Day: May 15, 2008

I read this comic called Fables which is a modern day telling of all the old fable characters you know and love and how they live in New York City.  We’re talking Snow White, the Big Bad Wolf, Prince Charming, Red Riding Hood…all different characters from all fantasy stories end up living together because there’s an enemy taking over ALL their lands back home.

I read an interesting article today about how the creators are going to use Peter Pan soon and how they are unable to do so at the beginning because he was not public domain in England (whereas he was in America).  But now that Peter Pan is public domain, they can use him in their stories.

I find it interesting to think about characters from folklore stories being copyrighted.  I suppose everything that is created can have a copyright.  It is strange to think about something entering public domain and able to be used in any manner someone wishes.

While it isn’t a stretch of the imagination in terms of characters in a story, think about when the Beatles music will enter public domain within the next decade…their music will be able to be put into films or albums and used as public domain.  We can mashup their songs with other songs, creating remixes, morphing it into something altogether different, and altogether legal to do.  It will be an interesting shift.  I would like to think that copyright would have a minimum time of living as long as the creators are living.  I think it would be strange to see my work entering the public domain.

Microeconomics is coming along well.  After the first day with my laptop in class, I realized that I would need superpowers to be able to draw graphs on the fly in that class so I have now resorted to paper and pen to scribe the complex linear graphs that he puts up on the blackboard.

I feel that I have gone back in time with this class…he writes stuff on the blackboard and here I am writing it out on a piece of paper.  You may laugh and say “Isn’t that how it is always done?” but I will have you know that this is the first professor in the past three years who has NOT used PowerPoint slides in their class.  I will also admit that I feel that more information is actually being input into my brain as I write down the notes, whereas with the PowerPoint slides, I simply stare at them and remember that I will have to study them for the midterm.

The professor definitely glazes over some mathematical functions and in the syllabus, it is noted that you need to possess a ‘thorough mastery of algebra’ to succeed in the course.  99% of the time I am on the ball, but that 1% creeps in around 2 hours into the course when my brain can’t follow what he’s doing and I really have to stare at the board to realize what he has skipped over.

It’s not too bad though, but we will see at the midterm next week.

– In other news, Mike is going to have a guest spot on this website to talk about his newfound love…Le Roi du Biere which is a beer store in Aylmer.  He ended up saving big money by going there to purchase beer and we may actually start stockpiling some in our basement over the summer in order to save some cash.  Stay tuned for his thoughts on it!

– Filed under “It was too good to be true”, Aunt Lois let me know that the comics we were supposed to get are unknown at this point as the guy she was getting them from is going to peruse through them and pick out which ones he wants to keep.  In the end, I can’t blame the guy.  I wouldn’t want to be giving up all my comics either.  Here’s to hoping that we don’t end up with some ALF comics!  We shall see what we end up with!

– Vero has now left town to do a whirlwind tour of Ontario.  First stop, Barrie where her friends Emilie and Ryan have purchased a house.  They will prepare for their friends wedding shower in Hearst this weekend.  Filed under “It’s so good, and it’s still true!” category, Vero’s grandmother has given her the keys to her car as she doesn’t need it anymore.  So if all goes well, Vero will be driving back to Ottawa in her new wheels come Monday!  I am excited.  Getting a car is a sweet deal.  I still remember the car my parents bought me after I graduated.  That led to an exciting summer of freedom.  Even though I complained about that summer when it was happening (Summer of ’01 when I had no job and was out of school), I still remember that car allowing me to go to the beach, or to go to Kingston to visit Eric and Annie, or to drive back home once in awhile.  Even though it broke down in the fall, it was still the best gift I could ever receive (pending these comics that may end up on my doorstep, of course!  Ha ha).  If it hasn’t been mentioned here before, Vero ended up finding a job and will start in a few weeks.  She is super excited, I’m super excited and all is well in the world.

– My sister and John have found a sweet apartment in Kapuskasing to live in.  It is Mike’s sister’s/husbands old place.  It is probably one the better apartments I’ve seen in town so I’m excited that Maureen and John ended up grabbing it.  I guess if they are moving in a few weeks, that means that Mike’s sister is also due to be moving into their new house in the near future as well.  Exciting times for all!