Opinions and FactsThere was something about this election. It seemed to me to be the most intensely passionate, most cared about election of my life. It was the first time I actually voted. It was the first time I really cared. It was the first time I actually had the election results on the TV all day. I feel good. I feel like finally "my people", as in those that I feel the most kinship and connection with, my kindred spirits, have taken action and taken control. It feels like a new era, a revolution. I've never been a political person at all but this time I knew it really mattered. When I look at the totals of the popular vote and I know that I am one among that number, I smile. I've already seen much graciousness and much grumbling, sour grapes and sour comments. I hope that we can all truly come together as one nation united, and put aside that which divides us and makes us choose sides. For the first time in my 37 years, I care. No matter who you voted for, I hope your future is as bright as I know mine is.
Wow. Frickin' wow. Totally worthy of all the hype. Intense. It felt like two movies worth of experience, at least (in the best possible way). So dense. Heath Ledger is as amazing as everyone has been touting (or expecting). Not once was I pulled out of the movie by bad CG. Brutal without being graphically gory.
Though this movie obviously requires some suspension of disbelief, there was only really one thing that snapped my suspension of disbelief for a nanosecond but then I got over it and was back in this amazing film.
My one complaint, and it is oh so minor, Christian Bale's voice when he's batman and not Bruce Wayne. It's just too gruff and affected. It makes him hard to understand and sounds like he's desperately in need of a bat-lozenge for his throat. As one comedian put it after "Batman Begins", it's a little like cookie monster playing Batman.
"DO YOU HAVE A COOKIE FOR BATMAN?"
I WILL be seeing this movie again in the IMAX. It almost demands multiple viewings to process it all.
In another interesting twist, my acting career idol, Gary Oldman, plays probably the most boring, normal, plain part of his career. A part that's so not "Gary Oldmanesque". And yet, in a strange twist, it being so different in itself kind of makes it Gary Oldmanesque! Don't get me wrong, he does a great job and I love his character, he's just so normal, plain and kind of boring (the character, no Gary Oldman).
See this movie. Multiple times. Genius.
When I was a kid, I had the album "Chipmunk Punk". This was a 1980 album of Alvin and the Chipmunks doing 9 songs that were not really in any way, punk, but were pretty cool and influential to me. This album actually introduced me to a lot of songs that I would later come to really love. At the time, I had never heard of "The Knack" and I don't think I had heard of most of the other songs on the album either. I just knew I liked the Chipmunks as we had a cool clear red album of theirs from 1969.
Recently I was thinking back on this and realized just what a weird album this was. The track listing was:
Side A
Now the first thing I noticed is that one third of the songs are from The Knack. Now don't get me wrong, I love The Knack's debut album "Get The Knack" which spawned all three of these songs, but to have three of nine songs by The Knack, who I had never even heard of at that time, seems an odd choice. Were the producers friends with The Knack? Did they get a hellaciously good deal on song rights?
Secondly, though I remember very specific changes they made to the lyrics to make them more kid friendly, those three songs from The Knack are racy! They're all about trying to get laid. Sure they changed "Til she's sitting on your face" to "Til she's sitting in your place" but a few lyrical changes do not change the overall subject of the song.
I don't really remember realizing at the time what these songs were about, but again in hindsight, WHOA! How did this album get made?
"You thought you heard her saying 'Good Girls don't'...but she's been telling you 'Good girls don't but I do."
"Frustrated" is all about blue balls, basically. Some girl not putting out.
"My Sharona", all about lusting after this young teenage girl.
Again, I ask, HOW DID THIS ALBUM GET MADE AND RELEASED? All I know is I'm glad it did, because I played the hell out of it and was introduced to some awesome music. I own every one of those songs on CD by the original artists. Except for "How Do I Make You". I can't remember how that one goes but I remember I liked the Chipmunk's version of it. Somehow I listened to this album repeatedly without ever really realizing how inappropriate some of the songs probably were for a nine year old boy.
I had an experience a few weeks ago that made me realize just how lucky i am to live a fairly prejudice-free life. I am generally surrounded by non-prejudiced people in a fairly non-prejudiced town, at least to the point where something like this actually took me by surprise which is a good thing.
I was at a band gig when one of my band mates was talking about his family trip to Disneyworld. This individual is a very generous generally great guy but he's also an old country boy farmer. Sometimes these things just don't seem to go together, such as when him, his wife and their teenage daughter were talking about how they happened to be at Disneyworld for gay pride day. And, oh my goodness, they were surrounded by GAY PEOPLE! Shock! horror! And, I quote, "It was disgusting!"
I sat there kind of fuming trying to figure out exactly how to handle this. I had no idea what to say or do. I wanted to speak up but in a non-confrontational way that would hopefully reach them and make them think instead of just alienating them but I just couldn't think of anything to say. I ended up muttering sarcastically, "Oh no, gay people," but no one really heard and I didn't want to make a point by repeating it or whatever. I think the real shame is that their daughter, who is a bright, intelligent girl, is having this kind of thing put in her head.
There are so many people in the world and the vast majority of them are going to be different from you in at least some ways. Sometimes you have close friends who are good people and yet have some pretty major differences from you. Sometimes that can be really hard. I actually wondered, albeit only briefly, "Do I really want to be in a band with people like this?"
I have always been a big fan of "The Twilight Zone". I remember my uncle and grandmother watching reruns when I was growing up and I think that it probably stuck in my psyche somewhere pretty deep and played a part in forming who I am.
A while back I bought the entire series on DVD (box set with episodes in order of airing). We've started watching them from the beginning and I've noticed some peculiar things. Now let me first say that, yes, I do realize that TV was a completely different beast back then as well as movies and probably just general storytelling techniques. I still love this show but have noticed it's tendency to assume that the viewer is so stupid as to be just shy of brain dead. This is kind of funny because on the other hand it can go to some pretty cerebral places too so it almost seems as if it's catering to really smart folks and people who are dumber than a box of non-sentient rocks.
For example, in one episode, Burgess Meredith plays a man who loves to read. So much so that at lunch time he goes into the vault of the bank where he works to read. One day while in the vault, the world gets destroyed by H-bombs but he survives since he was in the vault. We see all this on screen. Well we don't actually see the H-bombs and such but it's all illustrated quite clearly.
Then, upon leaving the vault and seeing the state of the world, he monologues to himself (since everyone else is dead) something along the lines of:
"Oh my god! The world was destroyed by H-bombs! Everyone is dead except for me! *a look of realization* I survived because I was in the vault!"
Well. That was a bit of totally unnecessary exposition! And we just won't mention the two dimensional character that was his harpy of a wife who refused to let him read at home.
Then there was another episode where these astronauts go missing off the radar as they launch. It turns out they've crash landed on "an asteroid" as they call it. An asteroid with an perfectly human compatible atmosphere and mountains and stuff. O.K. so they really should have just called it a planet. Then they have a conversation about how, from the looks of things, the sun appears to be the same distance and trajectory as from the Earth meaning that they must be on an asteroid in the same orbit as the Earth!
So basically, five minutes into the episode, they've just hit you over the head with their "twist" ending. OMG! It wasn't an asteroid at all! It turns out they had just crashed in the Nevada desert! All that strife and killing wasn't necessary after all!
As I said, I just find these things fun to nitpick. I still think The Twilight Zone is an awesome, brilliant, landmark show.
