Following up on my Miyazaki post from last night, the unveiling of this year's Oscar nominations shows Miyazaki's Howl's Moving Castle nominated in the Best Animated Feature category. THe other nominees are Corpse Bride and Wallace & Gromit in The Curse of the Were-Rabbit.
Interesting to note is that none of the nominated films autilize 3D computer animation. Howl's is traditional 2d cel animation, Corpse is stop-motion and Wallace & Gromit come to life via claymation. I know Aardman used some computer animation to augment their iconic cheese-loving clay characters. (In fact, the studio's next picture is entirely CGI, but made to capture the Plasticine look of their previous films.) I read that Miyazaki will allow some CGI in his films, but it cannot make up more than 10% of the total screen time. Burton used off-the-shelf digital still cameras to shoot the frames for his film. So there may have been some
digital technology employed in each of these, but none of them were created entirely on the computer.
This is interesting because a few years ago, Disney famously put all their animation eggs in the CGI basket. The result? Chicken Little. Enough said. I read at the time that Disney Animation sold all of their cel animation stands. When they got out of the 2D business, they were out for good. The Disney execs believed that what made Shrek and the Pixar films popular at the box office was the technology. That's what you get for letting paper-pushers make creative decisions.
But maybe Disney didn't get out of the 2D biz after all. When they sold those animation stands, they were snapped up by a little company in Northern California... called Pixar. Hopefully the animation stands won't be the only traditions coming home to Disney. Maybe the idea of telling good stories will return as well.
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Posted by Wayne to Stone Bridge: Film at 1/31/2006 11:11:00 AM
Tuesday, January 31, 2006
Monday, January 30, 2006
[Stone Bridge: Film] Why the Japanese Make All the Cool Stuff
Leave it to the ever restless minds of the Japanese culture, in their unending quest for perfection, to invent a better way to fold a shirt.
In all seriousness, I've been really getting into the films of Japanese animation genius Hayao Miyazaki. Turner Classic Movies has been playing his films every Thursday night this week. Savannah and I absolutely fell in love with "Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind" and "My Neighbor Totoro." "Castle in the Sky" is vastly superior to the Disney film inspired by it, "Atlantis."
I'm looking forward to watching a couple more Studio Ghibli films I Tivo's, especially "Pom Poko," about a group of shape-shifting raccoons trying to save their forest home.
Especially encouraging is that the Miyazaki films were introduced by Pixar founder John Lasseter. Miyazaki-san is Lasseter's good friend and mentor. With Lasseter taking over as Chief Creative Director for all of Disney Animation following the Pixar-Disney merger, Disney is due for a renaissance of the highest magnitude. Lasseter could be the new Walt Disney.
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Posted by Wayne to Stone Bridge: Film at 1/30/2006 08:07:00 PM
In all seriousness, I've been really getting into the films of Japanese animation genius Hayao Miyazaki. Turner Classic Movies has been playing his films every Thursday night this week. Savannah and I absolutely fell in love with "Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind" and "My Neighbor Totoro." "Castle in the Sky" is vastly superior to the Disney film inspired by it, "Atlantis."
I'm looking forward to watching a couple more Studio Ghibli films I Tivo's, especially "Pom Poko," about a group of shape-shifting raccoons trying to save their forest home.
Especially encouraging is that the Miyazaki films were introduced by Pixar founder John Lasseter. Miyazaki-san is Lasseter's good friend and mentor. With Lasseter taking over as Chief Creative Director for all of Disney Animation following the Pixar-Disney merger, Disney is due for a renaissance of the highest magnitude. Lasseter could be the new Walt Disney.
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Posted by Wayne to Stone Bridge: Film at 1/30/2006 08:07:00 PM
[Stone Bridge: Family] And Here We Go Again
After six nights of sleeping at least seven hours straight, Cooper reverted to sleeping 3-4 hours at a time. It's funny how quickly your body adapts. At first, we couldn't sleep more than five hours without waking up. After a couple of nights, we were fully enjoying our sleep. So, when he went back to his short nights, it was very frustrating.
