mattjfuller.com blog

Dot What?

Sun, 5 Feb 2012 13:59:28 -0600

Even after 16 years online, I still have a problem remembering country URLs. Further, it has been difficult to find a complete list when you need one.

So here’s mine:

a (unknown)
bitnet (unknown)
ac United Kingdom academic institutions
ad Andorra
ae United Arab Emirates
af Afghanistan
ag Antigua and Barbuda
ai Anguilla
al Albania
am Armenia
an Netherlands Antilles
ao Angola
aq Antarctica
ar Argentina
as American Samoa
at Austria
au Australia
aw Aruba
az Azerbaijan
ba Bosnia and Herzegovina
bb Barbados
bd Bangladesh
be Belgium
bf Burkina Faso
bg Bulgaria
bh Bahrain
bi Burundi
bj Benin
bm Bermuda
bn Brunei Darussalam
bo Bolivia
br Brazil
bs Bahamas
bt Bhutan
bv Bouvet Island
bw Botswana
by Belarus
bz Belize
ca Canada
cc Cocos (Keeling) Islands
cf Central African Republic
cg Congo
ch Switzerland
ci Cote d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast)
ck Cook Islands
cl Chile
cm Cameroon
cn China
co Colombia
com US Commercial
cr Costa Rica
cs Czechoslovakia (former)
cu Cuba
cv Cape Verde
cx Christmas Island
cy Cyprus
cz Czech Republic
de Germany
dj Djibouti
dk Denmark
dm Dominica
do Dominican Republic
dz Algeria
ec Ecuador
edu US Educational
ee Estonia
eg Egypt
eh Western Sahara
er Eritrea
es Spain
et Ethiopia
fi Finland
fj Fiji
fk Falkland Islands (Malvinas)
fm Micronesia
fo Faroe Islands
fr France
fx France (Metropolitan)
ga Gabon
gb Great Britain (UK)
gd Grenada
ge Georgia
gf French Guiana
gh Ghana
gi Gibraltar
gl Greenland
gm Gambia
gn Guinea
gov US Government
gp Guadaloupe
gq Equatorial Guinea
gr Greece
gs South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands
gt Guatemala
gu Guam
gw Guinea-Bissau
gy Guyana
hk Hong Kong
hm Heard and McDonald Islands
hn Honduras
hr Croatia (Hrvatska)
ht Haiti
hu Hungary
id Indonesia
ie Ireland
il Israel
in India
io British Indian Ocean Territory
iq Iraq
ir Iran
is Iceland
it Italy
jm Jamaica
jo Jordan
jp Japan
ke Kenya
kg Kyrgyzstan
kh Cambodia
ki Kiribati
km Comoros
kn Saint Kitts and Nevis
kp Korea (North)
kr Korea (South)
kw Kuwait
ky Cayman Islands
kz Kazakhstan
la Laos
lb Lebanon
lc Saint Lucia
li Liechtenstein
lk Sri Lanka
lr Liberia
ls Lesotho
lt Lithuania
lu Luxembourg
lv Latvia
ly Libya
ma Morocco
mc Monaco
md Moldova
mg Madagascar
mh Marshall Islands
mil US Military
mk Macedonia
ml Mali
mm Mynamar
mn Mongolia
mo Macau
mp Northern Mariana Islands
mq Martinique
mr Mauritania
ms Montserrat
mt Malta
mu Mauritius
mv Maldives
mw Malawi
mx Mexico
my Malaysia
mz Mozambique
na Namibia
nc New Caledonia
ne Niger
net US network
nf Norfolk Island
ng Nigeria
ni Nicaragua
nl Netherlands
no Norway
np Nepal
nr Nauru
nt Neutral Zone
nu Niue
nz New Zealand (Aotearoa)
om Oman
org US Non-Profit Organization
pa Panama
pe Peru
pf French Polynesia
pg Papua New Guinea
ph Philippines
pk Pakistan
pl Poland
pm Saint Pierre and Miquelon
pn Pitcairn
pr Puerto Rico
pt Portugal
pw Palau
py Paraguay
qa Qatar
re Reunion
ro Romania
ru Russian Federation
rw Rwanda
sa Saudi Arabia
sb Solomon Islands
sc Seychelles
sd Sudan
se Sweden
sg Singapore
sh Saint Helena
si Slovenia
sj Svalbard and Jan Mayen Islands
sk Slovak Republic
sl Sierra Leone
sm San Marino
sn Senegal
so Somalia
sr Suriname
st Sao Tome and Principe
su USSR (former)
sv El Salvador
sy Syria
sz Swaziland
tc Turks and Caicos Islands
td Chad
tf French Southern Territories
tg Togo
th Thailand
tj Tajikistan
tk Tokelau
tm Turkmenistan
tn Tunisia
to Tonga
tp East Timor
tr Turkey
tt Trinidad and Tobago
tv Tuvalu
tw Taiwan
tz Tanzania
ua Ukraine
ug Uganda
uk United Kingdom
um US Minor Outlying Islands
us United States
uy Uruguay
uz Uzbekistan
va Vatican City State
vc Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
ve Venezuela
vg Virgin Islands (British)
vi Virgin Islands (US)
vn Viet Nam
vu Vanuatu
wf Wallis and Futuna Islands
ws Samoa
ye Yemen
yt Mayotte
yu Yugoslavia
za South Africa
zm Zambia
zr Zaire
zw Zimbabwe