The misuse of the word "literally" has gotten out of hand. It's everywhere. Even in the media and printed materials. Ever since I have had discussions about this with friends, we've all suddenly become attuned to it and have started noticing how rampant it is. It's like when Roddy Piper got those sunglasses in "They Live!" and could suddenly see all the aliens or whatever they were. People say things like "It literally blew my mind!" Umm, no it didn't. I know this from the fact that they were standing there telling me this.
Two recent observances that really stuck out to me were in video game related materials. In an ad for the Super Smash Brothers Brawl game it said "...literally anything can happen, and usually does!" Wow, that's some serious technology they've developed there. So it's totally possible and in fact likely that I could be playing the game and suddenly see Dennis De Young from Styx fly in on a half-dolphin, half-bagel creature with purple monkeys flying out his butt.
In a review of Assassin's Creed on gamespot.com the reviewer mentioned how the game's atmosphere was so great that it was "...literally a living, breathing world." Again, I really had no idea this kind of technology existed! They should really let some top scientists study this stuff!
We have friends who use this word in what seems like every other sentence. It seems like they just use it for unnecessary emphasis or something like, "I was like, literally, just sitting there eating my dinner..." Really? I'm glad you specified because I thought you meant it figuratively. You know, that old colloquial saying, "eating my dinner" meaning that you were building a wooden effigy of the Bee Gees.
I have always been anti-smoking. My mom has smoked for pretty much my entire life and I always hated it. Hated the smell. Hated that I seem to be extra sensitive to smoke. The slightest whiff, even from quite some distance can choke me up. For example, tonight, several people were smoking on the balcony with the door open and I had to close my bedroom door because I could smell it. Of course there's also the extreme amount of money smokers spend and the whole issue of supporting the evil tobacco companies and plenty of other rational arguments that could be made even if you're one of the people who believes that there is no scientific evidence that smoking is linked to health problems, but that's a whole other subject and I don't want to start that debate here. My issue is more personal.
The part I don't understand is my own vehement reaction to it. With everything going on with Jess, I think one of things that hurts the most is that she has started smoking again. She smoked before I knew her but had quit before we met. The fact that it even registers on my radar sounds ridiculous even to me. Why do I care so much? Why is it such a big deal? Why is it so important to me that my loved ones not smoke? I feel the same sense of hurt and distance when Larry occasionally smokes too. Now don't get me wrong, I know that no one is doing it to be hurtful or anything. I just don't understand why it means so much to me. The first time I saw jess light up on our balcony, let's just say my reaction was completely and irrationally emotional. Maybe because of our separation my subconscious read more into it like because she knows how much it means to me maybe I stupidly saw it as a big final "fuck you" which, of course, I know it isn't. I'm sure we all know the stupid things we can think when we're emotional.
But the fact is is that is a big deal to me and I don't know why. I don't think it's a judgmental thing, but admittedly I could be wrong. I don't think any less of her for it and I don't think I'm better than people who smoke. I really do think it's more of a connection thing. It makes me feel distant and disconnected and I do legitimately worry about the health of the people I love and supporting the evil empires of tobacco (which ironically is a trait directly instilled in me by Jess). To me it feels like it comes from a place of caring and concern and not a confrontational or judgmental place. I value my connections with people and anything that interfers with those connections bothers me.
I just don't understand why I feel the way I do. I don't want it to interfere with my connection. Why can't I just not care about it? When Larry smokes, I feel down. When Jess smokes it's of a whole other order of magnitude. It feels like it almost hurts as much as our separation which should be ludicrous! I'm sure there must be some deep subconscious motivation at work here. I just can't figure out what it is. I'm really trying to be better about this and at least not be judgmental or sanctimonious about my feelings. I'd love to find the root of this and find a way to overcome it.
For Christmas I received not one, but two copies of the new Beatles album, "Love" which I had desperately been wanting ever since learning of it. For anyone who doesn't know, Cirque Du Soleil wanted to do a Beatles themed show so George Martin and his son Giles took the original Beatles master tapes, put them in a metaphorical blender and came up with some amazing musical casseroles, some pieced together like Frankenstein's monster, with amazing results. Some songs have the vocals from one song set to the music from a completely different song with various textures from even more songs thrown in, while some other songs are changed very little from the originals but almost everything has at least some small subtle bits from other songs creeping in.
I definitely think the die hard Beatles fans (like myself) will reap the deepest rewards from this collection but even more casual Beatles fans can't miss the more extreme remixes and sound collages which, in my opinion, are by far the best and most amazing. This album continues to elicit goose bumps from me even several after listenings. I'm just about as big a Beatles fan as there is but I have yet to be able to trace each bit of each song back to its origin. The end of "Being For The Benefit of Mr. Kite" mixed with "I Want You (She's So Heavy)" sounds to me like a pristine aural representation of Hell, and I mean that in a wonderful, pure genius way. Listening to this album is like being caught in some strange wormhole where the entire Beatles catalog exists as one living, breathing entity; time and space ripple and fold back on themselves as sounds and images fade and meld into each other and through you.
I've evangelized for years about the genius of George Martin and how I think his role as producer had as much effect on the end result of Beatles records as the 4 Beatles themselves had in writing and playing them and I think this album puts his talents on display more than ever. Just listen to "Anthology" and you can hear a demo of a good song end up as a true masterpiece due in no small part to Martin's input.
The album is also available in two formats, standard CD, and a double CD+DVD version which includes the whole album (with some slightly longer versions of some songs) in 5.1 surround sound. This is an absolute must hear. Absolutely one of the most creative and amazing things I've heard in a long time.
BS Newswire:
In their continuing efforts to counter the buzz surrounding presidential hopeful Barack Obama, the republican party released this statement:
We've already touched on how "Obama" sounds frighteningly close to "Osama" and how his middle name is "Hussein", but we think this latest link can not be ignored. How could any patriotic American not be concerned about the similarity of the names "Barack" and "Baraka". For those who do not know, "Baraka" was a monstrous enemy in the popular and exceedingly violent video game, "Mortal Kombat". As you can see in this photo, he had a demonic, clearly anti-Christian visage and two deadly metal swords in his forearms. The only logical conclusion to the parallels between these two entities is that if we let Barack Obama into the Oval Office, he will most likely perform a "fatality" on this country. If you support Obama, then you are obviously a freedom-hating demon lover who wants to see America have its skull and spine ripped out in one fluid motion and then mockingly shown to its own momentarily standing body.
Everyone needs to go see this movie, NOW. The very next showing. Best film I have seen in ages. Jess, Larry and I were all completely blown away. Brilliant. Flawless. Words can not express. Go see it.
Everyone who likes to use the internet and access all websites equally should at least give a glance to www.savetheinternet.com. There is a lot of information and some handy links and such to allow you to easily send your representatives a message stating that the Internet should star neutral, free and unmanipulated by corporations who would love to have control over what websites get precedence.
If you want to truly know who I am as a person, check out these albums:
"Hey Album!" and "Ready, Sex, Go" by The Marvelous 3
"Left of Self Centered" and "Letters" by Butch Walker
I've decided that Butch Walker's catalog (including his work with Marvelous 3) is a pretty damn good representation of my soul if it were converted to music and packaged on CD. There is such a great range from rocking, funny, witty songs to intensely passionate and emotional songs which you feel as much as you listen to.
So apparently I missed "Blog Against Sexism" day. I don't really have anything in particular to say, but wanted to say something. We live in a time when sexism, racism, and all kinds of other isms have insidiously weaved themselves into the very fabric of our culture. So much so that many are completely blind to them.