Three nights later, however, Cooper gave us a late Christmas present. He began to sleep not seven, not eight, but nine hours at a time! Cue the angels and bring me a trumpet! It's only been two nights now, but I'll take it.
On the flip side, Savannah has another cold. We've asked her several times if she feels "sinusy." So she has adopted that term and diagnosed herself with a "bad sinusy infection."
A few other recent Savannah gems:
I was aggravating her one day last week, being obfuscatory about something she was asking me. After a couple of attempts to get a serious answer out of me, she turned to her mother with complete exasperation and said, "could you talk to him, please?" Kelli and I were so cracked up by the seriousness of her tone, that we completely forgot what she was asking.
As she was putting on her pajamas (or janamas, in Savvanese) one night, she accidentally put the pants on backward. We pointed this out to her. To her, the solution was simple -- just spin them around. (Her blonde roots run very deep.) We explained to her the error of her idea. Being me, I couldn't leave it alone. I I started to say "if you only had one leg, that might work." All I got out was, "if you only had one leg." Without missing a beat, she finished the sentence, "I'd walk really funny."
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Posted by Wayne to Stone Bridge: Family at 1/30/2006 07:01:00 PM
Three nights later, however, Cooper gave us a late Christmas present. He began to sleep not seven, not eight, but nine hours at a time! Cue the angels and bring me a trumpet! It's only been two nights now, but I'll take it.
On the flip side, Savannah has another cold. We've asked her several times if she feels "sinusy." So she has adopted that term and diagnosed herself with a "bad sinusy infection."
A few other recent Savannah gems:
I was aggravating her one day last week, being obfuscatory about something she was asking me. After a couple of attempts to get a serious answer out of me, she turned to her mother with complete exasperation and said, "could you talk to him, please?" Kelli and I were so cracked up by the seriousness of her tone, that we completely forgot what she was asking.
As she was putting on her pajamas (or janamas, in Savvanese) one night, she accidentally put the pants on backward. We pointed this out to her. To her, the solution was simple -- just spin them around. (Her blonde roots run very deep.) We explained to her the error of her idea. Being me, I couldn't leave it alone. I I started to say "if you only had one leg, that might work." All I got out was, "if you only had one leg." Without missing a beat, she finished the sentence, "I'd walk really funny."
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Posted by Wayne to Stone Bridge: Family at 1/30/2006 07:01:00 PM
Thursday, January 26, 2006
[Stone Bridge: Family] Driving Me to Drink
I joined my dear friend Shea for cheap beers at Wings tonight. Shea's going through a rough divorce after 14 years, so he needed a drink. Me, I'm happily married, I should be able to have a brew for no reason at all. But this week has been different. We're still sleeping through the night -- for the most part -- so that's not a problem. But Savannah has been somewhat of a challenge this week.
At her school they have a color system for behavior. If your kid doesn't make a ny trouble, they stay on green. If they murder the teacher and place her head on a pike to frighten away villagers from neighboring tribes, their color is changed to red. For three days straight, Savvi has been on Yellow. That places her somewhere in the "future leader of a rebellion against the galactic empire, whether evil or no" category.
She maily gets in trouble for laughing and playing during nap time. We let it slide the first day. Inspired by our church, we call that "granting her grace." The second day she got a good talking to and a strategy for preventing trouble. My brilliant close-your-eyes-and-turn-your-back-on-the-instigators plan didn't work at all. Yellow for three days straight.
She was warned that a third day of yellow would reuslt in a spanking and no TV or movies for a week. Given the choice, she had Kelli spank her. She may be a future sociopath, but at least she thinks well on her feet. We reminded her of the no-TV rule and sent her to bed for a nap.
Kelli went up a few minutes later to discover that she had deliberately had an accident in her bed. Self-control and the Holy Spirit prevented Kelli from doing her bodily harm. After that little display, we took away all of her Chronicles of Naria toys (a very serious punishment) and boxed up her DVDs (tantamount to torture.) She'll get the toys and DVDs back in a week, if she stays on green and has no more accidents.
