Can’t make it to the hinterlands of Tennessee? 
The good folks from AT&T are showing off their ability to show stuttering video via their high speed networks with a live video webcast of many of the acts from this year’s alt music festival and arts extravaganza happening about 200 miles north of Atlanta. Two of my faves – Ben Folds is on the air at 3pm ET today and Elvis Costello will be up at 6:30pm Saturday – will be featured. Unfortunately, neither Death Cab for Cutie or Radiohead will be streamed from the AT&T site. Link to AT&T’s ‘BlueRoom’ live streaming is here.
Sam meets Phyllis!
We had an unexpected visitor in town last night – Amy’s aunt Phyllis 
was in town for a CDC meeting and got to meet Sam for the first time. He was on his best behavior. Could it be related to us having dinner outside? Lately, Sam insists on being out on the porch as much as possible. Not so bad yesterday in the mid-70s at dinner time. Not so great last week when we were hovering in the mid-90s. Anyway, Sam had a grand old time, playing peekaboo through the back door with Phyllis. More photos are here.
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Kisses
Amy reminded me that I really should blog this today so we don’t forget. For some time now, we’ve made a point of Amy and Sam coming with me to the door as I leave for work in the morning to get kisses and a wave goodbye. Sam picked up the waving thing a few months back, and does that with gusto. Today, as I leaned in to kiss him he turned to me and reciprocated for the first time. I was frankly jealous of the kisses he’s been giving his mom for a few months now, so I was more than just a little bit happy that he decided to plant one on me as well. He’s such a sweet guy, it blows my mind.
MiniReview: A History of Violence
Let’s face it – David Cronenberg is a sick puppy. From the ear-piercing with a hatpin as foreplay in Videodrome, to the various ‘Acts of Violence’ in this flick, each with more and more blood bubbling, spraying and dripping, Cronenberg has shown that he always wants to press boundaries to their limit. That’s not to say that A History of Violence (IMDB, Netflix, Official Site) is overly gratuitous. There is a message in the madness. This is a memorable film, with themes of violence, family and sexuality all intertwined to hold a mirror up to the violence that permeates society today. Viggo Mortensen is great in the lead role, as is Maria Bello. I’m going to call this a ‘social action flick’ – if that is possible – and is best described as intense, sparse, and highlighted by sudden moments of emotion – classic Cronenberg fare.