As a species, we are very arrogant and think that we are the end all be all to life in the universe, when the truth is that we are not nearly as evolved as we would like to think. There is still far too much ignorance and intolerance in the world for us to be so high and mighty. I pretty much leave the crusading to my wife, but I guess I'll just boil it down to my simplest though here: there may be differences between men and women (not just physical but real differences in our makeup, the way we think, the way our brains are wired, who knows), but that is meaningless. That is true on an individual basis, not just a sex/race/whatever basis. Next time you find yourself about to apply a stereotype to someone, take a moment and think about it. Try to catch yourself forming preconceptions of people. We all do it. If we can catch even just one, and instead get to know someone for who they are and not who we think they are, then I think that's something good.
I think the irony is that anyone who finds themselves thinking that someone else is inferior because of their sex/race/etc is guaranteed to be the inferior one.
I read a quote somewhere that the latest Beatles biography, "The Beatles: The Biography" by Bob Spitz should now be considered the definitive Beatles Biography. I could not agree more. This book is an absolute must for any Beatles fan.
Much of what is presented in this book has been presented many times before, and in fact the "notes" section, in addition to crediting every source of every quote, does a great job at summarizing how determining the accuracy of much of the Beatles canon is next to impossible. However the presentation is exactly what makes this book so great. It is not presented as an encyclopedia of facts. Information is conveyed in such a way that by the time you are done reading you will feel like you actually lived through it; as if you just took an actual journey through time from before any of the Beatles were born through the heights of their historic unmatched fame, to their sad deterioration and slow crumbling demise. It's all told in a very narrative and engaging fashion.
It's an absolutely amazing journey with an emotional resonance that can't be described. This is one of those few books that is not simply just a good read, it is an experience. There are many people who are referred to as "The Fifth Beatle", but by the end of this book, you'll feel as if The Fifth Beatle was you.
Many of you have probably heard of "collectible card games", the most popular one being "Magic: The Gathering." After Magic became such a huge hit, everyone on the face of the planet was mandated to put out their own CCG, 99% of which quickly faded into obscurity. Well I've just stumbled upon something even cooler. A "Constructible Strategy Game" and even better yet, it's all about pirates! I present to you "Pirates". Each pack contains everything you need to play: cards that you punch pieces out of to construct your 3-D pirate ships, a punch out island, treasure tokens, crew member tokens, and instructions. It's a simple little game that looks like it could be a lot of fun. It's similar to the "CCG's in that there's a whole list of ships and crew members which you try and "collect" ranging in rarity. Their website has a lot of great information including a flash animated set of instructions and game examples. We just bought a couple of packs and will probably end up with one or two packs from each expansion. Check it out!
I figured that using a song title from their first album was apropos as it represents my relaitonship with the second album. It is indeed growing on me the more I listen to it. Jess just pointed out a lyric that I had to share:
"I had never seen a set of eyes more hazelerer"
The Darkness's first album "Permission To Land" absolutely blew me away as one of the best albums I'd heard in a long while, so naturally when their second album "One Way Ticket to Hell...and Back" came out on Tuesday I put on my best glam spandex catsuit, strutted into my local record store and said in my best British Falsetto "Where's the new Darkness album, mate?" Sadly I found that it was Monday and I'd jumped the gun by a day so I would have to wait a day to plant my legs solidly in an "A" shape, raise my arm to the sky, purse my lips and rock out.
On Tuesday I had a groupie bring me the album at work (O.K. so it was my wife, but that doesn't fit the story as well.) My first impression was a bit of disappointment. Not that it's a bad album by any means. It was just that I was so blown away by the first album that naturally my expectations were high. After having a few more days with the new album, I've warmed a bit to it, but I can tell that it will never be as popular with me as "Permission to Land". It's definitely not quite as straight on rockin as "Permission", but there is still much enjoyment to be had.
This album was produced by Roy Thomas Baker who produced Queen, Foreigner, Cheap Trick, The Cars and Devo. In fact, the piano on the album is the same piano used on Bohemian Rhapsody and still bears the red wine stains from Freddie Mercury. I would say the Queen influence can be heard quite heavily on this album. All in all I think it's definitely worth a listen and most likely an addition to your collection, however I can't quite call it as much as a "must have" as "Permission to Land" is. However the more I listen to it the more I like it and I still highly recommend it if you dug their first album. Still one of the best albums I've heard in a while.
The new album from The Darkness is out tomorrow! I will be procuring it at lunchtime. There will be severe rocking.
Music lovers check out www.pandora.com. Very cool. You can make your own music station by putting in an artist or song and pandora then uses the Music Genome Project to "program" the station with stuff you might like. You can give songs a thumbs up or thimbs down to help train it. You can try it for free for 10 hours, and if you decide you dig it, it's only $36 a year!
It's quite in depth in it's methodology. Let's take a call from a listener! Hello, you're on the air!
Continue reading "Pandora.com"While I still heartily recommend Mozilla Thunderbird for anyone who feels the need to have a mail client on their computer, or for those security freaks who think Google has some evil secret conspiracy going, I myself have become a full Gmail convert. I tried this once before but one thing sent me back to Thunderbird, and that was the fact that any mail I sent would show up as coming from my Gmail address instead of my heathallyn.com address. This has now been remedied. You can now set your address to show as coming from any address you actually own. There is a verification process involved so that not just anyone can enter you email as the "from" address, and now any mail I sen via Gmail shows up as coming from my heathallyn.com address, and all replies are sent to my heathallyn.com address (which in actuality just forwards to my Gmail address anyway. Basically this allows you to use Gmail as an email client for you current address, just as you would Thunderbird, Outlook or any other client.
I totally dig Gmail's interface and their completely different philosophy on mail handling (using "Labels" instead of "Folders", and much more). This way, I don't have to worry about whether or not a certain email I'm looking for is on my home or work computer, as it's all in my online Gmail account. I can easily use the search function to find any mail I'm looking for or sort by labels. I can set up filters to automatically apply labels to incoming mail.
As I've watched Gmail it has just kept getting better. One of the few downsides to be aware of is that there is no official way to set up an email distribution list in Gmail (as in you type in one name, and it sends to multiple people), but there is an unofficial work around to do so and they very well may add this in the future. You can also download Gmail Notifier to check every 2 minutes and notify you of new mail.
There are a ton of other features which I find innovative and generally cool, but if you think you might be interested the best place to get all the info is from the source.
There is also an excellent site full of Gmail tips. Join us in the Gmail cult! I have a ton of invites if anyone needs one.
Last night we hit our second "Serenity" premiere in as many nights, details mentioned a few posts back. We drove 45 minutes out into Austin hill country to the ranch where they constructed the sets for the movie "The Alamo". This was one of The Alamo Drafthouse's famous "Rolling Road Shows". We came equipped as true geeks with our Jayne hats that Jess had knitted.
In the middle of a courtyard of a the replica of an old Spanish fort stood a huge inflatable screen. They had Chinese take-out snacks as their themed meal (they often do themed meals). Before the movie they showed an Alamo Drafthouse produced short called "How To Swear in Chinese 101", where an older Chinese man (a relative of one of the Alamo's managers, who was also emceeing the night) taught us how to say things such as "you stupid little prick", "let loose a big stinky fart" and of course the obligatory "Fuck you!".
they then brought out the night's guests, Jewel Staite and Summer Glau (two of the movie's stars) to introduce the movie.