Anyway, all that to say I needed my beer, more than I would have thought a week ago. Plus, it's always good to get more out of shape before starting a documentary about getting in shape. I know, it's a cheap excuse, but I'll keep milking it, thank you.
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Posted by Wayne to Stone Bridge: Family at 1/26/2006 07:17:00 PM
At her school they have a color system for behavior. If your kid doesn't make a ny trouble, they stay on green. If they murder the teacher and place her head on a pike to frighten away villagers from neighboring tribes, their color is changed to red. For three days straight, Savvi has been on Yellow. That places her somewhere in the "future leader of a rebellion against the galactic empire, whether evil or no" category.
She maily gets in trouble for laughing and playing during nap time. We let it slide the first day. Inspired by our church, we call that "granting her grace." The second day she got a good talking to and a strategy for preventing trouble. My brilliant close-your-eyes-and-turn-your-back-on-the-instigators plan didn't work at all. Yellow for three days straight.
She was warned that a third day of yellow would reuslt in a spanking and no TV or movies for a week. Given the choice, she had Kelli spank her. She may be a future sociopath, but at least she thinks well on her feet. We reminded her of the no-TV rule and sent her to bed for a nap.
Kelli went up a few minutes later to discover that she had deliberately had an accident in her bed. Self-control and the Holy Spirit prevented Kelli from doing her bodily harm. After that little display, we took away all of her Chronicles of Naria toys (a very serious punishment) and boxed up her DVDs (tantamount to torture.) She'll get the toys and DVDs back in a week, if she stays on green and has no more accidents.
Anyway, all that to say I needed my beer, more than I would have thought a week ago. Plus, it's always good to get more out of shape before starting a documentary about getting in shape. I know, it's a cheap excuse, but I'll keep milking it, thank you.
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Posted by Wayne to Stone Bridge: Family at 1/26/2006 07:17:00 PM
[Stone Bridge: Fun] Do Your Part... to Knock the Earth Off its Orbit
Here's a link to the sitge for "World Jump Day" -- an effort to have everyone in the world (or at least a few hundred million people) jump up at the same time to knock the Earth into a wider orbit, thereby lengthening daylight hours and reducing global warming.
Some people have way too much time on their hands. By the way, if you live in the Central Time Zone, we jump at 5:39:13 PM on July 20th.
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Posted by Wayne to Stone Bridge: Fun at 1/26/2006 07:12:00 PM
Some people have way too much time on their hands. By the way, if you live in the Central Time Zone, we jump at 5:39:13 PM on July 20th.
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Posted by Wayne to Stone Bridge: Fun at 1/26/2006 07:12:00 PM
Sunday, January 22, 2006
[Stone Bridge: Family] More Sleep and a Little Laughter
Okay, knock wood, Cooper has slept at least 7 hours straightr for the last three nights. In each case, we've been in bed for 6 of those hours. Unfortunately, our neighbors across the street had a big party for their teenage son following his spring formal. I've never seen this kid have too many friends over, so I got the distinct feeling that his parents were buying his popularity. Maybe I'm wrong. What I know for sure is that waking up at 2:30 in the morning to the sound of squealing teenage girls and testosterone-charged high school boys screaming profanities is not the most pleasant experience in the world. It can only be matched by the time we awoke in a hotel in Germany with German vendorsw screaming at each other in the market below. We thought we were in a WWII movie. Not pleasant.
When we awoke this morning, we noticed that there were still at least a dozen cars outside from the party. If the kids were drinking (which I'm sure they were,) then I'm glad they stayed. I went to parties in high school, but I don't ever remember staying past midnight, and I sure as hell never stayed overnight. I look outside and see not only boys, but also girls leaving the neighbor's house. I have four words for that: No Daughter of Mine!
Savannah asked on the way to church why there were so many cars outside. We explained that the neighbors had a party. "A birthday party?" she asked. "No." "What kind of party?" Kelli and I didn't miss a beat, "the kind of party you're never going to."
Aside from the teenage debauchery, we've been sleeping pretty well for a change. Kelli and I both seem to have aged in reverse over the last week. Now we only look 5-7 years older than we are, rather than 10-15. I'd post pictures to prove how old we were looking, but they're too mortifying.
