"Uploaded 14 days ago on Flickr, forwarded last night by Oregonian critic Shawn Levy. "This is an actual photo -- not Photoshopped -- of a second-run Portland movie theater, the Cinemagic, changing its marquee over from Hancock to TDK. As the fellow who sent it to me said, 'Sometimes it's better to work right to left.'"" - Jason Toney via Bookmarklet
Just for Cecily: I like this because it made me laugh. Instant fave. - Monique
"I knew this wouldn't go well for John McCain -- Barack Obama going to the Middle East and strutting around like we already elected him president. All he can hope for now is a gaffe, a faux pas and fumble to put a blight on what so far has been the "Everyone Loves Obama" show overseas." - Jason Toney via Bookmarklet
I'm sure this shot isn't going to move on FF the way it does if you follow the link, so please follow the link. This photo is mesmerizing to me. - Rachel L Fisher via Bookmarklet
Wow, if you follow the link (and you should), scroll down to the 'You might also like' thumbnails. Absolutely mesmerizing. - Kevin Fox
Kevin, the 'You might also like' is awesome. However two of those photos are not like the others, one being REALLY not like the others. Kinda funny. - Rachel L Fisher
I know! I mean, what do seagulls and signs of seagulls have to do with stereograms? - Kevin Fox
Thank God for the ESC key. It's interesting for 30 seconds, but then I've had enough. Really cool concept. - Daniel Shaw
This thread should read: "What it would like if Katherine Hepburn got a job as photographer for The Daily Prophet." Disclaimer: I am not a conservative Republican, so you can feel free to find this funny. - Rob Reed
Rachel -- still can't seem to get there -- something local to me perhaps - Brian Sullivan
Something seems definitely borked in the dns for that site -- all the servicing dns servers are inaccessible from where I am - Brian Sullivan
I saw this too and wanted to post it but couldn't figure out how it was done. thx. - JoEllen
I wish I could get an invite to FFFFound, I just have their rss feed. Haven't been able to find people with invites in the 2 months I've been looking. - Rachel L Fisher
I took piano lessons when I was younger and actually regret not remembering much/knowing how to play. It's probably because my parents were a little more relaxed than most Asian parents about it, thus never fully crushing my will. Don't get me wrong, I hated the lessons, but looking back, I wish I had practiced enough to actually have a little bit of skill on the piano. - April Buchheit
It makes sense to play to your strengths in career and such, but to what extent should you push yourself to improve at something you struggle at or are not as naturally inclined toward (for the sake of discipline, personal growth, or some sort of future returns on your efforts)? - Dan Hsiao
re: Dan Hsiao. According to the book, not at all. - niniane
I bailed out from my piano lesson when i was 9. My mom told me i'm going to regret it some day. Turn out she was right. Even for a guy, I do find men who know how to play piano sexier than say, someone who knows taekwondo or plays guitar like Jimmy Page. But then I guess if getting the xx chromosomes attention is my sole motivation in learning piano, it might be a right decision to give it up back then. - Alvin Woon
I'm not naturally inclined musically or to navigating my body through space. I played piano and french horn as a kid, and have not played a note since the day I graduated high school. Turns out, I have to practice and deal with moving my body through space from time to time though. As I'm writing this, my shin is throbbing from where I whacked it into a shopping cart and my arm is healing from a burn where I dropped a plantain I was shallow frying. - Clare Dibble
The list goes on of my klutzy maneuvers; I will never be smooth. But the patience and humility that this stupid body teaches me are valuable in other arenas of life, so I continue trying to use it (at least until there is a better option). My point is sometimes there are things you can't effectively quit, so maybe there is a different lesson in being forced to take piano than crushing your spirit and creativity. - Clare Dibble
I think the best thing you can do to get your kids to love music is to constantly surround them with it and teach by example. think "Sound of Music".... there's actually a great interview this month in one of the Guitar magazines with Eddie and Wolfgang Van Halen where ed says "i never wanted to force my son to take piano lessons like my parents did - i just wanted him to pick it up in the environement" or something like that - but I think that's dead on. Of course, we can't all be Eddie Van Halen. - Steve Olechowski
There's actually a very simple way to get Asian parents to stop forcing you to play piano. Just threaten to become a professional musician (i.e. starving artist) when you grow up. They'll freak out because they actually want you to be a doctor or engineer. My parents forced me to take piano (and violin) lessons, and I hated it for years. But by high school, I started liking it enough to think about majoring in music. The lessons stopped immediately. I literally couldn't beg them to let me go back. - Jennifer Taylor
"There's actually a very simple way to get Asian parents to stop forcing you to play piano. Just threaten to become a professional musician (i.e. starving artist) when you grow up." -- Shit, why didn't I think of that? That's brilliant. It would have worked. - niniane
yes! I detested the piano.. I truly hated being forced to learn it, but no, I didn't cut off my pinky... - Jing Lim
Oh, I have SO mixed feelings about this. I played piano at 4, violin at 10. I played piano until I was in high school and burnt out at 15, but ended up playing for the church choir and a HS jazz choir. I have no regrets about doing it, honestly - it's kind of nice to be able to read music and be able to plink out a melody on the piano, something which other people take for granted. But not if I was young. - Ernie
@niniane: Do you agree with the book/author? - Dan Hsiao
yes, I generally agree with the philosophy espoused by "Now Discover Your Strengths". - niniane
It seems to me like one of those one-heuristic-to-guide-your-life books that's a single sentence with 300 pages of anecdotes. Always play to your strengths, don't try to fix your weaknesses? Seems like that depends on which one will give you more benefit, which seems like something no absolutist rule can judge. But I obviously haven't read it. - ⓞnor
First, I’ll say I wished I got to study music when I was younger and had more time. As one grows up, there is a greater diversity as to what we can learn and do, but so little time. In any case, forcing children to do something they don’t want over such a long period of time is not good for the psyche. Asian parents can be quite stubborn and care a lot about not losing face. It’s possible the child will grow up to like music more later on, but forcing destroys any such possibility. - Zelnox
@ⓞnor: If anything, the book is stating the obvious. It doesn't ask you not to try to fix your weaknesses, but to realize that you're doing mostly remedial work by fixing them, and you will likely never excel at any work that depends heavily on your weaknesses. Improving your weaknesses is beneficial, of course -- I may never be a world-class athlete or musician or writer, but this doesn't mean I should stop working out or trying to develop the artistic side of my mind. - Tudor Bosman