The second viewing solidified that this is one of the best movies I've ever seen. It is in my list of all time favorites. As intense as it was the first time, there were certain parts that were even more intense the second time. This weekend is very important for this film. See it. See it twice. Make your friends see it. Take a stranger to see it.
After the movie Jewel and Summer did a Q&A session, which was, naturally, very cool. My favorite story was when they were talking about an inside joke they had. The cast had all been watching a potential promo for the movie, with the classic movie trailer guy's voice naming the stars, except that he mangle about three of their names, so Nathan Fillion started imitating the movie trailer guy and mispronouncing every name in the cast in amusing ways. This is best demonstrated with an audio file. I also got to ask them a question which can not be detailed here due to spoileryness.
I wish I could adequately express the coolness that is Tha Alamo Drafthouse, but it's really something that must be experienced.
On a side note here, I know we constantly sing the praises of The Alamo Drafthouse, and shall continue to do so, but I can't tell you how many times that Jess and I think "Will and Annika would love this," about some event or homemade Alamo preview they show beforehand. One that struck me in particular was this one. Keep in mind, we're moving into our condo at the end of November so we'll have room for guests.
They always have custom made funny little clips from movies or semi-celebrities in clips about not talking during the movie. Their latest one is to show the clip from "Firefly" where book tells Mal that if he takes advantage of someone he'll go to a very special level of hell reserved for child molesters and people who talk at the theater. They all end with a text tag line on the screen, in this case something like "Don't talk during the movie or you will go to a very special level of hell with only child molesters for company."
On another side note: the clientele at the Alamo Drafthouse all seem to be a sort of "kindred spirits". The energy always seems so positive. At the screening people picked up after themselves, and surprisingly when I used one of the porta potties at the very end of the night, it was still in good enough shape that I would have actually taken a seat had I needed to. I think that says a lot about the crowd.
Go see this movie as soon as humanly possible and be prepared for a very wild ride. Incredibly witty and emotionally intense. You will be exhausted at the end, but in a good way.
Some of the best dialogue ever (as you'd come to expect from Joss Whedon), action scenes that can stand up to the best of them, and emotional involvement like I felt after reading "Lord of the Rings". You feel as if you've been through an experience, not a movie.
[not really a spoiler but you might draw leading conclusions from this statement - highlight to read]
If you don't cry at the end of this movie, I suspect you are at least part robot, alien or zombie. Even highlydisciplined ninjas would shed a tear
[End of semi-spoiler]
I think that most of the people who read this blog are very familiar with the upcoming movie "Serenity". This post is for those who may not be so familiar. I'd actually be surprised if anyone reading this falls under that category, but better safe than sorry! If there are people not familiar with this movie, then that needs to be remedied, and I am doing my part.
Continue reading "Serenity now!"Who, by the way, I've always thought (and still think) is incredibly cool, intelligent, talented, intriguing, and beautiful if a bit self-destructive possibly.
Why is this one for Jenny? Because it's about Oasis. Now I think I remember reading that she may have gotten over her whole Oasis thing, but mine is just starting.
Continue reading "This one's for Jenny"As with all the prequels, I am of two minds with this film. There is a definite side of me that loved this film and without a doubt it's the best of the prequels. There is the other side of that also has plenty of nits to pick and recognizes the familiar flaws (some really bad writing and acting). Overall my "enjoyed it" side wins out, but I also fell that a large part of that is the nostalgia. This film was as powerful as it was to me because of my fondness for the original trilogy. When taken for what it is, it's place in the mythology and its purpose in the overall story it kicks ass. Taken alone and set aside as just a film, I think that I look a bit askance in its direction. There's a definite dichotomy within me concerning this film as well as the other prequels (that being said, I am one of the few who actually liked the first two prequels despite the nits that I could pick with it).
I am very glad Lucas kept it dark and intense and didn't cave to the groups complaining that this PG-13 rating ruined it as a "family" film or whatever.
I found it a bit slow to get going (well not necessarily "slow" since it was action right from the start, but not incredibly engaging right off) but the further it went on the more it sucked me in.
I decided today that one of the reasons the original trilogy is superior is that Lucas was not some revered "god" at that point and the actors were probably more free to ad lib or change up Lucas's stilted writing to make it more natural. There's a famous quote from Harrison Ford where he told George at some point while filming the first trilogy (paraphrased) "You can write this shit, but you can't say it!" I have a feeling there's probably far less freedom to tamper with "The Great Lucas's" work these days.
That and I firmly believe that Lucas is a victim of buying into his own hype and getting totally lost and confused within his own mythology.
Don't get the wrong impression though, by the end of the movie I was wide-eyed, jaw dropped, and teary-eyed just like the kid who saw "Empire Strikes Back" 16 times during its initial theatrical run, and the original trilogy countless times (in all its incarnations) since. Those movies are a huge part of who I am today, from my love of movie making to my many fond memories involving me, friends, and collections of Star Wars toys (and the painful memory of how, once I'd outgrown them, I took them all out to a friend's piece of land in the country and we shot them all to pieces with guns not knowing how I would be kicking myself later on).
The force will be with me...always.
Now to just wait for the Super Mega VIP Deluxe Boxed Director's Post-final cut Limited Top Secret Ultimate Platinum Jedi Master Edition.
For anyone interested in script writing software, I highly recommend Sophocles. I've been a Final Draft user since I first decided to write screenplays, but after having Sophocles recommended to me at the movie shoot yesterday (by Rance, my fellow extra) I tried it out and personally find it far superior to Final Draft. I have converted my scripts over and will using Sophocles exclusively now.
Check out the section on their website about getting a 50% academic discount. Of course you are on your own honor not to use the 50% discount unless you meet the academic qualifications. I'm sure no one will purchase through the 50% off page without being a full time student.
You can download the trial for free which is almost fully functional, but emblazons "TRIAL VERSION" on all your pages if you try to print. It also won't let you save as other formats (such as .txt files) unless you buy. I find pretty much everything about this program better than FD. The reports, very cool outline feature, formatting (not selected until you go to print which is cool), color coding of elements, and much more. I'm still in my "first impressions" mode but it impressed me enough that I shelled out the money and bought it despite the fact that I own Final Draft 6 (I've been hearing about all kinds of buggy problems with FD 7).
Do you like zombies? Do you like laughs? Would you like a witty movie with zombies that makes you laugh your arse off?
Go see Shaun of the Dead.
See CNN's review here.
"weird Al" Yankovic has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. I remember lip syncing to "Eat It" in my 8th grade drama class while Shannon Capps played a baby who wouldn't eat his food (and also performed a mean guitar solo on a toy ukelele). I remember laying in bed on Sunday nights, staying up until midnight listening to Dr. Demento in the dark even though I had school the next day. I remember my best friend, Andy, spending the night on the weekends, and we'd play "Weird Al" tapes on one jam box while recording on another jam box as we sang along, thus making our own albums along with original songs of our own when I'd learned to play guitar. He's like an old friend who has been with me as long as I can remember, and continues on through today. Our history together came flooding back to me tonight.
Now I will remember "Weird Al" in concert. I've spoken before about how I don't think Al gets the attention he actually deserves, and seeing him in concert solidifies this fact. Most people merely know him as "That guy who does funny song parodies about Star Wars and food, mostly", but his originals often outshine his mostly brilliant but sometimes only mediocre parodies in my opinion. He has a tremendously talented band, and is actually a very gifted songwriter with a knack for great music and melodies in addition to razor-edged rapier wit and intelligence.