Starting a little over a week ago, Cooper is laughing for real. He looks for reasons to laugh, sort of goading us on whenever we do something that he thinks is funny. The poor guy gets the hiccups every time he starts to laugh. That doesn't deter him. Just looking at him brings a smile. Unless he's hungry, he's always in a good mood. But he is hungry a lot.
Cooper is eating about every two hours, typically 4-6 ounces. We're really hoping to get permission from his doctor to start feeding him real food. He watches us whenever we eat, longingly staring at each bite. We tried giving him an empty spoon to see if he could handle it. He opened and bit down at the corect times. This kid wants to eat.
He's holding his head up really well. He should be able to sit up, since he is basically a pyramid fromt he waist up. Alas, all that squishy body mass just won't hold him up.
Sorry I haven't been posting much, but we're working on severall speculative projects that might substantially change the way we work, so I've been a little distracted. I'll be setting up a new blog to track my progress in the Body-for-LIFE challenge, including some behind-the-scenes looks at the documentary I'm making about the effort.
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Posted by Wayne to Stone Bridge: Family at 1/22/2006 07:52:00 PM
When we awoke this morning, we noticed that there were still at least a dozen cars outside from the party. If the kids were drinking (which I'm sure they were,) then I'm glad they stayed. I went to parties in high school, but I don't ever remember staying past midnight, and I sure as hell never stayed overnight. I look outside and see not only boys, but also girls leaving the neighbor's house. I have four words for that: No Daughter of Mine!
Savannah asked on the way to church why there were so many cars outside. We explained that the neighbors had a party. "A birthday party?" she asked. "No." "What kind of party?" Kelli and I didn't miss a beat, "the kind of party you're never going to."
Aside from the teenage debauchery, we've been sleeping pretty well for a change. Kelli and I both seem to have aged in reverse over the last week. Now we only look 5-7 years older than we are, rather than 10-15. I'd post pictures to prove how old we were looking, but they're too mortifying.
Starting a little over a week ago, Cooper is laughing for real. He looks for reasons to laugh, sort of goading us on whenever we do something that he thinks is funny. The poor guy gets the hiccups every time he starts to laugh. That doesn't deter him. Just looking at him brings a smile. Unless he's hungry, he's always in a good mood. But he is hungry a lot.
Cooper is eating about every two hours, typically 4-6 ounces. We're really hoping to get permission from his doctor to start feeding him real food. He watches us whenever we eat, longingly staring at each bite. We tried giving him an empty spoon to see if he could handle it. He opened and bit down at the corect times. This kid wants to eat.
He's holding his head up really well. He should be able to sit up, since he is basically a pyramid fromt he waist up. Alas, all that squishy body mass just won't hold him up.
Sorry I haven't been posting much, but we're working on severall speculative projects that might substantially change the way we work, so I've been a little distracted. I'll be setting up a new blog to track my progress in the Body-for-LIFE challenge, including some behind-the-scenes looks at the documentary I'm making about the effort.
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Posted by Wayne to Stone Bridge: Family at 1/22/2006 07:52:00 PM
Wednesday, January 18, 2006
[Stone Bridge: Spam Title Haiku] Vol. 6
This edition of Spam Title Haiku is rife with misspellings and absurdity:
Re: Styx heckle
how we deal with the storms. We can
A eat go troop dink
her ask my scherzo
are common, with an estimated
But type at ti forefather
As dance so overseer
On can to painting slips edgy
it can my stele programer
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Posted by Wayne to Stone Bridge: Spam Title Haiku at 1/18/2006 12:24:00 PM
Re: Styx heckle
how we deal with the storms. We can
A eat go troop dink
her ask my scherzo
are common, with an estimated
But type at ti forefather
As dance so overseer
On can to painting slips edgy
it can my stele programer
--
Posted by Wayne to Stone Bridge: Spam Title Haiku at 1/18/2006 12:24:00 PM
Tuesday, January 17, 2006
[Stone Bridge: Family] Sleep at Last! Sleep at Last!