Tough Mudder

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 20:08:01 -0600

Last year I completed a 5K. This year I need another goal. I’m seriously considering a Tough Mudder event...there’s one in Indiana and one in Wisconsin.

The event is a 10-12 mile course with 25 obstacles designed by the British Special Forces. My trainer has completed three so far and his stories are interesting.

Here’s the official site:
toughmudder.com

I’ll report here if I decide to go into training for this event.

SyFy’s Sanctuary Jumps the Shark

Sat, 26 Nov 2011 22:24:29 -0600

Since Season 1, I have been a fan of the SyFy series Sanctuary, starring former Stargate SG-1 scientist/soldier Amanda Tapping. The series officially jumped the shark this week. Although I’m a major fan of musical theatre, the Sanctuary producers (and anyone else who has tried it) were unable to meld Sc-Fi and Musical. Who’d-a thunk?

The premise of Sanctuary is cool (even if it has the faintest scent of Torchwood): the world is full of “Abnormals,” mutated humans with unusual powers and abilities, legendary creatures, and other special lifeforms, all explicable by science. Dr. Helen Magnus (Tapping), a 168-year-old teratologist, runs The Sanctuary where she studies these Abnormals, provides a safe haven for them, and houses the most dangerous among them. Magnus is joined by a team including a former law enforcement profiler (Dr. Will Zimmerman), a werewolf, a Bigfoot, a former Abnormal bounty hunter, and a few others. Magnus also works with recurring characters Nicola Tesla (a vampire), John Druitt (a teleporter accused of being Jack the Ripper), and Watson (Sherlock's partner).

So why am I proclaiming that Sanctuary has jumped the shark in Season 4?

A new recurring character, the girlfriend of Dr. Will Zimmerman, becomes infected with a parasite that causes her to morph into a super-strong, super-resilient creature (as rendered by Sanctuary’s customary CGI). This happens a lot on Sanctuary, so that's not the jump-the-shark part. When the girlfriend returns to human (but still-infected) form, she can only communicate in musical theatre-style recitative and she can only understand others when they sing the same conversational song.

It's a truly awful premise and all the singing has been horribly overdubbed and is hardly ever precisely matched to mouth movements. Worse, each of the “songs” are accompanied by the show’s well-produced soundtrack. Unfortunately, it makes the premise even more nonsensical since it makes the viewer wonder if the actors can hear the pit orchestra accompanying them.

The countdown to oblivion for Sanctuary has begun. Post your résumés, Glee won't be calling.

NIKEiD Again

Fri, 28 Oct 2011 20:21:37 -0500

Due to an Act of God, it has become necessary to replace my custom NIKEiD bag. My previous creation was based upon the color scheme of the MacBook Pro.

When the bag arrived, it was far shinier than it appeared on the site. For the new design, I went all black, with a minuscule royal blue logo. The NIKEiD design process is just as cool as before.

The site now allows users to make a “poster” of their design and then save it in a variety of formats.

www.nikeid.com

Ben Folds with ISO

Wed, 26 Oct 2011 21:45:06 -0500

Ben Folds joined the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra for a one-night-only performance tonight (Wednesday, October 26 at 7:30 p.m.) at the Hilbert Circle Theatre in downtown Indianapolis. This was the third Indianapolis Ben Folds concert I've seen and most definitely the best. The accompaniments were all full-orchestra, many augmented by a small chorus, and led by Principal Pops Conductor Jack Everly.