Before this show, I already knew what a great show he puts on from much Internet reading, and a lovely DVD given to me by the lovely Beth. He was performing at The Paramount here in Austin which is a really nice, and intimate venue, which probably doesn't have a bad seat. He managed to cram in an amazing number of songs by only playing abridged versions of a lot of them, which actually worked quite well. You get enough to enjoy the song and get the joke, but end up getting to hear a lot more songs than if they were all performed in their entirety. Between many songs there were funny video clips, mostly taken from his various "Al TV" specials that used to air on MTV, and various other clips. These were used not only to entertain, but to fill time while Al and the band changed into costumes for various showpiece songs, such as his fat suit for "Fat", Jedi robes, P-diddy suits, Nelly gear, and many others. He ventured into the audience several times also much to the crowd's delight. The show was completely amazing, and one of the most fun entertaining things you'll ever see. He also performed at least one song (a parody of Celine Dion's "My Heart Will Go On") that is only performed live, and has never been issued.
I highly encourage anyone to go and catch this show if you can. Now I'm going to add all his older albums to my Amazon Wish List, since I have been remiss over the years in replacing the old cassettes I used to have.
For some reason, I have never been able to get into animé. I find this odd, since there are so many people I know who absolutely love it. People who I generally have a lot in common with, and like a lot of the same things. Somehow it's just never hooked me. I've tried half-heartedly a few times and always found my inteerest wandering and thinking about going and surfing the net or something. I really feel like I should love animé. I will give it another go (in fact Jess has "Spirited Away" for me to watch), but I just feel weird. It's like if everyone you knew, respected, hung out with, loved Krispy Kreme donuts, but you just found them bland. Of course that scenario is just ridiculous, for Krispy Kremes are the krack of the food world. I think my animé gene is broken.
Actually a very good movie. Now to be clear, don't go expecting Asimov. As the end credits say, "Suggested by Isaac Asimov". However, don't let that stop you. Also don't let the misleading trailer (as the majority seem to be these days) stop you. It's not a mindless action flick. Jess was expecting something just above crap, and ended up liking it quite a bit. There is plot, and mystery, and actual story!
On a side note, while this movie aims to an anti-prejudice message (don't worry, it's not preachy or heavy-handed), it spreads it's own prejudice; prejudice against red lights in technology. Don't worry, no spoilers ahead, just generalizations. No specifics.
Anytime someone wants to show and "evil" robot or computer, or toaster or coffee maker in a movie, it always has some ominous glowing red light somewhere. Someday when robots rule the earth...er...serve mankind in useful ways, there may be some dapper robot who likes the color red and decides to have a red light put in his head. Maybe his creators put red lights in him because it matched the new ad campaign colors in their new campaign, "Robots! They don't eat old people's medication for fuel!" Now this robot would be oppressed, feared, and probably attacked by mindless mobs everywhere he went because of the years of conditioning teaching us that red lights in technology=EVIL!
However, there is an upside to this issue. There is an easy way that we can keep all technology and future robots safe and subservient. Simply never install any red illumination anywhere in them. No red light, no evil. I'll await my Nobel prize in the mail, thank you.
Slash, Duff and Matt Sorum from GnR plus Scott Weiland from STP, add Dave Kushner on guitar (sorry Dave, never heard of you previously) and you get the album "Contraband". Very rockin'. I'm a fan. I recommend it highly.
Johnny Depp. Stop motion animation. Great cast. The Corpse Bride.
Skin on*.
*"skin on" is one of the many catch phrases that have cropped up between my cousin and me (we seem to be catch phrase machines when we're together). It came from a restaurant menu who served their potatoes "skin on". We decided that this sounded like an affirmative reaction. Later, due to another restaurant menu, we decided that a good response to "Skin on!" was "Bone in for flavor!"
Go see this movie. Now. Freakin' hilarious. Incredible cast. Whoever found this script deserves a HUGE bonus.
If you hate seeing this country slowly turning into George Orwell's "Big Brother", I highly encourage you to go to www.StopFCC.com and register. At the bottom of the page they now have a link to an ACLU page where you can fill in a form to send a fax to your senators. It even has pre-filled in text if you can't be bothered to work up your own. I added the following paragraph just to add my own personal input.
People have a choice. A choice to change the channel, or turn off the radio or TV. People should continue to have the choice of whether or not they watch or listen. Don't take this choice away from those who want it, merely to please those who do not want it. Just as forcing people to watch something they find offensive is wrong, so is eliminating the choice so as to please those people. If I find chocolate ice cream offensive, I can choose not to eat it. I do not think that the correct course of action is to ban chocolate ice cream across the world.
It's so easy, that there's really no excuse. Believe me, I'm one of the laziest people around, and I found it effortless. Support free speech and all that. Don't let the government make your choices for you. Grrr.
Only if Johnny Depp had won best actor. Aside from that, I'm as happy as a hobbit in a hole with table full of food and a bag of Longbottom leaf!
One of my lovely Valentines gifts was "Permission To Land" by The Darkness, which I had listened to, and wanted ever since.
The Darkness so totally rocks. You'll simultaneously be laughing your arse off and wondering if this band is a joke, but at the same time you'll be rocking out to some kick ass songs. You'll also start saying "arse" if you don't already. They're like a mystery in an enigma, in a paradox, wrapped in a tasty tortilla.
We're going to see them here in Austin in April.
This is a rare occasion. Heath gets political. Very rare, and something I usually don't really care to do and in fact probably avoid, but I vast tidal wave of anti-Arnoldness is drowning me.
I'm quite puzzled by all the Ah-nuld hating going around. I just don't get it. Everywhere I look it's someone dissing Arnold and expressing indignation or disgust at his election as governor. I just don't get this. He seems quite intelligent, personable, and politically knowledgeable. More so he seems like something that I, personally, have found very rare; an open minded republican. Most republican's I've met in my life have been very closed minded, biased individuals who wallow in self-righteousness and take great joy in dismissing liberals as some lower form of extremely stupid life. They seem to just blanketly agree with the republican side of all issues, which I find hard to believe. While I may be fairly liberal, I don't just automatically agree with all democrat opinions, and disagree with all republican opinions. Well, this is a whole other rant I don't really care to get into, but the point is that Arnold actually seems to have some liberal friendly views instead of just voting like an automaton who must be 100% absolutely on one party's side or the other.
I do understand the surface entertainment value of the fact that The Terminator is now governor of California, but past that, I don't really think he's getting a fair shake. It reminds me of when an actor tries to put out a music album or a musician tries their hand at acting. Many times people automatically put this stigma on them and just assume that they're going to be incompetent and laughable in their new role. I think this is exacerbated by the fact that Arnold is already stigmatized by many in his role as an actor. People jump on the "Arnold is just a stupid action buffoon who can't act" band wagon, which is a whole other argument that I disagree with. You may not like "action" movies or whatever, but to boil that down to "he's stupid and can't act" is just unfair. Has he put out some crap? Sure, most actors have. However he's also put out many movies that define the genre itself (which also suffers from unfair stigmatizing by intellectual movie snobs everywhere). As I said, it's fine if you simply don't like those kinds of movies, but just because you personally may not like them doesn't mean that they're crap, stupid, or just for dumb testosterone filled flesh bags either.