Yesterday was a tough one in the Franklin house. Cooper is usually a pretty laid-back kid, but yesterday was a different story. He cried when you put him down. He whined when you picked him up, then he would cry, then he would doze off. We put him down and the whole thing would start over again. Then he would get hungry. We would feed him, but never fast enough for him. As soon as the bottle hit his mouth, he began to push it away. After a half hour or so, we would manage to get a few ounces in him before he dozed off again. Holding of breath, praying, crossing of fingers -- and then he would wake up crying... again.
Finally last night, after switching him back to a milder form of formula, he took about 10 ounces in an hour then fell asleep. And he slept... And he slept... And he slept. He slept for nearly eight hours! Hallelujah!
For those of you who have never lived with a newborn, you can't possibly understand how monumental this moment was for us. I tried to add up the total number of full nights of sleep I have had since last August. I couldn't remember enough of them to come up with a total, but I know the average is around 1-2 nights per month. PER MONTH!
Funny things happen to your body when you don't sleep any more often than that. One of the weirdest is that you forget how to sleep. Last night, though Coop was sleeping soundly, Kelli and I both woke up after about 5 hours and slept restlessly for the rest of the night. Which was only complicated by another symptom of sleep deprivation: the unflinching desire to beat the crap out of somebody -- anybody -- just because you can. So far, we've restrained from physically beating each other.
So when we couldn't sleep due to our own bodies, we did the only reasonable thing we could -- self-flagellation.
Now, we're not talking about a one-man version of The Passion. But if movies have taught us anything, it's that a bunch of oranges wrapped up in a bed sheet, when whacked against your abdomen at a decent velocity, will result in severe pain and internal organ damage. What movies haven't taught us is how to self-administer a citrus belly-whacking on very little sleep. After several failed attempts and converting our bedroom wall into a giant juicer, we took our sticky, juicy, organs-undamaged selves back to bed and decided to be grateful for the sleep we couldn't take advantage of.
I know. I ended that last sentence with a preposition. You want proper grammar? Find a blogger who sleeps all night every night.
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Posted by Wayne to Stone Bridge: Family at 1/17/2006 07:16:00 PM
Finally last night, after switching him back to a milder form of formula, he took about 10 ounces in an hour then fell asleep. And he slept... And he slept... And he slept. He slept for nearly eight hours! Hallelujah!
For those of you who have never lived with a newborn, you can't possibly understand how monumental this moment was for us. I tried to add up the total number of full nights of sleep I have had since last August. I couldn't remember enough of them to come up with a total, but I know the average is around 1-2 nights per month. PER MONTH!
Funny things happen to your body when you don't sleep any more often than that. One of the weirdest is that you forget how to sleep. Last night, though Coop was sleeping soundly, Kelli and I both woke up after about 5 hours and slept restlessly for the rest of the night. Which was only complicated by another symptom of sleep deprivation: the unflinching desire to beat the crap out of somebody -- anybody -- just because you can. So far, we've restrained from physically beating each other.
So when we couldn't sleep due to our own bodies, we did the only reasonable thing we could -- self-flagellation.
Now, we're not talking about a one-man version of The Passion. But if movies have taught us anything, it's that a bunch of oranges wrapped up in a bed sheet, when whacked against your abdomen at a decent velocity, will result in severe pain and internal organ damage. What movies haven't taught us is how to self-administer a citrus belly-whacking on very little sleep. After several failed attempts and converting our bedroom wall into a giant juicer, we took our sticky, juicy, organs-undamaged selves back to bed and decided to be grateful for the sleep we couldn't take advantage of.
I know. I ended that last sentence with a preposition. You want proper grammar? Find a blogger who sleeps all night every night.
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Posted by Wayne to Stone Bridge: Family at 1/17/2006 07:16:00 PM
Saturday, January 14, 2006
[Stone Bridge: Film] Science Fiction... Science Reality
Sorry for the lack of posts this week, but I've been pretty busy with work stuff. As I've spent long hours in the office, my primary means of maintaining my sanity has been to put on the DVD of my new favorite movie, Serenity. There's a scene in the film where we learn that TVs and video screens not only display information, but also act as security cameras, allowing the government to keep tabs on anyone watching what's on the grid.