From the Press Release: "In his debut with the ISO, Ben Folds will showcase music from throughout his diverse career including from his latest album 'Lonely Avenue' and feature many of his indie-rock anthems such as 'Rockin' the Suburbs' and 'Landed.' Folds is best known as a solo artist and as the frontman of Ben Folds Five, the alternative rock trio formed in 1994. His compositional style combines elements of the 'singer/songwriter' genre, jazz and power rock."

The last time I saw Ben with an orchestra was with the Raleigh Symphony. I found the ISO to be a stronger group and the conductor better suited for these arrangements. I was elated to hear "Picture Window" from Lonely Avenue with a full orchestra, an amazing orchestration and performance of "Landed," and even "Emaline" in the piano-only encore section.

As the ISO left the stage, Ben improvised some humorous exit music where he poked some fun that the (union) musicians could only be on stage for 90 minutes. Ben then performed on his own (with piano): "Army," "Annie Waits," and "Emaline." Applause brought him back to the stage and he played several short riffs on the orchestra percussion instruments, a Nutcracker fragment on the celesta, and ended with "Rockin' the Suburbs."

Set List

With Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra:
Zak and Sara
Effington
Smoke
The Ascent of Stan
Jesusland
Picture Window
Landed
Steven's Last Night in Town
Cologne
Not the Same
Brick
Fred Jones Part 2
One Angry Dwarf and 200 Solemn Faces

With Piano:
Army
Annie Waits
Emaline
Percussion solos
Rockin' the Suburbs

NOTE:
This was a very similar show compared to the Raleigh show. The setlist and sequence is essentially the same; ISO played three arrangements I’d not yet heard:
Effington
Picture Window
Fred Jones Part 2
The North Carolina Symphony played over the 90-minute “rule” (perhaps they are non-union or a different union).

Chess

Sat, 22 Oct 2011 22:30:06 -0500

As one of my top-five favorite musicals, I was quite surprised to see this production of Chess the Musical in Canada follow the plot and structure used by West End production of London. Chess is a show that has been frequently changed over the years, seemingly by every producer...professional maven to community theatre wannabe. Chess is a Cold-War-era "period piece" written by the Bs of the Swedish rock band ABBA, Bjorn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson.

The West End version includes a second act that is completely different from the North American version. Most notably, the American version is about one single chess tournament between an American and a Russian. In the West End version, the American loses the tournament in the first act and spends the remainder of the show working for a TV producer who is a KGB agent.

This production had many songs I had never heard, mostly in the second act, likely because they are not included in the cast recordings and I had never seen the West End version until now. The performance was unique in that the director chose to include the band members playing on stage as characters dressed as chess pieces and playing their pit orchestra parts (without the aid of sheet music) while acting and performing choreography. The result was an orchestra that was neither loud enough to sustain the rock quality of the production, nor tight enough to keep the pace of the show moving. Consequently, I can only describe this performance as flat.

Further, because the show used the (in my opinion) more depressing and tragic European plot, the production was memorable, but not among the favorites I've seen here in the United States.

A few cast members were notable.
- Freddie Trumper (the American), played by James Fox, delivered a phenomenal pop performance. He had previously played the Piano Man in the Billy Joel musical Movin' Out, a favorite of mine.
- Anatoly (the Russian), played by Tam Mutu, is an extremely versatile vocalist with both pop and more traditional musical theatre styles which he used expertly in "Anthem."
- David Erik, who played The Arbiter, is an obviously talented musician who was rather stuck playing trumpet as part of his role. To make matters worse, his trumpet was muted, which makes the physical aspect of playing easier due to the increased resistance, but makes playing in tune and with good tone quality MUCH harder.
- Florence Vassy (Freddy’s Second), played by Shona White, was the real standout in this cast. Her solos stopped the show, even if the band couldn’t back her up with the power she needed.

The Bata Shoe Museum

Sat, 22 Oct 2011 16:26:56 -0500

Located on Bloor Street just down the street from The ROM (The Royal Ontario Museum), you will find an impressively large structure that looks like it could be the ROM's younger cousin. The building is home to the Bata Shoe Museum. If there is a larger museum dedicated to shoes in this world, I would be surprised. The Bata is 4 levels with approximately 8 exhibition rooms devoted to the history and art of footwear. The oldest shoes I noted were those of ancient Egyptians. There was a room devoted to women's shoes of the 1930s. Another room featured shoes of North American indigenous people.