I don't think there's anything ridiculous or worthy of eye rolling about his being governor. Is it amusing? Yes. Are there many jokes to be made? Absolutely. Is it some kind of ridiculous travesty? I don't think so at all. I just find it kinda sad, that he's got some very promising characteristics, but most people have already put him on trial, found him guilty, and thrown a rope over the highest tree limb not based on anything other than "but he's AH-nuld! The Terminator! Come on!"
...and it frickin' brilliant as he always is. Brilliant on many levels. First off, his parodies, which is what he's best known for, are great as usual. The fact that he and his band can so perfectly copy the sound and production of the song is a testament to their talent. Al's originals are, in my opinion, where he's vastly underrated. I usually find his original songs even far better than his parodies. not only are they hilarious, but many of them are just plain great songs musically. Some of the arrangements and parts are just genius and on par with the best of any non-comedy rock or pop song. There is, of course, a polka parody medley, and also several extras you can play on your computer too. I highly recommend this album. It's called "Poodle Hat".
There is, of course, a polka parody medley, and also several extras you can play on your computer too.
For so many reasons, but in particular right now for his page in People's 50 Most Beautiful People issue -
"It's very hard being one of the most beautiful people. Having this kind of beauty is actually a burden. Sometimes I go to a party and not one of the other 49 most beautiful people is there. this makes me feel very solitary and alone, because it means I am the most beautiful person in the room.
If I'm going to a party where I know there will be 'less beautiful people', I try to 'dress down' in order to hide my beauty. But this seems to actually have the counter-effect of actually making me more beautiful. I guess me and dungarees are a pretty potent combination.
I try not to lord my beauty over others. This is very hard. I try not to mention that I am one of the most beautiful people, but somehow it always comes out. I will usually only bring it up when I'm asked to do a task, like open a garage door. People seem to enjoy my beauty and are genuinely happy for me, because after I mention it, they always say 'How nice for you.'"
Overall this movie didn't do a whole lot for me, but yet I feel a strange dichotomy towards it because it definitely scores points for originality, brilliance and bravery. Bravery because I think a great majority of people who see it probably won't "get it" and will think it's just a waffling, struggling, boring movie that cops out and goes Hollywood in the end. Those people are missing the entire brilliance, and point of this movie, and yet even though I tout it's great concept and originality, it still was just kind of ok to me. Not something I would want to see again. I'm not sure how to reconcile these two feelings, but that's just how it is. For a full and detailed analysis of this movie (which naturally is nothing but big nasty spoilers, so don't go here until you've seen it if you don't care about being spoiled) check out this site.
This movie belongs to a genre my wife and I have made up, called "mind fuck movies". It really should be a genre. This movie is right up there with the best of them. It will most likely leave you with your jaw agape, scratching your head after the first viewing. The more you think about it, the closer your head will come to exploding. However, upon my second viewing I believe it all came clear to me. Suffice it to say, if you like mysterious movies that totally mess with your head, check it out. Now onto the spoilers and my analysis...
AHOY! THAR BE SPOILERS AHEAD! YE BE WARNED!
So upon my second viewing I noticed one shot that I hadn't noticed before which locked a lot of things in place for me. The opening shot in fact. I guess without knowing the story, this little shot just flew by me unnoticed the first time, or I just attributed it to Lynch's weird, artistic randomness. The opening shot is a blurry shot, from a first person perspective, of someone lying down on a pillow. Fast forward 2 hours and Diane Selwyn wakes up on this same pillow. The first 2 hours of the movie is Diane Selwyn's final dream. The last part of the movie is a combination of flashbacks to what really happened, mixed with "current" shots of Diane dealing with her guilt and coming unglued as her world falls apart. Diane (who is Betty in the dream) won a jitterbug contest and came to L.A. to try and be an actress. Unfortunately she found this much harder than she expected. she got involved with Camilla Rhodes (Rita in the dream), who later left her and got together with a director (Adam). This crushed Diane, and was the beginning of the end for her. Camilla invites Diane to a party, where, it turns out, she and Adam announce that they're getting married. This is the final breaking point for Diane. Diane hired a thug to kill Camilla. The thug told her that when the job was done, he would leave the blue key in a pre determined location. What the key went to, I'm not sure. We see the key on Diane's table meaning that Camilla has been killed. We also see one of Diane's friends come by for her stuff (I believe this to be Diane's ex from the tense vibe between them, and the general feel of the situation). She also mentions that 2 detectives were looking for Diane. Most likely because they suspect some involvement in Camilla's murder, I think. Diane, now dealing with the guilt added to her unraveling mental state, goes over the edge and kills herself.
The dream portion of the movie is incredible to me in that it actually does an incredible job of exemplifying something that's fairly intangible; the strange ways in which our minds concoct dreams. Many of the characters and elements are merely things that were on her mind, but twisted and put into some other role in her dream. I'm sure most of us have experienced this. Your mind places some random person you saw that day into a seemingly random role, or takes some concept that you were thinking about earlier, and applies that theme somewhere else. Everyone she saw at the dinner party takes on some role in her dream, because her mind needs to put faces on these players, and these faces were the ones most recently on her mind. A random cowboy becomes head of some conspiracy. "Rita" has people attempting to kill her, drawn from the fact that Diane has put a hit on Camilla. "Rita" has a purse full of money, just like Diane had in the real world to pay of the thug. All the various facts stored in Diane's mind are twisted and re-applied in this dreamland. Diane overheard Adam saying that in his recent divorce, he got the pool and his wife got the pool man, and thus this is manifested in the dream.
The dream is also sort of a "perfect world" in Diane's mind too. She has an awesome audition that impresses casting directors. She is together with "Rita" who has no memory and therefore it's like a fresh new adventure where they are both starting anew, and "Rita" can be whoever she wants her to be. Adam has an absolute crap day, which you have to wonder if that's Diane's mind wreaking some vengeance. In the real world we hear that Diane lost a leading role to Camilla, but in the dream the only reason "Bettie" loses the role is due to a vast conspiracy. then there's the blue key. The blue key, in the real world, symbolizes Camilla's death to Diane. She sees that key, and knows Camilla is dead. In the dream, once Rita is about to insert the blue key into the box to find out what's inside, Bettie is suddenly gone. Perhaps Diane was starting to come out of the dream at this stage or couldn't bear to be there when Rita found out what the blue key unlocked; her own death. Rita turns the key, the camera zooms into the box as if sucked in, then the box drops to the ground. Just as the key was symbolic of Camilla's death in the real world, it also brought an end to Rita.
Diane wakes up. That was the last dream she'd ever have.
So where to start. I'll start with the conclusion; Loved it. That is not to say I have no nits to pick. I'll get to those, but I just wanted to get it out of the way up front that I loved this movie, and it is a classic that stands far above the vast majority of movies. Now to the details.
I thought "Fellowship of the Ring" was as good of a movie version of the as was possible. Every change that was made, every part that was left out, I could totally understand why it was done. I'm pretty sure I even agreed with all the changes. I can't say the same about "The Two Towers". It was a bit slow to get going, and the flow and pacing was not as good as it could have been. There were definitely far more liberties taken this time around than on "Fellowship". Again, I'm not against liberties in principle, and sometimes they're even necessary to make a story work in the film medium, but some of the changes from the book just seemed pointless and unnecessary. Never the less, I found it enthralling, and destined to be a classic. I'm sure I will go to at least a few more showings, and will buy the DVD on the day of it's release. I just hope Peter Jackson and company pull in the reigns a bit for the next movie and don't get quite so loose with it. I never questioned anything about the first movie, but this one did leave a few criticisms with me. Still highly recommended though. I wait eagerly for "Return of the King".