I've always been fascinated by the combination of screens and cameras into a single device. Now it seems that Uncle Stevie and the good folks at Apple have patented just such a device.
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Posted by Wayne to Stone Bridge: Film at 1/14/2006 04:03:00 PM
Thursday, January 12, 2006
[Stone Bridge: Fun] I wonder what Bugs Bunny has to say about this...
I ran across a great article today about an old man's conflicting stories about how his house burned down -- by wind-driven embers or by flaming mouse? What I find intriguing is the way he talks:
"That dang mouse crawled in there."
"I have an awful hate for those critters."
I think the real lie is the man's name. Look at the evidence: He catches a mouse and cruelly throws it into a fire -- proof-positive of an irrational hatred toward rodents. He talks like an irascible cowpoke. It's painfully obvious that this man is none other than Yosemite Sam. Sam made his first appearance in 1945, 61 years ago. Mr. "Mares" is now 81. You do the math.
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Posted by Wayne to Stone Bridge: Fun at 1/11/2006 10:07:00 AM
"That dang mouse crawled in there."
"I have an awful hate for those critters."
I think the real lie is the man's name. Look at the evidence: He catches a mouse and cruelly throws it into a fire -- proof-positive of an irrational hatred toward rodents. He talks like an irascible cowpoke. It's painfully obvious that this man is none other than Yosemite Sam. Sam made his first appearance in 1945, 61 years ago. Mr. "Mares" is now 81. You do the math.
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Posted by Wayne to Stone Bridge: Fun at 1/11/2006 10:07:00 AM
Saturday, January 07, 2006
[Stone Bridge: Spam Title Haiku] Vol. 5
This week's entries are rich in simile:
But want as artillery scrimshaw
With wait as humanitarian handout
Or want is tippet disperse
As hurt on gavel
As make do shellacking pasturage
And give as exposure
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Posted by Wayne to Stone Bridge: Spam Title Haiku at 1/07/2006 12:41:00 PM
But want as artillery scrimshaw
With wait as humanitarian handout
Or want is tippet disperse
As hurt on gavel
As make do shellacking pasturage
And give as exposure
--
Posted by Wayne to Stone Bridge: Spam Title Haiku at 1/07/2006 12:41:00 PM
Friday, January 06, 2006
[Stone Bridge: Fotos] Youthifying Treatment
Being the beginning of a new year, everyone seems to be on a self-improvement bent. I, myself, will soon start a new fitness regime -- and hopefully a new documentary to track my efforts. Gym memberships go up. Cookie sales go down.
Kelli and I stumbled upon a topical cream that claims to "reinvigorate as it conditions, leaving your skin with a healthy, youthful glow." They stop short of saying that it will make you actually look younger, but it is definitely implied. We tried the recommended treatment for a couple of days, and we thought we saw a little improvement. Then we decided to throw caution to the wind and really exceeded the recommendations. That may have been a mistake, as you can see in the photos below.
Here are our before photos. (The one of Kelli is a few years old, but is still a good representation of her skin condition before the treatment.)
BEFORE:
Scroll down for the amazing (and somewhat terrifying) results.
AFTER:
I'd type more, but I'm re-learning how to hold my head up, and it's completely exhausting!
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Posted by Wayne to Stone Bridge: Fotos at 1/06/2006 10:39:00 AM
Kelli and I stumbled upon a topical cream that claims to "reinvigorate as it conditions, leaving your skin with a healthy, youthful glow." They stop short of saying that it will make you actually look younger, but it is definitely implied. We tried the recommended treatment for a couple of days, and we thought we saw a little improvement. Then we decided to throw caution to the wind and really exceeded the recommendations. That may have been a mistake, as you can see in the photos below.
Here are our before photos. (The one of Kelli is a few years old, but is still a good representation of her skin condition before the treatment.)