Highlights I saw included a moon boot from NASA, shoes from Canadian celebrities such as The Barenaked Ladies, Nickelback, Avril Lavigne, and the highlight of the entire tour, Justin Bieber's maroon high-tops.

Thankfully, I was wearing my own New Balance 20 Minimus Cross-Training in Orange with Black.
http://www.shopnewbalance.com/men/shoes/cross-training/MX20OB

Pictured, THE most famous Canadian’s shoes...Justin Bieber’s high tops.

Check out my Albums for some highlights.

Michael Jackson The Immortal

Fri, 21 Oct 2011 22:22:11 -0500

This evening I saw a performance of the Michael Jackson The Immortal World Tour Cirque du Soleil show at Air Canada Centre in Toronto. Only one word comes to mind when I think of this show.

Disturbing.

The show commenced with a hapless troupe of mimes walking and chattering gibberish while taking the stage. They began with some dancing and a bit of acrobatics on cables, but it was staged in such a way that was completely invisible to me in my $85 seats. When the scrims came down and the stage opened up, the view was better; however, I can't say that it caused the show to improve too much.

Although mimes generally disturb me all on their own, there was far more creepiness to come. Rather than a blow-by-blow, I shall simply highlight what I can remember as I sat for 2 hours with what I'm sure was a perplexed look in my face.
- Child Michael appeared many times in the show, projected onto one of the four+ giant video screens, as a giant animatronic plush doll suspended from the ceiling, and as an animatronic robot flying across the stadium in a hot air balloon. His hot air balloon crossing was accompanied by the lyric/song "[Have You Seen My] Childhood?" I have now...and it appears you were a robot.
- Until now, I have not mentioned the main character: an over-6-foot caucasian male dancer wearing a silver lamé jumpsuit and silver metallic face paint. He looked like the tinman character from The Wiz, the character not played by Michael Jackson.
- At first, I was wondering why there was a guy in a monkey suit. Then I remembered that it was Bubbles. Bubbles appeared occasionally, hopping about or swinging from things and occasionally doing backflips.
- The lead females were memorable. One was a reptile, one was a stripper, one was a mostly-naked cellist, and two more were acrobats in circus-like costumes.
- The show also featured what I believe was a mostly fake band. The singing was all Michael and the songs were mostly the versions known. A few times there appeared to be live playing, once by a pianist projected on video, once by the mostly naked cellist, and occasionally by horn players, guitar players, and singers.
- The final and most disturbing character was an exceptionally talented one-legged dancer. The performer wasn't disturbing, but his portrayal was. He was introduced with the rest of the troupe dressed as a bronze child statue on giant wooden crutches. When he moved forward the first time, his leg fell off. He danced the show with forearm crutches and most of the time the producers used them as props (for example, they were giant bones in the “Thriller” sequence).

The dancers and acrobats were all quite talented, mostly when they were doing Cirque du Soleil things. The show was more about props, fireworks, smoke blasts, robots, and loudness, however. At the end, I didn't leave feeling like Michael had been honored.

Just watch this and save your $85:
www.cirquedusoleil.com/en/shows/michael-jackson-tour/default.aspx

Hockney’s Fresh Flowers

Fri, 21 Oct 2011 16:00:15 -0500

I was thrilled to be able to see David Hockney's Fresh Flowers exhibit at the ROM (Royal Ontario Museum), an exhibit devoted to Hockney's iPhone and iPad paintings he has been creating since 2008. Hockney uses the iOS App Brushes.

The exhibit uses 20 iPod touch devices, 25 iPads, and several LCD projectors to display about 100 images. Each iOS device cycles among 2-3 images and a few are set to display the animation of the painting in progress, a feature offered by the Brushes App.

A few video LCD screens were also part of the exhibit, most cycling through works, but a few showing painting animations in large-scale and one showing a video of Hockney painting on his iPad in Paris.

www.rom.on.ca/hockney

October Toronto Itinerary

Fri, 21 Oct 2011 10:00:15 -0500

Friday 10-21-11
- MDY to YTZ
- Royal Ontario Museum: David Hockney’s Fresh Flowers: Drawings on the iPhone and iPad
- Michael Jackson The Immortal World Tour at Air Canada Centre

Saturday 10-22-11
- Distillery District
- Distillery District Segway Tour
- The Bata Shoe Museum
- Chess the Musical

Sunday 10-23-11
- Happy 5th Birthday Porter Airlines!

Photo Album for Toronto October 2011