Face Your Problems

I maintain a web site (and a gaggle of apps) that scrape event lists of all the clubs and concert venues in Oslo.  The other day, I was told that it missed a bob hund concert and I was all whaaa?

It turned out that the reason was that Facebook is now blocking all non-logged-in access to their event lists.

Because nobody who has a venue wants anybody but people on Facebook to show up when they have a concert.  I guess that’s what you get when you’re gardening in a walled garden.

This made about a dozen sites disappear off of CSID, so I had to get real and figure out how to deal with the Facebook “Graph” API.  And it turned out to be really easy to work with.  After I read “howto” web sites for half an hour, implementing it was just a matter of connecting app secrets with app IDs with client tokens with access tokens with long-lived access tokens.

It all makes sense.

It’s all on github as usual, but it’s trivial, really.  And I guess it’ll work until Facebook feels like they should cut off more access to the data, whenever they feel like that’ll make more sense for their quarterly outlook.

WFC Burundi: Journal d’un coopérant

Like the previous film in this series, it’s a fake documentary set in Africa. But other than that, it’s nothing like that one.

This one is very French-ey, and totally riveting at first. It’s not clear what the plot of the film is going to be about, and everything seems strange (from the “home-brewed” editing to, well, everything else). A quite original film.

But as the film progresses, you get some very awkward scenes, as the one where it’s explained that very little foreign aid gets into the hands of the people, which seems to go on for hours. The “documentary” conceit gets more and more far-fetched until it’s just risible in the last half.

And I was so disappointed that the film took the obvious turn towards the end.

Most of the actors are really, really good, though.

Journal d’un coopérant. Robert Morin. 2010. Burundi.

Green Apple Collins

  • green apples
  • sugar
  • water
  • lime
  • gin
  • Triple Sec
  • soda

Chop the apples into small chunks. Combine with sugar and water in a sauce pan and bring to a boil. Simmer for fifteen minutes.

Remove from heat and cool off. Strain through a sieve into a bowl. Strain again and chill.

To make the cocktail, pour equal parts of this syrup and gin and some Triple Sec into a shaker. Add a dash of lime. Shake with ice. Strain into an ice-filled glass and top up with soda.

This post is part of the World of Films and Cocktails series. Explore the map.

WFC Gabon: Sick Birds Die Easy

Oops. This film isn’t really Gabonese. It’s an American… er… documentary? about some druggies going to Gabon to do some ibogaine (a hallucinogen).

Or is it?

It starts off pretty convincingly as a documentary, and then it goes all Blair Witch. Those bits are really entertaining (and seem extremely scripted), but then it… kinda peters out? And turns back into a documentary?

It’s a very strange way of making a film, but there are parts here that are exciting and long stretches where it’s just annoying.

(And Ross sounds just like Brace on Gigolos.)

Hm… let’s bing… Oh! It was meant to be a scripted Blair Witch ripoff, but then things didn’t work out.

That makes sense. Even if perhaps that’s all also just a joke? I don’t know. It was enjoyable to watch, anyway, even if it’s not completely successful. I think.

OR WAS IT!?

Sick Birds Die Easy. Nicholas Fackler. 2013. Gabon.

Drunken Virgin Mojito Apple

Fresh mint
Cane sugar
Lemon
Apple juice
Soda
Rum

Muddle the lemon and the sugar. Add the mint and muddle lightly. Add
apple juice and rum and shake with ice. Strain into a cocktail glass.
Garnish with some slices of lemon.

This post is part of the World of Films and Cocktails series. Explore the map.

WFC Eritrea: ትዕግስቲ

Another Amazon exclusive.

This film has a quite original plot, but unfortunately it’s just not very good.

Tigisti. Daniel Tesfamariam. 2012. Eritrea.

Tej Cocktail

  • 2 parts homemade tej
  • 2 parts dark rum
  • 1 part lime juice
  • club soda

Shake vigorously with ice and strain into a glass. Top off with club soda and garnish with a Maraschino cherry and an orange slice.

To make homemade tej, heat up a cup of honey in a sauce pan and keep it simmering for ten minutes. Add more cinnamon and nutmeg than you think is reasonable. Add a cup of pureed pear. Simmer for another fifteen minutes. Stir often. Cool before adding to the cocktail.

I made the tej last weekend and the kitchen still smells strongly of honey. The tej itself is kinda tasty, but mixed with lime and rum, it all turned rather… bad…

This post is part of the World of Films and Cocktails series. Explore the map.