BEFORE:
Scroll down for the amazing (and somewhat terrifying) results.
AFTER:
I'd type more, but I'm re-learning how to hold my head up, and it's completely exhausting!
--
Posted by Wayne to Stone Bridge: Fotos at 1/06/2006 10:39:00 AM
[Stone Bridge: FYI] More on Categories
Hopefully, I've successfully set up the blog now to categorize in two ways: the first is to click on the category link at the bottom of each post. This will take you to a del.icio.us listing page with all of the posts in that category. The seccond way to access them is to click on the category links in the sidebar. This method will take you to a blog page with posts in that category. This method will keep you in the friendly confines of the Stone Bridge, but will only feature posts created on or after January 6, 2006.
I'll work on tagging all archived posts soon.
NOTE: For those of you who were treated to a posting of all my spam earlier today -- Sorry. It should be fixed now.
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Posted by Wayne to Stone Bridge: FYI at 1/06/2006 10:11:00 AM
I'll work on tagging all archived posts soon.
NOTE: For those of you who were treated to a posting of all my spam earlier today -- Sorry. It should be fixed now.
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Posted by Wayne to Stone Bridge: FYI at 1/06/2006 10:11:00 AM
Tuesday, January 03, 2006
New on the Stone Bridge: Categories!
I'm working on adding categories to the blog. Hopefully, I'll have it working tonight...
I think I've got this thing working two different ways. First, if you click on the category(ies) listed in the footer of each post, you'll get a del.icio.us listing of all my posts under that category. Great for users already familiar with the del.icio.us service, but is can be off-putting to those who aren't.
The second option is to click on one of the categories in the sidebar to the right. That will give you a page of posts in that category.
UPDATE: It may take a little while, but soon I'll have all the old posts tagged and categorized.
I think I've got this thing working two different ways. First, if you click on the category(ies) listed in the footer of each post, you'll get a del.icio.us listing of all my posts under that category. Great for users already familiar with the del.icio.us service, but is can be off-putting to those who aren't.
The second option is to click on one of the categories in the sidebar to the right. That will give you a page of posts in that category.
UPDATE: It may take a little while, but soon I'll have all the old posts tagged and categorized.
Movie Windows
This post has nothing to do with watching multimedia on that terrible operating system from Seattle. This is about the ever shrinking window of time between the theatrical release of films and the DVD release. A new article at Box Office Prophets sums up the challenges of simultaneous theatrical and DVD release.
Mark Cuban, the billionaire and controversial owner of the NBA's Dallas Mavericks, has founded 2929 Entertainment with plans to distribute films simultaneously in theatres, on DVD and on pay television.
It will be interesting to see how this thing shakes out. I personally think that it could be the death of movie theatres (because of the reasons outlined in the BOP article), and for that reason it won't succeed. Theatrical release is absolutely essential to the successful release of even a mid-budget film. A release in the cinema gives a film credibility. Other than genre films (especially kid flicks), when was the last time you recall rushing out to buy a DVD of a film that wasn't in theatres first? I don't think it's impossible for DVD premieres to gain legitmiacy, but it will take some years to change the mindset of the average film fan.
Another reason I don't see the marketplace allowing the death of the cinemaplex, is that people like going to the movies. I have a nice surround sound system, and I would have a large HDTV if I weren't too cheap to buy one. It's great, especially for watching my favorite films over and over again. Until I can build a home theatre with a 50-foot-wide screen and enough seats for 100 people, it just won't be as much fun as a good experience in the cinema.
Nothing beats hearing a crowd's reaction to a good scare or a great joke. I like hearing the sniffles of men and women alike in the anonymous darkness of a theatre. Cinema has always been a communal experience. Take film out of the theatre, and it's just television.
Mark Cuban, the billionaire and controversial owner of the NBA's Dallas Mavericks, has founded 2929 Entertainment with plans to distribute films simultaneously in theatres, on DVD and on pay television.
