosemite, especially time to see the Giant Sequoias. Well, there’ll always be Road Trip ’09… (the subject of a future blog post)
Now I give you some of the short video clips taken in Yosemite with my camera:
To see Part I of my Yosemite photos, click here. For Part II, click here.
Even though I thoroughly enjoyed seeing Yosemite, I was incredibly happy to get back home last month. As I revealed in the previous post, May is one of my favourite times of the year, and I loved seeing all of the spring flowers blooming (ahh, fields of dandelions…) and enjoying the not-too-warm weather. Of course, I took advantage of this natural beauty to add to my photo collection.
To see Part I one of my springtime photos, click here. For Part II, click here. I also have a few springtime videos for your viewing pleasure:
Shortly after my return home, my family and I went down to Newport, Rhode Island for Memorial Day weekend. I’d been to Newport several times when I was younger, but it was only during my trip last summer that I began to really appreciate the city, especially its history, architecture, and atmosphere. So I was happy to return and enjoy some pleasant late spring weather while travelling the Cliff Walk and exploring the old city.
It’s hard to pick one photo to represent Newport in my blog, but I’m pretty fond of this one:
For Part I of my Rhode Island photos, click here. For Part II, click here.
After returning from Little Rhody, I kicked off my summer break geocaching with a trip up to the North Country with Madeline, the highlight of which was a cache atop Mt. Prospect in Weeks State Park in Lancaster, which provided an incredible view of the area. We also had pretty good caching karma during the trip, and it feels nice to be back in the caching groove again, since 2007 was pretty uneventful in the way of caching.
Summer seemed to “officially” arrive last weekend, with a humid heat wave of temps in the 80s and 90s for about four days. I took advantage of the hot weather to do some kayaking – first on Squam with my mom to nab SquamLoon’s island caches, and then down the Pemigewassett River with my dad from Plymouth to Bristol. Unfortunately, I underestimated how long it would take us to get to Bristol, largely because the river is quite still south of Bridgewater. It must’ve taken us four or five hours, and we landed at the very instant that a thunderstorm arrived with pouring rain. A close call.
I’ve also been occupied with swimming, working on my research project (more on this in a future post), and cache-hiding. I placed my first cache yesterday, which I’ve yet to publish, and also helped Madeline place an as-of-yet-unpublished cache near the Newfound River.
Next weekend, I should have some photos from the Lupine Festival and will also share my thoughts on the next big summer movie, M. Night Shyamalan’s “The Happening.” “Prince Caspian” was my first big film of the season, which was quite a good action flick (unfortunately not quite as character-oriented as the first). Indiana Jones was also fun, but overall seemed kind of mediocre. Oh well.