The Specifics
Let ye be warned, thar be spoilers ahead! Big nasty spoilers with pointy teeth!
I could spend endless amounts of time and space going over each bit but here are the ones that jump to mind:
Gandalf: The whole story of exactly what happened to him was highly confusing and surreal. He's falling into a crevice, wait he's on a mountain top battling the Balrog...
Admittedly, it was equally confusing and surreal in the book.
Wormtongue: I actually really liked Wormtongue although he was very obviously a bad guy. As soon as you see him you think "well there's an evil dude". I thought it probably shouldn't have been so obvious.
Theoden: The whole bit with Saruman actually "posessing" him was a bit odd. not necessarily bad, but yet it didn't quite sit right with me. Especially since Wormtongue "influencing" him doesn't work with that scenario. Why would Wormtongue be whispering persuasive words if Saruman was in control of Theoden anyway.
Faramir: He was not much more than a Boromir copy, while in the book it was his contrast from Boromir that gave him such character. The entire journey to Osgiliath with the hobbits was not only completely fabricated but pointless and unnecessary. This was one of the changes that left my wife and I truly scratching our head.
The Ents: After their long decision, the Ents are supposed to decide to go and take Isengard, but instead they decide not to go, only to change their mind later when Pippin tricks them into seeing all the trees that had been killed. Again, a bit pointless to me. In the book, the Ents are already quite outraged at Saruman, and it is their own decision to go to Isengard and do something about him. I personally think this would have been a much better way to go.
Aragorn: The fabricated Warg attack scene was fine, but having Aragorn fall off the cliff to his apparent doom felt a bit contrived and unnecessary.
Arwen: I like Arwen's increased role in the story, as opposed to barely being mentioned in the book, but was a bit confused when Elrond was lecturing her about how if she stayed, she would have to bear Aragorn's death, and watch as those around her all died. This confused me because the whole point is that Arwen was becoming mortal herself if she stayed with Aragorn so she too would eventually die. The only sense I could make out of it was that maybe Elrond was saying that even as a mortal elf, her life span would still be much longer than humans, and therefore she would have to bear Aragorn's death, plus many more before she herself died.
Helm's Deep: Brilliant scene, but why the gratuitous company of elves? There was never a company of elves who showed up at Helm's Deep. Not to mention they were led by Haldir, a lothlorien elf, but yet they said they came from Elrond (true that is possible that they were collaborating, but still an odd choice). I agreed with the change of Gandalf showing up with Eomer instead of the original character from the book. This played up the drama of Eomer's banishment and provided a good conclusion to that angle, while also eliminating the need to introduce a new character just for that one scene who had no other purpose.
The Ending: While I can't say I really have much of a problem with where they ended, I do think it would have been better to end where the book does. A big, cliffhanger ending where it looks as though all is lost. It just lends itself perfectly. This is why "The Empire Strikes Back" is such a strong movie.
Also check out Jess's review.
So like 90% of the web surfers out there, I have been a long time Internet Explorer user. For quite some time I have heard about what a great browser Mozilla is, too. Well recently I heard about how Mozilla (a free open source browser) had the "smart pop-up killer" ability. Basically this prevents any unwanted windows from popping up, but still lets windows pop up if you request them (like if you click a link that opens a new window). So I decided to give Mozilla a try.
Mozilla is built on Netscape's engine, so it pretty much looks like netscape. The smart pop-up killer worked great, and was very cool. However as I sued it I noticed more and more quirks. The first thing that bugged me is the complete inability to customize the toolbar at all. When I run IE, I completely reconfigured the tool bar to be very efficient, and compact. With Mozilla, you get the layout they give you, and that's it. Now I know they are working on this for future releases. I also like to install the Google toolbar so I can search directly from my browser's toolbar. Luckily there was an equivalent available for Mozilla. However, Mozilla did crash on me quite a few times, and any time it needed to open a "browse" window, such as when I wanted to save a file, the browse window took ages, and ages to open. Now, note this only happened on Windows 2000, but still annoying. The final straw came when I found I couldn't use my online banking at all. The page was just totally screwed up in Mozilla. Now this most likely isn't Mozilla's fault, but the web designer's fault. However, regardless of blame, I couldn't use my online banking. One BIG advantage of Mozilla (and several other browsers) is "Tabbed Browsing". This allows you to have only one browser window running in your taskbar, but within that window you can have as many windows as you want, which each show up as a "tab" in the window. Just click on each tab to go to that browser window. This is especially nice for people like me who like every window that opens to be maximized instead of opening up in a smaller window. Why IE has not implemented Tabbed Browsing, and Smart Pop-up Killing (which is very simple to do) baffles me.
So having had one too many quirks in Mozilla, I went back to IE. I then decided to see if there were any plugins or anything that would allow Tabbed Browsing, because it absolutely rocks. This is when I stumbled upon pure gold. Crazy Browser. This has everything I liked about IE and Mozilla, plus more. Now it does require you to have IE installed. I'm not exactly sure on the whole technicalities of how it works, but basically, it's a stand alone program (not a plugin for IE), but yet uses certain components from IE to render web pages. It is so utterly customizable, your head will spin. I easily moved my toolbars around to my liking, and customized what buttons and menus I wanted. I told it what I did and did not want to open in a new "tab". For example, by default, anything you click on in your favorites menu, anything you type in the address bar, and several other things all open in a new tab (basically a new window within the browser window). Well I unchecked a few boxes, and then it behaved just like I wanted and only opened a new tab for things that would normally open a new window when clicked on. There's also an option you need to click if you want to be able to run more than one instance of Crazy Browser. For example, let's say you're researching llamas, and looking for web pages about giraffes. You could have one Crazy Browser open with 5 pages about llamas open (each having their own tab within the browser) and then open another browser and have 5 pages about giraffes open there. Of course if you wanted to you could also have all 10 pages open in one browser with 10 tabs. The important thing being that if you do want to run more than one instance of Crazy Browser you must check a box within the options.
You can also save "groups" of tabs. Taking the example above, I could save my 5 different llama pages as a "group". then in the future I could click on that one entry titled "llamas" and it would open all 5 pages, each on their own tab. Let's say you don't always want to open all 5, but sometimes you do. Then you could just save each page individually in your favorites, and put them all in their own folder titled "llamas". Now when you open your favorites, you see your "llamas" folder, and you can either click on any individual web page OR click the handy link at the to of the folder labeled "open all links" and open every link in that folder (in this case, our 5 llama pages) just like a group.
Now since Crazy Browser is it's own program and not a plugin for IE, you can't use the Google toolbar. At first I thought I would miss it. I don't. It's own built in search feature is very nice. You open a little sidebar, type in your search and click on which of the many search engines you want to search. The results then appear in their own tab in the browser. I did miss being able to just click on my search term in the Google toolbar and have it highlighted on the page, but this is a minor quibble which can also be accomplished, albeit not quite as elegantly, by hitting ctrl+f to bring up the "find" box.
Pop-ups are virtually extinct. I have had a few which fooled the browser and popped up in a new tab, and a few of those annoying ones that appear on the same page you're browsing, but all in all, my browsing is almost pop-up free now. The smart pop-up killer works incredibly well.