It will be interesting to see how this thing shakes out. I personally think that it could be the death of movie theatres (because of the reasons outlined in the BOP article), and for that reason it won't succeed. Theatrical release is absolutely essential to the successful release of even a mid-budget film. A release in the cinema gives a film credibility. Other than genre films (especially kid flicks), when was the last time you recall rushing out to buy a DVD of a film that wasn't in theatres first? I don't think it's impossible for DVD premieres to gain legitmiacy, but it will take some years to change the mindset of the average film fan.
Another reason I don't see the marketplace allowing the death of the cinemaplex, is that people like going to the movies. I have a nice surround sound system, and I would have a large HDTV if I weren't too cheap to buy one. It's great, especially for watching my favorite films over and over again. Until I can build a home theatre with a 50-foot-wide screen and enough seats for 100 people, it just won't be as much fun as a good experience in the cinema.
Nothing beats hearing a crowd's reaction to a good scare or a great joke. I like hearing the sniffles of men and women alike in the anonymous darkness of a theatre. Cinema has always been a communal experience. Take film out of the theatre, and it's just television.
Monday, January 02, 2006
Spank the Monkey Hard and Fast
Okay, minds out of the gutter, please! Check this out! The goal is to spank the monkey at a speed of at least 200 mph. Finally a videogame that takes advantage of my life experience. Okay, back into the gutter.
Galactic Do-Over
I'm sure I'm not the only person who, as he grows older, ponders some of the decisions of his past and wishes he could go back in time to slap himself silly. I'm not going to bore you with all of the colossally poor decisions that have changed the direction of my life. If you know me at all, you can probably guess about 90% of them anyway.
Another factor of growing older is an increasing sense of mortality. A slowing metabolism or an increasing number of crow's feet can make you wish for a time portal that would allow you to not only visit the past but to do so in the person of your younger self -- with all of the memories, wisdom and life experience you currently posess, of course.
Well, this website doesn't promise you the plans for building your own time machine or to chunk you through a wormhole, but it does offer you an interesting persepective on your relative age.
Let's take me for example. I am 35.8 years old here at home on terra firma -- that's 13,090 days. But on Mercury, I am 148.7 years old, which is only slightly less than my age in days on Mercury: 223.3. On Venus, my age in days and years is even closer: 53.8 days, 58.2 years. That's right, I've lived less Venusian days than years.
I'm really happy with my Martian age of 19. I'm still young enough to have that feeling of invincibility, but I'm past that pesky puberty phase with all of its hormones and sudden emergence of hairs. It would of course mean that I broke the law earlier today as I celebrated Alabama's victory in the Cotton Bowl.
Moving to the outer planets, you really see the effect of distance from the sun.. On Pluto, I am only .144 years old. At that rate, I could live to 250 on Earth and still die of SIDS on Pluto. I wonder if I were granted Plutonian citizenship if I could argue that none of my debts are legitimate, since infants are not legally competent to sign contracts.
Another factor of growing older is an increasing sense of mortality. A slowing metabolism or an increasing number of crow's feet can make you wish for a time portal that would allow you to not only visit the past but to do so in the person of your younger self -- with all of the memories, wisdom and life experience you currently posess, of course.
Well, this website doesn't promise you the plans for building your own time machine or to chunk you through a wormhole, but it does offer you an interesting persepective on your relative age.
Let's take me for example. I am 35.8 years old here at home on terra firma -- that's 13,090 days. But on Mercury, I am 148.7 years old, which is only slightly less than my age in days on Mercury: 223.3. On Venus, my age in days and years is even closer: 53.8 days, 58.2 years. That's right, I've lived less Venusian days than years.
I'm really happy with my Martian age of 19. I'm still young enough to have that feeling of invincibility, but I'm past that pesky puberty phase with all of its hormones and sudden emergence of hairs. It would of course mean that I broke the law earlier today as I celebrated Alabama's victory in the Cotton Bowl.
Moving to the outer planets, you really see the effect of distance from the sun.. On Pluto, I am only .144 years old. At that rate, I could live to 250 on Earth and still die of SIDS on Pluto. I wonder if I were granted Plutonian citizenship if I could argue that none of my debts are legitimate, since infants are not legally competent to sign contracts.
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