There's also cool drop down menu beside the address bar that lets you translate websites from one language to another using Altavista's Babelfish function.
So far the only "flaw" I have found (and it's only a flaw if it bothers you personally), is that you can't re-order your favorites. They appear in alphabetical order. If you want to do anything with them, such as rename them, change their properties, or delete them, you have to go into the "organize favorites" menu. Also, if you have more favorites than will fit on a page, you have to click on the arrow at the bottom of the list to scroll it. It won't scroll if you just hover over it like IE will.
Aside from the weakness in the favorites menu I have not found a single flaw. I've been to web pages using Flash, Shockwave, etc., and it appears that if the plugin is installed in IE, then Crazy Browser will work with it.
In my opinion, Crazy Browser is everything that IE and Mozilla should be. It is hands down the absolute most incredible web browser I have ever seen. I think that some of the default settings (such as almost everything opening up in it's own new tab) could initially annoy you, but if you take the time to customize the settings to your personal preferences, I think it quickly becomes the perfect browser. It is completely free, and therefore does not have any kind of official technical support at all, so if you have a problem, you're pretty much on your own, however I don't see this is as much of an issue really. It's preformed flawlessly for me, and I've had no problems figuring out all the options for myself without even looking at the help file included with the program. Give it a try, tweak it, and give it some time. Once you've gotten used to the change, you'll never want to go back to any other browser until they get on the ball and put out something of this caliber. I haven't been this impressed with something in a long time.
There are many movies, TV shows, etc., that have major childhood associations for me. For example, I remember spending every school vacation in Austin with my cousin (who is really more like a brother to me), and having certain movies we always wanted to watch again every visit. "Tron", for example. We both the action figures, and the cool light cycles with the plastic cord you would pull to send them racing across the room, preferably over some kind of ramp made out of books or something. Disney's "The Black Hole" was another. I was also a huge fan of Indiana Jones (and still am). I loved the trilogy of Indiana Jones films! Like the Star Wars trilogy I would watch them periodically throughout the years. Well upon one recent viewing a few years back, I came to a startling conclusion: Temple of Doom sucks. I didn't want to admit it, but there it was staring at me in all it's child sidekick, monkey brain eating ugliness. I realized that I really wouldn't care to watch that movie ever again. At that moment a little piece of my childhood died. While I do still like "Tron" and "The Black Hole", I have also had to admit that they have lost a bit of the magic that they used to hold for me. Sometimes I wonder if certain things would appeal to me at all without the fond past associations and memories.
"V", and "V: The Final Battle" also fall into this category. For anyone who is not familiar with them, they were television mini-series that came out in the 80's about aliens coming to earth disguised as human looking peaceful types, but turn out to be reptilian human-eating types. I was totally enthralled by these series when they came out. I even read the books, which I quite liked. However, now that they're both out on DVD I have found my childlike salivating enthusiasm to immediately buy them preempted by a hint of hesitation and uncertainty.
I used to proclaim that "Young Frankenstein" was one of the all time comedy classics, yet now I find it very hit and miss. There's some classic moments without a doubt, but there's also many moments when I find myself getting bored. Again, a moment of sadness at this realization.
Well at least the original Star Wars trilogy rocks as much as it ever did. "Time Bandits" still kicks ass too.
Have you read it? If not, then go! Now! I'll wait. Ok, it's a pretty long book, so no I won't. I first read the entire saga just before the "Fellowship of the Ring" movie came out. Now for those of who don't know, it was really considered one contiguous work by Tolkien, however the publishers insisted on breaking it up into more digestible chunks (metaphorically speaking only - please do not attempt to ingest the book). So somehow it ended up as 3 "volumes" of 2 "books" a piece. However, for the purposes of this discussion we shall refer to it as one contiguous work.
I recently revisited this amazing classic by listening to the 13 hour BBC radio play. This, and many discussions with my lovely Jess (who has read the book 13 times) made me want to sing it's praises here for those who have not yet discovered it (or even for those who have). Quite simply, I find Lord of the Rings one of the most amazing and totally immersive works of all time. It's no secret that Tolkien laboriously created one of the most thorough worlds ever created for a work of fiction. He created languages, histories, races, maps and more (as evidenced by the appendices to the book) resulting in a world almost as well documented and "real" as our own. This however has no value if it does not lend itself to an engrossing tale. It does.
Lord of the Rings is so much more than just a book. It is as close as anyone can come to actually being transported to another world. When I was finished with this book, I felt as if I too had been on that journey. I felt invested in all my "friends" in the book. As the story comes to an end, it perfectly mirrors the emotions you feel as your relationship with this story is winding down, and you slowly fade back into this world. So many moments are laced with bittersweet poignancy as they create a microcosm of the emotions and relationships we all share. It's not a story, it's an experience. It's a journey that will leave you forever changed. One you'll look back on with both joy, and sadness that it's over as you close the cover and say "Well, I'm back".
So I went to go see Mitch Hedberg for the 3rd time last night at the Addison Improv. I had seen him previously at the Laff Stop in Houston, and the Capitol City Comedy Club in Austin. I've been a huge fan ever since I saw him on some TV comedy show, and have since turned a huge number of people on to him. In my opinion he is one of the best comedians I've ever seen. A truly unique style and viewpoint punctuate his hilarious material likable demeanor. Mitch just seems like a guy you'd like to hang out with. Every time I've seen him he's been absolutely hilarious, and this show was no exception.
There were several opening comics. Dave Little and Lynn Shawcroft were especially funny. When Mitch finally came on he seemed really low key at first. A bit reserved, possibly a little down, or just tired a bit (this was, after all, the second show of the night), but he quickly got into the flow and the endless laughs started flowing. Now the things about comedians is you inevitably hear some of the same material each time you see them since they can't crank out an entirely new act every night. With Mitch, I've never found this to be a problem. Somehow I find every joke just as funny as the first time I ever heard it. However Mitch had a ton of new material this show, and it was in fact the first show I'd seen where he didn't just start taking "requests" for his classic material towards the end of the show. It was also the first show I had seen where he didn't perform many of his "greatest hits", most notably his "Smackie the Frog" routine. None of this however detracted from the show. It was at least as good as every other performance I had seen of his.
When we went to see him in Austin, my friend, Dudemac, and his wife had brought their digital camera in hopes of getting a picture with Mitch. My friend Esteban spotted Mitch exiting the club and asked him for an autograph which Mitch gladly signed. Dudemac then had me take a picture of him and his wife with Mitch. I also wanted to get an autograph and picture but I really didn't want to be a nuisance so I let Mitch slip out since he seemed to be trying to get out quickly. Later we found that due to a camera glitch all the pics that had been taken on the digital camera were gone including the ones with Mitch. DOH! So this time we were determined to try again! After the show we immediately went to where we thought he might exit, and sure enough there were he and Lynn leaving the club! Dudemac quickly yelled "Hey Mitch! Can we get a picture?" He and Lynn were both really accommodating and friendly and posed for several pics with us all! I'll post them as soon as Dudemac gets them off his camera. We hope to get some more pics and maybe an autograph at his Austin show in November.
All in all it was a great show as usual that made our faces hurt from laughing so much, and actually getting to say hi and take a picture was extremely cool. Be sure and check his schedule at www.mitchhedberg.net and go to see him if he comes anywhere near you. Then I can add you to my list of converts ;) Quite simply, he's one of the funniest and most brilliant comedians of all time.
